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Bugger! And double Bugger!

I was scratching through a cardboard box in the broom closet that had been untouched for years when I found a bottle of Mr Sheen and a bottle of Pledge. They are now...

Thanks, benevolent dictator.

That's pretty much what my painter and decorator told me in 1974. He reckoned being alcohol based was part of the magik ... but that's something I can't confirm.
...

I was drinking my second coffee when I looked out of the window and saw blue sky.

With the speed and grace of a thousand startled gazelles I was in the workshop spraying sanding sealer. Before...

Construction finished.

Now we wait for some decent weather so lacquer can be applied.

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Couldn't find an exact match for the drawer handle which is pewter coloured in the original. The...

Thanks Alex.

That was exactly my son's intention when he designed it. He'll be pleased to hear your comment.

Carcass in its clamp farm.

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Don't you love it when after assembly you check for square and the diagonals are less than one millimetre different?

Next comes the drawer.

Legs cut using the original templates, then sanded.

Then legs joined to aprons with floating tenons.

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Next comes the two web frames.

There is no shortage of horror stories about silicon (and similar) contaminants on wood that ruins finishes. This weekend I had my own initial experience.

Was repairing and refinishing a desk top...

Over a year ago my eldest son made a bedside table in the workshop. Here it is, in NG Rosewood.

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Several months ago he announced the need for a mate for this table, but he has been so...

For those of you who are into veneering ...

I am kinky for book leafed veneers. I once made a large coffee table for my niece which had eight veneers, see below, but it is difficult to find...

Graeme,

Thanks for the kind words.

The drawer pulls are brass and were purchased from Bunnings.

The legs are not difficult to make, especially if you have a linisher or similar. You can...

Finished!

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Close up of top.

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Truly, one must love this forum.

Graeme asks for advice and receives it aplenty.

This place is Magik!

Bugger!

Applying the sanding sealer and the top is full of pin holes and bubbles. Given that it is damaged (cracks and voids) end grain I should have expected that.
Thankfully, the Solarez...

Graeme,

I sometimes use super glue to fill small voids. First I sift some sawdust to get the fine stuff. This fine sawdust is pressed into the crack/void. Then regular, runny superglue (not the...

Filled the flaws in the veneers with epoxy.

This time I used a touch of red as well as chocolate oxide colouring I have used with cement mortar in the past. It worked just fine. However, it...

Graeme,

No doubt you've thought about filling those cracks with epoxy. There are other solutions, but I like the strength epoxy provides. It's on the underside, so looks are not an issue.

Ummed and ahhhhed for a while about how to fix the legs and aprons to the pillar.

On previous similar desks I glued and screwed them together. This time I decided to use locating dowels and...

Made the laminated top for the desk today.

Here it is in the vacuum bag.

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Balancing veneers on the back are the last remnants of a rainforest timber very similar to northern silky oak...

Getting organised to make the top which will be veneered MDF.

First a new vacuum bag was needed because the old one is not big enough. Made up the bag and slipped a piece of MDF into it for a...

Yes, Woody ...

When I first started woodworking I used to take great care to make the tops of my cabinets pretty.

I soon realised that The Law Of Horizontal Surfaces made that pointless in many...

The Surian Cedar is inclined to a woolly finish, making it a bit more difficult than nice firm timbers to work with and finish.

The upside, for someone fast approaching his 71st birthday, is that...

Progress ...

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The drawer fronts are only sitting in the frames. Drawers are yet to be built, but that comes next.

And here is the pillar.

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Next I'll make the four inch high base for the pillar followed by either the drawers or the aprons and legs.

The sides of the pillar are veneered MDF framed...

Oh joy and happiness ...

I left the test piece of MDF in the new vacuum bag overnight. A few minutes ago I checked it ... it was still holding vacuum over 20 hours later.

SWMBO wants individual drawers, Graeme. I am careful to get royal ascent on the sketches.

The funny part is that the desk we are replacing has exactly the suspension file structure you...

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The sketch received royal assent.

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Here are the five web frames and two legs.

I finally found the leak in the vacuum bag.

The leak was nowhere near the seams or corners. I've had a couple of leaks in the past and they were always corners ... easy to find and easy to fix...

I think that for most woodies, the secret is making the first leg so the process is demystified.

Cabriole legs are much easier to make that most of us think. Of course, it tends to be a bit slow...

Bloody gorgeous, Derek. I envy your skills and your patience.

Thanks, mic-d.

I am such an iconoclast, and love it when someone rattles our paradigms. Mind you, as the presenter said, we must consider the direction of the forces involved and seasonal...

Probably ... Most of the furniture I make for my grandurchins is Surian Cedar, because it is soft. Years ago, I made a NG Rosewood bed for a grandson. Strips of cedar were placed on the tops of the...

Made a similar bed from Surian Cedar (with pine slats) for two of my granddaughters four and a half years ago.

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These girls might look cute, but they know how to play rough,...

Well done Tony!

Great to see yet another woodie making cabriole legs.

And it has a slipper foot, for which I am a bit kinky.

Beautiful work.

Ply is dimensionally stable. I'd glue it, but you can likely fasten it any way you like.

One of the things to like about veneered panels, regardless of whether the veneer is over decent ply,...

I should have mentioned why I love 2mm thick shop cut veneers as opposed to 0.6mm veneers.

Firstly, if I can get a nice thick piece of pretty timber I can cut a bunch of book-leaved veneers from...

The finished size of my veneers is 2mm thick.

Many years ago the smart folk here told me that if we had a finished veneer thickness of more than 2mm the veneers would start to behave like wood...

Matt,

You are an evil man ... but clearly you knew that already.

Besides ... I am trying to protect the teeth, not my useless ancient hide.

I have just replaced a blade on my bandsaw.

Now the job is to replace the plastic protector onto the blade I removed ... to protect it.

I'm sure I'm doing it wrong, because it is so slow. A...

I agree. Sadly, I too am therefore a whimp. When I first started woodworking I used several types of native: rose gum, spotted gum, red gum, and so on. Then I made the mistake of using recycled...

And you deserve every one of those minutes ... and perhaps a few more.

Well done!

Graeme,

I don't know if you are aware that lacquer is available in colours, including white. It is a wonderful finish, with all the benefits of clear lacquer. I made an el cheapo chest of...

Looks very smart. Well done!

The most important part is that the missus like it. In that event it doesn't really matter what the remainder of us think.

How did you apply the white? Is it...

Ain't that the truth, Mr Alchemist?

It's the drama created by the bookmatched veneers that is eye-catching. I must admit to liking the effect, and the impact it creates.

I have some...

Thanks all for the kind words.

For years I put off making cabriole legs because I was quite sure they would be difficult to make.

I was wrong. They are relatively easy to make. The legs for...

In it's final resting place in a spare bedroom.

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Here endeth the story.

Graeme,

I use a Trade Tools cheapie special ... not an expensive unit ... and a Trade Tools compressor. I think the gun has a 2mm nozzle. A mate uses an airless electric spray gun that seems to...

Oops ... I forgot ...


When spraying large surfaces like table tops or surfaces I want to make pretty and smooth I add a flash coat. After two or three coats of lacquer are applied the surface...

Graeme,

I am using 3210 satin lacquer, 3241 sanding sealer and 1222 thinners.

For outdoors timber I use Two Pack Poly... 5577 part A topcoat, 5747 part B and 1263 thinners.

Please let us...