Morton

Michael Scott Morton has been designing and building furniture for over ten years. Located in Harvard, MA, he builds custom furniture one piece at a time.

Morton’s Shop: Concealing elongated screws

Jan 242013
 

The underneath supports on this dining room table are cross grain and attached with elongated screw holes towards the outer edges. I drilled out the elongated clearance hole with a Festool CXS drill, just poking multiple holes quickly. I used a chisel to square the outside edges to pop in a cover later on.

The elongated clearance hole has square edges to match the patch

The elongated clearance hole has square edges to match the patch

All the pieces were stained black early on, so after banging in the small cover piece, I have to match it.

I bang in the wood patch with a hammer; very tight fit.

I bang in the wood patch with a hammer; very tight fit.

First, I pare it down with a few strokes of a sharp chisel.

Pare down the patch with a wide chisel

Pare down the patch with a wide chisel

Finally, I use the same coloring process as the rest of the supports. A couple coats of black dye, followed by black-tinted shellac. Pretty good match, will clean it up during the final finish process.

Patch glued in and tinted to match

Patch glued in and tinted to match

Morton’s Shop: Signing Work

Jan 222013
 

Different furniture makers sign their work in different ways. Although I haven’t been consistent, recently I’m adding my logo to a concealed surface. Now is a good time to do this while I have separate pieces right before assembly and finishing.

I first print out my logo and tape it to the wood.

M. Scott Morton logo taped to the wood.

M. Scott Morton logo taped to the wood.

It’s then a matter of stabbing the lines with correctly sized chisels. Remove the paper and done!

M. Scott Morton logo on the bottom foot of a dining room table

M. Scott Morton logo on the bottom foot of a dining room table

Morton’s Shop: Placing Inlay

Jan 172013
 

I used a small trim router with a 3/32″ straight bit and template guide in order to make the grooves for my inlay. I would simply clamp my template to the material and run my router tight to the template – pretty straightforward stuff once you have the design, templates and material made!

Here you can see the template still in place and the inlay glued into the groove.

Template clamped, groove routed and inlay glued in place.

Template clamped, groove routed and inlay glued in place.

I’d square off (actually at a slight angle) one end of the inlay material to match the stopped groove. Glue was squeezed from a small syringe into the groove and then I’d shove in the inlay using a small wooden seam roller.

I left the inlay proud by maybe 1/32″ or so with a bandsawn face up.

Cherry inlay glued in place, about 1/32" proud

Cherry inlay glued in place, about 1/32" proud

From there it’s easy work to smooth out the small strips once the glue is mostly (or fully) dry. Here I used a really nice Hock Block Plane to do the work!

Using a Hock Block Plane to smooth down the inlay

Using a Hock Block Plane to smooth down the inlay

Morton’s Shop: Making a Chisel

Jan 152013
 

When I had finished making the inlay material and tested it in sample grooves, I realized that I needed a very small chisel to square off the ends where multiple strips come together. I don”t have a 3/32″ chisel, so I made one.

I started with an old screwdriver and my grinding wheel.

Screwdriver meets grinding wheel to make a chisel

Screwdriver meets grinding wheel to make a chisel

After about 5 minutes, taking it slowly, I ended up with a concave curve very similar to what I get grinding any of my chisels. The picture below is a side view to show the concave curve left by the grinder. The right hand side is what was square to the grinding wheel when sparks were flying.

Grinding wheel leaves a concave curve to make a chisel

Grinding wheel leaves a concave curve to make a chisel

From there it was just a few strokes on the water stones to smooth the tip. Given the concave shape, the “chisel” rested on the stone at the very toe and heel so there”s very little metal to take to quickly hone.

Honing the tip of a concave curve chisel is quick

Honing the tip of a concave curve chisel is quick

Finally I took it on a test run. It got into the corners really nicely. (Yes, I realize I”m over my line on this test piece. Ha!)

Testing out a very small chisel to square a 3/32" groove.

Testing out a very small chisel to square a 3/32″ groove.

On to the real thing.

Morton’s Shop: Making Inlay Material

Jan 112013
 

The inlay for the leg and top is 3/32″ wide – a choice based on looking at material with the actual workpieces. I also decided on cherry as a complementary wood with the walnut. Cherry can have some sap/mineral inclusions and dark grain lines – so I try as much as possible to cut around those: mostly by making a lot of strips and choosing the best ones!

I start by cutting right along the grain on my bandsaw, to try to have inlay that avoids crossing grain lines.

Cut along the grain lines to have consistent inlay material.

Cut along the grain lines to have consistent inlay material.

Then it”s on to re-sawing close to 3/32″ using the bandsaw with the fence. I cut multiple strips, keeping track of their order in case I want consecutive pieces later on.

The bandsaw cuts the inlay material slightly oversized.

The bandsaw cuts the inlay material slightly oversized.

Finally I surface both sides using my drum sander to dial in the exact thickness of the router bit (3/32″) – checking as I go.

A drum sander can easily dial in the inlay thickness to match the router bit

A drum sander can easily dial in the inlay thickness to match the router bit

Finally, I rip strips off, again on the bandsaw, a little oversized so they end up proud of the surface and I”ll flush them down with a hand plane.

Morton’s Shop: Designing Leg Inlay

Dec 272012
 

The top design calls for inlay around the edges.  I want to add some complimentary inlay to the legs in order to help tie the piece together.

I start with some inlay strips taped to the leg to try out a couple of different designs.  This is fast and easy to see designs in realtime – from various angles.

Taping inlay to the leg to see the initial design.

Taping inlay to the leg to see the initial design.

Once again I use a bending strip, around nails, to make the templates for the router.  I love my woodpeckers 12″ precision T-square for laying out measurements.

Once the templates are made, I use them to trace out the final design onto some MDF to confirm my choices.

Inlay drawn off the actual templates to confirm final design

Inlay drawn off the actual templates to confirm final design

Morton’s Shop: Shaping the Header+Footer

Dec 202012
 

I created all the joinery while my pieces were flat and square.  That’s some blocky header and footer!

The bast is dry fit with wedges inserted

The bast is dry fit with wedges inserted

So now it’s time to final shape the header and footer before assembly.  I cut the shape on the bandsaw and then started cleaning the convex curves with my Lie-Nielsen #4 1/2 handplane.

I use a Lie-Nielsen # 4 1/2 to smooth the convex curves

I use a Lie-Nielsen # 4 1/2 to smooth the convex curves

A little sanding with a flexible strip is all it takes to smooth out the curve.

A flexible sanding strip does the final smoothing

A flexible sanding strip does the final smoothing

The header needs two cut-outs to allow the table slides to come through the leg, out the end, and support the leaf. These come out quick on the bandsaw.

I use the bandsaw to make the cutout for the table slides.

I use the bandsaw to make the cutout for the table slides.

A little more shaping on the header and we’re ready to cleanup and assemble!