Boatworks Today Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 A couple of cherry and (some kind of) ebony lanterns I'm wrapping up, but undecided how I want to attach the top :-/. All the joinery to this point is M&T. Some options I'm kicking around would be dowels, rare earth magnets, or just saying screw it and glue it :-/. Given their size I'm not too concerned about movement... Just a little :-)They'll be wall hung with a French cleat so not going to get messed with too much other than to pull out the drawer to turn on the LED light.. Any suggestions or opinions one way or the other? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Carry the Ebony motif through to the top...Loose through tenon -- with Ebony wedge... If the ebony columns are square, square through tenon. Round, go round. I did some round loose wedged through tenons (basically drilled from the top for dowels and faked it) for a pair of small tables to attach the tops about ten years ago -- still going strong...Or Ebony loose tenon -- but that may be too much of a good thing...Maybe screw it and use Ebony pillow plugs? Edited October 28, 2015 by hhh 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Brendon_t Posted October 28, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 If it were me, and wanted it sexy! I'd do hhh's thingif I was over it, I'd drill the legs for dowels, use centers to mark the top and dowel into the lid. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Coop Posted October 28, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Now that is a neat deal! I'm afraid, to uncomplicated matters, I would have to go with Brendon's dowel method. How will you use French cleats with the legs being splayed?when you open the drawer, the led will come on? Some sort of micro switch? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 I'm with Brendon. Drill the legs and use dowel centers. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgreenb Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 How do the through tenons/dowels work with the movement of the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 With something this small, there shouldn't be a concern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 For a project like this, nothing will do, but keyhole sliding dovetails! ? Just kidding, I vote dowels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted October 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Ok, the girls are finally asleep :-) After thinking about this a bit more, magnets are out.. The french cleat is going to be mounted by the top so it has to be solid. I'm building this on the fly, so had I given this a bit more thought pegged tenons would have been killer! Alas, I am past that point :-/Right now I think it's either dowels or a screwed / square pegged plug kind of a deal.. Kinda leaning towards dowels for simplicity.@Koop: I'm keeping this very simple for the lighting. Just going to be a battery powered LED puck light that fits into the drawer and tap to turn on / off. With Winter coming power outages are pretty common when a big storm rolls in, so just trying to come up with a "stylish" way to provide some basic light till the power comes back on :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 If the French cleat is going right under the top it could be screwed into the posts and glued to the top. That joint should make the entire piece pretty stable 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 um... Just use gum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 If it was me, I'd dowel it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 Now that I'm sober (but still without sufficient caffeine)... I'd go quick/dirty... I'd drill it, hardware bond for the fastener and go pillowed Ebony plug. Or blind dowel with a faux decorative Ebony plug... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 As it isn't taking any load whatsoever, relatively small in size so you could use Norms favourite brads and a blob of construction glue.Position the french cleat just below the top, glue and screw the cleat to the uprights. The top then takes no load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenaqua Posted October 28, 2015 Report Share Posted October 28, 2015 I would:1. Drill holes into the tops of the legs for dowels and glue the dowels into the leg.2. Set the top onto the dowels all nice and square and push down on the top so that you mark the locations of the dowels onto the top.3. Drill out the locations where the marks were made in the top.4. Glue the top down at dowel locations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Boatworks Today Posted November 28, 2015 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Decided to go simple for the top mount as it really won't be seen. Screwed it !! This way it was removable for finishing.. For anyone curious how the build went, video below... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Cool video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 Very cool video. I dig your shop, and all that space, I don't envy how cold it will be soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinF Posted November 28, 2015 Report Share Posted November 28, 2015 I'm pretty sure I'm going to be stealing this idea, cause those are nice! I think a frosted oil lamp chimney would finish it off wonderfully and maybe help disperse the light a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Thanks for the kind words guys ! Colin, feel free to use this idea and make it your own! I'm not going to sell these, so have some fun with it! With a better light they would actually work very well as intended. With the current light, it's about as good as a night light (which is better than nothing at all ).. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinF Posted November 29, 2015 Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Any light is awesome when the powers out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rapid Roger Posted November 29, 2015 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Andy,I made some reading lamps for the grandkids Christmas presents using the same puck lights that you did. They are plenty bright for this use. All five kids are in school and should be doing their homework even when the power goes out. The sixth light goes to my "honorary granddaughter" in Ireland. Rog 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted November 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2015 Those are very cool Rog! They kinda remind me of the Pixar lamp ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Noel Posted December 15, 2015 Report Share Posted December 15, 2015 those look alien, very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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