# Trying new woodworking skills



## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Taking a plunge*

After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
12", 15", 20" 
Straight blade, spiral head, 2 blade, 3 blade,
Cheap, (disposable), expensive, new and used.

My space is small. Mostly because I never throw anything away. This planer should work well for my needs.

Now that I placed the order I had to disassemble my old and no longer used craftsman TS. Move it to the garage. Reassemble. Turn on to make sure it works because I'll be posting it on CL next week. I also dragged out my home made router table for the same reason. While digging around I have found some of my Dad's hand me down tools. It hurts to say this but some just have to be thrown out. One is a porter cable circular saw with a blade guard that flops around. I'd be afraid to sell it or even give it away because it is very dangerous.

I'll be making a cart for the planer this weekend.

After I ordered the planer I found a guy locally who sells small quantity rough cut lumber on the side. He is very knowledgeable. His grandfather ran a saw mill. He grew up around lumber and decided to stock and sell because he had trouble finding a variety for himself. I bought 30 BF of 4/4 Quarter sawn white oak. He had a 2 car garage loaded with white oak, red oak, black walnut, cherry, maple, elm, Kentucky coffee tree and about another dozen I can't remember.

All this is leading up to pushing myself to learn more skills. I want to prepare the lumber before building. I want to make something that is not just functional but pretty to look at. I want to try mortise and tenon joinery. Solid lumber construction. Using woods not found in big box stores or my local lumberyard, (good guys to do business with but they just can't stock a big variety). I'll follow up with progress reports on my schooling.

BJ


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


Congrats and good luck with the planer.

Glad to hear you found a local supply of woods, that will be very useful,

Keep us posted on the project details


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## Dick33 (Jan 2, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


good to have a planer I buy all my wood from a local small saw mill


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


Enjoy!


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


I've got the 734. Yours is a step or two above that. You won't regret it. It will do a good job and last you awhile for sure.


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## HeffelJC (Aug 27, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


This sounds so familiar! I recently purchased the 735 and LOVE it. It's so easy to use and has kicked butt with the white oak I prepped for an Adirondack chair. Like you, I didn't have any experience with dimensioning lumber and had never used a planer, so my experience may be naive.

I'd love to see the cart you end up building…

Enjoy!


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


BJ, there may be a community college in your area that offers woodworking classes to help you on your learning curve. Just a thought.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Taking a plunge*
> 
> After much debate, research, worry, hand wringing and borrowing my brother-in-laws tools, I finally bought a planer. I opted for a DeWalt 735. The decision was difficult and driving me mad. I read many reviews and many justifications for purchasing:
> 12", 15", 20"
> ...


Planning your own timber is always fun. A bit o work, but, you get to watch it come alive. Work/Play safe. Keep makin dust. Congrats on your new equipment


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Planer stand #2*

I got an early start on the planer stand. I was itching to get started. I had a ton of crap to do around the house. I had a limited amount of time. I got to the workshop and cut the leg stock to length. I was ready to assemble but I realized I was rushing things. My impatience is my greatest fault. I put it all away and went to bed. The next day I was more relaxed. I had only 1 pot of coffee. I ran the leg stock through the jointer and took my time assembling.










I cut one side of the leg down 3/4" so the legs would extend the same distance from the corner. OCD is okay if you can focus it to a useful task.










I assembled the top and shelf. This a great use for the Kreg jig.










Put it together.










Put the planer on top.










I was given an HTC 2000 mobile base for Christmas last year. I use it for my 6" jointer and it works great. I ordered the same base for this planer stand. Should arrive tomorrow or Monday.

BJ


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## Tugboater78 (May 26, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Planer stand #2*
> 
> I got an early start on the planer stand. I was itching to get started. I had a ton of crap to do around the house. I had a limited amount of time. I got to the workshop and cut the leg stock to length. I was ready to assemble but I realized I was rushing things. My impatience is my greatest fault. I put it all away and went to bed. The next day I was more relaxed. I had only 1 pot of coffee. I ran the leg stock through the jointer and took my time assembling.
> 
> ...


Simple but servicable!


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## vcooney (Jan 4, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *Planer stand #2*
> 
> I got an early start on the planer stand. I was itching to get started. I had a ton of crap to do around the house. I had a limited amount of time. I got to the workshop and cut the leg stock to length. I was ready to assemble but I realized I was rushing things. My impatience is my greatest fault. I put it all away and went to bed. The next day I was more relaxed. I had only 1 pot of coffee. I ran the leg stock through the jointer and took my time assembling.
> 
> ...


Looks good I like it.
How do you like your DeWalt planer? Do you have any issue with snipe at all?


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Planer stand #2*
> 
> I got an early start on the planer stand. I was itching to get started. I had a ton of crap to do around the house. I had a limited amount of time. I got to the workshop and cut the leg stock to length. I was ready to assemble but I realized I was rushing things. My impatience is my greatest fault. I put it all away and went to bed. The next day I was more relaxed. I had only 1 pot of coffee. I ran the leg stock through the jointer and took my time assembling.
> 
> ...


Nice, simple, effective


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Planer stand #2*
> 
> I got an early start on the planer stand. I was itching to get started. I had a ton of crap to do around the house. I had a limited amount of time. I got to the workshop and cut the leg stock to length. I was ready to assemble but I realized I was rushing things. My impatience is my greatest fault. I put it all away and went to bed. The next day I was more relaxed. I had only 1 pot of coffee. I ran the leg stock through the jointer and took my time assembling.
> 
> ...


Vince,
Haven't plugged it in yet. I opened it up to make sure everything was assembled well. No loose parts or hidden shipping lock-downs found. I was missing the cord wrap. I contacted DeWalt and they shipped it out. It came UPS today.

I wanted to assemble the stand first so I can make adjustments at the height I'll be using it. I'll check it out tomorrow or Sunday.

BJ


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Planer stand #2*
> 
> I got an early start on the planer stand. I was itching to get started. I had a ton of crap to do around the house. I had a limited amount of time. I got to the workshop and cut the leg stock to length. I was ready to assemble but I realized I was rushing things. My impatience is my greatest fault. I put it all away and went to bed. The next day I was more relaxed. I had only 1 pot of coffee. I ran the leg stock through the jointer and took my time assembling.
> 
> ...


Simple, easy and most importantly…..EFFECTIVELY USEABLE! Good job.

I have the same DeWalt and you *WILL *see some snipe. It's pretty inherent to these suitcase style planers. One of the best ways to reduce the chance of snipe is to take TEENY TINY passes. And support the board at both the infeed and discharge ends.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Tested the planer*

The planer is all set up. I ran some 1×4 pine through it. Worked very well. Nice and smooth. Some snipe on a few boards. I will adjust the outfeed table tomorrow. I am too tired to do it tonight.

My dust collection system is under powered. It works but chips collect in any low spots and corners. The 735 has a blower to help eject chips. I hooked it up to my dust collector. It pressurized my piping system and blew chips out of my jointer, router and miter saw. My dust collection system is now very clean but my shop is a mess.

BJ


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## debianlinux (Jul 27, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Tested the planer*
> 
> The planer is all set up. I ran some 1×4 pine through it. Worked very well. Nice and smooth. Some snipe on a few boards. I will adjust the outfeed table tomorrow. I am too tired to do it tonight.
> 
> ...


Maybe your DC system is underpowered because you aren't using blast gates at your equipment?


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Tested the planer*
> 
> The planer is all set up. I ran some 1×4 pine through it. Worked very well. Nice and smooth. Some snipe on a few boards. I will adjust the outfeed table tomorrow. I am too tired to do it tonight.
> 
> ...


I do have it subdivided with plastic blast gates. They have some residual dust in them and do not close off completely. It would be nice to be able to disassemble them to clean out the dust but I don't think it's possible.

BJ


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Tested the planer*
> 
> The planer is all set up. I ran some 1×4 pine through it. Worked very well. Nice and smooth. Some snipe on a few boards. I will adjust the outfeed table tomorrow. I am too tired to do it tonight.
> 
> ...


Yep, first time I fired up my 735, I ran a board thru it and it looked like the exhaust of an F-15! I FOOLISHLY started to put my hand in the stream and it took MERE SECONDS to realize what a mistake that was gonna be!

At least you know you have a way to reverse flush your DC system now


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Investigating DC problem*

Last week I tried out the new planer and the DeWalt 735's chip blower pressurized my DC piping and made quite a mess. On to the next step in rearranging my shop.

I have a miter saw on a flat table in the middle of my workshop. It isn't a very good location. So I'm building a miter saw table with a lowered section to mount the saw. This way I can make a 4' fence in each direction. I bought some 1×4 pine. I ripped it to width. I am running it through the jointer. I do not need to do this for a work shop table, but I figure the more I use the jointer the better I'll be at using it on projects. (Learning and practicing new skills).

Well my DC is not pulling any of the shavings from the jointer. I unplug the jointer, open the chute and it is packed. I clean it out. Still no suction. I realized the bag is full. I empty the bag. Still limited air movement. I open up the piping near the DC and holy crap. It was packed full. I cleaned the last elbow out and by golly it collects dust again. I'll try the planer again this weekend and see if it works better with an empty bag and clear piping.

I think I'll set up a cyclonic chip collector before the DC unit. The pieces that clogged the pipe were shavings from the jointer and planer that hung up on the DC's protective bars, (just before the blower).

BJ


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Investigating DC problem*
> 
> Last week I tried out the new planer and the DeWalt 735's chip blower pressurized my DC piping and made quite a mess. On to the next step in rearranging my shop.
> 
> ...


Give it another try. I haven't had any problem using a DC with my 735. The blower fan in the planer offers some assistance with chip clearing. I have actually been quite impressed with the efficiency of collection from the planer. The only exception is when planing thick stock 12/4 or thicker, it tends to spit a few chips out.


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## doorslammer (Aug 17, 2008)

BJODay said:


> *Investigating DC problem*
> 
> Last week I tried out the new planer and the DeWalt 735's chip blower pressurized my DC piping and made quite a mess. On to the next step in rearranging my shop.
> 
> ...


I cut those bars out on my old bag type dust collector for that very reason. Just don't suck up any tape measures.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Investigating DC problem*
> 
> Last week I tried out the new planer and the DeWalt 735's chip blower pressurized my DC piping and made quite a mess. On to the next step in rearranging my shop.
> 
> ...


Sounds like you really need to build a chip separator! Mine cost almost nothing and works great.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Investigating DC problem*
> 
> Last week I tried out the new planer and the DeWalt 735's chip blower pressurized my DC piping and made quite a mess. On to the next step in rearranging my shop.
> 
> ...


gfadvm,

That looks pretty slick. Do the baffles route the air down into the barrel and then back up & out?

BJ


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Investigating DC problem*
> 
> Last week I tried out the new planer and the DeWalt 735's chip blower pressurized my DC piping and made quite a mess. On to the next step in rearranging my shop.
> 
> ...


Actually there is only 1 "baffle". It is that piece of ply below the box. The chips/shavings/dust enter the box from the left, hit the plywood baffle, and drop into the barrel. It stops almost all but the finest dust which winds up in the bag under the filter.

This design looked way too simple to work. But it has performed flawlessly for the last 571 days.

I guess the short answer to your question is "Yes".


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Miter station*

Before I move onto my next real project, I've decided to rearrange my workshop to be more efficient. For the last 8 years I've had my miter saw on a table in the middle of the shop. Every time I cut a board > 36" I am catching it before it falls off of the table. Just waiting for an accident to happen.

This is the old layout. There is a nice table under all that junk:










This is the new station:










I use bins to store seldom used tools. I have one for electrical stuff, one for plumbing, two for painting. These were stacked up in a corner and anytime I needed anything it was always in the bottom bin. Now I can pull out any bin without disturbing the others. I also added drawers. I love drawers.










The biggest advantage is I now have an open table. It was salvaged from my old job. It has a stainless steel top. I think it will be perfect for glue-ups.

This is how it looks now:










While building the miter station I ran into a few problems with the drawers. The miter station is 3 pieces. Left wing, center and right wing. They were assembled separately but are leveled and screwed together as a single piece. This way I can have a ruler on the fence that will stay calibrated to the blade. I must have tweaked the center cabinet slightly out of square. There is a nasty hump in the concrete floor along the wall and I shimmed to level it up.

Anyhow, when I mounted the drawer slides I had to mess around to make them "square to the front" not "square to the sides" of the cabinet. If I had kept the cabinet square while mounting, I could have squared to either side. This was a pain because as I get older it is getting more difficult to sit on the floor, reach into a cabinet and adjust drawer slides. (When I made my kitchen cabinets I worked from the top before the counter was installed.)

On the deep drawers of the center cabinet, I had a different problem. I made the drawers from 1/2" pine ply from Home Depot. I should have gone to a plywood distributor in town, but I was lazy. The ply had a slight bow. I didn't think it would hurt. I made my drawer tolerances pretty tight. The two lower drawers were tight because they bowed out. Well I could leave it and hope it would wear into place but no. I need practice fixing mistakes, (I make a few). So I took off the slides, clamped a piece of MDF along the side. I used my block plane to shave off the bulge under the drawer slide. To my surprise it worked, Yay!. The ply planed very well.

Next entry should be the start of my real project, Nesting end tables.

BJ


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## whitebeast88 (May 27, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Miter station*
> 
> Before I move onto my next real project, I've decided to rearrange my workshop to be more efficient. For the last 8 years I've had my miter saw on a table in the middle of the shop. Every time I cut a board > 36" I am catching it before it falls off of the table. Just waiting for an accident to happen.
> 
> ...


awesome station,i've been working on mine all weekend and getting close to being done.this one puts mine to shame.i love the long drawers,and the regular drawers of course.great build.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Miter station*
> 
> Before I move onto my next real project, I've decided to rearrange my workshop to be more efficient. For the last 8 years I've had my miter saw on a table in the middle of the shop. Every time I cut a board > 36" I am catching it before it falls off of the table. Just waiting for an accident to happen.
> 
> ...


Yes, this is really nice. Lotsa storage also, a big plus


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Planed wood, not scrap*

I was ready to start on my end tables but I wanted to practice first. The end tables are quarter sawn oak. I don't want to screw up so I need to experiment with a cheaper project first.

I will also be making an intarsia project. For a long time I have wanted to make a map of Wisconsin with each county cut from a separate piece of wood. I know it's not very original but I've seen a finished project and it looked pretty cool.

I bought some shorts from the lumber yard. These were rough cut 4/4 about 2 feet in length. I bought maple, walnut, birch, hickory, red oak and poplar. I used the joiner to square up two sides. Then I ran them through the planer to 5/8" thickness. This is my first time working with rough cut lumber. The planer worked great. No snipe or tear out. The grain looks great. I feel more confident about using the planer now so I'll start planing the lumber for my end table project. I will work on the map project in between. It shouldn't take much thought and should be a good diversion project when I'm not up to being very fussy on the end tables.

My cyclonic chip collector worked well. I filled up quick. It's surprising how many chips you can make using the joiner and planer.

BJ


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Dressing up rough lumber*

Well I felt like I did enough practicing with scrap. I decided to clean up the QS white oak for my end tables.

I started by cutting most of it down to 60" and 40" lengths. I left 4 pieces full length, (96" - 102"). This made it easier to handle. I ran each piece through the jointer. Made a flat face and a square edge to it. I had some minor problems using the jointer. I would feed, then change my hand placement and feed the rest of the way through. When I did this I would get a snipe mark where I paused.

I then planed them down. I started slow, running each piece through even though some only shaved a little bit off the ends. After a few passes I had brought it down so I was planing the whole length. I slowed the machine down and only took off 1/32" each pass. I flipped the boards and cleaned off some of the snipe marks from the jointer. I did not get any snipe from the planer. I have followed Loren's advice to raise the ends of the feed tables 1/16".

The boards look great. This was my first experience starting with rough sawn lumber.

Some off the boards need to be 1/4" thick. I ripped these to width, set up my table saw and resawed them in two passes. I did not like resawing with the table saw. Some day I'll get a band saw for this type of work. After resawing I planed them down to 0.25". This is the only problem I had using the planer. A piece broke off the tail end and flipped up through the blades, made alot of noise and went out the dust chute. I opened the top and checked for damage. I couldn't find any. The rest of the planing went well with no obvious marks from the blade so I guess I got lucky.

I'm very happy with the planer, (DeWalt 735). This opens up a greater selection of lumber for me to buy. I look forward to using a wider variety of woods in the future.

BJ


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## doubleDD (Oct 21, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Dressing up rough lumber*
> 
> Well I felt like I did enough practicing with scrap. I decided to clean up the QS white oak for my end tables.
> 
> ...


Good luck with your end table build. Having a joiner and a planer for what you are doing makes it a lot easier. You can sure clean up a lot of lumber with these.


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## kenn (Mar 19, 2008)

BJODay said:


> *Dressing up rough lumber*
> 
> Well I felt like I did enough practicing with scrap. I decided to clean up the QS white oak for my end tables.
> 
> ...


When I have a thin piece to plan, I use my sled. A sled is a waxed piece of plywood as wide as your planner can accommodate with a cleat on the near end. Slide the sled through the planner mouth and register the cleat on the infeed side. If my piece to be planed isn't too wide, I throw a clamp on the sled too. Now you've raised the planer bed up and can run stock through until it gets as thin as you want. I don't know why it keeps thin stock from blowing apart but it works for me. Good luck.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Dressing up rough lumber*
> 
> Well I felt like I did enough practicing with scrap. I decided to clean up the QS white oak for my end tables.
> 
> ...


Rough lumber opens up a whole new world. Those who used to buy 40 b.f. can now buy 400 b.f. at a time.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Motises*

I've started on the end table project. It is a set of three nesting end tables. They are Mission style. The plans are from a Wood magazine book.

I have planed and cut the lumber. I glued up the pieces for the legs.



















I laid out the mortises. That was a lot of work. I was setting up the drill press to dill out the mortises when I realized that not only are the top mortises the same, but the bottom mortises are all the same distance from the bottom of the legs. Even though they are farther apart from their respective top joints. This made it possible to have two set-ups. One for the top joints and a second for the bottom joints.

I used the fence stop to drill the first hole. By using a fence stop I realized how much my pencil lines varied.









I used the fence stop to drill the first hole. I used a 7/8" spacer to drill the second hole. 1.25" - 0.375" = 0.875"










I drilled all of the mortise end holes first.










Then I started drilling out the area in between.



















Next I'll start chiseling out the mortises. 48 joints. This will take some time. I've sharpened the chisels. My practice joints looked sloppy. I hope to improve on the actual joints.

I purchased the drill press last winter on CL. It needed a new spindle. I made a table and fence for it. This is the first project I've used it on. It has worked great. These are my first M&T joints. I hope they turn out well.

I'll follow when I start on the tenons.

BJ


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Motises*
> 
> I've started on the end table project. It is a set of three nesting end tables. They are Mission style. The plans are from a Wood magazine book.
> 
> ...


They're all in order and everything looks clean and organized,

I think they'll turn out fine. Nice work my friend.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Motises*
> 
> I've started on the end table project. It is a set of three nesting end tables. They are Mission style. The plans are from a Wood magazine book.
> 
> ...


Just don't try to chisel directly on your layout line right from the start. Pare off a little at first and sneak up on that line. Once you get in the groove you'll probably be pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it goes.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Motises*
> 
> I've started on the end table project. It is a set of three nesting end tables. They are Mission style. The plans are from a Wood magazine book.
> 
> ...


Lookin good. The assembly line process is familiar.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Making tenons*

I began cleaning out the mortises. I followed BTimmons advice to start slow and sneak up on the line. I had to find my strongest "cheaters" and a work lamp. I don't know what I ever did to ruin my eyesight. This worked well. I cleaned up all of the mortises for the smallest table. They do not look as clean as ones I've seen posted here and on Youtube but each one is smoother than the previous one.

I was a little nervous about finishing all of the mortises so I thought I'd make the tenons for the first table. This way I can evaluate my work as I'm doing it.

I'm making the tenons on a router table. It has a Jessum lift and is very repeatable. The first pair I made seemed a bit sloppy. I have to remember that if I take off 0.004" of an inch, it really doubles because I take it off both sides. So on the second pair I was working a little more cautiously.

This is how the tenons feed through the router bit when cutting the cheeks:










This worked fine. This is how it feeds through when cutting the shoulder:










Not so good! The bit pulled the piece into the gap of the fence very slightly:










I'm glad I was ruining small pieces. I closed the gap and started fresh:










I remade the sloppy piece and the new one turned out well. Then I made three more pieces that are the apron for the table. It's a lot of minute cuts but they fit snugly. I realized I have to be *very *careful marking the pieces. It is easy to flip them or rotate them. So I marked "Top", "Left" "Right", "Front" and "Back". Each tenon is individually fit. So when I finished a tenon I marked it "OK". while I continued on the opposing tenon.

BJ


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Making tenons*
> 
> I began cleaning out the mortises. I followed BTimmons advice to start slow and sneak up on the line. I had to find my strongest "cheaters" and a work lamp. I don't know what I ever did to ruin my eyesight. This worked well. I cleaned up all of the mortises for the smallest table. They do not look as clean as ones I've seen posted here and on Youtube but each one is smoother than the previous one.
> 
> ...


Be very careful with pieces that small. It's all trial & error, and much practice. Just remember, nothing is perfect.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Tenon trouble*

The tenons went well on the smallest table. I had some trouble with the tenons on the mid-sized table. I was careful to cut them very close to the size of the mortises. Some were cut too tight. I had trouble on the dry fit. I had to squeeze the joints together with clamps. The table was tweaked slightly and was not square. I pulled it apart and hand sanded the tenons to loosen the fit a little bit. The second dry fit was much better.

(I posted this problem and received lots of good advice in the joinery forum, thanks guys).

Here was the procedure I used:
Cut a little off each tenon,
Check the fit of each tenon to its respective mortise,
Mark any that fit "OK",
Cut a little off the rest of the tenons,
Check the fit of each tenon to its mortise, 
etc.

Not very efficient or enjoyable. Lots of fumbling with the legs to find the correct mortise.

I started working on the tenons for the largest table. I changed my procedure. I worked on only one tenon at a time. This way I kept the mortise handy. When I finished one tenon, I reset the router table bit depth and started on the next tenon. It worked much better and was very enjoyable.

I'm about half done. I post some pictures when I do the dry fit.

BJ


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Tenon dry fit, oops*

All of the tenons are cut and fit. Not perfect but the last ones went much better than the first few.




























I got wrapped up in laying out and cutting the mortises. Later I realized there is no lower rail on the front of the two larger tables. (they cannot nest if there is a rail in front). I've got some walnut. I think I'll use to plug the mortise. Maybe the contrasting color will make it look like I meant to do it. I may try to cut it as a bow-tie key.










Next up is is some decorative slats for the sides. I'll follow up with more pics then.

BJ


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Tenon dry fit, oops*
> 
> All of the tenons are cut and fit. Not perfect but the last ones went much better than the first few.
> 
> ...


Lookin good. Nicely cut mortises


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Scroll work*

The tables have some 0.25" slats on the sides. The center slat is 3" wide and has a decorative slot cut into it. The straight part was cut on the router table. The curved ends were cut on a scroll saw.

I bought the scroll saw on CL last winter. It is a Craftsman. This is the first time I used it on a project. I had trouble setting the blade tension. When mounting the blades I set them completely into the clamp. But then there was no play for the tensioning screw. So I had to mount the blades with the clamp rotated forward so the blade could extend past the clamp. I'm sure this isn't correct but it worked. The manual's pictures were not very detailed.










I xeroxed the pattern and pasted it onto the slat so I could follow the shape with the saw. I didn't like the way this worked. So on the rest I drew the shapes by hand and followed the pencil line. This worked better for me.

Like cutting mortises, the first ones were a little rough. The last two turned out much cleaner. I dressed them up with a small rasp and sanded the inside edges to 150 grit.

BJ


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Fixing one mistake, creating another*

I posted earlier how I cut unneeded mortises in four table legs. Well today I started fixing this error. I decided to cut the motises and plug them with bow-tie keys. The legs are white oak. The keys are walnut.










Now the mortise.










Gluing it in place.










Protect the sides and cut with a flush saw.



















Well shoot, this didn't work too well. The saw dug in. I had trouble controlling it's path. I'm sure it's operator error. Unfortunately it may be too deep to sand. I'm not sure how I'll fix it. (suggestions welcome)










When I'm stumped I move on. Below is the second mortise to repair. I cut the mortise with a little more care. I made a clean shelf for the key to rest upon.










It fit better so I glued it in place.










This time I used a block plane to make it flush. Then sanded by hand. Looks a lot better.










This is how I'll make the last two repairs.

BJ


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## Bogeyguy (Sep 26, 2012)

BJODay said:


> *Fixing one mistake, creating another*
> 
> I posted earlier how I cut unneeded mortises in four table legs. Well today I started fixing this error. I decided to cut the motises and plug them with bow-tie keys. The legs are white oak. The keys are walnut.
> 
> ...


use a scraper to clean up your saw wound on the leg.


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## bobasaurus (Sep 6, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *Fixing one mistake, creating another*
> 
> I posted earlier how I cut unneeded mortises in four table legs. Well today I started fixing this error. I decided to cut the motises and plug them with bow-tie keys. The legs are white oak. The keys are walnut.
> 
> ...


I would hand plane it down with a small plane that won't have to flatten the whole leg. Failing that, a scraper as bogey mentioned. If it's still too deep, mix some walnut dust and glue to make a putty of sorts, then sand flush when dry.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

BJODay said:


> *Fixing one mistake, creating another*
> 
> I posted earlier how I cut unneeded mortises in four table legs. Well today I started fixing this error. I decided to cut the motises and plug them with bow-tie keys. The legs are white oak. The keys are walnut.
> 
> ...


This is a great idea for hiding the extra mortises .Repairing after repairing is just part of woodworking .


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Fixing one mistake, creating another*
> 
> I posted earlier how I cut unneeded mortises in four table legs. Well today I started fixing this error. I decided to cut the motises and plug them with bow-tie keys. The legs are white oak. The keys are walnut.
> 
> ...


Bogey and Allen,

I showed it to my wife. She sanded it down to being almost unnoticeable. She is much more patient than I am with a sander.

On the last two pieces, I'll use a plane to get close, then try a scraper for the last little bit.

Thanks for the tip

BJ


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Table top miter problem*

The plans I'm following call for table tops made up of glued-up boards. I have some very nice Qsawn oak boards with very straight grain. I thought it would look better if I mitered and rotated pieces along the board so the grain would "follow" around the perimeter of the tops.

I like my miter saw so I cut the boards for the smallest table using it. Well for some reason I got some flex in my blade so the cut is not perfectly straight. I'm using a thin kerf 12" blade.

I can match the inside:










I can match the outside:










But I can't match both! I'll come back to this problem later.

I purchased an Incra Miter 1000 a few months ago. My reason for the purchase was to use it for cutting small blocks for cutting boards. I thought I'd give it a try for this table top.

Well I had squared it up but I must have been off a smidge. Going around the top this added up to 4 smidges.



















I squared it up again. This time I did a test piece using some pine. I had trouble holding the piece firmly against the miter gauge fence. It is a small piece and the slight pull makes the miter inaccurate. The fix for this is to buy or make a sled to attach the miter gauge to. This way I could clamp the piece to the sled and hold the piece without putting my fingers at risk. I could buy the Incra sled. My wife will be happier if I make one.

While cutting the pine scrap pieces to run my test, (I cut them close to size using the miter saw), I noticed the miter saw making noise. It sounded like a piece of wood or a chip was wedged up under the blade guard. I unplugged the saw and checked. The guard was clear. I checked the blade and found it was loose. This explains my curved miter cuts. I also realized the blade is pretty dull.

So a new blade this weekend. I'll think about the sled a little bit more.

BJ


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Table top miter problem*
> 
> The plans I'm following call for table tops made up of glued-up boards. I have some very nice Qsawn oak boards with very straight grain. I thought it would look better if I mitered and rotated pieces along the board so the grain would "follow" around the perimeter of the tops.
> 
> ...


Sharp tools go a long way toward good joints. Use an artist square, the plastic ones, to set your gauge. Check your miter slot to blade with a dial indicator. Brian at Garagewoodworks has a great one. Getting four 90s can be a challenge. A doable challenge.


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## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Table top miter problem*
> 
> The plans I'm following call for table tops made up of glued-up boards. I have some very nice Qsawn oak boards with very straight grain. I thought it would look better if I mitered and rotated pieces along the board so the grain would "follow" around the perimeter of the tops.
> 
> ...


Great idea for the piece, I agree get the saw set with the artist square and test until they meet.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Mitering success*

I had some problems cutting my mitered table top. I used an Incra miter gauge but had trouble holding the piece firmly. I have a shop built miter sled, but because the pieces are small, they don't lie well against the fence.










I bit the bullet and bought the Incra miter express sled. I'm not doing a review here but I like the sled. I felt very safe using it. The only problem I had was binding in my miter slot. I have a Craftsman Hybrid TS. It has a granite top. I may have to file a little bit on the miter slot. I squared everything up and made some test cuts. Apparently I wasn't quite true.










To make four 45 degree joints match up all the way around the top, (8 cuts), I had to set the saw at 45.2 degrees. For the two remaining tops I will set it at 45.15 degrees. This should fine tune it slightly. Very easy to adjust with the Incra miter.










Hey there's a hole in the middle! Instead of trying to make a clean joint all the way to a center point, I thought I'd leave an opening. This will be filled with a ceramic tile of a celtic knot. I'll cut a mortise and drop it in










This is a nesting table project with 3 small end tables. Each will have a tile in the center. 3×3 for the small table. 4×4 for the middle size. 6×6 for the largest top. Here is a cool advantage to using the internet. I was able to find an art studio in British Columbia run by John & Shannon Gresham. They had just what I was looking for. They were fast and inexpensive. This was for a small, (5 tile) order. 2,000 miles away, I paid using paypal. Before the web I would have had to put in many hours and lots of miles to find these tiles. Here is a link http://earthsongtiles.com

I'll post more as things progress.

BJ


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## germartz (Nov 5, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Mitering success*
> 
> I had some problems cutting my mitered table top. I used an Incra miter gauge but had trouble holding the piece firmly. I have a shop built miter sled, but because the pieces are small, they don't lie well against the fence.
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting this. I bought the rockler version of this sled looking forward to using it.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *Mitering success*
> 
> I had some problems cutting my mitered table top. I used an Incra miter gauge but had trouble holding the piece firmly. I have a shop built miter sled, but because the pieces are small, they don't lie well against the fence.
> 
> ...


Looks like a great sled. My own miter gauge came with my table saw and the fence is shaped like an 'L'. First you cut the first piece on one fence and the matching piece on the other. they will always match up even if the miter gauge is set a little off the the true angle. Simple but effective.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *Mitering success*
> 
> I had some problems cutting my mitered table top. I used an Incra miter gauge but had trouble holding the piece firmly. I have a shop built miter sled, but because the pieces are small, they don't lie well against the fence.
> 
> ...


Looks like a great sled. My own miter gauge came with my table saw and the fence is shaped like an 'L'. First you cut the first piece on one fence and the matching piece on the other. they will always match up even if the miter gauge is set a little off the the true angle. Simple but effective.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*A tighter miter*

It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).

The first top was cut at 45.2 degrees. There was a slight gap in the joint. I ran a few test pieces through. I adjusted the miter sled by 0.05 degrees. I'm not kidding. The best tests were at 45.15 degrees. If I was working in pine, the first cuts could have been clamped tight. But this is QSWO. I wanted them as close as possible because of limited flex in the WO.

This is the top I recut. It is 9" x 9" 









This is the middle size table top. 14.5" x 14.5" 









This is the large table top. 20" x 20" 









All three for comparison. The first piece is at the very top. It wasn't a wasted piece. I used it to test the glue up process and practice cutting the mortice. I used a Incra miter express sled for the miters. It made the cuts accurate and SAFE!









The glue up was tricky. I dry fit it all first. Then clamped one piece to the work bench. I then brushed glue on the mitered edges and set them together. Minimal clamping pressure. I was more concerned with keeping it flat so I clamped each piece to the table as I assembled the top. (sorry no pics). I used waxed paper to keep the mess manageable. That's something I learned here at LJs.

After the glue up was finished I machined a camfered edge. The tables are A&C style. The plans called for a flat glue up with squared edges. I think this looks nicer.









The next step is to drop in the decorative tile in the center of each top. 
First I scribe the shape with a marking knife. The tiles are not perfectly square. Each mortice must match its tile.


















Then I drill out the excess with a forstner bit. The small table fit in the drill press. These pics are the middle size, 14.5", top. I had to drill this top with a cordless drill.



























Now to clean out the mortice.









And the fit is good.









I'm wondering if anyone has advice for gluing the tiles to the tops. The bottom of the tiles are not glazed. I think any wood glue would work. Any thoughts or suggestions?

More to follow.

BJ


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## Alster (Aug 7, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


I don't think I'd try wood glue. I'd think you'd have better luck with silicone.


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## jumbojack (Mar 20, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Construction adhesive.


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## redryder (Nov 28, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Your miters came out great. They can make you want to throw something when thier not working.

I would go to the tile isle at your local big box store and buy adhesive especially made for tile.
That's what I did on this project and and it will hold up like you need it to…...................


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


I like it. Those miters are very nice. I don't have a clue what to use to make it stick.


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## kenn (Mar 19, 2008)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Be careful, even with quarter sawn stock, you will still have wood movement. If every thing is too tight you risk breaking your tiles. That's also why I would not use wood, no flex once it's glued down. I'd go with the construction adhesive or a specialty tile product. Good luck, they are looking great.


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## steph33 (Sep 5, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


I second (or third) the construction adhesive suggestion. Best durability, somewhat flexible and and will never come loose. I had a lot of luck with PL premium. Sticks anything to anything pretty much.


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## justoneofme (Aug 11, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Mighty tight tighter miter BJ! Beautiful job … and I think Alster's suggestion of using silicone is a good one! Clear silicone (not acrylic water based type as it tends to dry up over time and break away). Not much is needed … just enough to 'suck' the tile in place. Use a bit of weight while drying. Holds well over time and remains completely flexible.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


That is one fine miter!

In the future, maybe make a dado so that the tile floats? That would save a lot of issues with adhesives, potentially.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advice. I'll look into construction adhesive, but I'm leaning to the silicone. At my old house I tightened up the squeaky stairs by using silicone caulk. No squeaks after caulking,... I could have used that in high school.

BJ


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


I go with *jumbojack* construction adhesive should hold those tiles!

I was wondering how you did your miters?
When I cut miters, that are that long, I do adjacent sides at the same time so that any error will be eliminated.
I rough out two adjacent pieces and then place them, miter together, in my TS sled for the final cut.


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## CalgaryGeoff (Aug 10, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Nice joinery work. I'd use PL 400 on the tiles. They will never come off.


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Oldnovice, 
I used a Incra miter express sled.










My shop built miter sled was too difficult to use on this project. (See previous blog entry).

BJ


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *A tighter miter*
> 
> It has been 2 months since I worked on the project and posted any progress. In the last entry I was happy with the first mitered top. But over the holidays I would look at it and think, I can make it better, (a tighter miter).
> 
> ...


Thanks BJ


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Ready for assembly, (almost)*

I've got the pieces for the tables all stained and varnished. Now I can assemble this puzzle.



















But first, I have to clean up the stray varnish from the tenons and other glue surfaces. So a bit of sanding, one more dry fit and then I glue it up.

I have to make sure I don't sand off the labels from the tenons. It only fits together one way. I've got it all labeled with numbers for the joints.

I'll have to do it in sections. The decorative slats have spacers in between. It may be a bit messy getting them together.

BJ


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Ready for assembly, (almost)*
> 
> I've got the pieces for the tables all stained and varnished. Now I can assemble this puzzle.
> 
> ...


Coming along super nice. Lookin gr8


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Assembly*

I started the prep for the assembly. I do not have a spray setup, nor do I want to try to learn how to do that at this time. I stained and varnished the pieces prior to assembly. The disadvantage is handling lots of loose parts. I also end up putting varnish on edges that need to hold glue. So I have to remove some of that varnish before gluing.

This is a spacer. There are 16 for the mid-sized table. You can see where I sanded the edge for the glue.










This is a decorative slat. I do not need a large glue surface. There is no load on these pieces. They are just decorative details. A small glue area will hold them just fine.










These are the slats and spacers for the mid-sized table. The large table has twice as many pieces.










I have to glue the rails into one leg first. If I glued up the slats and spacers into the rails first I could set the rail too close together, (I left some room to play in the length of the slats). By gluing the rails into one leg I lock in the distance between the rails.

This clamp up is deceiving. There is only glue on one side.










Here you can see I pulled apart the unglued side so I can slide the slats into the groove.










Here is the assembly of the spacers and slats on the small table.



















It's a bit tedious. I've been working on this project for a long time. I don't want to rush now and do a sloppy assembly. So I do a little each night and save some for tomorrow.

BJ


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## justoneofme (Aug 11, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Assembly*
> 
> I started the prep for the assembly. I do not have a spray setup, nor do I want to try to learn how to do that at this time. I stained and varnished the pieces prior to assembly. The disadvantage is handling lots of loose parts. I also end up putting varnish on edges that need to hold glue. So I have to remove some of that varnish before gluing.
> 
> ...


Lots of tedious-ness for sure … but your patience will definitely be rewarded!!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Assembly*
> 
> I started the prep for the assembly. I do not have a spray setup, nor do I want to try to learn how to do that at this time. I stained and varnished the pieces prior to assembly. The disadvantage is handling lots of loose parts. I also end up putting varnish on edges that need to hold glue. So I have to remove some of that varnish before gluing.
> 
> ...


Ditto what Elaine said


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## BJODay (Jan 29, 2013)

*Finished tables*

Well, the tables are assembled and I'm happy with how they turned out.










The tables are nesting. They all fit within the largest table's footprint.
There are decorative slats on the sides of each table. if I were to do it over, I would add the slats to the rear of the tables also.










This is a view of the large table's top. 20" square.










Middle size table. About 14" square.










The small table. About 9" square.










Only task left is to sand the top and give one more coat of poly. There are some minor abrasions from assembly. Plus I'm hoping to fill in some open grain.










New skills I learned and practiced:
I worked from rough lumber. This is the first project where I planed all the wood.
I used mortise and tenon joinery. Drilled out the excess and chiseled to final size. Tenons made on a router table.
I mortised an area for the tiles to drop in the tops.
The tabletops were mitered on my table saw using an incra mitering sled.

BJ


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## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

BJODay said:


> *Finished tables*
> 
> Well, the tables are assembled and I'm happy with how they turned out.
> 
> ...


excellent work BJ

seems you learned quit a bit here
and got over the fear of 'milling'

many new doors are open to you now

well done


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Finished tables*
> 
> Well, the tables are assembled and I'm happy with how they turned out.
> 
> ...


Really nice work. Great to improve the skills.


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## mantwi (Mar 17, 2013)

BJODay said:


> *Finished tables*
> 
> Well, the tables are assembled and I'm happy with how they turned out.
> 
> ...


I'm going to have to build my wife a set of them, she will love them. I think they look pretty good myself, good job.


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## justoneofme (Aug 11, 2011)

BJODay said:


> *Finished tables*
> 
> Well, the tables are assembled and I'm happy with how they turned out.
> 
> ...


Those turned out absolutely beautiful BJ … well done!!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

BJODay said:


> *Finished tables*
> 
> Well, the tables are assembled and I'm happy with how they turned out.
> 
> ...


Those are awesome BJ


----------

