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Not fine woodworking, but carpentry

September 23, 2008 By Al Navas 2 Comments

The harvest table in our kitchen had become too small when our daughter and her family come to visit. As a result, a few months ago Sandy asked me to make an add-on top, to make the table top longer and wider. With five girls around, every inch of table top is needed at meal time – or when the crafts come out.

To make the modifications I used four 8-foot pine pieces from the home improvement center for the actual top, and 4-inch stock for the aprons. I installed cleats under the top, to ensure perfect alignment with the harvest table that would now support the new top.

This arrangement worked for several months. But recently, with the arrival of granddaughter #6, getting around the table to the back of the kitchen became hazardous – i.e., it became almost impassable, with two or three girls moving toys in and out of the kitchen while adults moved hot dishes to the table.

It was time to make the wide table top a little narrower. Sandy requested I remove one of the boards and make it a folding one. I moved the top to the shop, and started work. First I moved the cleats that allowed tight fit in the narrow direction; and I had to move only one of the end cleats. Then I used a hand saw for the first time in possibly two or three decades, and made short work of cutting the aprons to the new dimension, allowing a two-inch overhang.

I wanted to salvage the removed apron and the fourth board (the one I removed), as they were already painted to make them look 100+ years old. It turns out that pine, and most lumber, does not take well to hard pounding with a mallet, as it splits along the long grain.

Scrap the idea of a folding piece.

I did manage to salvage the apron that was attached to this board with cut nails, by carefully pounding on the wide board with the mallet while holding the apron in my hand.

Ultimately I re-assembled the now narrower top to fit over the very old harvest table. And we can now navigate around the table much more safely.

Just getting started:

Removing one board – sawing the apron:

The top is now only 3 boards wide:

Lessons learned:

  1. My practice sessions with the dovetail saw helped me tremendously using the saw for this job – I was able to saw to the line!
  2. Don’t pound on pine, or it will split along the grain, on either the first or second strike.

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Filed Under Blog, Cabinetmaking, Hand tools, Safety, Shop tools Tagged With carpentry, hand tool, saw

Hand-cut dovetails – my first results

September 19, 2008 By Al Navas 2 Comments

This might not seem like a big deal to many of you. But to me, it is huge! The following photos show the first hand-cut dovetails I have ever produced:

Recently I started working, and practicing, to be able to cut to a line. Although I have improved in this area, I still:

  1. Must refine how close to the line I saw, and
  2. Be careful not to overshoot the dovetail depth, or it shows immediately.

In this instance I cut the tails first, and used the Kerf Kadet marking knife to layout the pins from the tails. Although this worked nicely, I left too much material on the pins, which resulted in an exceedingly tight fit. At this point I had only one choice: Use sharp chisels, and do some paring to get a good fit of the pins to the tails.

I overdid the paring in the three pins, and it shows in the top photo: I did not hold the chisel perfectly flat, and the pin looks funny on the tip; for the middle pin I also overdid it, and created a gap that shows on the bottom edge of the pin. And the same goes for the top pin. Grrr!

In the profile shot I show that both pins and tails are a little proud of the surface, as it should be. I will be able to take this down with a block plane. But this photo also shows that the tails are resting perfectly square on the pins board, which was a concern I had while chopping the sockets on this board. However, using a nice, square block perfectly aligned with the layout mark helps keep the chisel square to the work piece.

End result: I need practice, then some more practice, followed by additional practice. As a result, I will be making little boxes, in preparation for small drawers for the Krenov-inspired cabinet. And *now* you know the rest of the story.

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Filed Under Blog, Dovetails, Hand tools

One year already!

September 18, 2008 By Al Navas 2 Comments

It is hard to imagine an entire year has come and gone since I published my first entry in this blog. And what fun it has been!

On September 18, 2007, I wrote:

… I want to share my woodworking and cabinetmaking experience. I make stuff, from small boxes to chests, to cabinets, to entertainment centers. I will be sharing with my readers the steps in each of these, providing photos and video to convey the message and to make it a good experience for the blog readers…
Sandal Woods, September 18, 2007

Writing has been fun, and sharing some of what I know has been good. But what has been great is the response from you, the readers, to some of the things I love doing. Many of you have written to me about the things you have learned from my posts, and that alone is very gratifying.

Making boxes using dovetail joinery turned out to be very popular; and the use of the Leigh D4 dovetail jig was possibly the most popular individual “thing”. But I also received many questions about plans for, and the actual building, of the changing table.

During Woodworkers Safety Week I received many comments, both on the blog and via e-mail, on several of the topics I wrote. Overall, the response to Safety Week was overwhelming, both from reader interest, and the sheer number of pages read during the week.

Possibly one of the most enjoyable series to date has been my build of the Krenov-inspired cabinet. Questions ranged from veneering to matching, from substrates to glues, etc. As I set aside this project to get other things done, I started receiving questions about the state of the Krenov-style cabinet. I assure you, I will continue to publish about this wonderful project in due time. My priorities have been dictated by other happenings, and I responded accordingly. I promise I will get back to that project.

I was quite surprised by the interest in the design work using the eCabinet Systems software, and the apparent ease with which a specific design can be changed. I hope to follow up on your desires, and publish much more on design. More on this as I develop a plan.

As I close, I would like to thank my sponsors, Leigh Industries, Sommerfeld Tools, and Czeck Edge for their support of my work, and for believing in what I am trying to do with this blog – sharing with my readers some of the woodworking things I know.

And the biggest thank-you of all goes to my readers. After all, without you, these would be only electrons floating out there, somewhere. I suspect that would not be fun at all.

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Filed Under Anniversary, Blog, Dovetails