Wax and the Workshop

Few tools make the cut when it comes to what I carry around in my woodworking apron. You will find in my apron a square, tape line, marking knife, pencils, sharpies, a pen, safety glasses, wooden shims for setting planes and a rectangular block of wax. In my work a block of wax is just as essential as a marking knife or a square. I find myself reaching for wax to ease multiple areas of my work. The usefulness of wax is not just limited to a hand tool workshop it has many uses with power tools as well. You can pick up a block of wax at any grocery store that sells canning supplies. Look for canning wax or paraffin wax. There are other types of waxes available, but they tend to be hard to find and more expensive than paraffin. Under $5.00 will buy you enough wax to last many work years in the shop. Here are just a couple of uses for wax in the shop.
Wax will help reduce friction making things slide with much less effort. Any time you have wood sliding over a surface it will drag because of friction. Try taking a block of wax and like a 3 year old with a crayon squiggle a line of wax on the working surface where the wood is sliding over. Any power tool machine table like a table saw, band saw, planner, jointer, router tables and even squiggle on the fences as well. Waxing the bed of a shooting board allows the craftsman to shoot all day long without it becoming arduous. Use the wax on objects that slide on top of wood as well. This is especially helpful with hand planes dropping the friction of the plane almost in half. Handheld routers can also benefit. When cutting wood with a hand saw wax can make the saw glide through the cut and slice the wood sweetly. Large panel saws always get a light squiggle a couple inches above the tooth line before they touch the timber. Dovetail saws and other backsaws will also benefit greatly and let you focus on sawing to the line not excessively forcing the saw. If you are tired of always breaking fret saw blades because of them binding in the cut running the block of wax on the back of the blade allowing it to cut into the wax will coat both sides of the blade and will turn your blades into marathon runners. This will work great in coping saws, power jigsaws and scroll saws. If you have ever snapped off a brass screw when installing that last piece of hardware in a project you know how frustrating this can be. Second only to drilling a properly sized pilot hole and pre-threading, wax can facilitate a smooth entry for any screw and prevent breaking. Wax is superior to soap in this application because soap can hold moisture and cause the screw to rust.
Wax will even help drawbore pins slide in without hitch into their designated holes. Recently while working on my bench the round brass bench dogs became very difficult to push up above the bench. A light coat of wax on the spring and far side of the dog solved the problem quickly.
Wax can prevent material from going where you don’t want it. Files can clog when working with soft metals like brass and even with certain types of wood. Running a block of wax against the teeth will fill in the gullets of the file with wax and will prevent clogging. I am eager to try this technique on rasps and floats. Next post I will talk about the usefulness of paste wax.

Two Toolboxes for Two

This past couple of weeks I have been working on a pair of toolboxes for two very important people. The first was for Clay Raterman. Clay was born in March 11th, 2008 to Ben and Alaya Raterman. He was born on the same day as Aimee. As a Hanna family tradition for the birth of a son the toolbox came equipped with a ball-pein hammer. The second toolbox was for Aimee, my wife, as a bike mechanic toolbox. Both toolboxes were based off of the first toolbox that I built over 10 years ago. Clay's box was constructed with Cherry and Mahogany and an accent of Ebony in the handle. Aimee's box was constructed with Mahogany and Poplar and an accent of Holly in the handle.

Just Scrapin' Buy

During a visit to the huge metropolis of Reno, Nevada I made a familiar stop at the local Woodcraft. Once in the store I was met with a sign informing patrons that the store was closing! This was not good news as I have shopped at this Woodcraft for 3 years now. That thought quickly left as I read on, 30% off everything in the store. Needless to say I picked up a tool that I made a spot for in my tool tote 2 years ago but thought I would never bring myself to actually buy one, a Lie Nielsen #212 Scraping Plane. I just tuned it up last night and am really happy with its performance. Finally a way to deal with unruly grain!

Wax It With The Nugget

I did not know what to say when my younger brother asked me to create a shoe shining box for him. I was even more in shock when he told me how big he wanted it, 14"X16"! When I hit the drawing board designing the box I decided that a frame and panel was the only option for the top. The entire piece was constructed of solid wood and designed to endure lifetimes of use. The box was constructed with Black Cherry and Yellow Poplar. I chose to challenge myself and try hounds-tooth through dovetails for the carcass construction and they turned out spot on. The fish shaped structure on top is a foot prop. I know that my brother will be able to fit everything that he will ever need for shoe shining (and maybe even the shoes themselves) for the rest of his life. By the way a nugget is a ball of wax for shoe polishing.

Herwiggy Up In Smoke

The Herwiggy Nation can now smoke in style. Mark Lobsinger commissioned this custom humidor with the Herwiggy logo front and center. The humidor is 9" X 12" X 5" and will hold 25-30 cigars for premium ageing. The entire piece was constructed of solid wood and was designed to endure lifetimes of use. The main box or carcass is Black Cherry. The Bird’s Eye Maple handle is mortised into the lid. The carcass was constructed with miters reinforced with keys and pinned at the corners. The keys are Bird’s Eye Maple and the pins are cherry. Holly inlay was set into the background of the lid. The Spanish Cedar interiors are intentionally left unfinished. The aroma of the cedar adds to the taste of the cigars as they age. The interior sidepieces were not glued in place and lock in when the humidor is seasoned. The exterior was finished with a Watco Danish Oil (Natural Color). The entire piece has been top coated with paste wax. This was a deviation away from my typical dovetailed carcasses using a birdhouse jig to shoot the long miters for the corners. The humidor also has a significant amount of hardware that is associated; humidifier, hygrometer, lid support, and the normal hinges. I guess I cannot speak to how well the humidor works till I sample from its storage.

The New Traveling Bench

These are some pics from the new bench that I just completed. A description of the bench with some detail shots to follow.

The vise is perfect for dovetailing!

Vise was fabricated from a vener vise screw and a blackpipe tee.

I bolted the bench to my table.

The benchdogs are going to make woodworking a lot easier.

The new shop all set up after 7 months off.

But Do You Have a 275lb Anvil?

If you have done any woodworking with hand tools you know that sharp edge tools are central. Plane Irons, Chisels, Marking knives, Panel Saws and the list goes on. Just last week I wanted to add to my tool collection with a tool that is no longer made, a Striking Knife. Since these ancient tools are no longer made and used ones are hard to find I turned to my local blacksmith. Lucky enough for me my local smithy is my brother, Nick. I commissioned him to forge a striking knife out of an old flathead screwdriver. The shape and feel turned out great and we hardened the steal in oil. This striking knife will be used for marking out lines for crosscutting with a panel saw. I also have just put into use on my new workbench a holdfast that was also forged out by Nick. The holdfast is a great way to hold your work down to the bench. One whack with the hammer and it is fixed. One more whack to the back and it releases. Next time you want a tool that is not manufactured any more look up your local smithy.

The knife blank in the coals. (In the middle of the coals)

The finished product.




Holdfast in use.

Thanks to the best blacksmith that I know!!!