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

I'm Scott Phillips.

- And I'm Suzy Phillips.

And every home needs a beautiful storage ottoman.

- Well this one doubles as a coffee table or a drink stand, right there for the couch, perfect height, and then you can flip it over and Suzy, kick back.

- All right.

- That's what you need right there.

- Yeah I love it.

- Learn how to make your very own today on The American Woodshop.

- [Announcer] The American Woodshop with Scott Phillips is brought to you by, (classical music) - [Announcer] Woodcraft, since 1928.

Providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

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

Rikon tools.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft Magazine.

Projects, plans and weblinks.

Designed to help you make wood work.

- [Announcer] PS Wood.

Home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel band saw blades and super sharp scroll saw blades.

A bed to sleep on.

(upbeat music) A table to share meals.

A house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio.

Providing furniture to neighbors in need.

(rock music) - So do you think this is the right height?

- Oh I think it's perfect, I love it.

- Okay, well, this is a wonderful project that has a built in ottoman, coffee table design that you just flip it over and it's ideal for couch-side storage too.

- It's perfect.

- And it's very easy to make so let's get to it in the wood shop.

(whooshing) You saw the beautiful grain on the ottoman outside and to make the plywood beautiful like this with the walnut grain running up and down trimmed out with the hard maple, what I'm doing is using matching grain peel and stick, heavy duty veneer.

And the grain pattern's right.

And here's a mistake that a lot of people make, they try to butt the veneer right up to the edge.

Do not do that.

What you do is you cut your veneer to size, and, off to the races she goes, has a little bit of memory to it, a life of it's own.

And you use veneer to get beautiful grain patterns but it's also a wonderful way to make sure that you're getting the most out of a very rare tree.

So I'm just bringing it up, bringing it close to the edge, letting about a quarter of an inch stick over.

I know this lines up with the grain.

Keeping everything square to the edges as best I can.

And now what I can do is press that piece down.

And I like the way that's positioned.

I had some indexing marks to help with that.

And now what I can do is bring this back up like that, I don't want to waste the rest of that veneer.

And then I can bring it over to my cutting piece.

This is a piece of Baltic birch and what I'll do is slide this over, like so.

And I'll use a veneer saw, a very delicate edged saw to just press up against the edge of that plywood.

And watch what happens.

You make scoring cuts.

And it helps if you angle it up ever so slightly.

There we go.

Now that's one cut.

And what I can do is do the other cut.

That's flush, a little bit of sanding there.

And everybody has a different way of doing it.

But I don't like to waste any of the veneer.

Some folks like to use scissors to precut the veneer sheets and the problem with that is you're wasting very valuable veneer.

This is a bit pricey, especially when you buy it with the peel and stick so I wanna get the most outta that that I can.

And that's all there is to it.

So I'll trim this off the rest of the way and once I get all the panels veneered it's over to the table saw to cut out a little bit more plywood and also prep all the other work pieces.

(wood scraping) This is a fun project to make, it's very easy to do.

I use a table saw and then the miter saw.

Now to prep the rest of the work pieces.

Now when I'm cutting this thin quarter inch made veneer panel I need an auxiliary fence that clamps on to the rip fence so that this edge doesn't go underneath the rip fence.

That's really important.

And so I just have it set up to make those cuts and I'm using a combination blade that's good for ripping cross cuts.

And the blade's just a little bit higher than normal, it's about half an inch above the surface of this just to get a better cut on the veneer you'll see that it's good to go.

Whatever you do, work safely, read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use.

Once I get the plywood panels cut, then I take off the auxiliary fence and I can prep the rest of the work pieces.

And the first step in that is to take it over to the planer and plane them all down to the right thicknesses and once I get them planed perfectly on both sides then I can take those work pieces to the jointer and then I can join that true edge that's perpendicular to the two sides.

If you select flat boards to begin with you don't have any problems, that's key.

So now I'll make all those cuts.

(saw whirs) (saw whirs) Now let that come to a complete stop, you'll get a better cut that way.

You won't have any kick-backs.

So let's take a look, that's one of four identical legs, an inch and five eighths square.

And whatever you do, they have to be square.

If they aren't then the whole assembly won't go together.

This is the assembly.

Look at this.

There's a leg.

Looks good.

Notice how this is up a bit.

And that's going to get a graceful arch right there.

All four and the bottom.

This is the bottom, this is the top.

Also notice how these are inset so there's no sharp shoulder in the middle of this, that's so the pillow can sit in there to the ottoman top.

And so what I need to do next is cut these eight work pieces down to their finished lengths.

And then I'll show you how to cut the dominoes.

Make sure you get everything square and to the proper length.

All of these are 14 inches long.

I like to use the hold down as I make these cuts, it's more accurate.

Make those cuts!

(saw whirs) (saw whirs) (wood clattering) These are called dominoes or loose tenons and these are very strong with modern glues.

And I'm using 16 of these in this frame assembly.

You can see a mortise here, you can see a loose domino sticking out, a loose tenon, a domino sticking out.

Now the key is when that cutter wiggles back and forth it creates that mortise.

And the depth set of how long that mortise is on these side pieces, the rails, I want it in 30 millimeters.

On the post, I want to make cuts in 20 millimeters.

That's so the dominoes don't hit each other.

The other beautiful thing about this, it's beautifully thought out, there's dust extraction on this and what you can do is unhook the tool right at the tool from power.

And I just plug that back in and lock it in and it's powered up.

So I'm good to go now and what I'm going to do is use that spring loaded stop right there as my stop up against this fence and the cutter is positioned on the fence so the slot is exactly in the middle so I can flip it end for end.

So I'll make those cuts and I'll do the same on the legs except I'll use a different cutter to push the loose mortise up a little bit higher.

You'll see what I mean after I get her done.

So let's make those cuts.

I bring that up, up against that first stop, hold the fence flat to it, make the cut.

(tool whirs) So that's in 30 millimeters which is what I want.

And on the high side because this is going to get an arch in a second.

And I just flip it around on the other end and because this cutter's set up right on center I can flip it and it stays centered up.

(tool whirs) And now what I can do, you see those are inset exactly the same way.

That's perfect for that.

And now what I can do is bring up the leg to where I have marks.

I'm going to make domino cuts and I'm going to use a dog that pushes up against the workpiece and that fence to hold this.

And I have to change the setting.

I need to push this up to 20 millimeters here and on this stop right here, working off of this side, I have to press that button to release it up to that stop.

Make the cut!

Like so.

(tool whirs) That's perfect.

And now what I can do, rotate this around, do the other cut, just like so.

And this really speeds you up on the completion of this ottoman.

(tool whirs) (router whirs) Watch that router bit whenever it powers down.

More accidents happen when it's turned off than they do when they're running.

Now look at that.

This is down three sixteenths of an inch.

I want it down three eighths of an inch.

I always make cuts with cutters on the router half way at a time.

That way you don't max out the bit or the router.

So I'll heighten that as I make all the cuts.

And if you look at that groove, you'll see here's a graceful curve that gets cut out of the band saw.

And then the slot mortises for the dominoes are down a little bit lower.

And that's so as this is raised on the leg, this groove right here that's gonna hold the inside bottom has a place for that plywood to go.

So I'll cut all the other pieces using the same technique with a heavy duty router and the push blocks to cut the grooves for the bottom pieces and also I'll cut the grooves in the leg with a quarter inch bit because the panels in the side are quarter inch so match that.

And make sure you cut the rails on the inside edge, spaced the same way, to mate to the legs for that quarter inch panel as well.

(whooshing) Here's a half inch piece of mahogany and a three quarter inch thick piece of birdseye maple.

And these will become the dovetails.

And I'm using a jig to slide the dovetail piece with best face in, that's important.

You want the best grain showing.

And then on this piece of birdseye, best face is down, because this will cut the pin sockets for the dovetails.

There are stops that align everything perfectly.

And that's excellent right there.

And now I just use a 14 degree dovetail bit right here, that's a half inch wide and that bushing right there follows these fingers.

Let me show you what I'm talking about.

(router whirs) Now, this is really important.

When that router's coasting to a stop don't lift it until it stops, that's for safety.

But what I like about these D handled routers, you can unplug them.

There's no way that's going to have an accidental start up.

Now let's check the fit on the dovetails.

There're the dovetails, right there.

These are called the pins, right there.

You want the outside pins to be balanced, left and right.

And that is a perfect fit.

Now the other thing that we're going to do while we're talking about the lid assembly for the ottoman is, I set up this router table with a three eighths inch bit earlier and locked the fence in place so the groove that we've made to accept the three eighths inch plywood lid, goes right in the middle of that socket, that dovetail socket.

(router whirs) So we grooved that.

And we also grooved right in the middle of that dovetail and that's so when we put everything back together, you'll never see the groove.

And that's how you make the entire assembly and you just do the rest of the cuts which I'll do right now.

(router whirs) (whooshing) Here are the long running quarter inch grooves in the sides of the post, left and right on the inside faces.

And that little veneer saw is a great way to go in there and clean up the cut on the shoulder if you get a little bit of fuzz.

That will make the fit of the plywood panel perfect.

And when you put the plywood panels in, quarter inch panels in that quarter inch groove, you want the cathedral arch pointing up, always.

If it was pointing down, you drag the eye down, it just wouldn't look right.

So this is the top of the leg, and that means the panel goes in like that, right there.

And here's where the sliding dominoes go in, no fuzz allowed, like that.

And then what we can do is bring up the bottom piece, it's curved.

More on that in a second.

This is the bottom.

And the groove in the bottom piece is up.

That will get the bottom of the storage ottoman.

Now what I can do is bring up this plywood panel, slide it in that groove, like so.

Oops, yup, that's right.

Cathedral arch is up, that's perfect.

Good tight fit there.

Bring this piece up.

Put the plywood in the groove.

Push it in like that.

Swing that around.

Two more dominoes.

And again this is called the dry fit.

You wanna make sure everything fits now before you put the glue on it, this all gets glued and clamped.

And that's a perfect fit right there.

Okay, I like that.

Wait until we get all four of these put together.

Now, to make this graceful curve, that's over at the band saw.

Let's get to it.

(whooshing) To cut this graceful curve, I'm using the band saw with a three eighths inch, six TPI blade and I just want to lead the line, I can sand down to that.

And all four of the rail work pieces on the bottom get this.

(saw whirs) (wood clatters) That's how you cut out curves with the band saw.

Now you can make a real handy bow jig.

It looks like a crossbow, just a survey string right there to bend a piece of three sixteenths inch oak to lay out curves.

And you can notch it down to different radii and that's one handy tool to have.

So the curves go down and I have glue in the sockets.

I even lay a thin bead where the plywood's gonna go because plywood does not expand and contract, it's stable.

I want this to help square it up.

So where ever there's a mortise, I have glue.

And if I get too much squeezed out just brush it off with the acid brush.

Going to use that in this socket right over here needed a bit more.

And so to do the glue up I don't put any glue on the loose tenons, or the dominoes because when you push it in it'd come right off and when you do this a lot you get good at knowing exactly how much glue you need in those captive joints.

'Cause this is going to carry a lotta weight and torque over time, being an ottoman so you wanna get a good glue up.

And whatever you do, don't use a wet rag to wipe off this water based glue because that creates a slurry and it soaks back into the wood fibers.

And that contaminates the finish.

Got a little bit too much in there so I'll just brush it out in the mating mortise.

Mortise is a hole.

And now, as I bring this all together, all the grooves have to line up.

The grooves go in.

Best face goes out.

And I just line up all the pieces and if I get a bit too much squeezed out let it cure and then take a card scraper and scrape it off in about half an hour.

And so this is the top and the beautiful grain is up.

And these already have glue in them.

And I draw everything nice and tight with clamps.

Some people go, what about the interface?

Believe me, with that squeeze out that you get when you push everything together, it gets glue on it.

Before the fourth and final side goes on we have to put in the three eighths inch bottom into that three eighths inch groove.

And what that does, if you look at the corners, those were notched out on the band saw to work around the square legs.

And now I can bring this up and glue is in all the right places, ease those dominoes into those mortises and tap em home.

And I put clamps on this whole assembly, keeping it square along the way.

I'll get this all squared up and then it's over to cut the dovetails for the top.

(hammer tapping) (whooshing) Now to do the glue-up, the dovetail areas get the sockets and there's that groove, that the three eighths inch plywood veneered walnut panel goes into.

Slide her right on in there like that.

And it needs to be a perfect fit so the plywood actually squares up the whole assembly.

Put a little bit of glue in that groove, remember, plywood's stable so you can glue it.

And that's a perfect fit, don't need clamps for that.

Okay but I need that to cure out And here's the seat that's been padded and there's just a piece of plywood in there and this is faux leather.

And it pops in just like, oops, this right here.

And then what's going to happen once I sand and finish it, but not before is that this comes up and it clicks in just like that right there.

So it makes it reversible.

This is a coffee table, then when this gets braded in, the seat stays in position, you can flip it over, it can be your ottoman.

So once this cures, outside to sand and finish.

(wood sliding) So, work through 100, 150, and 220 and then the final sanding is always with a good sanding block with the grain.

Surface prep is key.

Get it thoroughly cleaned with a good tack cloth.

Don't transfer the wax from the cloth onto the wood.

That will really mess up the finish.

So sand safely.

And what's the worst wood dust to breath?

You don't wanna breath any of it, okay.

So always work with an N95 dust mask when you sand whatever you do.

(sander whirs) (wood clatters) Suzy, I brought in the heavy hitter on the finishing here.

You do such a good job.

- Thank you!

Well this Arm-R-Seal makes it super easy.

It's the go-to finish.

- Oh it's awesome.

And then, that's the coffee table side and this is the side to kick back and relax.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - So let me have your brush.

Okay and?

- Ah!

- What do you think?

- Yes, I don't wanna touch it.

I love it, it's awesome!

(laughs) - And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm a woodworker.

It's good to find you handy, right?

- Absolutely.

(kiss smacks) Thanks.

- Well there you have it.

Be sure to check out Facebook for the plans on this courtesy of a wonderful magazine.

See you next time!

- In The American Woodshop!

- [Announcer] Woodcraft, since 1928.

(classical music) Providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(slams) - [Announcer] Pro tools for tool pros.

(dramatic music) Rikon tools.

- [Announcer] Woodcraft Magazine.

Projects, plans, and weblinks.

Designed to help you make wood work.

- [Announcer] PS Wood.

Home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel band saw 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.

(rock music) - For more information on tips behind The American Woodshop and watch free episodes 24/7 check us out online and like us on Facebook.

(country music)