Snake, a Fed chessboard would be cool. Oh and next time you do a segmented turning why not show us how it's done? I've certainly never done one so it'd be interesting.

Oh and thanks regarding the banding, I think it'll work.

Rick

ya ive been researching the fed chess table and they are pretty cool. simple though.

and next time i do a segmented turning ill go over it. its really simple to do a simple turning. if youre trying to do patterns of course you have to hold to much higher tolerances but a simple turning is pretty easy.

Okay, today I decided to route the grooves for stringing and the rabbet for banding in the apron. The apron is narrow at 3 1/2", and obviously it's curved, so a full size router isn't IMO a good choice for this. But I have a couple trim routers and the latest one I've picked up, the Bosch, comes with an edge guide, so I felt it was my best option. Note: the edge guide supplied with the colts is adequate but nothing to write home about. I wouldn't call it a precision accessory.



The banding I made for this project is 3/8", I didn't want to use a regular straight bit, and I don't own a 3/8" spiral, in fact the closest thing I have on hand is a 1/4" upcut spiral. Since I didn't want to contend with frayed edges I scribed the upper edge of the rabbet before hand.



For the most part routing all this went pretty smoothly, but I did have to do some paring and clean up on the rabbet. I just used a chisel. Note: don't leave the camera out on the bench if you think the wife might pay you a visit in the shop.



Well, tomorrow I hope to get both the stringing and banding glued in.

Rick

Rick,
Where did you get your miniature router bits from. I looked up precision bits on the web and didn't get anything worthwhile. Table is looking good. keep it up.

yep, a link for those router bits would be great. all i could find was cheapo Chinese bits when i looked up precision bits.

Hey guys, I may have accidentally led you a stray.

The outfit is actually called Precise Bits, and there web addy is http://www.precisebits.com/

I had never heard of them, but RW mentioned them in a thread awhile back and I thought I'd try them. So far so good, seems to be a good product.

The company is located in Palmer Lake CO and is ran by Ron Reed.

Rick

Specifically, you are looking for "end mills"

http://www.precisebits.com/gateways/EndMillsHome.htm

These are solid carbide bits, not HSS. I've used the end mills, chip breakers, carving bits and drill bits (0.7mm and smaller) from these guys for some time. Always good results.

All the bits come with 1/8" shank. You have options in mounting them in a router. I had them shipped with a 1/4" adapter ring pressed on the shanks. I believe this is also the way Jefferson ordered his bits. This is a permanent modification to the bit.

Your other options include getting collet adapters (I wouldn't suggest this as they can become a point of failure) or an 1/8" collet for the router. Precise Bits has the 1/8" collets available for some Bosch and PC routers.

There is a minimum order of $50 but it doesn't take very long to get there and you can always pad out an order of the smaller ones with some 1/8" diameter mills.

Sorry about not posting anything for a few days. When I last left off I was routing grooves & rabbets for stringing and banding. This all went pretty well, kind of nerve jangling as one slip can ruin several hours work. But I got everything routed and with a little hand work I was ready to apply the embellishments.

Black/white stringing...


I just sliced this with a straight edge and a box knife. Then it was ready to run through the thickness block and glue in...



The corners I mitered with a simple angle fixture and a chisel...



Glued & clamped...



One thing I'll mention, I'm using hide glue for everything on this table, but I did go out and get a fresh bottle of liquid hide glue the other day so I'd have more open time as the stringing went in. I'm glad I did because although the bottom edge is chamfered, it needs a tap or two to seat nice and tight. If I had used hot hide glue I wouldn't have had as much time to mess with it.

Until it's cleaned up it's pretty fugly, but I scraped a place or two and it looks good.



Now I was ready to rip into my banding log. This is the crude setup I used on my table saw ala Tommy & Steve...







Well besides some clean up I'm finally done with the apron. Now I can start in on the stringing and such for the legs.

Rick

Rick, Lookin goooood!

Dick

Thanks Dick. Hopefully I'll have a leg to show on the marrow.

Rick

very nice jefferson. ive been wondering where the progress has been

but it looks great!! really making me consider giving this fed stuff a try.

Went ahead and cleaned up the mess from the banding and stringing and also made sure the legs will fit. I'll tapper them tomorrow and start on stringing.













More tomorrow.

Rick

Very crisp work, Rick. Cleans up really well.

I like the figure on the legs also. You are making this look easy, which I know it isn't.

For some reason I think of purina dog chow when I look at that table....

Keep up the good work. You are well on your way to having this table in September for "show and tell."

Woof!

Thanks Cal, yeah the apron cleaned up well. I think next time I'll go a little easier on the glue. I spent about two hours with a chisel and scraper getting the bulk of it off.

Hopefully I'll get some work done on the legs today. Once they're done I'm home free.

Rick

Rick,

The table is coming along very nicely. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Sir.

Hey, you given anymore thought to serpentine dressers lately?

Rick

It will be placed on the back burner for awhile. When the shop opens again, a order for a dresser for my son's room has been given. It will have certain constrains I must follow, such as, dimensions, type of wood, color, and number of drawers. I will have completed design control (of course it must be approved). I will sit down and start designing it soon. I do have an idea of for the design and I think it will be something special. The design will be all hand drawn. I do not have the time or desire to learn sketchup.

Rick,

Going through withdrawal over there man. No updates since Monday? Surely you are not that busy!!!

Your fans await your next post. CH

yeah....i love this thread..

Okay, I finally got the legs for the table tapered, I just use a simple table saw jig for this...



Then it was time to start grooving on the legs





On the 4 legs for this table I have 10 leg faces that need stringing and bell flowers. I've got all of the straight line stringing grooves done and I'm gluing in the string...



To avoid losing the inside corners I'm doing the straight stuff first then I'll do the curved pieces at the top. Here's what it'll look like from one of my practice sessions...



Hopefully I can get all the straight and curved stringing in tomorrow cause I still have bell flowers, cuffs and socks to yet. Damned legs have a lot of steps.

Rick

Okay, all of the straight line stringing is done, it's even been scraped flush and the glue mostly taken care of. I have most of the curved stringing in and cleaned up........so far so good...........I haven't lost a leg yet. At this point that would be an issue, if I clobber something now and have come up with a new leg it would be painful, I've got a lot of time invested getting them to this point. One wrong move could make have to start them over, I don't wish to do that.

So without further whining or ado............









Obviously these bell flowers are on the scab practice piece but I'm getting it down and we'll see more improvement once I start on the money legs.





Nah, I'm thinking now I developed a method that will allow me to do these quickly and cleanly, I think the end result will be nice and pleasing to the eye.

I'll have some installed in the real legs tomorrow!

Rick

Rick,

Nice legs Dude (And I mean that in a manly way. LOL). I appreciate your efforts to keep us updated on your progress. Can harldy wait to see the legs attached to the top.

Rat

Thanks Bruce,

I've had the legs attached a couple times, it's just easier to work on them when they're separated.

As usual I had to try about 4 different techniques before I came up with something I'm comfortable with for the bellflowers. But that's the way it goes I guess. I've one or two things to test and decide on yet, but I'm basically there.

Rick

Rick,
Looking good, you're making great progress on your table and your posts have been super informative. Keep up the work.. we all appreciate your efforts.

QQ: Are you planning on sandtinting the bellflowers?

Rick,

Looking nice. The bellflowers have a nice shape. Question: Have you had any trouble stabbling the excavations for the bellflowers with the carving chisels? Looking at it with an outside bevel you would need to angle the chisel in to keep from smashing the outside of the excavation (similar to what I am trying to do with the slab table, although I am not limited to "exact" lines because the carving is somewhat free-form. Maybe the precision needed for federal furniture has kept me from trying it just yet.

Let me know if you need me to clarify my "stream of consciousness" ramble.

Interested in your thoughts. Cal