Shaping the Cove
Here are pictures of shaping the cove moulding that will run inside the frame. The reason for a cove is that there needs to be a gradual transition from the rectangular and flat leg to the flat panel.
A cove shape was chosen as the sides are curved, as are the drawers, and that the mouldings around the top are planned to be coves as well. Using a chamfer or a bead would make it the odd shape out.
Before moving on, I reduced the thickness of the rails from 30mm to 25mm. I thought the original was too chunky once the pieces were shaped. So I bandsawed/planed away 5mm. This definitely looks better.
It was easier to test out the moulding process on the upper- and lower straight rails, so this is where I began.
The first step was to mark out the groove for the panel. This was done with a knife gauge - even though I would be ploughing with the grain, I did not want any chip out at the shoulders.
The lines were chisels to remove material at the walls ..
.. and then knifed again to remove the waste ...
It was then a simple matter of ploughing to the depth of 1/4".
The boundaries of the cove were scored on each side with a cutting gauge, 1/4" wide on the upper side and 1/8" deep (which is half way to the groove). Then the waste was block planed away close to the lines. On the curved side rails it was easier to use a spokeshave to do this) ...
I shaped a scraper blade from a 3/4" wide scrap of bandsaw blade ...
This fitted so in a Stanley #66 hand header ...
Working to the lines ...
Shavings ...
The result on the straight sections (with some scrap fitted to the groove to show the transition) ..
Differences when shaping the curved rails ...
The first was to use a gauge with a small fence as it needed to run inside the curve ...
The other was to use a router plane (with fence) in place of the plough plane ...
The results were the same as before ...
As a result of this project, it has dawned on me the importance of a Stanley #66 over a simple scratch stock ala Garrett Hack.
Here is Hack's scratch stock ..
The advantage of the #66 is that it has a depth stop (the body acts in this regard), and this is important for two reasons. Firstly, keeping the cove/bead at a uniform depth, which would otherwise stand out like a sore thumb with a panel below. And secondly, the depth stop enables very fine scrapes at the end - burnishing - and the final finish is smooth and reasonably polished (nearly as good as if planed).
Back next time after the side panels are completed.
Regards from Perth
Derek
May 2015