Whoopie Hardwood at last!

[mailee]

Well I am actually starting to build something in hardwood at last. It has been a long time since I used any hardwood for a project I was beginning to think I never would again. Anyway I have made a start on a cutlery canteen for a customer and her choice of wood was Oak. I intend to build it on a chest of drawers design with an opening lid at the top and classic plinth at the bottom if all goes well.
Today I got started planing and thicknessing the wood I needed from my hardwood pile.

Next I glued up some panels for the sides and top of the box.

I also managed to get the drawer frames cut and joined using some pine to save the expensive hardwood for where it will be seen.

At the end of the day I had managed to get all four frames in glue up along with the panels. Will see what tomorrow brings as I am still working on the garage door frame at the moment too!

[gazza]

Glad to see it Mailee,
Couple of tips/observations,
Face your wooden miter gauge extension with sandpaper stuck on with double sided tape
Make yourself a zero clearance insert,
These will make life so much easier when cutting on your table saw.
Cheers,
Gazza.

[engineerone]

oh yes, and don't let scrit see you working without a guard

must say mate much as i like oak, for certain things when you
thin it below about 12mm it becomes a bugger to work sensibly and easily. it seems very fragile and will chip if you are not careful.

paul

[dalo218]

Good to see a craftsman in action!!!!!

Whats the purpose and method to make a zero clearance insert?

[engineerone]

basically a zero clearance table insert is for when you are using small sections of wood which are narrower than the area where the blade is covered by the insert.

the idea is to stop the wood dropping down there and causing major problems, including kick back.

basically you make one from an a blade space insert which is
the same size and height as the original, and you drive the blade upwards through it, this minimises the drop through space.

same thing applies to a router table, you make a secondary fence which goes over the bit, and you inch the bit forward into and beyond it to ensure that wood passed over does not get caught.

paul

[gazza]

engineerone said:

basically a zero clearance table insert is for when you are using small sections of wood which are narrower than the area where the blade is covered by the insert.

the idea is to stop the wood dropping down there and causing major problems, including kick back.

basically you make one from an a blade space insert which is
the same size and height as the original, and you drive the blade upwards through it, this minimises the drop through space.

same thing applies to a router table, you make a secondary fence which goes over the bit, and you inch the bit forward into and beyond it to ensure that wood passed over does not get caught.

paul

Nice one Paul
The zero clearance insert can also help reduce tearout on fine cuts i find.
Cheers,
Gazza.

[dalo218]

Cheers Paul
If I ever get the old startrite back toether i'll be making one!

Dalo

[engineerone]

things is there is something to be said for making them out of plastic to ensure the wood slides more easily over it, however you can also use mdf or ply. obviously you will need to put some means of holding it down rather like the original.

i agree with gazza though, rather like the anti break out strip one the mafell or festo rails, one of these helps with narrow cuts too.

paul

[mailee]

I got both sides cut today and marked out. Got all the housings cut too. Here's a shot of the balding old bu**er hard at work cutting the housings.

By the end of the evening I had managed a dry fit. To my surprise everything did fit too!

Will start on the top tomorrow and maybe even get some work started on the drawers too, we will see. ;D

[9fingers]

mailee said:

I got both sides cut today and marked out. Got all the housings cut too. Here's a shot of the balding old bu**er hard at work cutting the housings.

Cor - I'd be happy if I had that much hair Mailee!!

Now if you had a dado head for that nice new saw, you could have those housings done in a trice ;D

Running & ducking

Bob

[mailee]

I agree Bob, I would like a set of (whispers quietly in case anyone should hear) Dado cutters for the saw but I would also need a longer arbour too. Probably big enough to get the QE2 in. ;D No seriously though I do have a set of cutters for the De Walt RAS but it take so much setting up it is quicker to use the router and guide in the long run. Still it would be nicce to have the option. I also have a surface planer with the American style guard (the red one that swings out of the way) and prefer it to the euro one on my Elu which seems to get in the way.

[9fingers]

I tend to agree about the planer guards. My jet has a euro guard and I can't get on with it used properly so I tend to use it to blank off unused width of the blades and take care with keeping hands out of the way.
I've always like the idea of the US style but not tried one. I might have a go at making one one of these days.
I bought the Xcaliber saw with the optional spindle dado extension. I've just made 12 oak stile & rail panel doors and the dado head was ideal for the repetitive cutting of the tenons - 96 passes at final depth - job done.

Regards

Bob

[mailee]

Well I didn't get as much done today as I expected but I did manage to assemble the plinth:

I also fitted the face frame and this will need sanding tomorrow along with the plinth. I will then add the details to the top and plinth before starting work on the drawers and the top box.
The carcass is just sat on the plinth at the moment as there is more work to do before it is joined.

Yes I too use my Elu P/T with the euro guard moved to the side enough to pass the timber through. I do find the American style spring guards much better to use. I think the Excalibur saw is one of the only ones available over here that you can fit a dado set to. I do agree Bob that once set up dado cutters are much quicker for batch production runs like yours. Most of my work involves just a few dados to be cut normally and the time taken setting up one of these sets would outweigh that actual time cutting them. If I really did need to cut a lot of them I would use my dado set on my RAS but this is limited to the width of dado you can then cut.

[mailee]

Back on the cutlery canteen again and I have manged to fit most of the drawers now:

You will notice one is missing and the reason for this is that it turned out twisted, I have re-glued it and clamped it and will see how it turns out tomotrrow:

I also managed to assemble most of the top and ended up the evening glueing the false drawer front on to this.

If all goes well then I should finish fitting the drawers and get the top fitted before starting work on the cutlery trays. ;D