Today I'm going to build this Japanese inspired bench, where I carve a crack and
hand in lay some bow ties. I also get into three or four different types of joinery.
so let's get started.
I started out cutting the boards for the top of the bench to their approximately
even though the end design idea will have bow ties joining a crack. I decided to use
standard eight quarter cherry opposed to a slab. Mainly because it's much cheaper
I don't always find a slab with the crack in just the right place to fit my
design vision. So after I build the pieces for the top I took a few minutes
to decide which edges to put together to hide the glue line so the grain blends
together the best. Once I found a combination I liked I put the two boards
together and use some tracing paper so I could see through to the grain and
started planning out where the crack was going to be. I tried following the grain
the best I could so it would look as natural as possible. I did several
variations tracing different parts of the grain until I finally settled on one
that I liked. I also tried to pay attention to the direction of the end
grain and used it to determine which direction the crack would go vertically
through the wood. Then I used some carbon paper to transfer my drawing to the
work piece. Yes carbon paper still exists
So I can better see the line while in power carving I darkened it all up
with a sharpie
Then I went to work with a power Carver on my angle grinder. Working to the line
on the top and then trying to follow that line I'll work my way down to the
bottom.
Then I use the soft pad on my random orbit sander to smooth out the grinding
marks.
Now on the other side I started at the bottom removing the bulk of the material
and feathered it up to the top until I met my layout.
Once I was happy with the shape I moved on to a little faux finishing to make
the crack stand out and look weathered like it had been there a while.
I used a dark brown dye stain and coated the crack. Since it was water-based I was
able to spritz it with some water while I buffed off the excess to create a nice
weathered look. Time is money so I sped up the drying time with a heat gun. Once
it was dry I sealed in the brown dye with some shellac, so people that sit on the
bench won't get any Brown stain from the crack on their clothes.
The shellac was a little too shiny so I knocked down the sheen with some steel
woo.l Once I was happy with the look of the crack I mortise the edges of the
boards for floating Tenon's to help with alignment during glue up.
Then it was time to move on to in laying the bow ties. I used some paper to cut out a
few different sizes and shapes and started laying them out until I was
happy with the look.
Then I use some spray adhesive to attach the chosen ones to some scrap walnut and
cut them out at the band saw.
I attach some double-stick tape to the bottom of each one so I can stick them
down to the bench top preventing them from moving around while I carefully
traced around each one with a razor blade. This transfers their exact shape
to the workpiece and gives the tip of my chisel a place to register when I start
chopping them out. When I start chopping out the waste, I start about 1/16 in from
the razor blade line removing a little material before I go right to the line.
This prevents the wedge shape of the chisel from compressing the fibers along
the razor blade line which will make the fit of the bow tie look sloppy. As I work
my way down I did several gentle test fits and made adjustments as I went.
I never want to force it until I'm sure I'll get a good fit. If the fit isn't
right I risk not being able to get it back out without damaging something and
will be stuck with a bad fit up.
Once I was satisfied with the fit I glued it up and drove it home. Then
planed off the excess until it was flush. I did have a small area on the bottom
where I compressed the fibers with the chisel, so I used a wet rag and some
steam to swell the grain back up to tight fit. Once I have all three bow ties
inlaid it was time to move on to milling the legs.
To get the thickness I wanted I laminated some eight quarter lumber
together. I took my time matching the grain before glue up to help hide the
glue line, and I use my favorite wood glue to glue them up. Now that the glue
is dry I use the chop saw to square off the ends and moved over to the table saw
to cut the bridle joint. I use my shop made sled to help hold the legs square
to the blade. Since I'm making the dados almost as deep as the blade will cut it.
I took several shallow passes so I wouldn't overtaxe the blade having the
work piece drift out of alignment. I also flipped the work piece around and
made a second pass each time keeping the dado centered on the leg.
leg is going to get tapered on all four sides so I took a piece of scrap plywood
and made a quick tapering jig for the band saw. It mainly consisted of a sled
and a few registration blocks glued to it.
Then for the opposing side I saved a cut off to take up the space where the
leg was taped. I ripped it to a more manageable width and slid it in the jig.
To clean up the band saw marks I ran each leg over the jointer. Now to fit the top
rail in the bridle joint I just kept running the board through the planer
taking a little off with each pass until I had a snug fit.
Now to cut the curve shape on the upper rails.
I made a temple and used some double stick tape to attach the pieces to it.
I took the bulk of the material off at the band saw then routed one end flush.
I then raised the router bit to expose the lower Guide bearing and
routed the other side. By using a bit with a bearing on top and bottom I can
always route downhill with the grain avoiding tear out.
Moving on to the lower stretcher I found the center of the leg and marked out for
where the lower mortises are going to go. I don't use this mortising attachment very
often, but since I already tapered the legs it seems like the fastest most
accurate way to cut the mortises. To get the face of the leg squared to the
chisel, I use one of the cut offs to shim it up then I went to work chopping out
the mortises. I use an air hose to help clear the chips as I worked, and the
smoke you're seeing is totally normal when you're using tools that are as dull as this.
The mortiser left the walls of the mortise a little rough so I just
used a mallet and chisel to clean them up.
To cut the Tenon's on the stretcher I used an angle finder to find the angle.
Since each leg was cut on the bandsaw and then cleaned up at the jointer
there's about a half a degree difference between each leg so I've measured and
cut each tenon to match it corresponding leg. I first cut the angle on
the stretchers and then adjusted the miter gauge at the table saw to match,
cutting a rabbet on both ends.
Since the tenons have a slight angle to them, cutting the top and bottom
shoulders at the table saw would have been a huge pain. So I just finished them
off with a handsaw.
I marked out my layout line between the shoulders, scribe with the razor
blade, and use my chisel to make a notch for the saw blade to track in.
And did the final cleanup with the chisel before test fitting.
I'm down to the final piece but before making the trestle I wanted to get the
spacing of the legs just right. So I set them up and took a step back to see how
they looked. This is what determine the length of the trestle. To make the
trestle, I found a nice piece of cherry with a nice curve in it. I used the curve
in the wood as a guide to create the curve in the trestle. I tried to find a
balance between the proportions of the piece and the grain and the wood for the
angle cut on the ends. I just picked an arbitrary angle that looked good to my
eye and the corresponding arch. In the trestle I found the center point and
drove a nail in it and then using a thin piece of wood, I bent it around the nail
creating the arch.
To make the top of the arch match the curvature of the bottom I set the
scribe to the thickness I wanted and drew it in following a lower curve.
Before cutting the curve I laid out the half lap joints to connect them to the
stretchers. I set up a dado blade in the table saw to cut them. This was a two pass
operation, so I just carefully lined up the blade with my layout lines and made
the cuts
I did the same operation for the stretchers
I did a quick test fit and headed to the band saw to cut out the curve.
I used the disc sander and spindle sander to clean up the band saw marks.
There are always a few little divots or mis-shaped parts in the curve left over
from the spindle sander so I just cleaned them up by hand using a flexible
sanding strip.
Then a final test fit up before glue and finish.
Thank you for making it to the end of the project. If you want to help support
this channel please join me on patreon so I can continue to build cool projects
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