I know, I know, I’ve said this before – and I guarantee I will say it again. Between bigger projects I always enjoy knocking out a few quick little projects and shop improvements. Actually, during bigger projects I seem to accumulate a list of things to do that I need to tackle before the next one whether I’m trying to or not.
This particular little intermission came after the walnut live edge wall shelf, which wasn’t extremely complicated or involved, but had some new techniques and took some brainpower to figure out as I went along. My list ended up a bit longer than usual so here’s a few things I managed to knock out before kicking off a little pine box project.
They’re mostly simple scrap wood projects, from a few minutes to a few hours. If you’re looking to get through your scrap pile maybe you can give these a shot too. Other little shop side projects are included.
1. Bookmarks
I needed new bookmarks and wanted to test this idea as a scrap wood project. I imagined a quick and easy process since I already had some ¼ inch thick stock so all I had to do was cut it to length and width then plane a curve on the faces bringing the edges to maybe a 16th. My tiny project started to balloon somewhat as I kicked it off so I pivoted. I had some leftover 1/8th” think plywood which was a better starting point so I simply sawed it to a nice size for a bookmark. Clean up the edges, sand all the faces, sand all the corners and drill a hole for a ribbon near the top. Insert said ribbon and I have a couple of new bookmarks. They do the job for now but this is something I’ll definitely come back to as a gift or selling item.
2. Sharpening #6 and wooden jointer
I picked up a cheap Bailey 6C and wanted to quickly tune it up. I checked the sole and it was dead flat (!!). All the parts were in good shape and working so I opted to just give it a quick sharpen and test it out. The blade is 2-3/8s” wide and had a fairly heavy camber for a fore plane but I plan to use this as a jointer and for finer flattening work so I ground it straight across and knock off the corners. My wooden jointer is another animal. This just needed a sharpen but the blade is laminated – and huge – so takes a while to work. It needed some extra work to shape the bevel so took some time.
This is why I saved these two seemingly small tasks for between projects; they take long enough that if I pick them up during a project to put them to work I’ll feel completely derailed getting caught up in a side project as opposed to a quick, regular sharpen and back to work. It’s all too easy to get completely side-tracked during big projects – I like to think this is proactive work better done before you need it.
3. Square awl from a cut nail
Another little tool I’ve had my eye on for a while to help with drilling is a square awl. I haven’t been able to justify spending the money on a nice one because they are just so simple – why can’t I just make one? Well here’s my attempt. I took a cheap square cut nail and filed a square point on the end. I tested this as is a few times and it worked great, it just needed a handle so I opted to laminate one on to the nail.
I took some walnut scrap and traced about 5/8ths of the head of the nail on to one side. I chiselled out a recess so the head fit snugly and just about flush with the surface. Then I glued the other piece of walnut on to the face to capture the nail and let it set overnight. Next I just shaped the block by sawing the sides to a tapered octagon then used a rasp and files to clean up the sides and round over the top of the handle that sits in the palm. Once it was shaped nicely I put just a coat of wax on it.
I love it. I’ve used it on every project that required drilling and I can easily sharpen the point if it goes dull, or even change the angle or file it round if needs be.
4. Walnut chopstick holders
I’ve talked about these in a post about scrap wood projects so I won’t go in to detail here but they were a nice quick and satisfying mini-project between projects per my wife’s request.
5. New winding sticks
These had been a few years in the making. I did make a pair of winding sticks early in my hand tool journey by following Paul Sellers’ tutorial but they were a) made of softwood and b) too short for my liking. So I needed longer, hardwood winding sticks.
The funny thing is over the years I realised that some things – winding sticks for example – can be fancy and complex but it is absolutely unnecessary, and in fact they could be extremely simple and unassuming and work just as well. Paul’s winding sticks are lovely and were a challenge to make at the time but now, I just want winding sticks. As simply as possible.
I had some dark wood from an old bedframe that was perfect for the job. It was about 1.5×1.5” square so I just ripped it down the middle, planed them up and basically called it a day. Of course the most important aspect is to make sure the edges are straight and parallel, on each stick but also to each other to actually work. And on something like this, straight and parallel is easy to measure just referencing them off each other.
They are made from a dark wood so I needed something to make one stand out from the other. Did I go for a fancy inlay like the previous ones? Well, you can decide if masking tape counts as fancy inlay. I ran a strip of masking tape along the top of one. It’s easily replaceable at least. With that these are tuned up and ready to go.
Shop task list officially cleared. For now. On to the next project, on to the next shop task accumulation process.
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