You can never have enough clamps!

So the Bessy test clamps are on the way!  Here’s the list of what’s coming (Left to right):

  • REVO™       2 x 24”          
  • REVO™       2 x 31”              
  • REVO™ Jr.   2 x 24”              
  • REVO™ Jr.   2 x 36”             
  • UniKlamp    2 x 12”             
  • UniKlamp    2 x 24”  
The purpose behind this is to get our impressions on how the REVO™ Jr. fits in to our line of parallel clamps as a mid-size, mid-priced product. 


Questions to be answered:
  1. Is it a good compromise to pick if the investment in a REVO™ is just too great?  
  2. What features work well for you?  
  3. What do you like?  
  4. What do you not like?  Openness and honesty please.

 BTW – feel free to share your thoughts.  That’s what this is all about after all.  I know Vic expressed concerns over small handles. I’m jazzed to try out the lighter version.  More to come as soon as the goods arrive.

Oh, if you don’t know what this is about, click here -> Revo Jr. Clamp Product Test 

Startin’ on the Doors

Sunday, I un-clamped the wall cabinet .. and it stayed together.  Confession, I was a little worried about the epoxy.  When I went to bed Saturday night, it hadn’t yet harden.

So onward with the doors.  I trimmed up the styles with hand saw, this was a first.

 Then I cleaned the rails board and trimmed it to length.

After that, I couldn’t help myself.  I pulled out the panels for the door to get a sneak peak at how they’re going to look.

Cabinet Glue Up and Styles

Yippee!  I got the cabinet glued up.  That’s a big milestone.  I used some very slow setting epoxy and was really happy I did.  Lots of things to get in place on this one and I needed all the time I could get.

Then I started working on the board that I’ll be cut the styles from.  A lot times the planner makes a ribbed surface which is not so flat.  So I had to clean it up with my 50 degree planer blade to avoid tear out. 

It cleaned up nicely.  The African Mahogany is proving tricky to work with.  But using my high angle plane blade and a scraper plane, I’ve been able to get rid of almost all of the tear out.

I’ve also been checking the surface by spreading mineral spirits on it to see how it will finish and remove any problem areas.

So I cut my styles and made a styles sandwich with the fixing to remove the saw blade marks.

Workin’ on the Wall Cabinet

I spent some time workin’ on the wall cabinet yesterday and I almost forgot to take pictures.

I worked on installing the bottom 1/2 of the knife hinges and I think they turned out pretty well.  I used a router to remove the center material and then chiseled out the rest.  Always remember to do the stop grain end first (cross gain).

Do you sign your work?  Fortunately I remember to sign on the inside of the case under the drawer before I glued it together.

Dovetail saw making class

This weekend I got the opportunity to go over to the Port Townsend School of Wood Working to make a dovetail saw with Mr. Wenzloff.  It was great fun.

Our kits came with all the parts.  Pre-cut handle, saw blade with teeth cut, saw nuts and the file to sharpen with.

The first task was to shape the handle with rasps after drawing on the desired shape.

Mine turned out pretty well, but you’ll probably notice what I call the “birth mark”.  Yes, Marilyn dropped her handle on the concrete right on the horn causing a crack in it.  When Mike and I tried to repair it, we pulled the fracture piece right out .. drat! 

Birth mark can be seen on the top horn here.

So now I have a birth mark on my pretty little dove tail saw and lots of fun memories.

More on sharpening in another post.