Stand Glue-up

The main focal point of this project is the stand, the part where the music sits.  It is also the largest surface, and I chose the most interesting boards for it.  First I joint the edges, and then glue them together.

Done properly this kind of joint is stronger than the wood itself.



After the glue is cured, I planed the face to clean up mill marks and to flatten it.

Planing reveals some gum pockets:

More on Steamed Walnut

A sample of how un-steamed walnut looks vs. steamed, left to right respectively:

Planing

After the rough milling, the final step to prepare the wood for joinery is planing all six surfaces.  This involves making sure all the edges are square and straight, while at the same time the boards must be planed to the exact width and length needed.  Although the boards have already been milled, stress from the drying process causes them to warp, so by the time I use them, they are not flat anymore.  To do this I start with my jointer plane, the longest plane I own.  The length allows me to flatten the boards, as the bottom rides across the valleys much like how a large ship is better in rough water than a shorter boat.  With all the faces squared up, I move on to my smooth plane, which I use to smooth all the surfaces, and make sure they are tear-out free.  This is a long process, even with this size of a project.  If I was woodworking professionally, I would have to buy an electric planer and jointer which would serve the same purpose, but would allow me to work much faster.  Although hand planing is the traditional method, it is very inefficient, and time is money.

 This board is bowed:

IC Journal "Comfort Zone"

I class we listened to an essay about stepping outside your comfort zone in order to expand your horizons.  I agree with this attitude, and after hearing this I immediately thought of my experiences running.  When I was racing I always tried to push my comfort zone, so I wouldn't settle in to a slower pace.  For my project I need to try to push out side my comfort zone, which is when I work at a slower, more comfortable pace.  This will allow me to not only get lots of work done, but it will also allow me to learn how to work quickly and more efficiently.

Steamed Walnut

The walnut I am working with is steamed walnut, which means that it has been steamed to darken the sapwood to make it the same color as the heartwood. This is because the sapwood is considered a defect so after the steaming the entire board is considered a defect-less piece (unless there are knots or other conventional defects), and the board can be sold at a higher rate. The cost of this is considerable however, as the heartwood that before had many complex colors and variations is turned a gray-brown color. For this reason most furniture makers prefer unsteamed walnut. While I was aware of the costs and benefits of steamed walnut I didn't know much more than that. After doing a little searching I found a site that offers advice on how steamed walnut's color can be invigorated. While I will probably will not do everything they suggest, I do plan on doing some expirementation on how to get the best color out of the wood I am using. I also learned that walnut naturally lightens with age as opposed to other woods that naturally darken with age, including cherry (my primary project for this project).

Put the life back in steamed walnut

Milling

With all the mapping done I spent my time doing some rough milling, where I break down the boards into widths about 1/4" oversize, and a couple of inches too long.  This gives me space so when I flatten the edges I do not make the board too narrow.  I do the ripping (cutting parallel to the grain) with my band saw, and the crosscutting with a handsaw.  The next step is to flatten the edges and the faces by hand, and cut them to final width.

Planning

I have completed the mapping out of how I will cut up the boards to ensure the most attractive grain will be showcased.  In every project there is one surface that is the focal point of the design.  For the music stand the main focus is the area where the music will be put, a roughly 22" by 13" surface.  Because 13" wide cherry is difficult to find and also very expensive, I will glue up two boards to get the width.  When gluing up two boards like this is is essential that the grain matches well, and that the grain is going in the same direction.  I have marked the direction with chalk "v's".

I chose the most interesting part of the board, which has lots of interesting grain and color.  

Mapping out the walnut is very easy: