Making a Firewood Box

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G S Haydon

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My current project is a utility piece, a handy log bin/store/firewood box based on a shaker design. I have a alcove off to the side of the stove that should be the ideal spot. This is how far I've got https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2X9cwR ... pmziuy5u2j and I hope to have it finished up in the next couple of weeks.
 

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Very nice - lovely demo of the excellence of wooden body planes for stock prep.

At the rough stage of the flattening the jointed boards, I'd have been inclined to use the jack in 45 degree strokes across the board - the shaving breaks up easier this way, making the work less, at the cost of tearout.

So a handy technique in the rough stages, to be cleaned up by later, more accurate planing.

Nice pile of shavings at the end!

BugBear
 
Hi BB,

I had hoped someone would pick up on that. The reasons why I did it this way on this occasion was:

https://dblaney.files.wordpress.com/201 ... oiners.jpg single planing stop with no other methods of restraint shown.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hil ... eld-t03668 straight shaving on the floor

http://www.workbenchdiary.com/2014/02/a ... scrap.html only a planing stop

And also many books I have don't mention the 45deg although I'd agree some do. I chose to practice working with the grain and just using a paning stop with no restraint. What I found was it worked fine. I could do with the planing stop being a further 25mm further into the bench but no more. The boards are about 12" wide and I needed no battens, holdfast, wagon vice, tail vice bench knife.....Also no risk of break out when working across the boards.

I think the 45deg is still a good method for heavy stock removal and especially from high spots but I'm less convinced it was a procedure adhered to every time, rather a method to use when the boards were in bad condition? Thoughts?

Welcome hanser, glad you liked it.
 
Good skills. I'd love to be able to joint boards by hand. I've spent many hours planing oak boards with a No 5 plane and found it impossible.
 
Thanks Rick! I think it's like a lot of things. If the bug bites you keep on keeping on :)
 
cusimar9":1wk92yvq said:
Good skills. I'd love to be able to joint boards by hand. I've spent many hours planing oak boards with a No 5 plane and found it impossible.

Oak's a bit "interesting".

Green oak turns your blade black.

Seasoned oak is OK.

Recycled, over seasoned, oak is incredibly hard, more like some of the Aussie timbers, albeit without the silica.

BugBear
 
I love it!

The sped up playback stops it being too slow, while there is still plenty to observe and learn from, eg the way that you run your hand across the board or use the edge of the plane to check for flatness, or the no-fuss way to mark the finished width.

Of course, not being sure of the shape of the finished thing means that I will have to watch part 2, then go back and watch part 1 again.

Would it be rude to ask how much those nice long straight oak boards cost, or might cost an ordinary non-trade buyer?
 
Thanks Andy!

I'm glad you like the editing. A little rough and ready but hopefully injects a bit of fun and wider appeal into hand tools. The methods I enjoy are quite direct and I like things to be intuitive and done by feel rather than engineering mindsets. Nothing wrong with engineering but it's not what I'm looking for.

I'm not one for detailed plans, I just look at some pictures and go for it!

The Oak boards are sadly Poplar so not too expensive. I don't know on retail prices prices really apart from things like Euro Red & Whitewood you get from Wickes.
 
Thanks Graham
I was led astray by the previous posts about oak.
Must watch again, when I get back from Specsavers!
 
I liked part one, I'm now watching the adverts, while waiting for part two.
I was getting worried as I thought it was tulip too!
You'll get mobbed in Sainsbury's, GH, a very popular part one!
Regards Rodders
 
No worries Andy, I've do similar on an ongoing basis!

Rodders, mobbed in Sainsbury's! More like lynched in Lidl :lol: Thanks for watching!
 
Nice work GH - I too would like to be able to joint boards by hand but for the moment this is beyond my skill level.
Great bit of editing too - looking forward to the 2nd installment...

Regards
Matt
 
Thanks Matt, I'm sure the edge jointing will come in time. It's amazing what cramps sort out! :)
 
Great video, Graham - looking forward to part two. I'm surprised that you like working with a single planing stop. I find it so much easier to work with a tail vice and the work piece gripped between dogs.

Cheers :wink:

Paul
 
Thank you Paul :). I'm not sure it's the best way at all and there is much merit having wood between dogs. I was just interested to try what seemed to be shown in paintings of people using a bench like mine. Part 2 soon!
 
Firewood Box & Tree.jpg


Pleased to get this one done. No sooner had I finished it I had to move it out of the planed location to make room for the Christmas Tree.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEu4_11eviU

Although the build was simple I did enjoy trying out a few saws. Tho only one that could not be used properly was the D8 4TPI Rip! It's surprising just how much scrap wood I can store in the box. Because it's tall the foot print is small but I can still get a lot of fuel in there ready to go.

Feedback welcome!

Tongue and groove planes.jpg
 

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I thought the demo of using the different saws was a great idea. It clearly said "use the saw you have, it will probably do" rather than "you have to buy a special saw for dovetails".

But then you also promote those nice old wooden planes, proving that they are practical tools, not interior design props. Nice one!
 
Thanks Andy, they all did a job. Not boasting too much but even the D8 Rip fitted "off the saw" :).

Thanks Keith, thanks for making the time to watch :)
 

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