# Re: Fretwork Tote Finished



## PeteG (8 Mar 2015)

I was showing our lass some of Steve Goods patterns several weeks ago and she really liked the Fretwork Tote, well, I hope she really likes it as I'm making her one for her birthday  
I haven't made anything yet with so many internal cuts or spent any real time on the Hegner with being a busy bee on the workshop tidy up, so yesterday morning a made a start.
The plans asked for 1/4" stock, so I picked a piece of 20mm Sapele off the racks for re-sawing, something I've only tried a couple of times and I'm not very confident with, but it
had done so I got on with it! I had the bandsaw already set up with a Tuffsaws 3/4 blade, I think it's a Sabrecut, but it's big and very sharp! I still haven't sorted out a higher fence
for re-sawing, something I'll have to do soon as I have a lot of stock which will need to be cut in to smaller/thinner planks, but yesterday I just wanted to get on with the tote.
All went well, thankfully, and after I had two pieces of Sapele I put them both through the P/T. The measuring tape or marker on my P/T starts at 8mm, so I was very careful 
with a few shallow passes measuring after each one. I stopped at 7mm as the service was lovely and smooth and I didn't want to take any chances at that point, I'm no expert
with these machines and still on a learning curve using one.















After planing it was time to tape up. I used masking tape on the timber and then glued the pattern to it using the Wilko equivalent of a Pritt Stick. I sandwhiched the pieces between A4 sheets
of ply and then went off to make a brew  After the tea break and choccy biccies, I wrapped all the pieces in sellotape and then started drilling all the pilot holes, of which there was quite a few!






Already to start cutting I began with the centre piece which had the least number of cuts, a bit of a warm up before the front, back and sides.





I gave it a good six hours solid yesterday and another seven hours today, and this is where I'm up to. I still haven't sorted or decided if I want to use a chair, so I'm still cutting stood up.
The alternative was to push the wheeled bench up to the saw and try cutting laying down, which at the moment I feel like doing  





This will give you an idea of how it fits together!





I've certainly got to know the saw this weekend and especially the quick clamp. When I started yesterday I was over tightening and at one point had to use an Allen key to undo the clamp.
I soon realised it only needs a gentle bit of pressure on the clamp to hold the blade in place. The nice thing about the Hengner coming with spare clamps, I used the standard clamps with 
a No9 in for external cuts and left this to one side until needed. I reckon I'll finish all the internal cuts by Tuesday, and then I can start sanding!

I managed to finish all the internal cuts last night, and today I finished the last of the outside cuts. All the pieces have had a light sanding on the outside, and thankfully they all fit together.
I'll start sanding/cleaning the internal cuts this afternoon before glueing up, which could be a day or two away yet, and then I'll sand the outside again to finish. Haven't decided on the
actual finish yet, I'm tempted to stain darker! I have a small off cut which has had two coats of Wood Silk and looks quite nice, but might have to try a stain and Wood Silk. I have a week
before the big day, so hopefully I'll have this finished before weekend and then I can start on a little trinket box or two.


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## gilljc (8 Mar 2015)

Looking great =D> still can't get over how clean everything is..... :lol:


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## Claymore (8 Mar 2015)

..........


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## blackrodd (8 Mar 2015)

I don't know anything about fretology, but that is really spankin', I have a fretsaw but never use it.
Please keep posting, I'M looking foreward to the next instalment! 
Regards Rodders


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## lanemaux (8 Mar 2015)

Bet your brownie points go way up with that effort amigo, very nice. 
Rodders , fretwork is mostly about fretting that it will come out right ... as above is doing.


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## Woodchips2 (8 Mar 2015)

Looking good Pete, well done =D> 

Best of luck with the sanding!

Regards Keith


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## martinka (8 Mar 2015)

That's going to look nice, Pete, especially as you are using the sapele. I made a similar thing last year from 10mm ply and it looked awful. I gave it to my neighbour to decorate the inside of his woodburner.


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## PeteG (8 Mar 2015)

I really appreciate the comments from everyone  I thought I'd get another hour in after posting and complete the third piece, but after sitting down for half an hour I'd
seized up :lol: 



gilljc":art78999 said:


> Looking great =D> still can't get over how clean everything is..... :lol:



I'm trying my best to it clean Gill, and I did have a little tidy up before getting the camera out. I've had a thought and might be tempted to do another one! 
Do you reckon one of these would work with a sparkle type resin? 



Claymore":art78999 said:


> Ruth said it looks lovely but what is it........ I told her it was what the posh Milkmen carry down South nowadays lol



I'm not sure either Brian, but hopefully our lass will put it to good use. It'll probably sit on her dressing table with stuff in it!  



martinka":art78999 said:


> I gave it to my neighbour to decorate the inside of his woodburner



Made me cry laughing that line Martin, brilliant :lol:


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## bugbear (9 Mar 2015)

Claymore":3sl1t98u said:


> I use the same blade in my bandsaw and it cuts lovely but still needs sanding until i get my thicknesser.



I'm perhaps misunderstanding, but if you're just removing saw marks, you don't need
a thicknesser, or even sandpaper.

You need a *sharp* handplane. Quick, easy, and (even) enjoyable.

BugBear


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## Claymore (9 Mar 2015)

..........


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## PeteG (10 Mar 2015)

I'll add the updates to my original post, it'll keep all the images together


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## bodgerbaz (10 Mar 2015)

martinka":14xy993k said:


> That's going to look nice, Pete, especially as you are using the sapele. I made a similar thing last year from 10mm ply and it looked awful. I gave it to my neighbour to decorate the inside of his woodburner.



Ha,ha,ha . . . brilliant Martin.


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## bodgerbaz (10 Mar 2015)

Excellent article Pete, very informative and the cutting is very precise and is looking really good.

I'm particularly interested in the re-sawing. I've got the same Record bandsaw and have only used the blade it came with. I've tried a couple of attempts at re-sawing with awful results but you seem to have cracked it.

Can you please give me some more information about the blade you used as I'd really like to have a go at that.

Many thanks

Barry


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## Bigbud78 (10 Mar 2015)

Looks awesome fella


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## PeteG (10 Mar 2015)

bodgerbaz":ylp76pjb said:


> Excellent article Pete, very informative and the cutting is very precise and is looking really good.
> 
> I'm particularly interested in the re-sawing. I've got the same Record bandsaw and have only used the blade it came with. I've tried a couple of attempts at re-sawing with awful results but you seem to have cracked it.
> 
> ...




Thanks Barry  I'm sure the blade is a 3/4" Sabrecut from Tuffsaws. I could probably have done with it a little shorter than the recommended length, as I can't get enough tension on the blade
and the machine won't tension any more than it has. I'm not very confident re-sawing to be honest having only tried it a couple of times, and I really need to sort a higher fence out before I do any more.
I have some 60mm thick Sapele, only a couple of short lengths, I was going to re-saw these but I might use them for trinket boxes. 
What I have been thinking about and I have know idea if it's nonsense or not, if I re-saw a thick piece of timber like the 60mm Sapele in to three planks, do you have to allow the pieces to settle/acclimatise before using!



Bigbud78":ylp76pjb said:


> Looks awesome fella



Thanks Bigbud


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## Alexam (10 Mar 2015)

WOW Pete, that's really super work you have done there and a great report with very nice photography. You certainly have got to grips with the equipment and that work job is over the moon. Very well done.

Alex


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## bodgerbaz (11 Mar 2015)

PeteG":2dxkz1zh said:


> What I have been thinking about and I have know idea if it's nonsense or not, if I re-saw a thick piece of timber like the 60mm Sapele in to three planks, do you have to allow the pieces to settle/acclimatise before using!



Thanks for the information Pete, much appreciated.I think I'll see if I can get hold of one of those. What length blade did you get and what length would you recommend to get the correct tension? I've never bought a bandsaw blade before.

With regards to your re-sawing question above, I'm assuming it 'might' start to warp if the grain has been under tension as a thicker piece??? I'm certainly no expert but some time ago I had some wide, straight pine which I cut but didn't use until a few days later and that had warped after being cut.

Good luck with it and let us know how you get on ;-)

Barry


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## PeteG (11 Mar 2015)

Alexam":1zk0v7m1 said:


> WOW Pete, that's really super work you have done there and a great report with very nice photography. You certainly have got to grips with the equipment and that work job is over the moon. Very well done.
> 
> Alex




Appreciate the comments Alex  I'm certainly trying to get to grips with the equipment Alex. I haven't spent nearly as much time on the bandsaw as I thought I would do, but then I didn't know
at the time how much the scroll saw would take over!



bodgerbaz":1zk0v7m1 said:


> PeteG":1zk0v7m1 said:
> 
> 
> > What I have been thinking about and I have know idea if it's nonsense or not, if I re-saw a thick piece of timber like the 60mm Sapele in to three planks, do you have to allow the pieces to settle/acclimatise before using!
> ...



It sounds as though it's something to consider in future Barry. Once I'd re-sawn the Sapele I went straight to cutting so I hope everything will be OK. In future I think I'll prepare my re-sawn timber
the day before!

An update on the blade I used which isn't a Sabrecut, it's a Tuffsaw Fastcut, 3/4", 2630 mm.


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## PeteG (11 Mar 2015)

The jury's out at the moment after spending two hours staining this evening, hopefully tomorrow things won't look as bad!

I glued up last night and this afternoon removed the clamps and gave it a final sanding. I did notice that there was a very slight rocking and after sanding two of the feet a little all was well again.





I nipped out to Wilko for a couple of wood stains and then cut some waste wood up to use as samples. From left to right we have Wilko Scratch Cover for Dark Wood which is a stain and wax in one, I quite
liked this being a little more brown in colour than red. The next two are Indian Rosewood and Teak, and the last sample had two coats of just Wood Silk, which again I thought was quite nice and made
the wood look very natural.
I then gave the samples to our lass and she picked out her favourite one, and the winner was, Teak. On the Sapele it's nice and warm and leans towards a reddish brown colour, sadly staining the sample
and the finished pieced were not the same! The stain is a little creamy and working in to all the little cut outs has left a build up in some areas and a complete uneven stain. I've rubbed a cloth over it with
thinners to try and even things out, I'll see how it looks tommorrow! At the moment it looks as though I've tried to make it look like an old antique and I really wish I'd gone with the Wood Silk.


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## Claymore (11 Mar 2015)

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## bodgerbaz (12 Mar 2015)

Very good article Pete. Very professionally written with lots of pictures. Good luck with the Teak finish.

Barry


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## PeteG (14 Mar 2015)

It's done  I gently rubbed it over with some thinners to remove some of the stain and then left it a couple of days to see what happened, if anything.
All seamed OK this morning so I gave it a coat of Wood Silk with a second coat this afternoon. Quite pleased with the result and I reckon our lass 
will love it


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## Claymore (14 Mar 2015)

..........


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## PeteG (14 Mar 2015)

Thanks Brian  It turned out OK in the end. If I did another one I'd have a go at stack cutting, and wouldn't bother staining, certainly not with that Teak one anway!


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## AES (14 Mar 2015)

And I suppose that having turned out work of this very high standard your shop STILL looks all dust-free & pristine & tidy just like you posted here a few days back, eh Pete???

Seriously, a lovely bit of work, congratulations (and on a well-written "what I done" too).

Thanks for taking the trouble.

Krgds
AES


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## PeteG (15 Mar 2015)

Hello AES and thank you  and you're right, the workshed had a full clean up before I sprayed either piece


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## bodgerbaz (15 Mar 2015)

Very professionally cut and described, as ever. It looks great now it's been stained. Time for tea and medals methinks 

Barry


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