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  1. #31
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    This weekend I spent time preparing to build the drawers for the apothecary chest. There are 24 drawers, which makes 48 drawer sides, plus 24 drawer fronts and 24 drawer backs. And then there are 24 drawer bottoms. And slips for the drawers.


    All this before building the drawers can begin. I wonder how long this would take if I did it all with hand tools?


    I've been reading the posts by Chris Schwarz about the forthcoming publication of John Brown's “Welsh Stick Chairs”. This was a seminal book in the same manner as James Krenov's "A Cabinetmaker's Notebook". I've not read John Brown's book, and I am looking forward to doing so. I have read Jim Krenov many times. It seems to me that they are similar in the way that they value the craft that is woodworking, and the importance of hand tools. However, they differ in the way they view machines. Krenov used his to prepare the way for hand tools. Brown would have nothing to do with them. It seemed he feared that craft would be lost if machines were used ...


    "The hand too maker needs the best bench he can make – or afford! You must know your tools, what they are made of, fine adjustments and sharpening angles. Everything must be clean and sharp. Tools talk to the craftsman, and will let you know when they are right. What the machine does by noisy, brute force, you will be able to do with quiet cunning"


    "I would not go so far as to say that there are no skills necessary to working machines. It is important to be able to read and interpret complicated instructions. What you end up with is engineering skills – precision engineering in wood".


    Link: The Un-edited John Brown |


    What has this to do with the work I did this weekend? Well, I could relate to the role of engineer. Preparing the wood for the drawers with my machines was the work of a machinist. Would I have rather spent the time doing this by hand? Well, I have done this in the past - I worked almost exclusively with handtools and a few hand power tools for over 25 years before purchasing a tablesaw, jointer, thicknesser/planer, and bandsaw. I began upgrading these over the past 7 years. I would not go back. Machines do not replace handwork.


    The question is whether this compromises the work I do?


    The drawers have Tasmanian Oak sides and back. The drawer front will be Black Walnut to match the carcase. The oak has become harder to come by in Perth. I prize it because it is all quarter sawn, which is ideal for drawer sides as it is stable. It is light in colour and a good contrast to dark timbers. But I have so little now. Much of it is narrow boards - I grabbed everything that my local Bunnings store had a few years ago when I heard they were no longer going to sell it.





    These boards would be resawn and book-matched to become the drawer sides ...








    Where my jointer-thicknesser/planer excels is that I can cut the boards to short lengths, and still process them. Shorter boards will not lose much waste when flattening ...











    This was at the end of Saturday. Drawer sides taken to 1/4" and stickered. I have had good fortune with this method in the past. The wood is stable and cleaned up with a cabinet scraper. If there is any slight movement, it will be taken out when dovetailed.





    The black walnut is rough sawn. This board is 1" thick and will make all the drawer fronts.





    The tablesaw is new. The slider is magic to rip as well as crosscut. Here is a Frans and Fritz jig used to quickly rip the short lengths into two sections (= two rows of drawer fronts) ...











    This is just raw material. It does not replace the handwork in building the drawers.


    I have begun fitting the drawer sides to the drawer blades ...





    There is so much more still to do ... and I have not even made the drawer bottoms or slips.





    Regards from Perth


    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

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  3. #32
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    Very interesting, Derek. I can't help wondering how heavy this magnificent
    beast will be when you've finished it! There must be quite a substantial amount of hardwood in it. Have you estimated its likely total weight?

    Regards from Canberra

    David

  4. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    ....... I wonder how long this would take if I did it all with hand tools?

    ...... Machines do not replace handwork......
    I think you've just contradicted yourself there, 'ol buddy. Machines DO replace much hand-work, particularly the mindless, routine, boring kind, as you've just amply demonstrated!

    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    ....... The question is whether this compromises the work I do? ......
    Only when you let the machines dictate the end-result, instead of you being the one who decides. It's usually pretty obvious to the practised eye when machinery has dictated the end result rather than the designer. The day may come when you can imagine anything, draw & design it in a computer, & have a 3-D printer make it up using selected wood cells & orienting them all perfectly to maximise strength & produce any grain pattern you choose. How will anyone argue that's a compromise?

    But right now, in the real world, most machines are blind, stupid things that perform a limited range of repetitive functions. Even a CNC machine can't read the subtleties of grain direction, colour, & pattern as a skilled craftsperson does, making small alterations as they go to take advantage of a feature, or avoid a problem. When set up properly and asked to do tasks appropriate to their abilities, machines perform tirelessly & very very repeatably, something you will appreciate very much as you assemble your drawers (by hand)....

    Cheers,
    IW

  5. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    I wonder how long this would take if I did it all with hand tools?
    Too bloody long!

    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    The question is whether this compromises the work I do?
    Absolutely not. Whenever this is raised I ask "If the machines to do the grunt work were available back in the day, would they have used them, or eschewed them in favour of the noble hand tool?"

    I think the answer to that is pretty obvious. (two words, two syllables, lots of "f"s) It doesn't matter what period we look at - time has always been money to the professional (whatever skill/trade). You can wager things very precious to you that if machine routed Dovetails were able to be done two hundred years ago then that is EXACTLY what would have been done for anything more than a couple of drawers in a batch.

    Ask yourself this Derek: would you have embarked upon this project if you didn't have the machines to do the grunt work?

    This: "There is so much more still to do ... and I have not even made the drawer bottoms or slips." (and in conjunction with that first line above that I quoted) indicates a slight feeling of being overwhelmed or at least daunted by the task ahead. So then add to that the astonishing amount of work to prepare all those boards by hand, and I think the answer to my proposed question is "Uhhh, nup!" or perhaps even a similar answer to my first question.

    Not forgetting of course that back in the day the apprentice(s) would have been doing all that grunt work for you........and the Master Craftsmen were very happy to take all the credit......

    Furthermore, if you really wanted the project to be completely authentic to hand tools, then wouldn't you have to source axe-felled and pit-sawn timber? So where does one drawn the line? Why not use whatever it was before abrasive paper came along? Why not boil up your own glue?

    You are doing this for fun, not penance! (but the poor bloody apprentice might be doing it as penance )



    Great build, and keep up the fine work! We all benefit from these builds, in one way or another.
    Regards, FenceFurniture

    COLT DRILLS GROUP BUY
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  6. #35
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    At the risk of repeating myself (although it may be over a year since I have written something like this), I take the view that machines are best for doing the tasks that a craftsman would give to his most junior apprentices (hence machines are my tailed apprentices). Ripping and resawing and dressing. I tend to prefer handsawing my crosscuts, for some reason.
    I hand cut all dovetails, and I tend to use a grooving plane for all grooves. But stopped dados and stopped cross-grain sliding dovetails are a pest to do by hand so a router is sometimes used as the apprentice for this.
    Is it logical? Not really. Does it give me the highest enjoyment from my limited time in the shed? Yes. Do I care if someone else wants to do it someother way? Nope
    Cheers

    Jeremy
    If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly

  7. #36
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    Is my Darkly Laser a hand tool?



    Pew! Pew!

    I love Dereks posts. They are so excellent. I always take careful note of all his doings.

  8. #37
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    I think you've just contradicted yourself there, 'ol buddy. Machines DO replace much hand-work, particularly the mindless, routine, boring kind, as you've just amply demonstrated!
    Ian, I agree with your comment. I must edit mine as they do not reflect what I intended to write ... that machines cannot replace the detail that is possible with handtools.

    Only when you let the machines dictate the end-result, instead of you being the one who decides. It's usually pretty obvious to the practised eye when machinery has dictated the end result rather than the designer.
    That is very well put. I may quote you.

    You can wager things very precious to you that if machine routed Dovetails were able to be done two hundred years ago then that is EXACTLY what would have been done for anything more than a couple of drawers in a batch.
    Brett, thanks for the sentiments in your full reply. I agree with much of it. With regard dovetailing, there is an interesting issue here: I wonder if those who consider the dovetail to be nothing more than a rudimentary joint, and do not bother about gaps, would be happy using a machine? Or would they object? In terms of speed, I think that you will find that an experienced dovetailer can work as fast as a machine operator. I have no intention of giving up my dovetail saw.

    I take the view that machines are best for doing the tasks that a craftsman would give to his most junior apprentices (hence machines are my tailed apprentices). Ripping and resawing and dressing.


    Jeremy, me too!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  9. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by ROWLAD View Post
    Very interesting, Derek. I can't help wondering how heavy this magnificent
    beast will be when you've finished it! There must be quite a substantial amount of hardwood in it. Have you estimated its likely total weight?

    Regards from Canberra

    David
    David, it is getting bloody heavy. My wife can barely move it around the workshop now. Soon I will have to give her a hand!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  10. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    David, it is getting bloody heavy. My wife can barely move it around the workshop now. Soon I will have to give her a hand!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Get her an engine crane for a late mothers' day present!
    Cheers

    Jeremy
    If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly

  11. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    ........In terms of speed, I think that you will find that an experienced dovetailer can work as fast as a machine operator. I have no intention of giving up my dovetail saw.....
    Can't let that one through to the keeper, Derek. I'm a reasonably slick dovetailer, but for repetitive cutting of dovetails for endless sets of drawers, there's no way I could compete with a well-oiled machine! If you were doing a set of stepped drawers, and had to set up a router jig for each size, for a single chest of drawers, then it would be a fair competition & I might back myself (for half a stubbie ), but churning out sets of dovetailed drawers in a factory, as was once done, you'd have to be superman to challenge the machine!

    I'm not giving up my DT saw, either, partly because I can cut them quickly enough for practical purposes, but perhaps more importantly, I can space them as I please and my pins are not limited by the shaft diameter of a dovetail bit.....

    Cheers,
    IW

  12. #41
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    Try and use a machine on the following dovetails, Ian! Then let me know which is faster!!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  13. #42
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    Part eight - I think that this is the 7th weekend of the build. The plan is to start building the drawers, or at least have a plan for the drawers. There is not as much time available this weekend as I would have liked.


    First, I needed to complete the drawer sides. About one half of the sides prepared were glued from two sections. The joins needed to be smoothed to leave each side appearing seamless.


    I started out using a scraper ..





    .. and ended using a smoother, which was quicker. The smoother was set to take extremely fine shavings - which came off like fine hair - as I did not want to remove any more of the 1/4" thickness than absolutely necessary (the boards began a smidgeon over 1/4", and so ended up close to dammit) ..





    The sides were jointed square on two sides ...








    ... and then fitted to the cabinet ...





    It took most of Saturday, but finally ...





    Sunday afternoon arrived and I was back in the workshop. The goal here was to see if my devilish plan for dovetailing curved drawer fronts would work. The following is a test, so let me know what you think and whether you can come up with an easier strategy.


    Each row of drawers with be made from a single black walnut board, and so the figure will flow without interruption. Actually, the boards used made two rows each, and all the drawer fronts will come from the same original board.


    For now I am using a scrap to test the method. Briefly, the drawer front will remain flat until the sides are dovetailed on, and the curve will be added later.


    The first task is to fit the drawer front into the drawer opening, and this requires that the sides are mitred. This was done on the table saw ...





    This is the fit into the drawer opening ...





    The curve can be added by sliding out the drawer front and tracing along the drawer blade ...








    That will be shaped later. For now the challenge is two-fold: firstly, the mitres complicate how the dovetails will join the two parts. In the photo below, what will happen if the walnut receives sockets (as in half-blind dovetails), the tails will extend over the drawer front and into the drawer.





    The solution I came up with was to mitre one side of the drawer front, and rebate the other side ...





    I concentrated on the mitred side today as this is the more difficult of the two.


    The first step was to mark the width of the drawer side ...





    The second was to use edge planes (these are by LN) to add a mitre that was square with the angled side ...





    The second challenge would be to secure and transfer the tails to the pin board, then to saw and chisel the sockets. Here is the first challenge ...





    Trying to hold the tail board at an angle, and steady so that it did not move while the tails could be traced to the pin board ... well, I needed another set of hands!


    I finally came up with a solution, recalling Alan Peters/Rob Cosman's rabbet trick. In this case, I added two layers of blue tape to create a fence ...





    This made it possible to stabilise the parts ...





    Using blue tape to transfer the markings ...





    Sawn ...





    Kerfs deepened at the baseline end with a kerfing chisel ...





    Clearly my chisels were not sharp enough as the walnut was crumbling ...





    It cleaned up enough to pound the drawer side on ..





    What was reassuring was the tight corners.


    The "drawer" was slid into the drawer opening ...





    A bit more practicing, and I will be ready for the real thing.


    Any thoughts how else this could be done?


    Regards from Perth


    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  14. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by derekcohen View Post
    ........Any thoughts how else this could be done?.......
    Of the two ways of fitting the sides that occur to me, one is to do it the way you've shown, with a rebate or mitre to get a square mating between the shoulders of the sides & the front. The other is to angle the shoulders on the tails to match the line of the back of the drawer front. Easy enough on one side, very tricky on the other! Both approaches involve much faffing about, and either way, you are going to have to do different angles on each drawer front as you work across from left to right. Thinking about it, the way you've chosen is probably safer & likely to have fewer mishaps during construction. Having a straight back line to the fronts is a very minor detail that almost nobody would ever notice....

    I am surprised that the Walnut crumbled under your chisel like that - all the Black Walnut I've worked cut very crisply with no problems - you must've had the misfortune to strike an unusually soft piece. I've heard of Butternut being passed off as Walnut. It's a lot softer, more like our Toona, but it's typically a lot paler than its cousin - what you're working with there looks like the real thing to me.

    And I covered myself already by allowing that no typical mechanical dovetailing method can cut the pointed tails you favour.....


    Cheers,
    IW

  15. #44
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    Today was a public holiday in Western Australia (WA Day), and so I managed a few hours in the workshop this afternoon. The morning was filled with writing bloody reports. Aren't I the lucky one! It was great to escape back to the build.


    I wanted to show some of the other preliminary tasks that are needed before one can begin dovetailing the drawers.


    Here are the collective drawer fronts. They have been sized for height ...





    The original rough sawn board of black walnut was cut into three sections, and each section is enough for two rows. The rows were separated, and will be used sequentially. This is shown above.


    The original test drawer front served as a template for width ..





    The plan is to work with one vertical row at a time, since each will have the same width. This will reduce set up time fitting each drawer blank.


    Here is the template drawer front fitted to the lower most drawer ...





    All the drawers in this row have the same width.


    Fitting the drawer front involves (1) sizing the height ... this was done (above), then (2) mitering the sides to fit the drawer opening.


    Begin by obtaining the angle across the opening ...





    That was for the first row.





    This is for the second row.


    Transfer the angle to a second sliding bevel (to set the blade angle on my table saw) ...








    Cut the angle on one end, and then set up the table saw for a repeat saw cut ...





    The first row is done ...





    A close up of some figure ...





    I was looking at the effect of the straight drawers fronts against the curved drawer blades. It was interesting ... no, I'm sticking to curved drawers.


    More next week.


    Regards from Perth


    Derek
    Visit www.inthewoodshop.com for tutorials on constructing handtools, handtool reviews, and my trials and tribulations with furniture builds.

  16. #45
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    Thanks Derek. It's valuable to see how you approach things.

    With a sharper curve particularly, straight draw fronts could draw attention to it by the contrast with the angles between them but it would be a different look. This is a nice flowing look. Plus I bet you enjoy the challenge with the dovetailing.

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