Yah, I’m living in Vietnam at the moment. I don’t want to buy a router and the only chisels I’ve found so far are supplied as steel slightly irregular blanks. there’s only so many hours you can spend with an oil stone before accepting they’ll never come good.
(It might be my technique is off – local carpenters seem to use them fine, but I hanker for my german steel in storage)
So. Am building a flip top desk. It’s to let me make a mess with my other hobbies, close the lid and have a nice tidy desk again. Keeps everyone happy.
bottom of desk will be plywood while the lid will be wood sheet (lots of little pieces jointed and glued together. It’s widely used over here but I don’t know the english name).
Rest will be cut from pine planks.
Jointing the legs I think I can do with through cuts and dowels. They’re two three leg trestles so I’m not anticipating much heart ache there.
I am worried about the lid. The wood sheet isn’t very strong across the grain, and the lid is liable to be subject to bending and possibly torsion if I lift it carelessly. I think as time go on it’ll ‘creep’ out of true too, let alone the seasonal moisture variation. A breadboard would actually help here, but I don’t have a router. Any clever ways to mount one you can think of?
‘design features’ are accpetable 😉
Replies
creative tool use
I could easily see doing this without a router - if you have hand tools that will accomplish the same task, just more slowly (e.g. a decent back saw and a rabbet plane for the breadboard tenons). Doing without chisels, however, is tough, even if only mediocre in quality. You might, for example, consider making the breadboard itself in two sections, split along the horizontal center. Once the mortices are formed with saw, plane and chisel, glue the sections together.
Sounds like a great opportunity to learn some new techniques from the locals.
Jim
seasonal moisture in Viet Nam
Seasonal Changes !!!! I almost fell off the chair. Spent a tour there and it was hot or hotter and wet or wetter. It's surprising that lumber and furniture don't try to sprout new roots and grow back into trees.
Lid Breadboard Ends
If its a lift-up lid, how about two simple cross cleats underneath instead of the breadboard ends? Crude, yes. But would not be seen anyway when lid closed?
Handle the cross-grain situation in a usual way, glue maybe only one end or middle, depending on where you want the wood to move. Then screws/elongated holes.
Good Luck!
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