Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Raised panels by hand
Ian N in Sydney
>I'm in the throughs of planning a kitchen dresser.
The lower portion will be all frame and panel construction with frame and panel sides and doors.
I know how to make a rectangular raised panel by hand � for instance the recent FWW article shows how � but can anyone here explain how to do it when one edge of the panel is curved?
Thanks
Ian
Re: Raised panels by hand
William R. Duffield on the Cohansey
>The same way you do a gooseneck molding, or a piecrust table edge, only it's a lot easier than those tricky moldings. Basically, you carve it by hand, after using a cutting gauge with a curved face to define the edge of the field. Tombstone panels are a bit more of a challenge to carve than a smooth curve, because of the inside corners.
While we are on the subject, note that modern production doors with curved panels are always done with smooth curves, never with corners, because even if you use a panel raising bit in a router or shaper, with a template, you would still have to carve the corners by hand, and Normites just don't get it.
If you were going to do a whole lot of them, or if you are way over the edge and down the esoteric plane slope, then you might want to study how to build coachmaker's rabbit planes, which are found with curved fences or curved bottoms, but very expensive on the antique tool market.
Give me a call Ian,
Andrew F in Australia
>I probably can get you out of trouble.
Cheers,
Andrew