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Old 3rd Feb 2011, 1:19 am   #121
glowinganode
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Sounds like you've made a D bit. The final thickness dictates the top rake angle, more than half diam = negative rake, less than half diam = positive rake.
The radial clearance affects how big a bite you can take.
By turning the cutter slightly eccentric (.002" tir) and undersize(.002" diam) and removing half in the right place you can easily create radial clearance. See sketch. Don't forget top clearance too, I'm sure you must have a copy of Tubal Cain.
Rob.
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Old 3rd Feb 2011, 9:11 pm   #122
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Hi,

Yes Alan taking a picture of something so small can be difficult. My camera has a macro setting for such work and other threads have been added on the subject; using a magnifying glass in front of the lens allows very close up detail to be shown. My problem is lighting or lack of it; many of my pictures are poor as taken with or without flash so I edit them using Gimp2 which I find very user friendly.

Thanks Rob; yes a “D” bit describes the cutter very well but I wanted to add more detail of what I had actually done. Many thanks also for the drawing which does explain better than text how the cutter profile works.

Tubal Cain was a prolific writer of all things in an engineering workshop and I used to keenly read many of his articles in model engineering magazines; I also have a number of his “Workshop series” books.

I’ve been tinkering around for a few hours in the garage and made a wooden grooving plane (Plough), this has been made to cut a single size groove to match my stringing at 0.085” wide and 3/32” deep. I found making the plane challenging as I’ve not seen one made before so other than pictures of various planes I made it up as I went along.

The cutter was made from a broken power hacksaw blade grinding it down initially with one of my least favourite power tools my angle grinder and finishing off using the bench double ended Wolf grinder. A used hacksaw blade was cut into two suitable lengths and profiled using the grinder these being the “spur” cutters.

A 1” thick board of Meranti hardwood was put through the thickness planer giving the wood for the plane body. The body of the plane was to be in two parts forming a sandwich to facilitate cutting the slots for both the cutter and the two spurs. I took a lot of care to make the slots a decent fit with the blade slot being in the form of a “V” to accept a beech wedge and the slot for the spurs was made parallel.

The spurs were added to severe the timber in front of the cutter preventing tear out being positioned exactly 0.085” apart and both were ground with a single bevel; the bevels to be on the inside facing each other. The spurs slice the timber to each side of the groove whilst the cutter removes the waste. The plane was made to bottom out or stop cutting at 3/32” deep by adding a strip of Tufnol directly behind the blade; the idea behind this was that it would act as a cut limiter or it would have been impossible to control the plane with so much cutter exposed as the cutter is not mechanically adjustable which would have been better but taken a lot more time to make.

In practice the first few cuts proved a disaster and by this time I was feeling too cold to play around but before packing in for the day I made a number of adjustments and actually cut a decent groove to full depth. The cutter quickly choked as I had not allowed enough clearance for the waste but this is easy enough to rectify. I’ve never made a plane before so this experiment proved highly interesting adding to my experience. To use this plane correctly a small groove would need to be cut at the start and finish of the stringing groves as these are what are classed as “Stopped” grooves; had the grooves been open ended the plane would run through.

I don’t wish to spend too much time with the plane as I get cold quickly in the garage so to press on I’ll have a go at cutting the grooves using my router which by the way is a cheap Black & Decker bought at half price in a closing down sale a few years ago. I tried using the router today to cut the slots for the plane cutters but gave up in disgust as the router was making a mess of them so I cut them by hand using a hacksaw and wood chisel. I had set the router to run against a tall straightedge and at first thought that was easy until I started to make the blade wedge only to find the sides of the slot to be bowed and wavy; this was caused by the router aluminium base; the base is mostly round but has a straight section for running against a straightedge; it’s a pity the straight section was not actually straight but had a pronounced curve when checked against a steel rule.

I’ll need to rectify the router base before using it to cut the string grooves as these need to be accurate so this is just another job to sort out; thinking about it though I could possibly add a false base this being nothing more than a perfectly parallel strip of wood or plywood to allow the router to run between two guides in the form of a channel. I’ll do a bit of practicing with the router before attempting to cut the string grooves. I’m happy that I made the wooden plane and cut a groove with it and will experiment more once the weather becomes milder but as I can only work for so long in the garage because of the cold I feel the time has come to sort out this cabinet. I enjoyed tinkering around today.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 4th Feb 2011, 7:56 pm   #123
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Hi,

What a splendid day I’ve just had. It was a delight to awake to lashing rain and terrific wind; much better than the ice and snow and just about back to normal.

I presume the segment shape removed from the router base is to provide a flat edge to run against a guide? First job this morning was to spend an hour making this edge flat and straight as it was curved and prone to rocking making a mess of the cut.

I’ve never owned a dedicated straightedge so decided to make one; I pulled out an antique solid hardwood drawer front that I’ve had for over thirty years and accurately planed this making a decent job of it.

With the router base now sorted and the new wooden straightedge made I was at last ready to attempt cutting stringing grooves into the new panels. The home made grooving cutter was fitted to the router and extreme care taken to set the router up for depth of cut. As the new panels were not dead flat in fact one has become quite dished I looked around for ideas of how to clamp the panels flat to enable the routing to be carried out. The Startrite Combination woodworker has flat cast iron beds so was pressed into service; the spindle router table insert was lifted clear giving somewhere to anchor one end of the straightedge and the other end could be clamped to the circular saw guide bar.

With everything set up I double checked and double checked again to ensure no mistakes had been made; and finally with great trepidation I took a deep breath; switched on and plunged the router into the panel; I pushed quite hard both downwards towards the panel and also against the straightedge not allowing the router to wander and slowly completed the first groove; I didn’t force the cut as I didn’t want to overheat the home made cutter. As the groove was “stopped” I had added pencil marks at the limits of the cut and ran the groove between both marks switching the router off and letting it come to rest before withdrawing it from the cut. Using a soft brush the waste was removed to reveal a lovely groove bottomed out along it’s full length; the string was tried and found to be a nice tight fit; what a huge relief this was to me as one mistake could have ruined many hours work and wasted expensive veneer. I completed cutting the grooves in the second panel this afternoon and was pleased that the cutter held up without needing re-sharpening.

Previously I’ve tried using this router but was not at all happy with the results and this put me off from using routers in general so the router remained as new in its box. I hadn’t realized the router base was curved and assumed the edge to be straight so now with the edge straight it ran against the wooden straightedge perfectly without rocking giving a perfectly straight cut whereas previously the cut would be wavy due to the router rocking. I’ve suddenly made friends and the router has finally shaken hands with me; I feel a lot more relaxed now using the router and wonder what it would be like to use a more expensive router as I’m now a router convert.

All the straight grooves are now cut just leaving the curves and I’m undecided yet as to how to proceed with these; I’ve taken time to make a string grooving chisel; I had a spare handle kicking around and whilst at Blackgates Engineering the other day bought a length of 3/32” silver steel so both were used resulting in rather a handy little chisel; I could use this chisel with a craft knife to freehand the curves cleaning them out with my home made hand router but I need to consider this a bit more before jumping in.

This is anther big step forward today and once the stringing is embedded then I can think about how to fit these panels to the cabinet. I had to knock off this afternoon because it became too dark to see what I was doing but all in all another excellent day with good progress.

Kind regards, Col
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Old 4th Feb 2011, 8:13 pm   #124
Andy - G8MNM
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Hi Col,

Each day I look to see if you have added a new post, as I so enjoy reading about your endeavors. So some days I am a little disappointed when you have nothing new to report.
Have you thought of doing a regular column it almost seems like it!
I have followed your previous posts and BVWS article re veneering and cabinet repair with great interest and enjoyment.
Keep up the good work.

In admiration

Andy
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Old 5th Feb 2011, 11:25 pm   #125
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Hi,

Many thanks Andy for such a really nice compliment I hope I don’t let you down and mess up big style with this cabinet as there is still a long way to go; I’m pleased you find my project interesting and it already feels as though I’m writing a diary.

I had rather a dismal day today in the garage due to the weather making it like a black hole again; even with the two strip lights on I had a lot of trouble trying to see what I was doing as I was working to very close tolerances whilst trying to cut the curved grooves.

I used the Startrite combi again as a solid workbench placing it directly beneath one of the strip lights (its on wheels). Even so wherever I stood I was casting a shadow and it would be a waste of time pulling the inspection lamp out as I kept moving from machine to machine cutting templates from MDF.

These four curved grooves took all day to complete and drove me to despair; what a test of my patience they turned out to be; they had to be perfectly aligned to mate up to the straight grooves previously cut.

I’m new to routing so had a steep learning curve as I experimented cutting the templates. The circular parts of the grooves were not too bad but two of the grooves had double curves and boy what a job it was to get these right; I used a piece of paper and pencil to take pencil rubbings and I also used tracing paper; getting the exact shape of the template was not easy as the cutter had to run directly against the template whilst removing material from both the inner inlaid panel and the outer cross banding; with a maximum groove width of 0.085” there was no room for error and it was make or break time; I had my friend “failure” watching over my shoulder all the time just wanting me to make a silly mistake. The pencil rubbing shows quite clearly the ends of the previously routed grooves with the break line between the inner inlaid panel and the cross banding.

I would never have guessed how complicated it would be to get these grooves to align without a step and to flow into each other; I can recommend it as a torture but at 4.20 this afternoon I had finally completed the grooves; one major problem was that one of the panels has become dished making it spin like a turntable as I tried to work on it.

I stuck with it though and won through in the end; I also learned a great deal in finding out first hand about router techniques; I watched a router video on “You tube” last night and to show what an absolute router novice I am I had been setting the depth stop for the plunge by resting the router base onto two strips equalling the depth of cut and pressing gently onto a true surface with the cutter between the strips then locking the depth stop onto the turret. All I needed to do was slide something between the turret stop and depth rod after first setting the cutter flush with the base and locking it. I live and learn.

The next step is another important one and involves staining. As the original cabinet was finished in dark brown I would like to stain everything excluding the Pommel inlay panels and stringing in Jacobean dark Oak. I’ve decided to stain the cross banding before adding the stringing as the grooves will provide a safety break; it would be impossible to stain after adding the stringing as the stain would no doubt creep ruining the job completely so this looks like yet another challenge. I’ll post pictures once the stain has been applied as this explains better what I’m on about than trying to explain using text. I'll also add the reasoning behind my decision to stain at this point as it took a lot of forward thinking but firstly I need to try it out.

It’s been a long day today and tested me to the limit but I’m still making steady progress and it won’t be too long now before I’m attacking the actual cabinet; In spite of everything I feel a lot more confident now using the router and my ignorance caused me a lot of stress but I’ve once again learned my lessons the hard way; next time will be easier because I now have some experience and know what to watch out for. I couldn’t get to sleep last night and remained awake for hours trying to come up with a solution on how to cut these curved grooves; I had been watching routing videos and in particular circle cutting jigs but everyone of these jigs involved drilling a pivot hole; now that would work perfectly but I didn’t fancy a hole in each side of my new shiny panels once they are completed and I was coming up with weird and wonderful solutions and finally settled on using simple MDF templates; the obvious always comes to me last; I had overlooked that my home made cutter was mostly ¼” dia silver steel shank and this would bear directly against a template. I was on eggs though during each routing cut and at one point almost ran the router the wrong way around the template; it’s so easy to make a stupid mistake.

I’m looking forward to the day when the sun shines and it is warm and calm but then I can always dream.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 6th Feb 2011, 11:06 am   #126
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Patience, great skill and considerable effort has created success once again. These are high stakes, Col. It is fascinating watching the way you solve these three-dimensional puzzles. It exposes the myth, upheld by some, that only the less academic are suitable for practical work - and superbly reinforces my long held belief that skilled workers are at least as, and often more, intelligent than the theorizers of our society.
Great stuff, this.
-Tony
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Old 6th Feb 2011, 4:08 pm   #127
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Hi,

Many thanks Tony you are so kind and I can only agree that this cabinet has thrown up many puzzles and is highly likely to throw up many more as work progresses. I believe there are far too many theorizers in the world who do little other than sit and dream; give me a practical person any day one who can use their head and hands; I’ve always said that if I was shipwrecked onto a desert island I would end up supplying the food and building the shelters.

I truly hope my story will encourage others to have a go at full restorations and by doing this TV restoration in real time can demonstrate that all the problems or puzzles thrown up can be resolved one way or another; normally restorations only show the positive side of things tending to gloss over the really important parts. A friend commented the other day that many times the journey is often better than the arrival. This is my journey and I’m throwing everything into it whilst learning many new techniques along the way.

By doing this restoration in real time I am privileged to add most of the detail sharing my trials and tribulations along the way. The techniques I’m learning such as router work and veneering plus stringing and cross banding once learnt will be much easier the second time; the only difference in me is that I’m willing to put myself out to learn these techniques and by doing so openly in this manner trust others will see the enjoyment and interest it is all giving me; I’m extremely thankful to all members for the vast amount of kindness and encouragement afforded me during my rambling tale. I knew this TV would be a major challenge and this is the sole reason for taking it on.

At each stage I could make a silly mistake ending in total failure and I’m only too acutely aware of this hence I’m taking a great deal of time whist exercising a lot of restraint and patience. So far as the story has unfolded I’ve resolved all the problems successfully and eventually by carrying on in this manner I will achieve my dream as I can visualize the finished cabinet in my head and am slowly working towards achieving this.

I’ve spent some time in the garage this morning and successfully stained/dyed the cross banding to both panels without making a mess of it. To be on the safe side I used masking tape and a bin liner to mask each Pommele inlaid panel; stain is terrible stuff to use as it is so easy to splash it or allow drips in places it is not intended to be applied and to allow this to happen on the Pommele veneer would have ended in tears of frustration. A few minutes work masking in this situation is well worth the time and effort.

I’d like to explain why I stained the cross banding at this stage as I feel it to be important and something I gave a great deal of thought to right at the start of this project. I don’t like the appearance of this stripy cross banded veneer in its raw state but find it highly attractive once stained to the darker shades of brown such as the traditional Vandyke brown. Choice of stain took a lot of consideration as I have choice between water or spirit stain and both have merit. I feared had I used Vandyke water stain to stain the cross banding before laying the veneer using hide glue and the hammer method even if the stain had been allowed to fully dry before laying the water in the glue would be highly likely to re-activate the stain allowing the stain to be carried onto the Pommele panel also this would equally apply should I have added the stringing.

I waited until the main veneers were laid up but omitted embedding the stringing on purpose. Leaving the stringing out allowed a small gap due to the stringing grooves being cut and this gap was used to good effect allowing a break between both the main Pommele panel and the cross banding; with the Pommele safely masked I chose Colron Wood Dye this being a spirit based product and used a favourite colour this being Jacobean Dark Oak. I couldn’t apply this dye before laying up the cross banding because being spirit based it was likely to seal the surface of the veneer to some extent from water and this would have given trouble as hide glue is water based.

I can now use this dye to my advantage in the hope that the water based wood working adhesive to be used for embedding the stringing won’t have any adverse affect upon it allowing excess glue to be wiped away with a damp cloth; had I used water based stain the glue could have activated this allowing the stain to contaminate the light coloured sections of stringing. I’ve gone on a length about this because even sanding light and dark coloured wood together the abrasive paper transfers dark dust onto the light coloured wood making it appear dirty. A small point but so important and I don’t want to miss the slightest trick this cabinet throws at me.

The Colron Dye was used directly from the tin undiluted and carefully applied with a cloth taking care not to touch the masking; a glove was worn because this dye bites deeply and takes over a week to remove from hands. A cloth was used for better control as a fully loaded brush tends to apply dye too liberally and is prone to flicking dye around.

The dye will be left for a few days to fully dry before the stringing is embedded and scraped flush; the cross banding has been sanded smooth and the scraping will be done from the inner panel towards the outside to avoid contaminating the stringing. Once the stringing is embedded then the real fun can begin as I attack the cabinet.

It is such a huge relief that the panels have turned out well so far and hopefully the stringing will go equally well; I still retain doubts about the panel that has dished but will press on in the hope that once it is glued in position to the cabinet it will pull flat; if not I’ll simply remake a new panel. All these small steps will lead to overall success but each small step has to be taken seriously; there is no short cut other than had I used plain veneer for the panels but I wanted to push myself to see if I could achieve my dream cabinet by going to so much extra effort and having to learn so many new techniques. Boring it certainly isn’t.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 6th Feb 2011, 4:28 pm   #128
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Shipwrecked Col?
Hmm The Flight of the Phoenix springs to mind.
Great Stuff thanks for sharing!


Eddie
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Old 8th Feb 2011, 11:35 am   #129
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Hi,

Thanks Eddie and you are most welcome.

I'm in a bit of trouble today. Having just suffered three days of terrific wind and horizontal rain; I was checking for mail before going to bed last night when Bron came to me and said "I think you'd better come and look at this". A 3'x1' section of ceiling paper in our front room above the fireplace was sagging.

Fearing part of the roof had been blown off I went into the back garden but it was pitch black so I couldn't check the roof and went to bed full of foreboding. This morning the roof is still intact and the paper has dried much to our relief but it will need carefully re-gluing once the ceiling has dried completely. I believe the rain had been forced under the chimney lead flashing.

I'm adding this as I expect to be busy repairing this damage shortly. All during this restoration and all my previous restorations I've been absolutely fed up with our climate; I've endured ice; snow; deep frost and now terrific wind and driving rain together with a permanent black hole to work in. One thing I haven't endured is calm warm sunshine.

I want to spend a bit of time on this project in the garage today once the frost clears so I'm in for another cold and gloomy session but the weather won't beat me.

I'm giving the stain on the cross banding plenty of time to dry and can busy myself with the main cabinet as there is much work to do on it and I need to plan a sequence breaking the work down into small stages. One problem I've expected right from the start is how to veneer the top panel as this is curved to the front and veneering can be difficult enough to do on flat panels. To complicate matters the quarter cut Sapele veneer I intend to use is in three pieces; normally to get perfect joints as veneering progresses the edges are overlapped and a sharp knife run against a straight-edge gives a perfect joint. If panels are flat then it is possible to ensure the veneer has a perfectly straight edge before laying but any undulations tend to show at the joints appearing as small gaps. Just another problem on top of many to resolve.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 8th Feb 2011, 8:33 pm   #130
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Hi,

Thanks Andy; yes it could be worse but still bad enough to slow me down as I hate feeling cold. I hope I’m still “on topic” because the weather plays such an important part in all my restorations.

This afternoon turned out sunny and I could at last work with the garage doors open; the first time for ages.

I've now made a start on the cabinet; first job was to remove the original treacle finish to the top panel. This finish was very thick and took quite a lot of effort with a cabinet scraper to remove. The top was then sanded using very coarse garnet abrasive paper across the grain. I was rather surprised to see nice book matched Walnut veneer and couldn't understand the idea behind applying such veneer only to hide it with such a thick dark brown finish. The top was then soaked with water and the hot iron applied in the hope of lifting the veneer.

This failed miserably as the veneer decided it was happy where it was so I could only assume permanent adhesive had been used to lay it; I was hoping it had been laid with hide glue then it would have released with the application of water and hot iron.

Not wishing to loosen the joints by more hand scraping I decided to use the coarse garnet abrasive paper and take my time to abrade the veneer away as dust. To power sand would be asking for trouble as this method is prone to leaving a wavy surface and rounding edges over. Hand sanding will be slow but much safer. Once the original veneer is removed do I re-veneer using quarter cut Sapele or do I go mad and match the top to the sides with inlaid centre panel of Sapele Pommel; quarter cut Sapele cross banding and stringing? I have sufficient Pommele veneer left over but am I brave enough to lay cross banding over the front curve and mitre the corners.

Kind regards, Col
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Old 9th Feb 2011, 6:31 pm   #131
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Hi,

I must be barking mad to take a cabinet like this one on. A miracle would be quite useful just now as this cabinet would make poor firewood; the woodworm damage is severe and the flight holes on the outside of the panels and frame don’t show the feast the woodworm must have enjoyed whilst munching away in peace.

First job today though was to remove the original veneer from the top panel and I intended to use coarse garnet abrasive paper to do this but after attempting this thought I might die before completing the job as it was taking forever and making my arm ache.

I tried using my cabinet scrapers which was better but still slow so I pulled out the daddy of all scrapers my Stanley No.80 and set to with a passion; not wishing to destroy the cabinet I placed it on the garage floor pushing it up to and in contact with the front of the bench; this was much better and most of the original veneer could be removed; the remainder being hand scraped and abraded away with the abrasive paper; I had seen a slight ripple across the top of the cabinet but the Stanley scraper removed it without fuss leaving the area dead flat. This was not what I would call a highlight of this project as by the time this was completed I was covered in dust and thought it was dark until I blew on my glasses. As came up to the bungalow for dinner I must have made a tramp look tidy.

I was pleased to get this part of the project behind me and by the time I knocked off for dinner the top was ready for new veneer. This was hard; dusty work but completed in reasonable time for a change. I did a great deal of work on this cabinet today and will break off here at dinner time to enable me to add pictures to date. More to follow.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 9th Feb 2011, 6:36 pm   #132
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Hi,

Now for the afternoon session revealing just how bad this cabinet is. All the panels other than the top are worm damaged; I knew this to be bad but not as bad as it turned out. Before veneering the top panel I wanted to find out if I could actually remove a side panel without totally destroying the cabinet which was highly likely and if this happened would mean making a brand new cabinet.

It was drastic but I cut a large hole using the electric jigsaw in one side panel and as I stood there looking at it thought what have I taken on surely this cabinet can’t be restored but I pressed on; I cut more panel away leaving just a wide strip of panel without cutting into the framework. This looks very rough but I exercised a lot of care knowing too much force would either crush the cabinet or break the joints.

Large pliers were used to break the rest of the panel free together with a sharp wood chisel. As work progressed the cabinet looked extremely rough with broken plywood sticking out all around the inner framework. I was amazed at the amount of worm damage; sections of the frame crumbled to dust as did large sections of the panel; two joints had parted; one I repaired temporarily with a bit of plywood shaped to fit and screwed into position using four wood screws; this will be removed later. The other joint requires re-gluing. Plywood bracing gussets have either split or are eaten by worm and will require renewing; wood screws are rusted into place and access is extremely poor so more thought is needed how to remove these. Parts of the frame require replacing. The screws securing the front speaker baffle board refuse to be removed being rusted in.

As the side was removed using the plier’s one section pulled away an extra layer of ply from the plywood frame; the frame is made up of both hardwood and plywood. As this ply is quite thick I pulled a strip of ply from the other side panel and will use this to bring the section level; the pictures show the section cleaned up ready and the re-cycled ply loosely fitted; this will be glued in and trimmed to size. Since taking the pictures I’ve scraped this strip of ply clean ready for gluing.

At this stage it would be folly to remove the other side panel as I fear the lot would simply collapse; bit by bit I’ll start adding new frame sections in order to add strength but this will be a slow process as the entire cabinet is now in a very fragile condition. I’ve not given up on it yet and feel with some intensive care I might yet fully restore it. What a great day I’ve had and I was even warm working with the garage doors open; this ought to be available on prescription as it has lifted my spirits today. Working on this cabinet doesn’t feel real it being more like virtual reality; although I’m doing the work I get a most strange feeling that someone else is doing it and I’m merely going through the motions.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 10th Feb 2011, 11:37 am   #133
Aerodyne
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

We've all had that strange feeling from time to time, Col It's known as being knackered...
I'm kidding, but only a little.
-Tony
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Old 10th Feb 2011, 1:40 pm   #134
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Hi Col,

I'm in awe of your determination and stamina as well as undoubted skill. It's an inspiration, and your "learning path" will point us less brave mortals along roads we didn't think could be travelled.

A fascinating thread, and filled with useful information - keep up the good work!

Ian Blackbourn
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Old 10th Feb 2011, 2:17 pm   #135
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Col, I'm an avid follower of this thread too. Better than the Archers! You really are an inspiration. I'm learning so much without leaving the comfort of my armchair ;-)

Thanks for sharing your talent, knowledge and spirit.

Colin
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Old 10th Feb 2011, 6:41 pm   #136
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Hi,

I think you could be right Tony as I feel permanently tired; I tend to wake in the middle of the night then can’t get to sleep for hours until I’ve resolved the problem keeping me awake then I’m tired the day after; it’s a wonderful hobby though.

Many thanks Ian and Colin for your kindness and encouragement it is very much appreciated. I am learning all the time Ian and hope by adding my story that it will be of help to others; it’s good to leave one’s comfort zone occasionally to attempt the impossible and much better than watching the telly.

This story could well end up as long as the Archer’s series Colin the way it is slowly progressing and wasn’t it Walter Gabriel who said many years ago “the answer lies in the soil” most of this cabinet will end up in the soil due to the amount of new parts I’m making to replace worm riddled parts.

I had a trip out in the car this morning to visit a timber yard and Screwfix (my favourite store). I wanted some ¾” thick plywood to make new frame members from and as I was sitting at the usual red traffic lights my thoughts turned towards MDF. The woodworm had gone to town on the plywood in this cabinet and as I was sitting there decided to try MDF. At the timber yard I enquired if I could buy ¾” thick MDF offcuts and the guy kindly pulled two long lengths about 5” wide out of the waste skip; at my request he cut these to fit into the car and whilst he was cutting I pulled two 12” squares of ¾” plywood out of the skip. Asking how much I owed the guy said just drop some coins into the charity boxes on the counter; I emptied my pocket of coins into the boxes and thought I had got a bargain. Round at Screwfix I bought Evo Stick exterior grade woodworking adhesive plus a few other bits and like a child in a sweetshop I treated myself to a ten pack of 3mm HSS drill bits. I always buy extra odds and ends as they are never lost in the workshop.

After dinner I spent a couple of frustrating hours removing rusted screws by drilling firstly through the heads with a small HSS pilot bit then removing the entire head with a larger bit. This was slow going but the cabinet is damaged enough without me adding to it. The frame member could then be pulled free; two very rusty screws were securing one end of the baffle board and whilst access was available these too were removed; The whole cabinet was by now becoming unstable so I dare not remove much more or it will totally collapse. The side front edge is made up of a sandwich; the inner being a thick plywood frame and the outer plywood panel glued to this. It would have been easy to leave this plywood frame in place as it looked ready for a fight and was just daring me to try to remove it. This frame member is riddled with worm holes and is the base for the cross veneer around the front and joined to the top of the cabinet. It wanted a fight and it got one.

With this frame member removed without breaking it I was able to trace around it using a sharp pencil onto MDF and then carefully cut out the MDF profile using the Startrite bandsaw finishing it to line on the belt sander.

The bottom frame member was a length of solid beech 7/8” tall by ¾” wide. This too was absolutely riddled with worm holes so had to be replaced. I didn’t even try to remove the wood screws but merely drilled their heads off allowing the member to be pulled free. A replacement member was made from Meranti hardwood after first putting the Meranti through the Startrite thicknesser to bring it to size then it was cross cut on the Wadkin saw. I love playing with all my toys and it’s wonderful for me to hear them sing.

I suddenly felt rather cold so tidied up and put the car away. The cabinet looks a total wreck and I now have a problem of how to secure the front MDF frame member as the original was secured with through wood screws at 2 1/4” long from behind but one of these broke as I tried to remove it and the cabinet is much too fragile to stand me attacking the remains of the screw also if I was to use new screws these would now be into MDF which doesn’t appeal to me. I have yet another toy so far not mentioned and this is my Freud biscuit jointer. For members unfamiliar with such a power tool it resembles an angle grinder but fitted with a small TC tipped saw blade that is plugged at high speed into the timber cutting out a segment; to make a joint is simplicity itself; the two pieces forming the joint are aligned and a single pencil mark is added to both parts. The jointer is adjusted for height and depth of cut and with the timber held securely the centre mark on the jointer is aligned with the pencil mark and one half of the joint is cut in less than five seconds the other half of the joint is then likewise cut. If boards were being butt jointed for say a table top; the top would be laid out and all the joints marked with pencil at approximately every 8”. This must be the most rapid way of making joints ever invented. Once the segments are removed special “biscuits” in the shape of a flat rugby ball are glued into the cut outs; these biscuits are compressed beech with a cross hatch pattern on both sides; they come in three different sizes being 0; 10 and 20. Water based adhesive is used to glue them in and the action of the water makes them swell forming an incredibly strong joint that if forced to destruction will split the timber all around the joint before the biscuit will fail. I’ll seriously consider using the biscuit jointer and will give more detail should I do so.

Please visit; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jl-PjJY14U

This is an excellent video showing biscuit jointer basics and note how quickly the actual joint is cut. Biscuits are sold in small quantities at Screwfix or in bulk boxes of 1,000 at around £30 per box.

Another problem I’ve noticed is in relation to replacing the baffle board which is de-laminating and also the cloth; I’m not happy at inserting two new wood screws at each end of the board as they are hard to access with a fully built cabinet so more thought is needed. I hope the remains of the cabinet don’t get tired during the night and finally give up by collapsing. I need to add strength and do it quickly.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 10th Feb 2011, 10:21 pm   #137
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This is fascinating stuff! There aren't many who would be able and willing to do this.


Brian
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Old 11th Feb 2011, 1:29 pm   #138
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Hi,

Many thanks Brian I‘m pleased you like it. I reckon not many would be daft enough to take it on but I’m enjoying it.

I suddenly got the urge last night to have a go at gluing the stringing in and brought both panels into the kitchen. This proved quite a difficult task. I had cut the grooves to give a nice tight fit to the strings but not allowed for expansion to the strings due to being wetted by the water based Evo Stick woodworking glue.

There is a knack to applying the glue neatly into the grooves and at first I made a right mess getting glue everywhere but soon settled down with a bit of practice; I had a bowl of warm water and cloth nearby so clean up was easy enough. I decided the hard part would be the curved corners and was thankful that I had taken the rouble to make the formers to produce matching curved string. I spent a while sanding using abrasive paper to remove the sharp edges where the string would enter the groove; this was slow as I didn’t want to break the strings.

Problems arose immediately I tried to trim the string ends; the craft knife tended to cut part way through then crush the remainder leaving a ragged end. I ran into the garage and collected my small “gents” saw as the clock was now ticking and I was under stress having run some glue into the groove. It was a struggle trying to hold the string whilst cutting with the saw; in the end I rough cut to near size using the saw then could clean up with the craft knife; it’s amazing how fast I can think in a panic.

I was also thankful I had bought the standard setting glue and not decided to use the ten minute setting glue as this was taking a lot of time. The first curved string was trimmed and using a rubber roller it was forced into the groove; the second curved string was then laid leaving just straight strings to lay. To join both curves together required two butt joints; the end of a straight string was trimmed neatly and the string was offered up abutting to one curve end and the other end marked with the knife; this in turn was trimmed neatly and the string laid as before.

Three straight strings would now complete the job. The butt joints were not too bad but the two corner mitre joints proved to be a pain; I hadn’t considered that the glue would obscure the joint and to try to wipe the glue away with a damp cloth could end up introducing moisture thereby diluting the subsequent glue; to add to my troubles I was also working in my own light casting a shadow but I couldn’t quit at this point. It was a struggle and I gave the cutting of the mitres my best shot and one and a half hours later had laid the strings into one panel. I then wiped away excess glue using the cloth and cleaned the panel before putting it away overnight for the glue to set.

Not having any previous experience I had cut the strings allowing plenty of extra depth and this morning as I looked at the strings standing to attention I thought I might be in a spot of bother? The panel was taken into the garage and clamped to the cast iron bed of the Startrite Combi allowing both hands to use the cabinet scraper. I have three such scrapers and had taken the time to bring them to a razor sharp burr on each cutting edge. I selected the thinnest gauge scraper as this would bend easier allowing both ends to remain clear of surrounding veneer whilst I brought the stringing down flush; I’m pleased to add this information and show the pictures as this is rarely seen but so important. During scraping the top of the strings looked terrible and as they were reduced in height the scraper began removing gossamer shavings from the surrounding veneers setting alarm bells in my head ringing because I had stained the cross banding and now the scraper was removing the top layer. As the stringing came down flush what a huge relief it was to see just how good they had bedded with absolutely no gaps; this gave me such a deep sense of satisfaction; I had completed the first panel. The mitred joints are not perfect and I’m happy to show in close up the worst one and for a first attempt I’m certainly not disappointed in any way; the mitre won’t be noticed unless inspected closely and after completing this panel I now know to pre-cut the strings for the second panel; I already have a plan of how to accomplish this.

My friend David G4EBT has very kindly made and sent me an excellent disc sanding unit to fit my Record DML24 lathe; already this unit has proved invaluable in the making of MDF router templates; I intend to use this to accurately trim the string lengths to give perfect joints and hope to show these in close up in due course.

This success has really cheered me up and whilst in the garage decided to scrape the entire panel bringing all the new veneers down level. This was followed by a good sanding using 320 grit Garnet abrasive paper; this sanding was done by hand without a backing block; once again the panel looked extremely poor; I’ll try to remember to take a picture at this stage on the next panel as this can cause alarm when seen for the first time. After dusting the panel off I am delighted to show a glimpse of what all this work has been about; I wiped the entire panel with a cloth wetted with white spirit; this was a truly moving moment for me as the colours jumped out; it was a joy to behold and would encourage anyone to have a go at cabinetwork.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 11th Feb 2011, 4:46 pm   #139
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Wow, that really does look stunning Col! I was beginning to wonder why you were going to so much trouble making up the sandwiched string but it looks brilliant!

Dom
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Old 11th Feb 2011, 5:53 pm   #140
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

That really does look superb, Col. Your 'worst' mitre is at least as good as the original manufacturer's tolerances and the rest is almost certainly better. I've tackled cabinets that, when stripped, show evidence of infilling and general obscuration - dating from the manufacture.
This is turning out to be a marathon, but the signs are auspicious!
-Tony
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