Going to Build

Okay, I finished the "sketch" of the new bench design. "Sketch", because I didnt actually draw it - its more of a photo shop type deal. I started with a photograph of a bench that I liked, but it wasnt quite right. I decided to try an experiment with the computer; it was fun, and frustrating too.

First, I cut the bench out of the original picture - fairly sloppy, as I was none too sure this would even work:


Then I did the following to get the first version of the sketch:

1. Made "repairs" to the bench - missing back slat etc...
2. Transformed to B&W - just thought it would look better this way...
3. Cut a chunk out of the middle of the bench to shorten the overall length.
4. Merged the remaining pieces back into one bench - you can still see the "scar" if you look closely, its particularly easy to spot in the bottom slats...
5. Reconfigured the back and side slats. Basically, every two slats where joined into one wider slat - so 14 back slats became the 7 in the final design.
6. Ran a "pencil sketch" filter to make the image more sketch like; this also helped to blend the changes/additions into a more uniform whole.


Of course the bench will need a cushion, so for the second version I did the following:

1. Created a virtual cushion for the bench.
2. Shaded the cushion for more of a 3D effect.
3. Applied a texture filter to give the cushion a more realistic surface.
4. Applied the same "pencil sketch" filter to the cushion so it would look like it belonged in same sketch as the rest of the bench - well, sort of...


Now I need to work up some measurements from the images, make adjustments as required, and get to work!

The first bit of proper fabrication on the Quilt Rack was to joint the feet to the legs. I did this using my Domino XL. In order to accommodate the curves they would later be shaped to, I had to use different length Dominos. This is the first time I’ve used the XL. It’s a wonderful beast. Given the size (and especially the length) of the available 14 mm Dominos, the feet should stay attached to the legs for a very long time.

Those Dominos for the Domino XL are awfully big.

After the Dominos were mortised I assembled the leg/foot assemblies and clamped them each up with a single parallel clamp. I handled glue squeeze out using the method advocated by Marc Spagnolo, waiting about 20 minute and scraping it off after it’s initially gelled.

My roofing Barret knife makes is a great all around knife.

Once the leg/foot assemblies came out of the clamps, I transferred the cross member locations to the boards using my stop rules. I didn’t actually mark or transfer the Domino mortise locations, just the outline of the square (not yet rounded) cross members.

Stop rules were used to transfer the cross member locations.

To mill the Domino mortises in the legs, I clamped a piece of wood to the leg even with the edge of the cross member to act as a fence. Then I set the base of the domino against the fence, centered it on the width of the cross member and mortised. To mortise the cross members, I used the Domino Trim Stop for Narrow Stock. Because the legs are only about ⅞” thick, I made the mortise deeper in the cross member than in the leg.

I clamped a block of wood to the leg to act as a fence to reference the Domino off of.

With the joinery done, Part III will move on to shaping.

Quilt Rack Photo Gallery

Its been so long since Ive posted that I think the pageviews counter on the blog has started going backwards.  Basically Ive had this post going for a while now and just havent finished it off.  This post was actually started over a month ago...TONIGHT, I SHALL FINISH AND POST IT SO I CAN MOVE ON TO OTHER PROJECTS!!!

I last left off with a single cabinet door not quite finished. Since then Ive knocked out the other four, plus three new drawers. Heres the breakdown:

I had a big problem with tearout when I was fielding the panels for the doors.  There were a few panels with sections of sappy, knotty bits that just wouldnt plane nicely and left a really rough surface.

For those I just took a little putty and smoothed out the bad parts.

A few of the joints also had some unsightly gaps which required wood filler:

Soon I had finished constructed the necessary five doors:

Then it was off to the sander:
This setup is great: Ive got the Shop Vac hooked up the sander, but Ive also got a switch from Sears that turns the vacuum on automatically when I turn on the sander.  Having the hoses and wires hanging from the ceiling also makes sanding a lot easier.

One last touch on the doors was a little ogee around the perimeter:
Looks nice, right?

Well, I certainly screwed up one of them pretty bad: whats wrong here?
Yep, I routed the ogee on the wrong side of the door...time for some surgery.

First I had to cut the screwed-up piece off:
Thats my new saw in the foreground.  Its a Bridge City Tool Works Kataba Meiko.  It has an unusual tooth pattern that lets it make crosscuts extremely fast.  I got it on sale and am really pleased with it.  Yeah, I said I was getting away from Japanese saws...oh well.

Then I had to clean up the saw cuts so that the new frame member would seat correctly; for this I used a shooting board.  I dont think Ive demonstrated this before on the blog, but the shooting board is extremely useful:
Essentially, the shooting board lets you use a bench plane to trim ends very precisely and accurately.  It holds the piece at 90 degrees to the path of the plane.  Here Im using it to clean up the saw cut so that the new frame member will seat squarely.

I suppose I could have gone to a lot of trouble and created loose tenon joints for the repair, but that would have been a ton of trouble (unless someone wants to buy me a Festool Domino...Any takers? Anyone?)

So I ended up using the old through-dowel method.  It gets the job done:

Paint em and done: