Chair re-built day 1 or...

...What did I get myself into..??

Its pretty hot today, 39C with Humidex, if this keeps up, soon I'll be able to grow my own Saguaro cactus.. :-)

Yeah, dream on... So let's take an inventory of all the parts and condition, to see what I got myself into this time :-)

Most, if not, all the pieces seems to be present, 

including one loose spindle

The back of the chair's arm. Look OK, 

the arms juncture are starting to work loose

The loose spindle goes in here.

The seat has a gaping crack

One side got three (3) spindles

The other has one missing. 

Does not look terribly difficult to reproduce neither

 (these could become Famous last words... :-)

The seat had previously came apart at all the board's junction, it seems.

Very messy glue job...but it seems to be holding pretty good, which it was all that mattered, this is part of an landscape feature... 

It has been reglued together previously, glue type unknown.

That expansion pulled out one of the bottom rungs.

So, it does not look too bad. Some of the wood has become light, very light (punkie?) Could use a good coat of liquid epoxy to soak in.

Probably would have to remove all the spindles and do a complete tear down. Will take lots of pictures, because I have this sneaky feeling that things could get a tad hairy at glue time... :-)

Will have to think through the glue up sequence...

Once re-assembled, I should put some sort of finish to weather proof it better.

All in all, not too bad, should be able to do that in a day (??AM I crazy??)

So should be doable this month. Only one new part to make, that in itself could take a day :-)

Bob, the eternal optimist, sipping a cold one...

Boy, did I mentioned how hot it was today? :-)

Build a chair in June...ish 3rd edition

My friend Brian Eve, currently over in Spain, is once again hosting a Build a chair in the month of June then blog about it, posting pics of progress and completed chairs.

I kinda briefly entertained entering last year, but it was not meant to be, too many other distractions last year :-(

So I thought I could give it a go this year.

Well technically, I am not building but rather re-building a rocking chair :-)

Yap, this heaping pile of broken parts was once a rocking chair...

That chair is destined to become part of a yard feature, hence not to become a once again working chair, but I thought it would be fun to re-assembled it with epoxy so it can endure longer outside before committing Hara Kiri again...

The poor thing had a rough life and is in poor shape, 

will see what pans out...

So there you go Brian, this is my entry for this month. I am already starting with an eleven (11) days deficit, so I better get on with it. Thankfully, June is a rather looooonnng month... :-)

In the mean time, our gardens have started to produce eatable vegetables, so far we had Radish, Asparagus, the lettuce and shard are coming along fine and the tomatoes plants show promises. The potatoes bag got a full head of greenery, awaiting it to go into flower.

Three different kinds of Radishes

The cucumber are still pretty slow...
Awaiting gingerly Strawberries and Blueberries and Raspberries and, and... Mium Mium... :-)

Our flowers productions got transplanted in our flower beds up front.
Reading up on Irrigation before I go nutso on it. Already got a Bluetooth water timer for it :-)

Bob, the budding gardener with a broken chair to sit on...

The gardening tool station

Another of my "quick" yard project in a day. Well actually that one was built in a day, Friday, except for installing the door, hardware and the protective finishing.
So yeah, doable in a day.... if you don't have grandkids running around, make a trip to the vet and basically have a life to interfere :-)

Earlier I installed a post, left over piece of 4X4 from the barrel stand project, and put in two hanging plant's bracket.  Its location will also help running the
irrigation lines to the beds above ground. There are height differences to be respected for my solar drip system

Construction was simple, butt joints, glued and nails.
I used a water resistant outdoor glue, Titebond II, galvanized finish nails, 1-1/2 in and Liquid nail adhesive to seal the roof panels.
Galvanized nails have a hot zinc dip which makes them somewhat lumpy. This rough coating makes them grip more tenaciously than your regular bright finished wire nails, plus they won't leave rusty streaks on the wood later on.

3PM Friday, almost done

There was no plan in the magazine, just a picture of the finished product, a material list and a partial exploded view. A one page skimpy article basically.
Not that there is anything complicated about it...

The only weakness I can find with this sketchy design in the magazine, was the front gable attachment. I added a 1-1/2 screw on each sides of the gable to help reinforce the connection. That connection is thru end grain, not the most solid... But If I built another one, I would redesign that connection to be attached more solidly.

Before the grand peanuts arrived after school, I had two roof panels 

to put on and the door blank.

Door panel dry fit into opening.  I cut everything to the specified 

dimensions and amazingly, all the parts fitted... :-)

Just in time for the grand peanuts arrival.

The rest would have to wait...

 I am pretty happy with the boards I found at my local box store (Kent Building supplies) 1X12X6 pîne boards for about $6 each.  I had to culled the pile to find mostly clear boards, but I was able to cut off most of the knots. My only gripe has to be my 1X12 actually measured 11-1/4 wide... exactly the specified width for this project... One of my roof panel had a cup in it, it split when I nailed it flat. I simply worked some more of my exterior glue in the partial crack.

Did not got to work on it until today, Thursday, Cut the gain for the hinges, and install door

Put on hinge on door, scribed around, removed hinge

then cut shallow groove with chisel

My small router Stanley 271, set to the thickness of the hinge 

is then used to mark the thickness 

The resulting hinge gains

Similarly the router was used to cut the hinges gains 

on the cabinet parts

Outside, I gave it a coat of Thomson water seal and wood protector

Installed on post and filled with some tools.

It is secured by two screws from the inside, to prevent twist

 and two metal brackets from under

My door panel has developed a significant cup, so that the door does not closed flat unless I put some pressure on it, which of course created some stress cracks. Similar to what happened with one of my roof panels.
I may have to revisit that door panel and make a new one. If and when I would used laminated stock instead of relying on a large piece.

Only thing left is to install the door handle and locking hasp, but that would have to wait until the temp drop down a bit, it is brutally hot today, but the wind is keeping most of the bugs away. They don't seems to fly well with these shearing winds :-)

When she got home, she added more tools.

I will have to organized them better, with holders and hooks of some sort.

The plant hanger's hooks are a great place to hold Rudy's leash 

while working in the garden :-) 

My sophisticated, temporary locking mechanism...

Until I get around making a new door...

Bob, sipping a refreshing cold one and re-thinking the door

Stanley No 923-8 braces

This is the one you saw in a size comparison with the larger Pexto model
It is a smaller 8 in sweep brace, a most useful size for most tasks

The Stanley No 923 was manufactured from 1905 until 1984.
It has a box ratchet and earlier models had alligator jaws.
Made in sizes from 6 to 14 in in 2 in increments.
Steel construction, nickel plated, cocobolo handles.
Average value $10-50. I paid $5 at a Flea market for mine.
6 in size $50-100 (because rarely seen)
John Walter's book prices

Stanley No 923-8

Also stamped BT Co, which stands for Bell Telephone Company.

This model was used by Bell linemen and service guys...for good reasons

The ratcheting mechanism is covered under Patent 2,485,991

Applied for 10 Apr 1946

Granted 25 Oct 1949

2 jaws chuck, closing tight

This chuck has two springs. 

You can see one peeking out on the side of the chuck

It does not sport the usual Alligator grip on the jaws,

 like the earlier models.

Note that this type of jaws are designed to hold square tapered bit shank, not round ones. As a result they are sometimes found with vise grip like, scored marks on the chuck in a futile attempt to grab on solidly round shank bits...Please don't do that.

These jaws were made under US Patent  1,880,521 which covers the spring arrangements.

Applied for 13 Sep 1929

Granted 4 Oct 1932

Chucks that uses springs should allowed the jaws to open and close smoothly when you open/close the chuck. Often they are sticking, because of roughness inside the chuck shell and/or accumulated grit and gummy dried grease. Both conditions easily fixed.

This is a Made in Canada Stanley

This small size, 8 in sweep, is probably the most used in cabinetmaking. The smaller 6 in does not comes up very often, while the 8 in and 10 in are very prolific out there. An indication of their all around usefulness.

The patent dates on it dated it from 1949 at the earliest, probably early 50s.
I used to keep a a small Millers Falls of that size on my bench, but it had some issues (worn out ratchet) This is my new 8 in going into my boring till to replace it.

Bob, about to go on a short road trip with Jean, the grand peanuts and Rudy.
Good thing I had the AC fixed in the car :-)

Small detour from my regular programming...

Thursday AM I went for a bread run in Bridgetown (love the bread from that little bakery, worth the run) and since I was not far from Annapolis Royal, I decided to go there with Rudy for my first Chocolate run (Tm) of the season :-)

This is what Rudy and I came back with...

3 planes, a chisel, and a cute little ratchet screwdriver

A center bead plane

A moving Filletster plane

A Stanley No 46 plane with 4 cutters

A Stanley No 750 chisel

A North Bros Yankee Handyman No 2H

parallel tip common ratchet screwdriver

Oh, and yes I bought chocolate, but none survived the trip home...Sorry Babe
Guess we will have to make another run  wink, wink :-)

I will go over my new finds later, meanwhile, back on the boring till contents

Bob, easily distracted by tools... and chocolate

Peck, Stow & Wilcox Co (PEXTO) brace No 3410

This being the first installment of the tools in my boring till, I will go over what to look for in a brace, any brace, first...

Despite the usefulness of corded and cordless (battery) drills implements, a good old fashion hand brace still have a place in our tool kit.  And it will never run out of juice.. well your own maybe, in which case, sip another cold one :-)

The essential brace and bit by Chris Schwarz

Part of my last finds, was this 10 in sweep brace stamped PS&W Co and 3410 on the brace arms.

Model 34xx is nickel plated, and only came in three sizes: 

8, 10 and 12 inch sweeps. 3410 being the 10 in model

For most of cabinetry work, and general woodworking, a sweep of 6 or 8 inch is plenty.
10 and 12 inch braces are brute force braces better suited to carpentry work. The bigger the sweep the more torque you can generated. Therefore, the available ranges of brace sweep, run from 6 to 12 inch in 2 inch increments, and less common but available,  is a monster 14 inch brace.

8 and 10 in are the two sizes you will find the most.

Add to this range a variety of finish, materials  and chucks, and you have a very large selections of braces available. Way too many, at one time Millers Falls alone carried over 135 braces (in 1915), down to 35 by 1949. Many were very similar, bright metal, or nickel plated. Rosewood or Harwood head, stained various colours. Samson or Barber chuck, 2 or 3 jaws, ratcheting or not and etc.

When shopping for a brace, the most important things to look at are;

- Are the head and chuck in line? If not it would be impossible to bore true. Sometimes the frame has been bent by brute force. The earlier wrought iron braces were more susceptible to this kind of damages. The fancy (and expensive) Ultimatum type braces are very susceptible to this kind of damages due to their construction.

- Does the chuck operate smoothly? Often springs are missing or broken, IF they were present. Not all chucks jaws had them. Open and close the chuck, the jaws should open and close. If you have to push on them to close them, it probably has no spring, but it could also be sticky from build up of goo inside including rust. Easy fix, replacing springs... not so much.
Be very careful when disassembling the chuck to clean it, these little springs have a mind of their own it would seems, just saying :-)

- Does the head rotate freely without excessive play?
In some brace designs, you can take up the slack easily, others, not so much... At times they are found rusted solidly, and no amount of liquid rust buster etc seems to be able to break them free... I just happened to had one like that before... I was afraid I would break it before it broke free. Head still frozen solid...
Not as important, but a rotating handle helps prevent blisters. Not all design used a rotating handle, but if it has, it should also rotate freely.

All that to say, it pays to know what to look for when shopping for braces. Having some idea of their construction, help narrow down your inspection for missing spring or problems areas.

Generally speaking, the big American braces makers: Goodell-Pratt, North Bros, Pexto, Millers Falls, and yes, Stanley, made excellent braces. But they also made a large variety of braces to fit all uses AND price points, so keep that in mind.

Peck Stow & Wilcox Co history PEXTO

Looking at our model No 3410

Identifying marks are often stamped on the brace frame

Model No  3410, and we know this mean it has a 10 in sweep

Stamped on chuck arm

The throw is of course half the sweep.

In this case we are measuring 5 inches = 10 in Sweep

PS&W Co

Stamped on head arm

This smaller Stanley No 923 measured at 4inch.

Sweep of 8 inches

And sure enough it is a Model 923-8 IN

Stamped on head arm

So how much difference does this 1 inch of additional throw (2 in of sweep) makes?
Plenty to be noticeable, torque wise...
12 and 14 in, definitively carpenter's tools.

10 inch and 8 inch braces,

the differences in sizes  

The chuck

It sport the classic Barber chuck, the bulbous shape is the giveaway

Two jaws, meeting tight

The Barber chuck exposed.

NO springs on the Alligator jaws

The ratchet mechanism used exposed cog gears, box ratchet, and has 

the selector ring to shift direction. Another classic design

So this solid example of a PEXTO brace will find a place in my boring till. It is a good brace with plenty of torque. Comes in handy at times...
If you cannot torque something in or out with a 10 in sweep brace, you may want to reconsider your next move...

Bob, who came back with a small load of 1X12 pine boards...