October 6, 2002

To: Dick Morano

From: Dan Smullen

Subject: RWS Furniture SIG Minutes from 10/3 Meeting at WoodCraft

Attendees: We had 40 people for this meeting, including 7 new people. Wayne Shipman, James Canning, Doug Hague, Dick Klein, Tom Fess, Steve Bryant and Vince Bosso. Welcome, everyone!

Next meeting: On November 7^th we meet at woodcraft, with a representative from System 3 Epoxy providing the program for us.

RWS news: The first monthly meeting went well at the U of R site. Some fine tuning of lighting in the pre-show meeting area and access improvements to it still need to be worked out.

Other items

• Wayne Shipman had a question about making and refining a shaker candlestand leg. He got several ideas for smoothing and rounding over the edges from the crowd.
• James Canning was interested in how to develop a deeper mortise in a large oak workpiece. Again, suggestions from the group were seen as good approaches for him as he proceeds.
• Craig Smith brought a handy little fluorescent light he got from K-Mart for about $15 which is cool operating and provides a easily maneuverable worklight. It was a Sunbeam M³ – he also had a small pencil sized light with a white LED that was impressively bright for inspecting inside of very small confines. It too was about $15 when Craig bought a case of them – he sold a few to some of us at the meeting.

Program

Tom Pedlow, with a few comments from John O’Brien, demonstrated a step by step process to make shaker boxes. Tom handed out a list of tools and supplies needed to make these boxes which were made to hold all sorts of essentials used by the shakers from ca. 1795 to 1895. They were often used for kitchen storage like we use various canisters now, but of course were all hand made.

There is a website which has every detail about making your own boxes, with references of all sorts. I will highlight a few points that Tom made, some of which are things he learned along the way that mistake-proof the process or just make it easier. The website to check out is www.brendlers.net/oldtools/ShakerBoxes/ . It can be printed and used for the details you need.

Tom’s Notes

• Bands are about 1/16” thick or slightly more for larger boxes
• Quarter sawn pine tops and bottoms will expand and contract much less than flat sawn wood
• Plywood also OK for tops and bottoms; Tom often uses luan plywood with veneer added to both sides and clamped up
• Woodcraft has convenient kits to get started making the boxes, including the Cu tacks used
• Be very careful of water tray contamination from the tray itself. You will be “cooking” the bands for 10 minutes in water, and metal from a poor tray can stain the bands. John Wilson sells a starter kit which includes a good tray for this. His contact info is on the website above.
• You will need some sort of simple round anvil to use during the tacking operation.
• Stoppers used to “plug” the top and bottom of the box band need top be cut at 10^o and holes for air need to be added to both stoppers.
• Pick the straightest grain boards you can find to promote easier bandmaking.
• It’s best to mark grain direction to avoid mistakes during the cutting process
• Do not use kiln dried wood that has seen high drying temps of 170^o – 180^o. It will perform miserably during the bending, if it doesn’t break right away.
• “Green” wood, about a month old is OK to use for bands
• When “feathering” the edges of the fingers, start the cuts at 45^o and end about 80^o. A simple utility knife works fine for this.
• Tom uses 120 grit sandpaper for his boxes
• Taper the last 1 ½” of the fingers to a paper thin edge at the very end
• To make the boxes more attractive, use fancier woods for the tops. Veneers or glued up specials or just a nice piece of figured wood will add some zing to it.
• When making tops with luan and veneers, try to wind up with ¼” as a final thickness for most sizes; up to 3/8” for very large boxes
• Be careful top place top ring upside down on the top board to mark it for size – in other words, the side of the top ring which is up when on the box must be in contact with the top board.
• Cut tops and bottoms with a 3^o taper, leaving about 1/32” to sand off to the line
• If you think you need to glue the tops/bottoms, [the shakers did not], only put a little glue in the center area of the flat ellipse
• For pinning the tops/bottoms, drill 5/64” holes in about 5/8” and use round toothpicks sawed in half to drive in the holes. It’s easier if you make a simple jig to line up the drill with the centerline of the top and bottom.
• Finishing is up to you, but never oil the inside – it will smell forever. A satin polyurethane over a gloss polyurethane will hide less of the wood grain – shellac, of course, is a good way to go also, and can be used inside and out.

John O’brien showed us some boxes he made using a kit from John Wilson and some homemade jigs as well. He also had a box with a folding handle which is a variation often seen.

Happy woodworking,

Dan