The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING

VENEERED MOULDINGS

Where veneered mouldings have to be veneered and a vacuum-bag press is not available, the traditional sandbag method can be employed. The bag should be made up out of twill or coarse linen sturdy enough to withstand pressure but supple enough to follow the curves, and filled with fine dry silver sand which has been thoroughly sieved or screened. If hide glue is used the bag must be warmed throughout to the melting temperature of the glue, or used cold for synthetic glues, carefully positioned with a generous overhang and packed down. If there is sufficient volume of sand the weight alone may be adequate, although resin glues may require a flat board laid along the length and cramped/clamped in position (307:24). Hide glue is very suitable for veneered flutings which are stopped at each end, as the heat and moisture will soften the veneer sufficiently to follow the compound curves. If a moulding to be veneered has sharp corners or arrises then a composite assembly should be adopted, and 307:25A, B. C show the stages.

CHAMFERS

Chamfers must be scrupulously laid out and cleanly worked if they are to be effective. They should be gauged in pencil, allowing for an equal amount of wood to be removed from both sides of the corner, worked with bullnose rabbet-plane, chamfer or flat-faced Spoke - shave, scraper, flat file, etc. and checked in the length with a metal straight-edge. The ends are usually stopped and various forms are illustrated in 308:1-5, while 308:6 shows a simply constructed hardwood template which will give a constant angle to the slope of the stops. An old-type wooden chamfer-plane is shown in 308:7 which can be made up out of a

309 Working moulded section

beech block about 5 in (127 mm) long and 1 in (25 mm) thick, or a standard wood rabbet plane can be converted. A square edged iron is used which is set to project to the depth of the chamfer, and the strokes must be gentle or the iron will tend to dig in. This type of plane can only work in the middle of the length of a stopped chamfer, but is useful for establishing the cut which can then be extended to the stops with a bullnose rabbet-plane.