Pen & Pencil Holder 2G

The first Pen & Pencil Holder I made (a couple of blogs down) was described by some friends as, for lack of a better word, "overkill". It would seem then that I doubled down with this second version. I understand that a coffee mug can easily be a pen and pencil holder. Or, for that matter, a coffee can will hold a lot more pens and pencils!

Well, hobbies, if they must be worthy of the time and effort, are not about convenience or what are easy to do. Sometimes it can be that the hobbyist will dare to engage in a project that has not been done before because he or she can. But, more importantly, no matter how simple a hobby is, how much patience it demands, how much creativity is involved, it is the feeding and the exercising of the mind through hands and eyes that are the reasons and the rewards. I found that the satisfaction I got from the simplest, perhaps the most rudimentary of projects I did when I first started, was just as fulfilling as the ones done recently. 

I would discourage anyone from doing something from someone's existing plan; in other words, don't copy what has already been done. I am talking about hobbyists, of course, and not of those engaged in commercial endeavors.  Half of the fun or challenge is when the mind tries to envision what the project is about, envisioning it in one's head, turning it over and over from every which view, long before it is on paper or the first saw cut.  Everything is first a mental calisthenics before the first saw dusts come flying.

Every woodworker must deal with scrap wood. If I don't throw them away then, no matter how long they've been in the scrap heap, I need to deal with them sooner or later.

The imagined structure and shape had been revised a few times because the quest to minimize the amount of material and how they are put together with the simplest number of steps are the goal.  From the simple pieces in the photo directly below to the fourth picture further down are what I mean by imagining and re-imagining until it has been simplified.

Base of oak edged with walnut.

A quality double-sided tape temporarily secures the top part to the base for a drill through. In final assembly, the top part will be elevated and appear to float 1/4 inch from the base.

To allow for  the pencil points, smaller diameter secondary holes were drilled through.

8-inch Chef's Knife

This is the last of a series of three, unless Hock Tools make another model of their high carbon steel knife kits.  This is the 8 inch chef's knife. Two years ago (Oct. 2015) I did the 5 inch chef's and the paring knife. Hock Tools' main product line are edged tools for woodworking, i.e. hand plane and spoke shave knives, marking tools, etc. They sell the high carbon steel knives (these are forged in France by special arrangement) which are available as kits for hobbyist woodworkers to apply their creativity and choice of wood species in fashioning handles for the blades.  Two years ago I kept left over material for later, with the intention of buying the 8 inch blade.  Took a while because: (a) there were other projects; (b) the blades are not cheap. But these are among the best in the market and uniquely different from the more popular stainless steel blades. High carbon steel knives may not be for everybody. Unlike stainless steel, high carbon will rust! And it will stain as to develop a grayish patina over time. So, it must always be kept dry after each use.

However, high carbon high quality steel knives are the very best in many ways. It not only has the sharpest edge, it will maintain it longer, yet it is easy to sharpen and hone. There are folks, I am one of them, who actually love the patina that develops with high carbon steel - because before stainless steel, quality old world knives were solely made from high carbon steel that, when taken car of, easily become heirlooms for generations that follow.. 

 The kit comes with clear instructions and three pieces of 1/4 inch steel pins. The edge is very sharp and well honed already so first order of business is to fashion a cardboard sheath with masking tape to secure it to the blade. It will protect the blade while you work on the handle (also called 'scale') and more importantly, to protect your fingers.

 With a coping saw, or a scroll saw or band saw, cut outside the traced line to make sure there is enough "overhang" so the handle can be made flush with the blade handle during finishing.

 I used a good double sided tape to secure one of the scales to one side of the tang (handle). Using the holes on the tang as guide, drill three holes. Flip the handle over, tape the second scale, insert two pins temporarily and drill one hole, move one pin to it and drill the other hole and on to the third one.  This insures a perfect match during final glue up. 

 Set the knife aside after removing the scales. Insert all three pins and shape the forward edge (shown as the narrower part of the handle closest to the entire blade). You need to do this because you will not be able to shape this later without scratching or damaging the blade.

 Use a high quality 2-part epoxy to glue the two scales. Make sure to clean the tang and pins with alcohol to remove any oils or other contaminants. Lightly rub the metal surface and pins with 320 sand paper. Insert the pins one one scale first, apply epoxy and press one side of the tang. Apply epoxy on the remaining side of the tang. Position the other scale, using the pins as guides, and press down. Apply clamps.

 Let the glue dry overnight. 

 Aside from rasps and sand paper, a stationary belt sander will make quick work of removing protruding portions of the pins. Do this slowly until the pins are flush with the scale surface. 

Next order of business is to make a stand for the blade such as the ones for the two other knives. It is another project.

Upgrading the Basic Miter Gauge

Pen/Pencil Holder from Scrap Wood

Like many woodworkers I know, I find it difficult to throw away scrap wood, specially if they're exotic hardwood. Typically they're small pieces; so one should make small projects out of them. Here, the species is marble wood.

I cut thin slices so I can clad more of them over a common hardwood - oak in this case. Also, oak is a lot easier to drill into than marble wood.

Drilling into end grain (below) of oak is easier than had it been into marble wood.

Each block is a pencil holder. Purely for aesthetic reasons I cut them to different lengths and glued them to a configuration that, while solely subjective, would be just as pleasing (or not boring, anyway).

2-Step Ladder (Attic)

 I needed to do this quick one-day project for a ladder in between two levels of ceiling at the attic. The average homeowner rarely venture to the attic but for a few times a year. The latest storm caused a leak between the chimney and roof that I knew needed several trips there so I decided to make this permanent step ladder between two levels of the attic. The techniques here will apply for other 2 or 3 step ladders that need to be put in permanently. This one here had a little wrinkle in that the support base is not a flat surface. The two ends of the ladder must be located into the rafters and vertical studs at precise locations and angle. The angle cuts for the top and bottom of the ladder must be determined and there is an easy way without having to determine the precise angles with a protractor or sophisticated calculation.

Imagine a right triangle that is formed by the ladder (inclined hypotenuse) and the 90-degree legs: the long vertical and the short horizontal. Measure the vertical as the distance along the stud from top to the rafter below.  Measure from the edge of the stud to the nearest rafter. In this case they were 30 X 16 inches (shown below in green chalk). Draw the triangle on a wide enough board to show actual-size layout.  With a bevel gauge you can draw the actual angle of the cuts without even determining precisely the number of degrees.  The cuts can be made on the table saw or with a hand saw.  I used 2 X 4 stock lumber.

Use the bevel gauge to layout pencil lines along the two legs to determine the exact inclination of the steps.  Pocket hole joinery will make quick work of fastening the steps to the two ladder legs. Note: The width of the ladder is determined by the distance between the studs (in this case, 15-1/2 inches apart from the inside).

I used a strip of 3/4 inch plywood to reinforce the steps from below each one. Glue and pocket hole screws secure the reinforced "rib".  See photo below:

Note from the next photo. Dado or channel cut into the legs to secure the position of the steps would have been a sensible option but this was a quick project. Besides there is an effective alternative that does not require much setup. I cut 1/2 plywood boards with the exact angle as the position of the steps. Screws and glue made these flat boards effective support for the steps.

I created a "toe" at the bottom of each leg to secure the location to the rafter.  Again this could have been done with an angle cut into the legs but a quicker and just as effective alternative is to cut a piece of the 2 X 4 material, apply glue and screw to secure them as shown.

For additional support between the legs and the steps I drilled holes as shown bwlow to accommodate 3-inch bolts.  Actually, if you do not have the pocket hole jig (though I recommend it highly) the bolts will be excellent; use perhaps two or three of them per step location.