Mike Waddell
10-04-2005, 1:22 PM
Hello again, everyone -
Picking up from after the fifth picture in the first post with the similar title:
(Sixth Picture) After letting the laminations dry up in the form for several days, I removed the entire lamination, cleaned up the edges with a block plane, and used a card scraper and sandpaper to clean up the main surface. The piece didn’t have to remain in the form for that long, but LOML was worried that I would blow a gasket if the second glue-up failed, so she insisted I take a few days away from the project. Smart lady, that LOML.
(Seventh Picture) I was very happy with the final product after I cleaned it up. As you can see in the seventh picture, the laminations are pretty tight.
When I created the drawer opening, I didn’t take any pictures. I’m sorry about that now, as it was the most fun part of this project. To do it, I used a 1/8” spiral downcut bit in a table-mounted router. I created a jig/sled that held the face of the laminated piece down on the table once I had lowered it over the bit and allowed the bit to penetrate the front side of the laminated piece. Once it was lowered, the sled portion of the jig allowed me to slide the piece along the front of the router table fence, ensuring that the routed opening was straight and parallel to the fence and top/bottom of the piece. I routed the top and bottom of the opening first, using stop blocks to keep the two routed lines a consistent length and “even with each other.” Next, I routed the two sides of the opening using the same jig/sled and additional stop blocks with the piece secured at 90* to the fence.
(Eighth Picture) With the drawer front defined during the routing process, it was simply a matter of lining the drawer opening with 1/16” mahogany strips to leave a uniform 1/16” gap around the drawer front once the slides for the drawer were mounted inside the piece. This picture was taken before I mounted the slides, so the drawer front is sitting on the bottom of the opening, but you get the idea.
Sorry this has been such a long post. I hope that it it will be helpful. This was a project with challenges that made it a ton of fun. Please don't hesitation to hit me with any comments, suggestions, or questions that you have.
All the best,
Mike
Picking up from after the fifth picture in the first post with the similar title:
(Sixth Picture) After letting the laminations dry up in the form for several days, I removed the entire lamination, cleaned up the edges with a block plane, and used a card scraper and sandpaper to clean up the main surface. The piece didn’t have to remain in the form for that long, but LOML was worried that I would blow a gasket if the second glue-up failed, so she insisted I take a few days away from the project. Smart lady, that LOML.
(Seventh Picture) I was very happy with the final product after I cleaned it up. As you can see in the seventh picture, the laminations are pretty tight.
When I created the drawer opening, I didn’t take any pictures. I’m sorry about that now, as it was the most fun part of this project. To do it, I used a 1/8” spiral downcut bit in a table-mounted router. I created a jig/sled that held the face of the laminated piece down on the table once I had lowered it over the bit and allowed the bit to penetrate the front side of the laminated piece. Once it was lowered, the sled portion of the jig allowed me to slide the piece along the front of the router table fence, ensuring that the routed opening was straight and parallel to the fence and top/bottom of the piece. I routed the top and bottom of the opening first, using stop blocks to keep the two routed lines a consistent length and “even with each other.” Next, I routed the two sides of the opening using the same jig/sled and additional stop blocks with the piece secured at 90* to the fence.
(Eighth Picture) With the drawer front defined during the routing process, it was simply a matter of lining the drawer opening with 1/16” mahogany strips to leave a uniform 1/16” gap around the drawer front once the slides for the drawer were mounted inside the piece. This picture was taken before I mounted the slides, so the drawer front is sitting on the bottom of the opening, but you get the idea.
Sorry this has been such a long post. I hope that it it will be helpful. This was a project with challenges that made it a ton of fun. Please don't hesitation to hit me with any comments, suggestions, or questions that you have.
All the best,
Mike