Monthly Archives: January 2015

Brass Hammer

You might not know it, but I have been looking for a brass hammer for some time now. I need a brass hammer to tap my wooden plane’s irons to set them at just the right cutting depth.

You see, brass hammers are preferable to steel hammers as the brass is softer than the plane iron and will not damage it where the steel hammer will “mushroom” the steel and that is bad.

brass_hammer1I went to the MWTCA tool meet yesterday and I happened across this nice little beauty in the rough for $5.00.  A real bargain, as these babys can cost a lot of dough new. It had a brass head and brass handle with a duct tape grip.

I could have just left well enough alone and used it happily, but I just had to make it better.

I had to get that duct tape off of there because it was pretty nasty and really old so it was breaking down.  This came off with a knife and the brass rod handle was in good shape.  I was really struggling on how to properly put a wooden handle of the brass rod.  This decision was made for me, as I was cleaning the head the brass rod came right out of the head.

The high end tool manufacturer Lie-Nielson used to make a really nice cross-peen hammer and I liked the handle shape, so  I decided to mimic that shape.

I had to re-drill and enlarge the hole in the hammer head so it would accommodate a wooden handle. I drilled half way through on the top of the head with the next larger size bit so when I wedged the handle it would not would not come off.

I had a nice piece of cherry that was perfect for the job. So 30 minutes on the lathe and I had me a new handle.  The Lie-Nielson cross-peen hammers have a more slender handle than what I made for my handle.  I made my handle a little thicker to accommodate the heavier head on my hammer.  The hardest part of this whole project was fitting the cylindrical head to the cylindrical handle and getting it to fit.

Brass Hammer

This is what I ended up with. Quite a change from the hammer I brought home yesterday!  I am really happy with this and I hope it gives me many years of good service.

-Aaron

 

 

 

 

Brass Hammer Head

Brass Hammer Top

Tale of Two End Tables – Chapter 1 – Stock Prep

In an effort to expand my experience with building larger woodworking projects, I am starting this new year making some furniture pieces.  I do not want to go totally crazy, so I am starting on two Shaker end tables featured in the September 2004 Issue of Woodworking Magazine.  This article goes into great detail on building this popular and timeless design.  The Shaker style has an appeal to woodworkers, as it is functional, very stylish and pretty strait forward to build. I decided to build two end tables so that I could maximize my wood use and match the pair using the same wood for the whole project.

My first step was to procure a beautiful piece of cherry from the local lumber yard, Capital City Lumber, here in Raleigh.  I did score a choice board  8/4″x12″x8′.  This was a thing of beauty and I have to give credit to my friend, Bob, who saw this board and called it to my attention.

The next step after getting it home was board layout. In order to get the most use out of a board and avoid waste, it is important to plan the usage of each section of a board and how to cut it out .  I worked this around in my head for a couple of days to avoid making a mistake on this expensive and precious lumber.  This is part of any woodworking project takes time to learn and gain experience.  Fortunately I have been doing board layout for some time now, so I felt confident in my layout decisions.  I have done numerous projects with less expensive lumber that have really added to my knowledge and skill level.

One of the big challenges for this project is the stock thickness. It is 8/4 or roughly 2″ thick.  Most of the boards called for in this project (except the legs) are 3/4″.  In a conventional shop you would “re-saw” these pieces in half on a band saw and have two pieces about 7/8″ thick. My band saw is currently down for repairs so I have to do it the old fashion way, with a rip saw.  That’s right the following will have to be cut in this manner:  2 tops 9×18, 2 drawer fronts 4×12 and 6 aprons or stretchers 5 1/2×13.  I have about 2 full days of sawing ahead of me, but it will be worth it. Below is a picture of my rough sawn stock cut to the length and width.

-Aaron

Rough Stock