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Thread: WIP Shaker Sister's Sewing Desk
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11th March 2014, 06:29 PM #16
Lathe 102 - "Disaster narrowly avoided" or "I won't do that again"
You can practice and practice but eventually you have to start the job. Well having tried out the roughing gouge, the skew and the parting tool and having worked out how to attack the job I decided no time like the present to do a final tool sharpen and jump in the deep end.
The Silkwood is a lot softer than the Ironbark I was practicing on. The first two front legs went according to plan, with not too much tearout but not really good enough off the tool to avoid sanding. However all in all I was happy with where I was.
leg1.jpg
The next challenge was the long rear legs. I had made a short timber extension for the bed and ground a bolt to act as a dead centre. This worked OK on my trial runs using the Ironbark, probably because the dead centre spun nicely in the hard timber endgrain. The first back leg I tried in the Silkwood however started wobbling at a critical point and I got an offset cut up near the shoulder. When I stopped the lathe I realized the drive spurs had let go and the drive end had wandered off centre. I reset the spindle and did my best to clean up the turning and although a bit disappointed this shoulder isn't going to be as neat as the others, there is a fair bit of 'texturing' down the leg as well that I may be able to recover by a bit of heavy sanding and judicious scraping.
offcentre.jpgleg3.jpg
On the second back leg I made sure the drive head was well and truly seated and cinched up on the dead centre bolt really tightly. As I was just starting cutting into the shoulder BAM, the leg whacked on the tool rest and went flying. Unfortunately probably because it was over tight, the dead centre had unscrewed and the end I was turning slipped off the spike. There are a few dents along the leg and a wounded corner, thankfully mostly in the waste to be turned down, but the shoulder I was cutting is now very elliptical and way off being cocentric with the first cut. With some degree of anxiety I remounted the leg and carried on.
leg4a.jpgKeep-calm-and-carry-on-scan.jpg
The end result is the second back leg matches the other back one with a wonky shoulder too. A bit more scraping and sanding required. Most of the dents came out with an Iron.
legs.jpg
Time to move on and start some joinery.
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11th March 2014 06:29 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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11th March 2014, 07:37 PM #17Senior Member
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shaker desk
HI fuzzi,
You made a good recovery now for the joinery looking foward to more pickis. john .
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14th March 2014, 09:53 AM #18
This is one that I am going to follow. I think you are right to think about challenging yourself with every new project.
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18th March 2014, 06:57 PM #19
Slowly pushing on with lots and lots of small mortices and tenons....
frontFrame.jpg
<Off topic> While I like 6B pencils for making identification marks, they're not much good for layout lines. I have just about run out of my supply of old pencil stubs which I could actually sharpen with a pencil sharper and lately I had started using my .5mm mechanical pencil from the office for making nice fine lines. Unfortunately the .5mm leads are not very strong and I keep breaking them. I was thinking about getting one of the older Staedtler 2mm mechanical lead holders, however while in BigW the other day I picked up a pack of 5 Papermate 1.3mm mechanical pencils and refills for $5 (less than 1/4 the price of the Staedtlers bodies). I've never noticed the 1.3mm leads before and decided to give them a try, I've been very happy with their strength sofar in marking out. A bit on the thick side, but a fine point can always be sanded on a piece of W&D when really needed.
pencil.jpg
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22nd March 2014, 06:02 PM #20
Take one big pile of parts and see if they all fit together.
dryFit.jpg
Yes!
When it comes to glueup time, I'm going to have to have some better markings so pieces don't inadvertently go in upside down/back to front...
There are a few more drawer runners yet to go into the web frame, but the next step will be to take it apart, run grooves for the panels and size the panels to fit.
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23rd March 2014, 09:53 AM #21Skwair2rownd
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That looks just the ticket Fuzzie!!!
You've had a great journey so far. Well done sire!!
Now for the drawers?
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23rd March 2014, 10:50 AM #22
The drawers are a ways off yet Arthur. Finishing the drawer runners, fitting the panels and gluing up will all take a bit of time. Then will come the desk tops followed by the drawers.
A couple of weeks in it yet...
Cheers, Franklin
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23rd March 2014, 11:33 AM #23
Just wanted to say thanks for the WIP. Its hard to keep up progress on the job and remember to document and take photos, then upload onto the Forum. One thing that approach does (in my case anyhow) is makes me work more correctly- do things properly. The turnings are to be seen as an honest result. OK they may not be 150% but you mentioned that its one of your first efforts of the lathe and the results are very presentable. It is all these challenges with making parts to eventually get them to assemble that makes the project more enjoyable. I find it too, a challenge to one self, to keep striving for perfection to make each piece as good as you can so the end result is the best that you can achieve and be happy with the result.
I know I start out with all the right intentions, but sometimes they get eroded a little due to a problem with the grain of a piece or even a wrong measurement that can't be fixed but that has to be incorporated in the project. My wife reckons I always describe a finished as as "Its a bit rough, but..". She doesn't know where the deficiencies are (as I do). Maybe I am too hard on myself.
I apologise for the ramble about me. I would just like to say that you are doing well and I hope your journey with this project will be an enjoyable oneJust do it!
Kind regards Rod
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23rd March 2014, 07:21 PM #24
Hi Rod,
I follow your ramble. Keeping the pursuit of perfection out of the way of producing something can sometimes be a challenge. Instead of spending a lot of time in the shed making little pieces of wood straight and square and fitting together, life might be easier and more sociable just going out and buying something. Unfortunately or fortunately I think I was born with the "I think I can make that" gene rather than the "I think I can buy that" gene.
I seriously considered remaking the legs early on, but I'm happy enough to live with a few learning on the fly defects if they aren't structural liabilities. IMO remaking them without a lot more intermediate practicing was unlikely to result in a better outcome and that would seriously impact the timeline. Not all the pieces are dead flat and square either, but I think I've got most of the important faces and edges meeting square. In any case it's going to be better storage than the current stack of cardboard boxes sitting on the floor in the study.
All the same with each project I complete lots of incidentals are getting incrementally better. Sharper chisels, planes and saws all getting better with improving skill rather than more expensive replacement purchases, which I like. What I'm surprised at is what defects the Fuzzette sees (hard eliciting a really honest critique sometimes) and the ones she doesn't. For instance ignoring all the other in-your-face defects in the leg turnings she noted that one of the front legs didn't appear to taper enough compared to the others.... Seeing the wood for the trees.
Cheers, Franklin
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23rd March 2014, 08:52 PM #25
I am glad you were able to follow my ramble. As a carpenter then got into kitchens, even now, being away from it for more than 10 years I still find myself looking at the clock and immediately thinking "I have been on this part for too long.....I must move on.....even if....". Its silly I know but having to produce a product that was within the realms of reason still arrises. I should be telling myself "It will be finished when its finished", I think I would enjoy the job better. I am glad that you have left your turnings as they are, as time goes by you can look at your present piece and say "Now I am doing these turnings better now". I remember reading about a bloke who took up wood turning full time. He had an elevated house that he had put a verandah around and he had turned all the spindles himself. Now when you walk on the verandah you can easily see the evolution of his spindle making skills as you pass by the handrail from front to back.
I have been turning timber for more than 30 years but I still won't regard myself as a "Woodturner". To make the first one is easy....its all his mates that should be the same is where the skill comes in.
Your wife and mine must have come from the same mould. You can go through an ordeal that stretches you and show the result to her .....and what does she see.....that chip that came off that you glued back on that has a minute glue line. She doesn't see the result of the ordeal that you slaved on for all that time. I think women are definitely wired differentJust do it!
Kind regards Rod
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26th March 2014, 04:57 PM #26
Panels for the front and back frames are sized and in the frames for a test fit. If it's out just a bit there are now so many possible places to tweak it!
back.jpgfrontPanels.jpg
The front frame is shown from the inside. It's a bit hard to see but the extra slots I had to cut to fit the rest of the drawer runners seem to be in odd locations, effectively cutting open some of the frame mortices. I was hesitant to do this, but there are drawers going in all directions. I reread the measured drawings several times before committing, just in case I was misinterpreting the instructions. I could think of some different arrangements for some of the mortices, but upon consideration I decided I was following drawings for a faithful reproduction and the Shakers seemed to know what they were doing so I cut where the drawings said. I'll now reserve judgement until the whole thing is assembled, screws are involved.
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26th March 2014, 09:24 PM #27Skwair2rownd
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Had to duck back and check out the photos of the piece you are modelling this on Fuzzie.
That front panel sure has some beautiful grain on the back. What is the front like? Or is
that a final photo surprise?
Looking great so far!!
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26th March 2014, 09:48 PM #28
Post #12 shows a view of one of the front panels after my first planing attempt. I think this was a branch node coming out through the sapwood. Wild grain indeed. I must admit I gave up on trying to plane/scrape it and resorted to the ROS. The rear face is just left rough planed.
You are right, I'm holding back on unveiling the full view. I hope I get the final balance of wild grain, quilting and colour etc balanced. I think I've tried 64 combinations of the panels in the back frame so far.
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5th April 2014, 04:46 PM #29
All glued up. I had to attack this in two passes. First I glued the front and back frames and let them set overnight then I attacked the rest of the assembly. Quite challenging getting everything together and as square as possible.
glueup.jpg
Next step will be the desktops.
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6th April 2014, 07:15 PM #30
My opinion of the extra drawer runner assembly has firmed up. The measured drawings I'm following were published in The Woodworker's Journal in Mar/Apr 1987. I can only assume the person who made the drawings got tired and glossed over a bit. I'd also guess there was an addendum published in a later edition with an updated method.
The runners for the lower drawers do fit using the described method, however it is a physical impossibility to install the extra top drawers runners the same way. The small drawer runners are in very awkward positions to work on and the tenon had to be rounded off somewhat to be able to actually swing it into position. The problem then became how to insert the fixing screw. I only had brass screws in a suitable size and wasn't prepared to try driving those without a pilot hole. I don't have a drill (hand or electric) small enough to fit in there. The only tool I think might work (and might be in a usual Shaker tool kit) would be a Gimlet, which I don't have, and so had to improvise.
runners1.jpg
I cannot see any reason why these runners couldn't have been made with normal joints and assembled with the main frame.
The lower runners on the other hand are anchored on a post let into the back frame. Trying to assemble these in the main glueup might have been more challenging and I can see why they have been added later. These pretty much went in as described, however I still have to drill some awkward pilot holes in the rear supports to fix them as well.
runners2.jpg
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