Coopered Door

Over the weekend I finished my coopered door. The door has a little curve to it and the thickness of the door also has a slight taper. This exercise was very enjoyable but frustrating throughout. I took a wide board and cut them into strips (staves). I added a bevel to the edge of the staves, with my jointer plane. This creates the primary shape of the coopered door.

Setting up the jointer plane and proper pressure is key when jointing an edge. Proper passes with the plane must then be done to close up low spots on the joint. An uneven pass can make the joint look worse. There where many times when I did not have my iron tuned right or did not have the right technique. This made completing my joint a very time consuming process. In fact after I glued up a joint I had completed, I realized that it was not perfect. BACK to the Bandsaw to cut the board and do the joint again. Expectations in class are to have our joints tight and of fine quality. It was very frustrating to have to do this but it all makes up for it in the end when you have a board with tight joints that are not visible. There is great satisfaction knowing that this was achieved with a hand tool. A simple tool used properly and with attention accomplished better results than and machine tool. I am truly elated by the precision and fine control of this tool.