Wood 'n' Soul

I’ve been working a lot of hours to get this piece done. And I think it is coming out beautifully.

One of the images shows the bow frame with the veneer in place and the top glued up behind it. BTW, if anyone asks, rolling 32 square feet of veneer is a LOT of work!!

The next image shows the top after glue-up - I’m planning the top - the best way to get it done right - quickly too! And yes my plane is made of purple heart. It is from Steve Knight up in Portland, OR. I like it a lot for this kind of work.

The final image shows the bow section with the top sitting on it - cut to size and ready for finishing.
I spent the afternoon finishing the bow section - I took a couple of pix, but they really don’t show how nice it looks. Tomorrow morning I’ll finish the rails and stiles for the bow section and mount them. In the afternoon, I plan to finish the sides and perhaps get the base done.

We are slammin’ and jammin on the frim fram here in Geyserville!

The bow section frame is complete except for veneer, trim and, final finish. The flexible TiberCore is on. It went on more easily than I anticipated [good news]. The frame is really quite stout! I like that - I try to build my projects so that they will last 100 years.

I thicknessed the lace wood for all of the panels today and will begin glue up tomorrow and should finish them all tomorrow.

I hope to get the desk top of the bow front section jointed and glued up as well.

I need to machine the mahogany in the next couple of days for the rails of the back desk sections. Then I have to put it all together...

Still truckin' puff -- puff

You can see the steps in the construction of the bow frame section of the desk.

In the first picture, the center section of the frame has been cut out and the four frames screwed together so that all of the dadoes will be properly aligned.

The second image shows how I use my router and a very simple set-up to cut the dadoes for the stiles. There is a good bit more dust than usual because of the way I have to cut them.

After I cut all of the dadoes and the stiles for fit them, I dry fit the whole frame. It looks like it is going to work.

Well, I did something wrong here - it all fits and is square. The next two frames show the frame upright and with my assistant. The glue needs to dry and then the real fun will begin.

The next step will be to put to cut the flex-core to fit and put it on. Kind of like trying to cut a piece of jello with an eraser. Best not to be around during such evolutions - my naval background has equipped me well with all kinds of aphorisms and colloquialisms suitable for events like this.

I will start making the two desk sides and top on Monday, as well.

We have been making some serious progress on the reception desk/kiosk.

The desk legs are rough cut - I’ll cut the rails tomorrow and hopefully get some mortises and tenons cut as well. Then cut for final dimensions.

I need to glue up some lace wood panels for the frame. The flexcore is also quite visible in the picture. Way cool stuff - Way heavy too!

As you can see from the pix, I’ve cut the rails for the bow frame and will cut the stiles tomorrow or the next day. I’ll cut out some of the intermediate frame to reduce the weight. I made a template from MDF and then used my router to cut the bow in the frame. It is quite nice - smooth and faired nicely.

We are movin’ on - quickly! More later.

I’ve started construction on the reception desk/kiosk, as the picture shows. This is the first of the horizontal frames that will create the bow shape. Constructing the front seciton of the kiosk will be very similar to building a boat. I’ll build the frame first with stringers and thwarts - in this case rails and stiles. Then I’ll put on the skin and, finally the finish [Lace wood veneer]. I’ll have mahogany stiles in the front as well. And a trick emblem with the clients initials.

The back of the desk will be pretty conventional with two wings with drawers [2 each: 1- about 4” and the other, about 12” for files and such]. The desk will be of frame and panel construction with mahogany rails and stiles and lace wood panels.

The owners and I will be heading to the wood barn later this week to see what we will ultimately use for the top of the kiosk/desk. I saw some masonia the other day as well as some sipo that was quite stunning, and will go well with the mahogany and lace wood. there is a world of beautiful wood to choose from and it will be a fun trip!