Thread: Study - WIP

Bit of a rethink.

ditching the substrate all together (thanks Elan !).

Study Desk v4 - Oblique.jpg

Study Desk v4 - Frame.jpg

Study Desk v4 - Timber.jpg

Still thinking though....

I am liking the idea of a drop in panel wrapped in leather for some parts of the top.

leaving aside the benefits of acquiring new skills...

leather is really a writing surface -- but you're an IT professional

can I suggest you look again at your original design, figure out where the screens need to go and if you need to build an adjustable platform to mount the screens at the preferred working height. I think you will find that you really only need a small area of leather insert.

Well, construction of the frame begins. Machined up the materials for the centre section, in amongst other duties required by a brisk but sunny weekend in Melbourne.

The outside rails will be joined with bridle joints, and the inside supports with blind mortise and tenon.

Having watched a few Paul Sellers videos (which I do find enjoyable), I decided to try hand cut tensions and hand chopped mortises.

Here is #1. It's a slow process. Not sure how long my patience will last, OR my desire to sharpen the chisel after each mortise.

uploadfromtaptalk1437390753247.jpg

Ian.

The leather is probably more aesthetic than it is functional. With the overhead cabinets above in SBG, I fear a desk of solid SBG would be a bit much. Notwithstanding, the leather was SWMBO's idea, and she's quite wedded to it.

A few more joints done ... Enough to dry assemble and test measurements. So far so good ... Within about 0.5mm of plan, so I will take that.

To cut the tenons, I have been using a knife line and tenon saw, but then move to the SCMS to chop out the bulk, then clean with chisel and fit to the corresponding mortise. My first tenon saw cuts were crappy, but getting better now.

I need to make some clamping blocks to help pull it together, but more joints to make first.

uploadfromtaptalk1437478158844.jpg

Looks good so far, I'd definitely take 0.5mm...heck I'd be happy with 1mm.

I think you might need to get your saw sharpened though, those mitres look pretty toasty.

Tee hee ... Yeah ... I might invest in a second blade. This one has done a hell of a lot of work over the years. Any recommendations on brand of a 10" SCMS blade ?

Got Bosch and DeWalt blades for the saw at work and they're both good. The DeWalt is 0 degree rake so breakout is almost zero and the cut is almost good enough to polish.

Honestly, for a mitre saw pretty much anything will do, but a non-ferrous metal blade will give you the best cut.

Tenons cut on cross members (?) and fitted to the mortises, which were drilled on the press and cleaned with chisel (bloody hard work chopping a mortise that runs across the grain).

Bought myself some 1660mm long clamps today because I am preparing to cut the final piece that ties the outside of this section together. Tried to clamp down to table, but just could not keep everything pulled up tight.

Side to side, is spot on plan. Front to back is a 1.5mm odd off plan and out of square. The issue lies in the angled pieces which I was unable to pull up tight at the right angle.

I made a clamping block that helps me, but ran out of time to conclude.

Until next time.uploadfromtaptalk1437654190788.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1437654261537.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1437654335498.jpg

I have read that it makes good sense.to wax the surfaces of a.table frame to allow the top to move with expansion/contraction relatively easily.

So before waxing, does anyone have any suggestions on a suitable finish ? Perhaps a bit of BLO ?

Next question about the table top hold down tabs. Anyone got any dimensional suggestions ?

Many thanks ...

When my father worked at the SEC in the 50s, he made himself a large square out.of steel, and had one of the tool makers machine it.

It's a large right angle triangle (similar to the plastic ones we all would have used at school ... Just a darn sight larger).

I say to him "the right angle sides are the same length right ? So the hypotenuse side should be 45 degrees ...'. " Yup" he says.

So a good part of today was spent checking and rechecking the angled sections on the frame, at which point I decided my joinery was average. 45 degree bridle joints were all over the place !

So I put my adjustable square against the big square, and the adjustable square was out 3mm in the 300mm length !

Ahhh crap ! No wonder my joints are rubbish !

So spent some time thinking about how to correct the issue, when I rechecked the squares again. This time my square was out in the opposite direction.

Hang on a minute ... So I checked the length of the right angle sides on Dads steel square, and one side was 1/8th longer than the other !!!

Ahhh hah ! So, put his square sway, and made my own out of a piece of mdf.

Put the table frame together, square with my mdf square, clamp up ... PERFECT !

That's 3 hours wasted!

But earlier in the day ...

When at Dads the other night.for dinner. I mentioned that my tenon saw was a bit of a bugger to use. While I could cut a reasonable tenon, it was a struggle to keep the saw in the kerf in the early stages of the cut, and the set (?) seemed to course, so my cuts were a little ragged.

"Here ... Try your grandfathers Disston".

Well ! What a pleasure ! And what a result !

uploadfromtaptalk1437818765847.jpg

uploadfromtaptalk1437818832216.jpg

So ... Work continues ...

I'd check the the tenon saw over a bit before you use it. I may have come from the same tool box as the square.

Pete.

Hmmm ... Your point is well taken ! :'(

Phew ! Here is the first section dry assembled.

Need to pull apart now for final trim, pre-drilling some bolt holes, running slots for buttons etc.

I realised my angled tenons are too flimsy, but its too late now. Not that it will matter, but they would have been better at 3/4 thick rather than the 3/8 I made them. The grain orientation on the thinner tenons means they are a little weak side to side, but this is only an assembly issue.

uploadfromtaptalk1438077746038.jpg

Thanks for looking.