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?
3 comments:
why is getting glass cut so hard!
i 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.
hey nick, my uncle works in a window and door place, and he says there tolerances are 1mm +or-.
maybe 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.
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