Comments on: Video: Pegging for Destruction

By: samson141

samson141 — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:15:17 +0000

“But really every design decision calls for a compromise in material or method, does it not?”

I think there’s a difference between compromises that are simply aesthetic – rabbet glue, and screw plywood shop drawer sides versus dovetailed maple drawer sides, for example — and those that will inevitably compromise the piece in its use or visual appeal.

By: KirkH

KirkH — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:54:24 +0000

Interesting post. I’ve seen, owned, refinished, and sold goodly numbers of what I call primitive southern furniture–built around the civil war era when economy was the standard. So I guess for me the economical choices do have sort of a charm/historical value. But really every design decision calls for a compromise in material or method, does it not?

By: Anderson

Anderson — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:50:11 +0000

One thing that I wonder about the original is if the top was quartersawn or split radially out of the log? If so I would guess the builder figured the wood wouldn’t move enough to screw things up any time soon. But those flitch sawn boards on the new one could move quite a bit if the humidity changes significantly for a week or two.

One thing I have read about and seen a couple of times in boat building when using treenails or pegs in that way is to use a spoon bit, and then you can curve the hole inside the wood a bit by using the difference in diameter between the bits shaft and it’s spoon. Allows the pegs to hold better when they are forced to curve inside the hole.

By: samson141

samson141 — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:57:07 +0000

Didn’t you build stuff early on that violated good woodworking practices just because you were ignorant? I certainly did. If you were reproducing a table you had built when you were a novice woodworker, would you make the same mistakes again on purpose out of nostalgia for your ignorant self?

Did you ever build something – like utility shop cabinets or shelves, for example, that you didn’t think of as fine or intended for posterity or where you didn’t have time to indulge every best practice you could think of? Perhaps the table builder wasn’t thinking he was building fine furniture, but instead just had a limited time to devote to needed family project to set in the kitchen.

That’s all to say: why emulate mistakes or compromises. If the original builder, given the knowledge and the time would have done it differently, why not make a piece of furniture that will better serve its users? Is the split part of the aesthetic to your eye? Is a nailed drawer bottom more charming?

I apologize, I don’t make reproductions, so I no doubt just don’t get it.

Thanks,

Sean

By: jsanford

jsanford — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:35:22 +0000

I wonder if the table top would have split if left in it’s original environment. The humidity level in the south is fairly high in both the summer and winter. This in no longer true given air conditioning in the summer and a well sealed buildings with heat in the winter. Pegging the top in the past may have worked just fine but may need design adjustments given the change in indoor environment.

By: JohnC

JohnC — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:39:52 +0000

I think I saw a hesitation before you bore through the top. Yup, I am in the right spot.

I would have taken several long breaks to build up my courage before I could do that! I hit that spot often on my projects, and I find a woodworking yellow streak begins to glow at those moments.

By: Dean

Dean — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:35:08 +0000

Chris, how about getting the original X-Rayed? There seems to be enough differentiation in the low contrast areas (wood) that you should be able to see the pegs.

http://nttreasurehunt.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/seeing-beneath-the-surface-at-knole/

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:57:44 +0000

It’s a Japanese chisel. Yup.

By: Wilbur

Wilbur — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:55:47 +0000

What kind of chisel are you using to taper the peg? Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?

By: msiemsen

msiemsen — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:28:09 +0000

When doing a proper reproduction it is always satisfying when the piece splits in the same place as the original!
If you don’t peg into the legs but just peg into the aprons staying away from the legs, pegging the cross grain aprons about 4 inches each side of center and pegging the aprons parallel with the grain of the top 5 or 6 inches in from the leg, the long aprons can then flex in and out a bit with the wood movement. I generally prefer to stick with the original plan and listen for the split in the middle of the night when the house is quiet.