With Al unavailable for the third installment of “Ask the Masters,” Tommy takes the opportunity to demonstrate how to sharpen and tune up a ...more
While listening to a little Chubb Rock, Tommy puts the finishing touches on shaping the drawers. To prevent tearing with the planer, he ...more
With the drawers fully assembled, Tommy shares a insider's tip on protecting the finish of the exposed inside surface of the case where the ...more
Tommy takes a break from shaping the drawer fronts to construct the drawer bottoms and finish the drawers. He's using wood scraps saved ...more
Tommy hits a “pretty big milestone” when he glues the first drawer together. Knowing how crucial setting the glue is after many long ...more
Tommy gets a second wind now that he can see noticeable progress on the Bombe. He draws and cuts the dividers for the pigeonhole assembly ...more
With the sides and fronts cut, Tommy enjoys “smashing” the pins and tails together. The pine is so soft, working with these dovetails is ...more
Satisfied with his selection of wood, Tommy delves into the beginning stages of creating the drawer fronts - laying out the dovetails ...more
Tommy works on the “really tough” drawer fronts, eight in all. He’s trying to “elevate his game,” but the project is “starting to get” to ...more
Tommy cuts the wood for the drawers and finds some “sweet” colors and swooping patterns. After putting the pieces in place, he says they ...more
Taking a break from building the Bombe, Tommy tunes his hand plane by taking it apart and sharpening it. He demonstrates the power of the ...more
The stress is showing as Tommy glues the first set of dividers into the pigeonhole assembly. A last minute save rescues days of work, but ...more
Tommy is building up steam on the Bombe Secretary now and the next step is to shape the dividers of the pigeonhole assembly. rounding over ...more
Tommy is building up steam on the Bombe Secretary now and the next step is to shape the dividers of the pigeonhole assembly. Rounding over ...more
Back on track after the doubler do-over, Tommy routes out the dados for the main pigeonhole assembly using MDF as a fence. Setting the two ...more
These are the Days of Our Bombe... Last time out, Tommy was heartbroken over the bombe secretary's mis-sized doubler. Just a hair off, but ...more
Kleenex box alert! Even an ace make mistakes, and for Tommy, a slight miscalculation early on means a heavy load of heartache today. The ...more
The doubler's been cut and shaped... now, with Al on pins and needles, it's time to glue it up. Tommy starts by applying a coating of ...more
In this podcast, Tommy curves it up! The Bombe Secretary's writing surface should have crisp corners at the end of each elegant radius. To ...more
Tommy's next step on the Bombe Secretary project is creating the profile on the front edge of the writing surface doubler. He has already ...more
