Sawmill Creek Woodworkers Community - Blogs - Shawn Pixley

Finishing the race...

Shawn Pixley — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:12:25 GMT

Let me start by saying that finishing isn't my favorite activity. Unfortunately, when I have tried to hurry this, I have regretted it. So this was a lesson in patience. My shop is my garage and we still park cars there, so I would finish this up in the room where it will stay. The piece is so massive that I would finish the pieces in stages building up from the base. I have been increasingly happy with oil / varnish mixtures wiped on with many light coats. I particularly like the textures that are achieved. One advantage I have finishing on the third floor is that I can do other projects in the shop while finishes dry.

The one thing I really do like about finishing is the way the color is brought out and the figure really pops. One of the major design concepts was the rounding of the rails and their contrast to the hard edges of the tapered legs.

SWMBO wasn't sure of my leaving the patch of ambrosia on the door. I actually like it a lot, though it might not appeal to everyone. These are quick iPhone photos. For the grand unveiling, I will shoot the project with the SLR. The color is somewhere between the pictures here.

After the basic finish was complete I installed the glass I ordered earlier.

There are a number of details left to complete (installing the leather, and some other bits and pieces). I also need to let the finish fully cure before I rub out a few areas. The acoustic hanging there is a guitar I built over the MLK Holiday. I am still fiddling with it before starting its finishing process.

I need to express my thanks to Sheldon, Scott, Prashun, and others for their unknowing help. I read the finishing forum consistently, and have learned a lot. Thank you!

Next, the grand unveiling???

Details, details, details...

Shawn Pixley — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 20:35:31 GMT

After the completion of the main portion of work, I find it easy to fall into the trap of, "let's start finishing." There were still a number of details and small components left to be part of my concept. One of the design intents was to draw the eye up to the glass display cabinet. Therefore the pulls needed to be a bit more special than the drawer pulls below. I experimented with casting some bronze in Cuttlestone.

But when I held it up to the doors it felt forced and out of context to the simplicity of the piece. I decided upon just a double curve from the motif of the drawer pulls.

With the tapered sides, the double curve added a subtle undulating effect. Unfortunately, texture isn't internet friendly, but the pulls are really delightful to the touch.

I had to build a couple of trays for the top drawers. The bottom drawers would each get a box for guitar accoutrements. There are a couple of secret drawers / compartments but I'm going to keep them secret.

In the display portion, I needed to build a support for the lower bouts of the guitars. Ultimately this will be padded. I experimented with a couple of leg motifs here but they really didn't add anything to the piece. It would have a couple of small boxes as well. The neck support would be in the same curve as the lower arcs. I would make this in the same materials as the rest of the piece. The brass rods will have a rubber tube over it when complete. There were also the bits and pieces for door stops and magnetic catches. Next on to finishing...

Recovery Part II

Shawn Pixley — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:03:14 GMT

I hate it when I find that I made a mistake weeks ago. I had improperly calculated the spacing for the dust guards. Before I could fasten my applied fronts I had to relocate my under mount glides. So once again doing fiddly work laying on my side and working in cramped space. I had also fabricated my drawer pulls weeks ago when waiting for glue-ups to dry. I rectified the glides and fitted the drawers. A day's work but seemingly infinite trips up and down three flights of stairs. While gluing the pulls I fabricated and fastened the top crown. At last the main components are all together.

Next I'll work on the drawer inserts, trays, guitar racks and other custom items. The other basic fabrication will be the drawer pulls. They will be a little more elaborate than the drawer pulls. I'll make two sets. I have an idea of casting some bronze in cuttlefish for an add-on motif for the pulls.

Next thing next

Shawn Pixley — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 18:49:09 GMT

After deciding the top structure will echo the bottom structure, there is a question of proportion. To hold my guitars, this would have to be a big piece - Roughly 4' wide x 2' deep x 7' tall. The question then becomes, "how do I ensure that the right proportions occur?" My answer for this piece is that all the dimensions of individual members would be 2/3 that of the base. That is then added to the concepts of squares that are foundational to the design. The cabinet base drawer unit is 2'x2'x4'. The overall piece is two squares. The upper cabinet would be two vertical squares side by side, producing a double size square. I traced it out on flimsy, and set to work cutting and prepping stock. The base element was very straight forward with members 2/3 the size below, and all of the curves were the same.

I took a step back and made my four drawers. These were very large (two of them are just under four foot wide) in order to hold a guitar. They again we largely uneventful. They were complete except for the applied front.

Over 3-4 weeks, I made all of the elements for the display cabinet portion. This takes great patience on my part because I love seeing things come together. But at last I had all the stock prepped. I then glued up the two side panels. After which I rabbeted the glass inserts. the glue-up was pretty non-eventful despite the very large size for my makeshift bench in the garage.

Joinery is all M&T. Sorry for the lousy early generation iPhone photos. My garage is on the first level, but I am assembling it on the third floor.

I next went for the doors. I have a curved rail and a tapered stile on each door so I went slowly and carefully. They turned out square. I used Brusso knife hinges (I had mortised the bottom and top panels and fastened one half of the hinge before I glued the top carcass). Fitting and setting the doors took a while and many trips up and down the stairs. Eventually it all went together.

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Finding the logical conclusion

Shawn Pixley — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 16:49:43 GMT

When designing something, there are two common challenges that most of us face. In the process of design, the sweet spot is somewhere around taking the central idea to its logical conclusion. The challenge is that this point is somewhere between under-designing the project and over-thinking / over designing the piece. Under-designing is typically better than over-designing. So let's take a look at over-designing first. This is of course this is a matter of individual taste. I'll use Rococo pieces as an example (my apologies to anyone who is really fond of Rococo)

The designer of this piece took some good ideas / elements and thought, "if a little ornamentation is good, more must be better." The flaws in this piece are in my opinion not one of craftsmanship or even general aesthetic content, but a lack of single focus. These are often a factor of evolution of a style. Renaissance beget Mannerist, which beget Baroque, which then beget Rococo. At some point in time, there is a rebellion in styles. We saw that in the last ~150 years in furniture and architecture. In Victorian architecture and furniture, there were several distinct phases - Italianate, Gothic Revival, Eastlake, and Queen Anne to name a few. But eventually someone grows tired of this and proposes a new aesthetic. Victorian styles beget Shingle, Stick and Arts & Crafts styles, which in turn leads to Art Deco and Art Nouveau. Eventually these ornamented styles were rebelled against by others leading to Modernism, Bauhaus, etc... This, in turn, will spawn Post modernism, etc...

So why do I go down this bunny trail that seems unrelated to the piece I am building? I am not trying to be pedantic and teach an art history survey course. My point here is the a successful piece or body of work is one that takes the concepts / style / intent to a logical endpoint but not too far.

In the piece I am making, my central concept was to do a deconstructed Display Cabinet. The legs are separated from the carcass. The top floats above the carcass and so forth. There are other elements involved with my aesthetic choices (contrast and harmony, thick and thin, curved and straight, stability and tension etc..) but my example will focus on the deconstructed elements. When I initially designed the piece I had a very clear idea for the base elements (leg structure, drawer carcass, and top. they would appear to float or be unconnected to the other elements. I had ideas for the top as well but they were very less well defined.

While I worked on the carcass I thought about the top. when working on the top, I thought about the display structure. This is where I noticed an issue. The bottom was deconstructed, but the top was much more integrated. My feeling is that this would not be taking the aesthetic choices to their logical conclusion, and as a result the piece would be less successful as a whole than one that explore deconstruction in all its logical aspects. This lead me to think that the display component would be better if deconstructed from the legs. I drew a revised sketch in fat marker of a new top piece and started building.

The glass display cabinet will float over a second leg structure.

The purpose in my continuing blog was to document / explore my process of design. This rose from passionate discussions in forums over a year ago. The discussions centered around design tools (Hand vs Sketchup) and Aesthetic "rules" or absolutes. The building will go slower now, so I think the next step is to backtrack a bit and document / illustrate the choices I made to get here.

Choice is torment

Shawn Pixley — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 02:35:52 GMT

Agonizing over the best way to do something is not my best attribute. After finishing the drawer carcass, I had to decide on the intermediate top treatment. when designing the piece, I drew it as being walnut with a thin, tapered edge. while working on the carcass I had started to wonder whether the walnut upper cabinet corners (mimicking legs) would be set off better from the top if the top was maple, trimmed in walnut.

After talking with SWMBO, she thought I was over working it. So I ended up making it out of walnut. I placed the better wood at the front and the breadboard ends as the field wood wouldn't be prominent. I use breadboard ends a lot, so why would this be different?

I am a blended woodworker, but this is a job for hand tools.

The construction was unremarkable, but the top structure looms (cue ominous sound effects).....

Refinement, the dilemma

Shawn Pixley — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:17:25 GMT

When I am constructing a project I look for elements of refinement along the way. This can be a good thing or bad thing depending upon what is discovered. LOML is an artist / silversmith, so I ask for her opinion along the way. I don't always take it but it allows me a sounding board to consider a design. For the base, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to accomplish. When it came to the box (carcass) I also knew the fundamental idea, but augmentation raised an ugly question, "how did i want to handle the joinery at the corners of the four planes?" I considered dovetails, miters, rabbets / rebates, and mortise & tenon. In the end I decided I would go with a rabbet / M&T combination. I decided the contrast of the base to the simplicity of the cabinets side should be emphasized. While dovetails would show skills, they would lower the focus of one's attention and detract from the overall piece.

I had to agonize on this, while I prepared stock for the carcass. I also needed to consider how I would treat the drawers both in aesthetics and in function (AKA - glides). I decided that I wanted to use bottom mount Blum glides with Blumotion since two of the drawers would hold guitars. I also wanted dust covers inside for the same reason. The drawers would be set back from the "face" to emphasize the planes of the carcass. Typically, I would taper the inside edges of the carcass, but this project is very large and I want the construction to get lighter as your eye moves vertically. These choices I consider can be frustrating. While prepping stock, you are free to "not decide" but at some point, you hit the wall and a decision must be made.

The building actually goes pretty quickly when you have made the decisions...

The dust covers and final dry fitting took a day. The next day was gluing and truing. I needed an extra hand or two to align all the tenons with their respective mortise. While I was assembling and then waiting for the glue to dry overnight, I considered the top which will go on top the carcass. I got my son to help me move the carcass upstairs and out of the way. The shop (read "Garage") is too small to keep components in while building other portions, so up three floors we went. I set it on its base to get it out of the way and to ascertain how it was progressing aesthetically.

Next I need to finalize what I am doing for the top and the upper case. I wasn't perfectly clear about the top when designing it. Questions such as materials, walnut, maple, or both? Does the display cabinet fully abut the top or do the tapered legs get emphasized? Here is where LOML comes in. I can have a tendency to overwork things where the better becomes the enemy of the good. Decisions, decisions...

Next - What was chosen?

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Progress on the cabinet, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the process

Shawn Pixley — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:06:39 GMT

I started my blog on the aspects of design and the creative process. Here is a recap of what and why I am doing this:
"There was a spirited discussion in the design forum around using sketchup vs drawing by hand. I am a proponent of designing by hand, so if something else works for you, do it. First, I should explain that I never use anyone else's plans unless I am taking a class. I am not trying to espouse that you should design this way or that this way is the best, but merely that this is my way. This blog will be about the process of design conceptualization, design development, mock up, and fabrication of an individual project. This will be a one of a kind project and will not be necessarily like my other pieces. It will however be indicative of the design process I employ and what works for me. So enough with the disclaimers. If you are willing to go forward, you have been warned."

When I was finishing the last project, I began sketching the next, a guitar display cabinet (see "Not done with the first, but time for the second"). I winnowed through the designs until I was satisfied I had one to develop. I start at small scale and double the scale each time I down select. The last one was at 3"=1'. I don't obsess too much on every detail in terms of joinery, and plan to work that out as I go. I plan to do this it three main assemblies - Base, Cabinet, and Display.

With the design "set" I need to track down materials. There are two problems here. My shop is a garage that I use to park cars in, so I have very limited storage for wood and finished components. the second is tracking down wood of this size can be challenging. I needed 16/4 Walnut for the legs, and 8/4 Curly Maple and Walnut for support structures.

I became resigned to gluing up the walnut when I stumbled on a slab that would work (thanks Bill). I milled this to rough blanks that would form the legs. I am very careful in layout for the joinery so I likely am guilty of overkill. Mortise the legs and start work on the rails. Due to the size of mortises, I decided not to do them by hand, but used the mortising machine.

The rails presented a challenge of getting their mortises perfect (different sizes and heights) and their tenons, before cutting the curves.

It seems I cannot resist curves. I spent a day fairing the curves with a spokeshave. I was bad at not taking pictures of all the steps, but I figured there was a limited interest in pictures of square stock. The maple I ordered online and it is beautiful. One piece was long enough for the Rail but too short to incorporate the tenons, so I inserted slip tenons I fabricated. The large stock requires very persnickety fitting for its joinery. Next, first assembly...

Finished, I think

Shawn Pixley — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:11:58 GMT

Work has been a bit psychotic at the start of the year. I did find some time to complete the prong table project. I apologize for the pictures, I need to take a day and set up the better camera with fill lights. This doesn't really do justice to the Flame. The finish is Garnet Shellac for the Cherry and Super Blonde for the Maple. All wiped on by hand and sanded to 800 before final wash coat. Some of the pictures show the cherry blotchier than it is in real light.

All in all I was reasonably pleased by the project. The design intent came off. The tall one looks delicate and the short looks Bushido.

If I were doing this again I might try a different prong and I would have done the inlay before I cut the arc. (That was a major mistake. working around the legs was a pain.)

The next project will be have fewer curves. I am tired of curved object to curved object joinery for a while.

Following through

Shawn Pixley — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:43:35 GMT

I had been too busy with work and then LOML's & my trip to Japan to make much progress on the taller table. With a long weekend it seemed time to finish up this project. The two tables were to be a "Family" but not identical. The smaller one, would be a little less refined and a bit "Bushido" looking. LOML refers to it as the samurai table.

The taller one would be a bit more delicate and refined. I cut the prongs, and fit them to the top. Two prongs are glued with Titebond III and two with hide glue for removal as necessary. If I had been smarter I would have done the inlays before assembly but that water under the bridge now. I glued it all up and put on a coat of BLO prior to final prep and finishing. A couple quick pic's on the deck.

I will let the sun do its work on the cherry. The plan is to Finish the cherry with a 2lb Cut of Garnet Shellac, and the Maple with a super blonde Shellac. Plan is to finish these while I prep material for the next Project(s).

Next post should cover what I learned and what I would do differently.

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Not done with the first, but time for the second

Shawn Pixley — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:57:51 GMT

As I was finishing up my pair of tables, my mind turned to the next project. I have been considering how to design a guitar display cabinet for a while. I find that as I complete one project, my mind is free to work on the design for another. Additionally, SWMBO had co-opted the shop (aka garage) for a staging area to purge her excess "stuff". So now that I could neither get my car in the garage, nor use my tools, I had an afternoon for design. After looking online at others' who have done this, I decided on a few things.

Having the case itself it sit on the floor was not viable to display or handle the guitars
Due to the number of guitars it would hold, it would be massive
I wanted it to be furniture not cabinetry
Due to the necessary size of the piece,it would be necessary to break up the top and bottom elements
I like floating elements in my work, I would strive for this
After building the last several pieces with curves, I thought I would explore something different. In any case I started with some dimensions that would accommodate the guitars and started to lay out fundamental proportions. I was tempted to start by using Sketch up but given that I was in a creative mood I went back to tracing paper to iterate quickly. I worked through several ideas, Narrowed these down and started to develop them.

Despite wanting not to use curves predominantly, I couldn't help myself. The muntin designs didn't really add to the piece so they were eliminated. While they work with shojii screens, they didn't help here. I did like the taper. After talking this through I doubled the scale and prepared an isometric back ground to visualize in three dimensions. While I generally can see and design in three dimensions, others need the sketch.

I also started to play with the stiles on the doors to see if I could make the piece a bit less "blocky". I tape things to the wall to allow for review and discussion.

I colored these to determine how differing species of wood could help to reduce the mass. The design is still not complete, But I finally feel I have a direction to refine...

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Facets

Shawn Pixley — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:08:25 GMT

I am a bit delinquent with my posting. This was done a while ago, but I didn't get to it as quickly as I should.

With the basic frame assembled, I set my mind to the prongs. I need to refine both the shape and determine how to tie the various elements together. In the mock-up, I had focused on the joinery rather than the shape itself. After exploring a few different shapes I determined it should continue to sweep out a bit and be faceted rather than rounded. I also wanted a bit of emphasis on the prongs. Not so much as to detract from the live edge maple but enough not to be viewed as a weak cousin to the top. I had inlayed a small bit of ebony on the tall table's rails, so I thought I would continue with that.

I laid up the stock and went through my sequence of operations. Because of my distaste of routers I did this joinery by hand. Each of them were hand fitted to both the top and to the arcs. Unfortunately due to this persnickety work, I didn't take enough progress pictures. But an afternoon later, I was able to dry fit the table.

I let the piece sit dry fit for a week while I considered what embellishment might or might not work on the arc's. I kicked this can down the road for a while but now I need to fish or cut bait. My first thought was an inlay on the rails. I am drawn to Japanese design, so I did a bit of research. I then inlayed a circle of ebony and looked at it for a while. Eventually, I developed a pair of motifs for each table. For the short table, people would get too close to the the arc so it would need to be simpler, but bolder. For the taller table, you'll just have to wait.

I was really liking how the wane edge contrasted to the arc. The picture above with the shadow was shot by my wife when I was at work, she had been skeptical about this contrast but she became a convert. For the taller table, will be more delicate as to will be closer to the eye. I worked out a series of circles that would mimic the arc. A quick morning of inlay and I am ready to assemble. Afterwards a quick coat of BLO and a photo on the deck.

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Recovery

Shawn Pixley — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:51:52 GMT

With the router blow-out, I needed to reconsider how to get my legs uniform so they will fit in the dados. I could get a different trim bit and try again. I could sand to the line (ugh!). Or I could use a spokeshave or compass plane. Since I am a hybrid woodworker - tailed and non-tailed tools, I decided to use the spokeshave (but it could have been an excuse for a compass plane since I do so much curved work). I have a cheap Spokeshave that isn't very good but I can get a very sharp edge and make it passable. The next weekend was spent working through the legs to get the uniform and carefully fit them to the Arc Dado Joint. After that I did the leg taper. I've started to name this project the Laurel and Hardy Tables (one tall and skinny and the other short and fat in their proportions).

Because I wanted the two pieces to be a family (similar but not quite identical), I would try to emphasize the skinny-ness of the taller piece (Stanley) by using a double rail with a bit of ebony inlay. This would be wasted on the smaller one due to its diminutive height (I don't think people are going to lay on the floor to examine its rails). Over the weekend, I got both bases assembled (sorry, I didn't take progress pictures). I took the pieces upstairs and laid their respective to on them. So far, so good.

Time to take another step back to consider two things - the prongs and the inlay. For the prongs while I had worked out the joinery technique and new how I could build them, they still seemed a bit clunky to me. One thing I was going to do was mimic the ebony on the rails. For inlay I had been previously undecided whether the Arc would benefit from an inlay or would this be viewed as ornamentation for ornamentation's sake.

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The blow-out

Shawn Pixley — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:23:33 GMT

Anyone who knows me recognizes that the router is my least favorite tool. It can be the right tool for the right job, but I will go a long way to avoid using them. Because of the nature of the piece and the joinery required, I was going to use the router to trim all of the legs to the template I created. This would allow me to cut the dados on the arc ahead of time and still be assured that they would form a tight joint. Because I was doing two pieces at the same time, I wanted to make the pieces as interchangeable as possible.

I spent the weekend getting the stock all prepared. After which, I did the cutting of the arcs and legs (steps 1-8 in the sequence of operations). I had used the router Table to trim the mockup and it had worked wonderfully. But now I was doing it on my Cherry. I had never worked with cherry before but up to this point it worked similarly to maple. I had cut close to my layout line so I would be routing off between 1/32" and 1/16". I typically do this in very small passes. The first side of one leg goes well but the second side blows up on me!

Despite my going with the grain, a huge piece is no longer there. I have enough stock to redo this leg. but if another one goes, I will need more. I stop for the day to rethink my approach. I really hate the router.

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Stepping Back

Shawn Pixley — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:25:44 GMT

After I posted the last Blog entry I worked on the prong end. The prototype had left me with corrections to the sequence of operations but I couldn't (or shouldn't) go further without determining how I was going to fabricate the prong ends. They needed to be removable and of a tight tolerance given the nature of the design intent. I drew many different joints out at full scale but ultimately decided on a sliding dovetail connection. I mocked this up in poplar as well taking notes along the way. I then bounced this past other local woodworkers to garner their opinion.

I recognized that if I was to use this joint then I needed very accurate measurements and calculations for the Arc. This also meant I needed to fabricate the second top before continuing. Unfortunately other issues got in the way (Fair entries, redoing a floor for SWMBO, etc...) before I could get to this. I am still a bit unsure of the dimensions of the joint and the profile of the back, but I have the ability to correct / modify this on the real piece. Now on to the rough-out of the real wood.

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