Harlequin side table
#11
I was reminded that this is the correct forum for builds (I had posted in the hand tools forum), so ....

My wife requested a side table for the family room. This will be situated between two arm chairs, and replace the small table (which is too high and dominating) ... 

[Image: Family-Room1.jpg]

Not just a side table, but it also needed to house her needlework thingies. In other words, shallow drawers for cotton reels and sewing kit. I played around with several ideas, and eventually came up with a design that borrows a little from a piece I recently made for a nephew.

Lynndy liked the softness of the rounded dovetails and overall dimension of this coffee table I built some months back ...

[Image: 12a.jpg]

The plan (looking down) would be to create a curved front and back, with round, splayed legs to the outside (an alternative is a straight, tapered round leg) ...

[Image: B2.jpg]

In contrast to the Jarrah in that piece, the carcase will be built in Hard Maple, dovetailed and mitred at each corner. It will feature 8 drawers. All drawer fronts will curve as well. The reason for "Harlequin" in the title is that the drawers will be a mix of woods, as depicted in the elevation of the drawer section ...

[Image: A.jpg]

A harlequin design is often thought of as a diamond pattern, but does also include a rectangular checkerboard. Anyway, it's just a name, and I like giving my pieces a name
Smile

At this stage I have chosen for the drawer fronts Black Walnut and Blue Gum. I may also add in Hard Maple. Always interested in your thoughts here. The Blue Gum is lighter than the Black Walnut and is a good foil against the Hard Maple …

[Image: 20.jpg]

The legs will taper and curve from the carcase, attached with a loose mortice and tenon ...

[Image: B.jpg]

The sides and top were arranged so that the grain flowed continuously. The carcase is 20mm thick, 800mm long and 350 at the wide, centre point ..

[Image: Arranging-boards3.jpg]

The initial dovetail plan was to keep the boards parallel and saw the curves later. It became apparent when joining the first set that this would not work ...

[Image: C.jpg]

.. there would be too much at the sides to mitre, and so I decided to shape the top and bottom panels at this stage rather than later. 

[Image: D.jpg]

[Image: E.jpg]

This was the first opportunity to use the modification I made to my Moxon vise (see article: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeToo...nMods.html). It now enables the pin- and tail boards to be clamped together to aid in marking out (see earlier photo).

In marking out for mitred corners, the side tails are not sawn out from the front ...

[Image: G.jpg]
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#12
... the board is reversed, and the mitres are marked ...

[Image: I.jpg]

... and sawn ...

[Image: H.jpg]

The reason I had wanted to retain square carcase sides was that it would make it easier to square the chisel guide for the mitres. I got around this by squaring them to the front of the carcase ...

[Image: 13.jpg]

The pin board is seen here ...

[Image: J.jpg]

One of the difficulties in fitting this many tails and pins is that any slight errors are magnified. The fit below illustrates that the left side is too tight ...

[Image: K.jpg]

To deal with this, the tails were given a pencil scribbling ...

[Image: L.jpg]

Fitting the board together left this behind ...

[Image: M.jpg]

This process needed to be done once more, before the fit was satisfactory ...

[Image: N.jpg]

The four sides were dry fitted together, and the front and rear upper and lower panels planed to shape (this was close but not enough) …

[Image: 14.jpg]

All is coplanar …

[Image: 15.jpg]

Where we are up to at the end of today …

[Image: 16.jpg]

One set of mitred corners …

[Image: 17.jpg]

… and the other …

[Image: 18.jpg]

Next up is building the internal dividers for the drawers.

Regards from Perth

Derek
Articles on furniture building, shop made tools and tool reviews at www.inthewoodshop.com
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#13
With the carcase completed, it is time to turn to the internal dividers for the drawers.

I took the time first to plane the rebate for the rear panel. Knowing my spatial weakness of getting parts back-to-front and upside-down, I marked these when the carcase was a dry fit (and later briefly thought I had screwed this up!) ...

[Image: Mon1a.jpg]

One of the benefits of mitred corners is that the rebate can be planed across without fear of it showing ...

[Image: Mon2a.jpg]

[Image: Mon5a.jpg]

The rebate is 6mm deep as the rear panel will be 5mm thick to bend it around the curved rear. The carcase is 20mm thick, and the rebate extends halfway into this.

I was curious to see how rebating on a curve would turn out. No problem ...

[Image: Mon6a.jpg]

[Image: Mon7a.jpg]

Here is the rear of the carcase with the rebate ...

[Image: Mon8a.jpg]

[Image: Mon9a.jpg]

Moving to the stopped dados/housings ... the centre panel is solid rather than a frame. I decided that this would be less work, plus there will be a series of stopped dados to be made. The panel is 10mm thick. This was made first, that is, the dados were sized to fit the panel thickness.

I made up a couple of templates. One was the height of the dado, and the other was the height of the dado plus the width of the dado. The inside of the carcase is marked on both sides using the same templates to ensure that they are exactly the same height from the base.

[Image: Mon10a.jpg]

The lines are deepened with a knife, and then a chisel wall is created to register a saw cut ...

[Image: Mon11a.jpg]

The end of the stopped dado is defined ...

[Image: Mon12a.jpg]

A Japanese azebiki was used along a guide to ensure it cut on the vertical ...

[Image: Mon13a.jpg]
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#14
Now that the sides are defined by the kerf, this could be deepened with a chisel (this is my favourite chisel - a 1" Kiyohisa. Sublime!) ..

[Image: Mon14a.jpg]

The waste is removed with a router plane ...

[Image: Mon15a.jpg]

Check that the side walls are square ...

[Image: Mon16a.jpg]

Completed side panels ...

[Image: Mon17a.jpg]

I was so confident that the dados were perfect that I dry fitted the carcase once more ... and then found that one dado was a smidgeon too tight for the test piece. It turned out that a small section of a side wall was not as square as I thought (probably the saw did not cut deeply enough at that spot). The best too to clear this is a side rebate plane. Set for a very light cut to clear the waste, not the dado width ...

[Image: Mon18a.jpg]

Perfect fit this time ...

[Image: Mon19a.jpg]

Time to fit the centre panel. This has been shaped to size, but will need a little fine tuning at a later time. Note that the rear section is secondary wood (Merbau) ...

[Image: Mon20a.jpg]

I had just enough time to slide the panel in. Nice tight fit. Not enough time to saw the rebates for the stopped dados. This will be done next time ...

[Image: Mon21a.jpg]

Regards from Perth

Derek
Articles on furniture building, shop made tools and tool reviews at www.inthewoodshop.com
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#15
As always Derek...WOW! You do beautiful work and the detail in your build threads is awesome. Can't wait to see the next post.
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#16
The side rabbet (yeah, I know, rebate for those who speak the Queen's english) planes are essential (at least for me) for this sort of fitting; the LV one is good, but I prefer the LN 98-99, just find them easier to use and a tad less fussy, but my experience with the LV was playing with it at a show when I only had a vintage 98 in my kit, along with a 79, and was looking to upgrade. Not that you can't fit with some patience and a sharp chisel, but these planes make quick and easy work of this. Specialized tool, but worth it.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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#17
I don't look at enough handtool builds, and your details are most inspiring. Thanks. Beautiful....though with you that's a given.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#18
(06-08-2019, 10:40 AM)Admiral Wrote: The side rabbet (yeah, I know, rebate for those who speak the Queen's english) planes are essential (at least for me) for this sort of fitting; the LV one is good, but I prefer the LN 98-99, just find them easier to use and a tad less fussy, but my experience with the LV was playing with it at a show when I only had a vintage 98 in my kit, along with a 79, and was looking to upgrade. Not that you can't fit with some patience and a sharp chisel, but these planes make quick and easy work of this.  Specialized tool, but worth it.

Rebate ... rabbet .... housing .... dado ....

I have had the LN pair forever. They are excellent. It has really only been the last year that I have preferred to pick up the Veritas side rebate plane first. I put this down to becoming more comfortable with the blade adjustment, which is finickier as there are two blades to set up. On the other hand, the Veritas is really quick to switch between right- and left hands, and it is easier to remove the toe for a stopped housing ... uh ... dado.
Smile

I have the #79, which I converted some while back to use for sliding dovetails: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeToo...ley79.html

Regards from Perth

Derek
Articles on furniture building, shop made tools and tool reviews at www.inthewoodshop.com
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#19
I consider myself a more than competent, but lazy woodworker.  I can do pretty much what I want, but power tools must be involved.  You guys that do it the other way are a step (or three) above.  

Nice work.  
Yes
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#20
Looks wonderful, as usual, Derek! One question I have is about your dovetails. Clearly they are an important design element of this piece, but my question is do you have any concerns that the shear number of them could compromise the integrity of the joinery at the baseline of the pin boards? There is not much material left there at all to give it strength.
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