Wood Working: Making Wood Working Plans Work for You: "Making wood working plans work for you is easy but it requires proper planning and thought put into it. Woodworking plans can be used by ei..."
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Saturday, February 22, 2014
One of the first facts the uninitiated should learn is that routers and the work that comes from routers are defined by the various bits used and the quality of those bits. Rather plain pieces of lumber can be given a completely different appearance with beautiful shaping and design with commercial router tables or homemade router tables.
Even those who are willing to cut their own finish pieces sometimes avoid using a router, because they believe it is just too difficult. But with some practice and patience, nearly anyone can learn to produce fine bevelled edges, shaped pieces and so on, using a good router. In fact, some people who have experience with routers state that if a person can guide a piece of finish lumber through a stationary power saw or table saw, then they can also make good use of a router.
Companies that produce woodworking equipment such as routers also offer a range of educational material and design plans specifically for mastering the router. Plans and designs clearly show the shapes and designs that can be produced with different angles, different bits and different motions. Some of the plans and designs are free of charge and easily found on Web sites.
As mentioned earlier, the various bits used with routers are really at the core of what this marvelous item can do. For example, notching and edging in different patterns is possible with certain types of bits. Edge bits create bevel edges for a mantle piece, as another example. Straight bits and other specialty bits can be used to create deep grooves and notches, even with perpendicular sides. If a craftsman wants to create a tight fit for a high-quality cabinet drawer, he or she may use a dovetail bit. There are also slot cutters and finger-joint bits, often used to hold cabinet fronts snugly in place.
Those with some expertise in the use of commercial routers, such as Wolfcraft router tables, might use a "stile" bit for such special tasks as post caps and fence work. Experienced craftsmen sometimes use the same bit and make two or more passes through the router to create a certain look. Miniature bits can be used with some routers to create toys and doll houses, as well as to detail fine furniture.
If workshop space is limited, several companies can supply bench top routers, some with height adjustment to make the work more comfortable. With router work and other finishing tasks, it is essential that the equipment be placed so that it is comfortable to use.
For finishing a one-of-a-kind fireplace mantle, creating crown molding unlike any other or for more practical tasks such as capping fence uprights, the router can be an ideal piece of equipment. In some cases, only a router will provide the detail and beauty required by a home improvement project.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
a while back, we worked with our neighbor, steve holman, on two large conference tables, one 9 x 26 and one 8 x 20. we had to set them up in my garage as neither of our shops was large enough to hold them ... this fall he got a commissions to build two more smaller tables, a 16 footer and a 14 footer. those both fit in his shop and were simpler in design, but we still helped by cutting the table and base pieces on our cnc.one of the other parts of this project was a fantastic reception desk, designed by steve and paul molinelli, that was full of curves and different levels and was pretty complex as you can see from the photo above. click the pictures to enlarge them ...
so, how did we get from there to here ... it was easy for us. all we had to do was the full size templates, curved plates, and bending forms ... steve and his crew did the rest. im sure it could have been done without the cnc, but you would have needed some pretty big french curves to lay out the full size pieces. and then, the small adjustments ... it would have taken some time and some really intense bandsaw work ...
we started by scanning the scale drawing actual size and then drawing over it in our cad program
from there, trevor imported that into the cnc router program and he added the elevation sections shown above ... 
next step was the 1/4 scale model you saw in the photo at the top. trevor constructed it by stacking layers of mdf of the proper thickness to correspond with the section drawings at each slice.
from there it was a simple matter for him scale it up to full size ... (increase; proportional) and then cut the full size patterns, counters to be veneered and their curved solid wood edges, and the plates from which steve and his crew created the curved walls and curved laminating forms.
here are the walls, unskinned ...
in some cases they were covered in wacky wood and veneer panels made with the curved forms, and in some cases, vertical siding of 5/8th" thick solid lumber
next paul carved the car element (this project went to an automotive company) and added the hood element from, i think, a 1937 ford or chevy ... cool ...
and then there was the other part to the project; the two conference tables. one 14 long, and one 16 long ...
this one is makore veneer and cherry. after i did the cad drawings, trevor programmed and cut the vertical elements of the base and the outriggers, the horizontal elements that receive the cross bars that support the top. he also cut the top sections to shape and the matching solid wood borders, as well as the holes for the power/data fixtures.
this is a section of the walnut and walnut burl table. ditto for this one except for a little adjustment to the thickness of the inlay panels. for whatever reason, the pockets trevor cut in the top sections were a little too shallow (there were two sets of burl panels made as the first one was too dark and burly, so, i suspect that was part of the problem. anyway, it was a quick, though somewhat nerve racking fix. after milling pockets in the spoil board he took a few thousandths off the backs of the panels so that the 1/40th inch veneer panels were just a shade below the surface of the 16th" veneered main table panels ... im glad i wasnt the one to level them up ...
but level them up they did ... and below, the solid wood edges are added to the top panels ...
the tables are probably finished by now, and maybe well see them before they go, or maybe we wont. anyway, we always enjoy working with steve and his crew. their projects are inevitably a rewarding challenge.
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