Shop Projects (and Spring Like Weather)

March 18, 2026March 18, 2026 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

I took some time between (non-workshop) projects to finish up some improvements for the shop. The first was to complete a rack for my chisels. I had glued up the side panels a month ago, but decided to focus on the bench build. So my chisels sat in the bench tool tray the entire time. Not the end of the world, but it wasn’t very organized. I had to be careful to not knock them around or catch myself on one of the sharp edges.

I pulled inspiration from the April 2011 Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Chisel Rack completed and hung on the wall.

My next project will be building a chicken coop (hönshus) for the Norlandia preschool in Hovmantorp. It won’t be furniture, but it will help pay for the workshop. I needed sawhorses for the project (and they are useful to have around). I did a search around the web and decided to build a set of folding sawhorses that will easily fit in the car. I finished assembling the second sawhorse this morning before heading home to meet Izzy after school.

I have a few lessons learned from the build. The biggest is to double check the crosscut sled on the tablesaw. It wasn’t perfectly square which explaned my trouble getting the pieces to line up perfectly. That is next on my list to fix in the shop. I threw together the crosscut sled to try it out on the tablesaw, but need to be more careful aligning it. There is a huge pendulum crosscut saw in the shop (a Waco EBMD Crosscut Saw from 1961 with I believe a 18-inch blade on it). I tried to true that one up, but I wasn’t able to get it perfect, but I think in hindsight it is better than the one on the tablesaw. Oh well, a project for next week.

I’m hoping to pick up the lumber for the chicken coop on Friday and do most of the build over the weekend. It will be a lot easier to build when the school is closed and I don’t have to run home to meet Izzy after school. The weather forecast looks favorable. Hopefully I can get a trailer for the lumber with my US driver’s license. If not, I’ll have to see when they can deliver the wood and do the build next week.

We are starting to get some spring-like weather here between the stretches of Sweden-winter-like weather (i.e. cold, overcast and wet). Today was one of them. There is a 2-mile loop from my workshop that takes me around a mile-long lighted running/walking/biking path (Löpanäs elljusspår) through the Rottne countryside and down by lake Innaren. It gets Hoagie and I out for a little over a half-hour and breaks up the day. It hasn’t been too busy during lunch-time which allows me to let Hoagie run a little bit.

Hoagie enjoying the walk around the Löpanäs elljusspår on a beautiful March afternoon.

First project finished and out the door!

March 8, 2026 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

My first non-workshop-related project has been completed and and delivered. I finished the last few rows of the Danish cord bench yesterday and Susanna and I dropped it off at her sister’s house. It isn’t perfect, but I’m happy how it turned out (for a first attempt at weaving).

The completed Danish Cord Bench, ready to be delivered.

Getting the weave even and correct is a challenge. I think the trick is to go slow (which I did, but could have done a little better keeping the warp and weave straight as I went along) and make sure the tension on each strand is the same (which I don’t think I did very well). It was a fun project to complete, even if it took a while to get done.

I started the project thinking I was going to do all the work by hand, but quickly decided that wasn’t the path I wanted. I quickly turned to the existing table saw to rip the boards and decided I wanted a planer to thickness the boards. Getting the planer I wanted in stock took a few weeks. I did the first mortise by hand, then decided to get the CNC running and use that. Setting up the CNC and getting it all working accurately took a few days. I thought I could do the weaving in a single day, but it was my first time trying to weave cord, so it took a while longer than I had planned. I had to keep going back to the class video and watch the next step.

Danish cord bench weave. You can see where I didn’t get the cord to lay evenly flat on the rail.

My big lesson learned from the project is that I need to build a better finishing table/cabinet. I inherited a dining room table with the shop space that I used, but it isn’t perfectly flat. I did the bench glue-up using the table as a flat surface, but then found a little wobble in the table when I put it on a flat surface. I also realized the tablesaw needed a new blade, but I already wrote about that adventure. I may also upgrade the CNC spindle to a small router. That would make things like mortises a lot faster.

So what is next? I think I have a little less than half of the cord left, probably not enough for another bench, but maybe a few bar/workshop stool tops. I’ll put that in my project queue. I’ll take today and tomorrow to try to build a chisel rack and organize the shop a bit. I already have a list that should keep me busy enough for the next few months:

Build a loft bed for Izzy. This will be bolted together, so should be a pretty quick project. But I always say that before I jump into a project, so who knows how hard it will really be. I plan on measuring and designing the bed today or tomorrow and picking up lumber for the project next week.
Build a TV stand/entertainment center (Tv-bänk in Swedish). Our current one is terrible. I want to try veneering, so this will be a bit more complicated to finish. But I’ll make it from plywood, so that should help speed things along.
Coffee table. Ours is functional, but we could use a nicer one.

I have a few non-furniture projects to work on as well:

A chicken coop for the preschool Susanna works at. They are hiring me to do small projects around several of the schools, so this will be done as a pretty high priority once I get the go ahead on the project. Need to pay for the workshop!
A decorative (and movable) fence for our patio so we can hang out there with Hoagie.
Build a new outhouse by the lake cabin.

And then there are workshop projects:

Storage rack for my chisels (they are all just sitting in the tool tray on my workbench for now)
New finishing table/cabinet
Finish the drawers under the laser engraver
Bar stool/bench

A Tale of Two Tablesaw Blades

February 11, 2026February 11, 2026 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

I should try and remember to double check measurements before purchasing parts for old tools. But I probably won’t in the long run. A month ago I decided ripping hardwood by hand sucked, so I started using the tablesaw available in the shop next door. However the machine is old and the blades have been well used. I was starting to get burns on the wood I was cutting plus the blades they had were more geared for sheet goods and not solid lumber. I talked to the owner and he said I could put a new blade on the machine.

I looked the spare blades he had. They all were well used (the space had been a production shop for IKEA in the past, so no surprise that the blades had been well used). However the cases for the blades told me the size that (I thought) I needed. The blade boxes stated 350mm in diameter with a 30mm bore. The blades had been sharpened several times, so measured around 345mm in diameter. I stopped by the local woodworking store and picked up a 350 mm CMT rip saw blade.

However when I tried to put the blade on, it didn’t fit. I got the micrometer out and measured the arbor (and the actual blades that were on the saw). I needed a bore size of 35mm. The local woodworking shop didn’t have a blade in stock with that size (at least they didn’t online), so I had to do a search online. I found a company in Germany that had blades in stock. So that seemed like an easy fix. That evening I had one on order and expected it in late last week.

Shipping (or receiving packages) in Sweden has been a learning experience. Amazon deliveries are pretty consistent. The rest, not so much. The shipper website said it was delivered to a pickup point on Friday morning. However the website didn’t tell me what pickup point it was sent to. I looked through my previous orders and found one that had used the same company to ship from Germany. They used another company to do the final delivery in Sweden. That second company’s website told me to go to a grocery store in the southern part of the city to pick up my parcel.

On Sunday, Izzy and I drove to the grocery store. They couldn’t find my package with the parcel number that I had. So back to the internet to search for my package. Anyway, on Monday, I printed out the page with the shipping status and package numbers.

We’re still down a car, so yesterday I took the bus down to the grocery store and there my package was. A short bus trip back and I had the blade at home. This morning Hoagie and I took the bus up to Rottne and finally I have a new blade the tablesaw. And it fit, though I had to adjust the riving knife back as far as it would go.

With luck, tomorrow Susanna will have a new car and I don’t have to juggle the bus schedule every day. I still have 8 one-day bus passes that I need to use in the next month, so no matter what, I won’t be driving every day.

Tablesaw blade installed! Next step is to use it to turn large pieces of lumber into smaller pieces.

Squaring up the top of the bench legs after milling to size. I hooked up the dust collector to the planer and took the legs to final thickness/width and trimmed the top of the legs square by hand. I started putting the mortises in by had today, but was only able to get one leg done before catching the bus home.

Adventures in Sävsjöström

January 1, 2025January 1, 2025 ~ Chuck ~ 2 Comments

The past week has been busy. We arrived in Sävsjöström on Thursday. We didn’t pick up our rental car until Monday, so spent a lot of time at home and getting rides from Susanna’s parents.

I spent time building a workbench in Dan’s workshop. He generously offered to let me take a corner of his shop to start my wood shop over here. Even more generously, he let me pick through his lumber stock to make the bench. I brought over three hand saws and two handplanes to leave here, with the plan to pick up clamps and chisels (and other tools as needed) locally. The workshop is a 15-minute walk from their house, so I have been getting my steps in most days.

My workbench pushed alongside the wall. I will probably still add a shelf below the bench and some shelves to hold the handplanes if I have time.

The week has been very social. For New Year’s Eve, Susanna, Izzy, and I went with her Sister’s family to a friend’s house for dinner and games. Almost all the kids stayed up until midnight and the neighborhood fireworks display. We had a great time, and Susanna has been paying for it today. I was the designated driver, so I’m not feeling the effects of the night today. Izzy and I had a nice outing to Kosta outlets while Susanna slept until early afternoon.

Earlier in the week, Susanna, Izzy, and I went to an open house. We are a few years away from buying a place here, but we don’t have lots of time here between now and then, so it is good to get an idea of what we like and don’t like about apartments here. Of course it was new, so Izzy loved it. I suspect Izzy will love most of the properties we go look at.

A snowy morning walking to the workshop in Sävsjöström, Sweden.

Dan took me bowling with a group of his friends over the weekend. I am certainly not a good bowler, but I had fun. I even won the first game, but was trounced the second game. After bowling we all went out to the pizza buffet in Kosta. I was invited to join them at the Sävsjöström “sport club” sauna that evening, but I was still feeling the time change, so declined. It was a good call. Apparently the person that was responsible for turning on the sauna that morning didn’t do it correctly, so they had to wait over an hour for it to heat up.

I found a woodworking store (SweDendro-Tools) in the nearby city, Växjö. Not really found it; Dan has been there, so he pointed me in the right direction. I dragged Susanna there with me so I could get two parallel clamps, chisels and a sharpening stone. I decided to get Axminster Tools clamps and chisels. I haven’t seen them before and I believe that they are a UK company, but the quality seems decent. The chisels sharpened up nicely, but time will tell if they hold an edge. The clamps are nice; they were half the price of the Bessey clamps. Then again, I haven’t used Bessey clamps, so won’t be able to compare them.

We have a busy week planned with visits to relatives and friends, a hockey game, and possibly a sleepover with Izzy’s cousins. I will see how far I get in the workshop in the time between all the activities.

Susanna keeping me company while I build the workbench.

A long week (with COVID) and some small projects

August 9, 2022August 9, 2022 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

It has been a long week already, and it is only Tuesday. It feels like Thursday at least.

I started feeling symptoms on Saturday night and tested positive on Sunday. Luckily it has so far been mostly mild, but I have had no energy. I’m stuck isolating until Friday at the earliest. It has been a long journey since the first lock down in spring of 2021, and I was hoping that it had passed me by. My luck ran out this week, though as far as weeks go, it wasn’t too bad of a week to get sick and have to isolate. Will is mostly in his room in the loft above the garage. Ben is at his mom’s house. Susanna and Izzy are six hours ahead in Sweden. I get the whole second floor and my workshop to myself all day. I just haven’t had energy to do much for the past few days.

Today I’m starting to feel better, though my energy is ebbing by the time I’m writing this. It is almost time to give into watching YouTube and Netflix for the night.

My weekends started out well. I got up early on Saturday and took Hoagie for a walk. It was hot, so I picked an easy 2 mile hike in Ledyard, the Pine Swamp Wildlife Corridor Loop. It wasn’t a very nice trail, and there was a section that I had to pass through some construction by the local power company. I’ll be avoiding that trail again.

The not so scenic Pine Swam Wildlife Loop.

Over the past few days I was able to finish off a few smaller projects that I had started last week. I didn’t get any work done on the house, but I was able to get some time in the workshop. I completed the sides and brass reinforcement on the holder for my #4 smooth plane. I also made a simple holder for a try square that I put above the chisels. I’ll probably make additional wooden holders for my other squares.

Most of what I did when I got tired of sitting in bed and watching TV was to just clean the shop a bit. And yes, I am bored. My workshop is probably more organized than it has ever been. there is hardly any crap left sitting on my tablesaw. My goal this week is to entirely clean the junk off the horizontal work surfaces and put everything into a home.

Friday night in the workshop

July 29, 2022July 29, 2022 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

It is much quieter around the house with Susanna and Isabella out of town. My evenings are pretty open without having to juggle getting Isabella to go to bed. Tonight I decided that I would be happier if I did something other than watch a show after dinner, so I headed out to the workshop. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of TV time over the next few weeks until Susanna and Isabella return. Yes my life is that exciting.

I decided that my next workshop project was to replace the rack I built to hold my chisels. Chisels stick in the current rack and can be difficult to get out. Plus it doesn’t look very nice.

My existing chisel rack made from a spare piece of white oak.

I headed up to my loft and pulled out a piece of cherry lumber. I was in no mood to dig out a piece of exotic lumber after the pain of working with Yellowheart. Cherry is very nice to work with. Not too hard and not too soft and darkens to a nice color with exposure to the sun.

I decided to do as much by hand as I could. I cut a 25″ piece off of the board, and ripped (by hand) a 2″ wide piece off that cutoff. I flattened one face by hand, but there was no way I was interested in milling to thickness by hand, so into the planer it went. I used a handplane and scraper to finish the surface

I edge jointed the board by hand. It felt nice to get the handplanes out again. I marked out and then drilled the holes using the drill press; I had already setup the drill press for a test piece and don’t think digging out the bit and brace was really worth it tonight.. The slots were cut by hand and then shaped with a rasp.

Finally I lightly sanded the entire piece and softened the edges, wiped it down with mineral spirits and put a few chisels in it for a test fit.

The next step is to mill a backing board with rabbet to allow me to mount the rack to the wall and apply some sort of finish to the project. I’ll probably also put some sort of ledge below the chisels to keep hands from bumping into the sharp edge of the chisels. I also don’t think my mortise chisel (far left on top picture) will fit in the holes I made, so I may have to modify or add another spot for that chisel. The final step will be to acquire more chisels. Maybe make the set match better, because matching tools are always important.

Now I just need to think of a project to build for the house.

Workshop Project – Saw Till

July 23, 2022July 23, 2022 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

This morning I put the final finish coat on the Saw Till and hung it in the workshop. I made it from yellowheart lumber with some spare flooring milled for the back. I learned a few lessons from this project.

Yellowheart (Euxylophora paraensis) is hard to work with. It has a Janka Hardness of nearly 1800, so it is harder than Hard Maple and White Oak (1600 and 1350 lb Janka hardness respectively). It was certainly tough on the chisels, and the interlocking grain pattern made it difficult to plane. Next time I’ll stick to oak or cherry.

I also didn’t make the till tall enough for all my saws. The saw to the right of the till is about 1″ too long to properly fit on the till. I could probably still put it on the till; it wouldn’t fall out but would stick out the top.

Now to sharpen a few more saws and add them to my collection and figure out my next shop project (maybe improve my chisel storage).

A $1 Garage Sale Find

July 29, 2021July 29, 2021 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

Disston saw cleaned up and ready to use. Saw vice is on the bottom of the picture. File and the saw set are on the top. The vice and saw set have been sitting in a corner of the shop for years.

Last weekend I had to drive to Chaplin, CT to pick up Ben from a friend’s house. Izzy joined me for the drive, on the promise that we would stop by a garage sale if we found one. And we found only one that braved the rain to have a sale. We looked around a bit, and I let Izzy pick up two toys and a book that were being given away for free. I found a rusty Disston panel saw covered in rust for $1 and picked it up.

The medallion on the saw indicates that the saw was made between the wars (1917-1940), at least according to the Online Reference of Disston Saws. This week I took off the handle and cleaned the rust off the blade. I cleaned up hte handle and coated it with spar varnish. Tonight I reassembled the saw, did a quick sharpening, and set the teeth. A quick test cut on some pine, and I have a second fully functional saw for the workshop. I should probably hit the teeth with the file again for one quick finishing pass and try the saw on something harder like oak.

Maybe I should get around to sharpening the 5-6 saws I have hanging on the shop wall for decoration. I also should have taken a picture before I cleaned up the saw.

Workshop Updates – Quarantine

April 24, 2020 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

I have had a lot of extra time over the last two months. I have been able to go into work part-time, and have to work from home the rest of the time. For a few weeks I was only able to go into the office for 10-15 hours a week, but am back to 5.5 hours/day in the office and 2.5 hours at home. I set up my telework workspace in my workshop – that allows me to get out of the house and work without too many distractions (at least not limits the 4-year old distractions).

As part of preparing my workspace, I removed my old, small desk from the workshop, and built in a new larger space. That gives me room for two computers (work and personal) without having one on top of the other.

My new desk space in the workshop. I moved the computer into the closet next to my workspace. I added a cat door (bottom left) so the barn cats can go upstairs for food and I can keep the door to the second floor shut for heat.

In addition to my desk area, I have been spending a lot of time cleaning and organizing the workshop. I have been spending evenings over the past few weeks cleaning out the closet. I moved my personal computer into the closet, which will hopefully keep the dust down on it. I built a shelf and am in the process of building storage drawers.

The closet is heated, so I can keep paint/glue in it over the winter. I’m trying to keep the resins and glue a little better organized so I can be ready when it is warm enough outside to work on the boat.

Rearranged closet with a glue/epoxy station on the right, and paint storage under the shelf. I have one additional shelf to install under the printer and should finish off the ceiling with some scrap lumber

Once I finish cleaning up the rest of the space, I’ll add pictures of the (hopefully) organized workshop.

Workshop Airborne Dust Filter

January 1, 2019January 1, 2019 ~ Chuck ~ Leave a comment

This morning I finished and hung a homemade airborne dust filter in the workshop.

I had a fan blower sitting around from an old above-the-stove microwave thanks to an unnamed household member. The microwave was run for several minutes with no food inside – which didn’t help the microwaving part. But the vent fan was fine. Ben and I took the microwave apart a few years ago, and the fan has been sitting around in my shop waiting for a project.

I had to order a filter, switch and a starting capacitor (since I apparently didn’t save one from the microwave). The plywood was left over from another project. After being distracted way too many times, I finally got the project finished today. It has two speeds wired in, but no labels on the box (yet).

I’ll see how much dust the filter collects, which hopefully reduces the dust my lungs collect.