Popular Woodworking 2009-08 № 177, страница 20

The Ebony Plugs

The Hall frame features 10 non-functional ebony plugs. Most of t he holes for these plugs are carefully made usingsquare chisels from a hollow-chisel mortiser. The smaller hole is formed using an ^l/a" chiselfor you could bump up the Vis" holes to W in size and use your mortise chisel).

After the center point of each hole is located, carefully lay out a square as a helpful visual reference around each point Line upasquarechisel;severaltapswitha mallet establish the outer edges.

Cut ebony into slightly oversized strips. Then, holding the pieces as you would a pencil, use circular motions to pillow each end. Begi n t he process wi th #120-grit paper, progress through a #2,000-grit micromesh pad and finish on a buffing wheel The tips are then cut off to yield a Vs'-long plug.

Because the ebony plugs are slightly oversized, you can use a chisel to relieve some material on ail foursides. Use a slight angle to create a wedge shape that makes it easy to tap the plug into the hole. You can test the

fit,but I suggest you install these plugsafter the finish is complete.

Final Touches

Use the opening photo as a guide as you begin final sanding the frame. This part of the build is incredibly important as it gives the piece its "look"and brings Lhe four parts of Lhe frame imo one continuous flowing structure.

With the sanding complete, glue the frame together. When the glue is dry, use a chisel to square up the corners where t he rabbet s meet, t hen give l he piece a fi nal sand-ingwith#180-grit sandpaper.

Of course, the final step is the finish. Unfortunately, noone knows what wasused on I he origin al, but it's pret ty sa fe to say th at it was either varnish, oil or shellac.

For my frame, I applied fourcoatsof wiping varnish. 1 found this to be ideal as it provides a nice protective film, without the addition ofa plastic look.

I hope this reproduction has made the Hall family proud, and I encourage you to

make one foryourself. It'sfun and challenging, and it's a great way to honor the craftsmen responsible for the construction ofthe Greene 6r Greene furniture -a design that many woodworkers hare come to appreciate and replicate PW

Marc is a professional woodworker as well as the creator and host of The Wood Whisperer (the^vood whisperer.com). The Wood Whisperer fan instructional Internet woodworking showi represents Marc's three passions: woodworking, technology and education.

About This Column

Our "Wood Whisperer" column features woodworking thoughts a nd idea s, along with shop techniques from Marc Spagnuolo. Each column has a corresponding video related to the techniques or views expressed in the ' column available at popularwoodworkina. com/video.

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