Finally got my shop back, lets build something!

[Eric Hartunian]

Hi all,
I have been on temporary duty since last December for some Army schools, so my shop has been packed up. We finally made the move to Ft Campbell, Ky, and am about settled in. I don't have to report until mid Sep, so here is a build thread that hopefully will be complete by then.

The project is an armoire for clothing, and is my own design, based on pics and models I've seen. Basically, I took what I liked from several designs, and went from there. A two piece design, one large case with drawers, and another slightly smaller case that will sit on that. Solid mahogany, with poplar as a secondary wood. This will be a hand tool only project, so roll your sleeves up! Comments are always welcome, of course.

Pics to come in the next few posts...
Eric

[Eric Hartunian]

This is a shot of my shop wall, not 100% happy with it, but it will do for now.
THe other pics show some of the starting materials, and the first cuts. This is all rough 4/4 stock. I am using pretty traditional case construction techniques. The cases will be dovetailed together, dados for the drawer runners, etc.

[Eric Hartunian]

Here are some pics of scrub planing, cross cutting, and sharpening the rip saw. This project is physically wearing me out! It was nice to take a break and sharpen the saw. That scrub plane is one I made myself, and is a lifesaver for a job like this. Lots of tearout in this mahogany, though.

[Eric Hartunian]

These are some more shot of prep for the first side panel. Planing the rabbets was more hard work, though it was fun to peal off those thick shavings. I did have to clean all of them up with a shoulder plane. I think my no. 78 needs a tune up.

[Eric Hartunian]

So what did I do to get rid of the tearout? Did I use my infil smoother? No luck. My LN LA jack with steep bevel? No luck. Scraper? Works, but slow. Well, this little stanley no 110, $5 on ebay (cost more for shipping), actually turned this mahogany into a finly polished panel. I couldn't believe it.

Squaring these large panels was really hard. Must learn to do this better right off the saw.

[Eric Hartunian]

This is where I am at right now. So far, I have put in about 3 1/2 days work to get to this point. The dovetails went surprisingly slow. This mahogany is tough stuff! Also, I have never done a project this large before, lots of firsts here for me. Working case sides that are 20" long was hard. Getting the dovetails to line up, and test fit was cumbersome and time consuming. I only have 1 corner done, 3 more to go. More in the next few days.
Thanks for looking...

[John Keeton]

Eric, I am worn out just reading the thread!! Whewwww!! At least PT will be a breeze for you after these workouts. I was surprised at the failure of the LN LA jack to tame the grain of the mahogany. Would have thought that would have done the trick.

Neat neander project, and the progress pics are appreciated. I know how much extra time and effort that takes.

[Matt Evans]

The project looks good so far. . .

Is that Sapele (African Mahogany)?

I know that I have had a hard time getting Sapele to plane well. The higher angle planes seem to work better in this particular wood. Scrapers work well, but, as mentioned, are slow. The grain is prone to a "pockmark" tear out effect when planing, routing, ripping, or looking at crossways.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Looks like you are off to a great start Eric! Is that the bottom panel in the pic? Looks like poplar glued to mahogany?

I agree with Matt on African mahogany. I used the stuff once to make a couple of tables. It will never come into my shop again. Terrible stuff to plane without tearout due to the heavily interlocked grain and ribbon striping reversing grain. Probably why your little block plane worked so well as the smaller, narrower iron is easier to plane locallized tearout than the longer jack.

[Eric Hartunian]

Yup, it's african mahogany. Yup, never again.
Bob, yes, it is poplar with mahogany glued to it. That is the top (bottom is the same). Remember, the top case will sit completely on the bottom case, so only the sides are visible on the bottom case.

[Robert Rozaieski]

OK, top of bottom case, got it . Perfectly logical to me. I'm really interested to follow this. Been awhile since we've had a build thread.

One suggestion that I'm not sure will make a difference or not as I've never used a Japanese saw but you did mention having some difficulty cutting the panel square. It looks to me like you are using a double toothed saw with rip teeth on one side and crosscut teeth on the other (are these called Ryobas)? If so, this may contribute to the difficulty you had making a square cut. Both sets of teeth would be set so by sawing completely through with a double sided saw, the set of the trailing teeth could be affecting the tracking of the saw. Of course I could be talking out my other mouth too as that's about how much I know about Japanese saws . Just my wondering thoughts.

[Greg Cole]

Looks good & you're off to a great start.
I'll echo the same sentiment about the mahogany being a PITA to work with planes... but it looks so nice when you're done with it. I have't banned it from the shop, but haven't run out to buy any more either.
I love these build a threads here in the Cave.

[Richard Dooling]

I'm really looking forward to following this thread. Thanks for putting in the effort!

[Roy Wall]

Eric -

This is a great thread to watch -- thanks for the play by play. Nice work...

Yes, it's slow going...but so what if it takes you 3-4 weeks (or 3 - 4 months) ......it will last a lifetime....and more.

[Jim Koepke]

One suggestion that I'm not sure will make a difference or not as I've never used a Japanese saw but you did mention having some difficulty cutting the panel square. It looks to me like you are using a double toothed saw with rip teeth on one side and crosscut teeth on the other (are these called Ryobas)? If so, this may contribute to the difficulty you had making a square cut. Both sets of teeth would be set so by sawing completely through with a double sided saw, the set of the trailing teeth could be affecting the tracking of the saw.

My Japanese saws get used a lot on small cuts, but for some reason, they have never tracked well on long cuts. This does not matter whether it is a single sided or double sided saw. For small cuts, they are faster and leave a nicer edge. For bigger things or joinery, it is the westerns and the back saws.

BTW, love the build thread, please keep it coming.

jim