Shop work finally shifted away from Edison lamps this past weekend.  Step 1 of the new project is to build some legs.  Ultimately, I’m hoping that the legs will be 2″ x 2″ x 30″.  The first challenge I have is that I don’t have any boards thick enough to get a 2″ x 2″ leg.  I could go and buy some 8/4 walnut, but still challenges…  By the time I get the boards flat and square I’m unlikely to still get 2″ x 2″.  Beyond the size issues, it is unlikely that I would get 4 good looking faces to the legs.

The approach I like to take is to build a core out of cheaper lumber and veneer the blank with the same lumber that will be used for the rest of the piece.  The process started by laminating together 2 pieces of lumber.  I like to just use 2″ x 4″ studs available at the local home store.  In this case, I used the highest quality studs available.  Even still, none of the boards were flat / straight (no wonder walls are never straight).  As a result, a significant portion of day 1 was spent jointing, planing, and dimensioning the lumber (the photo below shows the blanks marked up so I can make sure that I’m getting completely surfaced lumber).  This step is important as it both helps to keep the legs straight and it gives me a good flat surface to glue together.

Next posting (if it isn’t another Edison lamp post) will discuss cutting the walnut veneers for the legs…