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Joins for flat rails and corners

// November 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // furniture

The mortise and tenon joint is very strong because the strength is not compromised as, althoug one third is taken from the mortise section and two-thirds from the tenon , the combined original strength  of the two is restored when they  are glued together.

1. Establish exacly where the joint is to be made, and use the try square to draw square line right around the wood.
2. Set the two pins of the mortise gauge at exactly one-third and two-third of the width of the wood.
3. working from the face side on the both pieces, mark the guide line for the mortise hole and the tenon cut. Draw in these lines with a pencil point.
4. A drill press is useful at this stage to drill out the bulk of the mortise hole. Use a drill bit about  a millimeter narrower than the hole should be. If you do not have access to a drill press, fix the wood firmly in a bench vice and drill out the hole with hand-held electric drill, making every effort to ensure that the drill is vertical to the wood.
5. Cut out the remaining wood in the hole with a mortise chisel and trim off the flat sides with bevel-edge chisel, making sure that the ends and the sides are exactly vertical and parallel.
6. Now on the tenon section. Use the tenon saw to cut down the wood on the scrap side of the tenon lines so that you have a completed tenon, which looks like the one in step 7 below.
7. Fit the join together dry (without glue) and make any adjustment with a board bladed bevel-edge chisel until the join is accurate.
8. When the joins fits well, apply glue to all the surface to be joined and clamp into position. make sure that all the glue that has been squeezed out of the joint is wiped away with a damp cloth.

Is Construction Lumber Good For Furniture?

// November 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // furniture

You can’t use this wood as it is. You’ve got to do some selective cutting first and then dry out the wood before making furniture with it.

Construction-grade lumber warps for two main reasons. First, boards often contain unstable wood from the center of the tree. You can spot this by looking at the growth rings at the end of the board. If you see rings that are almost a full circle, that area ofthe board is likely to cup and twist.

Second, it’s too wet. The industry standard for construction-grade lumber is about 19-percent moisture content. For making furniture, the moisture content should be far less, about 7 to 9 percent. At this point, boards are unlikely to warp any further.

Both problems are easy to solve. First, cut out the unstable center wood by ripping your board on the tablesaw. Second, crosscut the boards on either side of large knots, which cause a board to kink as it dries. Don’t worry about small knots. Third, stack and sticker the wood indoors until it dries out. Weight your lumber with cinder blocks or sandbags to help keep it flat. Drying may take anywhere from a few weeks in a very dry environment to a few months in a more humid one.

How Should I Hold a Tap?

// November 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // furniture

First, lightly chamfer the hole with a countersink. Leave the countersink in the chuck, but unplug your drill press. Tighten the tap in a T-handle tap wrench This kind of wrench has a hole or dimple on its top for just this operation. Lower the drill press table. Stand the tap in the pilot hole and lower the chuck until the countersink engages the hole in the top of the wrench. Lock the chuck in place and make sure the tap is vertical.

Lubricate the tap with oil. (Machinists use special cutting oil, but ordinary household oil works fine.) Turn the tap with one hand and apply downward pressure through the drill press with the other. After a few revolutions, or if turning becomes difficult, back the tap out one-half turn to break up metal chips. Then continue tapping until the tap spins freely in the hole.

Better Drawer Sides

// November 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // furniture

Most standard birch plywood has very thin face veneers glued to three thicker layers of softwood or utility hardwood veneers. These inner layers could contain rough areas, knots, voids and splits. When you hit those areas with a router, the result is chip-out.

Baltic birch and ApplePly are made from many more layers of thinner veneers. The inner veneers of both of these high-density plywoods are very smooth, and the greater number of thin inner plies makes chip-out much less likely.

The top edges of your drawers will look better, too, because there are fewer and smaller voids in high-density plywood. You won’t have nearly as many unsightly holes to fill.

Baltic birch is a generic term for imported plywood with birch faces and birch-core veneers. ApplePly is a trade name for one domestic manufacturer’s plywood with maple faces and birch- or alder-core veneers.

Baltic birch is available at many lumber dealers in various thicknesses, but it only comes in 5-ft. by 5-ft. pieces. One annoying problem: a whole sheet may not fit into the back of your truck or van without cutting first. ApplePly also comes in a variety of thicknesses and is made in standard 4×8 sheets.