I need some suggestion about a plan, please
 

Hallo!
I am now dealing with a projects which is more complex than any I've
done before, for several reason, among which it is the first to be put
in our living room (and therefore my wife will be much less
unforgiving than ever!!!!).

The second reason: it is the first time I do not follow strictly an
existing plan, which puts me in front of choinces up to now I've never
had to take.

After I submitted several plans to my wife approval, with no success,
the one below

href=http://www.leviatano.net/projects/salotto1.jpg

surprisingly met her enthusiasm, which is a convincing reason to
proceed... the point is that while she's satisfied with the aesthetic
(is this the spelling?) now I must face those annoying technicalities
like 'how will I make it, now?'.

Dimensions are 36"Wx36"Lx24"H The legs are 2-3/8"Wx2-3/8"L and the
sides are 1" thick.

I was thinking of cherry (for the sides) and mahogany (for the legs).
My first worry is about the glass top and how I should accomodate for
wood shrinking: in my plan there is a 1/2" rebate over which the glass
lays. I suppose I should leave some spacing bw. the glass and the
rebate edge (I hope I am clear enough, as I am not confident with
English 'woodworking' terms), but how much?

Secondly: I am really hesitating about the joint to use bw. sides and
legs. After studying the woodworker's joint book, my first thought was
a sliding dovetail, but as I should stop the sides from sliding 'down'
I should insert the tail from the top, which is ugly.
So, after aving pondered the pros and cons of tenons, dowels, biscuits
and whatever, now I am here completely clueless!

Any hint is welcome.

Thank you,
Luciano

On 22 Aug 2004 08:24:06 -0700, (feanorelf)
wrote:

Hallo!
I am now dealing with a projects which is more complex than any I've
done before, for several reason, among which it is the first to be put
in our living room (and therefore my wife will be much less
unforgiving than ever!!!!).

The second reason: it is the first time I do not follow strictly an
existing plan, which puts me in front of choinces up to now I've never
had to take.

After I submitted several plans to my wife approval, with no success,
the one below

href=http://www.leviatano.net/projects/salotto1.jpg

surprisingly met her enthusiasm, which is a convincing reason to
proceed... the point is that while she's satisfied with the aesthetic
(is this the spelling?) now I must face those annoying technicalities
like 'how will I make it, now?'.

Dimensions are 36"Wx36"Lx24"H The legs are 2-3/8"Wx2-3/8"L and the
sides are 1" thick.

I was thinking of cherry (for the sides) and mahogany (for the legs).

for the cherry panels I'd recommend veneered panels. much more stable.
you can buy the sheet goods with the cherry veneer on it.




My first worry is about the glass top and how I should accomodate for
wood shrinking: in my plan there is a 1/2" rebate over which the glass
lays.


set the glass over the top of the whole thing. the gap bwtewwn the
wood and glass as you have it drawn will quickly fill with crud and
look terrible- and be really hard to clean.


I suppose I should leave some spacing bw. the glass and the
rebate edge (I hope I am clear enough, as I am not confident with
English 'woodworking' terms), but how much?

Secondly: I am really hesitating about the joint to use bw. sides and
legs. After studying the woodworker's joint book, my first thought was
a sliding dovetail, but as I should stop the sides from sliding 'down'
I should insert the tail from the top, which is ugly.
So, after aving pondered the pros and cons of tenons, dowels, biscuits
and whatever, now I am here completely clueless!

I'd glue the panels into a stopped groove in the legs. that is, the
legs have a groove in them that extends from the top of the panel to
the bottom of the panel but not to the ends of the leg. I'd leave
enough leg above and below the panel that the bit of end grain at the
end of the groove isn't too weak. I can't tell how much you have
there, but it looks small.





Any hint is welcome.

Thank you,
Luciano

What is it? Coffee table? Is that a disco ball inside? It looks good
anyway, and interesting.

This is an appropriate project to use cherry veneer plywood for the sides.
Try 3/4", and if you want the look of 1" at the top then just add solid
stock along the top edge. Using the plywood will save you money, weight,
and time, and will eliminate the concern you have with dimensional changes
with humidity. If you use solid wood you do have a problem. So, use
plywood. Really!

Have you considered orienting the grain in the side panels horizontally?
That would look better to my eye. But SWMBO's eye is all that matters.

For joinery between panels and legs, we need to know if you want evidence of
the joint to show at the top of the leg. If you do, then a sliding dovetail
would look nice there, or a dado in the leg, or a loose tenon/spline. If
you don't care for the joint to show, then biscuits or dowels would be easy
and strong. Use the joint that looks good to you and you feel proficient to
produce.

You will post a pic when you are done, per favore?

--
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com/woodshop


"feanorelf" wrote in message
om...
Hallo!
I am now dealing with a projects which is more complex than any I've
done before, for several reason, among which it is the first to be put
in our living room (and therefore my wife will be much less
unforgiving than ever!!!!).

The second reason: it is the first time I do not follow strictly an
existing plan, which puts me in front of choinces up to now I've never
had to take.

After I submitted several plans to my wife approval, with no success,
the one below

href=http://www.leviatano.net/projects/salotto1.jpg

surprisingly met her enthusiasm, which is a convincing reason to
proceed... the point is that while she's satisfied with the aesthetic
(is this the spelling?) now I must face those annoying technicalities
like 'how will I make it, now?'.

Dimensions are 36"Wx36"Lx24"H The legs are 2-3/8"Wx2-3/8"L and the
sides are 1" thick.

I was thinking of cherry (for the sides) and mahogany (for the legs).
My first worry is about the glass top and how I should accomodate for
wood shrinking: in my plan there is a 1/2" rebate over which the glass
lays. I suppose I should leave some spacing bw. the glass and the
rebate edge (I hope I am clear enough, as I am not confident with
English 'woodworking' terms), but how much?

Secondly: I am really hesitating about the joint to use bw. sides and
legs. After studying the woodworker's joint book, my first thought was
a sliding dovetail, but as I should stop the sides from sliding 'down'
I should insert the tail from the top, which is ugly.
So, after aving pondered the pros and cons of tenons, dowels, biscuits
and whatever, now I am here completely clueless!

Any hint is welcome.

Thank you,
Luciano

"Pounds on Wood" wrote in message ...
What is it? Coffee table? Is that a disco ball inside? It looks good
anyway, and interesting.

Coffee table, I guess (I mean, in Italian I would call it 'tavolino'
which means small table and has a very general use).
The ball inside has nothing to do with the table: we have some spheres
of colored glass we took from Mexico which I try to put in the most
hidden spots of
the house :)
Actually I had a 'bad' surprise about my 'originality' when,
reordering my bookshelf, I saw the cover of a Taunton book about
box-making I read las year:
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P...2.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

with humidity. If you use solid wood you do have a problem. So, use
plywood. Really!

I had thought about plywood, but I am really concerned about
veneering: it seems to me something far beyond my ablility.


Have you considered orienting the grain in the side panels horizontally?
That would look better to my eye. But SWMBO's eye is all that matters.

Actually, grain orientation in the picture is not mi choice, but
software choice. Yes, I thought to orient the grain horizontally
(actually to minimize horizontal movement, more than for the look of
it).

For joinery between panels and legs, we need to know if you want evidence of
the joint to show at the top of the leg. If you do, then a sliding dovetail
would look nice there, or a dado in the leg, or a loose tenon/spline. If
you don't care for the joint to show, then biscuits or dowels would be easy
and strong. Use the joint that looks good to you and you feel proficient to
produce.


Probably, given the design, I'd rather hiding the joint... but maybe I
need to think a little more about this.

You will post a pic when you are done, per favore?

It depends on the result :)



--
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com/woodshop


"feanorelf" wrote in message
om...
Hallo!
I am now dealing with a projects which is more complex than any I've
done before, for several reason, among which it is the first to be put
in our living room (and therefore my wife will be much less
unforgiving than ever!!!!).

The second reason: it is the first time I do not follow strictly an
existing plan, which puts me in front of choinces up to now I've never
had to take.

After I submitted several plans to my wife approval, with no success,
the one below

href=http://www.leviatano.net/projects/salotto1.jpg

surprisingly met her enthusiasm, which is a convincing reason to
proceed... the point is that while she's satisfied with the aesthetic
(is this the spelling?) now I must face those annoying technicalities
like 'how will I make it, now?'.

Dimensions are 36"Wx36"Lx24"H The legs are 2-3/8"Wx2-3/8"L and the
sides are 1" thick.

I was thinking of cherry (for the sides) and mahogany (for the legs).
My first worry is about the glass top and how I should accomodate for
wood shrinking: in my plan there is a 1/2" rebate over which the glass
lays. I suppose I should leave some spacing bw. the glass and the
rebate edge (I hope I am clear enough, as I am not confident with
English 'woodworking' terms), but how much?

Secondly: I am really hesitating about the joint to use bw. sides and
legs. After studying the woodworker's joint book, my first thought was
a sliding dovetail, but as I should stop the sides from sliding 'down'
I should insert the tail from the top, which is ugly.
So, after aving pondered the pros and cons of tenons, dowels, biscuits
and whatever, now I am here completely clueless!

Any hint is welcome.

Thank you,
Luciano

--

"feanorelf" wrote in message
om...

I had thought about plywood, but I am really concerned about
veneering: it seems to me something far beyond my ablility.

What you want is plywood with the veneer already applied. It is very easy
to find in the US.

Probably, given the design, I'd rather hiding the joint... but maybe I
need to think a little more about this.


A contrasting wood spline would look nice I think.

You will post a pic when you are done, per favore?

It depends on the result :)

It will look great I'm sure.


********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

"feanorelf" wrote in message
om...

I had thought about plywood, but I am really concerned about
veneering: it seems to me something far beyond my ablility.

What you want is plywood with the veneer already applied. It is very easy
to find in the US.

I guess... browsing your woodworking online stores it seems to me
everything is much easier to find in Italy for hobbyists than here in
Italy.
Here it seems thatr everything is fit to the needs and volumes of the
pros, while hobbyists have little hardware and tools choices, and
expensive.
Nevertheless, I'll try to find it (or maybe I'll buy it on my next
journey to US).
I have never worked with veneers: are there any particular
cares you should take when sanding (if you have to sand it) and finishing
it? And about the edges, I suppose I should use those veneer tapes,
shouldn't I?



Probably, given the design, I'd rather hiding the joint... but maybe I
need to think a little more about this.


A contrasting wood spline would look nice I think.


That's what I was thinking of while you suggested me to show the joint:
it's an idea I am starting to like.