Well I got back into the shop today and made the raised panel doors. I used the tenoning jig on the table saw to cut the bevel on the door fronts. I should have make a proper jig but was too lazy.
So as a result, the back end of the door panel was slightly thicker than the top. So I had to hand plan the bevel to even out the thickness. So there are no short cuts, I spent as much time as I would have to build the jig to do it right.
I sanded the panels and frame parts, since I am going to stain them now. This is because the panels will shrink in the winter and show bare wood if you don't stain prior to assembly.
So I had my wife pick out a stain color and I finished the doors prior to the glue up.
So here is today video:
Well it was back to Detroit this weekend for a presentation by the Great Lakes Chapter of the SAPFM at the Detroit Institute of Art on working wood in the 18th century. I had a great time and met a lot of wonderful people who came to the museum to learn a little about how things got done in the 18th century. We were set up in the grand foyer with a furniture display and demonstrations.
I brought my turret top tea table and the walnut Chippendale chair.
Well, I have been busy with meetings lately. March 22 and 23 was the Spring meeting of the SAPFM Great Lakes Chapter. They were nice enough to invite me to come on Sunday March 23 and bring my Turret Top Tea Table and talk about the construction.
So I got up early and drove to Detroit with Doug Moulder to make the presentation. We had a great time and I got to see some of the other pieces that the members have made.
David Turner talking about his handkerchief corner table.
Doug Moulder and Bob Compton looking at Doug's Jefferson Writing Desk
Well I have made some progress on the TV Stand. I have glued up the top and then routed a edge around on 3 sides. Then after sanding I drilled elongated holes in the sub structure for the screws to hold on the top. The top will expand and contract with changes in humidity, so the elongated holes allow the top to move.
I milled the material for the doors and used my router set to make cope and stick frame for the solid raised panel doors. I used a piece of scrap wood to make a sample raised panel door for my wife review and hopefully approve.
Lastly I attached the turned feet to the cabinet with glue and a single 2 1/2 inch screw. I plugged the screw hole on the inside of the cabinet.
So here is today's video:
Well I make the panels for the carcass of the TV stand and cabinet. I also sanded them to 220 so I think we are ready for glue up.
This glue up has a number of parts so it is kind of complex and I am kind of slow, so I am using Titebond 3 which has a longer open time and I will move as fast as I can but try not to get sloppy with the glue.
After the glue up, I clamp the frame and check for square and then clean up the excess glue.
So, here is today's video.
Well I have to do a project for my wife, she wants a tv stand for the parlor. We picked out a design from a web site and made some modifications to suite her desires. SWMBO. Look it up if you don't know what is means.
I have decided to make it from poplar and stain to match the color she wants. We will pick that out later.
I made a scale drawing and got approval to proceed. I have a quite a bit of wide poplar on hand so I can dive in.
She wants turned feet to match the chair that is in the parlor, so I am going to start with the turning.
I do not have 16/4 poplar to turn but I have maple so that is what I am going to use.
So here is today's video:
I worked on the plane today and decided to camber the blade since it was leaving plane marks from the corners of the iron. It was cutting ok but not leaving a smooth surface.
I decided to use the Chris Schwarz method. If you have a guide with a center wheel, then you can press on the corners to rock the blade. By pressing on the corners and honing more strokes on them and working your way to the middle using less strokes you end up with a camber.
It works pretty good, I started with 220, then 400, 15microns, 5 micorns, and .05 microns. The iron is sharp and has a camber. It performed much better. I then ground the top of the iron and finished the plane with Minwax Antique Oil.
The plane is done.
Here is today's video:
I got a lot done today because I spent the whole day in the shop. The weather was terrible with rain turning to snow and high winds. If you didn't have to go out, it was a good day to stay in!
So, I spent some time bedding the iron. Finally got it to the point it was resting on the entire bed.
Then I ground the 3/16 inch thick steel to a 30 degree bevel. I then heated the iron to red hot and squelched in oil. Then tempered at 375 degrees for an hour in the oven. I used my Worksharp to hone the cutting edge to razor sharp. I set the iron and did some test cuts. It is working ok but it will need some fiddling. I'll work on that tomorrow.
Here is today's video:
Well I received the steel for the plane iron yesterday and sawed off 6" of the 5/32" O1 steel. This is the size that the plan calls for. I will start with that but if the mouth gets to large than I have some 3/16" steel for backup. When I roughed out the bed and mouth I must not have been very careful because the bed is not very flat and it is going to take a lot of work to get it acceptable.
I mark the back of the iron with dry erase marker and bang the iron threw the mouth to leave marks on the bed. The high spots have marks and these I can shave down with the floats.
It is a slow process but I have to get the bed completely flat.
So here is today's video.
I am still waiting for the steel to make the iron and fit it to the bed. So while I am waiting I decided to make the wedge and the start to shape the body.
To make the wedge I made a jig to hold the wedge at 10.5 degrees so I could run it through the table saw. I used double back tape to hold it in place. Then I used bench chisels to do the rest of the work.
I used the bandsaw to rough out the shape and the plane floats to start to smooth it.
Here is today's video
Well I rubbed out the dust nubs with 0000 steel wool after waiting 5 days for it to harden. It was a lot of work. Too many small corners on this table. After vacuuming and wiping down the table to get all of the steel wool dust off of the table I applied a paste wax and polished it with a soft cloth.
I reattached the top and it is finished!
So here is the last video of the table.
Well I worked on the mortise and mouth of the Coffin Smoother Plane that I am making. I used a flush cut saw to cut the lines for the abatement in the inside of the plane. Then I used paring and bench chisels along with plane makers floats to clean out the mouth of the plane. I have going as far as I want to go with the plane until I get the steel for the blade. I need to flatten the bed of the plane but can not do that until I have the steel to bed the iron. So I am going to stop for now until the steel gets delivered.
Here is today's video.
I am waiting for the shellac to harden on the turret top tea table I have just completed, it will take at least 4 to 5 days for it to be ready for rub out. So, while I am waiting I thought it would be a good time for a small project that I have been thinking about for a sometime. I am going to make a Coffin Smoother wooden bench plane. I have wanted one for quite some time and I have the qtr sawn beech lumber left from when I was making the hollows and rounds.
I checked the web and knew that Caleb James had made one and he was nice enough to post his drawings on his blog. Doug Moulder had made 3D drawings of the inside of the wooden plane he made and Caleb posted them on his blog as well. I selected the size of the iron I wanted to use to be 1 3/4 inch. It is about the size of a Stanley #3 and the steel is readily available. I ordered 5/32 inch stock as Caleb suggested.
I scaled up Caleb's drawing for the larger iron size and wrote the dimensions on the drawing. I cut and squared up the plane body blank from the qtr sawn beech. I marked out the bed, breast and abutment lines and prepared to remove the material in the opening. This is the most difficult part of the plane making. You have to be careful to create a flat bed at the correct angle. I am using a 55 degree bed angle.
I got about half done today. So here is today's video
It was a warm day today by comparison to what weather we have been having it got up to 45F.
I am able to open the shop door and run a exhaust fan to help remove the spray mist. I wear a mask with new cartridges. I mixed up some dark and blonde de-waxed shellac yesterday so I was all set to go. I wait between 15 to 30 minutes between spray coats. I use a 1 1/2 lb cut to spray and adjust the spray gun to apply a light coat to help prevent runs. So, all went pretty well and the shellac is applied. Now I will wait 4 or 5 days before I sand and steel wool to remove the dust nubs and orange peel. So here is today's short video.
