Recent content by Michael Stiennon

The hinge jig worked nicely on the kneehole bureau as well. The gains were cut in the stile prior to assembly as it is a separate piece. I was pleasantly surprised that the 2 degree lean in the carcase did not result in binding.

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I put hide glued shells in the oven at 200 degrees with a pan of water to increase the humidity and they come apart in about an hour.

Part of the Sloyd method was to have the children change hands every hour or so. Ambidexterity is frequently useful.

I send I-phone photos to my email at lowest resolution. then you can just drag and drop them into your post.

I made a jig out of 1 1/2" aluminum angle which ensures the two hinges are parallel and set at the same depth. The cut out on the second side of the angle iron is deepr by the knuckle of the hinge, a little more than the cockbead. This ensures the cockbead dadoes on the stile are the same...

The sides are clamped to two T-shaped fixtures. The fixtures are separated by two sticks to give the dimensions of the bottom - rear is 1/8" wider than the front. The top cross pieces are glued in, the top and contoured full width blades installed, then the full width dust board over the...

There are two jigs, a left hand and a right hand for cutting the dovetails on the ends of the blades. It cuts the double angle for the dovetail then guides for chopping down to thin the end to 7/16" to fit in the routed dado. I originally used 1/8" cockbeads and made the dovetail ½" of the...

another try at the images.

I am coming to the end of a three year project to build three versions of the Newport blockfront. Starting with carving the shells, then moving on to the bases, the three drawer chest is assembled and its drawers complete. I haven’t seen a construction of the flush front version of the bureau...

Dennis, I would like to try carving a convex shell from the solid but when I carve one on a backing board, the chisels cut into the backing boad when I shape the perimeter. How do you avoid this? Incannel ground chisels? fingernail ground chisels? Any advice would be appreciated.

the classic would be beeswax dissolved in turpentine. it has a flat lustre.

I used a dado sled to waste the center and ends (and the back). carved the concave with a #7 x 20 gouge and planed the convex with a rabbet low angle block plane. Used scrapers to smooth the curve. Strongly advise using hold down toggle clamps on the sled to avoid mistakes/disasters.

You can also find S. mahagoni from yard trees in FL. It is usually air dried. I prefer the color and density to S. macrophylla (which is apparently all plantation grown in the far east now). The S. macrophylla (purchased in the early 80's so maybe central american or Mexican) however has a...