Turning wood is a great way to spend time in the workshop.  Projects can be done quickly and for very little investment in wood – especially if you turn found green wood!  Because of the nature of this work and the wood being somewhat “captive” on the lathe the dangers of turning can often be overlooked.

What follows are some points to help everyone turn more safely in their shops:

• Capture that wood dust – Just as in any other woodworking operation, turning and/or sanding at the lathe produces wood dust that is harmful to breathe.  What’s more, the dust produced is shot right back at the woodworker due to the rotation of the work.  Wood that is turned can often also be spalted and/or moldy from sitting in the elements before turning.  Turning or sanding this wood can release harmful spores into the air that if ingested can be very harmful to an even greater degree than normal wood dust.  As a result you should be extra-vigilant to wear personal respiratory protection while turning and sanding at the lathe at all times – especially when turning spalted wood.
• Speed is dangerous – Blanks that are turned on the lathe can often be heavy, large and out of balance.  Spinning a large out of balance load on the lathe at high speed can be deadly – even if you are wearing protective head gear (and it goes without saying that you should be wearing a face shield every time you spin something on the lathe).  The key things to remember when turning are: that you should always start at the lowest speed that your lathe allows and that you should stand out of the line of fire when you start up the lathe.  On my variable speed lathe, I turn the speed dial down to zero RPM before starting and gradually increase the speed until the piece is turned into balance – if you don’t have variable speed then just start at your lowest speed.  If your lathe is still unstable when spinning a blank, then you should get the piece more in balance by trimming it while off of the lathe before turning it. There are lots of rules of thumb out there for how fast you can safely spin a piece on the lathe in relation to its diameter.  However, I really never use them.  I find that for bowl/vessel turning I almost never have the need to turn higher than 600-800 RPM.  Sanding is never done above 300 RPM (often much lower) and for out of balance blanks I usually start turning below 200 RPM until true.  Of course, for spindle turning between centers lathe speeds are usually increased, but even then I rarely go above 1500-1800 RPM.
• The tailstock is your friend – Speaking of out of balance loads on the lathe, just because you have secured a piece onto a faceplate with screws or into a chuck with a tenon, that does not mean that your tailstock should be collecting dust in the corner of the shop!  When I turn, even after the piece is trued up and balanced, I will always use the tailstock for support until the last moment where I have to turn away the support point.  For turning the inside of bowls or vessels, I will follow this rule only on beginning hollowing operations of large pieces.  After that the speed rule takes care of me because I turn at very moderate speeds.
• Dull tools are dangerous – We have all probably heard the adage that a dull tool is more dangerous than a sharp one.  This is because if the tool is dull then you will naturally try to compensate for that lack of cutting effectiveness by applying more power to use the tool.  This same adage rings true for the lathe.  It’s true that we usually only sharpen our turning tools on a 100 grit grinding wheel and not on 8000 grit water stones but, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t sharp.  More importantly, a freshly ground lathe tool with cut wood effortlessly, reduce tearout and allow for better control when turning.  You should always be mindful of any extra effort that is required to cut wood at the lathe and when it becomes even a little more difficult, it’s time to sharpen.  Sharpening a lathe tool only takes seconds and then you are back to work.  Remember, as David Ellsworth is known to say: don’t grind the tool, dress the bevel – a quick, light touch at the grinder is all that it takes to get back to fantastic results at the lathe.
• Don’t bottom out – We often use holding devices when turning blanks on the lathe.  The most prevalent of these holding devices is the lathe scroll-chuck.  These chucks have 4 jaws that offer exceptional holding power for turning blanks (even without tailstock support – though we know you should always use the tailstock for support if you can!)  I almost always use my scroll-chuck to grip the outside of a round tenon that I first turn on the piece while between centers.  The biggest (and most dangerous) mistake that turners make with chucks is that they cut this tenon too deep so that the tenon bottoms out on the inside face of the chuck jaws.  This actually offers less support for the piece.  The correct way to use a chuck is the cut the tenon so that the top edges of the jaws rest flush against a flat on the piece at the base of the tenon, but with clearance between the bottom of the tenon and the inside faces of the chuck jaws.  This scenario offers tremendously better resistance against the rotational forces which try to knock to piece off of the lathe and into orbit around the shop!

Hopefully these tips are of some help to you as you turn wood on your lathe in the workshop.  I find that turning is occupying more and more of my time in the shop and I always follow these rules when I’m at work on my lathe.

• Turned Walnut Bowl
• Al Stirt Demonstration
• Queen Anne Side Table: Turning and shaping the feet
• The Benefits of a Mentor
• A Summer of Turning…

Before getting into any turning, Al shared pictures of some of his turned and carved work.  Along with these pictures Al noted some of the inspiration for the embellishments that he does on his turned pieces – many of these ideas come from nature as well as looking at work in other mediums such as pottery.  Al’s advice here is that woodturners should look outside the world of woodturning for fresh ideas and inspiration.  This will help to avoid mimicking the work of other woodturners and will promote the development of a unique style of their own.

Al also shared some thoughts about safety in the shop. He shared experiences where he and other turners have been hurt in the past by not taking basic safety precautions around the lathe.  Ultimately, the moral of his safety story was to always wear a face-shield while turning,   Good advice, indeed.

From there, Al got right into the demo for the night.  Starting with a dry piece of cherry about 9” square and 2” thick, he mounted it on a screw chuck with what would be the bottom of the bowl facing out.  The screw penetrated about ½” into the wood and he noted that he uses the largest jaws on his chuck for this to eliminate any instability in the piece.  Al also used the tail stick to support the piece and indicated that he always does this for extra safety and only removes the tail-stock when necessary, even when using a chuck to hold the work-piece.

Al began turning the bottom of the bowl with a ½” swept-back bowl gouge.  The rule of thumb here is to always keep your hands behind the tool rest when turning a square object on the lathe.  He first created a short tenon for later reversing to a chuck and then moved onto shaping the bottom. He stressed taking light cuts during the shaping process, especially as he approached the edges to avoid chipping out the work.  Al often decorates the bottoms of his pieces as well as the top.  Before doing that on this piece he showed how he shear scrapes the surface for a clean cut to eliminate much if any need for sanding.  He did this by spritzing the surface of the wood lightly with some water and then scraping with a 1” scraper presented to the work at a high shear angle.  This scraper has a slight radius along its tip and is sharpened at a steep angle.  After sharpening, Al hones off the aggressive burr left by the grinder with a diamond hone. He puts back on a less aggressive burr with a couple of light strokes of the hone before shear scraping the wood. Al noted that the water tends to lubricate the cut and soften the fibers of the wood leaving a very smooth surface behind.

After shear scraping the surface, he moved on to creating some shallow coves in the bottom of the bowl using the same scraper but presented at a lower angle to cut the coves.  Al first marked out the spacing for the coves with a carpenter’s pencil.  He does not measure any of the markings that he makes but rather prefers to do them by eye as mere guidelines for the subsequent turning.  With the coves cut, he went back to the shear angle with the scraper, repeatedly pushing in lightly to create a series of grooves across the width of each cove.

With the work on the bottom complete the piece was reversed and held in a chuck by the tenon.  Al again used the tailstock for support as he trued the surface of the piece with the gouge and shear scraper.  With the edges of the piece at a thickness (approximately 3/8”) that he wanted to remain for carving, the tailstock was removed and he proceeded to hollow out the bowl. Again he started with the ½” bowl gouge.  Al performed finishing cuts after the hollowing using a smaller gouge.  This gouge had a more traditional grind at a very steep angle.  The wings were only slightly ground back and he relieved the heel of the gouge with a secondary bevel.  With a light touch and cutting on the left of side of the gouge, Al was able to get a very smooth surface on the interior of the bowl.  The last treatment for the interior of the bowl was series of small surface grooves.  Al also a made a single deeper groove on the top surface of the piece to serve as a stopping point for the subsequent carving.

Before removing the piece from the lathe for embellishment, Al penciled a series of concentric circles on the flat surface of the piece as well as a series of radial lines out toward the edges to use as guidelines during the carving process.  Next he reversed the bowl onto a vacuum-chuck to finish the foot and with that, the turning part of the demo was complete.

For carving, Al used a micro-motor tool from Wood Carvers Supply.  There are many possibilities for these types of machines (Foredom, NSK, etc.) however, this one is reliable and reasonably priced.  Al noted that to get introduced to this kind of work, a Dremel tool would be sufficient.  For most of his pieces Al uses rotary chisels from http://www.rotarychisel.com to do the embellishment.  On this piece Al showed carving treatments with two rotary chisels on different sections of the piece.  He also showed another treatment done with a rotary burr shaped like a small cylinder with a rounded top.

The carving itself was done randomly while using the lines on the piece as a general guide.   Al first carved along the concentric circles and next along the radial lines to create a random, hatched pattern.  Each of the rotary chisels produced different results and Al noted that every piece is different even with the same person and the same tools. Depending on the rhythm of the work and the amount of force used during the carving process, varying results are obtained.  The rounded, cylindrical burr was used in a repeated serpentine pattern to produce another design in another area of the turning.  After the carving was completed Al went over it with a nylon bristle brush in a slow spinning drill to remove and fuzz leftover from the carving.  He does use 3M radial bristle disks for this as well but the hardware store version that he used in the demo seemed to do the trick just fine.

The last step in the process was to paint the surface of the carved areas with black milk paint.  Though Al uses black often, he has started to use other colors as well.  Every color and wood combination will produce different results when some of the paint is abraded off the surface once it has dried.  Al likes to use black paint with cherry because, once abraded, it shows a coppery-colored sheen under the black.  The painting process was quick and simple and after the paint had dried Al used Scotch-brite to gently abrade some paint away from the surface of the carvings.  Typically, he uses some kind of clear top coat over the surface once the painting steps have been completed, though for the purposes of the demo the piece was left at this stage.

This demo was a great source of information and inspiration. Al encouraged us all to take the ideas and techniques presented and practice them. He stressed that there is enough room out there for many unique variations on the theme and that we should strive to take these ideas in our own direction as we evolve as woodturners.

Al Stirt has additional information on his web site (http://www.alstirt.com) regarding the tools and grinds he uses as well as sources of supply for many of the accessories he uses in his work – look for the Student Resources link.

• Turned Walnut Bowl
• The Benefits of a Mentor
• DVD Review: Beginning Woodcarving by Everett Ellenwood
• Woodworker’s Safety Week 2010: Lathe Safety
• Queen Anne Side Table: Turning and shaping the feet

Before diving in to the sculpting efforts I performed one more operation on the arms.  This was to prepare the arm to rear-leg joint.  To do this, I first cleaned up each of the rear legs at the arm joint location.  These were still rough from the original band sawing.  I just did this with a few swipes of a sharp block plane.  Next, I clamped each arm at the front leg transition area and adjusted it so that it was fairly tight against the rear leg at the joint location.  Because the angles were no perfectly matched, these joints needed to be trued to one-another.  This was done with some strips of 100-grit sand paper between the two pieces at the joint.  I pulled the sand paper through the joint, pulling away from the side that the grit was on so that I did not round over the edges of the pieces.  This took a while with the grit alternating from the arm-side to the rear leg side.  After a bit of work I had good tight joints.  After I had done this and ripped several strips of sand paper in the process, I thought about putting some strapping/packing tape on the back side of the sand paper to strengthen it – I’ll file that idea away for the next time I have to do this which will be when I fit the rockers to the chair.

With all of the possibilities of stalling exhausted, I arrived at the point where I needed to again take the angle grinder to the chair.  After all of the work so far, I was both excited to start the sculpting as well as a bit concerned over this step.  This work was done with the angle grinder and a 36-grit disk so material was going to be removed very quickly.

I started with the relatively simple task of leveling the joints between the rear legs and the seat.  This got me again used to the motions necessary to smoothly move the grinder and the aggressiveness of the stock removal. Next I moved to the front legs for the more complex of the sculpting tasks.  The difficulty here was two-fold: first, sculpt the leg to reveal a smooth curve between the leg and the seat and leaving a continuous line of the front leg; second in doing so, work to move the transition of the joint between the leg and the seat away from the corner.  The second point was necessary in order to achieve a smooth curve between the legs and seat without having an abrupt 90-degree corner.  Surprisingly, this was accomplished by grinding further into the side of the leg – effectively moving the joint line away from the corner!

In the pictures you can see the progression of the sculpting on the front legs.  The first picture shows the original joint.  Each subsequent picture shows the steps of removing material to sculpt the leg into the seat.  Note how the joint line moves from the corner outward.  This was helped on the front side of the leg by relieving the front corner of the seat to allow better access for the grinder.

The last thing to do before putting the grinder on the shelf for a while was to form a round-over along the top and bottom of the seat sides in between the legs.  To do this I first marked a line along the edge about ½” in from the corner.  I then chamfered between these lines with the grinder trying to keep a smooth line.  After that I made smaller chamfers along each edge to create the round-over.

Of course, all of this sculpting will still require more work with the rasp, files and sand paper to complete the job.  But, for now the chair is starting to look more sculpted.

• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Shaping the Seat
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Leg Joinery
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Seat Joinery
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: More Rear Leg Work
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Front Leg Transitions and Gluing the Legs

Wood finishing is one of the areas of woodworking that seems to confound many woodworkers.  It seems that there is always much trepidation after spending many hours in the woodshop making a beautiful piece of furniture that all of that work can be spoiled by a poor finishing job – and of course, it can!  Well, I guess we all either have to live with unfinished furniture pieces or we have to learn the proper ways to prep and finish our projects so that we can obtain the results we are looking for.

Michael Dresdner is a woodworker and wood finishing expert that has worked in many professional finishing shops and written about wood finishing for many woodworking publications over the years.  In this DVD, Michael aims to arm the viewer with the necessary information and techniques to: prepare a surface for finishing and to achieve professional results with one of several different types of finishes.  Although this DVD is a bit older now, the information presented is just as relevant today as it was when the DVD was first released.

Dresdner starts with a thorough treatise on surface preparation and sanding.  As Dresdner states – no finish will cover the sins of a poorly prepared surface – the steps to a flawless finish start with the proper and thorough surface prep.  In the DVD, Dresdner takes the viewer through the techniques of both power and hand sanding and discusses the properties of many of the sandpaper products on the market today.

With the surface prepared on several projects, Dresdner then shows techniques for three different hand-applied finishes: a wax finish, hand rubbed polyurethane varnish finish and shellac and wax finish.  Using everyday products and simple techniques the viewer is shown practical methods to obtain very acceptable finishes that will work well on many different types of woodworking projects.

Next, Dresdner visits Chris Minick, who shows how to brush on a flawless polyurethane varnish finish.  This segment discusses thinning the finish for better flow, various types of brushes and proper brushing technique.  The rapport between Dresdner and Minick in the segment is a bit corny however; the information that is relayed about brushing is both useful and complete.   Watching Dresdner and Minick brush the finish on a couple of nightstands shows just how easy a good quality brushed-on finish can be to obtain.

Finally, Dresdner covers the principles of spray finishing showing a home-made spray booth and several types of spray-finishing tools.  During this discussion he covers how to develop a methodology for spraying a complicated piece like a chair as well as adjusting tools for different spray patterns for optimal results. The spraying is followed by a thorough segment on how to clean spray equipment in order to keep it in top operating condition.

This DVD should provide any woodworker with the basic information necessary to understand surface preparation, the pros and cons of different finishes and different finishing methods.  Whether wiping on, brushing or spraying the basics of the techniques are all covered in this DVD.  With this info any woodworker will be armed with the skills and strategies to obtain professional quality finishes in a home workshop.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• DVD Review: Hand Scrapers Understanding Preparing and Using the Ultimate Finishing Tool
• Modern Shaker Table: Completion
• DVD Review: Basic Box Making by Doug Stowe
• DVD Review: Router Joinery by Gary Rogowski
• DVD Review: David Charlesworth Chisels – Precision Preparation and Techniques for Presision Joinery

Doug Stowe is a woodworker from Eureka Springs, Arkansas and he has been known for his wooden box making for many years.  This DVD is a companion to his book: Basic Box Making and it covers the design and construction of  his boxes as well as many of the jigs and techniques that he uses to make them.

Box making is something that has always appealed to me.  The scale and scope of the work are such that beautiful and functional objects can be made with minimal material and in a relatively short time.  However, if you have ever made a wooden box, you quickly realize that a good deal of precision and detailed woodworking is required to execute one properly.  This DVD aims to demonstrate the skills and techniques required for every woodworker to do just that.

It is evident from this DVD that Stowe is a very good teacher.  He covers things carefully, and clearly, and in terms that a novice can understand.  However, that is not to say that the material covered in the DVD is elementary.  In fact, this is one of the better woodworking DVD’s that I’ve seen.  During the presentation of his box making techniques, Stowe covers the basics of wood movement and the stock preparation steps necessary to take rough stock to the point where the joinery can be cut for each box.  This info will benefit any woodworker in his or her quest toward any kind of woodworking project, not just wooden boxes.

Along the way, various jigs and techniques are covered as Stowe produces several elegant boxes made from domestic hardwoods.  Stowe actually takes the viewer through the construction and use of most of the jigs that he uses in his work.  Some of these are the: cross-cut, miter, box-joint and miter key sleds for the table saw and a spline cutting jig for the router table.  This is a big plus for viewers that may think that lots of expensive equipment is necessary to do accurate and precise work.  Stowe’s approach is decidedly low-tech but extremely effective.  This is evidenced in his discussion on jig building, including his router-table which is as simple and elegant as it gets!

The DVD also includes the construction of several box designs as well as discussions on sanding and finishing and hardware installation.  Stowe’s flipping story stick method for routing hinge mortises on the router table and attaching box hinges is worth the rental alone.  Throughout the DVD there are many other bits of knowledge from a seasoned woodworker/designer that are vary valuable in their own right – and as an added bonus the viewer gets to see how several beautiful boxes are made!  The designs that Stowe builds are a foundation for many other types of wooden boxes that can be made on the woodshop.  If you’ve ever considered making a wooden box this DVD is one that you should see.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• DVD Review: Router Joinery by Gary Rogowski
• Twin boxes in Cherry, Maple and Walnut
• DVD Review: Basic Inlay Techniques by Larry Robinson
• DVD Review: Profiles of Sam Maloof and Tage Frid
• DVD Review: Beginning Woodcarving by Everett Ellenwood

Before doing any glue-ups I needed to create some transition blocks that will sit atop the front legs where they will join into the arms.  These blocks started as 3″ by 5″ blocks at about 1 1/2″ thick and will get sculpted into the arms and legs after they are mounted with glue and screws.  Because of the compound angles of the front legs the angles for the screw holes were marked by eye to align with both angles of the front legs.  This was done on adjacent faces of the transition blocks with a white pencil.   Then the blocks were put into a vise at the drill press so that both of the lines were set square to the table and the screw holes were drilled.

With the holes in the transition blocks drilled, the blocks were held in position on top of the legs and the holes were started into the tops of the front legs.  These holes were drilled to depth after removing the blocks to allow the bit to reach full depth.  Next, glue was applied to the tops of the legs and the underside of the transition blocks and the screws were put in aligning the inside faces of the blocks with the inside edge of the front leg joints.

After the glue on the transition blocks dried, curves were laid out on two faces of the blocks.  These curves were done such that they can be sawed on the band saw and/or ground away to fair the  legs into the arms.  I cut two ends of the blocks on the band saw but kept the offcuts to help later with clamping to the arms.  The remaining material will be ground away when shaping the legs into the arms.

I spent a good deal of time dry fitting both the front and rear legs into their respective joints and dry clamping the assemblies to check the fit of the joints.  Because of time passing between the initial fitting of these joints the wood has dried out and a few small gaps appeared.   As a result I needed a couple of tiny shims the close the gaps.  Finally satisfied with the fit of the joints I moved on to the glue up.

I can tell you that the few words that I write here will not convey the amount of prep work and effort involved in the glue up of the legs.  The rear legs were first and involved using a couple of 6 degree wedges to apply clamping pressure appropriately.  The joints were glues with a liberal coating of Titebond III one legs at a time.  Once the first leg was fully seated, then the other leg could be glued before clamps were applied.  After the clamping the excess glue was wiped away with a dry towell and the joints were left to dry over night.

The next day, it was time for the glue up of the front legs.  I rigged a temporary support to hold the chair up as the first legs was being glued.  The other leg was left in place as a clamping point until the first joint had fully seated.  Then the other leg could be glued and the clamps were applied.  No clamping blocks were needed because the front legs have a “built-in” set of blocks in the excess material at the joint that will eventually be ground away to fair the legs into the the seat.

• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Front Legs and Initial Leg Shaping
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Sculpting the Leg Joints
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Leg Joinery
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Rough Shaping the Arms
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Seat Joinery

This DVD highlights the use of what is arguably the most versatile power tool in a woodworking shop, for joinery tasks. Rogowski is a well-spoken teacher and in this DVD he clearly covers most all of the basic information necessary to get started using the router for various joinery tasks used to make furniture.

Included in the DVD are discussions on the various types of routers and their uses as well as descriptions of the cutting action of the tool and how it can be safely used in both free handed and router table orientations.  Simple animations show the cutting action of the bit as material is cut using various techniques.  Rogowski covers standard cutting and climb-cutting operations and when each should be used.  This information is definitely valuable for the novice user of the router to understand in order to avoid possible accidents with the tool.

Rogowski illustrates various joinery techniques including: dados, groves, rebates, half-laps, mortise and tenon joints (with both traditional and loose tenons), and through and half-blind dovetails using simple commercial jigs.  In this age where woodworking gizmo’s are available for nearly every possible job, Rogowski’s demonstration and use of a no frills router table made from a single piece of melamine and a single board fence is particularly refreshing.  The techniques that he shows for making and adjusting joinery on this simple router table are well worth the rental fee of the DVD.  Also shown are some other simple jigs used for mortising and dadoing operations with the router.

While no router DVD would be complete without showing the cutting of dovetails using a router and jig, it is notable that Rogowski uses probably the most simple of jigs available for his demonstrations of both through and half-blind dovetails.  In doing so, he illustrates that perfect dovetails can be achieved with simple tools and a bit of attention to setups while testing in scrap wood.

For anyone new to the router and interested in exploring its potential for making furniture joints, this DVD would be a good starting point to become educated.  The router is a versatile tool and with some basic knowledge and simple setups and jigs, a great deal of furniture joinery tasks can be accomplished both safely and extremely accurately.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• DVD Review: Basic Box Making by Doug Stowe
• DVD Review: Profiles of Sam Maloof and Tage Frid
• DVD Review: David Charlesworth Chisels – Precision Preparation and Techniques for Presision Joinery
• Queen Anne Side Table: Dovetailing the drawer
• Hunt Board Class: Day 5

The shaping process for the arms involves two steps.  The first step utilizes a jig that facilitates cove-cutting a grove diagonally along the length of each arm blank.  This cove cut removes stock that will eventually become the area that your arms rest in when sitting in the chair.  The second step of shaping the arms will occur when they have been attached to the chair and more stock can be removed and the curves can be faired into the legs.  Before doing any cutting, I first marked the outlines of the arms on the blanks so that I could see their eventual orientation and not get confused while performing the following steps.

The jig for the cove-cutting at the table saw is a rectangular box with an angled portion that rides against a fence while transporting the arm blank over the table saw blade.  The angled piece allows the blank to travel, top face down, across the blade so that the resulting cove is cut diagonally through the length of the arm blank.  These cuts were done in a slow and methodical manner, raising the blade about 1/32″ – 1/16″ for each pass over the blade.  The jig was moved across the blade slowly to allow the blade to cut the cove as smoothly as possible and to also allow the significant dust to be cleared.  Even with this technique I stopped every few passes and used the shop-vac to clean the dust remaining on the table top.  The jig has handles with threaded rod through t-nuts to clamp the blanks in place as well as a handle to help push it through the blade.  I also used a Gr-ripper push block for added control and security.  The jig flips over and the handle reverses for the alternate arm to be cut with a reverse orientation of the diagonal cove.  The first two pictures show the right arm being cut and the last picture shows the left arm.

Once the cove cuts were completed I again traced the outlines of the arms onto the blanks (albeit a carefully due to the now undulating surface of the arms).  Then the arms were band sawed to shape and sanded with the oscillating spindle sander to remove the band saw marks along their edges.  In the picture you can see the rough shaped arms after cutting and sanding.

The other step that I completed at this time was to glue up stacks to the rockers.  These stacks consist of rocker strips and are located at the points where the front and rear legs will contact the rockers.  The stacks serve to elevate the chair above the rockers an additional distance as well as to provide material for shaping and fairing curves from the rockers into the legs.  This was a bit of a tricky operation as the stacks wanted to squirm away while they were being glued.  I again used the same rocker clamping caul to distribute the clamping pressure to the stacks.

• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Front Legs and Initial Leg Shaping
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Laminating the Rockers and Back Braces
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Front Leg Transitions and Gluing the Legs
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Stock Prep, Layout and Rear Legs
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Coopered Headrest and Ripping Thin Rocker Strips

Some of the shaping of the legs could be done with a round-over bit in a router table however, because of the irregular curves of the legs some round-overs required a unique fixture to be used with the router.  This fixture is the donut-shaped piece that you can see in the picture.  The donut allows for the tight curves near the leg joints to be rounded over reasonably well.

I first completed the round-overs on the flat faces of the rear-legs with a 5/8″ RO bit at the router table.  Next I moved to the router fixture with the same bit and proceeded to round over the other edges (all except the inside long edge).  This operation was a bit tricky and required a good deal of attention to stay safe and to achieve good results.   Noting the direction of rotation of the router bit (as it related to the curves) was very important so that areas would not tear out during the routing operation.  I needed to always make sure I was routing down-hill or I stopped short of the bit exiting the piece.  I kept my hands a good bit away from the spinning bit and in some instances avoided routing all the way to the ends of the stock to avoid any chances of kickback or over cutting.

Because I did not route to the ends of the work pieces on all edges, there was some cleanup to do with a spokeshave , rasp and file.  The ends of the legs will ultimately be shaped to final dimension when they are attached and faired to the rockers and arms at a later stage in the chair build.  However, there were also other areas in which the round-over bit was not able to do a complete job and/or where areas needed to be blended to create a flowing curve.  This hand shaping was actually quite enjoyable.  There’s something very organic about shaping wood by hand with these kinds of tools – it establishes a real connection with the material and form that you are creating.

Once the shaping of the rear legs was completed I moved on to the front legs.  The first step was to trim the bottoms of the legs at an angle (~8 degrees).  Then, I was able to lay out the leg outlines from a template for band sawing.  The front legs were band sawed to follow this outline and then a secondary curve was free-handed to define the final leg thickness.  After the legs were marked, they were band sawed again being careful to maintain a square cut while accounting for the irregular surfaces of the legs.

I followed a similar process to shape the front legs, using the same router fixture and 5/8″ RO bit.  However, due to the smaller size of the front legs I used a quick clamp (minus the soft rubber pad) to hold each leg from the center at the leg joint in addition to holding one end with my hand so that I could stay safely away from the router bit.  A similar bit of hand shaping was required after the rough router work.  With all of the initial shaping done on the legs I put them into position for a test fit.  It is starting to look like a chair!

Next up: Creating and rough shaping the arms

• Sculpted Rocking Chair: More Rear Leg Work
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Leg Joinery
• Queen Anne Side Table: Leg mortises, knee blocks and posts
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Seat Joinery
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Front Leg Transitions and Gluing the Legs

Sam Maloof

This DVD is a profile on Sam and includes insights on his life and work.  He covers a good deal of information on how he approached designing his furniture as well as taking the viewer through a lot of the actual steps to create one of his famous chairs.  Interspersed within segments of work in Sam’s shop are vignettes of the extraordinary house that he built and a good deal of the furniture and artwork within it.

This DVD does not disappoint if you are considering building a chair in the Maloof style.  Sam takes the viewer through building the seat, executing the specialized “Maloof Joint” and some of the process for shaping parts of his famous rocking chairs.  He covers both aesthetics and function in his discussions.

If you are anything like me, just hearing Maloof talk about his work and watching him in the shop is an inspiration.  Profiles such as this one offer a unique glimpse into what motivated Sam the woodworker to build what he did and how he did it .  Maloof was a generous man and that comes through clearly during the time you spend with him while watching the DVD.  We are fortunate to have this record of his life, techniques and work.

Tage Frid

In this DVD, Tage takes the viewer with him into his shop as he completes several projects.  Along the way, Frid demonstrates his methods for sharpening, creating a keyed-miter joint, doing half-blind dovetails and veneer work. Watching you will be surprised at the simple techniques he uses to do complex work.

In addition to the woodworking techniques and tips that he shares, Frid speaks about his approach to designing several pieces of furniture that you see displayed in his home.  He walks the viewer through the subtleties of some of the design elements of each piece as well as his rationale for creating them.

While the video is a bit dated and it has very simple production qualities, it is easy to look past those trivial things into the mind and spirit of a true craftsman.  It is easy to understand why his techniques have been revered for so long – simple and efficient are the perfect words to describe them.  You may or may not like the style of his furniture however; his techniques and insights into furniture design are definitely worth a look.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• Sam Maloof on design
• DVD Review: Basic Box Making by Doug Stowe
• Three Pillars of Design: Part 1 Function
• An introduction…
• DVD Review: Wood Finishing Basics with Michael Dresdner

This DVD is one of several done by Schwarz in conjunction with Lie Nielsen Toolworks.  I have previously reviewed another in this series: Coarse Medium and Fine, here at the blog.

This DVD discusses tools that have largely been forgotten and fallen out of use in most of today’s woodworking shops.  These tools include Hammers, Gimlets and Cut Nails, Draw Bore Pins and Hand Saws for ripping and cross-cutting.

Schwarz opens with a good tutorial on the use of Hammers, Gimlets and Cut Nails in toe-nailing applications for furniture.  He discusses how these techniques were used for many years in some antique furniture that is today regarded of the highest quality, thereby dismissing the notion that the techniques are either too crude and/or somehow technically inferior.  Schwarz demonstrates simple techniques for toe-nailing a shelf into a dado in a case side.  From the demonstration it becomes apparent that this technique is both easy and physically strong.

Draw-boring is a method of pinning a mortise and tenon joint that has the advantages of having superior strength as well as eliminating the need for clamps in the assembly operation.  In the DVD, Schwarz demonstrates draw-boring of a mortise and tenon joint and the use of a simple draw-bore pin for prepping the offset holes prior to inserting the draw bore pin.  In addition, he covers possible problems in this operation and their solutions.  A simple and inexpensive approach to creating a shop-made draw-bore pin is also covered.

Finally, Schwarz speaks to and demonstrates the use of hand saws for cross-cutting and ripping operations.  He notes that these are operations that do not require significant accuracy (as the cuts are later cleaned up by hand planes) but act as gateway skills for more demanding sawing operations such as cutting dovetails.  The demonstrations are done with vintage hand saws that Schwarz notes are widely available and inexpensive.  He uses a shop made saw bench to put the work in a proper position for efficient sawing making quick work of both a cross-cutting and ripping operation in a pieces of rough hardwood.  During these cuts, Schwarz purposely goes off his lines to discuss methods for easily correcting the cut.

Schwarz is a good teacher and his information is both thorough and accurate.  The video quality is typically good as in other Lie Nielsen DVD’s.  Also, as an added bonus, included on the DVD are articles from Schwarz from prior publication on the tools as well as the shop fixtures like the saw bench.  For anyone interested in the tools and techniques covered, this DVD would be a good choice to quickly get up to speed on their use.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• DVD Review: Coarse, Medium and Fine
• DVD Review: Router Joinery by Gary Rogowski
• Using the Band Saw and Jigsaw for Rough Stock Prep
• DVD Review: Profiles of Sam Maloof and Tage Frid
• DVD Review: Basic Inlay Techniques by Larry Robinson

This DVD is one of two done by Ellenwood, the second DVD by Ellenwood a complete treatise on sharpening for the woodcarver.  This DVD covers sharpening, material properties and selection and carving techniques.

The DVD opens with a good tutorial on the anatomy of wood and its properties for use in carving.  From there, the sharpening and use of the most basic carving tool, the carving knife are covered.  Ellenwood carves a small stylized bird as an example of a piece to carve with the knife to illustrate the process.  Sharpening and use of other carving tools like gauges and v-tools are covered next along with a section devoted to tool practice to develop skill with the tools.  The section on sharpening is particularly well done – no doubt this is a subset of what is covered on Ellenwood’s other DVD devoted to sharpening carving tools.  He does a good job of both describing how the carving tools work as well as presenting a simple method for sharpening them using sandpaper.

With the gauges and v-tools sharpened, Ellenwood moves on to demonstrate their use by doing a relief carving of a flower.  His explanation of the process is very well done and thorough.  Following, are sections on good woods to carve, how to layout and start a carving project, clamping work for carving and finishing ideas.

This DVD is aimed at the beginning woodcarver to provide an introduction to the sharpening and use of tools as well as some basic projects to get started.  I think that it achieves this goal very well.  I would rate the sections on materials and sharpening very highly.  For the carving examples I would have preferred to see more close-ups of tool technique and maybe the addition of another project, however, that may be better suited for an intermediate DVD on the subject.  Ellenwood is well spoken and clearly articulates his vast experience on the subject.  For the beginning woodcarver looking to get his or her feet wet on the subject, this DVD is a good mix of theory and practical application.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• DVD Review: Basic Inlay Techniques by Larry Robinson
• DVD Review: David Charlesworth Chisels – Precision Preparation and Techniques for Presision Joinery
• DVD Review: Coarse, Medium and Fine
• DVD Review: Hand Scrapers Understanding Preparing and Using the Ultimate Finishing Tool
• DVD Review: David Charlesworth Handtool Techniques Parts 1,2 and 3

This DVD is the first and most basic in a series of three done by Larry Robinson.  Larry has a long history of inlay specializing in inlay for musical instruments.  This DVD series are a companion to his book The Art of Inlay.

The DVD production is very basic and no frills and Larry’s demeanor is fairly stoic.  If you are looking for a Hollywood production with lots of fanfare, you should probably keep looking.  However, if you want to learn the basic techniques of inlaying, this DVD should fit the bill.

The DVD covers a good bit on materials and their properties.  Even though Robinson uses only Abalone and Silver on the inlay project in this DVD, he runs the gamut on what kinds of things can be used and challenges the viewer to use anything that their tools can cut to achieve a desired result – and to ignore the traditionalists!

Speaking of tools, in the DVD, Robinson shows how with a modest set of tools you can achieve suburb results doing inlay while following his techniques.  Included in this section is a discussion on the simple birds-mouth sawing platform and vacuum system for collection dust that Robinson uses during his work.

The bulk of the DVD takes the viewer through the process of developing and inlaying a Butterfly image into a block of wood.  This includes the tracing of a picture of the Butterfly and the refinement of that tracing to optimize it for inlay.  Of course, the material selection, sawing and filing techniques for each of the puzzle-piece shapes in the pattern are covered as well as the techniques for inlaying and gluing them into the wood substrate.  The end result is a very nice inlay using minimal tools.  AT the opening and closing of the DVD there are numerous still pictures of Robinson’s inlay work for inspiration and after viewing him do the basic one in the DVD it becomes apparent that to aspire to work like his one must simply master the basic techniques that he prescribes in this DVD.

Don’t forget, if you are a new customer and interested in renting these DVD’s, SmartFlix has offered readers of The Craftsman’s Path a $2 discount coupon for your use. Simply use the coupon code: CRAFTPATH when you check out!

• DVD Review: Profiles of Sam Maloof and Tage Frid
• DVD Review: Wood Finishing Basics with Michael Dresdner
• DVD Review: Basic Box Making by Doug Stowe
• DVD Review: Forgotten Hand Tools by Chris Schwarz
• DVD Review: Beginning Woodcarving by Everett Ellenwood

When I last left the project, I had completed sculpting the seat.  With that task completed my attention turned back to more processing on the rear legs.

The rear legs needed to have a 20-degree angled cut from the top of the legs down to the arm rest area along their inside edges.  Also, a parallel cut to this one needed to be made at the top of the legs (to match the height of the headrest) along the outside edges.  The result will form a parallelogram shape at the top pf the rear legs which will match the angle of the headrest.

These angled cuts needed to be made at the band saw.  However, because my band saw table (like most others out there) will only tilt greater than 20 degrees in one direction (i.e. it is limited to about 10-degrees of tilt when angled back toward the saw) I needed to either cut one leg in the reverse direction or to find a way around the tilt limitation.

I chose to create a simple 20-degree jig that could be clamped to the saw table and reversed for each leg cut.  This allowed me to make the cuts from the tops of both legs downward toward the arm rest location which is the most desirable direction.  You can see the jig in the pictures.  The riser blocks beneath the jig are just there so that I had more clearance when rotating the legs during the cut so that they did not run into the saw table.

As, I mentioned, there were two cuts to do on each leg.  The first cut was from the top down to the arm rest area.  Then the leg was rotated and the second cut was made from the top downward to match the headrest height.  In the pictures you can see the cuts as well as the parallelogram shapes that resulted at the tops of the legs.

With these shaping cuts completed I next moved to the seat joint areas of the rear legs.  As you will recall, these curves have only been roughed shaped and marked along the seat top and bottom for later shaping.  To do this shaping, I first penciled in the curves to meet up with the lines that were scribed earlier with a shallow saw kerf.  These curves were based on a 2” diameter circle – the reason for this will become clear shortly.

Next, it was back to the band saw to cut along these curves.  The important thing here was to keep the leg balanced on the seat joint area during the cuts.  The picture shows the results. With the band saw work completed.  I moved to my oscillating spindle sander with a 2” diameter drum and I sanded these rough curves to shape until I just barely met the scribe lines marking the top and bottom of the seat. This resulted in legs that will require only minor shaping where they meet the seat.

With this shaping completed, it was a good time to drill the holes to allow attachment of the headrest.  This was done in two steps.  The first hole was drilled with a 3/8″ Forstner bit to counter sink for the the screw head.  With the leg in the same position I switched out to a 3/16″ bit to drill through the leg for the screw shank.  Doing it this way assured that this hole would be perfectly centered on the countersunk hole.

• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Leg Joinery
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Front Legs and Initial Leg Shaping
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Rough Shaping the Arms
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Shaping the Seat
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Stock Prep, Layout and Rear Legs

As I’ve stated before, summer is usually a slow time of year for me in the shop.  There are just too many other things vying for time in the summer months – and in Upstate New York we have to take every advantage of the little bit of nice weather we get!

I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I’ve been doing a bunch of turning lately.   I have been working to improve my skills and focusing more on the design aspects of various types of turned forms.  I’ve done a bunch of open bowls and also some semi-closed forms en route to developing my skills to do hollow-forms.

What you see in the (somewhat poorly photographed) pictures is a sampling of some of the pieces that I’ve done over the summer.  I did do a few more, but have already given them away to folks that offered up some freshly cut wood for my efforts.  As you can see there are open bowls, and semi-closed forms that I used to help develop the ability to cut away under the rim of a bowl.

I recently tried a hollow-form with some green Maple.  This was done with the limited hollowing tools that I own (the Sorby Multi-tip scraper and Sorby Hollow Master – the Multi-tip is a decent tool but, I would not recommend Hollow Master).  Well, let’s just say that I have more work to do to refine my skills.  I had a catch while hollowing and nearly tore the tenon right off the bottom of this piece (sorry for the somewhat blurry pictures).  Luckily, the piece did not go into orbit, but the catch was still exciting to say the least.  I think this was caused by the awkward curve of the Sorby Hollow Master tool as my not clearing out the shavings frequently enough.

Oh well, the wood was free and I’m learning with every piece that I spin on the lathe.  This event also gave me the impetus to order some real hollowing tools to satisfy this addiction…I mean hobby.

• The Benefits of a Mentor
• Sculpted Rocking Chair: Laminating the Rockers and Back Braces
• Woodworking choices: Hand or Power?
• It’s Woodworking season!
• In search of a smoothing plane

I tend to agree with this.  From my perspective, when we design, we should  start with a blank canvas and design from the top down, thinking about the statement we want a piece to make as well as its function, as necessary.   We should design from the top down without undue constraints (as much a possible) and when we build (the implementation phase) that  should be done from the bottom up.  This is where we must exercise our skills and problem-solving abilities as we endeavor to realize the design that we desire.  For me, tools do not enter the picture until the implementation phase.  If I do not have the tool for the job, then I have to try to find a way to execute the design by some other means. or in rare cases by purchasing a tool.  However, I try to never let the tools that I have on hand limit what I design.  I posted a comment on Doug’s blog in response to his post that I’ll reproduce here:

Doug,

Interesting thoughts…I agree with what you have said.

I am constantly amazed while reading at woodworking blogs and message forums about all the new tools and gizmos that woodworkers are buying with reckless abandon – often times with no real need!

It sometimes seems that tool acquisition (and display) is the goal as opposed to the use of the tools in pursuit of our craft. I routinely see shops full of all manner of new tools (both hand and power) and purchased jigs and often very little production of woodworking objects.

It is interesting to see woodworkers frustrated and avoiding building pieces that they perceive to require a specialized tool to complete. Ironically, many times all that is needed is to build a simple and quick jig or fixture to accomplish the task.

Woodworkers are missing out on an important aspect of the craft that requires developing skills of problem-solving and design when they avoid creating simple jigs and fixtures as part of their build process. As you stated, without the ability (and/or desire) to do this, our designs will become limited by what we have in our shops and/or what we think we can buy at the nearest woodworking tool outlet.

So, I thought I’d take the pulse of the internet woodworking community regarding this topic.  Please let me know what you think by responding to the poll.   More importantly, expand on your thoughts in the comments of this post.  This is an interesting topic regarding design that I think deserves some discussion.  So, don’t hold back, let’s hear your thoughts!

• In design, simple is elegant
• The legacy of one woodworker
• Moving the target in design
• 1 Year Anniversary
• Sam Maloof on design

What I have been doing when I get a little time in the shop is more turning on the lathe.  As I have mentioned in the past, I’m a member of the Rochester Woodworkers Society.  I’m also a member of the Turning special interest group of the club.  This is a segment of RWS that is associated with the American Association of Woodturners.  For a couple of months now I have been working with a mentor from the Turning SIG in his shop.  My mentor Ralph has been turning for something like 30 years and teaching woodturning for a good portion of that time.

I started  the mentoring relationship because I wanted to learn more about turning hollow-forms.  However before we got started we thought it might be a good idea to work through some basic bowls in order to check and refine technique.   The thinking was that we could progress from an open bowl to a semi-closed form then to a hollow-form.  At this point we are working on a semi-closed form and I can definitely tell you that starting with the basics was the right way to go. I have learned as much about sanding as I have about refinements in tool technique!  Additionally, the process has taught me a lot about looking for the right form in a piece and the subtleties of why some forms look better than others.

I have said in the past that certain techniques seem to be well-suited to subtle hands-on illustration and correction.  Hand tool operations are one, and I think that woodturning is another.  There are certain things that are difficult to learn from a book or even videos. However, when a mentor reaches over and slightly adjusts the angle of your gouge as you turn a bowl, the message becomes clear very quickly!

In the pictures you can see a Chinese Elm semi-closed form that we are working on in Ralph’s shop (a couple of the pictures are of the bowl on my lathe as I complete the sanding sequence).  Also, you can see a Walnut bowl that I did in my shop after some mentoring by Ralph.  For the Walnut bowl I followed the sanding and finishing sequence that Ralph teaches to achieve a nearly flawless glossy finish.

If you don’t belong to a woodworking club, I’d urge you to join one – the commeraderie alone is a great benefit.  If you turn wood, finding a mentor is also a definite plus to help you progress at a much faster pace than you would if otherwise on your own.

• A Summer of Turning…
• Turned Walnut Bowl
• Woodworker’s Safety Week 2010: Lathe Safety
• Queen Anne Side Table: Turning and shaping the feet
• Al Stirt Demonstration

The morning was filled with  some lectures and demonstrations on dovetails and drawer making.  One of the assistants demonstrated the Rob Cosman method of laying out evenly spaced dovetails using a set of dividers.  Then, Jeff Headley showed how he and Steve cut dovetails for drawers.  Interestingly they gang the two side boards together back to back with a couple of brads.  Then they plow a groove on each side for the drawer bottom and lay out their dovetails on each end.  No special methods for layout here – just done by eye and using a shop made brass layout marker for the slope of the tails ( approximately a 1:5 angle).  They also scribe a baseline for the tails first.

Next, it was on to the band saw to cut out the tails.  Jeff demonstrated this by cutting to the line and nibbling out the waste in between tails leaving very little paring to be done afterward.  The remainder of the joint was done in the traditional way.  They did use a 1/4″ block set into the drawer bottom grooves in the front and side pieces when marking the pins.  This was done with the front board in the vise and the side board laying across it and on top of a plane laying on the bench.  The 1/4″ block kept things locked together while marking out the pins.  These are half-blind dovetails and the marking gage was set slightly wider than the side thickness when marking the baseline for the pins.  This causes the pins to be slightly proud after the joint is assembled – they can then be planed flush.  Also, when cutting the pins they make no issues of cutting well below the baseline in order to get as far into the pin as possible – this was very commonly done on period furniture.

We also discussed the fine-line inlay, cock-beading and escutcheon for the drawers. The escutcheon for the Hunt Board is the same as done in the embellishments class that I discussed in an earlier post – it’s put in after the fine-line is completed.  They do the fine line with a shop-made scraping tool after the dovetails are cut,  but before the drawer is assembled.  In this case the fine-line is only about 1/16″ wide.  An important thing here is that the fine line must be allowed to dry completely after gluing before scraping it flush otherwise, it may shrink below the surface when dry due to swelling while wet with glue.  In this piece there will also be some fine-line installed in the top.  The cock-beading is installed after the drawer is assembled.  The top and bottom pieces are installed to the full depth of the drawer front.  The side pieces are mitered to the top and bottom but are not as deep so that the dovetails on the sides of the drawers are not covered.

Most of the remaining time for me on Friday was spent fitting the drawer fronts very closely to their openings.  This took a bit of time, but I have them now fit precisely.  After the dovetailing and fine-line is installed I will plane them down to leave a very small reveal around the drawer.  Unfortunately this work will be done at home in my shop because the class had to come to an end.

After cleaning up the shop and packing my piece for the long ride home, I bid farewell to the school, the assistants and Jeff and Steve.  This was a great experience and I will definitely do it again.  There were no great revelations learned, but rather many, many little refinements in technique and process plus, the comeraderie was great.  I’m already searching for my next class!  I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures of the piece with the drawer fronts fitted before I packed it for the trip home.

• Queen Anne Side Table: Dovetailing the drawer
• Hunt Board Class: Day 1
• Queen Anne Side Table: Dovetailed top rail and scroll work
• Classes at the Marc Adams School
• Hunt Board Class: Days 3 and 4

I did not update you with a post yesterday because I was attending the traditional school dinner that is put on during each week long class. at the school.  After the dinner students are treated to a slide show and/or demonstration by each of the visiting instructors for that week.  This was a great event not only because of the camaraderie that it fosters between the students but also because it provides additional inspiration to the students by exposing them to other aspects of woodworking that they may not have considered.  Certainly it’s a great marketing tool for Marc Adams to promote the school.

Yesterday was spent fitting tenons on the case.  Lot’s of mortises and tenons…did I mention how many mortises and tenons are in this thing?  In fact as of the close of the day yesterday, I was uncertain if we would even near completion.  We also chopped out the mortises on the back of the case and created the tenons on the back of the interior partitions.  Lots of chopping, planing, chiseling, paring and fitting later it was finally time to dry fit the entire case and move on the glue up.

The glue-up was a several step process.  We started with the center of the front of the case including the bridle-jointed top rail.  Steve Hamilton, Jeff Headley’s partner in business and the second instructor in the class demoed the process for this glue up.  In the pictures you can see that two cauls from the center scroll were saved in order to assist in the glue-up and to avoid over-stressing the scroll and possibly cracking it.

Next , the remainder of the front of the case was glued up.  We were very careful to not apply too much pressure with the clamp across the top because it could easily bow the assebmly.  I did not get a picture, but at the same time, the back and back legs were also glued up.  This was a fairly straight-forward glue up because the back is a solid 3/4″ thick and the tenons had been pre-fit.  If things were not so hectic I would have snapped a picture of the completed case glue-up.  However, this process was very complex and complicated…so much that for every one of these anyone who was available in the shop stopped and came to help gluing the process.  That process involved lot’s of glue, mortises and tenons, and was finished by driving wedged into the through tenons from the interior partitions into the case back!  Oh, and by the way…now I know why Jeff and Steve use Elmer’s White glue for everything.  It dries clear and it have a longer open time for complicated gluing tasks like this one.  The last thing that I glued up was the hunt board top – this was a glue-up with two pieces taken from the same board for a good color match.

While the case was drying I started on the drawer bearers. These are glued to the case sides and interior partitions and keep the drawers from skewing and tipping out as they are inserted and extended.  I also started sizing the drawer fronts.  These are initially sized for the exact size of the openings and will then be mildly embellished and will also have cock beading applied.  I’m hopeful that we will get at least one drawer completed on Friday.  In the picture you can see the result of the last two days work on my bench at the school.

The last two pictures show one of walls with little plaques of every woodworking Master’s recipient from the school.  These are awarded to each student who completes a curiculim of certain class requirements.  From there students can go on to a fellowship with an extended stay at the school and working with a specific instructor.  The last shot is another view of the machine room after the days work had been completed.

• Hunt Board Class: Day 2
• Hunt Board Class: Day 1
• Queen Anne Side Table: Glue Up and drawer runner assembly
• Hunt Board Class: Day 5
• Embellishments Class: Day 1

In the pictures you can see the notes on the blackboard with yesterdays mortising assignment.  Notice the that Einstein’s Theory was part of the assignment!  The second shot is a partial view of the machine room that we are using – Marc Adams School has a bunch of SawStop table saws.  So, my experience with and impression of them is very positive.

We spent today preparing our sides, backs and front rails.  This included tenoning the rails and the sides on the table saw.  The tenons were cut with a shop made jig that straddled the fence. Pieces were clamped to the jig and run through the blade.  There were two stops clamped to the fence raik so that both cheeks of the tenons could be cut by sliding the fence from one stop to the other.  This worked reasonable well however, with a fair amount of people using the same setup, there is a possibility for things to move out of adjustment.  This happened and a few of the early tenons that were cut ended up being a bit over-sized.  So, those had to be re-cut.  I guess it was a good thing to be off using the 12″ jointer to prepare the two boards for the top of my hunt board!  I thought I was in great shape being able to use the fresh new setup.  However, in the fray of redoing tenons,  someone before me did not lock the fence down and my first tenon was cut too narrow!  We corrected the set up an the rest of my tenons were fine.  As a result of this I had the extra step to glue on a shim to my tenons on one end of one case side…I’ll re-cut that last tenon tomorrow.

With the tenons cut it was time to start fitting pieces on the front so that the top rail measurement could be determined.  This was necessary because of the potential accumulated error across the three scrolled font rails.  This involved fitting all of the tenons across the front and dry assembling the pieces.  Speaking of scrolling, we also traced scrolls on the three front rails and cut them at the band saw.  Tomorrow there will be a bit of clean-up on those as well.  In addition, today did a bit of work on the back and interior partitions.  Tomorrow, those will be taken down to final dimension. In the second picture you can see some of the results of today’s activities as well as the state of disarray on my bench.

Tomorrow will be another busy day.  With any luck we will be at the point of dry assembling the entire case.  Stop by for an update!

• Hunt Board Class: Day 1
• Hunt Board Class: Days 3 and 4
• Queen Anne Side Table: Cutting tenons on the aprons
• Embellishments Class: Day 1
• Hunt Board Class: Day 5