Chancel Furniture Build - The Dove has landed!

Rennie Heuer

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Chancel Furniture Build - The Finished Product

Now with the reorg in the shop all but complete its about time I started building something. This job is for a church a few hundred miles north of me. The build will consist of a lectern, a baptismal font, and an altar. All are made of flat sawn white oak and white oak plywood.

First things first, I went to my hardwood dealer to pick though the pile, and pick I did! For over two hours. Wow, is the quality of wood dropping!:eek: The plans call for the apron around the three pieces to be 8" so I really wanted to find some good 9 or 10 inch wide boards so I could avoid a glue up for those parts. We must have picked through about 700 bf of oak to find the 100 bf I brought home. I think I have enough wide boards for the aprons....I hope.

Tomorrow I'll begin marking out some of the parts. I don't think I'll get much further than that. This load was pricey - I don't want to rush anything.
DSC_2985.jpg DSC_2990.jpg DSC_2991.jpg DSC_2992.jpg
 
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Aha, THAT was what was missing from the Shop Reorganization Pics....."SAWDUST",:D so NOW we're going to get to see some.:thumb:

Sounds like it's going to be a very nice and interesting project, Rennie.
 
Bout time

you got back to work and stopped putterun in your clean shop,, i too am envious of you being able to start makun sawdust.. this is the first year i am sufferin withdrawls...gonna be fun rennie watchun you by pass the mistakes just waitin to happen there in that pile of wood:thumb: lookun forward tot eh pics
 
congrats on finishing up the reorg of the shop and the beginning of new project.

Aha, THAT was what was missing from the Shop Reorganization Pics....."SAWDUST",:D so NOW we're going to get to see some.:thumb:

Sounds like it's going to be a very nice and interesting project, Rennie.

you got back to work and stopped putterun in your clean shop,, i too am envious of you being able to start makun sawdust.. this is the first year i am sufferin withdrawls...gonna be fun rennie watchun you by pass the mistakes just waitin to happen there in that pile of wood:thumb: lookun forward tot eh pics

Should be an interesting project. We look forward to progress pictures.
Thanks everyone! I just hope I can hold your attention through what will be a long build.:D
 
Its about time you got busy young man. Congrats on a good lumber run. After seeing your previous items of this type I look forward to these. Wait a minute! You brought some dirt in on one of those boards! Get that cleaned up.

Never mind, it seems the shop will get a nice dusting in the near future anyway . . . a saw-dusting that is ;-))
 
Hi Rennie :wave:,
Nice stack of lumber. We know it was a job just getting to this point. White oak is a great wood to work. Look forward to some up date, "like:huh:" "Now what are you doing:eek:?!!!! Which project is first and how do you imagine beginning? Your plans or theirs? Can we see? Why not!:rofl::rofl::rofl: Get with us when you can and answer all of the above...:rolleyes::rofl:
It will e Great!!
Shaz :)
 
Hi Rennie :wave:,
Nice stack of lumber. We know it was a job just getting to this point. White oak is a great wood to work. Look forward to some up date, "like:huh:" "Now what are you doing:eek:?!!!! Which project is first and how do you imagine beginning? Your plans or theirs? Can we see? Why not!:rofl::rofl::rofl: Get with us when you can and answer all of the above...:rolleyes::rofl:
It will e Great!!
Shaz :)
Hello Shaz!
I've spent some time in the shop, but I have yet to cut a single board. Sometimes, figuring out where to start is half the battle. :huh: I have spent some time in CAD land dissecting and playing ‘what if’. I really need to learn Sketch Up. I used my drawings to build a rough cut list of every piece. So, I have everything I need, except a starting point.:dunno:
View attachment ACAD-St.pdf
Apologies in advance for my lacking CAD skills.

Last night I decided to start with the font top. So, first thing this morning I plotted out full size templates of the font top and the top of the base. I’m a bit concerned about getting the angles correct, so I’ll probably play around with some scrap tonight and tomorrow night. I’ll save the ‘real’ cutting for Saturday morning when I fresh from a good night’s sleep and not coming into the shop after a 10 hour day at the office.:(

So, to make a long story short. I might have something of substance to post by this time next week.:D
 
Doin' a jig, in the shop

I've been refining drawings, checking measurements, and cutting up some scrap test pieces for the past couple of weeks, so, no real progress on the build. What I did realize is that the 5-sided plywood shapes for the pulpit and font were going to need a jig in order to insure consistency.

I played around with a few ideas before coming up with this one. A real simple panel cutting sled with a 20 degree fence. I did need to go out to the local Woodcraft to pick up some toggle clamps (I got to watch a SawStop demo while I was there. Quite impressive).

I've also rough cut all the oak for the font to length. Later today I'll start jointing, planing, and ripping.:thumb:

Plywood cutting jig.jpg Plywood cutting jig 2.jpg Rough cut - font.jpg
 
I saw the saw stop demo and I thing it is impressive, although I recall someone from the family having had to replace it because it went off when cutting some wood that was too moist, or something like that.

Although I agree it would be good to have it, although the woodworkers of the world have gone away without it for many years, some lost some fingers but a lot more didn't so...:dunno:
 
Good morning Rennie, this maybe a little off topic but when you watched the Saw Stop demo, did they say how it was reset and what the cost is? I know you can't put a price on a missing appendage but was just curious:huh:

Can't wait to see some more photos:thumb:

I saw the saw stop demo and I thing it is impressive, although I recall someone from the family having had to replace it because it went off when cutting some wood that was too moist, or something like that.

Although I agree it would be good to have it, although the woodworkers of the world have gone away without it for many years, some lost some fingers but a lot more didn't so...:dunno:
Hello Toni & Royall,

Yes, it is impressive! The cartridge cost is $60 US, plus the cost of replacing your blade! The demonstrator said you should be able to cut wood with a moisture content of 45% without triggering the stopping mechanism.
 
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The Font

Well, it's been a while since I updated this thread. Mostly because it's been a while since I accomplished anything other that test fitting a lot of angles.:D I had today and Friday off so it was time to make some real headway.

I've started with the font for a couple of reasons. It's not the easiest piece, but it is the smallest. Since I'll be storing these in my living room I decided to leave the altar till last.:rofl: First, I glued up the tops of the base and top of the font. While those were sitting and having the little gaps filled I moved on to the aprons for each of them. Gotta tell ya - boy and I glad I purchased the Wixey. I could not have accomplished this much, or kept control of my sanity, if I did not have it.

Here's a few pictures of the aprons going on. Another tool I'm glad I bought when I had the opportunity - pocket hole jig.:thumb:
Font Base apron 1.jpg Font base apron 2.jpg

While the base was setting up I moved on to the legs. They're simple boxes, but boy are they strong. Once they are fitted to the base it will take a major collision to get them to wiggle!:rofl:
Font Leg glue up.jpg Font leg glue up close-up.jpg Font legs assembled.jpg

Once the legs were done I moved on to the apron for the top. This really tried my patience. Getting those 7" miters to mate up, and stay mated, was a lot more trouble than I bargained for. I'll have to do a little touch up, but they turned out OK.
Font top apron 1.jpg Font top apron 2.jpg

Now, just to see how it will all come together, I set the whole thing up on the bench for a few pictures. There will be an underside to the top and a bowl sits on top. An LED spotlight fits in the round hole and Toni's carved dove will span the space between the legs.
Font test fit 1.jpg Font test fit 2.jpg Font test fit 3.jpg

I'm mostly pleased with the outcome. But, as we all know, we're our own worst critics!
 
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