Sellers Home Coaster Set: Episode 2
Posted 17 November 2021
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In this episode, we create the coaster holder using the same lamination block we used for the actual coasters to tie the two design elements together. The strategy once again is to create knifewalls to work to, to guarantee tight tolerances and good accuracy levels throughout. From cutting the decorative veneered laminations to shaping the cradle that registers the coasters uniformly when loaded, Paul walks you through the different steps to applying the final coats of shellac finish.
For those of us who can’t saw to the line as well as Paul, would knife walls help to keep the saw on track?
(And help to prevent tear-out at the same time?)
The knifewall won’t keep the saw on track, but it definitely does help the tear out. If you make a knife wall on both sides of the saw cut (depending on your saw and your skills, maybe a 1/8 inch (3-4mm) gap between the knife walls) will prevent the tearout and give you a line to plane down to. Just remember you’d be planing end grain after cutting the coasters so your plane will need to be very sharp and you’ll need to plan in from the outside or the edges may break off.
You might want to set up a simple jig using scrap wood. prepare a piece of scrap maybe 16 inches long and however thick the coasters are. Cut it into 4 equal pieces. Glue (don’t nail) the 4 pieces to a flat board or plywood so that a freshly cut coaster can sit inside the 4 pieces and it will be held for planing. Then plane down the coaster to the height of those 4 pieces of wood. Just make sure the 4 pieces are the thickness of the coaster you want. That way you can get a consistent thickness on the coaster.
Hi Paul, That’s a really neat trick with the nails. Thank you for that.