Cherry Table WIP

[paulm]

Me too Roger, love that elm Rob, keep the pics coming....

Cheers, Paul

 

[woodbloke]

I have to admit that elm is one of my favourite timbers...next cabinet is going to be in the stuff. Might even incorporate some of that burr into it? :duno: I also have a notion to do a casket aka Ingham style with burr elm panels and ebony lines dividing each panel up. I haven't thought it through yet but if you have RI's book there's a pic of the casket at the back...fabulous - Rob

 

[Ironballs]

That's looking very good Rob, some great design touches in there. I've used a bit of English cherry and it's fair to say that it likes to move

 

[frugal]

Love the look of those panels, Rob. I've heard elm can have a mind of it's own at times - I hope those burr panels remain flat for you! :wink:

The actual burr is 2mm thick and has been glued in the AirPress to the wide cherry rail which is itself 18mm thick...so the elm's going nowhere - Rob

Wow, I am impressed that you managed to cut those burr panels at that size down to just 2mm without the whole thing falling apart. I have a hard enough time cutting pieces that are only 3" high when I cut veneers.

 

[ByronBlack]

Loving the design and craftsmanship on this one, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the progress, it's great seeing high-end stuff like this. Good work Rob

 

[woodbloke]

Wow, I am impressed that you managed to cut those burr panels at that size down to just 2mm without the whole thing falling apart. I have a hard enough time cutting pieces that are only 3" high when I cut veneers.

The trick is to first prepare the material so that you have one side and edge dead flat and square, I used the surface table on the p/t for this. Make sure also that you have the tallest fence you can make to go under the bandsaw guides...and finally, stick a brand new blade (as wide as poss) in the machine. Don't even think about cutting veneers with a blade that's even a tiny bit used (like I did, 'cos I thought it was OK ) It's also advisable to re-machine one surface prior to the next cut - Rob

 

[PaulO]

The actual burr is 2mm thick and has been glued in the AirPress to the wide cherry rail which is itself 18mm thick...so the elm's going nowhere - Rob

Can you explain how the ground work for the burr (18mm cherry rail) is joined to the legs / rails ? Does it float between the two rails? How is it allowed to contract without a gap opening around the ebony banding? It looks as though expansion would be applying considerable force to the legs as the combination of the burr and banding would constrain any float?

You mention 6mm ply loose tongues in the text, but I can't see them in the photo.

 

[woodbloke]

Can you explain how the ground work for the burr (18mm cherry rail) is joined to the legs / rails ? Does it float between the two rails? How is it allowed to contract without a gap opening around the ebony banding? It looks as though expansion would be applying considerable force to the legs as the combination of the burr and banding would constrain any float?

You mention 6mm ply loose tongues in the text, but I can't see them in the photo.

I hope the following pic shows the wide rail in a bit more detail:

You can see the mitres on each end which correspond to mitres in the legs (part of the 'birds mouth' tenon) At this stage the long groove has just been routed out in the end grain with a matching groove in the leg, which will fit a long 6mm ply tongue. The two arrows on the masking tape show the 'start' and 'stop' positions I used when routing the groove.
I used small pieces of 6mm ply just to check that the mitres were going to pull up...you can see them in the first pic at the top of the screen. In the pic the recess for the elm burr hasn't yet been created. Also any expansion of the cherry rail will be across the grain so the joint between the rail and leg ought not to open - Rob

 

[MikeG.]

Rob,

this is looking really promising........

.........you should have saved it for the upcoming competition!!

I hope this is your own design......and I hope this has an equally nice table-top in your plans.

I'm watching this with interest.

Mike

 

[PaulO]

Also any expansion of the cherry rail will be across the grain so the joint between the rail and leg ought not to open - Rob

Ah, OK. So any contraction in the rail will open up the mitre with the legs? I think I might have applied the burr to an MDF substrate lipped with cherry for the mitre/exposed faces. That way you are also avoiding strain on the veneer from expansion/contraction. I presume the back of the panel receives the same burr veneer to keep it balanced?

I guess if the cherry has been dried over a sufficiently long period, and is at centrally heated house RH it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[woodbloke]

Ah, OK. So any contraction in the rail will open up the mitre with the legs? I think I might have applied the burr to an MDF substrate lipped with cherry for the mitre/exposed faces. That way you are also avoiding strain on the veneer from expansion/contraction. I presume the back of the panel receives the same burr veneer to keep it balanced?

I guess if the cherry has been dried over a sufficiently long period, and is at centrally heated house RH it shouldn't be a problem.

There might be some movement across the wide rail, but the cherry is pretty dry so I'm hoping that it will be stable...it was in the 'shop conditioning for over two months after it had been converted. Any shrinkage will also have to work against the loose ply insert glued into the long slot. The ply insert measures 180x35mm which is a very big gluing area for such a small rail, so I'm hopeful that all will be well - Rob

 

[woodbloke]

Having been testing chisels and making a Frame Saw (pics in a while :wink: ) it's back to the Cherry Table. This pic shows one of the pair of frames being glued this morning:

and having spent the rest of the day shooting it in (flushing off joints and chisling the internal corners with a scribing gouge) I managed to get the rest of together as a dry run:

with the fossil top in place. There'll be another burr elm inlaid panel on the lower section of the frame...I've just laid it there so you can see the effect. Lots of shaping and scraping yet to do...- Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

That burr elm and stringing looks very nice, Rob.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[newt]

A unique piece Rob, I do like the contrast between the Elm and cherry.

 

[CroppyBoy1798]

Thats a beautiful piece!! Really nice work, cant wait to see it finished.

 

[woodbloke]

I did an interesting mod to it this morning:

...put the whole bloody thing through the bandsaw :evil: It was ill conceived and I couldn't get on with the English Cherry, every time I tried to put a joint apart the stuff broke (at least six times!!)...you can see in the pic that a couple of the rails were supported by big lumps of steel.
Sometimes a Bloke's gota do what a Bloke's gota do :lol:
It will be re-done at some point later on, once I've had a rethink on the design, which again was over complicated. Simple is always good and hindsight is a glorious thing...- Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

:shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[head clansman]

hi rob


#-o did you use one of these , (hammer) feel better now , best you go and have some of these , ccasion5: but leave the car at home first ccasion5: .hc

 

[Karl]

Christ Rob, that's a bit drastic.....

Guess it won't be appearing in F&C after all... :lol:

Cheers

Karl

 

[Corset]

That is very a very sad sight. I detect a little bit of the rage monster may have been released there. :evil:
I have some english cherry that I picked up off ebay (about a trees worth) and when I planed it up in preparation for a project it seemed a little wild to say the least so i can see where you were coming from.
Don't give up! give it a second go! you can't let this wood stuff beat you
Owen