A Brace from the Past

Leonard Clarence Hanna Jr. was a self motivated construction juggernaut. LC was my grandfather who passed away in 1997. In my lifetime I knew PaPa as the guy that drove the white Nissan with the topper on the back and the floor boards filled with crushed McDonalds’ coffee cups. He was an early riser with a restless spirit to build. He worked alongside my dad in the family business constructing homes to sell and to rent. I would go to the job site to work as I grew up and there I mastered the skill of pulling nails that were bent beyond recognition and stacking (and restacking) piles of dimensional lumber. But LC had a whole other career that was before my time as a nail pulling expert, he was a lineman for the Bell Atlantic Phone Company.

LC started working for Bell Atlantic when he was 17 years old and dedicated 30 years to the company. I did not know a lot about this career he had prior to building homes except for some tools of the trade that I would stumble across in a two car garage my grandfather stored building materials in. Searching in the “Two Car Garage” was like searching for treasure, you never know what you could find. I have been known to use his climbing gaffs, which were used to climb telephone poles, to climb some of the local trees in my neighborhood.

Just recently in my hand tool woodworking ventures I stumbled across another tool of his trade. A brace and bit. While researching different human powered boring tools I found that most lineman during LC’s day were issued a “Bell System” Yankee No. 2101 Brace to bore holes in telephone poles and the like. The Yankee brace was the best brace of the day. Excellent quality of the craftsmanship and new innovations in the ratcheting head and the wolverine grip jaws set the Yankee brace in its own category. I called my younger brother to see if maybe we still had a brace from PaPa buried in the two car garage. After locating a brace Nick promptly mailed it to Wyoming. The brace arrived over the weekend and it is indeed a Yankee 2101A North Bros Mfg Co., Philadelphia Brace.
This brace, manufactured somewhere between 1946 and 1956, was right after Stanley purchased the North Bros. company as they were attempting to expand into the brace market. “After the takeover, the North Bros braces and other tools were first marked, "North Bros Mfg Co., Philadelphia, Division of Stanley Tool Works." These "Philadelphia –made" tools seem to have retained the construction quality for which North Bros was famous.” (http://www.sydnassloot.com/Brace/Northb.htm) After 1956 the quality of the now Stanly Yankee Brace dropped off. I gave the old brace a clean up and it works like a dream. One of my greatest joys of working with these tools is the heritage and stories that come with them. Now when I go to bore a hole I think I will employ the help of LC!

A Jewelry Box for a Dinosaur

Last July I became an Uncle for the first time. Elise Anne Phoenix was born to Joel and Lindsay Phoenix July 1 2009, and little did they know that they were going to raise the very rare and endangered Elisaurous. After hearing the great news I thought to myself, “All good dinosaurs need a jewelry box, right?” Thus the design for a new jewelry box began. I entitled this contemporary jewelry box Redwoods on the Coast.
I gathered the inspiration for this piece on a trip that Aimee and I took to the Northern California Coast last fall. Driving along, surrounded by the towering Coastal Redwood trees and the seemingly endless view of the Pacific Ocean, the design became instinctive. I wanted to do something different and challenging. This project met both criteria.
The carcass of the box and the framing for the lid were constructed out of Black Cherry. The “waves” of the ocean panel are Curly Maple selected from a lumberyard in Northern California. I cut the waves out with a #16 round molding plane and then cleaned up any tear out with gooseneck scrapers and sandpaper stuck to the bottom of the #16.
The handle, representing the Coastal Redwoods, is Bubinga. This piece of Bubinga was set aside from a previous project to be used at just the right time. I created the small bead with a scratch stock. I think the piece of Bubinga turned just the right shade of red after the finish was applied.
The bottom panel is Yellow Poplar lined with leather to protect jewelry. The carcass was constructed with through dovetails at the corners. Pinned mortise and tenons hold the frame of the lid together. The pins in the lid are Black Cherry. The curved short sides of the box were designed to facilitate picking up the box with ease. The box is equipped with stop hinges to keep the lid rested at 95 degrees when fully open. The sliding tray, intended to resemble the large carcass it resides in, was designed to hold rings and smaller jewelry. I am not well versed on what jewelry Elisaurous’s wear but I hope it fits in the box!

Creating a Convex Curve with Hand Tools

A couple of our neighbors with wood burning stoves have been well stocked with grocery bags of wood shavings the last couple of weeks, products of my busyness in the shop. I can measure the productivity level on a single night on how many grocery bags of shavings I produce. Lately I have been working on a new piece with dovetailed convex curved sides. I began by marking out the arc on the end grain of the short sides and then proceeded to create steps with the #140 Skew Block Plane. Once the steps have been established I switch over to the shoulder plane which is a litter faster. These steps remove excess material and give a guide as you begin to shape the convex curve. I chose to use the large shoulder plane with a tight mouth to accomplish the curve. I left the curve somewhat rough knowing that the lid and the feet would need to be blended into the curve of the sides later. The feet and the lid will be a continuation of the arc on the sides. To accomplish the dovetails I cut the tails out when the long sides were still square on the end. Once the tails were cleaned up I transferred the tails to the curved pin board. I then proceeded to cut the pins out of the curved short sides. Holding the work down to the bench to chop out the waste material became a challenge. Chopping from the face, the back could rest flat on the bench. I created a negative of the curve to cradle the short sides so I could chop out to the base line from the back. I found that using a smaller chisel, about, 3/8” was easier to register in the baseline on the face because of the curve. A deeply scored baseline was crucial for this operation. With the pins cut out, the dovetails could be assembled. Once the glue dried I proceeded to flush off the tails to meet the curve of the short sides. I cut as much waste away as possible and then used a rasp to hog the remaining material away just shy of being flush. With the toe rested on the curved sides the large shoulder plane flawlessly trimmed the end grain flush. Once the hinges and feet are installed I can blend the entire arc into the sides.

Lessons Learned

Over the years I have made my share of woodworking mistakes; from snapping off screws when installing hardware to blowing out a lapped dovetail on a figured drawer front. My latest endeavor has been an exercise in patience. Working with a fresh design that incorporates convex and concave surfaces is new territory for my tools. When working in new territory the learning curve is steep. After milling up and shaping the convex short sides of a jewelry box twice I think I got the hang of it. I was required to double up the production of the short sides due to a re-adjustment of a marking gauge. Keeping a marking gauge set until you are completely done marking out with that setting is a “Golden Rule”, but I committed the cardinal sin and paid the price. The baseline on my pin board sockets was not square to the datum surface (read re-do). Having to make a second set of short sides allowed me to benefit from the previous practice. It took a little bit longer to accomplish but in the end I think it came out better.

Skiing and Woodworking

There are few things that I would rather be doing than working in the shop. The winter always brings a conflict of interests to the world of COR woodworks and carving the Herwiggys. My weekends thus far have succumbed to skiing and woodworking has filled the evenings a couple nights a week. I might just have to quit my day job to give myself enough time to squeeze all this in. But there is always a fine line on how to split your free time. Blending the two hobbies I love to do, I just finished a Ski rack for some friends in the Tetons. The background mountain range is a silhouette of the Teton Range with space to hang up to 6 pair of skis. This project was inspired by a smaller version I have made as a key rack. I am sure the Ski Rack will be put to good use. Maybe soon to store some Herwiggys!

The Ruler Trick Upgrade

For years now I have been religiously submitting some of my ideas to Fine Woodworking and Woodworking Magazines to have them posted in the Methods of Work or Shortcut sections. This past summer I submitted a Shortcut to Woodworking Magazine. The shortcut was a upgrade to the David Charlesworth Ruler Trick. The shortcut was published in the winter 2009 Woodworking Magazine. The Text read as follows.

"When polishing the back of a plane iron it is much faster to use David Charlesworth's ruler trick. The ruler raises the iron up on one side of the stone and creates a micro bevel or a thin back bevel on the back of the iron. When I tried to use a ruler it would sometimes move around on the stone. To prevent this I made a "ruler" out of thin steel flashing available at any home center. I took the flashing, removed all the paint and then bent the last 3/8" on either end to create a hook. The new ruler clips over the stone and does not move."

A Double Combo Stone

Sharp Tools are a must when working with hand tools. The more I woodwork the more particular I become when it comes to sharpness. What I use to think was sharp 2 years ago I would consider too dull to work with today. To keep my tools sharp I use a series of Norton waterstones. I own a 200, 1000, 1000/4000 combo and an 8000 stone. I have found that I do not use the 220 on tools but really just use it to flatten other stones. I will also flatten stones on 120-grit drywall sanding screen on a granite surface plate to ensure they are as flat as possible. One of the first stones I purchased was the 100/4000 combo stone and it has seen heaps of use to the point it was becoming very thin. I was afraid that under the weight of the sharpening process that the stone might be flexing. To prevent this I Gorilla glued two stones together to make a thicker single stone. I glued a solid 1000 to the 1000 side of the combo stone. The trick works like a charm and it extends the life of both stones significantly.