It's Coming Together

Well, the chest is almost ready for assembly. Now there seem to be a million little things to take care of. I dry fit the panels to the legs so that I could mark the location of the dado for the floor on the legs.

Here is a closer view of the groove and post intersection.

After marking those locations I then took the chest apart and began applying varnish oil to the frame and top. This is when you really start to see the richness of the grain come out. This is also when you find all the places where your finish prep is not sufficient. I did a pretty good job on this project and didn't have to stop applying oil to clean up anywhere.

I carried the marks I made on the legs around with the marking knife and saddle square. 

I decided I should make a router guide to dado the legs. I used some scrap plywood and maple to make the guide and fence. I glued the fence to the guide and added screws after the glue had set.

With the guide ready I grabbed the test leg yet again and tried the guide and router setup. It looks good.

I use my marking knife to align the cut in the guide with the knife marks on the leg. When it is aligned I tighten the vice and check again before making the cut.

All four legs are done and I am happy with the outcome.

Now I can plane any machine and layout marks from the legs prior to assembly of the case.

I do enjoy planing but these legs only needed about three passes per side.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be laying out and rabbeting the floor next, then assembly and hardware.

Breadboard Ends, Dowel Plates, And Drawboring

I'm back to the blanket chest now. I have been readying the frames for finish and leveling the floor among other things. Today I am attaching the breadboard ends to the top. Due to concerns about wood movement (the 18" wide top could expand almost 1/4") I decided to drawbore the breadboard ends to the top.

I first made some dowel blanks on the table saw.

I then used my spokeshave to make them approximately round and a bit oversize. Finding a good way to hold the piece was a little tough. I ended up putting them nearly vertical in the vise. A shaving horse would be nice for this.

I used a Lie Neilsen dowel plate to form the dowels from the blanks.

I found that one has to be careful to leave a bit of material on the blank to be removed by the dowel plate. It helped to start an end to give me a visual to work to.

If your blank is undersized you will not have a round dowel. Once the blank is ready you then hammer it through the appropriate hole in the dowel plate.

I made a test hole with the bit I planned to use and checked the fit of the dowel.

I marked out the hole locations on the BB ends and made the holes on the drill press.

With the ends tightly on the top I used the bit to mark the hole centers, removed the BB ends, and set the hole centers about 1/32" closer to the shoulder to draw the ends tight.

After drilling the holes in the tenons I widened the two outer holes to accommodate any expansion or contraction.

I then applied glue to just the center mortise and tenon. I also glued the dowels and drove them into their holes. After the glue set I sawed the dowels flush. Now I can plane the BB ends flush and size the panel (it's still a bit wide).

Thanks for taking a look. The chest is moving towards final assembly. I hope you check back again and see how it's going.

Mortise & Tenon Magazine

I received a copy of the inaugural issue of Mortise & Tenon magazine the other day. I had seen an ad for it and it looked interesting, the price seemed reasonable and I ordered a copy. It arrived in a sturdy mailer and to my surprise, the magazine was contained in an inner wrapping bound with cord and accompanied by a card. A very nice presentation.

As to content, well, I purchased the magazine because it was to be devoted to the exploration of furniture making in the pre industrial era and would focus on presenting historically accurate and well researched information on period furniture construction. I am not a period furniture maker but I do have a keen interest in learning about historic furniture making.

The Editors present a nicely balanced series of articles which range from interviews with conservators to articles about period woodworking techniques. I found all the material to be of interest but particularly the articles that detailed pre industrial woodworking techniques. There are lots of photographs which give you a look, not only at the exterior, but at the interior. You get to see many details which are generally hidden from view. From a technical point of view, we are still dealing with many of the same problems inherent in building with wood today and it is interesting and inspiring to see what our predecessors have done in the past.

From what I have seen in the first issue, I will look forward to the next issue, expected in January of 2017.

I'll be back to the blanket chest in a few days. I am out of the ditch and the water is draining nicely now. Thanks for taking a look. I hope you check back and see how it's going.