This is probably an unusual question but here it goes.
In FWW issue 143 of Aug 2000 there is an article written by Steve Brown on making a jg to cut compound angled tenons for chippendale chairs. He state that making the wedge is the heart of the jig. This is what I do not understand, in the picture he wrote
“The blade is set to the cant angle (upright) but the cant angle must be twisted to match the trapezoidal angle by holding the bevel gauge flat on the table saw”. I don’t understand what means “must be twisted to match the trapezoidal angle” since I well know that the blade only tilt to the left or to the right and never sideways, and also following his step I don’t see any difference in the bevel gauge angle with the cant angle This can be a correct statement but I do not get it, I guess there will be somebody who understand this and kindly explain it to me. You may need to save this atricle to your hard drive and view it in a larger format in order to read it.
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Thanks.
Edited 6/13/2005 7:38 am ET by cecil
Replies
Cecil,
your image tag is broke or the pic is not available...
Mark
I saw it and I am trying to fix it but don't know how to attach this page, don't work for me in any way, sorry about it. The page I am attemptin to insert is the page of FWW where the article is published
Just paste the link (go to the page in your browser,
select the link from your browser link bar, press ctrl-c (copy) on your keyboard.Then create a message in the forum and press ctrl-v . We can follow the link and read the article.Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
cecil,
What he is saying is that the bevel guage that's set to the cant angle has to be presented to the sawblade at the trapezoid angle. This is done by placing the guage that's set to the trapezoid angle, flat on the table, against the blade, and holding the cant angle guage against its other leg, and setting the saw blade angle thusly (rather than presenting it square to the blade).
Frankly, in practical terms, there is so little difference in the end result, that I doubt it makes a difference, in this case. You'll more easily see what he's talking about, if the two angles are significantly greater than what is typical for a chair's rear leg cant, and seat trapezoid. Keep in mind that he's talking about making the wedge that you'll use to cut the tenons on the rail, not to cutting the tenons themselves.
An alternative way of getting the tenons on the rear of the seat rails (without using the above mentioned wedge) is to put the wind or twist into the rails first, and then cut the tenons by referencing directly from the twisted face. I do this by running the rails across the jointer, set to take off the 1/8" or so that needs to be removed from the "high" rear corner of the rail. I use a tapered block at the front end of the rail( to elevate the diagonally opposite corner), carefully placed on the outfeed table of the machine. The cut runs from nothing near the front of the rail, to the full depth at the rear, where the tenon shoulder will be. I end up with a two-faceted face on the outside of the rail. I then reference off this new, angled, face to cut tenons on the rear end of the rail.
If you are not comfortable doing this on the jointer, you can do the same thing with a hand plane. I clean them up with a plane anyway, to smooth the transition from front to back, and to fit them flush to the legs.
Keep in mind that there are left and right rails. It's a real good idea to lay out one of each, and clearly mark the rest (if you are making a set) for front and top, to avoid confusion while you are cutting the tenons.
Regards,
Ray
Thank you very much. I was spinning my brain trying to figure out what he meant.
If it were not for this forum and people like you I did not have any place to go and ask. Your explanation is very well understood and I really appreciate it. Thank you again.
Cecil
cecil,
You are welcome. What kind of chair, and how many, are you building?
Regards,
Ray
It is a chippendale with ball and claw cabriole leg the whole nine yards these are going to be my first chairs after I went to a class but did not get a full understanding in the procedure my teacher used to table saw these joints It will be six chairs for myself in case I made a blunder it will be kept in the family.
Cecil,
I have only built a few chairs and even I have seen or read about many elaborate ways to build this angled tenon, so here goes the way my Dad taught me how to do it, we always cut the tenon oversized on the tablesaw and lay a 3/8" mortising chisel corner to corner to use for layout, and simply cut out the angles on the inner top and outer bottom of the tenon with a handsaw, trim to fit with a rabbet plane.
The twist on the outside of the rail I cut after the fit has been made and I can scribe the overhanging corner.
Good luck with the chairs, are you working from a plan or developing your own?
Cal
Oh well I have a good blue print but better than that I have the chair I built in my chippendale class .It is only glued the backposts to the back rail and stretcher the rest is loose and I can follow the example. It is shamefull to do it this way but I have to get some hands on training starting from the beginning. I went to a 5 days class for this chair but to be honest I followed the crowd after the teacher set the blade and position the wedge it was a 5 degree slope piece of wood everybody made the cut in line with each other. The teacher is a master furniture maker.
Regards
Cecil
It is shamefull to do it this way but I have to get some hands on training starting from the beginning.
Shameful?? I call it learning.. Nothing wrong with that!
Where did you take the course?
I took the class in Beverly Ma at the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts, as well I have taken many other classes in the same place. The director is in my opinion a wealth of furniture making knowledge.
Interesting. I'm taking a course there in the beginning of July on furniture legs and basic carving. This will be my first one there so I am interested to hear that you enjoyed it so much. At the end of July I have a two week course on building a Queen Ann Chair at North Bennett Street in Boston. I don't think they expect us to be completely finished even in two weeks so your 1 week course would have been very difficult indeed.
Ron,
Oooops I am not sure but probably it was two weeks for the chair ,This man is a master he started drafting the chair full size and then after, taught the rest of it it was a very interesting class by far he is a very nice teacher and his furniture making background is tremendous. I know you will enjoy whatever you are going to learn. I miss going to his place I probably get back next year for the carving class. I am crazy about learning how to carve an acanthus leaf in the knee of a cabriole ball and claw leg and all of those gadrooning carving that embellished so much your piece of furniture. Enjoy your class and have a good trip.
Regards
Cecil
I just saw this....
What he is saying is that the bevel guage that's set to the cant angle has to be presented to the sawblade at the trapezoid angle. This is done by placing the guage that's set to the trapezoid angle, flat on the table, against the blade, and holding the cant angle guage against its other leg, and setting the saw blade angle thusly (rather than presenting it square to the blade..
And my wood shop teacher told us this is not Aeroplane science.. It was way before Rockets!.....
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