How To Cut 45 Degree Angle Wood
It pays to use a special jig called a mitre saw to cut larger pieces of wood or moulded sections of framing. The workpiece can be held on edge or flat on the bed of the tool. The saw guide, which can be set to any angle, guarantees accurate joints. Hold the work on a mitre shooting board and trim each cut end with a sharp bench plane. MACHINE CUT Box-frame mitre joint i tongue Adjust the mitre fence on the table saw to the required angle, usually 45 degrees.
Chisels And Gouges
Woodworking of any kind is impossible without at least a small range of well-made chisels and gouges. In joint-making. they are especially useful for removing waste wood and for paring components to make a snug fit. The standard woodworking chisel has a strong rectangular-section blade which you can confidently drive with a mallet through pine or hardwoods, without fear of it breaking. Firmer chisels range from 3 to 38mm 1 sto 13 in wide. The slim-bladed bevel-edge chisel is designed for more...
How To Router A Seat Base
How do you make a hardwood stool comfortable to sit on Traditionally, you might scoop out the dished seat with a scorp or inshave. Or you could simply add a cushion. For the Shop Stool shown on page 18, I wanted a uniform y lt on-toured seat that's nearly impossible to get with hand tools. What I came up with was a way to shape the seat using a router and a special scooping jig. With this jig. the router moves like a pendulum but it's not suspended from above. Instead, the router rides roller...
Pressure Bars And Cams
When all four of the threaded inserts were screwed in place, I began work on the pressure bars and cams. These pieces are cut from three blanks that measure 2 wide and 17 long, see Fig. 3. Note These blanks can be built up from two pieces of 4 4 stock or one piece of 8 4 stock just so they're about 1W to 1 thick. pressure bars. To make the two pressure bars C , cut two of the blanks square 1 x 1 and to a finished length of 15. Then drill -dia. holes 1 from each end to accept the eye bolts, see...
Workbench Details
When it comes to cutting the feet and stretchers for the workbench on page 20, a few cuts on the table saw and band saw will get the workpieces in shape. Then it's just a matter of cleaning up the edges with the router. BEVEL CUTS. The first step in making the foot is a bevel cut near each end of the workpiece. To do this, I tilted the saw blade to 45 and set the height at Vi as shown in Figure 1 below. BAND SAW CUTS. Now that the bevel cuts are made, you can take the feet over to the band saw...
Adding dovetail keys to a small box is one way to strengthen the corners And with this unique jig its easy to rout the
Uilding simple boxes, like the one used for die router bit storage project featured on page 28, is rather straightforward. Make the sides, miter the ends, and glue the pieces together. But sometimes mitered joints need reinforcement. So I add dovetail keys at the corners, JIG. In the past, I'd rout the slots for these keys on the router table. But Bernie Noe of Seattle, Washington, sent in an idea that uses a hand-held router. We took that idea and designed a jig that clamps to the side of a...
Torsion Box Engineering
This huge torsion box is 8 ft. long, but it easily holds 300 bs. of bricks and deflects less than 1 2. It weighs only 30 lbs., and is made from inexpensive 3 16 hardboard. How can something made from such thin wood be so stiff That's what everybody asks when they first meet a torsion box. The engineering principles behind a torsion box are pretty simple even so, there's a lot of misleading information about torsion boxes, particularly on the Internet. Without getting too technical, here's what...
Pocket Hole Joinery
When you think of pocket hole joinery you usually think of mass-produced kitchen cabinets and furniture. The kind that are easy to build and fast to assemble. But this type of joinery is not just for making face frames for cabinets. And you don't have to work in a cabinet shop to use it. Because it's so quick and easy see box below , I find myself drilling pocket holes more and more. Pocket hole joinery works well for almost any joint. Here are a few ways I've found they work great. CORNER...
Clamping aids come through when duty cauls
Because most clamp jaws are less than 2 in. wide, tightening the clamps directs the clamping pressure to only a small section of the workpiece. As a result, joints and entire woodworking projects can be pulled out of square, A good solution to this effect is to use wood cauls when gluing up your projects. Wood cauls are simply strips of wood that are slipped bet ween clamps and the workpiece to distribute the clamping pressure evenly. Woodworkers have been using them for centuries to help...
Shop Tip Dowel Holes
First, clamp the jig to your drill press table. Then clamp the rail to the fence of the jig. Now you can accurately drill into the ends of the rails. Some plywood scraps make a simple jig for drilling the dowe holes in the rail ends. tises are the correct depth, measure from the bottom of the mortise as shown in detail 'a.' The middle end rails are connected to the legs with dowels. So now would be a good time to locate and drill the holes in the legs for the dowels and connector bolts (lower...
Kerf Bending
QUESTION How are kerfs used for bending wood QUESTION If kerf bending is so easy, why would anyone steam bend thick strips or laminate thin strips Of all the ways to bend wood into a gentle curve, I think kerf bending is the easiest. It doesn't use special equipment as steam bending does, or a lot of forms and clamps as with bent laminations. It's just a matter of cutting a series of grooves kerfs to relieve the back of the curve. -This technique has been used in general construction to bend...
Making direct entry cuts
Mount a piece of softwood, 2' zin (63mm) square - equivalent to 3l sin (89mm) diam - and lOin (254mm) long, between centres. Set the tool rest to in (19mm) below centre height, ' in (12mm) away from the wood and projecting 2in (50mm) beyond the end of the wood at the tailstock end. A bevel angle of 45' for a strong cutting edge A bevel angle of 45' for a strong cutting edge A profile angle of 85' allows access into square corners A profile angle of 85' allows...
Tiletop BBQ Center Stepbystep
PHOTO B Fasten the legs to the upper and lower crosspieces with deck screws. Position the upper faces of the lower crosspieces so they are 103 4 In. from the bottoms of the legs. PHOTO A Once you've cut the leg tapers and shortened the front legs, mark and cut the rounded feet with a jig saw. Clamp each leg to your workbench to make sawing the feet easier. O Crosscut the legs to size. Cut identical blanks for all four legs, even though the front legs will eventually be shortened to allow...
Patio Table Chairs Stepbystep
PHOTO B Build an upper and lower frame for each chair. Note that the end pieces of each frame are Inset 3 s in. and 3Vs in. from the ends of the side pieces. Clamp the frame parts together, and drive 2-in. galvanized deck screws through the sides and into the ends to make the frames. PHOTO A Lay out and cut eight back chair legs to shape. Use the Back Legs drawing, page 25, to establish reference points for drawing the leg shapes. Connect the points with a straightedge. Since you're building...
Seatofthepants Veneer Press
If you don't happen to have a dedicated veneer press or a vacuum-bag veneering outfit, you can still get the job done with common clamps, cauls platens made of plywood or other man-made board and wooden beams, as long as you follow two simple principles Use enough clamps to provide adequate pressure, and distribute the clamping pressure as evenly as possible. I don't know any hard-and-fast formulas for predicting pressure distribution, but I generally try to build caul thickness roughly equal...
HowTo A Beveled Rabbet
First, I made a 45 bevel cut with the case side standing on edge. A tall fence helps guide the workpiece. A Square Cut. Next, I removed the waste with a square cut. A stop block clamped to an auxiliary fence will help you make the cut accurately. Secondary Rabbet. I used a dado blade to cut the deeper, secondary rabbets that hold the back panels. A Bevel Cut. First, I made a 45 bevel cut with the case side standing on edge. A tall fence helps guide the workpiece. A Square Cut....
Eccentrichuck
If you'd like to have some real fun at the lathe, Sorby's Eccentri-Chuck lets you create wild off-center turnings. See photo, below. The chuck allows the workpiece axis to be eccenlrk ally offset from I he lathe axis. You can set the amount of eccentricity by simply loosening two Allen screws, moving the work on the chuck's offset base and then retightening. How did he do that Sorby's The offset is clearly new Eccentri-Chuck turns marked in increments tric ky creations by offsetting on the...
Tools For Drafting
You don't have to spend a fortune on fancy equipment to produce perfectly acceptable shop drawings. All you really need are the following basic tools. Drafting equipment can be purchased locally at any good art supply store. DRAWING BOARD-The drawing board should be as large as possible 24 x 36 in. is a good size for most woodworking projects. It should have a smooth, flat surface. Metal edges are nice, but not necessary. T-SOUARE The T-square is a guide for drawing all horizontal lines. It...
Colonial Spoon Rack
Any collection of fine silverware can be proudly displayed in this charming colonial spoon rack. Note that it is basically made up of seven parts the back, two sides, the front, bottom, and two spoon holders. All are made from clear pine. Since thin wide stock is hard to come by, the back will probably have to be made from two pieces of 14 stock, edge glued together, then planed down to the thickness. After planing, transfer tlu- imd patterns from the drawing to the stock and cut out Now cut...
InFloor Dust Collection
This dust-collection box under Randy's router table connects into the in-floor shop dust-collection system. The bottom slopes to the vacuum port so the dust and chips are easily sucked out of the bottom of the bay. Hole sized to fit dust-collection hose Randy's router-table fence made of plywood with walnut faces clamps directly onto his tablesaw rip fence. A plastic dust chute behind the bit enclosure hooks into the dust-collection system. The hardwood faces have adjustment slots so Randy can...
Sources for Plastics and Hardware
You can buy most plastics over the counter. The retailer often will cut a piece to the size you want, rather than insisting that you buy a stock sheet. And because he cuts to order, he'll likely have an assortment of odd-sized scraps you can pick through and buy cheaply. What retailer do you go to Look in the yellow pages under Plastics. Most regions will have a choice of suppliers, maybe even one near you. If you'd prefer to shop by mail, page through your woodworking tool catalogs. Most...
Emco Wood Lathe
JIGS FOR PRODUCING HALF-BLIND DOVETAILS DOMINATED the market in 1984, when Leigh Industries D1258 jig was introduced. The D1258 was a winner for two reasons. First, it created dovetails that looked hand cut, because they could be variably spaced and it created them in a fraction of the time that hand-dovetailing would require. Second, in addition to half-blind dovetails, the D1258 could create sliding dovetails and through dovetails in stock up to 1-1 4 thick and 24 wide. In short, the D1258...
Fast Face Frames With Pocket Hole Joinery
Pocket screw joinery is quick it's designed specifically for building face frames (like the one for this project). And the procedure could not be any simpler. The frame pieces are cut to length so they butt together. Then you drill some angled holes, as in the photo at left. Finally, the pieces are clamped together and secured with screws, as shown in the drawing. To build this face frame with pocket screws, you're going to need a drilling jig, some self-tapping screws, and a special stepped...
American Woodworker
The Complete American Woodworker Index Includes The AMERICAN WOODWORKER Index zeros in fast on tho information you need. Includes every article, project. Tech Tip and more from 1988 through 1993 oil listed by subject and cross-referenced for easy use. AMERICAN WOODWORKER BACK ISSUES 4.50 Each (Please check off the issues you want) AUGUST 4-7, 1995 ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER--ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA Over 800 exhibitors. See exciting new technology. Get first-hand experience with thousands of...
Complete Your Collection
Renins _ 5 December 1988. Plunge Koucen. Aniline D es _ 8 June 1989 Corner Cupboard. Filing Cabinet _ 9 August 1989 TiNex Tbne-Up. Wind Cradle 10 October 1989 Tool Cabinet. Ghies 11 December 1989 Shukrr Bene*. 2-S led E*tel _ 12 February 1990 Router Baucv Parvus Trte _ 13 Apnl 1990 Turned Birdbouses Slot Mortuer _ U June 1990 TaNesa* Cutoff Ban. Misucn Arnxtuir 15 August 1990. Carning Letters. Quih R*ck 16 October 1990 Veneer Pre . Sharpening _ 21 August 1991...
To support the CDs in this case we used a unique pin and ledge system that vnakes the CDs appear to float in midair
Here are a lot of ways to store Jk CDs compact discs . They can be stacked in a pile, filed in a shoe box, or if you spend a few bucks, housed in a simulated wood, CD rack. But as a woodworker, none of these options appealed to me. Instead, I took a little different approach and designed this CD storage case with several unique features to set it apart from other cases. Like most cases, the CDs are stored horizontally so the titles are easy to read. What's a little different about this design...
Basic Bureau With a Shaker Flair
Assemble the frames one at a time using a jig made from plywood and scrap boards. After gluing the side and center frame members to a front or back piece, set the assembly face down on the jig to align and square the frame. Assemble the frames one at a time using a jig made from plywood and scrap boards. After gluing the side and center frame members to a front or back piece, set the assembly face down on the jig to align and square the frame. Dado and rabbet frame assembles to sides. Rabbets...
Edge Joining Along A Curved Line With The Router
Inlay work docsn t have to be done using die internal or female template. You can make an external or male template for the job. All you have to do is reverse the bushings used for the two cuts. To cut the recess, apply the template to the stock with double-sided carpet tape. Install the snwila of the two guide bushings on the router, and make the perimeter cut. Keep the bushing tight against the template as you work. Pry off the template, and rout out the rest of the waste. Then stick the...
Hardbound Volumes
This set includes six hardbound volumes of Woodsmith (Volumes 22 through 27). Each volume includes a year of issues, plus a table of contents and a handy index. Buy them for 29.95 each. Or get the whole six-volume set for 139.50 and SAVE 40 that's like getting one volume FREE. or Call 1 -800-444-7527 Today to Order Yours great winter project. And to complement the beautiful curly maple used throughout the project, you'll need to add hardware appropriate for the design. We turned to Horton...
Final Assembly
Fasten the back (L) with screws (Photo 7). 15. Glue on the end panels (M and Photo 8). Complete the cabinet base by gluing on the frame faces (N and P) and foot fillers (Q). 16. Finish the top by gluing on the front and side faces (R and S). The side faces butt against the front face, which extends beyond the top. 17. Cut the doors (T) to size and round over the edges. Then saw or rout 3 8 in. by 3 8 in. rabbets on the long edges only. Install the knobs and mount all the hinges (see...
Voicu Marian
Saw horses do much more than just provide support for sawing. They can also serve as layout platforms, assembly racks, workbench supports, table extensions and gluing racks. Sawhorscs arc among the oldest and most useful woodworking fixtures. For as long as carpenters and cabinetmakers have been working wood, they have needed something portable to mark, saw, assemble and store their work on. Although these fixtures are often used to hold work for sawing,...
Butcherblock Table
State health codes have required restaurants to replace those fine old maple chopping blocks and food preparation counters with modern, non-absorbent surfaces. As a result, a lot of well-worn but still functional maple tables have found their way into private homes. Perhaps this has provided impetus for the growing popularity of butcher-block furniture. We've seen the butcher-block influence in just about every kind of furniture imaginable, with the possible exception of baby cribs. A good...
Miter and spline joint
On the kickboard of the Tall Case Clock I used a miter and spline joint. Note A spline is a thin piece of wood that runs across the joint . The miter joint hides the end grain. But I add a spline for a couple of reasons. advantages of a spline. First, a spline strengthens the joint by providing more glue surface. A miter joint by itself is only an end-grain to end-grain joint which is structurally very weak. out of alignment as you clamp the joint during glue-up. A spline helps keep the pieces...
Ogee Bracket Feet
Even though the ogee bracket feet shown in the photo look like traditional ogee feet from two hundred years ago, they're much easier to make. Back then, these feet would have been shaped with hand tools I used a table saw and a band saw. The results are the same, great looks and plenty of strength, without the hard work. PROFILES. When you first look at a foot like this, it may be hard to figure how it's made. It's not one big block as you might expect. Instead it's two pieces of wood joined...
Door And Drawer Frames
The hutch and the base cabinet have mitered frame doors, and the drawers have mitered frame false fronts, see Fig. 12. All of these frames are built the same way with a miter spline joint. See Woodsmith No. 21 for complete step-by-step on cutting this joint. Although the joinei-y for these frames is easy, getting them to fit exactly right can be a little nerve-racking. 1 built each of these frames so they were just a scant Vie larger than needed. Once the pieces for the frames are mitered to...
Mortised Lid Stay
To support the lid of the jewelry box, I used a solid brass lid stay that is mortised into one end of the box. There's nothing too difficult about cutting this mortise. It's really just a matter of taking the time to make the proper setup. TEST PIECE. I started by laying out the mortise on a test piece cut to the same length and thickness as the end of the box, see Figs. 1 and la. Shop Note Although the directions that come with the lid stay say V2, I laid out the mortise 5 s from the back of...
Compound Miters
Hours of frustration and a box full of kindling. That's what many woodworkers get when trying to cut compound miter joints. And it's no wonder. A compound miter is easy to understand when you see one in an assembled box. But figuring out how to cut it correctly can be quite a challenge. So how do you make a miter joint compound It's fairly simple. When cutting a compound miter on the table saw, there are two different settings to make. The miter gauge is angled anathe saw blade is tilted. Ana...
The Wood Frame
The Lazy Susan consists of two parts the circular wood frame, and a circular insert. The wood frame actually starts out as an octagon, see Fig. 8. I eut the eight pieces for the octagon from an oak board 3 wide and 48 long. Each piece is cut to a rough length of 6, and then 22 - miters are cut on both ends of each piece so their final length (from point to point) is 5' . spline grooves. Next, grooves for the splines are cut on the mitered ends of each piece. 1 used the router table with a Vs...
Gluing Up Mitered Pieces
After the miters, the spline grooves, and the splines are cut, you're ready to join the pieces together. But what if all this effort fails to produce clean, tight joints Before rushing for the glue bottle, the best procedure is to dry-assemble everything (without inserting the splines). You may have to make a few little trim cuts to get good joint lines. Onee you're sure all joints fit properly, bi-ush some glue on the mitered ends and in the spline grooves. Then apply a very thin coat to the...
Woven Wood Deck Chair Stepbystep
PHOTO B Clamp the stretcher in place between the two legs, and drill V4-in. holes through the legs and into the stretcher for threaded inserts and machine screws. A right-angle drilling guide ensures straight holes. PHOTO A Rough-out each leg with a jig saw, then screw a hardboard leg template to it and rout the leg flush to the template with a flush-trimming bit on the router table. Set the bit's depth so the bearing rides along the template as you rout the leg shapes. O Enlarge the leg...
Doubledrawer Chessboard Stepbystep
0 Cut the chessboard sides, front and back pieces to size from i -in.-thick walnut. Kip stock for all four parts to in. wide. Crosscut the parts to length on the table saw with the blade set to a 45 angle (See Photo A). This way, your crosscuts will also form the miters on the ends of the parts. Lay out and cut the drawer faces from the front and back work pieces Use the dimensions shown in the Detail Front & Back drawing on page 281 to draw your cutting lines. Drill tiny starter holes at...
Rabbeting with a straight bit
Many woodworkers prefer to make rabbet cuts with a straight bit rather than a piloted router bit for a couple of reasons piloted bits have a tendency to jump and wtii foiiow any imperfections in the edge of the board they also wtii cut rabbets of only a set depth (even piloted rabbet bits with Interchangeable bearings are hilled to four set depths). By using a jig ike the one shown to the left, you increase the bearing surface, preventing jump-outs, and you can adjust the relationship of the...
Whether you re setting up your router table or a hardheld router here are some handy tips that will mal
kometimes, setting up VJthe router fussing with the depth of a bit or tweaking the position of a router table fence seems to take more lime than actually routing die workpiece. Not that you want to sacrifice accuracy for speed. With a hurried setup, a workpiece can easily end up in the scrap bin, which means you've got even more work to do. Still, there are shortcuts you can safely take that will make the process a lot quicker. So we decided to share some of our favorite tips for setting up...
Rubber Retainer
A new router bit set from CMT takes the pane sorry out of making glass-panel doors. The Sommerfeld Glass Panel Set, 130, works like a set of rail-and-stile router bits with a couple of important differences. First, instead of cutting grooves for panels, this set leaves a rabbet for a piece of glass on the back side of the door frame. Second, after machining the stiles and rails, you cut slots in them, for barbed-rubber retainers 14 25 ft. from CMT that hold and cushion the glass. These...
Adjustable Finger
At the upper end of the flexibility-complexity group you'll find the Leigh jig. which has loose fingers that you can adjust. The fingers slide across the jig and back on two steel rods. The fingers can be arranged in an almost infinite number of patterns and spacings. This actually is a template system, though glorified somewhat by the fact that each set of fingers has a side for guiding the cutting of pins and one for guiding the cutting of tails. You can set the jig to produce wide tails,...
Make This Humble Wood Look Like A Million Bucks
Antique pine often lias a dark, mellow color. Unfortunately, when woodworkers try to duplicate that color on new pine by using stain, the results arc usually disappointing. It's easy to end up with mega-blotches and it's hard to avoid grain reversal, a peculiar effect that makes stained pine look unnatural photo below , h doesn't have to be that way, though. If you follow the process presented here, you can give pine deep, rich-looking color without losing its natural appearance. Pine is hard...
Make Dewaxed Shellac
Take the wax out of shellac and you have a great sealer that's compatible with most other finishes. It's best to get this dewaxed shellac as dry flakes that you mix with denatured alcohol. Usually you have to order the flakes through the mail. But in a pnch, you can decant draw off one layer of liquid from another dewaxed shellac from the canned shellac you'll find at the hardware store. Bring e clean can or lidded jar with you to the store. With the okay of a salesperson, carefully carry a can...
Working with Birds Eye Maple
Birdseye maple is captivating and has a reputation among woodworkers of being hard to find and miserable to work with. These are myths. Actually, birdsevc is readily available in staggering varieties. I'll tell vou where to find it and how to choose the best boards. And surprisingly, birdseye is easy to work with. I'll show you how to tame its unruly grain and give you a recipe for a great-looking finish.
Tinted Waterborne Over Shellac Seal Coat
Improve the look of waterborne poly on dark wood quickly and easily. Warm the wood's appearance by tinting the poly with amber-colored dye. Bring out the wood's natural color and figure by applying an initial coat of dewaxed shellac. Using both techniques dramatically changes the wood's appearance. On a large surface, lay on the finish in successive, slightly overlapping end-to-end strokes, each about as wide as your pad or brush. Wet the surface with the first pass, go back over it only once...
Dyed Walnut
YVaterborne varnishes and lacquer have no inherent color, so they're often used on light-colored woods, such as maple, to avoid the amber tone added by traditional shellac and varnish finishes. On the other hand, darker woods, such as walnut, look better with traditional finishes because their amber tone amplifies the wood's rich, dark color. If you plan on using a waterborne polyurethane or lacquer finish, consider warming up the walnut first, with a coat of dye. On the sample shown here, the...
But thats the only thing Id change and thats eight years later
One of the first modifications Wait made to his tablesaw was to install this knee-operated, spring-tensioned panic switch. This way, Walt can keep both hands and his attention on the workpiece. The switch was hard to get at, Walt explains, so I put a crash bar across it so 1 could push it with my knee. No matter where you hit it, ail you need is a quarter inch of travel to shut the saw down. Even a simple Segl project, like this magazine rack, carries the look and feel of period furniture. It...
Dyed Walnut With Waterborne Finish
NAtURAL WALNUT WITH WATER-BORNE FINISH Water-borne varnishes and lacquer are often used on light-colored wood like maple to avoid the yellowing that occurs with traditional shellac and varnish finishes. Darker woods like walnut, on the other hand, look better with a warmer finish that brings out the rich, dark color. If you plan on using a water-borne varnish or lacquer finish, consider warming up the walnut first with a coat of dye. We used the aged walnut recipe diluted three parts to one....
Buying Advice
Should you buy waxed or dewaxed shellac Wax occurs naturally in shellac. If shellac is going to be the only finish, then shellac with wax works fine. The wax decreases drag when padding or brushing shellac. If shellac is used as a sealer or undercoat for other finishes, choose the dewaxed version to avoid adhesion problems, especially with potyurethane. Dewaxed shellac also has greater clarity and is more heat and water resistant. You can dewax your own shellac by letting the wax settle out and...
Tss Table
The new Laguna TSS series is setting a new standard in Table saws. Our TSS series Table saw come complete with 10 or 12 blade capacities, American-made Baldor motors, and optional scoring. The TSS table saw features a heavy-duty sliding table. The new digital display for your saw provides precision positioning of your rip fence, allowing repeatable accuracy to the thousandth of an inch. I plan to finish a kitchen table with Polyurethane for durability. Should I use water-based or oil-based poly...
Spalted Sycamore
An active fungus colony surrounds itself with a chemical and physical barrier that defines its outer boundaries. Filaments of the fungus pack and swell in these regions and exude generous amounts of pigmented material that usually appear as black lines. The material in these zone lines protects the colony from attack by bacteria, insects, and other fungi, and assists in maintaining a desirably moist atmosphere. Inset Electron microscope view of a fungus zone line in front of wood cell...
Flat Sheen
Switch to a fine synthetic abrasive wool (0000 steel wool equivalent) to bring the finish to a satin sheen. dust the way a flat, horizontal top docs. A light bulling with steel wool will clean the occasional dust nib on vertical surfaces. 5. Sand with 320- to 400-grit stearated paper between coats, depending on how smooth the coat looks. Use a sanding block to level ridges and bumps. With a gloss finish, coarser paper may leave scratches that are visible through subsequent layers of poly. 6....
Orange Shellac
Many cottage industries still produce raw shellac. Here, workers scrape shellac resin from tree branches in India and Thailand. Shellac is without a doubt my favorite finish. There's no orher finish as versatile It is fast-drying, imparts a beautiful clarity and depth to wood, and applies easily with a brush, rag or gun. It has good resistance to abrasion, acids and stains, and, if dewaxed, good resistance to water. Shellac is nontoxic when dry, making it the perfect finish...
Circle No On Product Information Form
UMiAt so un i inrumwi Kjn r-ivw Probably the best 18 bandsaw ever buiu Call now for a free video LAGUMA TOOLS 3 HP motor Heavy-duty cast iron trunion Dynamically balanced cast iron flywheels Heavy dim fence Foot brake Rack-and-pinion adjustment of upper guide Europcan-st e guide bearings Optional mobility kit miter-gauge 12 resaw capacity Tension indicator Excellent dust collection 226S Uwiina Canyon Rrud Ijruiu Broch, CA 92651 I'm planning to harvest some red oak trees this spring, saw them up...
Aerosol Film Finish
Cost 5 to 8 per can Coverage 25 sq. ft. PROS Minimizes mottled figure Seals end grain so its color matches the face grain Fast drying (except oil-based poly) Easy to rub out (except oil-based poly) Polyurethane is most durable CONS Must sand between finish coats Possible drips, runs and sags Overspray Requires organic-vapor respirator Dust may stick to slow-drying polyurethane Won't disguise color mismatches Sapwood remains light-colored IT'S EASY TO GET IN CORNERS with aerosols because there's...
Hot Pipe Bending Wood
Patented design allows for multiple rail amp stile project combinations With Freud's New Premier Adjustable Rail amp Stile System Now with Freud's new, patented Premier Adjustable Rail and Stile router bit system, you are able to build any style of cabinet door in a wide range of door thicknesses and sizes This extremely easy-to-use solution gives you unlimited creative freedom, and solves the long-standing limitations of existing frame This one of a kind solution allows you to create extended...
By Simon Watts
And then I'll describe the various machines that do the same job. Any machine involves some setup time. If you have only a few mortises to deal with, it's often quicker to mark them out individuallv, drill out the waste, and chisel to the lines. If you don't have a drill press, a self-centering doweling jig speeds the work and keeps holes square to the surface. If you already own a drill press, consider buying a hollow-chisel mortising attachment to go with it. This attach- mcnt consists of a...
Rainhandler
AW0802 2710 North Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06604 1 -800-942-3004 Fax 1-800-606-2028 I hate fumbling around in drawers or digging into cabinets for tools. That's why I love perf-board. ft displays my hand tools out in the open where I can grab them the instant I need them. But, rather than having one big piece of perf-board in one location, I cut the stuff up and hang it wherever I need it. On my workbench, for example, I found the perfect spot to hang some perf-board for...
Woods That Contain High Amounts Of Tannic Acid
White and red oak, cherry and walnut can be ebonized by brushing on an acidic solution of iron and water. Depending on the species, the black color that results is likely to contain shades of brown, red or green. The coloring is usually uniform and consistent, without the blotching that sometimes occurs with oil-based wood stains. On oak and other woods that have large pores, the effect is particularly striking because the pores usually remain light in color.
By Lonnie Bird
Spindle liaper outweigh anil outperform rcmlrrs for many MiMidHorkinp ta ks. Like many woodworkers, I used to shape everything with a router and the usual assortment of bits. I soon realized, however, that I couldn't create large or unusual profiles with a router. In a sense, the router limited the scope and creativity of my woodworking. I finally found the answer for these more complicated cuts when I became an apprentice in an architectural woodworking shop and was introduced to the...
How To Regrind And Sharpen Bowlturning Tools
Before getting to the tools used to turn the Fruit Bowl, I'd like to mention a couple of things about the lathe itself. 1 used a standard 36 Sears lathe to turn the fruit bowl. The Sears lathe itself is more than adequate to do the job. However, the point I'd like to make is that a lot of the light metal benches sold for Sears and other lathes are not adequate for this kind of project. An 11 bowl spinning out-of-round on the lathe, creates an unbelievable amount of vibration. Unless the lathe...
Sharpening Gouge s
Gouges, those familiar curved caning chisels, are time-honored, versatile tools that are used by craftsmen of all abilities, yet few people seem to know how to put a good cutting edge on a gouge. The Japanese craftsman sharpens his gouges with regular water stones. He makes a number of grooves in the stone to fit his gouge sizes. Sometimes he uses one groove for two or three gouges, even though they have different radii. The problem with this method is that if you have many gouges, you need...
Making The Sides
The sides arc simple frame-and-panel structures made with tongue-and-groove joinery. The panels fit into grooves cut into the stiles and rails with a dado blade. Set your fence so the groove is centered exactly on the edge of the frame. This is important because each stile must be flipped end-for-end to cut the deeper groove for the rails (Photo 2). The tongues on the rails are cut on a crosscut sled making multiple passes over a blade. Final fitting should be done with a rabbet plane. Glue up...
Working with Spanish Cedar
QI'm making a cigar box from Spanish cedar and need some information. Do the oils In the wood make it difficult to glue Will glue hinder the enhancement and aging process of the cigars Can I use oil and wax on the outside of the box to finish the wood7 Jack Babtels Harlingen, Texas A Spanish cedar, which isn't a cedar, but a deciduous tree it loses its leaves in the mahogany family, has a lot of natural oils. These oils are what give the wood its wonderful aroma, but they can also prevent most...
Heres what you need to know to choose the right broom and brush for every messy job in your shop
A push broom and a bench brush are two of the most frequently used tools in my shop. Yet they aren't given the least thought until it's time to buy a new one. That's when you begin to realize there's more to choosing a broom or brush than meets the eye. When it's time to buy a new broom, there are two things you'll want to consider size and the type of bristles. And after making a choice, you can refer to Sources on page 51 to find out where to find the broom or brush that's right for you....
Routed Tails Hand Cut Pins
In the Rodale shop, Fred and Phil Gehret often start dovetails with the router, then finish them by hand. Most of the projects they do are one-of, special, even oddball ones that don't lend themselves well to mass-production-type jigs. They'll start by cutting either the pins or the The basic dovetail bit, the one that's in the sets of basic bits, the one that's used with the basic dovetail jigs, is the 14-degree, ' 2-inch-diameter, ' i-inch-cutting-length variety. Now, the traditional...
International Tool Auction Accepts Arsentee Rids
Lore than 1,000 llots of outstanding woodworking tools for both collectors and craftsmen will go up for bid at the International Tool Auction. Friday July 29 at the Limes Hotel in Needham Market, Suffolk. England. You say your wife won't let you fly abroad for the weekend That needn't stop you from bidding. Tony Murland, sponsor of the auction and co-owner of The Tool Shop in Needham Market, makes it easy for North American woodworkers to place absentee bids. Here's how it works. Purchase the...
American Woodworker Build The Best Adarondack Chair By Andy
A classic outdoor chair, designed to Template routing for perfect Fold a board to make a l our ways to get a better Designing Solid-Wood Corner Joints By Ian Kirby & John Kelsey Lye-catching corners tor boxes and case An heirloom riding toy your child will never Thoroughbred steeds for your Beautiful panels begin with the right Shop Test Mini Lathes By Stephen H. Blenk Six super-accurate machines for small-scale Play a tune on a Marquetry Chevalet By Patrick Edwards A precision cutting jig for...
Oval Shape Template For Jewellery
The first of the boxes, the jewelry box, is the most unusual of the three. With its oval shape and wing-like lids, it also seems a lot more complex, but as you'll see, there isn't anything unusual about building it. There are only four parts to the jewelry box. The body is made of one piece of l1 1''-thick hardwood. A pair of bean-shaped compartments are routed in it to hold the jewelry. Two matching swivel lids enclose the compartments, and a center divider serves as a lid stop. making the...
Scroll saw pattern
1 Apply a thin, evert coal of spray mount to toy pattern. Let the glue dry to a tacky state before applying pattern to the wood Press onto wood 2 Carefully cut out pattern with your scroll saw Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for all body parts. Sand lightly wth 100 grit sandpaper to soften edges. 5 Repeat Stop 3 to attach front leg side B and one ear to the opposite side of the body. Refer to side vie drawing on the plan intro page for placement. Let dry thoroughly. 6 Repeat Step 4 to attach rear leg s gt...
Copyrighted mate
Apply glue to the contact surface of a rear leg. Press part down and slide around on the body to spread glue evenly. Press firmly into place. Let dry thoroughly before proceeding to next step. 4. Repeat Stop 3 to attach the front teg to the body. Line up bottom of fee and tail wrth the table top. Squeeze leg onto body and hold In place against table top until glue sets up. 6. Attach the second rear leg to the body. Line up bottom of feet and tail with the tabic top to insure the toy ts...
Fliptop Tool Stand
NOTE All parts 3A plywood unless otherwise noted NOTE You might need to alter size of tool stand to fit dimensions of your tools enchtop tools are great space savers, but they can still fill up a small shop in a hurry. So Arthur Muller of Menomonie, Wisconsin came up with a solution. It's a tool stand that does double-duty by flipping its lid. What makes this tool stand different from most others is that you can mount tools on both sides of the top. Then when you want to use a different tool,...
Blade Stiffener
Make all your blades cut better and quieter with a blade stiffened O 4 21 Q 5 24 6 25 10 Off First Blade 89 107 116 89 62 FORREST DADO-KING 6-12 Unmatched Precision on Every Dado Cut The Forrest Dado-King gives you flat-bottomed grooves and no splintering even when crosscutting oak plys and inelamine. This award-winning set comes with six 4-tooth chippcrs including 3 32 chippcr , two 24-tooth outside blades plus shims. Cuts 1 8 to 29 32 grooves. 10 BLADE RUNNER prtcG Dado Dado Protects and...
Aprons Divider
The legs of the table are connected by a framework consisting of four aprons and a center divider, see drawing above. This creates a stable foundation for the top. Later, drawer supports will be added between the aprons and the center divider. To make the aprons, I started by cutting the apron blanks to size. For the two, long side aprons B , this is simply a matter of cutting a couple pieces of3 4n-thick stock to size, see drawing above. But the end aprons C are a little different. They have a...
Making Finger Joints On A Table
Begin by carefully preparing the stock to be finger-joined. The pieces should be of exactly the same thickness and width or the joints will not come out even. Make extra pieces to be used as scrap stock for setting up the jig. As an aesthetic rule of thumb and to make setup a bit easier , plan to make the width of the finger joints equal to the thickness of the stock. After cutting the stock to length I usually make the parts exactly ' i6 in. oversize so 1 can later trim the ' 32-in. protruding...
Weekend Project
Attach auxiliary fence to miter gauge to back up workpiece I ost step stools fold up when . they're not in use. This is handy for storage, but not very convenient if you use the stool frequently. The nice feature about our step stool is that instead of folding up, the step slides in and out of the base. So it's ready to go at a moment's notice. The step slides in a track in the base of the stool. Aid a system of pins and stop blocks prevent the step from coming all the way out of the base....
Dado Blades
A wobble blade (top) cuts a dado with a concave bottom, while a stack dado set (bottom) leaves a dado with a cleaner, flat bottom. I can still remember rushing back JL to the shop after buying my first dado blade. I quickly set up the blade on my table saw. Then grabbing a piece of wood from the scrap pile, I cut a dado and anxiously turned the piece over to inspect the results. I couldn't have been more disappointed. The edges were ragged and splintered, and the bottom of the dado was anything...
Maximize your shops floor space by mounting two tools in one stand And by putting the stand on wheels you can roll it
Enchlop tools arc great space savers, but they can still 1311 a small shop in a hurry. 'Ih.it became clear to me one flay when I realized I had more tools than I had open bench tops ro put them on. So after clearing out a small space to do some drawing. 1 came up with this loo stand. It docs double-duty by flipping its lid. What makes this stand different from most others is that you can mount tools OU bolli sides oithe top.'lhen when you want to use a different tool, all you have to do is flip...
Pice She Wee
PHOTO B Glue and clamp the stats together to form the hack panel. Clamp scrap cauls across the slats to hold Hie panels flat. Apply just enough clamping pressure to close the joints. PHOTO D Create a simple shop-made Jig out of plywood to gang-rout shelf dadoes across the sides. Guide the router base along a removable fence, and rout each dado clear across both the fig and sides. PHOTO D Create a simple shop-made Jig out of plywood to gang-rout shelf dadoes across the sides. Guide the router...
Cutting Diagram
Ft. ea.) x 5 - 96 Cherry (4 boards 3.33 Bd. Ft. ea.) 3 a x 5 - 96 Cherry (3.33 Bd. Ft. ea.) 3A x 5V2'- 96 Maple ( 2 boards 3.66 Bd. Ft. ea.) The next step is to cut W-deep rabbets on the ends of the sides to hold the top and bottom panels, see Fig. lb. The center divider is set in a dado cut across the top and bottom panels, so I cut these dadoes next, see Fig. la. And to hold the V4n-thick plywood back, I cuta VS -wide rabbet on the top, bottom, and side...
Router table through cuts
Cutting grooves and dadoes on a router table has a lot in common with doing it on a table saw with a dado cutter. In both approaches, you If you like the speed of the power-saw-mounted dado cutter, but the clean cut of the router and straight bit. here's a compromise. It's the dado-cleanout bit from Eagle America. With a shank-mounted bearing and cutting edges that are only ' inch long, the bit is designed to tidy up after your power saw. The design theory- is that the bearing follows the...
Shaft Brake
Router type, size Plunge or fixed base, 1-3 4 hp or larger The Unilift dial indicators double as crank inserts. The Unilift has a manual shaft break that has to be activated before routing and released before adjusting. This is an extra step that must be done with each height adjustment and requires keeping a hex-head screw driver handy. Base mount accommodates a plunge router. - The Unilift will fit the Milwaukee 5625-29. Extra-tall wrench easily clears the fence. Aluminum mounting plate is...
Quickrelease Lever
Jet Powermatic Jointech SmartLift Digital Router type, size Plunge or fixed base, 1-3 4 to 3-1 2 hp The Jet Powermatic EXACTA-Lift is an older design but it's still a capable router lift. What sets the EXACTA-Lift apart from most of the other lifts is the fact that the router mounts to the lift by its base, allowing it to take almost any size and type of router. The EXACTA-Lift can take almost any plunge or fixed-base router on the market, including the big Milwaukee 5625-29. Price includes an...
Jack Screw
JessEm Mast-R-Lift and JessEm Rout-R-Lift FX Router type, size Fixed base, 1-3 4 hp to 3-1 2 hp JessEm has been in the lift business longer than anyone. The years of practice have paid off in its Mast-R-Lift design. JessEm makes the Rockier Mast-R-Lift, too. It's identical except for the Rockler's trademark blue color. Black anodized aluminum mounting plate is strong yet lightweight. Bit changes can be made above the table. Dust-free crank port cannot fill with sawdust. An easy-to-read,...
How do I make a decorative shelf with an attractive support bracket
A simple shelf bracket is easy to make and attach to your shelf. It makes the shelf stronger and more attractive. 1. Photocopy Fleur-de-lis Wall Shelf Patterns on page 49. Using scissors, trim patterns and position pattern for shelf onto wood to take advantage of a straight edge see picture below . Temporarily adhere patterns onto wood with spray adhesive. Refer to Simple Fish, Steps 4-5 on page 24. 2. Install 5 reverse-tooth blade in scroll saw. Since there are no cut-out openings, cut on all...
Jumping Jack Santa and His Helpers
Traditional ' Jumping Jack ' figures are quick and to make thick material. HOW TO MAKE THE SANTA amp HELPERS -JUMPING JACIT TOYS Adhere the pattern 10 the wood with sprav glue Saw onh on the outline uf the pan ems 1 gt nl 1 h diameter holes at the dots cm the pattern of the arms and legs 1 gt rill J 'Kv diameter holes at the s or i the patterns Nate freicnt jyieniblv paint all the parrs as desired, then re drill hales to Also before as amp cnibly loop string through the amis and legs as shown...
Cordless Drills
On Milwaukee's new Power Plus line of cordless drills, you can change the balance point by mounting the battery forward or backward. Mount it forward for drilling or screwing horizontally, backward for vertical work like running deck screws or working overhead. Prices vary with models. See chart, page 70. Milwaukee 0511-21 with reversible battery If you need long-lasting, heavy-duty performance. 18-volt cordless drills are the way to go. Wagner's WB180K comes with one battery and a three-hour...