Oh You Mean That Was Supposed To Lift

If you’ve been following along you know that as soon as I had assembled the carcass bottom and back I paused to install the hinged plane shelf so that the top and sides wouldn’t be in the choice. Well, you know how even the best laid plans end up . . .As I was installing the hinges for the doors, it occurred to me that I had installed the plane shelf so that there was no clearance between the side of the shelf and the side of the carcass. A quick test confirmed my suspicion that the shelf would not lift.

Thankfully this was a fairly easy mistake to correct. All that was required to re-set the plane shelf in working order was removing the hinge screws and re-attaching it.The shelf re-setting began by my forcing the shelf open past the door hinge to reveal the shelf hinge. Then my trusty 12v screw gun and an extra long #2 Philips bit make quick work of removing the screws.Once the plane shelf had been removed, I was left with figuring how to install it square to the body of the cabinet.  To do this I first shifted the cabinet carcass onto it’s side. Then I laid down a double layer of ¾” baltic birch plywood scraps to hold the shelf off the side of the cabinet and leave plenty of clearance for the door and door hinge. Finally I used two (2) of my Woodpecker Clamping Squares to ensure the plane shelf was perpendicular to the cabinet side.

Clamping the shelf perpendicular to the carcass
to be sure that its square when attached.

A quick few holes with my 12v drill and a centering bit followed by the 12v screw gun and the shelf was re-installed and better then new. Thankfully I haven’t even begun to design the cubbies that will be installed to the left of the plane shelf. While their available space my have just shrunk by 1½”, at least I don’t have to modify them post installation.

Have you though ahead, patted yourself on the back and then realized that all that planning still didn’t work?

Other Bastard Wall Cabinet PostsWinter Wall Cabinet WonderlandThe Bastard Wall Cabinet (for tools!)Trudging Towards Tool StorageCutting the Cabinet Carcass (in relative terms)A Home For My PlanesContinued Wall Cabinet AssemblyWhats a Bastard Wall Cabinet without Shelves?

Boxing in the Bastard Tool Cabinet

Door Hinges on the Bastard Wall Cabinet

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Its Wanderful Part 1 Where to Begin

About 3 months ago my Sister-in-Law asked me to make her a wand to take to the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. It’s not that she often requests things (though she does have a bookcase I built), it’s that she’s A) a harry potter fan and B) a follower of mine on Google Buzz.

Kenneths awesome wand that made my Sister-in-law go "Oh."

You see, in November of 2010, my friend, Kenneth Woodruff, wrote a blog post about the fantastic Harry Potter wand he made for Halloween that year. As I was truly impressed, I of course shared it on Buzz. I happened to be visiting my Sister-in-Law at the time, and as soon as I shared it “that’s a cool wand” could be heard from her corner of the living room.

Fast forward to May of 2011 and as the movie date approaches I get asked to make wands, wands for my Wife, Sister-in-Law and her partner. Wands like Kenneth made.Had Kenneth made a tool cabinet or a vacuum boom arm, I would have jumped right into the project. However, as Kenneth’s wand was faithful to the original (in that it is round and has carvings), it was a project well outside of my woodworking comfort zone. I’ve never worked in the round or carved before. As neither round work nor carving have held any appeal for me, I’ve never even read up on them (as I have with many other woodworking methods that I am interested in but have yet to try).

Kenneths great carved wand handle.

My first reaction was to stall. I didn’t really think about the project for 2 or 3 weeks. When I finally did begin planning, I went right to the source and contacted Kenneth about the wands. He was nice enough to provide some details on how he made his wand and some more detailed photos. The instructions still left this carving virgin wondering how I was going to make the wands. The photos though, were a fantastic help and a full 8.5” x 11” print out on photo paper served as my plan for making my wands. Following Kenneth’s advice, I then contacted the best and most enthusiastic carver I know, Kari Hultman. Unfortunately, my total carving naiveté was a deficit that even Kari’s detailed email instructions could not overcome.

One of 16 draws worth of carving gouges my dad has.

Frustrated, I then turned to my Dad, a rather proficient carver in his own right, for advice. He pointed me towards his vast collection of carving tools and said have at it. Unfortunately, as sharpening is a task I’m only slightly better at then carving (and his curved carving tools looked awfully hard to sharpen), I turned down his offer to lend me his carving gouges and I decided to make the wands from my own tools that I knew how to use.

What projects have your family talked you into?

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Its Wanderful Part 2 The Begining

Having reviewed the wands with three (3) fellow woodworkers, and having been given solid advice by all three (3) of them, I was still not completely sure how I was going to make the wands. Yet, since I had been  procrastinating like a pro, I decided the time had come buy the lumber and start the making if I was to have any chance of finishing them by the movie premiere. As I’m not familiar with any good local hardwood dealers and the project itself was enough stress, I went to my go-to source for nice wood, Bell Forrest Products. Though I had received advice on good carving woods, I completely ignored everything I’d been told and ordered me up five (5) 1.5”x1.5”x18” turning blanks of hard maple. I know . . . this didn’t make for easy shaping.

Heres a somewhat random picture of the walnut book stand I made for the
2010 Sawdust Chronicles Fall Build Challenge. It doesnt have anything
to do with the wands, but I like it and I dont have any photos relevant
to this stage in the wand saga.

About the same time as I ordered the wood for the wands, I also was lucky enough to have my Slide Out Storage Cabinet featured in the Tools of the Trade section of Popular Woodworking Magazine. The Lee Valley gift certificate I received as a result was put to good use. I ordered a spokeshave, rasp and cabinet scraper. Finally, having received all the advice I could manage and with tools and wood in hand, it was time to start making some wands. The first thing I did was take one of the blanks, and turn it into an octagon by cutting off the corners on the table saw. I then went crazy with my new spokeshave and turned it into a dowel, about ¾” in diameter. Though useless as a wand, this first test piece was set aside for carving practice and dye and finish experimentation.

How did you finally start that project youve been procrastinating about?

Its Wanderful Part 1

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