Iroko & Sycamore - Arts & Crafts Side Table WIP

[ByronBlack]

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?

 

[Imperial]

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

 

[woodbloke]

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

 

[ByronBlack]

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?

 

[engineer one]

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:

 

[ByronBlack]

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.

 

[woodbloke]

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

 

[ByronBlack]

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!

 

[ByronBlack]

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?

 

[Philly]

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

 

[woodbloke]

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

 

[Paul Chapman]

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

 

[engineer one]

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:

 

[ByronBlack]

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?

 

[Fecn]

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.

 

[ByronBlack]

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.

 

[Slim]

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>

 

[Fecn]

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.

 

[Kane]

Really nice BB

 

[woodbloke]

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