(cheerful music) - Hi, welcome to "The American Woodshop".

I'm Scott Phillips, and today we're going to build a live edge case with live edge shelves.

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A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- Live edge means that the wood has a bark edge on it.

Sometimes the bark has fallen off, but it's a contoured natural form and that's why everybody likes it.

It's getting you closer to nature and it's not for everybody.

But this is going to be cool because we're going to have it trimmed out with live edge shelves and banded and have a live, live edge top.

And this is corkscrew willow.

We'll mill that down at the band saw in a bit.

But the first thing to this assembly of shelves is to build the case.

And left and right, I have some recycled red oak plywood that's, well, it's not plywood, it's MDF.

What does that mean?

It's chipboard that's pressed together.

It's very stable.

It doesn't expand and contract like normal wood.

So keep this in mind.

If you have a real board from a tree, it expands across the grain.

You see the cathedral arches across the grain about an eighth of an inch per foot of width, even when the boards are dried.

So you have to allow for that expansion and contraction.

So what you do when you build with MDF, that doesn't matter.

It's stable.

It doesn't move like that.

And this is veneered red oak on this.

Again recycled, and so I've got a piece on the back here that's half inch thick, MDF, looks like barnwood but it's not.

It's a veneer.

And what I'll do is I'll bring up these side pieces onto this two foot by four foot backer and I will screw this together and that will give us the case.

Now all season long I've shown a lot of folks how to drill and counter sink screws.

So we aren't going to drill any holes today.

We're going to get into more particulars about how to build furniture.

So here we go with an impact driver.

These are pre-drilled and I draw that in, make that square and flush right there.

And then I can bring it right on down the way.

I'm getting into my work today.

The technical tap, you have to tap that right out so the edges are lined up just like that.

Nice flush all the way down.

And I'll join this in.

Once this is done, top and bottom, all the way around, five screws per side in the back of this case.

Then what we have to do right there, that's the way I want it.

This is the top of the case.

And I've got my board here, again from the recycled red oak.

And the thing to keep in mind is that I want this balanced all the way around hanging out.

This is the back, that's the front and that's an inch and a half there, inch and a half there, that's perfect.

And overhanging an inch and a half or inch and three quarters on the very front for the live edge top to be able to go on this.

And the reason all this is going together so easily is these were all cut square and that's the key.

When I went to my table saw to cut this sheet stock, I was using a plywood blade and I didn't get any tear out along the edges.

And I'll band this as soon as, with veneer as soon as I get this whole case put together.

That's kind of a cool thing.

I'll get this done on the bottom as well.

(impact driver whirring) Now when you use an impact driver, don't over torque those screws.

You can strip out the threads.

Now remember this is red oak veneer on top of MDF, so it's stable.

And the veneer, it comes like that.

And this is the bottom.

Let me swing this up because the bottom does not get edge banded.

And by the way, these legs right here, that's what these are.

These go on the side like that and they get biscuits.

But we have to finish one little thing before we do that.

And that is, boy and MDF is heavy, so this is rock solid.

So now we're going to iron on the red oak edge banding on the top all the way around 'cause this can be seen.

This will get a really beautiful live edge slab on top, but you'd still see this on the top, so with an iron with no water in it, no steam, you bring up the edge banding and you keep it flush on the top like that right there.

And you'll see more on this in a second as I wrap the edge.

You want to keep that iron moving and I have some hanging down, but the top is flush and do not keep it in place.

You have to keep it moving because the veneer tape will move around on you once this iron plasticizes that glue that's on the back of this veneer tape.

And they sell fancy things that trim it off.

But honestly, and when you wrap a corner, what you want to do is just bend it right around the corner when it's warm or hot like that.

And this is durable, this lasts and lasts.

So I'll get this ironed out.

How do you know if you've stayed too long in a spot?

It'll scorch the veneer, which you can sand off, but turn it on at the linen setting.

It needs to be nice and hot.

Again, no steam.

So that's how you do edge banding in part once I get it wrapped all the way around.

And the cool thing is when you come to a corner, you just take it but you want some heat to it and bend that tape right around like that and then I'll let that cool just a bit to hold it in place.

Let me show you the easy way to take it off like that.

I'll finish that in a second.

Is to use the flat of a utility knife to go up and to the bottom edge of the veneer, veneered red oak, you can trim that right off.

Take your time.

And then a little bit of sanding and you have it ready.

By me tilting this down, you can see how you like the knife, the flat of the knife to glide on the top of the wood and you can get a good trimmed edge that way.

You just don't want to cut into this veneer.

And then just use a block of wood and a piece of sandpaper and take the unevenness off.

And that's how you use edge banding.

So that's the case.

This is the top, the bottom's on and we need to flip this over now.

So this top is going to be down and this is called case construction and furniture like a bookcase, which this is going to end up being.

So upside down.

Now I want to show you something.

Look at these two pieces of wood right here and right in the middle at a 90 degree angle, I'm using number 20 biscuits to hold that together.

And that builds this out in a way, lines up the edges that left and right, the front of the case, that's the leg assembly like that.

And to make those cuts, I'll set this out of the way here.

What I'm going to do is I take the biscuit joiner and there's the four inch diameter blade that you just hold the fence down and it makes that half of the cut.

Now you bring this up to this work piece here, there's your line.

Now watch what happens.

You have to keep it square, you can't tilt it down.

You want to make sure this top fence and that face of the cutter are absolutely square to the work piece for good joint.

(biscuit cutter whirring) There's a biscuit right there and you want to line it up in the center like that, line up the white marks, walk the biscuits down, and there you have it.

Now the key to making this assembly work is you take your work pieces to a jointer and you joint a good straight edge running the length of the work piece.

Then you take that to a table saw and mill the work pieces parallel to each edge by doing rip cuts and then you're in business.

So that's the key right there.

And that is how you make the legs right there.

Okay, left and right, and it's a good solid leg.

This is the same width as that, that's three and one eighth inch on each side.

So that comes over here and that trims out the other side.

But before we can do that, let's do the glue up.

(wood whooshing) One of the most important things is to put three drops of glue in each slot and then use this acid brush to brush out the glue on both mating surfaces.

And that does two things.

It sizes a joint and that means it just pushes the glue into the wood pores, but it also gives you a much better glue bond up and in like that and you get 'em lined up.

And when you're doing biscuits, trust me when I tell you this, keep it flush.

There's a lateral adjustment of up to about an eighth of an inch that allows you to do side to side adjustments.

But boy, when you join it all together like that and mallet it home, if it's not flush on an end, you can just adjust it down like that.

And then you have a good tight seam right there.

You need to clamp it.

Wherever there's a biscuit, it gets a clamp and it draws it tight.

There's the perfect amount of squeeze out.

By brushing it, you distribute the glue better and you get a better glue joint like that.

So I'll do this to both of the legs, let it dry, and then we will attach it to the case.

These legs are three and an eighth across, inch and three eighths thick and 71 long.

And I have the holes pre-drilled so I can bring that up and flush to the back edge.

And now in drive, I bring it all together just like that.

Of course these have all been counterbored and I'm having difficulty lining everything up.

Of course on TV, everything usually goes perfectly.

And isn't that amazing?

And then here is the biscuited piece.

You can see that nice notch.

It fits right around that and good piece up front, looks good.

Now I can fasten this in and I already did the other side so that through the magic of television we can swing this up and you will see the look.

And here we go.

I'll put a few more screws in this later, but I want you to see that this is really shaping up.

Oh, there's some weight to it.

Very simple construction and it's rock solid.

Needs 14 inch wide shelves, live edge.

We're going to work on a piece of live edge here and piece of live edge for the top.

Off to the band saw we go.

(wood whooshing) Not too long ago I had a band mill saw up a cork screw willow.

Some folks said, oh, that'll never work too much.

Actually, I've used it for so many projects, it's been great.

And Suzy and I planted it and harvested it, so that's awesome.

Now this is that bottom trim board and we're going to use this half inch wide blade.

If you're making straight cuts on a bandsaw, the wider the blade, the straighter the line.

The other thing is lower this bearing assembly, the guide bearings down, so that it closes the gap.

If you have it all the way up, it's not doing its job, which is to guard the blade during the cut, but also it takes a flex out of the blade.

And the other thing is be sure to read, understand and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your wood shop.

Work safely.

Dust collector on.

And let's make some cuts.

(saw whirring) That's the bottom front board.

Look at that figure.

Beautiful.

And then here's a sideboard that's notched out to go around the legs.

I have that laid out.

And here's the other one.

So left and right and front.

And then just save time, I've already cut out the shelf boards, again with the figure that is just whew, amazing.

So I'll finish cutting this out, need my hearing protection and we'll fit it to the base of the case.

Here we go.

(saw whirring) Look at that beautiful trim board.

Bark's out.

Now to fixture this, I'm taking a piece of MDF scrap to the very bottom.

Screws are already in, eight total, four for the back and four for this piece.

And there will be a little bit of glue added to all of this as well.

But I'm going to do the test fit first.

(impact driver whirring) And these are an inch and a quarter long and I want that spaced out equally just like that.

So I will screw everything together and then I'll fix on the side pieces the same exact way.

You'll get a look at how it wraps it and create shelves left and right.

Very nice.

(impact driver whirring) (wood swooshing) Okay, here you can see the shelves along the base go all the way around.

And I've blended it so that it's a continuous flow.

That's the idea.

It looks out of balance right now until you add the rest of the live edge pieces which comes up right now.

So here's a piece of a live edge hard maple.

And I have worked the bark off of it because I like that bare wood look.

I could glue the bark back on if I wanted to.

I just think that's overdoing the bark thing.

And then what I'll do once I stand back, look at it, I'd say it's just about there.

This is where the art comes into it.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So now before we go any further, I want to secure that.

I have screws here left and right, so that doesn't come crashing down.

And this is a rock solid assembly.

The floor is not level at this point.

Let me show you one other thing.

We're getting ready to put the shelves in and to do the shelves, let me just say it's pretty straightforward.

These are shelf bracket supports with a quarter inch post on it.

And what you do is use pegboard, ordinary hardware store pegboard, and you cut it to the size that you want, you mark the holes and then you drill it so that the shelves are where you want it.

And there's a stop on that bit to stop you from drilling all the way through.

And then you can remove your template, put the shelf support in, and then slide the shelves in.

I'll get that all set up and you'll see the shelves.

So all the holes are drilled, all eight for the eight brackets.

And boy, just look at that.

This is where a limb was pruned off years ago.

And then this is new wood on top of it.

And so that's a board with a story and that locks in beautifully and up and in.

I just love the character in these boards.

So look at that.

And then as I stand back and look at it, the top looks a bit light.

So I'm going to take this piece of figured wood and join it to complete the crown.

Earlier I said, I thought it made it look heavy.

Well it needs it and that looks really cool.

I'm loving it.

So what I'm going to do now is a bit of sanding, working through 100, 150 and then 220 grits, always N95 dust mask.

And I always use something with a good hose for dust extraction.

(sander humming) I call this payday because I've worked so hard, I've cleaned it off, tacked it off.

And honestly, some folks bust my chops because son of a gun, I like walnut.

Tell me what's wrong with that.

Just look at the Arm-R-Seal on that live edge.

So, and then when you come down here on this figured willow that I've had air drying for four years, my goodness, that is on fire and that is why I work with wood.

I like the form, sure.

But man, it is the majesty of the grain and the color and the story of the trees.

And yes, I plant trees.

And so should you, if you are a woodworker.

Now I'm brushing this out and we'll get a look at this.

And next week on "The American Woodshop", it's a show dedicated to finishing.

So if you think I'm rushing through this, well, there's just never enough time to build a piece like this in 26 minutes.

So thanks for being with us this week.

It was a blast.

Something unusual.

And you'll get a look at this finished piece in the credits.

Go out and make your things with your own special touch and don't let anybody tell you how to do it.

That's up to you.

Thanks for being with us today, see ya.

(light music) - [Announcer] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(dramatic music) - [Announcer] Pro tools (dramatic music continues) for tool pros.

(dramatic music continues) Rikon Tools.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft magazine, projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

- [Announcer] PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish silicon steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information about "The American Woodshop", you can watch free episodes 24/7 on our website and you can find us on these social media platforms.

(lively cheerful music)