Wednesday 8 July 2015

Near The Finish Line - Summer Night Light Pt.5

Man, time flies.
Started a while ago with a comfortable time cushion, time was running out pretty fast.

But let's have a look...







I already mentioned that the Garden Lantern will be a birthday gift. The due date is already reached. Fortunately the receiver of this nice lantern is in vacation for the time being. So the upcoming weekend is my deadline. See where I am.

The Filling


As described in the very first post about the Garden Lantern I would like to have a somehow woven fill for the sides of the lantern.
Therefore I've made grooves into the stiles. They are about 5 mm deep and 3 mm wide.
Now I needed some wooden strips to make the fill. I could have ripped them with a panel saw. But instead I've decided to finish the prototype of a Kerfing Plane.

Cutting wood strip w. the Kerfing Plane

With this great tool it was easy peasy to cut the strips. And the result was continuous thickness.
Just a bit rework with the block plane on the sawn side.
So the process was:
  • Planing the edge of the board.
  • Cutting a strip.
  • Rework the back side of the strip.
  • Planing a new edge to the board.......
I guess you got the idea.

To keep the rustic look I didn't plane the strips to a nice surface. Just get rid of most of the saw marks.

First design test

The picture above shows the first try and gives an impression about the look. Yeah, that is what I had in mind. So I decided to go that way.

Some more kerfing with the new plane. I tell you what, this is enjoyable work more and more.

First side filled

The first side finished I was finally convinced.


Three sides filled

Here a nice detail view. But I did not pay attention. How will find the "mistake"?


Detail of fill

The Door


For a lantern it is essential that you have access to the inside so that you will be able to change a candle or a light bulb. For my design I decided to change the look of the opening.
So I made a door frame which is somehow different, but still fits into the overall look.

Taking the dimension directly from the opening I've prepared the parts for the door.

Door parts

The question was which style of joint I should use. Finally I've decided to use a bridle joint.

So I've marked all joint lines from the face side of the parts and started to make the mortise part first.


Starting the wedge hole


Deepen the knife line with a fitting chisel.


Chopping


The started to chop the ground of the joint.


Sawing the inside cheeks


And finally I've sawn down the inside cheeks of the mortise.
Unfortunately I haven't got a picture from making the tenon part. But it was just sawing down the cheeks and then fitting the tenons wit a router plane so that they are fitting into the mortices.


Bridle joint of the door frame


This is how the joints came out after sawing and fitting. Not bad at all, or?
I'll clean up the joint after gluing up the frame.


Overall view

The first dry fit of the door frame. As mentioned the final fitting I'll do after glue up.
And I have to think about a filling for the door now. Something rustic. Maybe some fine wire mesh.


Final Details


That's pretty much the build. But I would like to do some detail work.
In the picture you can see that the stiles are going through the top panel. I would like to fix the top panel with some wedges in the top of the stiles.


Through the top panel stiles

That said I've made some trough mortices into the four stiles.


Marked hole for the wedge


Nothing special. Just chopping out the wholes at an angle. I've eyeballed the angle and it matches my template wedge pretty well.


Hole for the wedge


I've to make some wedges now. Yesterday evening it was to late to make them.

What else? The top and the bottom panel will receive a bevel around the complete perimeter of the panels.
But just on the side which is directed to the inside of the lamp.

Most of the parts if not all are already smoothed and waiting for finishing. My plan is to rub a coat of oil onto the parts.
Anybody out there who has got experience with finishing Meranti? Do you think linseed oil is working?

And last but not least the glue up. I'll only glue the stiles into the bottom panel. On the top they will be only stuck and fixed with the wedges.
The rails at the bottom will be glued in. At the top the will be only fixed to the top panel, so that you can disassemble the lantern.

A bit of work to do. I hope that I can finish it at the upcoming weekend.

What's Next?


So that it won't be boring the next projects are waiting. I guess it is the same with everyone of us.
One project in the finishing phase. Another one already started and the next one in planning.
As soon as the lantern is ready I will come back to my occasional table.
If it is not autumn until it is ready I've got a simple bench in my mind. Something I've seen during my trip through England. More on that in a dedicated post.
But if autumn is already reached, then I'll start my workshop makeover. I will build a new workplace and rearrange some things. Again, more about it in a dedicated post.

Guys, that's it for today.
Hope my report was interesting for you.
As always I'm interested in feedback and your thoughts and opinions.

Keep on making!

Stefan


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