An article in the May 96 issue describes the procedure
for making an 18th century design highboy. The author…
Randall O’Donnell…said he had 2 router bits custom-made
to do the gooseneck moulding. The article did not list
the sources of these router bits. I thought I could save
myself some time if I ordered 2 of the same router bits.
Anybody know how to find out what company produced these
bits for him?
Jim
Mt Juliet
Replies
Hi Jim,
Got to tell you that highboy is on my short list for the next piece that I want to build.. Have been eying it up for sometime, just love it..
Might want to attempt to pose the question to Randall O'Donnell, I know he has a web site located here http://www.randallodonnell.com/ and e-mail address on the contact page..It's such a simple direct question you may get an answer.. Just understand going in, that the author may not entertain your question, it's his prerogative, he might be having a bad day, or sick of questions about a article written 12 years ago..
I know that Ridge Carbide Tool in NJ will make custom router bits, I am sure there are others manufactures that may offer this service, I am fairly sure that the price will be breathtaking..
Good luck
Edited 1/23/2009 9:52 pm ET by BOBABEUI
Thanks...I did go to his web site and sent an email.
I've scoured the woodworking places in the area
but didn't find anything that came close to the
2 bits he used. I may just use some of the existing bits
if he doesn't respond or they are way too pricey.Jim
Mt Juliet
The bonnet top was a struggle for our highboy's we made a few years ago, we started the project not quite knowing how to finish the goosenecks. I did extensive reading and search for an alternative for custom bits that had to go on a tilting shaper.
I ended up with an attachment for my router and used standard router bits from Woodcraft to reproduce the profile from Vandal's highboy.
if interested I can find it and post a picture of it and how it works.
Chris
Hey thanks Chris! I'd love to know how
you did it?Jim
Mt Juliet
attached is the jig I used with my router and my practice piece of wood.
it is important to cut the gooseneck in uniform width. I used a bandsaw to get it close and finished it with a spindle sander.
as you can see the router attaches on the steel rods and slides back and forth depending on where you want to route, then all you have to do is slowly go down into the depth.
make sure you leave a shelf for the router to ride on.
we had some hand sanding to do afterwards, but this worked pretty good and we were able to find all the bits at local Woodcraft.
I hope this helps, Chris
Chris,The completed highboy is stunning..The jig you used is a lot what Glen Huey recommends in this book 'Building Period Furniture'.. Judging by the size of drill rod you used, it must have been something like a PC 7518..
Mr. Snapperhead,
The highboy is indeed stunning. I am also making one based on the same design from Vandel's book ( I hope I spelled his name correctly) but in cherry. In an e-mail exchange with Glen Huey, he thought that the idea of two guides might lead to safety concerns. You don't seem to have had a problem. With Huey's original scheme the jig moved and the workpiece was fixed. Did you reverse this scheme? May I also assume that for each hight and distance setting you worked the goosenecks and the straight sections?
Again a very nice piece of work.
Ron I.
I've done amazon and google searches for the author name vandel.
Didn't see anything about furniture. Can somebody quote a title
so I can maybe check to see if it is still in print? I already
have the Glen Huey book.Jim
Mt Juliet
It's spelled Vandal, with an "a" not Vandel.Google search page: http://www.google.com/search?q=norm+vandal&ie=utf-8oe=utf-8&aq=trls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Edited 1/26/2009 5:13 pm ET by TaunTonMacoute
His "Queen Anne Furniture" was reprinted fairly recently by Algrove, i.e. LV
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=54157&cat=1,46096,46105&ap=2
Jim
thanks, actually we made Three highboys at the same time, Tiger Maple, Cherry, & Walnut. I've attached some more pictures.
Dad and I worked on these for three years, off and on. We made one for all his children.
yes the workpiece was fixed and I moved the router over the parts. I cut all the parts in one afternoon. three different woods, gooseneck and straight pieces. big bag of wood chips that day.
I don't remember any safety concerns with cutting this way, as long as you take small cuts and keep the guides perpendicular to the wood.
also the book is great, I also made the matching lowboy
Chris
Thanks for the reply and information. The most important idea for me is that this type of jig will do the job. Looking at your pictures also suggests that I should use thicker rods than those that I have experimented with, which also means I should use one of my larger routers. Thanks again.
Ron I.
Chris
the highboy is fantastic and so are the carved feet in the back of the jig photo
Jim
Lonnie Bird sells shaper cutters and are sold by many vendors.
Really low tech and effective technique comes from Hands-On of Shopsmith periodical. Sadly discontinued.
Their article shows 2 bearings mounted to plywood and with the shopsmith in drill press position you use a straight bit to form steps close to the final contour. Basically an overarm router system. The goosneck is "pinched" between the bearings and depth of cut controlled by the locking quill and/or the movement of the shopsmith table height.
I've used this technique for Grandfather clocks and Highboys. Custom made scrapers really help too. The stsandard store bought French curve scraper is nice but some areas need a custom scraper to get into tight profiles. Scraping out the steps to perfection was fast work too.
I remember substituting a stragiht bit for a cove/roundnose bit whenever possible to achive desored profile.
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