ESTIMATING THE COST OF MAN-HOURS IN HANDWORK
Where no previous records are available the proprietor must assess his own capabilities and those of his employees. Common joinery items are usually in softwood of fairly large dimensions, with …
Costs of man-hours
The total cost of man-hours at the rates paid, plus overtime rates where applicable, plus health insurance, pensions, paid holidays, etc. have to be considered. Here again these may be …
Appendix: Costing and estimating
Costing is the pricing of completed work taking into account not only all the direct expenses— materials, wages and insurances, fuel and power, machining costs, workshop expenses, etc.—but also a …
WOOD STAINS
These rightly require a complete textbook devoted to their manipulation, and therefore only general observations are possible here. Of the three categories, water, spirit/alcohol and oil, the water stains are …
Dulling methods
Contemporary finishes usually call for an eggshell, matt or semi-matt surface in preference to a choked-grain full gloss. Most lacquers are available either as full gloss (burnishing lacquers), matt or …
Synthetic lacquers
These include cold acid catalyst, polyurethane and polyester lacquers, all of which have greatly increased heat, water and spirit resistance, tough films and high gloss, particularly the latter which is …
French polish
This is a specialist craft and should not be attempted without proper training, for the whole secret lies in the minimum and not the maximum amount of polish applied for …
Wood finishing
The craft of staining, matching, hand and spray finishing is highly specialized and forms a separate trade; the following notes are therefore for general guidance only, and the reader is …
Surface damage
Slight bruising of surfaces where the actual fibres are not fractured can often be lifted by the repeated application of a heated iron tip through a wet cloth, creating sufficient …
DRAWER REPAIRS
Wear is inevitable in all moving parts, and drawers and drawer runners may require extensive renovation, especially if the drawer sides and runners are of soft pine. Figure 542:2 shows …
WARPED TOPS
Badly warped tops can often be corrected by saw kerfing, provided the under surface is not visible in the fixed position. A series of parallel cuts are run in with …
Restoration, repairs and wood finishing. Structural repairs
The repair of modern everyday furniture usually calls for cutting out and replacing broken parts, fixing false tenons or dowels to fractured joints, strengthening joints with metal straps, insets or …
FURNITURE FOR OUTSIDE USE
536 A sturdy music stand/reading lectern of rippled sycamore. Designed and made by Rod Wales It is essential that the right materials are used for outside work, and this applies …
TEA TROLLEYS/WAGONS
о о Tea trolleys usually vary from about 28 in (71 cm) to 30 in (76 cm) high, 22 in (56 cm) to 27 in (68 cm) long and 14 …
Butler’s trays
This old form of carrying tray was usually made in two forms: a tall variety on X legs with a turned centre spindle connecting the legs, and the low stool …
Miscellaneous furniture
TEA TRAYS Tea trays A simple tray which illustrates the technique of preforming is illustrated in 525 to 528. This was originally designed some years ago, but is still in …
CLERGYMAN’S DESK
Figure 514 shows a clean, timeless example in solid English oak designed and made by Kenneth Marshall for Pauntley Church. Gloucestershire, England. 515 illustrates a similar design but uses solid …
ALTAR-TABLES
Altar-tables can take several forms. At their simplest they need be no more than a solid slab of prime wood resting on two rectangular columns of stone, brick or wood; …
Church furniture
GENERAL NOTE Fixed church work—pews, pulpits, stalls, chancel screens, etc.—is usually regarded as a form of highly specialized joinery-work, and as such beyond the scope of the average furniture - …
Foam padding
The original and familiar latex rubber foam was first developed by the Dunlop Rubber Company in the early 1930s, and completely revolutionized upholstery techniques, to be followed later by polyester …
UPHOLSTERY
This again is a specialist craft, for a good upholsterer capable of stuffover-work, shaped work and deep buttoning in a full range of materials including leather must be part tailor, …
STOOLS
Fi gure 486:1, 2, 3 shows a low fireside - or dressing-stool, with foam upholstery on a plywood base pocket screwed to the framework which can be tenoned or dowelled …
Easy or lounge chairs
Figure 482:1 shows a lounge chair of knockdown construction, using tenoned or dowelled side frames and separate back frame and front apron rail connected with suitable slot-headed screws engaging in …
Simple dining-chair
The illustrations in 468 show the construction of this type of chair. Figure 468:1 is the side elevation; 468:2 the seat plan; 468:3 the angle of the rail joints taken …
Chair construction
Traditional chairs were normally framed together with mortise and tenon joints, for dowel-pegs had to be hand-shaped and boring - bits were primitive. Modern chairs rely more on dowelling techniques, …
Seating and upholstery
CHAIRS General note Chairs of compound curvature and subtle shaping require the application of special skills. and in many richly ornamented traditional examples the designer prepared his sketches, leaving it …
Divan headboards
As the divan base is equipped with its own stump legs a headboard only is necessary (462:6), either screwed direct to the box frame of the divan or anchored with …
Bedsteads
A typical sprung-base support bedstead with detachable bedhead and foot is shown in 462:1. Figure 462:2 shows a corner of the framework mitred and tenoned, and with glued-in plywood panel. …
Bed sizes
Ideally, single beds should be as wide as the outstretched elbows of the sleeper and certainly not less than 2 ft 6 in (76 cm) wide, with 3 ft (91 …
Serpentine-fronted tallboy
This tallboy (459) was primarily designed as a contemporary interpretation of a traditional form and has been on permanent exhibition since first made in 1951. Figure 460:1 shows the elevation …
CHESTS OF DRAWERS
Chests can be 2 ft (61 cm) to 3 ft 9 in (114 cm) wide and up to 4 ft 6 in (137 cm) high with a fairly standard depth …
Shaped mirrors
Figure 451:1, 2 shows a wall mirror with shaped head. The frame can be band-sawn out of solid stock, jointed together as in old examples, but a better method is …
MIRRORS
Mirrors are usually 1/4 in (6 mm) first-quality polished plate glass silvered and protected. Frameless mirrors should have all edges ground and polished, but framed mirrors need only ground edges. …
DRESSING-TABLES
Dressing-tables vary from around 27 in (68.5 cm) to 29 in (73.5 cm) high exclusive of mirror, or around 48 in (122 cm) high including mirror, with carcass lengths from …
Bedroom furniture
Increasingly, clothes storage is being catered for either by permanent built-in units installed by the builder, or by KD linking wall units that arrive in flat boxes ready for DIY …
