Back in the Shop

[Mr Eddie]

Lonnie, now that you asked I'll admit to a boo-boo I had to correct.  After applying the first coat of finish I carefully, or so I thought, scuff sanded with 325 grit sandpaper on a soft pad, by hand.  I was just trying to take off the nibs but as soon as I wiped it clean I saw two small areas near the left edge where I had cut through the finish and I think the dye, too.  Target Coatings says to use 600 grit between coats; next time I will. 

Hmm, what to do.  I tried the simplest thing first; I got a small artist's brush and brushed on some of the dye, sort of like painting in the grain.  To my relief, it wet out on the finish at the transition between the raw wood and finish.  So I carefully filled in the bare spots finishing each stroke across the transition to the finish.  It took less than a minute to do both spots which were about 1/2" in diameter.  It dried almost instantly because the dye was DNA based.  I sprayed the next coat of finish in maybe 30 minutes and it looked perfect.  

The dye was very dilute and where I had cut through was on the Sapele, so I got lucky.  It might have been much harder had it happened on the side with the maple and had the dye concentration been higher.  Thinking back on it, I should have raised the grain prior to applying the dye.  Even though I used DNA as the solvent it still causes the grain to raise slightly.  I also should have followed TC's guidelines at used 600 grit.  Next time.  

John

Thanks John - very helpful.

[jteneyck]

John,
Beautiful and a real eye catcher.  I like your selection of wood - two of my favorites. Please post when you get the legs on as I think they will give it the final touch.  Great job!

Lonnie

I finally got a picture from my friend of the desk with the hairpin legs on it.  The desk is still not in its final home, but that's another story.  In the meantime, my friend's young son is using it to display some of his strange toys.  

 

I asked my friend if the desk is wobbly or stable.  He said it's very stable.  

John

[Mr Eddie]

John you hit a home run on this project!  One thing I forgot to ask before:  How do you cut the mitered edges on the drawer fronts?  Thanks again,

Lonnie

[2Goober]

Great job with the grain. Beautiful.

[mr_skittle]

Nice work. It's so sleek and minimal.

The toys are from the Star Wars Movie. They look to be lego models. Surely you must have heard of Star Wars?

[jteneyck]

John you hit a home run on this project!  One thing I forgot to ask before:  How do you cut the mitered edges on the drawer fronts?  Thanks again,

Lonnie

Thanks again.  I cut the mitered drawer edges the same way I did the case edges, using an L-fence on the table saw.  This photo should explain it.  



You set the blade at 45 deg (or whatever angle you want) and adjust the fence and blade height so the blade enters the fence at the same height as the top of the workpiece if you want a sharp corner.  I set it just a little lower so the veneer would be less likele to get damaged over time.  With your workpiece cut to its final dimensions you just slide it along the fence and through the blade.  The cutoff falls harmlessly under the fence.  I cut 45's on the top edge and sides of the casework and drawer fronts this way.  The casework is joined by sharp cornered 45 deg bevels at the corners, also cut against the L fence.  Once you set up the fence and verify it's correct on scrap it's stupid simple to make the final cuts.   

John

[cbygeorge]

Thanks again.  I cut the mitered drawer edges the same way I did the case edges, using an L-fence on the table saw.  This photo should explain it.  



You set the blade at 45 deg (or whatever angle you want) and adjust the fence and blade height so the blade enters the fence at the same height as the top of the workpiece if you want a sharp corner.  I set it just a little lower so the veneer would be less likele to get damaged over time.  With your workpiece cut to its final dimensions you just slide it along the fence and through the blade.  The cutoff falls harmlessly under the fence.  I cut 45's on the top edge and sides of the casework and drawer fronts this way.  The casework is joined by sharp cornered 45 deg bevels at the corners, also cut against the L fence.  Once you set up the fence and verify it's correct on scrap it's stupid simple to make the final cuts.   

John

I don't think I have ever seen a miter done that way.  Brilliant!

[mound]

very cool!

...

[jteneyck]

I don't think I have ever seen a miter done that way.  Brilliant!

I think I learned about it from Joe Grout who used to participate but seems to have moved on, unfortunately.  Anyway, the L-shaped fence opens up a new way of using your tablesaw.  You can cut angles, including 90 deg, on any part with straight sides.  Because you are riding the edge along the fence, the part does not have to be a square or rectangle, it can be any shape with straight sides.  I first used this approach when making some tapered porch columns.  In that case I didn't even need the L-fence.  Instead, I made an oversized, tapered template to ride against the fence, installed the rough-cut parts into the template, and then cut them out.  Perfect tapers with perfect 45 deg bevels.  

Here's the rough cut part in the template:



Cutting it on the TS:



The cut part:



And the column after joining:



Lots of possibilities with the L-fence and/or templates.  

John

[FrankAtl]

"I think I learned about it from Joe Grout who used to participate but seems to have moved on, unfortunately."

I miss Joe! He had some very creative ways of doing things.