Pictureframe Glue Up

Finally got around to cutting my rabbets and miters in the pictureframe.  I glued it up tonite without much fanfare.  This weekend I will treat the outside edges - Bevel the back and round over the front to ease the outside edge a little bit. I will also add splines to the corners once I know the final thickness of the outside edge.

FYI, this is the back of the pictureframe.  The old inlays are out and the new ones are in place (and look great) but they are face down in this pic.

A keen eye will note the milled up walnut for the Hourglass table in the background...

Table Leg Prototype Complete!

Turned out great!  Now to make 4 of them out of walnut...

Hourglass Table Leg Prototype

I milled a douglas fir 4x4 down to 2x2 stock and glued it up so it would conform to my template for the legs of the hourglass table. With the remainder of the stock, i created a tapering sled, which will be used to taper the planar faces of the legs. the final dimensions at the top of the leg are 2x2, and the final dimensions at the foot of the leg are 3/4 x 3/4.

I know that the taper will begin 25" off the ground, and that the thickness of the leg must decrease by 1 1/4" (2 minus 3/4.) To achieve that result, I must taper 5/8" off each side of the leg over the 25" span. Therefore, the top of the tapering sled is pitched at a 5/8" drop over a 25" run. We'll see how things come out.

Update: The leg is out of the clamps and there is a pic below with the template.  Bandsaw, router and planer tomorrow...

Hourglass Table Concept

Here is a concept for a table I am going to build for my wife. She saw a picture in a magazine and i thought I could build it so i am going to give it a shot. I just got a new bandsaw and figured I could put it to good use. I plan to taper the planar faces of each leg using a thickness planer and a tapered sled.

I think the apron is too tall in this mock up. I will probably reduce it by around 40% to make the table feel lighter. I may incorporate a drawer too. The main construction challenge I see is attaching the aprons to the legs--they meet at a 45 degree angle and cutting the joinery will be a challenge.

I'll let you know how this one goes...

Houston, We have a Problem

Well, I put in a lot of handwork smoothing the cove of the pictureframe. The Cove looks great, but the inlays dont. Once I planed them down to be level with the frame, I discovered that the Cocobolo was not quite as dark as I had hoped it would be. There is not enough contrast between the Bubunga and the Cocobolo for the inlay to dramatically stand out, as you can see in the picture above.

I have cut some strips of Ebony I will use to replace the Cocobolo, but i have to get the Cocobolo out of there first. I have screwed the frame pieces to a piece of scrap MDF and I am going to recut the dados with my router.

Fairing the Cove

I got busy with my new router table tonight and further faired the cove on my pictureframe. I used a 1" Core Box bit to get the cove as close to a 'curve' as possible. I'd simply raise the bit a little and move the fence a little and keep making passes until all of the sharp edges were gone.

As you can see in the foreground of the picture, there is still a good bit of wavey-ness in the cove. I will shape the rest of it by hand with a convex spokeshave, sandpaper and scrapers.

Also, I glued in the Cocobolo inlay. It's starting to shape up!

Router Table Construction

This was a multi day project, but I thought I would consolidate my activities into one entry in case anybody out there wanted to replicate my work. It should be easier to follow this way.

Step 1 - Laminate the top. I began with 2 pieces of 1/2" MDF for the top. I roughed them to size and then glued them together to create a 1" thick top.

Step 2 - Add cutouts for table bolts. I realized that my 1" thick top would be too thick to accomodate bolts to my table saw top and fence rails. The problem I face is the mounting holes in the sawtop and rails are only ~5/8" from the surface of the sawtable. When the 1" thick top is installed flush with the sawtop, the mounting holes would be covered.

To fix this I just marked the spots on the torsion box where the bolts will come through and I routed out recesses. Now when the sides of the torsion box are installed, there will be a cavity behind them into which the bolts can go.


Step 3 - Torsion Box Sides. The 1" thick top is probably not strong enough to support the weight of the router over time, so I am adding structural members to the sides and to the 'field' of the box to help carry the load. Here the sides have been glued and finish nailed into place.

Step 4 - Cut recess for router, miter corners. I am installing a Triton plunge router into my tabletop. It will be a permanent fixture. I decided on this particular model because it is easily adjustable from BOTH above AND below the table. I find that I make adjustments from below the table about half the time because I need to get a 'router bit's-eye view' of the setup. It is easier to reach below the table to make this adjustment than to mess with a crank above the table when you are bent over looking at the bit.

The Triton also has a single wrench, auto locking arbor that eliminates the need for a large 'bit change access' cutout in the tabletop. I plan to only have a 1 1/4" opening for my router bits. In order for this to work with my table, I need to cut a recess for the router so that it can extend the arbor far enough above the tabletop to get a wrench on it.

I move around the table a lot when routing so I wanted to trim the corners a bit so I could have easier access to the bit from all angles. I dropped the torsion box onto my mitering sled and simply cut the corners off. I then added small sides to the void.

Step 5 - Laminate Top. No real explination necessary - I found the smoothest piece of scrap Formica at my local cabinetshop and they gave it to me for free. Luckily it was off white.

Step 6 - Install router, add more supports, mount in table. After laminating the top, I drilled the mounting holes and a 1 1/4" hole for the bits to come through. I also drilled a hole for the crank you use to adjust bit height from above the table.

Advice for those of you building one of these yourself: put some thought into the orientation of the tool under the table before you drill your holes. I decided to mount the router so that the hole for above the table adjustment in directly across the bit opening from the fence. This allows adjustment from above the table with the fence set in most cases. Also, for a right-handed person, it aligns the below-table adjustment levers and knobs perfectly for easy access.

Why i built my table this way:

• I didnt have room for a dedicated router table in my shop
• My old table used a Rockler lift and my workpieces were constantly catching on a slightly proud edge somewhere - where the plate met the tabletop, where the lift was screwed to the plate, on the insert - I wanted this table to have as few possibilities for hang up as possible.
• I have a bigger worksurface than I would have with a dedicated router table.
  

I hate my fence

So, while i was cutting my dados for the pictureframe project, I decided it was finally time to do something about my rip fence.

I have had this trusty craftsman contractors saw for 5 years and it is great, but the stock fence is just simply too difficult to keep parallel to the blade.  I have lived with it for all these years, and it can do excellent work but it is time to upgrade.  

I installed an aftermarket Delta fence and i love it.  Now i have added rip capacity and, more importantly, i can incorporate a router table into the wing of my saw.  The pictureframe is on hold until I can construct the torsion box router wing.  stay tuned for pictures.

Roughing the Cove

I started roughing the cove of my pictureframe today.  

I am using a dado blade to remove the bulk of the material, and will follow this step with a core box bit to further refine the shape.  Note that I have left a small sliver of full thickness stock on what will be the interior edge of the frame.  This will allow the stock to sit face down & flush on my router table when it is time to further refine the curve.

The small dado you see is to accomodate the cocobolo inlay that will surround the outside edge of the frame

Pictureframe Concept

I decided to start this blog with a simple pictureframe.  I found a nice piece of quartersawn bubinga that was 12" wide...it was a shame to rip it down but so it goes.

the rendering is above.  I plan to shape the cove, then install a cocobolo inlay around the perimeter and back-bevel the outside edge.  I will post as I complete major steps.

Happy New Year!