Geezzzz .. its coming again

SNOW that is , just half way got cleaned out from the last one , now got another  6 to 12 falling as we speak, so back to the house until it gets better , this has been a record snowfall year for us , I remember alot of big snows as a kid, but it has been many years since we have had it this way , but this too shall pass, and besides the exercise is good for me , I like working , so I will get the shovels all tuned up and tomorrow will get back to shoveling , I have a driveway up a pretty good hill , its about 125 yards , so it does give a good work out , but the drive is on the southern exposure, so if you get it cleaned  some, it melts and is dry in short order , well its really coming down now , guess its time to head out , will try this again on thursday.

Snow and More Snow

We know a lot of you are in the same boat with us.  We received 2 foot of snow on Friday and Saturday and went without power for about 18 hours.  All is well.  Tried to get into the shop this morning but New Market should be declared a disaster area, they have made a real mess here, we were scheduled to film this weeks show today and tomorrow, definitely not happening today.  We usually have a webisode or two in the wings, but because we had the photo shoot last week for Woodcraft Magazine, we didn’t film. 

Anyway, we will try to get in tomorrow, they are calling for another snow tomorrow night, another 3-6-inches so we’ll see, worst comes to worse, the next webisode may be a day or so late, but we’ll get it.  We will be starting the finishing process by painting the interior case so we’ll get to it as soon as we can.

Stay warm, we’re thinking about all of you.  Oh, the newsletter is halfway completed, unfortunately, I left it at the shop on Friday morning and will get it out as soon as I can.

Sherri (Charles is shoveling at the shop so that maybe we can get in tomorrow)

Newsletter is a coming

We have been running wide open, but I finally got the newsletter written, Sherri is typing it now, and I have been working on a really nice Pembroke table , we had measured and photographed at the Wilton House Museum, back in September, its out of mahogany , and will be a feature article in Woodcraft magazine in early summer (June , July I think), it a lot to do , , they will be here Friday and Saturday to do the photo shoot, as promised we will do some photos of our own , showing them doing the photos, so you see how its done , we just got past 6 inches of snow and its calling for 2 to 4 more today, been a long time since we have had this much snow, however I do remember as a kid , having it on the ground for most of the winter , and it been unseasonably cold, or at least the duration

Some of you on the forum were debating dovetail saws , many were speaking of the Veritas ones Lee Valley has , so I uh , well  , I got one , now I love my Adria , but I will be giving this a test drive and reporting as well, I also picked up a spoke shave , for the upcoming show build of the Low boy and the cabriolet legs , I have a super nice Clifton one, but been looking at these for some time , so ” to save shipping”, ( good excuse) , well you get the drift , and we will be checking it out as well, I will get Jeff Fleisher over and get his opinion as well, so we can be sure of our assessment ,

Ok , table in process, newsletter written, shop warm, got coffee , emails answered, forums checked , guess its time to get my butt to work,  ya’ll be safe , and warm, later

Finally

well we finally got the corner cabinet built for the show , and now we are into finishing it , its been a long build, but well worth the slower pace, so many details to cover, but its done.
we got thru the Bombe class , and it will resume again 2nd week of March, today i will finish filming some things, and that will have filming done for a while , then next week we have a photo shoot with Woodcraft magazine , looking forward to that , but next week I need to get the Pembroke table made and parts for a second, I like doing it this way and plan on doing the same thing with show projects , having a completed piece to reference to as we build , so we can see the result we are looking to achieve helps a lot I think, the next show build is a Mahogany Lowboy , it’s a small , simpler one, but oh so beautiful, no carving , but planning on some veneering , it will encompass  a lot of detail instruction on cabriolet legs , Mortise and Tenon , and dovetailed drawers , and of course the finishing , the piece is a historical one from the Mesda Collection in North Carolina , hope you join us .

   I am also working on getting the news letter written , over the weekend , and by the end of next week hope we are back on schedule , I have been amazed how busy it has been, the forums have been pretty quiet , but emails tell us alot of you are in your shops working , a good thing.

The Jefferson Chest we did are now at Monticello , I think, they were recieved quite well and got a lot of attention , it will be interesting to see how quick they sell… those chest have always been a big hit since the first one we made , people love small chest , or boxes of any kind, and surprisingly enough , the blog stats show us what searches people use to find things we have addressed here , the number 1 search is “secret compartments “, and slant front desk , its there everyday and usually several, so I am thinking for the 3rd show project it should be a slant front desk, what do you guys think , let me know , thinking 4th might be a chair , its your show so tell me what ya want to see

ok , off to get another cup of coffee and then rock and roll , stay warm and safe , later ya’ll

Bombe Day 7

Here we tackle a typically tough thing, the Full Bonnet. I have seen and done this many ways, none were really to my liking, the orginal had a thin veneer nailed over a sub-structure, and many are done that way, personally I'm not a fan of all the nails. Rarely have I seen full bonnets that were not cracked. When attached to the sub-structure like the original (which was cracked), the technique hinders expansion and contraction of the case sides. So here we are doing a new thing, we are "coopering". We are using approx a 5/16-inch thick pieces of mahogany. We cut it into narrow strips and then we are gluing them to the poplar substructure which is nailed to the scroll boards. Note that the poplar is not full width, it is approx 3/16-inch narrower and simply nailed in place. The nails will allow the case sides to expand and contract as nails will flex. When the mahogany is glued to the poplar, care is taken to not glue it to the case, only the poplar, this again will allow movement. Also note the straight edge clamped to the case and the use of the combo
square to help determine the angles. To fit all of this together tightly we actually used a wide piece of mahogany and kept it in sequence so as to get the best grain match possible. We used some 5/4 lumber but 4/4 will do. We re-sawed all of it so one piece of wood did both sides. We are "walking it up so we can get clamps on easier. When all is said and done, we will hand plane and maybe a little spoke shave all the surfaces smooth. Yes, we will have numerous glue lines so fit it as tight as possible. If the glue lines are an issue, you could apply a sheet of veneer over the entire bonnet, however, if you take your time and fit it well it will look great and produce a sound and solid bonnet free of visable nails as well allowing for expansion and contraction. The end grain edges will be covered by the gooseneck mouldings. An alternative would be to use thicker material ( 4/4 or better) and shape the bottom to fit the curve and then shape the top. This method would produce less glue seams but more time and material.

We also simply nailed together a small box that will sit under the bonnet and above the top right and left drawer. The box will be quietly tucked away as a neat secret compartment. To get to the hidden compartment, you wil have to remove the side drawer as well as the center, just one of those fun things. This is one of my own things I have added and was not in the orginal.

Ok, we will keep on building. The bonnet is one of those things that slows things down a bit but is a “glad thats done” accomplishment! This will also allow the bonnet to fully dry well before we final shape it when we get back to the Bombe March 1st.

Later Ya’ll

Bombe Day 6

We are still moving along quite well, a lot due in part to having all the patterns, but as we get into the details, it will slow a little. Frank will be here until tomorrow and then return March 1st, so we’ll continue this week’s Bombe blog which will end on Monday (which will cover Friday’s progress).

Here are some things to pay attention to in the photos. Note how we rabbetted the face frames so they only have a 5/16-inch exposure at the sides, this makes for a cleaner look. We also cut the scroll board and the rear mate. The rear board is made of white pine and has no pediment, true as the original.

The orginal used white pine for all secondary wood, we have elected to use poplar for all the drawer runners and anywhere we felt more strength was needed. When I studied the orginal piece, the drawers had cut into the face frames from wear, so the poplar, being much more dense than the white pine will help here. The orginal also used 3/4″ pine for all the drawer sides which when planed to the case contour, leaves only about a 5 /16″ to 3/8″ runner on the drawer bottom. We’ve also elected to go with 5/4 pine to beef up the sides somewhat. We will run a groove and inset a 1/4 piece of maple in the drawer runner bottoms as I always do, we just want the extra strength. We will post all this when we get there, for now, we have the face frames on and drying, all the drawer structure in, (Note the screws in the front of the face frame stiles, these will be covered by the fluted column). Also note the
scroll board backs. We rabbetted them to create a shelf area, so we can nail cross pieces to create a structure for the veneered bonnet.

While it was not part of the orginal, I couldn’t help myself. I had to find somewhere to put some hidden compartments so we will show you them as well. I realize you cannot perhaps build one of these from this blog, but perhaps you can pick up some pointers, or perhaps share some. Either way, it’s all about working wood and we all can learn something from each other. Again, if you have a comment or question, please just ask, either here in the comment section or your forum, we’ll help if we can, Later yall

Bombe day 5

We did a lot of clean up and finalizing yesterday. the photo at thetop right is one I have here so you can see where we are headed, We planed and scraped the bottom case sides to final shape, made sure the bottom and top were perfectly square. To do this, you simply leave enough ” meat” on the top and bottom, then a little planing and it’s square.

After we were square we cut and glued the bottom moulding. Note how we made the moldings so they attach from underneath and are screwed on. This way we can finish them seperately. We also will not have external fastners to deal with. By elongating the screw holes we allow for expansion and contraction. This is NOT how the orginal was done, but it sure is a lot better than the nailed on ones the orginal had and none of the orginal design is compromised. The top case molding will be done the same way.

Next we got into the upper case sides. Using the molding we made yesterday, we insured the upper case measurement so that the molding, when installed on the upper case, overhangs correctly and will fit the lower case. The noted exception is that the front molding sits back 1/2 from the front of the case so when the pillaster is installed, the moulding is fitted around it.

Next we cut our upper case sides to length (40-inches) and width (19 3/4-inches). After that, we laid out the upper case rails and cut the through sliding dovetails. The bottom rail is 1 5/8-inch from the case bottom, then it increments in 8,7,6,5 drawer height openings with all the rails being 3/4 thick. The top is left open for fitting the larger center drawer and the peaked drawers on the left and right. We are using our sliding dovetail construction, just hard to beat it. The orginal was dovetailed into the front and back and the drawer runners were nailed in place. The upper case will also recieve a face frame and the actual visable rails will be Mahogany which we will show when we get to that point.

For now, we are dovetailing the rails and drawer runners and getting that put together. We will be using the multi-router for the dovetail pins and runners but you can certainly use the techniques we used on the bottom case, the multi-router is just faster.

Check back tomorrow to see how we are doing.. Later ya’ll.

Bombe Continues

Frank is back and we’ve been hard at the Bombe. One of the things that has helped us move at a good pace is having all the patterns from a previous build as well as having a Bombe
reference from.

This brought up a thought, if we can have drawings and full size patterns made of this piece made how many of you would be interested? Whether we do them would depend entirely on how many would want them so we can contain the cost. This is a once in a lifetime piece for most and while you may or may not like the piece, it’s one of those things that become a ” Significant Accomplishment.” Don’t feel this piece is “out of your league” it is not. There is a difference between challenging and difficult. Difficult is not knowing what to do or how to do it, we can handle that part…Challenging means that you can do it but you are learning and pushing yourself along the way.

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I’m taking lots of photos and they will help you to visualize the processes and how we can get a little creative to overcome most obstacles. One of the things we had to do was to use multiple bits to get the profiles we needed for the feet and moulding. We want to get the feer made, the bottom moulding and the waist molding so we can move on to our upper case. Fitting the upper case will be much easier with all of the questions concerning the moulding answered.

MOLDING PHOTOGRAPHS

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At the moment, we are cleaning up the outside of the bottom case and ensuring that we have the top and bottom of the sides exactly where we want them. Then we can fit our mouldings, do some hand planing, scraping and some sanding will be in order.

The feet are 6″ tall x 9 ” long. Here is where I will get some questions. When I glue my feet, I simply size the 45 degree bevel, by that I mean I apply glue to the cut edge and then work it in well to the end grain. Next I wipe it back, let it tack up and then apply more glue. By scuffing them together the suction of the glue will hold them. The reason for sizing the joint is that the procedure works glue into the end grain which normally absorbs the glue from the joint resulting in a glue starved joint and thus a weak one. Before you knock this technique, give it a try, then clamp if needed and let dry. After the glue is set, we then the “blocked” the inside corner of the feet, meaning that we glued a small vertical piece to the inside corner which strengthens the joint further and adds additional support to the foot. The feet in this case are quartersawn ribbon figure so expansion and contraction will be minimal so no issue with the vertical piece. If it were flat sawn I would put two pieces, one top and one bottom leaving a gap in the middle ( about 1/4=-inch) to allow for some movement. At 6-inches long and 1 3/4-inches thick, not much is going to move.

If you have questions just ask and if you have an interest in a full size set of drawings also let me know. I will probably have more on the drawings in the Newsletter next week. I do want to mention that it will depend on response because it isn’t cheap to have these made but if we share the cost, it might be worth it.

Okay, Frank and I are working away, we have all week so we’ll be blogging every day, if you have any questions concerning this project as you see the photos and see what stage we are at, please email with your questions so we can get them answered as quickly as possible.

Later,

Bye the Way .. Frank says hello to his Dad in Florida…

Jefferson Chest and more

I know I’ve been slack gettin blogs up, just been swamped, we’ve have a lot going on.

We’ve been filming more of the show, Sherri and Crystal want to finish filming the corner cabinet so we are working on that this week. I had some other pieces to get out and now I’m back to the chests made from the Jefferson Poplar. I have three Keeping Chests finished and two more in process.

We had enough small pieces that I did some of our small pipe boxes too. We don’t want to waste a bit of this material! There are some guys using some of the limb hunks and turning a few bowls and some rolling pins and things of that nature. They are bringing high dollars and have clients on a waiting list. I am anxious to see what Monticello thinks of my Keeping Chests. These chests are the only “built pieces ” I am aware of out of this historical material.

I also made a tiger maple chest so they can see it as well.

I Decided to use the same color on the TM chest that we are using on the corner cabinet in the show. All will be finished with Waterlox. love that stuff, all will have a minimum of 4 coats until they feel like warm butter…. just how I like it.

Ran into an issue on the small pipe boxes. I used a 23 gauge pin nailer and white glue (as it dries clear) to assemble them. These pipe boxes are approximately 3/16-inch thick. After assembly and some scraping and sanding some of the pin nails were showing. Bright metal is not something I wanted, so I used a little water based gun bluing (I purchased mine online from http://www.shootersolutions.com/gunblue.html) and simply wiped over the nails and let them dry. The gun bluing darkened the heads and the boxes look great.

The hardware I chose was from Horton Brasses. I like their dark antique brasses for this project. I did go with strap hinges for these chests due to the age of the tree. I had these made by Fisher Forge. Horton cannot antique the locks because the process can damage the steel lock partsso before I install them, I will wipe the brass surfaces of the lock with some of the bluing. It gives the brass a really nice antique look.

We still have the camera set up as I am filming some things for Woodcraft, couple of them are some of their turning items. These have been a lot of fun. I’m going to turn a coffee scoop handle, an ice cream scoop handle, some pepper mills and salt shakers. The ones you see in the photo Jeff Fleisher turned, when I’m done, I’ll show ya some of mine. I’ve have some Bubinga for the coffee and ice cream scoops and I have some tiger maple and some curly cherry for the pepper mills and salt shakers, the pepper mill Jeff has is from Clario Walnut, it will be interesting to see what we come up with.

Well, it’s get back to the chest and filming, I hope everyone is staying warm, it’s been a might cool here but a heat wave tomorrow, the high is suppose to be 48-degrees!

Enjoy the pictures – Later Ya’ll!

Silence Is Golden

Sorry I havent been bloging a lot , been super busy, mainly filming the Show, getting the corner cabinet wrapped up , as we speak , I am doing the doors , a lot of new folks have come on board , I think we have a winner here , the response to the show has been great , and as it gets more involved in harder projects I think it will grow even more, I will say this again, I know of no better way to bring  education to the people , in the corner cabinet it has been relatively slow-paced , but thats a good thing , it allows all to really get whats happening , and I have made enough mistakes , so we get to see that recovery thing , thats important , because its real , its how it really is , this is not TV, I’m not Norm, I can “screw up” with the best of them , but I can also recover , this is real life , how in my opinion , woodworking should be taught , one of the biggest handicaps woodworking has suffered is TV , people actually think those guys never make a mistake , not the case , they just don’t have the @(#*(&* to show it,  I do, whether I manufacture  a mistake or it just happens , its  real life, it’s the recovery that makes  it work , I have often said , “IF ”I ever build the perfect piece , That will be last piece I build , well im still here , and still building .

I recall one time I had called “BIG BOB” , he wasnt in a very good mood , he finally explained he was building a base for a Step Back, and cut it too short , we laughed a little , and I said  ” yep been there done that a time or 40″, he said oh well , I guess I get to make another one, and we ended the conversation , that  evening I decided to give him a call, and see how it was going , when he answered the phone it was ” yea What?”, not his usual jolly self , he explained , ” I don’t mind cutting the thing wrong once , but I did it again” ( a mite stronger comment ) ,  I rolled laughing , and explained i wasnt laughing at him , I was just glad to know there were other professional woodworkers who had experienced the same thing , I think it  got him to smile and well ” third time is the charm”, as I recall that piece is in California , not sure if its painted or not   ( love ya Bob),

The point is mistakes happen to the best , don’t be deceived , learn to work around your own human frailties , but never let them prevent you from tackling something you are not sure how to do , if you do , you will never grow, but do take the time to think it through , then act, my sitting pondering time , is proably more productive than my cuttin gluing time …how about you ?