parts is nice

i'm glad to have some wooden parts on my bench.

i've been wanting to make the all end grain corner box joint for a while now, and i figured this was as good a time as any. the joints have all been laid out and are just waiting for me to cut them. as with the other japaness joints i've tried, this one needs alot of focus to layout as it's not the kind of thing where you cut one side out and lay it over to trace the other. you kinda got to go for broke and lay out both sides at once and hope the fitting goes well.

the box sides need to go together from the top/bottom, so the bottom of the box needs to sit in a rabet. this means some veneer for the bottom panel. the top is going to be solid, and i'm going to let it sit for as long as possible to stabilize.

so far the wood has been behaving nicely. the maple planes beautifully and has a really nice quarter sawn shimmer to it. this little plank (the one on the saw horses in the last post) came from my grandfather's land, and has been sitting in my uncle's shop for more then a decade. needless to say, it is thouroughly dry.

little tour

well, the shop is as much done as shops tend to be. there are only a few minor things left to do, things like a sharpening station and rest for the grinder, and a lumber rack would be nice. so i thought i would give you folk a little tour.

i even cut out pieces for a project.

here's my bench with wagon vise in the end. this was built out of common 2''x12'', a found vise and a veneer screw.

the bench is in the back corner on the right, my toolbox is on the left, behind the drill press.

here's my cobbled together mortiser/lathe. the motor looks like frankenstein because i'm using a four way switch to reverse the direction for either operation. this works well, but there is a little flex in the setup, so one has to mortise lightly.

it's quite lovely to finally be using this saw. it's not without bugs, but it works well.

jointer, also not without bugs, but quite a machine.

started to haul wood in, makes it look more like a shop.