Monthly Archives: July 2014

It’s supposed to be blistering here today, close to 90.  Regular readers will know that means it will be 100+ in the shop even with the doors and windows open and the fan running, for some reason the garage I use for my wood shop seems to suck up the heat.  To beat the heat I got an early start, I was sanding parts at 6:30 am.  It took almost three more hours of hand sanding to get everything in good shape for finishing.  I had to scrape a few areas where there was some tear out from the plane, and then lots of hand work to blend the contours.  I think this approach makes Greene & Greene objects look more authentic, but after hours of sanding I’m thinking of working on developing a taste for flat, square furniture that I can power sand into submission.

The “waterfall” detail on the bottoms of the legs, including the domed end that is on the bottom received a lot of attention, getting the inside radius smooth was all hand work.  Once the table is done they will end up being a subtle detail as they are on the bottom of the legs, on the inside faces.

The waterfall leg detail, detail sanded

After all the parts were sanded to 320 grit I flew the dust out of the pores and wet them down to raise the grain.  Then I lightly sanded them again with worn 320 grit paper.

Parts sanded and ready for the “grain raising” step

I did a final check of everything, double checked my assembly numbers to make sure they were legible (nothing like trying to cram the wrong tenon into a mortise while glue is running up your arm).  Finally I took a deep breath and decided to glue up the base.  I laid out all the parts so they were positioned for the glue up.  I set up my clamps, heated up a glass of water to warm the hide glue and said a prayer to the patron saints of sawdust.

Parts laid out for gluing – and double checked for fit and orientation

I don’t know why glue ups cause me so much stress, but I do know I’m not alone.  I read somewhere that even James Krenov stressed over glue ups.  Since I’d test fit everything I was pretty sure I’d be ok.  I thought about doing the table base glue up in two stages — do two sides, let them cure, then assemble the two sides together.  I’m not that patient though, I want to get further along  before the weekend is gone.

So, somewhere in this picture, hiding under the clamps is a Greene & Greene table.  It looks like I got all of the stretchers in the right orientation this time.

Can you find the table in this picture?

I also got the top for the table roughed out.  Last weekend I glued up a panel for the top and cut it to size.  I got the joinery for the breadboard ends done this morning too.  Before I can assemble this part I need to make an of the mortises for the eight (!) ebony pegs the go around the perimeter of the top.  I also need to sand and shape the parts.  Hopefully I can get the done today too, and get it assembled.  If so, then tomorrow is ebony peg time — and I’ll switch back to the Greene & Greene cabinet.

Joinery for the breadboard top

Top dry fit, a few minor adjustments, a bunch of ebony pegs and some detailing and this will be done too

On the cabinet I need to make the copper frame to hold the stained glass, and take care of a few final details on the door.  I doubt I’ll get both projects to the “finishing” stage this weekend, but it should be close.  I also have to run a couple of errands, including picking up the screws I need to assemble the top and some stained glass supplies.

Back to it…

When I was writing my blog post yesterday morning I realized I’d forgotten to make a provision for attaching the top to the table base.  I kew I needed to do it, but in the excitement of getting close to glue-up I lost sight of it.

So first thing, I drew up some quick dimensions for a batch of buttons to attach the table top, and headed out to the shop in search of a suitable off cut to use in making them.  I found a piece and went to town.  The article I linked from yesterday’s post shows Christian Becksvoort making them but cutting a rabbet across a scrap and then cross-cutting.  My scrap had the grain running in the wrong direction to do that, so I set up a dado blade to cut a rabbet in the end, then cross cut it with a hand saw to length, then repeated until all my stock was gone.  Add counter-sunk holes for a #10 screw and some chamfers and they were done.  I tossed them in a bag of linseed oil for the rest of the day after I took this picture.

Table top attachment buttons

Then I cut some slots in the back of the skirts to receive the buttons.  I set up stop blocks on the router table and cut these to depth in two passes.  I set the distance from the edge of the skirt to the slot about 1/16″ larger than the step in the attachment button so when they are installed they will draw the table down snugly.  The slots are long enough to allow the buttons to slide about 1/8″ in either direction when the wood moves.

Test fitting the attachment buttons to the skirts

How would I do this without a router table?  You could certainly chop shallow mortises in the back like this, that would be simple enough.  You could also saw or plow a thin groove and use these Z-clips from Lee Valley instead of making wood blocks.  I used them on a little side table I made once and they worked out OK…  They loosened up about a year ago, but the table is about 15 years old at this point and needs some re-jabbing anyway.  I’m replacing it with the Thorsen table, and I’ll clean it up and refinish it then.

Alternate approach — Z-Clips from Lee Valley (click picture to visit their site)

Then I started the process of sanding all of the details on the legs, skirts and stretchers.  This takes a long time, it’s mostly hand work with little pieces of sandpaper to shape and blend the details.  I have the skirts mostly done and still have work to do on the legs.  Probably two more hours before I’m ready to glue up the base.  I’m working everything up to 150 grit first, then I’ll go back over everything with 180, 220 and probably 320.  It makes a big difference to my eye.  The color of the sanded wood looks much lighter because it has sawdust in the pores, I’ll clean it between grits and wipe it with water to raise the grain (san scuff sand it again) before assembly.

Detailing the skirts — one skirt is untouched and the other is done to 150 grit.

The other pair f skirts, also to 150 grit.

The BBQ Update

By the way, the pulled pork came our excellent.  It was on the smoker from 11:30pm Saturday night until 5:30pm Sunday (18 hours).  You want to putt it off when the internal temperature reaches 195 degrees.  I wrapped it in foil and let it rest an hour, then shredded it with a fork and tossed it with a little BBQ sauce.  The best way to serve it is on a bun with a scoop of cole slaw in my opinion, but my family doesn’t like slaw.  Tonight, as penance for the BBQ excess, I’m sticking with brown rice and tofu…

18 hours on the smoker, just in time for dinner

Good day in the shop yesterday, although it was a close thing.  The third book in a trilogy I was reading came out recently, and when I get caught up in story the house could burn down around me without me noticing.  Luckily I finished the book with plenty of daylight left.

My goal this weekend is to get the Thorsen table as finished as I can.  I’d like to get it to the same state as the Thorsen cabinet I’m building so I can finish both pieces at the same time.  After wrapping up the piercings the day before, my next jobs were the cloud lifts in the skirts and the waterfall leg detail.  Both of these were pretty simple, mechanical tasks compared to the piercing.

First the cloud lift.  No real magic here, I made a simple MDF template with some scraps to locate the skirt and toggle clamps to hold it firmly in place.  I traced the outline of the lift detail onto the skirt and sawed away the waste, then pattern routed the part to clean it up.  I did a sample part to see if I could route all the way across, but as you would expect on the right side there the bit is cutting into the unsupported end grain it splinters.  Not a big deal, I just clean it up to the halfway point and flip the part in the fixture.

Pattern routing the cloud lift detail after sawing out the waste first

Then on to the waterfall legs.  I used the same approach here, but I had to make sure that I set the fixture up so that when it was made I would always be cutting “downhill” to avoid tear out.  I laid out some guidelines for where the steps on the waterfall would be, and routed them into the pattern in two steps.

First I set the fence on the router table so the bit protruded 1/8″ and set a stop block to allow the part to only reach the upper waterfall mark.  Note that these layout marks are on the back of the pattern, when it’s in use the waterfall detail will be on the right side of the pattern.

Making the waterfall pattern, step 1

Now reset the fence so the bit extends 1/4″ and reset the stop block so it aligns the bit with the lower waterfall mark.

Lower waterfall step routed out

Next I used a rasp and some sandpaper to shape the  outside curves, after that it was just a patter of attaching the stop blocks and toggle clamps to the base.

Outside corners of the pattern rounded over

Then I marked out the detail onto the legs in pencil and headed into the metal shop to bandsaw off the waste.  This detail only goes on the inside faces of the legs, and I was terrified that I’d lose track of what I was doing and put it on the wrong face.  You can bet I was very careful to triple check each leg before I sawed it.

Removing the waste on the legs

Then I put the pattern to use, clamping each leg into place and using the router to make sure the steps were identical.

Pattern routing the step in the legs

Once the steps were cut into the legs I set up a 1/8″ round over bit and went over all of the edges of the legs, the bottom edge of the skirts and the outside edges of the stretchers.  The bit can’t reach the stepped faces of the leg, so I used a rasp, file and sandpaper to shape those.

Leg after pattern routing, but before rounding over the sharp edges

Edges rounded over, these are the inside faces

Outside face

I’m very close to being able to glue up the table base.  Everything needs to be finish sanded, and (OMG, I almost forgot!) I need to figure out how I’m going to attach the table top.  I guess I’ll make some wooden buttons and carve some slots in the side like this picture.  Wow, I can’t believe that almost slipped pass me.

Wooden buttons for attaching a table top (click on picture to read article)

Ok, so as I was saying…  Before I can glue up the base I have to make slots for attachment buttons, and finish sand everything.  I have the lower shelf already cut, I just need to rabbet the back and notch the corners to fit around the legs.  The wood for the top is prepared too, I have to make the breadboard ends and mortises for 16 ebony plugs though.  Sounds like a pretty full day ahead of me.

Legs awaiting sanding

Yesterday wasn’t terribly productive in terms of how much I got done, perhaps just slightly ahead of “watching paint dry”, but I’m happy with how things are coming out.  It was about 85 degrees outside, and my wood shop feels like it’s ten degrees hotter than outside.  It’s weird, because the other building where I have my metalworking junk is probably 10 degrees cooler than outside.  Maybe I should only do metalwork in the summer…

I decided to do a little more scroll saw practice, but after a couple of cuts I decided that I was good enough on the shallow curves, and that the tight curves were too unpredictable.  The really tight turns also seemed to show up mistakes more, and if I got off the mark it was harder to correct.  So I did the only reasonable thing — I changed my design to avoid the tight turns.

Not by much, mind you.  I just changed the radius on the really tight turns to be a standard fractional drill size so I could drill out the ends and concentrate on connecting the lines in between.  I had to scale up the piercing a bit to make it look right, but I think it’s good.  I printed out my templates, and headed out to the shop.  Here’s how it went down:

First, I laid down blue tape on the wood.  I discovered that the “Super 77” spray adhesive I’m using is just too sticky and it makes a mess getting it off of the wood.  This way the pattern sticks to the tape instead and the whole mess just peels right off when I’m done.

Lay down blue tape to prevent the spray adhesive from gumming up the wood. Strike a center line on the part.

You can just see the centerline I laid out on the tape, I carried this over the top edge of the wood so I could use it to align the pattern with a “tape hinge”.

Pattern lined up on the center mark and hinged with more blue tape

I included center marks on the new pattern so I could accurately drop in the drill locations.  This is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Pattern glued down, hole locations centers marked with an awl

Then I drilled the holes for the ends of the design elements.  For the “Star Trek Communicator” shapes I just drilled a 1/8″ pilot hole, far enough away from the line so I could nibble away the waste and start exactly on the line.  I thought about dropping in a tangent circle at the tightest point in the arc for another drill but decided I could cut that without panicking.  I think I will do that for the other skirt though.

Holes drilled to create the end arcs in the design. I used fresh brad point bits with a backer board to prevent splintering on the reverse side.

I’m using a “#5 Flying Dutchman Ultra Reverse” blade, high enough blade tension that the blade makes a nice high pitched “twang” when plucked and a relatively low blade speed — maybe 1/3 of the maximum speed.  I’m also wearing a #5 Optivisor so I can see the line and going relatively slowly, maybe half the speed I could theoretically push the board through the saw.  Seems to work.

Initial shapes cut out

End shapes cut

The cuts aren’t perfect but they aren’t far off either.  There are a couple of little burs where I transitioned between the drilled holes and the sawn areas, but they are all undercuts (e.g. I left a little extra material instead of cutting outside of the line, or over cutting).  There are a couple of little undulations as I sawed slightly to one side of the line — I tried to split the line, or cut to the inside of it, but this difference is just barely visible.  I can clean all of this up with just a little sanding.

One skirt done, three more to do

I’ll see if I can get an hour in the shop tonight and saw the matching skirt like this one.  I already updated the pattern for the other skirt to add the tangent holes for the ends of the design.  That design is significantly simpler too, it should be less challenging to cut.  A little file and sandpaper should smooth out the piercings nicely, then I need to figure out how to round over the edges.  I can do it with sandpaper I know — and probably will, as I want sort of an organic rounded shape anyway.