Best selling wood projects - The Disston Number 9 Backsaw A Lucky Find

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My hometown is Brisbane, and we often travel there - as I have oceans of family in that lovely city.

On one of our recent trips, we were making good time, so we planned a late lunch and pulled off the highway into the little hamlet of Bangalow.
There is a particular park that has been a stopping spot for us for decades.
Well, on this occasion, the town was busy - no car parks anywhere - not even down by the old railway station.
We drove around and around before spotting a vacancy at the bottom of the hotel carpark.
For Patrons Only didnt worry us, as we were going inside to order drinks in any case.

Unknown to us all these years, was the fact that we had parked next to the back gate of HEATHS OLD WARES & COLLECTABLES

After lunch the emporium begged us to go see.

heathsOldWaresCounter.jpg

Apart from having cornered the market in old wooden ladders, Heath had aisles full of wonders.

It was down this next aisle that I discovered a milk churn full of saws:

aisle1HeathsOldWaresBangalo.jpg

And among these saws there was this:

Needless to say, it didnt look this good at the time, and it has had a set and a sharpen since, but it was an unmistakable Disston Number 9 Backsaw.

The handle was complete, with no cracks or chips out of the spurs.

Even the brass saw nuts were in good shape.

The blade was straight and had only the slightest suggestion of rust dimpling.
This was a must have!
A quick check of my wallet showed that the moths had long ago vacated, and I was in the position of convincing my beloved of what an awesome buy this was, and could she go find an ATM while I guarded this piece of royalty of the sawmakers art.

Long story short - it travelled with us to Brisbane, where I bored every one of my relatives who had not already been warned to avoid me, on what a miraculous find this had been, and how hard it was to find one of these in the wild.  Maybe they are common somewhere, but this is the first that I have seen in thirty years of sniffing out old tools.

There is a little more on Disston Backsaws HERE.

no9saw.jpg

I have now more backsaws than I regularly use and a cull is in order.
It has prompted me to consider for my next BLOG post a small presentation on Backsaws from the perspective of usefulness.
Stay tuned.

In the meantime I am one happy little vegemite.

Interestingly, Peter has responded to this post with an application for a patent by William J Reagan, issued on December 8 1874 for an Improvement in Handles for Saws, that contains the recess for the thumb.
The inventor thought that this same improvement could be added to other tool handles such as those on planes.
The link can be found here:

Patent number: 157634 Filing date: Nov 14, 1874 Issue date: Dec 8, 1874

Many thanks Peter.

NOTE: - All images used from other websites are acknowledged under each image.



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Best selling wood projects - Backsaws For Woodworking A Practical Introduction

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Backsaws are particularly useful in the workshop, especially in furniture making and fine woodworking. Of all of the various types of backsaw, the most useful for me is the humble tenon saw.
These are usually filed so that the teeth are a cross-cut pattern, and they get used for much more than cutting tenons.

I find them indispensable in box making and carcass work as well.

Here are two of my favourite old tenon saws.  At the top is a Colver Brosler 14 inch 12 PPI, and below it a Taylor Brothers 14 inch 11 PPI.

The handles are works of art, and fit the hand beautifully - decades of being handled have smoothed these, and added the patina that sweat and workshop dust combined to form in use.  The blades are better than they look - there is dried tea-oil across them as a rust deterrent, and it looks a little patchy in pictures.

Of course tenon saws are initially designed for cutting tenons, but they are even more versatile than just that.

Sometimes they come in canted blade versions like this smaller 12 inch Taylor Brothers brass backed saw.  This one has 12PPI.  The canted blade allows me easier sighting to the end of the cut, and is especially useful when cutting dados.

Ill include a picture of my much more recent Spear and Jackson cutting dados - I havent one handy using the Taylor.

Tenon saws are the workhorses of the woodshop, and I find it useful to have more than one.  The most common sizes that I use the most, have 11 or 12 PPI.

Less commonly used - by me, at any rate - is a dovetail saw.  I dont cut a lot of dovetails, and if there are a lot to do, I will use a router and a jig to save time.  However, small projects like boxes, small cabinets and trays etc warrant hand cutting, as the dovetails can be finished by the time the jig is set up and tested.

This lovely example was made by Ian Wilkie and has a walnut handle.  Ian has written a  wonderful article on backsaws in this months - issue 78 - Australian Wood Review.
It is a 10 inch saw with 15 PPI and a fine kerf, and being a dovetail saw, is filed rip - for cutting along the grain.  Ians work is stunning.

It is also useful for fine work and doubles as a crosscut saw in a pinch.

The standard go-to handsaw for panel work in my workshop is a 10 PPI Disston.  The blade on mine has some spotting, but it is well away from the cutting edge.  In spite of its looks this is a sweet little saw, and a joy to use.

In the past, when long dados were to be cut, I have used the 10 point panel saw, as I had nothing else.  Recently I found a Spear and Jackson 10 point large tenon saw - for the odd occasion that large dados present.  It has an 18 inch blade, and is so much easier to use and keep straight in the cut, than was the panel saw in this case.   The number of times I cut long housings is infrequent, so this saw will outlast me and my grandchildren I expect.  It has certainly seen little use over its life.

Not, technically a backsaw - (of course not - DOH!), but so useful none-the-less, is a little flush cut saw.  I use this a lot in repairs to furniture, and it is superb at trimming broken dowels and fractured tenons.  These are made with one flat side on the blade and a set on the teeth of the other.  It leaves a smooth surface on the face of the timber, and cuts off the offending projection, flush with the surface.
The blade is flexible so that the handle can clear the surface when cutting.

Finally, I should mention a long backsaw, for cross cutting mitres and other angles.  These are used in a mitre box, and are much safer for cutting short pieces than using an electric dropsaw or SCMS.

This saw is long at 24 inches, and is an 11 PPI saw for general work. Even though it is a long back saw, it uses a lot of its length just staying in the mitre box, leaving not too much to do the cutting.  An even longer saw would be ever more useful here in my opinion.
This one is a Warranted Superior - probably by Disston.

 For fine work, a smaller saw - around 15 PPI - and a wooden mitre jig are more useful.

Backsaws are real joinery workhorses, and a necessity for fine work.  The fact that they are a pleasure to use is an added bonus.

Happy shavings to all .........................

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Best selling wood projects - Making A Boat Paddle Tenor Ukulele Part 10 Assembling all the Parts

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Roll Call of Parts

Here are the front and back skins that were made previously.
At the moment they are over-large, and they will be trimmed to size after gluing them to the body.

Shown below are almost all of the parts - assembled before fitting and gluing together.

From top to bottom:

1. Body
2. Four tuners
3. Laminated neck
4. Headboard - to be glued on before tuners are added
5. Fretboard and 
6. Nut
7. Bridge
8. Back skin
9. Soundboard

There is much remaining to be done.


Final Assembly Steps

Here is a guide to the remaining steps in order.

1. The mortice for the tenon on the neck, has to be cut into the neck block on the body.
2. The neck is only roughly formed and needs shaping.
3. The fretboard needs to be laid out, and cut for the fret wires.
4. The fret-wires need to be inlaid.
5. The back needs to be glued in place.
6. The neck without fretboard is glued to the body - before the soundboard is attached (see number 9 for care in fitting).
7. The soundboard is glued to the front - covering the neck tenon (see number 9 for care in fitting).
8. The fretboard is glued in place, over the top of the neck and over the top of the soundboard.
9. It is important that the top surface of the neck, and the top face of the soundboard are in exactly the same plane when finished, so that the fretboard covers them cleanly.
10. Headboard and nut are glued in place, and trimmed to fit the outline of the headstock.
11. The holes are drilled for the tuners.
12. Final trimming, and the body cleaned and sanded.
13. The bridge, nut and fretboard are covered with tape to protect them from overspray - and the whole body is given several finishing coats of lacquer.
14. Tuners are fitted, and the ukulele is strung for playing.

Since the neck is my next major project - here are its parts laid out:

As you can see, the fret-wire comes in lengths to be cut as applied.
The fretboard is already inlaid - I did not do this lovely work - a skilled artist in Saigon was responsible for this, and I purchased several of these inlaid fretboards for the ukuleles that I intend making.
This is the first time that I have used such a fretboard, and am excited to be able to include it.
It is Indian rosewood inlaid with mother of pearl and abalone shell.

The tuners shown are black, but I may change these to ivory if I think it suits the finished uke better.

OK - enough for now.
Ill post again as the assembly process continues
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Best selling wood projects - An Elegant Jelly Cabinet Construction Part 9 The End is in Sight

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Lots of Little Bits

The door frame is finished and the bottom rail repair came out very well.  Clamp and glue time - as the door frame is fitted to the front edges of the carcass.

It is time to start adding the various parts to bring the cupboard to completion.  Before this, however, I like to give the straight carcass a complete sanding outside.  It is much easier to do this before the top and the mouldings go on.  Of course there will be final sandings later, but since this wont take long Ill do it now.

The picture on the left shows the difference that this initial sanding makes.  The ripple marks from the power jointer can be seen towards the top left corner.  The sander is an old German Metabo  RAS - still going strong.  Today was a magnificent early autumn day, so out front of the shed was the place to be. Blissful it was!

 
Now is a good time to break those sharp edges with a sanding block.  Here I am using 180 grit. The sun came out onto where I was working - look at that beautiful timber.

 This is the back panel - inside and outside. Note the rebated edges so that it can slide into the back of the cabinet from the bottom.  The sun came and went as I worked - what a joy.

I glued the top to the  sanded carcass and set it aside to dry.  Should be set by tomorrow.  Meanwhile its time to attack the door.


Making the Frame and Panel Door

The frame for this door is quite narrow, so I have decided to use an open slot mortice on the stiles, and tenons on the rails.  This should give me a larger glued area and a stronger joint - even though the end of the tenon will be visible at the corner of the door. The frame pieces already have the groove cut previously, so part of this has to be removed for the joint to work.

I could have chosen to mitre the face edge of the groove, but decided to keep it simple in keeping with the cabinet.  I now wish I had, because I would have given it a little more thought, and avoided the mistake that I went on to make.

The astute reader will see the makings of the "Oh Shit!" moment in the layout of the picture above.  If you dont see it yet, be patient and it will be revealed.

I chose to cut the mortice first, and good old Spear & Jackson sawed the cheeks, and a little jewellers saw cleaned out the waste.  Spotted the blue yet?

Chisels to the rescue to tidy up the saw cuts and square the bottom of the mortice.  I like to undercut the bottom as shown in the last picture - right - as this leaves somewhere for the glue to pool, and guarantees a flush fit.  That middle chisel is a slim tapered Mathieson, the only one I have - wish I had more in different sizes.  It is perfect for getting into the mortice to gently adjust the interior by removing any high spots.

OK - time to cut the tenon.  Measure up against the mortice - (that middle picture is a give-a-way to the clanger that is about to happen).  Cut carefully and fit.
Look at that last picture - right - almost perfect .............................................. almost !!!!!!!!

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.... and it was looking so good up until then.

Another fix is necessary.  Ill still glue it up and add an appropriate sized plug to fill the hole.  Lucky its on the hinge side of the door, so will rarely be seen.

The mistake was mine from the get-go, and it happened because I was tired when I started this, and didnt think it through.  I was smart enough to stop at this point and do something simple before calling it a day.

I decided to add some dowels to the middle of the tops of the feet, so that they will register easily with the bottom corners when they are glued in position.

It was a daggy old piece of dowel, but wont ever see the light of day - so - good enough!

Rightee-o, one more post and this will be finished.  Cant wait.

LOML is hounding me about starting work on the repairs to the house gables.  Guess that will be next.

May your days be joyous and your mistakes small ....

 ............................ and happy woodworking to all .......
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Best selling wood projects - Making A Boat Paddle Tenor Ukulele Part 9 Front and Back continued

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Front and Back Skins

Previously, I have cut the four halves from a single piece of mango, and the bookmatched pairs were glued together to make two sets of skins - one for the front and one for the back of the ukulele.
The piece with the most figure will become the back - since the front will have a sound hole cut into it and a bridge glued onto its surface.  So it will lose some of its beauty.

The Back

The back needs cross bracing as well as a strengthening piece glued down the spine.
I start with the cross braces because the back has to have a radius, and it is easier to curve the back before applying the stiffening of the piece up and down the middle.
The cross braces are radiused on their edge to be glued to the back skin, and this gives the curve to the back of the uke.

 A normal hour-glass shaped uke has three cross braces, but this cutaway design has so much strengthening at its neck, that the third brace up there may well limit its acoustic qualities by making it too stiff.  So I am only using two braces this time.
Ill see how well it plays, and if it is a bad move I will correct it on my next uke.

Traditionally cross braces are made from quarter sawn spruce.
I dont have any, so I am using Huon Pine as a substitute.
I have made these slightly over-sized, and will plane them to shape once the glue is dry.

The edges are pared down to around 1/16inch where they meet the sides of the ukulele body.  I use a sharp paring chisel for this task.

Once the ends are pared, I lay down some masking tape to protect the skin from damage by the edge of the block plane, before planing the cross bracing  to a ridge across its top.  The tape is then removed.

Now I glue the strengthening strip along the spine of the back.  This is cross grained timber to add strength to this join in the bookmatched pair that make up the back skin.  I am using the same mango timber that makes up the body - only the grain now runs at right angles to the grain of the back.
The ridged cross braces can now be clearly seen.
This is left to dry while I work on the front soundboard.

The Soundboard

The front of the uke - the soundboard - needs special attention in a specific order.
A re-inforcing patch is glued on the back of the sound hole before it is cut out,

This adds strength to this fragile area.
Here they are laid out before gluing.
I cut the sound hole with the rosette cutter that I have made previously.

Cross braces are added above and below the sound hole for the same reason.

Once these are dry I then add the fan braces that will stiffen the body of the front skin and provide the stiffness needed to carry the bridge.

In my next post, Ill lay out the parts made thus far to give an overview of the assembly to come.
Happy shavings to all
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Best selling wood projects - Building a Ukulele Part 9 Body Fretboard and Finish

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Things are coming together nicely now.
The top is glued in place, and I have finished the trimming around the edges.

The body is assembled, the bridge attached and the fretboard taking shape and ready to glue to the neck.

Here is a trial fitting of the unformed fretboard before shaping.
 

Shaping is easily done with a block plane.  This is my Stanley number 18.

 Here it is after shaping, in a trial fitting.
I will finish the dot markers and fretwires before gluing this to the neck and body.

 In a moment of vanity, before the top was glued in place,  I decided to label my ukulele - and I have a notion of building more - so I gave myself a brand name - Riverside Ukuleles.
Seems appropriate for the Village of Telegraph Point, as we sit right beside the Wilson River.

After installing the mother of pearl dot markers and the side markers, the fretwires will be on and the fretboard ready to go.
I have found a very cheap and plentiful supply of side fret markers from the local markets - old knitting needles.  Just the right size and they can be cut to button length easily.

I am going to attempt a shellac finish on the soundboard and the body, and the old hands at the Hastings Woodworkers Guild tell me it will take many, many coats.

The western red cedar top is quite soft and needs hardening for protection, so I am hoping that the shellac finish will be appropriate.  Before this, I will tape the bridge and the end of the neck to protect them from over spatter, and fill the sound hole for the same reason.

Enough for the moment.
More next time .......

And happy woodworking to all ...........................
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