Crowning Moment

The long awaited tool cabinet for Jet Tools is complete. Today I finished it off with the crown moulding. Here is a simple way to make crown moulding over the table saw.

 I have a blade made for this from CMT designed by Lonnie Bird. You can still do this with a regular blade but it takes more scraping to clean up the saw marks.

 First I set the plywood fence roughly 45 degrees to the blade. I just eyeballed this since I wasn't matching any existing moulding.

 After several passes using 4'' by 7/8'' stock raising the blade about 1/8'' for every pass I get this nice cove. Then using the curved scraper I eliminate the scratches and then finish with sand paper.

 Then I tilt my table saw blade to 45 degrees to trim the sides.

 Here is what you get. Crown moulding made from the same wood that everything else on the cabinet  is made from. The best part is you don't have to go to the big home store to buy it. (they don't have cherry moulding anyway).

 A few miter cuts and I'm in business. All I have left is to apply the oil finish and deliver to Jet. I'll be teaching this cabinet in a few weeks with 3 students. Should be fun!

Wood Rocks!

After days of making chair parts the comb back rocker class was an amazing success. The last peg was driven late afternoon of the sixth day.

 The carving of the knuckles and comb went better than I could have imagined. These guys were here to work.

 Mike's carved knuckle. You would think he had done this before.

 Tom cleaning up the comb getting ready for assembly.

 Pete Galbert's rocker slot cutting jig was a big hit and made these rockers fall in place.

 Tom was very happy with the first chair to come together end of day five.

 John is building his first windsor this week and did a great job.

 Sam enjoyed sitting in the piece he worked so hard on all week.

 John got to rest awhile in his first windsor.

 The rocker jig really makes for a tight clean joint. I owe you one Pete.

 Overall the class was such a great success and four students went home very happy.

 Here is the crew on the last day. These were some of the highest quality chairs I have seen come out of a chair class. Great job guys. Now go get some rest.

Comb Back Rocker Day 1

I have 4 students here this week representing 4 different states starting the comb back rocker. They are  roughing out the spindles and the crest blank. Tomorrow we start carving the crest volutes and steam bending.

 Mike brought his smart head shave horse that he built at kelly Mehler's school that Peter Galbert taught last year. Mike did a great job finishing this horse into a work of art.

 It was a great first day. Everyone looks so serious. Did I crack the whip too hard?

I'll post their progress later this week. Stay tuned......

Happy New Cabinet!

The new year starts much like it finished with many irons in the fire. I have lots of classes to prepare for and materials to gather.This week I am wrapping up the tool cabinet for Jet Tools. Pictured here is the upper cabinet before the knobs are installed.

I have about two more days of details to finish this project. I will be interested to see how Jet will use this piece for their photo shoots.

I have 30 knobs to turn for the drawers and doors. I start with 3'' long blocks of 1.5 x 1.5 cherry. I chuck them into my 4-jaw chuck which I rarely use but works great without the tailstock in the way.

I round them down to 11/16th for the small knobs and 7/8'' for the large.

A story stick is used to keep them somewhat consistent.

I use a 3/8'' wrench to size the tenon. These turn really fast about 2 minutes from start to finish.

Probably no two knobs are the same but you may not notice when installed.

Here you see the knobs installed. I saw a kerf in the tenon, drill the hole and wedge the knob with glue for a very sturdy knob that won't come loose. I can't wait to oil this cabinet down to bring out the grain of the cherry. I have several students coming in Feb. to build this cabinet as a class. I have worked out all the bugs and can't wait to teach this for the first time. It is a good lesson in dovetails, turning knobs and mortise and tenon construction.I'll post some photos when complete.