Walnut table hutch - in progress

[Cody Colston]

I don't know how I've been missing this thread.

John, that piece is looking fine and I really appreciate the documentation. I've done some of that and it does add work to the project and also interrupts the concentration when you must stop and take more photos.

I started practicing hand cut dovetails a few weeks ago and am doing pretty good but I haven't included them in a project yet. I can only hope they turn out half as nice as those you did...they're outstanding.

[gary Zimmel]

Thanks for the progress pics John.

The project is going to look fantastic with the finishing sched. you have come up with.
That walnut will have a rich glow to it...

[Jarrod McGehee]

I really like the progress you're getting done and it looks great. I love that shop you've got there.

[John Keeton]

Thanks Cody. Taking the pics certainly isn't difficult, but I have a hard time remembering to stop midstream. I get going, and all of a sudden I remember I should have taken a couple of pics before I did that!!

Jim, my shop used to be a sawdust collector box!! After I installed the DC unit, I have been religious on cleaning up the mess after each shop session. I sweep all of the shavings, etc. over to the floor sweep, and suck it up. Then I try to put away all tools - although I am not as efficient at that

And Jarrod, I know that I am blessed on my shop. It isn't as nice as some, but it has a lot of space, is well lit, and serves me very well. Having the planer and jointer with mobile bases makes it very nice. I roll them into a corner when done.

It was hard to stay on task yesterday! The weather was beautiful, and the turkeys were gobbling in the morning. Man, I wanted so much to go scouting, but it is youth weekend, and I hated to be out and mess up some kid's first turkey.

So, to the shop! I was able to get a couple of coats of finish on the panels for the hutch side, get the panels glued up and sanded out.

While working with the panel finish during the day, I built up the "bonnet" for the top. The sides of the bonnet have already been rabbeted on the back for the hutch back, and have been dominoed for the paneled sides as the sides are flush with the inside edge of the bonnet - leaving an overhang/reveal of about 3/16". It was much easier to do the dominos before glue up of the bonnet. I will need to sand this out - not much to do there as I sanded most of the stock before construction. I will also get at least 2-3 coats of finish on the bonnet before final glueup as it will be a pain to get inside after completion. Same for most of the components - finish as much as possible before assembly.

You may have to refer back to the sketch, but this hutch top consists of paneled sides, a bonnet that will set on top, a paneled back that will be rabbeted in the back, and......well, I'm not sure from there

I know I will have a lower shelf/bottom of the walnut "sandwiched" plywood that will have an apron on it of about 2.5" to give the bottom some mass when the doors are open. That shelf will be flush with the front edge of the sides.

This unit does not have a face frame, and the doors will overlay and be flush with the paneled sides. The front stiles on the paneled sides are more narrow than the rear stiles by 3/4" to allow for the thickness of the doors.

There is about 36" of top/bottom clearance, so I will have room for three shelf areas.

For the bottom space, I have decided to build up a drawer unit with curly maple fronts on the drawers, and walnut boxes. These will be lighter weight stock in order to be in scale with the rest of the piece. But, I just don't have the layout in mind yet.

Hope today to get the stock glued up for the shelf/shelves??, work on the ideas for the drawer unit, and perhaps mill some stock for that unit.

Unfortunately, I have some other commitments today after church, so not sure how much progress will be made.

[Paul Murphy]

John, beautiful work! I love seeing these pictorials, and so thanks for doing one.

One question:
I think you said you glued up some panels, and then ran them through the planer on both sides. I used to do this, but the glue lines quickly put nicks in my knives. I’m wondering if you have better wear with your knives, and if so what type of steel they are?

Your shop is very nice, and the cabinets, stands, and organization are impressive. Nice work with the hand tools!

[John Keeton]

Paul, thanks for the comments! I haven't had any difficulty with nicked knives, but I always scrape the glue off before planing. Maybe the type of glue makes a difference? I normally use Titebond II or III depending on the situation and wood.

[Jerry Olexa]

Nice work John...thanks for displaying

[John Thompson]

Coming along nicely, John. And to Paul... I do the same thing John with no problems with nicking the blades. What he said about cleaning the glue line is very important though. I also use the Titebond II and III.

Keep up the great work John.. as those panels are looking fine.

Sarge..

[Von Bickley]

John,

That is going to be one fine piece of beautiful furniture, but you already knew that didn't you...... Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

[John Keeton]

We had grandkids overnite and through lunch, but I was able to get a little shop time today before the storms and tornados came through this afternoon! We didn't have any damage, but they came through only a few miles from us.

I had the bonnet and the side panels of the hutch completed. I wanted the bottom shelf of the hutch to have some detail and some “weight.” So, I duplicated the bead on a piece of 2” wide stock, and used dominos to affix it to the plywood “sandwich” shelf.

Then, I rebated the side panels to carry the paneled back to the hutch, and bored the domino mortises for the bonnet top. One of the pics shows the rebate for the paneled back.

Next was to bore for the dominos between the bottom shelf and the paneled sides. The bottom shelf will be cut to the correct depth now that it can be marked in place.

These pics are what everything looks like now. Nothing is glued up and is just sitting in place. I will want to get several coats of finish on these parts while I can get to them easily.

At least it is starting to look like a piece of furniture! I think getting the back on will give it some better dimension. The gapping hole in the back is kind of distracting

Sorry about some of the pics. It looks like some sawdust and chips should have been brushed off before the pics were taken.

[John Keeton]

One of these pics shows the front area of the bottom shelf with the bead. It is bored on the front apron to affix with a domino to the side panels. I used 10x50, but only 15mm into the side panels and 25mm into the apron. I cut 10mm off the dominos to fit.

There will be two shelves spaced about 12" apart. They are not plywood, but are glued up stock. They will have a profiled front edge, and will set back about 3/8” from the leading edge of the side panels. I will need to allow for movement on these, but I want the front to be fixed so that they add stability to the hutch unit. So, I will use the wider mortise on the domino for the shelf mortises, and glue the rear domino only on the paneled side – not on the shelf. I used 6x40 dominoes, bored 15mm in the paneled sides and 25mm in the shelves.

Tomorrow, I hope to work on the paneled back, and maybe the doors.

Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend, and at the risk of offending – remember the reason for the season!

[Bruce Page]

John, that is going to be an heirloom quality piece of furniture!

[Ken Werner]

Coming along very nicely John. Your shop in the background looks way too neat and clean though.

[gary Zimmel]

Really starting to look like a piece of furniture John.
A real nice piece of furniture.
Thanks for the update.

I to wonder how that shop stays so clean....

[John Keeton]

Your shop in the background looks way too neat and clean though.

That's what all that metal ducting is for My wife occasionally comes out to the shop, and after what I spent on the DC system, it better be clean when she sees it!!

Thanks guys for the encouraging comments!

I previously mentioned putting some curly maple additions inside the hutch - doing dovetails in the curly maple is going to be a challenge. I will need all the uplifting I can muster to tackle those.