Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Back on that Horse...

So, today I did my first woodworking in the shop since 10:45am on September 19th last year. I installed the splitter (device that keeps the wood you're cutting on the table saw from kicking back, which is how I cut my finger off). It only took five minutes. As my fellow woodworkers know, it's a huge pain. It's in the way when you try to measure the width of every cut (so I'm resorting to using the tape on the saw), and it can only be used for cuts greater than 1-1/2" wide (otherwise the push stick won't fit through. I've yet to see how it works with the dado blade (table saw blade that cuts from 1/8" to 3/4" wide groove).

Anyhoo, the project I'm working on is a small, removeable mantle for our fireplace. I'm using an aluminum bracket to mount it to the wall (french cleat). It's 5' wide, and an L-shape that's 8"x8". I'm going to use a box joint to glue the two pieces at right angles (think interlocking fingers) all the way down. There will be a bracket on each end to lend strength and support. The panel against the wall will be a panel in the true Arts & Crafts style. Here's my drawing:


To give you an idea of what it's going to look like, here's my buddy Schroeder's from LumberJocks.com mantle. Mine will be sort of an upside down version of it.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Craftsman Dining Room Set - In The Beginning...

So, I've got my girlfriend's permission to start working on our new dining room set. I've done a ton of research, and for me, Schroeder hit the nail right on the head. He's been extremely helpful with suggestions, suggested reading, and tool purchases to make the process go smoother. I will build his table. I'm still researching the chairs, but the Rodel chair is high in the running. I'm hoping to knock out the table in the next month, and the chairs this winter. I will be blogging about the entire project here, and concurrently on my regular woodworking blog Skully's Workshop.

For those of you who may not know, I cut my middle finger off last September, so I'm just getting back into the shop. I will blog about that separately, but please put your splitters back on for any cuts that will allow it.

I've taken some time to draw up the table in AutoCAD (SketchUp still eludes me). I designed my table using the Golden Mean, so the top is 72 x 44.5 (ratio = 1.618) with Greene & Greene style breadboard ends. It'll be 30 high. I tucked the underbody in 12 on each end and 6 along the sides. The legs are 4 square, and I will be making all four sides quartersawn. The whole table will be quartersawn white oak, and I'm trying to figure out how to anhydrous ammonia (29%) fume the whole thing without getting busted for running a meth lab.

Here are the drawings. I can provide dimensions as needed, but they were omitted for clarity: