This weekend I used my box-end wrenches on a project in the yard, and as usual I put them away in a big pile in my "wrench drawer".  After thinking about it, I wrapped each wrench handle with a small piece of colored electrical tape…red for SAE and blue for metric.

Now,  at least I can quickly tell English from metric wrenches in the pile in the drawer.

To help with the calibration of my new SawStop, I invested in a table saw alignment tool.

After doing a lot of internet and magazine research, I purchased a TS-Aligner, Jr.  from Ed Bennett via his website.  Ed makes these tools himself, and the fit, finish and accuracy is excellent.  The included instructions and DVD are also very good.  It is a bit pricey, but for the quality of the tool, I think that it was worth it.  The TS-Aligner also seems to be more versatile than many other similar products (you can use it to align a lot more than table saws), and it also has some unique features that I think work better than other methods.

It was easy to learn to use, and my saw is now calibrated much more accurately than I would have been able to achieve without it.

Calibration and alignment of woodworking tools is a lot like sharpening for me.  I did not realize how important either of these skills was when I began woodworking, but after time and experience, I've learned that they are necessary evils if you want to be successful.

My shop is once again “open for business”.

After months and months of house renovation, and other delays and distractions, the workshop is once again clean and organized enough to actually work on projects other than home improvement work.  I can’t wait!

The biggest change to the shop during this long dry-spell was the addition of a new SawStop Contractors saw, fully fitted out with extra cast iron wings, 36″ fence, mobile base, etc to convert it into a hybrid-like saw.   I got this saw as combination birthday/father’s day gift and it has taken me another month to get it assembled and calibrated (just an available time issue, it was easy to assemble and calibrate).   I will post more on the SawStop as I begin to use it in earnest, but so far I love it.  Fit and finish is top-notch.  I like the power and nice clean cuts.

I will miss my old Dewalt 746 hybrid table saw (soon to be for sale on Craig’s List).  It was a great saw that I would not have replaced for any saw except for a SawStop.  The Dewalt did everything that I asked of it, but I did not want to teach my 9-year-old son to use a table saw on anything but a SawStop…so that Dewalt needed to be retired.

We've been remodeling our kitchen, and the way that our house is laid out, it has made access to my shop more or less impossible for the past couple of months.

In addition, the demolition of the old kitchen in our 104 year old house has generated an enormous amount of black grit and dust that has settled across all of my tools.

My hope is that by Christmas day the kitchen will be largely completed and I can begin to recover the work shop.  See you then!

I finished the Roubo/Holtzapffel-hybrid bench inspired by Chris Schwarz’s book this past weekend.  The bench is made from southern yellow pine and a collection of other wood types from off-cuts, etc.   The front vise jaws, 2″ plane stop, and deadman are mahogany, the shelf dowels are walnut, the end vise jaws are maple, the left-end plane stop is oak, etc…whatever I could scrounge up for each step.  This bench is designed to be USED, so I was not worried about matching.

It is basically the French Roubo-style bench that I modified by adding the sliding deadman, a Veritas twin-screw vise (24″ between centers, 42″ overall) and a 1/2 length tool tray.  The end-vise is a Groz metal vise.   I cut the slot into the bottom of the front, left leg in case I ever want to switch to a leg vise.   I drilled dog-holes into the bottom shelf for storage of dog devices under the bench (see below the front vise).

Notice the Chris Schwarz designed plane stop on this end of the bench.  Loosen the screws and raise the plane-stop board to the desired height.  The screws ride is a T-track mounted in to the end of the bench top.

Above is the metal end-vise. Notice the tool tray slots to the right.  The bottom of the tool tray slides out this side for cleaning.

Better view of the tool tray.  Both vises are through-bolted for strength.  Those are the bolts in the bottom left.  Note the only knot that I did not manage to bury in the bench top somewhere, visible next to the bolts.

This is how the tool tray bottoms (two pieces) slide out for cleaning. They can be completely removed.

The bench is finished with two coats of Danish Oil that will be renewed as needed.

All joints are doweled together for extra strength (some are draw-bored and some are not).

I really like the 2″-square plane stop block insert into the bench top above.  It can be moved up and down as needed.  It is held in place by friction alone.

This past weekend I mounted the legs into the massive mortises that I had cut into the workbench top.   My wife and eight year old son then helped me to "flip" the giant, heavy beast onto its feet.

Next step is to plane and install the under-shelf material, make the sliding deadman and vise chops and install the twin-screw front vise.  After that, drill the dog holes and other work holding, flatten the top and its complete.

I think that I am about a week and a half  away from completion.

Over the past weekend I planed and fully laminated the wood for the 5″ x 5″ x 32″ legs for the bench. Each leg is made up of four 1.25″ boards laminated together, with massive 2.5″ tenons on the top end for attachment with the underside of the bench top. After the glue dried, I jointed and planed the laminated leg blocks to final dimension.

Additionally, I made the front and rear stretchers.  The front stretcher has a beveled top edge so that it can act as the lower track for the eventual sliding deadman attachment.

Next, I will make the side stretchers, and design some sort of support at the attachment point for the right rear leg’s mortise and tenon joint, since that leg will have to deal with the tool tray location that I added to this design.  I have some ideas for this, but have settled on the final design yet.  I hope to do these items tonight.

No photos recent, because our digital camera is missing.  I hope to be able to post some soon.

Slow but sure progress on my Roubo-like workbench project.

The bench top is now "complete" and fully laminated to 24" by 92" long.  I decided to go with a 1/2 length tool tray on the back of the bench.   I couldn't commit to a full length tool tray, but also did not want to exclude one.  I figure that this way, I will have the full bench width in front of the front vise, and the tray to the right, where I tend to stow and reach for tools anyway. The tool try has a sliding bottom (divided into two sections) that can
slide out of the bench to the right, so as to allow for easy dumping of
wood chips.  The tool tray bottom is 1/4" plywood that runs in 1/4"
slots that I routed into the sides of the tool tray with a 1/4"
slot-cutting bit in the router.  Photos coming soon.

I have also purchased the Veritas twin-screw vise as my future front vise, and a standard 9" Groz quick-release vise as my tail vise.  These will be stored until the bench is finished.

Last night I managed to plane all of the wood for the bench's legs to final thickness.  Four of these boards will be laminated into each 5" x 5" leg.   I hope to begin the leg lamination glue-ups tonight, or this weekend.

I received a nice email from a relative of the Pilliod family today with the following information:

“What you have is a Tool Chest made by the Pilliod Cabinet/Furniture Company of Swanton, Ohio. I have seen a few listed on
Ebay but not in the good condition that yours looks to be in. Although related to the Pilliod family I know very little about the cabinet company.
I do know that they sold jewelry boxes, silverware chests and the tool chests
you have. The company is no longer in operation. It was to my knowledge owned
by T.J. Pilliod and passed down to his children. I do not know if T.J Pilliod
was the original owner of the company or if his ancestors started it. As for
the tools in the chest I don’t believe they came with the tool chest. Hope this helps.”

A few weeks ago I purchased an old Disston No. 2 hand saw sharpening vise on eBay (circa 1890-ish, I think).   It was in reasonably good shape, but was rusted and had not been used in a long, long time.

I sanded and filed off the rust, repainted the vise and oiled the moving parts.  The photos below are the result.  Unfortunately I forgot to take any “before” photos.

I have never actually sharpened a hand saw yet…that is a skill that I intend to learn later this year.  In the meantime, the vise is now ready.