Ok, a bit more progress to report. As promised, the bottom/top step is lap dovetailed into the sides. Pretty standard stuff. Mark out and cut the tails:
Transfer to the pins; saw down as far as possible:
Clamp down with a couple of finest holdfasts (Thanks Richard!) and chisel out.
I still like the old blue handled Stanley chisels - I bought this one new back in the early 70s. I haven't re-handled it - but then I haven't worn out the present handle yet! (Don't worry Jim - I do have some chisels without handles and will be following your example when I get round to it.) Carry on till done, and check for a reasonable fit:
This step needs its edges bevelling to match the slant of the legs. The drawknife is quicker than anything else for this sort of job:
This is not very old - probably 1940s - by Brades of Birmingham - and keeps a lovely sharp edge.
Clean up a bit with a jack plane - to remind you of school woodwork days:
The next step is to shape one of the intermediate steps. First square the end - showing that a shooting board does not have to be anything special - this is a bit of old contiboard and a Stanley no 4 (with more plastic handles - but it performs brilliantly).
This needs a moulding on the ends and on the back. I've decided to use an ordinary ovolo, using this Mathieson plane. It's a very common plane used for making window sashes. It has the decided advantage of an extra-deep fence:
To prevent break-out when planing across end grain I clamped a piece of scrap behind the work - with the grain going along.
This shows the moulding beginning to develop
and here it is done
Repeat for the other end, and cut off the corners to fit into the housings:
And that's about it for now. There will be a bit of a pause while I carry on with the same moulding and fitting on the other steps. Then I will find out if it all fits together!
Transfer to the pins; saw down as far as possible:
Clamp down with a couple of finest holdfasts (Thanks Richard!) and chisel out.
I still like the old blue handled Stanley chisels - I bought this one new back in the early 70s. I haven't re-handled it - but then I haven't worn out the present handle yet! (Don't worry Jim - I do have some chisels without handles and will be following your example when I get round to it.) Carry on till done, and check for a reasonable fit:
This step needs its edges bevelling to match the slant of the legs. The drawknife is quicker than anything else for this sort of job:
This is not very old - probably 1940s - by Brades of Birmingham - and keeps a lovely sharp edge.
Clean up a bit with a jack plane - to remind you of school woodwork days:
The next step is to shape one of the intermediate steps. First square the end - showing that a shooting board does not have to be anything special - this is a bit of old contiboard and a Stanley no 4 (with more plastic handles - but it performs brilliantly).
This needs a moulding on the ends and on the back. I've decided to use an ordinary ovolo, using this Mathieson plane. It's a very common plane used for making window sashes. It has the decided advantage of an extra-deep fence:
To prevent break-out when planing across end grain I clamped a piece of scrap behind the work - with the grain going along.
This shows the moulding beginning to develop
and here it is done
Repeat for the other end, and cut off the corners to fit into the housings:
And that's about it for now. There will be a bit of a pause while I carry on with the same moulding and fitting on the other steps. Then I will find out if it all fits together!