The Need to See Red

I can be a bit obsessive-compulsive at times. And woodworking sure doesn’t help my malady.

My
family would be much better off if I’d just lick a few light switches
or check 63 times to make sure the stove was off. Instead, I’ll build an
entertainment center. Then I’ll strip the finish. Strip it again. Then
I’ll trash the whole thing and start over.

The only thing that
keeps me in check are the deadlines for this magazine. I’m even more
freaked out about deadlines than I am about fussing with furniture.

So
right before our Woodworking in America conference I had to finish up
building an English Layout Square for the December 2010 issue. I met my
deadline. The square looks pretty good. But I was not happy.

I
got the bridle joint bang-on. But the two lap miter joints were a
different story. There are 16 visible intersections that all need to be
perfect. I got about half of them looking nice and tight. The others had
small gaps that I couldn’t remedy and still meet my deadline.

So
last week I decided to build another square, and this time I was going
to dye the square red to look more like the mahogany original that this
is based on. The lap miter joint kicked my tail again. I only got about
14 of the intersections looking good. Two of them are still mocking me.

So
this morning I started rummaging through my stack of maple again.
Perhaps if I built the square using all mortise-and-tenon joints it
would be easier to manage the fit. Or perhaps I should stop cutting my
pills in half.

— Christopher Schwarz

Like to Make Your Own Tools?
•
Earlier this year we published plans for Roubo’s try square. You can
download the complete plans – with extensive step-by-step instruction
for $4.99 from our store.

• The August 2006
issue has great plans for making a “libella,” an early form of level
and square. This tool is still on my list of things to build.