Popular Post -MattK- Posted June 28, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 My wife found these tables in a catalog a few months ago - we both really like the design. I'm trying to make a pair. I use a consultation with Marc for help on design here. I like the general design. I'm undecided about the pull-out shelf, the beading on the corners of the legs, and the shelf's trim extension around the legs... but otherwise, I'm headed in this general direction. I'm going with walnut. I have some beautiful walnut that was air-dried in a barn for 25 years, but no thick pieces, so the legs are going to be made from walnut from the hardwood dealer. (and what a huge difference! the air-dried walnut has beautiful contrast between heart wood and sap wood - the sap wood is golden... the commercial stuff must have been steamed because the sapwood is a dull grey-ish brown) I figured those curved bits are going to be the most difficult - I'm not done curves in any structural pieces before, only on edges of things, so that's been the main place I've started focusing. I've fooled around and screwed up a few times, but I finally got the curved legs made. (screw-ups: tried to use thickest pieces of air-dried walnut @1 1/8" thich any they're too thin / look wimpy, routed against the grain on the router table and ruined a few pieces... I also found out that I much prefer making templates from MDF instead of plywood - much easier to get the "perfect" shape). Here's the template, made with a HUGE compass that I found from Grizzly on Amazon (earlier plywood version is also in the picture): I rouged out the template at the bandsaw, cleaned it up at the tablesaw (for the straight part of the leg) and spindle sander. I then cut each piece of walnut to the width of the template above... so I had two straight / parallel sides - only one will be used as a reference edge for joinery. I then traced the template on the walnut (hard to find 10" wide pieces of walnut in 8/4) and roughed then out on the bandsaw (and tablesaw for those long straight legs) I made the template a bit long so I could screw it to the pieces rather than use double sided tape. I didn't add the leg taper to the template - not sure if I should have or not, I guess we'll see once I get to tapering the legs. Next I think I'll work on the captive shelves (2 per table). To deal with wood movement, I've decided to put breadboard ends on each, so I don't have to worry about the shelves growing and shrinking between the legs. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Looking forward to watching this. It looks like its going to have some fun challenging elements to it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Interesting design! Looking forward to the build! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immortan D Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Nice project, Matt. Are you going to veneer the inside of that curve? Because all that end grain facing up may screw up your finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted June 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Just now, Immortan D said: Nice project, Matt. Are you going to laminate the inside of that curve? Because all that end grain facing up may screw up your finish. Advice from Marc was to sand it to a higher grit... he may have also said something about a coat of shellac, I have to check my notes. I have a few other curved mistakes pieces that I can test the finishing process with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 I think it's a very elegant design & am looking forward to seeing the final product. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Nice! I'm looking forward to following along too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 This is a cool design Matt ! I will be following along. Must be great to be using the new space. I see you have a Ti 15 there, how do you like it? Really dont understand why Festool discontinued that, id would get one if it wasn't. Will you be raising your outfeed table closer to the height of your tablesaw? Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Interesting design. Looking forward to seeing how you cope with the challenging elements of this! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post -MattK- Posted June 28, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 3 hours ago, shaneymack said: I see you have a Ti 15 there, how do you like it? Really dont understand why Festool discontinued that, id would get one if it wasn't. Will you be raising your outfeed table closer to the height of your tablesaw? I really like the Ti 15 - well powered and the battery lasts forever... I think I bought it as it was being discontinued (Jan 2015 ish) The outfeed table is the same height as the tablesaw, what you're seeing there is a gap. I didn't account for that angle iron that's on the back of the saw, so there's a gap. Doesn't cause any harm besides letting dust fall between the saw and the outfeed table! 1 hour ago, Llama said: Interesting design. Looking forward to seeing how you cope with the challenging elements of this! My prediction is "poorly and with a lot of curse words" 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Bob Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 Very interesting, looking forward to this build. I don't know squat about this, so I have a question. It seems to me that there will be a very weak area where the curve starts. What am I missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 53 minutes ago, -MattK- said: The outfeed table is the same height as the tablesaw, what you're seeing there is a gap. I didn't account for that angle iron that's on the back of the saw, so there's a gap. Doesn't cause any harm besides letting dust fall between the saw and the outfeed table! Ahh i see. Must just be a bit of an optical illusion. You could just domino on a piece of wood to come butt up to the tablesaw. Thats what I did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted June 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 24 minutes ago, Just Bob said: Very interesting, looking forward to this build. I don't know squat about this, so I have a question. It seems to me that there will be a very weak area where the curve starts. What am I missing? there's definitely the potential for a grain issue there, but it's not really going to see a lot of weight or stress, so I'm not that worried about it (that is, until my 9 year old decides to try to RKO someone from the top of the table and onto the bed). Marc and I talked about alternatives (mostly for grain appearance when I was thinking about two part legs) but they just got so complex, I thought I'd give this a whirl and see how it goes. The legs are approx. 1.75" thick, they feel pretty beefy. 19 minutes ago, shaneymack said: Ahh i see. Must just be a bit of an optical illusion. You could just domino on a piece of wood to come butt up to the tablesaw. Thats what I did. that's clever - I like it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 oh wow! Dont see something like this every day. Looking forward to watching this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 On June 28, 2016 at 2:24 PM, -MattK- said: I didn't account for that angle iron that's on the back of the saw, so there's a gap. Yep, I did the same thing but like you said I don't find it to be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 With my gnat-like attention span I was distracted by a few other things (chicken coop extension, installing a basketball hoop, pen making, cutting boards, project with my daughter), but I'm back on this now. shelves are made. Tenons for breadboard ends are done, breadboard ends are done. I just need to finesse the tenons a bit. I'm thinking about how to attach the breadboard ends and I don't have any walnut dowels. I could make them on the lathe, I guess... Or grab em from woodcraft. But I was thinking that a cool effect might be some sort of contrast... Specifically a different material like metal. More specifically, brass. might that work? Epoxy in some brass rod to the breadboard ends instead of a wood dowel? any thoughts on size of the rod? HD has 1/8". Lowe's has 3/16". Otherwise I'm looking on the Internet for 1/2"ish, I guess. Any guidance out there? thanks! matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Matt, I think metal (even brass) dowels would be too much of a contrast. I would stick with walnut. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 +1 on walnut dowels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 If you mean using the dowels as 'drawbored' pegs to attach the breadboard, then wood is the only reasonable choice. I don't think you could get a good fit with metal rods, because the peg and hole won't conform as the peg is driven in. Much greater risk of splitting. Now, if this is a purely decorative element, I think brass and walnut look nice together. Have you considered using a wooden dowel inside a brass tube? That might provide a little bling without distracting too much from the walnut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted July 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 well three comments in a row pooped on my brass pins for the breadboard ends for aesthetic and construction reasons... but in true douche-y fashion, I did it anyway. So apologies to @K Cooper, @TerryMcK, and @wtnhighlander - I appreciate your input and advice, even though it may not seem like it! I futzed around with how to do the breadboard ends... it's tricky because they're not that wide (just the width of the legs since they're really just there to protect from wood movement with the captive shelves). I ended up trying the "domino-as-breadboard-tenon" approach I'd seen on youtube. If you're not familiar, the idea is that you put dominos in the main part of the table - tight and glued in. And then on the breadboard end you choose where the anchor point is (middle for me) - make a tight domino mortise there and loose domino mortises in the other holes. Here's a pic of the shelves and one breadboard, before I elongated the holes in the floating dominos... you can see the tight and loose domino mortises: If you look closely at the photo above, there's a bit of tearout on the ends of the shelves but that all cleaned up once I sent them through the drum sander after they were fully assembled: Here's a detail of what the pin looks like, I don't think it's too bling-y, and it'll be difficult to see once everything's fully assembled, anyways. There are some gaps between the breadboard and the end of the main body of the shelf. I didn't really drawbore them together (as @wtnhighlander discussed above), so maybe it didn't pull the joint as snug as using a wooden dowel and properly drawboring, but I can live with the gap you see). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 They look good. I think the brass pins are cool. I always drawbore my breadbord pins just a teeny weeny bit, like 1/64". That's all it takes. If you don't, you run the risk of pushing the breadboard away from the panel. That's no good. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 I concede, without a national convention! They do look good. I just envisioned bright shiney brass dots everywhere and obviously that's not the case. Good job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 Looks very good, Matt. I really like the brass pins. What's the deal with you not posting any pics/video of your sick new euro beast in action? This journal ain't crap untill we see the hammer in action ! Drop the hammer !! Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted July 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 @Eric. good to know. I gave the Cremona sofa table build a cursory viewing and missed that if he did it. What you say makes perfect sense and I'll incorporate that next time. @K Cooper thanks Coop - I think the small-ish brass rod (3/16") means it doesn't get too gaudy. Just wait until you see the handles I put in it, though! @shaneymack for the record, I'm reading that sign in the accent of Austria's second greatest export. Whatcha wanna see? @Llama wants some sort of review on that thing, too, I think. Since the tune-up, it's great. The jointer makes boards flat. Even really wide ones. It does nice things to the edges of boards, too. The planer makes two sides of a board parallel. The extension table is really useful because it makes the table longer. All kidding aside, it's mostly great. Cuts well. Segmented head is a dream, you barely have to pay attention to grain direction. The planer is ok. It doesn't seem to always get a great grip on a board - I think it has a steel roller... but it could be the questionable lumber I'm using (walnut that air dried in a barn for 25 years... there's a lot of cupping and hockey-sticking in that batch!) Biggest negative: I hate the fence mechanism. The stupid piece of metal that sticks out the back is super thin and catches on things. I bent it all outta shape when it got caught on a DC hose this week. It's made out of crappy paper thin metal. Just a terrible design. And not really a true negative, but holy cow does that thing make some wood chips! I feel like I'm always emptying the DC bin... and it has a 55 gallon barrel! Do you really want a video? Do you have some "chubby guy running wood over a jointer" fetish or something? I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 Heck yeah we'd like a video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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