Curved Panel

I had a piece of rough-sawn figured walnut, and I thought I'd try making a curved panel with it.

First, I planed both sides.

Then, I traced a curve using a 12-inch diameter sanding disc that was about right the right size.

I used the table saw to remove most of the wood from the concave side,

That left a pretty rough surface.

I smoothed it out with a narrow rabbet plane, plus 40-grit sandpaper.

The top was much easier, only two cuts with the table saw.

I used a handplane to finish the curve.

Then I had to cut tenons on the ends of the panel. I used a marking knife and chisels. Here is the first one half done.

Once these tenons were cut, I could start on the mortise. First, I traced the tenon onto a block.  This allowed me to cut it properly even though the tenon had a lot of variation, due to it being chopped out by hand.  Then I went over the lines with a box-cutter, and drilled out some of the waste.  Then I cleaned it up with a chisel.

I should have used a bigger block of wood, more on that later.

They fit!

Cutting the side tenons was easier, I used the table saw and cleaned them up with rabbet planes.

I cut the side mortises the same way I cut the top and bottom mortises.

Once they fit, I beveled them closer to their final shape.

Then it was time to start cutting the joints that would hold the frame together.

When I finished cutting the joint, I realized that there wasn't enough wood on the bottom piece. I'll have to glue on some extra.

I glued some pieces to the other half before I cut the joints.

There is enough wood on this one!

Now that everything fit, I had to shape the pieces of the frame.  The top and bottom pieces were curved the same as the panel, and once again, the outside curve was easy, (used the disc sander), and the inside curve was harder. First I made a lot of cuts, then chiseled them away.

This was a rare occasion for me to use my "cigar-shave" for inside curves.

After adjusting the shapes, and fixing the joints, and sanding everything, I must have put it together and taken it apart about 500 times.  Finally I glued it together.  (Only glued the middle of the panel, so it could move!)

Little gaps in the joints can be camouflaged with some tiny wedges.  

Then, more sanding, and finally the first coat of finish:

Maple/Ebony Bowl

I had a scrap of maple left over from my workbench project, plus a stick of Macassar Ebony that I picked up somewhere along the line.
First I set the table saw blade to 12 degrees, and cut both sides of the stick.  Then I cut it into 15 one-inch segments.

I cut the corners (almost) off of the maple, and added a glue-block

Then I turned it round and drew some guidelines:

I started gluing the segments together, so I wouldn't have to glue all 15 to the blank at once.

 

Then I cut 7 curly maple pieces, and add them to the blank:

Now I could finally turn it!

After sanding:

 With finish on it:

I cleaned up the bottom as well.

There is even a little face in the bottom!