Toy Chest: Creating the Curved K

I first want to create the curved K and the entire front of the chest, as I will then use that as the final dimensions for the rest of the case.

I had my piece picked out for the curved legs of the K to re-saw and book-match.  I laid the template, printed over 5 pieces of paper from Google Sketchup, over the piece and chalked the outline.  A rough-cut oversize on the bandsaw and joint + edge, ready to re-saw.  My re-saw didn’t go that well, which doesn’t matter because I have plenty of material to work with.  The real problem was exposing too much sap wood in the middle of the board, which really didn’t look good.

So, I decided to re-saw just the front half to avoid all sap wood.  I first cut the curved legs of the K more exactly on the bandsaw and spindle sander.  Then I performed the re-saw on the tablesaw: each piece is about 1/4″ thick.  I was able to avoid all sap wood and it looks great.

Now that I’m dealing with a little bit thinner pieces for the curved section, I want more support at the stile (leg) of the K.  So rather than just butt them agains the leg, I inset them slightly.  I cut out a corner of the stile about 1/4″ deep to provide that support.

So – the front K is all done: the straight leg (stile) and curved sections (1/4″ thick).  On to the rest of the frame and panel to finish the front.