8.
Preparations for the Base
The
base for the nightstand is being made from dark Jarrah. This was
chosen deliberately to contrast with the light Tasmanian Oak of the
drawer case. The design aim is to make the case appear to float above
the base.
Decent Jarrah is becoming difficult to access, and I
am loath to purchase new stock. Consequently, I spent time laminating
bits and pieces together. There was a good bit left over from my
recent bed rebuild. Below are thin slats glued to form thicker
boards, which will become the side rails of the base.
These
will become round legs. The bevels will be removed in the turning
...
The
top of the legs will have a 42mm diameter ...
The
lower diameter will be 25mm ...
With
careful selection of ends, it will be possible to remove splits and
faults ...
The
other boards prepared - width and thickness, but not yet cut to
length - are the side, front and rear rails. The front rail will be
curved to match the curve of the case, and has extra thickness for
shaping.
This
is a plan of the base. The outline (outside of the rails) will be in
line with the case. The circles are the tops of the legs.
Close
up detail - the rails will join the legs with (loose)
mortice-and-tenons.
This
is the front elevation ...
The
legs taper and splay at 3 degrees from the sides. The rails are 45mm
high and all are 18mm thick ...
Moving
to prepare the legs for turning: registration is needed and so the
mortices must be made before the legs are tapered.
Here are
the legs being orientated and marked for position ...
Making
sure I don't screw up the mortices by placing them on the wrong
face!
The
8mm wide mortices will be made with a Festool Domino. This is a lot
easier that chopping them out in the hard Jarrah, and preferred to
routing ... as you will now see.
The loose tenons are shop
made as the standard dominos are too narrow ...
I
am really enjoying the MFT table I built. Here, the legs are held and
the mortices marked off with a little placement jig I made ...
Finally,
all the mortices are made ...
...
and now the legs will be prepared for turning.
Regards from
Perth
Derek
June 2023