1st Template cut for boxes

We are baby sitting our youngest granddaughter for the week end
Jean took her to see her sister, leaving me time by myself to make progress on my boxes.  Thank you dear.

So first was to clear out my bench.  You would think that a small bench forces you to keep it clear as you work, but... Nah, not really

A tad cramped but I am used to work wherever, how ever, 

underground, at sea or in the air :-)

Next was to cross cut my pieces to their final dimensions.  A job for the mitre saw station, but which ones? I only have 7 :-)

Gambling that the blade in the NOBEX would give me the finesse cut on my stock

Using my existing correctly sized smaller piece to set it up

Once solidly clamped in place, I could easily cut duplicates.

A lot quieter after a quick swipe of wax on the blade, it's a tad rusty :-)

The mitre saw is attached to a board which is locked to the bench top by one holdfast.  

Two would be better, but I would need to add one more hole. 

The longer piece had to be inserted from the other end, so I used the built in length stop

The rod is locked in place by the screw knob

The NOBEX cut piece on top

Not bad, still a bit of  fuzz, but not as ragged cut as the other saws

Having cut sufficient pieces for my two boxes,

time to take it down back in storage.

Saw shown in its stow position, brilliant

Once all cut to size, time to ensure we have square stock.  This is critical for not only the subsequent layout, but if you want to end up with a square assembly you gotta start with square stock of equal lengths, meaning once all my boards had their edges shot, I re-shot them together making sure they were kept flush at the other end.  We are not talking much of a trim here, a few passes perhaps, but then you know for sure that you are going to be square.
Yes, you end up with a slightly smaller by a smidgen box, but I gave myself plenty of wiggle room.

Swapping the mitre saw for the shooting board

Both ends were shot

All the cut ends from the NOBEX have a slight bump in the middle, indicating my blade is cupping during the cut.  Not by much but enough to be detected by the square and felt by the shooting plane  .

First inclination (fix) would be to increase the tension on the blade, but the adjuster nut is already full on.

I will experiment with judiciously added washer(s) to see if I can bump the adjuster range to correct.

In cheaper Asian imports frame I would be leery to increase the tension, very flimsy plastic frame on many, but on this one, the frame is quite stout. One or two washers should do the trick. To Be Found Out Later (TBFOL)

That is one thing that I was leery of in this very figured stock.

Crack line in the darker veins.

I will soak in some Krazy glue into it to stabilized it.

Don't want it to split on me while dovetailing !!

Truing one edge

Oups, the pile on the right, I have been a tad too enthusiastic

and took too much.  Pile on left is closer

flat and square is what I'm looking for

 

Then re-shot my ends together, then flip my board sandwich and do other side.

This way I know they are square and same length

My two piles ready for marking and cutting dovetails

The wheel type gauge excel at marking hard wood cross grain,

 but the mark is kinda faint for my old eyes.

Needs more light to see what I'm doing.  I darken my lines with a pencil

For the cross cuts, I deepen the mark with my knife, 

it's after all a first class cut.

Cut most of the waste with my fret saw

Then its only a matter of chopping close to the base line

One pass on each side

Then pare to the baseline

Rinse and repeat and we have our first template to cut two joints

By then I was sweating buckets, time for a break.  Need to go get some gas and mow my lawn.  With all the rain we are getting, it's growing like crazy but it is hardly dry enough to cut before the next rain.  Want to get it done before I let John Deere pick up my tractor for its annual maintenance.  This time I told them don't even bother with sharpening the blades, just replace them.

One template done, grass mow, time for a cold one

Bob, getting a good licking from Rudy

Practice joinery for my boxes done.

It took a lot of work to produce enough flat material for these precious boxes, I did not wanted to risk ruining it.  My first inclination was to dovetail my box corners, but after getting it flat and smooth  I was starting to have second thought.  That  figured maple may look good but it is a tad unruly to tame.  It has been resting in a pile since I resawn it, it seems to be stable, no big twist, cupping or plane propellers materials.

Option two was mitered and splined corners of a contrasting wood, but my stock is on the thin side, just shy of 3/8 in.

Having milled extra stocks, in prevision of troubles, I decided that it would be a good idea to try some test pieces, to see how hard or easy it would be to cut decent dovetails in it.

First order of business was to sharpen my tools: Veritas LA blade (38 degrees), chisel (3/8, 1/4, 1/8 in), scrapers (flat card)
That maple let you know quickly if your tools are not sharp, so...

Next was to find a suitable piece of scrap.  Took a short wide piece and rip saw apart to yield 2 small pieces with the correct grain orientation.
Then the fun began...

I always eyeballs and cut my tails first when cutting dovetails, that's what I learned from Frank Klauz, that's what I prefer and do. Quote: If you want perfect symmetric dovetails, use a router and a jig, this is hand cut dovetails, variation is good!

After cutting my first board, I went over with my squares to make sure every surface was straight before using it as a template for the mating part.

Once happy that everything was good 

I used it as a template to mark its matching side.

Taking care to line things up, I marked my pins.

Yes I got some sloppy overcuts (past the baseline) on that one. 

Notice my boards are not the same width, makes no never mind.

I long switch to using a fret saw to clear most of the waste in my dovetails.

Not only is it fast, but it save lots of wear and tear on your sharp chisels, hint, hint :-)

Only thing, I learned the hard way is you have to let the small blade cool off or it will deform and break.  Yeah, maple is a hard wood :-) 2 or 3 is the max I cut before stopping 

While i wait for the blade to cool off, I start whittling my new horn

 on the EC Atkins mitre saw handle.  Work in progress

First test of the saw cuts, it engage but rather tight, its a good thing.

Need some judicious paring to fall in place 

After glue up, quick planing of the surfaces and a wipe of my Howard's refinisher

I'm happy, not perfect, just like me, but loveable :-)

Ok, now I'm ready for the boxes.  I learned a few things in this experiment and things to pay more attention, but I'll say it is do able.  And just in time cause the day is coming soon...

Bob, relieved and cracking a cold one.

Atkins No 1 Miter saw

A recent find at my local Wilmot Week End yard sale.
It looked unloved and had some issues, but when asked and he replied $5, it was love at first sight :-)

I also picked up a Canadian Champion BE chisel for a $1 and a MF block plane No 45 missing its adjuster for $5 from other vendors.

EC Atkins was a big player in the saws business, along with Disston and Simonds, as such all three made mitre boxes saws for other manufactures like Stanley and Millers Falls who made miter boxes but never made the saws.
The ones I came across the most with miter boxes or separated in the wild are Disston's, this is the first EC Atkins I came across.

It has a gently curved heel.  

Nice touch, your hand will appreciate

Handle looks fine at first glance

The issues with it?
It has a damaged handle.  There are split cracks at the bottom and a chunk is broken off the top horn.

See the fracture lines?

Must had been a hard blow.

I can push them apart

The broken top horn

Easy repairs.  The saw plate is straight, but has a lot of rust, including some light orangery rust near the toe.  Time for a rescue before its too late.

Orange colour is new rust starting

See the name stamped on the spline?

See some part of the etch? 

Office is clearly seen and a few other part of words

Came apart easily, the saw nuts had to be punched out with a punch, they were tight.

There is a faint etch, so to protect it, I scraped this  blade area only, 

other parts saw the wire wheel on some stubborn areas.

The blade is clipped at the heel but looks like its a 22 in plate.

The tooth line stop at 21-1/2 in.  We are not loosing any length, that area never see the wood

because of the saw posts

We got almost 5 in at the heel.  Love the gently curved heel

Ellipse anyone? :-)

And about 4-3/4 at the toe.

Canted blade or miss sharpen?

NO, the plate is sitting crooked in the spline.

The blade is straight, not touching it

Medallion has the Pat date of Dec 27 1887

 Now we have enough information gleaned from the saw to ID it.

There is a new site dedicated to Atkins saws, with lots of catalog info
From the 1906 catalog hand saw catalog, page 164

1906

Different stamp on the spline and no apparent etch

The replacement saw nuts and medallions.

They usually never sold you a medallion with their name on it,

but rather a Warranted Superior ones, like all other saw makers.

Pat date in question Dec 27 1887 for the Grover saw nut.

The Grover saw nut patent, as used on numerous saw makers, was from the late 1880s, figured about 20 years before it is expired and no longer relevant, meant should have been removed in the early 1900s.  Casting new ones and changing illustrations in catalog and publicity by making new wood blocks engraving etc., cost money, so some patent dates tend to linger way past their best before due dates.  They are still showing in the 1906 catalog, but mostly gone in the 1923 catalog

1919

Ah? they are now selling their AAA Atkins spare medallion

1923 catalog

From the 1923 EC Atkins catalog No 19 , page 223 we find the following information on it:

We have a Mitre box No 1 Silver Steel saw, 22 in, 12 TPI with 5 in under the spline.

Handle is applewood

Etch area enlarged

By 1937 the handle is now beech, no longer applewood

and the back spline is blued steel

1950

Notice how the handle has changed

no longer as graceful curves

The last ones made, by Nicholson after their takeover.

Notice new etch.  From 1967 catalog

So it would appear that my saw was made around the early 1910s-20s.  Applewood is what we will be using to fix the horn.

First, we need to make a straight cut to make a strong bond.  Once dried, the block will be shaped to match.  What shape?  If you look at any handsaw with unbroken horns, you will notice that the top and bottom horns are always the same length.  That would be our starting point, and make it similar shape as the bottom one.

Just make sure it fit your hands right, providing the handle size is correct for your hands...

First was to fix the cracks.  Titebond II for the large moving cracks, 

Krazy glue soaked into the small hairline cracks around it to stabilized it.

Good as new.

For the horn, I need to established a squarer shoulder and flat surface 

to glue in a block of wood

You can see the square area cut then split with knife chisel and rasp

with my donor applewood board

Let it dry for at least 24 hrs before starting to shape it.

There would be some stress on the glue line when shaping it.

Meanwhile the saw plate has been scraped with a razor with WD-40, then wiped on both sides with a cleaned coat of fresh WD-40.

Once my handle is done, I will re-assemble it and put it away until it comes out to play later on.
At which time it will probably be sharpened.  The tooth line as is, looks pretty good. 
For now, I have stopped the rust and took care of the problems on the handle.

That would make mitre saw No 6 in my till.  Humm, I'm running out of room :-)

Bob, with a new problem on his  hands, need a bigger, or another saw till :-)