Roubo book stand

There have been a number of articles, posts and videos about the Roubo book stand, a clever and attractive piece made by creating a "hinge" in a piece of wood and resawing the board in half so it will open.  Roy Underhill did a program on it which motivated me to give it a try.  In addition to being a skill builder, my sons are bibliophiles and I think it might make a nice gift.

When I am trying something new and challenging for the first time, I like to take the pressure off of myself by making a crude prototype from secondary wood I have on hand with the explicit intention of throwing it away.  I have a large stack of alder which is perfect because it works easily.

You can watch the program, but I want to mention a couple of issues I ran into.  After layout, the first thing Roy does is make internal vertical cuts along the sides of the "hinge leaves," which, predictably, he has vintage gizmos for.  You drill a small hole in the corners and then use a hack saw blade on which a sharp point has been created and a handle attached to start from this hole and open up the cut.  I was able to make the blade by using a pair of tin snips, but I don't have the vintage handle, so I just used the blade.  Took a very very long time, perhaps because it was a fine blade and I couldn't exert much downward force.  Roy then switched to a small keyhole saw to complete the cut.  The keyhole saws I can find around here have very thick blades which would detract a lot from the appearance of the stand.  I hit on the idea of using a jig saw blade, which seems to work and is thinner.  I am going to make a handle for this jigsaw blade before my next attempt.

Next comes chiseling out the hinge.  That went smoothly until I got to the nearly vertical part of the hinge.  My bench chisels are too thick to use.  Roy uses a very thin paring chisel, which I don't have, so I just cut away the hinge enough to let my bench chisel fit (this is just a prototype).  I think a carving chisel might work better than a paring chisel and I am going to look for one.  If I understood him correctly, he made these in the past with a bevel rather than rounding the hinge, so this is another alternative.  I think it might look better and you might be able to round it over after the stand is opened.  Roy points out that you can use a shoulder plane to clean it up once it's opened and this would make things a lot easier.  You just have to avoid spelching by putting a slight bevel on the sides of the leaves before you use the shoulder plane.

Anyway, here is the result.  I am quite pleased actually, as it accomplished its intended purpose.  It's very crude but I learned what I need to know to improve.  I think these would look especially nice if you chose a board with a prominent grain pattern that would accentuate the fact that the stand is made from one piece of wood..  Now it's into the burn pile!

Give it a try.  I found it a lot of fun.

Update:  A friend made me aware of a short video by Chris Schwarz on the Popular Woodworking site that addresses both of the issues I ran into.  Coincidentally, I had reached the conclusion that the methods he demonstrates are the way to go.  Here it is.

Moxon Vise Completed

My vise is quite similar to others you have seen, with one exception on the back.  Construction notes follow.

I had intended to chisel out hexagons in 1"x3"x3" pieces of wood to receive the nuts and keep them from turning but, when I was test fitting the screws, I found it very convenient to be able to spin the nuts in order to open the vise quickly,  The flats on these nuts are so large that I realized I could keep them from turning just by fastening a thin strip underneath them.  That way, as soon as the screw is loosened enough to let them  clear the strip, I can spin the nuts.  It works great.  A very simple solution.

I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get enough torque on the screws, but that's not the case at all.  The vise tightens easily.

Note that you don't want the screws to fit the holes tightly in the horizontal dimension.  You want to be able to skew the vise slightly in order to make it convenient to use.  When you are working on a number of pieces of the same thickness, you leave one screw set and use the other one to insert and remove workpieces.  This works very well and is fast.  I accomplished this with a coarse half-round file.  Mine skews about 1", which seems about right.

This vise far exceeds my expectations and, at a cost of less than $40, is a real bargain.  I urge you to make one for yourself, whatever option you choose for the screws.  In addition to the one I chose, here are some other options:

• wooden screws made with a threadbox
• wooden screws made with a router
• a nice vise made with carriage bolts
• A vise made with veneer press screws

Moxon vise screws

Since I have chosen not to have a vise on my bench, at least for now, having a good portable Moxon vise available is quite important.  I have been stymied for some time by the screws.  Wooden screws are the best but I don't have a lathe, a threadbox, or a tap and the cost of commercially available screws is prohibitive.  In a recent issue of ShopNotes (Vol. 20, Issue 120), the cover story was a project to build an etau, a historical vise from France.  The screw was an acme rod and nut obtained from McMaster-Carr with a shop-made wooden hub and handle.  It seemed like a great idea and I decided to try it in modified form.

I obtained two 12" long, 1", 5 tpi threaded acme rods and nuts from McMaster-Carr for $32.  There are many different sizes and tpi available.  I made hexagonal wooden handles 4" long and drilled a hole 2" deep in each to receive the rods.  I then epoxied the rods in place and drilled through the handle and rod for a machine screw for extra strength.  I read on a boat building forum that if you warm the wood and epoxy to 100 degrees, the epoxy will penetrate deeply into the wood, so that's what I did.  In this way, the epoxy strengthens the wood as well as forming a bond between the handle and the screw.  I also painted the end grain with epoxy.

The result is shown below.  I am extremely pleased with the result.  Definitely a good value if it holds up, which I expect.

By the way, if you have forgotten your high school geometry like I have, hexagons are easy to lay out.  Draw a circle equal to the outside diameter you want and then use the compass to step off segments of the circle (the radius and the length of the sides are the same). Draw straight lines between adjacent points and you will have a hexagon.  Hexagons are relatively easy to make with hand tools.  I used a saw and a plane.

The entire project took a couple of hours or so.  I'll post about the completed vise shortly.

More on crochets (sideboard hooks)

Dean makes some very good points in commenting on my earlier post and Bob Rozaieski agrees.  What they say about the function of the crochet makes sense to me.  The crochet allows you to edge plane without setting holdfasts and is therefore somewhat quicker.  For wide workpieces where the holdfasts at the bottom might be insufficient, the crochet holds it securely at the top.   Of course, Dean's vise has these characteristics as well and that was Nicholson's plan to begin with.

The crochet I made is definitely not shaped correctly.  If you go into Google Images and search for "Roubo workbenches" you will see numerous examples of better ones with longer, shallower tapers that will clearly hold the workpiece more securely.  Curiously, if you look at Roubo's plate here, for example, you'll see that his doesn't have a shallow taper.

Update:  I have to admit that Dean, Bob and Adam are right.  I made a "sideboard hook" that matches the look of the Nicholson bench to my eye.  It's also somewhat wider than I usually see as I want to accommodate 8/4 material.  As I've written, I enjoy experimentation.  I'll likely make at least one more.  Although the angle is only 45 degrees it seems to work fine and, in any case, is more angled than Roubo's.  I continue to puzzle over why his is shaped the way it is.  I can only surmise that he thinks this is enough of an angle to hold the piece against the bench, and maybe it is.  Also shown in the picture below is my bench dog.  :)

Crochet

I spent a fair amount of time shaping a crochet in walnut that looks like ones I have seen, more or less resembling the profile of a human hand.  Held it up to the bench and decided I didn't like it aesthetically or functionally, so decided to start over.

As I thought about it, the crochet is nothing more than the vertical analogy of the planing stop.  On the Nicholson bench, that is simply a square block of wood.  It doesn't hold the workpiece down to the bench; gravity does that.  When you plane the edge of a piece held vertically against the sideboard, holdfasts hold it up and against the sideboard.  As far as I can see, all that is needed from the crochet is to function as a planing stop, nothing more.  If you make it wrap around the workpiece, it sticks out too much for my taste, limits the thickness of the piece you can hold and doesn't seem to serve any purpose.  Anybody know why crochets are the way they are?

I spent a few minutes creating a basic planing stop as an experiment, bolting it to the bench in case I end up not liking it and want to remove it.  I think it fits the look of a Nicholson bench very well and functions perfectly.  The picture below shows my first effort and what I ended up with.  It works great.  It obviously doesn't need to be 2" thick and I may make a thinner version 2.

Once you edge plain on the front of a Nicholson bench you'll wonder how you ever did without it.  It's a horizontal workbench.  Tremendous.

 

Work holding

When I built my bench, I deliberately chose to defer workholding decisions to a phase II.  I was so impressed by Bob Rozaieski's podcast on this subject that I began to question whether I wanted a vise on my bench at all, especially since I consider a Moxon vise to be an absolute necessity.  The remainder of his workholding accessories are easy to add later.

Today, I began a series of experiments to see what I like best.  This is part of the fun for me and I don't care that most of my ideas don't pan out, as long as they are reversible.  The side planing stop is easy:  a board that fits in the split top and protrudes above the bench top.  Bob made a nice one that is flush to the bench top when turned one direction and protrudes above the bench top when turned over.  For now, I decided I want to make the board just under one-half inch taller than the top and remove it when I am not using it.  I like the split open when I work and, with no shelf below it, I don't care about, even prefer, shavings falling through.

The planing stop is another matter.  I just can't bring myself, yet anyway, to cut a big square hole in the top of my bench for the traditional planing stop like Bob made.  So I decided to try an invention.  Here it is:

The finger on the bottom of the planing stop extends below the transverse bearer on the end and rests against the top stretcher on the legs, as you can see from the last picture.  I've tried it a bit and it seems very secure.

I'm going to use it this way for a while and see what I think.  If I do decide to install a vise, it will either be a leg vise or a twin screw vise on this end of the bench, which you probably guessed from the last picture.

I'm now at work on the crochet.

Pie Safe

I recently completed this pie safe (cabinets for storing baked goods with tin panels that have small holes in a design so as to allow air movement while protecting the contents from insects).  They originated with Pennsylvania Germans in the nineteenth century.  Mine is based on plans and videos from Charles Neil here.  It's a highly functional project that we will enjoy for many years.

This project has special significance for me as a woodworker. A pie safe almost begs to be made with a table saw and a mortising machine.  Midway through the project, I sold my table saw.  I finished making it with hand tools.  Selling your table saw is a tipping point, important in itself and highly symbolic.  Coincident with this, I rearranged my shop to put the remaining power tools on the periphery and built a hand tool work bench.  A fundamental change.

 

Finding vintage hand tools

A recent comment expressed frustration about finding restorable hand tools at reasonable prices in the Portland, Oregon area.  I am afraid I don't have any magic answers, but I have some suggestions and I particularly hope others will chime in.

Although I live 250 miles away, I have tried to find hand tools in the Portland area and have come away empty-handed.  My own theory is that urban areas that experienced much of their development late in the hand tool era and that got electricity early aren't ideal places to look.  Add to that the fact that, in the current economic climate, people are trying to make a living by buying vintage items at garage sales and on Craigslist in order to sell them for a profit on E-bay and it's very tough.

Here are some strategies I follow.  Don't make a special effort to go to garage sales, particularly if they advertise vintage tools.  I was literally stepped on by dealers when I did.  If I am going somewhere and pass a garage sale that looks promising, I stop.  Good signs are an older home with a large garage or a barn.  I occasionally find good items this way without a lot of effort, chiefly planes, handsaws and bits/braces.  Same general idea with Craigslist.  If you see an interesting item, call and, if its still available, is reasonably priced and nearby, go take a look.  Don't make a big effort.

A better approach for me is identifying junk/antique shops that have hand tools.  I just stop in when I am driving by and sometimes find good tools this way.  To me, the higher price is justified as long as it is still reasonable.  I have had some great luck doing this when I travel on vacation, particularly in rural parts of Oregon.  If you pass one, stop in and take a quick look.  Takes five minutes and they'll usually deal.

Something I would definitely do if I were you is attend one of the sales at the Pacific NW Tools Collectors Association.  Information here:  PNWTC.  I've never been, but hear good things.

A good place to buy vintage tools is on the sale/swap pages of the major forums, such as Woodnet and Sawmill Creek.  There tends to be a much higher level of honesty and knowledge by sellers because it is a community.  Many of the sellers are well known and have excellent reputations.  I would buy from them without hesitation and the higher price is justified in my opinion.

I don't do Ebay and never will, but that's me.  Some people have success.

Finally, don't underestimate what is restorable.  You'd be surprised what a vinegar bath will do.

Anybody have other ideas to help him and others?  

The great hand tool debate

I have been struck recently by what seems to be a reaction by a number of prominent hand tool woodworkers against buying and using more, ever-more-expensive hand tools.  There are two main parts of the debate:  how many tools you own and whether you buy new premium tools or inexpensive vintage tools and restore them.  Although I find many of the views extreme, they are a useful reminder.  It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that becoming a better woodworker depends primarily on the tools you use when the truth is that skill development is the key.  I have repeatedly witnessed great woodworkers doing excellent work with poor tools, but great tools aren't enough to enable great work.

I'm somewhere in the middle.  I made a tool chest that is about 2'x2'x3' last year and intend that it hold essentially all of my hand tools, excluding things like my Millers Falls Acme miter box, etc.  I am selling some tools and buying others, continually refining what I have within the constraint that I want them to fit.  I find that I really like working from the chest and I like the discipline of limiting myself in this way.  Chris Schwarz espouses a similar view in The Anarchist's Tool Chest.

As for buying new premium tools vs. restoring vintage tools, I do both.  Where I live, it is relatively easy to buy vintage saws and bench planes and that's primarily what I do.  I enjoy owning and using these vintage tools even though I know I could buy new ones that are arguably somewhat better.  On the other hand, it is virtually impossible to buy vintage specialty planes at reasonable prices, so I have purchased new ones that are simply outstanding.  Look in my chest and you will see Stanley Bailey bench planes sitting alongside Lee Valley shoulder, router and plow planes.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with owning a huge collection of hand tools, there is nothing wrong with limiting yourself to vintage tools and there is nothing wrong with exclusively purchasing new tools.  Everyone should feel comfortable doing as they please.  Just remember that, in the end, skill is what matters.  Skill comes from practice and that only happens when the tool is in your hand.