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So I'm thinking the near future may hold a new piece of machinery for the shop. I've looked into mortisers and am curious who is happy with theirs and what model they have. In my shop it would get a fair bit of work as I have plenty of furniture projects in the works but again it's a hobby shop and not a business. Most reviews I've read seem clear that most are not familiar with how they are used and have unrealistic expectations. The biggest complaint I hear is the cutters are poor quality and dull. From what I've read and I expect is in the manuals is that the cutters need sharpening first much like chisels.

Good Evening Friends, A lady came to my shop today and brought a chair with a broken leg and wanted to know if I could fix it? I looked the chair over and told her that we would have to shoot it because the leg was too far broken, just like you do a horse when it breaks his leg in a race. She exclaimed Really? Then I started to laugh and she then settled down. She stated that she had an awful time finding someone with knowledge enough to fix the leg. She also stated that if she had not found me on the internet that she didn't know what to do with the chair. She further stated that our work in repair and restoration is becoming a thing of the past and I informed her that when I am no longer here that it would be even harder to find someone because no one wants to learn the trade anymore. She came from 50 miles away. How do you all feel about this topic?

Morning gents. Went to a home show here in KC last Friday. There was an Amish furniture booth there that had a dining table on display. The wood was amazing. Gorgeous color and grain pattern with wonderful contrast between the light and dark pattern in the wood. I had to ask what type of wood it was made of and was told elm. Anyone ever work with elm and if so what does it compare to re. workability? Thanks.

It take a few minutes to watch, but it is amazing the skill and engineering that went into these projects

I get Tom Fidgen's Newsletter in my inbox and I always look forward to it. Tom is a hand made by hand tool guy, long story short, great stuff, beautiful work, I have been following him for along time. In the most recent newsletter he is advertising his new Two Handled Rasps, these are beautiful tools, I want them, I gotta have them, don't know how yet, but some day I'll have them in my shop. These tools just make sense, with their two handles, stitched rasp, these are made for accurate stock removal. I have no horse in the game here, I just love beautiful tools is all. Here they are. Just thought I'd share them.

I guess it is overdue that I posted some pictures of my builds. Critique is always welcomed, as I like to learn from experience. The most recent piece is this, The Harlequin Table, which is a side table I built for my wife ... The case is Hard Maple from the USA. The drawer fronts are Black Walnut, figured Hard Maple, and pink Jarrah (hence the name, Harlequin). The drawer sides are quartersawn Tasmanian Oak, and the drawer bottoms/slips were made from Tasmanian Blue Gum. Finish was, initially, two coats of dewaxed UBeaut Hard White Shellac (the very faint amber adds a little warmth), followed by three coats of General Finishes water-based poly (this remains clear - does not yellow the maple - and appears to have some UV protection. It is hard wearing, which is necessary for a side table). The build features mitred, rounded dovetails and bow front and back. Eight drawers featuring compound dovetailing to match the bow front. Drawers are traditional half-blind dovetails at the front and through dovetails at the rear, with drawer bottoms into slips. About 2 months to build, mainly on weekends. Here is the rear of the table (which will be seen through the windows, which run floor-to-ceiling along the family room ... The pulls were shaped from what-I-believe-to-be-some-type-of Ebony ... The obligatory dovetails ... Do you think that anyone will notice that the drawer bottoms run sequentially? A last look ... Details of the build are on my website. Scan down this page to Harlequin Table: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/index.html Regards from Perth Derek

When you create a peice of furniture you sometimes use a back of 1/4" ply. Do you glue or nail it in place? Do you prefinish it and the rest of the peice so that you can spray the interior ? Do you fasten it in place to act as a squaring device then after the glue drys in the frame remove it for finishing later on? I am finishing up my daughters curio cabinet and think it should go this way. 1. cut to fit but do not install. 2. Fiinish the face and sides of the peices and spray if desired. 3. Finish the plywood back. 4. Install the back with Nails to allow some wood movement.

Might be the Dr. Feelgood? Got a wild-arsed idea last night. To take the dresser build system I was using in the late 1980s, and tweek it just a bit. Back then, I could start at 0800 on a Saturday morning, and by 2000 that night, have a 5 drawer Chest of Drawers standing in the shop, awaiting a finish. Haven't quite the room that I had back then. Thought about doing a little step-by-step of how those were made, back then. They usually sold @$20 per drawer, BTW. Back then, lumber supply was about five 2x4x8's, a 1 x 6 x8' or 1 x 8x8's one for each drawer. At least one sheet of 1/4" Luann plywood ( because it was cheap), and not a whole lot more. One 2 x 4 x 8 was reserved for the top's frame. Two more were ripped into 3/4" thick strips. And the last two ( and the best of the bunch) were cut for the 4 corner posts. Each 1x provide the four sides of a drawer. Drawers were 3/4 overlay, dovetails at the front, dado for the backs. I got to be very good at changing tablesaw blades. Sides were frames, with some of the 1/4" plywood as panels....insides of the case were smooth and flat, to guide the drawers. Webframes were made from the ripped down 2 x 4 x 8....and some of the wider face frame parts were also ripped. Usually began by figuring out the spacing of the webframes, to find out how long the corner posts needed to be. had to allow for the top frame to be a tad wider, and the bottom face frame piece at 3-1/2" wide.. I could either mill, assemble and stack 6 webframes, with kickers, or work on the corner posts. usually the frames were done first...as I didn't slow down much doing the posts. Corner posts.....Used to be, not much else was done, decided to thin things done a bit, one day....both edges were ripped off. Leaves a nice straight, square 3" wide post....most 2 x 4s have a good face, and a not-so good face....I would rip the not-so good off, to make the posts 1" thick......much better than a lumpy 1-3/8" x 3-1/2" with rounded corners. Post got a bit more work, back then it was on the tablesaw I set the 4 posts, to see which would be the best for the front. Marked them as to where the inside was. Couple of cuts to make a rebate down the back edge of the two back posts ( holds the plywood back) Then all got a rebate along the inside edge. 1/4" x 3/4" wide. A foot detail was sawn...usually started about 5" about the foot, and tapered to 1" square at the foot.....thinner posts could get a fancier curved cut out, The second rebate was to house a series of rails, and plywood panels....and the rails needed a few cuts. a rebate to house the plywood panel...each edge as needed ( top and bottom rail only got one), and a dado on each end, to sit flush in the post's rebate. Usually, a cove bit was used on the "show" edges...cove on the posts were even with the outside of the rails. Well, that be a start, was lunchtime, anyway... IF anyone wants, I could keep this write-up going....IF and when I get back to the shop, I might try this build....slowly.

These are not mine. My wife and I went to the Biltmore House in NC and these are pictures of a few pieces of furniture. I thought you all might enjoy these.

A blog written by Jeff Branch to help the reader learn to use Sketchup for furniture design. https://jeffbranchww.com/2018/07/08/designing-furniture-in-sketchup/