Sunday, May 30, 2010

Whoops

I realized that I haven't shared what I've been up to in a while, so here goes. Here is epoxy tinted with black acrylic paint that is filling a knot hole in the breadboard shelf. The breadboards were made using the same technique that I used for the stretchers. The ends have a groove, and a matching mortise for the breadboard tenons. The ends are also slightly longer than the shelf so they can be mortised into the legs. Here is a shot of the mortise being drilled in a leg. It was later squared up. Before assembly I made some small mortises in the inside of the stretchers.

These will accommodate the buttons that will affix the top.

This is a picture of the dry fit, which is very important.
And a picture of the actual glue-up: I did this in two stages, first I glued the long stretchers in, then after they dried, I glued in the back-stretcher, the front drawer runner, the other thing that goes above the drawer (that's the technical term for it), and the breadboard shelf to the legs.

With the base done, I turned my attention to the drawer. First I glued some runners onto the inside of the stretchers. I also put in some drawer guides. These have a small rabbet that allows me to trim after they are installed by only using a block plane on its side. If there was no rabbet, I would have to use a plane whose blade extends the entire width of its body in order to get right into the corner.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Mike Wenzloff Saw Kit





A while back I ordered a saw kit from Mike Wenzloff. After some helpful emails he helped me decide what exactly I wanted. I ordered a 16" tenon saw kit, with about 11 TPI (I can't remember the exact toothing), sharpened rip. The entire saw including shipping, sharpening, and saw nuts, was $75, which is an amazing bargain.

When it arrived it was 100% worth the wait that is associated with most custom made tools. As you can see, my kit came with 3 saw nuts, the saw blade (without the holes drilled in it), and a pattern for the handle. The quality on this is amazing, especially considering the price.

I have a piece of nice bubinga that I might use for the handle, but right now, I'm going to focus on the side table project, though I might be able to fit in making a handle for this beast.

Mike Wenzloff's Web Site:
http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/