I delivered this table to my client’s office last week. It is good to finish a piece and be able to celebrate it. In spite of this I tend to experience a wide range of emotions and second guessing when I finish a job. One thing that never changes though is the gratitude I feel at the opportunity to be a woodworker, one who engages the authentic witness of the trees. They always have a real story to tell about our God and His majesty and faithfulness.
The discovery of the life within the wood and the relationships they form is exciting to uncover. The early decisions are heavy. Every other act in the process is a response to these chalk marks as they try to hear and echo this walnut tree’s voice.
The romance of the craft is backed up by countless hours of “mundane” work- the discipline that builds skill, and makes up the real life of labor. Days are spent creeping up on this scribed relationship and the foundational joinery. It’s a blessing to work, and to rest in the presence, at the same while striving towards the goal. Don’t mistake me, I’ve only had enough meager success at it to know it’s possible.
One side of the natural edge was curving away on bottom edge so I had to cut a shallow rebate in order to have a solid joint as well as cleanly scribed edge. This edge was reinforced with dominoes. The opposing edge curved towards the bottom edge and could be cut square. For it I made a floating contoured spline from Baltic birch. Assembled dry all is tight and solid.
Finding a way to visualize the elements in a design is an engaging challenge. Krenov spoke of “composing”, and I’ve adopted his method and language -clamping up and mocking up relationships as the process moves forward. I don’t recall if he used tape, but I recently switched from using blue tape to white tape to mask off shapes- the difference is remarkable.
The last bit of joinery for the individual trestles is the horizontal rail completing the “H” form, which will eventually carry the longer rail that will join the two trestles together.
I’m grateful for this job, this material, this process. I heard a song that had a line which proclaimed “I am the record of His grace”.
Is labor a sacrament? The invitation of the Eighth Day? A sacred collaboration with the living God? I can’t help but to note that the call to labor in the garden came before the curse of toil. I am certain that labor is about more than just earning my bread. There is something deeper there, not just for the artist, but for the ditch digger and the roofer, the farmer and the nurse. “Whatever you think, it’s more than that…” ISB.
flattening walnut stock with a wooden joiner for the top rails of the leg assembly
using winding-sticks to make sure there is no twist in the board
finishing up with a #7 jack plane
squaring up the remaining edges and dimensioning the walnut on the bandsaw
layout lines
initial shaping of the curves on the top rail of the legs
testing it against the table-top
sawing lengths of white-oak for the vertical posts of the leg assembly
the white oak after squaring-up
testing the concept and a few angles before committing
laying out the leg joints
establishing the sliding dovetail angle with a knife
cutting the front of the sliding dovetail
all the bandsaw work done, now the hand-tools will finish
paring the back cheek of the tenon
the joint is most of the way there- the waste between the mortise and the dovetail is yet to be removed
the four white oak legs all cut
the arsenal of tools to accurately transfer the dimensions of the tenon/ dovetails onto the walnut rails
marking
starting the cut for the sliding dovetail socket with a carcass saw
another view cutting sliding dovetail sockets
chopping out the waste in the socket
paring the sidewalls unreached by the saw
using a router plane to achieve an accurate floor of the joint- the leg on the cutter allows it to reach the angled corners
another view of the router-plane
starting the mortise with a 3/4 mortise chisel
the first row is delicate- just establishing the shape and protecting the corners
going the full depth of the mortise with an auger – you can see the round-topped sliding dovetail socket parallel to the mortise
squaring the mortise the rest of the way with the mortise chisel
cleaning the sidewalls with my extra-big paring chisel
thank God, they fit!
step one is successful- to get to this point took endless drawings and two complete practice joints and a lot of patience
marking the leg rails for some shaping/ sculpting cuts on the band saw
the top rails post rough-shaping, and the taper of one of the white-oak legs marked with blue tape
dry re-assembly just to make sure
the glue-up
next week will concern the joining of the bottom rail and the final shaping of the leg assemblies
There was a question about the jig I used to make the “dovetails” in my last post, so here it is.
Utilizing the natural contours of our native black walnut within confines of a more strict geometry.
JONAH CHEST: PANELS
Building up a trapezoidal chest panel.
Ebonized walnut splines.
Rough idea of the panel with a 3/16″ reveal (ultimately) of the splines.
NATURAL EDGE FRAME
Scribed half-lap, upper left.
Dovetails, upper right.
Scribed lap joint with key, lower right.
Whole frame. The lower left corner is a doweled butt-joint.
A dovetailed painting cabinet in quarter-sawn white oak. The tree grew along the Van Horn Branch just south of Boaz, Kansas, until it’s bank gave way. The panels will be gessoed and receive an oil painting. The cabinet is only dry fitted. It will not be glued up until the panels are fully prepared. In order to eliminate the center stiles of the frame and panel doors, the inside inch and 1/2 is a full tenon into the rail, while the rest of the panel will float in the customary grooves.
Pictured below is a walnut slab bench that is meant to accompany the headboard-chest bed, also of black walnut.
A detail of the joinery – bridle joints join the legs to the aprons and are pegged, and the stretchers are joined to the aprons with sliding dovetails.
The Bed
The set-up for chopping the dovetails for a large walnut chest, which will be incorporated into a bed I am building.
Here a joined walnut board is clamped upright in the vice and to the stretchers for sawing the dovetails.
Finally, in the act of chopping.
The School of the Transfer of Energy 