uploaded on WIN7P 32 bit......

This pic uploading problem is starting to overtake my desire to be in the workshop. I am pretty sure that I know what the problem is, I just can't seem to find the answer for the cure. I used my bride's laptop to upload the same 3 pics I posted in my last entry.

Using the bride's laptop put the final nail in the coffin of the cause of the problem. I now have to find the reason for what is causing the pics to be so crappy.

These are the same 3 pics that I posted in the last blog entry and these came via the bride's laptop. The only real differences between the bride's laptop and mine is that hers is a 32 bit and mine is a 64 bit. Processor, memory, hard drive, etc, etc, are pretty much the same. It's the bit system that is the difference that I think is causing the problem.

I'll have to upload a few more times before I am convinced that this is the problem. Film and follow up stories on the 11 o'clock news.

accidental woodworker

re-doing oops and pic check......

It is almost over for the year 2011 and I am looking to do one more stupid thing. It's going to be me trying another way to solve my pic upload problem and hopefully show a few pics of my oops re-do. All of it in real time as I do this entry. And I started by doing something I rarely do - installing the software that came with a consumer product - ie my new camera. I usually don't do that because I find  after market software to be better and easier to use.

Well sports fans I win the idiot of the year award for chasing the big rolling donut hole of pic uploading. The canon camera software is way better than I thought it would be. I really kind of like it. I just wish that the canon software would allow the blogger to upload the pics.

this is it

I uploaded 3 pics only because I am tired of wasting my storage space with these crappy pics. Of the 3 I uploaded, this is the best. Even though this is pure unadulterated liquid fecal matter, you can make out the shoulder vise and something in the jaws.

I'm not done yet with this. My bride has a Windows 7 Professional laptop that is a 32 bit system. I'm going to try and upload on her computer and see if I get crap or roses. More on this later.
.

look familiar?

This is the same pic that I uploaded on my XP computer and then imported into the blog. This is driving me buggy. Anyway, in this pic I had just cut off the pins on the marking gauge line. The pockmarks are from me chiseling the waste. My chisels could have stood a sharpening before I chopped but I digress. I could still use this as a drawer but I'll stick with the knick knack box idea.

used the the 51 to true the edges

after working it with my 51

These boards are square across the face and edges. You can faintly see a little of the pockmarks still left. It's not anything to get excited about. The 51 did it's job and I still need to use it more to get used to it. On this shooting board I use my BU Lee Valley jack and it's a tad different then using the 51.

It's a long weekend coming and I plan on getting all the remaining drawers made and fitted. I may also start another project - my plastic file box at work broke and I am thinking of making a replacement made of wood.

accidental woodworker

oops again.......

After work I went to the shop and picked up on a drawer I had started dovetailing several days before. I had already cut out the tails and I just had to chop out the waste. I get that done and I commence transferring my tails to the pin boards. All is going well in Disneyland. Mickey and Minnie are still a couple and Goofy is still goofy.

I get the tails marked onto the pin boards. I did a very good job of sawing on the waste side of the lines. I removed the waste with my coping saw and chopped to the line with my chisels. I was patting myself on my own back,  I was doing such a great job.

I got one side together

This is the fit I got right off the saw. There is just enough friction to hold it together. I still haven't gotten to point where it's a tad tighter when I tap it together.

the next side tapped together

The bottom right tail/pin is a little gappy.  I think I can fix it a little with some trimming in the corners. I am still happy with how this went together off the saw.

3rd corner - this dropped right in with a light tap of my fist

here's the oops -  found on the last one

FYI - I didn't do the layout in the right sequence. My numbering system does work. I just failed to note/mark the inside/outside of the tail/pin boards. If you don't this and get cocky like I did, you end up with this crappola.

 Due to this oops, I called it a night. For woodworking. I got seven new woodworking books for xmas that I can start to read. Maybe I'll come across some tips on dovetail layout and how to avoid oops.

I am not going to toss this oops. I'll cut off the pins on two ends and re-do the layout/sawing/chopping again (correctly). I plan on putting a solid wood bottom and top on this and turn it into a nick knack box. I might have to buy some more stock to finish my drawers if I continue to have layout problems.

Which book do I pick first?

accidental woodworker

pic problem solved........

Not a woodworking post but it is an ancillary part of it.

I think that I finally got my problem with the pic uploading solved. Or if not solved, I'm at least to the point where I am not having problems with the uploads turning into liquid fecal matter. I'm glad that it's finally maybe resolved. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I haven't found it written anywhere (yet) in the all that I read on the WWW, but I think that Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit system, doesn't like to upload pics without turning they into crap.  And it is a hit or miss proposition because sometimes it uploads fine and other times I get complete crappola. I haven't tried any pic software yet, so maybe the answer lies there.

My old camera does have a weak sensor that will eventually go south whenever it feels like it. Got that good news from the local camera repair guy.  I feel better about buying a new camera now.

So how did I fix this? I take pics with the new camera and upload them into my old XP laptop. From there I upload them into my blog. I then write my blog and insert my pics where needed (on my new fast laptop). Using the old XP laptop is incredibly slow uploading the pics from the camera into the blog.  However, as of now it's the only error free way I have of getting my pics into my blog.

I haven't gotten any replies to three sites that I submitted my problem to. I didn't even get a reply laughing at me and my problem.  And I haven't read any recent posts about anyone else having pic problems. The youngest entry I've come across is from over a year ago. I find it hard to believe that I am the only lucky person on this planet having this problem.

Until I get the word from the burning bush, I'll keep uploading this way because it's working.

accidental woodworker

#7, type 11, done......

My new #7 is done and ready to go to work. I learned while putting it back together that the plane was painted. The frog area seats were covered with paint, as was the mouth area. All that came off with some gentle scraping from my one of my crappy chisels. When I wiped down the back of the frog after I took it out of the rust removal solution, the paint there all came off on the rag. 

out of the solution, rinsed, and blown dry

one of two rust pitted spots on the blade

pitted areas - top right and about middle right

cleaned up the frog seat

frog face all shiny and level - except the top left corner

cleaning up the body on my marble threshold

lever cap irons

The one on the left is from the type 11 #7 and the one on the left is from my type 18 #7. I think the type 11 cap Stanley looks the better of the two. The type 11 lever cap has patent number 1918750 cast into it. That patent was granted in 1933 which is about 20 years after the type 11. So this lever cap is definitely a replacement. I wonder what else this person replaced on this plane?

my two #7's

It is interesting to me to see how these planes progressed and changed through the years. The #7 on the right is a type 18 and I think is from the start of WWII. Look at how the frog faces are so different. The frog on the left changed due to Stanley trying to save money on the machining and make it cheaper to produce.  It's my understanding that the knob change (old on left new on the right) were because the low/old ones kept breaking.

On the right are two plane irons. The back one is the original one from the type 11 and the one in the front is the replacement from Lee Valley that I use in the type 18. The Lee Valley plane iron and cap is really good. It is an A2 blade and it is almost twice the thickness of the original. The only downside to the LV blade is because it is so thick you don't have the same range of use in how much you can raise and lover the blade. And it restricts your mouth opening range.

making shavings with the LV A2 iron

my type 18 does just as good as the type 11

type 11 using the original blade from on the type18

2 two irons - two different shavings

The LV blade made wispy shavings but it would not make a continuous shaving from one end to the other. The original blade from the type 18 (on the right) made shavings from end to end without so much as a whimper. They were not only continuous, they were consistent in thickness and ended up as a nice tight curl. Of the two, the original blade  did a better job then the LV A2. I will continue to use both and make a decision about which one of them to keep later.

getting better at planing square

middle of the board

Most planes I use on the edge of boards (#4 or #5) I usually make a sloped cut that goes from the right sloping down to the left. When I use the #7 I usually get a square cut without even thinking about it. I think I may finally get rid of the motorized jointer. It's been a long time since I've used it to joint an edge. I mostly use it to joint the face of a board.

I have two #7's to use now. I am going to set one for a light cut and the other one for a heavier cut. I don't know how I like this but I have the same set up with 2 #4's and I like that.

Now that I know my plane has been painted and it looks good, my interest in doing my other planes is raised up a few notches. I have read a few blogs where the authors have gotten good results with black enamel automotive paint for engines. That way is a lot easier than doing a true japanning. I wonder which method they would have used back in the 1920's if both were available.

All that's left on the new #7 is to sharpen and hone it's blade. I'll do that later when I have a few extra things to sharpen. Now I can get back to finishing up my in/out thingie.
accidental woodworker

it's a type 11.......

I admit that I am addicted to type 11 Stanley planes. Just before xmas the bride and I were at Stillwater Antique Mall and I saw this #7, type 11 (I didn't know the type then) on a shelf behind a couple of other planes. I pulled it out and I looked it over and then I saw the price marked at $75. I didn't have the cash to get it so I put it back where I found it. Maybe after xmas I can buy it.

Today I became the owner of that plane. I went back to Stillwater and I was very happy to see that the plane was still where I had found it. I ended up taking it home for $64. I walked into a 20% off sale that this particular person was having today. 

I don't think I am going to have any more finds here. The four different dealers I have bought planes from in the past are all gone except for the guy I bought this #7 from. I have looked over his goodies on my past trips but I find his prices to be a little high, especially on his chisels.. I'll keep going back and looking anyway,

here she is

I used Patrick Leach's plane dating study on the Hyperkitten website. It's getting easier to use it because I am becoming more familiar with what happened/appears when. My plane comes out as a type 11 except for the lever cap. It has a lever cap that didn't appear until the type 13. It also has a blade that is for a type 12. Is my plane straddling the line or were these two items deliberate replacements? The lever cap says that, the blade is a toss up.

bottom  - overall this a rust free plane

stern shot - has the small brass adjuster knob which I don't like

bow shot - check out the STANLEY on the lever cap

I really like the frogs on the older stanleys - lots of real estate for the blade sit on

other then some crud there is little evidence of any use

the frog and such are relatively rust free and the blade isn't chipped

there is a small crack on the bottom of the knob

the frog - almost no wear at all

I was a little suspicious of this japanning. I thought that some one had sprayed painted it with some black enamel paint. I don't think so now that I got the front knob off and I got a look underneath it. I would say that 99% of it is intact.

I don't think that this plane was kept in a garage or a basement. It's condition is just too good looking. Even if I'm wrong and it is painted, whoever did it did a good job of it.

good look at the japanning

tote has battle scars

The top of the tote shows some chisel work. It could also be knife marks, I don't know. Some one did some work on the top outside back corner. The finish is intact and I couldn't see any finishing differences anywhere on the the tote. So I'm guessing this was a repair made some time ago. I don't have any plans to change or refinish the tote.

I wire brushed all the screws and hit the rust spots with some sandpaper. I then sprayed the parts with some simple green and rinsed them off. After I dried them I put aside to soak in some of my rust removal liquid gold. (this is my last use - I barely had enough to cover)

Then I just have to clean, rinse, and dry the parts. The last steps are to sharpen and hone the blade and I'll have a nice looking #7, type 11, to put to work.

accidental woodworker

shaker bench #2......

Christmas day at oh dark thirty I'm in the workshop trying to finish up bench #2. Got a a lot done but I didn't quite finish it. I was restricted to using tools/procedures that were quiet so I wouldn't wake anyone up. And after everyone was up it didn't matter as I wouldn't be able to get back to the shop.

miller dowels - these are great for keeping the bow out  of the bench.

I rounded over the corners and I did it with my coping saw. It was not a pretty sight to look at when I got done. Ugly was the first word I thought of.

there are the off cuts from the corners

 As you can see these are not smooth cuts. The first one was kind of ok (front left) but the next 3 were total toast. The biggest problem was they weren't even close to being square to the top. I managed to undercut them at about a 25 degree angle. I ended up with my radius being a tad over my initial 2 inches.

off cuts lined up

through tenon on the center stretcher

I increased the projection on the stretcher tenon from 1/4 to 3/8 inches. My wedge job on the stretchers is ok. The slot I cut with my band saw was more then wide enough, unlike the problems I had with the leg tenon wedge slots.

these are the pain in the arse lines I have to remove

Bench #2 is 99% done. Tomorrow I clean up the corners and sand them as smooth as I can get them. I'll try to remove as much of the pencil lead as I can with some alcohol first. Then I'll get the rest of it with sandpaper.

One last point - this is the first legged project I have made in a long time that I didn't have to even out the legs. One leg is about a strong 1/32" shorter than the other 3 but it isn't enough to correct for. You don't even notice it when you sit on it. And the in-laws back porch is covered with slate.


I am not going to put a finish on this bench. I'll leave that up to the in-laws as what it'll be.

accidental woodworker

I said I wouldn't.......

I had a few hours to kill this morning so I headed for the shop. I got bench #2 done. It's all cut out, glued up, and cooking away. I take any opportunity given to me to be in the shop.

I did remember a few things from making #1 that made #2 easier. The first was marking both sides of the bench top for the mortises. The second was marking the mortise locations in the dadoes after they were made. I was able to accurately chop the mortises from both sides of the bench top. There was no guessing as to where the walls/corners were.

I also remembered to account for depth of the dado when I sized my tenons. Now I won't have to saw off a 1/4". The tenons I did today are less then 1/16" proud. It'll be very easy to flush these up.

 My saw cuts for the wedges in the tenons still sucked lemons.The center brace wedge slots I cut with my band saw and they were fine. I used an old gents saw to cut the wedges on the tenons. I wobbled the saw side to side to make a wide cut and I thought they were ok but they were still too tight once I got them in the mortises.

my set up for measuring the the center brace

The right side of the bench (in the pic) has that extra board clamped this way  because this side was/is bowed a tad. I couldn't get this leg square unless I did this.  Once I got that fixed, I stuck a piece of scrap in the mortises and struck a mark for the shoulders of the center brace. I got a real accurate measurement and I didn't have to use any type of measuring stick to get it.

nice and tight on the shoulders

cooking away

I had to go a little nutso on the right side clamp up to take the bow out. The left side has no bow at all.
I have already installed two 1x miller dowels in between the two tenons and I'll put four more in the outside edges of both legs once it's out of the clamps.

I forgot to layout and cut my half rounds on the bottom of the legs. That would have been much easier to do before I glued the bench up.  I also have to cut a 2" radius on the bench top ends. Then it's flush everything with my #3, get rid of some pencil marks, and a quick light sanding. Finished with #2.

Because I was in a hurry to get this done I missed a few things. The half rounds aren't a biggie but not sanding and removing the pencil marks before glue up is going to bite me on the arse. 99% of the pencil marks are the layout for the center brace mortise. It's going to be difficult to sand this  because they're on the inside of the legs.

 Now I probably won't blog again until next week.

Merry Christmas

accidental woodworker

twas the night before.....

To all a Merry Christmas and I hope that the feeling of the season stays with you into the new year.

I am not going to finish bench #2 and give a pair of them to the in-laws from Santa. They will have to get by with just one for now.

 I will probably not blog again until next week. I think I'll be able to post again maybe tuesday or wednesday.

Until then.
accidental woodworker

shaker bench #2......

Started making bench #2. I really wanted to try something new when I made this but I am under some time restraints so no new tricks. I wanted to make the legs splay at a 10 degree angle. I still wanted to to do through mortise/tenon thing with the dado but do all at 10 degrees. Something to put on the back burner.  I'll make this pretty much the same way I made bench #1.

the 3/4 pine stock -  bench top 36" -  legs 17 3/4"

one leg has some defects on one the edge

instead of 11 + it will be 10 3/4

I timed the following steps just to see how long it would take me to do it.

struck my marks for the dadoes - 5" in from each end

making the lines a tad deeper with a sheet rock knife

making my trench for the saw

defining the walls with my cross cut saw

making a relief cut on the outsides of the dadoes

doing some initial chisel work on the dado

dado started with just chisels - could probably finish with them

set the depth and making my first pass with the router plane

right side done - depth is about 3/16" deep

left side - saw wandered at the bottom making the dado wider here - oops

This exercise took me 19 minutes to do. I'm not sure how long it would take to do with a router.  I'm giving a slight edge to the hand work. If I were doing more then one bench - edge would go to the router.

I did remember this time to extend the layout lines all the way around. Next I'll layout and cut the tenons on the legs. Once that's done I'll use them to mark out where the mortises are on the bench.
Then I'll make/install the center stretcher.   Glue everything and let it cook.

I still haven't checked which saws I have that will make a slot for a wedge that's bigger than the one my LN does. Something I'll have to do it before I glue up the bench.

accidental woodworker