Just a simple table....

[steven c newman]

Yeah...right. The Boss has decreed that she wants a new end table....to replace the 20 yr old Oak one....
She does NOT want a drawer in it (says there are too many now), and it must have a bottom shelf. Must also match the height, width, and length of the other end table (an enclosed bottom with a door...).....OK, see what I can cobble up.....

Stopped by a friend of mine's place, picked up 12' of 1 x 6 Ash. Also picked up 10' of 7/4 x 4" Ash. Will at least get the top out of the 1 x 6s...rest will come from the 2 x 4....

Top to be 4/4 (for now) by 16" x 30". Table height is 23", counting the top. Legs will be tapered on the inside faces...should be fun adding a shelf to that:rolleyes:

Haul the 1 x6s to the shop, cross cut to about 30" strong
397093
3 out of the 4....#4?
397094
Not too sure IF I want this as a table top...straightedge to check the edges..
397095
Hmm...bandsaw to cut the worst parts off...set the fence on the Vintage Tablesaw, and ripped straightline edges....still needed some plane work..
397096
WR #62 and a Stanley No.7c to work the edges a bit more..straight edge to check..
397097
And worked on the edges that will see the glue....I also had marked a big "V" across all three boards, to keep things lined up.
Finally, was able to moosh a couple beads of glue around..
397098
Right here, the only thing holding this up, is the glue. Slide each part around, until you feel the joint stick....then the clamps can go on..
397099
Center clamp first, to keep the middle of the joint flat, the the ends, then the cauls...let this sit overnight.
There MIGHT even be a bit of fancy grain to this top..
397100
We'll see. Need to haul the 2 x 4s to the shop, and see about some leg blanks.

Note: the 1 x 6 cam from the same board...11'10" long..too long for my van to haul home. We crosscut it and the 10' 2 x 4 in half...
The Fireplace Surround is also from that same tree. :cool:

May get a bead on the aprons, and the outside corner of the legs...not really "Shaker" details...but seem to fit in with the rest of the furniture in the house. May or may not get a narrow breadboard edge to the top...depends on what wood I have left.
It is a start..stay tuned..:D

[steven c newman]

Crosscut the 2 x4 into a couple 22" long blanks....found out the tablesaw can not make the cut in one pass....Reset the saw for a rip cut...same problem...had to flip the blank over for a second pass..
397130
1-13/16" x 1-13/16" square, by 22" long. Then that wavy 1 x 6 was run through..
397131
Top panel?
397133
It can sit here, for a while. Laid out for a tapered leg...rough cut on the bandsaw....reset, and cut the other taper..
397134
Waiting on a plane to smooth it out. Taper starts 5" from the top of the leg. At the foot, it is 1" square.
Clamped the "apron" stock in the vise..
397135
Hmmmm, handsome, ain't they....got a couple clamps out..
397136
And that was about it...one hour IN the shop...

Maybe after Turkey Day...I can get busy, again.
Stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

Forgot to take the camera to the shop, last night. Was down there, just to jig up a way to hold the leg blanks still, while I took a plane to the tapered faces. One jig worked...but only for one taper. :mad:

Flipped the blank to do the other taper...jig couldn't reach and hold it. Set up a more involved jig on the bench....works ;)

Something didn't look right...tapers started too low...redrew the lines....blanks were actually too fat....trimmed the "excess" off....about a saw blade's width...redrew the lines...some I merely had to plane away to the lines. Now have two legs tapered on two faces. Marked the top of the blanks as to where the mortises will go.

Used both blanks and the top's panel....needed to figure out the lengths of the aprons.

May head to the shop after a while ( with the camera) and either finish the tapers, or resaw some aprons from the other 2 x 4 Ash plank...once I have it cross cut for lengths needed..
MIGHT be safer IN the shop...than dealing with the mobs downtown...:rolleyes::eek:

Stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

Wound up hauling the Boss and the GrandBRAT Diva to the stores, after lunch.....finally got back home from that mess about...3:30 or so....decided to head for the shop...camera in hand..
397249
Taper jig....some worked well...some did need some extra work...
397250
Just an old jack plane...I also needed a shorter plane, to work on saw marks at the top of the legs...
397251
A No. 3 sized Fulton. Worked on getting the tapers cut, planed smooth, making sure the tops were the same size...
397252
Needed to crosscut the 2 x 4 to rough lengths...and remove a 4 knot cluster near the center of the board's length....about a 5" long chunk. Which left enough for both of the short aprons, and the two long aprons. They needed resawn down a bit..and a knot was in the way..
397253
Which leaves me a 3" apron width....in theory( Why is so hot in the shop, today?) Set the rip fence..flipped the board the wrong direction...hmmm, reset the fence to remove that knot
397254
Then, reset again, to resaw @ 13/16" thick....and wind up with these four pieces...then, rough cut for length..
397255
Figured out WHY it was so hot in the shop....I still had me coat on :rolleyes:...no place to hang it up, either.
Aprons will need S4S, and tenons figured out. Reset the Stanley #45 plane with a #22 bead cutter....and figure out a jig to hold the legs better..
397256
Well, it will work for one type of cut.....but, I need a second cut as well...
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Friday's Follies...:D

[steven c newman]

Ok, bead cutter work...Set up the jig to hold the leg one way..
397257
Well, I can do 4 cuts like this...but, the second cut comes UP the leg, instead of down, like this. rebuild the jig again....
Then run the 45 from the toe to the top...Until the bead looks like this..
397258
Each outside corner is to look like this..in theory..
397259
Close enough...As for all the cut-offs I was getting....some were just so bad, they went right into the burn tub...others
397260
We have work for this to do....corner braces, to attach the top with...braces underneath the shelf....test pieces to size the lower shelf's aprons....
397261
Been using an old Lufkin Tinners' Rule....as a straightedge.
Needed to clean up the shop..
397262
Seems I made a bit of a mess, in just over 2 hours of work.....will try a little better, tomorrow...without wearing me coat:rolleyes: Might just get something done?

Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Got distracted today.....seems there was this football game going on....maybe this evening, I may lay some stuff out in the shop...

[steven c newman]

Hmm, game was over....snuck down to the shop...managed to get an entire....hour and a half...
397371
While the WR 62 can give me see-through shavings in this stuff....takes forever to work something like this..
397373
For these long aprons, I got out the normal plane...
397374
Stanley No.7c. Long edges were done...was trying to get the aprons to S4S...which meant a change in the jigs..
397376
Back to slow-poke. On the short aprons...re-do the jig a bit...62 to do the face grain part...
397377
Millers Falls No.11. New jig set up, once all the aprons were S4S....Stanley 45 was still set up for a bead...
397378
Picked the best showing grain. Doing the beads now, before any trimming gets done. In case of a blow-out...can simply cut the bad end off.
397379
Longer aprons needed a longer jig, is all...
397380
Had to open the leg vise all the way out...fence on the 45 was just missing this....Beads are shallow, just enough to cause a shadow line.
Had one more chore to do with these aprons...
Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Ok, besides checking on the clothes dryer ( again..)and making a big mess on the floor...wanted to lay out the tenons...and get them ready.

First, needed to know how long to make them...1/2" tenons on each end, too. grabbed the blank for the top, and set it on the bench. Grabbed two leg blanks. Set them up 1" in from the edge, and laid an apron in place..
397381
One end was marked for the 1/2" tenon. Then a mark to show where the tenon on the other end starts....
397382
Then a mark 1/2" into the leg for the end of the tenon. Crosscuts..
397383
Ok, set these two aside. Legs got turned 90 degrees, and each was laid against the cauls on the ends ( gives me a bit of overhang, fore and aft, even after I trim the ends for square)
397384
This time, I made sure one end was square...then marked things out like the short aprons..
397385
Long aprons are set up. The real fun will be when I mill the bottom rails, for the shelf..
397386
Angled shoulder tenons...Rails will be a bit narrower...with beads and a rebate, to set a plywood panel into...

Maybe tomorrow, I can mill a few tenons, chop a few mortises,,,and set about the bottom rails....

Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Boring little project, ain't it?

Moved the tablesaw off into a corner, and gave it the day off....even the bandsaw had the day off, other than a place to stash my Mountain Dews...
Tenons were all marked out...decided to use a different type of saw...after the bad cuts the bandsaw made...
397450
All I had to do was saw down to a stop line,,needed a stop block, so all the tenon came out the same length
397451
Got the shoulder cuts done..
397452
Cheek cuts are just pencil lines....cleared the bench off..needed elbow room..
397453
Used both a backsaw..
397454
And, IF the grain allowed...
397455
Just a chisel to split the waste off....Finally got all the cuts done...
397456
2 long, and 2 short aprons done...went to set up the mortise jig...
397457
But...there was a problem..
Stay tuned, part 2 coming right up...

[steven c newman]

Problem with the Mortise Jig?
397458
One side was getting chewed up, anyway..time for a new one...and
397459
Reset the jig...laid out for a mortise...and chopped it out..
397460
Then a dry fit...
397461
So far, so good..got this leg done...and a second one, as well..
397462
Decided to stash this out of the way..and call it a day..
397463
Hey, I found a use for the tablesaw! Left the chisels out...may use them again, tomorrow..
397464
Swept the floor. Closed the shop

Maybe tomorrow, I can get the other 2 legs done. I want a complete dry fit, all clamped up, to let me size the rails for the shelf...
Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

This being a Monday....shop was closed for the day.....needed a day off to rest up, anyway.

Gives the Single Brain Cell Sketch Up sometime to figure a few things out....

[Mark Rainey]

steve, interesting hand tool work. what are the details of your mortising jig? i am not clear on how it is set up and what advantages it gives you? thanks Mark

[steven c newman]

I can set it up to hold almost anything that needs a mortise. Just 3 pieces of scrap wood...pine is fine. Wide section is the base ( is is screwed down to stay put) two rails can be set for a snug fit around the part. A pair of Visegrip finger clamps to clamp the part in the jig. Clamp can be laid over, and out of the way. Jig is set up right over the bench's leg...no bounce.

I can slide the next part through enough to do any lay out work. Jig serves as a third hand, that way. Markings done, slide the part back into the jig, and start chopping. Visegrips serve as a quick-release.

397526
Was still set up from when I was doing frame and panel stuff. Rails are about 1" -1-1/2" tall, I'd have to measure them. Rails are held by a pair of screws, each....no glue. I can adjust to what ever width the part is. Base is screwed down with three screws....one each side, one in the middle. Enough pre-drilled holes, adjustments are easy to do.
397527
Finger clamp does not get in the way. Easy to release, clamps as tight as I need it to be. 3 pieces of pine, 7 screws, and the Visegrip clamp....

On the longer items...I will add a scrap block near the other end...the part can be moved without any tipping up or down.

Might take 10 minutes to build one like this....

[Mark Rainey]

Interesting.....I will try one. Thanks

[Stew Denton]

Mark, thanks for asking the question, I had the same question in my mind.

Steven, thanks for the explanation.

Stew

[steven c newman]

Ok, Mortise work today...
397568
Third hand while I mark the mortise out..
397569
Then slide things back..
397570
And dig a hole..or two..
397571
Got all these holes dug....did a dry fit..
397572
This is so I can measure these...things..
397573
And make these into rails to hold the shelf....might take a bit of work...
397574
these came from the same board, BTW
397575
Stay tuned...I even trimmed the table's top, today...

[steven c newman]

Table top...
397576
Ends needed a trim....framing square..
397577
For the cut line, then..
397578
Then the jig line..then..
397579
The saw guide jig....set to the distance between the saw blade, and the edge of the saw's foot..make a cut..
397580
With the Vintage saw..
397581
Rotate the panel, repeat the jig set up, and both ends are now trimmed square.
Set things aside for the night..
397582
One of the mortise chisels I have is rather special...
397583
Has just enough of a curve to it, so I can dig out the chips in the mortises. Not really made to be hit....sometimes it does...was made from the drum brake adjusting "spoon" I picked one day....had a bit of grinding to do on it...seems to work just fine. :cool:

We'll see how tomorrow goes....might get a glue-up done by this weekend? Anyone want to stop in, and help out? :confused:

Stay tuned:D

[steven c newman]

I suppose I should meander towards the shop..in a bit...

Wondering...IF I get in a hurry, and glue up what I do have done....will there be enough "spring-back" in the legs, that I can add the shelf rails later on? Once, I get the rails done, I can then slip the rails into the mortises for them....right now, I need to get milling on the rails....

Film @ 2300 hrs, ZULU......stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

Rails are done, ready to chop a few mortises tomorrow...
Rails have been resawn until they are 3/4" x 1-1/4" by however long they need to be..
397625
Angles and lengths were found out...
397627
Set the top on the saw, set the base upright on the top. Two blocks to set the height of the shelf off the floor.
397628
Mark the angle at each end...set the mitre box to that angle
397629
Make the shoulder cuts for the tenons..
397630
Backsaw to make the cheek cuts...chisel to trim if need be...once I found the angle, I could set the sliding bevel square (?) to that angle..
397631
Made the rest go a bit faster....double check fit ...
397632
All tenons are done....set up a jig to hold the rails...
397633
Each rail gets a bead along the top and bottom edges...despite the grain...stay tuned...a little more to do..:D

[steven c newman]

Last task for today....each rail needs a rebate milled...dug out the Wards #78 and set it up.
397635
Not the easiest thing to do...or clamp down....fence was getting in the way...
397636
Kind of figures...get the last rebate....was the easiest of the four to do...rebate is to hold a 1/4" plywood panel....
May make a gauge block to lay out the mortises, tomorrow....too tired tonight. Maybe chop the mortises and see about another dry fit....to get the plywood to size.

Stay tuned....

[steven c newman]

Going to give it a try about 2pm....and see what trouble I can get into.....will see what a 4 hour shift in the shop can produce...besides the cussing....

Stay tuned...film @2300 hrs, ZULU......

[steven c newman]

"It's Five o'clock, somewhere.." 4 hours in the shop...almost 3 hours spent cussing....one of those days...
397709
Gauge block made up...one edge goes to the outside edge of a leg...."X" goes down to the end of a leg..
397710
Pencil to trace around the inside of the slot....most of the cussing involved turning the base over, around, and ducking clamps...even when they stayed put...:mad:
Usual suspects..
397711
There was a problem with using that long chisel...not enough room above it, to swing a hammer..had to tilt the chisel out a bit...got to a dry fit..
397712
Then the "fun" of rotating this 90 degrees to chop for the long rails...
397713
I could get these two "bottom" ones done...then rotate 180 degrees to do the last two mortises..
397714
This is going to be sooo much FUN to glue and clamp up....I also got a start on these things..
397715
Mitre box to cut the 45 degree ends..drilled half of them..
397716
May have the counter-bores a tad to deep....will add a few washers to the screws. Each and every corner will get one of these...glued and scewed in place...seems to help pull things into square.
Have a few tasks for tomorrow to do....looking like Saturday for the glue up.....could use a couple extra hands...

Stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

Ok. piece needed for the middle of the shelf..
397761
Rebates to house the ends of the two shelf panels....
Set up the router...with a small cove bit..
397762
I can insert an Allen wrench through the base, to raise or lower the height of the bit...there are two corners that show, besides the beaded one...
397763
Got all four legs done, and sanded smooth...while the first end "frame" glued up nicely..
397764
The second one had issues with one tenon....
397765
Glued it up anyway....broken tenon and all.
397766
front and back shelf rails got a counter-bore, and a pilot hole...the middle support gets just a pilot hole...to keep the screw from snapping off...
Corner blocks were fitted with washers under the heads of the screws...and set up, ready to install...
397767
Did a final dry fit...
397768
To see how things fit...and pre-set all the other clamps needed...some will need a pair of Visegrips, to stop the pipe from slipping away
Have an area cleaned and cleared out...need all the room I can get...and even found a couple blocks of Walnut scraps To plug the two counter-bores...and add a strip between the side rails, and the mid rails...

Should be interesting tomorrow....trying to clamp and glue this thing by meself....and install the corner blocks...we'll see how that goes

Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

OK...before the pipe clamps were set up..
397775
A dry fit. Only things glued up are the two end assemblies. And the "H" shaped shelf assembly, the middle rail is screwed and glued in place. One less thing to fumble around with

The area I have to do the main glue up in..
397776
That is about it. maybe 6' wide, by maybe 10' deep?

Corner blocks were cut on the Langdon 75. haven't found any need for a shooting board since the mitre box showed up.
397777
These two....one for a pair of tapered plugs, the other for two 1/4" x 1/4" filler strips for the spot where the mid rail meets the side rails...

Stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Sitting up, high and dry...
397820
It was sitting on the floor...
397821
But, due to all the rain today....
397822
Figured I can stash the glued up base here...
397823
Safe until the creeks dry up...

[steven c newman]

Clamps have been removed. Plywood panels for the shelf have been cut to fit, glued in place...
397919
Cauls to keep them into the glue...
Top has been planed and sanded flat..on both top and bottom..
397920
Along with a #5 cambered jack....a Made in England Stanley #4c....radius marked for each corner..
397921
Cut, beltsanded smooth...router ran around...
397922
Top attached to the base...using screws through these..
397923
Got one edge centered, and attached...clamp to pull the other edge into alignment...
397924
Two Walnut plugs made and installed..
397925
Set the table down, to wait on glue to cure..
397926
Was more fun in the shop, than watching a football game...:rolleyes:

Will see how things turned out, tomorrow....stay tuned:D

[steven c newman]

Those clamps have come off.....didn't like the gaposis....decided to add a thin molding strip all around the shelf's edge...clamps and cauls back on..
398003
Let this sit a day....went through what stains and stuff I had on hand,,,,made a few "Samples"
398004
That skinny piece of Oak? Boss liked that colour. Happens to be "Witch's Brew Stain"

Have sanded everything down to 180 grit,,,,and the first coat of the brew is drying....waiting to see IF coat #2 will be needed...
Stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

OK...how about a PIP? Still needs a coat of clear gloss varnish..
398015398016398017
Table it will be replacing..
398018
Was made from a pallet....
398019
Back in the mid 1980s....held up well....Boss wanted something "New"...
398015
We'll see how long this one lasts....

[steven c newman]

As a bit of a test, the other day...I sat down on this table...even tucked my feet onto the shelf.....240 pounds worth of ..me. Not even a wiggle, creak ( except me knees) nor crack was seen or heard...

There is talk about one of the Grandsons wanting a Coffee Table for his living room....wanting on lumber for that...and any ideas as to what style he wants.

When SSI decides to pay me this month...I can get the varnish and brushes to finish this end table. Boss is trying to decide what to do with the "antique table" it replaces..

Along the way? Have a vise to rehab.....needs new lumber to replace the 3 yr old parts.....that have seen a LOT of projects go by....

Stay tuned...

[Don Orr]

Well that was a fun project to follow and it sure came out nicely. Thanks for the trip down Woodworking Lane.

[steven c newman]

Thanks. No more than what was spent on it....was more like Penny Lane

The Boss has cleaned off the old end table, set it aside.....new table has been set up in it's place...even before the varnish could be applied....safe to say, she likes her new table...

[lowell holmes]

Are you going to post a photo of the finished table? I would like to see it.

I see you did post it. Nice nice table.