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Aproject doesn’t need to have “heirloom” potential to be value constructing, in fact, and that was the case for this little organizer. I merely wanted a technique to stack a printer, scanner and a ream of paper to take up much less house on my desk. The stand’s by dovetails on high aren’t essential, however they gave me a very good motive to apply my sawing and chopping expertise, which had gotten a little bit rusty. In case your dovetailing may use a refresher course too, maybe earmark this challenge as one to construct earlier than diving into a much bigger dovetailing dedication.
Getting ready a Lengthy Panel
There are solely 4 components on this stand’s Materials Listing, so its modest lumber requirement gives a pleasant alternative to attempt an unique or figured wooden you wouldn’t usually select. I settled on a bit of swirly grained bubinga. Its irregular sample and reddish shade jogs my memory of marble greater than wooden!
No matter species you select, rip and crosscut sufficient 3/4″-thick inventory to connect up a panel measuring 16″ broad by 48″ lengthy. Joint and aircraft the boards fastidiously to reduce the glue seams as a lot as attainable, then glue and clamp them up. When the joints dry and the panel comes out of the clamps, aircraft, scrape or sand any uneven glue seams flat, and sand the panel as much as 120-grit.
The rationale for starting with a single panel is so you’ll be able to harvest the person workpieces from it to harmonize the grain sample. Sq. up the ends of the panel. Then, ranging from one finish, mark an 8″ size for one facet panel, a 16-1/2″-long piece subsequent to it for the highest panel and one other 8″ piece after that for the opposite facet panel. Crosscut the components to tough measurement. What’s left of the panel is the shelf. Trim it to 15-1/2″ broad and 15″ lengthy. End up this step by trimming the edges to 7-1/2″ lengthy and the highest to its closing size of 16″.
Beginning with Tails
There’s no disgrace in slicing by dovetails with a router and a dovetail jig, should you’d fairly do this. However I like the power to create narrower pins than my dovetail jig will permit and the liberty to house the sample as I select — two huge benefits of slicing dovetails by hand.
For those who just like the look of the dovetail sample proven on the going through web page and within the Drawings, we’ll begin by laying out the tails on the 2 facet panels. Seize a pointy marking gauge and scribe a baseline for the tails all the best way across the high ends of each facet panels. Set these scribe strains about 1/32″ wider than the thickness of the highest panel (this fashion, the tops of the tails will protrude barely above the highest panel when the joints are assembled).
Now lay out the middle factors of the pins each 2″ throughout the tops of the edges. This spacing will create a half socket on each ends of the facet panels and 6 pin sockets in between. I did this by first clamping each facet panels along with their ends and edges aligned and their “present” faces pointing outward. That approach, I may mark the middle factors on one board and lengthen the structure strains throughout to the opposite board so the sockets would align completely.
The tops of the pin sockets are 1/4″ broad, so mark these subsequent on each side of every heart line. I then set the angles of the tails to 1:6 (about 10 levels). It makes the bottoms of the pin sockets 1/2″ broad. Use a fine-lead mechanical pencil and both a bevel gauge or a dovetail saddle sq. to attract the tail shapes right down to the baselines on each facet panels. Unclamp the facet panels and full the tail layouts on their internal faces, too. Do your self a favor proper now, and mark the pin sockets with black Xs to keep away from confusion later. These are the waste areas to take away.
You’re now able to noticed the tails right down to the baselines with a dovetail noticed, following your angled structure strains. Many will reduce these freehand. However should you’re lower than assured that you may noticed squarely and precisely, there’s an alternative choice that makes the method very straightforward. A variety of years in the past, I attempted out a intelligent and easy aluminum jig, designed by British woodworker David Barron, that guides the noticed blade whereas making the tail and pin cuts. Uncommon-earth magnets maintain the noticed blade on the right angle when you noticed to reduce angle-cutting errors. You possibly can study extra about it at Barron’s web site, and on his YouTube movies.
To make use of the jig, place its angled face towards you and relaxation the portion of the jig under the magnet on the tail board’s high edge. Fastidiously align one or the opposite angled fringe of the jig with a tail line, maintain or clamp the jig securely and set the noticed blade in opposition to the jig’s magnetic face. Then begin the noticed reduce with an extended, light stroke and proceed to chop right down to the baseline. Repeat this for each tail structure line on each facet panels.
Now take away the waste within the pin socket areas, marked with Xs. To do that, some woodworkers chop all of the waste out with only a chisel. I choose to noticed the waste out with a fretsaw first, leaving only a little bit of waste on the backside of every pin socket. Then, I chop and pare the remainder of the waste away with the blade registered on the baseline. I work fastidiously in from one face till about half the waste is eliminated. Once I make these chopping cuts, I tip the deal with of my chisel a couple of diploma or two nearer to me so I’m barely undercutting the bottoms of the sockets. When half the waste is faraway from all of the sockets, I flip the panel over so I can take away the remaining waste by chopping in from the opposite face. Doing this prevents the chisel from chipping the underside outer edges of the sockets.
When the sockets are cleaned out, make sure that their baselines are flat by the thickness of the facet panels. This can allow the pins to slip into them squarely when the joints are assembled. Test the baselines with the blade of a sq. prolonged by the sockets; it ought to relaxation evenly throughout them on the baselines. Pare away any remaining waste that forestalls this from taking place.
Fastidiously noticed off the tiny half-pin socket waste from the again corners of the facet panels and the longer entrance wastepiece. I did this on the band noticed with all sides workpiece registered in opposition to a rip fence and the blade slicing simply to the waste facet of the baseline.
Shaping the Pins
With the tails now reduce to form, rip the highest panel to its closing 14″ width. Clamp it to the sting of your bench with an finish going through up, and lay the right facet panel over it in your benchtop.
Align the perimeters of each panels, and regulate the tail board fastidiously so its baseline is aligned with the within face of the highest panel. Clamp the tail board in place. Fastidiously switch the angled tail sample onto the tip of the highest panel to mark for the pins.
Use a pointy, thin-bladed marking or pocketknife to incise these strains into the highest panel’s finish grain. Then flip the highest panel so its different finish is up and repeat the pin-scribing course of utilizing the opposite tail board.
Seize your marking gauge, once more set 1/32″ deeper than the thickness of the facet panels, to scribe baselines throughout the faces and ends of the highest panel. Then draw straight strains down from the knifed strains on the tip grain to the baselines to finish the pin shapes. Mark the big tail socket waste areas with Xs.
Go forward and noticed straight right down to the baselines to chop the angled faces of the pins. Once more, my Barron jig helped me information these cuts simply by flipping its orientation round for the pin cuts. Intention as precisely as you’ll be able to to actually cut up these structure strains with the noticed blade — it should assist to reduce the quantity of paring you’ll need to do subsequent.
Noticed or chop out the big waste items within the tail socket areas. Successfully, the method is similar as when slicing out the pin socket areas, however there’s simply extra waste to take away. Use wider chisels to assist pace the method alongside, and work fastidiously while you’re chiseling as much as the baselines to maintain them straight and evenly aligned with each other.
Now, match the nook joints collectively, one joint at a time. For those who’ve reduce fastidiously, the pins and tails ought to interact each other snugly, proper from the beginning. In the event that they don’t, you’ve received some paring to do to enhance the match.
The aim right here is to pare away as little materials as attainable so the joints will shut with out creating gaps between the pins and tails. However, should you take away too little, the panels may crack when tapping the joints collectively. Pare solely from the angled, inside faces of the pins, leaving the tails alone. Work slowly and thoroughly till the joints match collectively.
Putting in the Shelf
The dovetails are the toughest a part of this challenge, so it’s downhill from right here! Chuck a 3/8″ straight or spiral bit in your router desk, and lift it to 1/4″ slicing top so we will plow a groove on the within face of every facet panel for the shelf’s stub tenons. Set and lock the router desk’s fence 31-1/16″ away from the again of the bit. Establish the slicing limits of the bit by drawing a pair of lengthy vertical strains on the router desk fence to mark the bit’s place. This manner, you’ll know the place to start and finish these groove cuts precisely — they cease 3/4″ from the entrance ends of the facet panels.
Mark the skin faces of the facet panels so you’ll be able to cease the groove cuts precisely. (We’ll be routing these panels with their backside flat edges in opposition to the fence.) Go forward and plow grooves, then sq. up their rounded ends with a chisel. When that’s completed, reduce a 3/8″-thick stub tenon on every finish of the shelf. I did this step on the desk noticed with a large dado blade buried partially in a sacrificial fence. Trim the entrance corners off the tenons, shortening their width to 15-1/4″.
Dry-assemble the edges, high and shelf to verify the dovetail joints shut totally with the shelf in place and the edges are sq. to the highest.
Including Curves and Ending Up
Disassemble the challenge so you should utilize double-sided tape to stay the facet panels collectively in a stack with their inside faces touching. Mark one facet panel for the big arch that types the stand’s 2″-wide “ft” on the underside edge. I made the apex of this arch 2″ and used a big French curve to create the form. Draw the smaller curve from the entrance half pin socket right down to the entrance fringe of the facet panel 4-1/4″ up from the entrance foot. Noticed these curves into the ganged facet panels on the band noticed. Then sand the curves easy and honest.
Give all of the stand’s components a closing sanding earlier than assembling them. Unfold glue on simply the dovetails, and clamp up the challenge with the shelf dry-fitted in place. This manner, you’ll be able to take away the shelf after the glue dries to prefinish it and the inside surfaces of the challenge subsequent. My bubinga definitely wanted no stain, so I merely sprayed it with three coats of aerosol satin lacquer. As soon as that was completed, I flattened the protruding dovetail joints, glued the shelf into its grooves and sprayed the outer surfaces of the challenge.
Permit per week for the end to remedy, then this workplace machine stand is prepared to be used. And also you’ll have one other hand-cut dovetailed challenge underneath your belt!
Click on Right here to Obtain the Drawings and Supplies Listing.
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