20
You can use screws, but in a slightly different manner. Instead of simply pre-drilling a hole and screwing the screw, you can use a router to create a slot with a countersink or counterbore bit.
Source: LeeValley
This slot will allow wood movement of your solid top while staying securely attached on your cross rails.
17
Good, fast, or cheap. Choose any two.
Factory methods like pocket holes, screws, and even finger-joints are good enough for mass market construction without having to hire journeymen carpenters. This is how furniture can be made as cheaply as it is. This is just a fact of modern globalism. This is the only way to offer furniture to a global market at scale ...
15
What type of joint is most appropriate for portions of furniture that are likely to be screwed and unscrewed in order to move it around?
There are actually numerous options for this. The best choice(s) depend on the size and weight of the furniture, aesthetic concerns and the thickness and strength of the stock used.
At the most basic you can screw the ...
15
What sander should I use for something like this?
You need tools that can sand contoured objects. There are a number of options, and given the varied nature of your work you'll probably use more than one tool. Here are some choices:
flap wheel: Basically a wheel with pieces of heavy duty sandpaper or abrasive cloth inserted around the circumference ...
14
Tabletops are often attached to the frame and aprons using tabletop fasteners such as these, which allow for some wood movement:
(Source)
This is what they look like installed:
(Source)
14
This is called a butcher block. It comes in two types - edge grain (like in the Norden tables), where the surface shows the edge (long) grain of the pieces of wood:
And end grain, where the surface shows the end grain of the pieces of wood:
Butcher block is made from small pieces, which are glued together. Since wood glue is stronger than the wood it binds,...
13
The wood in your top will expand and contract in one direction, while the cross braces will expand and contract perpendicular to that.
There are a couple of different products and techniques that would help.
For a set of rails like the ones in your picture, consider 'figure 8' fasteners.
https://www.leevalley.com/US/Garden/page.aspx?p=50311&cat=3,41306,...
13
I saw a video online, that suggested a simple jig that will allow you to drill straight into a relatively flat surface.
Take a piece of stock that is square. From the end of the stock, cut a wedge section that is 90° in the wedge (the left inner face should be 90° from the right inner face) and the wedge vertex (the line in the middle of the removed ...
13
What type of joint is most appropriate for portions of furniture that are likely to be screwed and unscrewed in order to move it around?
There's an entire category of knock down hardware that's meant to let you easily assemble and disassemble furniture. You've probably used some of it when assembling pieces from stores like IKEA.
There are also some ...
13
Major re-write as I missed that you were asking specifically about the drawers themselves.
Seems it's pretty much 50/50 on whether people even finish them at all
The traditional practice was for drawer bodies, and in fact the entire interior of a chest of drawers, not to be finished in any way. There are possibly multiple reasons for this, one of which ...
12
The Sagulator is a good quick calculator you can use to work out the type and thickness of material for any shelf or tabletop spans. It also factors the type of material into the load-bearing capacity. Consider the maximum weight any load-bearing horizontal member is likely to hold, and confirm that your design will be able to hold that much without too ...
11
I recommend you apply any finishing products before final assembly, but after any gluing or other permanent assembly.
Surfaces that are going to be glued together don't need (and shouldn't have) finish as this will weaken the bond, and the glue itself and adjoining wood should protect the wood (choose a suitable glue for the environment).
Surfaces that ...
11
Pocket hole joinery
One of the simplest ideas I could think of to address this would be to flip up the boards vertically and use pocket holes and screws into the legs.
Some good examples and picture come from a Community Project post about work benches: Community Project: Lets build a workbench!
Highlighting a picture from my unfinished work bench you can ...
10
A drill guide will help you maintain the required angle, in your case, 90 degrees perpendicular to the desk. These are readily available at your local home improvement or tool store.
Drill Guide http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/05/05534eb7-0230-4b1d-9f68-f9297f412a6f_400.jpg
10
In two words: Pilot hole
If you have a drill with the handy leveling bubble, this can be handy. Otherwise line up your drill bit using something akin to a speed square or carpenters square (checking more than 1 axis), then drill your pilot hole. Not only is the pilot hole beneficial, but I find it makes your accustomed to what arrangement/direction you will ...
10
The main concern for outdoor use is usually exposure to moisture and subsequent rot. Woods that are used outside should either have high decay resistance or be well protected from the elements by chemical or physical means. I'll explain:
Decay resistance: Cedar, redwood, white oak are a few woods with natural decay resistance that can be exposed to moisture ...
10
The apron on a four legged table serves a number of functions, and you may not have considered them all. The apron:
stiffens the top, helping to keep it flat
transfers the load to the legs
connects the legs to each other and keeps them vertical
connects the top to the base (i.e. legs + apron)
in a large table, supports stretchers that support the top in the ...
10
I'm working to repair the pictured round wooden table. It has a wood screw that's completely stripped out, in addition the center post has cracked:
My suggestion is to use increasingly-larger drill bits to widen the hole in the leg. For example, assuming you're starting with a 1/4" hole, work up to 5/16", 3/8", 7/16" and 1/2" bits, and you will end up with ...
10
What you want is called a "wood graining tool":
The basic idea is to use a darker color stain on top of a lighter color. You rock the tool back and forth to create the knot look of real wood grain.
This is commonly used to apply gel stain to a metal or fiberglass door to give a wood look, but can also be used in other situations.
There are tons of videos ...
9
First, I would avoid any pressure treated wood around anything having to do with food preparation - the chemicals that go into that wood are often poisonous.
Redwood or cedar would be good choices for anything outdoors, as would cypress, white oak, and teak, but they are more expensive and harder to source.
2 by lumber is always 1/2" less than the ...
9
If you can't buy the jig; make it!
Take a scrap of wood cut it to length and add a hook, then rip it in half.
This means that you can clamp it on the drawer to serve as a spacer for one end of the slides and between the slides on the cabinet side.
(image from woodgears.ca)
The reason for ripping the scrap in half is to get 2 blocks with for all intents ...
9
As TX Turner said there may not be a particularly good formula for coming up with that height, but this should work as a procedure:
Take an old chair and make a back rest adjuster to bring you to the same back angle of the new chair.
Cut the legs off shorter than you think you'll need
Fortunately, it's easy to make them shorter if needed
Cut a stack of ...
9
I can think of at least two options:
use the template on a duplicator
use the template to set
calipers
.... basically what keshlam said. The first if you have a duplicator you can use the template to make the shape. Most of us don't have a duplicator in our arsenal.
The other is to use calipers to take measurements at key places.
First you take and ...
8
I use a spacer which is basically just a piece of scrap wood cut to width to make sure they are all the same. And with no face frame I would just add false fronts to the drawers to cover the slides and is also easier then to ensure your gap around them is even. I think I learned of this trick in Fine Woodworking's website, if I find it I will post a link.
8
I saw an ad on a woodworking site and I was reminded of this question. These were touched on in other answers but I wanted to add something more concrete with a picture as an aid. The following is a picture of a drill guide. This would be used with your regular powered hand drill.
You can see that the underside has 45 degree angle to as so you could also ...
8
Since they are very old, they are most likely lacquer or shellac. As previously noted, test for shellac with DNA, lacquer with lacquer thinner. If those don't soften the finish, then it's probably a phenolic or alkyd varnish which will require stripping.
Here is a good article on refinishing by Bob Flexner.
8
Yes, shellac is a great barrier coat and wash coat, lacquer works well over it. The flake mixed with DNA is better than the hardware store canned. That being said, the area could be spot repaired with a fad via french polish and shellac without lacquer. I am assuming if it is has a shellac finish it is a vintage piece so keeping with the original finish is ...
8
Unfortunately there's no product that'll really do what you want here. You can certainly add protection but everything will change some aspect of the current appearance.
A good oiling (with periodic maintenance each year) will add protection, it won't stop further degradation but it will limit it. However it will also significantly alter the colouration as ...
8
You can apply finish at whatever time is easiest to do so. Sometimes you will want to sand and finish one side of a board before final assembly, if it would be difficult to reach afterwards. The insides of small boxes are much easier to sand as flat boards than after they are assembled. You do have to take more care in handling already finished boards.
...
8
It might be a regional issue, but I hadn't heard the term "regularized" in the context of buying lumber. Perhaps that threw off the people at the store, although even if you had asked for S4S (surfaced 4 sides) hardwood lumber, the employees at a home improvement store may or may not have been able to help you.
If wood is "regularized" and not dried, ...
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