Glueup and finishing touches.

The glueup went swimmingly, but it is always a “git’r done” situation, so no images of the process. I used Titebond III (because that was the bottle at the front in the cabinet) and five clamps. I used some small pieces of gash (offcuts) to avoid marring the surfaces.

The next day I tarted up all the faces using my new toy, the Veritas skew block plane, my smoothing plane and a card scraper.

I had some gaps on one corner, and I decided to try peening the wood, a technique I picked up from Derek at In the Woodshop (highly recommended blog!). Using ball hammer, I compressed the wood after squeezing some glue into the gap using my finger. Dab, press, wipe. Done.

Yes. I did miss the target a few times. It can happen, put down the frying pan – I am not THAT useless with the ol’ hamma’!

After the glue had cured, I cleaned up the surface. This is not the final finish; I just snapped a picture mid-process. This corner did not line up quite well, and you may spot a sliver of wood on the tail – I cut on the wrong side of the line, so I had to widen the tail slightly. A nuisance for sure, but this is after all shop furniture. Better to the whoopsies and face slapping on such projects…

Peening the wood did work beautifully. New trick up the sleeve for sure!

Using epoxy, I glued the teak tool holders inside the case. My No.4 smoother acts as a weight while the epoxy cures. I scuffed up the glue surface on the teak with a rasp, to give the epoxy something to “bite” into. I also wiped down the glue surface with acetone, in order to remove any oils from the teak. Judging by the color of the tissue paper on the right, it was a good idea…

The clamps on the left holds the spacer block for the Big Boy Chisel compartment.

I did not mount the blade holder for the Big Boy Chisel, as I had glued felt to it in a moment of eagerness and mindlessness. Can’t have felt in the vicinity of any oil, or I would’ve headed into troubled waters! A piece of masking tape ensures that no oil or wax will create issues when gluing the piece in place.

And here is the offending piece. Finished separately, ready for glue when the oil and wax hardens overnight.

I use Osmo TopOil 3068 Natural, a hard wax oil for countertops and furniture. It has some white pigment, which lightens the wood and avoids yellowing over time. Oak is especially nice with this finish.

Here’s a glamour shot – the underside of the rack, finished with Osmo TopOil. The oak stays that way, kind of pale. The cherry will darken over time, but the white pigments should keep a lighter hue.

On the last page, I’ll glue the last chisel holder and the felt liners – and the project is done.

Quick note: I applied quite a heavy coat and forgot to wipe it down – it has been 30°C (86°F) outside for a week now, so I’m not exactly on the top of my game. Oh, well. The consequence is that there is some areas with excess white pigments. Which is okay for a shop thingamabob, really. I’m not overly concerned about the poshness as much as the utilitarian aspects of things in my shop.
Should the spots bother me, I can just sand them off using 600 grit sand paper. I’m not going into details on how I know that is a possibility….😬