Rough cutting the timber.

After spending some time measuring and looking at the timber I have started to rough machine it.  This involved bandsawing some 75mm thick stock into boards which will become the cabinet top and sides. The photo shows how the boards will be bookmatched.

I then rough cut all the pieces one by one, carefully working out which piece would go where.   At this stage I like to do all my rough cutting on the bandsaw, as it allows me to cut where I want safely, when working with larger pieces of timber. There is also much less waste than when using the panel saw.

The doors for this cabinet will feature 350mm wide panels of Fiddleback Blackwood in one piece.  I decided to cut 1 exceptional piece of the Fiddleback Blackwood into eight 3mm veneers, which will be used for the front and backs of the doors. 

In order to cut these veneers I knocked up a quick (no time to waste) melemine higher bandsaw fence to rest the 350mm wide block of wood against.  I clamped this down to make sure the thing didn't move and coated the surface with wax to reduce friction.  After changing to a brand new blade I slowly began to cut.  Man the bandsaw just ate through the nice and dry Blackwood. I didn't rush, just took my time and let the machine do the work. After every cut I lightly passed the face over the jointer again to make sure it was flat.

At the end of the day I now have a nice pile of rough cut pieces, ready for the next step - machining.  It may not be until the end of the week before I get back to this piece, so I have taped up the pieces, labeled them and put them aside.