Tools for Working Wood has it nailed

I've always been pretty lucky in buying hardware.  Quite often in my travels I find boxes of old cut nails, usually larger sizes, 8D and 10D, but occasionally in the smaller sizes more useful for furniture work. I also salvage nails from old barns when pulling them apart.  So imagine my surprise when, the other day, I reached into my nail cabinet for a handful of 4Ds and came up empty. What the...???

So I panicked. "How am I going to finish this chest of drawers," I asked myself.  "Surely, I can't use wire nails, that would destroy the look of the piece!".  Fortunately, I remembered Joel Moskowitz and the brilliant folks over at Tools For Working Wood.

I ordered a pound of 4D Fine Finish Nails, a 1/2 pound 2D and 1/2 pound 4D Decorative Wrought Head Cut Nails, and 1/8 pound of 2D Headless Cut Brads.  They arrived quicker than I expected and are of excellent quality. And they come in neat paper bags.


Cut nails. Image from TFWW website



Wrought Head nails. Image from TFWW website.

Headless brads, for moldings. Image for TFWW website

The Decorative Wrought Head nails are for some carved boxes, a la Peter Follansbee, that I'm making for Tillers International.  More on that later.

And the other nails are for finishing my chest over drawers, and for a very special project that I'm writing up for Popular Woodworking.  Much, much more on that later as well.

As for my nail cabinet? Of course, I completely forgot that I had just bought a box of vintage (read as "rusty") 4D finish nails at an antique mall in Madison, WI.  I found them two days after my TFWW order arrived. So, I should be set for a while, at least until I forget and order more... Joel, you have my credit card number and address. Don't let me run out!

Zach

A perfect storm...

So its been a while since I posted, as I was so gently reminded by readers Jorge and Andrew at the MWTCA meet on Saturday.  I know... I know... I'll give the same excuse I give my wife when something isn't done. It's on my list, and I'll get to it as soon as I can.

For you see, my List is quite long at the moment. I'm still trying to finish my barn. "Wow, that really escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast". Finishing the floor hopefully this week and then I can start  to move a few things in, so that I can finish the custom doors. I'm sick of carpentry and I want to get back to cabinetmaking asap.

I've decided to build a William and Mary spice cabinet. You may remember that I lust for a William and Mary high chest, specifically the 1726 made example that lives in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. So this will be a small scale version, one might say a Study in Walnut... it will be based on this piece that recently sold at auction for $112,000.




I've just added to my collection of Gabriel planes, buying 26 out of an original set of 36 hollows and rounds. And I've just succeeded in adding to my collection of infills, scoring a nice user made smoother at the MWTCA meet over the weekend. Pics are forthcoming.

Hopefully things slow back down after the shop is finished. We've been on the go for so long that it almost feels normal. Gotta get back to the things I enjoy the most.

Zach