Since you think my boats are furniture.. OT

[capt jake]

I thought I would build a sofa table to put the boat model/display case upon. Started it last week and designed it as I went. Honduran with Padouk inlay, which is a departure from all of the other furniture that I have made of Red Oak. Granite tile inlay for the top.

I finally broke down and bought the mortising chisel attachment for my drill press. Now why I didn't buy that years ago is beyond me. :oops:

Now I need another project ;) after the kitchen gets re-done again. :roll:

Oh, yes those are Bamboo floors.

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[P Doug (WA)]

I finally broke down and bought the mortising chisel attachment for my drill press. Now why I didn't buy that years ago is beyond me. :oops:

quote]

Very nice, very nice indeed!

What kind mortisimg chisel attachment (brand) did you by and how does it work? I've thought of buying one but have red that they don't work to well. They have to work better than a mallet and chisel like I have been using on the morris chair I'm working on.

[Frank Hagan]

Very nice, Jake! Where did you use the mortising attachment, for the mortise for the sides (rails?) into the legs? I'm wondering because I know you can drill a square hole with them, but I haven't heard how well they do drilling out a longer mortise.

And, how do you like the bamboo floor? Hardwood isn't for us because of the denting and susceptibility to warpage when it gets wet. I understand bamboo doesn't have that problem.

[capt jake]

I bought Delta's attachment. It was about $75. It is pretty easy to attach to the drill press and set up. I used a 1/4" mortise for the apron-leg joint. The mortises are 5 1/2" long and 1" deep. That equalled about 44" of mortise and it only took about 1/2 hour to cut them out.

Granted, the mortises aren't 'really' pretty, but they are uniform and applied equal pressure to the joint throughout. It is all in the set-up; the fence has to be perfectly parallel to the mortise, which is a little harder to set up with the smaller chisel but it worked fine.

It is far superior than a mallet and chisel, IMHO. I have also used dropped routes for mortises also, but they are a little dicey. It is a really slick way of setting up a joint of this type and think it is better than any others I have tried.

As far as the Bamboo; it will dent, regardless of what they tell you. Most of the companies selling it compare it to Maple as far as hardness. Only problem is Bamboo is a grass and thus is not rated in the conventional property tables. IMHO, a certain amount of dents only add to the patina and charm of a wood floor.

Bamboo is an engineered product 5/8" thick, and thus is very stable. All of the pieces were perfectly straight right out of the box. It is also pre-finished which was a reall time/money saver.

As you know, we have wide humidity swings her in the PNW (at least in the past 2 years) and have noticed only very slight movement of the floor. VERY slight! I have a friend who installed Oak and in the summer it opens up in a few spots, not to mention he had a bear of a time installing it.

At $2.99-sq/ft we felt we couldn't beat it with any other product; not to mention it is a 'green' product. This species of Bamboo matures and is ready for harvest in about 7 years. I bought it from Lumber Liquidators, a subsidiary of Bellawood.

http://www.deltawoodworking.com/index.asp?e=139&p=1674 Mortiser

http://www.lumberliquidators.com/cart/index.php?p=productsList&iCategory=4

Bamboo floors, looks like the price went up slightly. Ours have been in nearly two years now.

[Frank Hagan]

On the mortiser, the thing I have heard is that when using it for a long mortise, the chisel tends to bend in toward the open portion if you are trying to overlap the previous cut, causing an angled side wall and chips along the long edges of the mortise. The fixes I've heard about are to drill those square holes with about 1/8" of solid material behind them, and then go back and drill those out with the mortiser, or make sure you are positioning the "overlapping" hole so it just about overlaps, with a paper-thin piece between the holes that you can knock out with a chisel easily by hand.

The lack of movement on the bamboo floor is the main advantage then; we had oak floors which were a laminate over an exterior grade of plywood base, and that construction was intended to eliminate a lot of movement. But we still had enough that we avoided using water to mop the floor. My wife never thought it was clean, so she would use a spray bottle and cloth and go over it by hand. Overkill, I know, but she can't break me of the 5-second rule when it comes to a cookie dropped on the floor.

[Bill]

Nice Job Jake...

Heck it takes me a week just to get a finish on my projects. Did you use your HVLp on it for the finish? I was thinking along the same lines (building a little cabinet, instead of a table tho..) for my Model. It's always been out in the open collecting dust and drives my women crazy, because she doesn't dare to touch it to dust it, so she bugs me..

It might be a good chance for me to buy my mortiser too...I was out pricing them this week. I don't own a drill press and the really don't have a problem without one. Most of the add-on Mortisers I've seen, want a beefy drill press to attach them to. I was thinking about going the dedicated mortiser route.

Again great job on the table, I like seeing all the things that people do in our forum. I was in my shop this afternoon putting a bit of finish on a small cabinet for the bathroom, saw your nice work..and it humbled me a bit...

Bill

[capt jake]

Frank, yes there was a bit of bend with the 1/4" chisel towards the open hole. I learned not to overlap as far; similar to what you describe. That seemed to solve the problem.

Flooring, we have yet to find a cleaning product that does not leave straks, so I usually get my knee pads on and do it by hand. Did I say usually?? That should be occasionally.

Bill, I used a hand rubbed polyurethane finish, about 6 coats. I only have a 12" benchtop drillpress which is plenty for 'most' everything I have ever done. It has the 38mm quil for attaching the mortiser to. I also looked at a dedicated mortising machine, but I can't justify another fixed tool that only gets used once in a while. Were as I use the drill press nearly daily.

[Dave R1]

Jake, that's a very nice table. I like the proportions and color choices.

Frank, one way to prevent the mortising chisel from drifting toward the previously cut portion of the mortise is to cut one end, then move the work the width of the chisel for the next cut. Continue to the end of the mortise. Then go back and cut out the rest.

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[capt jake]

Frank, one way to prevent the mortising chisel from drifting toward the previously cut portion of the mortise is to cut one end, then move the work the width of the chisel for the next cut. Continue to the end of the mortise. Then go back and cut out the rest.

Yup! Dave said what I was unable to .......

Dave, thanks for the comments on proportion and color. I started with the granite tiles and built around them. I decided it needed a little kick, so I pawed around and found a little Padouk that worked out fine. Of course it will darken and soften in color given a little time.

[Tim Diebert]

Nice work Cap. J

As for mortise and tenons. I will interject my humble opinion.

As a furniture maker of many years, I pretty well never used a traditional mortise and tenon. My usual joint was a double mortise and spline.

Let me explain (This may be of interest to home hobbyist level furniture makers. )

Most mortises, unless done very parallel and square are not too accurate. If you want to use a normal wood glue (like a Titebond-UF 109 etc) then you need a tight/flat joint in order to be strong and forever. If you used epoxy, for a joint like this it would be cool, as it is a gap filler. Personally, I never use epoxy for furniture as it could never be taken apart in the future for repairs etc.

On top of this, making a perfect fit tenon is not so easy as well. With a table router and a suitable technique, it is pretty easy to make perfect mortises. Make them in both pieces to be mated, then make a simple 'spline' from whatever material you have left over. You will have to round the edges of the spline to fit the rounded ends of the mortises. Much faster and a better joint. No shoulders to cut on the tenon. Just a butt joint on the 'tenon' piece.

Depending on the project and your comfort level, you can glue one 'end' first and let it dry, then do the other...or do both at the same time.

I have used this process for hundreds of projects, from small jewelery boxes to huge heavy hardwood doors in Teak and Oak.

Most home shops have a table router and the bits needed to do mortises.

I have even used this system for 'through tenons' and through tenons with wedges.

Just a thought.

[Dave R1]

Tim a loose tenon is a good way to do that and a router makes quick work of it. One thing to keep in mind is to not try hogging the waste out in a single pass.

I use my WoodRat for mortise and tenon joints. Router-based but you can make a conventional (or haunched) tenon with square corners. Mortises require a bit of cleanup it the tenons are square cornered.

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[Tim Diebert]

Your cad drawing perfectly depicts what I was saying Dave. Did you just whip that up?....or had it already around somewhere?

Yes, some of those router based tenoners work very well.

I have always been a KISS principal kind of guy and just have always found a way to use what machines and fixtures I already have. I have many times bought a new machine or jig, found I did not use it ebnough, and just sold it or gave it away. My machines always have to earn there space. I have this one little disc/belt sander I never use for anything except collecting dust....the only reason he has not been ebay'd is because I think I may find a use for him some day...In the meantime I detect a minor nervous twitch every time I pass him....

Nice table firedude. That particular species of table is quite handy. Specially for you folks with nice enough houses to warent nice furniture....as you obviously have.

[Dave R1]

Thanks Tim, yeah, I just whipped it up in about 3 minutes. I wish my woodworking could go as fast.

Like yours, my equipment has to earn its space, too. Fortunately my WoodRat also is my dovetailer, dowel maker, box joint jig, etc, etc.

[capt jake]

I have also done the router method in the past, but I like this set-up. I typically use a stub tenon and groove, but they typically take a while to set-up also.

Thanks for the compliments, my wife got her wish; the table to be finished before the services. I figure the basic table only took about 25 hours, and another 5 or so on finish. Now I have to go buy more mahogany; I found a guy up North with a slig of it for $3/bd-ft; gonna look at it on Thursday.