Yesterday, my dog had surgery for bladder stones. He's recovering fine, but I'm understandably spending less time in the workshop. Today, I trimmed the foot of the remaining side, gave the waist a good sanding, prepared the "build table" for joining the sections, checked-out the top-frame for the base, and decided how I will proceed. Tomorrow, or soon after, I will fasten the top-frame to the base using screws and glue. This will set me up to subsequently fasten the waist to the top-frame and base. I'm going to have to be careful that I don't split any wood or drill-through, so wish me luck! Click on photos to enlarge.
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As planned, I added the second side to the waist assembly and added 8 glue blocks. On today's added side, I also trimmed the bottom 5" to accommodate the lap-jointed backplate traversing the back of the base. It will be easier to explain this at a later blog when the backplate is being added. To completely finish the waist assembly, I need to also similarly trim side 1 of the waist. Once that is done, I will begin the task of joining the waist to the base. Click on photos to enlarge.
As I had hoped I would, today I fastened one of the waist sides to the front assembly. After first removing the door, trimming the side to size, and going through a complete dry-run, I biscuited, glued and clamped the side to the front. Had to be VERY careful to make sure the correct pieces were being fastened to the correct pieces, and paying attention to piece orientation. Yikes! Wish my wife was helping me. You can see many markings that served to guide me. I then made-up a bunch of glue blocks to give support to the assembly. I wish I had completed them before the glue had dried on today's work. I will be sure to use them tomorrow when I fasten the second side to the front assembly. Click on photos to enlarge. Enjoy!
As mentioned in my earlier blog, I was at an event for a few days. I'm back, and ready to continue with the case build. I just gave the front an initial sanding to get rid of any glue. I have attached a few pics. Next-up is to remove the door and fasten one of the waist sides to the front. I expect that to happen tomorrow. The door won't go back on until both of the sides are on. Click on photos to enlarge.
Joined all the pieces that make-up the waist front. Reattached the hardware, made 20 slots for 10 biscuits, and glued-up and clamped the front together. My wife assisted as we had to work very fast before the glue started to set. One observation I hope you can see in the photos below, is that the walnut will darken within a day's time. All of the front was sanded yesterday, but the rails at the front bottom were re-sanded today and are lighter than the other pieces - even when wiped-down. I've noticed this phenomenon before on each of the pieces. Walnut will darken with time from when it is planed, cut or sanded!
Since I have other events to attend to, for the next few days I will leave the front clamped-up and will not be updating my site. But just so you know what's coming up next week:
Today was a day of complicated hardware assemblies, but all came out fine. Put the hinges on. Then cut the slot in the stile for the lock assembly. Then drilled and chiseled a keyhole for the lock assembly followed by screwing the lock assembly down. Finally, I took it all apart and gave all a good sanding. Later today, I will glue-up two of the rails in preparation for glueing the entire waist front assembly tomorrow. See the slide show below. It was a good day in the clock workshop! Created a pine prototype of the waist door and then followed that up with my walnut stock. Also trimmed-up the stiles. The door fits fine and is recessed with a roundover-with-edge trim. I still need to add the lock and cut the slot in the stile for that. The hinges seem to work fine but are not screwed-in yet as I want to give all the pieces a good sanding. I expect to have the sanding, lock and hinges done tomorrow. The biscuit joinery follows. Click on photos to enlarge.
A note on hinges: The modern-day hinge, used in nearly all cabinets, was developed about 60 years ago. Before that, nearly all hinges were either butt or gate. All vintage grandfather clocks used one of these two styles [those with a gate hinge wrapped the extended part around the inside of the door]. Many of the butt hinges had a narrower "leaf" for the door and a wider leaf for the stile. I can still get these hinges in the UK, but they are costly and will hold-up my building of the clock. The primary difference between the butt hinge and the modern cabinet hinge is the butt hinge falls in-line with the stile by being mortised into the door edge. The modern hinges stick-out from the door somewhat. So, I've decided, and my wife agrees, to go with a, yes more modern, partial overlay hinge. I'm going to use the more bronze-looking, plain one shown in the mockup picture below. My rationale is that even though the escutcheon is clearly a polished brass, the plain hinge will easily blend-in with the dark walnut anyway. To make this hinge fit, I needed a 3/8" rabbet bit and picked one up today. The hinge wraps around the rabbeted back of the door very nicely leaving me very little guesswork. See photo below and read-on. My $5 lock-and-key arrived in the mail today. I was anxious to test fit it into a slot made in the stile mockup. Turns-out, there is too much play in the slot. So I'll be trying a 1/8" straight bit tomorrow. It should then fit fine. See photo below of today's testing and read-on. Tomorrow, and after grocery shopping with my wife, I plan to trim all of the waist section pieces [including the side boards] removing the snipe in the process. Once cut to size, I will again dry-fit and clamp the stiles and rails. Then, I will carefully work on the door. The door has a 5/16" roundover-with-edge on the front and a 3/8" rabbeted edge on the back [to sit flush against the case and to accommodate the lock mechanism]. Of course, the rabbeted edge means the front overlays the case opening. I need to make sure that the [remember, one-of-a-kind] door fits the case opening just right!! I'm sure I will ask my wife to supervise that operation. Further, I need to cut the slot for the lock mechanism in the stile and, perhaps, go ahead and cut the opening for the key in the door. So by tomorrow night, I expect to have a photo of the front assembly of the waist section - with the door. Note that all will still be clamped. I am not glueing-up until I'm satisfied. During the above, I will likely also be sanding. Here's hoping I have a good, productive day! My final picture below is a mockup of the door profile. Click on photos to enlarge.
I didn't do much in the clock workshop today. But I will show you my key lock escutcheon and two less than desirable hinge types [using a piece of walnut and a piece of oak]. Tomorrow, I'm picking up a wider rabbet router bit [which will better accommodate hinges] and am searching for a hinge design I might like. Meanwhile, my door lock should arrive by tuesday. Oh yes, and I also purchased online an old smaller cove plane that I'll likely use for some hood moulding. Click on photos to enlarge.
I worked on solutions to several clock case issues all related to the front door. Like most locks, the lock I will be getting in the mail has a lock bolt that extends into a slot when the key is turned. I needed to figure out how the slot was going to happen. I setup the router table with a straight bit, and "plunged" the pre-marked test board into the bit and along to a stopping mark. It worked. That is what I will cut into the latch-side of the stile. Then, I focused on the door edge design by putting in a rabbet and a round-over with an edge. This will allow me to recess the 3/4" door stock. Then, I worked on how the hinge might be setup given the door overlays the stiles and rails. The pics below show my first attempt which failed for simple engineering reasons. I believe I know what to do and will practice tomorrow. Then, I took the ONLY piece of walnut lumber large enough to use as a one-piece door, planed it down only to find hidden flaws. Tried again with the other half of the stock and it worked fine. So my front door is "settling" before I trim it up. Since I cannot make any mistakes as I have only one door, I will mockup the front assembly using pine, figure out the lock, hinge, rabbets, etc. BEFORE I proceed with the walnut door. More to follow. Click on photos to enlarge.
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AuthorI hope that you enjoy keeping up with my clock's progress! Archives
June 2016
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