Sushi Set for Bri

I'm a food junkie, no doubt about it.

There isn't much I won't try, or try to cook, and I check out as many food blogs as possible. If there were an extra 4 hours in a day, I'd probably spend all four reading about food.


Maybe that's what happens when you grow up in a family of restaurateurs. Or maybe it's just growing up Italian.

Whatever.

Which leads me to the following - one of my favorite food blogs is Jen Yu's "Use Real Butter", she's smart, wickedly funny, and unfortunately, fighting cancer right now. It just dawned on me that I've never met Jen, but still ride the ups and downs of her cancer journey. I think it's an amazing testament to the blogging community that bonds can be made over DSL lines, across telephone networks, and hand held devices all over the world.

Think about it... it's pretty amazing.

So with much sadness, I'll try to help out the blogging community by posting this next bit.

_____________________________

This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicizing this campaign.

__________________________________

I'm pretty sure it's too late for me to contribute a piece of my work, but here's the deal - I sell some awesome sushi dinnerware sets on Etsy. I will donate the proceeds of the next sushi set that I sell to Bri.

Please check it out, and think about how nice one of my sets will look in your home.

Better yet, think about how great it would be to help out Bri.

Potsticker platter

A few posts ago, I included a picture of a Waterfall Green glazed plate.


It's a glaze that took nearly a year and a half to achieve, and I've started using it on some tiles that I'm currently making. If all goes well, I plan on making a video showing how I make the tiles, as well as how I inlay them.

The key phrase in that last sentence is..."if all goes well" because you know how things crop up that are totally unexpected. Like company. Or a backache.
Or a sick pet.

Oy.

Until I get that video finished, here are a few more pictures of that green glaze. This platter is a Potsticker platter that I designed a few years ago. This platter was made (and fired) about a week ago.

The kiln gods have been particularly kind to me lately.


It has a small dipping bowl formed within the plate, requiring feet to raise it so the bowl can be flush with the plate surface. See, a lot of potters make platters like this, but with a bowl sticking up from the top surface.


Why be normal?

(On a related note, if you love Potstickers, you might want to check out Stuart Chang Berman's amazing book - Potsticker Chronicles. After I bought it, we had different potstickers every night for a week!)

(On another unrelated note, WTF is up with Blogger tonight? The fonts are all screwy, no matter how many times I edit this, I can't get all the type to match. Screw it.... complain to Blogger for me!)

Watco Danish Oil - come oil (and laugh) with me

Don't faint, the Watco videos are finished and finally posted.

Grab a beer (or a cup o' joe) and put your feet up. Hopefully I won't come off as too big of a dork.

Let's Watco...

Any woodworker / Mac users out there?

Here's the thing... I am NOT a videographer.

Never studied it, probably never will, other than a short online tutorial that wasn't worth the time it took to watch it. So when I tell you this upcoming Watco video is a labor of love, let me explain...

Mistake #1 - It wasn't too smart on my part to try and film this video on the hottest day (so far) of the year. I put these short clips together over the better part of two days, and at one point, it was 115˚ in my studio.

Think I'm exaggerating?


Sure, I have a pretty decent swamp cooler and some powerful fans. But those make noise, and the noise interfered with the video, so I had to leave them off. Hence... there was a massive sweat/fatigue thing going on.

Mistake #2 - I should have learned by now to leave certain things up to professionals. By this, I mean video editing. OK, maybe I'm just a putz, but I feel like I know my way around my Mac well enough, and Macs are great for things like film editing.

So why was it so hard?

Could it be the heat stroke? (See mistake #1)

So here's the deal - I have a Watco video filmed and somewhat ready to go, but I'm going to have to upload it in three different segments. I'll be damned if I can figure out how to string them together... I did once, but they say your memory fades with age... or with heat exhaustion...

What was I saying?

I have a request- I know that people (not just woodworkers) read this blog, and if anyone out there is a Mac user and has any suggestions for video editing software (hopefully shareware!) can you please send it to me? I'm hoping for something simple, that will allow me to string a few short clips together, edit out my babbling, and perhaps adjust the sound level and contrast levels.

In fact - if anyone gives me a really great software suggestion, I'll mail you a great shirt - better yet... it's brand new.



One of my tool reps gave it to me, it's lightweight denim, embroidered with a their logo. It's a mens - medium.

I'll send it to whoever (or is it whomever?) gives me the best suggestion for Mac software, and I'll give you a shout out on this blog, as well.



As we say here in Las Vegas... Muchas gracias.

Hammer collections and hardware thoughts

When I was in college, I started a hammer collection.

In fact, my college roommate went to Europe and my only request was a hammer, which turned out to be a sweet Warrington cross-pein version. What a cool souvenir.



Over the years, I've lost track of my friend, but not the hammer.

In every foundry class I took, I took the opportunity to cast solid metal hammers - in bronze, nickle, and even a small one in sterling silver. It's not a collection that I work hard at keeping up, but last year, I bought a sweet set from Garrett Wade, a set of Double-Faced Traditional Style Japanese Hammers.

Be still my heart.

Which got me thinking about one of my favorite books, Tools of the Trade by Jeff Taylor.

For any of you like minds out there (tool whores at heart) this book is sure to stimulate your tool lust.

Someone stopped by my studio the other day and saw the small Japanese hammer on my workbench, and inquired about it's purpose. It's very small, so it's not like you're going to drive many nails with it.

What do I use it for?

I keep this hammer handy for purpose, and ONE purpose only... breaking ceramic pieces that I deem of poor quality. I figure - if I've put my time, energy, creativity and money into making a piece - and it turns out bad, I don't want to simply toss it in the trash.

My pot and tile breaking ceremony probably seems a little ostentatious to some, but it's important to me.

Which brings me back to thoughts of great hardware stores. I can think of two that are near and dear to my heart - West Hill Hardware on Market Street in Akron, Ohio, and San Diego Hardware. They used to be located in the downtown area of San Diego, but moved in 2006. I haven't been to their new location, but it would be hard to beat their quaint old location.

Great hardware stores are hard to find. I'm not talking about the big box ones, the huge mega stores that have tons o' stuff, but not really anyone that cares about what they're selling you.

I'm talking about the old time, odd stocked, personal stores of my youth. The kind where it didn't seem odd to see a mouse run across the floor, or a bird caught in the eaves. Or the lumber dude with a couple of missing fingers.

The kind of store where you can buy one toggle bolt, or a cork for the bottom of your grandmother's salt shaker. Or a nails by the pound, measured with an old time hanging scale.
My kind of place.

So today, when I read The Poop today, a blog in the San Francisco Chronicle by Peter Hartlaub. It was entitled " Hardware Stores: the new Disneyland" and I feel a little mixed about what he wrote. (You may have to scroll down a bit to find it on his blog.) I was thrilled that he's introducing his son to the thrills of hardware stores. But I sure wish he'd picked a better hardware store than the one he chose - they are out there, you just have to look.

I just thought of another: Lehman's Hardware in the heart of Amish country.

Anyone care to add to the list? Where are the cool stores in your neighborhood?

Finally - a Waterfall Green Glaze!

If you've read earlier entries on this blog, you know I've sort of lost my mind trying to develop a green version of the lovely WaterFall Glaze.

Don't faint... I think I've done it.

I've tested and retested this recipe, more than a half dozen times, on different clay bodies, on smooth and textured slabs. A year and a half of experimenting. Who knows where the time goes?

Of course, it's too late to shoot any decent pictures of the platter I just unloaded, but I'll try to add a few more pictures as soon as I can.

Wow.

Blowing off work...

This is a difficult post to write, I've been putting it off for about two weeks.

But it's finally time to gather my thoughts and get it done. First, I totally blew off working yesterday and headed to Red Rock Canyon for some hiking.

Any one who knows me probably just blew coffee out their nose; hiking is just about last on my list of favorite things to do, along with going to the dentist and pulling weeds in the yard.

But it was nice.

(How does a tree grow right out of a huge boulder?)

Tranquil and relaxing.

Even physical and challenging, which I needed.

See, there is a bit of a crisis going on in my family, and distractions are good. My sister-in-law, Debbie, was just diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. She's one of those great people you meet in life - funny, beautiful, SMART smart, everything you could ask for in a relative. Three great kids.

As you can guess, everyone in the family is having a rough time wrapping our heads around the thought that Debbie is so sick. She does everything right in life - eats well, doesn't drink or smoke, you know... she actually listens to all the stuff the doctors tell you NOT to do.

And still, Debbie is fighting for her life. This website, Trekking for Debbie, was started in an attempt to raise funds for Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong foundation. You know the cute little yellow rubber bracelets you see? That's the one.



There's a picture of Debbie on the Trekking for Debbie website, as well as a few updates from her. Even if you don't want to donate, I hope you'll check it out. And if you do decide to donate, that's very cool, too. Oh - that's me in the picture... I'm the hiker with the yellow rubber bracelet. The one trying to wrap my head around all of this.

Keep us all in your thoughts.

Cutting dowels with a V-block

OK, I've been threatening to do this for a while, but this is my first attempt at posting a woodworking video here on this blog. I've been practicing making videos, it's not at easy as it looks!

Just know this - splashing Watco on the lens of a digital camera isn't a good thing.

I received a question from someone inquiring about cutting dowels. If you've ever attempted this, you know that it's easy to get a lot of chipping and splintering. So here's a quick and easy way to cut dowels.



First you need something to hold the dowel steady. In the video, I use two small blocks of wood with a V-groove cut into them. I realize that there are some people that don't have V-blocks laying around, so as an alternative, you could use a book. A well-worn book that stays open on it's own would work just fine. Even your local phone book would work.

Lay the dowel into the V-groove, overhanging it the dimension of the piece you want to create. So if you want a 3" dowel, overhang it by 3 inches.

Then, using a fine toothed handsaw, hold it on the dowel and rotate the dowel. You want to score the wood fibers all the way around the dowel, to reduce the chance for chipping and splintering. You'll want to score it fairly deeply, not just on the very surface.

Once it's scored, you can saw through it. A fine tooth saw is best here, not an old, rusty saw left over from World War II. The better the saw, the nicer the cut.

Hope this helps! Any other suggestions for the next video?

A goof proof finish - exactly what I need for my work!

I'm lucky that someone that I met early in my woodworking studies told me about Watco Danish Oil. It was roughly 1978, and I was in the woodshop of Ohio University, taking a class with sculptor Mike Cunningham. His specialty was bronze casting, but while we worked together, he was teaching advanced wood techniques. When it came time to apply a finish on something I'd built, he suggested using Watco and named off a few things about it that seemed useful.

The first was that Watco didn't need a completely dust free environment to be applied. Since the woodshop where I worked was about as dusty and dirty as any place I'd ever used, this was a huge advantage. Another very nice feature of Watco was that it was quite forgiving to the average woodworker. If you missed sanding a spot on your wood, or overlooked a smear of glue on your piece - not to worry. These problems were easily solved while applying Watco. Every woodworker I know has missed a drip of glue from time to time, or as some woodbutchers like to say - "glue happens."

And finally, another reason that Watco was quite interesting was that it allowed woodworkers to do something that previously took a couple of additional steps, and required some additional finishing supplies. See, if you wet sand Watco into your wood, you create a slurry, or fine paste, of oil and sawdust. Should there be a small worm hole, or a joint in your piece that is less that tight, this slurry acts as a wood filler of sorts. Sweet.

A finish that actually makes finishing easier? I'll take it.

Plus - wet sanding the oil into the wood gives you an ultra smooth feel and sheen to the wood that makes most customers swoon when they touch your work. It's like buttah!

In short, you've got a product that makes you a better woodworker. If you've missed a small area while you were sanding, you can touch it up. Glue line? No problemo, a quick scrape with a sharp chisel and it's gone. Worm holes? Filled!

So back in that dusty, dirty woodshop in the late 70's, I started using Watco Danish Oil, and I've never stopped. In fact, it's the only wood finish I use, and if my customers request something different, I try to either show them the merits of Watco, or ask them to possibly find someone else to finish their piece that I've built. Of course, I discount my price accordingly, so if someone it really set on a lacquer finish, they can get it. Elsewhere.


Besides being a really "goof proof" finish, Watco also allows you to do a few things at once, most of all - staining your wood at the same time as protecting it. See, Watco comes in colors, or tints. The clear version of Watco is called Natural, and it obviously doesn't tint the wood much. But some of their other colors, especially the Walnut colors (Medium Walnut, Dark Walnut and Black Walnut) all darken your wood considerably. So instead of first applying a separate stain to color your wood, and then applying a clear top coat, you can do both steps at the same time using a tinted Watco product. Personally, I don't like stain. If I want something a darker color, my tendency is to simply use a darker wood. Or if I'm looking for a more reddish wood, I'll use a Cherry or Mahogany. For this reason, my Watco product of choice is the Natural version, which allows the woods natural colors to shine through.

Now that's not to say I never stain anything. I recently make a piece and there was no way to avoid a streak of sapwood in a gorgeous board. I simply wiped on some tinted Watco on the sapwood area, thus blending it in with the rest of the piece. In this case, it was a Walnut chest, so I used both Natural Watco for most of the chest, and small amounts of Dark Walnut to stain the sapwood to match.

In the next few weeks, I'm going to attempt to make a short video on Watco application. I'll show you how I apply it, how much wet sanding I do, how long I leave it on the wood, and I'll also give some important information about disposing of your oil soaked rags. Back in 1988, my house (under construction) nearly burnt to the ground because some of the workers didn't dispose of the rags properly when applyong Watco to my wood floors. I'll save that story for another time... until then, remember - those rags can spontaneously combust, so dispose of them properly.

Acid Test results

As promised...

Here's the same tile (from the post below) after a 3 day soak in vinegar.

Not sure if you can tell by the picture, but there is a distinct difference between the lower area, which was the part that was submerged.

My first thoughts about this include a realization that if I want to use this glaze for dinnerware, it's probably not suitable. But if I want to use it for tile, it's probably fine.

The elusive Waterfall Green Glaze

Call me persistent.

I've been working on and off for over a year trying to develop a green version of the Waterfall Brown glaze. It's a glaze developed by John Hesselberth and Ron Roy, and featured in their book - Mastering Cone 6 Glazes.

If you mix your own glazes and need help, or if you want to start doing so, I can't imagine a better book to get you started.

About my green tests, I've come up with so many versions of green, my studio is full of samples. I have a small piece of pegboard hanging right above my glaze mixing area, where all the samples are stored.

It's full.

Since I'm mostly trying to develop a green for use in my hand made tiles, I'll tell you a little about the test tiles I make.

I made a small jig that allows me to cut a half dozen rectangular tiles at once. This allows me to roll out a slab and cut six tiles in seconds. I also use a small circular cookie cutter for making small circular tiles. Sometimes, I even make small "tubes" of tile, similar to the cardboard center on a roll of paper towels, only much smaller. I make them roughly the size of a finger, which allows me to test dips in the glaze sample. This is really helpful for learning if a glaze drips during it's final glaze fire. See, I figure if I'm going to the trouble of mixing a 100 gram batch of a glaze, I might as well dip it on a few tiles, rather than just one. So I generally test a glaze on 3 different bisqued clay.

I tend to not add a lot of texture tiles I make for furniture, but still, I want to see how the glaze behaves over texture. So I'll occasionally stamp something in the clay, just to experiment a bit.

The tiles above show a green that's way too light, but the crystal pattern is strong and well formed, which is, besides the color, something I'm trying to achieve.

In the next two tests, I tweaked the colorants slightly, and while there are still some great patterns within these tiles, the color is off. It's much too light for what I'm hoping to achieve.


I'm getting closer to what I want with these two, but I still have to play with the colorants. I envision a hunter green glaze, and these are still a bit too bright. They're very nice, if you like teal versions.

Instead of using chrome to achieve green, I am using copper carbonate. It's beginning to make the green really pop out on these test tiles. I tested extensively with chrome, but nothing I did met my approval.

Switching to copper carbonate made the tiles much more pleasing, and put me on a better path for getting the color I want.

The tile below is still a little light, I'm hoping for DEEP green.

Now this is what I'm talking about!

I've now tested this version of the glaze three times, and each sample has given me consistent results. I like this color so much, I will probably use it on some of the sushi dinnerware sets that I make. But before that, I need to test it for it's resistance to acids.



It's a simple test, but it takes 3 days.

Basically, to test a glaze for it's resistance to acid, you soak it in something acidic for three days. In this case, I'll be using ordinary household white vinegar. Here's a "before" of the glaze I want to test. Check back in a few days and you'll see the "after" result. Keep your fingers crossed!

Woodworking 101

A few blog posts ago, I wrote about one of my favorite woodworking authors, Tage Frid. His books were instrumental in filling in all holes I had in my Furniture Design degree. When I graduated, I realized exactly how much more I needed to learn. Frid's books were invaluable.

So it was only natural when I started teaching, that I would put together a list of woodworking books that I felt were helpful. Sure, I'm overlooking many books, because I'm not particularly interested in certain niche areas like pen making or decoy carving, or antique reproductions, for example.

What follows is a hand-out that I used to give to students, listing some of the great woodworking books that I have in my library. I hope it's helpful to you.

Basic Woodworking: recommended reading

A visit to any bookstore will confirm that Woodworking is one of the more popular hobbies. There are specific books available on just about any area you might be interested, from jig-saw cut-out patterns to lathe turning to Shaker Furniture and on and on and on! Below are some recommended books, with a short description of each. The books in red are highly recommended.

Woodworking Basics


The Complete Manual of Woodworking
by Albert Jackson, David Day and Simon Jennings

I think this book is one of the best overall texts that you'll find on this subject. It's similar to an encyclopedia; the illustrations are really good, as is the photography. It contains more information that any other book I've seen- about wood and identification, hand and power tools, joinery, finishing and even chapters on carving, veneering and bending wood. This is a great book. (My top recommendation for someone wanting an overall guide to this subject.)


Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Joinery, Tools and Techniques
Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Shaping, Veneering, Finishing
Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking: Book 3 Furniture making


I could retire on a desert island with a woodshop and these three texts and never want for another reference book. His set of books contain pictures explaining every sequence, and charts for various calculations. He writes the book as if he’s standing next to you explaining everything, and all the information is very well organized.


Working With Wood by Peter Korn

Someone told me that this book is out of print, though I think you can find this on eBay or Half.com. It may be hard to locate, but it's worth it. This book is a good basic guide for woodworking, although Korn has this romantic notion that it’s better to perform certain operations by hand than to use power equipment. I say that’s crazy....if I can machine-plane a board in 30 seconds that it would take me a half hour to do with a hand plane, what’s the advantage? Some purists say the enjoyment is in “the dance of doing” but I would rather sit back and enjoy my creations with fewer sore muscles and scraped knuckles.

Fine Woodworking Presents...by the Publishers of Fine Woodworking Magazine

Fine Woodworking Magazine reprints some valuable articles from it’s magazine into small books, which are very helpful and specific. Their books range in topics from Joinery to Setting up a Small Woodshop, from Sharpening to Helpful Tips. If you have access to all their back issues, then you already have this information.


For Inspiration and Appreciation

A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook by James Krenov
The Impractical Cabinetmaker by James Krenov
The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking by James Krenov



This is not an understatement: My work and outlook has never been the same since I first read Krenov’s books. He is the ultimate woodworker, teaching us about “seeing” wood as opposed to working with it. He writes about specific skills, shows simple ways to perform complex operations and most of all, teaches us an awareness of working wood that has never since been discussed as eloquently.

For Ideas

Fine Woodworking Design Books 1-7

Every few years or so, Fine Woodworking Magazine publishes a book featuring some of the best woodworking projects from around the world. The books are broken down into different categories, from Architectural Designs to Chairs, Tables to Casework, even Musical Instruments and Toys. These books have hundreds of top quality photographs, and offer a vast array of ideas when you need some inspiration.

Advanced Studies

Designing Furniture by Seth Stem
Working at Woodworking by Jim Tolpin

Both these books offer more specific information about working with wood.

Stem’s book contains many design formula’s, such as the golden triangle, for designing pieces with properties that have held up throughout the ages. This book goes into detail about designing a piece, which is helpful to those who follow their own designs, instead of using someone else’s plans.

Tolpin’s book is more suited to someone who is starting into a woodworking business. It discusses more business related topics, such as marketing, pricing and business structure. There is some very good information about setting up a shop, including tool and jig information and shop lay-out.

Night time Reading

Tools of the Trade by Jeff Taylor

An interesting collection of essays about various tools that we use everyday, but of which we know little. I love this book! It's a great gift for someone who enjoys tools and working with their hands. Even long time woodworkers will enjoy reading about the trivia contained here, and everyone can learn something. Very easy to read- I guarantee you won't be able to put this book down.

Confessions of a tool junkie

Back when I taught woodworking classes at my local college, I always made it a point to give handouts during each class.




See, I've taken adult ed classes before, and the only ones I've ever really benefited from were the ones that included handouts. The paperwork was invaluable for future use, and frankly, the classes I've taken that didn't include hand outs... well, I barely remember anything about those classes. I knew when I started teaching, I would become the hand out queen.

Most of the time, my handouts were focused on whatever I was teaching during that particular class. Router handouts were always popular, as was my recommended reading list.

Even on days when I didn't have anything pertinent to share, I'd simply print up a favorite recipe or maybe a woodworking cartoon. But one of my favorite handouts was the "Ten tools I can't live without" sheet, which featured obscure but entirely useful tools that I've come to rely upon in my studio. The list has changed slightly over the years, some tools have dropped off, and I've added some new things. But there are a few essential tools that I want to discuss today.

I'd like to preface this by saying that I have no financial stake in recommending any of these tools. I wish I did! Most of the tools come from Lee Valley, a Canadian company that manufactures it's own line of tools under the name Veritas. Their tools are extremely well designed and made. As a tool junkie, I get my fix with them a couple of times a year. Visa must love me.

Today in my studio, I was working on a chest/bench.


It's a popular piece that appears to be a simple blanket chest, but the real charm of it is that it's sized to fit hanging file rails, so that this chest can double as a filing cabinet.


The bottom is made of solid aromatic Cedar, so the chest can also be used for fabric storage, like linens, sweaters, towels, or bedding. But the most common use for this chest is as a filing cabinet bench.

Over the years, this bench has been one of the most popular pieces that I build. Versions of it are scattered throughout the country, and from time to time, I hear from the people who have purchased them, still professing their love for them. I've tried to keep this piece fresh, by varying the style, materials, and features that I offer. In fact, some of my recent versions include tiled front panels, thus introducing color and texture into the mix. While working on a bench today, it dawned on me that this was a perfect time to shoot some images of the building process.

I couldn't do without my box of set up blocks. The particular set I own is contained in a simple box, and holds 6 different "blocks" of metal, all sizes to nearly perfect dimensions.



Instead of using a tape measure, which can be inaccurate at times, I can use these blocks for marking things, like screw locations, or adjusting a fence on any given tool. The largest block is a 1-2-3 block, which measures 1" x 2" x 3," perfect for measuring and marking.


The other smaller pieces are all useful dimensions -- everything from 3/4" down to 1/16" - used in combination, you can come up with just about any dimension you need. While using the setup blocks for locating where I'm going to drill some screw holes, there are many times I need to transfer a dimension around a corner. Yes, a simple square might work, but I've gotten fairly dependent on using a saddle square.


This ingenious device is simple, yet dead-on accurate. Here, I'm using it to transfer the location of the center of the side board to the face of my bench panel.


Speaking of accurate locations, I'd like to talk about measuring.

I've gotten accustomed to using a cabinetmakers tape specifically made for a right hander like me. My buddy, Dave, bought me one of these tapes a few years ago, and since then, I've bought a few more, placing them at various locations around my shop. See, the tapes you buy in your local hardware store read left to right, which means that if you're right handed, you're reading the numbers upside down. It's hard enough to be accurate in the first place!


I'd like to share a tip for measuring and marking, one that virtually eliminates errors when trying to locate the center of a board. It's a simple, effective way of finding the center, without doing a lot of math. This method is pretty goof proof, which is what I need from time to time. First, measure the piece of wood on which you want to find the center. In this case, the board is 13" and some odd fraction.


It doesn't matter, you just need a rough dimension. I always round up to the next whole number, in this case, it's 14" To find the center, measure 7" from the right edge of the board, as shown below.



Then measure 7" from the left edge of the board.


In between those two lines is the center.


In this case, the lines are only about a half inch apart. It's much easier to look at a half inch space and mark the center, than to measure and do the math to find the center. Finally, once I've located the center and marked the location for the screw, the next step is to predrill the screw hole.


Wherever I install a screw, I fill the hole with a solid plug of similar wood, so that the screw virtually disappears. There is a great device for drilling screw holes, it's called a tapered countersink bit, and my favorite one is made by Fuller Tools.



The box set includes a variety of sizes, lengths and even comes with some plug cutters, so that you can cut some wooden plugs to fill the holes.



A couple of things about cutting solid wood plugs for filling screw holes - it's best to save a piece of wood from whatever you're building, so that the wood color matches perfectly. Sometimes, I'll even label the scrap wood, so that I know where it's mate is located in the piece. And forget about cutting a bunch of short plugs; they're too hard to hold when they're short.

I use tenon cutters to cut plugs, which allows me to cut "tubes" of wood up to 3" long. Take a short scrap of wood, roughly a 1 x 2, and turn it on edge. Drill into the edge, so that you're cutting 2" long plugs. Holding a 2" plug is much easier to hold than short plugs, and one long piece can often yield a half dozen plugs or more. I apply a little glue on the plug, tap it in, and chisel it off just a hair above flush. Apply a little more glue and do it again to the next hole.

As Napoleon Dynamite would say....sweet.