Highland Woodworking Blog

For those who haven’t read any of my previous articles, I enjoy utilizing both Western as well as Japanese woodworking tools, in my projects. To lay the groundwork, when I was a pre-teen, I had some good friends as next-door neighbors whose mother was Japanese, and the father had a number of Japanese tools, from hammers to saws. I was always very intrigued with these, partially because they seemed so different than anything I’d ever seen, but also since they seemed to have a lot of interesting aspects in their design.

Fast forward 10+ years and my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law went on a trip to visit family in Japan, and were nice enough to ask what I’d like them to pick up for me. As you might imagine, a ton of different tools flooded my mind, but trying to not take advantage of the family, I told them I’d love to have a nice Ryoba saw. The Ryoba is a saw that has rip teeth on one side of the saw-plate and cross-cut teeth on the opposite side. Since there is no stiffener or back on the saw plate, like you would see on a Western back saw or a dozuki, the saw can cut as deep as you need, or that it can reach.

Since I’ve had my Ryoba well over 20 years, and the saw has seen quite a bit of wood, the rip side of the saw has gradually become somewhat dull. You are probably wondering why I didn’t just sharpen it earlier in it’s life when I first started noticing it was slowing in it’s cutting? As part of the answer, there are basically two generic types of Japanese saws on the market, such as the hand-made saws that are hand-sharpened and set, and the other type that are machine-made with impulse hardened teeth. Since I hadn’t specifically asked my family to get me a high-end saw, I assumed my saw likely had the impulse hardened teeth, where the hardening of the plate makes the steel at the teeth harder than a file, so you can’t re-sharpen it. Another attribute of the impulse hardened teeth is that they will stay sharp longer, which seemed as if it also fit with my saw, since it really was relatively sharp for a long time.

A few days ago, I was cutting some tenons with my Ryoba and it felt like it was just spinning it’s wheels (in a sense), since it was just barely making any progress even after a number of strokes. I knew I didn’t have the feather files that are used to sharpen Japanese saws, as they are a totally different shape than those used to sharpen Western saws, but I remembered that I did have one file that was somewhat similar in shape. My uncle gave me a small bundle of files, that ranged from round, square, triangular, as well as the one that was similar to the feather files. I pulled that file out and was happy to find it fit into the narrow angle that is between each tooth.

I pulled out a jig (saw holder) that I made about five years ago, that I use to hold my saws when sharpening. The holder is constructed of a couple of pieces of plywood, some hardwood strips, some small pieces of flexible leather used as hinges, and a few screws. When sharpening a saw, I usually put the holder into my dovetailing vise, which applies a good pressure all the way across the holder and onto the saw plate. As I’ve recently rebuilt my dovetailing vise, and it is not 100% complete, I thought I’d show plan “B”. When I put my saw plate into the holder, I position it so it’s teeth are just above the holder’s jaws, enough so the saw’s gullets are accessible without the file making contact with the holder. The closer the gullets are to the holder’s jaws, the better, as this leaves the least amount of tooth out possible, eliminating as much vibration as possible when sharpening. I placed one end of the saw holder into my bench’s face vise and used a long parallel-jaw clamp to hold the jig’s other end, with the other end of the clamp on the other side of my bench. This arrangement allowed me to hold the saw-holder and saw securely, while retaining full access to the saw teeth.

As with any saw (and sometimes plane irons and chisels), I applied some sharpie to the surfaces of the teeth I planned to try sharpening, as it allows you to verify the critical area at the tooth’s point is contacted by the file. It is also much easier to keep track of which teeth you haven’t yet sharpened, as the marker ink is removed as the file removes the metal from each tooth’s surface.

So now it was time to see what would happen when the file meets the saw. I turned on my overhead light source, grabbed my magni-focuser and file and took a stroke on the first tooth, while subconsciously holding my breath. I really expected the file to feel like it was sliding across the tooth, basically unable to “bite” into the steel and remove material, but it surprisingly felt much like it does when sharpening my other saws. I thought it might just be an odd tooth that didn’t get the “full” treatment of the hardening process, so I moved on to the next couple of teeth. I again took some light file passes on these teeth and they responded exactly the same way, which indicates the steel was not impulse hardened and will accept resharpening. Since the file I have isn’t as large across it’s width as many feather files, it took two strokes to cover the distance from the gullet to tip on one side of the tooth, using one stroke out towards the tip of the tooth and one down towards the gullet. The size of the teeth on the rip side of my Ryoba was almost exactly twice the width of my file, so there wasn’t much  overlap (if any) of the file strokes, so uneven wear in this current sharpening is not a concern. Now that I’ve determined this saw can be re-sharpened, I’ll likely order a couple of feather files, available at Highland Woodworking, for future
sharpenings. While I feel completely comfortable sharpening the rip side of my Ryoba, as well as both rip and cross-cut teeth on Western style saws, the cross-cut side of the Ryoba has teeth with more facets than a high-end diamond (ok, I’m exaggerating a bit), so it would probably be best left to a professional sharpener.

Unlike my Western saws, where the triangular files remove metal from the back of one tooth and the front of the adjacent tooth simultaneously, I had to work each side of every tooth as a separate process. This is due to the fact that my file isn’t made with the same angle between the teeth. This really isn’t that big of a deal, as it just adds a little extra time to the operation. One important detail I want to make sure to mention is how important it is to use consistent pressure and the same number of strokes on each tooth surface. Since my Ryoba had only ever been sharpened at the time it was made, I felt comfortable leaving out a step that very likely would be necessary for any older or second-hand Ryobas you might obtain. The step I’m referencing is jointing the teeth, which is where a flat file is pushed down the teeth along the length of the saw’s plate, with the file perpendicular to the plate of the saw. This, just like sharpening, is best completed with the saw plate held in the same holding jig and vise so the rip teeth all point to the sky. Hold the file so it is parallel with the ground, and lightly push the file from one end of the saw to the other. This will create a very small flat on the tip of all the teeth it touches. After the first pass with the file, check to see how many of the teeth’s tips have a new small flat area. If you see that all of the teeth’s tips have a flat, you are ready to start sharpening. If on the other hand, you have teeth that show no signs of a flat, this indicates those teeth are shorter than those that already have a flat. This uneven height is something that usually occurs over multiple sharpenings, as more pressure is used or more passes are taken on some teeth than on others. Continue to take passes with the jointing file until the tip of all the saw’s teeth have at least a slight flat on them. This is your indication to stop the jointing operation.

When sharpening following jointing, you should take equal passes with the file on each side of each tooth, removing half of each flat from one side of a tooth, and the other half from the opposite side. By working from both sides of a tooth, in an equal manner, it helps to prevent changing the characteristics of the teeth. Make sure to stop the filing process when the flat just disappears. It can seem that additional passes must make the saw that much more sharp, but it will be wasted time, energy and the saw will not last as long.

Another aspect of sharpening that my Ryoba didn’t require was that of setting the teeth. The set is how each alternating tooth is slightly bent to one side and then the next the opposite direction. The amount the tips of the teeth are bent is very minimal, with some saws only adding about .002” of set per side, which helps to create a small amount of room in the kerf so the saw doesn’t bind. It might seem that if a little set is good, then more would be even better, but as more set is added to a saw, it can quickly change from a very easy and controllable saw to one that wanders all over the place and is very difficult to control. As saws are sharpened repeatedly, the saw can start to feel like the kerf is getting more tight, as the tip of the teeth are bent to create the set. As the saw is sharpened, material is removed from the tip, which diminishes a small amount of the set. If the saw feels too tight in it’s kerf, it is likely time to add some set back to the teeth’s tips. Some saws are set with a light strike from a small hammer, while others are set using a tool called…, you guessed it, a Set. It somewhat resembles some of the old label machines, where you’d turn the dial to a letter and squeeze the handle, to impress that letter onto the plastic strip. These set tools are available in both course and fine versions at Highland Woodworking, so make sure you pay attention to the number of points per inch on the saw(s) you intend to set, or at least the range of points as most of these sets are adjustable to a number of different settings.

After I finish the filing on a saw I’ve just sharpened, I like to pull (or push as is appropriate to the saw style) the saw through some scrap wood, like pine or maybe mahogany, to remove any leftover burrs on the teeth. Now the saw is ready to again perform up to it’s full abilities. Go enjoy the freshly sharpened saw and pay attention to how it behaves. When it drifts too far away from this behavior, repeat this process. Each time you sharpen a saw, you’ll get better with your technique and the next one will be even faster.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Lee Laird has enjoyed woodworking for over 20 years. He is retired from the U.S.P.S. and works for Lie-Nielsen Toolworks as a show staff member, demonstrating tools and training customers. You can email him at lee@lie-nielsen.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/is9582

Every once in a while I’ll see a tool/project that calls to me. You know, one of those “whatchamacallits” that real people probably don’t really need, but looks so cool? As you might imagine, the majority of THOSE projects never see the light of day in my shop. Luckily, there are also some other projects that REALLY, REALLY, call to me, and just happen to be both cool and useful. This article is about one of these latter types of projects.

Christopher Schwarz, who is a friend of mine, and someone almost everyone in the woodworking community knows, teaches how to make a really cool wooden square. After seeing his, I just had to give it a try. While Chris’ pattern is straight from an old original square (which I believe was inadvertently destroyed when in transit by a package handling company), I created my pattern simply by eye-balling the square Chris showed on Roy Underhill’s “The Woodwright’s Shop”, and extrapolating what dimensions looked right to me.

A quick photo of my square in front of some of my tools.

After seeing that the square is made from only three pieces of wood, I figured I’d go spend an hour or two in the shop and have a square. Well, I’d have to say my time estimation and management skills must have been very lacking that week. Ok, it didn’t actually take me a week to make the first one, but the time was certainly adding up. And this was with me already having the necessary wood milled up to 1/2” thick, which I’d originally planned to use on a dovetailed box project. The box will just have to wait!

To start out, I cut two legs 22” long x 2” wide x 1/2” thick, and one cross-member 20” long x 2” wide x 1/2 thick. Before cutting any of the decorative shaping, I hand planed each board, making sure they were both square and flat. Much of the next work is focused on the two “leg” boards, since its only after they are glued into a solid unit, that you can identify exactly where the cross-member will intersect the legs. If you try marking the locations to evacuate for the cross-member, without first gluing the legs, I’d suggest your chances of success would be diminished.

Before marking either of the two “leg” boards, you’ll want to examine them for any imperfections and read through the meat of the project, as it’s possible you just might be able to plan for any problem areas to fall in the region that will be removed as waste. Since the square’s design uses a half-lap joint where the two legs intersect, there is a fair amount of wood removed, which you can also view as an opportunity. If either of your leg boards have any tear-out or other quality type issues in the first 2” of the board, you can orient them so the problem section will reside on the slab of wood you remove when forming the joint. But, before finalizing any cuts or using any cutting tool to mark, I find it’s a good idea to lightly sketch out the complete layout, so you can weigh your options on which areas of wood might create the least amount of extra work. At the minimum, this will at least give you the chance to choose the best orientation for each board. It may just be that the half-lap joint area is of less concern than another area. If you’re really into planning, or end up being lucky, you may also find a similar benefit when positioning the cross-member, but there are only a few ways to orient three boards. You’d may as well take every advantage to eliminate blemishes on your project, especially when it only takes a few moments to flip the boards around, testing for the best orientation.

Now that you’ve looked everything over, its time to get on with the design, which obviously includes the areas you’ll cut away as well as the design features on the legs. To start, I measure down approximately 6 inches from the end of the board that will contain the half-lap joint and place a pencil mark across the board, on what will be the inside edge. This top section of the board will stay full width and includes both the half-lap joint as well as some figurative work before the leg narrows. Measure in 5/8” from the location you just marked, and using a square, run a line to the other end of your leg board away from the half-lap end. This line should be parallel to the edge of your board.

Repeat this process on your other leg board, as the design is identical on both legs.

It is approximately 6 inches from the end to the notch just left of the off-cuts, which is from the 5/8” cut. You can also see the large X on the slabs which identified the waste, and the saw marks still on the lap joints before using the router plane.

Cut the short 5/8” deep cut from the inside edge of the board first, followed by the long cut from the end farthest away from the intended half-lap joints. Making the short cut first is much easier than trying to back out of a long cut. Use whatever saw you have available that can reach this far into the wood, like a band saw, a bow saw or a panel saw. This cut will generate a 5/8” wide piece of wood that is approximately 16” long. (anyone up for making a kite?)

The next step is to mark out for the half-lap joint for the legs. Set your marking gauge directly from the width of the first board, and add a hairs width extra. With the gauge head riding against the end of the second board, lightly mark across the width of the board, which transfers the first board’s dimensions. Make a couple of additional passes, applying a little more pressure on the marking gauge on each pass.Before moving on, take your pencil and make an “X” on the leg above the mark you just made. This will remind you that this is the side from which the wood is removed, which can help prevent errors. Repeat the process for the other board, but remember to set the gauge from the opposite board’s width, just in case they aren’t exactly the same size. Next you’ll mark the center line of the board’s thickness on the end and the sides of the board, down to the line you’ve just marked across one face. I dial in my marking gauge directly from the thickness of the board, by lightly touching the cutting gauge to the board while the head is against one side, and then doing the same from the other side. When the gauge hits the same spot from both sides, you’re there. I still like to add an extra hair’s width, so there is a little extra material to dial in the perfect joint, which I’ll talk about later.

While holding the gauge’s head against the side of your leg that will remain (the side without the big “X”), mark across the end and down both sides, to your line across the leg. If you accidentally reverse the gauge, so the head is against the side you plan to remove, you’ll end up with a joint that’s isn’t as thick as the original leg.

Showing gauge out to depth and red arrow points to centering mark from each side.

Now that your leg’s half-lap joint is marked, it’s time to remove the excess wood. The first cut is at your mark across the leg, but I like to give myself the best chance to succeed. Instead of just grabbing my crosscut saw and going for it, I use a razor sharp chisel to carefully pare away a small angled piece of wood, across the width of the board. I do this on the waste side of the marking gauge’s line, to create a small V-shaped path, which helps keep the saw from wandering during the initial strokes. Now use a crosscut saw to carefully saw down, until you just about kiss your gauge lines on both sides, which is very close to half way through the board.

The next operation is to saw down length-wise following the marks made on the sides and end. Since this cut is with the grain, use a fine-toothed rip saw, of which I prefer to use a thin-bladed dovetail saw. Place the first leg board into a vise with it tilted so the top end of the board is just slightly away from you.

This is another good place to apply a helpful tip, which is to remove a small wedge shaped piece of wood at the corner of the board closest to you. With a sharp chisel, place it so the flat back lines up with the mark you’ve made across the end of the board, push the chisel into the wood so it is contacting the corner. Turn the chisel around so it’s back is away from the line and at about a 45-degree angle, push in again, so the two cuts meet. This should pop out a small wedge of wood that will act similar to the cross-cut version earlier, but the starting “V” is not all the way across the end. Start with the toe of the saw raised up slightly, so it is not making contact across the full width of the board’s end. With light, short strokes, let it gradually drop, as you look to make sure you follow your mark. When the saw is down to the point where it is touching across the full width, focus on following the line on the side of the board closest to you, cutting down to the baseline. This ends up being an almost purely diagonal cut, since you are only trying to advance the saw plate on the side you can observe.

Next, remove the board from the vise and flip it around so you have the other side of the board facing you. Again tilt the board so the end is slightly leaning away from you, and again make the same diagonal type cut down to the baseline on this side. Next, it is just a matter of placing the saw into the already created kerf, and while holding the saw so the teeth are parallel to the baseline, cut down through the remaining triangle-shaped section of wood. Be very careful at this stage, especially when you’re getting close, that you don’t cut down below the baseline, which can happen if the saw tilts forward. Since you can’t see the opposite side of the cut, without moving your head around, this is the most common place to over-cut. This will leave you with your basic half-lap shaped end on your leg board.

Repeat these steps on the other leg board. When I make these cuts, I saw so I am cutting really close to the line, but making sure I don’t dip down into it by accident. You can base how close you cut to your lines, on your comfort level with a saw, but remember I’ll share additional techniques that will help create a perfect fit.

Next, we’ll get out the router plane, which is a perfect companion for the upcoming tweaks to the wide mating surfaces of the lap joint. Clamp a leg board so it is sitting with the half-lap portion facing upwards from the bench. Place the other leg on one side of the first leg, and the cross member on the other side of it, so the router plane can ride on two rails of the same thickness. With the router plane on the two flanking boards, lower its iron down until it just grazes the highest point on the lap joint. (It’s also a good idea to check to make sure the iron isn’t below the line that was earlier marked down the side of the leg board, as that could be close to removing too much material.) Move the router plane back and forth so it’s iron travels over all areas of the half-lap, while riding on the two side boards. Gradually advance the iron so a very light shaving is taken from all areas of the joint. Before removing any material below the lines you marked earlier, do the same process to the other leg’s half-lap. Test the two pieces together, to see if the joint is still thicker than either leg, which would indicate additional material is still remaining. Continue to remove very light shavings equally from each surface until the full joint is exactly the same thickness, when compared to the original thickness of either leg.

The last half-lap related assessment for this joint is of the earlier-cut shoulders, across the legs. Check to see if the shoulder is both square across the board and square to the inside faces. If either of these are out of square, they will prevent the two boards from mating properly, with gaps and/or legs that are not 90-degrees from one another. If there are obvious gross adjustments needed, you can use a sharp chisel (or a rasp) to get it close to the proper alignment, but I’d hesitate to use that tool for the final adjustment. The shoulder plane is my tool of choice for this work, as its wide sides register against the earlier flattened faces, creating perfect 90-degree shoulders. Set the shoulder plane for a very fine shaving, and make sure to keep the side of the plane against the reference surface. Also, check to see if there is any grain runout in either direction, as the shoulder plane works equally well on either of its sides. It only requires you to set the iron so its outside edge is in line with the plane’s body. If you cut the earlier shoulders just proud of your marking lines, you can easily bring the excess material down to the line, knowing you’ve reached the stopping point. If you didn’t leave your line, you could always re-mark down about 1/64” (remember to do this on both legs, and reference from the joint end of the board, just so everything stays symmetrical), so you don’t have to guess where to stop. This isn’t super critical for this tool, as long as the shoulder is square in both discussed dimensions, no one will notice if you don’t tell.

Now, before you get excited and decide to glue your perfectly fitting half-lap joint together, remember we still have some more work to do and it is much easier to accomplish while the legs are still separate from each other. We’ll get to this in Part 2, so stay tuned with our Wooden Square Build!

CLICK HERE to go to Part 2 of the Wooden Square Build.

Lee Laird has enjoyed woodworking for over 20 years. He is retired from the U.S.P.S. and works for Lie-Nielsen Toolworks as a show staff member, demonstrating tools and training customers. You can email him at lee@lie-nielsen.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/is9582

The Lie-Nielsen Small Chisel Plane (97 ½) is something that never fails to catch attention. This is likely in some part due to a unique design with the cutting edge of the iron at the very front of the plane. That’s right, there is absolutely no toe section out in front of the iron, as is common for most types of planes. While this might seem like a deficiency, and could cause definite problems for a multitude of operations on most planes, the function of the 97 ½ is anything but ordinary.

The length of the plane is 6 ½”, width is 1 ¾” , and the A2 tool steel iron is a hefty 3/16” thick by 1 ¾” wide. The iron is bedded at 12-degrees, so it falls into the category of low-angled planes. The cap and body of the 97 ½ are Bronze, increasing the plane’s heft, as well as eliminating the issue of rust (bronze can still oxidize, so light oil protection is useful) on the plane. Add on the rich hues from the Cherry knob and it is one beautiful plane. The plane weighs in at 2.35 lbs, which feels as if it’s dialed in perfectly; not too heavy nor too light.

The iron comes from the Toolworks with a 25-degree bevel and I hone it  with a 10-degree micro-bevel, raising the overall angle on the iron to 35-degrees. The honing process I use is exactly the same as for almost every other plane iron, and since I’ve covered this in previous articles which are on this blog, I won’t repeat it here. If you would rather watch a video on sharpening, check out Lie-Nielsen’s Youtube channel for a great video.

After the iron is honed and on the plane’s body, rotate the cap’s screw until you feel resistance, and then add ½ turn to snug it up. To set the plane’s iron to the proper cutting depth, back off on the cap screw ¼ turn, and while moving the plane forward slowly across a flat piece of wood, rotate the blade adjuster clockwise slowly until the blade just starts to grab the wood. If the iron is hitting on only one corner, gently tap the blade until it is square to the plane body. While applying a slight forward pressure on the plane, start rotating the blade adjuster counter-clockwise slowly, just until the plane moves forward without the iron grabbing the wood. Now re-tighten the cap the ¼ turn removed earlier, and then take up the backlash of the blade adjuster until you just feel tension. The plane is now set to remove material flush with the wood on which it is riding. Remember, since this plane has no toe section in front of the iron, you don’t want to set it so the iron is below the plane’s sole, like is normal for other planes.

The design of the 97 ½ essentially creates a paring chisel with superior depth control, and no handle that hangs down to limit it’s reach. In this vein, it is very useful when working to clean up a dried glue line between boards or panels, resulting in a level surface. Similarly, the 97 ½ can easily trim protruding thin wood banding, dowels, screw plugs, through tenons, proud dovetails, …ending with each type flush to the surface.

Rabbets are occasionally a bit rough  straight from the machine or plane, and with this plane you can quickly make them perfect.

Another technique in this plane’s wheelhouse is cleaning up the surface of a board, up against a mating board. For example, like cleaning up the interior horizontal surface of a box, where it intersects with the sides of the box. This is assuming the corners of the box are 90-degrees. Remember, this plane, like most paring chisels, works most effectively as well as leaves the best surface, when used while moving the cutter in a slight arc. This shearing cut can greatly reduce the chance of some operations to cause some blowout.

I hope you’ll give this plane a try, as I believe you’ll find yourself reaching for it on a regular basis, once its in your toolbox. I’m sure you will likely come up with even more uses for this plane in your work, as I just shared some obvious uses.

I hope you enjoyed the article and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

You can find out more information and purchase the Lie-Nielsen Small Chisel Plane from Highland Woodworking HERE.

Lee Laird has enjoyed woodworking for over 20 years. He is retired from the U.S.P.S. You can email him at lee@lie-nielsen.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/is9582