Neander Chippendale Lowboy Build – Part 2 dimensioning and carving layout

[Mike Allen1010]

This is part two of a mostly neander Chippendale lowboy I’m building in cherry from Franklin Gottschall’s book “Masterpiece Furniture”.

I always enjoy the hand tool build pictures and descriptions my fellow Neanders share here on theCreek and that’s my motivation for this post. I make absolutely no pretense that I have any talent/ability/knowledge, or that this is the “right”way to do things. There’s nothing special or unique here – just how I do things as primarily a hand tool woodworker based on trial and lots of error! If you enjoy the picss and happened to pick up a little tip that makes things more fun for you – so much the better - I will have “paid forward” a tiny fraction of everything I’ve learned here from my fellow Neanders on the Creek.

Side panels of the carcass – the grain runs horizontally to match the drawers that are the primary focal point on the front of the piece. I like to surface plane glued up panelsb efore final dimensioning so that any spelching that happens when planing cross grain can be cut off.

For layout, I tryto do as little measuring as possible and just index tools from reference surfaces. I put an “R” on the reference face and reference edge because my biggest screw ups come when I index a tool from the non-reference surface. Because the face and long grain edge surfaces usually get planed couple times (erasing the “R”), I also put little arrows on the end grain because these tend to hang around longer in the build process.

These are a couple shop built layout tools I use regularly. The reference face on the panel gauge is only about 8” long – one of my next project will be to build one with a longer face and a beam with a triangular cross-section so that the cutter is more likely to stay true to the reference edge and not follow the grain.
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First step in final dimensioning is crosscutting to final width. This is a picture of my sawbench and most importantly the light directly overhead. The sawing errors I make are almost always related to not being able to see the layout line, which as gotten increasingly more difficult over the years. Putting a work light directly over the saw bench makes sure the layout line is always clearly illuminated without shadows (provided I don’t get my fat head in the way) and I don’t have to set up a work light for every cut. I can’t see the line from the marking knife anymore so I use a black felt pen and saw so the layout line remains visible for final trimming with the plane.
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For planing end grain on wide panels like this I prefer to mount the stock in my face vice/deadman – lets me put my weight behind the plane a little easier than on a shooting board. My LV BU Jack is my favorite plane for end grain, primarily because it’s fast and easy to remove the blade for sharpening and set up is pretty much fool proof. I don’t worry about any spelching because I’m going to saw that off when cutting to final width.
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It’s always nice when matching parts turn out to be the same size
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Here’s the template and carbon paper for tracing the bottom profile on the carcass sides.I always just try and center these in the middle, mostly because I suck atmath.
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[Mike Allen1010]

Curves are always a problem for me. I have no drawing ability. I use this circle template all the time.
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I use a forstner bit for curves whenever I can because I struggle with sawing a circle. A little sharpening with diamond paddles and 500 RPM in the drill press produce a clean edge.
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A coping saw for the rest of the curves. Tight corners, like the middle of this profile are much easier for me to do with the coping saw than with a jigsaw
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The left-hand side has been smoothed with rasps and file -the right inside still needs to be done. Quality rasps are one of the hand tools I wish I would’ve learned to use much sooner in my woodworking experience. They are fast, accurate, leave a smooth surface and more than many other hand tools, worth every nickel you pay for them.
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Finished carcass sides glued up from three pieces of the same board. I think they will look decent when the finish goes on.

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12/4 stock for the ball and claw feet. I have a cheesy bandsaw that’s not very accurate I used to get to rough dimensions from two planed reference sides. This little layout tool is probably one of the most frequently used things in my shop.
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A shop built,single iron Jack plane (thank you Derek Cohen for the tutorial!) with a well cambered blade takes nice thick shavings that get to final dimensions fairly quickly, and a #6 fore plane gives me final surfaces.

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[Mike Allen1010]

To get all four legs to a final length, I use a ruler with a simple stop for consistent layout.
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I use a simple bench hook for cross cutting small parts. For larger parts like these legs, Ilike to be able to saw at 30 – 45° angle to work surface, which is impossible on the benchtop. This is a big bench hook I use in the end vice, which lets me get the cutting angle I want.
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I saw the layout line facing up and then rotate the stock forward 90° to saw the layout line on all four surfaces. This makes for pretty accurate cross cuts. The end grain cleans up easily with a block plane.
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Now to dimension the rails for the front of the chest. This board is about 14 inches wide – not uncommon to have a little bit of tension in the wood that would bind the saw unless you use a wedge to keep the kerf open.
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I try to do as much ripping as I can in the slot in the middle of my saw bench because it lets me keep both feet on the ground, which I find a lot easier than holding the work with my knee. A sharp handsaw with a little bit of elbow grease can apply quite a bit of force to the work piece allowing it to slide along the benchtop– I hate that! Someone here on the creek has the tagline “clamp the work and relax your mind” which I think is 100% on target! These little bench hooks are just pushed in with hand pressure and that’s usually enough to keep the stock still, if not I never hesitate clamp.
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[Mike Allen1010]

For cross cutting the rails to final dimensions is nice to have the bench hook and shooting board easily accessible. In the background is the bench I started with 40 years ago which serves this purpose well.
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These are the three rails for the front of the chest. The dimension I’m really focused on keeping the distance between the shoulders the same so that everything goes together square. Gottschall’s book is pretty topline without a lot of detail (the section for this project is 5 pages), so you have to figure out the dimensions for the joinery on your own. More math = more chances to screw up. I try to layout matching pieces like these three rails at the same time whenever possible.

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Here is the template for the carving on the bottom rail on the front of the chest. I am in waaaaay over my head! One thing I have learned is to plan in advance where the “bridges/islands” will be to support the router base when leveling the background behind the carving.
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Gouge and mallett gets rid of some of the background waste, but really most of it was removed with the router, which was noisy, dirty and scary.
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Here’s some pics with the “setting out” of the margins of the carving partway done. I want to establish the bottom carved profile of this stretcher with the carving tools now before sawing the waste free so that I minimize chip out. This is going to take a while and I will certainly struggle with accurately establishing the relative height of the different elements of carving. Ultimately I'll get frustrated and say “close enough”.
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Here’s the results of the weekend’s work; all of the show components have been dimensioned, which leaves carving (ugghh) and joinery (yeah!).
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Thanks for looking, Mike

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Very nice work. Looking forward to watching the build.

[Christopher Charles]

Hello Mike,

Looking great and enjoying following another thread--these are my favorites as I always pick up one or three things with each of your posts!

Cheers,
Chris C.

[Winton Applegate]

Mike,
Thank You so much !
Your project thread with all the nice photos and great narrative is just what I was needing.
Thanks again.
Winton

[David Weaver]

that looks like some super nice cherry stock. Very straight and really nice color.

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

When putting these pictures/posts together I'm always concerned that I'm covering stuff that's obvious and therefore uninteresting for my fellow neanders. I'm a pretty literal/linear thinker and when I am looking at project plans etc. I can see what it's supposed to look like, but can't always figure out what I need to do to get there, so I tend to err on the side of being overly comprehensive. I'll try and streamline things a bit with the posts for the rest of the project.

David, cherry is one of my favorite hand tool woods. Here in the desert of Southern California, it's not always within my budget, but I was glad to be to pickup the lumber for this project for a semi-decent price. For carving cherry isn't as quite tightly grained as more traditional carving woods like mahogany so it does chip out a lot more across the short grain pieces.

I also enjoyed your comments about the satisfaction you get from working at a consistent pace (in the "do professionals use power tools" thread). I also enjoy being able to move along with the build process, rather than standing in the shop staring up at the ceiling for 10 minutes wondering what I need to do next. I'm fairly new to carving and at this stage for me it's a lot more thought than reflex and therefore more of a chore than other fun parts of the hand tool build process.

We have two boys in college and my next project will be dressers for them. I've already picked out a design I like that has no carving or inlay and I'm really looking forward to being able to enjoy and expeditious build with some Stevie Ray Vaughan playing at sufficient volume to drown out my singing, and not have to think too much.

Best, Mike

[David Weaver]

Mike, hopefully one day we can flip flop and I can build a bunch of furniture and you can build a bunch of planes! I guarantee the planes are easier and you can get away with a lot more.

[Mike Allen1010]

I don't know David, you speak with the hard-won plane making knowledge that comes from experience. I've never had the courage to try a non-laminated plane, and even some of those ended up as firewood – especially the smoothers.