Woodworks by John

After living in Phoenix for the past 6 years or so Diane and I decided it was time to return to southern Nevada to be closer to family and take advantage of the rising housing market in Phoenix. Although we loved our house there; the 1/3 acre and huge amount of time and effort it took to maintain it was starting to get to us! There were some other factors as well but we began to look for other areas to move to including Tucson and outlying parts of Phoenix but in the long run decided to buy a new home in North Las Vegas. Moved in the first of December and are loving it!

The biggest difference is that now, instead of having an existing “shop” that needs a ton of work to turn it into my “happy place” I now have a blank slate in the form of a 2 car garage! The process began with a scaled drawing but now that I’m here I can visualize the space and eventual results. Our plan was to remove a wall between a bedroom and the den to create an art studio for Diane. As luck would have it, this wall is a bearing wall. We were extremely blessed to have the superintendent of this development help us with this project. He introduced us to some of the original workers who built our house and they were willing to work with us in their off-time on our remodel. Electrician, framers, and drywall is what we needed and they worked efficiently and for a good price! I removed the drywall first, then the electrician changed and re-routed some wiring that was in the wall. Next up were the framers and drywall. Diane and I did the painting and laid a beautiful vinyl plank floor. We’ve ordered a set of French doors with rain glass to close it off. As we speak, Diane is able to work in her new space — a sheet stapled across the main entrance keeps Khali out and off of Diane’s palette!

My shop is another matter but much progress has been made this past month. The unbelievable blessings have continued with this move! When we did our walk-through the superintendent told us an error was made with the kitchen cabinets. The uppers were supposed to be 42″ but 36″ ones were mistakenly installed. Our first thought was that we’d get some kind of refund but he told us that the 42″ ones have already been ordered and to compensate for our “inconvenience” he would install some of the 36″ cabinets in the laundry room and put the rest where ever wanted in the garage, now there’s an “inconvenience” that’s easy to live with!!

In the garage I’ve added a 220v/20a circuit for the big tools and another dedicated 110v/20a circuit for bench tools. Lighting needs to be improved and until the cabinets are installed I’m working out of boxes. With the work on the studio there hasn’t been a lot of time to work out there anyway. Here’s a few pictures of what’s been going on. The workbench is in position and my planes, measuring tools, and others I like to have on hand are in place. Along the back wall I’ve attached ledger strips that serve two purposes; first off they locate and add support to the bottom of the cabinets and will also be used to hang jigs and other tools.

It’s a work in progress but progress is definitely being made!

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words so I’ll save you reading and just share some pictures of my latest valet. Zebrawood and Black Walnut, my design featuring hand cut, houndstooth dovetails. The tray and dividers are European Beech, and lined with pigskin.

This was a piece of wood that really caught my eye when I went to Woodworkers Source here in Phoenix — just went there to pick up some finishing material and it just jumped out at me and I couldn’t resist! The hinges are solid brass stop hinges from Horton Brasses and accent this project nicely. The finish is platinum shellac and wax.

For me, woodworking is all about the process and as I was working on this project couldn’t help but think about the time required to create this when compared to the relative ease and automated process used in commercial endeavors. As an example, I wanted to elevate how the dividers in the bottom of the box are inserted. When I was a carpenter doing roof framing there is a joint called a “birds mouth“. I thought that would add some interest even knowing many won’t even notice. I began by cutting a V-groove in the side piece. This was more than wide enough for both sides and fit snugly. It was cut to required width and marked so the V-grooves would have the right orientation. Next I needed to make a new “donkey ears” fixture to plane a matching V for the dividers. It was a long and probably boring process to read about so I’ll do a slide show to illustrate it. I enjoy the process and I’m curious to know how many of you fellow woodworkers feel the same way. Do you enjoy the process of figuring something out or do you just want to get it done the quickest way?

If you’re not familiar with shooting boards you may wonder what the heck a Donkey Ear shooting board is! For hand tool woodworkers a shooting board is something used with a handplane to true up miters, ends, and edges after they have been sawn with either a power or hand saw. In my work they are used for moldings and boxes so I generally only need a block plane with them. My original is shown on the left and it wasn’t very accurate. I had heard of Donkey Ears and found this video by Bob Rozaieski on YouTube I decided to make one for my work and share it on my blog. The only change I made was to make it so that it could be held on the workbench between dogs, his design had a cleat that clamped into the vise. I had some of the Bamboo left from the kitchen island project so that’s what I used. He stressed that getting the 45° exact on the base piece is critical. Admittedly, pre-drilling the screw holes and holding it all in place was a bit of a challenge. The big advantage to this style is that you’re able to work moldings in both directions which is critical when working around a corner. For this blog though the goal was simply making dividers for the inside of a box.

The picture at the left shows the inside of the Valet box, notice the pieces that are inserted. They’re about 1 1/4″ wide but were made from a wider piece so that any tear out from shooting the miters on the ends could be planed off when they cut to final size. After they fit, I used a V-bit in a small router to cut the slots for the dividers. After that they were ripped to the 1 1/4″ width. Other than dividing the bottom of the box there will also be a sliding tray that sits on top of them. The next step was fitting the dividers.

This began by taking a long piece of the Beech and using the Donkey Ear shooting board to create a V that would fit snugly between the side pieces. The depth of the V slot was marked on the end of the board which was then mitered. This piece was long enough to make both dividers. The extra length makes it easier to hold.

Some things I’d like to point out here. With this style of Donkey Ears it was much easier to hold the wood while mitering the ends. I used a practice slot from the router to check the fit. The next hurdle was measuring the length needed. Too small for even a 6″ ruler so thought to use an inside caliper and then laying that out on the wood. The piece was then cut to length and the ‘V’ was mitered on the opposite end. I think the technical term is “fiddle fart around” until the fit was what I wanted! I “eyeballed” that to get it as even as possible. It’s a snug fit so no glue will be needed once the valet is complete.

Using my left hand to guide the plane and my right hand to hold the wood gave me good control. The only odd thing, probably caused by the way my hand contacted the plane, is that the depth of cut changed. Seems as if the palm of my hand loosened the depth adjustment and until I figured that out is drove me crazy! Sure, a CNC machine or a matched set of router bits could accomplish this task in minutes rather than half a day but there no challenge in that so why bother?

So there you have it; to my eye, the ‘V’ has more appeal than a simple dado and butted divider. Once the box is completely finished I may put a spot of glue on the longer side pieces before fitting in these dividers. Hope it made sense to you, if not feel free to ask me a question in the comment section.

After living in our house for 5+ years we thought the kitchen could use some changes, although functional it felt as if it were a dark area even though there is a window above the sink. When you walk in the front door the darkness is what you’d notice first. The cabinets are dark and the black granite; well, it goes without saying is positively dark!

We use the island as our place to eat breakfast, use computers, and also food preparation. Although beautiful, granite is a very cold surface to work on while using computers so that was another slight negative. Replacing all of the counters wasn’t an option, from experience if you attempt to remove them chances of damaging the cabinets is a possibility and I really wasn’t planning on a complete kitchen remodel. So enter Bamboo, Woodworkers Source here in Phoenix has been advertising it so thought it was worth looking into.

It’s available in 8′ pieces measuring about 9″ and 12″ wide. It’s also offered as a 4’x8′ sheet. My first step was to buy a 9″ wide piece and make a mock-up. The plan was to simply make the L-shaped piece to fit over the top of the granite. I used Osmo Polyx in a satin for the finish. I was happy with the method, finish, and color of the finished mock-up so the project was a go. We purchased one 4’x8′ sheet and 2 of the 12″ wide boards. One purpose of my blog is to share what I’ve learned and the 4’x8′ sheet needs to be kept flat!! I’d leaned it on edge against the wall, when I was ready to start (about 1 1/2 weeks later) I cut it to approximate length and Diane and I brought it into the house and laid it on top of the island.

It warped big time!! I called Woodworkers Source and they were willing to exchange the sheet but since I’d already cut it that wasn’t an option. Decided to let it lay to see if it would relax flat on its own but also sprayed water on it and clamped a straight edge across both edges. The parallel clamps were put on without a lot of pressure and I’d tighten them every couple of hours. I did hear some cracking but nothing major. It makes sense, if you look at the right hand picture think of a round piece of Bamboo being sliced into “planks”. Some of them will be more of a C shape and only make contact on the outer edges. I wasn’t concerned about the piece bowing once it was installed because of my plan for building it.

Construction was typical so I won’t bore you with the details. The granite wasn’t square so I scribed it in place and used a small trim saw with a straight edge to cut it. Jointer planed to smooth the cut and then edged it with 1 5/8″ wide strips of the Bamboo. This was glued and screwed into place.

The first step was to cut the banding and pre-drilling and countersink for the screws. Pieces were clamped in place and a screw was inserted into the hole, tapped with a small hammer to locate it, then pre-drilled before applying the glue. To guarantee a good joint it they were also clamped, old school style!

Before flipping the piece over the bottom was prepared by using a cabinet scraper to remove the glue and surface the joint, sanded, and a small round over was done to the outer edge. Two coats of shellac were then brushed on so that both surfaces will be sealed and not absorb moisture — want to prevent any warping since the plan is to simply lay this over the granite.

To finish the top the process was the same as the bottom — scrape off glue lines, sand, and round over the edge. Three coats of the Osmo Polyx satin finish were hand rubbed into the wood using a white, nylon scrubby. I allowed 24 hours drying time between each coat. My neighbor helped bring it in and my fingers were crossed. I’d broken that rule of dry fitting, this piece was much to large and awkward for Diane and I to do that! Thankfully, it dropped right on and fits like a glove. There is no movement and if a future owner prefers to have matching granite it’ll simply lift off!

The subject of making a custom cigar humidor recently came up when I was talking with the owner of Creative Gateway Gallery. They have galleries in Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Sedona. He mentioned that cigar art was popular and suggested that perhaps designing and building a humidor based on my box technique may be a good addition for the gallery. This led to me to doing some research, online and talking to owners of cigar lounges. A requirement for a humidor is that it’s lined with Spanish Cedar which is the best material to control the humidity requirements of cigars and also that the box has a good seal. It’s up to the owner of the humidor to “season” the inside and maintain the humidity. What you see in these pictures is the result of that, my interpretation of that traditional humidor. I used a piece of Curly Maple for the top, front, and back and ribbon grain Sapele for the sides. Hand cut dovetails are both decorative and allow for strong box construction.

My typical construction for this is to first cut a rabbet on the ends of the front and back piece which matches the thickness of the side pieces. Generally this will be 1/4″ which allows me to cut a 3/16″ groove without cutting into the tails, that groove is to inset the bottom. Tools used for this joinery is a skewed rabbet plane (on left) and a small plow plane (on right). Besides being safer than power tools, woodworking with hand tools is much more satisfying than using power tools. The dovetails are then laid out and cut using a combination of dovetail saws, chisels, and a mallet.

After the dovetails are fitted it’s time for assembly. A plywood bottom is inserted into the grooves prior to glue up with Old Brown Glue, my glue of choice for this type of work. Setting the bottom into grooves helps create an airtight space. A cedar panel will be added. After planing and some light sanding the box is ready for shellac, about 8 coats. Notice that in the right hand picture the inside of the box as well as the underside of the lid have been taped off to prevent getting any shellac on the inside of the humidor. Although it’s a relatively benign odor which shouldn’t linger I didn’t want to take any chances that it could affect the cigars. Traditionally the Spanish Cedar lining is left unfinished. The lining is mitered in the corners which locks it in place. After cutting the pieces slightly oversized with a saw they are mitered using a shooting board and plane as shown in the picture on the left.

I found a piece of Spanish Cedar at Woodworkers Source that caught my eye because it seemed to have what’s referred to as a “fiddleback” pattern. It was 4/4 so after resawing it I was able to get 5/16″ thick pieces for the sides and laminate them for the top and bottom. No finish on these but look at the beautiful grain pattern after using my smooth plane on it — stunning!

To complement this humidor only the best hardware would suffice. That would be the brass stop hinges recently offered by Horton Brasses. These are small stop hinges and seemed to be the perfect choice for the way I designed this project. The latch I chose was a ball type that will secure the lid and create the airtight space a fine cigar needs. After adding a Hygrometer to the inside of the lid this humidor is now ready for seasoning by whoever buys it, I think it’ll look great on their desk.