white oak buffet/server

Its 3:30 here on the east coast, I managed to finish construction of the cabinet, install the doors, plane and sand down top and cabinet and now its all ready for finishing.
I made a slight error, by not cutting rabbets in the rear of back legs to hold a back, so I glued and pinned in a couple of small strips of maple inside the cabinet, and will attach the back to those and a back support rail I put in.
I used hand planes more on this build than all my other builds put together.
The block plane is a perfect tool for me. It has so many important uses when building rails and stiles and panels with legs.
loved doing the bevels on the bottom of the legs with it.(I bevel the bottoms so the legs dont chip or crack as easily)
Ofcourse, none will be match the other bevel exact, but at least thats a sign its hand made I guess.
I cleaned up the top with the smoother and block plane.
The only problem I ran into was when I tried to take off about a 32nd of an inch on one side of a door, I had a rough time planing the end grain of the stile. I ended up with a bit of it botched up and used the electric and a sanding block to smooth it all out. Lengthwise on the edge of the rail, no problem, slice off just enough till I got to my mark.
I cannot believe how much time I saved today using hand planes instead of taking everything down with belt sanders and orbital sanders then hand blocks.
Since the top is a mishmosh of cheap trailer bed/pallet type white oak, I did my best to get the smoothest and mark free top I could after cutting apart all the thick oak I had.
Then wet it down to try to get some grain up, and sanded it again, then again with 220 grit. Maybe it smoothed it out a bit more.
Overall, it looks good.
My son is coming over for dinner, so Im waiting for his eyes and hands to put my bandsaw parts on, and then I have the extension cord I had to cut apart to use, Im not sure which leads take what color wire.
Hell help me bring the unit into the finishing room, where I will begin the slow rub on process of BLO at least twice with a day or two for drying.
I did not attach the back, so I can work inside the cabinet to finish it easier.
The doors just snap right off, makes that easy enough.
For my tastes, preferred pewter colored elongated ring type pulls, but my wife wants those euro stainless steel long thin handles, like the kitchen cabs have nowadays.
Ill let the kid make the decision. Accomplished a ton today, even though its 94 and very humid.
Tomorrow I start assembly on some adirondack chairs, and a cutting board or two while I start making templates for the chairs for the dining table.
I will have to glue up alot of white oak because I dont have anything thicker than 4/4 and I want 6/4 inch legs when all finished and milled.
Going to be a long tedious process. These will be the last chairs I will ever make.
Ill post a pic later when I get the unit inside.
 
Hey Allen for the legs what about stretching the wood a little different way.

Made a pic for you to consider how you cut the 4/4 oak for the legs to be thicker. Top view cross section of the leg and end view section of the board being ripped.

legs for Allen.jpg

This way you can use the 4/4 and stretch it by cutting it in 45degree strips and gluing up as shown to get a neat leg and if its oak you will get to display the rays in the grain better. Especially for he chairs where the legs and backs make the chair.

Its time to start to stretch the envelope some more:D:thumb:

Oh and please stop saying this "Im sorry, after this build I will shut up and try not to bother anyone." in your threads. You aint bothering no one you should know that by now. You become a standard by which we all measure our productivity aint you seen that.:) Good luck on the band saw repair hope it works out.:thumb:
 
thanx rob, but I think Im sticking with simple joint, plane, glue.
Tough to explain my fear of blades, but a blade standing up straight is alot easier for me to watch my digits then on an angled blade. Its just me and my weird phobias.
Some shots before I start applying some oil. Im pretty happy with the top, came out very flat and stable. I hope it stays that way.The last pic shows the little stop I put in, just glued a piece in and rounded it near both openings. Does the job. The doors need to be adjusted, since i took them out and popped them in several times, but these hinges are a pleasure to adjust, just 2 cams and one height screw.(sorry bout the poor quality of pics, I tried to hold it still)

*I fell about 1/8 of an inch, a bit less than that short on the 36 inch height I went for.
I had to plane down the top in 2 pieces and took a bit too much off to get it very flat.
The top is 60 inches long by 20 inches deep. I wanted a bit of an overhang on each side to match the dining table. I left 6.5 inches overhang, didnt think it looks too silly.I also left out the divider between both doors, made it one large cabinet.
 

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Allen, it looks great. The only thing I strongly don't like is the use of pockets screws in the doors. Other then that I think you got a great project.

and Id tend to agree with you. I stated once before I wont use pocket screws where they will be seen, and I think I went with them because of my stupid measurements. And then after I cut the raised panels too narrow, I was totally discombobulated. I had cut quite a few extra stiles and rails due to errors with the router and cracked ends. I just got a bit frustrated with 2 simple doors and took the easy way out.(the heat has been torturing me the past few weeks, still not an excuse, but its effecting my already twisted thinking process)
My son doesnt seem to mind at all, he thinks its beautiful and says noone would ever know there are plugs inside since the doors stay shut.
Well, uh, ok, I was thinking about staining the plugs first, then applying oil, but he didnt seem to mind at all, so I just glued them in and sanded them down. I doubt Id be using them again for doors.(Ill be making a TV cabinet after the chairs, wont be any pocket screwed doors)But I would consider them on joints not seen in non weight bearing areas.
 
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Allen,
First of all don't take me wrong normaly you do out standing work. I think there is a place for pocket screws, I used em here
attachment.php
to attach the angled pieces to the baser in this piece. I just prefer them in places where they will never be seen.:thumb:
 
Despite all the trials and tribulations, I think it came out looking great, Allen. :thumb:

And to reiterate what Rob said, you're not boring any of us. And even if you were boring a few folks, they always have the option to not follow the thread. The rest of us will continue to eat this stuff up. :D ;)
 
dont stop showun us and the other allen yur the main one doing anything and that is what the newbies are looking for!!! so dont worry about how many posts or what ever those that have trouble with it can look at another thread:) another project by the super allen machine:D:D
 
The unit is finished. I need to wait 4 or 5 days to make sure the oil is very dry before I apply a coat of poly.(2 coats for the top)
Im satisfied with this unit.
I went for a look,contemporary, I think I hit the mark, just a bit boxy.
It will serve its purpose well. I put it in front of the buffet I built for myself a while back. There are some stains I could not get out, Im thinking mineral stains since its all white oak, and they seemed to become much more pronounced once the oil soaked in.
The top is not secured yet, using the z clips, already used my biscuit cutter to cut the slots, and the doors need a final adjusting once the unit is put into place in my sons house.(the metal pulls I purchased at the borg, a bit under 6 bucks each)

I also finished the cutting board this morning. I would appreciate if someone would tell me how to get the burn marks out of the finger grooves I routed on the sides to make it easier to lift. I sanded and my fingers are done.
I put a light coat of oil to see how it looks, rounded over the top edge.
Id really like to get the burn marks out of the finger grooves and I tried sanding, didnt make much progress.Its a great size, 11.5 x around 15 inches, one and 7/8th thick, so its a beefy board. Its a gift. This is from most of the wood I offered to give away if anyone wanted shorts and cutoffs. When I get time, Im going to glue up alot of it and make small boards or candle holders.
 

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To get the burn marks out, use a scraper. You might need to make one the right shape.

I prefer scraping as opposed to sanding. Scraping actually removes wood. Sanding makes dust and smears it around, with the finer stuff being forced into the pores and harder yet to remove. Just my humble opinion, but I have sore fingertips from sanding to make me a believer!
 
thanx, thats exactly what Dr. Merlau told me also.
I hope Im not divulging any military secrets, but since I dont own a curved scraper, he told me to use an old blade from a sawzall, which I did, and got 85% of the burn marks out easy enough. The end grain is tough, it seems like its embedded in the wood deep.
I never thought of using a scraper in a curved area. (I dont own a curved scraper yet, but that will change)
 
The buffet looks great Allen. I've used white oak a few times and really like it. Knowing what you went through with the wood you did a great job.:thumb:


The cutting board also look sharp.
 
its kinda like seeing off another family member. My buffet is in its new home, matching the dining table with the thick top, Im happy with the way the two look together. Pardon the mess, my son is just about finished with the entire downstairs painting.
We purchased several hundred feet of moldings today so he can paint them up and this week Ill bring over the compressor and pinner and help him install it all.
8 doorways of molding, Im glad he bought blocks for all the corners, I was afraid Id have to be mitre'ing all those corners.
Maybe next year he will get to the new wood floor for the dining area.
The tiles are nice, were told they were quite expensive, but not a young mans taste. Probably go with oak to match the living room.

(wish I could take a better pic)
 

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