Love the Hand Work

There's just something about working with a hand tool that I had to share today. I wanted to ease the top edge of the sides on the tool chest with a 1/8" chamfer.  Once it was laid out it took a half dozen passes with a spokeshave to accomplish.  I had a friend over to the shop yesterday and admittedly, he prefers power tools over hand tools and I can respect that but......there's just something about the quietness of doing hand work that appeals to me.          

                                                                                                 

In this photo you can see the spokeshave I used, it's one I blogged about making last year and a Veritas kit

from Lee Valley.  It did a great job on the end grain, you can see the shaving from the long grain wrapped around it.

Here's a better shot of how it turned out.  I suppose I could have chucked a chamfer bit in a small router but the risk of tear out and not being able to balance it on the edge, combined with the noise and dust kept me from that.  Maybe I'll talk my friend into more handwork.  I know I'm wired to where I enjoy the process odf the work as much, if not more, than the final product.
The last thing I did today is to crank up the heater and glue the sides and back together.  Tomorrow I'll assemble the front pieces and begin work on the drawers.