Website: The Dovetail Chronicles

Location: Brunswick, NY

Hobbyist or Pro: Hobbyist

Project Name: Media Cabinet

Wood Species: Walnut

Finish Used: Sanded to 400 grit, used one coat of 1 lbs cut shellac to seal pores, this helped in blotching issues that I was having on test pieces with the quarter sawn walnut, 2 coats boiled linseed oil sanding to 600 in between coats and finished with renaissance wax.

Project Description:
This being my first project, I wanted to start out by building something that would benefit my wife and I. We were in desperate need for a new T.V. stand and with the right design I would be able to implement all the different techniques and knowledge for woodworking that I have acquired from The Wood Whisperer site.

I am very inspired by Shaker furniture, not only the visual design but also the construction. When designing this a lot of my inspiration came from the Shakers. I know that Shakers definitely were notthinking of T.V. stands when they made furniture, but hopefully they would be able to appreciate this one. Creating a piece from design through construction and into the finish is an amazing process. It really brings out your creative side and also your problem solving side.

You learn a lot when building. The experience that you gather is invaluable. Hopefully for other woodworkers who are just starting out this piece will be inspiring and show that no matter what skill level you are, if you put your mind to it and stick with it you can build anything. So, get out there and start building!!!

Website: WoodworkingByScott

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Project Name: Kitchen Table

Wood Species: Walnut and Poplar

Finish Used: Thanks to Marc I used General Finishes Arm-R-Seal on the table top and just ordinary Rustoleum Black Satin Spray paint.

Project Description:
My wife really wanted a new table. We purchased our old one just after we were married and it was used then. We shopped all over and didn’t really find anything that fit us or that was in our price range. So I took some ideas from several other tables and got on Sketch-up and in my basic way got to work designing what I thought might look good. And this is what I came up with.

Project Description:
Dovetailing:
Top & bottom case (router-cut), drawers (router-cut), drawer dividers (router-cut), base (hand-cut)…I wanted to experiment with both methods. The hand-cut definitely look more refined, but it was nice to have the router/jig since I had so many dovetails to cut on the rest of the piece. The upper & lower case dovetails are hidden so it didn’t really matter. I think it would have looked a little nicer with hand-cut dovetails on the drawers.

Doors:
The raised/”bookmatched” panels were a first for me…the panels aren’t resawn bookmatch (I don’t have a bandsaw with resaw capabilities)…I just pulled a bunch of wood and spent a few hours making up the bookmatch (i.e., composing with grain)…that was a lot of fun

Door & drawer pulls:
The pulls are ebonized walnut (another first for me). The ebonizing process was easy…I found an article on the FWW website. I used a convex router bit to cut the profile.

Case backs:
Lower case back is made of ship-lapped poplar (another first!)…Upper case back is walnut plywood…I’m not a big fan of using plywood, but that was a lot of visible space to fill so I experimented with the plywood. If I had had the materials, I probably would have gone with ship-lapped walnut. That’s probably the main thing I’d redo on the piece. Isn’t there always something?

Something to note:
I had to make the doors twice. That was a bitter pill to swallow! The first set of door frames twisted on me bad. I couldn’t figure out how to fix them, so I tore the doors apart and rebuilt the frames. The original panels in the doors were just flat, so I decided on the new doors to do raised panels. It worked out great and made the door rebuild a tolerable process!

As a Guild member, here are some of the areas where Marc assisted me:
- Design advice on adding additional upper & lower moldings to the upper case. Compare the before & after. The additional moldings really give the piece more interest (texture) & balance.

- Advice on how to mount the door and drawer pulls (glued & doweled through as well as glued on the back-side of the pulls)
- Finishing advice – I basically used your “simple varnish finish” process using General Finishes “Arm-R-Seal”.

From: Tim Grimwood

Website: Youtube.com/user/tlgrimmy

Location: Calimesa, CA

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: Multiple layers of Tru Oil gun stock finish, sanding with high grit sand paper in between coats (4-5 very thin coats). I took down the sheen after the final coat with #0000 steel wool to give it more of a satin finish.

Wood Species: Walnut

Project Description:
I used a taper jig to cut the angles. The dual recesses on the jig allow you to cut both compound angles by just flipping the setup over. The goal was a large dodecagon, so I determined the interior angles of a dodecagon and divided that in half to get the bevel. I picked the taper based upon what size circles I wanted at the top and bottom. To glue all of these pieces together, I laid out many large strips of packing tape and butted the tapered pieces together on top of them, which looks like a large hand fan;). I used a TON of Titebond, not worrying about excess and simply wrapped it into the tapered dodecagon shape. I tightly wrapped the whole unit with tape until it wouldn’t budge. After the glue dried, I used a power planer (handheld) to hog off the lion’s share of the corners to round things out, the I went at it with a smaller belt sander to get closer to final dimensions. Then it was just a lot of work with a card scraper and sand paper. I used a violin plane (Ibex) and some rasps to shape the top and then cleaned it up with card scrapers and sand paper. Once again, I’ve included pictures from another project to give an idea of what the process looks like. I ordered an african goat skin from, conveniently, goatskins.com, soaked it in warm water to soften things up and cut it into an oversized circle (about 5″ too large on the radius). I took some 1/4″ steel bar I picked up at Ace and bent them into appropriately sized circles, using a board with a a couple of lag bolts in it to help me bend them (two of the same size for the top and one much smaller for around half-way up the drum). I welded them with a mig welder. I took 1″ thick strips of cloth, sprayed the back with spray adhesive, and wrapped the rings with the strips.

The process of heading the drum is a bit in depth to cover here, but check out this website for more info. After heading the drum using nearly 100 ft. of rope! (about $20 at drumrope.com….gotta love these witty names;) I had to shave the goatskin on top! I simply took a razor blade and had at it like you’d shave yourself, being careful not so cut the skin. After shaving it, I sanded it nice and smooth to give a good hand-feel and shape the tone a little. You have to re-tension the head after a few weeks as the skin stretches. It was loads of fun and my brother loves it!

From: Bob Lossie

Website: www.makingtimeclockshop.com

Location: Lake City, PA

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: Clear Satin Finish

Wood Species: Black Walnut

Project Description:
My wife and I have two great friends that live across the street from us. We traditionally exchange a gift of some sort with them at Christmas time. Whenever they are over at the house they always comment on how much they like the Anniversary Clock that I designed and built. This year I decided to build one for them. I hope they get as much enjoyment out of it as I did making it for them.

This clock was built using Black Walnut. All the trim was fabricated and the top was covered with Black Walnut veneer. The clock features Glass Panels on all four sides with a door on the back to allow easy access to the battery and setting the time.

I have been a weekend woodworker for over 25 years. Recently I have been designing and building clocks. I am a draftsman and in my spare time enjoy making blueprints and then building the clocks. With every design I try to improve my woodworking skills with something more challenging than the previous design.

At the end of the video “A Fancy Raised Panel” Marc discussed how various types of wood provide an endless palette and an infinite way for us to express ourselves and our tastes. I communicated with Marc via email as I was happy to hear someone else speak what I had long thought. At the time I was working on a woven seat bench constructed from walnut. As I was finishing that one, I looked around and saw that I had an odds and ends pile of quartersawn white oak. So I thought, I would like to see how the bench would look in a different wood. Voila! A second bench gets built.

So… are these two benches identical or are they different? I like them both for different reasons. My most appreciated critic, my wife, weighed in on the subject and found something to like for different tastes in both benches. I hope I succeeded in illustrating Marc’s point.

Finish Used: Sanded to 220 before assembly. Assembled and touch up sanding done again at 220. Mixed BLO:Mineral Spirits 3:2 and applied one coat which I allowed to cure for a couple days. Top coat with 3 quick coats of brush-on lacquer with about 2 hours between coats. Allowed to dry hard and sanded with 440. Final coat with thinned brush-on lacquer.

From: Michael Harman

Website: Lumberjock’s Profile

Location: Dayton, OH

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Wood Species: Walnut, Cherry, Birdseye Maple

Project Description: This is only the second segmented bowl I’ve turned and it was really a surprise how easy it was to construct and turn. Turning this bowl was way easier than I thought and very enjoyable. I won’t win any design competitions with my simple design but the outcome is really great and does not take long. I would encourage anyone to give it a try. I have simply a Jet 1014 lathe and common lathe tools. It is a quick and satisfying project.

Process: I glued up several 8-sided rings (painters tape to hold the segments together): this makes it faster. When I got them all assembled I stacked them and clamped them in place. I included a piece of plywood on the very top to mount the faceplate. I inserted a piece of paper between the top ring and the plywood mount. I was able to turn them only a few hours later. Once the outside and bottom were shaped using a roughing and spindle gouge, I was able to break the paper bond from the plywood and flip the piece around, mounting it on a chuck. I turned the top edge and inside with a gouge and scraper. The scraper, utilized at a downward angle to engage the hook edge properly, is really the key.

Finish: Sanded 120-400 grit and buffed with cotton cloth while on the lathe: finished with only 1 coat of tung oil.

Here’s a video Michael made of the turning process:

A quick Whisper Mini tour of my recent 6-panel cabinet project. Want to learn more about how these doors were made? Check it out!

Outtro music provided by El Saxofonista! Thanks Horacio.

Well today, I went to a local lumber dealer, Spellman Hardwoods. I was picking through what I considered to be a less than great selection of walnut, when I came across this board. At first glance, it looked rather rough and I almost threw it to the side. But the light hit it just the right way and I could tell that something beautiful lay within. The wild grain, the knots, the undulating waves of darker and lighter colors, were all subtle signs that this board was going to be something to behold, if treated properly. So I threw the board in with the rest of my loot and took it home to see if I was right.

I brought the board into the shop and quickly sprayed the surface with nothing more than water. Immediately, the wood came to life with swirls, curls, and contrast! My brain was immediately filled with the endless possibilities of what this deceivingly beautiful plank could become. Now because of the wild grain and knots, I doubt very much I will use this as a solid structural member for anything. Most likely, it will become a veneer panel, a drawer front, or something else where I can admire its beauty without depending on it for structural integrity.

So don’t be so quick to overlook that ugly duckling of a board. It could very well be the highlight of your next masterpiece! Have you ever found a diamond in the rough? Tell us about it!