You can also view my gallery at Designs en Bois.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

A simple solution to complex joinery

With the aprons veneered, its time to start thinking about my joinery. The trick to this step is twofold. I have a curved front apron, which would be almost impossible to clamp into my tenon jig, or even a vice to cut tenons by hand. And secondly, the legs meet the aprons at roughly a 5 degree angle, adding to the complexity. But as is often the case when I face this kind of challenge, the solution is a green one.



Right click to download the HD version of this video

6 comments:

Tico Vogt said...

Hi Rob,

What mechanical pencil and lead size do you use?

Brian said...

Hi Rob,

I just started attempting to build fine furniture less than a year ago. I discovered your blog through the wood whisperer, and I've been following your work closely (I've caught up on a bunch of your old projects). I really enjoy the videos - they are very informative and well done. I'm particularly enjoying the current live edge table project. I'm a Boston guy, so it's nice to follow a local guy with such great skills in woodworking.

One question I have: your pictures of your pieces on the Newton Fine Woodworking site are gorgeous, and I'm just wondering if you have any tips on how you photograph your work? I've only built a few pieces so far (shaker hallway table, a toy chest, and a couple of jewelry boxes), but when I try to photograph them, I am very disappointed with the results. I can't explain it, but they just look bad. I have a Nikon DSLR camera that I usually use on dummy mode, but I can fiddle with the aperture and ISO settings from time to time. Can you maybe put together a blog post describing your photo setup? I'm nowhere near the level of being able to sell my furniture, but I'd like to be able to at least share some decent photos with family and friends.

Thanks a lot,
Brian

Rob Bois said...

Hey Brian, thanks for checking out the blog. Photographing your work can definitely be challenging, but going to a professional can be cost prohibitive as well (believe me, I've looked into it). Most of the techniques I use came from a great Fine Woodworking article from issue #213. You can find it here if you have an online subscription. Or definitely worth purchasing a back copy if they are available. http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/a-woodworker%E2%80%99s-guide-to-photography.aspx

Brian said...

Rob - thanks for the response. I just checked out that article (I have an online subscription) and it looks very helpful. I'm going to pick up some of that equipment this week and hopefully give it a try next weekend. Thanks!

Tom Buhl said...

Thanks Rob,
Timely as my designs are becoming less perpendicular and co-planar and was wondering if it might be nearing time to look seriously into a domino. Pretty expensive for the volume of the work I do, but...

We shall see. I appreciate the quality of your video and explanations.

Take care,
tom buhl

DMM Jhon said...
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