opinions wanted

Re: opinions wanted

Jack Guzman from Maine

>I think I would use poplar for that.It is a forgiving wood when it comes to dovetails and the contrast would be good IMHO.---Jack

Re: opinions wanted

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Do you mean for the drawer bodies? Or the drawer fronts?

If for the bodies, I think long leaf pine would be an excellent choice, tends to go golden with a slight hint of red. If the fronts, maybe mahogany, which is very easy to carve and work in general.

Pam

Suggestion on the DT's

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>This has worked for me, when doing half blinds. Could work for you. Go tails first on the drawer sides. Then plane a shallow rabbet (1/16") on the inside of the drawer side, down to the base (scribeline) of the tails. You may find it simpler to plane the rabbet first, then saw the tails. Either way, the shallow rabbet gives you a very positive registration when you mark the pins on the drawer front. Mark the pins (the drawer fronts) off the tails--as sawn--no marks on the pins board other than off the tails-as-sawn.

Wiley

Re: opinions wanted

Tony Z.

>Drawer fronts Pam. I always use 1/2" poplar or pine for the sides and back.

Re: Suggestion on the DT's

Tony Z.

>I'll try this on one of my practice pcs. I've been using a Jorgensen corner vise/clamp to hold the front and sides while marking. Has helped tremendously! I believc Chirs Swartz made this suggestion in Pop. Woodworking.

One other thing the rebate does

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>Is cover up any small imperfections at the baseline of either the pins or the tails board. I saw this rebate, but planing is probably easier to do as an experiment.

Wiley

Re: opinions wanted

John K in Hastings, MN

>I'd go with maple. Nice contrast to the cherry.

Nice gloat, BTW. I picked up a batch of 50 yr old air dried cherry at an auction a few years back, 200+ bf, mostly 4/4 but some 4x4, 8/4, some boards with parts as wide as 20". Cost me a whole $50.

John

I like my cherry with...

Scott Burr Ben Lomond,CA

>Walnut. They look great together adn walnut works very easy.

Re: Suggestion on the DT's

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Wiley, any chance you could upload a photo or two showing this? I'm having real problems visualizing it.

Thanks,

Pam

Re: opinions wanted

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Tony,

In looking at Hepplewhite style sideboards and chests in Fine Points of Furniture by Albert Sack, most pieces use highly figured wood of the same species or inlays to contrast with the rest of the case. This may be a good opportunity to learn about veneering and inlay techniques. String inlay is often used on the legs of this style of furniture and is fairly simple to do.

If you are set on using a contrasting wood, I think cherry and walnut look good together.

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

Jim

Description (longish)

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>Pam, It'll take time to get pictures, so let me try 1000 words. The earlier description didn't locate the rebate well, so I'll start there. We're going tails first.

Strategy: Make a shallow ledge on the inside face of the drawer side, at the scribe line. This ledge will register against the pins board held vertically in the end vise. More below on this.

Example: Drawer side is 1/2 inch thick, 4 inches high, and length doesn't matter here. The tails will be 5/8" long, and lapped on the drawer front. To make the ledge, cut a shallow rebate (say, 1/16" deep) into the inside face of the tails. This removes a slice of wood 1/16" thick, 5/8" wide (from scribe line to end of board), and 4" long (from top to bottom of drawer side). As a result, the tails (only) will be 7/16" thick, and the rest of the drawer 1/2" thick. The ledge we want is created at the inner scribe line.

Registering the ledge against the pins board: Pins board is upright in the end vise, protruding 1/16" above the bench top. Tails board, flat on the bench and already sawn and rabbeted, is pushed up hard against the pins board--the ledge will catch and the tails will lay over the end grain of the pins board, ready for making. Clamp the tails board in place, and mark with knife. There are no marks on the pins board end grain except these knife marks--we are transferring the tails-as-sawn.

There are two ways to make the rebate. Plane 1/16" of wood off the inside face of the tails, with shoulder plane or moving filletster. Or make two saw cuts: a 1/16" deep crosscut at the scribe line, met by a rip coming down from the end grain. If you're going to plane, it's a little better to plane after scribing but before sawing the tails--spelch caused by planing won't matter. If you're going to saw the rebate, which is what I do, I find it better to saw the tails first, and clean up the waste, then saw the rebate. This allows me to gang saw the drawer sides before getting to the rebating.

Note: Now the tails insert 7/16" into the pins board (instead of 1/2"), but the rebate almost guarantees a clean crisp inside corner.

Wiley

Re: opinions wanted

Tony Z.

>My decision to build the sideboard came about from seeing one this past Friday eve. It was all cherry, with highly figured drawers and normal everywhere else. It was a well done piece, but the legs and face frame had no "sizzle" in contrast to the figured drawers.

I'm not set on contrasting woods--maybe a well done cockbead detail around the drawers will suffice to set the piece off, with all cherry.

Re: Description (longish)

Matt -- Los Angeles

>Say Wiley,

I am excited to try your trick. The registration against the pin board sounds like the perfect solution to my "fiddling" and "twitching" when lining up half-blind DTs.

Question: Doesn't the rebate change the depth of the scribe line on the pin board? Wouldn't I need to scribe for the "new" thickness of my tails?

If this was obvious to everyone but me...I apologize..

Matt - Los Angeles

Re: Description (longish)

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>Hi Matt,

Very perceptive of you! Yes, rebating the tails board does change the scribe line on the back face of the pins board. Set your gauge using a direct take off from the tails. Actually, every mark made on the pins board will be a transfer from the tails board. This method is something I picked up from Konrad Sauer, and although he is a young guy, I'm sure the method is very old--don't think there is much new under the sun.

I'd like to mention one other thing that I have found extremely useful. And that is to clamp a guide block along the tail board scribeline when chopping/paring the waste, and also along the pins board scribeline (on the rear face). The guide block keeps the chisel from backing up into the baseline--and moving it. My guide block is a simple jig: Make a block that is about 2" square and as long as your tallest drawer will be, plus 3 or 4 inches. Make this block from hard maple or other very hard wood. The block must be jointed perfectly straight, and the faces have to be dead square with each other. Or at least two adjacent faces must be dead square to each other--the face that will sit on the work, and the face that rises from the scribeline. I mounted this block so that it rides up and down on two carriage bolts set in a plywood baseboard. Glue another scrap to the bottom side of the plywood baseboard, so you can grab this thing in your end vise. Put big wingnuts or a knob on the carriage bolts--tightening these will clamp the guide block down onto the work, right at the scribe line, or actually, ever so slightly on the waste side of the scribe line. My baselines got a lot cleaner after I started using this jig. You can just clamp a block down also, but the jig takes most of the fiddling around out of the deal.

Wiley

Re: opinions wanted

Jim Crammond in Monroe, Mi

>Tony,

After taking another look at the Hepplewhite sideboards in the book I mentioned in my other response, I noticed that many of the pieces shown had string inlay around the edges of the drawers and doors with inlay and marquetry on the corners. Many of the legs had a stylized bellflower at the top with string inlay running vertically a quarter of an inch or so from the edge. At the bottom of the legs, there is often a marquetry detail that give the effect of an ankle. The detail in these pieces is amazing.

Jim

DT baseline jig

Clay C in Miami

>I've used a similar jig to fix the baseline, but the 'bottom' piece of the jig was below the bench, and the distance between the mounted carriage bolts was the same as the distance between my bench's dog holes on center. Pop the bolts up through the bench on either side of the work, cinch down the jig to press the bottom piece against the underside of the bench, et voila. Also allows the next piece to be inserted easily, just loosen, slide out and replace the workpiece, and re-tighten.

I'll have to try it your way in the vise, though ...

Clay

Clever method!

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>That's a neat idea. I do like not having to disassemble the jig to mount or dismount it, cause that is usually followed by me down on my knees in the shavings trying to find a washer or wingnut or whatever. Bout the most I can manage is to pull the whole thing off the wall and clamp it in the vise. Do you also put a piece of plywood under the work so there's always bedding under the chisel? I have found if I don't do that, it's pretty easy to get chisel tearout on the backside of the work, even with sharp chisels.

This jig is also useful for making that rebate discussed above, because with the guide block just a hair inside the tails board scribe line, it'll act as a fence for saw or plane. I make this saw cut freehand usually, but the guide block does take the excitement out of it.

Wiley

One other important detail

Re: Description (longish)

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX

>Thanks, Wiley, I see. Is the drawer front also 1/2"? If so, they'll be through dovetails. So I'm assuming 3/4" fronts, in which this method will leave you 5/16". Cool, allows just what you say, an easy way to register the tails precisely vs trying to eyeball it and hold the drawer side securely while marking the tails. Very nice.

Does this provide you any advantages on the inside fit?

An alternative would be to clip a batten to the tailed side at the scribe line, which would allow you to avoide extra planing and/or sawing.

Pam

Re: Description (longish)

Wiley Horne--Glendora CA

>The rebate does ensure a crisp inside corner, because of the way it covers the pins board baseline.

You raise an interesting point about how much the tails should lap onto the drawer front. The numbers I used in the example were just to try to conjure up a mental image of the tails board and the rebate location. Just as a personal preference, I like fat drawer fronts, with lots of overlap. In my neck of the woods, if you buy 5/4, you can get 15/16" finished thickness. This allows lapping the tails 3/4" onto the front, with 3/16" left to cover the tails.

Wiley