Case project

Leo Bjorkegren FDA Furniture Yr 2

Brief - to make a suitable presentation case for a 19th-century barometer, approx 185mm dia
with a silver or silver plated case.

This project forms part of the work planned for Term 1 2nd year FdA Makers.

1. Design process
An initial view of the object was provided by the Edward James Archive catalogue, including
approximate object dimensions. This allowed some rough concept designs to be produced,
mainly in the Victorian scientific instrument style, with case outlines including square,
hexagonal and round models.

Further development of these designs included separate glazed covers, hinged or removeable
top covers for transit or storage of the item, or the ability to stow an unused top cover under
the case by making use of a turned rebate. Some of the drawings used are provided in the
Appendix.

A viewing of the actual object was obtained, and some more accurate measurements taken. It
was also noted that the case includes three mounting lugs spaced more or less equidistantly
around the rim, with the largest being more or less mid-range for the barometer scale and
hence presumably the topmost lug when the object is wall mounted. A tracing was made of
the base of the barometer to allow for checking against the developed design.

Further checking against what the customer actually wanted uncovered the fact that the case
is intended to be fixed to the wall, so that the piece can be displayed vertically, in line with
how it would originally have been used.

Final design

A turned wooden case with enough room to accommodate the piece and its mounting lugs.
The mounting lugs are rebated into the back of the case wall and the piece is held in place by
a back plate screwed into the case.

The front of the piece is protected by a round piece of glass, with about a centimetre of visible
bevel around the edge to match the visual effect of the barometer glass itself. The glass is
sunk into a turned rebate in the top of the case wall and held in place by a separate turned
moulding, which is then glued in place on top of the glass. The only access to the barometer
(for maintenance, cleaning etc) is hence through the back of the case, which will require it to
be dismounted from the wall. This also provides a little security against possible theft,
although a determined thief could doubtless remove it with sufficient effort.

Further developments in the design include small internal pieces of wood which hide the
mounting lugs of the original barometer, and also ensure that the barometer is held level in the
case.
A decorative touch to the outside of the case is added by a silver wire inlay which is added
between the moulding and the remainder of the case. This comprises a complete ring made of
square section silver wire, hard-soldered and hammered to fit the exact case dimensions.

The case lining is red baize. Some thought was given to the potential corrosive effects of
various different linings (e.g. some of the chemicals used in leather treatment could adversely
affect the silver of the barometer). Red baize is believed to be fairly inert in this respect – a
test was undertaken by wrapping a piece of silver in baize for some days – no adverse effects
were noted.

The case is be held to the wall by feet, hand made to fit, which are spaced around the outside
of the case in approximately the same orientation and position as on the original barometer.

Some consideration was given to the choice of wood for the moulding and the case veneer.  It
was thought that the overall look should be in accordance with the Victorian / Edwardian
theme, which would dictate some dark hardwood. After considering woods like bubinga
( https://www.wood-database.com/bubinga/ ) it was decided to go with teak. Teak veneer
was available from stock at the workshop. For the solid wood moulding, Norbert kindly
provided some high-quality teak boarding.

Overall design time - about a day for the initial designs and about another day in all for the
remaining refinements and tweaks - 2 days

2. Construction details
Carcase - was constructed from eight pieces of tulipwood cut at an angle of 22.5 degrees at
each end and glued together.

Loose tongue rebates were cut into the angled

ends of each piece, using a suitable router bit.
Some problems were experienced with this
(burning, slow operation) and each rebate was
further worked using a fine saw and small chisel
in order to attain the required depth. Loose
tongues were made from scrap tulipwood.

At the start of the assembly process, a pair of

MDF formers cut to the internal dimensions of
the required case were used; however, once the
outside of the case was strapped up using rubber
lashings it was possible to remove the formers.
Removal of the formers allowed a tighter bond to
be achieved as in some cases the formers were preventing the close assembly of the case
pieces. All parts were wetted with plain tap water and glued with PVA adhesive.

The next day the glued assembly was found to be solid without any evident flaws and was
glued to a flat piece of plywood cut to an approximate octagonal shape. The following day
this was centred up on a face plate ready for use with the lathe.

The carcase thus constructed was found to have multiple uses - most of it was removed
following turning to make the case body, but the remaining section was used for testing
veneering, turning ring mouldings for the top of the case, and re-turning the finished case
section to provide a bottom rebate for the back panel.
Basic case construction and mounting to board - 1 day

3. Turning details
Main case

The unturned case assembly was an octagonal

prism with a plywood base. On the lathe, this
was slowly brought down to a round outside, a
process which took about a day of turning
overall.

It was not possible to use the normal chuck

driver for this as the assembly was too large - it
was therefore turned using the external chuck
driver (placed to the left of the main drive pillar
on the lathe).

Low rotational speeds were required as the

large size of the piece meant that high contact
speeds were obtained between the workpiece
and the chisel.

For the internal turning, it was necessary to do

extensive face turning, but no rest system
existed to support this. One was improvised
using two large clamps as a basis, with a
previously-constructed plywood triangle
clamped on top of this to use as a rest.

As for the external turning, low rotational

speeds were required. A set of three tools ( a
small gouge, a parting tool, and a small skew)
were used in rotation as required to try and
keep tool wear and heating down.

In practice the parting tool, creating an initial

rebate, followed by the small gouge, to cut
away the remaining waste, seemed to be the
most effective combination. However, overall
progress was slow and the internal turning required on the order of another day, plus frequent
tool sharpening. A rebate was cut in the end of the cylinder to allow the base plate to be fitted
in.

Once judged satisfactory, about two-thirds of the initial assembly was cut away using the
parting tool to establish a groove, followed by a fine saw. It was then possible to rebate the
end of the remaining case, allowing it to fit the rebate cut for the base plate. This allowed the
cut off section to be turned around and re-attached to the lathe, so that the cut end could be
cleaned up and another rebate put in the other end for the case glass.

Overall turning for case - 3 days

4. Ring Moulding
Various iterations of this were tried, firstly with eight pieces, then with sixteen, then one
board. The glued items were essentially assembled in the same manner as the case - initially
assembled around a former, but once held with an elastic band around the outside it was
possible to remove the former to ensure that all the joints were tight.

The glued item was then glued to a backboard, which was cut down, then attached to the
remaining case which was still on the chuck. Once assembled onto the lathe the ring was
turned down in the normal fashion.

The first teak ring was assembled from eight

pieces - this worked well mechanically and gave
a working ring but was judged unacceptable for
its appearance when combined with the teak
veneered case.

For the final ring, a single piece of teak was used.

The test casing was flattened off and the board
glued directly to this and turned. It was noted that
teak of this type obtains a fine polish very easily -
all that is necessary is the application of a little
teak dust held in a rag to the surface of the
workpiece while turning. Final dimensioning of
the moulding ring was left until the glass was
available.

Overall time for moulding including variants - 3 days

5. Base plate
The base plate is a piece of the original tulipwood plank used to construct the case, ripped
down to about 12mm and cut to a circle. Following the chiselling out of holes in the back of
the case for the barometer mounting lugs, a visible hole was left in the back of the case. A
piece of wood was added to the base plate in order to fit into this and to provide a key for base
plate orientation.

It was noted that the case would provide a reasonably hermetic seal which would prevent the
barometer functioning as required. In order to allow the barometer to function, a small hole
was cut in the base plate and a piece of fine wire mesh (about 250 wires per inch) was glued
over this in order to prevent insect access. A groove was cut in the back of the plate to allow
an air passage from the hole.

Overall time - 1 day

6. Veneering
The tulipwood construction of the case is not visible from the front once the case is fully
assembled, as the outside is covered in teak veneer with a teak moulding and the inside is
covered in red baize. The back panel is not veneered or otherwise treated, but is turned to the
wall when the case is mounted as intended.
 For veneering of the case, a template was cut from
packing paper which allowed for the surface area
expected, plus margins for length and width. This
template was used to select a suitable piece of veneer
from the teak veneer available, avoiding any obvious
figuring.

To prevent splitting at the edges, the veneer piece was

protected at the ends and sides with masking tape,
which remained in place for the bulk of the veneering
process.

The case veneering process started with a short section

of one end being glued. To prepare, the glue side of the
veneer and the case were lightly wiped with warm
water. Dilute PVA was applied with a brush to a short
section (about 40mm) of the veneer strip.

After checking that the veneer was lined up correctly with the case, the veneer strip was
clamped into place.

The following day, the process was repeated but for most of the rest of the veneer strip,
leaving about 150mm free. It was noted that the veneer strip, which started centred on the
case, was now off-centre and likely to lead to a gap on one side when the strip was fully
applied. It is possible that wetting and glueing the veneer caused significant movement or
shrinkage in the wood material; apart from this, there is no obvious explanation why the
veneer should go off-centre.

The third session of glueing the veneer strip required the creation of an accurate butt joint
where the two strip ends met. The existing butt end cut was checked for flatness and
straightness; the second end was measured against the first and cut on a slight slope, so that
the top side of the veneer end would overhang the existing end slightly. This allowed any
minor gaps to be covered. Following initial glueing, the butt joint was checked; some
additional glue was added and the joint was clamped to set overnight.

The final addition of veneer was to cover the gap left during the main veneering process. To
do this, a piece of veneer was colour-matched to the existing section and cut to length, as well
as being reinforced with masking tape on the non-glueing side. A lot of scraping and other
adjustment took place to ensure that the two pieces fitted adequately. Finally, the new section
was glued in three stages - firstly at the thickest end, by the main veneer joint. Once this was
set then about 60% of the remaining veneer was glued in one operation. Finally, the
remaining section was glued and manually held in place before being fixed with masking tape
and clamped. The last section was most difficult as the glueing width was narrow to start
with, eventually going down to zero, which meant that it was not possible to brace the
remaining veneer against the glueing surface. Standard Titebond PVA was used for all of the
patch glueing.

Overall veneering time - 2 days for main veneer plus another day for patching and finishing -
3 days
7. Case Feet

Initially it was intended to buy in some brass

brackets for fixing the case to the wall. However,
in discussion with Norbert it was agreed that the
brass colouration would not fit well with the
proposed silver wire stringing around the edge of
the case.

Various design choices were proposed :

a) Brass with silver plating
b) Teak wood with silver stringing
c) Plain teak or white wood

After some consultation with the client (Emma), it was decided that the feet would be made
out of teak, (three only) with a simple D profile, and silver stringing up the middle. This then
led to the problem of how to fix the feet to the wall, because a large screw in the middle of the
stringing would not be particularly elegant.

A number of solutions were presented but finally

it was decided that a rectangular underplate made
in 3mm brass, with space for one screw at the
outer end of the foot, would be the best solution.

The brass underplate was fitted to the teak foot

using two screws of different length (to suit the
wood available) and epoxy resin as an adhesive.
All parts were cleaned with IMS before assembly.
The assembled feet were attached to the case
body using two screws inserted from the inside
and more epoxy.

Suitable brass screws for wall-fixing were

selected and filed down on the metal lathe to
present a clean appearance and good fit.

For the inlay process, the sides of the inlay rebate were marked using a standard scribe. The
rebate work was done using a 1.3mm chisel made for the purpose, plus a small hammer and
punch. Chisel handle, hammer and punch were made out of cherry wood (left over from the
previous nested table project)

Initial design work - 1 day

Construction of teak feet and inlay work - 3 days
Overall - 4 days
8. Silver moulding ring

The silver ring underneath the moulding was

constructed from 2mm square silver wire. The wire
was rounded using the remaining casing piece from
the case turning process, and then clamped in place in
the case rebate using many small clamps in order to
get the circumference roughly correct.

About 1 mm was then taken off in order to ensure

that the ring would fit tightly. Hard soldering was
done in the Metals workshop (thanks to Grant) and
further hammering in order to lengthen the ring out
again was also done there.

The remaining silver wire, to be used for the case feet,

was lengthened using a wire drawing process which
took the dimensions down to 1.3mm square.

The case rebate was done using a standard scribe and

a small chisel to remove excess wood. The silver ring
was brought out to make it flush with the case surface
by inserting small pieces of veneer behind it where required. The ring is not itself glued into
place but is held in position by the teak moulding on top.

Total time - 2 days

9. Final Assembly - Case

The moulding and glass were the last items to be
assembled to the case, following the addition of the
feet.

As seen in the photo, a number of small clamps were

constructed to hold the moulding down while the
epoxy adhesive set.

About a day of additional work before this was

required to make sure that the moulding ring sat
correctly on the glass.

Total time – 1 day

10. Finishing

The exterior wood was given three coats of Osmo

oil and allowed to stand for a few days. Any oil
residues on the glass were removed using a small
wooden scraper.

Some fairly scrupulous cleaning was required

before the case could be assembled, including
removing small pieces of fluff and shavings from
the internal baize with a pair of tweezers, and
frequent cleaning of the inside of the glass.

Total time – 1 day

11. Mounting
After consultation with the client, the screw
positions were marked on the Boardroom wall
using masking tape. Checks were carried out to
ensure that none of the holes would affect any
cable runs.

On drilling the holes for the case, using standard

masonry drill bits, it was found that the wall
comprised a layer of plasterboard, on a wooden
spacer, on top of brick. The masonry plug chosen
was therefore a plasterboard type.

Total time - ¼ day

12. Schedule and Costs

Task name Estimated time (days) Notes

Design 2 Initial design + modifications
Case assembly 1 Glueing of octagon + mounting
Case turning 3 External and internal turning
Ring moulding 3 Trial pieces + final piece
Base plate 1
Veneering 3
Case feet 4 Includes several redesigns
Silver ring 2 Includes case rebating
Final assembly 1
Finishing 1
Mounting ¼
TOTAL 21 ¼ days Estimated time for additional copies
is 12–15 days each
Table 1 : Estimate of time required

Material Cost (GBP) Notes

Tulipwood plank 11.40 Est – www.woodshopdirect.co.uk
Teak plank 40.00 Est – Ebay, reclaimed teak
Teak veneer 10.00 Est – Ebay
Silver wire 2mm sq 1m 36.52 www.cooksongold.com
Brass sheet 3mm 22.60 www.metals4u.co.uk
6 black japanned screws - Overhead
6 Phillips screws - Overhead
Wire mesh 8.00 Ebay
Red baize 2.00 Ebay
Glass 90.00 Estimated
Oil finish 10.00 Estimated
TOTAL 230.52 Note that additional units would cost in the
region of £160, the most expensive item
being the glass.
Table 2 : Materials Estimate

The above costs do not include any estimate for services, workshop rent etc.
Appendix – Drawings

Fig.1 : Square Case Plan

Fig. 2 : Hinged Lid Box

 Fig. 3 : Octagonal Case Plan

Fig.4 : Lidded Box Side Section

 Fig.5 : Round Case Plan

Fig.6 : Lidded Box Side Section

Fig.7 : Final Box Side Section