Fall's Here, Project Time...

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  • Jim Frye
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 1051
    • Maumee, OH, USA.
    • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

    Fall's Here, Project Time...

    We had our first frost last night and that means the yard work will soon be at an end. With the warm, wet weather we've had this summer and fall, there has been a lot of work out there. Plus the Grandkids sports (Baseball, Football, & Volleyball) are also ending. Yesterday, I went to the local hardwood dealer (aka The Woodworkers Candy Store) and picked out a bunch of Maple for new tables for the living room. I will be replacing some Chinese made Broyhill tables that we foolishly spent way too much money on. The tops and baseboards will be hard maple and the rest of the carcasses will be soft maple. The dealer carries"shorts" that are 4' to 6' long and are well suited for smaller projects. The shorts are about $0.30 a bd. ft. less than the regular 8' to 10' stuff. The shorts also fit nicely inside my Civic sedan as I still haven't bought roof racks for it to mount my old frame on. Anyway, the first item will be a coffee table with drawers and will be copied from this picture I found on-line. It will be 50" long, 30" wide and 21" tall. It will be dyed a walnut brown. SWMBO hasn't picked out the drawer pulls yet, but with the way I work, it will be a few months before they are needed. 6 hand dovetailed drawers will be time consuming enough.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	classic-12-drawer-coffee-table-110x70x50cm1.jpg Views:	1 Size:	71.7 KB ID:	835130
    Last edited by Jim Frye; 10-18-2018, 06:01 PM.
    Jim Frye
    The Nut in the Cellar.
    ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”
  • cwsmith
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 2737
    • NY Southern Tier, USA.
    • BT3100-1

    #2
    Jim,

    That will be a nice project and I'm looking forward to your pictures.

    I haven't built anything (I should probably capitalize, that to reflect how I feel about it), in a couple of years now. It's quite depressing. Just can't find the time or I'm exhausted from everything else I've had do that week.

    Glad to see projects like this though, it gives me something to think about, and of course something to admire in others. Look forward to your progress.

    Thanks for the post,

    CWS
    Think it Through Before You Do!

    Comment

    • Jim Frye
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2002
      • 1051
      • Maumee, OH, USA.
      • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

      #3
      I understand. Summers are really busy for us and then school starts. It seems like we always have the Grandkids here and with summer yard work, there's little time to be in the shop. Fortunately, I like to design things to solve a problem, so some of my shop time is not actually working wood. I find my shop time to be really relaxing and it allows me to get away from all of hurly burly. I usually spend my shop time is small increments, maybe a half hour at a time. This is why it takes me so long to build a piece of furniture. Sometimes I will get wrapped up in what I'm doing and find the time has really flown. It may be as simple as clearing off the work bench and putting tools away. A couple of weeks ago, I was puttering around and picked up a scrap piece of plywood. Next thing I knew, I was thinking about how I could use a "tailgate" for the electric mower we recently bought. I wanted something I could strap a trash can on to use as a yard cart. I don't have room to store a trailer style cart to tow around, but the mower could haul a can around so I wouldn't need to get the big wheelbarrow out. Over the next couple of weeks, I went from an Idea, to a design, to a prototype (which broke on the first use due to poor material choice), to a second design that works as desired. It was made from stuff I had in the shop and it took several sessions before I found all the materials I needed. Was this woodworking? Maybe. The main part is made from wood, but more importantly, I spent quite a few relaxing and productive hours doing nothing important (to anyone else) and I have a new tool that will serve me for many years.
      Last edited by Jim Frye; 10-18-2018, 09:12 PM.
      Jim Frye
      The Nut in the Cellar.
      ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

      Comment

      • Jim Frye
        Veteran Member
        • Dec 2002
        • 1051
        • Maumee, OH, USA.
        • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

        #4
        It's raining all day here, so I had no excuse to not spend time in the shop (3 hours). Today's effort was preparing the stock for the top of the table. I had picked 5 hard maple boards for the top. I first oriented the end grain so the bark side was up on alternate pieces. All edges were pencil marked for the adjoining edges. I crosscut them to rough length and ripped them to have a clean glue edge. I use a Freud Glue Rip blade for this. The stock I buy is S2S R1E, so I can do all of this on the BT3K. Starting with the center (and widest) board, I did a biscuit join to the next board. This is now sitting on my assembly table in clamps. I only do one join at a time as I find it's easier to get one joint aligned at a time. I will let the joint cure for 24 hours and proceed to the next board building outwards from the center on each side until all 5 boards are part of the top assembly. Since it will take me several months to build this table, this glue up will be clamped with cauls to help keep it flat until it's time for final cutting, routing and assembly.
        Jim Frye
        The Nut in the Cellar.
        ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

        Comment

        • Jim Frye
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2002
          • 1051
          • Maumee, OH, USA.
          • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

          #5
          Status Update: I finished making up the top blank for the coffee table. I told you I was slow. It measures 51"x31"x13/16". I will cut it to final size when it's time to rout the edges and assemble it to to casework. It weighs 30 pounds. Hard Maple isn't called Rock Maple sometimes for nothing I guess.
          Jim Frye
          The Nut in the Cellar.
          ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

          Comment

          • Jim Frye
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2002
            • 1051
            • Maumee, OH, USA.
            • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

            #6
            Spring is here, and I'm still not finished!

            I have made progress. The casework is done and I can fit the top, but it will be finally attached after all drawer work is finished. The casework joinery is all Titebond II, biscuits and wooden pins. There will be six raised panel drawers on 26" full extension, soft close, drawer slides. I'm copying the design from a picture of a table sold in the UK that I found on the internet (gotta love Google). The table I'm taking the design from had half depth drawers on both sides, but that seems ill conceived as the table sits closer to the couch than the depth of the backside drawers. Thus, my table will be plain on the side towards the couch.

            Update: Just weighed the case and it came in at 60 pounds. The top weighs 30 pounds. Wonder what a 26"x14"x6 3/4" drawer will weigh in at?

            UClick image for larger version  Name:	Coffee Table Case Front.JPG Views:	1 Size:	85.1 KB ID:	836386Click image for larger version  Name:	Coffee Table Case Back.JPG Views:	1 Size:	83.3 KB ID:	836387Click image for larger version  Name:	classic-12-drawer-coffee-table-110x70x50cm1.jpg Views:	2 Size:	71.7 KB ID:	836388
            Last edited by Jim Frye; 03-26-2019, 10:34 AM. Reason: added blather
            Jim Frye
            The Nut in the Cellar.
            ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

            Comment

            • billwmeyer
              Veteran Member
              • Feb 2003
              • 1858
              • Weir, Ks, USA.
              • BT3000

              #7
              Wow! Looks great! Please keep the updates coming.
              "I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in."-Kenny Rogers

              Comment

              • Jim Frye
                Veteran Member
                • Dec 2002
                • 1051
                • Maumee, OH, USA.
                • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                #8
                Well, I screwed up pretty good. A few weeks ago I moved the carcass out of the shop into the basement to make room for some other work. Then spring rains got outdoor things way out of hand along with some other priorities. I had finished the inside of the carcass and had sealed & dyed the outside of the piece prior to setting it aside in the basement. Yesterday, I happened to glance at the piece and discovered that the back panel had bowed out (away from the finished side). Not only did it bow, but it cracked the corner joins at each end. I did two dumb things. First, I let the piece sit with unevenly finished sides and the side with no varnish absorbed moisture from the air and expanded despite that it had stiffening ribs top and bottom. Second, I failed to mechanically tie the corner joints together other than with some biscuits. They only prevented movement on one direction. So. Spent this morning fixing the broken joints and planning to add additional ties to link the front and back together to prevent future bowing and movement. As my Grandmother used to say “We get too soon old and too late smart.”
                Jim Frye
                The Nut in the Cellar.
                ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                Comment

                • Jim Frye
                  Veteran Member
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 1051
                  • Maumee, OH, USA.
                  • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                  #9
                  Here's my fix for my screw up. Hopefully, the front framework will add enough rigidity to keep the back from warping again. I'm going to attach the baseboard all around and hopefully that will also stiffen things up until I can get the carcass fully finished on all surfaces. I really thought the 1x2 frames around the top and bottom were stiff enough, but I think once the piece gets finish on all surfaces things will be ok. Fingers crossed. Click image for larger version

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                  Jim Frye
                  The Nut in the Cellar.
                  ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                  Comment

                  • billwmeyer
                    Veteran Member
                    • Feb 2003
                    • 1858
                    • Weir, Ks, USA.
                    • BT3000

                    #10
                    It looks great! Good luck!
                    "I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in."-Kenny Rogers

                    Comment

                    • capncarl
                      Veteran Member
                      • Jan 2007
                      • 3564
                      • Leesburg Georgia USA
                      • SawStop CTS

                      #11
                      I like to close off the bottom my my cabinets with Thin plywood or Lauan but sometimes I use scrap pieces of whatever the cabinet is built out of. This bottom closure helps prevent little critters from getting into the cabinet. Nothing like the wife opening a drawer and a mouse running up her arm! This small investment in time and materials is well worth this not happening.
                      The bottom closure also helps stiffen up the structure.

                      Comment


                      • billwmeyer
                        billwmeyer commented
                        Editing a comment
                        My mom put screen wire underneath. We lived in a farm and mice were a problem. They wouldn't chew on the screen.
                        Last edited by billwmeyer; 06-18-2019, 12:07 PM.
                    • Jim Frye
                      Veteran Member
                      • Dec 2002
                      • 1051
                      • Maumee, OH, USA.
                      • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                      #12
                      Just a quick update on this project. The wet summer, taking care of the grandkids, and replacing a bathroom window has kept me out of the shop. I have gotten the top of the coffee table glued up, cut to size, sanded, the edge molded, and started coloring it. That's where I ran into a real problem. I started the coloring of the wood with my usual method. I usually use 1# cut shellac to lightly seal the wood to prevent the dye from blotching the maple. This time I used Sealcoat cut 50/50 with denatured alcohol. The cut didn't equal the old shellac and I ended up with a 30"x50" table top that would not take the water based aniline dye I am using. A light sanding with 240 grit didn't help, so I had to wash the top multiple times with filtered water until I got the dye off and followed that with washes of DA and paper towels until I wasn't getting anymore sealer on the wiping pads. Then the dye went on perfectly except for some mineral deposits and glue stains. I am touching those in with tinted Danish Oil. Once I get the color all matched, I'll follow with a couple of applications of Danish Oil to get the grain to highlight. I'll post a picture when that is done. After that, I'll make the six drawers with the full extension slides. Once that's done, I'll do the final varnish applications. Maybe I'll get it done in two years.
                      Jim Frye
                      The Nut in the Cellar.
                      ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                      Comment

                      • leehljp
                        Just me
                        • Dec 2002
                        • 8429
                        • Tunica, MS
                        • BT3000/3100

                        #13
                        I just made a router dado jig and it was a 2 - 3 hour project and works well. Love it and the simplicity of it too.
                        Got the plans here: https://www.woodsmithplans.com/searc...es=&units=uscs

                        I need a good simple dado jig to re-make some shelves for our kitchen pantry. I made some a couple of weeks ago but I used the TS and cut repetitive slots to make the dados needed. That jig above is going to get used a lot, IMO.
                        Hank Lee

                        Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

                        Comment

                        • Jim Frye
                          Veteran Member
                          • Dec 2002
                          • 1051
                          • Maumee, OH, USA.
                          • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                          #14
                          The table top Danish Oil is finally cured enough to move out of the shop for storage until I get the drawers made and mounted. I laid the top on the carcass for a couple of photos. The carcass will get moved back into the shop for fitting the full extension drawer slides and drawers. After the drawer builds, I can apply the wiping varnish and this long project will be done. Click image for larger version

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                          Jim Frye
                          The Nut in the Cellar.
                          ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                          Comment

                          • Jim Frye
                            Veteran Member
                            • Dec 2002
                            • 1051
                            • Maumee, OH, USA.
                            • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                            #15
                            Well, I did something I should have done at the beginning of this project. After Christmas, I ordered the 26" full extension, soft close drawer slides from HD. They arrived yesterday and I discovered that I had designed insufficient support for them in the carcass. If you look at the picture above, the two front center stiles are not wide enough front to back to mount the cabinet side of the slides. Not a big deal. I just cut some scrap pieces to length and glued/pinned them to the back sides of the front stiles. But it's just another delay while I dye and danish oil them to match the rest of the carcass. Had I had the slides on hand when I designed this table, things would have gone much smoother and quicker. I confess that after more than 30 years of woodworking, this is perhaps the most involved project I've done and one of the reasons it's taking me so long. The glued up solid wood raised panel ends and the solid wood glued up back were new to me. I've always used veneered plywood for carcass sides before. It's also the first one with full extension slides. I've always done wooden slides and the drawers were much smaller too. I discovered that I had to make jigs to install the slides properly. Ah, learning curve. This is also the first furniture carcass I've designed completely on my own with no published plans to work from. I'm working from just the picture I posted in the first post of this thread. When I get the slides installed, I'll post a picture.
                            Jim Frye
                            The Nut in the Cellar.
                            ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

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