Bompe Chest Build – Almost Done

[Mike Allen1010]

This is the last post of a mostly Neander build of a mahogany Bompe chest I’m building to house some hi-fi components. Earlier parts of the build are in previous threads for those interested.

I left off the last post with the carcass assembled and ball and claw feet completed. This post covers horizontal dividers/shelves, molding, attaching B&C feet and finishing. Personally I always enjoy build pics so consequently I’ve probably include too many here – my bad.

The front edge of the carcass bottom mimics the curve on the top and sides of chest and extends beyond the carcass sides so it can be mitered with side moldings.
I did this as a separate piece to be added after the through dovetails joining the rest of the carcass bottom with the carcass sides were glued up. My reasoning is the final inside dimensions of carcasses I build rarely end up exactly as planned. Adding this piece after glue up gave me a better chance of getting a tight fit.




I use the same template for the carcass top to layout this curve. Because I shape the curves with hand tools, I don’t need a template to act as a guide for a bearing guided router bit, consequently I prefer to make templates out of poster board/paper that is faster/easier to cut than Masonite/MDF.




I saw out rough outline of the curve with portable electric jigsaw and shape to the layout line with spoke shave and card scraper. Pic of the piece dry fit to the carcass.





With the piece dry fit into position, I’m able to layout, saw and shoot the miters that will fit to the side moldings. My LV shooting plane is probably the “extravagant hand tool purchase” I use most often. Although pricey, it does a fantastic job of a fundamental hand tool task (shooting edges), that I wouldn’t know how to do otherwise with a power tool. Unlike some other tools I bought, I don’t regret this purchase at all.









I like to make moldings with hollow/round planes. Because the front is curved, I used an electric router. Here are some pictures of completed molding.

[Mike Allen1010]

I inlaid some musical symbols out of Holly into the chest top. I think my previous post has pics of sawing the inlays with a bird’s mouth and fret saw. I tried to get a low angle picture so you can see how the inlay tapers from top to bottom in hopes of getting a decent fit with the recess.







I cut the inlay recesses with a Dremel tool in a “miniature LV plunge router”. I’m not sure that’s actually the name of the tool, but is probably my most important tool for inlay. Here’s a couple pictures of the inlay leveled with the surface of the chest top.









Next up was attaching the B&C feet to the carcass with dowels and supporting blocking. This chest and the hi-fi stuff inside is really heavy. I’m hoping it holds together, but confess I’m more than a little nervous.

[Mike Allen1010]

With the feet attached to the carcass, next step is adding the rest of the feet. These need to conform to both the curve of the front molding and curved profile of the feet. The only way I know how to do that is dry fitting and shaping them by eye.











Forster bits shape the tight radii and the rest is rough shaped with saw, chisel and rasps.







Sorry for this horrible picture of planing the radius of the front curve with block plane.
Pics of completed feet.

[Mike Allen1010]

Here’s some pics of dimensioning the 2 horizontal shelves. FWIW, if you’re interested in hand tool woodworking, my humble opinion is a panel gauge and sturdy saw bench are 2 tools that make things a lot easier and more fun.

[Mike Allen1010]

Pics of making the rabbits that join the shelves to the carcass sides. For me rabbit planes are always a challenge to set up correctly. Typically I end up with sloping sidewalls and out of square cheeks. This time the rabbits turned out fine. I’m not gonna lie, I’m super pleased with my shop built rabbit plane - it works awesome!






I used a Stanley scratch beader to create 1/8” wide round beads along the top and bottom of the horizontal shelves. If you never tried using a scratch stock to create profiled edges I’d encourage you to give it a try- there pretty intuitive and user-friendly. If you’re getting too much tear out, don’t be afraid to use the blade freehand so it’s easier to work with the grain.




I suck at finishing and therefore rely on a couple I’m comfortable with. My “go to” finish is: Watco oil/varnish, sanded while wet with 600 grit, to fill the pores of open grain wood like mahogany, followed by shellac and paste wax. I use a pad of cotton wadding inside an old T-shirt to apply the shellac. For me it’s easier to get a smooth, untracked finish with this method versus a brush. I also get better results making my own shellac from flakes.



After padding on 2-3 initial coats of shellac, I use rotten stone with water as a lubricant and a felt block to level show surfaces. Be sure to wipe off all the abrasive slurry. I know spraying your project with water sounds crazy, but I think it works.

[Mike Allen1010]

Probably way too many pictures padding on multiple coats of shellac. For the last couple passes, I charge the pad with mostly alcohol and only a couple drops of shellac and apply a lot of pressure. I read somewhere this “stretches” the shellac - I’m not sure what that means, but my experience is it yields a glossy, flat surface.















Only thing left will be final coat of paste wax and building the carcass back that is intended to hide the spaghetti-like mess of cable that connects everything together. Probably not too interesting, but happy to post some final pictures if there’s interest.

Thanks for looking,

All the best Mike

[Stewie Simpson]

Excellent work Mike.

regards Stewie;

[Phil Mueller]

Well done Mike! Love seeing your work. Thanks for the great build threads. And yes, would love to see the finished piece all set up. By the way, I share your love for finishing. Most of my projects get the Watco/wet sand/shellac/wax treatment as well.

[Derek Cohen]

Extremely impressive Mike! This design requires mastery of the most difficult techniques in woodworking. Some of that curved work is what most dream of doing, and very, very few actually do.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Robert Hazelwood]

Excellent work on the chest, and the finish looks lovely. Thanks for sharing.

[Pete Taran]

Mike,

Excellent work. I love the use of that Disston #12 in your work. I agree with you on the shellac. Fresh mixed flakes is the way to go and using padding to get the finish on is what French Polish is all about. A great collection of almost forgotten techniques!!

[Robert Engel]

Very nice craftsmanship. I really like the character of the bomBe ;-)

[Brian Holcombe]

Nicely done Mike! I think the feet will be fine, they're relatively short and backed by corner blocks. Unless they catch on something while moving the cabinet (an event which will destroy nearly anything made from wood!) they will be fine IMO.

[michael langman]

Beautiful piece and work Mike! I'm in awe of your abilities.

[Mike Allen1010]

Thanks all for your kind comments – your too generous by far! I'm self-conscious about posting a thread with so many pictures, but I'm glad to hear my fellow Neanders don't mind.


Here's some final pictures of making/installing the 1/4" thick solid mahogany chest back. The back is inset 4" from the back edge of the chest to hopefully hide some of the tangled mess of cables/power cords etc. I used a paper template to shape the back to fit to the interior curves of the chest.





















[QUOTE=Derek Cohen;2659993]Extremely impressive Mike! This design requires mastery of the most difficult techniques in woodworking. Some of that curved work is what most dream of doing, and very, very few actually do.

Regards from Perth

Derek[/QUOTE]


Derek, I couldn't be more flattered by your comments as I'm a great admirer of you and your work. For many years I shied away from including curved elements in my woodworking. Even though I was fairly confident about being able to shape the curved pieces, I'm terrible with design and didn't think I could incorporate curves in a way that would look right. Part of why I wanted to post this thread is to encourage my fellow Neanders not to shy away from curves; shaping curves is straightforward - pretty much sawing/spoke shave to the layout line.

The biggest design learnings for me were:

1) Using flipchart paper to make actual size drawings.

2) Using a beam compass to combine simple circles in whole number ratios, to generate the desired profile.

Both ideas were stolen from a book on furniture design I think is really helpful, "by Hand and Eye".




Phil Mueller --Well done Mike! Love seeing your work. Thanks for the great build threads. And yes, would love to see the finished piece all set up. By the way, I share your love for finishing. Most of my projects get the Watco/wet sand/shellac/wax treatment as well.

Robert and Phil, finishing is my least favorite part of woodworking -the list of projects I've ruined at the finishing stage is embarrassingly and frustratingly long. I'm a big fan of finding 1-2 "Go To" finishes and learning how to make them work. I think shellac French polishing sometimes gets a bad rap because it can be can be presented as overly complex. My experience is it's rather forgiving – if you don't like the way it looks, you can always smooth things out or even start over with a little alcohol. My only suggestion is don't try to do it in direct sunlight. You can guess how I know that!



Pete Taran Mike, Excellent work. I love the use of that Disston #12 in your work. I agree with you on the shellac. Fresh mixed flakes is the way to go and using padding to get the finish on is what French Polish is all about. A great collection of almost forgotten techniques!!

Pete, the biggest reason I finally decided I didn't need a table saw and could rely primarily on hand saws was when I got a pair of #12's saws from you at vintage saws many years ago. Thanks for giving me a big push down the slippery slope of hand tools!




Pat Barry - I'd like to see the finished unit with the electronics installed and lit up.

Pat, unfortunately the chest is still in the shop awaiting final approval from the Boss about where I can put it in the house so I haven't been able to set up the electronics. Apparently I failed to get sufficient "prior authorization/approval" to convert the living room into a music listening space - something about "leaving a glass on the coffee table and making water rings once too often! ".

I'm pressing to have the ruling overturned (never thought those words would have such an ominous connotation"), but I may have to circulate a petition among my fellow Neanders to generate grassroots support. If I prevail, I'll certainly post pictures with tubes warmed up and making music – wish me luck!

All the best, Mike