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Ash bed WIP - Finished!

This is where we don't want anything but evidence of your finest wood butchering in all its glorious, and photograph laden glory. Bring your finished products or WIP's, we love them all, so long as there's pictures, and plenty of 'em!

Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 05 Aug 2022, 17:51

Steve Maskery wrote:Which particular Polyvine product are we talking about here plesae?


Sorry I should have put the full name in the text - it's lurking in the background in the photo. Polyvine wax finish varnish satin finish.
I must admit I was a bit bemused by the product naming when I bought it. I don't think it contains any wax, but it's supposed to look like a wax when applied.

And I have a feeling that it might not come in a blue bottle any more.

I checked, it's slightly differently presented now, in a white bottle, but I think this is the same stuff

https://www.axminstertools.com/polyvine ... 0ml-701573
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Woodbloke » 05 Aug 2022, 18:14

AndyT wrote:And I have a feeling that it might not come in a blue bottle any more.

I checked, it's slightly differently presented now, in a white bottle, but I think this is the same stuff

https://www.axminstertools.com/polyvine ... 0ml-701573


Just to clarify Andy, 'satin' is blue and 'dead flat' is in the white bottle (just checked in the 'shop) Looks like they've swopped the bottles around though! - Rob
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 05 Aug 2022, 18:19

Rob, I think your blue bottle might just be an old one, like mine - there's a printed date on mine. The maker's website only shows white bottles.

https://polyvine.com/index.php/en/produ ... sh-varnish
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Woodbloke » 05 Aug 2022, 18:29

AndyT wrote:Rob, I think your blue bottle might just be an old one, like mine - there's a printed date on mine. The maker's website only shows white bottles.

https://polyvine.com/index.php/en/produ ... sh-varnish

I think so Andy, mine are several years old (same as yours) and are nearly empty. Good stuff none the less and I've been very impressed. I'll certainly invest in another couple later on- Rob
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 07 Aug 2022, 17:36

After rather a lot of agonising over details, I've been hiding from the heat and making a little more progress on sanding and chamfering the slats.

Having rejected Mr Nurse's plane as not working on tiny chamfers, I dug out my other old one. It's not quite what the old book lists as the Melhuish pattern - whoever made this one favoured movable fences on both sides. But they close up tight enough, and I want the consistency that a fenced plane will give me.

IMG_8099.JPG
the better plane
(243.74 KiB)


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boxwood fences
(235.96 KiB)


First, I sanded the slats, like I did in my experiment, using 120 grit Abranet and the vacuum cleaner. I realised that, with hand sanding, I'd normally judge my progress by the amount of dust I had made. But with this method, there's no dust at all. That makes it a bit odd - it feels as if you're not removing anything - but you are of course. I soon found myself developing a rhythm of doing the same number of strokes on each surface, in the same order. This helps a lot with a repetitive job and makes sure of not missing anything out. I was careful to keep all the bits stacked up by number.

For the chamfering, it was the same sort of routine. I was holding the slats against a couple of pegs in the bench, positioning the plane the same way, and taking just two shavings from each arris.

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simple workholding
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IMG_8108.JPG
a tidy pile
(297.47 KiB)


I've now done both sets of slats, for the head and foot of the bed. I didn't use a washing line, just some bits of scrap to let them rest on their tenons.

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watching varnish dry
(332.13 KiB)


I'm really happy with this varnish. It goes on very easily, dries smooth and looks good. I've been using a Polvine brush which is quite thin but holds just enough and has the right strength of bristles to brush it out efficiently.

Buoyed up by success with the slats, I also started on the end rails. These just needed a bit of a clean up to remove any markings or rough spots.

On the straight one I just planed:

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smoothing
(277.57 KiB)


On the curve, I used a cabinet scraper:

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scraping
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Before removing the pencil marks I made sure I could still see which slat went where

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easy as 1 2 3
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To chamfer the long curve, I needed something freehand but with a bit of delicacy about it. Time for a beautiful little boxwood spokeshave, only 7½" long. This one is also marked "Warlow" - the same Bristol ironmonger that sold the saw I have been using on this project.

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a close shave
(274.61 KiB)


IMG_8115.JPG
Warlow
(180.9 KiB)


(Incidentally, this size would have been listed in the catalogues as 1½", as that's the length of the iron. According to the excellent booklet on the subject by the late Ken Hawley, spokeshave irons went from 1" up to 6" long.)

Sadly, Warlows are no longer in business, though one of their old shops still bears the name:

warlow.jpg
No longer the shop it was, but still useful...
(202.88 KiB)


but happily, Bristol design is just across the road, for anyone needing to stock up.

That's all the progress for now; I'll leave you with an artfully posed shot of the sort of detail that will always be covered up by bedding or pillows when this thing is finished ;)

IMG_8116.JPG
what the tools are for!
(134.94 KiB)
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Mike G » 08 Aug 2022, 08:13

I'm enjoying this Andy...........probably almost as much as you are. :)

As for the finish choice: anything but Osmo for me. I can't find a good word to say for it.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Steve Maskery » 08 Aug 2022, 10:25

Mike G wrote:I
As for the finish choice: anything but Osmo for me. I can't find a good word to say for it.


What's you aversion to it, Mike? I'm no expert on wood finishing, not at all, but I've always been quite happy with it. But there may well be far better options out there these days. But why not Osmo?

Andy - good thinking on numbering the mortices! You'd never catch making a rookie error like that... :eusa-liar:
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Sheffield Tony » 08 Aug 2022, 11:02

AndyT wrote:For the chamfering, it was the same sort of routine. I was holding the slats against a couple of pegs in the bench, positioning the plane the same way, and taking just two shavings from each arris.


But doesn't that mean the Nurse chamfer plane, or a block plane would have done if you are counting shavings rather than relying on the depth stop ? It would have robbed us of the photos of nice old tools though ;)
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 08 Aug 2022, 14:14

Thanks all. I do like Osmo Poly-x and I've used it on several other projects. It's been especially useful when reviving tired old unknown finish on veneer (eg on some 1970s speaker cabinets). It blended in invisibly with the existing finish and didn't raise the grain. Once properly cured, which takes a couple of weeks, it's tough enough for hot mugs of tea or leaky wineglasses. Just a bit too slow and smelly for this project.

Steve, it's funny you should mention numbering the mortises. I'm pretty sure it's something I learned on here. Can't remember who posted it though... ;)

And Tony, well, you're right of course, but look at like this. I'm doing a public service here.

The Spartan minimalists can count the "excess" tools and feel good as they mentally confiscate five different planes and replace them with one Stanley knife.

But other folk, those with an eye for the pleasures of good old tools, well, they can get some ideas for their shopping trips or birthday present lists.

Everybody wins! :D
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 16 Aug 2022, 16:25

While this thread has gone a bit quiet, I have still been plugging away at prepping and varnishing the components for the two ends, so that they will all be varnished before assembly. I can't remember doing this before, but it certainly seems to make sense for a project like this. It's so much easier to work on separate pieces than it would be to try and get a brush in around corners. So thanks all, for encouraging me to do it this way!

I've not taken lots of very similar photos, but you can probably imagine sanding and varnishing, with just enough tidying up to lay a set of bits out on the bench.

I've now got two coats on all the vertical slats and the horizontal rails that they fit into. I've trimmed the legs to size and got one coat on them. I've yet to tackle the horizontal capping pieces that will go over the top ends of the legs and across the top edges of the upper rails. I think I know how I can attach them but the sizing will be a bit experimental once I have the head and foot assemblies done.

I've been thinking about how to put the ends together. Way back ages ago I showed a dry run, with slats, rails and (untrimmed) legs:

IMG_7993.JPG
(320.62 KiB)


That all fitted together reasonably well, but I want to get everything as tight as I can. So, I think what I will do is to assemble the inner parts without the legs, pulled up tight with cramps, checked for square. That way I get a better chance that more of the custom trimmed shoulders will touch properly. The next day, I can glue the legs on and cramp up in the opposite direction to pull those joints up tight.

If it means that the big tenons on the ends of the horizontal rails need a bit of trimming to make them go into their mortises in the legs, or if I need to slightly raise or lower the mortises by shimming or trimming, then that's fine by me. I've got half inch shoulders which will hide any slight adjustments.

But please, if you can see a reason why that's a stupid plan, do please say so now!

Here are a few photos to prove that I have been getting on with this. If I seem to have slowed down, I can mention time away from the workshop etc. Also, it's been quite hot! - an unprecedented 26.5 degrees in my well-sheltered basement. I'm only too well aware of the heat given off by the fluorescent tubes near my head, and having the vacuum cleaner on at the same time only makes it worse.

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trimming legs to length
(290.59 KiB)


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a matched pair
(290.08 KiB)


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sanding
(322.87 KiB)


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a chamfer
(150.2 KiB)


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chamfering a foot by freehand planing back to a line
(145.05 KiB)


IMG_8127.JPG
legs set out to dry
(323.43 KiB)
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Mike G » 17 Aug 2022, 07:02

Your glue-up proposal seems sensible to me, Andy. The alternative is to slightly lower the bottom edge of the upper mortice in the legs, to give you certainty that it won't be pushing your joints open. Or indeed, shave a little off the bottom edge of the corresponding tenon. You could then glue the whole assembly in one hit. But unless time is suddenly an issue, there wouldn't seem to be much to gain from that approach.

I've never chamfered to a line in my life. Accurate chamfers seem to be the flavour of the week around here.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 17 Aug 2022, 07:54

Thanks Mike.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 21 Aug 2022, 15:47

Following the previous exciting news about chamfers, sanding and varnishing, I am pleased to announce that I have managed to do a bit more chamfering, sanding and varnishing ;) .

But rather than go over all that old familiar ground here, I'll stick to the breaking news that I have actually started gluing some of this stuff together at last.

Here's a preliminary view, with all the pieces laid out in the right order and the right way round, plus some cramps ready for use.

IMG_8132.JPG
(321.33 KiB)


Here's an exciting action shot of some glue being spread around mortise number 4, using a little sliver of scrap wood, cut by an old spill plane. (Many spill planes make a thin oblique shaving that spirals round itself, but a few split a thicker sliver off, about half the thickness of a lolly stick. These are very useful in the workshop.)

IMG_8134.JPG
(211.09 KiB)


A bit more glue gets wiped round the tenon.

IMG_8135.JPG
(211.54 KiB)


and then each slat can be slid into its own place. I'm glad I took the trouble to ease up these joints a little; in the end they all went together with just hand pressure, without me needing to use a mallet.

I was relaxed enough to take this in-progress photo, which also shows the very reassuring visible numbers on the ends of the other tenons, all round the right way and in the right order! A handscrew holds the cross-rail on its edge so nothing falls over.

IMG_8136.JPG
(270.59 KiB)


A few minutes and all 15 are in place in the arched rail.

IMG_8137.JPG
(311.01 KiB)


I'm glad I did a dry run on this stage. That's when I realised that it would be much much harder to assemble if I had put these slats in the straight cross-rail first. Having assembled the curved rail meant that I could lay everything flat on the bench ready for the next stage. You don't get action shots of this as it was the fiddliest step, where I had to hurry up a bit. I glued all the remaining mortises and applied an extra dollop of glue to the top faces only of the tenons. I then eased the three tenons at one side into place, and held them lightly with a cramp. I then worked my way along, aligning each successive tenon with its mortise and moving that single cramp along so nothing came out again.

I then applied two Record metal cramps underneath and two sets of heads on wooden bars above. With everything in place I could check for squareness across the rail shoulders, close everything up and take another photo

IMG_8138.JPG
(329.85 KiB)


I shifted the cramps around a bit, tightening them up and watching a little glue ooze out of each joint.

IMG_8139.JPG
(277.95 KiB)


Liquid hide glue is always easy to clean up but when the surfaces are already varnished it's even easier, just a wipe with a damp rag.

So that's it for now, until this has all set, when I can add some legs and repeat for the other end.

From the timestamps on the photos, I can see that this little glue-up took 31 minutes. Tidying up and finding all the necessary clamps, supports and padding strips took twice that time. But at least I can find the spare bags for the workshop vac easily :)
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Dr.Al » 21 Aug 2022, 16:12

Really enjoying the write-up, thanks Andy. I'd never heard of a spill plane before and had to look up what it was.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 23 Aug 2022, 14:41

The good news is that the joints pulled up nicely and the glue all cleaned off easily. The next step was to attach the legs.

I don't suppose anyone will be too surprised to learn that I tried them dry first. ;) I was pleased to see that the tenons still lined up ok. The only tweak needed was to trim a couple of slivers off so that the haunches don't stop the shoulders from pulling up properly.

Then it was everything on the bench again, knock the legs into place with a soft faced mallet, apply the cramps and tighten up.

I don't seem to have taken an overall view, but here's the left hand end

IMG_8145.JPG
(294.06 KiB)


Now, one challenge was that I don't actually have any cramps long enough to span the width of this bed. What I do have is a system I first used 30 something years ago when my wife and I built a shelf unit for the kitchen, like the top half of an old dresser. "System" may be overstating it - it's just some lengths of M8 studding and some bits of wood with holes in. I honestly can't remember if I thought of it myself or read about it in a magazine. (Robert Wearing does show something similar in The Resourceful Woodworker, so I may have seen an article by him. His is a bit more complicated than mine though.)

Here's what I used for this - the mock-up leg from somewhere near the beginning of this project provided one pair of ends and a lump of fence post offcut provided the others. (And yes, I did drill all the holes with a brace and bit - there's no point owning this stuff if I don't use it sometimes!)

IMG_8154.JPG
(347.17 KiB)


It's very simple to use, provided that you have long enough arms to tighten both ends at once, or a willing assistant. I find that it provides plenty enough tension to bring joints together for that last millimetre. It's also very cheap to buy and compact to store. :)

Here's a sample joint pulled up tight

IMG_8146.JPG
(321.68 KiB)


and cleaned off

IMG_8148.JPG
(282.6 KiB)


Once the glue was dry there was a little bit of cleaning up to do on the top, to make it level for the not-yet-prepared capping rail which will cover it. This dry-fit photo shows the mismatch and the sawn end of the leg

IMG_8144.JPG
(239.64 KiB)


Planing this sort of thing brings fresh work-holding challenges. My very basic answer was to stand the thing on the floor and hold it in a handscrew, clamped onto the benchtop. Then I could plane it even.
This Hong Kong style plane is ideal - there's a much longer toe than is usual on western planes, making it very easy to register. Apparently they are normally pushed, but I was mostly pulling it this time and it didn't seem to mind.

IMG_8152.JPG
(303.37 KiB)


IMG_8153.JPG
(279.42 KiB)


Once that lot was done I could move things around and get the inner parts of the other end assembled in much the same way, going from this

IMG_8156.JPG
(331.5 KiB)


to this

IMG_8159.JPG
(316.62 KiB)


as if in an instant, but in reality there was quite a bit of time moving things out of the way and putting tools back in their proper places. I'm spending quite a lot of time waiting for glue or varnish to dry at the moment.

The next step, when I've got the other pair of legs glued on, will be to prepare and attach the horizontal capping rails.

This picture (from a mock-up of scraps back in November last year) shows what I am talking about, though the exact dimensions may be a bit different.

IMG_7676.JPG
(276.68 KiB)


My thoughts on how to attach these are to use some dowels into the ends of the legs and just glue the butt joint along the top. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Should I leave the dowels out so that if the legs twist they can do so freely without disturbing anything else? How many dowels? I'm thinking of two in each leg, in the outside corners. They would help with alignment, provided I can get them in the proper places so they don't make it worse. (I don't think it's worth buying a Domino just for these... :lol: )

At present, the top boards are not fully planed and are not perfectly flat, but I think that they would glue down flat quite ok. And I could plane them a bit more.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby 9fingers » 23 Aug 2022, 15:16

Dowels sound ideal. Do you have some of those marking out points? They make perfect alignment a doddle

If you don’t have any I can loan you ones for 6,8 or 10mm dowels

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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 23 Aug 2022, 15:19

9fingers wrote:Dowels sound ideal. Do you have some of those marking out points? They make perfect alignment a doddle

If you don’t have any I can loan you ones for 6,8 or 10mm dowels

Bob


That's reassuring and generous! I do have some, and I think I am more comfortable using them than any other method, so that's a useful vote in their favour. Thanks Bob.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby 9fingers » 23 Aug 2022, 15:22

AndyT wrote:
9fingers wrote:Dowels sound ideal. Do you have some of those marking out points? They make perfect alignment a doddle

If you don’t have any I can loan you ones for 6,8 or 10mm dowels

Bob


That's reassuring and generous! I do have some, and I think I am more comfortable using them than any other method, so that's a useful vote in their favour. Thanks Bob.


Eek! I’m now concerned that I might have confessed to having a “hand tool”. Shock horror :lol:
They are at least home made though
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 23 Aug 2022, 15:25

Your secret's safe with me!

But you could just think of them as a specialist accessory for an electric drill... ;)
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby 9fingers » 23 Aug 2022, 16:39

AndyT wrote:Your secret's safe with me!

But you could just think of them as a specialist accessory for an electric drill... ;)


PHEW!
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Woodbloke » 23 Aug 2022, 17:21

This Hong Kong style plane is ideal - there's a much longer toe than is usual on western planes, making it very easy to register. Apparently they are normally pushed, but I was mostly pulling it this time and it didn't seem to mind.



You probably realise Andy, that you can also pull a Western style plane; I frequently pull my low angle jack if it's more convenient than pushing. Those HK planes are in stock again at WH - Rob (who's just ordered three :eusa-dance: )
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Cabinetman » 23 Aug 2022, 18:43

Very nice precise work as always Andy, not at all sure that the top piece needs attaching to the leg tops anyway , I’m sure with your work there won’t be a gap when you have glued it to the top rail, doubt there would be much movement across the width of the top of the legs, but dowels might just hinder any that there was.
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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby Pete Maddex » 24 Aug 2022, 22:13

Andy how about some small square bog oak pins left slightly proud with the tops chamfered to hold on the to pieces?

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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 24 Aug 2022, 22:19

Pete Maddex wrote:Andy how about some small square bog oak pins left slightly proud with the tops chamfered to hold on the to pieces?

Pete


That's an interesting idea Pete. I plan to do some sort of square ended plugs to cover up the bolts holding the sides on. I'd not thought of making them of bog oak but I do have some.

I'll see if I can do some experiments and judge how it looks.


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Re: Ash bed WIP

Postby AndyT » 28 Aug 2022, 17:55

Over the last few days, I have mostly been making more of these:

IMG_8182.JPG
(400.62 KiB)


I had done very little to the two boards that I had set aside for the capping rails at the head and foot of the bed. I'd cut them a bit oversize since I was unsure what size I would want them to be and because I knew they might move a bit as they dried further.

Deciding the exact size was a matter of mocking up some scraps, holding them in place and looking at them from various angles. I needed to trim about 3/4" off the width of both boards.

This gave me a choice. I could use the table saw, but only if I tidied up the entire workshop, including all the big bits of bed. That would take too long. I could cut them by hand, which would be relatively quick. I couldn't hold the boards in the vice - they are too long. The most suitable space was between the metalworking lathe and the treadle fretsaw. I have an old, utilitarian tool chest which just tall enough to use to saw on. I'd been using it to store the bits of bed that I wasn't working on, which is why there's an off-cut of carpet on it. That's also good for my knees.

Here you can see the saw posed in place making the cut.

IMG_8165.JPG
(342.49 KiB)


Now I've had comments before about these "ghost" photos where the tools do the job unaided. People say I'm cheating and don't do the work myself! To quash such slanders, I asked my photographic assistant to come and take a proper view, showing exactly how I do this sort of cut:

IMG_8184rip.jpg
(701.64 KiB)


I hope that will satisfy the moaners who think I am camera-shy, and let me get back to the tools. :lol:

I don't do this sort of long rip by hand very often, but it isn't as bad as you might think. The first one took 13 minutes, the second one 11. I'd gauged the size and then run a pencil along the gauge mark and sawn as close as I dared, leaving just enough to plane off smooth.

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(219.44 KiB)


There was then a reasonably lengthy session or two getting one side of each board flat, followed by gauging to thickness and flattening the other side. Not many photos of this but this gives the idea - I was mostly taking thin shavings only, wanting to leave a finished surface after removing the least wood possible.

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With that done and the boards cut to 60 3/8", it was time to cut the chamfers. I kept this fairly simple. I pencilled in lines, 3/8" down from the top and 1/4" in from the edge. I marked these with a pencil and a try-square. I could have just held the pencil in my fingers but I was aiming at consistency across the two pieces.

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I set up a bevel gauge to whatever angle the lines gave and marked across the ends.
The planing started on the end grain first. Here's a board with one end accessible

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Chamfering the ends was done with a block plane, trying to keep the finishing lines in sight and cut consistently. That was made much easier by the quality of this air-dried ash - I wouldn't have been able to cut the kiln-dried boards I used for the sides like this.

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That second picture was posed of course - I needed both hands on the plane - but the drop of sweat on the end grain was not staged!

The long chamfers were done with a mixture of planes - a jack at first, then a no 4, then a block plane to finish. Getting the angle right was a mixture of tilting the plane or moving it across the work so only one side is planed, like you do when aiming for exactly 90 degrees when edge jointing.

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Some of the edges have an entertaining mixture of reversing grain, so I needed to switch to taking very fine shavings before too long. Here you can see that I have managed to get the angle right; from that point it's just a matter of carrying on planing until both lines disappear.

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And after some time, here's a completed piece on the bench

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and posing, stood on top of the bed foot.

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What doesn't show up in the photos is just how much I have been enjoying this project, especially in the last few days. It's just possible, in the space that I have. I have the tools that I need and they do what I want them to. It may be slow and a bit fussy, but that just means I can carry on playing for longer.

The end is still a few weeks off, but I shall miss having this project on the go once I have finished.
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Andy
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AndyT
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Name: Andy

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