Logan Cabinet Shoppe

In the power tool world they're called jigs. In the hand tool world, we call them appliances. Whatevery you call them, they are indispensible accessories that you will use in your shop on an almost daily basis. From bench hooks to shooting boards and winding sticks to pinch rods, you can build them all with nothing more than a few offcuts and a little creativity.

With tools in hand and the skills to sharpen them, we're just about ready to start building some furniture. There's just a few things left. First, we need a place to work, which means a workbench. Then, we need a way to keep our tools organized. So in this episode, I give a formal tour of my shop and talk about how I addressed these issues in my little space.

Now that the podcast has been successfully ongoing for several weeks, I would like to get your opinion on the way that the podcast is set up for viewing. I'm not looking so much for feedback on what is in them or how the information is presented in each episode. I think the comments I have received on the individual podcasts have done a good job of providing feedback on the episodes themselves. Instead, I'm looking for feedback on the website arrangement. Do you like having the blog and podcast on separate pages or would you rather see each podcast episode embeded into the blog post like I have done here using the trailer?

I can see benefits of presenting the videos both ways. When embeded into the blog, the blog text that is posted and the comments on the podcast are all in the same place. However, with the podcast on its own page, it is easier to go back to previous episodes since the episode list is right there on the right of the video window. Of course you could always use the little icons at the bottom of the video window to view previous episodes as well when they are embeded into the blog post, this just isn't as obvious as having an episode list right there.

So please let me know what you the viewers think by leaving a comment. How do you prefer to see future podcasts presented?

Any other feedback is always welcome as well. Just leave a comment.

As always, thanks for your continued support!

OK, I promise, this is the last episode on sharpening. There are just a few different tools left that really weren't covered by the other episodes so I wanted to touch on them before I move on. I'm going to be using several of these tools in an upcoming project series starting this fall, so I wanted to make sure I cover sharpening them for anyone who wants to follow along with the project. But this is the last one, honest, I'm moving on. :)

No, I didn't get laid off (yet) or lose my life savings playing the stock market. The donation I'm seeking isn't even for me. In fact, it will be for one of the viewers of my podcast (but you'll have to watch the episode to find out how to get in on it).

Here's the situation. After just a few more episodes, I'm going to be starting a project series for the podcast. I don't want to give away too much (not that it's earth shattering or anything, but I think it will be cool), but I want anyone who has regularly followed the podcast to be able to follow along and build their own project if they would like. Up to this point in the podcast, I've covered almost everything that I think is needed for someone to start at the beginning with Episode #1, acquire tools, sharpen all their tools and get ready to build a piece of furniture. All that's really left is a brief overview of effecient shop setup, and a short discussion on a few shop accessories that I find useful on a daily basis. These topics are planned to be covered in episodes # 9 and # 10.

I have covered sharpening pretty extensively I think (to be concluded in Episode # 8), and that is pretty much all that is needed to tune up most hand tools. There is one thing that I really haven't covered up until now, however, that might be a small sticking point for someone new to the craft; hand planes. While I don't typically over analyze the tuning of hand planes, they do often require a little more setup and tuning than just sharpening (though that is usually more than half the battle). As a result, I've received numerous requests to do a podcast on tuning up a hand plane.

I think that this should probably be done before I start the project series so that no one, regardless of experience level, feels excluded from doing the project because they don't have the knowledge to set up all of their tools, including a plane or two. So here is what I'm asking from my loyal blog readers and podcast viewers.

I need a plane to tune up. I only have old woodies in my shop, and the majority of us today don't use these. So in order for the podcast to be as useful to as many viewers as possible, I'd like to tune up a vintage metal plane for the podcast. Problem is, I don't own any.

I thought about going out to try to find one, but I really don't want to spend a lot of time scouring flea markets or Ebay to find one just to turn around and sell it after tuning it for the podcast. I really have no need or use for it after that.

So here is my proposal and my request to those of you out there who hoard these things (you know who you are). Send me a common bench plane, perhaps a #3 or #4 size (please no block planes and nothing longer than a #5). The plane should be in somewhat decent condition. Please don't make me have to repair broken totes or replace missing parts. I'm not looking to restore it, I just want it as a demo for tuning and putting to use for the podcast. If I have to clean a little surface rust from it that's fine, I just don't want to have to do major repairs or replace missing parts. It needs to have some good length left to the iron as well as I won't be upgrading the iron (unless someone wants to donate one of those as well :)). The goal is to get my hands on a plane that for the most part just needs some tuning.

In return for your plane donation, and as a way to say thanks for supporting the podcast, I will send you a pair of layout tools made in my shop, to include a wooden try square and wooden marking gauge, similar to the ones I use in my shop and seen in several of the previous podcasts. I will then use your donated plane in the podcast, tuning and sharpening it so that it is ready for use. After the podcast, I will donate the plane that I tune and sharpen in the episode to one of the viewers through some method that I will disclose at the end of the podcast (so you'll at least have to watch it to get in on the action).

So that's my call for viewer support. If you have a plane that you are interested in donating please send me an email and we can work out the details. I guarantee you that at least one lucky viewer will thank you after the podcast.

Thanks again to all of you out there who read the blog and watch the podcast. These things would just be a random web site out there in space without all of you, so thanks!

Well, summer is coming to an end, vacations are all but over and school is back in session. In this episode I attempt to take some of the mystique out of sharpening your own hand saws. I don't completely understand all of the hesitation that a lot of folks have learning to sharpen their own saws. Really, it's no more difficult than learning to sharpen a plane iron or a chisel. All it takes is a small investment in some simple tools and a few minutes of practice. Hopefully, this episode will convince more folks to go ahead and try it. Oh, and don't worry about giving it a try on one of your high priced premium saws either. In fact, it's probably better to learn on one of these saws than on an old beater. Watch the episode to find out why.

I've also attached a .PDF file with some pages from the video. Feel free to download, print and make notes on them if you like. If you are not familiar with saw terminology, they may be helpful to you as you watch the episode. I also apologize for the vibration in a couple of filing clips. I tried to get a bird's eye view of filing the teeth by putting the tripod on top of the bench but in my infinite wisdom, the tripod absorbed some of the vibration and of course it shows bad in the video. The vibration looks a lot worse than it is and in fact there was very little vibration in the saw and vise but the tripod vibration makes it look bad. Sorry.

I received a question in reference to Episode # 4 of the podcast about sawing long stock. The viewer noted that all of the demonstrations in the podcast were done with relatively short stock (which was intentionally done to make filming easier). However, the viewer was curious as to how I typically handled long and/or heavy stock that is too difficult to manage with a single saw bench. So I took a few photos that will hopefully clarify and answer this question.

In order to rip long stock, I use two saw benches rather than a single one. I use the back end of my shave horse as a second saw bench (I intentionally made the saw bench and shave horse the same height for this reason). With the stock supported at both ends, I begin the rip the same as I would for a shorter board.

Unlike sawing shorter stock over the side of the saw bench, I cannot simply keep sawing until I'm done. Instead, when my saw cut reaches the bench, I reposition the stock and continue sawing between the two benches until I reach the rear bench or until I can no longer saw comfortably in that direction.

To finish the cut, I have two options. I can reposition the stock again and continue sawing through to the end or I can start the cut from the opposite end and meet the previous cut. In either case, the "keep" stock and the waste are fully supported throughout the cut.

Crosscutting long stock can be done the same way. If the stock is manageable without clamping, I'll simply span the saw bench and shave horse and hold it with my knee. If necessary, I may also use a pair of handscrews to clamp the board to the two benches. Then just saw between the two benches and both sides of the stock are fully supported.

In this episode I talk about sharpening edge tools with curved edges, like molding planes, bench gouges, carving tools and cambered plane irons. If you're used to using a honing guide you may find honing these tools a little more challenging as most can't be honed using any kind of guide. You can hone cambered bench plane irons in several of the available honing guides, however, molding planes and gouges are best done freehand. In this episode I discuss the way I do it.

It's no secret that to do fine work we need sharp tools. So the next few episodes are going to be a series on sharpening all of the different tools commonly found in the hand tool shop.

I have three requirements for a good sharpening system:

1. It needs to be simple
2. It needs to be fast
3. It needs to be repeatable

While my chosen method of sharpening isn't for everyone, it works for me and meets these three requirements perfectly. In this first episode of the sharpening series, I cover the straight edged tools like the square and skewed chisels and plane irons.

Well after some work over the weekend, I've finally managed to work out all of the bugs that were haunting the podcast and it's communication with iTunes. So for those of you who have been long awaiting this day, it's finally here. You can now get the podcast through iTunes. I've also made getting there a little easier since it's been brought to my attention that the little widget provided by the podcast host that was supposed to make it easy to subscribe using iTunes doesn't work like it should. So instead, I've just put direct links on the Podcast page so you can click once and subscribe with iTunes or using the podcast's RSS feed. Thanks to everyone who has waited so patiently! Hope you enjoy the new feature!