Shaping box sides and running molding

I have had some questions about how I shape the box sides for the kits for the Charles Neil box.
http://intheworkshop.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/my-boxes-finished/

I start with rough sawn 5/4 curly maple.

I cut this into 24" long pieces and run 1 face over my old jointer to get a somewhat flat face.. I then take it and plane to 1 and 3/16" thick. I then joint 1 edge square. Take to the table saw and rip to rough width. I then joint 1 edge again. The rip to final width, in this case 4 and 3/4" wide.
Now the fun part starts. Can you feel the grain in a fresh planed board and tell what direction it goes? I have to, no choice. I first mark to top face of the board in chalk. I then look at and feel the edges to see which way the grain runs. With figured wood , its like cat fur. Its not easy, but you best figure it out. When I run this through the molder, I can't lose it with chips being ripped out and grain torn. Makes expensive charcoal. [That's another story for another time. Yes I do make charcoal out of scrap wood] It not a perfect method, but it helps if I can tell which way the grain runs , so I can see where the piece will feed the best through the molder. I mark an arrow showing me the way I want it to run. Then I have to figure out which way the molding will go through the molder. It all takes time.

Once that is all done and marked on the board, I lay out the molding on the end of a piece, so I can cut rabbets down the piece to make it easier to run the piece through the molder without taking so much meat out in 2 cuts. Yes this molding is done in 2 cuts in figured wood with a 1984 Williams and Hussey molder. Pretty darn good machine.
Here is what the rabbets look like in the boards.

Next , you set up the molder and check your depth of cut. You need 3/8" on either side of the molding for the feed rollers to grab on to. You can see the heartwood in some of the pieces above. I can still get good stock out of all that, as long as the heartwood does not show up in the front side. It does not bother me if there is heartwood in the inside of the box. Plus the figure deeper in the log is always better.

 Next I start running the pieces through. Here is the first pass. I need to get a dust hood for this machine. It is blowing out lots of shavings and pieces. If you stand in the way , its like getting peppered with buckshot.

After everything is run through once, you make 1 turn of the handle and do the second pass.

Once they are done with the second pass , comes quality control. You look at each piece and cull out any with chips, torn grain or dark heartwood on the show face. I have a pile of stock that I have set off to the side. I can still cut side pieces from it, it just will not be all from 1 board. Some will just be burned. I want to give some away to the local high school for kids to try and make some boxes. They don't have to be the same size of box. But at least the kids can make some use out of it.

 This is what they look like after the first pass.

 Here they are after the second pass. This run turned out real nice. I am sending out about another 8 kits today. Let me know if any of you still want some sides or kits. Other wise I will tear the machine down and change over to something else. I can always make up more, but it will not be the fast turnaround as right now. Thanks for reading. Hope this is interesting.

Pretty nice looking grain.

The stepback is complete

Looks pretty, doesn't it? 57" wide and 77" tall. All tiger maple, including the drawer sides and all the secondary wood. I really like how this turned out. Both size wise and color. I really like the light golden brown walnut dye on the tiger maple.

It has the lift up lid on top for added secret space. It is a very nice feature. Just make sure to allow space for expansion. I added about a 1/16" on either side and about 3/32" on the front. Everyone that sees it really loves it. I hope to get it shipped out soon. Have a couple other projects to get started. I also am wanting to start some more slab tables.

Getting the top section up on the bottom and getting pictures is always hard. God bless my wife. Could not do this without her help. She helped me get the top on and take pictures. Then take it back off. She is a trooper. I am blessed in many ways. She is the biggest blessing to me.
Got the secret drawers in place and all set to go. I hope you enjoyed the photos. I have more, but nothing much different then what is here. If you have questions, let me know.

A day for dyeing....

Today was the day I dyed the lower case of the tiger maple stepback cupboard I am working on. Got all the grain raising and sanding out of the way. Got the coat of oil on and then the 1st coat of sealer. It is looking really nice. This is some incredible tiger maple I am using.

Tomorrow will be sanding and cleaning and starting with the finish coats. The weather has been just wonderful. It was almost 80 today with low humidity. Sounds like this might last for almost another week. Sure makes time in the shop go fast with the doors open and the sun shining.

Thanks for looking in. Hope to have some stories of some of the folks I deal with coming . They are pretty interesting people, at least to me. Hope you all have a great week!

First time jitters

Well, here it is. Having never been known as a blogger, writer,talker, I am taking the first steps. I am a custom furniture maker. I love what I do and have a great wife who supports what I do. Can't ask for any more then that. I am a blessed man.

I wanted to start this out by some simple explaining about what it is I do. How I build and find the right material. The stories about folks I meet and what I see. Its not a story many might find interesting, but I just thought I could share some.

The title of this blog is kind of what I do in my business. I buy and sell figured wood and build custom furniture. The wood finding is one of the fun thing I get to do. My wife goes along at times while I search out small mills and the interesting folks who run them. I hope to share some stories with you about that process. I know that I find the sawmill folks some of the most kind and honest folks I deal with. It goes the same with loggers. Honest, down to earth kind folks. I will share more of these folks with you as time goes on.

Its a beautiful October morning as I write this. It was a big weekend for Wisconsin sports. Packers Badgers and Brewers all won. Life is good on the farm. Hope you all have a wonderful day and I will write more later. bob