Posted by Jerry on October 2nd, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork
In the morning I set out and managed to get a nice board of jarrah – a red mahogany-like Australian hardwood. It’s not cheap – as befits a high quality low volume timber.
And the contrast is excellent. I read a pile of articles on making breadboard ends, but I suspect that these are not WIDE breadboard ends because they talk of holding them in with a couple of dowels. Jarrah is dense and heavy, as is the rest of the table top. So I cast around my workshop for some ideas an decided that some 25mm square jarrah left over from the aprons were long enough to run as supports the length of the table.
I held the boards in with three dowels glued , and ran a bead of glue for about 200mm in the centre, figuring that any expansion would take place towards the outer edges. I then drilled dowel holes in the end-grain of the table top and glued the dowels in, but the outside ones in the breadboard ends I rendered as slots to allow for the movement.
I’ve probably allowed too much here, and I’ll assess that tomorrow – I may recut these.
Anyhow the top is glued up and is starting to look like the finished table. Here is the current stage, just prior to the sanding and finishing – It’s starting to come together now as a visual statement
The table top is now biscuited, glued and clamped and the glue should be cured by morning 🙂
Having set up the router on the Triton Mark 3 saw bench, and set up the biscuit jointer attachment I set about cutting slots for the 28 biscuits that make up the top – four biscuits per join, across seven joins (eight boards).
Relaxing over lunch I thought I’d check out what other users have said about the biscuit jointer attachment, and was surprised to find several advising against the Triton version on the basis that they couldn’t joint long boards to make, for example, bench or table tops. So I thought I’d set the record straight – you can cut biscuit slots in large boards. In fact the sliding extension table makes it very easy to handle large boards, such as when jointing pairs of boards to make up a table top.
And here’s the proof!
To make the table top I biscuit jointed the boards in pairs, and glued and assembled them and clamped them for about 2 hours, then I took the board pairs and biscuited them, finally setting them onto the Torquata panel clamps for the final full width glue-up. I set the lower clamp legs across the table frame, then laid out the boards in sequence and ran a glue line along each length, inserted the biscuits and closed the seam. Then onto the next and so on until the whole table top was assembled. Then I added the clamp upper and the hardware and clamped the whole thing tight.
Tomorrow I’ll make the breadboard ends – hopefully out of Australian mahogany-like jarrah to match the table aprons.
Cheers
Jerry
Comments Off on Table update 3 – assembling the table top
Posted by Jerry on September 30th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork
Further progress on the table –
I had previously dry-assembled the frame components and then the following day disassembled it and finished each component, sanding progressively from 320 grit to 1500 grit on the legs and apron pieces. Then I finished each component with Rustins Plastic Coating – which is not as drastic as it sounds. In this case, plastic means pliable or flexible. And unlike most two-part acrylic finishes, this one is an alkyd lacquer – which has the best characteristics of oil and acrylic – it has the flexibility and deep lustre of oil, but the drying time of an acrylic. I was wary of it at first, but the trial pieces came up good with just one coat.
I gave the apron and legs one coat then sanded with 1500 grit, then finished with an Organoil wax/citrus oil polish and buffed it to a nice satin finish.
I then assembled and glued up the frame, setting it upside down in the car port. i clamped it with a ratchet tie-down, cross measured to ensure it was square, and checked that the legs were vertical in both planes with a square. Satisfied with that I left it to dry overnight.
The next day I cut and finished a cross piece from jarrah and glued and doweled it in position at the half-way mark using Triton PVA glue.
The ash dowels make a nice contrast with the red jarrah.
Next job was cutting the corner braces and fitting them – I pocket screwed them to the side aprons then drilled and used self-drilling hex screws into the legs – I had chamfered the inside corner of the leg for this purpose. And that completed the frame, making a firm yet light frame well able to bear the weight of the ribbon-gum top.
I re-checked the boards for the top and thicknessed a couple of them to ensure an even thickness across all the boards.
Then it was time for a clean-up of the workshop – offcuts and tools stowed and the floors and surfaces vacuumed before setting up for the next phase – making the table top.
I removed the top from the trusty Triton Mark 3 saw bench and put on the router top after ensuring the router was well centred in the router base. Then I attached the biscuit jointer attachment and removed the end-stop as I will want to position biscuits along the length of the two-metre boards. The biscuits function like loose tenons and provide additional face-face gluing surface as well as aligning the boards along one plane, leaving a little room for edge-edge slippage to ensure a good glue spread. I recommend the Triton system – a good Australian invention that just keeps getting better. Although I was a little dismayed that at the Working with Wood Show the triton folks were offering a $100 trade in on any Mark 3 table top. It looks like they are no longer maintaining their philosophy of continuous backward compatibility with earlier models. Mine was made in around 1985 and I have until now always been able to add components using adapters so my basic saw bench remained as versatile as the latest model. But no matter – I think I’ve got all the attachments I need for the moment 🙂 thanks to several years of Wood Show specials!
I then did a test cut on some some off-cuts to ensure that the height was adjusted correctly.
I like the safety mechanisms and dust extraction on the triton, as well as the fact that you cut both timbers at once to ensure perfect alignment every time, and finally, because the jointer is in the table, your hands are free to hold and stabilise the stock.
My task for tomorrow is to cut the biscuit slots for the top and assemble and glue up the top, then square off the ends, and prepare two boards for the breadboard ends. After that I shall attach the breadboard ends, fill the sap cavities with fibreglass resin and then will come the final finish – sanding flat, rounding the edges, and a couple of coats of Rustins Plastic Coating and a final wax. The top will be attached when the table is inside the house, using figure-eight table clips. So the end is in sight.
You will be able to get a complete narrative of the construction process by clicking on the Woodworking category of this blog.
Posted by Jerry on September 25th, 2007 — Posted in Journal, Woodwork
The 2003 Canberra Bushfires destroyed one third of the houses in our street, burnt the house next door and laid waste to our garden, burning down six trees in the front yard – including the largest, a ribbon-gum eucalyptus tree. I wanted to make a fitting personal memorial that would live on and symbolise the rebirth of the city after the firestorm. I had the ribbon-gum trunk milled into lumber which then spent the past four years drying in my shed. My aim was to make a new dining table.
With the acquisition of a couple of tools at this year’s Canberra Working with Wood Show I had been saving up for, the time was ripe finally to make a start on the table.
The ribbon-gum had been carefully stacked and stickered and it had not warped very much in the drying process. This timber is very moist and takes a lot of time to dry.
The raw lumber from the milling process was rough
After planing on the jointer though, the true character of the wood was revealed
The planing process took the lumber from 150mm x 75mm to 120mm x 25mm – just under six inches wide and about one inch thick. The garden was pleased with all the mulch produced by the shavings!
I had some square section from near the outside of the trunk – I figured there might be enough to use for the legs – and I was right.
I cut four pieces to length (720mm) and drilled rectangular holes with a Torquata mortising attachment for the drill press – it worked well – the device works the same way people make mortises normally – there is a drill to remove the bulk of the wood, and this operates inside a square chisel which then cuts the edges into a square shape. Advancing the timber along you can join the holes to make a rectangular mortise into which will go the tenons for the table rails.
I wanted to taper the legs on two sides, so I used an inexpensive taper jig on the table saw, setting the taper at an angle of 1.75 degrees (approximately). I then did a trial cut with some rubbish lumber and made some minor adjustments until the angle looked right, then tapered the legs – it worked like a charm.
Sure you can get fancy ones or make complicated ones, but I only had eight tapers to cut, so I was quite happy with a simple jig that I could slide along against the table saw’s fence. It’s safe enough as long as you keep the table saw’s guard in place and ensure that your hand steadying the timber is beyond the blade to begin with.
I then gave the legs a light sanding and cut the rails to length – adding two centimetres to allow for a one-centimetre tenon at each end.
I marked these up using the mortises in the legs directly, rather than relying on measurements. Then I cut these with a japanese pull saw and chiseled them to thickness – checking them at each stage of the fit to the mortise.
It was time for a test assembly – without glue at this stage as I wanted to ensure that the fit was right all round first.
The frame is to be a traditional apron style – using contrasting jarrah (the red looks great against the pale ribbon-gum), and will have two cross braces, as well as the usual traditional corner braces. The pale slender tapered legs will give the table a light and airy feel, while being plenty strong enough to take the eucalyptus top.
I laid out the boards roughly to get a sense of the overall feel and dimensions. I am still debating with myself as to whether or not to use breadboard ends.
The boards will be biscuit jointed together and the top secured with traditional buttons. I’ll test a couple of different finishes and decide later whether to varnish, or use an oil finish.
The finished table will be just over two metres in length and 1.2 metres wide and will seat 8-10.
But tomorrow I shall disassemble the frame and do the finish sanding on each piece so there are no hard to reach corners, and I’ll post more as the table progresses 🙂
Posted by Jerry on September 11th, 2007 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
This is an easy project for the beginner, and shows you how to make your own pens using a lathe. The technique is the same whether for wood or acrylic pens.
Here’s what you need: A lathe – can be a small cheap one, but should have a Morse #1 or #2 taper on the headstock (the part that spins your work).
I use just one chisel – a half-inch spindle gouge
A dust mask and safety visor or glasses
A saw – a hacksaw will do A pen mandrel – to hold the pen parts while you turn them
A pen kit and A pen blank – this one is pre-drilled and has the brass tubes already fitted inside
A pencil – for marking where to cut and for lining up the grain if you are turning wood Sandpaper – various grades (360,600,1500 grit) Automotive cutting polish – for acrylic, or a wood finish of your choice
Method
First take the pen blank and cut it roughly in half – I do this on a hobby bandsaw by holding it against the square set at 90 degrees and just advance it into the blade about one quarter, then rotate the pen blank in place until it separates – the two cut ends should be square to each other. You may need to sand it square if you cut it at a slight angle.
Insert the pen mandrel into the headstock – the taper should just slide in and hold. Now take the two parts and mount them on the mandrel – there should be three spacers and a brass screw.
Load a spacer, then a pen blank part, then a spacer, then the second pen blank part, then a spacer and the brass screw to tighten it – not too tight or you could distort the mandrel.
Now bring the tailstock up and lock it gently and accurately against the end of the mandrel.
Then set up the tool rest close to the centre of the work and rotate the headstock wheel by hand to ensure that nothing touches the tool rest.
For any turning it is a good idea to have a dust extractor of some kind, but whether you do or not it is important to wear a dust mask and something to protect your eyes from flying chips – a visor or safety glasses. You do not want to breathe acrylic dust or fine sawdust, and you don’t want anything to hit your eyes or to irritate them.
Making sure your chisel is sharp – use whatever you prefer – some people do the whole thing with a skew chisel, but I prefer a half-inch spindle gouge – on small square stock it can also double as a roughing gouge – so you can use one chisel for the whole operation.
Set the lathe on about 3000rpm for timber or about 1500rpm for acrylic.
And turn to shape – The spacers on the mandrel are the same as the diameters of the internal parts, so I first shave the four ends of the pen blank down to just shy of the spacers – you can creep up on the final diameter in a moment.
I wouldn’t get too fancy with the shape – aim for slender consistent cylinders with just a nice rounded shoulder down to the spacers, stopping regularly to check the profile and to clear out the strands of acrylic that wrap around the work and the mandrel.
It’s a good idea to hold a white piece of paper behind each time you stop so you can better see the profile. When you have a nice smooth cylinder and you’ve eliminated any bumps or uneven parts, it’s time for the finishing.
Leave the blank on the lathe, but remove the tool rest. Now switch on the lathe again and sand gently – moving quickly from one end to the other – to prevent overheating of any one section. Do not wrap the sandpaper around your finger! Start with the coarser grit an move to progressively finer grits until the blank feels quite smooth and silky.
If you are using acrylic, now is the time for polish – load a little automotive cutting polish onto a rag and again, without wrapping it round your finger, apply the polish to the piece while the lathe is spinning. And then buff it with a clean piece of rag until it shines with a high gloss.
Now you are ready for assembly. Unscrew the brass keeper from the mandrel and slide the two components off, remembering to keep them the same way round.
Take what will be the writing end and press the cone-shaped piece onto the end using a vice, drill press, clamp, or even the cheapest pen press of the lot – a grout press – about $1.50 from your hardware store!
It’s crude but effective! That said, a vice is more progressive and has more ‘feel’.
Next insert the riser mechanism into the writing end – this way round
But just ease the bronze bit in and go no further until you insert the refill and ensure that it extends beyond the point, but also retracts beneath the point when you rotate the silver part.
Now for the upper part. insert the small brass cap through the loop of the clip and press this into the upper blank. Now slide a spacer ring over the refill and slide the upper over the silver part of the riser and press it snugly home against the brass spacer.
