Here' somthing I made a while ago...

[Ralph Laughton]

Bit short on pictures at the moment, so here's a picture of a hall seat or 'settle' I built a while ago. Built from pine boards glued up into panels and lots of routing.


Here's the back being laid out, rebated first and then beaded.


The loose raised panels are stained prior to assembly - no white bits later!


Ready for finishing...


This is it after first dye coat. It is now very much darker after a few extra coats of dark oak spirit wood dye and several coats of antique pine finishing wax.

Got a new 'digi' camera but as I am an old bloke it's going to take a couple of days to work it out....

... now where does the film go?

Hope you like it

Ralph

[Dick Parr]

Very nice Ralph. And welcome to the SMC.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Ralph
Very nice. I like the curve design of the sides.
Daniel

[Chris Padilla]

The two-tone paint job is a very nice touch...you don't often see that!

[Michael Ballent]

Looks REAL nice!!! How long did it take you to complete it?

Once you get used to using the digicam you will wonder how you ever got along without it

-Michael

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Very nice. That's a lot of tedious routing...but the result is worth it.

KC

[Bob Marino]

Nice work and a good dea about those raised panels. You ain't alone, I don't even have a digital camera!

Bob

[Dan McGuire]

Ralph,

that is a nice looking piece. How did you lay out the curves on the side? I built a "settle" as one of my first projects, I can't say that it was as big as that, but the curves were the most frustrating part of the project. The curves on my project look o.k., but I know where to look to find the irregularities of the cuts..tough to do with just a jig saw. I found that a paint can had the right radius I was looking for, so that was my template for the curve. But when it came to cuting each side, and trying to have them match is where I got frustrated.

Dan

[Bob Lasley]

Very nice job Ralph. I like the half-lap beaded joints in the back.

Thanks for posting,
Bob

[Ralph Laughton]

Michael,
I think it took 3 or 4 days with all the glue ups. The Plano glue press helps.

Dan,
The shape of sides were drawn onto a piece of ½ inch plywood using a large pair of plastic compasses and a rule. This was used as a template after being roughed out with a jigsaw (sabre saw?) and sanded to the line with a 3inch drum sander in the drill press. Once the template was to the required shape it was laid on the glued up blanks. The shape traced on to the blank with a pencil and again roughed out using the jigsaw to within ¼ inch of the line.

Final shaping was done with a top baring profile cutter, A BIG one, and a big Makita plunge router, the 3612C – Got a really good electronic brake that machine, big plus when using big router cutters.

After shaping a quick once over with a ¾ inch roundover and you are done.


Here are the sides, one has been rounded over.

Hope that was clear.

Ralph

[Ralph Laughton]

Bob,
The half-lap bead boards make a change from 'V' T&G and give it an older feel. Lots of work but worth it I think.

Ralph

[Todd Burch]

Ralph, I like the settle. It's something that I've been wanting to make for several years. (Although, not as much as the stuff I HAVE made, obviously!)

I made a some cradles back in '99. I wanted a certain look to the edges where one would typically round over with a router and get a "perfect" edge. I used rasps and files instead, followed by sanding. I was very pleased with how it turned out. Have you ever tried that technique? It takes a bit longer, but I think worth the effort. I think you subconsciencely feel the difference when you run your hand over the edge - it just feels better for some reason.

[Ralph Laughton]

Yep Todd, I agree with you. There is something about doing it by hand that is why I am a woodworker. That settle was made as a project article for the UK Router magazine a year or so ago, hence the heavy router content.

I like nothing more than working in my home workshop with hand tools - don't have much option in there it is 6ft x 8ft and that the external dimensions!

My commercial shop is 1200sq ft - room enough for a router or two!

Ralph

[Todd Burch]

That's a pretty small shop!

[Ralph Laughton]

.

Wanna see some pictures?

Ralph