Well here are some more work I completed yesterday. Today my wife and I hung some torsion box shelve I made for the familyroom, so no work was completed on the card tables today.




You have to go really slowing on the part of the joint taking very small shavings and insuring the the front is supported so any pressure on the remaining 5/32 amount of wood does not crack.

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I made a spacer that was 5/8" less than the band saw blade kerf and it allow me to consistly cut the opening on each leg without moving the fence.




I made a series of cuts on the band saw to within 1/32" of my knife lines and will clean them up using a chisel and shoulder plane.

Got up early and put a couple of hours in the shop before everyone else in the house started to get out of bed. Than my wife had me move the shelves over 1 1/2' , these torsion box shelves have become a bigger project than expected. Then we visited a toy train exhibit to entertain my son for awhile. Finally back in the shop in the late afternoon.


I completed the bridle joints on the first apron today and evacuated the majority of the wood for the bridle joints on the second table. Tomorrow I will only have a limited amount of shop time, have some errants to run. But I think I will be able to complete final fitting of the bridle joints on the second apron and taper all the front legs. I still have some final fitting to complete on the back legs. I hope to start my stringing by the end of the week.

Chuck,
thanks for all the time it takes to keep us updated as you build these table. I have been checking back everyday too see if there is an updated on your project. I have learned alot seeing your project thanks again for all the updates and keep up the good work.

Thanks Daddy-O I am glad you are getting something out of the building of this project. One of the thing that I like about being a Rough Cutter is that on this forum everyone trys to share and talk about the projects they are building and not always about power tool vs hand tools, or some other popular issues on other forums. This is a forum about the building of projects and helping each other. As I have mentioned in other posts on the forum, Tommy, Eli, WalnutBeagle, Neil and others have all given very good input regarding certain techniques when help was needed and that is what this forum is about.

Austin, where are you on your table? Lets see some pictures of your table.

Well I finish fitting the front leg bridle joints on the second table today, tapered all for front legs and cleaned them up with a plane, and started making a jig for the stringing. After researching different stringing designs and discussing with Neil, I have settled on a stringing designed by Thomas and Samuel Goddard. However, the bellflowers will be those of John Seymour. For those who don't know what Seymour's bellflowers look like, take a look at Tommy's on some of his federal furniture. The banding on the apron will be the banding WalnutBeagle and I made for the Crazy Legs.



I did not want to us either a black cuff with a banding or just a banding cuff on the bottom of the leg. I thought that the way the stringing terminates at the bottom was more elegant than a cuff or banding cuff. Bellflowers will be both sides and front of the front legs and on inside and front of the back legs.

my mans on a mission huh....keep going chuck!!

Well made a mistake on the back leg today. I was cutting out the recess where the back leg goes into the apron and lost my focus and marked and cut the wrong side. Lucky I had extra leg stock when I rough cut my lumber and was ready for some mistake to happen.



Finished the other three legs without a problem.

Hey, Chuck I find when i mess something up that is we i learn the most. It only took me one time to make something with no extras and having to start all over. Looks like you made the same mistake and were ready for it if it happened. Thanks for sharing on this project.

Yea, normally I after I make my guage lines or knife lines I use a pencil and show the cut out area. This time I didn't and it cost me a leg. But not all is lost, I can use the leg now for a mock-up for my stringing.

A lesson learned awhile back was to make extra leg stock and lumber from the same wood being used for a project. The legs and apron on this project really need to look the same.

I just finished make a replacement leg, so I am back on track.

i better not make a mistake on my legs....i have the stringing done already, well most of it lol

Hey Palletmaker of the Month.................I'm glad your making this table first as the rest of us watch. Between knuckles and legs tapered differently, an awful lot to be watching out for...eye-yeye-yeye

Is the family celebrating your new honor????

Bummer on one table end.......cool on the other Chuck.........Neil

Over the last two days I have been working on the stringing on the legs. First I have completed stringing by using a scratch stock and treble points, and did not really like how they worked. This time I purchased the LN Steve Latta stringing tools. They circle cutter is great and the inline cutter you have watch yourself or you will have a problem on your hands.

Due to the stringing design that was selected I have to perform the stringing is a sequence. I need to complete one set of redius than stringing, let the glue dry, and then bring the stringing down flush before I cut the mating radius.

Currently I have complete all the grooving for the straight lines and one side of the radius on all the legs. I anticiipate that I will have at least another three days worth of work just in the stringing. Then I will move on the the bellflowers. If anyone has any questions regarding what I have done so far, please feel free to ask and I will answer as best as I can.

wow that set-up to the radi is alot simpler then mine. After fooling with scratch stocks and jigs that didn't work i just layed out the arc and cut it with a palm router freehand. With a 1/16 inch bit. I did all of them and didn't even mess up one WOOHOO

On my legs i did black and white stringing in the same grove. Are you just doing white?

hey austin.....i see chucks ...but not yours....not the best way to transfer the P.M of the month torch. man...i had such high hopes too ....... post some pictures!!!!....i wanna see

lol yeah chucks been on me to about the pics. I'll try to get some tomorrow

Austin,

I like the look of a single 1/32" while line vs the heavier 1/16' black and white combination line. My stringing is going to be different the what the plan that Steve Latta's. As I mentioned a earlier post, I will be doing a Goddard design with a more delicate bellflower (Seymour style).

I'm sure some of the woodworkers who are following this project would like to know how you made your black and white stringing. Maybe when you post your pictures you can explain your method of making the stinging. Did you press it between two caul, use a vacuum press, or some other technique? How did you control the router to groove the channel for the stringing?

Here is general question for the forum...does anyone else have an easier technique? I have already committed to the method I'm using, however, I believe we can always improve out work by hearing how other would complete a task like stringing. I have use mentioned the strach stock and trammel method, the new LN inlay tools, and Austin used a palm router (dremmel tool is similar), are there other methods?

Garret Hack uses a scratch stock for doing his string. And then he hand planes the string witha slight taper. I don't care for this method, I found the scratch stock wants to follow the grain. And with cross grain there's lots of tearout.

I think Steves method is better, since your actually cutting the grain with a mini saw.

I personally use a dremel with a 1/32" bit for my stringing.

I find the method your using to let you swing the arcs is real easy. Not sure whre you picked it up but that's the method Steve uses.

The real fun is after you get the inlay done ane the glue has dried. Once the inlays are flush witha scrapper, take a plane and make one or two passes to even things out. If you do it right you'll have a shaving with your inlay pattern on it.

And since you made that special leg now you have a practice piece.

Tommy tried the dremel and he said the wood (mohogany) would have a lot of fuzzing, he liked the scratch stock method. By the way these two tables are being made out of cherry. I would think that with a 1/32" bit I would break a few before finishing a few table legs. The LN straight line tool likes to follow the grain as well. The trick with the LN straight line cutter is real light passes and keeping presure against the fence and the leg, even then it will sometime come out of the groove. Another thing about the LN tool is the saw teeth leaves a little pyramid on the bottom of the groove. That is why Steve needs a dental tool to clean the grooves on this lastest video. (viewed the LN Steve Latta inlay video, prior to acquiring the tools and that is where I learned about the jig for the radius). Would I buy the tools again, yes maybe not the thicknessing guage. I did not buy the slicing guage, I made my own from the Steve Latta FWW plans. The best tool is the radius cutter, its faster and easier than a tremel set.

I had not thought of cleaning up the whole leg with a plane afterwards. Might have to try it.

ok here they are....i have the apron completed and veneered. I used bending plywood and a bunch of clamps to glue the home sawn veneer on. The one completed leg is just a practice leg. The bellflowers dont stand out very much because they are maple veneer. I did not have any holly at the time but when i do the real legs i will be sure to get some to make them look better. The picture of the leg with just the stringing an actual leg going on the table. I used a palm router with a fence to do the straight parts and for the curved part at the top, i just cut it freehand with the router. I bought veneer that was 1/32 and made a 1/16 inch groove with my router for it to fit in. But for some reason it wasn't quite big enough, so i used a piece of blue masking tape as a shim on my router fence and now the stringing fits perfectly. Another way i could have solved this would be to taper the stringing a little bit.
Two questions for you guys....
I got a little to aggresive when scraping the stringing flush and tore out some of the holly beneath the surface. How do i fix this?

And if anybody has any tips on cutting and fitting the curved stringing at the top of the leg they would be greatly appreciated.

Also, just to let people know i am now working at the irion furniture company. http://www.furnituremakers.com/

Austin,

When stringing you are going to experience problems like tear-out or small gaps at the joints, the repairs are fairly easy. Cut a small section out with a X-acto knife clean out the channel and prepare a new piece of stringing to fill-in the gap. On Steve Latta's video, he under cuts the bottom of the ends a small amount of the replacement piece. After the replacement section is prepared, glue it into the channel.

It looks like your going to do a fan on the top of the leg. I have not decide on how I am going to handle that part of the leg. Your fan looks really good, did you make it yourself? We made fans for the Crazy Leg tables and they are some work. I would have to make eight of whatever I decide on making for the top.

On the bellflower, try dropping the middle pedal slightly more. Take a good look at Tommy's bellflowers.

yeah i made the fan myself. I did the big one for the fed table just for fun (i didn't make the whole table) and let me tell you they are a lot harder when there this small. For our tables we would only need 4 fans. One for the outsied of each leg....i think

Austin,

Yea that's four for each table...I'm doing two tables.

gotcha

Hey Austin,

nice going with the tables and Irion ! Congratulations

Don't you have to counter-balance the veneered apron ?
I mean, wouldn't you have to glue some secondary veneer
on the "back" (interior) part of it, to avoid distortion ?

-Ronaldo