edmund
Established Member
Hi Everyone,
I finished my first serious project and am sharing some pictures (sorry my IT skills have failed so I've insert a gallery link :? ) for comment and appraisal. It's taken me 5 months to finish (not full time obviously
). I drew up the plans based on an article i saw in a woodworking magazine but made changes so that it would fit in the specific space I wanted it and also I had to change the construction techniques so that I could make it without machine tools.
http://www.filehigh.com/viewgallery.php?f=3760
I used sapele for the carcass and cedar of lebanon for the bottom. It measures approx. 31"w x 19"d x 27"h. The frames are stub haunch tenoned and I assembled the carcass using double lap secret dovetails (picture below in case you don't believe me ). The panels are made from 4" wide stock jointed, and I fielded them by hand (took a while).
Frames and panels were glued using polyurethane glue. Carcass and lid frame were glued using aliphatic wood glue (for no other reason than trying something different).
The rebates in the rails and stiles were done using a Record 44 plough plane. The mortices with a lovely japanese mortice chisel. Tenons cut by hand for the frames (I used a bandsaw - a recent acquistion - for the lid, which I had to remake). Panels fielded using my plough plane and no.7 jointer and no.4 smoother. Dovetails cut using dovetail saw and japanese dovetail chisels. For all else used low angle block plane and shoulder plane.
Hinges are by Brusso - quite expensive at £30 a pair, but having put so much effort into this I couldn't skimp at the last hurdle. Apart from having to remake the lid the only disaster I had was that one of the screws for the hinges sheared - much cursing occurred - despite adequate pilot holes. Managed to drill out the shank, and had to enlarge the hole and fitted patch which seems to be working well. Restoration before finishing it, whatever next!
Currently, the bottom is placed on the lipping. I had planned to fix with screw to aid rigidity, but it seems to be fine without. Any views on what to do for this?
Finish was special pale polish - 5 coats. Still have to polish with my homemade wax polish which I'll do once the shellac has hardened.
What have I learned: 1. don't change the plans midway through - I hadn't worked out how to join the frames when I started so once I'd decided to go the dovetail route the carcass became deeper and narrower, so my first lid didn't fit right. 2. sapele can be difficult to work where the grain is interlocked. Still ended up with some tear out, which I've tried to hide as best as possible. 3. good quality, well sharpened tools make all the difference - and it means you can't blame them when you mess something up. 4. Don't underestimate the number of clamps needed - could really have done with another half a dozen sash clamps for assembling the carcass. 5. Wood will still warp between cutting and assembly - a bit of gentle persuasion on assembly seems to have righted the wrongs
I finished my first serious project and am sharing some pictures (sorry my IT skills have failed so I've insert a gallery link :? ) for comment and appraisal. It's taken me 5 months to finish (not full time obviously
). I drew up the plans based on an article i saw in a woodworking magazine but made changes so that it would fit in the specific space I wanted it and also I had to change the construction techniques so that I could make it without machine tools.http://www.filehigh.com/viewgallery.php?f=3760
I used sapele for the carcass and cedar of lebanon for the bottom. It measures approx. 31"w x 19"d x 27"h. The frames are stub haunch tenoned and I assembled the carcass using double lap secret dovetails (picture below in case you don't believe me
). The panels are made from 4" wide stock jointed, and I fielded them by hand (took a while). Frames and panels were glued using polyurethane glue. Carcass and lid frame were glued using aliphatic wood glue (for no other reason than trying something different).
The rebates in the rails and stiles were done using a Record 44 plough plane. The mortices with a lovely japanese mortice chisel. Tenons cut by hand for the frames (I used a bandsaw - a recent acquistion - for the lid, which I had to remake). Panels fielded using my plough plane and no.7 jointer and no.4 smoother. Dovetails cut using dovetail saw and japanese dovetail chisels. For all else used low angle block plane and shoulder plane.
Hinges are by Brusso - quite expensive at £30 a pair, but having put so much effort into this I couldn't skimp at the last hurdle. Apart from having to remake the lid the only disaster I had was that one of the screws for the hinges sheared - much cursing occurred - despite adequate pilot holes. Managed to drill out the shank, and had to enlarge the hole and fitted patch which seems to be working well. Restoration before finishing it, whatever next!
Currently, the bottom is placed on the lipping. I had planned to fix with screw to aid rigidity, but it seems to be fine without. Any views on what to do for this?
Finish was special pale polish - 5 coats. Still have to polish with my homemade wax polish which I'll do once the shellac has hardened.
What have I learned: 1. don't change the plans midway through - I hadn't worked out how to join the frames when I started so once I'd decided to go the dovetail route the carcass became deeper and narrower, so my first lid didn't fit right. 2. sapele can be difficult to work where the grain is interlocked. Still ended up with some tear out, which I've tried to hide as best as possible. 3. good quality, well sharpened tools make all the difference - and it means you can't blame them when you mess something up. 4. Don't underestimate the number of clamps needed - could really have done with another half a dozen sash clamps for assembling the carcass. 5. Wood will still warp between cutting and assembly - a bit of gentle persuasion on assembly seems to have righted the wrongs
