Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Sixteen

Over the last week I have done quite a lot of work on the cabinet.

The first thing that I carried out wast dry tested the cabinet. This means that I put it all together, without glue to make sure it all goes together properly.

Dry testing carcase

Once I had dry tested it I then glued and clamped it all together, and then began work on the drawers.

Carcase Clamped up

Carcase finished gluing

To glue and clamp up properly you have to make sure you don't cover up the pins with the packing piece, otherwise the joint wont go together properly, and the packing piece should reach both clamps. Clamping up the carcase was relatively easy, as it was already square, and I just got someone else to help hold the packing pieces in place while I tightened the clamps.

I also planed and cut the sides to length and size, and also started the drawer fronts. Finally I also started making the drawer slips, which were made out of spare Walnut which I had left from the fronts. However during the week when I was finishing off one of the drawer fonts I cut it to small, and therefore had to make another one of of scrape would, which meant they were slightly different shades.

Slightly different shades of Walnut.

However once I corrected this mistake I started to create the joints for the first drawer.

Apart from the mistake at the beginning of the week, everything went smoothly, and I managed to get two joints complete.

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Fifteenth

Over the last week and today's lesson I have managed to get of the other joints complete, but the main focus of this lesson was veneering. I will be veneering both the back panel, and also the drawer bottoms.

I first learnt about different types of veneering:

The first kind of veneer is called 'Running Veneer', which is when two pieces of veneer are joined together, with the grain going in the same direction on both piece.

Running Veneer

The next is called 'Book Matched'. This is when two pieces of veneer are joined together, with the grain going in the opposite directions, and look like the pages in a book.

Book Matched Veneer

Thirdly this pattern of veneer is 'Diamond'. Diamond is when four pieces of veneer are joined together, and the grain flows smaller into the center, creating a diamond shape.

Diamond Veneer

The last pattern is the 'Reversed Diamond', which is the same as the previous pattern, but the grain flowing in the opposite direction.

Reversed Diamond Veneer 

To join veneer you first have to wet strips of veneer tape that are 50mm long, are spaced out across the join. Once you have done this, then you place a strip all the way down the join.

 

After the lesson today I decided that I would veneer the back of the cupboard. To do this I first went and picked the veneer which I required from the veneer shed. 

Next I cut the veneer up to size using a veneer cutter. To do this I worked with others to make it easier.

Veneer Cutter

Next I glued the over sized veneer sheets on either side of the backboard, and then placed it into the veneer press for ten minutes. Finally I then cut the over sized veneer to the board size, and then cut the board down to size to create the finished backboard.

 

Finished veneered backboard

Test fitting the backboard in cabinet

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Fourteen

Today was a slow day, where I completed one joint, and also made the divider so it fitted into the grooves.  I made the divider first, and this was just cutting it to the right size, which is shown below. this was quite easy, however I did have to sand it down and chisel the groove slightly larger to get it to fit correctly.

Divider cut ready to size

I then cut and fitted my first joint. This was a mitred dovetail, and was quite easy to get to fit. However I miss-cut one of the pins, which means that you can slightly see the groove from the outside. Also I learnt from videos on the internet how to get mitres to fit as tightly as possible by running a saw along the join, and then finishing the joint by tapping it together.

Mitre joint

Finished joint - Corner 1

Overall this lesson went really well, and now that I have done the first joint, it will be easier to do the other four corners.

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Thirteen

During this lesson I decided it was time to create the groove for the back and divider of the cabinet. I did this using the methods previously explained further ↓ the blog ;)

The main problem I had during this lesson was the fact there were only two combination planes, and I left mine at home :( . However I decided it would be better to go home and pick it up, rather then waste lesson time.

I also had to put on a wooden guard on the plane to stop it from marking the cabinet wood. The groove that I created was 4mm deep, and 6mm wide.

Wood attached to guard

Groove cut in wood ready for cupboard back

I then used a combination of chisels and a number 71 plane to create the divider groove. The biggest problem was tear out along the edge of the groove, but I learnt from the first one that I did and chisels deeper first. This meant that the second groove was much better. This groove was 16mm and 4mm deep.

Grooves complete

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Twelve

After yesterday's lessons mistake of the corner being planed to low, I learnt from my mistakes and this lesson went much smoother. I managed to finish hand planing the face and edge of the wood, and then using the Surface Planer, made sure that the face and two edges were perfectly flat and square.

Above: Surface Planner

After this it was put through the Thicknesser, to get it to the perfect height of 16mm, ready to be cut into the correct sizes, 

Above: Thicknesser

Finally I then stacked it using stickers to allow air to circulate around all the faces of the wood.

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Eleven

This lesson was primarily used to sort out all the wood which was going to be used to create the carcase of the cupboard.

This wood had been ordered  and delivered, so all we had to do was mark any defects, cut it to length and plane a face and edge.

To begin I first used chalk to label the piece of wood with my name, and also any defects on any of the edges, so when I marked out my cabinet pieces there would not be any chips or dents.

Once I had marked out the the defects, I then cut it into length using the Radial Arm Saw.

Above: Radial Arm Saw

Finally I began to hand plane one face and an edge. To stop the wood from warping I also lightly planed the top service of the other side. I used a variety of hand planes, including a number 4, 5, and 7 jointer plane.

Above: Wood being planed to create a flat face

Although this was quite an easy task to understand, it took a long time, and A LOT of hard work, as I still haven't finished planing yet and will continue in tomorrows lesson. However I did hit a problem when I realised one corner was lower then the rest, which meant I have to plane the rest of the face to meet this corners height. 

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Ten

I never realized how many different types of Dovetail joints there were, but I learnt another one today. This Dovetail Joint was a Mired Corner Dovetail.

This is very similar to the Through Dovetail, apart from (as the name says) mitered pins on each end. To help understand see below for diagrams of each piece of wood.

The Tail Board:

Above: Shows end of Tail Board with areas to cut out

Above: 3D image of Tail Board

The Pin Board:

Above: Shows end of Pin Board with areas to cut out

Above: 3D image of Pin Board

Above: Side view which will be the
same on each end of both boards

I think that aesthetically this is the best looking Dovetail Joint that I have made. It was very hard to understand how to create this joint initially, but with an example joint that I could take apart, I soon learned just how easily it really is. The hardest part of joint was getting the mitre correct on both pieces of wood, and therefore getting it to joint squarely.

 I will add some photos later, as they are on a different camera ;) .

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Nine

Today was a lesson about how to create a rebate in a piece of wood. This will be used in future modules and pieces of work for things such as a cupboard back, drawer bottom or even shelf's and dividers to sit within the carcass.

There are a variety of different ways such as a Plough Plane, Rebate Plane or Combination plane. To create the groove I used the latter.

Above: Combination Plane

It is made up of a guard which runs along the edge of the piece of wood, a depth stop which you set to the required depth, and finally the actual blade, which can be removed and changed depending on the size or style of groove that you require.

Along the edge of the guard you normally attach a piece of hardwood with rounded ends, as this allows stops the metal rubbing against the wood and creating marks.

To create a rebate, the first thing you have to do is to start it on the furthest edge, and work backwards to to other side, as shown below.

Above: Groove at one end, and planing away to other edge.

Once you have created this, it will look something like this:

Above: Groove created by Combination Plane

Creating the groove was simple and easy to do, I had no problems, however I learnt from some that they hadn't done the guard up tight enough, and ended up with the groove running out of a true straight line from the edge of the piece of wood.

Finally I also learnt about a machine called a 'Wood Welder'. This cures glued pieces of wood in seconds, as is done using microwave energy.

Above: Wood Welder

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Eight

This lesson was very similar to yesterdays lesson, however rather then a through D/T joint, it was a Lap D/T. This means that the tails do no go all the way though the other piece of wood. I started of by making a singular Lap D/T joint.

Step 1: 

To make the the Lap D/T, you first mark of 6mm from the edge along the top edge were the tails will slot into.

Step 2: 

Using the measurement of thickness of the wood left after the 6mm inlay, make a cut line all the way round the piece of wood that is going to be used for the tails.

Step 3: 

Use the instructions in previous posts to cut a normal tail into this piece of wood.

Step 4: 

Using the tail as a guide, mark out and then cut out the groove, making sure you leave the 6mm to create the lap for the D/T.

Step 5: 


Use a chisel to clear out any excess wood, and then it should sit together as shown below.

Overall the joint went reasonably well, all though there were some gaps and it was slightly loose. However before I had to try it again we were told to do a multiple lap D/T joint.

This joint went really well, and would be a really strong and aesthetic joint once clamped up. It is made very similar to to the previous two joints, so I will just include a few photos of the different stages.

The tails have been cut out and the waste cleared.

Marking out the pins to be cut.

Clearing out the grooves for
the tails, not going all the
way though.

The finished joint ready to glue up.

After making this joint, I will be spending more time to perfect it, as it will be used throughout future projects and pieces of work. Although for my first attempt I think it was very successful

Hand Production Techniques - Lesson Seven

Once I had successfully created a single Dovetail joint, the next was to make a through D/T. This involved similar cutting techniques, but very different marking out initially. Below shows all the measurements in one diagram. These are then explained in the step by step instructions.

Step 1:

I first cut the board into two sections, and by using a plane and shooting board, smoothed off the edge so it was completely square.

Above: Shooting board being used to plane square edge

Step 2:


Once I had planed both pieces I then began to mark out the tails. To begin I measured 2mm in from both sides, as this would be the width of the pins on the other board, and any smaller would mean they would snap off. I then made a cut line all the way round the piece of wood, using the thickness of the piece of wood. Finally using a ruler, measure across the piece of wood until you can easily divide that by the number of tails you require. As I wanted four tails, I measured 120mm across, and then marked every 30mm.

Above: measuring and marking every 30mm.
Starting from 10mm as the end of the ruler may not be accurate

Step 3:


Once you have marked on the required distances for your tails, use a Try Square to draw them up to the edge of the wood.

Above: Lines meet the edge of board and cut line
is clearly visible

Step 4:

Then I marked on each side of this line 1mm, as this is where the pins will end.

Above: 1mm has been marked either side of the line.

Step 5:

I then used the Dovetail Marker to draw the angled lines from each 1mm marked points across the top edge of the board, and also from the 4mm lines. Mark all waste which is to be removed. I then used my D/T saw, and coping saw to remove as much waste between the tails as possible.

Above: Tails are clearly marked.

Step 6:

Then using different sized chisels, I removed the remainder of the waste, and used these to mark out the pins on the edge of the other piece of wood.

Pairing down the joins to remove waste.

Step 7:

The image below shows that I have marked the pins by using the tails as a guide, and I then removed this with a D/T saw, coping saw and chisels.

Above: The pins marked out.

Above: The pins cut out and finished.

Step 8:

After some adjustment and pairing, this joint should fit together perfectly, and be at a true 90 degree angle.

Above: The finished joint.

After finishing the joint, I had time to reflect on how I felt it went. I was really pleased with the overall joint, especially the edge you can see in the photo above, however the other side of the joint would need to be clamped up to get a neat finish.