# Iroko & Sycamore - Arts & Crafts Side Table WIP



## ByronBlack (20 Sep 2007)

Now that the workbench is finished, I can finally sink my teeth into a decent hand-tool fine furniture project. Her in doors has been on my ear-ole for months about a side table to have next to the sofa so she can put a cup of tea on it instead of leaving it on the floor where the cats can knock it over.

So, in light of that I present to you humble woodies my latest project (don't sigh please!) the side table: codenamed 'Libra'.

The wood for this project was all sourced on ebay as off-cuts, I have some nice sections of rippled sycamore (Won it for £7) and some staves of Iroko (£ 8.00). The Iroko will make up the legs and the table-top inset.

The sycamore will make up the rails, top supports and a mitre'd outer section to surround the Iroko 'inset' for the top.

Onto the pictures:

The recycled Iroko staves:






The sycamore boards:





Cutting leg pieces & top insert staves to rough length, using my new spanky workbench:





Staves for top insert cut:





Pieces of timber with parcel timber to keep the staves flat during glue-up





Glue-surfaces of all staves being jointed on el-rusto:






Thats it so far, the two pieces for the top insert are being glued up over night, tomorrow will see them thicknessed to final size and then glued-up to make the completed 310 x 310 top. The leg staves will then be glued together to give enough material to make the legs, these will then be thicknessed on saturday, sunday should see the mortices being cut and the sycamore components created.


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## Mike.C (20 Sep 2007)

Sounds nice Byron. Can't wait to see it.

Cheers

Mike


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## ByronBlack (20 Sep 2007)

Mike, here's a very quick sketch of the rough idea:






The legs will much thinner and longer than in the photo, they'll be about 35mm at the top tapering to about 20mm at the bottom.


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## Slim (20 Sep 2007)

I like the design Byron, and I think you have chosen some nice timbers.

I'm looking forward to some progress.


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## DomValente (21 Sep 2007)

Like that design BB.

I think, bit early for this, the table top should be turned to be at right angles to the rails or you may have expansion problems, I think :? 

Dom


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## lurker (21 Sep 2007)

Byron,

You are getting very good......................












at drive bys :lol: :lol:


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## ByronBlack (21 Sep 2007)

Dom - You can't see from the picture there, but the Iroko top will be inset into a mitred sycamore frame, BUT it will be 'floating' with a 5mm gap all round to allow for the expansion: I think that should be sufficient? Please correct me if I havn't thought this one out correctly though.

Lurker - what drivebuys? El-rusto? or may fancy schmancy ruler?


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## DomValente (21 Sep 2007)

Sounds good to me BB

Dom


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## OPJ (22 Sep 2007)

I'm looking forward to this one! Is that the Lyndhurst/Axminster-clone I can see in the background? I got mine in to the £30 mobile base using the two-lengths-of-timber method under the fully raised and locked thicknessing bed method, just in case you'd like to know.

Incidentally, my mum's mentioned to me that she wants a new coffee table made from Ash, to match the TV stand I made last year. I'd like to incorporate some darker timber in there somewhere though (even if she thinks our current catalogue-jobbie is "too dark") and I like how you've used eBay to source a relatively small amount of timber which may be hard to obtain in some areas. I might have to pinch that idea myself...! :wink: Did you have to pay much for delivery on top?


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## ByronBlack (22 Sep 2007)

OPJ":3ndrifao said:


> Is that the Lyndhurst/Axminster-clone I can see in the background?



Aye, it is indeed 



OPJ":3ndrifao said:


> Did you have to pay much for delivery on top?



The delivery for the sycamore and the Iroko was about £10, so all in all the wood for this project was just shy of £40 but there'll be almost as much left over, so its cost about £20 for this project.


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## ByronBlack (22 Sep 2007)

*Update*

Some good progress today. It's a joy to get back to hand-tool methods. I've glued up the staves to make up the top insert and also the leg blanks. The top insert has been thicknessed and is ready for smoothing.

Later this evening, I rough cut all the sycamore components; rip cut on the bandsaw and cross cut with a handsaw. The components were; thin cross rails, wider cross rails which will be curved, supports for the top, and finally the outer mitred rails which completes the top.

Tomorrow should see the planing to final thickness of the legs via the thicknesser (my hand planes create too much tear out on the Iroko). I will however be hand planing the sycamore parts to final dimension as I feel these are too small to go through the machine, and besides it's satisfying doing these by hand.

Pictures:

Two parts of the top-insert (Done in two parts to fit in the thicknesser)






Last two legs and the top-insert during glue up.





All components at rough dimensions ready for planing to final size tomorrow:





*Questions:*

I need to make a 20mm wide by 5mm deep rebate on the mitre top components. I have a largish shoulder plane - is it a good idea to use this against a fence to plane the rebate, or would I better off waiting to get a combo plane? Will the shoulder plane do the job accurately enough against a fence (I need to work out how to hold the stock also).

I intend to pin the through tenons of the rails with 3mm dowel - is that too small? the tenon will be 6mm wide by 12mm long so the 3mm bit will be going through the centre of the 12mm dimension.

Thanks for looking.


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## ByronBlack (23 Sep 2007)

*Update*

Had a really productive day, completed another 4 items on the 'to-do' list. Today was all about taking the rough sawn components and getting them to final dimension, this task was completed with hand planes and was a joy to do, the new bench makes this job so much easier than it was before, so a couple of hours later I completed all the dimensioning.

The next task for today was to mark and cut the tapers in the legs, this was done by feeding the stock through the bandsaw by eye and then tidying up with the jointer, they'll eventually be scraped to a final finish.

Planing the small cross rails to size (20mm square)





Shooting the ends of the legs square





Tapers being marked (you can see the cutting list under the leg)





Manual cutting of the tapers - didn't have the inclination to make a jig.





Planing the rough finish left by the bandsaw





Tapers finished






Tomorrow will see the marking and cutting of the mortices and the tenons and glue-up of the two leg assemblies.

*Question*

So far I have the tapers on both side of the legs, should I extend this further by tapering the front and the back? I thought I might do this and with a small hollow plane round of the edges, or do table legs generally look better with just tapers on the side?

Also, i'm considering using a bridle joint for the sycamore outer-top instead of mitres (not confident of doing a good job on these) what are your thoughts and opinions?


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## Lord Nibbo (23 Sep 2007)

It's looking good BB :lol: Tip.... Planing those legs smooth on the jointer, turn the leg around with the thick end nearest the rotor, then as you pass the wood over the cutter it wont be cutting into the grain but across it.

I dont like legs tapered on the outsides it makes it all look top heavy IMHO, just leave it with the taper on the insides (the face with the tennons) :lol:


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## ByronBlack (23 Sep 2007)

Thanks for the tip LN - i'll try that next time! As for the tapers, you might not like mine then because the taper is both sides of the leg inside and outside so it goes from 35mm thick at the top to 25mm at the bottom.

What I was enquiring about was whether or not to put a taper on the front and the back of the leg also or just leave the taper on the sides (as looking at the table front on).


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## Lord Nibbo (24 Sep 2007)

ByronBlack":32c0aone said:


> Thanks for the tip LN - i'll try that next time! As for the tapers, you might not like mine then because the taper is both sides of the leg inside and outside so it goes from 35mm thick at the top to 25mm at the bottom.
> 
> What I was enquiring about was whether or not to put a taper on the front and the back of the leg also or just leave the taper on the sides (as looking at the table front on).




It's not case of what I like BB it's what you like :lol: My swmbo likes straight chunky legs, I like tapers only on the insides (same side as the mortices) I would suggest that maybe you could taper three sides, both left and right as you have done and maybe the back. Try it on a bit of scrap and see what you think.


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## ByronBlack (24 Sep 2007)

three sides sounds like a good suggestion... you're right, I shall try this on scrap. Thanks LN


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## engineer one (24 Sep 2007)

looks interesting bb, will be interested in your experience gluing up the lengthways legs.

having done the end panels at last :roll: 

now it is fettling the long bits :? not easy on your own.

good luck

paul :wink:


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## ByronBlack (24 Sep 2007)

*Update*

Another quiet and enjoyable day in the workshop today, got a few more hours in and was mostly all hand work. Todays task was to mark up the mortices and get the blighters chopped - these are through mortices.

Onto the pics:

Marking all done:





Using a stop block, I put a single drill hole in the smaller mortices, and about three in the longer mortices, this is a 10mm bit, but hte mortices will be widened to 12mm.





Using a kirschen butt chisel, I knock out the corner:





The smaller mortices complete. These are for thin cross rails:





The longer mortices for the slighter wider rails are also now complete, I just need to square up the final mortices for the side rails and I can get on with fitting the tenons:





So there we are. Again, it's such a pleasure using a sturdy bench to do slow methodical hand work, very satisfying. However, I really need to do more practicing on through mortices, I find it very hard to keep within the marking and knife lines, I always seem to do want to do a final pare to clean it up and invariably it ends up wider or longer than it should be, but at least they are semi-neat and i've tried where I can to make the visible parts for the exposed joints as clean as I can, there is some variation between the mortices, so it means a little more fiddling with tenons to get them to fit accurately, but thats not such a bad thing as it'll mean I will have to slow down and concentrate on each one rather than making any mistakes by making them all the same size and realizing I wasn't very accurate.


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## MooreToolsPlease (24 Sep 2007)

In some ways it might be a good thing that each tenon will need to be fitted to its mortice, you can never practice too much!
for the smaller mortices, would a smaller drill used a number of times have been easier to stay within the knife lines?


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## ByronBlack (24 Sep 2007)

HI matt, for the smaller mortices - you may have a point here, I used a 10mm thinking I would have 1mm each side to pare back but i think in retrospect you're correct maybe an 8mm would have been better.


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## david simper (24 Sep 2007)

You ask about rebating with hand planes. Check out Alf's site for all advice on combi planes. 

I used the Record 044 on my recent table project and this was the best I've tried personally; adding an additional timber fence helped. You might consider going for the 078 rebate/filister plane - super job. I also have a Stanley 050, but this has so many sticky out bits that it tends to put me off using it, especially now I've got the 044.

The shoulder plane idea sounds a bit fiddly me for my tastes, but I had the privilege of my dad's 078 being available.


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## MooreToolsPlease (24 Sep 2007)

Squaring up corners in hardwood is tricky at the best of times, I try and avoid rebate cutters for the router at all costs.
The smaller the radius the less work to do


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## ByronBlack (24 Sep 2007)

Thanks for the info David - A combo plane is definitly on the shopping list, but the wooden shoulder plane is the only thing on hand at the minute suited to the task, so i'll probably have to practice a little on some scrap first!

Matt - I didn't use a router for roughing out the mortices, I used a drill bit - but still with the issue of squaring the rounded corners, it was either that or chop the mortices all by hand, which would be hard for me to do as the small mortices are too small to do just with a chisel - well for me anyway, I need more practice  But they seem ok so far, and once the tenons are fitted it should all come together quite nicely.


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## engineer one (25 Sep 2007)

byron about your slot, or whatever we might call it.

i cut some grooves into some of my cross and long rails using both methods, hand tools ie my stanley plough, and i now discover that the 
blade got damaged very quickly, seems friable. also you need to make a proper effort into making sure that you plane on the correct size and at the correct depth.

second lot, because of where they were, i used the router and table.
which has caused me to get round to putting up a wall plate for the 
woodrat which i think will be more speedy and accurate. certainly think it would be more accurate in the first stages.

you could of course try to get practice and rout a small groove, then use the shoulder plane against it. otherwise i think the problem with the shoulder plane is keeping it upright and square, plus not pushing the guide out of the way, also you may get bored having to re-sharpen a lot with the wood you are using.

good luck

paul :wink:


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## ByronBlack (25 Sep 2007)

thanks for the tips paul - I think i'll see how it goes on the scrap to see if this is do-able. I really really don't want to use the router for this as it seems to the embodiment of all my failures, it's a mini mojo black hole! I would rather sharpen the blade plenty than use that tailed demon again


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## engineer one (25 Sep 2007)

i think though it is important to combine skills to give you the results you want.

don't depend on hand skills only if they cannot deliver what you need :roll: it is not cheating.

paul :wink:


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## MooreToolsPlease (25 Sep 2007)

I was using the rebate cutter as an example, when making glass paneled doors its one of the tasks I loath :evil:


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## ByronBlack (25 Sep 2007)

MooreToolsPlease":3eea8swy said:


> I was using the rebate cutter as an example, when making glass paneled doors its one of the tasks I loath :evil:



I see.. my apologies 

Paul - I understand where you are coming from and it's an ethos that i'm really leaning towards, especially with the experience of the workbench, but at the moment with my bad luck with the router I really feel a fenced shoulder plane albeit a lot slower will be more succesful. I only have enough wood for this one chance, and I'm no fan of using the router at the moment and don't want to mish it up.

*Small Update*

The van was being serviced today so I had a few spare hours off work, I took this as an opportunity to finish chopping the final 4 mortices, which went quite smoothly, I finished up by taking out the tear-out and planing marks on the legs with a freshly sharpened cabinet scraper - scraping is tough on the thumbs!!

Either way the legs are almost done. I just need to cut a notch the tup to accept the tabletop support pieces and give a sanding of 240 grit ready for the finish.

No photos for this update at the moment as my flash card is playing up 

Thursday will see the start of the hashup - erm i mean cutting of the tenons.


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## engineer one (25 Sep 2007)

if you are going to use a card scraper then i can heartily recommend the 
veritas scraper holder (no rob didn't pay me :roll: )

stops your thumbs getting burnt, and gives better tension to the scraper. 8) 

worth checking out

paul :wink:


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## ByronBlack (25 Sep 2007)

I'll certainly add that to my list Paul - thanks for the tip. Now that i've learnt how to sharpen the scraper I can see myself using it a lot more often, so much more convenient than getting out and setting up the ROS.


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## ByronBlack (26 Sep 2007)

*Update*

Today I havn't been well. Last night I 'treated' myself and the mrs to a take-away meal as we are getting low on food and couldn't be bothered to do the fortnightly shop until the weekend. Anyway long story short i'm really not well so didn't go in to work. I couldn't just lie in bed so I decided to go and have a crack at the tenons.

Not too bad so far, I've made a few mistakes and most probably have to shim some of the joints with a thin slice of veneer, but overall it's ok. The exit mortices aren't as neat as I would have liked but then I always knew that the through mortice was going to be hard to get right - another case for a dedicated mortiser perhaps.

Pics:

Cutting the tenon on the bandsaw:






Tenon cheeks cut, I also went on and cut the shoulders:





Completed tenon ready for final fitting:





First trial fit seems ok:





First leg assembly complete (dry fit) with both rails installed. I was going to curve the lower thicker rail, but I think i'll leave it square as I don't think the curve would suit:





I'm going to have a bit of a break, and maybe attempt the other leg assembly later today, if that goes ok I should have a completed base. I only then need to construct the mitred top and assebmle the piece and apply the finish.

This project is going quite quick for me really which is nice.


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## Paul Chapman (26 Sep 2007)

That's looking nice, Byron. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Lord Nibbo (26 Sep 2007)

Cool man ccasion5: nice to some assembly it's getting really interesting now. Amazing how an hour or two in the workshop can make you feel better ennit. :lol: :wink: I hope your not too unwell. :?


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## ByronBlack (26 Sep 2007)

Paul, Nibbo - i'm fealing much better thanks, I think my body has managed to rid itself of all offending matter. Not that it'll make me any better about the workload that'll face me when I go back into work tomorrow, i've already missed a day and a half, looks like i'll be work in late into the evening or on my day off ;(

But, to cheer myself up, I continued with today's work. Here's what I managed to do:

Both leg assemblies complete and joined with side rails:





It's looking quite handsome:





Table top supports are rebated in:





I think I got my proportions right (t'was all guesswork on paper).





A quick mock-up with the top (minus the sycamore mitred edges):





These shots are all dry fit, and it's reasuringly sturdy! I'll be trimming all the tenons to 5mm beyond the legs, they are between 10 and 12 at the moment, they'll also be shaped/beveled. The top supports will be rounded over, all the rails will have their edges bevelled along with the legs (only a small round-over bevel to soften the edges).

Even though i'll have a mountain of work to do when i go back tomorrow, it's been nice to do more hand work today and was quite theraputic.

So far, I've only used the p/t and bandsaw (and a quick job on the drill press) with this project, so it's closer to my ideal hand-tool centric way of working, and it's been great fun! Just a couple more hours in the workshop should see this puppy ready for the finish.


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## DomValente (26 Sep 2007)

Very nice BB, looks like a Chinese puzzle  

Dom


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## Paul Chapman (26 Sep 2007)

I like it, Byron - very Krenovian  

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Slim (26 Sep 2007)

Yep, I really like that Byron. Very nice design :wink:


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## Imperial (26 Sep 2007)

Are you going to wedge the tenons?


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## MooreToolsPlease (26 Sep 2007)

looks great, I like the contrast between he legs and rails.
I wonder how it would look with a taper on all 4 sides of the legs?


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## Lukey (26 Sep 2007)

Surely the top needs to be rotated 90 degrees for optimum stability?

Are you just glueing or will there be overcut dowels in ends of the tenons (like the old priory styles)???


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## ByronBlack (26 Sep 2007)

Thanks for all the kind comments!

Bloonose - I'm not decided on this yet. I might not as I think it may be a little too fussy, espeically with the existing exposed joints, what do you think?, i'll sleep on it though and see how I feel tomorrow. 

MTP - I did consider the taper on all four sides, but I like the legs with rectangular 'foot' so i'm not sure i'll do any more tapering, but again i'll think more on this I havn't got so far that I can't go back and do this, so i'll let the idea tick over and see where it goes 

Lukey - the top isn't going to be installed like that - it's mearly to a get an idea of what it'll look like. The top you see will be inset into a mitred sycamore frame, it will be 'floating' on rebates that will create a 5mm gap between the iroko inset and the sycamore frame so this will be adequate for movement. It will also just be glued. I did consider using dowell pins to strengthen the frame, but I think it will be plenty strong as it's mostly decorative, not sure what you mean by 'overcut' dowels though - do you have a picture or diagram?


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## Imperial (27 Sep 2007)

I think it would look even better than it already does with the tenons wedged in the contrasting timber, just small ones perhaps?


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## woodbloke (27 Sep 2007)

BB - hope you're feeling better soon. Interesting design with the exposed joints, I tend to agree with LN's observations earlier about tapering the outside on a table leg, I only taper the inside if I do this sort of table but as it's a very personal thing you need to design and make it as you like it. 
I would wedge the joints using some iroko...don't in my view introduce a third timber. If the tenons are to be rounded over (as in the stand for my Elm Chest) then you'll need to be very careful not to mark the outside of the legs which need to be finished and sanded before the glue up stage. I found that a pair of skew chisels very useful for shaping the end of the tenons and a good, well set-up shoulder plane is excellent for shaping the longer sides.
One final thing...if the joints are to be wedged then placement of the cramps at glue up time is critical so that you can tap in the wedges.
Hope of some help and looking forward to seeing the job completed - Rob


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## ByronBlack (27 Sep 2007)

Bloonose/Rob

Thanks for the info and tips, I agree about using Iroko for the wedges, I think three woods would be overkill in such a fussy design. I'm still unsure about the wedges though - just because it took so long getting the tenons right I would be gutted if I got it wrong and had to remake a piece, I won't be in the workshop again until the weekend so i'll have a long think on this.

Rob - thanks for the tips regarding the shaping of the tenons, I hadn't thought that far ahead of how to do them, I did buy some old chisels in preperation to be converted into skews, so this would be a good time to do it 

How did you avoid breakout on the tenons? Did you always shape from the edge inwards?


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## engineer one (27 Sep 2007)

from my recent personal experience, the first thing is of course to cut the ends.

if you remember the rules from routing this is a no brainer, but the next bit depends on the thickness of your wood. there is some merit in a very small shaving taken off each corner so that as you work across, and make a mistake, (as i did  ) you do not knock off too much of the ends.

as for tapering the shoulder toward the tenon that is simpler of course, or should be, start at the ends, and work round.

of course there might be a pro way which means you don't have to do this, but it is interesting that so many of these tips come from guys that we think of as top craftsmen, :? 

looking good mate, just be careful with the final glue up. have you allowed for shortening the legs if you need to post glue up??

paul :wink:


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## ByronBlack (27 Sep 2007)

Paul - cheers for the info there. With regards the legs, I gave myself about 15mm extra to level just in case it goes a bit pete tong on the glue up.


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## woodbloke (27 Sep 2007)

BB wrote -


> How did you avoid breakout on the tenons? Did you always shape from the edge inwards?


BB - the cutting action of a skew chisel is a 'slicing' one rather than cutting directly at 90deg across the grain so tear out is minimised, but you need to be careful that the point doesn't dig in as you pare close to the leg, usually start from the corner and work towards the middle and then swap chisels and start from the opposite one. Worthwhile IMO grinding down a couple of 12mm oldish bevels to make a pair of skews and if you have acess to a lathe making a pair of AOH's (Alf's Octagonal Handles)  - Rob


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## ByronBlack (1 Oct 2007)

Rob - thanks for all the tips, much appreciated!

*Update*

Some good progress today, it's been a while since i've managed to get into the workshop for various reasons, but I had good few hours today to get stuck in and approach some of the trickier aspects of the build.

Onto the pics:
(Sorry for quality, I had to use my phone).

My new router setup. After selling my axminster base and insert to Wizer, I used a pair of toggle clamps to mount the triton to the underside of the MFT - the hole the cutter goes through is 19mm so that should be adequate for most of my needs:







My simple fence setup - I clamp one side, and then swing the fence to the depth I require. I use the trend height sizing tool - which is superb for getting exact distances and heights on the cutters:






I used the festool MFT angle guide to cut the mitres (after a little trial and error on some scap). I was going to do it by hand, but wasnt confident as i don't currently have a mitre box or a mitre attachment for my shooting board (both on my to-do list). The outer parts are mitred and given a 10mm rebate to accept the Iroko insert:






My extraction system 






The Iroko insert cut to final size, ready for scraping and sanding:






Iroko top has been scraped, sanded and given a first coat of shellac sealer:






Leg assemblies glued up:






Inset into outer frames. I used Colin C's method of taping the mitres and 'rolling' the frame together to hold the joints whilest the glue cures, I added a couple of extra strips to add a little tension. The mitres are ok, you can see a thin gap in a couple - whats the best way to hide this?






After a lot of thought and advice from Nibbo and Woodbloke, i've decided to keep the finish simple with a shellac sealer coat and then a top coat of wax, this is mostly a financial decision as I already had these products to hand. I will be making some coasters to avoid damage to the top.

I'll be adding some contrast splines to the mitres, and will pin the tenons with some doweling. I've decided against wedges mitres on this one as the tenons are pretty small and I didn't want to risk any damage with my ham-fisted technique.

The top outer pieces will have a heavy chamfer on the underside to 'lighten' the profile, and the two long supports that hold the top will have a 'round-over' moulding added to the front.

The table should be finished in the next couple of days, just in time for my birthday on wednesday (see how I shoe-horned that in there?  )

Thanks again to everyone for their excellent advice on this project so far, it's gone surprisingly well and without incident - which is new to me!


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## ByronBlack (2 Oct 2007)

I'll be finishing off the top tomorrow and need to look at improving the mitre joints, I thought about using some sawdust to try and plug the thin gap as it's thinner than a piece of veneer,

Is there another 'trick' that I could use to improve the look of these mitres?


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## Philly (2 Oct 2007)

BB
I've used superglue and sawdust, sanding it in whilst wet to fill the gaps. Actually, ehh, no I've never done that. 8-[  
Hope this helps
Philly


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## woodbloke (3 Oct 2007)

BB wrote-


> just in time for my birthday on wednesday (see how I shoe-horned that in there? )


.....nicely done :lol: jelly and ice cream for Tea?

No real way as far as I can see to close up a gap in mitres in a frame, one of those things I'm afeared that you'll have to live with, but I can pretty much guarantee that it'll make you intensely annoyed :evil: (or it would me) everytime you use the table. Others may have a different strategy for this sort of thing which may be effective.

Edit :idea: - you might try and inlay a separate piece of material (sycamore or iroko) to cover the gap, I think Devonwoody does much the same sort of thing with the mitres on his boxes - Rob


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## Paul Chapman (3 Oct 2007)

woodbloke":30ufm2u5 said:


> you might try and inlay a separate piece of material (sycamore or iroko) to cover the gap, I think Devonwoody does much the same sort of thing with the mitres on his boxes



Good idea :wink: If you use the same wood as the inner panel it would tend to look like a deliberate design feature rather than a patch.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## engineer one (3 Oct 2007)

yes a deliberate saw curf through the joint will even it up, and allow you to put a contrast insert in partway through the depth. 

paul :wink:


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## ByronBlack (3 Oct 2007)

Thanks for the all idea's. The only issue I can see with using an inlay is that i'll already have contrasting wood on the face edge as a spline across the mitre, would an inlay on face side 'clash' with the spline?


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## Fecn (3 Oct 2007)

Your latest project is really starting to look good now that you've got some finish on there.

When I've needed to fill gaps in the past, I've used glue+sawdust like philly, but I didn't use superglue.. just normal wood glue. I squirt the glue in the gaps and them immediately sand with 320grit sillicon carbide paper. It mostly works OK.

Her'es a shot of the results... most of it looks OK, but I didn't get enough sawdust into the top-right of the crack.






Keep up the good work BB.


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## ByronBlack (15 Oct 2007)

Finished:











As you can see I decided to leave out a couple of details, namely the mitre splines and the tenon pins. I did facette the tenons though. I also shaped the top supports.

Time to move on to the next project. A set of three wall cabinets made from spalted maple and sycamore.

Thanks to everyone who has helped with various aspects of this project.


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## Slim (15 Oct 2007)

Very very nice Byron,

I'm a great fan of using contrasting timbers. I really like the 3d effect of the top.

well done. =D>


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## Fecn (15 Oct 2007)

Oh yes! I like that a lot. 

Good move leaving out the extra details, I think they might have made it look too fussy anyway.


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## Kane (15 Oct 2007)

Really nice BB


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## woodbloke (15 Oct 2007)

BB - I like that a lot =D> , well done - Rob


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## DaveL (15 Oct 2007)

Well its all been said, very nice job.


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## motownmartin (15 Oct 2007)

That has turned out a lot better than I thought, I like the two contrasting woods.

=D> =D> =D>


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## Woodmagnet (15 Oct 2007)

=D> =D>


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## Corset (15 Oct 2007)

Really impressed with that. Its a really attractive combination of timber. It reminds me of San Francisco. Its has a European and oriental flavour to it. Most pleasant.
Owen


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## ByronBlack (15 Oct 2007)

Thank you all for the kind comments, it's really nice to get positive feedback on a project. This one has been really interesting for me because its the first time I've had an opportunity to indulge in hand work and make a 'fine' piece rather than a large agricultural item. The workbench has made doing this kind of work a lot more accessible and I can't wait to start my next project.

I'm interested in whether any of you would have done something different on this project, are there things you don't like, or would have done in a different way?.. Martin; you say it's better than you thought - what were you're idea's during the making of this? (Note: I really am interesting in a critique of this, I'm not in any way being funny with anyone - just wanted to put that because I have a habit of saying the wrong things at the moment).

Constructive criticism welcomed.


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## motownmartin (16 Oct 2007)

ByronBlack":321ypa04 said:


> I'm interested in whether any of you would have done something different on this project, are there things you don't like, or would have done in a different way?.. Martin; you say it's better than you thought - what were you're idea's during the making of this?



Byron,when you started the project and produced a sketch, I thought it looked a bit too busy for me, but I did like the idea of the two contrasting woods, even as you were making it and posting the pics it looked too much, but it became clear why when you posted the completed item, the background in your pics made the difference, with a clear background the item looked excellent.

Maybe the only thing that I would have done differently is to bring the legs up to mate with the Table.


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## ByronBlack (16 Oct 2007)

motownmartin":3aiapvf2 said:


> ByronBlack":3aiapvf2 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm interested in whether any of you would have done something different on this project, are there things you don't like, or would have done in a different way?.. Martin; you say it's better than you thought - what were you're idea's during the making of this?
> ...



Thats great martin, thanks. I agree with you about the background during the build, my workshop is quite ugly without the cladding and that can make some shots quite busy.


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## Matt_S (16 Oct 2007)

I like it, a lot more going on than would normally appeal to me but the proportions I think are spot on.

Only thing I would say is it the photo or in the angled view do the tenons on the right protrude slightly more than those on the left face?

Great piece ...... though don't know how you and others manage to get so much time in the workshop!


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## Calpol (16 Oct 2007)

That's very cool buddy, the contrast is perfect! Not sure if I like the through tenons or not, but I do think they add a lot to the piece and you've pulled them off well...

Also we're doing tapered legs at college just now and the design they gave us was 40 - 30mm but they look far too bulky for our wee demilune table, but those ones on yours look so much better! I'm gonna use those dimensions I think... So thank you!


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## WellsWood (16 Oct 2007)

Only thing I would have done differently is to tie the timber up into a nice neat bundle before starting the project and........









.......send it all to me :twisted: 

Superb job mate, I suspect the pictures don't do it justice. Very very well done.
=D> =D> =D>


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## wizer (16 Oct 2007)

lost track of this one.

Well done BB, the table looks stunning. A very beautiful piece.


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## Gary M (16 Oct 2007)

Yes Byron you have really done a fine job,
I too like Martin thought it would be a bit fussy when i first seen your design,
but it has turned out very well.
well done,
Cheers 
Gary.


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## ByronBlack (17 Oct 2007)

Thanks fella's!

Mark - trust me, the photo's do it plenty of justice!!


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## Lukey (17 Oct 2007)

I agree, looks great, I would definately be very proud if I made that one. :wink:


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## Gill (17 Oct 2007)

If there's a reason for doing your own woodwork as opposed to buying flatpack furniture from a store, this is it. I love your table, Byron.

Gill


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## ByronBlack (17 Oct 2007)

Thanks Lukey/Gill

I'm really quite surprised by the amount of positive feedback on this one, I wasn't sure it would turn out myself from the rough doodle that it came from, so it's great that so many of you like it, hopefully I can continue the upward trend in terms of woodworking mojo and make some more nice pieces 

The main thing is SWMBO loves it, especially the rippled sycamore at the front, she wants me to make a sideboard using more of it!!


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## lucky9cat (23 Oct 2007)

Yes. A really lovely piece and a great project. It had everything. I was impressed right from the start by you getting the wood off ebay and then producing such a great Arts and Crafts design. I too am doing more handwork and there was much to be learnt from the discussions and your running commentary. And it didn't take you long to complete. The contrasting woods and exposed tenons looked great. I could go on...

Cheers Ted


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## ByronBlack (23 Oct 2007)

Thanks Ted, I'm sure if you tried something yourself that is similar you would thoroughly enjoy it, I certainly did, there is something very rewarding in working mostly with the hand-tools, I really like the balance I have at the moment with using some machinery for the drudgery prep work, but using hand-tools for the important joinery/fitting and shaping. I can't wait to get christmas out of the way (doing a number of projects for gifts) so that I can start on my inspired side-board/book storage unit!

If i can be of any help with regards to any aspects of this project, then please feel free to give me a shout


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