Federal card table questions.
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I will be starting the project with in the next month. Since <!—-> <!—-><!—->Dover<!—-> <!—-> inlay is out of business has any one found another source for all the inlays? Also dose any one have any tips on making the wood hinges? Thanks.
Replies
You can make the inlays yourself. Search for the back articles by Steve. He has one on ripping thin boards safely, (as in 1/32"). He also has another article on making the paterae.
You could buy the paterae from someone who makes them. I don't know of any commercial places but I do know individuals who make them. If you would like a list send me an email and I'll give you a few names (I don't like to post contact info online).
-Tim
Edited 1/9/2009 3:39 pm ET by Talma
A few years back I needed banding and string inlay. I stumbled upon Armstrong Inlay http://www.armstronginlay.com/index.htm in Ontario, and was very pleased with their quality. FWIW, I believe their product is equal to, or better than any other commercially available inlays out there that I've seen.
http://www.constantines.com
They don't have as much as they used to have. Maybe they'll have what you need.
They sell eighth inch thick 'veneer' too. You might be able to do something interesting with that if you planed it a touch thinner.
Edited 1/9/2009 4:51 pm ET by TaunTonMacoute
Wood,
Others have given sources for purchasing inlay, and making paterae. There's an article in FWW #59 on making simple bandings by a goof named Pine, if you want to say, "I did it all myself".
The wooden hinges-- I guess you are referring to the one for the swing or fly apron. The best examples have five knuckles, three on the fixed half of the hinge, and two on the swinging half. I get both pieces out of the same board so the grain matches across the hinge. Full 1" thickness is best for strength, and many are 5" wide, so the knuckles are as broad as they are long, 1" x 1".
Layout:
Begin by laying out a 1" dia. circle on both edges of the two halves, tangent to both faces of the stock, and flush (tangent) with the ends. Draw (scribe with a knife) an "X" diagonally thru the center of the circles. The circle and the X will intersect, back about 3/4" from the end of the apron. Scribe a line square across the top of the apron at the point where the circle and the X intersect (the three lines intersect here now). Then square this line down across the faces of each piece. In addition, in pencil, square a line across the center of the circle (will be 1/2" back from the end), and down the outside faces.
Cutout:
The ends of the aprons get rounded over to the line described by the outside halves of the circles. (It is only necessary to round over the outside face's end, on the fixed apron half, both faces of the fly rail (apron) get rounded off. If you have a router or shaper, and a quarter round bit that is the correct size, you can use it here, or carve it round with carving gouges, using them "inside out". Then saw the knuckles out, beginning with the fixed rail (3 knuckles). Cut two notches, square ended, ending at the scribed line that is 3/4" or so back. (You will need to carve or excavate, by hand, the remainder of the depth of these recesses, curving back to match the profile of the circular ends of the knuckles that will go here.)
Lay the just cut apron in place over its mate, and with a knife, scribe the location of the knuckles that will fill the two notches you just cut. This is similar to cutting dovetails--you will achieve a better fit if you scribe one half off the other, rather than cutting both halves to a measurement. Cut three notches out in this piece, just as you cut the first two. Carve the recesses into this piece, and try the two halves for fit. You'll probably need to adjust something, depth of the recesses, pare one or another of the surfaces where the knuckles mate, to achieve a fit. You are there when the pencilled lines that are squared from the centers of the two circles align down the faces.
Clamp the assembled hinge halves to another board (I use the sub-apron that will be behind the hinge in the completed table), and drill thru the center of the joint for the hinge-pin. Drill press is best for this, and a 1/4" bit. Drill halfway thru from both edges toward the center. Drive a 1/4 pin (dowel or steel, your choice) thru the joint, after waxing the mating surfaces of the knuckles, and the pin. Try the hinge for smooth operation.
You will see that the hinge won't open all the way. It binds before opening to 90 degrees. That is where the X lines come into play. You need to carve two vee shaped grooves across the outside face of the hinge, at the backs of the knuckles. One leg of the vee is described by the portion of the X you scribed, and the other leg of the vee is curved- the quadrant of the circle you drew that intersects with the X. This continues the rounding-over of the ends of the aprons, and removing this wood gives allowance for the hinge to open fully. All done!
Ray
What kind of inlays are you wanting to use? I may be able to describe how to make them if you have a photo of the inlays.
Rob Millard
http://www.americanfederalperiod.com
I built the fed card table last year. Dover supplied the inlay, but I found it to be too thin and did'nt look like the "cover table" on FW mag. If I were to make another, I'd make my own. By the way, you can't bend the straight runs of inlay. You have to pre-bend laminations for the leg-arches, so make your own. Be uncomfortable, I was for the whole table. Never made wood hinges either, make a sample hinge first, using gouges, then the real thing. Be tedious man, you'll learn plenty.
Hello Wood1000! They are now called Dover Designs LLC, Phone # is 301-733-0909
Fax # is 301-733-0063
E-mail address is http://www.doverdesignsllc.com
Hope this helps
Jack
Thank you !!!!
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