hi, on the woodpecker today, i want to put shelves here to display my hand tools. to begin this tool rack, i need wood. so i go into the shed and get one osb sheet. this will look very nice in my shop. ok i’ve already made this not so funny joke…
antique woodworking tools sydney, i’d like to use this small piece of mdf but if i look at my plan, i don’t have enough. so i’ll take this construction plywood and make my new rack with it. ok i’ve wasted enough of your time, so as you might have already figured out by yourself, i’m going to use this nice one hundred year old mahogany wood. nothing is too fancy for my shop.
it’s just a shame that i need to cut those wide boards; but what can i say, i need to cut them to the right width. i begin by ripping a piece from the side. this wood is pretty mangled on the sides. by looking at my plan, i can figure out the longest board i need and cut the panel a little bit bigger than that. then i cut all the planks i’ll need to make my tool rack. now that all my pieces are cut, i need a little bit of space so i can sand them a little. it’s pretty amazing how the first sanding changes the look of this wood. next i cut the four pieces that will make the exterior frame of the rack. since this is for my hand tools, i decide to cut all my dovetails by hand.
i think i’ll do a separate episode about how i cut my dovetails. so for now, it’s pretty simple; all the exterior frame is completed with hand cut dovetail joints. this is a small sneak peek of what it will look like on this wall. but it’s far from finished; i need to mark the placement of the first shelf. after marking it, i use a knife and trace a line on the wood. with a pencil, i also trace a line, so i’ll know where i want the groove to stop. then, with a much too large chisel for the job, i widen my knife line. now, using the actual shelf, i push one side on the cut and mark its thickness. now i just need to do the same thing i did for the first line.
when both sides are well defined, i can clean inside them. first with a chisel; then with a router plane. but when i try the actual shelf, i can see it’s a bit too narrow, so i use my miniature edge plane to widen the groove. finally it’s perfect. i can mark the second shelf. and cut its groove. i do that for all the shelves.
since the grooves are done, i can reassemble the rack. then i can measure the length of the shelves and cut them. now that the shelves are cut, i place them at their place and mark the small corner that i need to cut. now, with a saddle square, i make my mark deeper. and mark the depth i need to cut. now, i can widen the knife mark, just before cutting the corner. when both corners are cut, i can put the shelf in place. i repeat the same operation for the rest of the shelves. but according to my plan, i have six drawers at the bottom; i need to make some separators for them.
i repeat all the operations i did for the shelves. when i’m done, i need the separators themselves, so i cut them all. next i can mark their corner’s notches and cut them. now that everything is perfect, i can sand all the interior parts of my rack; up to its final grit. now that it’s done, i can start gluing the exterior frame. i spread glue on the tails and pins and put everything together. then i clamp the frame. at this point, i check the diagonals to make sure it’s not out of square, before leaving this to dry overnight. the next morning, since the glue is more than fully dry, i glue the shelves.
when they’re all in place, i clamp them. then, it’s time to glue the drawer’s separators. when i’m done, i wipe the excess glue with a wet rag and leave it to dry. the next day, i remove the clamps but i notice that not all my dovetails are one hundred per cent; so i fill the small holes with mahogany dust and a bit of glue. i use my fingers to work this paste inside every small hole. the only place i’ll be able to screw the rack onto the wall will be at this height, but the rack has nothing that i can attach a screw to; i need to glue a plank there.
but i have nothing wide enough.i need to do something. i begin by ripping parts of both planks, to remove the unusable parts. then to help me align them when i glue them together, i drill some domino mortises. then i can glue both planks together. while the glue dries, i start to work on the drawers. i begin by gathering some oak pieces that we left inside the old shop. but they’re way too wide for such small drawers, so i rip them thinner. after spreading some glue on them, i make wider glue ups. but to keep them straight when they’re clamped together, i clamp some wood sticks, covered with packing tape, on their edges.
after that my mahogany glue up is dry enough so i can rip it to the right width. then using the rack itself, i find its exact length and cut it. next, it’s time to sand this piece also. then i’m ready to glue it in place. i have some oak for my drawers, but i also need mahogany. so i use a bunch of scrap and rip them to the height of my drawers. then, by using the opening itself, i figure the length of the drawers and cut them. i do the same thing for the rest of the drawers’ fronts. but in the end, some pieces need a little bit more work to fit perfectly.
next i can cut all the dovetails. after a while, all the dovetails are cut; i need the sides now. but i think this is enough for now, if you want to see my tool rack completed, you’ll have to come back to the woodpecker.
