Simple setup

[Harold_V]

I have little experience with wood working, nor do I care much for the craft. However, for the past year or so I've been engaged in rebuilding a large number of old pieces of furniture (some folks call them antiques), and have been forced to do considerable work with wood. As I have few wood working tools, I've been using my lathe and mill for much of the work. It's slow, but it gets the job done.

Today I needed to make some thin strips to tighten the slop in a pair of drawers. I had already rebuilt the slide areas, including adding Teflon to the slides, so they are much easier to move, and I expect it will prolong their useful life considerably. The pieces I machined have been installed on the sides of the cabinet, to center the drawers properly and narrow the gap that was way too large between the drawers and guides.

The thin strips required could have been a nightmare, as they were reduced to less than .100" in thickness, and were quite long (about 22"). I had removed some oak pieces from the previous rebuild (not by me), which served the purpose nicely, as they are already near the proper width, and were still thick enough to be taken to the desired size. How to do that was my quandary---so after thinking on the matter for a few minutes, I resorted to a setup I've made before, only that time it was to chamfer the corner of some long lengths of brass. In that case, I had to restrain the material fully, leaving just enough clearance for the piece to be moved past the cutter (conventional milling only---as a climb cut will result in a crash). For wood, however, cutting pressure is reduced considerably, so the setup can be somewhat forgiving---like spring loading the pressure pads, which serve to keep the wood against a 1" square parallel, and gauges the material as the entire fixture is advanced towards the end mill that was used.

Here's a couple pictures of the setup, which can prove to be quite useful if you're facing a similar project and don't have a wood planer.

Harold

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

Well, you definitely over engineered your solution. Personally,
I would have just cut new strips from stock on the table saw.
I hope you allowed for the dimensional instability of wood.

If you make things too tight, you may have trouble when the
humidity changes. Wood will swell and contract based on the
the relative humidity.

Also, drawers can be made to slide more easily by adding powdered
chalk (or even talcum powder) on the wood to wood sliding surfaces.
If the wood is of tight grain and well seasoned, waxing the sliding
ways prior to adding chalk or talc will make Teflon® look shabby.
I am partial to Butcher's bowling alley wax (it makes a good releasing
agent for epoxy too). Of course, the ways will have to be re-waxed
and powdered occasionally where your Teflon® ways will not.

My father was a wood butcher and I grew up with the smell of linseed
oil and wax in my nostrils. It is my preferred type of "aroma therapy."

Anyway, your setup looks good.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

[SteveM]

Well, you definitely over engineered your solution. Personally,
I would have just cut new strips from stock on the table saw.
I hope you allowed for the dimensional instability of wood.
If you make things too tight, you may have trouble when the
humidity changes. Wood will swell and contract based on the
the relative humidity.

When my dad moved his office around 1970 or so, my grandfather (a machinist) made new corner desks that mounted to the walls in the office. He did a really nice job and everything fit perfect until it got humid and the drawers stuck.

I remember my dad saying "you can't build furniture to the thousandth of an inch".

Steve

[Mr Ron]

I would have made the strips from UHMW or acetal instead of wood. Actually your method of making those thin strips on the mill is much better than doing it with a router. Routers spin at around 20,000 rpm and feeding a strip of thin wood into the bit can cause it to kick back violently because of it's thinness.

[Harold_V]

I would have just cut new strips from stock on the table saw.

A wonderful solution, assuming one owns a table saw. I don't, and can't really justify one at this point in time, nor did I have on hand any stock from which new strips might be cut. Of importance is the fact that I do not enjoy working with wood, in spite of the fact that my father was a carpenter.

The setup shown was made in less than two hours, from scrap I had on hand. I couldn't have driven to town and back in that amount of time, so, for me, it was a very good solution to the problem at hand. It also offered a high degree of precision, which, for a guy who thinks as a machinist, is very nice attribute.

I hope you allowed for the dimensional instability of wood. If you make things too tight, you may have trouble when the
humidity changes. Wood will swell and contract based on the the relative humidity.

My world consists of several dehumidifiers, so the atmosphere in my home is quite stable. I don't anticipate any measurable changes in the furniture, although that may not be true if it is removed from that environment. Right now, the piece resides in my shop, which is also humidity controlled, but at a slightly higher level. The eventual move to our house, if anything, should result in shrinkage, not expansion, so I don't anticipate any problems in that regard. Only time will tell, however.

Also, drawers can be made to slide more easily by adding powdered chalk (or even talcum powder) on the wood to wood sliding surfaces. If the wood is of tight grain and well seasoned, waxing the sliding ways prior to adding chalk or talc will make Teflon® look shabby.

The wood, in this case, is oak, but the bottoms of the drawers were replaced with maple, which is very tight of grain, as you know.

While the recommendation to use chalk or talcum powder may work, both are an abrasive, which, in the long run, will create the very problem I had fixed, that of wear of the wood. The drawers now move almost without effort, so that part of the problem has already been addressed. I expect that the wood surface will wear much slower because of the Teflon that has been applied, so combined with a waxed surface, I am in hopes that the slides will enjoy a much longer lifespan than they might otherwise have enjoyed. Of course, at my age, maybe I'm worried about a non-issue, especially considering the drawers are unlikely to be used often, very unlike a dresser in a bedroom.

Harold

[Harold_V]

I would have made the strips from UHMW or acetal instead of wood. Actually your method of making those thin strips on the mill is much better than doing it with a router. Routers spin at around 20,000 rpm and feeding a strip of thin wood into the bit can cause it to kick back violently because of it's thinness.

I have also rebuilt two antique dressers, both of which involved the use of just that type of material, although still in contact with hard, fine grained wood. The drawers move effortlessly, and quietly. A winning combination, to be sure.

The advantage of the fixture shown is that it restrains the wood in all directions, although it does permit easy movement past the cutter. I used a pair of parallels to trap the springs for the express purpose of making the setup adjustable, so I could control the amount of pressure applied to the strip of wood. It took just seconds to alter pressure. I also enjoyed the fact that it took no effort, unlike the need to make restraining blocks.

In regards to spindle speed, I ran the end mill (5/8" diameter) at about 3,000 rpm, which was more than adequate for the purpose.

Kickback is an issue if one attempts too heavy a cut. In my case, I started with strips that, while they were uneven in thickness, were very near the target thickness. I was content to take .015" passes, each of which took but seconds. The pressure pads kept the piece firmly pressed against the parallel, which was used as a guide. All in all, the end result was what might be called perfect---far more precise than anything one could have achieved with a table saw, and with surfaces that are to be admired. Being the anal machinist I am, I am well pleased with the outcome.

Harold

[spro]

Looks like a neat jig to me. Similar to a jointer which would have a similar angled fence over the cutter head. The depth of cut controlled by adjusting the bed down. Not as precise, of course.

[Carm]

You did alright Harold, considering you're a machinist and not a woodworker.
Wood workers often need to attain tolerance that a machinist may consider a day to day task. The wood worker does not (or traditionally anyway) have graduated feed screws or the other de rigueur machinist aids.
You might consider whether alterations made to antiques from a modern perspective affect their value...I do lutherie work, and using a modern glue or material, even though possibly an improvement, can seriously affect value of an instrument.
Well fitting, and seasonally well working drawers are as involved a topic as the fitting of a machine tool for geometric truth both in design and execution, and hygroscopic wood movement is more involved than a metal's thermal expansion.

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

Even though you have a humidity controlled environment, How long
has the furniture in question been in it? I can remember reading in
"Fine Woodworking" that there are people that bring their stock into
the environment the finished furniture will be "living in" from 6 months
to two years to make sure all the dimensional changes have taken
place before they cut it. This is to let you know that even though your
place has the humidity controlled, the furniture you bring in can take a
long time to "acclimate" to the environment.

Just food for thought.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

[wlw-19958]

Hi There,

The wood worker does not (or traditionally anyway) have graduated feed screws or the other de rigueur machinist aids.

I would like to take one of the saws used to cut Linotype and
make it into a super accurate table saw.

Good Luck!
-Blue Chips-
Webb

[SteveHGraham]

Metalworking tools are excellent for wood. Your solution looks great.

If you don't have a table saw for thicknessing small stuff, you can do it by putting a sanding drum on a drill press and mounting a vertical fence close to the drum. You push the wood through the crack between the drum and the fence, with the drum pushing back at you so it doesn't try to snatch the wood. It's a mini drum sander. You want to start out with something pretty close to your final thickness, so you don't have to run it through a hundred times.

Of course, you have to have a drill press you can trust with a little sideways pressure. Mine is made for for it.

An oscillating drum sander is even better.

Band saws are used for making veneer and other thin bits, but you have to get rid of the saw marks, and I'll bet your band saw isn't ideal for wood.

[Harold_V]

You did alright Harold, considering you're a machinist and not a woodworker.[/quaoate]
Thanks. Frankly, that I am not a wood worker has been a real challenge, as I am not the least bit familiar with any of the accepted procedures. I struggle in some cases, but I get it done.

You might consider whether alterations made to antiques from a modern perspective affect their value...I do lutherie work, and using a modern glue or material, even though possibly an improvement, can seriously affect value of an instrument.

My wife and I addressed this some time ago. She is an art glass collector, and is well in tune with values, although not necessarily furniture.

Our attitude towards the numerous pieces I've "restored" is that we are not concerned with what may have been done to potential value. We wanted each piece to be serviceable, so that has been our goal. All had need of some kind of help, so we chose this direction. I have made some major alterations in some pieces, but they have resulted in very functional furniture (the use of Phillips head screws, for example). We're pleased with the outcome, and, considering we have no children, we are not concerned with the value of what we have. When we're gone, it's someone else's problem.

I might add, to our knowledge, none of the pieces concerned have exceptional value. We have a wide variety of things, two hall benches, a side board, two beds, two dressers, a wonderful bookcase and a china cabinet. All will have received a rebuild, assuming I live long enough. I'm down to the last three pieces, all of which are in some state of progress except for the mirror assembly for one dresser. It will be last.

Thanks for your concern, and your supportive comments.

Harold