 | ||||||
Custom Fine Furniture by Alan Young
| ||||||
Working out of Order
Mr. Darcy's Writing Desk page 5
I am doing some retrofitting on the legs. I had planned this operation before the gilding and staining process but plain ol' forgot to do it!
As I mentioned earlier, the legs are removable-I epoxied a 1/2-13 threaded rod into the upper end. The rod mates with a threaded insert that is in turn epoxied into the corresponding case location. I want to "pin" both the rod and the insert in each leg location because at some point the epoxy might fail and I don't want the rod or insert to turn.
| ||||||
Woodward Woodworks
The brass pin is shorter by about 1/4" on each side. I'll plug the hole with a wood dowel. With the dowels end grain absorbing so much finish, the plug should virually dissapear.
I drilled a 1/4" hole all the way though the leg. This hole runs through the 1/2-13 rod also, allowing a brass pin to mechanicaly secure the rod from turning if the epoxy fails.
Now to the case sections..
The pin sets just far enough below the surface to allow a plug but no so far as to loose a mechanical lock against the wood.
I drilled two holes in the front legs. I don't know what I was thinking but I drilled the first hole too close to the opening. It would have only left about a 1/2" of theading contact for the rod. I re-drilled as far up as I thought workable and drove in the brass pin.
Here is one of the rear leg inserts. A pretty fuzzy photo, but I think you can see the brass pin- It runs through both walls of the insert and about another 1/4" into the surrounding wood.
Now I have two holes to plug and not much room to cut of the excess in a clean fashion, So I fashioned a small plate with a full profile.
I may gild this small section after I glue and trim it off.
A small little gothic arch---or maybe a flame atop the legs?
