76 – Lessons Learned from Past Projects

Video - December 19, 2008

It’s time to serve up a big slice of humble pie! Ever wish you could fast forward 5 years and see how your projects are holding up? That would certainly be useful information as it would let you know what worked, and what didn’t. So in this episode, I pull out a number of old projects and examine them closely for damage, flaws and evidence of wood movement. I’ll also go over the joinery used in each project and what you can expect from them over time. And the grand finale is my chess board (the second project I ever made). Let’s just say that you should never underestimate the power of wood movement. Incidentally, if you answered our viewer survey this past summer, you’ve already seen this episode.

Discussion

Kevin December 19, 2008 6:24 am

Marc have you ever thought about making a video of creating a chess/checker board? I think it would be interesting and I would like to see what kind of design you come up with for a chess/checker board. Besides, you could use it to replace this one.

Reply
Kevin McGrath December 19, 2008 7:01 am

Thanks for sharing those great lessons. As someone with an anal personality, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who has encountered problems with joints separating over time. We are our worst critics.

Merry Christmas.

– Kevin

Reply
Victor December 19, 2008 8:58 am

My first attempt to create a cutting board based on your rendition with purple heart end grain was a disaster. Only because i ignored the framing rule. I framed the unit in walnut. It was so beautiful, in the beginning. But after a few months some serious cracks developed where I had to completely redo the board. Cutting out the cracked rows and adding some straight wood linear grain, and re-glue. I am still worried about the board but have delivered a lifetime guarantee for repairs as needed. The board looks so beautiful framed that I tried again to get away with it. I left the portion of the internal end grain board that did not crack intact and framed it. Widening it with some linear grain walnut and lucust hoping the movement would be less severe in the remaining pieces. So far so good. They have not sent back the piece for any repairs.

As alway I continue to learn a lot about fundamental and advanced woodworking from you. Happy Holidays to you and The lovely Nicole.

Victor

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Jack December 19, 2008 9:38 am

Thanks for doing that episode Marc, I think it speaks well to people just starting out. One interesting thing about the glue line in the sculpted leg. I made a small computer desk that had long sleek tapers and ran into that problem as well. Since then, I read an article about doing a lamination and tapering each individual ply to avoid the unsightly glue line. Looking back, do you think you could have done something like that to deal with it even thought it was more of a sculpted leg instead of a taper? Just curious about what your thoughts were.

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tim December 19, 2008 9:56 am

Am I the only one having trouble viewing the videos? Each video I click on comes up titled the “gadget station” then goes to the episode of the “buying wood out of state” hmmmm I tried it on Firefox and explorer

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer December 19, 2008 10:03 am
  
  Wow Tim. I never heard of anything like that. Normally, I would say its an issue with Blip.tv not linking up the right videos. But everything seems to be working fine on my end. Anyone else having a similar issue?
  
  Reply
  - Matt December 19, 2008 1:01 pm
    
    Tim, check with your ISP. It could be a routing issue. They may be able to track where your requests going awry.
    
    Reply
  - Conrad December 19, 2008 1:07 pm
    
    Hey Marc, quick question. I would love to learn how to do some good marquetry like your Asian inspried table. Any chance of you doing a comprehensive video on that subject?
    
    Thanks
    
    Conrad
    
    Reply
tom December 19, 2008 2:47 pm

What glue did you use on the table and the checker board?

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Larry Marshall December 19, 2008 3:25 pm

Great episode, Marc. I loved the laid back ambience and the outtakes at the end.

Cheers — Larry

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Claude Stewart December 19, 2008 3:30 pm

I don’t see a flash option on my browser. Firefox 3

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Claude Stewart December 19, 2008 3:31 pm

Oops! I do after a refresh.

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Handi December 21, 2008 10:53 am

Marc,

Love the Bloopers, those were Great! I wanna See more, That reminds me of Jackie Chan movies where he puts his own Stunts and all at the end of the Credits of all of his movies and all.

Keep it up!

Handi

Reply
arjan December 23, 2008 12:49 pm

Hi Marc, interesting stuff. You said you can make those cove moldings on the checkerboard box on the table saw. I don’t know that technique. Did you by any chance explain it in a video or do you know where that is described on the internet. I Searched several times on your site and many others but no luck.

merry christmas
arjan, the Netherlands.

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer December 23, 2008 12:51 pm
  
  Here’s a Rockler article that covers the technique:
  http://www.rockler.com/article.....okietest=1
  
  Reply
  - arjan December 28, 2008 12:07 pm
    
    Thank you, that’s all new to me and exciting!
    
    Reply
Rob Cottle September 21, 2009 9:51 am

So have you tried to make another chess (checker) board with better success? Being new to wood working I never relized that wood changes so much over time. Thanks to another one of your great videos I know that. I’m also sure that I will learn from my own mistakes(prototypes).

Reply
Tom Moores October 31, 2009 7:47 am

I made some shelves from 1″ poplar for a custom cabinet job. I glued them up and took the clamps off after about 30 min to an hour which is what was recommended on the label of the glue. The shelves were then scraped and run through the drum sander and taken to the job site and given to the painters. The next day all of joint lines showed up after the primer was applied. They all had to be re sanded. I think the glued swelled up the wood at the joint which was then sanded off. After it dried thoroughly the wood shrunk back down. The lesson learned would be to allow more time after the glue sets up before sanding.

Is there any way you could disassemble the checker board top and fix it?

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer October 31, 2009 8:13 am
  
  Yeah that’s a painful lesson to learn Tom. As for the checkerboard, probably not worth the effort. Would be easier to just make a new one that won’t crack over time….
  
  Reply
darren from uk April 5, 2010 10:16 am

hi marc,
im an avid fan now, i found your gadget station on youtube and looked up your website, i am now half way through your catalogue of videos and think your logistical approach and especially the way you can thorourghly describe the entire process of design and method of joinery inspiring!

thank you.

Reply
Buxton September 9, 2010 7:19 am

As a total newbie I have no reference pieces to look at in terms of joinery 5-10 years down the line.
Thank you so much for swallowing your pride and showing me what the affects of age can do to a piece that costs plenty of time and money to make.

Reply
Dustin Munchel September 13, 2010 7:59 pm

Well I stand corrected. You did exactly as I suggested on YouTube. I just didn’t know it exsisted. However, with the chess/checker board, other than not framing it what else would you do differently? I saw one example of someone using thin strips (maybe 1/4 or 1/8 in) of different wood (walnut and maple) on top of either MDF or plywood. How much would that prevent those problems?

Thanks again and an excellent video!

Dustin Munchel

Reply
- thewoodwhisperer September 13, 2010 8:10 pm
  
  Hey Dustin. Making the top without a frame would certainly go a long way in making the top more stable. As long as it can expand and contract, everything should be ok.
  
  If you want something that’s even more stable, that’s when you go with something like an MDF or ply core and thin veneer outer skins. That would be completely stable over time and you actually could surround it by a frame if you wanted to.
  
  Reply
  - Dustin Munchel September 13, 2010 8:31 pm
    
    Do you feel 1/4″ is thin enough if glued to a ply or MDF and then framing it? Or is there still too much movement even with 1/4″? After checking, it was Steve Ramsey’s video I remember seeing. BTW, great interview :-). It’s funny because I subscribe to both of you and I get something very useful and great but different from both of you. But Steve has been getting stranger lately but in a good way. Notice I didn’t say strange.
    
    Thanks again!
    
    Reply
    - thewoodwhisperer September 14, 2010 7:09 am
      
      Personally, I wouldn’t go thicker than 1/8″. The thicker you go, the more likely the panel will move on you. So I usually cut the veneer to about 1/8″ and then drum sand down to about 3/32″. But for that particular application, you can probably get away with 1/8″.
      
      Glad you liked the interview too. That was a lot of fun!
MURRD0CK November 14, 2012 6:23 am

Marc, say it isn’t so…..you don’t know how to play chess!?!? With all of your “forethought” abilities I would have pinned you for a GrandMaster or something! *side note – I’m not very good at chess either* :-)
Anyways, bringing back the last comment from 2010, I also watch Steve Ramsey’s videos and I think he is a great woodworker, but his fingers get soooooo close to the blades that I cringe every time I watch. What do you think?
Also, a question about touching up previous projects……since I am in the military I move to a different place every three years. This means a new climate, new humidity levels, etc. So of course a piece I make in Texas will react differently once it is moved to New York or Hawaii. Should I take the time to re-sand and re-finish projects that have reacted to the climate change or should I just leave them alone since I will be moving to a new climate in three years anyways? Thanks for your help!

Reply
Kevin November 16, 2012 8:39 am

I really like the design of that table in the video. The legs are awesome! I went back and looked at some end tables I made and found hairline cracks in the miters. It’s all part of the learning process. I’m sure my environment had something to do with it.

Reply
david sanders August 9, 2014 7:56 pm

Hi, I have tried to create two chessboards out of solid wood now and have had trouble with both. I did biscuit joint on all sides on one and tongue and groove on another. The tongue and groove is holding good so far but couldn’t make the end grain tongue and grooves look “perfect” I would really like to know a great way to make these as I would like to sell them, but only want to deliver the best. I shouldn’t have to ask this question because I am a top rated chess player…but I’m pretty green when it comes to glue ups. I’m thinking table saw next time to cut everything and glue in a strip for each joint. I really want to avoid the veneers and try to market the solid wood concept!

Reply

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76 – Lessons Learned from Past Projects

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