Finished Shaping the Legs and Making the Back of the Lowboy

I finished carving and shaping the four legs.  They will need a little scraping and sanding yet but for now they are finished.

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Now to make the back of the lowboy.  I have some poplar which is wide enough so I won't have to glue up a couple of pieces.  I have decided to cut off a piece with my hand saw rather than drag out the circular saw.  It has been awhile so I need the practice and exercise.

I could hand plane the piece flat on one side but I decided to use my 8 inch jointer.  The board is 13 inches wide.  So I run the board half on one side and then half on the other.  This leaves a strip in the middle which is easy to plane off.  Quick way to flatten a board.

Once it is flattened, I ran it through my planner to 7/8 thickness.  Now I have to put 3/8 inch thick tenons on each end 1 inch long.   I use my old radial arm saw with a stacked dado blade.  Set a stop block at 1 inch and cut away.

Now I mark out the tenons and the waste.

Then saw out the tenons and waste.  Pare the waste flush.

Trim with a hand plane and fit to the legs.

Now to start working the side panels.

Here is today's video:

Shaping The Cabriolet Legs - Lots of Hand Work

I started to shape the cabriolet (which my spell checker corrects from cabriole) legs.  I use the picture from the book as a reference to the final shape.

I am looking at the sharp point at the top of the leg and the almost round part near the ankle of the leg.  I am going to try to replicate that shape.

I use a carving chisel to remove the extra wood that I left when I was bandsawing the leg blank.  If I tried to get too close to the pad I might hit it with the saw blade and ruin the leg.

Then use a rasp to rough out the shape.  I refer to the picture often to try to duplicate the shape in the picture.

Once I rough out  the shape I go back to the carving chisel to get close to the final design.

Then I use a spokeshave to smooth over the curves of the leg and get rid of the saw mark.  I am trying to get one continuous curve from the knee to the ankle.

All done with one.  Now all I have to do is make three more like the first one.

So I got busy this afternoon and completed another.  So both front legs are completed.  I will do some scraping yet before sanding these legs.

I'll get to the other two legs tomorrow.  I takes me about 2 hours to complete one leg.  That is working at my pace with coffee breaks.  :-)

So here is today's video:

Turning, Sawing and Mortising the Legs - Making Progress

Well today I got some work done.  I turned the pad feet on the four legs.

Then I band sawed out the cabriolet leg shape.  This allowed me to select the better legs for the front and then the others for the rear.

Once I selected the front legs, it was time to layout the mortises.  I made the decision to use 7/8th inch stock on the sides and back.  The mortises will be 3/8th inch wide by 1 inch deep.

So now I have to drill them out using my hollow chisel mortiser.  Best investment I ever made, this tool has really saved me time over the years.  I could do it by hand but this is much easier.

All done with mortising.

Next I need to cut the tops of the legs to 1 3/4 inches square.  For me this is best done on the band saw.  I leave them a little large and then smooth over the stock after the saw cut.

All done and ready for the next step. I'll clean out the mortises and start to shape the legs.

Here is today's video:

Back from SAPFM Ohio River Valley Chapter Meeting

Had a great weekend at the SAPFM Ohio River Valley Chapter  meeting held at the Rio Grande University Woodworking School.  Check out the website which will have all of the presenters and minutes from the meeting.  http://www.sapfm.org/forum/index.php?board=19.0  The spring meeting is at the top of the list now but the fall meeting will be posted soon.

We had a number of presenters including myself.  I led a discussion on bandsaw tuning and jigs.  We had presenters on making traditional acoustic guitars and reconditioning metal flea market hand planes.    We also do a show and tell session where the guys bring things that they have made and talk about how they made them.

Charlie Watson showing how he made a pair of Chippendale chairs.

John Herrel talking about his inlay trays.

Doug Moulder demonstrating how he made his wooden hand planes and Jefferson writing desk.

There where other but I did not get all of the presenters pictures.  But check out the web site in a few days it will all be there.

So now I have to get back to my curved front dressing table.

Cutting Out Cabriolet Leg and Discovering the Template is Wrong

Well I was going to cut out the cabriolet legs today and mortise the top section of the legs .  Reviewing the grain of one of the legs, I was questioning just how it would look.  So, I decided to saw it out and take a look.  If it was not top notch then I could use it as a back leg maybe.
So I got to it.

Sawing went ok and I completed cutting both sides.

At first everything seemed just fine.  But then I started to look at the shape of the pad foot as it related to the lower leg.  It seemed too far back.  So I started to shape it to the final size to see it I liked it.

I did not, it was too far back for my design eye.  So, I modified the template and made another leg out of poplar.  It would be a shame to waste more mahogany.
So here they are;

The poplar one on the left is much more pleasant to my liking.  Now I have to mill another leg blank and this mahogany one is expensive fire wood.

I am leaving tomorrow for the SAPFM Ohio River Valley Chapter fall meeting in RioGrande Ohio.
So I be there all weekend.  I'll get some pics and post them.  See you when I get back.
Here is today's video:

Progress on the Curved Front Dressing Table - Milling the Legs

Well Doug Moulder and I made a trip to Millersburg and Charm Ohio yesterday to purchase the lumber I need for the curved front dressing table.  We went to Keim Lumber in Charm, OH to purchase some 12/4 Genuine Mahogany that I need for the legs.  Then we went to Yoder Lumber in Millersburg, OH to purchase some soft maple and sugar pine for the inside and back of the table.  The sugar pine will be used for drawer sides and bottoms.  So, now I have all the material I need to build the table.  Below is the sugar pine and mahogany.  Some was left over from the last project.

I am starting with the cabriolet legs.  I have made a cardboard template and know that I need 2 3/4 inch stock to cut them out. So I squared up the stock and cut them out.

I traced the template on adjacent sides after reviewing the grain direction and color.
Next I need to turn the pad feet.  This lowboy has pad feet, although there are others which have ball and claw feet.  I am taking a break from carving ball and claw after that Goddard table.

Here are the two diameters that I need and then I round over the large to the small.

Next I need to cut the mortises for the apron, sides and back while the legs are still square.  It is easier that way.  But it means selecting which leg will be in front and rear before sawing.
I'll do the mortising tomorrow. Talk to you then.
Here is today's video:

I Have Been Everywhere on Vacation

Well it has been awhile since my last post, I have been on vacation to Seattle, Vancouver, Napa Valley and White Sulphur Springs, WV.  Some trip.  I won't bore you with the details but I drank a lot of wine.  Here is one picture.

I am back in the shop today after 3 weeks.  I needed to work on the drawings for the curved front lowboy.  I need to detail the curved blocking on the front and make sure I have it right.   I want a 3/4" bow on the drawer fronts.  Using my compass I traced the circles. It turned out to be about a 6 1/4 inch radius circle to produce the 3/4 inch bow across the 6 inches of the drawer front.

The top diagram is the apron. It will be made from 2 1/2 inch stock or I could glue it up since only the front shows. There are two other drawer blades which can be made from 3/4 inch stock.  I can use these drawings to make card board templates to bandsaw and shape the various parts.
Here are the drawer front details.

The drawer fronts will be 1 3/4 inch stock. The drawer sides will be 7/16".
Tomorrow I am going to Keim Lumber in Charm, Ohio to purchase some 12/4 Mahogany for the legs.  I have the balance of the material needed to make the lowboy in the shop left over from my trip to Irion Lumber this last summer.
I'll fill you in tomorrow when I get back.

Woodworking In America - Weekend

I spent the weekend at Woodworking In America 2014 in the SAPFM booth helping out.  I had a great time meeting new members of SAPFM. And hopefully inviting a few new members.

Ken Johnson was in charge of the booth.  And I got a picture of him here demonstrating my Sandusky 119 plow plane.

The fellow to his right was from Taiwan, so I don't think he will become a member.

We had some furniture on display.  Freddy Roman's beautiful dresser, and of course my Goddard Card Table.

 Mary May was across the aisle from us and I was able to get her to create a Twitter account this weekend.  So now she is part of the 21st century.  ;-) Watch for her posts.

I am going on vacation for a couple of weeks, so not much going on here for a while.
Catch you later.

Townsend or Goddard Table is Finished

I got tired of waiting for the tung oil to age, so I started rubbing it out yesterday.  It has been a week since I applied the last coat.  I rubbed it out with 0000 steel wool,  applied a paste wax and polished with an old t-shirt.

For those who are interested I clocked the screw heads on the hardware.

I reassembled the table top to the frame by putting the table buttons back in the same holes.

So there we have it all done.

I like it. Now what am I going to do with it.  Keep it or sell it.
Here is today's video:

Starting a New Project - Curved Blockfront Dressing Table

I have decided to make the curved blockfront dressing table that I found in several books.  The best information I located was in New England Furniture at Winterthur.  I have the overall dimensions and a couple of pictures, so I should be able to figure it out.

This is the mahogany one that is at Winterthur.

 This is a walnut table with ball and claw feet in a private collection. Great picture.

I get started by making blowups of the pictures to actual size if I can.  This allows me to take measurements off of the pictures, plus a little guessing.

I have an old HP 36" plotter which allows up to 36" x 44" prints which helps.

I have started to make the full size drawings, it helps me think through the construction and of course the dimensions.

I am going to make the front, side and top view because there is a lot of curves to figure out in this one. Look's like I am going to need some 12/4 mahogany for the legs but I think I have the rest of the material that I need.

So here is today's video:

Looking into a New Project - The Fun Begins

With only having to rub out the current project. It is time to start to look into what to make next.  I started to look through the many books that I have on 18th century furniture.   As well as online like the Yale Art Gallery.  Here is one that caught my eye in Williamsburg this last May.

This is a Philadelphia piece from around 1720, said to be William and Mary style, the turned legs are not all one piece.  They are attached under the apron frame as well as the bottom at the stretcher.  It has exposed dovetails on the sides.  So it is not too sturdy.  Here is another of  similar style from Yale.

Both are Walnut.  Construction is similar.
I like the lines of both pieces but not the construction.  I could improve on the construction by using a one piece leg and mortise the front and sides into the leg but then I think it would change the look a bit.

So I kept looking....  I found this in New England Furniture at Winterthur.

Curved Blockfront Lowboy in mahogany.  Looks interesting.

And from The Cabinetmaker and Carver book

This one is very similar, it is made from walnut with small ball and claw feet.
I think I like the pad foot better.  The two pieces are suspected to be from the same Boston shop but it is all conjecture.  Believed to be from about 1745-1760.
The dimensions are 31H x 33 1/2W x 21 3/4 D.  These are the top dimensions.  The case of course is slightly smaller.   Both are similar in size.  Both are double pinned in leg rail.  I have enough mahogany left over from the last project to make it.   I also have some walnut but would have to get some wide  material for the top.  I will think about it.  Walnut lightens over time and I really like the look of this antique walnut. I could probably make the mahogany this color when I finish the piece.

I have made a block front bureau so I am familiar with the style and construction of the drawer fronts. This is the bureau pictures below.

So the first thing to do is make a full size drawing.  The cabriolet legs in the top picture are thin and do not have a lot of curve.   Do you  think Winterthur would let me come and measure and trace the leg?????  If Yale had the piece I am sure they would.