Joinery

[legenddc]

On 4/28/2022 at 6:49 AM, wtnhighlander said:

@Coop, my opinion is that the ambrosia might look best if reserved for the drawer fronts, and door panels if you choose to not do glass. The remainder of the case in plain maple, with the walnut top, should look quite nice.

Check out BobKloes.com. He sells a lot of highly figured lumber, and has posted several pieces made entirely of such material. While the design and craftsmanship is impeccable, I feel like so much figure is just too busy to look at.

Yes, that's what I meant to type up but a kid woke up. I think using butternut and walnut for the case and the door panels as ambrosia maple could look similar to the link I included up above.

[wtnhighlander]

9 hours ago, drzaius said:

Highly figured wood is a case where less is more.

The sad part is that the people we build for generally don't care about beautiful figure. They want the color to compliment the wall paint, and that's about it.

[JohnG]

On 4/28/2022 at 7:38 PM, wtnhighlander said:

The sad part is that the people we build for generally don't care about beautiful figure. They want the color to compliment the wall paint, and that's about it.

I build for Myself and that guy is a total jerk. Always criticizing the smallest details of my work and changing his ideas on the fly. Plus he never pays up. 

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, JohnG said:

I build for Myself and that guy is a total jerk. Always criticizing the smallest details of my work and changing his ideas on the fly. Plus he never pays up. 

Not as big a jerk as the guy I build for 

[Coop]

This is an extreme reverse engineering. I have three walnut slabs left that I will try and piece mill the top of the media center ( for lack of better description) from. From what I have read, the MC should be at least as wide as the tv and preferably a couple of inches wider to look right. As I am hell bent on making the top from the walnut I have, I will buy the tv to fit. I need to have a 58”w x 20” deep top to get a 60” tv. And the tv will mount on the wall. Pics with progress. 

[phinds]

On 4/27/2022 at 10:34 PM, Coop said:

The left board is African mahogany that I picked up today to see what it looked like as I have never used it before

Coop, just FYI, and you are probably already aware, African mahogany ranges from pretty bland and boring to gorgeous ribbon stripe. Here's one side of a dulcimer case I made a long time ago. The full set of pics is on my site.

[Coop]

Wow! Certainly not what I purchased. What I bought would put you to sleep faster than Opra with less nightmares!  Thanks Paul! 

BTW, I like the offset latch

[Coop]

On 4/28/2022 at 5:32 AM, legenddc said:

Quickly putting this up there as an idea for the different woods: https://www.finewoodworking.com/2019/07/24/build-a-contemporary-sideboard

@legenddc, I viewed this when you first posted it and went back tonight to have another look and I see that I have that mag. Not only some some good stuff about combining different woods but on joinery as well! So far this project has not progressed beyond pencil, paper and eraser, mostly eraser! 

[Coop]

 

In reference to the first pic I posted of my project, it appears that the cabinet is simply a four sided case with the legs attached to the outside?  I can find no pics of the side to see if it is frame and panel so, that’s my assumption. To lighten the load and save on premium wood, I thought about making the top of the case, right below the cabinet top itself, in the form of a web frame with the show edge from my good stuff. In doing this, as the board attached to the end panel will go against the grain of the panel, I plan on attaching it with sliding dove tails, which I have never done. Naturally I will practice of scrap wood, sized the same thickness of my intended board. Since the top edge of the frame board needs to be flush with the top edge of the panel, would I be advised to cut the female part of the dt in the panel just below my intended location and trim off the excess? The dotted line in the sketch hopefully helps explain my question.

Edit: on second thought, it might be best to use a solid piece instead of a web frame and use a shallow rabbet and dominos to attach it?

[wtnhighlander]

Ken, I like your thoughts on the sliding DT, although it might not be strictly necessary. Assuming you cut them by router, your idea to leave the sides a bit proud seems sound. Just remember that when you trim the tails, every adjustment you makes is doubled as you run across both sides of the work.

I would use the router table for stability, cut the DT dadoes first, then the tails. Maybe use a tall fence adder for the tails, to help avoid tipping.

[Coop]

Thanks Ross! I watched a quick YouTube of Stumpy’s and he emphasized the need for the router table fence to be completely 90* to the table for the tails to be in alignment.

[treeslayer]

I think the trim to size would work @Coop but only with a flush trim bit after it was glued together, my reason is I think the risk of breaking out a piece of that end grain that close to the end of the board

[Immortan D]

Ken I think that sliding dovetail so close to the end of the board is a recipe for disaster 

I'd use dowels but I know you are not confident about getting them right, so dominoes maybe the way to go.

[Coop]

On 5/10/2022 at 9:53 AM, Immortan D said:

Ken I think that sliding dovetail so close to the end of the board is a recipe for disaster 

I'd use dowels but I know you are not confident about getting them right, so dominoes maybe the way to go.

Since there is very little meat left on the end? 

[Immortan D]

On 5/10/2022 at 12:21 PM, Coop said:

Since there is very little meat left on the end? 

Exactly and with the sliding dovetail the board is compromised from end to end.

[Chestnut]

In this instance this is a great application of secondary wood. I believe your suggestion is so that you can avoid a cross grain situation? Matt Cremona has covered this quite a few times in his builds, noteable the sofa table and the serpentine chest of drawers. I believe he has refered to it as a subtop. I agree with the above that a sliding dovetail that close to the end of a board is only going to be a recipie for disaster. Through or half blind dovetails would be the traditional way to do that. Alternatly a reinforced miter would work out a reinforced butt joint with dowels or dominoes.

[wtnhighlander]

If you are feeling really feisty, you could try a couple of stopped keyhole dovetails! 

I've seen this joint used to attach a table top to aprons, but can't seem to find a picture online.  

[Coop]

I think I’d better stick with what I do best, lag bolts! 

[Coop]

On 5/10/2022 at 11:17 AM, Chestnut said:

In this instance this is a great application of secondary wood. I believe your suggestion is so that you can avoid a cross grain situation? Matt Cremona has covered this quite a few times in his builds, noteable the sofa table and the serpentine chest of drawers. I believe he has refered to it as a subtop. I agree with the above that a sliding dovetail that close to the end of a board is only going to be a recipie for disaster. Through or half blind dovetails would be the traditional way to do that. Alternatly a reinforced miter would work out a reinforced butt joint with dowels or dominoes.

I watched Matt’s serpentine chest of drawers last night on YouTube and bought his build of the sofa table from the guild. It was the first video of his that I’ve ever watched aside from him milling logs. He is quiet a talented woodworker. 

[Chestnut]

26 minutes ago, Coop said:

I watched Matt’s serpentine chest of drawers last night on YouTube and bought his build of the sofa table from the guild. It was the first video of his that I’ve ever watched aside from him milling logs. He is quiet a talented woodworker. 

Did they help make sense of the concept? Based off the picture from your initial post it'd be how I would manage the situation.

Instead of making the entire sub top solid from front to back you could use 2 short sections to connect a front and back rail. This would leave the center of the sub top open. See Sketch Below. Might be hard to see but the cyan lines would be the wood edges and the magenta is the grain direction. This is how I'd do it.

 

[Coop]

Yeah Drew, it did help, thanks. I’m thinking about that same design with added cross pieces where the dividing panels will attach. Matt used Dominos to attach the front to the back with them glued in the front and floating in the back. With a solid sub-top, I wondered how I was going to attach the top but this method will allow for figure 8’s.

[Chestnut]

1 minute ago, Coop said:

Yeah Drew, it did help, thanks. I’m thinking about that same design with added cross pieces where the dividing panels will attach. Matt used Dominos to attach the front to the back with them glued in the front and floating in the back. With a solid sub-top, I wondered how I was going to attach the top but this method will allow for figure 8’s.

The top, subtop, case, sides, and bottom would all have grain in the same direction, there fore wood movement wouldn't be an issue. you could attach the top with screws from the bottom and be just fine.  Figure 8s could be easy but not necessary. This is how traditional casework is done, before frame and panel and plywood.

[Coop]

I just finished watching Matt’s sofa table build and I am now a fan of his! Great presentation! I picked up some darn good ideas. 

[Coop]

On 5/11/2022 at 10:28 AM, Chestnut said:

Did they help make sense of the concept? Based off the picture from your initial post it'd be how I would manage the situation.

Instead of making the entire sub top solid from front to back you could use 2 short sections to connect a front and back rail. This would leave the center of the sub top open. See Sketch Below. Might be hard to see but the cyan lines would be the wood edges and the magenta is the grain direction. This is how I'd do it.

 

Nut, I just zoomed in on your sketch and saw the magenta lines. As I will be doing dados on the underside of the sub-top for the vertical dividers, I think it will be just easier to make it solid wood, especially after yours and Matt’s advice of using screws to attach it to the top. Thanks!