Ash sideboard back and doors

[Hornbeam]

This is part 2 of the sideboard build
The back panel is made from 20mm X 40mm ash domino together, with 6mm birch plywood panels set into grooves

. I could have done this as 1 panel but I think 2 is just better
The panel is fitted into the rear opening. I then routed 8mm wide grooves 4mm deep into the cabinet. These will take 8mm X 8mm strips , The image is mocked up with some small pieces just to get everything set up

Stopped grooves are then routed in the sides and bottom of the back panel. The grooves are set so the back panel frame is inset 1mm into the cabinet. The image below shows the panel being lowered into the cabinet. The back panel will then be secured by 2 brass screws through the top of teh panel frame and into the rear top rail

Now on to the doors and top panel.. These are a ply core, lipped all round with ash and then veneered both sides with 2mm bandsawn ash veneer.
I selected the ash pieces for teh straightest grain and palest colour out of what I had..
The boards to be cut into veneers where planed both sides. The bandsaw was set up with a 2/3 tooth vari pitch M42 blade. The process is then cut a veneer slice, surface the main block and then repeat, The doors are a 32 piece star burst and the top is a half pattern so 16 pieces. That means 96 pieces.
Once the veneers were cut, I then needed to cut 96 triangles with an angle of 11.25 degrees. I set up a jig to do this with the track saw, This consists of a base board with 2 block screwed on to it to locate the track. A straight cut is then made, part thickness into the base board. I then uded double sided sticky and some heavy duty tape to put some stops for the veneer

I cut a rough template from some scrap ply to mark out all the triangles. Because I wanted the grain to radiate from the centre each triangle needs 2 cuts. I was also able to use the off cuts for the inside by but jointing them,
Once all the triangles were cut it was then a process of edge jointing then into pair s, then 4s, then 8s and then 16. One of teh advantages of using thicker veneer is that the pices can easily be glued together and just held with parcel tape while the glue dries. At each stage of the glue up the angles we checked and where required were adjusted on the shooting board. The aim is to end up with 181 degrees as when you trim from the outer edges it isnt noticeable
One the panels had been edge joined into half starburst, they were cut accurately to size ready for applying onto the core
I did glue up onto the substrates in a vacuum bag. Because I was using bandsawn veneers the face being glued was planed but the top surface was rough and there were some minor thickness variations. I did not use pressure plattens inside the bag.
Image below is the pair of veneered doors roughly cut to size and surface smoothed with a finely set plane
The rail has been set to cut the first inlay line as this is critical and teh 2 doors are done together

The next stage is to inset walnut lines at every joint. 3 mm grooves 2.5mm deep are cut using the router and a guide rail .
To get the joints positioned spot on, I use a couple of width blocks, The base of my elu roter is 100mm so I cut 2 blocks 55mm wide. These are potioned where I wnt the centre of the cut to be and the batten pushed up to teh back of then and clamped in position. The next 2 images show this

 

[Hornbeam]

I have had to do this in 2 parts due to teh number of photos
The walnut inlay lines were all cut from 1 piece of walnut using the bandsaw. The fit into the groove is critical so there are no gaps. I find the easiest way to final thickness the lines is to use a finely set bench plane held upside down. The inlay is held over the blade and your thumb applies pressure onto the line directly over the blade. Note before doing this I put a decent bit of sticking plaster on my left thumb. You then pull the inlay line over the blade taking off a very fine shaving. Sorry no photo as I only have 2 hands


All of the inlay lines were previously checked for grain direction as this makes clean up much easier. Lines were glued in using Titebond. I find that a small syringe works really well for applying the glue into the groove and then spread with a small artist paintbrush (cheap one)
The inlay lines are then cleaned up with a smoothing plane

Next stage is to tidy up the centre of the pattern
I used the lathe to turn a 65mm hole in a piece of ply to act as a template for the router and guide bush. Routed area is 1.5mm less than a semicircle to allow for the final lines of te sunurst which run full length of the door and the same for the top

This is the partly finished door, which has been very accurately cut to size

There will be a 1.5mm line in walnut to complet the pattern where the doors close together and 6mm ash all round the other 3 edges. There is minimal room for adjustment for fit with the hinges so this bit of trimming is really critical. The routed out semi circle will be veneered with a burr walnut disc
Below is the 2 doors mocked up into the cabinet opening ready for the 6mm ash lipping

This is as far as I have got with the project
Next step will be to finish and fit the doors
Finish the top which is basically the same as the door
Internal drawer
Finish. I will write these up as I progress
Ian