go

Go

So let’s see - last time on Let’s Make a Door I had dry-clamped the lower rail and stiles together. The next move is to remove the inner stiles and cut the mortises for the through-tenons on the outer stiles. The trick was figuring out exactly how far apart the shoulders are (from the inside of one stile to the other.) Once I had that, I could chop the cross rails to length and cut the tenons on either end. The idea behind the cross-rails (the thin parts shown below) is that the will distribute some of the load from the inner stiles to the outer stiles, rather than have everything rest on the lower rail.

Detail of one of the through-tenons. Eventually it will receive two wedges, but I wanted to wait to cut the wedge-slots until right before glue-up so the end wouldn’t get beaten too badly while fitting and re-fitting everything. The shoulder of the tenon is about halfway through the stile. Because it was such a long mortise, I routed it from both ends - one side to match the exact dimensions of the rail, and one side slightly smaller (thus making a shoulder), which was then chopped square.

One of the few full-scale drawings I’ve done. I wanted to be really sure each segment of the arch was exactly long and wide enough to complete the arch. It was also really nice to be able to compare the test pieces with the drawing without a lot of fuss.

Detail of the arch drawing. Not exactly Jefferson drafting the Rotunda, but it will work.

The arch segments are cut, and the glue-tabs have been glued and screwed on. Eventually each segment will receive four tabs (two on the “inside” and two on the “outside.”)

Dry-run with all the joinery cut and loose tenons in place. The tabs are angled so that clamping pressure is exactly perpendicular to each joint. Once everything is glued up, the screws in the tabs will be removed, and the tabs themselves will be cut off. Another advantage of having the full-scale drawing for the stage was being able to see exactly where tabs needed to go and long the screws could be without putting holes in the final, curved arch.

Glue up time! Each outer stile was glued to two arch segments,and the joint through the middle of the arch was dry-clamped. The splines running between the segments were more to register the faces of each piece than for strength.

Setting up to rout the inside curve of the arch with the large trammel. Notice the clamps are still on the middle section of the arch…

The poplar piece shown here was the dummy rail used to center the trammel. It was sort of awkward to set up, but it seemed to work.

Speaking of awkward…This was the (sort of ridiculous) set up to cut the groove inside the curved arch. I’m positive there was a better way to do this - I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

Cutting the groove. I used a 1/2″ spiral upcut bit and a plunge router, and took about three passes to get to the final depth. The fences on either side of the router base correspond to the opposite wall of the groove. In other words, there is enough space between the two fences to cut a channel that matches the previously-cut groove the straight, outer stile.

The groove is finished, and should match the tongue that will be cut in the tops of the inner stiles. I had to use a laminate trimmer to freehand-rout the web left after the big Routerlympic Ski Jump .

Cutting the arch in the inner stiles. Notice that this arch corresponds to the outside width of the stiles, and will eventually be the tongue on each stile. The shoulder-arch (which corresponds to the visible parts of the stiles) will be cut during the same set-up, but with a slightly smaller radius.

Test-fitting the arch/stile assemblies to the inner stiles. Because of the through-tenons in the outer stiles, each half of the assembly has to come in from the side (hence leaving the middle of the arch dry during the previous glue up.)

One last test to check all the joinery and the reveals between the stiles…

Success! (Full disclaimer: this was actually the most stressful glue up ever. No kidding.)

The next day…
Routing the outside arch using the same dummy piece as a center for the trammel (drilling a 1/4″ hole in the middle of the door at this point would be a reason for sadness.) Also, the shop-vac seems to be pretty much mailing it in this morning.

Using a jigsaw to cut the waste (including the glue tabs) off the arch…

All set. I used a template guide with a long bit to remove most of the waste, then I came back with a pattern bit to finish the job. Now I just need to make (and install) the window, build the jamb, finish everything, attach the hardware, and figure out how to move it…

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted any project pictures, so I wanted to do a full update of the [what has turned out to be epic] entry door I’ve been working on. The commission was for a 4′ x 8′ arch-top entry door, in mahogany. The clients had a fairly good idea of what they wanted design-wise, which made the initial lay-out a little bit easier. The real challenge for this project has been scaling everything up: heavier pieces, stronger joinery. How do you translate the detail that goes into a jewelry box into a three-hundred pound door? Each new operation seems to present its own little logistical nightmare. Sometimes the shop starts to feel like one of those little puzzles with 15 tiles and one empty space, and you have have to switch everything around to get them in the right order. Anyway, here goes:

The mahogany, all 150 board feet of it, arrives. I ordered the wood from my new friends at Irion Lumber in Wellsboro, PA. Myron was extremely helpful, and from the looks of it, picked out exactly what I was looking for: 10/4 thick, wide, straight, rift-sawn stock - yes!

I love the shipping label. I was surprised to learn that I had, in fact, shipped this lumber from myself.

Stacked in the shop, and ready to be stared at for the next month or so.

I couldn’t help planing a little section of one of the boards to see what was under all the dust. Very exciting.

In order to accommodate the horizontal rails which will hold the door in tension (think of the tension cables on a fence door), each vertical stile was resawn, then routed with four grooves in each of the two bookmatched faces. When the pieces are glued back together, the two halves of each groove will form a square hole, which will in turn house one of four rails. (This will all make sense in the end, I promise.) In the picture above, you can see one of the stiles already glued up (with dummy-rails sticking out of it), and two halves of another stile, ready to be glued up. The dummy rails help register the two halves so the channels aren’t offset.

I used Unibond 800 with a short-nap roller to glue the stile-halves together. Brought to you by Starbucks and your local Yellow Pages.

Clamping one of the stiles. The long boxes above and below the two stiles are torsion-box clamping cauls. I was worried that over such a long distance any curve or bump in the bench would translate to the stiles (essentially creating a bent-lamination), so I made the cauls to keep everything flat. They ended up working pretty well, but I won’t use MDF for this in the future - I have a habit of overestimating MDF’s inherent strength (heavy = strong, right?)

Routing the tongue the will fit the bottom of each stile into the lower rail. If you look closely you can see each stile already has its own tongue-and-groove. The idea is that each piece will be able to “breathe” independently of one another, while keeping the door airtight.

I’d like to take a minute to talk about shop safety. Sure, safety is great - it keeps you safe. More importantly, and what I think many people forget, is that safety equipment, if anything, is an opportunity to look your best. And isn’t that what’s really important, especially when you pretty much just work by yourself, with a bunch of dusty machines? I recently upgraded my protective eyewear from my sad old high school chemistry class goggles to these bad boys, and I can honestly say that I have never felt better about any purchase in my entire life. For six bucks and change you too can be the proud new owner of “Pathfinder” safety glasses. (A few other options, all with equally-great names: “Rendezvous”, “Frostbite”, “Law”, “Fortress”, and “Venture II”). I also bought some new masks, but that wasn’t nearly as exciting.

Cutting the mortises for the internal stiles on the lower rail. Each stile will have four loose tenons. You can tell from the smoke that the bit was starting to get tired and cranky.

Setting up to rout the corresponding mortises in the stiles. With such big pieces, each move becomes an exercise in logistics. What should take two minutes takes twenty.

Routing the mortises in the stiles.

Six stiles, complete with mortises.

I used a 1/8″ round-over bit to ease the edges of all the mortises, in case there is any squeeze-out during glue up. The bearing fit the 1/2″-wide mortise perfectly.

Planing the ends of the lower rail perfectly square in preparation of fitting the two outer rails. This is exactly the sort of task at which block planes excel, and Mr. Lie-Nielsen’s model works exceptionally well. I feel likeI could go on and on about the virtues of this particular plane, but I’ll leave that for another post. Anyway, the mahogany was a lot of fun to plane.

Routing the mortises into the ends of the lower rail. I’ve already cut the tongue on both ends.

Dry-fitting the lower rail to one of the outer stiles.

Above, the lower rail, with loose tenons dry-fit. Below, the inner stiles with matching mortises.

Fitting up the lower rail to the inner and outer stiles. The yellow strips are 1/16″ spacers (actually just old veneer from a previous project) to keep the reveal between the stiles even.

The door so far.

Here are a few pictures of my most recent (and, arguably, exciting) project - a giant jenga set completed just in time for our annual Festivus celebration (you know…for the rest of us.) A good time had by all, 40-degree weather notwithstanding.

I used Alder for the blocks, for several reasons: I’m told (by the internet) that regular Jenga blocks are made from it (maybe because it isn’t sticky like pine or fir), has an excellent strength-to-weigth ratio (much like the traditional aluminum pole used in Festivus celebrations all over the world), and was the cheapest stuff I could find on New Year’s Eve Afternoon (much like the traditional beer consumed during Festivus celebrations all over the world.) Also I wanted something that wasn’t so soft it would dent when it crashed, but not so hard or heavy it would cause any lasting injury when the tower fell on you.

All in, I used about 50 board feet, and ended up with 72 blocks. Each block is about 1 7/8″ thick x 3 1/4″ wide by 11 1/8″ long. The dimensions themselves are fairly arbitrary - that was just the best way to get the most out of what I had.

The Correspondence Box made a cameo appearance yesterday on KHOU’s Great Day Houston. The segment, “Unique Boutiques”, was a showcase for a few of the museum shops here in town to show of some of their more interesting wares. The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft’s bit shows up around -5:15:

Great Day Houston - “Unique Boutiques”

Also, just in time for the holidays, here is a picture Allison took today of an old submarine:

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Craig Kellogg

This post is a few weeks late, but the Vidar Chairs won Third Place Overall in this year’s Texas Furniture Makers’ Show in Kerrville. Also exciting: The Maple Shelf got an Honorable Mention. Congratulations to all the winners at the show - I hope to see everyone there next year.

By the way, should you find yourself in the Greater Downtown Kerrville Area sometime in the near future, I would highly recommend dinner and drinks at Grape Juice. Great food, and an unbelievable beer selection. My trip back to Kerrville to pick everything up might turn into an overnight stay…

The Vidar Chairs I built a year or two ago at College of the Redwoods (it’s hard to believe its already been that long) are featured in the Reader’s Gallery of the latest Fine Woodworking, alongside my friend George’s sweet End Table. George was working on his table while I was working on the Hemlock Wall Cabinet, and we were both doing our best not to just up and stab each other with very sharp chisels. Ah, woodworking. It’s always something.

Anyway, the new Fine Woodworking also has an excellent article by longtime CR instructor Jim Budlong on building showcase cabinets, and an article by CR grad (and FW editor) Anissa Kapsales on building Krenov-style sawhorses. Well worth a look, if you haven’t seen it already.

You can also see the chairs on FW’s site here.

Hey everybody - Kellogg Furniture is now on Twitter for some reason. You can follow me @HtownFurniture. A word of warning: I only seem to find time to twitter about things that have already gone all wrong. Enjoy!

Here are a few pictures of the mockup I built (and by built “built” I mean “hot-glued and drawn-on with a Sharpie”) before building the actual box. I like the little labels.