A significant part of table design involves the legs and any framework connecting multiple legs to each other, to the table top, and to provide strength. When it comes to the structure of the table, the joints between the legs and other parts of the table are where damage is most likely to occur. Pulling … Continue reading Designing Furniture: Considerations Around Table Legs and Leverage
This project actually started over eight years ago, but in a very different form. While down in California working a trade show for Lee Valley, the crew and I made a detour to Sam Maloof’s house in Alta Loma. We got a very inspirational tour of the very unique house which he had built for … Continue reading Stool with Sculpted Seat
Quite often, I need a wider board than what I have available. Usually, that means gluing up two or more boards edge to edge. Since, in this situation, I am usually making a highly visible part such as a table top or cabinet side, I am very careful to match not only the grain pattern … Continue reading Simpler Edge Joints
A textured top might at first seem the wrong choice for a writing desk, but with computers leading the writing world nowadays we think it’s a great idea. - Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement Magazine I completed the base for the 21st Century Writing Desk, to go with the top that I carved in November. … Continue reading 21st Century Writing Desk, Complete
Early on, I regarded mitre joints as difficult and finicky, so I often used other joinery that I could execute more easily (even dovetails) instead. But once I figured out a good process for making mitre joints, I found them to be no more difficult than other joinery, and certainly quicker than dovetails! My latest article … Continue reading Cut Perfect Mitre Joints
After a week making the inside surfaces glossy and blue, I was back to making sawdust. I mitred the ends of the panels with my sliding table saw, using a stop block to ensure that they were all the same length. I appreciated the fact that my carefully-painted surfaces were able to just sit on the … Continue reading Assembling Puzzle Table
No matter how much time I have, there never seems to be enough. For that reason, I make many of my decisions based on efficiency. My decision to use a hand tool or a power tool for a given task is dependent on what I feel is more efficient for the task at hand. In my effort to … Continue reading One-Step Joinery
This weekend, I am demonstrating Festool power tools at Lee Valley Tools Ltd. in Coquitlam. To generate interest and demonstrate what can be done with the tools, I am turning this seven-foot-long slab of cherry into a coffee table. By the end of Thursday, I had made some good progress. To make the legs, I used … Continue reading Single-Slab Cherry Coffee Table, Part I
I developed the crossing joint as a possible solution to how conventional joinery results in a disruption of grain along the rails and/or stiles of a frame and panel door.I cut one sample joint, then did some photo manipulation to see how it would look in a similar situation.First, I looked at the fingers in … Continue reading Crossing Joint as Door Joinery
This joint was inspired by the realization that joinery used in frame and panel doors always results in a visual discontinuation of the vertical component, whereas the horizontal component usually carries through to an adjacent component. Using mortise and tenon, bridle, or cope and stick joinery resulted in one member (usually the stile - the vertical member) cutting off … Continue reading Original Joinery – Crossing Joint
Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 