Nakashima Inspired Table (pt. 2)

 The only way I could think to do the miter was to get it close, then finesse it to perfect using a hand plane (Low Angle Jack being the weapon of choice).  To make it easier on myself I decided to make a single purpose Donkey's Ear type planing jig.  I thought about making a generic one, but I don't see needing one 18" long and 2.5" thick in the future.  Of course first I needed to cut some miters.  For the top and bottom pieces (45* on the long edge) I used cutoffs from my french cleats which I triple checked for 45.  For the end pieces I thought about just setting my miter gauge, but 45s are something I could see doing more of so I decided to make a dedicated sled.  I liked the picture frame sled from FWW a few years ago, and its use isn't limited solely to picture frames, so I made one of those:

I put this off for far too long

And since I had some walls that needed posters, and posters that needed frames, I tested the sled a few times.  Which required a spline jig.

Nothing fancy but it works well.

The posters definitely improved the feel of the shop.

Not in love with this wall, but the posters help.

I still have 2 more posters, and wall space for more french cleats, if I can figure out what I want to put on them.  While I was distracted I figured I might as well finish that Longworth chuck I started a few months ago.

Not the prettiest but it will work.

And finally I got back to the coffee table.  I cut the 2x4 to thickness and screwed together my planing jig.

Time to make some shavings.

After getting close it was clear that hte jig was bowing a bit due to the clamps being located at the very edges.  I added a little pressure to the middle and cleaned it up.

Almost there.

As I was finishing up the first side I realized that I needed a way to reference the jig if I needed to trim it up again.  I started by just drawing a line, but even that didn't really sit well with me.  I ended up ripping some thin strips and using 2-sided tape to create a solid reference surface for the back of my jig.  Then I did the other side, and tested the fit.  At first I made used plywood to make an "inside corner" that sat on the outside of the joint, and it was easy to see how far out of 90* it was.  It wasn't.  However it prevented me from seeing how the edges met.  After some thinking and very careful maneuvering I was able to look at the outside of the joint.

Testing the fit

Pretty good

Overall the joint was pretty tight.  But after a bit more fussing I realized that the wood had cupped every so slightly.  Over 18" (then double since both the top and the leg cupped) ever so slightly isnt good enough.  Luckily I left the reference boards in place and was able to take the cup out where the jig attached.  It was probably no more than 4 passes with the plane and the joint closed up along its length.  To mortise for the tenons I need to create sort of a box joint jig.  Luckily I can use my reference strips to align the box joint jig.

Nothing fancy but it worked well.

 This was one of the few operations for which my shop struggled.  I have all the tools, and skills, the problem is the bench is in the wrong room.  I tried clamping the table to my other workbench  and hit a wall.  I tried to attach it to my table saw, but the clamps didn't feel as solid.  In the future I will look for ways to add some clamping surfaces in the machine room (though this is a fairly unique project). The only trick is making sure you flip the pattern over when routing the other side.

Alignment looks good.

 Then I just cleaned up the edges with a chisel.  Since my mortises weren't all exactly 1/2" wide, and also probably varied in length just a little I cut the tenons a little over sized ~1/32".

Ready for fitting.

 First I planed them to thickness (starting with the widest going down from there).  Then the mortises and tenons were all labeled.  I decided to alternate grain direction, though I can't image it makes any difference.  I trimmed them at the shooting board.

The first five have been fitted

The first test fit went pretty well.  Nothing bound, , but one corner didn't close.  Since I knew it fit before the tenons, it was a quick diagnosis (a few tenons were just a little oversized).  After trimming them at the shooting board all was well.

That was the first of many test fits.  Eventually I came up with a system that was fast and safe enough to actually add glue.  Then I took a breath and slowed down.  I organized my clamps, swept the floor, gathered some scraps and cauls, got out the gloves, pre-ripped some paper towels and covered my bench with wax paper.  I consciously spent time prepping for the glue up.  I recently started doing this when faced with something stressful/irreversible, and I find it helps me relax and makes the process much smoother.  Finally I stopped putting it off, and did the glue up. 

Overall it went well.  It could have been a bit smoother, but the miter looks pretty tight, and its square.  In a day or so I'll take off the clamps, and hopefully no surprises.

Birthday Gifts

This time last year I was just starting to gear up for the crib.  I never made it.  Ian came a bit early, and now I have a bunch of 6/4 cherry, but that's a problem for the future.

This year I had some birthday requests.  As soon as my shop was setup I started making Ian a set of blocks.  I based them off of Unit Blocks available from different places.  The idea is that 1 unit is 1 3/8" x 2 3/4" x 5 1/2" (nominally 1x2x4).  The rest of the blocks are based on those dimensions.   There isn't much to building them, just cut them out, and plane or sand (I planed the faces and sanded the corners).  Any non-90 degree cuts were roughed at the band saw and then cleaned up with a plane.  I finished them with an walnut oil carnuba wax blend.  It gave them a fantastic feel and nice color.  It is safe for mouths, and easily repaired.  Ian is a bit young to be building with them, but he will gladly knock over any tower we make.

This fort didn't last long once Ian woke up.

The completion of blocks created another problem; Ian's toys had taken over multiple rooms.  To help remedy that I built a toy chest.  This was a pretty simple build; just dimensioned poplar and plywood glued and screwed together.  The finish is chalkboard paint and milk paint.  It was a quick, fun project, and a good way to test out the new shop space.  I did splurge on the Rockler torsion hinges, and they are well worth the investment.

Ian thought some of the screws could use a little help.

With his birthday out of the way I got back to organizing the basement and found one box of beer glasses that hadn't been unpacked.  Since we ran out of room in the kitchen I made some quick floating shelves out of some oak scraps I had laying around.  I sank some 3/8" rod into the studs, then marked the boards with those locations.  I had to use a slightly larger drill bit on the boards, but they fit snugly and aren't carrying that much weight.  During a test fit, they didn't look the way I wanted so I added a bevel on the edges.  I finished them with a quick pass of a smoothing plane and a coat of danish oil.

Nothing special but they work.

While none of these projects were very challenging, the items were needed and it was a good way to test the work space. The shop space works well, and is by far the nicest space I've had.  The only problem was the lighting in the hand tool area.   That was a quick but much needed fix.

The two new lights throw plenty of light on the work surface.

Krenov Inspired Table

The canoe rack went pretty smoothly, and I basically forgot to take pictures till the end.  The rails are half-lap dovetails, and the vertical pieces have giant tenons into the feet.  Each joint is reinforced with a lag screw.  I took an old plastic cutting board and made some feet to keep the wood off the ground.  I think it cleaned up the boats quite nicely.

Canoe Rack

Getting rid of the wire rack improved the living room.  However now the computer monitor sat on top of the tower, on the floor.   I thought about making a quick shaker style end table, or something quick. Then I saw the base of one of Krenov's standing cabinets, and thought that would look good as a small table.  The joinery is pretty simple if you do it while all the pieces are square.

Dry fit of the leg and "apron" joints.

 Around this point I decided to add a drawer.  Since  the "apron" isn't symmetric, and is pretty low on the sides I added something of a web frame to support the drawer and give the legs some rigidity.

Drawer support

Next up is shaping the curves.  This was something I hadn't done before, but really wasn't that hard.  I cut out the curve i liked on one leg, then used that as a pattern for the rest.

Copying the curves

Once the lines are traced, I cut the legs on the band saw.  The legs are curved in both directions, so to make the second set of cuts I taped the cutoffs back on to keep the leg square on the saw

Taping the cut offs back on.

I then smoothed and finessed the curves with spokeshaves. Once they were all similar I rounded over the edges.

All the curves cut, just roundovers and sanding.

The drawer opens to the sides instead of the front.  I also made the drawer sides walnut, to keep the front looking "open".  The drawer fronts are maple, and will hopefully look like part of the apron (except for the pull).  The drawer joinery is halfblind dovetails.

I decided to try my hand at very simple carving for the pulls.  I decided to leave the tool marks to give it some character.  Now in poor lighting the completed table.  All that's left is to apply the finish.

Completed table.  When closed the drawer is inset from the legs a little bit. 

"London pattern" half-blind dovetails.

Bookmatched Top

Carved pulls.

Once the finish is applied I will get some pictures in better lighting.  Just as I was about to apply the finish someone took down a tree, and I got distracted making bowl blanks:

Fresh cut wood.

Cutting to manageable size

No idea what kind of wood this is...any ideas?

1 bowl blank completed for drying.

Rounding the blanks on the bandsaw.

The wood is pretty heavy, even for green wood.  Looks to be ring porous, and the red heartwood is fading to more closely match the sapwood.  Anyone recognize the wood?

Rocking Chair Finale

Last week I made a concerted push to finish the rocking chair.  After gluing the arms I cleaned up any glue at the joints and then sanded everything one more time.  The finish is the same as is applied to the stool.  Vintage maple transtint, oil then shellac.  I wiped on the dye and oil.  

The oil really made the figure in the arms pop.

Set up for shellac

Then I decided to spray the first coats of shellac and just wipe on the top coat to even things out.  This greatly reduced the time spent applying, and I still ended up with a smooth finish.  While applying the finish to the chair I wove the seat of the stool.  Which is the same process but much less complicated than the chair described below.

Completed stool

I put on the last coat of shellac Saturday afternoon, and then decided to finish a bowl I started a few months ago.

Just starting the inside, hopefully the bark inclusion is stable.

I also found some time to brew a beer.

Belhaven 60 clone

I also started milling the wood for the sideboard/changing table.  For rough sawn wood from a store my process is similar to the reclaimed process except its faster and easier on the tools.  First cut to rough length.  Using a jack then a jointer plane get one face to sit flat on the bench.  Joint an edge, then head to the planer and table saw to bring to ~1/8" of final dimensions.  I don't worry about thickness, just send it through the planer till both sides are planed everywhere.

Cherry prepped for sideboard

Sunday morning I waxed the chair and started weaving.  Trim the foam to fit inside the chair frame, and nip the corners to make sure they don't show.  The first part is called the warp.  This runs front to back, and should be the dark colored tape since it will look less dirty.  The main thing here is to keep it nice and firm, but not so taught it bends the front rail.  I also checked to make sure the top was square to the chair.  Try to fit as many rows as possible without overlapping the tape.  To fill in the triangular corners use some small pieces and tack them as far back on the underside of the rail as possible.  Insert the foam.  Now its time to weave the woof.  Tack one end in the middle of the back rail under the warp.  By putting it in the middle you account for the slant that is required to advance to the next row.  The bottom of both the warp and the woof are tilted slightly but the top (show side) is square.  I wove the woof all the way through to the end, and then I realized that it was starting to slide toward the back of the chair.  To remedy this I added some double stick tape to the sides of the rails, to prevent the woof from sliding back.  I loosened all the rows enough to get the (sticky) tape in, then pulled the woof tightly securing it against the tape.  Don't forget to use your fingers to push/pull each row of the woof tight against previous row before sticking it to the tape.  Again this should be really tight, and towards the end is pretty difficult to pull through, and tighten.  I ended up using surgical clamps to help weave the tape.  This makes a nice firm seat, that I am sure will sag slightly over time.  Finally at the end make sure the woof is tight, and its not possible to get one more row in....and tack the woof under the warp on the bottom of the front rail.  Here is a bunch of photos showing the process

Sizing the foam

Tacking the warp

Wrap the warp

I used vice grips (lightly) to hold the warp in place as I tacked it in

Squaring up the warp before adding the filler strips

Add filler strips to each side (and trim)

Top view of the seat with filler strips

Don't forget to add the foam

Separate the warp and tack the woof under the back rail

Using a needle made from splat scrap.

Halfway there

Adding tape to reduce the sliding.

By the end of Sunday I had completed the chair, and bowl, and got a good start on the sideboard

Ready to use

Showing off the arms

This chair rocks!(...really can't believe I waited to say that till the end)
(also not a hipster haircut...sweaty from weaving, cause that sounds better)

Completed maple bowl (a well used cutoff from my workbench)