Block plane revelation

Thanks to a Christopher Schwarz post yesterday, my block planes woes are no more. I was tightening the spin wheel too much, I tried the "3 hours after feeling resistance" approach and it worked a treat. As an added bonus, it is now easy to adjust the blade. I was able to take nice end grain shavings on fir and pine, which helped for the dutch tool chest.

Talking of the chest, the end of the build is at hand... I am putting the finishing touches on the lid then it gets painted. The lid saw till is done and attached. The next steps will be the back saw till and the chisel rack. All the screws were counter-sunk and the holes have been filled then sanded smooth. The screws holding the shelves in the dado are already pretty much invisible.

Jumping on the dutch tool chest bandwagon

Today, I have started a quick project: a small dutch tool chest loosely based on the Popular Woodworking plans. Instead of sticking to the published dimensions, I adapted it based on the Woodwright Shop episode. The top compartment has been made to fit my German wooden planes and the bottom compartment will host my dutch hollow, round and molding planes.

So far I have milled the sides, the bottom, the shelf and dovetailled the carcasse together. Next time I get in the workshop, I will cut the dadoes, fit the shelf and hang the handles. Then it will be down to the "easy" part of the project.

If I get enough free time in the next months, I may actually build the large one as well.