Sideboard for the Dining Room

[pkinneb]

OK I thought I had one of every clamp known to man but apparently not  What are those? They look very useful.

[gee-dub]

One of those phases where a lot of work goes into areas that don't show much

It is starting to look like the drawing though.

[pkinneb]

Looks awesome!!

[treeslayer]

All I can say is WOW !!

[gee-dub]

Thanks guys.  I forgot to say "ya gotta love a sharp card scraper ".

[Von]

Very nice!

[treeslayer]

2 hours ago, gee-dub said:

Thanks guys.  I forgot to say "ya gotta love a sharp card scraper ".

Under appreciated by people who don’t have one, I have 2 and a sharp one will do things other tools can’t do, used mine today to clean up some burn marks on soft maple 

[Chet]

That is really starting to look nice Glenn.  I can't wait to see the addition of the pulls.

[gee-dub]

I know I wandered off a bit on this.  I had a set back on a couple of breadboard ends that developed an unacceptable level of twist.  I had a bit of a personal struggle as all other elements of the part were fine.  I finally had to admit that the amount of twist was going to cause issues I just didn't want to deal with.

The good news is that I get to use the failed units as templates for the new ones thereby speeding up the "make another one" process.

I milled the new blanks oversized . . .

I let them acclimate for a couple of days.

Once they proved stable I jointed, planed, ripped, and crosscut the required blanks from them.

The failed originals worked fine for templates for the curves and other layout.

I use draw bore joinery for breadboards.  I am sure most here have seen the use of a smaller diameter transfer punch to provide the offset draw bore hole in the mating piece.  If not, search on draw bore joinery on Fine Woodworking's site.  Lotsa good info there.

Above you see me using a 3/16" transfer punch to mark the hole location for a 1/4" through hole requiring a draw bore.

Peek-a-boo.

Once all profile routing and hand-grip routing are done I affix the breadboards to the panels.

The draw bore joints make a nice, tight, connection point.

 

[Mark J]

I don't recall you using draw bores for the first version.   Are you using them now to help keep the breadboard ends straight?

[Coop]

@gee-dub, could your drawer locking bit be used on a overlapping drawer that does not have a false front? I’m toying with the idea but don’t see a resolve. 

[gee-dub]

On 5/10/2023 at 5:12 AM, Mark J said:

I don't recall you using draw bores for the first version.   Are you using them now to help keep the breadboard ends straight?

These breadboards are also functional handles for pullout surfaces.  I just wanted a little more confidence in their snug fit over time.

On 5/10/2023 at 7:26 PM, Coop said:

@gee-dub, could your drawer locking bit be used on a overlapping drawer that does not have a false front? I’m toying with the idea but don’t see a resolve. 

That is actually how I originally saw it used; 1/2" sides and back with a 3/4" front.  The bit normally cuts the front panel of the drawer box as the actual drawer front. Here's a not-so-great example from a plywood shop cabinet but it is all I had handy. The plywood makes it a little hard to tell but the front piece is one 3/4" panel, not a false front.

[gee-dub]

Side note . . . . wired up one of those inexpensive, magnetic LED lights to the sander. Really helps these old eyes.

A hot tip; if you need to machine curved or sculpted parts . . . do as much as you can before adding the curves.

I use the DP and stops to drill the piliot holes for the screws that will hold the pulls in place. I have used brass inserts in the past and prefer them for smaller pulls. These have plenty of meat to set the mounting screws in so I skip the inserts.

I use Darrell Peart's square hole punches to square the ends of the routed slots that will accept the ebony splines.

The splines are tapered on all four sides to make them fit the mortise like a cork.

Every now and then my wife or I will have a clever idea out of nowhere. Our response to this phenomena is to look at each other and shout Gummmmp! I realized I could chuck the square hole punch and use the DP fence and stops to quickly and reliably square the ends of the routed slots.

I was gifted a Veritas Hand Jointer. Although I appreciated the gift I found I only used it a few times a year. Needing a method to consistently taper the splines I had an epiphany. I shimmed out the fence face to the position I required. I also made a little push stick to keep my pinkies away from the iron.

Then I used brass setup bars to set an angle for the fence in relation to the iron.

This lets me make a few passes per ebony blank to get the perfect 3 degree angle for the "cork" fit I am after.

 

 

[gee-dub]

I have used this method for other pulls in the past. I had thought about modifying a circle jig to make a "universal" trammel jig. The fact is that the need for such a thing is seldom so I just make them as required out of scrap. The pull shaping jig is just a trammel with a perpendicular end cap to hold the pull being milled.

The pull mounts via the connection points already selected and piloted.

The pivot is at a point that matches the radii of the pull's face radii. . . more or less.

The pull blank is band sawn to approximate shape to minimize the sander's effort.

You pass the blank across the edge sander's running belt via the trammel jig.

You end up here.

Ready to "fit" the ebony splines.

[Mark J]

Very clever.

[Chet]

Some really useful jigs Glenn.  The edge sander is something I would have liked to have but lacking the room, it will remain forever on the wish list.

[gee-dub]

On 5/12/2023 at 9:50 AM, Chet said:

Some really useful jigs Glenn.  The edge sander is something I would have liked to have but lacking the room, it will remain forever on the wish list.

The first time I did this was on the Ridgid EB4424 that I used to store on a shelf when not in use.  It only weighs 40 lbs.

[gee-dub]

On 5/3/2023 at 11:47 AM, pkinneb said:

OK I thought I had one of every clamp known to man but apparently not  What are those? They look very useful.

Sorry @pkinneb I missed this.  They are face frame clamps.  They used to be used en masse by the kitchen and bath folks. I do not know if this is still the case.

[Von]

Quote

The pull blank is band sawn to approximate shape to minimize the sander's effort.

Out of curiosity, any reason you use the trammel with the sander and not the bandsaw?

I would have made the jig for the bandsaw and used a sander to clear up the cut. Perhaps just because I don't have a sander close to your edge sander? TIA.

[gee-dub]

On 5/12/2023 at 2:19 PM, Von said:

Out of curiosity, any reason you use the trammel with the sander and not the bandsaw?

I would have made the jig for the bandsaw and used a sander to clear up the cut. Perhaps just because I don't have a sander close to your edge sander? TIA.

The edge sander brings me a lot closer to "done" off the machine than a bandsaw does.

I do rough cut the curves on the bandsaw but, using the trammel does not get me much closer than cutting by hand,  Rough cutting on the bandsaw, inserting the ebony and then sanding via the trammel bring me very close to a finished product.

 

[gee-dub]

Talk about dredging an old "version 1" out of the dusty corners of my stash spots. . . I had to go look . . . I pulled this thing out of the deeper recesses of my mind about 10 years ago.  My requirement at that time was a random pattern sanding of small parts where bringing the tool (even something as light as a ROS) to the work was more awkward that bringing the work to the tool.

It is probably obvious that I made this out of scrap left over from some IKEA TV table or the like.

I imagine a version 2 is somewhere in this thing's future but for now, the version 1 lives on.

The table gives me a reliable 90 degree perpendicular surface while the ROS function lets me hold items free-hand without the risk of things being thrown out of my hands.  All and all a good investment in time despite the shoddy materials used to make it.

[Von]

Thank looks pretty darn useful for the reasons you give!

[gee-dub]

I know this is getting almost as painful as watching paint dry but the last few hours of almost any build just seem to be that way . I got my neighbor to help me lay this beast down on its back.

This put me in a good position for laying out and cutting the square peg details.

I use tape on a lot of things to make layout lines more obvious. I locate the through hole locations with a stubby awl that my dad made for me once upon a time.

I use a transfer punch to locate the drill guide.

A backer board and the drill guide give me a nice clean hole entrance and exist.

I test mounted a pull to check my layout.

Once I finish off my lunch break PB&J and these holes I will start on the backsplash.

 

[gee-dub]

I guess I just ran out of gas . . . . I laid out the template for the backsplash per my drawings.

Roughed it out at the bandsaw and faired it at the bench.

I use this template to mark out the blank, rough the blank out at the bandsaw, and then template route it.

There is some additional work to be done on the backsplash that will become obvious later.

I started in on it but just ran out of gas . . . More tomorrow.

[gee-dub]

It's a new day . . . I made a quick template to route out the ebony spline mortises on the backsplash.

You can see the general look I am after here.

This Velcro may look goofy but I have had rare occasions (not rare enough) where I have raised the plunge router too high following a pass.  The bearing leaves the controlled area and the cutter eats the pee-wad out of the template.  This can be repaired with epoxy or bondo but, why not just not do it in the first place ?

The brass setup bars help reinforce the somewhat delicate dividers on this template.

The test cut on some scrap went OK.

Following the cutting of the "keeper" I check the mortises very carefully.  If there are any areas that got missed or are not as expected it is MUCH easier to address these with a chisel or gouge while the template is in place to act as a guide.

This gives you a pretty good idea of what I am after.  

The ebony splines will be a bit proud and pillowed.  This is a 'tip of the hat' to the G&G pull design on the bottom drawer of the bookcase in the living room of the Blacker House.