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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default WIP Walnut Bedside Tables

    Over the Christmas holidays, I decided to make a pair of bedside tables. I had some nice wide boards I picked up at the woodworking show earlier in the year, and got some more from Mathews timbers in St Mary's.

    Sketchup Plan.JPG

    I'm using Sketchup to develop the overall plan for the build. Once you get the hang of it, Sketchup is an amazing tool for modelling virtually anything you'd want to build.

    First up, there's a lot of milling needed. My stock is rough-sawn, and needs to be brought to size.

    LEGS

    The legs are 42mm square. I make 9, so that I have a spare, and can use it for testing.

    It's very easy to get muddled up with legs, and cut a mortise in the wrong face or on the wrong end. To help guard against this, the legs are marked to identify Left or Right, Front or Rear, and Table A or Table B. The triangle keeps the pieces aligned. The square drawn in the middle of the triangle is to remind myself that this is the inside edge, and is used as a reference edge.

    Legs02.jpg

    I cut the rabbet in the back legs for the rear panel. You can see the colour difference I have in the stock. I've arranged the legs so that the lighter timbers are at the back, and won't be seen.

    Legs03.jpg

    cheers,


    ajw

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default

    Side Assemblies

    The sides are made using a solid walnut panel held in a frame made of two curved rails, and the legs.

    The side rails and the front base section have curved pieces. I find that using a trim router set up like a very large compass produces a perfect curve. You just alter the length of the board to increase or decrease the diameter of the "circle" you're cutting. You can work out the exact radius you need if you want to produce a curve of known height and length. Google Circe Chord Calculator and you'll find online tools to do it for you!

    Base01.jpg

    Once the trim router has cut the curve, I use the bandsaw to cut through, and then a pattern bit on the router table to finalise the template. I make two templates, one for the side pieces, and another for the front piece.


    The top and bottom rails are milled to thickness, cut to length. A dado blade makes short work of cutting the slot to accept the panel.

    SidePanel01.jpg


    Using the curve template, I trace the curve onto the stock. The curve faces down on both the top and bottom pieces, so the the groove for the top piece needs to be deep enough to allow the panel to slide in when the curve is cut away.

    SidePanel02.jpg

    The bandsaw is used to trim the waste close to the line, then a simple jig is used to hold the workpiece against the template, and the router is used to flush-trip to the template.

    SidePanel03.jpg


    Top and bottom rails are paired up. They have a front and a back, because the groove isn't centred.

    SidePanel04.jpg


    I'm using dominoes for the joinery, so I decide to cut the domino slots in the side rails now.

    SidePanel05.jpg

    Not long after cutting the domino slots in this piece, I realise my first mistake...

    I've cut them in the outside face, not the inside face. Bugger.


    cheers,

    ajw

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default

    Fixing the mistake

    Rather than make an entire new piece, I decided to see if I could do a repair instead. I cut a rebate into the piece, and then cut a "cover strip" to go over the top, trying to match the grain direction and timber colour.

    SidePanel06.jpg


    A few clamps and some painter's tape hold the cover-strip in place while the glue dries.

    SidePanel07.jpg


    After a bit of sanding the piece looks like this. Not perfect, but I doubt it will be visible in the final piece. The top overhangs this part, so it will be largely hidden. Time will tell if this repair has worked!

    SidePanel08.jpg


    A lot more resawing, jointing and thicknessing, and I have the panels for the sides glued up. This is the rear face.

    SidePanel09.jpg


    And this is the front face after sanding, and with a coat of finish on it to help protect it. Also, the panel will float to allow expansion and contraction, and I want to ensure the entire surface has finish on it, so it's best to do it now.

    SidePanel10.jpg

    cheers,

    ajw

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default Top and Bottom Panels

    Top and Bottom panels

    The lower panel has a curved piece, to match the sides. It's made the same way, using a template and a pattern bit in the router table to get a smooth, matching curve. I also round over the edges of the curve. I've attempted to pick pieces with grain patterns that accentuate the curve.

    Base04.jpg


    The router is used to cut a pattern into the front edges of the walnut.

    Base07.jpg


    The top and bottom panels are plywood with walnut pieces attached front and rear. The ply will not be visible when the tables are complete, and it's cheaper than walnut! I use dominoes to align the faces, and to provide glue strength.

    Base05.jpg


    There are differences between the top and bottom panels, so I label them to prevent stuff-ups. The lower panel has a rebate cut in it for the curved front piece. Also, the profile I've routed into the walnut faces down on both the top and bottom panels.

    Base06.jpg


    A quick look at what the front panel looks like in profile.

    Base08.jpg


    cheers,

    ajw

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default Case assembly

    Case assembly

    The sides assemblies are made first, and then the top and bottom panels are attached using dominoes.


    Assembly01.jpg


    The come together nicely. Here's one with its first coat of finish.

    Assembly03.jpg

    cheers,

    ajw

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Wodonga
    Age
    53
    Posts
    712

    Default

    Excellent work so far...look forward to more progress.

    Love walnut, right up there with redgum as a favorite.

    Steven.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default Drawer faces

    Drawer faces


    More milling... The drawer faces will be a frame and panel assembly. I've got a set of router bits that cuts the matching profiles.

    The face side goes down when you cut this profile.

    Draw02.jpg


    And you end up with metres and metres of stock.

    Draw03.jpg


    For the vertical frame pieces, I want the grain to run continuously. Cutting the pieces to length using a table sled and stop block, with numbers on the blue tape to make sure I can reassemble the pieces in the correct order.

    Draw04.jpg


    The top and bottom frame pieces need the mirror image profile cut in them. I tried using a backing board, but it felt unstable.

    Draw05.jpg


    The solution was to knock together a quick jig to hold the pieces firmly while I routed the end grain. Here you can see the walnut held between two pieces of ply, with another piece screwed on top to ensure nothing moves.

    Draw06.jpg

    Cheers,

    ajw

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default Drawer frames, continued

    Drawer frames

    It takes a couple of attempts to get the router bit at exactly the right height so that the two faces match. These are test pieces, and I mark them to show that they are at the correct height, in case I need to do this again...

    Draw08.jpg


    The infill panel is made from resawn boards, finished to around 10mm thick. They are cut to length and width. The width is sized to allow for expansion and contraction. It will be a floating panel. It is thicker than the groove made by the router. I cut a rebate on the back face to get the edge to the exact thickness. This leaves the bulk of the panel thicker, and hopefully less likely to warp or twist.


    Draw09.jpg


    The first dry assembly. There are markings on the various pieces to ensure I get the grain alignment I want.

    Draw10.jpg


    Glue-up time. I usually use Bessey clamps, but this time I thought I'd try something different. I made a simple frame on a piece of melamine (glue won't stick to it). The frame is made from ply. The tape stops glue sticking, and helps protect the edges of the walnut.

    The right hand side of the frame is angled, and I use a wedge to put side-ways pressure on the drawer face. The wedge is the bit with the screw protruding. A couple of taps on the screw loosens the wedge.

    This process kept the drawers very flat, and was easier that mucking around with clamps.

    Draw11.jpg


    Starting to apply the finish to the drawers.

    Draw12.jpg

    cheers,

    ajw

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default Bandsaw woes

    Bandsaw woes

    I have some Vic Ash to make the drawers with. It's 150 x 50 mm, so there is more resawing to be done... I remember to remove the staples from the end-grain.

    Resaw01.jpg


    Part-way through resawing, things went wrong quickly. My blade came off the wheel, creating a very loud noise. Not sure if the rubber degraded causing the blade to come off, or if the saw coming off caused the damage to the rubber. I suspect the rubber was degrading, and I hadn't noticed.

    Anyway, I had to get new tyres for the bandsaw. I ended up ordering some of the neoprene tyres from Melbourne. Only took a couple of days to arrive. Did a google search on how to put them on. Wasn't too hard (with two people).

    The blade was in bad shape, so I ordered a couple of new blades from Carbatec. I took the opportunity to replace all of the bearings on the blade guide - it takes 10!

    Resaw02.jpg


    So, after much disruption, the bandsaw is back in action. I now have about 20 metres of stock ready to make the drawer cases.

    Resaw05.jpg


    cheers,

    ajw

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default Finished!

    The Christmas project didn't get finished during the holidays, but it's done now.

    Finished.jpg

    Not sure if I'm happy with the sapwood in the draw fronts.

    Comments welcome!

    cheers,

    ajw
    Attached Images Attached Images

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Goondiwindi Qld
    Posts
    261

    Default

    Very nice, I like the look of walnut. One question, did you find the walnut very hard or even abrasive to work?
    Regards, Bill.

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Towradgi
    Posts
    4,835

    Default

    I think the sapwood adds contrast and interest to the pieces.

    Beautiful work!
    Pat
    Work is a necessary evil to be avoided. Mark Twain

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Blue Mountains
    Posts
    813

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gnu52 View Post
    Very nice, I like the look of walnut. One question, did you find the walnut very hard or even abrasive to work?
    Regards, Bill.
    Not at all. It's a beautiful timber to work with.

    cheers,

    ajw

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
    Posts
    4,882

    Default

    Great job on the bedside tables and a really detailed buildalong.
    I like the sapwood on the front. Sort of says this is made with real wood.
    Regards
    John

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Wodonga
    Age
    53
    Posts
    712

    Default

    These have come up beautifully. Lovely walnut.

    I'm with all the comments above regarding the sapwood, looks alright to me. Adds a bit character.

    Steven.

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