Developing the Curved Front Apron Prototype and Mahogany

I worked on the curved front apron today.  This is important to get right since the other drawer blades and drawer fronts will have to match this design.   I checked out the cardboard template that I had made and it was a little off.  So I decided to just redraw the design on the wood.
I was unsure how the design would look so I decided to make a prototype out of poplar before using the good mahogany.

Here is the design after I used the band saw to cut out the apron.  It is 4 inches high and 2 1/2 inches thick.

 It looks ok so now I have to do it over on the mahogany.  I have one piece of 12/4 stock left but it is 10 inches wide so I have enough to make 2, So, if I screw up one I'll still have one more to go before I would have to buy more mahogany.

I flattened the board and squared it up and ripped a 4 inch piece with the best color and grain.  I laid out the design carefully.  I have decided to cut the tenons for the most part on the table saw.  I will finish them with a hand saw.

Here you can see that I cut the stock back to 1 3/4 inches which matches the top of the leg.  The tenon is centered on the 1 3/4.

I cut the shoulder of the tenon on the table saw, I wanted to make sure that they were square. Now I will finish them off with a hand saw

Hand sawing the cheeks of the tenon, leaving them a little fat

Fitted one tenon to my sample block

Apron in place, looks like a good fit.

Now all I have to do is band saw out the pattern on the bottom and front.  Just like I did with the poplar one this morning but with much more care to stay outside the lines.

Saw marks are still there but I work on removing them tomorrow.

Here is today's video:

Milling a Big Mahogany Board for the Sides and Top

Well I started to mill a large mahogany board that I bought this last summer at Irion Lumber.  The board is 22 3/4 inches wide by 9 feet long.  I should be able to get the sides and the top from this board and have some left over.

I will hand plane the board so that I can see the grain and any defects that there might be in the board. My workout for today with the #6 Stanley Bailey after I had honed the blade.

You can see here why I do this before any cutting is done on the board.  Here are some worm holes that I exposed as the board was being planed.

I have marked out the sides and the top working my way around the defects in the board.  I am trying to make efficient use of the board.  At these prices I need too.

Now I can saw up the rough sizes and plane the individual smaller boards.  I try to get one side flat and then run them through the planer.

Once they are flat I can trim them to actual size and cut the tenons on the table saw.  I gave up on my radial arm saw.  It was not straight enough across the 13 inches of these boards.  I noticed the problem when I did the back of the table but worked around the problem.

Now I need to saw out the waste between the tenons just like I did the back panel.

Ready to fit the sides.

Looks like a good fit.

Now I need to cut out the patterns for the scrolling on the sides and front.

I got quite a bit done today.  I'll pick up here tomorrow.  So here is today's video:

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.