Showing posts with label iii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iii. Show all posts
Nicks Berger Board Part III
Nicks Berger Board Part III
As building the torsion boxes was an enjoyable task I already knew how to do, they provided an easy transition into the Berger Board construction. Cutting the shop sawn veneer was a new challenge.
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| These boards will be getting much thinner. |
Once I had obtained a piece of purple heart which was actually large enough to use, I set about resawing. Thankfully, my bandsaw was already in tune. It has had a Wood Slicer blade on it since I first set the saw up. In order to resaw I simply set the fence with a clearance of 1/8” between it and the blade (accounting for the set to the blade’s teeth) and used a magnetic finger board to hold the board against the fence. Then I slowly guided the wood through.
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| I was amazed by my results resawing. |
This was my first time resawing. I found that with my properly tuned saw I was able to get a fairly smooth and absolutely drift free cut as long as I kept the feed rate down. I was even able to cut a piece of the maple thin enough to be a commercial veneer.
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| Good dust collection is very important when resawing. |
Once the veneer was cut, I noted that the purpleheart had warped a bit. In order to create the perfectly straight edge I needed I laid a few pieces of the veneer out on a scrap of MDF and then used my track saw to true up one edge. I also used the track saw to cut the narrow ¼” wide center strips of veneer.
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| The veneer layers need straight edges for glue up. |
With the veneer cut and 1/8” Baltic Birch plywood trimmed to rough width, it was time to glue up the board. This proved to be a straightforward, yet nerve racking experience.
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| The purpleheart veneer, ready for glue up. |
I used Titebond III glue (for it’s longer open time) and carefully spread glue on the sides of the veneer strips then set them next to each other on the bottom of the torsion box press. Then I applied glue to one side of a piece of plywood and set it in. The second piece of plywood was installed the same way. Finally I applied the top sections of veneer, gluing their underside and one edge of each side to side joint.
The top torsion box was set over the board and against the fence. Then I clamped, and clamped, and clamped.
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Nicks Berger Board Part III
Lills Quilt Rack Part III Lumber Selection and Re Selection
Lills Quilt Rack Part III Lumber Selection and Re Selection
With the design finalized and the templates made it was time to choose the lumber I would use.
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| Paduk in my lumber rack. |
Intending to use them on this project, I had picked up two (2) large pieces of 6/4 lumber at the Woodworking Shows when they visited New Jersey in February. One (1) piece of walnut and another of paduk. Yet, when I looked at the boards next to each other in my lumber rack, I couldn’t see the Walnut and paduk playing well together. I decided to reconsider my lumber selection.
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| Which to choose? |
In order to work out the wood types I would use I took a photo of the full sized drawing and made some black and white copies of it. Then I used crayons matching the basic shades to play with different woods and different wood-to-leg combinations. I settled on using walnut for the back and middle legs and a blond wood I believe to be apple for the front legs and the shelf.
With wood selected it was now time to finally start milling. I began with the blond wood. I have a stack of beautiful rough sawn blond wood about 5/4 thick and between 6” and 10” wide which was in the pile Kari Hultman generously gave me a few years ago. I believe it’s apple. I’m no arborist though and to be honest, I really have no idea. I’ve used in the past and found small insect holes in it. I found them to add character and in previous pieces they were always small holes.
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| These large voids were what I uncovered. |
When I began milling this batch, I found the inset holes were much bigger in the pieces I’d selected. Large recess were revealed in a few pieces as I jointed them. I considered these pieces and was disappointed by the size of the insect holes. I was also unsure how the gaps would impact later construction when I needed reference surfaces that might have large voids in them.
I slept on it and ultimately decided to abandon the blond wood. After taking inventory of my lumber rack I settled on tiger maple as a replacement. I had enough of it and it would provide a beautiful contrast to the walnut.
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| Square and ready to go. |
At this point I milled all the tiger maple square using my jointer and planer. The single walnut board I was using for the four (4) walnut legs had been surfaced S2S before I bought it. I hastily examined it, considered that it was wider than my 8” jointer and decided that it was flat enough.
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| Its almost flat and square. |
It was flat “enough” . . . but it should have been flatter.
You can the previous Lills Quilt Rack posts here.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
Lills Quilt Rack Part III Lumber Selection and Re Selection
Dougs Bench Part III Those Other Legs
Dougs Bench Part III Those Other Legs
After cutting the dovetails which joint the seat to the wide leg, I turned my attention to the set itself. Even with the small diagonal stretcher I added, I was concerned about the seat strength. At just over 1” think and with about 48” between the legs, I was worried that when a full size adult plopped themselves down on the bench in order to take their shoes off, the force of their plopping would cause the seat to bow and the wide leg to kick out.
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| Dry fitting the wide leg to seat dovetail joint. |
In order to stiffen the seat I turned to the same method of reinforcement I used on the Funeral Chair seats – threaded rod & epoxy.
To begin with, I route out slots in the bottom of the bench which are ½” wide by ½” deep. I made three (3) slots. Given the live edges, I run them relatively parallel with the edges, setting the straight edge I used to guide the router by eye. I lined the two (2) outside slots so that they extend into tails of the dovetails. This way the strength of the threaded rod will run all the way into the joint with the wide leg.
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| The process is simple with a 1/2" upcut spiral bit, a plunge router and a straight edge. |
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| The finished reinforcement slots. |
Before installing the threaded rod, I worked on the square legs, which are made from 8/4 rough sawn walnut. After milling them square, I determined the spacing between them and the arm length. Then I cut both legs and the arm at my miter saw. I actually find it more accurate for cutting miters than my table saw and Incra miter guide.
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| Dead accurate. |
To join the legs to the seat, I cut a sort of slot tenon on the seat. In the leg, I cut a slot mortise, accidentally cutting it on three (3) sides of the legs instead of just one.
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| Oops. That joint on the side wasnt needed. |
Then I put aside that set of legs and arm. I started over with a new rough sawn blank and this time after milling and cutting the legs and arm I cut the slot miter properly, only on the inside face. After filling the few knots with black dyed epoxy, I moved my attention back to the seat.
With the bulk of joinery done, it was time for the fun par. I removed the bark from the seat and wide leg. To do this I clamed them to my bench and ran down the edge with my RAS 115. For bark removal and general shaping I use a hard platen and 36 grit sanding pad on the RAS 115. It works wonderfully, slightly more controlled than a grinder and with noticeably better (but still mediocre) dust control. I then used an RO 90 with a soft platen and then with an interface pad to sand the edge up to 220 grit.
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| Before. |
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| After the RAS 115. |
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| After the RO 90. |
With the bark off and the edge cleaned up, it was time to return to the threaded rod.
Catch all of Dougs Bench Posts here.
Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
Dougs Bench Part III Those Other Legs
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