[OP]
Member
I picked the first picture I could find online.. If it belongs to member here, all respect intended..
I wanted to know how ya'll would make this piece..
My gut says Plywood pattern for bottom, plywood pattern for top?
I could just cut it out with a bandsaw and sand it smooth with an edge / spindle sander ? but it wont be repeatable like a pattern..
Feel like I am missing the simple way ..
Member
1. Make a template.
2. Rough cut it with the bandsaw.
3. Use the template and a template/pattern router bit with a bearing to clean up the piece.
The bearing will glide along the template producing a piece that is exactly the same, every time.
Member
It's an interesting hybrid of cloud lift and arch.
I suppose the rail would be cut on a given radius, and notched afterwards.
The finished rail then becomes the template for the drawer front.
I think a plywood template for use on a router table would make real sense,
if there are four sides shaped alike.
Search Darrel Peart for more info on building Greene and Greene inflected designs.
Contributor
Plywood is not a good material for temp,MDF is better even thou the dust is foul it's much ester to clean up bandsaw marks and no voids like plywood.Sometimes you can get by with just 1/4 inch..
[OP]
Member
Thanks for the replies.. Templates make sense.
You've fond the simple way. Template routing. I use 1/4" MDF although I know folks who use 1/2". My 1/4" templates have lasted for years.
Stile shape n glue 006.jpg . CoD Finish (8).jpg . CoD-Finished-6.jpg
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Member
That is stunning, Glenn. I don't mean to steer off topic, but are you installing your square plugs after finishing?
Member
I gotta call BS on this, Baltic Birch or Apple Ply make excellent template material.Originally Posted by Andrew Hughes
Member
I have used BB plywood and MDF and I will always go to the MDF now because it is so easy to clean up the template like I want it. I am sure that the BB will last longer but I have some MDFs that I have used many times over the last few years and are still just like they were when I made them.
It is not the straight areas that are the problem for me it is the curves that to me are much easier to get the way I want them with MDF. The other thing is MDF is cheap and if you screw up a template it is cheap to replace.
I use my Ridgid sander to do most of the clean up work but with MDF when you have to do some hand work it is very easy to take off just a little bit and get is smooth.
Member
I'd create the rails template first, then make its negative plus reveal with a router and bushing and a straight but, might take a little expiramenting to get it just right. MDf makes good quick templates, easy to sand, I've hardened the bearing edge with CA glue for longer life. But the same qualities that make it easier to sand than BB make it wear faster. Some of my work requires making a lot of the same thing powerfed on a shaper, and MDF wears quickly if real precision is required, the bearing pushes that mushy edge into a new slightly different shape after not too many passes. Now I'm sure ten guys will bark out that they have been using the same MDf template for decades and....apparently their requirements are different than mine. If I were making several pairs of these tables, I'd take the time to use BB, for a one off or limited run MDf makes more sense to me.
Member
I'll bark out that good multi layered plywood will out last MDF. The plywood is harder. And for big templates, it's also a lot lighter. I have many templates of both materials. The ones that are important and that will get used a lot get made from plywood, phenolic, acrylic or aluminum.
Contributor
If you are making just one of these then I don't understand the benefit to a template. Seems to me that a template is great to ensure uniformity across a number of parts.
threadjacked.JPGThanks David, I install the ebony plugs before the last coat or so.
Last edited by glenn bradley; 10-23-2013 at 7:27 PM.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
Contributor
I've got templates that i've been beating on on a regular basis for 8 years or so. The MDF ones have held up the best. Mind you I am not buying the low quality borg material. My plywood templates seem to suffer from soft spots here and there. But keep in mind some of these have been used for dozens of jobs and I don't pre cut the parts, I just tack the template on to a full sheet of ply and push it through a spinning bit. I don't think it really makes a huge difference with moderate use templates. One thing I have noticed is that my plywood templates tend to change shape. It's only a 16th or an 8th over 5 or 6 feet, but they are definitely not as stable.
Contributor
If I were making just one of these, I would:
1) make a pleasing shape for the bottom on a bottom piece
2) use that to mark a top piece and get a top to fit
3) use the bottom and top you just made as templates to make however many more you need to make
I wouldn't bother with a template. Just mark it with a sharp pencil, cut just outside the line, and scrape/sand until you split the pencil line. That will give you a half pencil line of clearance (probably not enough, actually). In other words, more or less a perfect fit.
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