Creative Woodworks & crafts 2003-04, страница 54

table saw, I set this angle by placing a stem side against the extension and adjusting the miter gauge angle until the stem bottom was flush with the saw blade (see Fig. 2). I then moved the miter gauge to the right-hand slot, shifted the stave to start the cut at a corner, and made the cut as shown in Fig. 3.

I then used a rabbeting bit on the router table to cut a 1 /4" tongue on the edge of each piece to fit the slots in the stem. Set the dado depth to just shy of 3/16" and make a pass on both sides of a scrap piece. Adjust the depth and repeat the cuts until a snug but unforced fit to the slots is obtained. When the tongues are cut, saw off the top 1" of the tongue flush with the shoulders and taper them with a block plane as necessary to allow the stave shoulders to fit the stem. Chamfer the tongue edges to make assembly easier.

Cut the contoured edges of a stave with a band saw; align the template with the shoulder of the tongue and mark the outline of the shape with a sharp pencil. After marking each stave, I cut the profiles to 1 /32" of the line and then used a sanding drum, mounted on the drill press, to sand to the line. When the profiles were finished, I rounded over the edges by hand using 150 grit sandpaper. Any temptation to use a round-over bit on the router table for this purpose should be suppressed as unsafe. The piece can easily be stripped from your hand and the cross-grain end of the stave shattered.

Making the Base and Cap

Cut the materials for the lamp base and cap to their final dimensions and mark the centers of all holes on the bottom of the base and the top of the cap at locations shown in Drawing Nos. 2 and 3. Drill the 7/8"-Dia. counter bore in the base using a Forstner bit and all remaining counterbores using the bradpoint bits. Use a 3/8"-Dia. Forstner bit to drill 1 /8" deep holes in the base for the button plugs. When the counterbores are made, drill through shank holes for the screws and a 3/8" clearance hole in the base for the nipple.

The chamfers on both pieces should be cut on the table saw. Since my saw arbor tilts to the right, I attached an auxiliary fence to the right side of my regular fence and moved it to the left side of the blade. The auxiliary fence should be high enough to stabilize the base during the cut. Check it for vertical and use shims as needed to make the surface perpendicular to the saw table. Set the blade tilt to 30 degrees and cut chamfers on the base, starting with the end-grain edges first to minimize tear-out. Set the blade tilt to 45 degrees to chamfer the cap.

The cap piece is too small to safely cut the chamfers by pushing it through the saw by hand. My approach was to place the cap top face-down on the saw table and attach a hand screw to the sides (laid flat on the table), leaving enough space above the edge to be cut in order to avoid cutting the hand screw. Holding the hand screw against the fence with my left hand, I made the cut using a push stick to force the piece past the saw blade.

Assembly

I used the following procedure and referred to Drawing No. A

to assemble the wooden lamp components:

Step 1. Finish sand the components to 180 grit.

Step 2. Glue the staves to the stem, aligning the bottoms on

a flat surface. Apply the glue sparingly to the slot surfaces to

avoid squeeze-out and align each stave as it is pressed into

place. When the staves are all in place, attach two spring

clamps to apply pressure between opposing staves.

Step 3. Glue 3/8" button plugs into the four holes in the base.

Sand flats on the lower surface of these plugs by rubbing the

base on a sheet of 150 grit sandpaper. When the lamp was

finished, I applied 1/4" felt tabs to these flats.

Step 4. After the glue has dried, insert the 16" nipple through

54 • Creative Woodworks S Crafts April 2003

the base and up through the stem and cap. Attach a washer and nut to the base end and temporarily attach a washer and nut to the cap end. Gently snug down one of the nuts to hold the assembly together and rotate the base and cap into alignment with respect to the stem. To aid in this alignment I drew light pencil lines on the diagonals of the base and cap and aligned the corners of the stem with these lines. For best appearance, when making this alignment be sure to orient the long grain of the base and cap parallel to the face grain of the stem.

Step 5. Tighten a nut on the nipple to prevent the cap and base from moving and drill 5/64"-Dia. pilot holes into the stem (top) and staves [bottom) from both ends through the counterbores (total of eight places). Then install No. 6 x 1-1/2" wood screws in eight locations.

Step 6. When satisfied with the assembly, erase any alignment marks from the base and cap and remove the nipple. Step 7. Apply the finish of choice. Depending on the finish used, it may prove convenient to disassemble the parts to be finished separately. The finish I used at the time was Danish oil followed by paste wax.

Electrical Assembly

The electrical assembly procedure is as follows: Step 1. Insert the nipple into the assembly and install a washer and nut on the bottom end so that both nut and washer are recessed into the counter bore on the lower surface of the base. Step 2. Put the harp in place and screw on the threaded base of the lamp socket to hold it in place. If you have a lampshade, place it on the harp with a finial to see how it looks. If the harp is too high, it can be adjusted by removing it from the lamp and bending the supports outward. When satisfied with the harp height, orient it to the desired position and tighten the nut on the bottom to lock it in place.

Step 3. Push the lamp cord up through the nipple and make the electrical connections to the lamp socket. By convention, the wire whose insulation has stripes is connected to the common (silver colored screw).

Step 4. Assemble a polarized plug on the other end of the line, connecting the striped wire to the broad prong of the plug.

Step 5. On my lamps, I installed a rotary switch on the lamp cord about twelve inches from the lamp. ^

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3/3" wide x 3/16" deep slot ripped

Fig. 1. Re glue the stem piece after making the slot.