Hello friends. Just recently I was lucky enough to do some wood working with a small branch of Walnut. I love the color of the grains as it ages, making those great chocolate colored shavings that somehow seem to fit best with the incoming autumn season. With the small pieces of wood that I split out from my branch, I thought this was a good opportunity to get into the wood shop and have a go at my version of Roy Underhill’s Dovetailed Grease Pot!
I realize this project is not a Roy original, but it is who and where I saw it first and I used his guidance to try my hand at it.
Now many of you may be thinking…..what in the heck is a Dovetailed Grease Pot? It is a little tricked out double lidded wooden box held by a unique slip and click action dovetail key that reveals a holding area for tallow grease. The tallow grease is one of the best ways for any traditional woodworker to keep his saws, hand planes, or chisels working and flowing smooth as silk when cutting wood on any project. Just add a little of the tallow grease to the edge of your preferred instrument and you will have a much easier wood working session.
I found many new things to practice on this project. I had to mortice out dovetail shapes on the end grain, plane down small tablets of wood for creating the box, and somehow…cut out that Maple dovetail key…lol. The process almost felt as if I was a musical instrument maker with the small and fragile pieces. All of the parts needed to be planed and worked with hand tools to set up the box and lids. I enjoyed the required patience and light handed work, knowing every step this wood was teaching me lessons on the touch and instincts of how to handle each component. This was all new to me and so I knew I had to ditch any over expectations in trade for the joy of learning how to put the entire puzzle together. With that said I am very pleased with this first effort.
It felt really good to work with this project, as each evening my wood shop sessions seemed relaxed and in focus. Of course sharp tools help too..lol.
Now the only thing I need to get is….the tallow. I will wait for Christmas time as I know I have a few jars of that on my list!
Thank you all for looking and supporting traditional hand tool woodworking. Take care and keep creating!
Joe
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