Built-In Library: The least "Cow Dog" of Cow Dog Projects

A couple of years ago, my Father-in-law Dave mentioned that he wanted to have a built in library made for his massive book collection. Dave is an avid reader and has over the years amassed a ton of books. They’re littered all over a small corner of their house, occupying almost every conceivable space imaginable, sucking the light out of the room and even blocking windows. He passed this sketch over to me.

Dave’s hand drawn built-in library sketch.

Now being that I live in Florida and Dave lives in Iowa and we were just in town for the holidays, I did find it kind of interesting that he he had an “idea” and then produced a very specific and highly measured drawing of this library unit for his living room.

Flash forward to 2023, our daughter was just born in October, and shortly thereafter I had the idea that we could drive to Iowa and spend a few weeks in my wife’s hometown. It would give Rowan the opportunity to spend time with her Mom’s side of the family, be a much needed break while the both of us were on maternity/paternity leave, and give me an opportunity to do this build for Dave. Also, every time I mentioned taking on a new commission for anyone else for the past couple of years, my wife would mention this project for her Dad, so there was definitely the benefit of scratching it off the “honey-do” list.

The route from Fort Lauderdale to Burlington, Iowa.

The idea was this: I’d prep all the material in South Florida. I have a lumberyard here that has high quality plywood available and at a fairly reasonable cost (it’s still expensive). I can zip everything down to size, drive it all up, and then assemble and install on site. Easy enough right?

3D Model of the built-in library constructed in Shapr3D.

Well what that ignored was… well… everything. Turns out, choosing to take on a project like this about a month before it happening, with a newborn was not my smartest move. Only being able to get anywhere from one to three hours at a time to work was very difficult in terms of getting meaningful progress here at home. Let’s do some simple math here. If I had two hours to work, I’d spend thirty minutes typically getting setup. That’s rolling all my carts out of the garage to have usable work space, getting out whatever tools I’d need, and making sure my layout was correct for whatever task was on tap for that session. Then, before closing up shop that day, I’d spend thirty minutes cleaning up. That means, a two hour shop session turns into one hour pretty quick… and god forbid if mistakes were made, and they almost always were.

Using a 3D printed router base hooked into a tracksaw track to route a dado in plywood.

However, the unsung hero on the planning side of this project was something new to me. I’ve never messed around with digital/3d fabrication. SketchUp has always been very difficult for me to use and not particularly intuitive. Things like Fusion360 were just too rich for my blood. The idea of having to take a course to be able to even use a certain software just didn’t really rub me the right way. However, a friend of mine, Caleb Rogers, who builds a ton of tansu and butsudan, turned me on to Shapr3d. After him telling me how intuitive it was to use and to create a 2d sketch and then extrude it into a 3d model, I was very intrigued. Furthermore, there’s a fair bit of YouTube content out there on it. I highly suggest checking out Bevelish Creations’ videos. He does a few walk through design tutorials and I found that to be very helpful in the design process.

Before dealing with the frustrations of minimal shop time, I spent a fair bit of time designing this in Shapr3d and was able to send the models to Dave in Iowa and get approvals on the design. Flash forward to working on the project physically in the shop, I was able to take all the components and lay them out onto modeled sheets of plywood to be able to visually grasp my material needs. In the end, this project totaled out to nine sheets of 4x8’ plywood. I was able to get some beautiful rift sawn white oak veneered plywood which rang in a bit over $2000.

So I chopped it all up, now what? Well, now I had to load it into the back of the truck and drive to Iowa. This turned out to be a more stressful endeavor than I imagined. For starters, the day we left it was raining as though it was the start of the great flood. I was struggling to keep the plywood dry, and since someone always had to be watching the baby, it was next level difficult to try and load all our stuff in the truck. Bassinet, stroller, luggage, and not to mention we were bringing the cow dogs with us too so all their accoutrements as well. I also had to bring tools, and since I was driving fifteen hundred miles, I overpacked in that regard because I didn’t want to be missing anything upon arrival. Spoiler alert: I forgot a sander.

Driving through St. Louis, Missouri

With stops in St. Augustine, Chattanooga, and St. Louis, we arrived in Burlington, Iowa, exhausted and candidly a bit stinky.

Loading my Chevrolet Silverado 1500 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the road trip.

I immediately got to work sanding and staining everything. This was something I really wish I had done at home prior to leaving. Something not shown in the video is me taking a bunch of solid white oak and re-sawing it on the bandsaw to make my own trim. A couple mistakes were made in this regard. First, the time elapsed between the re-saw and the trip did not allow for a gentle enough humidity change. The wood’s moisture content was so greatly altered between hot and humid South Florida to freezing temperature Iowa that the wood became extremely brittle and had a ton of warp and not a lot of elasticity and play to it to be useful for trim. Furthermore, I didn’t know that Menard’s had an excellent selection of finish ready trim. There was a ton of affordable oak options that were milled with exceptional quality in a variety of different widths that made the need to bring my own trim obsolete. Therefore, had I used that time, milling in inclement South Florida weather before the trip, to sand and stain my components prior to leaving, or at the very least sand everything, I would have been on a much better schedule.

Speaking of stain, somehow when working with a client, there’s almost always something that doesn’t get communicated. Stain was something that was not communicated. I’d spent a lot of time in their home and almost all of their furniture is plain old white oak with a fairly standard semi-gloss finish on it. I presumed based on that, that the unit would also be the same. In fact, when I sent the 3d renderings to my father-in-law, they were all in, you guessed it, finished white oak. However, upon arrival it was brought to my attention that they wanted a “dark stain”, essentially walnut. I stood in the living room a little slack jawed, realizing that between the application and drying time of most stains in colder climates, I was instantly set back at least a day and a half. I also haven’t stained anything in a few years, something I’ve eliminated from my client work because of my own moral objection to staining wood to look like other wood.

Watco’s Danish Oil in Black Walnut: the exclusive stain of this project.

I went with Danish Oil for a number of reasons. One, it cures quickly, but more so, it stain needed to be touched up, I could do it with little issue. Danish Oil, because it doesn’t have a glossy finish and leaves that hand rubbed appearance, blends into itself very well. Therefore, at times, I could install components still tacky, and then back fill or fix problem areas with Danish Oil on the spot. As you watch the video, you might notice when I’m building the final doors that it looks like I’m building, staining, and installing, all within a couple of hours. You would in fact be correct. Using glues like quick and thick, along with a fast drying stain made this project all the more doable.

Fitting trim prior to scribing.

I should also mention that in cold climates, using FastCap Speed Tape to adhere edge banding is an awful idea. I was constantly having to go back and spot fix with super glue during the install process. I’m fully expecting when we’re back in the summer or perhaps this winter, I’ll have to do the same again. Conversely, just using the iron for edge banding worked exceptionally well. The glue adhered easily and I was able to use the banding trimmer easily and sand the corners in to blend everything well. Sometimes, the simplest answer is the correct one.

Trimming edge banding with a dual sided edge banding trimmer.

Scribing to the ceiling, floor, and walls was the detail that really made this build stand out from what it could have been. As with all my projects, I really want to push myself. I don’t want to be stagnant as a craftsman. I want to get better with every single build and scribing was something I’d never done in this large of an application. A good friend, Anthony Isoldi, works for BUILT in Tampa, a high end furniture and cabinetry firm. He’s regularly doing on site scribing in very high end properties with work that’s been built to the highest of standards, so after a few Facetime calls, I felt confident enough to do this (sarcasm).

Scribing white oak trim to the ceiling: dry fit before nailing.

What I can say is, a small benchtop bandsaw would have been far easier at following the insane curvature of this walls in this old house. Based on what I could deduce from the shape of the gaps between the cabinet and the wall, the entire “square” of the room was skewed slightly to the left. Ie. On the top left the gap was wide and the bottom right it was wide as well. It was essentially a parallelogram. Instead I used a track saw, which Anthony said he uses all the time at work. However, it was a bit difficult to use since the components were thin and extremely long. The tip I did love was back beveling everything that was going to contact the surface to be scribed to. That way, either with a block plane or a sander, you’re removing a minimal amount of material to get to the perfect fit.

The finished built-in library.

This build challenged me in a number of ways, most of all challenging my persistence and patience. We had to extend our trip another five days just so that I could finish and at one point, even after the extension, I was trying to find out how I could come back to be able to finish things that I didn’t get done. Luckily, I did finish though and it came out swimmingly. Not only is my father-in-law absolutely psyched but his wife is equally as happy with how everything turned out as well. Happy wife, happy life, as they say.

Dave and I about thirty minutes after I installed the cabinet doors, the final step.

Head over to the YouTube channel and check out the video. Hopefully you’ll learn some tricks but also be connected to my crippling anxiety as I race to try and finish.

My Blog Hiatus and the Japanese Hand Plane in Depth

I was on a podcast recently and the host indicated that I hadn’t posted a blog entry on my website in over a year. It was quite the wake up call at how much I’ve been neglecting this side of my business, something that I really should be paying far more attention to. This should be the hub of my work and my brand, and much like dental floss for the vast majority of the world’s population, it’s usefulness, benefit, and practice was ignored.

However, a lot has gone on since I was last on here. Shortly after promising to re-vamp my blog posting last year, we found out that my wife was pregnant. I closed out all commission work and eliminated the back log in honey-do projects as well as custom work I had outstanding. Amidst all that, I was still able to put out a few YouTube videos last year and in October, our baby girl Rowan was born. She’s been a fun and beautiful addition to our family.

After releasing a video early this year about a built-in library I did for my father-in-law, I had decided to sack up and finally create a video on the Japanese hand plane: kanna. Kanna simply means plane in Japanese and being able to provide an instructive, step-by-step tutorial on this was not only intimidating, but really for me, signified a coming full circle and an achievement in my Japanese tool journey.

Let me tell you why…

Nagadai Kanna in American white oak.

I first got into Japanese tools during the pandemic. While I had some Japanese chisels, it was virtual schooling through the Florida School of Woodwork, classes led by Dylan Iwakuni, that taught me the concepts of center line layout, order of operations in joinery, and gave me the basic skills to tackle any joint regardless of complication. Sure there’s an element of speed and skill that needed to continue to be fostered, but the very basic foundations were laid and an addiction began to take hold.

After seeing Dylan effortlessly paring away and creating glossy smooth end grain shoulders, I needed to know where he got his chisel from. To my surprise, he said that he got his chisel from an American blacksmith and carpenter, Jim Blauvelt. I immediately reached out to Jim and purchased a paring chisel, that he also called a dai makers slick. He had to still forge a ferrule for the chisel, so it would take some time to get to me.

Well, I was patient, and indeed, it did take some time. Somewhere around six to eight months after I ordered and paid for the chisel, he asked for my address so he could ship it out to me. Because of my patience, he offered to send me out a plane blade. I’d never used a Japanese plane before and other than watching viral Kezurokai videos from Japan, had never really even seen one in use. I ordered Toshio Odate’s book on Japanese Woodworking tools, got to studying, and the box arrived shortly thereafter.

Admittedly, I didn’t study that hard because once I got the handle set up on the chisel, I got to cracking on making a dai for this blade. I’d never tapped out a blade before, so I opted to flatten the back on float glass and pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) lapping film. I’d never sharpened without a jig before, so I sharpened this blade until my finger pads wore through from touching the stones. I used a block of soft maple that was given to me by a local friend and I hacked this thing apart with mortising chisels until I had the basics of a dai. And you know what? I skipped the part in Odate about tuning the bottom, and I was pulling shavings with it in western red cedar.

Uradashi or “tapping out”. Displacing the laminated iron to alter the shape of the hard steel hagane beneath.

The plane itself, while haphazardly made, and barely functional, still kind of worked. And the surface it left was incredible, even at my complete lack of skill level.

That sparked a relationship with a tool dealer who gets the best treasures from Japan. I also purchased a V1 blade from Andrew Ren of which I also cut a dai for, and did much more skillfully. I purchased and set up dai through Suzuki Tool. I started performing uradashi on my blades. I got quality water stones and learned the importance of flatness in my stones. And then, with a number of basic reps took an in-person class at the Florida School of Woodwork with Andrew Hunter. Andrew’s class was excellent for someone like me trying to level up from mediocre-poor to passable. I continued to take more Zoom classes through Kez-USA, learning from David Wood and continued to improve my own skill set through practice and repetition. I’ve now read Dale Brotherton’s book, “Sharpening and the Japanese Hand Plane in Depth” at least a dozen times and I still learn something new every time I read it.

Using kanaban to check for blade flatness.

All of this culminated last year at the Maine Japanese Woodworking Festival. It was my first in person Japanese woodworking event. I sharpened and pulled shavings all weekend. I really did little else. I wanted to see if I could elevate what I was doing and although there was a planing competition on the schedule, I was unsure if I would compete. I watched Andrew Ren use his own V1 in an Osage Orange dai that he had cut pull what I could only deduce were probably 7-10 micron shavings with ease. I had the opportunity to hold his plane, look at his settings, and even take a couple pulls myself. Even using his own plane that he set up, I still found that my shaving quality wasn’t nearly as good as his just due to his skill set. Jude Noteboom who was also present gave me a lot of tips on Kezurokai style planing technique, the Kamijo footwork, and how to set up beams for planing.

I decided I’d at least try and qualify, so after taking a few shavings and having Andrew Ren measure them with the micrometer, he walked me over to another beam and asked me to take another shaving. I backed the setting out a little finer and pulled a shaving that was somewhere just north of 20 microns.

“Try softer pressure.” He said.

I looked at the translucent full length and full width shaving that was coming from the throat of my blade.

“That’s a good one.” He said.

The micrometer pinched down on the shaving.

“14 microns.” He smiled.

I grinned so hard my face almost cracked. Number one qualifier for the finals.

Checking the mating surfaces between the kanna blade and the uragane.

I didn’t win the whole thing, and that’s okay. My eyes were opened to what was possible and what I could possibly achieve through diligence, practice, and patience.

This video, at this point in my Japanese woodworking tool journey, is the culmination of all my education and experience. From someone who built a shit plane out of wood that doesn’t even grip the blade correctly, to someone who can regularly set up a plane with a minimum amount of screaming and cussing. This video, has been one of the most requested by my small but dedicated audience and I’m happy and proud to provide it.

The chatoyance of a kanna finish on mahogany.

Filming this video was not easy. I tried to talk through in real time a lot of the steps. For some reason I got hooked on the term “overcooked” and said it about four times in thirty seconds at one point. The work is time consuming, so certain sections have to be sped up to be able to show how long some of these processes take, but make it tolerable to watch. I used “thought bubbles” to try and convey certain ideas and concepts after the fact because the subject is so deep and so nuanced that I couldn’t accurately and succinctly convey things with spoken word alone. I recorded the entire section on the uragane (chip breaker) without audio on the first go around and had to go back and record an after the fact tutorial on it. In my opinion, that section is unfortunately the biggest failure of the video. However, there’s clear dedicated chapters so that the viewer can use this is a reference material later during set up and tuning and I believe that all the major components are there, especially if one is utilizing the books suggested in the closing comments of the video.

A 42 mm Yamamoto koganna with Swedish blue steel in mahogany.

Hope you like it. Let me know if it’s something you found helpful and if there’s other things you’d like to see on the channel moving forward.

New Year, New Me?

The first Monday of 2023… wow. What a whirlwind 2022 was. From teaching at WorkbenchCon to Maker Camp, collaborations with Bart Komar, Anne (of all Trades) Briggs, and Sam (DIYHuntress) Raimondi, it genuinely felt like I was on the road at least one weekend a month for the entirety of the year. Therefore, starting in November, I really took time to stay home, stay grounded, and start focusing on preparing my shop for 2023.

Diablo Tools SandNet Replaceable Sheets

The first thing needed was to get my final commission piece out the door. I completed a pretty epic vanity which included a monster kumiko panel which in filled the apron. The build took me the better part of two months, with a couple intervening tropical storm/hurricanes along the way. At one point, I even moved my “kumiko work space” into my dining room and was paring down components at my dining table while the world stormed away outside.

Diablo SandNet in action

However, as part of my role with the Home Depot PROspective, I opted to utilize two varying products to make this build a reality. For starters, SandNet Sandpaper (https://homedepot.sjv.io/c/2589535/1468023/8154), which while I’m not a fan of SandNet with my power sanders, I am a huge fan of using it for hand sanding applications. The block is highly functional, with a hard and soft side that can provide a flat true reference or knock down edges and work curves. I’m not a huge fan of sandpaper in general in my work. My aim is to always get the job done with a sheared surface. But ultimately, sandpaper does have a place in my shop and is vital in applications that are too clunky for hand planes and require a bit more simplification in execution.

Now to install the kumiko panel, I conceived a ton of different alternatives that were extremely labor intensive and frustrating. I actually also shot out a few video calls to experienced kumiko heads Miles from MakewithMiles and Johnny Tromboukis. And despite getting perfectly fine suggestions from them, I opted to utilize a rabbeting bit and rabbet the panel in from the back. Since the vanity was in a nook, there was no possibility of someone catching an angle to be able to see the rabbet from the side, so it was the path of least resistance as far as I was concerned. The rabbeting bit I utilized was again from Diablo Tools (https://homedepot.sjv.io/c/2589535/1468024/8154) and what I was a huge fan of was the fact that they make this adjustable rabbeting bit so that you can vary the width of the rabbet simply by changing the bearing.

Diablo 1/2” multi-rabbet kit

This was such an awesome concept for me because it turns one router bit into six. And most of all, the ease of use is exceptional. By simply using an allen key to swap the bearing out, you can create a varying width and the finish off the carbide itself is exceptional. While it still leaves a rounded inside corner, that can easily be knocked off with a chisel.

Replacing the bearing on the 1/2” multi-rabbet bit

Check out the full video on the vanity build here…

Now for my last trick, I’ll use a dovetail router bit without a router table to create a sliding dovetail. Well okay, this one wasn’t nearly as simple as expected. The 1/3 in. x 1/2 in. Dovetail bit from Diablo with the quarter inch shank (https://homedepot.sjv.io/c/2589535/1468025/8154) is an extremely impressive tool, but let’s just say using this in a trim router without proper setup did leave some inconsistencies. For this tool I utilized the sliding dovetail for a saw and plane till for my Japanese saws and planes. The saws hang from the top while the planes rest on a 45 degree bevel that catches between the back of the blade and the body. A simple, time tested design.

Diablo Dovetail Bit

The bit itself is a fairly standard dovetail angle at 14 degrees and since there isn’t a bearing guide (which is not unusual for dovetail bits) you can use this in a router table, with extreme success and consistency, or you can use it in the way I did, with a trim router edge guide, and varying make shift fences, to achieve your desired result. Just be forewarned that if you use it in the way that I did, you’ll require a double and triple check during setup to ensure accuracy. I had a number of issues keeping my varying boards clamped securely enough so at the end of the day, I landed on a 50% success rate. Using a router table would ensure 100% success.

Diablo Dovetail Bit in Trim Router with Edge Guide

As with all Diablo router bit products, the finish quality off the tool is exceptional.

Final Image of sliding dovetail cut with Diablo Dovetail Bit

Check out the full video on the build here…

Let’s get to a pretty crazy announcement though. I sold my table saw! If you’re actively watching, you know that I’ve been using a Jet 3 hp cabinet saw for a number of years. However, as my work has shifted slowly to more of a hand tool focused product, and in the past three years taken an extra turn with Japanese woodworking tools an attempts at more traditional Japanese woodwork, it occurred to me that the cabinet saw with an 84” fence might not be so useful. I’ll be replacing the tool with a 15” bandsaw which means a ton in terms of what I’ll be able to do with re-sawing, curvature, and rough cutting tenons. I’ve also added a Festool MFT table for when I need extra accurate cross cuts. Stay tuned to see what this new shop shift is going to look like in 2023 and thanks for keeping abreast of all things Cow Dog!

The Latest and Greatest - Sofa Table and Low Work Horse

It’s been a hectic past couple of months over here in the garage shop. There’s been a lot of shop upgrades and small builds and a HUGE announcement.

So let’s begin with the low hanging fruit: the Black Limba Sofa Table.

I was commissioned by a returning client to build a sofa table to match some floating shelves I did for her home. This sofa table is made from black limba which was harvested from the former state champion tree. Therefore, this was the largest tree of its kind in the State of Florida and it came down during Hurricane Irma a few years back. This is sort of the end of the supply that was salvaged and in conjunction with the work I do with The Home Depot PROspective and DIABLO Tools, I was able to turn this slab into a great little table to back a sofa so that Children can eat and watch television at the same time. The American dream of course.

Ultra Finish Blade Cross Cut

For this project and quarter I went with two of their finish cross cut blades. What is a finish cross cut blade you ask? Well, it’s an extremely high tooth blade that is designed for cutting perpendicular to the grain which leaves an extremely glassy finish, something in the ballpark of an equivalent to 220 grit. I’ve tried some of their finish style cross cut blades before but opted to go for their higher finish quality offerings this time around specifically: 7-1/4 in. x 60-Tooth Fine Finish Circular Saw Blade (pictured above) and 10 in. x 90-Tooth Ultimate Polished Finish Circular Saw Blade (pictured below).

For the most part I’ve always been quite pleased with the results of my DIABLO tools offerings and these were no exception. They perform exactly as indicated and candidly, if you’re like myself and get a little lazy on swapping your blades in and out for rip and cross cuts, well they still work… albeit slower.

Black Limba Sofa Table

The joinery I went with here was a ship miter, also known as tomekata sanmai hozo. It’s essentially a tenoned miter joint. The tenons are cut into the miter and act as splines to create more strength in a notoriously weak end grain to end grain joint. I also did some Japanese style bow tie splines to preserve a crack in the original slap which really gives this rustic piece a bit of an elevated look. Be sure to check out the video for more on that and to see these tools in action.

Now onto the big announcement. I have teamed up with Jonathan Katz-Moses and KM Tools to serve as the Director of the Katz-Moses Woodworkers with Disabilities Fund. As a civil servant for the past ten years, I’ve grown accustomed to giving back and when Jonathan announced that he was looking for a director for the charity, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to work with him on something I’m super passionate about.

What is the Katz-Moses Woodworkers with Disabilities Fund? The Katz-Moses Woodworkers with Disabilities Fund aims to resource and assist woodworkers and craftspeople with mental, physical, and combat related disabilities to be able to grow their hobby, craft, and passion. Making and creating has proven to have extreme therapeutic effects for this population, and the fund aims to not only provide tools and physical resources, but community and assistance as well.

This past weekend we went ahead and launched #BuildUpInitiative, a unique program designed to link up volunteer builders with recipients in need to offer three types of projects. A micro-workbench with quick release vise, a gantry crane with electric chain hoist, and the low combination work horse - a variation on a traditional saw bench.

The Low Combination Work Horse in action

For more information on how to help out with #buildupinitiative click on the hashtag here (or previously), or check out Jonathan’s video that I’ve linked below.

As for my build, this saw bench utilizes dog holes to help with work holding, a problem we’ve identified from speaking with disabled woodworkers in our community. And since I’ve been working with DIABLO tools and the Home Depot PROspective I opted to utilize their Speed Demon Spade Bits (pictured below) to knock out the dog holes on this really functional saw bench.

Speed Demon 3/4 Spade Bit

The dog holes are spaced in line 4 inches apart as marked by dividers to provide the maximum ability to hold almost any item on its surface. The speed demon bits specifically, which can be used in a drill or impact driver, give extremely fast and clean results: Demo Demon Spade Bit Set for Nail-Embedded Wood (3-Pieces). Also worth noting that the nail-embedded wood feature allows this thing to tear through old scrap wood with pieces of screws, etc. lodged in it. It’s traditionally designed to bore holes in old framework, but worked just fine in this traditional woodworking application.

What are some of the other benefits of the low work horse? Well I set it to the same height as my timber frame saw horses, so if I’m working on exceptionally long pieces I have an extra point of support. It also provides the user with a more over the workpiece work experience, has a bird’s mouth on one end for rip and cross cuts, and also allows the user to sit and work which allows for greater comfort and ease in work. It’s extremely versatile, great for working on a porch like I often do, and also good for small spaces as well. Be sure to check out the video below.

The Japanese Tool Box

I really want to call this a traditional Japanese tool chest. Truth be told, while the YouTube video is titled that way, there is little that is traditional about this. Yes, it holds a variety of traditional tools. However, I designed this tool chest in an effort to be approachable and affordable to the average person. Notwithstanding that, it was wildly difficult and annoying to build. It almost felt that buy trying to simply the build that I kept managing to mess things up along the way.

Japanese Tool Chest made with construction grade yellow pine

Japanese Tool Boxes and Tool Chests are very humble in their origin. They are primarily made from construction grade materials that craftsmen had available to them and they carry a variety of hand tools as well as sharpening equipment and layout tools. They’re practical. Supposed to be used on the job site or on the floor in a home where a shokunin would be crafting shoji screens. They appear to be vastly different from Dutch tool chests or their western counterparts that are most often embellished heavily and painted, some even made with decorative trim.

My idea in this video was to make a humble tool chest to house my tools when I travel and to keep them sort of condensed in the shop. I looked to the Anarchist Tool Chest by Christopher Schwarz as inspiration, but clearly I did not do nearly as much research and did not put the thoughtfulness into how the tools ultimately laid in the chest itself. The result is a functional box, that houses my tools, but that does not really comport to the idea of the chest itself having the tools inside while I pick what I need out of it and then put it back in its place. Instead, I designed it with various trays that need to be lifted out and while that does have its place and it is useful to an extent, it’s not the “ultimate Japanese tool chest” that I dreamed of making. C’est la vie.

The unsung hero of affordable dado stacks the DIABLO Stacked Dado Set

As part of The Home Depot PROspective I do have to highlight two of the unsung tools in this build. First, the DiABLO Stacked Dado Set, ringing in at under $100 was a godsend. I’ve cut dados by hand or used multiple passes with a rip blade and well… it’s not ideal. This dado stack is omni-directional and it cut impressively clean and accurate dados. It’s also worth mentioning that it has a really helpful diagram included in the packaging that dials things in to 1/32”. I had some odd thickness for my case work and the chart allowed me to cut deadly accurate dados that only required just a touch of kigoroshi to make it fit perfectly. For more on that, watch the video.

DIABLO Cross Cut Blade in Action

Now I know a salty old woodworker is going to roll his eyes into the back of his brain when I say this… but I don’t typically switch out rip blades and cross cut blades. Candidly, I’m usually just roughing stuff out on machines and most of my refining work is done by hand so this always seemed like an annoying unnecessary step. However, when DIABLO sent me this high tooth cross cut blade I realized, in devastating fashion, that I’ve been wrong this whole time.

The end result of white pine with the DIABLO cross cut blade

The high tooth count makes for an almost finish ready surface immediately off the saw blade. I don’t do a ton of sanding but just from feel, it appeared to have the look of a 220-320 grit surface off the bat. And as a test, of my own laziness as well as the blade itself, I left it in for some small rip cuts and honestly, it still worked. It was a fair bit slower but it still handled the job perfectly fine. It was an inexpensive and practical option that I’m a bit embarrassed that I hadn’t handled sooner.

Both of these tools are available at Home Depot. The dado stack is linked here: https://homedepot.sjv.io/JrjkWa. Whereas the cross cut blade is linked here: https://homedepot.sjv.io/BXG51L. Neither of these tools are remarkably expensive and they are almost guaranteed to elevate your work. In the case of the dado stack, I can testify that I’ve used vastly more inexpensive options and been extremely disappointed. In fact, one particular option within a couple uses lost a carbide tooth which is not only bad for work but also potentially dangerous to the user.

Be sure to check out the video to see not only the tools in action but also the various ups and downs of this project. I’ll say that while this all ended up coming together just fine, at one point it felt as though someone dropped a hex on this project as the mini-fails just kept a rolling. Should make for a fun ride.

Let me know what you think!

Handling a Japanese Hammer - Genno

For one, I cannot honestly believe it’s 2022. It seems like yesterday I began my woodworking journey and honestly, it keeps taking some pretty hard left turns and my dive into Japanese woodworking and its tools is absolutely no exception. I remember seeing Chris (yes another one) from Third Coast Craftsman handle a custom hammer head from Japan a couple of years back and I always wanted the opportunity to do so myself. I’ve got a couple of quality chisel knockers in my arsenal but this year, I wanted to really dive deep and do something that was in my opinion next level and meaningful.

Many of you may not be aware, but my Mother is from Singapore. I grew up in a house chock full of Asian influence, Japanese paintings, Indonesian carvings, and Eastern inspired lines. In fact, I remember going to my friends homes as a kid and noting at the differences in the furniture. Most of my friends lived in homes with stained white (or god forbid red) oak. A lot of folks had Ikea furniture and glass surfaced tables whereas we had a ton of marble and rosewood in our home. Our “coffee table” so to speak is a monster 8’ x 4’ “day bed” sans cushion. The apron and legs are intricately carved and my Father who passed away in 2018 used to say that the legs were broken off by customs on its way to the states because they had suspected smuggling. Whether that is true or false, I will never know.

Using the DIABLO Bi-Metal Jig Saw Blades with Bi-Directional Tooth Design

In making this handle, I had to bulk out a majority of the shape with a pretty standard jig saw. I gave up my bench top bandsaw shortly after starting the YouTube channel. It’s a decision I don’t really regret but at the same time, having something like that would be extremely valuable for a project such as this. So when DIABLO sent me out these Bi-Metal Jig Saw Blades with Bi-Directional Tooth Design, I was immediately intrigued.

For starters, the bi-directional tooth design is something I’ve never really encountered before on a jig saw blade and I was pleasantly surprised by the functionality. These blades are 4 5/8” long, fairly long for a standard jig saw blade and operating at 13 TPI (teeth per inch). At that TPI, the cut is pretty fine to begin with, but the bi-directional tooth design is really where things kick off. The center of the blade has an almost neutral tooth pattern where the top part of the blade has a downward cut and the bottom part of the blade has an upward cut. The result being an extremely clean result on both top and bottom.

Bi-Metal Jig Saw Blade in Action

Now the only thing I didn’t anticipate was that this was not exactly ideal for thinner stock. Where this would really come in handy is on wood that is substantially thicker than this hammer handle. If you’re operating purely on the base plate, you’d end up with really only the cleanest surface on top and a moderately clean surface on the bottom as opposed to the ultra fine finish that this design affords. There’s a couple of quick solves here that would make this more practical.

For one, utilizing a riser on the base plate of your jig saw, such as a 3/4” piece of plywood mounted to the bottom, would lift the section of blade to the more appropriate height. The idea being that you want the middle section of teeth to be aligned to the middle of your board to allow for that clean cutting area on both top and bottom.

The other option is what I used on the handle, which is to eventually lift the base plate off the work piece and sort of free hand it. Since I was going to do a fair bit of refining with hand tools, this was a really practical and easy option and it cut smoothly and quickly doing so. An absolute win.

If you’re interested in this product, check out the link here: https://homedepot.sjv.io/JrjGEE and don’t forget to watch the YouTube Video on how I crafted this handle from a piece of scrap jatoba.

Hand Tool Woodworker's Holiday Gift Guide 2021 (Japanese Tool Edition)

Back by popular demand, I present to you the holiday gift guide for the grumpy dovetail cutter in your life. Hand tool woodworking is certainly a niche. Whether you’re a hand tool purist or one of those “hybrid” woodworkers, most folks need some hand tools in their woodworking shop. As the holidays are almost here and you may need some last minute gift ideas, I present to you some high end and low end options for near everything.

Many of these items I own. Some I do not. My wife won’t be reading this and she doesn’t buy me tools anymore anyway so this isn’t really for my benefit but for yours.

Japanese Hand Tools: Zetsaw Kataba, Genno, and Framing Chisel

Saws

If you’ve been following along on social media and YouTube you may be aware that I’ve really gone in on Japanese tools heavy. It’s a big wide world of really expensive hand crafted artisan stuff and saws for them are really no different. However, with that being said, for whatever reason they at least seem to have touched on the industrial revolution with hand saws. Whether it’s a ryoba or a spined dozuki, there are extremely affordable options and the best part about these affordable options is that you don’t have to learn how to sharpen your saws, which seems to be required for western back saws. All of these more mass produced saws have replaceable blades which are also incredibly affordable as well. The link below is for the Zetsaw Kataba with cross cut teeth. I will add that even though it has cross cut teeth, it does effectively rip as well, it just does it slower. If you’re into a more high end option check out Suzuki Tool. Custom saws may be ordered from Japan and those start at $540 and have a pretty significant lead time. Clearly a substantial difference in pricing from the $25.50 Zetsaw price tag.

Sharpening

Man… if I had a dollar for every time I spoke on the importance of sharpening. If your tools aren’t sharp, then you’re not working. The amount of time and care I spend sharpening my blades is substantial. There’s a couple of things to note: 1) I work on a four stone system so to speak. I have a two sided diamond plate and a set of three stones, 1000, 3000, and 8000. I then strop with green compound on a piece of leather. For the money and for their wide availability, Shapton glass back stones cannot be beat.

Now it appears that the supply chain maladies of the world have impacted the availability of the 1000 stone on Amazon. Therefore, I’ve linked the 500 stone above. However, the point is that you don’t need to be maniacal about fairly large jumps in grit. You do however need to have a substantial range to have the highly polished surfaces and create an appropriate burr. The benefit of the glass back is really simple: it prevents the stones from flexing from prolonged use. One of my favorite things about these stones is that they are not traditional water stones. They do not need to be soaked or stored in water. They simply need to be spritzed with water or a lubricant like windex and used.

And yet again, the exact DMD diamond plate I use is unavailable at this time. As I said before, I have a 120 and 400 sided plate. I lap with the 120 and use the 400 for getting out nasty cracks or chips before moving to my glass backs. However, if you’re looking for a lapping plate and don’t want to spend $200 or more, the above is definitely an option. After reviewing some of the Amazon comments and ratings, which I should add are primarily positive, the biggest complaint appears to be its weight. And yes I understand that these lapping plates are extremely light. However, they are flat and they are cheap, and they remove material well. The fix for light lapping plate? Well dummies… just take the plate to the stone as opposed to taking the stone to the plate. Believe me when I say that this is a phenomenal option that I actually discovered after being referred to it by master Takami Kawai.

If you’re one of those folks that refuses to take the plate to the stone as opposed to the stone to the plate, then the DFM Lapping Plate is for you. It’s significantly less expensive than it’s counter part made by DMT (not to be confused with DMD) and it’s got that heft that most people expect from a quality lapping plate. I’ve had one since JT released these a couple months back and I’ve been more than pleased. While it could be larger (that’s what she said), the weight and it’s grit are perfect for flattening. As a bonus, I flip mine over and use it as an “anvil” of sorts when I’m tapping out doing uradashi on my Japanese steel. It’s flat and weighty and that’s what matters for that.

Japanese Planes

Japanese planes are a dangerous and expensive rabbit hole to go down. And when I say dangerous I mean for your bank account not necessarily… for anything else. As a significantly cheaper and less labor intensive option, these Kakuri planes aren’t that bad. The steel is not as high quality as a hand forged artisan option, but from what I understand they sharpen easily and the dai doesn’t take an excessive amount of tuning. It’s also certainly a better option than just buying a blade itself and having to cut your own dai for the first time. Take it from me… I know. However, if you’re already an aficionado let me direct you to Suzuki Tool once again for your hira-ganna. You can buy just the steel, you can get dais for most. They do take a little time and man… some of them can be wicked expensive. But a couple things to note: these are heirloom tools. They are hand crafted by some of Japan’s finest blacksmiths and furthermore the customer service from Suzuki Tool is unmatched. In fact, when I purchased my plane from them recently Suzuki, the owner of Suzuki Tool called me to ask me about my experience with Japanese planes, what I’m going to be using it for, the kind of wood I’m going to be planing, etc. all to get a feel for whether or not the purchase is the correct one for me. Now THAT is service.

Re-Handling a Japanese Chisel

This chisel is my favorite in my arsenal and has been a staple on the channel for a number of videos. It needed some TLC that required me to remove the old chisel handle, which was crafted by myself from Australian Pine and send it back to the blacksmith. Essentially there was a tempering and hardness issue that caused a pretty nasty crack in the edge. So after I got it back from the blacksmith who did a phenomenal job on the repair, I decided to opt to spin up another handle out of extra curly white oak I had laying about.

Re-handling a Japanese chisel does take a little extra thought as opposed to their western counterparts. Japanese chisels are tricky because they are built with hybrid construction in mind. They're a cross between a tang chisel and a socket chisel which makes fitting extra tricky.

After a little time on the lathe and utilizing CA as a pore filler and first layer of finish, then finalizing with a wax finish from Real Milk Paint Company, this sword was ready to go. I’m also happy to report that after all this time it’s working better than ever as well.

Help support my work through the following affiliate links, all products utilized in the making of this project:

The Real Milk Paint Company's Impressive line of finishing products (Special Affiliate Link): https://www.realmilkpaint.com/ref/cowdogcraftworks/
For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

Starbond CA Glues (Special Affiliate Link):
https://bit.ly/36sB2Bv
For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

DIABLO 1/3 Sheet Hand Sanding Block: The Home Depot PROspective

I have to admit: I’m not one for trying new things. The sanding block in my shop is an old rubber block with tack ends that I inherited from my Dad’s garage. My choice of sandpaper has mostly been whatever is cheapest and simplest and for the most part I’ve been fine with that. To be honest, as I’ve gotten into hand planes and more shearing finishing techniques, sanding just isn’t something I do all that often.

But then enter maladies. I’m still a novice at this. I am by no means a master or an expert at hand tool woodworking and there’s a couple obvious things to cover here. First of all, I still from time to time make rookie mistakes or get confused by a grain switch and suffer borderline catastrophic tear out. Secondly, there’s times, sometimes related to the first, where there’s material that I don’t want anywhere near my finely honed plane blades. CA glue for one is a major culprit there.

When that’s the case, I often reluctantly resort to sanding. And since I loathe sanding what is better than a quality product that allows me to sand less.

I was fortunate enough to be re-selected for the Home Depot PROspective program and have partnered with DIABLO tools to feature a number of their products of my selection. This one was an obvious one. I’ll be featuring a few different products in the future but I’m starting here with the 1/3 Sheet Hand Sanding Block that comes with their SandNET sheets.

To begin, I’ve had mixed experiences with SandNET on random orbital sanders, so to say I was skeptical at first was probably an understatement. This block features a high density foam side and a softer foam side for curves and contours. The high density foam side is indeed dense and stays flat. The softer foam side isn’t exactly for tight radius inside curves but does operate well in dipping into low spots from tear out with a little pressure. The SandNET sheets attach via hook and loop and they stay on very solidly. As far as the quality of the SandNET sheets? I don’t know what DIABLO did in the past three years or so since I originally tried their product but it’s vastly improved.

The obvious statement is that the 80 grit SandNET, even when used by hand, absolutely eats. And as an avid joinery enthusiast, that precious fine dust that is being created is perfect for filling imperfections and it’s definitely of a finer grade than sawdust off your saw plate. The particular kit that was sent to me had 80, 120, and 220 grit and with this product, that appears to be the logical transition through the grits.

I think the most unique thing about this product though, is the reusability of the sheets. Traditional sandpaper clogs often with fine dust and then you can try and vacuum it or use one of those rubber sandpaper cleaners but that’s just a hassle. The SandNET sheets are actually washable. Yes, you read that correctly. You can rinse them under water, vacuum, and otherwise clean it a number of times before you actually need to replace it. That was instantly impressive.

I ended up utilizing it on a mitered dovetail box where I CA glued a void on the inside of the box. I didn’t dare send my timber slick or block plane after it, and card scraper burrs love to fall victim to CA glue after a few passes. Traveling through the grits with this block was exactly what the doctor ordered and gave me a clean surface that actually bore some sheen which is nice.

I’ll have a YouTube video up in the next week or two on the box where you can see the SandNET in action.

For more on the DIABLO 1/3 Sheet Reusable Hand Sanding Block check it out here: http://homedepot.sjv.io/c/2589535/1208502/8154

Building an Backyard Speakeasy Gate

Hello Cow Dog Craft Works blog, it’s me. Ya boi.

All kidding aside, I’ve been quite busy on the tail end of this year and with a wedding coming up in another couple weeks, my shop time has been extremely limited. With that being said, I did want to take the time to share some projects on here and give some different perspectives on things than my other social channels as well as the article up on Instructables.

These gates were custom made for design influencer @galeyalix on Instagram. No they weren’t made on Instagram. She’s on Instagram. Well she’s everywhere, but I digress. The concept behind these is quite simple. Construction grade cedar, joined together like a table with epoxy, with a breadboard end capping the bottom to keep it flat. Since the video came out, these gates have seen a ton of wild Florida weather and they still open and close like a dream and none of the gates have potato chipped from some otherworldly wood movement. With that being said, these gates have moved: yes wood movement is real.

An unknown secret about these gates is the fact that they were actually done long before they were installed. How long? Months. Galey’s yard was a full blown construction site, with a new fence, pool work, turf being installed, etc. So in reality, these gates were one of the last things that needed to be installed but because I’m kind of quick sometimes, one of the first things done. If you’re familiar with what I do, you know I have limited space at my home shop, so the gates were stored on site. They were stickered and stacked properly. However, with all the folks running around the property and workers sitting on them eating lunch and moving around, they ended up under a tarp for a while getting rained and stained. On install day, I spent about four hours sanding through the equivalent of two months of sticker stain just to get the color back. What I did notice though that morning was that the breadboard end worked exactly as advertised. The main panels of the door shrank about 1/8 inch on either side and the breadboard end sat just a touch proud. That’s likely from the wood drying out from “store bought” level to a more consistent moisture content. However, all three doors constructed remained flat, which showed that my theory of doing the breadboard end on only one side was a success.

Cutting a semi-circle with a router jig.

Something else worth mentioning is the unsung hero of this product, Mas Epoxies’ “Crackzilla” (https://masepoxies.com/?ref=18 For 10% off AND free shipping use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks). Crackzilla is one of my new favorite products, not just from Mas but out in general. I’m not an epoxy river guy. I use epoxy primarily as an adhesive most often and I get frustrated measuring out huge batches and wasting it, or dealing with poor measurement which causes it to kick off too soon. Crackzilla works in a caulk gun with a self mixing syringe and if you don’t use it all in one go, you can cap it and store it away for another time. It’s a lot more resistant to the elements than wood glue in outdoor applications and squeeze out is easy to clean with a little acetone. 12/10 recommend.

Mas Epoxies “Crackzilla” in action. Use coupon code “Cowdogcraftworks” for 10% off and free shipping at https://masepoxies.com/?ref=18

Some random closing thoughts:

A fair bit of folks have asked me about plans for this project (I know all social media folks say that). However, I really want to encourage those who are looking to make this to step outside their comfort zone and attempt this build without set plans in mind. There’s a number of reasons for this so let’s talk about them. 1) Gates are meant to fit their openings and there’s literally no way I can predict what your opening is. 2) Gates are made for different purposes and their heights and thicknesses (or is it thicknii) vary based on that purpose. For instance, the “baby gate” is a little under 4’ high whereas the main gate in my YouTube video is closer to 7 feet high. 3) I recently listened to a podcast with famed celebrity chef and restauranteur David Chang.

David Chang hates recipes. In his opinion, and one that I share, if you’re following a recipe to a “T” and your analysis stops there, you’ll never develop as a chef. If you’re not paying attention to the “why” of what you’re doing then you’re not learning the underlying principles behind your recipe. I think of plans in the same way. Plans should be used in most instances as guidelines not gospel. As you work your way through them, you should be thinking about the principles of why components are placed where they are and why they interact with each other the way that they do. So with this recipe, I’m telling you the wood species, the joinery involved, and why I used the products I used. It’s my earnest hope that even if you don’t make this project, that you’ll have a greater understanding of wood, the techniques in working it, and most importantly the “why” behind it all.

Be sure to check out the video.

The Backyard Speakeasy Gate in action

Help support my work through the following affiliate links, all products utilized in the making of this project:

-Starbond CA Glues: https://bit.ly/36sB2Bv For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

-MAS Epoxies: https://masepoxies.com/?ref=18 For 10% off AND free shipping use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

VanDyke's Restorers (Non-Affiliate Link): https://bit.ly/2W3mGqf

Okada Hardware Mfg Z-Saw 3 265mm (Universal H-265) (Japan import): https://amzn.to/3xSwujJ

DFM A2 Steel Dowel Plate 17 Holes MADE IN USA (English 17 Holes): https://amzn.to/2W05Bxm

Bessey BPC-H34 3/4-Inch H Style Pipe Clamp, red: https://amzn.to/3ANiHg5

Bessey Ratchet Clamp, 8 In, 3 In Throat, silver (KLI3.008): https://amzn.to/3AQFOGu

DEWALT Drill Bit Set, Brad Point, 6-Piece (DW1720) , Black: https://amzn.to/3xSFIfQ

Center Punch: https://amzn.to/3fSQsCj

Stanley Sweetheart Chisels: https://amzn.to/2ZATrKg

Glu-bot Glue Bottle: https://amzn.to/2CdxYOV

Mineral Spirits: https://amzn.to/31xTBmG

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Faber-Castell Ecco Pigment 0.1 mm Pen: https://amzn.to/36oLni8

Pentel Mechanical Pencil: https://amzn.to/36uqbab

RIDGID 1-Layer Standard Pleated Paper Filter for Most 5 Gal. and Larger RIDGID Wet/Dry Shop Vacuums (2-Pack): https://homedepot.sjv.io/gvD1O

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Festool 574332 Domino DF 500 Joining System: https://amzn.to/2XoKO6U

Making a Modern Dining Table

Where do I even begin honestly? A couple of months back, thinking I was going to be done doing commissions for a while, my old roommate from law school reached out to have me make a dining table for him. He was pretty enamored with the timber frame barn door and the Nakashima table, and since he and his wife recently moved into a new house, he essentially demanded to have some of my work in his house.

Honestly, I was humbled, thrilled, but already damn exhausted from some other things I’ve been working on before I head back to my re-opened office June 1st. I agreed and this creation is what I came up with.

Initially the idea was to do a Japanese style dovetail, which is set up a bit differently than a western dovetail, and have that draw bored with a square peg. However, two things happened during the process. For starters, I wanted to use a larger version of the square hole drilling chisel that I used on the timber frame barn door and Lee Valley tools is backordered till god knows when. Secondly, I forgot what the Japanese dovetail looked like and just started cutting away and next thing I know, I cut a western dovetail. That led me to doing a standard draw bore, which if you follow along, you’ve seen me do a thousand times. However, what makes this one interesting is the angle of the joint. the joint splays upward at ten degrees, which means that to keep the inside angle of the joint tight, the elbow if you will, it needs to draw in toward that elbow, essentially drawing tighter in two directions.

Ash Table Top Before Finish

The top was inspired by the timber frame barn door, and while I wanted to use the white wax from the Real Milk Paint Company again, I opted for Rubio Super White to create a water resistant surface that can be touched up from time to time. The white color still highlights the grain, but was a design choice from the client to match their home decor. The rich tones from the Spanish Cedar create an awesome contrast to that.

Overall, this build used just under $1000 in material. I opted for S4S Ash which was $4.20/bf + $150 milling charge. The Spanish Cedar I bought a pack of on a deal so I probably used about $100 worth of it. The Rubio was about $60 and I still have enough for a small project if I'm so inclined. The final dimensions of this table are 8' x 4' x 1.5" for the top and the base is 69" long at the stretcher and 28" high. It's a beast.

Flattening a face with a hand plane

If you're unfamiliar with my work or my channel, you may just be like, "Hey guy... buy a jointer." I do not own a jointer. I would love one, but I just don't have the space. Therefore, if I'm not paying someone to joint stuff for me with booze and steaks, I'm doing it myself and I usually have to get creative. Here, I opted to cut my glued up stock to rough size and then brad nail a piece of plywood with a straight edge on it. That was used against a tall face which then gave me one mostly straight clean face. I then used a jointer plane to clean that up and then flattened the adjacent face with a jack plane. Boom. Much like using a jointer, I've got a flat edge and face square to each other, so I can flip it, run it through the thickness planer, and then trim the last edge off back on the table saw. It's gritty, it's not something I'm thrilled about. But it works.​

Bevel gauge set to cut for a ten degree splay.

​I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about how to cut dovetails. I have an entire YouTube video on that, an Instructables article, etc. What I will tell you are the keys to cutting this particular angled dovetail.

The dovetail sits at the bottom of the leg assembly. It splays upward at 10 degrees. If you're going to be cutting this on your table saw, you'll want to set it at 80 degrees to accommodate for the 10 (90-10). Then, really it's using your marking gauge to reference the thickness of your pin board to your tail board. The tricky thing with the angle will be on your faces as a marking gauge is a bit clumsy there since there's reference surface is angled. I like to do the two edges first, then use a square and a marking knife to mark the faces and connect the two lines from each edge. This takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it it'll make sense. A good tip here is to drop the point of your marking knife into the corner between the unmarked face and the line, and then slide the square up to it. That'll typically give you a pretty accurate reference.

Cutting is self explanatory. Mark your waste and don't cut things that aren't waste. If you're not confident with your sawing, stay away from the lines and pare or file down. I like to use a little baby rabbet on the insides of my tails to help them sit better and cover up any flaws in the inside corner (the elbow in this case). I also chamfer the corners of the tails on that side as well. It helps with fitting.

After you mark your pins, you're going to end up with a pretty hefty chunk of waste to cut out. I like to go with multiple relief cuts. If this stock was any thicker I wouldn't have gone with the fret saw, and instead would have just whacked it out with a mortise chisel. But because of the way I did the relief cuts, I was able to nibble off tiny bits of waste to not kill my blade through the process. I use a ten degree jig from scrap to give me a fence to chisel against to refine to my line, and then voila. You've got an angled dovetail. 

Sawing Pins

An angled draw bore isn't much different from a regular draw bore. The concept is: offset holes. Your hole on the tenon on a standard draw bore is offset about 1 mm toward the shoulder which sucks the joint tighter together. In this instance, you could settle for that, but I want to make sure that the vertical or ten degree angled member, and the base member, are being drawn together to meet at the elbow of the joint.

Here, I essentially found the center of my mortise from the outside by drawing an X on the outside of the pin board, using the base line and the end of the board as the parameters. You'll use a drill press or hand drill to drill that out. Then, assemble the joint, and use your same brad point bit to mark on your dovetail tenon. Then you'll move 1 mm toward the elbow of the joint, mark again, and drill that hole. Reassemble and drive your dowel in.

I tried something a little spicy here as far as setting the dowel. I don't know how repeatable this is considering I only did it twice. However, I actually waxed the sides of my dowel with paraffin and then chucked it up in the drill and drilled it to get past the offset. You'll sort of feel the drill stop once it gets over the hump because the dowel isn't going to want to spin after being bent. So once you get to that point you can knock it home the rest of the way with a mallet. Then saw and pare your excess dowel. 

Drilling a Draw Bore Dowel

A proud angled bridle joint is a bridle joint that sticks its chest out and says, "Hey... look at me". In all seriousness, I did this bridle joint in this way for a couple reasons. Number one, it looks cool. Number two, cutting down the tenon of the bridle joint to be about an inch makes cutting the mortise easy and I didn't feel like mucking around after all the labor that went into the dovetail.

A great trick I picked up from Christopher Schwarz's books is to use a chisel as an exact reference. So I actually used my one inch bench chisel to reference for creating the tenon. Then sawing that by hand, I do as I usually do: get close to the line, pare to the line. I wanted to create a little visual texture so I did an ever so slight chamfer on all the edges of the tenon.

For the mortise, it's the same concept as before: mark your waste, cut relief cuts, fret saw, and then chisel to the line. I actually used the same fence block as before to be able to pare exactly to my baseline for a flawless fit. Then it only takes a little glue to tap everything together and some light clamp work ensure that everything is set.​

The Completed Leg Assembly for the Modern Dining Table

The stretcher that joins the two separate leg assemblies together runs along the bottom and incorporates what I can only call a third lap. Basically the stretcher will cap off the top of the bottom of the leg assemblies. That may seem confusing but it really isn't.

Each leg assembly is divided into thirds by thickness and the top third is removed. The remainder is the depth of the mortise for the stretcher. I also did a very slight rabbet on each leg assembly just to ensure a visually flawless look when the joint is assembled. These joints were so tight in fact I had to use clamps to bring it together and let me tell you, pulling them apart a couple of times was a fun experience.

The ends of the stretcher are also cut at ten degrees but angling downwards to complement the legs. 

Cutting the Lap Joint by Hand

​To create a bit of visual contrast, I wanted to add a bevel to the middle of the upward portions of the legs, as well as the end and middle of the stretcher. This bevel is purely aesthetic and just creates a nice change in angle and reflects the light in an interesting way that is far more unique than just a squared beam base. Once that's done, the base can be assembled, which requires glue in the lap joints to lock them in forever.

To attach the base to the table top, I'll use figure eight fasteners. I went with figure eights because they could be extremely low profile and barely noticeable. Also, they can be attached using threaded inserts which will make for a cleaner more professional assembly process for the client when the table reaches them on the other side of the country.

For finish, I'm going with the Real Milk Paint Company's Wood Wax which is a blend of walnut oil and carnauba wax. I've been working with RMPC products for quite a while now and while this product is new, it's something I certainly trust and believe in. Walnut oil is a polymerizing oil so it will in fact cure into the product. A table base doesn't need the same protection as the top, so this is an ideal finish with a great tactile feel. Just wipe on, let set for about twenty minutes or so, and then wipe off the extra. I went back and spot checked and added more where the wood looked a little dry. Overall, it was pretty easy and it took about a week to ten days or so for a full cure.

Real Milk Paint Company Wood Wax

Applying Real Milk Paint Company Wood Wax

​In the interest of time, I chose to use S4S Ash. It cost me $150 for the mill time, but in my estimation it was every bit worth it. I was able to bring this home directly from the lumber yard and get to work. Since this is a huge table top 8' x 4' (a full sheet of plywood for reference), I opted to make my life easier by doing the glue up in sections. I had four boards, so I glued two together and then brought both halves together.

I use the domino for almost all panel glue ups and the process is remarkably the same. I go with a wide mortise setting on one side, and then the tight mortise setting for the side with the tenon. This helps with alignment and allows me a little wiggle room during the glue up to get things just the way I like them.

After that, I trimmed the ends and the edges at ten degrees to once again match the angle of the legs. I will say, the blade on my track saw is probably both dirty and dull, so instead of trying to go for the gusto in one shot, I did half inch passes and it did reduce burning significantly. 

All my panel glue ups are done with the Festool Domino

Dutchmen or "bow ties" as they're also called definitely have their place. But splines in small cracks and voids actually work quite well to prevent cracks and checks from worsening.

I used my domino in a bit of an unconventional way to hollow the bulk of these mortises out and then just used a chisel to square the corners up. Using some ash cut offs, I made tenons to fill these voids and peened what would be the inside end of them down, about a millimeter, to wedge in the void. Once the glue contacts it, the base expands and it creates an extremely snug fit.

Now, I'm sure a bunch of folks out there will say, "But Chris... how will a spline like that hold a crack? That's the point of the flare outs on Dutchmen." Well in my experience, the face grain to face grain connection between the spline and the base of the mortise is plenty fine to hold together small cracks. Don't do this on big cracks, and frankly, it may look a little silly on the top (you'll notice I did one on the top but I went with the grain). With the face to face connection and glue, it should prevent the crack from worsening. As for knots? I just think they're unsightly sometimes so I just got the extra practice and took care of that in the worst sections.

Now typically, I love a sheared hand planed surface. Especially on table tops. However, Rubio Monocoat can't adhere to a hand planed surface. So per the directions, I sand the entire top and bottom to 120 grit.​

Stitching Cracks on the Underside of the Table

I'm a bit ashamed to say it but I've never used threaded inserts before. I don't necessarily have anything against them but I just never felt the need to take the extra step. It's pretty simple. There's directions on the back of the box. Drill a slightly larger hole. Add a little epoxy or in this case CA glue and use an allen key to wrench the insert into place.

And in the spirit of firsts, I've also never used Rubio Monocoat either. I have to say, it is an impressive finish as far as convenience and ease. I haven't the slightest idea how it'll hold up over time, although I h​aven't heard many complaints. However, the fact you can sand to a low grit and it's dry to the touch in about an hour, makes it pretty enticing. There's a lot of hype on the price but really what they say is true, a little goes a long way. The tactile feel after cure is nice and it's fully ready for use after 24-36 hours. I don't know if it would be my go to on all my projects, because of the fact that it can't adhere to a sheared surface. However, for larger scale builds like this where the curing time needs to be fast, I can't imagine many things that are better or easier.

Rubio Monocoat Super White

Applying Rubio Monocoat

Really the most daunting thing about this build was the sheer size of the top in comparison to my shop. The actual build itself was interesting, but relatively pedestrian. The bridle joints and lap joints are very approachable for anyone just getting into hand cut joinery and while the angled draw bored dovetail is a little bit spicier, it too is extremely approachable.

As always, thanks for checking in on what I'm making. I'm excited to see if any of you all give something like this a whirl. It can be scaled to any size. Be sure to watch the YouTube video and let me know if you have any questions in the comments.

The Finished Modern Dining Table

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No Measure DIY Shed Flooring

When I first started woodworking I remember thinking that precision was all about the numbers. Find the number and execute the cut. The problem with that as I discovered over time is that measuring and cutting, especially in repetitive actions introduces a ton of opportunities for mistakes. Do you honestly do anything in your life absolutely perfect, or within tolerance for that matter, almost every time? Enter relative measurement. What is relative measurement for those who aren’t familiar? Well, it’s measuring something compared to another thing or estimating things proportionally to one another. Thanks google. Woodworkers that are more experienced might be familiar with “story sticks” cutting a scrap to length in order to use that as a measuring stick of which all other components of that length can be measured from. Well, when it came to putting in a shed floor inside a corrugated steel shed, I decided to do it without breaking out the tape measure and using straight relative measurement.

For the past few months I've spent a ton of time getting into complex joinery and fine woodworking. However, my workspace has found a way to be congested and not so aesthetically pleasing. ie. blue handled harbor freight pliers on the walls, plywood cleat systems covered in dust and cobwebs, etc.

So in an effort to start freeing up my walls and workspace, I bought a shed. It was a basic steel shed and I've got a patch of concrete next to my shop that is perfect to house it, but my house is on a bit of a slope, and water runoff directed flow into the shed. Getting a proper floor in there was the only thing that made any sense and I chose to just whip up something simple with pressure treated 2x4's and plywood.

Essentially I built a deck floor that was placed inside the shed. The principles are all the same: joists, ledgers, and braces capped with a floor.

Your joists are essentially your long boards and that'll bear a lot of the weight load. I use a trick for finding inside measurements by taking two pieces of scrap that are less than the overall length and sliding them out till they touch the sides. Clamp them and then move that piece to your workpiece to mark.

These pieces of plywood interestingly enough came from the box that the shed came in, so I didn't have to look far to find scraps. This relative measurement trick will save you a ton of frustration.

Furthermore, the joists will be capped on the ends of the shed by a ledger, so to calculate the ultimate length of the joist that I require, I took an off cut of my 2x4 and marked off two thicknesses (or thickni? or thiccnesses?) and then cut that to length. With that, I'm able to use that first piece as a story stick to measure off the other two joists.

And in the event you haven't seen this cross cutting rig, I just clamp a square to my 2x4 and use it as a fence to get a square cut. This particular saw's base plate edge is exactly 1 1/4 inch from the blade. You can take the time to measure that out, but I typically line the blade up to my marker line, slide the square up, and clamp accordingly. Easy peasy Japanesey.

As said before, the ledgers cap your joists on either end, so I used the same relative measurement trick to get the width of my shed and then take that to the workpiece to mark off.

I happen to know that my shed is 3' wide so joist placement is going to go exactly halfway. For most subfloors or decks, joists should be spaced 16" apart. I end up just a little bit over that, but with the joist bracing I have and the 3/4 ply this flooring will be plenty sturdy, likely overkilled.

To calculate the center of the board, I bump in from either end twelve inches and strike a line. You don't necessarily have to go in 12" from either end, but finding center on long boards this way gets a bit tricky as the intersection point is harder to delineate. Going 12" from either end in this instance makes the "X" that you're going to form a lot more clearer. Anyway, I digress...

Strike a line from the opposing corner to the other and form an "X" over your workpiece. The center point of that will be the middle of your board. It'll actually be the true center of your board, both at thickness and length, but really the length in this instance is all you're concerned with. Do the same on the center joist, but just do the "X" at the end, drill some pocket holes, and then align your center marks and screw together.

Now joist bracing is a lot of times unnecessary, especially if you've ran your joists exactly 16" apart and they're not uber long. However, since I was a little wider, I went with braces and I spaced this 16" apart as well. Super overkill. Do a bit of research on weight tolerances if you want to reduce material. Now when using reference pieces, it's important to understand blade kerf and how to remove material to make sure you're getting the perfect cut and fit. Since I'm using a fat marker here, 1/16 of a line on average, I strike the line off the edge of the piece I'm referencing onto my workpiece. Then when I make a cut, I want to remove that entire line to ensure I am at the same length as my reference piece. It's the Japanese carpentry concept of take the line, leave the line, or split the line. Taking the line brings me to reference. To nail the joist brace spacing, there's some 16" scraps that I'll use on either side as I pocket hole the boards in and any boards that are proud of the center joist are brought down to surface using a door planer.

Now this is where your order of operations might need to differ from mine. If I had a time machine, I’d go back and screw the plywood on first, trim, and then remove the plywood so that the substrate can be put in the shed and then attached with construction adhesive and screws after. The way I did it, made this a fair bit cumbersome on the install but we’ll cover that later.

I used a festool track saw track as a fence to trim the excess plywood off and thoroughly upset a bunch of grouchy folks on the internet. If you don’t have a track saw track, it’s no worries. I afterward used a piece of plywood and some double stick tape to do the exact same thing.

For finish I went with water based polyurethane for floors and just dumping it from the bottle. I’m using a semi smooth paint roller and I’m just gonna do one thicc coat and call it a day.

Now as I said before, I should have installed the top after it was in the shed already, but with some help from my neighbor and a little shimmying we somehow got it to settle just right.

The ideal way to do this would have been to pre-finish the top outside and then re-attach the top inside the shed. I probably could have actually moved the subfloor in by myself had I done that.

Great Stuff expanding foam fills the space around the floor to keep water and more importantly critters from coming up and in.

Once the foam is cured after a few hours that’s a wrap.

That's it folks! I've got a lumber rack coming soon and then it'll be a full clean and paint job for my actual shop before trying to do a proper hand tool cabinet, so hopefully you won't have to suffer through too many of these super DIY projects before we're back to the good stuff. Hope you learned something! Don't forget to watch the video and thanks always for your support.

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How to Make a Japanese Hand Plane | Kanna Plane

Since I’ve gotten into Japanese Woodworking and Carpentry, a kanna plane, or Japanese hand plane has been on my woodworking to-do list. I gave my best attempt at this thing in conjunction with the #planetrain2021 instagram challenge and while this worked to some extent, I’m chalking this up in the loss column. Here’s why.

So let’s begin from the beginning. Japanese hand planes came into fashion much later than their western counterparts, with the first basic hand planes appearing around the year 1500 and versions with chip breakers on the iron not until 1900. Japanese planes are meant to be used on the pull stroke and consist of a simple low rectangular plane body also known as a dai, and a thick wedge shaped iron. Some models have chip breakers and a retaining pin, whereas others do not. I opted to go for the more primitive model, without the retaining pin. 

Traditionally, plane bodies in Japan are made from Kashi wood (not the cereal) or Japanese oak. This shouldn’t be confused with white or red oak, as it is a bit more closed grain, and that closed grain actually helps the shavings eject from the throat more cleanly. The wood I’ve gone with is soft maple, which is really the generic name for a number of different species that is simply not hard maple. It does not necessarily dictate the actual Janka hardness of the wood. For the most part, due to their low center of gravity, low height, and the body positioning during planing, Japanese planes tend to be more stable during planing than their narrower soled western relatives. And when making a Japanese Kanna plane, it is important to start with properly milled, flat, and square stock.

Now let’s get into the layout. The layout gets confusing a bit so I’ve included the above photo in an effort to try to minimize the headaches. Basically, whatever your overall length is, you’ll divide that into a 6:4 configuration, with the dividing point being your reference line. I went with 25 centimeters as my length, so my mark was at 15 centimeters. How did I arrive at that? 25 divided by 10 is 2.5. 2.5 x 6 is 15. I prefer using the metric system in this application because it feels a little more exact and I don’t need to fuss with fractions. Then, depending on the type of wood you want to work with for the plane, you’ll set your bed angle or shikomi accordingly. I went with 38 degrees since I want to use this plane for more timber framing applications involving pine and cedar. However, 45 degrees would be for more standard hardwoods like maple or walnut and 52 degrees would be for extremely hard woods or exotics, acting almost like a scraper. You also need to draw from that line a 7 degree line which will leave room for shavings to eject from the throat. Then traveling up that line 4 millimeters, you’ll use that intersection point for the opposing side of the throat, at 105 degrees. The final angle is the measurement from the top of your ejection point to the base of the plane. In this case it’s 135 degrees. However, if you’re using a higher blade angle, that number will change accordingly. Whatever your blade angle, you need to add that seven degree angle to ensure proper functioning otherwise the shavings won’t eject and jam your throat and mouth.

Since this is my first time making one of these, I’m using pencil and laying everything out with some various layout tools, squares and protractors. However, when I do make my next one, I’ll probably use ink as these layout lines in graphite get faint with all the handling. A little trick for more accurate layout lines is to slide your measuring tool to the point of your marking instrument, to ensure that it tracks off the pen or pencil point, instead of tracking off the side of the layout tool.

The mouth of the Kanna originates at the 6:4 reference line. Draw two lines, one at 3mm and 6mm toward the rear of the plane and use the plane iron itself to mark the overall width of the plane. You’ll be starting with the portion further towards the rear of the plane when it comes to clearing out the waste.

As with any chiseling, start by severing across the grain first along your marking lines before trying to clear long grain material as that’ll ensure that tear out is limited or prevented altogether.

Clearing out the throat is a tall task and you’re going to want to sever the grain all around before working from both sides to the reference line of the mouth. I’m going to use a jig to do the 105 degree angle, so you can stay away from that line pretty well and manage to keep things clean. 

On the 38 degree side, you’ll just have to eyeball things as best as you can. These Kanna irons have a bit of a hollow where it makes contact with the bed, so you’ll not only have to chisel freehand to 38 degrees, but you’ll have to also take into account the curvature of the iron which helps keep the blade in place during use. In my case, the iron had about a 1mm curve from side to side on the back or the part that makes contact with the bed, so when marking out I took that into account.

Prior to getting started, I cut some maple to make a double sided jig. Essentially I’ve got 105 degrees on one side and 45 degrees on the other. The CA Glue and blue tape technique is an often used tactic for holding temporary jigs. Tape both surfaces, glue one, spray activator on the other, smush, and secure. Use coupon code “cowdogcraftworks” for ten percent off Starbond products here. Once the throat was pared down, I went to the side of the mouth that was yet to be cleared, the side toward the front of the plane, and secured the 45 degree jig and pared accordingly to open the mouth.

The side grooves that hold the iron are a bit tricky to clear out. I use the mini square pinned up against the mouth and aligned to the reference line for the top of the blade to strike a line. Then using a small detail saw, I saw the groove on both the top and bottom of the iron before clearing it out with a chisel and as I get closer, a file.

Using a pencil, I’ll color all over the Kanna iron to create essentially a graphite rubbing instrument. Then, when I’m doing the test fit, I can tap it in till it stops, pull it, then see where the graphite is rubbing off and pare accordingly. You want to do that until you actually make contact with the mouth, and then you’ll pare that open to allow the blade to pass through (this sounds a lot easier than it actually is).

Once the iron passes through, you want to get it adjusted laterally and get the depth adjustment right. Adjustment is pretty simple. I use a small brass mallet to give it a few taps to micro adjust it into place. If you set it too deep, just tap it the rear of the plane (the butt if you will) and the blade will back out slightly.

Now if you’re looking at this picture or watching the video, you should know by now that I in fact messed this plane up. I took too much material off the bed, and then made one of the channels a bit too wide, and then on top of all that discovered that the blade was cracked during the forging/smithing process and some nasty chips appeared pretty quick. Since I wanted to still try and see if this thing could pull a shaving without just throwing it in the fire pit, I went ahead and used some blue tape as a wedging/thickening device to be able to get it set. It didn’t solve the issue of the blade angle being slightly askew (the left side is a bit higher than the right), but it did allow me to pull a few shavings that were actually somewhat comparable to some well dialed western planes I’ve used. The nicks in the blade however were unavoidable. I had to heavily skew the body of the plane in order to minimize the appearance of the nicks and reduce the plane tracks they created.

So in conclusion: making a Kanna is hard. It’s not hard because it’s so complex, but really it’s hard because it’s deceptive simplicity requires extreme precision. Even the smallest misalignment can create issues and frankly, I’m not experienced enough in making them to be able to troubleshoot them effectively along the way. Since the iron had issues that were from the blacksmithing process, the blacksmith himself offered to take the iron back and regrind it. This actually might be a fix for me and I’m pretty encouraged to see how it goes when it comes back. Essentially, when regrinding the bevel, the overall width of the bevel, and the taper itself will change. That might cause it to fit more snugly in the side groove, but only time will tell. If not, I’ve got plenty of this maple left to try for another go.

Be sure to watch the video and let me know in the comments if you’ve got any questions!

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japanesewoodworking #japanesehandplane #kannaplaneI tried, I gave it a fair amount of blood, sweat, and tears, but at the end of the day it was a failure. B...

The Nakashima Conoid - Live Edge Dining Table

The Nakashima Conoid table was a design I came across in George Nakashima’s book The Soul of a Tree. Part memoir, part woodworking manual, and part esoteric philosophical discussion, I found this book to be highly inspirational in choosing my next woodworking project. George Nakashima, a studied and experienced architect, had an appreciation for Japanese architecture and traditional design. So when I looked at his table design, which was both intricate yet subtle, I wanted to find a way to incorporate traditional Japanese Timber Frame joinery.

Enter Ari Shiguchi.

My version is substantially more complicated than the traditional.

Ari Shiguchi is a Japanese timber frame joint, largely used with flooring joists designed to take great weight loads. It’s a dovetail with a recessed shoulder that thrives in a downward force application and Japanese structures built with it have demonstrated their ability to last for generations. In a traditional application, no adhesives are used because Japanese homes are built in a structural, yet knock down manner. However, in this application, cut at ten degrees to match the splay of the legs, this created an incredibly rigid base that supports a hefty table top of cuban mahogany.

To make matters more complicated, I used the joint in a doubly unorthodox manner. For starters as previously mentioned, it will be angled in at 10 degrees and secondly, locked into a bridle joint, which will secure the bridle joint with the lateral table supports.

For the ari shiguchi mortise and tenon, layout is absolutely key. Everything is based off a center line marked on the tenon side and mortise side, so that when ultimately assembled, or working toward that ultimate assembly, you can use those center lines to keep everything in plane. In Japanese joinery of this kind, the idea is to split your layout lines to ensure the most snug of fits. If necessary, you can even peen your tenon with a mallet to help squeeze it into the mortise, and then use a spray bottle with water to re-hydrate the peened tenon and have it expand in the mortise. Also, the traditional ari shiguchi leaves a slight gap, about 1-2 mm at the top of the dovetail, which allows for the shoulders of the joint to be sucked tighter against the mortise. I didn’t do that here, but it’s certainly an option for those wanting to recreate it.

The shouldered bridle joint that receives the tenon.

The tenon layout.

The mortise itself is a bit trickier because you need to match the angle at the seat of both the dovetail and the recessed shoulders, so I did that by using the opposing leg assembly as an angle guide, that way any imperfections are transferred through and I don’t have to worry about nailing a perfect ten degrees every time.

Paring the mortise.

Dry fit and ready to go.

The joineries at the base of the conoid trestle legs is much simpler in comparison to the structural top. An angled bridle joint will be pegged from both sides, and lateral support along the width of the table will be provided by a “third lap” of sorts, a half lap, except one side’s mortise is cut to two thirds, and the other side to one. In my opinion, for this application, it makes a much sturdier and rigid base.

The angled bridle joint is quite simple. Mark your layout on both sides, don’t cross your base line, and then saw your waste out in an “X” to leave a small pyramid worth of waste in the middle. Then knock that out with a chisel and refine the seat. I made my own dowels with a dowel plate, utilizing the same mahogany that I used for the entire base.

The third lap gets quite tricky as you have to saw in this case, into an already assembled base. I’m sure setting this up ahead of time is an option, but I had already glued up the main structure before getting to this joint. The “X” technique as used on the bridle joint could have been useful here, but I liked going with cutting relief cuts and knocking out the slatted waste with a mortise chisel. It just felt more natural and safer being that close to the completed leg assembly.

The base joineries for the Conoid.

The bridle joint dry fit.

Sawing the “third lap”.

I used locally sourced Cuban mahogany and had two sequential slabs. When unfolded out, they create the book match that is so iconic in a lot of George Nakashima's work. These are well dried and dimensioned slabs, so I won't be messing with c-channel or battens (which don't really keep slabs flat anyway but that's another story) and instead will just be worrying more about nailing the perfect book match orientation.

To do so, I laid the slabs out on top of each other in the book match configuration and then adjust them till they combined, are the final width. In this case it was 36". Then I mark the center point on the end grain and use the track saw to rip the top slab and simultaneously score the bottom slab. After removing the top slab, you line the track to the kerf and complete that cut. The result is a perfect book match with a central line that can assist in lining up your ends and ultimately your base as well.

To nail the glue line perfectly, I fold the slabs down in the book match and use the jointer plane to joint both boards at once. This will create a congruent fit that, even if not perfectly square, will be perfect when brought together.

The ends are trimmed with the track saw after clamping and the domino was used to make sure alignment is not an issue.

My rendition of the Conoid.

Real Milk Paint Company's Pure Tung Oil is utilized as the primary finish for the top. Unlike Hemp Oil which was used for the base, Pure Tung Oil is a cross linking, polymerizing oil, that when layers are properly built and cured, is completely water proof. It is all natural and leaves a beautiful natural look on the wood. I apply multiple thin coats, probably 10-12 over the period of about a week, and then allow a few more days for final cure. 

Go check out the video for more!

Help support my work through the following affiliate links, all products utilized in the making of this project:

The Real Milk Paint Company's Impressive line of finishing products (Special Affiliate Link): https://www.realmilkpaint.com/ref/cowdogcraftworks/

For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

-Starbond CA Glues (Special Affiliate Link): https://bit.ly/36sB2Bv

For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

-Western Saws Sourced from Florip Toolworks (Non-affiliate): https://floriptoolworks.com/

RIDGID 1-Layer Standard Pleated Paper Filter for Most 5 Gal. and Larger RIDGID Wet/Dry Shop Vacuums (2-Pack): https://homedepot.sjv.io/gvD1O

14 Gal. 6.0-Peak HP NXT Shop Vacuum: https://homedepot.sjv.io/qrj1O

RIDGID 9 Gal. 18-Volt Cordless Shop Vacuum: https://homedepot.sjv.io/oQaNm

The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker's Reflections (Book): https://amzn.to/3sSEmAt

The Complete Japanese Joinery (Book): https://amzn.to/2OAj1sM

Center Punch: https://amzn.to/3fSQsCj

Stanley Sweetheart Chisels: https://amzn.to/2ZATrKg

Solid Brass Wheel Marking Gauge: https://amzn.to/3jfDFfR

DFM Tool Works Card Scraper Set: https://amzn.to/2CMZp1W

DFM Tool Works Card Scraper Burnisher: https://amzn.to/2ZAwzuv

DFM Tool Works Small Square and Center Finder: https://amzn.to/3jfFdXd

Glu-bot Glue Bottle: https://amzn.to/2CdxYOV

Mineral Spirits: https://amzn.to/31xTBmG

Dewalt Compact Drill: https://amzn.to/3ht3tng

Metric Japanese Style Carpenter's Square: https://amzn.to/35kC3fG

Rok Hardware 14 Gauge Table Top Fasteners with Screws: https://amzn.to/38CzW94

Mini Square 10x5cm: https://amzn.to/36mtcti

Faber-Castell Ecco Pigment 0.1 mm Pen: https://amzn.to/36oLni8

Pentel Mechanical Pencil: https://amzn.to/36uqbab

If you want access to more tools, check out my amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks

Call Me Mabie Profiling Cow Dog

Sometime in October I had the very distinct pleasure of working with Justin Mabie, from the channel Call Me Mabie, on a short feature video. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Justin’s work, Justin is the man behind the camera for April Wilkerson, and has been doing a number of features of woodworkers and makers in the community at large, including but not limited to Philip Morley, Greg Pennington, and Brandy Aube. Justin’s aim is to really get behind the curtain and talk about who we are as people, instead of really focusing solely on our work, which in my opinion is quite a refreshing take.

For the most part, my YouTube channel has been solely work based and while I do try to inject my personality a bit into the videos, I’ve consistently aimed to let the work do the talking and demonstrate my growth along the way. So needless to say, moments where I talk about my Father’s influence, and even my new fiancee are typically few and far between in my current YouTube content, but Justin managed to capture those snippets beautifully. His eye for detail and visual story telling, utilizing captivating b-roll to help match the narrations, is truly second to none.

This video takes you on a stroll around my hometown, inside my super small one car garage shop (yes it’s smaller than everyone else who claims single car garage shop), and shows some of my friends as well as some of my work that hasn’t necessarily been featured on here or on my YouTube channel.

I talk about why hand tool woodworking is important to me and how I got into it. It’s more than just some pretentious desire to be different, it’s a love of the history of this craft and a desire to be more exact in everything I do.

Justin’s video was shot during the middle of the Timber Frame Barn Door construction, and I have to say, he was able to get better footage of my construction process with amazing clarity. I almost wish I had my own personal Justin that could follow me around and get all the unique angles and crisp shots with motion to develop that more cinematic feel I try and achieve in my videos.

One of the more interesting turns this video takes is a brief trip to Buddha Pants headquarters. This summer, I retrofitted a shipping container and did built in storage under their stairway. It was 1000% not hand tool woodworking, but in spite of that, was able to teach me more about construction, making, and the development of my work ethic and character. This build was absolutely grueling and for the most part, done by myself. It incorporated basic deck building, welding, paint, case work, installation of cable railing, making stairs, etc. It was originally going to be a YouTube video, but with pressing deadlines, I wasn’t able to utilize it for content the way I had hoped.

We even swung by the Mack House in Davie, a local craft beer bar and brewery for a pint and a bite. I was one of the first five customers at this establishment and developed some close friendships and relationships with the owners and staff. It’s been a staple in my local arsenal, y’know… besides diner food.

If you’re a fan of what I do, I strongly encourage you to watch this video and get that behind the curtain look. In reality, one of the things I try and achieve with this channel and brand is to show everyone that exceptional work doesn’t need to come from a full production shop. You don’t need formal training. You don’t need a standing vintage bandsaw. You just need the desire, the drive, and the love for the craft. The title of this video was picked by me, Woodworking the Hard Way. The hard way may not always be the best way, but in my opinion it’s the most fun. Thanks for following along. I appreciate you all.

Follow Justin on YouTube and Instagram and watch the video below.

The DIY Engagement Ring Box

Where to even begin with this ring box. Well first of all, it’s made from locally sourced rosewood that I got from my buddy PJ Fetscher here in town. This has been used on a number of projects used on my YouTube channel, including the Japanese-Shaker Desk, Nicholson Workbench, Japanese Toolbox, and the Spearfishing Gun. Secondly, I was initially planning on entering this into an Instructables contest for hand tools, but the video for the Timber Frame Barn Door ate up all my time prior to the deadline. C’est la vie.

So what do you need for a build like this? Well, not much. A few planes, a saw, some sandpaper and a flat surface, CA Glue, scrap leather. It’s probably better to call this a scrap wood project as I basically did it with off cuts and leftovers. It’s also important to note that the shape, size, etc. is really up to you. You don’t need to adhere to my design. I wanted to do something weird. You can do something weird too. So let’s get weird.

Step one is pretty simple. You’re just getting a usable rough block sawed down to size. The more square you can keep this, the better your life will be moving forward. I had one trued edge for the most part so I was able to take it over to the shooting board and square up the ends, before going back and using the shooting board to also joint the sides. I’ve been asked a few times about spraying wood with whatever I’m spraying wood with. For end grain, I’m spraying that with denatured alcohol to soften it up and make it a bit easier to plane. When jointing small pieces like this on the shooting board, watch your fingers. A slip will take the pad off your finger pretty quick.

Marking out the cut lines is pretty self explanatory as well. I went with a marking gauge and marking knife, using a small carpenter’s square to strike the angles I was shooting for. I drew everything out first with 0.1 mm pen, and then came back with the knife to scribe the lines in. I’m pretty particular to laying out with marking blades. I find it to be more accurate and easier and it helps with sawing as I’m able to use my fingernail in the knife line to be able to set the kerf where I want it.

Sawing is the life blood of this project to be completely honest. You’ll either have a good box or something that’s crooked and stupid real quick if you’re not sawing straight. I adhere to the Japanese carpentry technique of sawing from the corner first and then flipping the piece once you get to about halfway. I’ve really taken to this technique even in western style applications and find that it gets me the cleanest and straightest results.

Since I wanted the challenge of doing this strictly with hand tools, I bulked out the waste with a chisel, instead of using a router or a drill to hog out most of the waste. There’s a couple really important points here that will make your life a lot easier and prevent you from making a mistake like I did where I blew out a huge chunk with the chisel. For starters, severing across the grain first with the chisel is the smart play. However, you’ll notice that I’m chiseling into that line that comes across the grain. That was a bad move. The smart play would have been to chisel from that side across and probably take smaller bites. Work in the direction that increases the margin of error. Not the other way around.

After you’re refined and pared, sand the inside lips of the box with a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface. In this case it was my table saw surface. You do have to be careful here because sanding too aggressively… or if you’re not listening to me then busting out the chisels and paring down… can create some grain continuity issues. I chose a piece of wood that was sapwood and heartwood. The idea with this box is to have a seamless transition so that when the box is lidded, it looks singular. Therefore, grain continuity is extremely important and over sanding or removing material on the inside can affect how your grain lines up. Obviously if you don’t have bicolored wood, the grain continuity issues will be less apparent. However, if you have some jerk friends that are woodworkers I’m sure they’ll inspect it and call you out on the lack of grain continuity.

John Parilla from the Parillaworks YouTube channel is a friend and I totally ripped this leather technique for the inside of the box from him. Basically, you cut some leather and roll it up to hold the ring securely in place. There’s a couple reasons I like leather here. One, leather is dope. Two, I have leather laying around. Three, leather takes a lot of the wood finishing products I use like a champ and it gives it a weathered or patina look. Also, since it’s not taking any forces of any kind really, the leather that holds the ring can be held in with something as simple as hot glue, which is what I did here. The leather elsewhere was adhered to the wood with Starbond CA Glue.

Magnets are dope. There’s a million ways to make sure magnets line up perfectly. I went with mounting one side first, painting the top with some black touch up paint and then placing the opposing side on to mark and then drill the corresponding hole. It’s really not super advanced and it worked great. The magnets were placed with CA glue as well. If you’re a little paranoid about the CA glue not holding, some five minute epoxy in there works fine as well.

Finishing was a snap with Real Milk Paint Co.’s pure tung oil. Wipe on and wipe off. I did two heavy coats and then just let it cure for a few days. You can also wax with carnauba as well. As I said before, these finishing products work on the leather as well as the wood, so you don’t have to stress about taping off areas, etc.

After it’s done, propose, and make sure she says yes.

Affiliate links and products used:

-The Real Milk Paint Company's Impressive line of finishing products (Special Affiliate Link): https://www.realmilkpaint.com/ref/cowdogcraftworks/
For 10% off use coupon code: cowdogcraftworks

-Starbond CA Glues (Special Affiliate Link): https://bit.ly/36sB2Bv

Center Punch: https://amzn.to/3fSQsCj

Stanley Sweetheart Chisels: https://amzn.to/2ZATrKg

Solid Brass Wheel Marking Gauge: https://amzn.to/3jfDFfR

DFM Tool Works Small Square and Center Finder: https://amzn.to/3jfFdXd

Glu-bot Glue Bottle: https://amzn.to/2CdxYOV

Mineral Spirits: https://amzn.to/31xTBmG

Mini Square 10x5cm: https://amzn.to/36mtcti

Faber-Castell Ecco Pigment 0.1 mm Pen: https://amzn.to/36oLni8

Pentel Mechanical Pencil: https://amzn.to/36uqbab

If you want access to more of the tools, check out my amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/cowdogcraftworks

Holiday Shopping Guide for the Hand Tool Woodworker

If you’re a hand tool woodworker, or gift buying for one, you’re sort of in a weird predicament. First of all, no one knows what the hell we actually do in that shop all day and they don’t understand the huge dichotomy between quality and not quality tools. The next person that gets me a set of Buck Bros. chisels is getting shanked by one.

If you’re gift buying for someone with a hand tool affinity, you’re probably overwhelmed by all the options, and stumped as to where to find the good good that your giftee desires.

There’s a ton of options out there, but I’m going to highlight five types of tools, and give a couple options for each. Full disclosure, there are affiliate links in here mixed in with non-affiliate links that do benefit myself and this brand. With that being said, I fully believe in all the tools on this list. Some I own already, and some are on my dream list. So if you’re feeling generous… holla at me.

Anyway: on with the show!

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Veritas Low Angle

My weapon of choice. Available at https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/planes/bevel-up/49708-veritas-low-angle-jack-plane (non-affiliate link).

The Stanley Low Angle Jack is a comparable, and less expensive alternative to the Veritas. I haven’t used it personally, but it comes highly recommended from some hand tool woodworkers that I trust. One friend has repeatedly told me that while he secretly wished it wasn’t that good, it’s his favorite plane in his arsenal. Go figure.

Affiliate Link Below.

Stanley 12-137 No.62 Low Angle Jack Plane

Stanley

Buy on Amazon

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Hand Saws

As a fan of hand cut joinery, I’m thereby a fan of a good hand saw. I’ve been partial to western style back saws, but frankly that’s because I’ve used them for the majority of my woodworking journey as opposed to a high quality Japanese saw.

Here’s what I like about western back saws: 1) They cut fast and quickly 2) They hold their line, likely due to the fact the saw plates are more stout on average 3) They look dope as hell.

With that being said, Japanese saws are for the most part a lot less expensive and for a beginner, easier to use. Want to know a great hack? Take that yellow big box store miter box with the crappy push saw and swap it out for a dozuki. You’ll never look back.

Japanese saws for the average woodworker are easier to get started. The blade seems to not want to jump out of the line when first setting the kerf. They also come in some extremely versatile options. Double sided Ryobas have a rip tooth on one side and a cross cut tooth on the other, so you don’t end up like me with two wicked awesome looking saws that do two completely different things. The spineless versions can also double as good flush cut saws.

For western saws, there’s a lot of great options but I choose to shop small and American.

The Florip Tool Works Benchtop Saw, a spineless monster that can cross cut and rip with ease.

Florip Toolworks is my go to saw brand for back saws. Erik Florip produces a high quality and best value saw (https://floriptoolworks.com/ non-affiliate link). His saws come in remarkably cheaper than his competitors and his sharpening technique produces undeniable results. He has some pretty cool custom options as far as handle species, but even his basic cherry handles are beautiful and tend to show a lot of figure. The handle styles are ergonomic and comfortable and the above picture bench top saw quickly became my favorite tool in the shop. The only downside is that I use it so much that it ends up as a permanent fixture on my bench, which also means I’m constantly knocking it off and banging up this beautiful piece (mine is handled in stabilized American chestnut). I can’t recommend Erik’s saws enough.

Board saw Type Hole teeth

Okada Hardware Mfg

Buy on Amazon

For dovetails, this above shown Japanese saw is a dream (affiliate link). Zetsaw has been on the forefront of Japanese saw technology for quite some time and they have a ton of options. Click above to see some of their other offerings as well. Another perk of Japanese saws is the price point of their replacement blades, which are extremely affordable. Instead of having to invest in sharpening files and learning an entirely different sharpening technique (a technique I know nothing about), you can just purchase a replacement blade and call it a day. I’m a fan. Zetsaw is not what I would consider my go to saw in the shop, but I do own some and when the opportunity calls for it, enjoy using it.

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Chisels

Chisels are always a hot debate in the community. What’s good? What’s bad? What do you need? Why? Well here’s two brands, one I own and love, but also one I really want.

Veritas PMV-11, also known to me as “Beast Mode”

Spoiler alert: I don’t own PMV-11 chisels. However, I do own a few PMV-11 plane irons and this steel is absolutely phenomenal. Veritas goes through a lot of the benefits of PMV-11 but it’s this perfect sphere of hardness, edge retention, and ability to sharpen. Since I have a set of bench chisels already, my upgrade might be a set of PMV-11 mortise chisels. With that being said, these things are sexy and highly recommended by some of the best hand tool woodworkers I know. You really can’t go wrong. They are not cheap, but certainly worth every penny. Find them here: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/chisels/bench/69847-veritas-pm-v11-bench-chisels (non-affiliate link).

Stanley 1-16-791 Chisel-Set Sweetheart (4-piece), Silver/Tan Brown

Stanley

Buy on Amazon

Now these are in fact my daily use chisels (affiliate link). I have a full set of these, larger than the four piece linked above, and for the price point they can’t be beat. The modern Sweethearts were part of Stanley’s re-release on these and while the steel is softer than the PMV-11 from Veritas, it’s easy to sharpen and still holds one hell of an edge. I absolutely beat the hell out of mine. I also accidentally stripped some of the plating off putting it in a citric acid bath for too long while trying to remove some rust. But let me tell you, they still hold up to all the abuse I put them through. For price and quality, this is really a great offering from Stanley.

Chisel Knockers

Yes, they are called mallets. However, chisel knockers are my preferred colloquialism. Yes, you can make your own joiner’s mallet and you probably should. It’s a rite of passage and you know how much I value those… or you don’t. Whatever. But the weight of a brass mallet feels good in the hand and helps produce quality work. Also, if you’ve got a lathe, a custom handle is a great project (more on that in a second).

Enter DFM Tool Works: JT, who runs DFM Tool Works, makes great American products right out of Chicago, IL. He’s got a lineup that is probably most famous for his card scrapers and squares, but man, he makes one hell of a brass knocker. If you follow me closely on social, you’ll see that my brass chisel knocker is an integral part of my every day use in the shop. I also did a YouTube video on my first lathe project, which was turning a handle for his dodecahedron head. If you’re not into turning, he also offers handled options. Since JT is a small batch producer, these only come in small runs, so be sure to pre-order to get yours reserved for the next offering.

Mallet Head Only: https://dfmtoolworks.com/shop/16oz-hex-brass-hammer-head-plain

Head and Handle: https://dfmtoolworks.com/shop/pre-order-15-oz-brass-head-with-aluminum-handle

(Both links non-affiliate)