Woodworking with Rob Millard

Flag and Certificate case in walnut

 

While the majority of the items I make are pieces of period furniture, not all are and this flag/certificate case is an example of one. It is also an example of why I should stick to copying period furniture; design is not my strong suit. This is the first such case I made incorporating a certificate, but I have made many cases to hold burial flags with a shadow box below to house decorations and other insignia. The idea for this came from a traveling display of the memorabilia of Major Francis Gray Powers at the United States Air Force Museum, nearly 20 years ago. I haven’t made a burial flag case to sell in many years, because the inexpensive and readily available commercial ones, make them unprofitable, but I have made a few in recent years to give away to veteran organizations. Even when I did make them to sell, the profit margin was minuscule, and I resorted to using scrounged materials; I once built about 10 using red oak casings from a demolished McDonalds.

Like most projects this one, started with a (quick) full size drawing. I originally intended to have the certificate surrounded by an equal sized border, but the drawing quickly revealed this would overwhelm the flag. Being obsessed with symmetry, the thought of having an unequal border around the certificate wasn’t appealing, and I didn’t know what to do. In the end, I turned to the classics and used the golden section to size the frame for the certificate. The results aren’t what I envisioned but at least I can say there was a rationale for the choice.

I chose walnut for the case; I have used oak and cherry, but walnut has a richness that can’t be beat. I always have the temptation to use highly figured wood, but in this case straight grain is best; because the focus should be on the flag, and the molded edge adds some visual interest. After accurately preparing stock for flatness and thickness, it was ripped to 1 ¾” wide, but if I had to do it over again, I would have went with 2” (more about this later). You can click on any of the following photos to see a larger version.

 

I ran the molding with the shaper, using a stack of three 1930’s “miniature” cutters I have. These are very versatile cutters that I use often. When used in sets, the cutters seem to perform better if the cutting edges are not aligned; similar to the concept of helical cutterheads. As the molded edge comes from the shaper, it has a slight ridge where two of the cutters come together. Despite this ridge being small, it is somewhat difficult sand away, so I made a profiled scraper that makes short work of removing it.

 

 

 

 

 

I like to have the grain lines continuous at the joint between the vertical sides and the pitched sections of the case, so this requires a little extra work. At first, all the pieces are treated alike and run through the table saw to create a groove for the glass in the pitched pieces and the start of a rabbet on the certificate case. Then the vertical side pieces are mitered and the resulting pieces marked so they can be kept in the proper orientation. Now the rabbet on the certificate case can be finished. I will admit this operation scares me; this is a fairly deep cut on a somewhat short piece, and the table saw is not my favorite tool. The certificate case is now mitered and glued together, using both band and bar type clamps. Normally I would have reinforced the joints with a biscuit, but the narrow width made this a less than attractive option, due to even the number 0 biscuit being too big and the fence on my joiner not offering proper support on such a narrow piece( I think Ryobi  and Porter-Cable make reduced size biscuits that would have worked well in this application). I could have used a router to cut a stop groove, but that would have involved making a jig, a task I despise, so I decided to reinforce the miter in a rather unconventional method, using a ¼” mortising chisel in the drill press to create a mortise for a spline. Typically a spline would have its grain running at right angles to its length, but in this instance I just made it with its grain running with the length; made this way it still provides some long grain glue surface and the case will not see any stress.

 

 

 

 

 

The flag portion of the case is mitered to conform to the plan, finding the angle of the peak miter with a angle divider and a sliding T bevel for the bottom miter. I dry fitted the pieces together and checked the fit to certificate case. I had to make a minor adjustment to the miter that sits atop the certificate case, with a block plane. When satisfied with the fit, the pieces were glued together using the band clamp and one bar clamp; the bar clamp keeps the long points of the miter flush at the intersection with the certificate case ( I put in some clamping pads to protect the wood). When dry the miter was splined as above.

 

 

 

A 1/8” stopped groove is run in the top of the certificate case to receive the glass, and then the flag portion can be temporarily screwed on. I used 1 ¼” drywall screws to assemble the two sections, but they were dangerously close to poking through, so broke the tips off the screws (for once I benefited from the brittleness of a drywall screw). Here again, the bar clamp is used to keep the miters flush, but this time a band clamp is run over the peak of the flag portion of the case, to firmly hold it in place as the screws are set, Neither of these clamps are exerting any significant pressure; they are just there to keep things aligned. At this point, the case was planed and sanded paying close attention to having the miters come out perfect, especially the ones where two sections join. The molded profiles matched nearly perfectly, but a few areas needed some attention with small gouges and a very careful sanding.

The case was finished as detailed elsewhere on this blog-see the walnut finishing post of September 5, 2008. After the finish was rubbed out, the two sections were joined together for a final time, this time with the glass in place.

 

By far the most difficult aspect of the whole process was folding the flag to have the stars in a symmetrical pattern; I spent at least 2 hours folding and re-folding the flag in an effort to have the stars look pleasing (I’m still not completely satisfied with the results). In the end, the flag is not folded in the normal fashion, which resulted in it being thicker than a flag folded in the proper way. This is why I would have liked to have gone with a 2” deep case; it was quite difficult to stuff the flag in that 1 3/8” deep section of the case.  The flag is held in place with a piece of 1/8” plywood ( I would have used ¼” if there would have been more space). I fabricated and rather crudely I might add, two steel clips, with threaded holes. These were mortised and screwed in place, and the back is held in place with two low profile truss head machine screws. An upside down keyhole shaped hole at was cut at the apex of the backing board, by which the case can be hung on the wall, by slipping it over a single screw.

 

Although I didn’t enjoy making it, I’m fairly happy with the results; those off kilter stars bug me.

 

 

Photography for Woodworkers

I just finished updating an article on photography for woodworkers. I am by no means an expert on photography, but I’m kind of obsessed with it. This is the third time I have updated information on photography, and I’m sure there will be more as I’m always learning something about the subject.

You can view the updated article here.

Rob Millard

Inlaying letters/numbers into wood

Recently I was asked about inlaying letters and numbers. While I had seen this on some Pennsylvania furniture, I had never tried it. The closest I had come, was inlaying knotted bows on a Seymour card table. What those bows and letters/numbers have in common is that if made from a single thickness of  wood,  they would be hopelessly fragile, due to the short grain. By making them from two layers of veneer with the grain direction of the plys at right angles to each other, the finished inlays are only somewhat fragile. (Click on any photo to view a larger sample)

The plys were glued together with hot hide glue, pressing them between warmed boards covered in aluminum foil. The glued together veneer plys are unstable, so it should be restrained by clamping it between boards when not being worked on.

 

Because of the fragility of the letters/numbers, trying to saw the unsupported built up ply would be at best difficult, especially  those characters with internal cuts. To improve the stability, the glued up ply is sandwiched between sheets of this plywood. I use 1/8” luan plywood, which may be difficult to find but ¼” luan would work just about as well and it seems to be getting thinner all the time, so the difference in thickness isn’t all that great. The stack is nailed around its perimeter with small brads driven into pre drilled holes. The brads are clipped off with diagonal cutting pliers, and peened flush.  A print out with the desired characters is glued to the stack. I had a hard time deciding if I should have the grain in the characters, running vertically or horizontally. In the end I went with horizontal so the grain in the characters would run the same direction as the piece into which they inlaid. After viewing the finished inlays I think it may have been better if it would have run vertically. This may not have been an issue with holly and its nearly invisible grain, but with the maple used here or with satinwood, it is something to consider.

My variable speed scroll saw is sort of an entry level model, but it does a good job, after a few modifications, and the addition of a couple accessories. I discarded the hold down, which did little to aid in the cut. I also fitted an auxiliary table, to cover the huge throat opening in the factory table. A foot switch allows me to have complete control over the work piece as I start and stop the saw. The last accessory is a magnifying light that facilitates making super accurate cuts.

 

I used a No. 5 blade; this seemed a good balance between a fine enough blade and one that made an accurate cut. Of course the order of the cuts is important, with the first cuts made being the internal ones.  The downside to using the No.5 blade is it can’t turn a very sharp corner, so internal  corners should be approached from both sides, instead of trying to “turn” the corner. Outside corners are much easier; you can just pivot in the waste to turn the corner. Even with the thin plywood to stiffen the stack, it becomes quite prone to chatter as the piece nears being sawn free, which requires placing your fingers very close to the blade. This isn’t particularly dangerous because the scroll saw is pretty sedate as saws go, but it robs you of dexterity. The preferred grip is to have a relaxed hold on the stack with your fingers at the edges, where more controlled movements are possible.

 

Despite my best efforts at accurate sawing, the characters as they came from the saw needed some refining, to have smooth, even profiles. As I said before, the ply construction makes characters that are only somewhat fragile, so care has to taken not to fracture the pieces as the are being refined. To support the pieces while they are filed, I used a “bird’s mouth” more typically used for fret sawing. It was more comfortable, to have this birds mouth clamped vertically in a vise. A very fine needle file was used for these detailed refinements. Larger outside curves can be refined, by pinching the piece with the fingers and running it against a smooth cut mill file. This method has the advantage of being fast and safer, because the force is in line with the thickness of the inlay, with very little chance of fracturing it

With the characters refined, it is now time to inlay them. Positioning of the individual characters is critical for the proper appearance.  The most difficult aspect of the whole process is holding the characters in place while scribing around them. I just held them down with my finger being careful not to let them shift or cut myself with the scalpel. Some of the tighter radiuses are best scribed by making a series of light stab cuts, as opposed to trying to draw the knife around the pieces. After a light scribe is done with the characters in place,  they are laid aside and a deeper scribe is made to fully define the edges of the inlay. I took extreme care not to over cut at the corners, which will seriously detract from the finished product.

 

The recess is routed with a Dremel tool fitted with a carbide end mill. The size of the end mill is dictated by the narrowest part of the inlay, which in the example shown was 3/64”. The depth setting is critical; there is very little margin for error when working with veneer. When routing the recess, I wore a magnifying visor, which made an accurate cut easy, although, I had to stop frequently to blow the dust away. The end mill can only go so far, so the edges of the recess have to be cleaned up with a scalpel and various gouges.

 

After a test fitting, to be sure they will fit, the inlays are glued in place with hot hide glue. Hide glue is ideal for this, because it will fill the inevitable small gaps without interfering with the finish. I used a veneer hammer to force the inlays into place and then placed the warmed board/aluminum foil combination used before, to keep them in place while the glue sets.

Once they are dry, they can be carefully scraped flush, and finished. The example shown here is maple inlays into cherry. To finish it, I applied lye  which darkens the cherry but not the maple. Once dry, some white vinegar was applied, which is supposed to neutralized the lye, but I never had any problems when I skipped this step, but the vinegar does unify the color left by the lye.

 

Making a Newport Pipe Box

    Despite my enthusiasm for Federal Furniture, I appreciate other styles as well; chief among these is the furniture from Newport Rhode Island. I lack the carving skills to do justice, to furniture from this region, so when I saw this pipe box in the Book, Hidden Treasures by the Keno Brothers, I found a piece I could make and it even featured a bit of inlay. Of course it lacks the drama of a Secretary or a Kneehole Desk, but is still a beautiful piece. I don’t recall ever seeing a pipe box in person, so when I checked some reference sources for their dimensions, I was surprised at how large they are. Having noted the range of typical sizes, I proceeded to make drawings of the pipe box. You can download a full size PDF drawing of the box by clicking here . Note in the photos, I used 3/8” stock, but upon examining the finished piece, I felt it was too “heavy” looking, so the drawings show 5/16” thick sides. Given that the typical piece of Newport Furniture is made from superb stock, and this pipe box requires very little material, I chose high quality mahogany. The pieces were re-sawn from 5/4 rough lumber. For some reason 5/4 mahogany is cut more generous than domestic stock, so this allowed for three thicknesses to be comfortably obtained from one piece. The well known stability of mahogany left these re-sawn pieces dead flat, but I still let them “relax” for a day before, milling them. After milling to thickness, the pieces were dimensioned to the finished size with a combination of the bandsaw, jointer plane and shooting board. Particular attention has to be paid to having the edges dead square, so the glue up will go smoothly. The faces that were destined to become the inside were planed with a smooth plane.

    The front panel has the inlays, which may have been maple, holly or satinwood, but I chose satinwood, because I like the way it looks with mahogany. From the photo it is impossible to see if this inlay was just laid in a groove, or if it were glued on the edges of the front panel. I chose to have it glued to the edge of the front, so it extends the full thickness, as I think this would look better, than if it were just laid in a groove, since it is clearly visible at the opening of the box. Thin pieces like this are difficult to clamp, so I used hot hide glue for a rub joint, but just to be sure, masking tape was used as a clamp. (click on any photo to see a larger version)

When dry the inlays were planed flush.

    With the inlays in place and the components to net size, it's time to saw the profiles with the scroll saw, fitted with a No. 7 blade. The sides were taped together and sawn at the same time. Try as I might, I can’t seem to stay on the line, when cutting these large pieces, so some filing was in order to refine the profiles. The profiles were then carefully sanded, to remove the file marks, (leaving behind a few file marks wouldn’t be the end of the world, since it is quite common to see these on period pieces) When sanding, I backed the paper with the file or wooden blocks to maintain the crisp edges; nothing looks worse than mushy details.

The back is dadoed and the front rabbeted to receive interior bottom board. It is critical that the rabbet dado be accurately located so the interior bottom is “level” when it is installed later This bottom board is only butted to the sides, to avoid having to make a stopped dado in the sides. It looked to me that the original had its sub bottom nailed on (3 nails in each side). This seemed a little crude, so I opted to use half blind dovetails to join this piece to the sides. Cutting half blind dovetails in 5/16” thick stock is a bit dicey and the resulting joint is not the strongest, but it possesses plenty strength for this application.

    This is a somewhat difficult piece to glue together. You can’t have a lot of glue seeping out on the inside where it would interfere with finishing, the pieces are thin, and there is noting to register them to one another. I used hot hide glue to rub the back to the left side and the front to the right side. These were allowed cure and the two haves were joined with hide glue with urea additive to extend the gel time. I used plenty of clamps but only light clamping pressure. Neither the sub bottom nor the interior bottom is installed at this time. Hide glue is ideal because it is nearly transparent to finishing and at that magic moment where it is no long liquid but not hardened it is easily cleaned off.

After the case is out of the clamps the exterior surfaces can be scraped and sanded.  

 At this point I finished the box, including the sub and interior bottoms, using lime to color the wood (see the May 19th 2008 entry on this blog for more information on using lime to color mahogany ) After the oil has cured the filler was applied and allowed to cure. Finishing the interior is a difficult task made somewhat easier by leaving out the sub and interior bottoms, still brushing shellac in that confined space isn’t ideal, so I brushed only one coat of de-waxed dark shellac. This was followed by padding lacquer to bring up the proper sheen, on the interior. I left the exterior with only a coat of shellac over the cured filler. Now the interior bottom is worked in and a small cut brad is driven into the rabbet to hold it in place; here is an instance when pre drilling in essential. This is followed by the sub bottom, which may need light clamping pressure to get everything to come together, which is why I didn’t complete the finish on the outside.

        The drawer is pretty much standard construction, with a few differences. Instead of being housed in a groove the way I’m accustom to, the bottom fitted into a rabbet in the front and is nailed on, I was sure to set these nails below the surface so they did not rub.  Also, the grain runs from front to back, instead of side to side as on full size drawers .The other fairly typical feature of Newport furniture is the drawer sides are slightly rounded on their top edges and are about 1/32” narrower than the drawer front.

 The molded edge on the drawer front could be made with a router, but I used a combination of a rabbet plane and a gouge to shape the molding. This same method was used to make the molded edge on the bottom. After applying the padding lacquer to the exterior of the case, and knocking the gloss down with extra fine steel wool using mineral oil as a lubricant, the bottom was glued on. A pinch of sand in the glue will keep the bottom from sliding around as the clamping pressure is applied.

I’m not sure what you can do with this piece when it is finished, but it was fun to make and looks very nice.

Real Woodworking

     I have been fortunate, getting paid to do something I really enjoy, and I have been even more fortunate in that I have had the customers who wanted to reproduce some very fine pieces of 18^th and 19^th Century furniture. Yet, I get the most satisfaction out of a much simpler aspect of woodworking, the time I spend volunteering at a living history park, demonstrating woodworking. Whether it is just planing off shavings with the kids names on them, or making bird houses and feeders to give away, this is what really excites me about woodworking. As with all things, even among the bright spots, there are things that stand out and in this case, it is making things for the visitors on the c.1876 foot pedaled lathe. Both the kids and adults get a real thrill out of seeing a block of wood go from square to round right before their eyes.  Oddly, it is when the layout lines are made with a pencil being held against the revolving blank that is the most exciting part for the visitors. This experience has made me a better turner, because the lathe is rather taxing for the visitors to pedal, so I have to work quickly and with as little wasted motion as possible. Before this, the lathe was not a real favorite of mine. As long as I could get 4 legs to look alike in a minimum time, I was happy, but I never looked forward to using it. I’m still limited in the use of the lathe, because it is a tool for the creative and that is something I am not.

    At Christmas I make snowmen and Christmas trees for the kids, which they take home to paint. At our Christmas event, I made 38 snowmen/trees in about 4 hours. I had wanted to make a smaller snowmen to hang on the tree, but the combination of the rounded bottom and the stub to hang it by, proved too difficult to make in a reasonable length of time, not to mention the lathe being prone to walk around since it isn’t bolted down, making it susceptible to catching with the skew. I did end up making 30 of these on a modern lathe, to pass out as gifts. The larger snowman is very easy to make and takes only about 5 ½ minutes to turn. You can view a video clip of the snowman being made on a modern lathe by clicking here  The tree takes about the same amount of time, but it is skating on the edge of disaster (at least in my hands) because of it ending in a sharp point. I ruined a few when turning them at home to get the hang of them, but I luckily didn’t ruin any at the Christmas event.

     Like nearly everyone, I’m more or less defined by what I do, so it was nice to find a new dimension woodworking, one I never expected .

Rob Millard

 

 

Federal Inlay Banding DVD Ideas wanted

 

     At a recent woodworking show I attended, I was asked several times if I had a video of making inlay bandings; this is in addition to many such inquiries I have gotten via email. I had not tried to shoot a DVD on making the bandings, because I saw several problems. The problems producing a video of bandings are, they are a little hard to convey and there is such a wide variety of types, which do you pick to show the fabrication of. I’ve tried a few test sessions, and the issues involved in producing them from a content standpoint, have been resolved. That leaves the bandings to choose for inclusion in the DVD. I’m hoping to hear from you, to help in deciding which historically accurate bandings you’d like to see the construction of.

 

     I’m thinking of picking 10-12 examples, ranging from a very simple one, to the seemingly more complex. So, if you have a banding you’d like to see made, contact me, and I’ll try to include it in the DVD. I already have one picked out, for a masterpiece Philadelphia card table, I’m making in April/May. You can see some past examples of bandings I made here.

 

     I’m going to shoot each banding as a stand alone project, so there will be some redundancy in each of the chapters of the DVD. This is the major pitfall in producing a DVD on the bandings; each banding is made in a very similar manner, but each has its own idiosyncrasies. Making them as individual projects from start to finish is, I believe the best way to go. There will also be a chapter on the sawing and inlaying of the bandings, showing their use, in both flat and curved applications.  Because of my workload, the DVD won’t be ready until sometime in February 2009.

 

     While on the subject of DVD’s, I have a new one almost finished; all the scenes are shot and most of the editing is done. The subject is this table.  

 

 You can see more details about it here and also see the special Christmas prices on all the DVD’s.

 

Rob Millard

 

 

Finishing Walnut

 

Walnut ranks as one of the premier domestic hardwoods. In my opinion, it comes in a very close second to curly maple and well ahead of cherry. Walnut possesses an outstanding combination of strength, workability, a naturally beautiful color, with a variety of grain patterns. Yet, the typical steamed walnut has a cold gray cast to it, that isn’t all that attractive; it can also have a purple cast. I was quite disappointed with the first few pieces I made of walnut, as far as the color was concerned; one was dyed with a homemade concoction of walnut husks and ammonia, which turned out way too dark. Another was oiled, and this was perhaps even worse than the dyed piece. The oil resulted in a sort of overly dark, dull, splotchy finish that did nothing for the cool color. Later, I learned this outcome with oil, was fairly typical, as I see it quite often on oiled walnut pieces (oiled gunstocks are a notable exception). Walnut is one of those rare woods that lighten over time, and no doubt given time, the color imparted by the oil would  have improved, but I wanted a way to help it along. Several years ago, I was asked to make a William and Mary Lowboy, and I knew I’d have to find a better way to finish walnut. Since I wanted to warm the walnut, I first tried yellow dye, but this lacked the reddish tint of aged walnut, so used orange aniline dye. It takes some faith to coat your carefully constructed piece of furniture with what appears to be orange Kool Aid, but that is where the testing comes in. I should be more meticulous with weighing and documenting my finishing recipes, but for some reason I don’t seem to be able to do that, so I can’t give an exact ratio of water (distilled) to the dye powder (Transfast), but I can say that dye to water ratio is quite low.

 

The subject used in demonstrating the finishing schedule is a miniature blanket chest, based in large part on an example shown on page 58 of Miniature Antique Furniture by Herbert F. & Peter B. Schiffer. The stock used for this, while kiln dried, had aged for quite some time, and had taken on a decidedly warm tone, but still showed some of the objectionable coolness. I wouldn’t have done anything different had it been mill fresh steamed lumber.

Like all finishing, the first step is surface preparation, and here I followed my standard procedure, starting with 220 grit paper (never go lower than 180 grit) followed by 320 grit paper, raise the grain with distilled water, sand very lightly with 320 grit paper and check carefully for any surface defects. On a side note, I have recently been reading on various woodworking forums, about how this grain raising step is unnecessary, and perhaps, you could use the orange dye to raise the grain, but skipping this step and using the top coat to raise the fibers, isn’t something I’d do with any finish that includes a coloring step.  (click on any of the following photos to see a larger version)

With the surface ready, lay on a coat of the dye; I just use a paper towel. The dye will work with the natural color of the wood and it will instantly take on a superb color. As the wood dries, the orange color will appear too intense. A thin brushed on coat of de-waxed shellac will restore the color and actually improve it, because the golden brown color of this blend of shellac, really brings out the highlights in the wood, without being splotchy like the oil can. Your brushing technique has to be nearly prefect, because the dark shellac, even in a thin cut, can leave lap marks or the dreaded fat edges. With this in mind, I aim to apply the shellac in one careful stroke, with no going back and brushing it out. I’m not a fan of padding on shellac, and the sharp corners at the intersections of the moldings to the base would make padding fairly difficult.   

 

 

I allowed the shellac to dry overnight and scuff sanded it very lightly with 400 grit paper. I then vacuum or blow the dust off; this step is important, because you don’t want any sanding residue in the pores.

 

Unfortunately filling the grain has the reputation of being difficult, and 

 degrading the final appearance; neither is true. After just a short learning curve, filling the grain is simplicity itself. The clarity issue comes from two sources, applying the filler to raw wood, and or, not fully wiping the filler from the surface. By applying the filler over the shellac, you will have a barrier to prevent the filler from muddying the finish.

I have only used oil based fillers. Of those I have used, I prefer the filler sold by Constantine’s. As the filler comes from the can, it is very thick; far too thick to be workable. Depending on the working conditions in the shop, I will cut the filler with mineral spirits (for a longer open time) or with naphtha (for a faster set). I aim for a consistency of latex paint. Brush the filler on and let it set until it turns really dull. Until you get comfortable with the process, you should only work in easily manageable sections. In the photo here, it was so ungodly hot in my shop that even as small an object as this miniature blanket chest nearly got away from me. Having said that, I find I get the best results when I wait what appears to be too long, as opposed to when I rush it.

Scrape the excess filler from the surface with a plastic putty knife, going across or diagonal to the grain (be sure to check the edge of your scarper for nicks or anything that would mar the surface before use; don’t ask me why I offer this precautionary advice.

Again wait a few minutes and then wipe across the grain with burlap, using moderate pressure. You’ll have to change to a clean piece of burlap as it loads with the excess filler. Moldings can’t really be cleaned effectively with putty knife, nor can they be wiped across the grain, so here you’ll have to wipe gently with the grain, to remove the excess filler. After yet another short wait while the filler sets up, wipe the surface completely clean with cheese cloth, going with the grain. Look carefully, for any traces of filler left on the surface. When you’re satisfied, the surface is perfectly clean, let the filler dry at least 3 days.

 

I like the look achieved with a glaze, it gives some depth the finish, can tweak the color a bit and accentuates the moldings. I usually use Minwax mahogany gel stain as a glaze, but my can had dried up. A little experimentation found that Bartley dark brown mahogany gel stain mixed with a little of their Pennsylvania cherry, resulted in a nice color. The glazing is very simple, just slap on a thick coat and wipe the excess until you get an effect that pleases you. Like with the filler, you should work in small sections until you get the hang of it.

I let the glaze dry 12-24 hours, and top coated with super blond shellac. Since I wanted an “in the wood” look, I applied only two very thin coats. Here again, your brushing technique has to be nearly prefect, because when rubbing out, the film is easily cut, but the color is not easily repaired. Shellac Wet, from Homestead Finishing, really helps ease the brushing. Let the shellac cure 2-3 days, before rubbing out.

The rubbing out goes very quickly, but its impact on the finish is astounding; nothing beats a well done shellac finish. Since the film is so thin, I very lightly sanded with 600 grit wet and dry paper, using mineral spirits as a lubricant. To bring up a nice soft sheen, I used 4/0 steel wool, saturated with mineral oil and dipped in 4f pumice. Run the steel wool in long straight strokes, lifting it when shifting to another track (this keeps the scratch pattern even, whereas shifting the steel wool sideways while on the surface causes a distortion in the scratch pattern, making the ends appear duller). Wrapping the steel wool around a block of wood, will help in getting an even scratch pattern at the intersection of the moldings and other sharp junctions.

 

I cleaned the surface with paper towels to remove the majority of the mineral oil, and then I used warm soapy water to remove all traces of the oil. At this point I waxed the piece with brown Antiquax

Rob Millard

Hammered by Veneer

 

I enjoy veneering, and I find hammer veneering to be both enjoyable and efficient, that’s why an experience I had the other day was so surprising and disheartening (temporarily).

A fellow woodworker wanted to learn more about hammer veneering, so we exchanged many emails about the process, and the proper way to prepare the crotch mahogany he was using on the doors to a Chippendale Secretary. The doors had a solid mahogany core, so that it could have the raised panel detail run on it. The backs of the doors were to be veneered with a more plain mahogany, but it displayed a nice cathedral pattern.

The day came to veneer the doors, and he arrived with the veneer perfectly prepared. I was struck by the darkness of the crotch in the center; little did I know this was going to be my undoing.

We decided that I would veneer the first door while he watched and then he would do the second. As is my usual procedure, I started with the non crotch veneer, since it is easier to work with and once you start you must get veneer on both sides rather quickly, to prevent warping the core. The backside veneer went on in textbook fashion; it had one small area that wanted to curl up, but this was actually a good thing for a first timer to be exposed to.

At first, while the crotch side seemed a little more temperamental than normal, I wasn’t alarmed. I had told him about how patiences is a virtue with difficult veneers, so we sat aside the panel while the glue had a chance to set up. We talked about other techniques of veneer and inlay work, while waiting.

It was at this point, things started to go downhill, albeit slowly. When I started hammering again, things seemed totally wrong. Usually even stubborn veneer, if sat aside for 30 minutes or so, will stick down perfectly; only rarely do I have to resort to clamping, and then only in very small spots. Yet, here there was no indication of any adhesion between the core and the veneer. I decided to try pressing it in place with a warmed piece of melamine, so I broke out the clamps and warmed the face of the melamine with an iron. We then started on the second panel, with him behind the hammer.

When the panel came out of the clamps, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The entire piece of veneer, except for the edges was separated from the core; it was as if the glue had disappeared. If anything the glue I was using was too thick, because I had it too thin to begin with and added some glue before starting and I hadn’t added any water along the way, so I knew it couldn’t be the glue. I thought that maybe it was the lack of a sizing on the substrate, but I quickly discounted this, because the backside veneer had went down perfectly.

Now, my full attention was focused on getting this to work; the kind of focus that comes with desperation. I carefully warmed the veneer, so I could remove it completely and apply a new, thicker coat of glue. This time instead of warming the melamine with an iron, I popped it in the oven, to get it more evenly heated. The clamps were applied and the glue allowed to cool. Great blobs of glue were squeezed out, so I was sure sufficient glue was applied. Things looked pretty good when it came out the clamps; there were some bubbles, but on the whole they seemed manageable, that is until I heated them with an iron. Again the glue had disappeared. I warmed the edges and lifted the veneer to get yet some more glue to the problem areas.  Then, using the hammer to manipulate the glue I forced it to the bubbles, where I decided to leave it to congeal, and I would re-heat it later and hammer the bubbles down.

Here is where the wheels finally came off. It became apparent that the dark center section of the crotch was far more porous than anything I had seen before; as I pushed the hammer, you could actually see glue seeping up through the pores. I had noticed an excess of glue on the surface, but he had told me he sized the veneer twice, so I thought this is where it was coming from. Taken alone, I could have put out this fire, by letting the glue set up for longer than normal, so it would be too thick to get through the pores. The only danger with that approach is the glue bursting through the fragile veneer, but I could have accomplished that, as it is always a danger with crotch/burl veneers. What I couldn’t fix is the considerable cupping that had developed by this time due to the excessive moisture disparity between the two sides  I tried applying copious amounts of water, heated with an iron, to remove the cupping, but it wasn’t to be.

In the end two pieces of mahogany and 4 sheets of veneer were ruined, but my enthusiasm for hammer veneering is undiminished. Sure, on one level this one episode will stick (pardon the pun) in my mind more than my countless other successful projects with hammer veneering, but something was learned, I just wish it could have been under different circumstances.

In the future, I’m going to size all substrates, regardless of the species, and in the case of a project like this with a solid wood core, use only quarter sawn stock for the substrate (the other core was quarter sawn and remained flat, despite the same set of adhesion problems). With suspect crotches, I will brush a thick coat of glue on the substrate and allow it to set up for a while (30 minutes?) before even laying on the veneers. And finally, I’d get the crotch veneer much drier than I do now, so that the dried glue sizing would act as more of a barrier to the glue used in the hammer veneering process.

Rob Millard

200 years in a week, aging mahogany with lime.

I have written countless times about finishing mahogany with lime, both on my website and on various woodworking forums, but I have not described the process in detail, so here goes.

First a few of the advantages of using lime on mahogany.

Extremely vibrant color.

Lightfast; color won’t lighten or darken appreciably over time. In other words it freezes the color, unlike dyes or stains, which will allow the mahogany to darken over time; possibly becoming too dark in the future.

Outstanding clarity.

Unifies various shades of raw lumber (see more in the text below on this)

Won’t affect species commonly used as inlays.

As the saying goes, there are no free lunches, so there are some downsides.

Results in only one color; a rather intense red.

Not compatible with crotches and some highly figured swirl lumber (turns crotches too dark).

A bit temperamental as far as the application goes.

Requires through testing to insure proper results with each batch mixed.

While I came to use the lime, in the finishing of inlaid pieces, it of course excels on non inlaid pieces as well. In particular, it seems to perfectly capture the color of well preserved Rhode Island pieces. I have used this technique on African mahogany, with similar results.

As in all finishing, the surface preparation is the key to a successful application; this is even more important when using the lime, since every scratch and rough spot can appear darker than the surrounding wood. I like hand planed surfaces, but the extensive use of veneer and inlays on most of the pieces I make, require sanding. I’m definitely not in the scraping can replace sandpaper camp. I sand every primary surface up to 320 grit, using the random orbit sander whenever possible. When dealing with any water based finish, you have to raise the grain; I do this with distilled water and then very lightly sand by hand with 320 grit paper. There are those woodworkers that say sanding to such a high grit is unnecessary or even problematic, but I find a noticeable improvement in the surface, with no ill effects as far as finish adhesion.

I bought the hydrated lime in the garden center at Lowe’s. The lime seems to be a pretty safe material, although I still wear gloves and a mask while spraying the solution.

There are no hard and fast rules about the ratio of lime to distilled water, but a good starting point is a heaping table spoon to a quart of distilled water. I have not found any need to allow the mixture to slake; it works the same when freshly mixed or when weeks old. Much like aniline dye, you should mix all that you will need for the project at hand, because it may be difficult to reproduce a given mixture, should you run out. As I said before the lime has to be tested before use. While this is true of all finishes, it is especially important with the lime, because it works with the tannin in the wood and is not as predictable. Having said that, after a few times using it, you will get a very good “handle” on it and it will be surprise free. The ratio of lime to water will effect the final darkness, which can range from a barely noticeable change to nearly black. On swirl mahogany, a lower ratio of lime to water, will result in a nice color of great depth, without over darkening. I have not found a way to use the lime successfully on crotch mahogany.

Also, a too lime rich mixture will leach a considerable amount of tannin from the wood and can discolor any inlays; only testing will reveal this. The first time you use it, the various stages of the color transformation won’t inspire confidence, actually it will scare and dishearten you, so this testing phase will acquaint you these stages

The best way to apply the lime is by spraying. Fortunately the equipment requirements are nominal; an inexpensive pancake compressor and a touch up gun. Just as fortunate, for me at least, is the limited skill it takes to spray the lime. The best results come by spraying a dusting coat, but a flooding coat will work too. Particular attention must be paid to the application so that no lime is allowed to run or drop onto an untreated surface; doing so will leave a spot that won’t blend in. If this happens all is not lost; a light sanding with 320 grit paper wetted with the lime mixture will eliminate the spot. It is this aspect of the lime that makes spraying the preferred method. While I have used a rag or brush, both have a tendency to leave behind telltale application marks that resemble those made by a soapy rag on glass. For the most part the change in color will be nearly immediate, but it will continue to darken for a short time.

Areas that are endgrain or predominately endgrain, need to be pre-treated with plain water prior to the application of the lime, to prevent the over darkening these areas. This same technique can be used to blend darker boards with lighter ones, but a better way is to alter the ratio of lime to water.

I usually wipe the excess from the surface, depending on whether I was able to maintain the dusting coats or not. At this point it will look nice, but not spectacular, but brace yourself, in just a few minutes it will look like a disaster. Typically it will take on a dusty orange color, but sometimes even pieces made from the same board will take on wildly different colors. This is what will cause you to have a sinking feeling in your stomach, at least until you learn that this horrible appearance is only a stop on the way to a superb finish. When the lime has fully dried, wipe the excess dusty coating from the surface with distilled water. I have not found any compatibility issues with shellac, varnish or lacquer (nitro and water based). The lime left in pores, completely disappears when the oil/topcoat is applied.

The next step is to provide some golden highlights to the wood, by dyeing the wood with an aniline dye mixture of lemon yellow and a touch of golden brown. This will also tone down any holly inlays, to avoid the stark whiteness that isn’t typical of antiques. I used to apply this dye before the lime, but I forgot to do it once and did it afterwards, only to find it provided a superior color.

At this point you can stop and apply a top coat. I do this with swirl lumber/veneer or when a lighter color is desired. Mostly, though a tweaking of the color and enhancing the grain is desired. To do this, I use Trans Tint dyes mixed in Tried and True Danish oil. The predominate Trans Tint color is cordovan, with a bit of bright green thrown in to kill the red left by the lime. A little yellow is added also, to warm the color.

Of course when dealing with inlaid furniture, something has to be done to seal those inlays. Where the lime didn’t affect the inlays, the dyed oil certainly will. It would seem a time consuming and somewhat difficult task to seal the inlays with a brush, but it really isn’t. I have used brushing lacquer, varnish and water based lacquer to seal the inlays; the varnish is the least suitable, due to its long drying time. Shellac is also not the best choice, due to its thin consistency, which makes it difficult to control. Good lighting, a fairly steady hand, and a properly sized brush makes the task go surprisingly quick. By having the majority of the color “built” into the wood from the lime, it takes some of the pressure off the brushing. To insure full coverage with no missed spots, two coats are necessary.

Now comes the exciting part, applying the dyed oil and seeing the true beauty of the wood come alive; this is my favorite part and makes the multitude of steps and testing worth it. The Tried and True Danish oil, lacks driers, so it must not be applied in soaking coats. I apply it very thinly, but thoroughly in a circular motion to work it into the pores; this can take some elbow grease. I then wipe the surface vigorously, several times over the next few hours to make sure all the excess oil has been removed. As the oil cures, some of it brilliance will disappear, but it will return when the top coat is applied. It may also appear darker than wanted at this stage, and turnings will appear blotchy, but this too will correct itself when the top coat is applied (another reason for through testing).

Now that the process has been described, let’s look at it on an actual project. This will follow the steps for finishing an inlaid Pembroke table top. I have taped the construction and finishing of this table and it will be made into a DVD (available mid June). There will be two additional DVD’s adapted from it; one on the finishing (covering the use of lime, among other topics) and the other on making the knuckle joints.

The following photos were shot using an abnormally high contrast to highlight the color blending possible with this method. You can click on any photo to see a larger sample.

This first photo shows the raw top, and the color difference between the center panel and the leaves. I have taken careful account of the reflectivity of the wood, which if overlooked could detract from the appearance of the finished tops.

This photo shows the application of the lime, using the spray gun. Note how immediate the color change is.

This photo clearly shows the unattractive nature of the lime after it has dried. At this stage, not only has the lime apparently not unified the colors, it has made the contrast much worse.

Here now is the yellow/golden brown dye being applied. This shows the excellent color hiding under that ugly lime residue. Also note the much more uniform color.

Next comes sealing the inlays.

This is applying the dyed oil. I have already applied a full strength coat to the one leaf, and now I am using the same dyed oil, only cut  slightly with plain oil to further blend the shades of the various parts together. This high contrast photo, doesn’t do justice to the beautiful color of the top, nor can it show the incredible depth the dyed oil imparts.

This final photo shows the top after the oil has been fully applied and ready for the filler.

While a somewhat time consuming and at times nerve-racking process the end result is worth the effort, especially on inlaid furniture.

Rob Millard

False glue blocks, for a period look, without the period problems.

I want to have my reproductions faithful to the originals, inside and out; the problem with this is, doing so often requires joinery techniques that make the modern craftsman cringe. Period craftsmen seemed unconcerned with the potential for shrinkage and often fastened table tops to the aprons with glue blocks. The result was a top that cracked or became loose. This technique isn’t limited to rural or unsophisticated cabinetmakers; even a vaunted Goddard-Townsend tea table selling for several million dollars has its top attached in this manner.

So I can maintain the period look and still have an attachment method that holds the top firmly, yet allows for expansion and contraction, I have been using modern steel table clips concealed with a false glue block. I bought the clips from Constantine’s (part number 96N4). Some modifications to the clips are necessary before use. I saw tongue that will be covered by the glue block, to limit of the size of glue block require to conceal the clip. Depending on the thickness of the apron, I sometimes have to shorten the other tongue. Even if that other tongue doesn’t have to be shortened, I use a file to remove any burrs, so it can slide easily as the top moves.

The clip fits into a slot cut in the apron with a biscuit joiner. I’m careful to set the position of the slot so the clip fits snugly but without binding.

The glue block is just a short square section of secondary wood with one chamfered edge. With a 1 1/8” diameter  Forstner bit drill out a pocket for the clip. Be careful how deeply you drill this hole, so that it doesn’t burst through the chamfer. Depending on the dimension of the glue block, you may have to do a little extra trimming with a knife to provide clearance for the angled portion of the clip.

Use a pan head sheet metal screw to attach the clip to the top and with a dab of hot hide glue on the apron side of the glue block only, rub it in (many period pieces have the area where the glue blocks go, scored with a toothing plane). You’re left with a perfectly period looking attachment, but with none of the problems. While the tops were attached with a series of closely spaces glue blocks, I only put the clips in as many locations as required to keep the top flat. The remainder of the glue blocks are just blocks without the drilled recess.

The following photos show, from left to right (click on any photo to see larger version)

The clips, the upper one is as it comes from the factory, the lower is after being sawn and filed.

The clip in place and the glue block with the drilled recess.

The glue block in place.