Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Fat Man, Little Coat

After the drawing board (in my case, floor) was hit I've done some rough milling for the Sofa.
These are pretty BIG planks of air-dried Walnut from IA.
My little shop can hardly handle them! I had to improvise a bit and do an initial rip with a circular saw.

Though the sides are basically the same as the chair version, the pieces between the sides will be 6 feet long. I haven't built anything on that scale since my workbench. I had forgotten how much of a hassle the scale is working from large rough timber in a small shop with small machines.
Oh yeah, the Roller Stands I have here are terrible. When I got them it was tough for me to justify the price of better rollers but now I wish I had. Yet another item on the list.

After some long hours of milling, this is what I got.
The lumber is not ideal, it's mostly quarter-sawn and every big plank has at least one big knot. Even trying my darnedest, there was an awful lot of waste resulting in less than ideal grain. I realize I may ask a lot on these matters, but hey, I've done my best choosing from what I have and it will be fine.
Had a short day today finishing up the rough milling this morning only to step back and allow it a little time to settle. Got some cleaning and "sketching" in.
Hopefully I can move onward tomorrow!

3 comments:

Jeff Branch said...

I like your band saw and your stands in the last photo. I know what you mean when buying lumber and having to make the best of what they have. This is especially true of my local Woodcraft.

Jason Herrick said...

No matter how big the shop, it seems as thought it could always be bigger. :) I'm pretty stoked to see this sofa. I really dug the chair. Cheers!

Nicholas Nelson said...

Jeff - Heh the band saw is certainly nothing to brag about. I've gotten by thus far.
Ah yes, the sawhorses. They are of the kind Krenov used. I'm sure the design came before him, but I learned of it through his books and IP.
You're getting lumber from a Woodcraft? There's got to be some lumber yards around!

Jason - I hear ya, though I wouldn't mind sticking to a medium to small scale of work. I would love a nice sized space with lots of beautiful planks though!
I don't know when the upholstery will be done but I'll have some sort of photos when it is!