Chinoisery jointing...sort of.

[woodbloke]

The main jointing in my Media Unit project (based again on an idea in Alan Peter's book) uses mitred joints with a distinctly 'Chinese' or Oriental feel to them. I was really unsure 8-[ 8-[ how to cut these and what sort of problems they'd throw up, so today I decided to make a full size mock up.
This morning I pressed a couple of bits of 18mm ply and 2mm oak veneer in the AirPress, brought them to size. After that each piece was lipped and then the mitre was cut on one piece. The main construction is done with biscuits, so I cut a couple of those as well in the test piece:

The female mitre was bearing cut from a template with the router and finished off with the Jap parers so that when roughly offered up:

and cramped the joint went together quite well. I then marked out the shaping (you can see it in biro on the end) an used my woodie to bring it a rough profile, then the block to refine it. A bit of sanding with some 120g to knock off the corners and the fit came up:

like this. I decided to round off the joining arris very slightly to accentuate the joint...seems to work. Having got the jointing sorted, I'm a lot happier now to crack on with the project...next job will be to visit Bob9Fingers to get the boards cut to size, after which it'll be lots of veneering.

Comments appreciated as ever - Rob

 

[Ironballs]

Like it Rob, plus it's always good to see how someone tackles a difficult cut or joint. In the final piece is that going to be a shelf? If so will be biscuits be strong enough?

 

[Mattty]

Very nice Rob.

I'm suprised your going to arrise the meeting surfaces though. I would have thought they should be as flush as possible. It's a personal preference thing i suppose though, I tend to view these chamfered joints as an ikea detail designed to hide the defects of mass production. I'm sure there have been many quality examples of were they have been used.

 

[Karl]

Nice joint Rob. Should look good.

Agree with Mattty about the flush joint though. If I recall (I don't have the book anymore) there was a mediatation stool in one of DC's books with the same joint.

Damian - I don't think Rob will have a problem if this is a shelf (though, from recollection of the original design I think it's the centre divider?) - there is the wedging action of the joint, together with the strength of the biscuits.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Paul Chapman]

Looks good, Rob.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[wizer]

I'm surprised at you Rob! BISCUITS!?! Do these really fit into your high standards? I think NOT! :evil:


Just kidding. I think it's a brilliant idea. Although, I preferred the joint in the square, I think. I don't frequent Ikea all that often and wasn't aware they did joinery like this.

 

[woodbloke]

Very nice Rob.

I'm suprised your going to arrise the meeting surfaces though. I would have thought they should be as flush as possible

It tends to go with the overall rounded feel of the joint...the finished joint looks quite good. I've just glued it in the 'shop and will take a pic of the finished, polished joint when it's done.

The T piece as shown would be the top and one of the side members. The bottom section is again biscuited in to the sides with a drawer unit in the middle - Rob

 

[Chris Knight]

Unless I have misunderstood the method of cutting the female mitre, it seems awfully dependent on getting the biscuits all lined up perfectly?

 

[woodbloke]

Unless I have misunderstood the method of cutting the female mitre, it seems awfully dependent on getting the biscuits all lined up perfectly?

...it's all in the marking out Chris :wink: which needs to be accurate. Any inaccuracy in the line of the biscuits will throw out the mitre - Rob

 

[Doug B]

That`s just crying out for a domino, Rob...

 

[wizer]

I must admit I'm not keen on the biscuit idea. I think it would be better as a proper M&T or Loose tennon (Or Dom)

 

[woodbloke]

That`s just crying out for a domino, Rob...

...but I haven't got one :-({|=

Saying that, with retirement looming on the horizon........ :-k - Rob

 

[OPJ]

I really like that, Rob, and think the rounded edges fit in very well with the overall design of the piece. Also, for me, it adds to the visual interest of the joint, with the way your eyes are drawn in.

Are you thinking of using this joint for the vertical dividers or the shelves? Nothing at all wrong with double-biscuits, from where I'm sitting. :wink:

 

[TrimTheKing]

I don't have the book so don't know what to expect out of this piece, looking forward to it with interest, I like the look of the joint.

Would be interesting to see two next to each other, one with rounded arris and other without just for comparison.

 

[woodbloke]

Here's the completed joint as promised yesterday.

Finish is two coats of matt Osmo and wax over the top. The horizontal bit would be the top of the unit and the thickness is full size, so each piece is 40mm thick - Rob

 

[Mattty]

That is a lovely joint with huge visual interest Rob. I also think the subtle chamfer to the mating surfaces has worked, much to my suprise. Something which i would never have considered if i hadn't seen this. Well done.

I do have 1 dislike though. I hate being able to spot the applied lipping. Even with good grain matches they tend to stand out. Having said that i can see the attraction in making it the way you have drawn. The only option i can think of is making it all from solid and using lippings cut from the same board and put back together in the same orientation.

This is the sort of thread i enjoy most on fourms, it's a shame there aren't many others. Thanks for posting this.

 

[woodbloke]

That is a lovely joint with huge visual interest Rob. I also think the subtle chamfer to the mating surfaces has worked, much to my suprise. Something which i would never have considered if i hadn't seen this. Well done.

I do have 1 dislike though. I hate being able to spot the applied lipping. Even with good grain matches they tend to stand out. Having said that i can see the attraction in making it the way you have drawn. The only option i can think of is making it all from solid and using lippings cut from the same board and put back together in the same orientation.

This is the sort of thread i enjoy most on fourms, it's a shame there aren't many others. Thanks for posting this.

It's turned out quite well...I agree with you about the applied lipping. The veneer and lipping all came from the same plank, so although the grain may not match, the colours do, which is the best I can achieve - Rob

 

[xy mosian]

Lovely job, looks good to me

Just a thought on the required accuracy of biscuit positioning. Do you think there would be any mileage in attempting a positioning jig for the biscuit jointer which references the pre-cut female mitre??
Of course it's probably not worth it for a few.

xy

 

[OPJ]

I agree with Mattty's comment on the small chamfer - a very smart touch indeed.

Where a square-edged joint may be "easier" to achieve, I think you deserve extra credit for making such a neat job of one where the arrisses are rounded over. There's little room for error. It's a bit like cutting dovetails - without under-cutting the shoulders too much! :wink:

Look forward to seeing progress on the real thing soon.

 

[JonnyD]

I too was a little unsure about the chamfer but it looks very good in reality.

cheers

jon