I apologize for the lack of a finale on the radio table. I got kind of frustrated with it and took it straight to a project post. As some of you know, I was unhappy with the end result of that table. Here is take two though. I’m building another one.
As it turns out, my Mom loves the table. She can’t wait until she can make a trip from Atlanta to pick it up, and visit of course. Before she gave her nod of approval though, my wife had already started hinting that she wanted it if my Mom did not like it. Since I have been trying to think of something nice to build her for Christmas anyway, I decided to start on another table for my wife.
My first worry was where in the world my wife is going to put this. Our house is overcrowded as it is, but my wife is always wanting me to build something else. That is fine with me. I like having things at home that were made with my own two hands. If she keeps wanting my work in the house, I’ll just have to start rebuilding furniture we already have that was not made by me.
Anyway, my wife says she wants this to replace an old nightstand she has on her side of the bed. Now, the only problem I seen with that idea is the fact that she uses the drawer in her nightstand as place to put things she needs often, like her extra reading glasses. So I know that if she does not have a drawer there, she will ultimately be unhappy with it. So I will be adding a drawer to this one. Since she likes the two shelves like the one on my Mom’s, and the height of those shelves, I’ve decided to place the drawer below the bottom shelf. I ran this idea by the boss, and she loves it. So here we go on this journey again. I guess it’s a good thing I learned a few things on the last one.
Here is the skirt for the top. While cutting the fingers on this, I ran into the first issue I’ve ever had with the box joint machine. I was about half way through the first set when it started skipping for some reason. That is hard to explain what I mean if you weren’t there, but I thought I should bring it up just in case anyone is curious. Apparantly, since I’ve used it so much, a lot of sawdust had accumulated in the tracks of the slides on it and causing it to jam up. I hadn’t thought of cleaning that out before now. Anyway, a quick swipe with the shop vac, and everything was working fine again. 
The skirt for the bottom shelf is twelve inches wide. These are the widest pieces I’ve ever cut with the box joint machine. So this was interesting. Because of the width, I used two clamps to hold the material in where I usually only use one.
Anytime someone asks about the jewelry cabinet I made my wife, she goes on and on about the finger joints on it and how much she loves them. She calls them zipper joints and I’ve given up telling her otherwise. She said she wants to see plenty of them on her table. I think she’ll get her wish.
I cut out an opening for the drawer before assembly.
While my wife will get her wish on the plenty of finger joints, I did find one problem with finger joints in this wide of panels. I intentionally make finger joints tight because, well, I think they should be tight. However, being as tight as I usually make them, it was a pain in the rear assembling this skirt. If I ever make panels this wide again, I think I’ll make the fingers just a tad looser, maybe add a one thousandths shim to the dado set, or maybe just go with dovetails.
That’s it for now folks. I hope to work on it some tomorrow. My wife has to work twelve hours tomorrow, so we will be having our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. That means I get the possibility of getting to the shop tomorrow.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
15 comments so far
grizzman
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5389 posts in 1473 days
#1 posted 182 days ago
terrific, way to go, this will be even more fun then before, now we have a drawer…please remember to have a warm shop this time william, i cant bear the though of going through that again with you…lol….....and if nothing else, maybe try some monkey glue, there always a swingin good time…lol…....i hope you feel good tomorrow…
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
William
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7082 posts in 1012 days
#2 posted 182 days ago
These two skirts are already glued up Grizz, and I’m happy to report, I’ve already tested them and the glue is holding strong. The temperature here today was in the seventies though.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
gfadvm
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#3 posted 182 days ago
I told you your mom would love that table (ye of little faith). This one for your wife looks equally cool and I love the “zipper joints”.
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
eddie
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4595 posts in 784 days
#4 posted 182 days ago
William that ones going to look great too.love those zipper joints ,like the zipper joint jig too
-- Jesus Is Alright with me
DIYaholic
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#5 posted 182 days ago
I have a feeling that you will “ZIP” right through this build!!! It’s good to keep the two most important women in your life happy, and obviously you are!
The table looks to be coming along well. Looking forward to more progress reports.
-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow!
William
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7082 posts in 1012 days
#6 posted 181 days ago
Thank you fellas.
I will try to post as I make progress.
I am trying to get all I can done as I’m able.
I have several Christmas presents to make and am far behind schedule.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
ShopTinker
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862 posts in 938 days
#7 posted 181 days ago
I think “Zipper Joint” is very fitting for these thin fingers, when the width of the fingers is less then the thickness of the wood it does look like a Zipper.
-- Dan - Valparaiso, Indiana, "A smart man changes his mind, a fool never does."
luv2learn
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764 posts in 473 days
#8 posted 181 days ago
William you amaze me. You are like the energizer bunny. I can already tell this is going to be another amazing table.
-- Lee~"If the women don't find you handsome, at least they ought to find you handy"~ Red Green
grizzman
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5389 posts in 1473 days
#9 posted 181 days ago
William, instead of a picture with you in a dust mask, get one with in and some floppy rabbit ears, William the energizer wood bunny…....i like it, you just keep going and going…i wish you the best on this build, and i hope you were able to work today, happy thanksgiving William, i hope all of the lords blessings on you and your family, your a wonderful wood worker example…keep on going…grizz
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
William
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7082 posts in 1012 days
#10 posted 181 days ago
Thanks again fellas. I always appreciate all the compliments and feedback.
Grizz, I was able to work on it today. I’ll be posting today’s blog as soon as I finish this reply.
ShopTinker, I like using the quarter inch joints. I’ve read several tests in magazines, and on websites. All of them always show that smaller finger joints are stronger than wide ones. With the finger joint machine I made, it only takes a little bit of extra time to make the smaller fingers. So for time versus strength, I prefer the small ones. I have to admit though, I also like the looks of them better.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
Ted
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1400 posts in 381 days
#11 posted 180 days ago
Table looks great William. That is some wide boards to box joint…. lots-o-fingers there. She’s gonna love it for sure! :)
-- I'll grow up when ketchup bottle farts stop being funny.
William
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7082 posts in 1012 days
#12 posted 180 days ago
Thanks Ted.
Yes, those were a lot of fingers to do. Without the finger joint machine, I don’t think I would have wanted to do those with the way I used to do them.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
Dave
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9188 posts in 1010 days
#13 posted 179 days ago
There is no way I would want to cut that by hand. Looking wonderful William. You are getting good with that jig.
-- Superdav "No matter where you go - there you are." http://chiselandforge.com
William
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7082 posts in 1012 days
#14 posted 178 days ago
Thanks Dave.
I like that machine. I don’t dread finger joints anymore. I used to dislike them because they were a pain to do in anything but three quarter inch finger and, in my opinion, with the look of those big ones, you may as well go with dovetails.
-- http://wddsrfinewoodworks.blogspot.com/
Dave
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9188 posts in 1010 days
#15 posted 178 days ago
Dovetails look like finger joints from one side.
-- Superdav "No matter where you go - there you are." http://chiselandforge.com
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