Iroko & Sycamore - Arts & Crafts Side Table WIP

[david simper]

You ask about rebating with hand planes. Check out Alf's site for all advice on combi planes.

I used the Record 044 on my recent table project and this was the best I've tried personally; adding an additional timber fence helped. You might consider going for the 078 rebate/filister plane - super job. I also have a Stanley 050, but this has so many sticky out bits that it tends to put me off using it, especially now I've got the 044.

The shoulder plane idea sounds a bit fiddly me for my tastes, but I had the privilege of my dad's 078 being available.

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

Squaring up corners in hardwood is tricky at the best of times, I try and avoid rebate cutters for the router at all costs.
The smaller the radius the less work to do

 

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for the info David - A combo plane is definitly on the shopping list, but the wooden shoulder plane is the only thing on hand at the minute suited to the task, so i'll probably have to practice a little on some scrap first!

Matt - I didn't use a router for roughing out the mortices, I used a drill bit - but still with the issue of squaring the rounded corners, it was either that or chop the mortices all by hand, which would be hard for me to do as the small mortices are too small to do just with a chisel - well for me anyway, I need more practice But they seem ok so far, and once the tenons are fitted it should all come together quite nicely.

 

[engineer one]

byron about your slot, or whatever we might call it.

i cut some grooves into some of my cross and long rails using both methods, hand tools ie my stanley plough, and i now discover that the
blade got damaged very quickly, seems friable. also you need to make a proper effort into making sure that you plane on the correct size and at the correct depth.

second lot, because of where they were, i used the router and table.
which has caused me to get round to putting up a wall plate for the
woodrat which i think will be more speedy and accurate. certainly think it would be more accurate in the first stages.

you could of course try to get practice and rout a small groove, then use the shoulder plane against it. otherwise i think the problem with the shoulder plane is keeping it upright and square, plus not pushing the guide out of the way, also you may get bored having to re-sharpen a lot with the wood you are using.

good luck

paul :wink:

 

[ByronBlack]

thanks for the tips paul - I think i'll see how it goes on the scrap to see if this is do-able. I really really don't want to use the router for this as it seems to the embodiment of all my failures, it's a mini mojo black hole! I would rather sharpen the blade plenty than use that tailed demon again

 

[engineer one]

i think though it is important to combine skills to give you the results you want.

don't depend on hand skills only if they cannot deliver what you need :roll: it is not cheating.

paul :wink:

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

I was using the rebate cutter as an example, when making glass paneled doors its one of the tasks I loath :evil:

 

[ByronBlack]

I was using the rebate cutter as an example, when making glass paneled doors its one of the tasks I loath :evil:

I see.. my apologies

Paul - I understand where you are coming from and it's an ethos that i'm really leaning towards, especially with the experience of the workbench, but at the moment with my bad luck with the router I really feel a fenced shoulder plane albeit a lot slower will be more succesful. I only have enough wood for this one chance, and I'm no fan of using the router at the moment and don't want to mish it up.

Small Update

The van was being serviced today so I had a few spare hours off work, I took this as an opportunity to finish chopping the final 4 mortices, which went quite smoothly, I finished up by taking out the tear-out and planing marks on the legs with a freshly sharpened cabinet scraper - scraping is tough on the thumbs!!

Either way the legs are almost done. I just need to cut a notch the tup to accept the tabletop support pieces and give a sanding of 240 grit ready for the finish.

No photos for this update at the moment as my flash card is playing up

Thursday will see the start of the hashup - erm i mean cutting of the tenons.

 

[engineer one]

if you are going to use a card scraper then i can heartily recommend the
veritas scraper holder (no rob didn't pay me :roll: )

stops your thumbs getting burnt, and gives better tension to the scraper. 8)

worth checking out

paul :wink:

 

[ByronBlack]

I'll certainly add that to my list Paul - thanks for the tip. Now that i've learnt how to sharpen the scraper I can see myself using it a lot more often, so much more convenient than getting out and setting up the ROS.

 

[ByronBlack]

Update

Today I havn't been well. Last night I 'treated' myself and the mrs to a take-away meal as we are getting low on food and couldn't be bothered to do the fortnightly shop until the weekend. Anyway long story short i'm really not well so didn't go in to work. I couldn't just lie in bed so I decided to go and have a crack at the tenons.

Not too bad so far, I've made a few mistakes and most probably have to shim some of the joints with a thin slice of veneer, but overall it's ok. The exit mortices aren't as neat as I would have liked but then I always knew that the through mortice was going to be hard to get right - another case for a dedicated mortiser perhaps.

Pics:

Cutting the tenon on the bandsaw:

Tenon cheeks cut, I also went on and cut the shoulders:

Completed tenon ready for final fitting:

First trial fit seems ok:

First leg assembly complete (dry fit) with both rails installed. I was going to curve the lower thicker rail, but I think i'll leave it square as I don't think the curve would suit:

I'm going to have a bit of a break, and maybe attempt the other leg assembly later today, if that goes ok I should have a completed base. I only then need to construct the mitred top and assebmle the piece and apply the finish.

This project is going quite quick for me really which is nice.

 

[Paul Chapman]

That's looking nice, Byron. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Cool man ccasion5: nice to some assembly it's getting really interesting now. Amazing how an hour or two in the workshop can make you feel better ennit. :lol: :wink: I hope your not too unwell. :?

 

[ByronBlack]

Paul, Nibbo - i'm fealing much better thanks, I think my body has managed to rid itself of all offending matter. Not that it'll make me any better about the workload that'll face me when I go back into work tomorrow, i've already missed a day and a half, looks like i'll be work in late into the evening or on my day off ;(

But, to cheer myself up, I continued with today's work. Here's what I managed to do:

Both leg assemblies complete and joined with side rails:

It's looking quite handsome:

Table top supports are rebated in:

I think I got my proportions right (t'was all guesswork on paper).

A quick mock-up with the top (minus the sycamore mitred edges):

These shots are all dry fit, and it's reasuringly sturdy! I'll be trimming all the tenons to 5mm beyond the legs, they are between 10 and 12 at the moment, they'll also be shaped/beveled. The top supports will be rounded over, all the rails will have their edges bevelled along with the legs (only a small round-over bevel to soften the edges).

Even though i'll have a mountain of work to do when i go back tomorrow, it's been nice to do more hand work today and was quite theraputic.

So far, I've only used the p/t and bandsaw (and a quick job on the drill press) with this project, so it's closer to my ideal hand-tool centric way of working, and it's been great fun! Just a couple more hours in the workshop should see this puppy ready for the finish.

 

[DomValente]

Very nice BB, looks like a Chinese puzzle

Dom

 

[Paul Chapman]

I like it, Byron - very Krenovian

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Slim]

Yep, I really like that Byron. Very nice design :wink:

 

[Imperial]

Are you going to wedge the tenons?

 

[MooreToolsPlease]

looks great, I like the contrast between he legs and rails.
I wonder how it would look with a taper on all 4 sides of the legs?

 

[Lukey]

Surely the top needs to be rotated 90 degrees for optimum stability?

Are you just glueing or will there be overcut dowels in ends of the tenons (like the old priory styles)???