Long time no blog... well at least lots of photos.
Here we go.
The edge treatment and pre-finishing done it was assembly time! First I glued up the frames.
Then the base parts.
As the base glue ups sat in clamps I worked further on the frames.
Also I tackled the sizable panel fitting for the Kwila table.
Once again a Narra top to match the Kwila side tables. I didn't dare get as close off the saw as I have with the other panels. The big panel is a bit unwieldy on the cheap table saw. A big panel saw would come in handy every now and then heh.
I've been a little anxious about this "joint" as it is a big and very visible one. I took it extra slow, checking frequently for parallelism and how far I was practically every 64th of an inch until I got within a 32nd... then I checked after every few plane strokes... a bit over kill? Maybe, but...
After all that excessive creeping the final fit pretty much kicked ass :). As humble as one may want to be or is comfortable with, sometimes it's good toot that horn a little bit and be happy with a job well done.
I just hope it stays that way after finishing and gluing it in the frame. Glue does of this tendency to change things a bit.
Quickly whipped up a frame with half laps and screws to act as a doweling template.
I did learn a few things in the "industrial" cabinet shop that I would probably never use in my furniture but comes in handy now and then and makes life a little easier.
Dowels fit!
I couldn't put a dowel into the legs because of joinery going on in the leg. I have decided against using brackets as I frankly find them unnecessary for these tables.
Here's a very low tech "jig" (ha) I've been using dealing with dowels widely spaced apart. Cut a notch in a scrap make it as long as you want your dowels to be and use the end to rest your saw blade against while cutting. Maybe a little "crude" but easy and reliable!
Just about there! Hopefully I'll make the final glue ups tomorrow!
HOWEVER...............
There's always something...
a couple in this case.
First the paper for the Oak coffee table to be adhered to the bottom of a glass top. It seems IMPOSSIBLE to find in a large enough size. The standard I'm finding Japanese papers in is about 36-38" long and 24-26" wide. That is wide enough but I need about 45" long!
I went everywhere I could think of around the cities, and then the places that the people who helped me at these places suggested. Then started a wider search on-line... I found ONE roll that looked to be of pretty poor quality.
Unlucky for me, I'm stubborn and know what I want. Lucky for me I have a classmate and friend in Japan! He sent me a link to a website that I could not read (Japanese) but did have photos and prices that I could convert. Now the amount of paper I need for one table would only be about $7 worth but I can't imagine that the shipping residential to residential from Japan will be less than $80 considering a small package I was going to send there was $40 in shipping. Anywho I ordered enough for 4 coffee tables plus there will be left over.
Ok well that being dealt with... Glass.
I originally wanted 5/16" thick glass. Not too light and not too heavy. Turns out that is an "odd" size... seem pretty fricking normal to me. Turns out I was informed that is a "European" thing and that I CAN get some shipped from the East coast at $1700!!!
Ok well I decided on 3/8"... when the frames were assembled I could call to place an order.
What the ^@$#@*(E*(&%#%@%$!^&$^@*&!!!
I can't find anyone willing to work in a tighter tolerance than +/- 1/8" in 3/8" thick glass >:0
That's a QUARTER INCH window!!! Not something I would call acceptable in this case. I've asked if I can pay a higher price for even a tolerance of +/- 1/16" and have been turned down.
The problem is that these are relatively big industrial operations. I don't know that there are any small glass shops with people willing to spent just a little extra time to do something well around here. Getting glass shipped from the place I worked with in Vancouver would cost a bundle! And at that point I would have gone with 5/16" anyway!
Does anyone know any QUALITY glass workers in the Midwest?
why is getting glass cut so hard!
ReplyDeletei gave the glass guy templates and they were perfectly cut right on.
I'm lucky to have a friend in town who's a journeymen joiner and also runs/owns a glass shop. The man knows his trade. But i'd say Geterdone is the new Craftsmanship. Sad.
ReplyDeletehey nick, my uncle works in a window and door place, and he says there tolerances are 1mm +or-.
ReplyDeletemaybe you should look to see if you can find a high end window shop around your place.
that, or learn the trade yourself. cutting thin glass is not that hard, and with a little practice, you could get proficient with the thick stuff and with curves and such.