New nightstand project

[atgcpaul]

I've got a few unfinished projects (DTed bar cabinet that I just want to cut apart, kitchen cabinet drawer fronts that need to be sprayed but I can't get a break with the weather). I just wanted to build something rather than dwelling on these other ones! I also didn't enter anything in last year's County Fair so I wanted to have something this year. I am ribbon motivated.

One of my first WWing projects when I first got my BT3100 was a pair of nightstands for our bedroom. The top was maple ply edge banded in alder. The base, drawer, and bottom shelf are also alder. It's held together with dowels and the bottom shelf slats were sloppily brad nailed into place. After nearly 15 years of use, they've held up well, but I wanted something more updated for the bedroom.





Ironically, "updated" to me was finding a mid-century modern design. My wife has a Pinterest account and she found this. Sorry about the quality. It's a picture I took of her phone screen. Relatively cubish box on turned cone feet. There wasn't a link to the original site so I couldn't find any dimensions so I roughly picked dimensions from our existing nightstands.




Quick notepad sketch:




The idea is to take some long boards, cut them to length, miter the corners, and reinforce the miters with dominoes--in theory. The grain is supposed to wrap around the piece. Right now my main concerns are accurately cutting those long miters and trusting that the dominoes will prevent the nightstand from racking if pressure is applied to it. I'm seriously considering joining the case together with dovetails. I think this will be stronger and because it will be judged, I think it will be more impressive to the judges. The drawer will be simple but I plan on attempting a side hung drawer instead of drawer slides--not sure yet. Oh yeah, I also need to learn how to turn 8 identical feet.

I got started today by using my Dewalt track saw to rip a straight edge on my 4 boards. I then used the track saw to crosscut the boards close to final length. I decided to cut them now rather than run them long through my jointer/planer. After they were crosscut, I marked the ends, jointed a face, and started planing them to thickness.





I've got 2 months before I need to submit them to the fair. I'd better get a move on.

Paul

[leehljp]

Is it just me and my browser, or, are the picts not showing up for others.

[BadeMillsap]

I can't see them in either Tapatalk or my browser under windows ...

[Black wallnut]

I can't see them either.

[cwsmith]

Sorry Paul, I can't see them either.

[atgcpaul]

OK, can you see them now? I changed them to links to my Google Photos

[leehljp]

It works now! NICE walnut!

[Black walnut]

I see them now! Nice walnut!

[BadeMillsap]

Yep I can see them via Tapatalk

Via Tapatalk-- Bade

[atgcpaul]

I love Saturday mornings. I naturally wake up an hour or two earlier than normal while the rest of the family sleeps in an extra hour. I get to eat breakfast in quiet, walk the dogs, and have a few hours to tool around to do whatever I want.

So with my free time today, I ripped all the boards to a little over 8.5" wide, then cut two domino slots in each mating edge. I have a biscuit jointer but I just find the Domino makes a less sloppy fit when getting the boards level. You don't really even need anything for alignment, but I've got it, so I'm going to use it. Before I proceed, I make sure I didn't forget to cut any slots. DAMHIK.




Other than a picture frame and a really simple table base, this is my first real project in a long time using a jointer. For 10+ years, I've done my best to use boards that started out pretty flat before running them through my lunchbox planer. Most times I get lucky and the glue or construction goes fine, but other times I have to deal with warped boards. What a joy to have a jointer! The board edges mate nicely and I don't have to crank down on the clamps. I also really like the GluBot bottle. SO much better than the standard Titebond bottle. After I squeeze the glue on, I use one of those new silicone glue brushes to spread it evenly. I like those brushes better than the acid brushes, too.




Yep, that's just the right amount of glue. I have a mixture of these parallel bar clamps and the el-cheapo aluminum clamps from HF. Now with flat boards, the HF clamps do a fine job, too.




I have been in Camp Norm when it comes to glue squeeze out. That is, glue it up and wipe off the excess with a wet rag. Pretty messy and I didn't really have a problem with getting glue smeared in the grain. I'm going to go try scraping it off in about an hour. I decided to keep some boards turned 90deg to the others to see if it matters for glue cleanup.



Thanks for looking,
Paul

[JimD]

Looks good. when you get to finish, I recommend something with a UV blocker. My old walnut pieces keep getting lighter.

[atgcpaul]

Looks good. when you get to finish, I recommend something with a UV blocker. My old walnut pieces keep getting lighter.

That is the bummer about walnut. So far other walnut pieces I've made don't appear to have faded but none are close to the windows. I've never tried dyes on walnut but I may consider it if I have time.

[atgcpaul]

I'm undecided if I'm going to leave Camp Norm. On Sunday I passed all the boards through my drum sander after glue up. Then I cut all the boards to length plus a little bit.

In the past I've never left my pins and tails proud and I pay for it later with a lot of hand planing to level the surface. This time, I'm planning ahead. I set my marking gauge a little thicker than my boards and then scribed the base line for the pins and tails.




I decided I wanted 4 tails on each side and I laid them out with dividers using a technique I saw on the Popular Woodworking site. I mark the two opposite boards at the same time first using an Exacto knife followed by a sharp pencil in the knifed line. I then use a Veritas DT gauge to draw out the lines. These are 1 in 6.




It's been over a year since I cut my last set of DTs. I clamped the two boards in my vise and started cutting using my Japanese Dozuki DT saw. I flubbed one of the cuts and that's why I find it important to either practice first or practice on the bottom/non show side first. It's hard to tell, but each of those lines has been cut. The Dozuki cuts a fine line. I find it easier to angle the boards so the cut line is perpendicular to the ground.




The cuts on the top/show side after a little practice are much better.




Now I've got to do the cuts on the other set of tail boards and then cut the sockets. I'm actually thinking about using my TS to cut out as much of the socket as possible and then finishing with chisels. I also need to sharpen my chisels.


Paul

[atgcpaul]

So I'll admit, making the shoulder cuts on the DTs is the easiest part of making DTs. For me, chiseling down to the baseline is the trickiest part. After the initial cuts, I usually use a coping saw to cut away most of the waste, then place my chisel in the scribe line and chisel from both sides meeting in the middle. The last set of large DTs I did, I used a router to hog out the pins. It worked but it was really loud, dusty, and nerve racking. This time I'm going to try something else--my TS.

I screwed a flat faced auxiliary fence to my miter gauge and after a few trial cuts, I screwed on the chunk of wood in the back to cover the exposed blade.




I'm using my Freud ripping blade to give me a flat bottom. I mark the waste area with a white pencil to avoid mistakes. I set the blade height as high as I dare and then carefully nibble away. I can't say it's faster than the router, but I do have dust collection and it's more controlled.




So after I cut away as much as I can, I get to chiseling. I usually clamp the board vertically in my vice and pare from front to back flipping the board when I'm a little over halfway through. I decided to take a more surefire and comfortable approach. I had glued up this blank of wood from the waste wood from the nightstand to practice turning on the lathe. I jointed an edge perpendicular to my face and used this to guide my chisel. It's screwed down on either side to hold the board securely. Now I can hold the chisel flat to the jig face and pound downward with my chisel. I still only go about halfway down before flipping the board. It's also more comfortable because I can do this seated in front of my air conditioner. It was HOT today!





I was feeling quite pleased with myself at how sharp the chisel was...




And as it's said, pride goeth before the fall. Somehow I flubbed the chisel and the business end of my 1" chisel landed right on my leg. Yep, it's sharp alright! Luckily it landed on the foam mats below.




The jig worked well and I was pleased with the results.




After I lay out the pin boards, I'm going to switch to my dado blade and continue to use the jig.


Paul

[atgcpaul]

Laid out the pins today and proceeded to cut them with the dado stack. I found out pretty quickly this would be a pain because the board is so tall and I can't see over it to line up the cut. I kept having to peak around the corner or stop the blade and look from the front. Then I had a stroke of genius (or maybe I saw it somewhere in a magazine). I placed a mirror in front of me so I could see where the next cut would be and more importantly where my fingers were. Worked surprisingly well.




I did chicken out and didn't cut all the way to my baseline. No matter, my chiseling jig let me finish those up nicely. I couldn't help but to try out the fit on my first completed corner. I'm pretty happy with it. 7 to go.



Paul