Reruns, from the Dungeon Woodshop

[bandit571]

In light of the fact a knee injury has kept me out of the shop, for now..
..Thought maybe I could rerun an older project...about like they do on TV..
..Summer Reruns?

So...how about a simple table, made out of "Leftovers"?   Maybe some Beaded, Tapered legs?    Mortise & Tenon aprons, and a drawer?   Breadboard ends on a glued up top?  Hmmm, sorry, no "Road Trip" to view such an item.....Maybe just a trip down the stairs to the Dungeon Woodshop?

 

Table from Leftovers.

Start up with the table's top....boards' edges need a "straight-line rip"  both to remove a wavy edge, and remove the taper to the length...and hope the seams match

   
That might be 2 blanks sitting there. Once the panel has been glued up...and back out of the clamps...a little hand plane work to flatten one face..

   
And then the other..

   
Then set this aside for a while....be back later for the bread boards...first, need some legs.    Since all the stock I have is 3/4" thick, will need a glue-up done...first need a few blanks ripped..

   
Should be enough. I usually cut an extra piece or two, just in case a knot might get in the way.   Then glue this mess up into a stack of legs..

   
Match 2 blanks with glue, match another 2 and so on until 4 leg blanks are in the clamps...Blanks are a hair too long, and a bit too wide to make a square leg...plan is to square the width, while cleaning up the glue joints.....then cross cut all 4 for a square end, and all the same length....

   
Fresh out of the clamps!

   
Set up to cross cut all 4 legs at once...square one end, turn the mess end for end, and cut to final length. 

   
Note:  there IS a clamp holding all the leg blanks to the mitre gauge...hate when things try to creep away from the saw blade....

OK, next step?    Taper two sides of each leg....and, IF there are any "bad spots"....to make sure they are on the waste side of a taper...

   
Metal ruler is to draw a line to define the taper.    Once I know how wide the apron is to be ( about 4-5"?)  I can start about 1" below that.....and end with a 3/4" to 1" square "foot".....trying for the 1", usually come out a bit smaller....

   
So, 4 legs, all squared up and ready to taper...that will be the next exciting episode

Stay tuned ( I off to get a rehab done on the knee BRB)

[bandit571]

back from rehab ( they call it Therapy, I call it a mugging) so now I am back on Chair Parade.   How about we taper a few legs?

   
Pick two faces you want to do the tapers on.  Norm does the mortises first, I do that later....I have a steel yard stick ( Luftkins' Tinner's Rule).  I use that to draw a line to cut/plane to....apron stock is about 5"...so the taper will begin about 1" or so below that...trying for 1" square feet...sometimes they get a bit closer to 3/4", up to you.

   
I used the bandsaw to roughly cut the taper, staying away from the line..then plane down to the cut line..

   
Rough cut..

   
Just about any plane will work, goal being a nice, smooth taper.  A good idea is to stack the finished legs up, help determine where the last leg will get it's tapers at..
two done.

   
And then all 4 are done..

   
But, are they done?   Reset the jig to hold the leg to the bench..we have a different plane to use.  There is one corner that is not involved with the tapers, yet being the outside "Show" corner, it could stand a little dressing up?
 

   
On some tables I have made, I will run a beading plane down the outside faces, to make a rope like bead corner...on this set of legs, I simply used a cove bit in the router..save the bead details for later..

   
Next step is the aprons...that way, I can size the mortises to the tenons...seems to work better for me....easier to chop the mortise for a tight fit, and pare the mortise until it does fit.  

Tenons might take up an entire episode...along with the mortise work to fit them...

Stay tuned...

[BpB123]

Thanks Bandit!

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge!

[bandit571]

Aprons will need tenons milled on the ends, right....

   
Well, first I need to cut the aprons to size...lay them out and cut 2 ends a back and a blank for the drawer front (more on that drawer front in a bit)

   
The back and the two ends...It would be nice IF all of them match each other for width, too.   For right now, these 3 will get worked on..

Tenons.  Decided 1/2" was about right, so...mark the lines as to how deep to make the cut for the shoulder cuts....set up a stop block to make sure all cuts are the same distance from the end of the board..Miter box to make the cuts....shoulder cuts I think is what they are called..

   
Next to remove the waste....mitre box can't make that type of "cheek" cut...so..need to set up a square to draw the cheek cut layout lines...

   
Stand each board up in the vice...

   
Mallet and a wide chisel, to roughly split off the waste....then we level things out a bit..

   
I cam either leave things standing up in the vise, or...

   
lay them flat....No.181 Skewed Rebate plane to level things out...soon...

   
Tenons about done...had to do a notch, though..

   
Which just leaves the drawer front.   needs 2 rip cuts..then the front itself will get trimmed for length...top and bottom part will get tenons milled..maybe?

   
Turned out, that bottom rail under the drawer front was a bit skinny, used a different way to attach to the legs...

Remember that beading plane?   well, the bottom edges of all the aprons will get a bead milled .   That will happen in the next episode, along with a few mortises...

Stay tuned..

[bandit571]

The beading plane?

   
Trying to remember whether it had the #22, or the #24 bead cutter on board.  Fence was set right against the "outside" of the cutter..goal was to add a bead to the bottom edge of the aprons..

   
Only at the bottom, as one at the top would not show up...

Even the part the drawer will ride on...

   
The 2 holes?   They are to connect to the drawer runners, using a corner block...

   
The "triangle"   A screw holds it to the runner, and another to the divider.   Runner is notched to fit around the leg, and is just glued to the inside of the apron...More on this, after the mortises are chopped and fitted to the tenons.   The triangles are easy enough to make, BTW..

   
Just needed 2 sets of them, these smaller ones for the runners, larger ones to connect the top to the base, as they need to go around the inside corner of the legs..

   
These are the larger brackets....screw holes to attach?

   
Drilled and counter-sunk....holes are at a 45 degree so they meet the aprons at 90 degrees...a bit of glue.   These also help square up the base..
As it turned out, I didn't need the smaller triangles....not enough room, besides, the screws through the divider would work well enough going into the runners instead..

   
And the top can be attached with a slotted hole through these brackets, slot to allow the top to expand and contract as needed..

Need mortises chopped, first...hard to use the tenons, otherwise...so

   
Set up to do a bit of chopping..used the tenon to help locate where the mortise needs to be....set the combo squares to mark out where to chop to, and get busy

   
I chose the chisel that matched the size of the tenon...I seem to recall this is a 6mm Narex?  Use the mallet of your choice...The apron is sitting there, to check the fit as I go.   Nothing complicated, nor fancy....and...NO RUSH....I usually just sit on the shop stool to do this....much easier on the back than bending over. 


Out of room for any more photos?  BRB...

[bandit571]

Ah yes, sitting down on the job, spending a day chopping mortises in Ash...Takes about 3 trips along the mortise to get to depth needed..just over 1/2" deep..

   
A check for fit?

   
Almost there....scrape the bottom of the mortise clean and flat, move on to the next.   I started at the front left leg ( I think
)  and just work my way around..

   
2 done, a few more to go...

   
Chopping into Ash...means things need to see a stone....I had a "back-up" chisel, if needed...back of the base was done, got to the other side of the base...

   
Time to try a dry fit...need a bit more room, though..

   
Was getting a bit late, that day....decided to just glue these two assemblies up, and let them sit overnight...much easier than trying to glue up everything at once...
First, though, decided it was easier to glue the drawer runners in place, the glue the legs to the sides..

   
Then that full dry fit..easier to cut the runners to size, too

   

   
bench vise is just wide enough to hold the legs still, while I add the rest of the parts to each side..

   
Then set aside to dry...


Stay tuned for the next exciting episode....

[bandit571]

Ok...sides are out of the clamps, by now..might as well get ready to glue up the entire base?  Bottom drawer divider needed 2 counter-bored pilot holes drilled. 

   
I'll add a screw through each, that will connect to the drawer runners, add it a dab of glue, to boot...back gets installed, glued and clamped..

   
Along with the bottom drawer divider...checked for things being close to square..then add the corner blocks to keep things square..

   
Along with the top divider....corner blocks are glued and screwed in place

   
I'll come back later and drill a slot into each corner block, so I can attach the top.   Slot allows the top to expand or contract as needed. 

Speaking of that top...it does get a bread board end?  

   
I need a pair of matching strips to start with...ripped from a single board, so they are the same width and length...They get attached to this top via a tongue & Groove joint..nothing fancy or complicated.   IF you are making one of these, HOW you do the bread board ens is up to you...Tongue can be cut with either a Stanley 45 tongue cutter, a router table, on the tablesaw ( lots of rip settings to do) or use the Stanley #78.   You can make the groove with a router, a tablesaw, or the Stanley 45 as a plow plane..up to what you use in your shop...

Key here is to match the tongue to the groove...cut the groove first, and tune the tongue for fit..

   
Take your time, testing for a slip fit..

   
Too tight of a fit will just split out the side of the groove...snug, but not to where you need a hammer to drive it in place...

   
This will do.   Get out a few pipe clamps a caul or two, and a bit of glue..

   
The cauls to keep the two pieces flat, as the pipe clamps want to " curl" the ends up....and I want them flat.

   
And that should do it for a while....waiting on glue to dry now....
 

Stay tuned..

[bandit571]

Well, ok...been long enough, time to remove the clamps...clean up a few glue joints....

   
Shouldn't take too long..

   
Do this for both faces, and decide which looks best as the "show" face...

Base....Corner blocks need a slot drilled in them.   Drill bit just gets poked through, then the drill is rocked forward and backward.   Screws are then allowed to tilt a bit, if the top should expand or contract.  Center the base onto the top...install the screws.   Then add a kicker, to keep the drawer from tipping down, when pulled out. I think it was just a screw in the middle, and a dab of glue here and there...looking for a tight fit front to back...

   

Top has square corners....not for much longer..

   
The Rustoleum Radius Jig...lay out the curves to be cut...and then set up a saw to cut them...

   
Yep, a Vintage saw.   Do the front 2 corners...with  the table sitting on the floor...

   
Then turn the table around, cut and sand smooth the back two corners.    Then a round-over bit was round all the way around..

   
Starting to look like a table?   Holes need plugs cut..

   
3/8" tapered plug cutter in the drill press...screwdriver to pop them out, spot of glue and a hammer to drive them in..

   
Watch how the grain lines up, when you install the plugs....that way, when you trim the plugs flush...

   
You can say..."What plug"


About time to start working up parts for the drawer.....that will be in the next episode (or 2)


Stay tuned...

[bandit571]

Drawer parts...already have a drawer front, need to match the sides and a back to it...Use whatever wood you have on hand...it can match the drawer front, or just be some Pine or Poplar scraps sitting around....you could get a bit of 1/4" plywood for the bottom, as well...so...

   
A Front, 2 sides, and a back.....for this drawer, the back was 1/2" narrower than the front...as the plywood bottom will slide under it...Pins first?

   
You can use whatever system you like.   For these pins, a router bit was used.    Router was hand held, and guided by eye...Front was set into the vise to a line.   Line for the base of the router to hit the top of the vise, at the required distance to make the pins. basically, start the router up, push it down 4 times, call it done.  Wear goggles, as the router kicks a lot of chips back at you.  Clean things up, then use these pins to mark out the tails.  Bandsaw to make a few cuts.....bandsaw because I can see where I am cutting a lot better..and I want to leave the lines, by cutting on the waste side...

   
The more of the line you leave, the tighter the fit.   Next? need a groove milled along the bottom edges..both on the drawer front..

   
And the 2 sides....all along this process, mark on the insides of the parts...which is the bottom edge, the top edge...which end of the front matches which end of which side...Have been known to get them confused

   
While these grooves can be done with a power tool...much more fun with a Stanley 45, with a #12 (1/4") cutter.   Ok, so how does the back fit into all of this?
Well, first the Mitre box makes a pair of cuts...spaced to match the thickness of the back..

   
While the Stanley 45 could be used for this, at the time, I was having issues with the cross grain spurs.   Much quicker, and more precise, to saw the walls of the dado...Used the right width chisel to pop out most of the waste..

   
A bit rough?   We have ways, IF a smooth floor in a dado is needed...

   
Dry fit, mainly to get the size of the plywood bottom figured out..

   
Have a couple more steps to do, before a glue up can occur...stay tuned...

[bandit571]

Ok...plywood sized.  The last steps before the glue bottle comes out...?

   
Bottom corner of the sides have a bevel cut....this is to help get a full drawer to start into it's opening, without too much banging around looking for the opening...Starter BeveL?    Next, I rarely rely on just glue to hold a back into the sides...so, a pair of cordless drills was used..

   
A pilot hole drill and a counter sink....on this drawer, I wanted 3 screws through the sides and into the back...was nice to center each pilot hole IN the dado..

   
Then flip over to do the counter sinks...

   
A quick check to make sure the back is the right width...don't want it sticking up above the sides of the drawer...

   
Might be a bit hard to plane the excess off?   You want it to just clear the groove, and be flush with the top edge of the sides...

Time for some assembly....glue on the tails....mallet to drive the front to the sides..slide the bottom into place...glue into the dados, and slide the back into place..
Dovetails..

   
3 screws are used to assemble the back...

   
In this case, 1" drywall screws....they also serve as clamps....

   
While up front...just a couple clamps are needed, sometimes a third one, depends on the fit of the dovetails...then flip this mess over, lay a framer square on the bottom of the drawer...checking that the drawer is indeed square ( a tiny bit of toe-in is ok)  then I fasten the bottom to the back...usually a couple more 1" screws.

Then just set this mess aside...for a day...while I decide which handle to use....

   
Hmmm...none of these...

   
More choices.....we'll see.   getting about to the point of getting a finish on this table?  

Stay tuned