Wall Cabinet Wrap Up

It took longer than expected (of course) to get glass but I got it and was able to wrap things up.
Seems as though it has been a while since the last post on this.
Pictured is mortise making for door hinges. This was just after I refinished my butt chisel handles. You can see the difference between those and the original finish on the bench chisel.

Consoles (shelf supports) in process. Kind of cute heh. I went with Jatoba for the little bits in the cabinet. It will age to a darker rusty red color which should go nicely with the aging cherry.

Consoles finished! There will be two shelves for this cabinet. I made two sets plus three extra... biffed the last one of the third set but I was expecting that ha. This way there is extra in case something should happen to the others. Don't know what but it's better to be prepared :).

This is a scarey part that I had been putting off. After fitting and hanging the door. I mortised the door for the same pull I made for the first door. Now it was time to cut into the FINISHED carcass to make a recess for the pull.

Started out with marking the recess with a pencil. Went at it with a chisel. Then made a sanding block to fit the shape I wanted. Finished it up and made the little profile with a knife. I dig it.
Phew!

Received the glass shelves and "bulk" sheet of glass for the door panes. Got to cutting the glass for the door myself.
I think this is a good thing to be able to do. I like to know that I can make these kinds of panes fit just right. Not tight but not sloppy. It allows me to work with smaller tolerances, which I like.
Once the glass was cut and put into place I marked the mullions on the sticks that hold the glass in place. Pictured above was after cutting the waste with the band saw. Used chisels to fit and clean them up.

Drilling hole for the brads that will hold the glass in.
SO CLOSE!
Actually it is done. Cleaned up the sticks, softened their edges, glued the pull in place, finished everything that needed finish, installed glass into the door, and hung the door. :D

Alas I have another waiting game. I ordered a pair of studio strobes (photo flash lights) and was given notice a couple days later the they are on back order. They say it will take another week or two but I have had bad experience with things on back order in the past :/.
While I'm waiting for those I will of course resume work on the Walnut Desk :).

Plane Break

I put in an order for the glass for the Cherry Cabinet on Wednesday. It wont be done till Friday at the earliest I suspect. What to do now. Well I took some time to pick up around the shop but I also had a milled plane black laying around for a few weeks and decided to go to town on a new smoother to replace the last one of Vera that delaminated. I took a bunch of pics in case anyone viewing this blog is not familiar with "krenovian planes".

So, I got a 3"x3"x12" blank from the local "woodworking store". They sell these as turning blanks though I don't really know why this is such a popular size but it works great for most hand plane projects.
I scraped the wax off and let it sit for a while. Then did some milling getting the cheeks and the main body cut out. I let these sit stickered for a few weeks for them to move as they please.

When I finally got back to the blank yesterday I flattened and dressed the sides and body. Then cut the iron ramp out on a band saw.

Used my block plane to dress and square up the iron ramp.

Then using the iron itself to help set the distance between the ramp and the front I drilled holes in the top corners for locator dowels. Trimmed the dowels flush so they wouldn't interfere with the glue-up.

With the dowels in place the cross-pin holes were drilled at 5/16". Use the block that was cut out as a backer for the first hole drilled.

That same block was used to get cross-pin material. I got two cross-pin blanks and a bit left over for shoulder cut tests on the table saw. The rest of the block will be used to get a wedge and can be saved in case of the need for a mouth insert.

Pin shoulders were cut on a table saw. Then the tenons are made round to fit with a chisel and files.

A relief was made for the chip-breaker cap-screw using a 3/4" router bit on the router table.

After triple checking everything and giving the glue faces a acetone wipe I glued the plane up with cauls and flaw board.
I do happen to have these cauls and flaw board "laying around" for plane making :).

I left the glue-up over night and came back to it today. Took the glued up block out of the clamps and ran the bottom over the jointer once. Then to the band saw to rough out the final shape.
Some like their planes rougher than others. I tend to like mine relatively shaped smooth as is more comfortable for my small soft hands hahah ;).

Tada! There it is fit with a wedge. It isn't in working order yet. These planes always seem to move around a little bit in the first stage of their life so I'm just going to allow that to happen for a bit before I get to fine tuning. I also want to order a new iron for it. The one I have seen here is wearing a bit short.
Here's hoping it will be a loyal performer!

This project along with cleaning up a bit has been good for me to get back in tune with the shop space as I still hadn't acclimated since my return from IP. I'm also enjoying a couple "bonfires" cleaning out my scrap bins that have over flowed from winter.
Alas the seasons change and it can be easy to lose one's way with our short Minnesotan Summers ha. We'll see... ;p

Where's that swing?

Getting back home, it has been difficult to get back in the swing, find that momentum. Being gone for a couple weeks, jet lag, odd schedules at the part-time, and plan old being beat.
I have managed to get some work done back in the shop. I'm back on that Cherry Display Cabinet. Doing this door again. After taking it very slow and carefully with milling the frame stock down I'm feeling pretty confident of its stability.
Made a new template for the panes of glass. Ugh, that's another thing... Glass shelves. I just can't find a quality glass cutter around here! As it looks I'm going to have to opt to have the glass cut and ground then get another grinding wheel and put buffing wheels on it to polish the edges myself. I've never polished glass before. I've used buffing wheels with metal before. I would think it would be fairly similar.

Frame dry-fit with panel rebates and all about ready to be glued up. The second time around the production has gone smoother which is nice and encouraging.
Currently the door has been glued-up and fit to the cabinet opening. There's still enough work to be done to keep me busy for a couple days... if I can finally really get in the shop that is. I still have a couple non-shop things to do :/.

Another factor I feel playing against me is that of a little funk :( heh. I haven't been feeling as connected to the work as I usually am. This seems to come and go with all sorts of people in all sorts of walks of life.
I think it's good to reflect on one's "way" and asses "their path". Seems to be part of "the human condition" at least for me. It just sucks that it gets in, what seems to be, the way ha.
In attempt to reconnect, I took some time later in the evening to give my little chisels some love.
I like these Ashley Iles butt-chisels but I'm not fond of some of the fit and finish of them. The Bubinga handles covered in hard thick finish, the cheap ferrules. I stripped the hard finish off with scrapers and files and re-finished them with a single thin coat of oil. Also I took some sand paper to the ferrules to clean them up a bit.
I'm going to need to replace my 1/8" and 1/4" chisels soon and have been wondering about switching to a whole new set. I'm still undecided... I wish more people made quality butt-chisels.