Due to various issues, I believe I only went kayaking three times last year. I didn't build one this winter, and my boats don't even need varnishing, so I decided to turn my attention to a fairly challenging furniture project.
Gluing up panels was another story. I was disappointed by the quality of the 4/4 Philippine Mahogany at General Woodcraft, so I looked elsewhere and found some at The Wood Rack in Branford, where they called it "Sapele". I got what I thought were some good boards, but they plagued me with warp & twist, despite trying every "heroic" remedy in You Tube videos. I found some better material at the lumberyard, sold as "Mahogany Deck Boards. It was 5-1/2" wide and 5/4" thick, requiring more milling, but at least it "behaves".
My surface planer was also getting tricky in its old age. I made a "sled" to help prevent snipe, but its still a little challenging.
After I managed to make two acceptable side panels, I made this jig for routing dovetail slots out of Melamine. It was difficult. For some reason, these things used to be easier.
While I still had some leftover Melamine, I made this fence arrangement for routing dovetails on the end of boards. The fence has a hole just slightly larger than the bit, and so does the sheet of Lexan it holds down. Trial And Error on scrap pieces for the depth and width of the cut, and a square piece of scrap follows the board to prevent rocking.
Putting the frame together. It seemed like almost every part had to have the dovetail custom-cut to fit. I resorted to epoxy on the loose fits 😉
After constructing the case, I moved it upstairs before it got too heavy.
Top on. I felt that It might have looked a little better if it had more overhang.
On second thought, I removed the moldings from the top (easier than I thought), and replaced them. I cut the pieces thinner, which showed more of the overhanging top, and made the clamping easier.
After I managed to make two acceptable side panels, I made this jig for routing dovetail slots out of Melamine. It was difficult. For some reason, these things used to be easier.
While I still had some leftover Melamine, I made this fence arrangement for routing dovetails on the end of boards. The fence has a hole just slightly larger than the bit, and so does the sheet of Lexan it holds down. Trial And Error on scrap pieces for the depth and width of the cut, and a square piece of scrap follows the board to prevent rocking.
Putting the frame together. It seemed like almost every part had to have the dovetail custom-cut to fit. I resorted to epoxy on the loose fits 😉
Construction Clamp-A-Thon
On second thought, I removed the moldings from the top (easier than I thought), and replaced them. I cut the pieces thinner, which showed more of the overhanging top, and made the clamping easier.
