| With the table glued up (a slightly stressful experience!) I cleaned off any glue squeeze out and then routed a rebate for the back. |
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| Then it was time for my "old friend" sanding. Man I hate sanding! |
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| I made a dowel a slightly smaller diameter than the flutes to allow me to easily sand them without rounding over the edges. |
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| And on goes the first coat of oil! I flooded the piece with boiled linseed oil (50/50 with turpentine) and let in soak for 15 minutes. Then I wiped the surface dry and left it overnight. |
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| The second coat was wet sanded with 1000 grit wet and dry sandpaper. I left it ten minutes and then buffed it dry. A few more coats to go...... |
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| Next job - the drawer. I struggled over the drawer runner design. The drawer is much wider than it is deep (nearly twice as wide!!) so racking is going to be an issue. In the end I chickened out and bought some super-duper drawer slides from Blum. They feature the "slow self-close" feature you may of seen in high end kitchens, a really cool feature! The drawer box is made from sycamore (I planed this up earlier in the project and have been letting it settle) I decided to get clever with the dovetails - hope you like! |
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| I used a router to cut some of the joint but due to the tight spacing of the joints I had to do most of the work by hand. Excellent ;) |
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| They came out well! I am awaiting delivery of the final part of the runners tomorrow so will fit them soon. |
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| Runners finally arrived! So here they are in place.
There are also two clips that attach to the bottom of the drawer. You can see the drawer bottom in this picture - I veneered a piece of 6mm MDF with maple veneer. |
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| I final sanded the inside surfaces of the drawer and applied a few coats of blonde shellac before gluing up. It is much easier to do this now. |
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| Glue up the drawer. Don't forget to insert the
bottom!! Check it is square and put aside to cure. |
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| Plane the joints flush and put on some final coats
of shellac. Then slide the drawer into place until it "clicks".
Voila!
Just need to add the drawer front. |
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| I'm pleased with the dovetail arrangement - I may use this all the time! |
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I routed a finger pull on the back of the drawer front on the router table. |
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| The back panel is 6mm MDF veneered with walnut. I popped it in the vacuum bag to press it. |
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| Apply the final coats of oil to the back panel and the drawer front. |
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| The drawer front is attached with screws from inside. |
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| Voila! Adjust the drawer central and level in the drawer opening using the built-in adjusters on the drawer runners. |
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| Glue the back panel in place. |
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| I made up some adjustable feet in brass. The bottom edges of the flutes are quite delicate so the feet will keep them just off the ground. |
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| Drill 9mm holes for the inserts and screw them in place. |
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| Now all that is left is for me to rub out the finish, apply a coat of wax and buff it out. | |