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18K views 86 replies 23 participants last post by  jeanmarc 
#1 ·
First Try to Blog!

Well, I have never Blogged before so I thought I would try and see how things go. I am really just getting serious about my woodworking; previously I have been a wood hack! I have begun my first real test, that is, I am attempting to build an entertainment center for a large screen TV. My wife likes "Mission" style pieces so I did some research and designed my first piece of furniture based upon that style. The process is just getting started but has already led to many first for me. If I can figure out how to I'll include a drawing I did in sketch-up (another first) of my intended end result.!!

 
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#3 ·
Sketch-up is a great tool but it is taking me some time to learn. I would consider my knowledge to be very limited currently but I plan to work at getting better with it. Watch the video tutorials helps but the program sometimes does things and I don't know why. The drawing above took somewhere around 5 evenings to make with several aborted at temps.
 
#7 ·
I was hoping Bob would reply to this thread! If you want to look at something in the mission style similar to what you have, Wood Magazine did a nice little plan in October of 2006.



I build a similar one but haven't put the doors on it in this photo…

 
#8 ·
Well, the wife and I bought us a 60 inch 1080p Sony for our 25th anniversary which is why I am building this entertainment center, all I can say about the TV is…..FANTASTIC!!
 
#13 ·
2nd Post

Well, that seemed to work OK so I thought I'd give you a little more detail about what I am doing. First, I work out of the garage which is shared by many of my other hobbies so space is at a premium. Due to this project I have added several pieces of equipment and I am in the process of building some jigs to help in construction adding to the garage congestion. Enough, on with the project…. The entertainment center is going to be 66 inches long, just over 22 inches high and 24 inches deep. It is being built out of red oak because it is readily available and cheep, emphasis on cheep. I wanted to build it out of the traditional quarter sawn white oak but at 3 times the price and being my first real piece of furniture I decided to go as frugal as possible. The design uses mortise and tenon joinery, will have 2 drawers on each side of which the bottom drawers will hold DVD packages. The two center compartments will have adjustable shelves with glass panel doors.

Some of the hurtles I have made since the start are, one, the four legs. I planned on using 2 inch square legs, one place in Oklahoma City has 10 quarter red oak, the only problem is that the smallest board they had was around 12 inches wide and 15 feet long. Some quick math placed the cost at around 200 bucks, not a good option so I glued up 3 pieces of four quarter oak for the legs. Next issue was trying t get square lumber, although I had a planner I didn't have a jointer (I do now!) to square things up. A trip to Woodcraft by my lovely wife and I had a Jet 6 inch jointer, now if I just knew how to use it I'd have it made. I think I have it under control now but suffice it to say that there is now more saw dust in this world than there should have been!!
 
#20 ·
Ouch!

Well sports fans this weekend I decides to make some jigs to help in building the entertainment center so Saturday was spent building a tenon jig that I found at "Plans Now". All in all it came out OK, there are a few things that could have been better with the plan such as calling out a 5/16 hole for a 1/4 carriage bolt. The problem is that the carriage bolts spin in that large of a hole and I didn't even think about it until after the holes were drilled and I went to install the bolts. The next jig was a cross-cut sled fashioned after Norm's" New Yankee Workshop one and last was a remake of an adjustable dado jig for the router. I had made one a few weeks ago but something must have changed since it cuts slightly under size dados. I figure that I must have moved the base plate or something so I put a new one together, well almost that is. The last parts to make were 2 - 10 inch long runners that allow for the adjustment of the jig. I had cut them to size and was routing a sallow dado in them for the hardware to run when it happened!

"It" was a launching of the workpiece out of the garage, the rest is a blur and I still don't know what happened. My left had that was past the bit was covered in blood, the ends of my 2 middle fingers are shredded, part of one fingernail is gone. The only thing I can think of is that I must have jerked my hand back into the bit after the workpiece took flight. At first I thought the work piece had done the damage but I cant figure out how it could have created the kind of wounds I have. The bit was only about 3/32 of an inch above the router table so it is still a mystery to me. I will probably see the Doc tomorrow to see if there is anything that should be done other than bandages. I feel like a real DA right now because I am usually so cautious (stuff spinning that fast scares me) and I truly am at a loss as to what went wrong. Oh, and in the process I have a bruised thumb too.

Evey-one, BE CAREFUL, please.
 
#21 ·
Ouch! I'm sorry you did this, but glad you shared it with us. I'm still trying to visualize how this happened. If I understand correctly, you were routing shallow grooves in 10" pieces on the router table?
 
#31 ·
Ouch, the Verdict

Well, I have been going through my head trying to figure out what I did wrong. I checked to see if the bit might have ridden up, it didn't. So I did some thinking, I had routed a grove down the center and decided to widen the slot so I moved the fence toward the bit. Now that I think about it I think that meant that I was routing the workpiece with the bit traveling in the same direction, hence, the launch! I think they call this a trapped cut, is that your take on it too? I guess after the launch I jerked my hand which was on the out-feed side back toward the bit. I have multiple cuts on the first half inch of my 2 middle fingers. The Doc said there wasn't anything to stitch up so he gave me some antibiotics, dressed the fingers. I get to go back Friday to see how they are doing. Oh, BTW, no I wasn't using a push stick or block (stupid) but think I have learned my lesson. I probably won't do too much for a few days while my fingers and my pride heals.

Bob, in his previous comment, suggest a safety blog which is a fantastic idea. Probably allot of folks are in my position in being somewhat self taught and a Blog on safety and proper use could be a huge benefit to folks like me. Although I try to be careful and I do study quite a bit there is always something to learn. In my younger days I flew professionally and always studied accident and incident reports to learn from others, Fly Magazine even had a regular feature titled "I Learned About Flying From That!" Maybe some of you experienced guys could sponsor such a Blog with input from dummies like me. We could all benefit from it. I'd volunteer to be the first contributer (victim).

Well, while I heal I do some pictures of the entertainment center and jigs (pass on the wound photos, yes I have them).
 
#32 ·
Ahhhh…that will do it everytime. As soon as you did that it was a climb cut. Ouch. Sorry that happened

Rule of thumb with routing dados on the router table: The edge of the bit that's closest to you should do the cutting on a router table. Otherwise you create a fence trap. This is a tough concept to appreciate unless we have JUST the example you have been so generous to describe.
 
#42 ·
Moving On - Mortise and Tenon

Well, it is time to move on, I have cut the legs and the mortises in them. I used 1/4 inch wide mortises for 3/4 inch wide stock but almost wish I'd used 3/8 inch wide ones. I'd appriciate it if everyone would chime in here and tell me what width they typically use. Here is a pic, I glued them up out of 4/4 stock and then milled to size, the color match could have been better though.



Moving on to the tenons I was concerned that the Forrest WWII blade would not give good results if I nibbled away at the tenons and I was also concerned with the cheap Craftsman dado set I have so I decided to build a jig to cut smooth tenon shoulders. After looking around I decided to build the one on the "Plans Now" website, I built it to spec with the exception that I used UHMW plastic for the miter slot runners and decided against using a loose clamp to hold the workpiece. Instead I am going to install a toggle clamp as soon as I get one. Here is a pic less the toggle clamp.



As soon as I recover from my goof up I'll get the tenons cut for the rails. Oh, I know you are dying to see my fingers so here they are. Graphic though they may be…..

 
#43 ·
I typically use 3/8" mortises, but 1/4" will work fine. Don't worry about the color match. It won't bother anyone else but you. LOL. It just provides contrast. The tenoning jig looks hot! Sorry again about the fingers.

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses!
 
#51 ·
Back in the Saddle

Well, I made it back into the shop this weekend, fingers are a bit tender and that slowed me down a tad but I did make some saw dust. I also got a package on Friday from Amazon with my new Kreg (small gloat) miter gauge in it. It went together fast and according to my engineer's square was right on the money.

Building this entertainment center is a true learning experience. I want to get it built but I keep getting side tracked to build other items to aid in the making of the entertainment center itself (from now on called the "EC"), all the diversions manifest into SLE's. What is a SLE you ask, well they are "Significant Learning Events." Cutting the tenons is one such event, others so far have included cutting mortises, learning to use a jointer (my father's day present), and probably realizing the absolute necessity for square dimensionally accurate lumber. Oh there are many other SLEs I have encounters too, such as what a climb cut can really do, and do to you too, but more of those will come out in the future post.

This weekend, the first thing I finished was 2 jigs that I have been working on, the tenon jig and the dado jig. I added a toggle clamp to the tenon jig and it sped up production quite a bit. Below is a picture of it, note the 4 holes on the back left. These holes are used to quickly move the jig from the zero position to 1/4, 3/8, and ½ inch tenon positions. This was the toughest part of constructing the jig, that being, getting the fit of the tenon to match the mortises that the Delta mortising attachment on my drill press produces. They were either to tight or too loose, I never did get them perfect like I thought they should fit. I finally settled on them being just a hair too tight so I could pare them down as needed.



I did a dry fit of the cabinet frame and everything seems to fit pretty well. The joints are tight enough that I have to persuade them to go together with a rubber mallet. Here is a pic of the dry fit.



I did start to work on the floor of the cabinet but didn't get much done, that is where I'll pick up next weekend….
 
#53 ·
Sidebar - Mortise and Tenon Part 1

Mortise and tenon joints just scare the dickens out of me, the fit requires perfection. Joinery is the epitome of craftsmanship, at least in my book, oh sure down the road with more experience I will probably determine something else to hold in such high esteem but for now, from an inexperience point of view perfect joinery separates the master from the apprentice. With this in mind I try to muster the my spirit to give it a go, just to get started scared me, no formal training, never having seen the process except on TV, I was getting ready to cut on lumber that I had spent a great deal of time on just to get square, now there was the possibility of ruining the work to this point which would put me back to square one! Having used pocket hole joinery before with success I considered the option here but that would not contribute to me learning a new skill, no, I had to push on.

The mortises were first, the glued up legs would require more work to remanufacture than the rails so I decided to begin with them and then make the tenons fit them. From what I have seen and read I think this is where most start. I want to reach the point where I can cut the mortise with chisel and hammer but not at this early stage of my wood working career. Prior to the actual cutting of the mortises I carefully laid each one out, 16 in all, Each leg getting two at the top and two at the bottom. I set each leg in its relative position to ensure I had laid them out on the correct face and all were oriented correctly. Not wanting to buy a dedicated mortiser I elect to buy the Delta mortising attachment for the Delta drill press I have. It seems to work well for me but I'd hoped for a smoother cut, realize I have nothing to compare the mortise too other than my expectations but I convince myself that they where adequate even with the slightly irregular striations running parallel to the mortise. I did try to use my chisels to clean them up some but soon discovered that chisels need to be sharp to work as they should. I think I'll work on sharpening technique this week.



Mortises done, cleaned with dull chisels, I breathe a sigh of relief; half of the joints are milled - on to the tenons. My relief is short lived, I begin to believe that the tenon is the key to this joint. The mortising attachment is somewhat fool proof but the tenon is wrought with multiple errors; to thick and they won't fit, to thin and they are weak and subject to fail. No, the tenon is the hard part, the perfect fit the quest, but how to proceed that is the question? Should I use the router, the table saw, the band saw, which one? I eliminate the band saw because mine is a small bench-top model and I am not proficient in its use, one down. The router could be used in the table - possible, or I could make or buy a jig to use a freehand router but…that requires a good vice to hold the wood working workpiece which I don't have. I thought about using the router table with the appropriate jig but I wasn't satisfied with the information I had found to that point so I decided to go with the table saw, after all "Norm" does it - right! For the sake of expediency I decide to buy a tenoning jig, perhaps the Delta but then…in my search I see something suspect, one of the woodworking forums mentions something about the Delta jig and Craftsman saws (what I have) well it seems that Sears decided to make the miter gauge slots undersize from what most manufactures use such as the Delta, and I guess most, tenon jigs use a full three-quarters of an inch wide miter gauge slot bar so they won't fit. DANG (not what I actually thought but you get the idea) now what to do? Build my own, that's what I could do. More research, hours spent searching the web looking for the jig to build, finally I decided to build the one I found on the "Plans Now" website but not being one to leave well enough alone I decide to replace the phenolic miter gauge slots bars with UHMW plastic. I spend several days looking for it locally and finally find some. Materials in hand and one Saturday spent I have the jig mostly complete, I just decide to add a toggle clamp to hold the work piece, another change to the plan, and I am done.

More later.
 
#58 ·
Mortise and Tenon - Part 2

Crap, now the time has come to cut the tenons. The jig I have built has 4 holes in it so you can cut both sides of the tenon at the same time, I wrestle with getting the second hole placed for a ¼ inch tenon, it takes more time to get right than I wanted to spend but I finally got it close enough. Finally, time to make more oak saw dust. But wait, do you cut the cheeks or the shoulder first? I think I remember seeing it done on TV both ways, so I sazzzs to myself, make a decision and push on, so I do. I elect to cut the shoulders first. I set the fence for a 1 and a quarter inch tenon and set the saw blade for a quarter inch deep cut. Using my new miter gauge this goes well and quickly, now, time to cut the cheeks. I then began to doubt my choice for order of the cuts because again my mind kicks in and I realize that as I cut the cheeks there will be a think piece of lumber free to be projected back in my direction!

The jig rides in the right miter slot so the cut off pieces will be ballistic in my direction since I usually stand just to the left. After my last incident I am more safety conscious and in this case it probably paid off. 32 cheeks to cut, the smallest piece of loosed oak would be about an eighth inch thick one and an eighth wide and a minimum of two inches long. My science degree from years ago kicks in and I think of a 10 inch diameter blade doing over 1750 rpm and the size of the probable projectile, crap, that could hurt and I have hurt enough lately, I better move to the right and guard the probable departure path. Sure enough probably 25% of the pieces flew out of the saw towards the wall separating the garage from the kitchen (another SLE). One hit with such force, my wife already jumpy from my previous mental vacation, came out to see if I was still in one piece and not bleeding! Woodworking requires you to keep you head in the game, if you don't it will remind you!

To cut the tenons to width I used my 9 inch bandsaw, I love the bandsaw and I am lusting after a 14 inch one like the Rickon, but I digress. I fit each tenon to the mortises, from previous post you know that I elected to leave the just a tad fat and then adjust them down, the old adage, you can take more off but you can't add more, ran through my head many, many times in my though process. Note in the picture there is a small ridge of waste (wood burr) where the shoulder meets the cheek. Table saw adjustment is critical but I had cut all the shoulders already so I elect to use a chisel to clean this area too because if I don't the joints don't fit well.



SLEs (Significant Learning Events) One, think about the cuts before hand to see if you are going to place yourself in the line of fire by projecting chunks of wood from rapidly rotating machinery. Second, ensure precision in your cuts so you don't spend a great deal of time cleaning up wood burrs and finally sharpen those chisels!
I think I have developed a learning exercise for mortise and tenons for all anyone like me that haven't much experience with them. I am going to give it a try and if it works I'll post the plan.
 
#59 ·
LOL..I was reading your order of cuts on the tablesaw and thinking the same thing. I cut the shoulders first when doing them by hand, but last on the tablesaw. The process looks like it's a success though.
 
#67 ·
Frustration.................!

I have been doing other things of late to enable more work on the EC such as building a box for the new PC dovetail jig per Shopnotes, and other such diversions. I decided however that it was time to get back after the EC and having overcome, I thought, some design dilemmas such as how to attach the back, whether to build wooden or use metal drawer slides, determining the proper sizing of the drawers and other such trivial details I thought I was ready. Thinking that I had everything under control I attacked the EC with firm resolve today, determined to make great progress but alas, the EC proved to be up to the challenge and reduced me to a humble amateur that I am, and, then slapped me just to ensure I knew that my amateur status had not changed.

I had watched the Woodsmith podcast on routers and decided to build a dado jig for my Dewalt router. Here is a picture of it.



Suposedly, the neat thing about it is that if you use a scrap piece of the material that is to go into the dado to set the jig initially you are supposed to get nice tight dados that perfectly fit the stock, in this case ¾ inch oak plywood. Well, it didn't work, the dados were too tight and the plywood would not go into the dado. Now I could have easily opened up the jig a wee bit and re-routed but that was too easy, no I had to use the Stanly model 98 side rabbit plane that was my Grandfather's. Cool, it still works but need some sharpening, I work the dados anyway. The partitions fit! But wait the dados are not consistent; there are gaps at places, geeeeez… I hate gaps, it shows amateurish work, AND I AM A PERFECTIONIST! The wife tells me "No one will ever notice" but I will always know; you know what I mean, don't you?

Next I attempt (heavy on the attempt part) to mill the 3 vertical dividers that will go into the dados that I have just made in the floor of the EC. I measure several times and then make the required cuts. I have decided to cut tongues on the front edge of the dividers to place in the solid oak trim pieces that will show on the front of the EC. ¼ inch wide and ¼ inch deep should work. I set up the router table - Eureka! It works the tongues are cut without too much anguish. Now I set up to mill the trim pieces from 4 quarter oak, I joint the edge and then cut just over size of the width I want planning to plane the sides with the new Lie-Neilson low angle block plane I picked up at last Saturday's Woodcraft tool sale (small gloat). I then make multiple passes on the table saw to make the dados to accept the tongue milled into the partitions. Ah but…. I dado the wrong side of one and screw it up. I have to make another, maybe I should quit for the day but common sense gives way to the "dam the torpedoes" mentality I have and I push ahead and make another. I am starting to get tired and frustrated.

I assemble the EC again, this time with the partitions. Hummm, I notice that I need to notch the tongues I made to fit over the lower front rail, minor issue. I get out the jig saw and attack the first one, it needs clean up though, so I get out one of my chisels that I have been working on for 2 weeks to sharpen via the "Scary Sharp" method. It works great, maybe I don't need the jigsaw, maybe I could just pare away the tongue - Eureka! It works. I am using hand tools - I am on my way to becoming a Master Craftsman! I lay down the chisel, proud of my accomplishment, small I know, but never the less monumental to me. I walk to the other side other side of the work table (table saw). Then I hear it, the chisel, it is rolling and…CRAP….it falls. Yes the workshop floor has risen up to smite the chisel, my luck continues on its downward spiral. The chisel will require re-sharpening. The radio announces that it is now 96 degrees which is confirmed by the stench of my BO and the sweat soaking my t-shirt.

I dry fit everything together. I miscalculated the partition width and they are too wide, my wife notices it in one of her jaunts to the garage, I mean workshop. No problem, I'll just setup the rip fence and trim them up. First one - good, second one - good, third one good at first then - KICK BACK! I don't know what I did and it wasn't bad, just enough to ruin the work piece. The telling semi-circular tear is evident and naturally it is on the side that will be exposed. Time to quit, to push on would certainly lead to disaster. No, it is time to clean up and wait for a better day, I am learning a great deal but most of it comes via the University of Hard Knocks - I think I need to go fishing…….
 
#84 ·
Things are Better - So Far Anyway!

No, I haven't fallen off the planet and yes I have been working on the EC but at a more relaxed tempo. In my last blog entry things were not going well and I decided that I was burned out and trying too hard so I backed up and decided to proceed at a slower pace.

I have accomplished the glue up of the carcass, fist the ends and then the rails and floor. All went surprisingly well and I am under a 1/16th of an inch out of square diagonally, very good for me at my level of amateur status! The perfectionist creeps in and I whish it were dead on but it is glued up and we move on - right? I have also cut the back from ¼ inch plywood which sits in groves cut in the top and bottom rail.







I have finished the 3 partitions and drilled the shelf support holes that will allow for adjustment to accommodate cable boxes and such. The partitions where squared up and glued and screwed in place. Somehow though the right partitions is 1/8th of an inch off (Too narrow). How I don't know as the center divider is right on the money as is the left partition, oh well I can compensate. I cut and glue in 4 blocks of ¾ inch plywood in each corner, these will help strengthen the dividers and give me a place to attach the top. I plan to drill a hole in each front block and slots running front to back for the rear screws to allow the top to move. On the two center sections I cut some small angled blocks (gussets) and glue in the top corners to add strength and be minimally intrusive.

I have redesigned the drawers; there will be 2 on each side. The width will be 7 inches with the bottom drawer being 9 ¼ deep and the top 5 ¼ deep by 19 inches long. The lower drawers are going to be sized to fit DVD boxes and the top drawers will hold X-Box remotes, extra TV remotes, etc. They will be constructed using half-blind dovetails on the front and I am considering trying sliding dovetails on the rear but haven't definitely decided on that one yet.

That brings me to today's exploits, first up was to cut the drawer fronts out and rough cut the sides to approximate dimensions. I am using 4/4 red oak that I buy S2S FAS but it seems to cup quite a bit sitting in my garage so I have to joint it to get it flat and then it is considerably less than ¾ of an inch thick. Today I finished with stock that was 5/8 inch thick which will work but still I think that I'll by rough lumber and plain myself to try to have thicker lumber next time. I decided to use ½ inch Baltic Birch as the sides and ¼ inch oak plywood as the bottoms. A little thick I know but I have it so I might as well use it. I finished the day making test cuts with the Porter Cable 4212 dovetail jig which has gone untried for the couple of months I've had it. So far I am very pleased with it, I made probably a half dozen trial runs and fiddled with some minor adjustments and think I am ready to try the actual drawers later this weekend - that will be my next post.

Oh, one last detail, the lower drawers are to wide for my 6 inch jointer so I made a planner sled as on recent discussions here. 12 inches wide and 24 inches long. It worked great, I can't remember who was discussing it but Thanks!
 
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