Leaderboard

When I built my router table this was one of my goals. I'm going to add handles to the tray of bits to make it removable. I found the little plastic inserts At woodline.com.

I got some finish on the chop and it looks pretty awesome. The cherry almost has a quilted maple look. The front is a bit larger than the back so it creates a shadow detail. My thought was this would look kind of neat on the bench. The finish is still curing so I'm going to wait to install the chop. This week i was focusing on getting the top flat so I had to build a router sled. I went to grab some 2x6 material from the shed to realize that I've used it all so I had to go buy more. Because i drive by a box store on my way home from work i never make a specific trip for anything and just do it the next day. So I had a night to mess around on the lathe. I bought some cheap calipers and dividers to take measurements and be able to replicate things. This made a huge improvement on being able to get the knobs similar in shape. For the sake of a few laughs i made all the knobs similar but just different enough that you can tell they aren't the same. I also wanted to make a bit of a joke on wood species so I used the 3 most popular woods. Purpleheart, Red Oak. and Pine, they also happen to be some of the most divisive woods. The stock i cut the purple heart from was VIBRANT purple so that knob is going to get really flashy eventually. IIRC purpleheart is more mellow after it's milled and takes some time to gain it's color. Last night I milled some 2x6s for guide rails to flatten the top. This worked out quite well. I ended up having a slight twist in the front slab and had to take off about 1/16" from the area in front of the leg vise. I think this is the biggest mess I've made in my shop. Normally the DC grabs all of the dust and my floor stays pretty clean. It looked like a Cherry Bomb had gone off.... It felt like it took longer to sweep than it did to flatten the top.

I’d say it’s at least a few grand...

Finally home from a long work road trip! Had some catching up to do! A few projects to get done that have been piling up! Only the bathroom vanity was done for YouTube.. 1. Table Lazy Susan and a cutting board for 2 different clients.. 2. A thread storage cabinet for my wife's quilting room 3. Bathroom Vanity for a client. 4. And, a floating picture frame for a family member..

I could copy it. I couldn't imagine and create it...The artist Chris Crash, beach combed for all the parts. He added hot glue and nails...

In fairness to Robert, his machine is the older version and has some history with him. Not sure where his was manufactured but, mine was in Taiwan. Because of his history with this particular saw, this seems like a pretty good deal for somebody.

FWW has some really good articles & plans on workbenches, many of them not Roubo (horrors! I can already feel the flames).

Looks awesome Drew! Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I have mine. Having a properly outfitted bench has definitely improved the quality of my work and its much more enjoyable to do as well.

I like your caster idea. Here's a couple of thoughts for your consideration. If you have the space, position the lathe so you can work from the backside (poor man's reverse), or at least get access to the back for cleaning, so you don't have to move it as often. I would make my drawers so that they are easily removed (just pull out). No matter how well they close they will gather up dust and chips, so might as well make it easy to empty and clean.

I got a couple of hours in and fit in some of the plywood panels. They're going to be screwed in through the metal legs, but I'm not doing that until the end. I have a couple more dividers to add, as well as fitting the back. The bottom plywood pieces are so that I have somewhere to attach my casters. I eventually settled on the work bench casters that retract so the lathe will be sitting directly in the floor when turning. I'm planning to mount them facing in, to minimize the size of the stand. I did drill a hole through the tab on each, as a fairly common modification seems to be to link the two sides together for easier lifting of each end. I figure it's a lot easier to do now, before they're installed.

In July, I posted a router-based method I used to remove the waste from hand cut hand-blind sockets (link). This involved orientating the boards vertically and routing into the end grain. This necessitated a rather clumsy piece of work-holding - which, as I explained at the time, was difficult to avoid as the end grain was not square to the sides, as is usual with drawer front. The bow fronted drawers created ends which were angled.With the usual square drawer fronts, both Bill and Roger on the forum preferred to place their boards flat on the bench and rest the router on the edge. Roger's photos ...However, this method leaves is too much waste remaining at the sides of the socket - as this is angled and the router bit is vertical - which means that there is more work needed to clear ...Bill's objection - that holding the work piece vertically looked too clumsy for easy work - continued to ring in my head. The horizontal method certainly had the advantage of being more stable. So, now that my then-current project, the Harlequin Table, is complete, between pieces I take some time to solve these problems. Which I have, and hopefully in a way that others will find helpful.Just as an aside, my preference is hand tool work, and generally if the wood is willing this is my go-to. The method here is not to replace all hand work, but to make the process easier in particular circumstances. Some of the timbers I work, especially for cases and drawer fronts, are extremely hard, and it is not viable to chop them out, particularly when there are several to do. It is not simply that this is time consuming - after all, this is just my hobby - but that it is hard on the chisels. I use machines to compliment hand tools. There is a time and place for everything.Let's take it from the beginning:Step 1: saw the pins ...Step 2: deepen the kerfs with (in my case) a kerfing chisel (see my website for more info) ...Now we come to the new jig. I must tell you that this did my head in for a long time. As with everything, there is a simple solution, and in the end it could not have been simpler!The need is (1) quick and easy set up, (2) accurate routing leaving minimal waste, and (3) visibility and dust control (bloody machines!).The jigThis turned out to be nothing more than a block of wood. This one is 16"/440mm long x 4"/100mm high and 2"/50mm wide.I used MicroJig clamps, which slide along a sliding dovetail. This is not necessary; one can just use a couple of F-clamps. However the MicroJig clamps not only make work holding less finicky, but they extend the length of the board one can hold with this particular jig to 500mm. That is easily enough for most case widths.To use, place face down on a flat surface and clamp the drawer front close to centre ...Up end the combination, and place the end of the drawer front into your vise. This could be a face vise or, as here, a Moxon vise. Note that the image is taken from the rear of the vise ...This is what you will see when standing in front of the jig/vise ...Let's talk about the router.This is a Makita RT0700C trim router. Fantastic little router: 1 hp, variable speed, soft start. Together with a Mirka 27mm antistatic dust hose, the dust collection is amazing! The photo shown is after use, and there is no dust to be found (I very much doubt that a small plunge router could remain this clean). That also means that visibility is good, even though it does not have a built-in light. There are other excellent trim routers around for much the same price. This is the one I use.The baseThe base is the other half of the jig. This made from 6mm perspex. This is not the strongest, but does the job. I plan to build another out of polycarbonite (Lexan), which is much tougher.There is just the single handle as the left hand will grip the dust outlet.Below is the rear of the base. Note the adjustable fence/depth stop ...This is the underside ...Plans for anyone looking to make their own ...Setting upStep 1: set the depth of cut - I scribed marks on the fence for two drawer side thickness I use. Mostly I use 6mm (or 1/4"). The other is 10mm, which is used here. I shall make another, deeper fence, so that I can add a few other thicknesses, such as 19mm for case sides.Step 2: set the cut to the boundary line - this is done as close as possible. In the end I want to leave about 1mm to clear with a chisel (this is such an important line that I am not willing to take a risk here). If you move the bit side-to-side, the scratch pattern will show where it is cutting ...The resultThe router bit is 5/32" carbide. It is very controllable, and this makes it possible to freehand close to the side kerfs. The fence/depth stop prevents over-cutting the boundary line. In 15 seconds, this is the result ...Turn the board around to chisel out the waste ..Order of waste removalFirst lever away the sides. The waste here is paper thin and breaks away ...Secondly, place a wide chisel in the scribed boundary line, and chop straight down ...Finally, use a fishtail chisel into the corners to remove this ...A note: removing the waste this cleanly and easily was facilitated by using the kerfing chisel to ensure that there was a release cut at the sides of the socket.Regards from PerthDerek

You sure make the sculpting look easy. I still get wedgies thinking about it!

They're cheap, too. https://www.woodline.com/products/plastic-bit-holders

yeah, I saw that video - Kev had a terrible experience, but mine is a few years older (not the current PM2000B version), and hasn't had any issues, other than the caster thing I described, which was fixed. It's a solid saw, so hoping someone here is interested before dropping into the hell which is Craigslist.

Jon Peters just did a hall table similar to this. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm sure the joinery is similar.

Looks great, Collin. I need to do something like that for my router bits as well.

Put some epoxy on the bottom of the legs if you're going to leave them outside year-round.

Good questions, I didn't really cover this when I went over that. The jig I use is limited, will sand at max 3" wide laminates. But it works well enough to not have to go out and get a drum sander. First thing is that the plan calls for 3/16" thick laminates, 6 per rocker. In the past I've used 1/4" with no problem on other rockers. These laminates after sanding measured in slightly below 1/4" and I used 5 laminates per rocker instead of 6, rockers measured out 1 1/8" thick once out of the glueup jig, about what you get with 6 laminates at 3/16". I don't think there is more of a problem going thinner, if anything there will be less chance of breaking if thinner. Breaking would be more a problem the thicker the laminates. The curve on these rockers is not extreme. In other projects where I've done bent lamination where the curve was more extreme I went thinner than this, less than or at 3/16". One thing that I pay a lot of attention to with the laminates is straight grain. Irregular grain or knots are more vulnerable to breaking. I use exclusively air dried lumber, except with this build. This build is KD Maple I got from Spanky. This is one reason I tried to get the laminates below 1/4" because my belief is KD is less forgiving when bending. This lumber worked out great for this, bent very easily and no issues. I don't have as much curly figure in these rockers, picked lumber with less curly figure thinking it would bend better, but that was based on nothing more than an uneducated guess.

We did some work in a large cabinet shop a couple of years ago & every machine had its own dust extraction & filters. They said it was cheaper that way because once you get into the big systems, the requirements for fire protection get extremely expensive.

What he said.

Cause it knows what you did...

The cedar will last a long time but not forever. Use ipe. It will go longer than cedar. But if you are real old the cedar may be forever.

Why does it seem like it's scowling angrily at me....

Man that looks awesome!

Art is in the eye of the wallet holder. I wouldn't be opening mine. Although give him full credit, the beach is a little cleaner .

Is the motor reversible? (I had another cup of coffee).

I don't have any specific experience with Delta lathes, so no idea if the price is good. But a couple of comments; most you probably know. It's a Reeves drive which is not necessarily bad (Powermatic uses it on its drill press), but you need to check it out. What is the speed range? I didn't see a banjo or tool rest in the pictures, but you want to make sure they're included. What size post on the tool rest? You can get various sizes, but one inch is kinda standard. MT sizes? MT2 is kinda standard. This model has a rotating headstock. This is a valuable feature, but also introduces some possible errors. Check that the headstock is secure when locked and that it is perfectly aligned with the tailstock. Then rotate the headstock out, check the security, return to neutral and re-check alignment with head stock. Check all the other clamp and lock mechanisms, etc. Bed flat and straight? That's what I can think of with one cup of coffee.

I know, art is in the eye of the beholder. I'm generally pretty liberal in my appreciation of art, but I would call that a good craft project on the level of a child. It's neat, but calling it art is a huge stretch.

I have a Grizzly one that collects dust because I tend to use the shop made one more often.

NIce work and a lateh to boot. Ain't woodworking grand?

Well done sir!

Honestly there are FAR too many variables to say Xhp will work. With a well setup efficient system a 1.5hp DC could be enough for a 1 man shop. 2hp would make things a lot easier. 3hp is enough to run 2 4" machines at once. 5hp is big enough to run 2 6" machines at once. 4" and 6" are the dust port size. If you minimize flex hose and move from tool to tool I don't doubt that collector would capture as much dust as a 4" port could collect.The 570 CFM is with 2" WC pressure drop on the hose so that assumes probably 10 feet of flex.Less flex hose is less pressure which is more suction. I have a 3hp gorilla pro their hepa filters are good and efficient.

Our Home Depot seems to promote Makita cordless tools more than the other brands. This has worked out for me in another way. In the back of the store, they have a set of shelves where they sell opened boxes that have been returned. Stuff sits back there long enough, and the price keeps getting marked down. Evidently, people bought the tool only tools thinking they included a battery when they didn't, and returned it. I bought an 18v Makita reciprocating saw (sawzall) for $21, and a 4-1/2" grinder for $15. Since I already had batteries, and chargers, the torn up boxes didn't bother me a bit. Those tools were brand new, and looked like they never had a battery in them.

How many times have I heard that? Kev, you have as much space in front of your Kapex as I have in my shop.

That's an interesting question. I think when sculpting I don't look at the joint or the grain, I just try to see the curve or silhouette. Look at the silhouette and feel it with your hand, that helps a lot.

Let's keep this ball rolling, a couple hours of work. Now that I've moved into the sculpting stage I get excited and anxious to see the finished product. I now have all the parts made up except the headrest. Both rockers are glued up, the arm is ready to glue to the chair and the spindles are cut out and waiting for the rasps. But before I move forward with any more glue ups I need to shape and sculpt all the leg/seat joints. You really want to do this before adding the arms as it is much easier to get to these joints without the arms attached. Before I get into the sculpting here's a quick pic of a rocker glue up. I always do a dry run, if something is going to crack or split I'd rather find out in the dry run! Dry run; Ok, safe to glue; Now to shaping/sculpting. I will start with the back leg to seat joint. This is the easier joint of the two to shape. I'll try to show different stages, hopefully it makes sense; Joint before any sculpting, right after glue up; To reduce the bulk of excess I use the RAS, I can go right up to the seat with the RAS; Literally 2 minutes later, rough shaping with 50 grit done; That was the joint on the top of the seat, here is the underside of the seat, the one part of the joint has been shaped, the other part hasn't been touched yet; Literally 2 minutes later, same joint, different picture angle, just shaped with the RAS; So once the RAS has done the bulk of reduction it's on to the rasps and my small sander with an interface pad on it. Above the seat I sand and shape up to the arm joint and below the seat I shape and sand half way to bottom of back leg. This pic is the top side of the seat, both joints are now sanded to 120, still have more finer sanding to do but we are looking good now; Another angle, again this is sanded to 120. Trying to develop a graceful flow and curves from the leg to the seat; Now to the front legs. We have a lot of bulk here and we need to be aggressive. This pic is prior to any shaping; I first attack the sides of the joint with the RAS; Here you can see the width of the leg now matches much better the area of the leg above and below the joint; Now you can notice I've started to blend in the leg/seat interface; And the inside of the front leg to seat joint, sanded to 120; So it took me 1 hr to get the back legs cleaned up and sanded to 120. It took me 1 hr to get the front leg finished on the inside but still rough on the outer side. Probably have another 45 minutes on the one front leg to get it completely shaped and sanded to 120. Once I get all the leg/seat joints shaped and sanded to 120, I'll sand to 180 and then glue on the arms. Then it will be on to shaping the arm/back leg joint and starting the headrest. I haven't found time to start on the spindles, but I think that will change soon. I still need to glue the riser strips on the rockers, will look to do that soon also. Total time sitting at 25 hrs. Thanks for looking.

I think he may have cut a couple of those before this one.... so impressive.

Today was the end of construction. Tomorrow I will give a sanding just to give me a chance to go over it with a fine tooth comb. Then a coat of shellac before spraying the finish. Then off to the upholsterers.

Big changes in the shop. Old work bench had to be moved out of the way. I got the mortises done on the bottom of the tops to get mounted to the base. Marc did them with the router but i REALLY hate cutting mortises with a router so i decided to go full Luddite and cut them with a chisel. One is quite loose.... but it's on the back slab. One is quite tight but sitting on the slab sent it home. After the mortises i hogged out the groove for the sliding dead man and then the base got moved in place. Slabs on top. Now I need to focus my attention on getting the chop shaped. I cut the 4/4 curly stock a bit larger than the 8/4 stock. I used the washer trick to offset the curve i created and shaped everything up. I forgot to take a picture of the detail so I'll have to post one later but this is what the front looks like. Next up is flattening the top. I need to make a planer sled and get some 2x material for rails. My front slab ended up with a slight twist maybe 1/8" so I'll have to address that at least.

Quick update to cover what else I completed this weekend. After sculpting the arms I drove the screws for them. So I'm done with the arms now until I glue them on and finalizing the shape. What I like to do next is glue the legs on to the seat blank. I'm jumping ahead of Marc's order, but since I've got the seat refined and the arms done I want to get moving on the sculpting of the chair. For this glueup I've tried different glues. Titebond III would work well here but the problem I've had with that is I've had trouble getting the legs to seat fully into the joint. I think the tight fit, the way titebond causes the wood to swell, and the large surface area of these joints makes this difficult. I've used hide glue and that is a little easier to get the joints fully closed. But the easiest glue to use is epoxy. There is no swelling of the wood and the joint slides closed better with this glue than the others. So I'll be using System 3, my go to epoxy. I like it because it has a thicker consistency. Also I made sure I sanded all my pencil lines off my legs, in the past working with light woods like maple I've not cleaned those lines off and they are visible after glueup, meaning more sculpting. Ready for glueup; Here's the consistency of System 3; Clamped up and joints look tight; Now while that glueup is curing, I went to a rocker glueup. In doing this project consider gluing up the rockers early, it makes for more efficient shop time. I already cut my strips for the rocker lamination, just needed to do a little more prep work. When cutting the strips on the bandsaw I cut a strip from each side of the board the jointed both sides of the boards, then cut, then jointed.... Here are my laminates; So I have laminates that are jointed on one side and bandsaw cut surface on the other side. Now I have a nice enough surface that I could of glued them up like that, Maloof actually did this. I don't have a drum sander, which would be the perfect tool to put a more even surface on the bandsaw cut side. I could of run them through the planer on a sled, but with the curly figured nature of these strips I was concerned about that. So I used a neat little attachment for the drill press. Brock recommended this in his video for his build. I've used it in my other rocker builds. It is called Luthier's Friend sanding station; It mounts on the drill press and is perfect for the 1 1/2" rocker laminates. It's a poor man's spindle sander with a fence. You can adjust the thickness by moving the back fence; Here's a pic with a laminate being sanded; So after the sanding of the laminates I glued up one rocker. I used Titebond II Extend. @Chet, I forgot to order some Unibond One, I wanted to try it for this build. Oh well there will be another time. I've used the TB II Extend with good success here. No pics of this glueup, but i'm about done with the "parts" of the chair. I only need to glueup one more rocker and make the headrest, right now it's all about sculpting. I'm excited to get on to this stage. I'll focus first on the leg to seat interfaces. Once I'm done there I'll glue on the arms and sculpt this area. This post covered 2 hrs of shop time, for a total of 23 hrs. Thanks for looking.

I picked up a couple of sheets of plywood yesterday to get started on this, a 1/2 and 3/4 of Baltic birch. As usual, I wrestled the incredibly awkward sheets and got them cut down. I sized the lower shelf and rough cut some of the other pieces, then decided to sand and prefinish them. I'm using Enduro var, since that's what I've got around. I think I've basically got it figured out. There's room for 4 drawers, or 3 if I make one deeper. I'm going with the workbench style casters, and it should be possible to mount them underneath so they won't stick out. I may have also ordered a pen mandrel today, and I'm planning to pick up a couple of kits this week. I need something to look forward to making after I get this done.

You are right to be concerned about the weight factor when it comes to books though. A lot of folks don't realize how heavy a 3 foot shelf lined with books actually is. Even 3 feet of paperbacks can weigh over 35 pounds; hardcovers more, of course. Box or finger joinery is quite strong. You are probably not using plywood but, this wall hanging tool box has served me well in a couple of locations. Doors still swing well and close/align correctly despite being loaded with tools.

This is a continuation of last post where I mentioned I had an issue with the arms, and this should be good stuff for those looking to build this in the future. The issue arose because I'm working with 9/4 stock. The plan calls for 10/4 and after surfacing the blanks I ended up slightly over 8/4. so here's where I started and ended up.... Took my first blanks and cut a 6 degree bevel on the front underside of the arm. This allows for for correct orientation to the arm stem area. Once again you use the 6 degree jig for this at the bandsaw; After cutting the bevels I went to the chair and it wasn't what I wanted; So why am I off, well it's the thinner stock. Now I've run across this problem in the past where I didn't meet up perfectly at this joint, but not off by this much. In the past I just went with it and shaped the back leg to meet the arm, creating a slightly smaller joint, but I wasn't comfortable with doing that in this situation, I off by too much. So my choices are to increase the angle in the front which means I need a new jig or to glue up a 1/2" piece to my existing blank. Well I didn't want to glue to this blank since the bevel was already cut on the underside, that is the surface I need to glue the piece too. You'll see why very shortly. So I got some more stock, sized it and cut the extra 1/2" pieces from one of the thinner arm blanks. Glueup and tackle it tomorrow; In the mean time I took a few minutes to cut out all the spindles, now they are waiting for shaping; Next day I marked my bevel, making sure the side the piece was added to will be oriented on the under side of the arm. Same thing at the bandsaw; Now I'm in business; Using a straight edge I mark the angle of the joint and transfer that to my chop saw; Perfect fit; Marked the location for the front dowel with a dowel center, Marc does a great job explaining this; Off to the drill press to cut the hole at the correct orientation, using the 6 degree jig again; Next is to cut out the arm shape. The plan calls for an arm that to me looks like a boat paddle, I've altered my pattern for a more streamline arm; Traced on blank and off to the bandsaw; After another series of cuts here are my rough arm blanks; Now to shaping. Start with the top of the arm. Marc does a super job walking you through this and I still refer back to the video for guidance. I've mark my areas for reduction and numbered them in order of shaping; One note, I want to hide the added piece and the joint it makes, my reduction on the top side stops short of this joint; Clamped to the bench and on to the RAS and rasps, now it's getting fun; My first 2 areas reduced, now will blend them together; Done and looks good; On to the underside; Here's why I want the piece glued to the bottom of the blank, the whole joint is hidden, except where it meet the front leg; And here are the rough shaped arms. Not really rough as the RAS leaves a decent surface and I sanded both to 120 with an interface pad on the sander; Still need to shape where the arm meets the back leg but that's done after glueup. The additional time to the total is 4 hrs, but this did take longer and I counted some of those hrs in the previous post. Sitting at 21 hrs. Thanks for looking.

So i had to get an oil change on my Subaru. Fortunately while i wait Rockler was only a very short 1.5 mile walk away. So instead of sitting and wasting time i went there and talked to a good knowledgeable employee. I've been needing a way to replaece those rotten aluminum knobs so was just poking around to see if there was some way i could manage that. Yeah it went south fast. The Comet II was on sale with a G3 chuck and tools for less than the regular price of just the lathe. Also a set of carbide tools was on sale for buy 2 get 1 free. So here we are my bench is near complete, and I bought a new toy that is just going to distract me. I guess at least I'll have knobs now. I'd proably have more free time and money if i just paid someone to turn them for me.....

Another quick update. I plan on fishing this week and weekend so I likely won't get back to this for a few days and I wanted to tidy this post up by reviewing what I did the past 2 days. Now that the front legs are set I've moved to the back legs. After cutting them out on the bandsaw and flush trimming them using the back leg pattern it's on to a few other procedures before we cut the joints. First thing is to remove stock off the inside portion of the legs. We remove stock below the headrest area and leave the headrest and the seat joint area at full thickness. We aim for 1 1/4" thickness in these reduction areas and 1 1/2" at the arm joint area. Here's what that reduction looks like; An adder block needs to be added to the inside surface of the leg at the seat joint area. This adder block should measure 3 x 5 x 3/4".Here the adder block is added and I am squaring and truing up this surface to the outside of the leg; Once that is completed we need to cut a 6 degree angle into this adder block to get the classic Maloof Rocker look. Here I've marked out the orientation for this cut, this is a huge exaggeration in the angle, the real angle cut here will not be as harsh; I'll be using a jig that is set at 6 degrees to make this cut, but I won't be doing that cut in this post, that will be done next post. A note about the adder block, try to get the block out of the same board the leg is cut from, will help with grain and color matching. While the glueup of the adder block was drying I took the opportunity to knock out some other prep cuts. Doing these prep cuts during glueups really helps speed things along. When you follow Marc on his video he tackles each step and part individually. The key is knowing what you are safe to jump ahead with. Cutting the laminate strips for the rockers is definitely one area you can jump ahead with. Here are 20 strips, bundled in matching sets as they came off the bandsaw; I still have a little prep to do with these strips but once that's done I'll glueup the rockers. It's also smart to glueup the rockers early, esp since I only have one form. Doing these early are big time savers. Another area it is safe to jump ahead with is the spindles. Shaping these spindles is by far the most time consuming and arduous task of this project. Here they are before bandsawing; After bandsawing I put them side by side and clamp together. Notice the irregularities; The next step is not necessary but I think it makes for a little more consistent outcome. While clamped together I use the RAS and the sanders to even up the contours; Flip over and don't remove clamps. Blend this other side like the first; We then use the other spindle pattern to develop the correct side contours; Using this pattern is not the easiest and since I like my spindles slightly more narrow I get the first spindle cut and the shape refined at the spindle sander and I use this first spindle to draw my cut lines on the other spindles. Another big time saver; It's alittle hard to see the lines but here are the other spindles marked up and ready for the bandsaw; One last mark for these spindles is to mark the midline front and back. This serves as a guide when shaping begins. I'll cut and shape these spindles gradually throughout the project now that I have them prepped. I will wait until the spindle holes in the seat are drilled before I start shaping though. The upper part of the spindles will be refined and shaped after the headrest is fitted. You need to cut some excess off the top of these spindle at this step so reduction and shaping of this area will be held off until then. My next goals will be to get the back legs jointed and fitted to the seat. Once I have that done I can begin with the arms. Time spent on these procedures; 2.5 hrs, total is now 11 hrs.

True, I realize that, but the way he shows it in the video looked sketchy. Now let me preface this with the fact that I'm not a lathe expert, I don't have all the attachments, and I have an old belt driven lathe. It works great for basic turnings but is limited beyond that. Finally, I've never drilled a hole on the lathe so experience here was also an issue. So why I thought it was sketchy; In his video he had the chuck and bit in place and with the piece only supported by his hands he started to drill the hole with the lathe at low speed. Once he had the hole started he increased the speed of the lathe and turned the wheel on the tailstock to engage the leg and advance the leg to the proper hole depth. I didn't like that the piece was only supported by my hands and changing speeds on my lathe is not as simple as hitting a button. Also I don't have a drill bit chuck that fits my lathe, I could get one but with it being an older lathe I've bought attachments for it and some fit well and some don't. In the end I've developed this technique and it has worked well for me. Also I think it's a viable way to handle this dowel hole if you don't have a lathe and you shape this leg by hand.

Here's my final review on the PM2000B - This video isn't public yet but, thought I'd give you guys the first look. https://youtu.be/qARex9vM_Lo

We are moving now. Here's my progress since last post.... This post I tackle the seat joints, pre-assembly shaping, and the seat glue up. Cut the back notches for the rear leg joints. A few thoughts here, first the size of the notch is only somewhat important. I try to be dead on but as you'll see with assembly there is extra seat here extending out past the rear leg. So if you cut the notch at 2 15/16ths" instead of 3", you'll be fine. The real big deal is the fact that this notch needs to be dead on square, I mean dead on. The front notches are only 1/4" deep, I set up the blade and the fences so the cut is done without needing any adjustments. Also I just leave on my standard blade and nibble away, quicker than setting up the dado stack; Against the Incra stop; Against the tablesaw fence; Cut is a little rough at first; Router plane makes quick work of this and gives me a perfectly flat surface. I would have used the router plane with the dado stack anyway, another reason I just use a standard blade for this notch. Once you have your notches it's time to route the notch to develop the classic Maloof joint outline. I find using the handheld router here a mistake waiting to happen. To me the router table with the starter pin in place gives me much more control; Few minutes later, looking good. With the maple I did get some burning, esp with the end grain. I don't think there is any avoiding this and the joint has a ton of gluing surface anyway; Now before I glue up the seat I'm going to take a minute to do some pre-assembly shaping. This helps a ton developing the contour of the future seat. The outside boards are placed next to the already cut boards they will be glued to. I strike a line for depth and begin shaping. Here you can see my guide lines; One side done; other side done. Take notice how little dust is present on the table. This operation was completed by the Festool Ras and took about 7 minutes per board!!! Is it necessary to do this pre-assembly shaping. No, but it helps. I can hold my RAS at an angle that is not possible when the seat is assembled. If you look at this photo you can see the RAS disc would be digging into the adjacent board. To do this operation once the seat is assembled you need to hold your grinder in a much more awkward and less effective angle; Here's a view of board number 4, I'm pretty aggressive with my reduction. I was aware of my domino placement and we should be fine. Once the seat is completely shaped then I would expect this area to be slightly over 3/4" at it's thinnest; Finally, all glued up, I almost forgot you need to put the seat in this position so glue doesn't drip down into your joints. Positioned wrong at first but caught myself; So you can see from above I'm well on my way to shaping this seat, it's nothing more than blending together the boards now. Also with shaping I think the biggest thing I see people do that I don't think looks good is they scoop out on the perimeter at a harsh slope to their depth then they have a large flat area 1" below the top of the seat. I want my slope to be more gradual and much less "flat" area. This shape tend to cradle the legs and the backside and is much more comfortable. I'll elaborate on this in the next post as shaping the seat is on the agenda then. These operations took just 1 hr, so I'm sitting at 4.5hrs so far. Thanks for looking.

Be careful what you 'almost' wish for. I certainly did not have long to wait.

This might sound strange, but what are you talking about?