Just Shelfin’

 

This old girl is 120 years old and still cuts the line like she’s on rails

I’ve now got one shelf left to process and then I’ll be ready to cut the joinery for the boarded bookcase. Processing the shelves has been a lot quicker thanks to only smoothing the show face (the top surface of the shelf) and leaving the underside scalloped texture from traversing with the No5 plane. This approach is consistent with how the furniture record shows historic makers treating secondary surfaces, and the change in texture offers a pleasant change for those who explore the finished piece.

Workhorses

Not that smoothing and achieving a perfect glassy surface is a chore, but it does take time. At the moment I’m putting a Holtey 985 through its paces in readiness for an article which will be in print later this year. Sadly the plane will then be returned to Karl, but it’s been a very interesting experience using a high-end handmade plane. If you want to know whether a plane that costs more than a family car is worthwhile, and the design process of one of the greatest plane makers in the world, then stay tuned for more details soon.

Flawless finish on truculent maple courtesy of Karl Holtey

My process for the shelves has been to joint the boards oversized, and then once the glue has cured rip them to 1/2″ over-width using my Disston D8 (which turned 120 years old this year). The shelves will be orientated so that the widest board of each is at the front of the bookcase. The shelves are then flattened and surfaced on the show face, and then thicknessed from the underside by traversing with the jack plane. Working to the layout lines when thicknessing the shelves means that shelves will be flat and straight from traversing, so no other work is needed. Then it is a case of jointing the edges. I’ve not yet shot the ends of any of the components square yet, because I have the Veritas fence and track for a new shooting board waiting to be installed, but need to venture down to my local timber yard for some baltic ply. Shooting the sides and shelves to length should be quite a quick task once the shooting board is assembled, and then I can get on with the fun work of cutting joinery (six dados to fit the shelves to the sides). There’s not been much to write about with this build so far, which is why the blog has been a bit quieter than usual. But that should change once we get to the joinery.

A Rite of Passage

Part 2 of my interview with the Modern Woodworkers Association is now live, and you can listen to it here. In Part II, Kyle and Sean subject me to that most ancient of rituals – the 5 Questions. So if you want to know (amongst oher things) what my favourite tool is, what my biggest stumbling block has been, and who my influences are, then tune in.

In other news, the boarded bookcase continues to progress, and I’m processing the shelves in good time. As expected, dimensioning the shelves is a faster process than the sides, as only the top -sode of each shelf has to be smoothed (compared to both faces of the sides), so the undersides can be traversed to final thickness and left as they are. This cuts the work involved by at least one third, so I’m rattling through this stage. Two shelves are left to go, then I’ll be ready to cut some joinery (finally).

Over the Wireless, Over the Air Waves

A few weeks ago I was thrilled to be invited onto the Modern Woodworkers Association podcast. Episode 301 is now live and can be streamed through the podcatcher of your choice, or direct from this link. So, if you’d like to hear me talk with Kyle and Sean about The Book Book, parallel skills, history, and my journey into the woodcrafts, then do tune in. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed being on the show.