Sofa Table - part II

[Derek Cohen]

In part I, work had begun on the boat-shaped sofa table ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Redesign/13a_zpswojszugd.jpg


We left off last time with the bow aprons completed ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Start/4a_zps1k2rxtuu.jpg


Before I began the legs, which I had planned for this weekend past, I had another look at the aprons and decided that they could be slimmed down, which would enable the legs to be slimmed as well. This involved removing a 10mm strip from the centre on the table saw, and glueing the two sections up again. We could now begin on the legs.


The blanks for the legs were 75 x 40mm (3" x 1 1/2") Hard Maple. Using a template, sections with the straightest grain could be marked out ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/3a_zpszemn1ylt.jpg


.. and then sawn out on the bandsaw ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/5a_zpsolx7hxdz.jpg


It was easier to plane the concave side and spokeshave the convex side ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/6a_zpsp6vw6nax.jpg


Any irregularities were smoothed with a scraper ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/9a_zpsfn7rcvbt.jpg


Below are the completed basic legs and slimmed down aprons (with drawer blades removed) ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/1a_zpsoee75nie.jpg


The legs would be joined to the apron with mortice and tenons. This had its challenges as the apron, being bowed, has only one flat side. In retrospect, it would have been easier to have extended the maple veneer on the inside all the way, and not stop it short where the tenons would be formed. As a result, it was not possible to mark the tenons with a gauge. Fortunately, the ends were square and became the reference side ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/2a_zpspgb7qn6c.jpg


The mortice and tenon is 1/2" wide. The 1/3 Rule is used, and the mortice extends 2/3 in the leg.


The shoulders are knifed, undercut, and then sawn ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/4a_zpsjcikoxhb.jpg


The cheeks are sawn close to the line, but not at close as I usually do. I am leaving a little extra waste for fine tuning ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/5a_zpsvkd8sbmh.jpg


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/6a_zpstepua6q0.jpg


My strategy is to level the side of the cheeks parallel to the flat side of the apron using a router plane (David Charlesworth's technique from about 20 years ago) ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/2-1_zpst7qzuyug.jpg


The other side has to be chiseled as the bowed apron does not permit use of the router plane.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/1-2a_zpspyyx8myb.jpg


Accuracy of the tenon is checked with a template ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/2a_zpswyayzdbt.jpg

[Derek Cohen]

There is a another reason for the absolute precision here - the inside of the legs must align precisely with the inside face of the apron as a drawer will be fitted from the side.


In the photo below, the position for the mortice is transferred from the tenon. At the rear is a straight edge ensuring all lines up ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/3a_zpsymlk1vmy.jpg


Once done, the mortices were made. After chopping a couple in the hard maple, I thought "this is for the birds", and used a router on the remainder. Half inch wide and 1 1/4" deep in hard maple is not fun!


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/4a_zpstnzpmh2m.jpg


Before assembling anything, there is some shaping to be done on the legs.


The legs not only curve in elevation, but the front curves in parallel with the apron and the table top ..


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/5a_zpsfzlp51vp.jpg


The insides of the legs will be tapered, and this will be completed after the outer curve is shaped.


The curve is simply planed to the lines, and then sanded to removed any irregularities ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/6a_zpsumenpbri.jpg


Below you can see two sets of apron/legs. The right hand is shaped, while the left side remains to be done. The apron is set back by 2mm to create a shadow line ...


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/7a_zpsvgnbnvxo.jpg


This is the final photo for this segment. The taper has yet to be done. The mortice and tenon will be drawbored for a tight finish. The inside faces have been cleaned up (too many photos already, so there are lots of small details I have chosen to omit).


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/8a_zps5nkn1qee.jpg


This will now give you a better idea of what I am trying to achieve.


Comments and discussion welcomed.


Regards from Perth


Derek

[John Kananis]

Looking great, the design 'flows' well so far.

[Christopher Charles]

Looks good Derek. When I first looked at the last photo, I thought the aprons might be too narrow (compared to width of the legs, approaching 1:1) but then looked at the drawing again. With the thickness of the top, they'll balance out just right I should think.

Also, I noticed your bench bought some shoes!

Best,
Chris

[David Eisenhauer]

Beautiful leg shape Derek and I like the "uplift" on the underside of the top as it flows away from the base and just adds to the curved legs and aprons. Nice, nice design work in addition to the hand craft. Understood on mortise chopping in hard maple, how do you find spoke shaving on hard maple?

[Derek Cohen]

Beautiful leg shape Derek and I like the "uplift" on the underside of the top as it flows away from the base and just adds to the curved legs and aprons. Nice, nice design work in addition to the hand craft. Understood on mortise chopping in hard maple, how do you find spoke shaving on hard maple?

Thanks David. It is always reassuring when the real thing resembles the imagined design. I find that there are features and details that are easier to visualise than to draw.

Spokeshaving (and planing) maple is a pleasure compared to my local hard woods. The grain is tight and it takes excellent detail. I have come to respect the small knots or grain reversals in Maple for their capacity to create tearout. Maple does this to a greater degree than, say, Jarrah. The double iron in a plane works magic in such situations.

Here is a round bottomed spokeshave on the convex side of a leg. Nice long, easy shavings ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Sofa%20Table%202/Legs/8a_zps0isewcjo.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Kees Heiden]

Nice work Derek. I am always jelous about your rate of progress, I am such a procrastinator...

Anyway, you could have choosen another aproach to the precision neccessary for the inside: leave the apron a bit proud, then plane to size.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Kees. Yes, the method I chose for the inside of the apron is a little different than what I usually do for drawers, as in a chest of drawers, where there are drawer runners and drawer blades added later. I did consider planing down any excess. The issue that I have been (overly) concerned with the single, long drawer that needed to fit perfectly into parallel sides to avoid binding or rattling around. Any deviation from parallel, such as planing the sides, could throw this out. The longer the drawer, the more any deviation is magnified. This drawer will be about 600mm long.

I have been working towards an idea where I add in the drawer blades (these fit in the grooves I ploughed in an earlier post), and then rest between the inner aprons a simple rectangle of plywood or mdf to represent the drawer. That will provide a way of measuring the upper and lower rails for the drawer. This way (in theory) everything stays square.

Its a different approach. Somewhat backwards. But it is on track at present.

Regards from Perth

Derek