Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Love those curves
Fitting and joining the square side and back aprons on the desk project was, as Tommy Mac would say, "easy peasy". But the curved front rails are a whole different story. This episode goes into the detail behind creating the curve template, cutting the twin tenons and dovetails on the components, and then shaping the gentle concave curve into the fronts. This was a fairly gratifying step in the project since it completes the carcass, and really gives a good sense for the project dimensions and style.
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5 comments:
Nice job Rob. Had you thought about not cutting back the entire shoulder behind your double tenon and dovetail but rather stepping it back to but up against the inside of the side rail? I was thinking about that as I watch this wide board and the tiny bit of joinery up front. I can't imagine it would strengthen the join all that much but I wonder if it would have advantages once you get to the drawer installation. Liking this design a lot.
Shannon, I did give a lot of thought to whether to extend the rails (or even trim them on the back). In the end I was worried the aprons are not thick enough to support an additional set of tenons, and the dry fit of the rails is actually fairly sturdy as it is. I will be doing a twin dovetailed drawer divider that spans both rails, which will add additional strength, plus the top rail will be cleated into the desk top, so I'm fairly comfortable with the joinery. It's the same construction one would use on a straight front, the curve just means the rails have to be a bit wider. Also, I may be going with a less traditional method for the drawer guides, so stay tuned.
Rob,
It's easy to see how the tenons and DT will fit into the leg. Will the inward portion of the rails be connected in any way to the sides of the case rails? I sense there will be a lot of torque on the tenons and DTs of those rails.
I like what you did with the top and bottom bearing bits. I could have used that last weekend I was removing my template and trying to reattach it on the other side. What do you do when you are cutting a profile and not using a strait bit so you can't cut from the other side.
There's nothing worse than having to remove a template and try to reattach it on the other side. It can be very difficult to get it to match up. If you are using a profile bit that's not symmetrical top to bottom, this strategy unfortunately doesn't work. That is one of those instances where material selection and grain orientation become really important. Or if you can use progressively sized bearing bits to take lighter passes, that can help as well, but becomes a bit time consuming. I feel your pain on that one!
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