Friday, May 6, 2011

Substrate City

Aloha it's once again time for substrates! Ha
As I get further into this project I realize that for such a simple looking end result there is a fair amount going on with this desk. Even in the substrates!
The for drawer pocket partitions are made with flat birch ply, two different thicknesses though. The side aprons are being made by bent lamination of 1/8" ply lams. Then the back apron is lumber-core constructed... and I still have to make a decision on how to construct the two side stretchers!
Building something of the sort with an organic intention is neither quick nor easy. If it was, we'd see more of it I think.

Above some bake-ins are being applied to a drawer pocket component.

Shaping a Poplar mold for the bent laminations.

Here is the core lamination all clamped up. I'm using 1/8" Poplar "sheets" combined as a flexable caul. The ply core with be then given bake-ins before it goes back on the mold to get veneer.

While that was going attention was turned to the lumber-core back apron piece. Quater-sawn Poplar. I'm using lumber-core so I can curve the outside to the shape of the desk-top and keep the back flat which will be part of the drawer pocket.

Clamps came off the bent lamination and went on to press the Oak veneer for some drawer pocket parts. I kept my "press" set-up I had for veneering the panels in my Side Tables in hopes that I would need it again. And it just seemed a good size to keep around. Less fussing around makes my life easier, yay.


While the veneer was going I got to the bake-ins on the bent lam side apron cores. The bake-ins need to be cut in a curve also of course heh.

Aaaaaaand cleaning up the long bake-ins for these curved surfaces. I went with a spokeshave to accomplish this.
Wheeew now that the substrates are mainly done I can get to the veneering. The up coming couple weeks may be a bit touch and go because I'm starting a new part-time job hopefully as a barista on a high-end "coffee bar" and bakery (yay/yum) and will have some overlap with the other. Somewhat decent timing though as I only have enough clamps to do one veneer clamp-up at a time and my Father looks to be starting a sizable project and will be in the shop.
Hopefully I wont get too cranky from being out of the shop! ha

8 comments:

Nick Brygidyr said...

2 words for you: feather spline that back panel in. i dont think im ever mortising in a back panel/apron again...to many..mistakes when fitting drawers in by the front.

Nicholas Nelson said...

heh Naw I do need the apron for the structure. Fitting through the front is more tricky but not impossible :).

LORD GODFREY said...

I am loving the new white background Nick! I don't pass out now after reading your posts, which I quite like by the way. The students juts had their year end show. It was incredible. lots of talent and finished pieces!

Nicholas Nelson said...

ha white background?
The blog is still charcoal with gray type. I changed it from black and white after you mentioned that way back when ;).
Though on some screens it seems to look darker than it does on my screen.

Good to hear the showing went well! Wish I could have been there!
Made any decisions on that chair fabric??

LORD GODFREY said...

Hey Nick

Weird for some reason it is showing up white on my laptop. Weird.

Yep I got the fabric delivered, got the greyish colour (the one you liked). Now all I need is $700 bucks for the upholstery labour.

Jason Herrick said...

Cool stuff! It's awesome to see "substrate" and not have it be particle board as it so often is in my shop. Would you mind dumbing it down a sec and explain what "bake-ins" are? Good luck with the new gig. mmmmmm bakery.

Nicholas Nelson said...

Bake-ins, sure I can try!

"Bake" is kind of a funny work for them as there is no heat involved, at least not in my shop. It is simply gluing on strips of solid wood to the edges of the main substrate, in this case ply-wood.
One glues these strips to the 50/50 edge/end-grain surface of the ply or even the end-grain of a lumber-core substrate or whatever kind of edge a substrate offers.
Then the veneer is applied and "bakes in" the solid strips. This locks them strongly in place. Now you not only have a edge that is works much more easily and better but you have long-grain edges for better bonding.

Industry folk tend to see things like these as a "waste" of time but we are building different products with different goals.

Oh bake-ins also come into play with the final surface of lets say a veneered door. You want your vertical grained veneered door to not have "caps" at the top and bottom. Just bake-in the top and bottom edges with a selection of the same species the door will be veneered with.

That help out at all?

Jason Herrick said...

Perfect explanation! I use them as well, but have never had a name for them. I've always used the fancy word. "Solid wood do-hicky on the edge and stuff."

Thanks for the clarification AND education. :)