Beginner project

[Johncs]

I have enrolled in a beginners wordworking course at TAFE beginning later this month.
Apparently, students are expected to know what they want to make before First Night.

I don't know what equipment will be to hand, probably whatever well-equipped high schools in WA have.

At home,. I have space, a CMS (not sliding), a jigsaw, a couple of drills, a router or three (don't ask), an orbital sander, a belt sander, a small selection of handtools.

One of the ideas I have of what I'd like to build is a chess table.

Chess is like woodwork, more enjoyable if done with the proper tools, so the board and table should conform to FIDE requirements for orld championship matches (it's the only way I'm likely to play using such nequipment!): basically, good contrast, a side of the square should measure 5 to 6.5 cm.
The table should be a minimum of 80x120cm.
Ideas:
http://www.lackley.com/portfolio/chess_checkers_table/chess_table.htm
(look at the price!). My concern there is the leg/feet might get in the way. Of course, it also doesn't conform to the rules.
The cherry shaker table at the top of
http://www.strawhillwindsorchairs.com/Tables.htm
It's a reasonable shape, and it wouldn't be hard to insert a chessboard into its top, a router can make the recess.. Maybe, it could also carry drawers on each side of the players.

For those who don't know, in tournament players have a scorepad and pen to record their game, and there's a clock to measure players' time and alert them when a players' time runs out. The first table has no provision for this.

What do others think, would this be biting off too much?

[Claw Hama]

Hi Jonhncs, I haven't played chess much for some time but matches can go on for quite some time so you want to be very comfy. The shaker tables look far better than that lonely little first table with just the board. Draws sound good too but not a necessity. You could make it so the chess board can slip away or drop down so the table can have other uses and add some interest or trickery(just a thought). I'd have a couple of projects up my sleeve in case the course is not what you think it is.
Have fun.

[Johncs]

Thanks Mark
I know about tournament chess:), I used to play at several Victorian chessclubs, and one year when my opponents were particularly kind I cam (equal) second in the Dandenong Club Championship.

Games often go three or four hours, but in practice players need not remain at the board all that tine, and most get up for comfort breaks, a nice cuppa, to see how others are going or to have a natter (about anything but their on game).

A coffee table is given as an example of a project one might undertake, so I figure this should be okay. Think if it as a long-legged coffee table. I don't yet know where WIP is stored, but I can easily transport it back and forth. But yes, I expect that some people won't know what they want to do, and that changing one's mind first evening is fine.

I like the idea of an alternative use:D if it doesn't turn out :B, maybe I can inset something other than a chessboard and call it a router table, or even a saw bench:;

Wife isn't keen on the idea of dining at a chessboard, so I might need to be able to remove it and insert a blank, a lazy susan or something else, depending on the occasion.

I have some random lengths of WA Blackbutt flooring, it's milled to 10mm or so thick. I suspect it will go nicely black with liquid nightmare, and with that name I gotta try it!.

[AlexS]

John, the cherry shaker table on the 2nd link looks like a good starter project. It's a nice looking design, has a few elements that will teach you new things and most importantly, can probably be completed within a reasonable time.
One of the big problems with woodwork classes is that people attempt to make nice designs which they can't complete within the time frame. Better to make something simpler that you can be proud of when you finish.
Looking forward to seeing the results.

[Wood Borer]

I agree with Alex.

Many students choose more complex projects and either don't finish them or have to rush them to complete them before the end of the course.

This results in hurry hurry hurry which panics the learner and they do not get to experience and learn the fine adjustments and enhancements you can do with a simpler project.

Things like properly applying finish and getting it almost perfect are what makes you proud of the project after learning what you set out to do.

[Johncs]

Thanks for you help so far:)

Course begins in a week, and wood you believe I'm feeling anxious, excited, downright nervous.:B

How much detail do people think I need by way of plans? I don't have any computerised aids that don't confuddle me, so any drawing I do will be relying on my tech drawing skills from 1963 (I surprised Mr Tsangaris by passing it for my Junior Certificate).

[Ticky]

I did a Tafe course like that when I started woodwork. I decided that if I was going to do ww, I would need a ww bench. I designed it & bought the timber to mke the legs.

The course was quite good, the work shop was well equiped & the instructor knew what he was on about. I worked on the legs for a couple of weeks & then bought some more material, spreading the material cost over the 8 or so weeks of the course.

I always wanted to do a more advanced course, but every time I looked into the cost of it, I decided I could buy another machine with that money, so I am largly self taught, like many others.

I agree that finishing a project in the time frame can be difficult. I found that the instructor was tied up for most of the lessons with people that had even less idea than I did, & I was not expecting to find any of those there, but as it turned out, that was just another thing I had to learn. If you have never used one of the machines, you may need the instructors help, but if there are 3 people wating before you, you could spend an hour doing nothing & waiting for that help.

I would be more inclined to build something a little more straight forward for your first project, maybe incoporate some of the joints you will be using in your Chess board table, Eg M&T's for the rails, Dove tails or box joints for the drawers, do some laminating to understand the process when making the chess board, tappering ect for the legs or your table etc. Once you have build up a few skills, you can then go on to build the project you want in the time frame you determine.

DONT BE IMPATIANT!!! This can lead to clipping your finger nails right back to the elbow. If you want it in a hurry, go buy it. If you want to build it, take your time & do it right.

REMEMBER TWO THINGS.
1. Always make sure you can still count to 10 at the end of the day &
2. It dosent matter how long it takes, if you do a good job then the Minister for Finance will start to put in her order for this & that, AND then you will only be able to build that project if you buy the machinne that you need to complete her request.:U

JMO


Steve

[Johncs]

I did a Tafe course like that when I started woodwork. I decided that if I was going to do ww, I would need a ww bench. I designed it & bought the timber to mke the legs.

The course was quite good, the work shop was well equiped & the instructor knew what he was on about. I worked on the legs for a couple of weeks & then bought some more material, spreading the material cost over the 8 or so weeks of the course.

I always wanted to do a more advanced course, but every time I looked into the cost of it, I decided I could buy another machine with that money, so I am largly self taught, like many others.

I agree that finishing a project in the time frame can be difficult. I found that the instructor was tied up for most of the lessons with people that had even less idea than I did, & I was not expecting to find any of those there, but as it turned out, that was just another thing I had to learn. If you have never used one of the machines, you may need the instructors help, but if there are 3 people wating before you, you could spend an hour doing nothing & waiting for that help.

I would be more inclined to build something a little more straight forward for your first project, maybe incoporate some of the joints you will be using in your Chess board table, Eg M&T's for the rails, Dove tails or box joints for the drawers, do some laminating to understand the process when making the chess board, tappering ect for the legs or your table etc. Once you have build up a few skills, you can then go on to build the project you want in the time frame you determine.

DONT BE IMPATIANT!!! This can lead to clipping your finger nails right back to the elbow. If you want it in a hurry, go buy it. If you want to build it, take your time & do it right.

REMEMBER TWO THINGS.
1. Always make sure you can still count to 10 at the end of the day &
2. It dosent matter how long it takes, if you do a good job then the Minister for Finance will start to put in her order for this & that, AND then you will only be able to build that project if you buy the machinne that you need to complete her request.:U

JMO


Steve


The course has started, and it's been illuminating already.

My sight isn't good (I knew that, of course), and I need strong light for either eye focus well enough to see a single line as a single line.:C. It's the main reason I feel obliged to use power tools whereever possible, and to tie things down before cutting.

The venue is a highschool woodwork room, with quite a few two-person benches about the right height for me 47 years ago (and not very different from what we had then).

There are several fairly big lathes, some substantial pedestal drills, some bandsaws, in a separate room tablesaw, thicknesser, disk/belt sander and probably other stuff U've forgotten for the moment. Oh, a Mak scms.

After some searching, I found a router, a Festool hiding under a table.

The instructor, Jim, is a cabinetmaker by day, and has been running this course for ten years.

Quite a few students are repeating, they come to use the tools and (presumably) for some guidance.

There's a "no jarrah" rule which had me a bit perplexed. It seems someone enrolled, and turned up with a truckload of jarrah to cut, and monopolised the saw for the evening. Hence God on High pronounced "No Jarrah." I guess it's okay if I take my pallet of batu decking around to machine the reeding off:U

Jim has promised not to look too closely at peoples' timber.

The beginners were given the task of making a paper towel roll holder out of their choice of MDF or pine.

As to the Minister for FInance, I'm Minister for Sports and Entertainment and have my own budget for the purpose, so this one's on me. I'm beginning to wonder at the wisdom of inviting the MoF on this one, she kept on asking me for advice instead of asking Jim with the result she made better progress, and her trenches a better fit than mine.

Next week, I think I'll let her choose a bench, then go find one far away:U

I happen to have best part of a pallet of pine the size were were using for the holders, so I'm thinking I will make one at home.

I'm also thinking the table's going to take too long, we only have five more weeks.

That aside, we get to take our work home between sessions, and carrying my chess table and her coffee table back and forth might be cumbersome.

Now I'm thinking a router table/cabinet, maybe out of MDF. Im sure I saw an article in one of the magazines about modular shop furniture, there's no reason I can see why I shouldn't make one of those with a router table on top.

I best go hassle the MoF for her shopping list. I'm thinking Tassie Oak, edge-laminated. Her model is the Celery Top Table in AWR issue 60.


I'm in the process of setting up a workshop at home, the main impediment is lack of skill.

[JMB]

The router table idea sounds like a great one. Very very useful in itself, and you will learn a lot of important woodworking skills as you go. MDF does have its negative points but it does machine well. Good luck

[Ticky]

Hey John,

I think you are lucky to have SWMBO involved. Praise her up & keep her interested.

Christmas is coming up, last Christmas, my wife & I gave ourselves a new BBQ, one of those big hooded jobs with all the bells & whistles. Maybe you & Swambo could give each other half a Tablesaw or something like that.

BTW, good choice of projects.

Steve

[Johncs]

Hey John,

I think you are lucky to have SWMBO involved. Praise her up & keep her interested.

Steve

I hope to persuade her to join the forum - it will also go to improve her computer skills, her use of camera etc etc.

She has a pile of wood to make into a coffee table based on a plan in the current AWR. Fortunately, I noticed an error in the project.:shrug:

The plan for a router table I like best is in a magazine last seen in the bottom of a shopping trolley. As best I recall it described modular storage for the shop, and the router table was basically a just a top laid over two or three of the units.

I'm looking at this now:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=2fb5e78ad017ad7ade6300c5941d792f

Unfortunately, I do not like Windows (OS/2 and Linux are different), sketchup is giving me grief, and while I haven't entirely come to terms with metric geometry, my imperial measure is fairly rusty too.

It's going to be higher than that. I'm puzzling over the materials list atm, theoretically I need to buy some wood tomorrow.

Questions
MDF or CD pine? Why? (See majorpanic's cabinets at www.majorpanic.com (http://www.majorpanic.com), I like the look of them)
12 mm or 16?
How thick the top? Two 12mm laminated? one 12mm with ribs? Something else?

I like the open space in the front, middle for the router. The pockets at the end look like an idea worth taking. Middle, bottom might be a drawer. I might have a shallow drawer at the top with a piece of plastic chopping board with holes to store router bits, and maybe pockets for small tools - spanners, anything else needed.

I've got some WA blackbutt flooring, I might use some for trim.

What about the insert? I know that Carbatec and Timbercon have them for sale (the latter has an aluminium one which I'm sure is very nice), but can I make one? Or should I do something different (I have a Triton MOF001)?

'tis time I went back to sketchup, I might manage to figure out how to use it to cut out some pieces of wood.

[Johncs]

I have to have something to do tomorrow, so I made an executive decision. I've bought 65x19 DAR Australian Oak which is mostly straight, from the green shed.

It's going to have a carcass, I can practice my sliding tenon joints. There's a 2400x1200 sheet of 25mm MDF there, I assume a bit of that will be sufficient for the top.

I also assume that, with a carcass, the sides can be thinner?