The Splinter Report: April 25th

Welcome to The Splinter Report, where I gather the assorted interesting and amusing things I’ve seen in the woodworking world. This week we’re looking at a reader submission, NIOSH under fire, and an amazing joinery company out of the UK.

Tool News Quick Bites

Grizzly Announces Customer Appreciation and Tent Sale Event: On June 6th and 7th, you can visit Grizzly Industrial in Springfield, MO to score big savings on tools, as well as watch woodworking demos and more. Our very own Logan Wittmer will be there, as well as Phil Huber from Woodsmith, and Woodworking Network’s Matt Buell.

NIOSH Is Getting Gutted: NIOSH, or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is the federal institute responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. This happens to include the respirators used for woodworking, as well as filtration systems for dust collection and more. Recent cuts at the agency threaten the continued ability for it to complete core tasks, including approval of new products and continued testing of old ones. This opens the door for more products of subpar quality making unverified claims as to the level of protection they provide. We’ll be watching this story as it develops.

Answer the call, help Reddit identify wood.

R/Woodworking on Reddit is one of the more active online communities of woodworkers out there. People share projects, talk about tools, and ask for advice. On that last front, there’s an ongoing thread on wood identification. The only problem is that there are more people asking for help than receiving. If that’s the sort of thing you enjoy, check out the thread here and give a hand!

From the Pages to Your Shop: Saw Till Edition

Logan got an email recently from a reader named Joe, who had built the Saw Till from our April 2024 issue.

I learned the lesson the hard way about measuring my saws, had the parts all cut out and then discovered that I had two saws that were too tall (!!!!) – see photo. I almost cut new sides when I reprimanded myself “You’re a woodworker for crying out loud, just grab your board-stretcher and fix it!” So I did (see photo).

I made mine from furniture grade pine, with bark-pocket hickory back and drawer fronts, with cumaru rails and hangers. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have used poplar – as you did – for the sites and drawer boxes as I had gotten movement between cutting the parts and assembly. But all’s well that ends well.

Additionally, I needed to split the right side in half to house both back saws AND gent’s saws. I built a removable box that sits in the pocket for those saws to be sat onto (see photos). I also made the rails that the saw handles sit on differently than you did. I turned mine on a lathe, and then used my 1911 Stanley 55 to cut a matching recess in the front panels and doweled the rails into place. The end results were the same,

I used milk paint for mine (Soldier blue over midnight black, then rubbed distressing), finished with oiled varnish.

Thanks for sharing Joe! If you’ve build something from the pages of the magazine, feel free to send over some pictures for an opportunity to be featured!

Video of the Week: Beautiful Joinery

I had not previously heard of this channel before stumbling upon this video, but wow. Wood, Stone & Steel makes gorgeously produced mini documentaries on the craft and natural ways of building. This video highlights Jack Badger, a traditional joinery company out of the UK. Makes me want to pack up and move across the pond.

Anything interesting I missed this week, or that you want me to highlight in a future Splinter Report? Let us know on social media or drop me an email at cknoff@aimmedia.com.