Walnut Bookshelf with Ebony Accents

It's been awhile since my last post.  I have been making some furniture, I just need to take time to blog about it.

Our previous home had built-in bookcases around the fireplace. We didn't realize how much we would miss that shelf space when we moved.  We've got piles of books everywhere!

As my skills and means have been progressing,  I set out to make a bookshelf with strong joinery....and no plywood!  I really liked a Robert Lang Craftsman bookcase I saw in Popular Woodworking #170, so rolled with it.  Of course, I customized it to my tastes.

Puzzle Board with Drawers

This a quick blog pertaining to how I made a puzzle board.  The materials are a 1/2 sheet of cherry cabinet grade 1/4" ply...well, the stuff with the mdf core. And some 4/4 walnut. 

I believe the sheet was cut down to two 24x36" pieces. I ripped some walnut 3/4" x 1" for dividers. Thus the space for the drawers will be 1"tall.  In the picture below I'm gluing (weighting) the dividers in place. Precision is a must, otherwise you'll have wonky sliding drawers. 

Dining Set Tutorial #7 - Cherry and Walnut Dining Table

Now for the table. Building this baby felt like a cakewalk after the hours involved in those chairs. Back in the day when I was milling up the 8/4 walnut for the chair legs, I set aside and laminated pieces for the Table legs. You can see the pattern in the middle. Each triple-laminated blank rendered two legs without waste.

Dining Set Tutorial #6: Captains Chairs

This is where we get to the custom furniture part. My clients (aunt and uncle) were split on the chair back design.  My uncle enjoys lower back support, as do I.  My aunt, not as much.  The compromise was to make two captains chairs with a different back.  This added several hours to the build, but also gave me the opportunity to push my skills and creativity. 

I should note, this is some of the most technical handwork I've pulled off to date, so I'll attempt to explain as best I can. I know, pictures do most the talking. If your not adept with joinery terms, you may need to google a few terms. 

Anyway, notice the captains chair below is glued up without the back slats. Well, in order to give some lower back support, the back slats are going to go all the way to the seat. So, I can insert the custom backslats later when I install the seat. 

Dining Set Tutorial #5 Sculpted Seats

Down to bidness. Here's the steps I used for the sculpted seats.

Using the chair as a pattern:

Dining Set Tutorial #4 Glue Up and Lower Stretchers

Lots of action in this blog. If you've been reading, you know I'm a better woodworker than I am a writer. Hopefully the pictures help. Ha!

Glue Up:

New town, new house, new shop. I've got the the chair parts laid out on my bench just as I left off this past summer. 

Reclaimed Dining Table with Dovetailed Breadboards, Part Two

Part two starts with the base. You can see I half-lapped some massive timbers in an "X". I marked the large dado, cut the kerf on the tablesaw, and cut the waste out on the bandsaw. Little tip: cut the dado slightly undersized, then make tiny passes with the jointer (or hand plane) on the side of the leg until you have a perfect fit.