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bookmark_borderVise & Bench Modifications

Posted on by Elliott Evans

The woodworking vise that I have mounted to the front of my workbench has a steel block that you can slide up above the top surface of the vise. The idea is that you can use this block along with a bench-mounted block (called a “bench dog”) to clamp things on the surface of the bench. The only problem is that my bench is made of 2×4 and plywood instead of solid wood. Since the vise bolts to the underside of the benchtop, the top of the vise isn’t flush with the top of the bench, so this clamping block is useless. I have added wood to the vise jaws, and the top of that wood is roughly flush, but the block is still way shorter than would be useful. Today I changed that.

  • This is the old,
    useless block
  • This is the new,
    useful block
  • Here you can see the dog bolted to the bench top
  • Here’s how you use the two together

I cut a block of 1/2-inch walnut so it had the same width as the block, but was longer. Then, I removed the old block and slid the new block down into the recess. I cut the new block so that when it was retracted, it would be below the top surface of the vise jaws. Then, I drilled the block so it would accept a 5/16″ tee nut. I made a new knob by adding a nut to a 5/16″ x 1″ bolt. Now, I can raise and lower the block, and secure it in place by tightening the nut. I would have re-used the knob from the old block, but it seems to be some kind of metric thread.

The dog is a piece of scrap wood with a hole drilled through it and a counter-sink to put the bolt head down below the surface of the block. This is important to make it more difficult for a tool to hit the metal of bolt while working on a clamped piece. I drove a 1/4″ threaded insert down into the bench so that I can bolt any old piece of material to the bench top, whenever.

The walnut block is maybe a little flexible for this application, but it’s certainly better than ol’ useless that it replaced. I can’t believe I put off making this modification for so long. It was immediately useful. Maybe in another few years I will barter with a metalworker for a metal block, now that I know the dimensions I need.

bookmark_borderTwo-by-Phonerest

Posted on by Elliott Evans

A while back, and I can’t really remember how long ago this was, I was working in the shop and wanted a place to rest my phone where I could still see the screen. I guess I had the table saw set up because it mostly consisted of a dado cut into a piece of scrap 2×4. That piece of 2×4 was mostly likely an off-cut from when I shortened my workbench. Anyway, I’ve been using that phone rest ever since. the cut down the center enables you to charge the phone while it is in the rest, provided the rest is hanging off the edge of a surface. I eventually added some foam because the slot was too wide. More recently, I cut the bevel on the back edge so that the phone camera can’t see the rest.

The Mark 01 Phone Rest

This rest is still a great accessory in the shop, since it doesn’t really matter what happens to it, or if it gets damaged. I think the screw hole in the top is part of the original piece of scrap. This stand didn’t really look very nice in my office, though. Hence, the new one I just made from slightly nicer lumber, using the same design.

The Mark 02 Phone Rest

This one is made from some left-over cypress from the camp gate project. Yes, I still have lumber left over from that project. I think this one is much cleaner and refined. There’s a bit of boiled linseed oil on there to make the color pop.

I must have seen this design someplace. I can’t imagine that I came up with it myself. It’s just too simple and elegant. I might make a Mark 03 version from some ipe that Mr. Arimoto gave me.

bookmark_borderTill for Carving Tools

Posted on by Elliott Evans

I have this set of five wood carving tools that I bought at Harbor Freight way back when, and they’ve been rolling around in a cardboard box ever since then. I have a more involved box project going on right now, but while I was waiting for some glue to dry I decided to make a wooden till to hold them.

The till in its drawer

It’s just some pine 2×4 trimmings glued to some thin plywood. I wound up making it way longer than it needed to be, so I added the partition so the back part could be a a little bin of miscellany. I’ve been meaning to make this till for a while, so it was nice to just make a thing in a couple of hours and put it to use right away.

bookmark_borderCored Edo Yatsu Braid

Posted on by Elliott Evans

It’s been a while since I did a cored braid, and I have my home made core stand, so here we go.

Black and gold cored edo yatsu braid

So there are actually 16-tama in this edo yatsu braid, which is actually an 8-tama braid. The “core stand” holds 8 of the tama over the center while the other 8 braid around them. Now I can work the core strands one by one into the braid, every few inches, until the color of the braid completely changes. Then it changes back.

bookmark_borderThird Flat Braid

Posted on by Elliott Evans

As threatened, here’s the third 16-tama flat braid, using the hira nami braiding pattern.

It looks chaotic, sure, but it’s completely deterministic like all braids, and it uses a very simple color setup of “GKGK GKGK GKGK GKGK”. It’s just not all that attactive unless you’re super into weird braids.

bookmark_borderAnother Shogi

Posted on by Elliott Evans

Last Pennsic, a friend asked me if I could make a shogi for her like the ones I have made for us. I said yes, because I had some things I wanted to try. I tried out a new method for the leg joinery, and a new method for sewing the seat fabric, earlier this year. I bought some new hinge hardware back before the virus shutdown, so it was time to get cracking. I started in earnest a few days ago, and I finished it up today.

Shogi #6, for Caellin

Now, if we ever have another SCA event, this stool is ready. If you zoom in on the picture, you can see that I used the same wedged through-tenons with curved shoulders that I used on the previous shogi. The only real difference is that I bought some connector bolts to use as the pivot hinges where the legs cross. There is also a bronze bushing in there to make sure the hinge works smoothly. All this special hardware was a little pricey, but I think it will be worth it in the long run, and even thought the hexagonal recesses in the bolt heads look a little modern, I think the hardware gives the completed stool a much more finished look.

bookmark_borderAnother Flat Braid

Posted on by Elliott Evans

This braid uses the same 16-tama hira nami braid that I used for the last braid in the “side to side” series, but the colors were set up in a “quartered” pattern instead.

I think this pattern looks like fish scales

That is, if most times you see this braid set up in a “top and bottom” pattern of “KKKK KKKK GGGG GGGG” , and the “side to side” pattern is “KKKK GGGG GGGG KKKK” , then this pattern is “KKKK GGGG KKKK GGGG” . Next, I am doing the same braid in “KGKG KGKG KGKG KGKG” which comes out much more chaotic-looking than you would think.

bookmark_borderNew Desktop: Heart of Heaven

Posted on by Elliott Evans

Going through my photos from last May of the Japanese garden at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I found this image I took that I thought would make a good desktop background. Please feel free to download it for your personal use.

Heart of Heaven

It is of the “dry garden” portion of the garden, and was taken from almost ground level to simulate the experience of being part of the garden yourself. The name of the garden, “Tenshin-En”, translates to “Garden of the Heart of Heaven”.

bookmark_borderChris Hall

Posted on by Elliott Evans

I am posting this with great sadness. Those of you who know already who Chris Hall is probably also know already that he passed away the day before yesterday at the end of a long battle with cancer. Chris Hall was a woodworker who I never met in person, but who I got to know through his Internet presence and real world product. Chris’ work always showed extreme effort and serious attention to detail. He always showed, usually step by step over the course of several months, exactly how much beauty a person can create through relentless dedication to craft. He shared so much of himself with the Internet, and everybody I know who recognizes his name will always mourn him.

Several years ago, he rebuilt the entrance gate to the Tenshin-En Japanese garden at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I finally had a chance to visit the garden and its gate back in May, and the peaceful nature of this garden will always serve as a memorial to Chris for me. Here is one small detail of the gate, to show the nature of his precision and attention to even the smallest parts of every project.

Post, through-tenoned crossbeam, and wedge.