We have had a few great posts for the hand tool users to admire ,being a machine tool user myself I’d like to show some how the end result may not tell the story of what tools made a given work. My goal many times is to not use any hand tools to do what my machines can do. O.K. I use a chisel for scraping glue and a few try squares but thats about it . I am currently working on a commission to build a Mission style Media Cabinet out of QSWO , I tried to show the work in progress . I built a Maple plywood box with a few edge banded parts then applied the frame and panel ends to the box. The picture with the drawer faces are just sitting there not yet sanded or attached , same with the top. An elongated corbel will fit the side of each corner post coming next with doors for glass in front of the components tommorrow . Undermount Blumotion slides aith Maple Apple ply drawer box . the mounting of these slides is easier than they look , really no more time then any other slide to install . A look under the drawer box shows the quick disconnect brackets to release it from the cabinet. a shop made jig and a sharp 1/4″ bit makes the shallow hole in the rear of the box . regards , dusty 2/11/10 Next day photos .Lets see if this works . The drawer faces are sanded and attached the the boxes with the hardware holes pre drilled on the drill press for accuracy . the door frames are sanded and basically sized and ready to be hinged for this flush inset application . Next finish sand the Elongated Corbels do a proper fitting and glue and clamp them .The countertop needs to be trimmed down a few inches and a final sand on all before the stain and lacquer . 2/12/10 Well the doors are hinged by using shims to hold them where I wanted them while I locate with an awl the bracket location .Oops . As with the door the drawer fronts are shimmed in position then fastened from the inside while in that position when possible .It makes it easier especially if you are working alone . The corbels were bandsawn from a template or pattern then edge sanded to the line on the drum and flat of my edge sander. All the corbels were glued and clamped into the slots. The top is trimmed to size and finish sanded with the edges barely broke , most of the edges will stay fairly crisp to help the reveals or gaps stay tight looking . My next step first off in the morning will be to do a sanding of the cabinet and then apply the color the client has chosen .When dry I will spray pre cat lacquer in a Satin sheen until it is as smooth as silk . regards dusty
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Why is there no "Like" function on the forum? :) I really like that its virtually all power tools and I really like your design. For me, I think that I only do wood working so that I can buy and use power tools!
Jointerman ,
You know there is virtually no such thing as all hand tools or all machine tools . Every single purist hand tool user with very little exception starts with cleanly machine sufaced boards or boards cut on a TS or other machine tools .
In all honesty as hard as I tried there is no subsitution for a sharp chisel slice here and there .
I make my living with machines , the end product is what is important to my clients , not which tools I used or didn't .
Glad you like things like this I'll continue the next few days till completion .
thanks for the kind words , dusty
You know there is virtually no such thing as all hand tools or all machine tools .
Dusty, you're absolutely right. A while back, I made a reading table for my father for father's day out of black walnut. I didn't use a single power tool in my shop to make it. I prepared the stock with planes, cut to length and width with hand saws, prepared all the joinery with chisels and mallet, etc...and then I realized that I milled the danged walnut with a 28 hp Woodmizer gas engine.
So much for thinking it was all hand tools. Oh, and by the way, there weren't any candles burning in the shop, either. I had the ELECTRIC lights on.
Nice cabinet. I miss building stuff already.....
Jeff
You're absolutely right! The
You're absolutely right! The first thing I made when I got my 8-inch jointer was a hand plane out of Cocobolo! But it was the power tool that made it easier to make a hand plane with a nice flat sole. :)
I've never had a client ask
I've never had a client ask me to go slow and only use hand tools.
As demonstrated in my last post, power tools can be dangerous although my worst accident ever was from a hand tools (razor knife),
That being said, I still strive to become expert at cutting dovetails by hand.
In heaven even the hand tools have saw-stop technology.
Hiya B,
Same here my worst injury came from the blunt end of a dull chisel that I imbedded in my thumb a little .
In close to 30 years of building for people very few ask any thing about how things are done and even if we explained they may not get it .
I do my best job of educating my clients and that usually takes care of the questions.
regards , dusty
Dusty,
what iz dis clamps stuff? (image 7) we dunt use no stinkin clamps! we uze the super parallel Plano 60 hp side compress flat align board crusher with radio frequency glue set. We dunt uze no stinkin clamps!! That's a hand tool!
Nice sequence, good product. good demonstration. (but can you do machine work in Claro? :)
Take care down there, it's going to howl today up here. Bout 70 on the headlands.
Boiler
bb old boy ,
You caught me on those hand operated clamps .
Really what I am attempting to demonstrate and help others learn is there is no such thing as either all hand tool or all machine tool , it just don't happen . I used to get into a lot of trouble because I was always trying to prove point .
I hope I don't get into too much trouble but I am confident that the end result be positive .
I dream of Black Walnut and pray for a job in it .
45° and cloudy looks like rain , but could be showers turning into thunder storms , then again the wind might blow
regards , dusty , hope you are well
Pretty work, dusty,
I have a little question for you. How come you make up your case with plywood ends, and then apply your show wood ends? Frugal me (read tight as the bark on a tree- sometimes I squeak a little when I walk) would simply use the panelled end and skip the material expense and labor of cutting the plywood end underneath.
But then I don't do cabinet projects as such. Is it easier to adhere to a basic format (ply cases) and adjust the styling to suit? Do you stockpile basic components and pull from stock as needed when a project plan is finalised? Just curious.
Ray
Morning Ray ,
After many years of doing things the same way I am reaching out of the box so to speak and trying different things .
I do sometimes apply a frame and panel finished to a cabinet side but they are usually not a structural component .This piece was much easier to join up without exotic joinery by using the plywood box ends.I felt the conceald plywood ends would add the strength , maybe overkill .
I make all parts for each job I have no stockpile of parts , lately I don't do the same thing twice much .
With normal cabinetry I do follow a routine repitition is key even in custom production cabinet works .I do have set standards on how I build most cabinets.
The furniture pieces I have built in the last year or so have been my best works.
regards , dusty
dusty,
I understand. There is a good reason for having a routine in construction methods. I see it in old work as well as new. "That's the way we always do it," gets knocked sometimes, but it really means that we can get on with the job at hand, and spend our creative energy on more productive areas, instead of stewing over what we already have figured out.
Get 'er done,
Ray
Nice piece, Dusty. Looks "hand made" to me. ;-)
Oh, and those clamps can be modified to be machine driven, too, as I did with the film rewind on my Leica:
View Image
Hey Ralph ,
Thats a good one , funny you would show that .
I like to bake desert when we go camping and my son suggested I use the Makita cordless with the mixer ends , Wah Lah !
dusty
Dusty
I must say that there is something 'soul satisfying' with the sound of the 'swish' of a beautifully tuned hand plane taking a gnats whisker off a board, however if you're doing the job for bread in your kids belly and fruit on the sideboard then the enjoyment of the swish doesn't cut the mustard. I'm sure all the greats of the past who didn't have power tools would have jumped with joy to try some of the tech power gear we have today.
There is room to use and most importantly, enjoy both types of tool. When it all boils down you hold your powerdrill and router in your hand anyway!
I love the job and don't care if it was done either way.
regards
Wot
Hiya Wot ,
Thanks for the kind words.
I'm just playing around here with this,
I developed a love first for tools as a child , then using them came in .I have a fairly decent old school herd of Stanleys and some decent chisels and things we don't even know what they are ,o.k. I am a collector / user ,but don't tell Lataxe about the collecting part .
The work I produce supports my family (barely lately) so yup , machinery must be used for much of production work.
I hope by now you all realize there is little difference which tools your hands guide they don't use them selves .A different set of skills is needed in each type of work .
maybe I used my little block plane for a swipe or two also .
Ray builds authentic period reproduction works , you don't do it in a procduction frame of mind , quite a few of his tools may be very similar if not the same as were in the day .Some type and stages of work can only be best done by hand .CNC looks like a machine cut to me .
I do like swishing with wood planes and prolly am more fascinated with making thin shavings then the a flat surface .
my name is dusty and I am a wood slut , I'll do anything to a board for money
Dusty, wood prostitute might be a more accurate term and a remark I resemble.
I see many similarities between my work and yours. Your style, construction methods and the look of your workshop all seem eerily familiar.
I'll post some of the stuff that I'm more proud of that came out of my cabinet shop to see if you would agree and for you and others to critique.
Hi Duffy
See a few of your postings, welcome from another newby. Love to see some of your stuff.
wot
Hey Wot,
I find it most interesting that you are half a world away.
.
I get a kick out of some of your comments, Ha ha, ouch! It only hurts when I laugh but the Doc concurred today that nothing vital was damaged and the hand should recover OK.
.
I'll try not to over-post but I'm a little bored being unable to work for a few days.
Bret, bduffin104
Dusty
Maybe we have a new forum here. Timber Tarts. Has a certain ring to it.
Don't know about being a collector, I tend more to being an accumulator. SWMBO says she is going to have the worlds biggest garage sale when I start work on that big workbench in the sky.
I have tools from my father, a builder/cabinetmaker, my grandfather a carpenter and my great grandfather, a shipwright. (I didn't stand a chance did I?).
Tools is tools from BB's big beasties to the tiny picks I use for fine detail work on carvings. They have a magical attraction that is hard to ignore. I'm a confirmed addict and can't bypass a hardware or tool shop. I even have a special shelf for catalogs in my shop.
Hows things in Oregon, Summer here now, we're getting temps up to 8 or 9 degrees.
regards
wot
Timber tarts , that does have a cetain ring to it .
I obtained a wooden handmade tool chest full of sharp well taken care of tools when I was about 18 years old from a Widow lady , I paid $60 and she gave me volumes of hardware as well . That kind of got me interested in old tools .
It's been 35 - 55 °f , sometimes cloudy with occaisonal spots of sun , in between rain that turns into showers , and then again the wind might blow .
Your tag line is my life
regards from Paradise
dusty
Wotnow.. Great screen name!
I agree.
lets see how the "power tool manifesto" works whenthe drawer boxes have to be 1/16 undersize fore the blumotion slides eh?
was it a power tape?
or a slap to forehead for not reading directions. That my friend is a hand tool, same as the sharp chisel and sanding block used for finesse finish on the edgebanding.
BTW, betcha the set up of the TS involved hand tools. Ain't ever heard of "power" dial indicators or vernier calipers...BUT I COULD BE WRONG.
I wanna know where them "power clamps" can be bought!!!
All kidding aside, nice work.
Eric in Calgary
Hey Eric,
Thanks for the kind words .
No hand plane touched the drawers the face fit was sized on my jointer and a pass or two by my edge sander removed the machine marks ,I learned to make each successive operation remove the machine marks of the others .
A fairly square (not perfect) box and high quality hardware make for a good fit.
regards ,dusty
Good job, Dusty. It's a
Good job, Dusty. It's a pleasure to see a well constructed piece of furniture whether it's made primarily with machines or hand tools.
Jim
Thanks Jim ,
It's all
Thanks Jim ,
It's all good .
regards , dusty
I am a true power tool user also! I do use, at least, my little low angle hand plane and files on most of my work. Sure beats sandpaper sometimes!
I love it! As in your work...
Thanks Will ,
More power to us
dusty
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