Thread: WIP Shaker Side Stand

Looks like a good project. Pulled up my chair.

shaker furniture is known for its finer, lighter construction So that is just right . Should be an interesting project.

What, exactly is maple silkwood??

One of the Qld Maple variants. I think my lot came from the Atherton Tablelands.

Here's a pic of a table made from MSW.

top.jpg

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

This time it is the small side stand as described by Thos. Moser.

moserSideTable.jpg

[QUOTE=Fuzzie;2067816]

Nice fine Table . Great little satisfying projects these things.

Do you draw to scale and work out a cutting list from that first or just work it out as you go along ?

Rob

Hi Rob,
The Moser book has measured drawings but no actual cut list. The description just says "8 board foot of primary wood" but the cut list is pretty easy to interpret from the drawings. The original dimensions are also pretty close to the size table we desire.

As you can see from the first pic, my small pack of MSW was designated "Reject" as the boards had quite a few knots, grain reversals and sapwood. My projects using it have all required a lot of resawing to get to usable dimensions and I have then tried to fit my pieces the best way I can see into what I have converted, probably cribbing a bit too far into unsuitable wood.

For example I'm going to try and get the legs out of these pieces that were most likely edges cut off the boards I used for the table top. I think the legs will just fit with the minimum amount of sapwood inclusion. The sapwood is not only lighter in colour, it is softer, coarser and has some borer holes in it. Once sized I'll be making a layman's guess on whether they will be strong enough for the fine leg dimensions required.

forLegs.jpg

I think a more commercial approach would have sent most of this scrap to the firewood pile.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

One of the Qld Maple variants. I think my lot came from the Atherton Tablelands.

Here's a pic of a table made from MSW.

top.jpg

That is one very pleasing table! thanks for the reply with pic.

Got the leg blanks out of the offcuts, with only a little bit of sapwood included. I did the sizing in two passes. The first oversize blanks moved a bit before I straightened them again and sized these four. I hope they don't continue to move. As it happens it will be a few days before I can get back to the job, so we'll see what they look like next week. The size feels ok and I think the grain will be ok.

legblanks.jpg

Originally Posted by artme

....What, exactly is maple silkwood??....

Flindersia pimenteliala

It's very like Qld Maple in every respect, slightly more dense on average, perhaps, but the two species vary a bit, & merge, so separating them reliably by physical characteristics would be difficult if not impossible. It can be even nicer to work with than 'regular' Qld. Maple (F. brayleyana), from my limited experience - I haven't had a piece of Silkwood in my hands for many decades now, so my memory may be gilded and it's becoming even less reliable, these days!

It has or at least had a wide distribution in far NQ; there is even a place named for it (Silkwood - just south of Innisfail). Like Red Cedar, these two Flindersias were not found to be suitable for plantation cultivation, at least not by the monoculture practices of the past. Such a pity, they really are world-class cabinet woods, imo....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Flindersia pimenteliala
... I haven't had a piece of Silkwood in my hands for many decades now, so my memory may be gilded and it's becoming even less reliable, these days!

Ian, if you're down the coast anytime, I think I can find a bit for you to play with.

Cheers,
Franklin

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Ian, if you're down the coast anytime, I think I can find a bit for you to play with......

Thanks Franklin, but I think I have wood enough for playing with, atm. I have some lovely figured brayleyana and some australis (Crows ash), which will satisfy any desires or needs for Flindersias for the foreseeable future. I'm just waiting for a crook shoulder to sort itself out so I can get stuck in again, & make proper use of those new planes I've made over the last few months.....

Cheers,

Picking up where I left off, I have sized the parts and cut the main mortise and tenons. I can now get a view of where this is heading. There will be a front drawer so a couple of blades for the drawer framing need to go in next on the open side.
legsUp.jpg

Following that the legs will need to be tapered so I spent a bit of time working out how to do that and decided an adjustable jig for the table saw was required.

taperJig.jpg

I built a pair of these in 2014 out of King Billy Pine. One of them is about ten inches from me as I lay in bed typing this. The other is equidistant from my girlfriend as she reads a book on the other side of the bed

It's a great project and a really functional and fantastic piece of furniture. I'm actually considering making another one soon as a thank you gift to the people who gave us a place to stay when we first moved to Seattle.

Anyway, yours is well and truly on its way, and I think it will look great in the wood you've chosen. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Cheers,
Luke

I fretted about getting the cuts right for shaping the legs. Thankfully when they were held together off the saw everything still looked to be in the right place.
taper1.jpg

After cleaning up the saw cuts with a hand plane the transition is a bit lower than I intended, but it doesn't seem to be obvious.
taper2.jpg

The top rail and the drawer runners will be the next to go in.

The Fuzzette had been shown a picture of a Shaker style painted piece while we were deciding what to build here. This is the style with painted legs and skirts.

nightstand.jpg
The painted effect is Fuzzette approved. If I end up finishing it like this, what sort of paint should I use?