Altar build


Bombarde16

Recommended Posts

OK, I did a quick moron check yesterday while at the church. Either I goofed on my initial dimensions or something's shifted. My initial survey and design sought to duplicate the dimensions of the existing table which I had at 39" high. At the time, we thought that the church would continue to use the existing altar linens. (My goal now is to produce something so lovely that nobody wants to cover it in cloth, of course.) I went back and, paranoid as usual, took a tape measure. The table top is actually 37 1/2" high. It's an improvised table that's sitting on cinderblocks (blessedly hidden by paraments) so maybe something shifted the last time they adjusted it. Who knows and at this point who cares? An inch and a half isn't something you can sweep under the rug.

The components for the top are done (excepting the inscription) so I went back to my plans and started playing with the undercarriage. Turns out that it actually improves the feel of the piece to lower the top and bring the legs closer in:

Lowered%2520top%2520and%2520brought%2520legs%2520in%2520with%2520lighter%2520slats.jpg

I further lightened the forest of slats that make up the legs: They were originally 1" x 1.5". I shaved an eighth off of each side and have them now at 1" x 1.25". No harm done as I had only just begun milling stock for the laminates.

Crisis averted. Happy camper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turns out that it actually improves the feel of the piece to lower the top and bring the legs closer in.

I disagree. As long as you're departing from the design as it was originally approved, I have to say that I've always thought it looked top heavy and unstable, as though the feet needed to be fatter or taller or something to visually support the massive top. To me, moving the legs closer together and making the slats thinner makes it look even more unbalanced.

Did you play with ways to lower the top without bringing the legs closer together, or are you committed to maintaining the exact geometry of the gothic arch?

-- Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have been playing with carving lately and with your mention of the forest of legs underneath what do you think of the idea to carve the tops of the legs to look like the tops of trees?

also a quick thought do you think having the feet of your alter that thin looks balanced? i think if you widen them make them look more solid with the thin legs and the thick top it it will balance out the hefty looking top with a solid looking foot without changing the size or measurements of your legs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have been playing with carving lately and with your mention of the forest of legs underneath what do you think of the idea to carve the tops of the legs to look like the tops of trees?

Methinks the kisser of ducks hath taken to licking toads...

also a quick thought do you think having the feet of your alter that thin looks balanced?

Perhaps...or perhaps it's a different strokes for different folks thing. The feet are already 3" by 5" in section and that feels fine to me.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished resawing stock for the laminations. Next call will be to an acquaintance who owns a drum sander.

1115121455.jpg

Built what I called the "upper receiver", the rectangular frame that holds the top of all the legs. Won't be visible, so it's nothing more than four pieces of wood butt-jointed and screwed together. Last task of the evening was to mark out the inscription (printouts and carbon paper) and start incising letters.

Keep the ball moving down the field.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As expected, things start to slow down as we get into the legs. The top is just about done. It needs a final sanding and then it's into the vapors. The inscription is done, excepting the letters G, B, R and D...i.e. any letters with curves. I'm waiting on a new carving gouge to get those. I've also got the recesses for the upper receiver cut. Technically, I can finish the top and get it out the door: Since I've got the upper receiver built and referenced to the top, the lower assembly is an entirely separate piece.

Somewhere in SketchUp, I lost (or gained) an inch on that upper receiver, so what should have been an easy job to measure and scribe for the straight legs had me going back into a morass of math to come up with a story stick. That done, however, it was on to the stock for the feet. Each foot is a triple thickness, so it's child's play to sink mortises into the feet: Simply notch the center board like a comb and then face glue the sides on. Will run these on the table saw tomorrow.

IMG_8345.JPG

And with that, our hero turns his attention to a new 7' Fraser Fir in the family room and a four year old who's been very patiently waiting for a box of ornaments to come out of storage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sanded the top up to 180 and broke the edges. Those parts will spend the next few days (only using household ammonia...it still works, but it takes longer than the high-test stuff) darkening in a plastic tent. Cut and chopped out the mortises in the feet, first one is in the clamps now:

IMG_8347.JPG

Everything's well oversize at this point, so the little misalignment with the center comb higher than the side pieces isn't a problem. This is a great way to sink a lot of mortises into a big piece...just be certain you don't put glue on the outside boards that will become the mortise walls. Don't ask me how I know this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great job! This has gotten me motivated to put down the slice of left over pumpkin pie, and get out to the garage to get going on the projects for the kid's school.

Inertia. If there's one tremendously helpful lesson to take from woodworking into the rest of life, it's awareness and maintenance of inertia in everything you do. The nice thing is that woodworking has so many ancillary/preparatory tasks that, even when you lose inertia and stall, you can slip yourself back into busyness easily enough. Witness: Tonight, my planer knives needed sharpening, my bench needed sweeping and the Irish were playing USC. Even though I didn't make any actual sawdust, I'm now a little bit closer to making sawdust and getting this thing out the door.

BTW, if you don't want to finish the pie, send it my way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Carving gouges finally arrived, so even though I didn't make any sawdust today, that still puts us closer to getting the inscription finished.

New gouges are invariably very crudely sharpened (if at all) and generally at a ridiculously high bevel. These were no exception: I measured one of them at a primary bevel of over 30 degrees. Mortising chisels for use in cast iron? Maybe. But paring and carving domestics with something that steep? Not so much. First step is to knock everything down to the house bevel. (Somewhere around 20, I think)

IMG_8349.JPG

Yes, it's a cheap, high speed grinder

Yes, it's a cheap, dry gray wheel from the Borg.

Yes, this will overheat the steel if you're not careful.

Yes, it's a great (and did I mention cheap) way to get things in the ballpark if you are careful. Careful here consists of:

  • No blade touches the wheel for more than a few seconds at a time. I grind in batches, so there were half a dozen other gouges chilling in a bucket of ice water just outside the frame. Chisel one goes for a single pass on the wheel, then back in the water. Chisel two makes a pass on the wheel, then back in the water. You can keep working quickly and by the time you get through the batch, chisel one is well and cooled down for another pass. As a bonus, there's a few drops of water sit in the cannel close to the tip. If you see one of them starting to boil, you know to back off.
  • No blade is actually sharpened (i.e. taken to a razor edge) on the wheel. Before grinding, I color the tips with a black Sharpie and only grind up to about a 1/16" away from the tip. If you actually do grind all the way to the edge, bad things happen.

Once the rough grinding is done, they're ready for the stones.

IMG_8350.JPG

Not much to look at right now and they don't have to be. Notice that there's still a thin line of Sharpie marker at the actual cutting edge. That's still factory bevel, so these things are still as dull as dirt. All this was just preliminaries to cut down on the amount of work needed on the stones. After grinding, I got impatient and took two of the smaller ones all the way through high grits, then over to a buffing wheel and polishing compound. Lots of work to welcome new steel into the family; but the new additions' behavior is very promising so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

im planing on geting two grinders. one grinder with a regular stone another with a white stone for grinding and sharpening. the second grinderI will rewire to run backwards and I will have a honing wheel and a buffing wheel that way i can hone and buff the burr off to a razor sharp mirror edge. figure that will be the easist and cheapest way to do it and then i dont have to spend tons of money on a system or work on a sharpener that is going to burn up my steel. i want to carve alot so i need a system that is fast and easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

rewire to run backwards

Somebody more savvy with electronics will have to weight in on how that's done. I'm sure there's a way; but I just mounted the unit backwards as part of building a new tool rest. Glad this inspired you to get into carving.

Finished the inscription tonight. A little sanding outside tomorrow, some pocket screw holes on the inside and the top will be ready for finish and assembly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice trick with the heat gun, gotta try that one.

Biggest drawback to the Tormec is it is slow ,painfully slow. But it is almost impossible to overheat the edge. Once you have it shaped and sharp it is a breeze to touch up an edge.

Your project is turning out beautifully.

Thanks for sharing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.