Progress

Making progress this week.  Thanks to Professor Takagi working all weekend to fix the machines and dust collectors, everything went much smoother and faster.  I was able to finish joining and planning all my boards.

Next, everyone that needed to, glued their tops.  My top is 3 boards glued together and clamped in place.  The images below do not show all the angst we were feeling trying to hurry and get everything in place before the glue set.  We had to act quickly and a partner was crucial.



3 boards are glued together.



side view showing
the clamps and cauls.

 Although my project doesn't need them, it was fascinating to learn how to make finger joints. They are like dove joints but are straight rather than angled.  To make the finger joints, we were also introduced to dado blades.  I hadn't realized that dado blades are really 2 blades with spacers between them that also have teeth for cutting. All together, they cut a gap.


gap between the
2 dado blades



spacers also have teeth

the spacers need to be off set from
the blade's teeth.









A sled on the table saw makes the whole operation safer. First, a notch is cut into a board that is clamped to the sled.  That board is the ancillary fence. A small piece of wood is cut and sanded to fit snugly in the notch in the ancillary fence. This small piece is called the key. 


Professor Takagi making finger joints

ancillary fence clamped to the sled

the key


The next step is to remove the key and place it next to the key hole, line up the blade to cut the first notch in the board.  Then you replace the key, slide the board over so that the notch fits on the key.  Then cut the next notch that will be the perfect distance equal to the width of the blade and the key.  You continue these steps until the board cannot fit anymore notches. 


cutting joints

final board with finger joints cut.

Then you cut all the notches in a second board so that the two boards will interlock like fingers interlocking.