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    Woodsmith Magazine - 083

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    77 views32 pages

    Woodsmith - 083

    Uploaded by

    rsotoqp
    Woodsmith Magazine - 083

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 32
    +Chess Board+ Sleigh Centerpiece « Secret Box + Coat Rack No. 83 October, 1992 EDITOR’S COLUMN ‘CUSTOMER SERVICE Jennie xox Bene) Jeff}anes. Joy Jone, ‘Sars Johor Ari Blnshan, Anna Cox Jer Cane perv) rs sek, cde Donic McVey, Check Cres WOODSMITH STORE DereLarson Be eS eee inncians agg oat Wet Ban Gees po 0-05, A a Sawdust ne ofthe things Hke about building small projects is that T can practice different techniques — without making a biginvestment in imeor money. ‘The Sleigh Centerpiece on page 18 ie a ‘good example: ts not that big, but it ie volved samething [haven't hat alt of ex: perience with —_metalworking. The idee of ‘alding decorative bras rods tothe Sieigh ‘came up when ovr stafwaslookingat some ‘l6 Currier and Ives prints for design ideas, ‘No problem, [could simply cut the brass rods with a hacksaw and giue them into the holes with epoxy. ‘But then we started talking about making the Sleigh look a litle more realistic by adding “springs* made of brass. So now I had iodealwith bending brassstrips.Alitle sore challenging ‘Asitturned out it wasn’ ll hat difficult. Brass fs so sot ic cuts and bends easly. can even be eut wth woodworking tools) ‘And we found « perfect bending fig — a three pound cofiee can LAMINATION. Though adding the brass ‘was a nice addition to the Sleigh and 1 Jearned some tings from i {think the part thatwasthemostinteresingtoworkon was Acouple of years ago, we prntedan issue that featured ben lamination. In that issue ‘wo explained how youcould bend and ghie together thin strips of wood into a variety of shapes (and projects), ‘But the bent lamination process we used involved building some pretty elaborate forms, soaking alot of stripsin the bathtub, and then borrowing every Clamp in the neighbortiood. The end result wassome'n- teresting projects, but it was easy to get down inthe preparation ‘The runmers on the Sleigh are diferent. “They only require five thin trips of walnut anda 4"long piece of PVC pipe. PVC pipe? Itsusedas form to bend the curved end of the nsanerto shape. theresa more to the story. 1 originally clamped the stip to the PVC pipe with 2 bunch of small Clamps. But ‘when Cinda, one of our technical ilustr tors, began drawing all these clamps, she deciledthere mastheabetter way (least she claimed there must bea better way. C- clampsare one ofthe mosttime-consuming thingsto draw) Anyway, Cinda came up with an idea to atesome ofthe clamps. Wrap larger iece of pipearound the outsideof the wood strips, We tested it out and it worked a lot casier, and also helped protect the strips ‘rom being dented by the clamp pads. (But wwe didn’ let Cinda off thal easy. There are stil some C-clamps needed.) ‘SMALL PROJECTS. F'n sarting to get off the subject from my originalthought. Small ‘projects. I guess what 'm saying is that the ‘Sleigh gave me agoed opportunity totry out ‘some things on a small scale. ‘And there are a number of other small projectsinthis issue that give sinllar oppor tunities to experiment with different tech- niques and designs. Like how to make ‘Chess Board so all of the contrasting ‘squares come out positioned exactly right (page 6). Or how to build a secret drawer ino & box (page24). HOUAY ISSUE. It's not just coincidence that we're featuring all of these small pro jects at the same time in this issue. For a ‘number of yearswe'vepublished an issue of ‘Woodsmith every fall that featured gif pro- jects. Last year we didn’. And we heard about So Idecided to bring back the gift isoue. ‘This issue should be early enough to give you time to get into the shop and complete a project or two before the last-minute holiday rush. ASMALL STORY. Finally. Ican' leave this subject of small projects without sharing a shor story. Recently. a couple stopped by our offices foratour. The woman prously told me how her husband builds “every” project that ap- pearsin Woodsmith. And theyhave most of these projects on display in their home. I began to wonder how they could ft all of those projectsin their house. Then she told me what they do, Whea Woodsmith arrives every two months, they sgothrough this negotiating process. Which of the projects can he build fullsize? And which as scale models? Seale models? Yes. To keep material costs dowa, he has built many ofthe Wood: ‘smith projects in exact 14 scale-That way he gets ll the woodworking experience he wants (including making al the joints), but all of the projects still fit in their house. Sounds likea fair compromise to me. <7 Woodsmith No. 83 A LOOK INSIDE Contents [Tips & Techniques Gl Six great tips. 1) Trimming Laminate. 2) Making a Marking Gauge. 3) Cutting Plywood. 4) Check: ing a Miter Gauge. Plus Quick Tips. [G | Mis solid wood Chess Roard looks like it’s built from littlesquares of wood. It’s not — there's an easier way. [iz] The train is assembled like a jig- saw puzzle. Long axles and big wheels serve as clothes hooks. Who knows, this may be one clothes rack the kids will like well enough to use. [16] Four tips from our shop. 1) Cut- | ting a Lid Off « Bos. 2) Sanding Mitered Corners. 3) Keyhole Hangers. 4) Routing a Smooth Edge. [G] Laminated runners and detailed joinery make this Sleigh Center- piece an heirloom. The polished brass springs add « note of authenticity. | Here’s an interesting small box Oe thc secret — ahiteon araacr, The illusion is in the joinery: tight miters anda sliding panel. [2B] Answers to questions from read- 2 ers. 1) Redwood Treea. 2) Hard and Rock Maple. 2) Carbide Cutters. 4) Multi-Purpose Tools vs. Stand- Alone Tools. 5) Glue Strength. Finishing Tips Contest | [30] Me results are in for our Shop Tips Contest. The Winners: Using One-Step Finishes, Finishing Large Surfaces, anda Finish Seraper. Fi Hardware and supplios needed for the projects in this issue. Chess Board Child's Clothes Rack’ age 12 No. 83 Woodsmith FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS Tips & Techniques TRIMMING LAMINATE Wi made anew router tabletop ith a Formica work surface. ‘Typically, after gluing the For rmicato the base material, you'd ‘timitto size withafush irimbit im a router, But here's a tech- nique I've used for thi twenty years to trim pieces on the table saw, Todo this, you need to make an ausiliary “fence " This isn't 2 typical auxiliary fence mounted vertically to the rip fence. In- stead, this fence lies fat on the saw table, see Fig. 1. The blade \sburied inthe edgeotthe tence, so the outside edge ofthe blade is flush withthe fence: This way the base material can slide along the fence un- touched by the blade. Only the Formica that extends past the edige of the base material, and ‘overlaps the fence, gets cut of Inmade my fence froma piece ‘of plywood. It can be the same thickness or thinner than the ‘base material, but no thicker. Tomake the fence, fist ower the blade into the Saw table. ‘Then, clamp the plywood to the table sothe edge of the plywood ‘is lush withthe outside edge of the saw blade, see Fig. 12, ‘Now turnon the saw and raise the Diade through the plywood until the blade is high enough to cut the laminate see Fig. 2. Wayne Fiz Like Kauai, Hawaii M1 recently purchased a good ‘quality steel rule. Then i got the ‘deatouse itasamarkingeauge, see photo at ight. MARKING GAUGE To do this, I made an ad justable stop out of a block of ‘wood anda thumb ser Begin with an oversize blank 14" wide by 14" high, and about 6° long. Rip a 3ethiek strip off the bottom ofthe blank. Next, to create a slot to’ accept the rule, cut a groove in the botiom side of the blank that matches the width and thickness of your steel rule (1" ‘wide by 3%" deep in my case), see Fig. L With the groove cut, you can ‘cut the blank and bottom piece tofinished length (112), Now drill a hole, centered in the groove. forapiece of94"-dia. dowel that serves as shoe, see Fig. 1a. The shoe prevents the thumb screw from denting or scratching the rule Next, bore a hole centered in the shoe hole forthe threaded insert. Then screw in the threadedinsert. Finally, insert the shoe and sserew onthe bottom piece. To use the marking gauge, ‘li the rule into the slot. Then lide the stop block along the rule to the desired position and tightenthethumb screw. ‘Beldon Peters Canyon Lake, Texas ‘Woodsmith No. 83 CUTTING PLYWOOD ‘When cutting plywood with a circular sav, I always face the ood surface of the plywood down since the blade causes chipout on the top (Cup”) side. Bot sometimes wantaclean cat ‘on bot sides ofthe plywood. To prevent chipout on the top side, Lattachan auxiliary plate to the saw’s base plate, see ‘The auxiliary plate has a “zero ‘learance” Blade slot cut in it ‘This backs up the wood fibers along the ext line and prevents chipout, se photos at right “The idea is pretty simple. Screw apiece of Va! Masonite to the saw’ bse pate, see Fix. 1. “Then punge the blade through it Now you've gota plate with a zero clearance blade Slot. “The only problem isthat now the Blade guard wont work. I's held back by the muxlar pate, A The blade ona eireutar saw chips out the wood fibers on the top side of the plypcood. 0 the blade is left exposed — and that's not sae; To solve this problem, I cut a widesecondslotcentered onthe first, see Fig. 2. Cut it wide enough to aliow the guard to move freely, but sop it 34" back from the forward end of the A Attacking an auxiliary base plate with a “zero clearance” ‘lade slot prevents chipout, blade slot, see Detailin Fig. 2. ‘The shortened blade slot sul prevents chipout because chipout occurs at the leading edgeofthe blade. And that's sil “buried” inthe narrow slot Gordon Raver Fallbrook, California CHECKING A MITER GAUGE When cutting picture fames ‘orother mitered joints, want to ‘be certain that the miter gauge on my table saw is set t0 pre- cisely 45°. So I use a framing square fo check its accuracy before cating ‘To do this, 1 lay the framing square onthe saw table and align the 5" marks athe inside edges ofthe square with one sideo the the rlter gate slot (which it shouldbe) It's also important that your ‘framing square is truly square, Since most framing squares _getdropped and banged around alot, checkyour framing square with a try square or another ‘square you're sure of ‘Mike Rogerson Cupertino, California Fig.l. Now loosen the angle lock on the ‘miter gauge. Then slide the face of the miter gouge against the framing square and ockin theangle. This technique aves you accurate miters if the saw blade is paraliel to miter gaugeslot, see 1 QUICK TIPS LABELING TAPE MWhen Inced to create a slick surface so one piece can easily slide along another (as on aii. use a strip of }"-wide plastic labeling tape. The tape, used for making embossed labels, is adhesive backed, so i's easy to attach to the sliding surfaces of figs and fences. Labeling tapeisavailableatof- fice supply stores. It comes in ‘several widths from ¥4" to 4. Willian Landau ‘Skokie, Illinois SINK CUT-oUTS Wp save my workbench trom alue spills and squeeze-cut ‘when I'm gluing up a project, I protect the surface with a sink cutout. Since they're usually fat, they make a good ghing surface. And best of all, glue doesn stick them. ‘Cutouts are available at cabi- net shops and home centersata surpcisingiy low cost — some- times they're free. Bagene Danbenspck "“Paahete Indana No. 83 ‘Woodsmith PRA TURE PROJECT Chess Board You don’t have to cut 64 little squares to build this Chess Board. Just four strips of maple and four strips of walnut. The board is actually the lid for a walnut case that provides a storage place for chess pieces. biggest problem in building a chess board is guring out how to deal withall these lite squares. ‘Thesolutions simple —youdon't. ‘THE BOARD. The squaresin this Chess Board arena problem because they dont start out as squares a ll. ‘They start out as strips of wood that are ued together then cut apart and glued together again. Tused maple fr the light squares, and walnut forthe dark squares and the case. (Of course youl need to supply the chess pieces or checkers — see page 31 for sources of each) JorveRY. Although this Chess Board is ready for use after the top is built, I decided to add a mitered case ‘around the board to provide a place to store the game pieces, see photo on page 22. DESIGN. The lid of the Chess Board is hinged to the ‘ease, but it doesn't open from the front as you might expect. Instead, the ld opens trom the side. This way, players sitting across from each other can both reach Inside to take out their game pieces. ‘ORIENTATION. There's another reason for paying at. tention to how the board is oriented. In the game of chess, each player (as they face one another) should have a white square in the lower right corner. This is ‘where the king’srook starts out. Ifyou build the box with the board installed the other way, itwil sill work. Youtljusthave to open itfrom ront toback instead of side to sie, -MARDWARE. To ad abit of accent to the case, Teuta pair of shallow grooves around the outside. Then I in- stalled a solid brass spring catch and neat litle square- ‘knuckle hinges that itbetween the grooves. ‘Thehinges stopthe id when itsopened about 110" If you use these hinges, noid supportis needed. Woodsmith, No. 83 EXPLODED VIEW OVERALL DIMENSIO! 17¥e"L x 1730"W x NS: 3" > soma cotenc + Suscs-owr Felting «OP nONAL DWIBERS (6) ‘ARE RESAIUN ROM Su-THHORSTOCR MATERIALS CUTTING DIAGRAM ae Serena a 3 z — ie xd waves : : z =) ia Set at a Ox 84" (9. FL) MAPLE leSosaeco” Mazen é D Spines Yetta le z oD ae A |e Case Bottom: Ply - 1O¥Bx 103 |F Base Molding (4) Yax?a-17 ta" PLYWOOD 18° x 18" 1S Option. Dicer ce) Vex 180-154 om = surpuses f See ie Box Step Hinges 2) Sane Saal No.3 ‘Woodsmith THE BOARD ‘The playing surface of the Chess Board startsout ikea small tabletop—itsmade ap of strips of wood cdge-glucd to gether. But the stripsarealtemating light and dark colored woods. (Thisis how you start creat. ingthe checkered effect) ‘OVERSIZE StRIPS. There are two other things to take into consideration when ght ingup the panel First, start with longer strips (A, B) than needed. This length (1842) ab lows for trimming to finished size later. ‘Second, to end up with uniformsize (2) ‘squares, the inside strips must start out 2" ‘wide. The two outside strips — one of each color — start out wider (@2V2"), see Fig, 1 ‘This way, there’s room to trim the outside ‘trips ater. And sil allow room fora tongue (ofitin the sides ofthe case), referto Fig. 5. PLUSH ENDS & FLAT Tor. When the glue hasdnedontheedgegluedpanel. squareup the uneven ends ofthe board, Then [planed (you could also sand) each side perfectly ‘smooth and tat (105%" thici). “mARBER POLE” STRIPS, Now the panel ‘can be crosscut into eight “barber pole” ‘Strips, see Fig. 2. Again, the two outside strips should be cut wider than the rest. Note: Keep the bestlooking side ofthe panel face up while you're euting. And Place each strip back ogeterin the same order as it ‘ame offthe panel REGLUE& PLANE. At this time the strips can be glued back together to form a chess board But fis, tum every other strip endfor end, see Fig. 3. "The ideas toend ap with 242wide Squares around al sides ofthe board. And different colors at each corner. ‘Shop Note: To help keep the ends — and faces — of each strip flush, I first made an assembly platiorm, sex Fig. 3. Also, waxthe platform to keep giue trom sticking. Then, to keep the comers of all the squaresaligned, I _lued the strips together one aa time. Once all the strips are glued together, ‘clamp across the panel to pull the joints to- gether tight. After the glue has dried, plane orsand the panel to finished thickness (¥2"). TRIM To size, Now the panel can be trimmed to finished size. To allow for a410"- ‘wide tongueall around, leutthe panel 1694" Square. (This equals eight 2" squares across, plus bwotongues) ‘To do this, first make a mark near each ‘coraer the same distance (8¥is") out from the center ofthe panel, see Fig. 4. Then cut off each edge atthe mark. FOUR RABUETS. Next a rabbet can be cut along all four edges ofthe board, see Fig. 5. ‘These rabbets create tongues that fit into a groove all around the inside of the ax Senibled case. The rabbets also produce out- side squares identical in size to the inside squares ("by 2"). ‘Note: Cut the rabbets along the top edge ofthe board, see Fig. 5a. Also, sneak upon thedepthoftherabbetsothe ionguesmatch the thickness of apiece of 4’ plywood. This ‘way, the chess board top and plywood bot. ‘tom fit into the case the same way later on. 3 {rom four ientical- size pieces of stock which are all ma- chined the same way. curTosize. Begin the case bycuttingfour_ blanks for the case sides (C) to finished width and rough length, see Fig. 6. {sipe cnoowes. Then groovescan be cut along the inside face ofeach piece to hold the chess board top and plywood bottom. | cut each groove in two passes on the table saw, See Fig 5. Culthe groowesto with to mate the thickness of the ¥4" plywood to be used forthe cace bottom (F), see Figs. Boand 6. RANBET&CHAMEE Tosllow oom forthe chess board to “float” in the case, next cut a. rabbet along the inside edge of each piece, see Fig.7. Then routachamier along the top outside edge of each piece, see Fig. 8. ‘rTERS. The case sides are joined with aaiters cut across the ends, see Fig. 9. ‘They’reall mitered to the exact same length. "To determine this length, frt measure the chess board (mine is 16%" square). ‘Then add ¥" to allow for a 4s" gap all around, see Fig 9b. Finally, add 9" t ac count for the thickness ofthe two sides. Tmitered al fur case ides tos length of 1674" (longpoint to long-point), see Fig. 9. KERFS & SPUNES. The mitered endsof the sides are held together with splines that fit into kerfs. I cut the kerfs on the table saw with the blade set to 45°, see Fig. 9a. ‘Then cut four splines (D) to length to fit ‘across the kerfs. Note the grain direction of the splines, see Exploded View on pase 7. PLYWOOD HoTTOM. Before assembling the case, cut a piece of '4" plywood for the case bottom (B), see Fig. 9. This should be thesamesizeasthe chess board, sceFig. 9b, INSTALL HOARD AXD HOTTOM, The Case ‘can naw be glued together with the top and bottom in place. This is an allatonetime process, soit helps to use a slow-set (white) ‘glue inall the joints and mating pieces. Note: The plywood bottom is glued into the grooves. but so the top can “float,” add justa spot of giue before assembly, see Fig. 9. DECORATIVE REKIS. Togive the at sides of the case a more interesting look, I cut a pair of decorative keris around the box, see Fig. 10. (Foraflat bottom, tusedarip blade.) ‘CUT OFF UD. Now the lid can be cul away from the case, see Fig. 11. Refer to Shop "Notes on page 16 for more on how I did this, BASE MOLDING inorder tog the == | amore eS appearance, Tadded a strip of molding around the base. This base molding also lifts the game board up so you can _____1 get your fingers under itto pick up the box. ‘TWO BIANKS, The four strips of molding ‘tart out as two oversize blanks, se Fig. 12. ‘Note: The rough length of these blanks should be'é" longer than the case side ‘After cutting the blanks, two holes can be drilled near the end of each blank. These holes are later part of an arch that creates “feet” an the ends of each piece of molding, CHAMPERS & RABBETS, Oncetheholesare Grilled in each blank, cut a decorative chamfer along the twoedges of each blank, see Figs. 13 and 13a. ‘Next, io create a lecige for the case to sit fon, rout a rabbet on the remaining two edges, see Figs. 14and 14a. ‘RIP & ROUT. The next siep is to rip each ‘molding blank to produce two strips ofbase ‘molding (F), see Fig. 15, Then, clean out the waste between the holes to create the feet at cach end. To do this, frst made @ rough cut with the bandsaw. Then [cleaned up the edge with a straight bitin the router table, (Refer to Shop Notes on page 17.) MITER & ATTACH. Now the strips of mold- ing can bemitered to finished length. There are a couple of considerations when cutting, thesemiters.First.to keepthe"feet”oneach. end of the strips the same size, a uniform amount needs to be cut off both ends. And second, the molding has to be mitered to fit around the ease. To do this, ‘sneak up of the final lengths (cutting oF ‘sanding from both ends) until they just fit. Now the molding can be glued around the base ofthe case, see Figs. 1Gand 163. CROSS SECTION HINGES & LATCH Now the idcan be attached tothe case. “The first thing w doisto determine which will be the “front” ofthe box. (A front has a white square inthe lower right cornes.) atached the hinges 20 thei opens to the side. HINGE MoRnseS. With the hinges that ‘you'll be using in hand, lay out the position ‘ofthe mortises in two places along the top edge ofthe case side, see Fig. 17 ‘Now cut the mortisestothesamedepthas the thickness of the hinge knuckle. This should also equal the width of the “ridge” between the decorative kerfs, see Fig. 173 Note: To make it easier, | mortised the hinge into the ease andy, not the id, ATTACH LD. Each hinge can now be screwed to thelid and the case. 10 Woodsmith No. 83 @ CONTNLED ‘CATCH MORMSES. Now, depending on the type of catch being used, shallow mortises ‘might have to be cut far both halves of the ‘atch, see Fig. 19. Then both parts of the ‘eaich can be atached to the case. Note: Woodsmith Project Supplies is offering two stop hinges and one spring ‘catch with mounting pins. These areident- ‘ealtothose shown on this Chess Board, see ‘page 31. The spring catch comes with ‘detaled instructions for installation. pede ty Tenth itt othe "Te prvetchipout a the lees are ct ceencane eee to mate ed the ipo eo oma 3 oe notched -and one for the nine let-toright strips, ee "high, ing ine. Thenrip strips 2 & 4 to 1" wide. sirips CL CHAMFER CORNERS OF — Be | whe ae Jef mee hates bee eee eee L Foetal e fee ects: eae time te a width of 194". stop block ‘Woodsmith JUST FOR KIDS Child’s Clothes Rack When you're faced with cutting dozens of small parts, you have to think about safety as well as consistency. Cutting one piece at a time from a long strip is the only way to go. first impression ofthis Coat Rack vas that building it would be Tike working on a jigsaw puzzle... and I was faced with the prospect of cutting lors of ‘small parts thathad to fit together perfectly, “To simplify things, Iaid out all the small parts so they could be cut from five strips of ‘wood. As needed a part forthe train, Teutit off one ofthe strips, just like a butcher cut ting off slices of salami. ‘Two of the pieces (the smokestack and the wheels) can't be cut off the sips, they hhave to be tumed on a lathe, or purchased premade. (See Sources, page 31.) ‘wood. The choice of wood for each ofthe parts was done to give it some depth and ‘contrast to the background. Since I used light colored plywood (birch) for the back- ‘ground, I chose darker woods (walnut and cherry) for the train pieces so they would stand out. Since I used purchased pieces for the ‘smokestack and lamo (and they only come ‘in maple), I stained them to match the other ‘cherry parts. GUE. used a quick setting “super” glue {to mount the parts to the background. 1 wanted to make sure the small parts ‘wouldn'tsliparound asthe giue dried. FINISH. After the Coat Rack was as- ‘sembled, I sprayedon two very light coats of Deft Semi-Gloss Clear Wood Finish. Using light coats of a spray finish is great to finish ‘project like this— you dont have to worry about getting runs and buildup in ll the Title nooks and crannies. ‘Woodsmith, No. 83 A Bockgound()) — Saply-8x29 B Edgng@) Vax 198-40 (gh) © RallBedi(1) wxl2- 9 D Camage (1) ex Ya. 261% ENGINE E CowCatcner() ¥ax2-2 F BolerBose() Vax Nave G CobBonds@) axed 1H Capsce0) Vax Va-3/e 1 Rating) ax lo- Be 4 BolerSections(®) Vax la-2 IK Boler sends) ax 2-24 L Reot¢i) Vaxva- 5a TENDER 1M Bonds(@ Yoxla-2M N sides@) Vax Na 24 © Rasling (1) Seed coach B Bond Yoxled @. sce) Vax i482 ® Rating (1) Yexa-Be $ Root) axe 10% T_WndowDivisers(8)_Yex 2-214 CUTTING DIAGRAM TRAIN BASE “The easiest way to build this project is by stating wit a ase and edging Then the individual tsi pieces can beattached tothe base like ajigsaw puzzle on acard able. BASE. To build thebase. frstcuta piece of 4 plywood for the background (A) to finished dimensions, see Fig, 1. Then mount ‘wall angers on the back side. (used key- hole hangers. To install them, refer to Shop Notes on page 17.) EDGING. To cover the exposed edges of the plywood and to frame in the train, next add a Va'thick strip of edging around the plywood, see Fiz. 1. (used cherry for his) ‘Todo this, star witha 134?-wide blankand sound over the front edge, see Fig. 1a. Now, ‘cutthe biankinto four strips tofitaroand the base and miter the pieces to length. Next, _dlue the stripsin place around the base. Note: When gluing on the rips, there shouldbe 12" overhang onthe fron‘ for the twainpieves, anda ¥#" overhang on the back forthe hangers. So to make positioning the strips easier, aid the base foce up on Ve" “Masonite spacers, see Fig. 1b. RAIL RED, Now the background can be prepared forthe train. To do this, first euta piece of 9"-thick stock (I used walnut) for the rail bed (C)to fit between the end edg- ing trips, se Fig.2. Then glueitdown soits ffush to the bottom edging stip. ‘CARRIAGE. Now cut another piece of wale aut forthe carriage (D), see Fig. 2. To geta ‘uniform gap, I used a temporary spacer ‘when gluing the carriage in place. —- AEE mmamnene agcten “cr Spietneye No. 83 B DIMENSIONAL PLAN 3 ENGINE & CARS Now the base s ready forthe train. Icut the ‘The frst partofthetrain to makeisthecow catcher (E). | bandsawed this pat irom a Dlockot ¥4"thick walnut, see Fig 4. “Toposition the cow eaicher onthe base, 1 used apiece of ¥4’ Masonite as aspacer, see Fig. &. When gliingthecoweatcherin pace runthe grain horizontally ‘THREE BLANKS Now thatyouresurebovines won't getin the way (dey can make things alte crowded in the shop), you can cut the five strips of ‘wood forthe remaining parts ofthe train. CHERRY PaKrS. The parts used for the boiler base (F), boiler sections (J). and sides (HI, N, Q) are all cut from ¥thick ‘cherry, see Fig. 3 and refer to the Cutting Diagram. First cat wostripsofcherry (1 X18" rgh) for thesc parts Then aseach part fs needed, cut it from one of the strips and leit inplace: ‘WALNUTPAKTS. Thebands (G, K,M, P), railings (1, O, R), and window dividers Mare cutirom H'shick walnut, see Fig. 3 ‘Tomake these pats ripa 1}4"'x206" piece of walnut nto two strips (12' wide), refer to Cutting Diagram, To dress up these parts 2 bit, Lrouted a Ys chamfer along the outside ledges ofboth strips, see Fig.9. Assoonas you remove apiece fromeither fthesestripsfor the boiler band (K), tender band (M), or window divider (T), chamfer ne ofthe ends, see Fig. 6. When removing ‘piece for a railing (1, O, R) chamter both tends, Note: The cab banils (G) and cach bands (P) aren't chamferedat either end. ‘SANDING PARTS, Because the pars are so ‘mal and positioned close together. [found ita whole Tot easier to first sand the parts before gluing them tothe background. Design Note: When you're gluing the boiler bands (K) and tender bands (M) in place, postion the end with the chamfer up, see Figs. Zand& And when you're ghiing the window dividers (1) in place, position the lend with the chamfer down, see Fig, 9. conmueD ROOF PIECES. The engine roof (L) and the coach roof ) are both cut om astrip ‘of ¥7thick walnut, see Fig. 10 and refer to the Cutting Diggram. ‘Once roof (L$) is trimmed to length, Dandsawa¥4"radiusateach end, see Fig. 10. Next, smooth over the roafine by outing’a ‘round overalongthetopedge of theroot, see Fig 10a, hen gu the roofsin place. ‘Without lathe, the easiest way to get areal- isticlooking smokestack is to buy it pre- sade. See Sources, page 31.) ‘work for this coat rack, Thad to cut atthe bands, Ard to do ti fy and ‘accurately, I used a piece of 2x6 at hholditin place. see Fig. 11 Prepare the 2x by drilling a hole in one ‘end that’s the same diameter as the base on the smokestack. Then insert the smoke- stack in the hole. Next, position the rip fence so that a ¥s'- thick section ofthe hase on the smokestack will be produced, see Fig. Ha. Asyou're cut ting, be sure to push the smokestack all the ‘way through thesaw blade. LAMP. Once the smokestack is split trim off asmal portion of te base forthe ano. see Fig. 11a Since I wanted these two parts to match the cherry parts on the train, applied a coat ofcherry stain before gluing themin place AXLES & WHEELS “To help the kids keep their things hung up nthe rack, Lused the train's wheels as the “hooks.” did this by extending the wheels with 3'long dowels as.axles. ‘To attach the anes tothe trai, fist drill five ¥-dia. holes along thecariae(D), see Figs 3and12.Then gluethe dowelsin place te. Because my wheels came with a" ‘ade hole, [had fo bore out the backside of each wheel toacceptthe V2"-ia. dowels. To Ari the hole exacily centered, I made jig consisting of piece of plywood and a ia" owe pin, see Fig. 13. Tobuildthejig, rsiclamp the plywood 10 thedtrillpress able. Then érila ¥-dia hole through the board. Next, insert a short Jenggh of V4! dowel into the lack And re- place the ¥ bit witha V2" Forstner bit. To use the jig, first place a wheel face down on the dowel, see Fig. 13. Then drill ‘seep counterbored hole in the back of the whee. ‘Once ail the wheels have teen counter bored. give them tothe axes, se Fig. 14. AXLE PINS. To complete the coat rack, plug the ¥'-dla axle hole on the front of ‘ach wheel, see Fig. 14. To this, just tim offasmall portion ofanaslepintofithehole, see Fig, 14a Finally, glue the pins in place and apply the finish. No.83 Woodsmith 15 SOME TIPS ER When making abox with ald, suchasthe ChessBoardon page 6, you want the sides of the finished! box and lid to align per fect The est way to dohisie tofirst assembleall the pieces of the box:thetop,botiomand four sides. Then cutoff the lid using thetable saw. OM OUR § Shop Notes CUTTING A LID OFF A BOX ‘Tocutthelid ofthe box, frst set the height ofthe saw blade slightly higher than the thick- nessoftheboxsides, see Fig. La. ‘Then position the rip fence so. the lid will be cut off right where youwantit, ‘With the fence and blade ad- jasted properly, place the bot- tom ofthe box against the fence and begin cutting the lid off the box, see Fig. 1. Butthere'satrick tothis, First cutthrough the two opposite ends, and stop. “To keep the id from pinching the blade on the last two cuts, | side two pieces of ¥-thick Me- Sonite (the same thickness as HOP the width of the saw kerf) the boxfrom one kerfio the other, see Fi. 2, ‘Then Iputsirips oftape above and below the pieces of Ma: sonite to keep them from. slip- ping. see Fig. 2 Now make the last ovo passes tocomplete cuting offthe lid. SANDING MITERED CORNERS After cutting the lid offa box, such ason the Chess Board (see above), you'l want to sand the ‘saw blade marks off the edges. But sanding the edges of mitered comers can betricky. the other would result in sand- ingacrossthe grainaftheadjoin- ing mitered ends. So I made a sanding block with mitered ends. This way 1 ‘can sand right up to the miter To make a mitered sanding block, cut a rabbetin a piece of serap, see Fig. 1. One “wall” of therabbet providesailat surface to attach the sandpaper. ‘The other wall (at 90° to the frst) ace ofthe workpiece, se Fig. 2. Alter the rabbetiscut.youcan miter the ends to 45’, see Fig. Finally, glue a piece of sand- paper tothe wide lace oftherab- bet. This is a great place to use Rubbing sandpaper all the ine without sanding across the serves as a fence to guide the Stikit or another adhesive- way from one end of the box to grain of theadjoining piece. sanding block along the inside backed sandpaper. 1 FENCE RUNS ON SIDE _SFACE OF BOX SDE 16 ‘Woodsmith No. 83 When it was time to hang the Child's Clothes Rack on page 2, Tused keyhole hangers. They are designed to holdacabinet or rack tightly against a wall, and they can support a substantial amount of weight. (The name ‘comes from the shape ofthe slot inthe hangers — it looks like a keyhole, eferto Fig. 1a) The wide part of the slot ak lows the head ofa screw to pass through. But the narrow tepend ‘of the slot is only wide enough for the shank behind the screw head. This way the hanger fits ‘over the head of the serew and locks onthesshank. To install a pair of keyhole hangers, stait by drilling two shallow holes (¥#' deep) on the back of the rack, see Fig. 1 ‘These holes provide enough clearance for the screw heads. Next, center the hangers over theholes, andscrewthe hangers inplace. Once the hangers are at tached, the next step is to mar INSTALLING KEYHOLE HANGERS the location on the wall for the ‘screws on which the rack will ‘ang. Luse a simpie method 10 transier the position ofthe hang- cersonto the wall. ‘To do this, partially drive a ‘small finishing nail into the nar- row end of cach hanger slot, see Fig. 2. Then nip off the ends of thenails leaving them 4" proud ofthe hanger. Now hold the rack up to the wall where you want it to hang. ‘Then level it and press the rack. against the wall to leave small nail holes, see Fig. 2a, Next, install screws (if the ‘hangers are over studs) or hol low wall fasteners Gf it’s over a hollow wall at the nail holes. Finally, remove the naisfrom theback ofthe rack with apairof pliers, and hang the rack on the Wall, See Fig. 5. (t may take a Tittle tril anderrorto determine how farte drivethescrewsinthe wall so the rack will ft tightly over the serew heads and against the wall, see Fig. 32.) ROUTING A SMOOTH EDGE To create the look of feet on the comers of the Chess Board (see page 6), cut out an area on the bottom edge of the base molding pieces. First I drilled holes, then I roughed out the waste on the band saw, cutting V2 on the waste side of theline, sec Fig. 1. Theband sawleavesa ragged edge between the holes. ‘Tosmoothand straighten this ‘edge, and clean up to the final line, juse a router table. ‘To do this, start by mounting asiraight bitin the router table, see Fig. 2. Set the fence so the outside ofthe bit just trims the stock, see Fig, 2a. Gafety Note: ‘Never trapa workpiece between the bitand the fence. Itcan grab andikick back.) from right to left. Note: The fence has to be twice the length ‘of the workpiece to provide a ‘surface for thefeetto run on. ‘To avoid chatter and produce 2 smooth edge, rout out the waste ina series of ight passes, sneaking upon the final line. Woodsmith, v7 HOLIDAY Sleigh Centerpiece PROJECT If you've ever wanted to try bent lamination, the runners on this centerpiece might be the place to begin. And you don't have to be a metalsmith to deal with the decorative brass parts. Apter project doesnt have ta be ig, it ist hes to have anne special aientonbeinit Asyeulookeosevatthe mount of detain this leigh Centerpiece, ite cary to ace how wl be admired for nary holiays come RUNNERS. One of the deals I had the soa fan with asthe runners Taeeany way to make curled runners ist cut them (2 ‘ape ona band saw from a sold piece of ‘ood. Butifthey're made thisway, the grain {rection onthecurved ont enéswilcause ‘eal spots that can easly epi ‘Although it requires more efor, I made nang valnatto imstrength Bach runner iselued up from five thin tripe Then they're ‘bent around apiece of PVC pipetogive them their shape. ‘WOOD & BRASS. From the runners up, 1 ‘yanted to build what would looklike a scale ‘model of 2 sleigh. I used polished brass sirips for the springs and ties, and polished brass rods forthe ralings. or sources of hariware, see page 31.) ‘The sides are made from pine that's care- fally resawn to ¥é'thick. These sides are actually mortised into the walnut posts. FINISH. To preserve the beauty of the ‘wood and the brass, | sprayed on two coats ‘of Deft Semi-Gloss Clear Wood Finish to ‘seal the parts, even the brass. Woodsmith No. 83 EXPLODED VIEW © peyaeaz = 12 Wanut * peda 10-Pre * Ox 12'Bashos * Ove xW' =I Bosste © 20) #214 Bros Br Woocscrews CROSS SECTION ‘Woodsmith RUNNER ASSEMBLY ‘The Sieigh Centerpiece has two main com- ponents — a runser assembly and a car- lage. I started on the runner assembly by Duildingtherunners. {made therunnersfromstipsof wainut:hat are glued together and bent around aform, seeTig.{.l'seasiesttomake one wideblank and then nipthe two runners fom it To make the blank. rip five Vahick strips off apiece of "thick tock. Oncethe ss are Cu the next sep 8 0 reed FORMS. To shape the curled end of the runners, You need around innerform, anda pressure block to press thesis againstthe form. lusedashort piece of PYC pipe asthe inner form and a piece of langer diameter PYC pipe forthe pressure block. see Fig. 2. But before the strips can be wrapped argund the form, they frstmust bewetbeat. WuY WETMEND? Ifa strip of dry wood is bent around a form with a tight radius it could splinteratthe edzesor even break. To prevent this, soak the stipe in hot water for about an hour to soften the wood fers. Whenthestripsare plable, they're readyto be wrapped around the form. TWEFHEND StRiPS. After the strips have been soaked, stack them on top of one another. Then deilla hole at one end ofthe Stack and serew the stack tothe smaller PVC pipe, se Fig. 2. Now, bend te stack slouly rwund the pipe Note: Don'tapply any glue Once you've wrapped the stack, slip the larger Gameter pipe over thestack. see Fig 3. Then damp the sri tight between the twopieces ofpie, see Fig. 4. ‘GLUE. Whea the stips are completely dry,removethe clamps. Then aplyaliberal ‘mount of glue to each sirip. and damp up theentire Blank again, see Fig. RIPPING THE RUNNERS. After the glue Aries overnight, remove the clamps and scrape off the excess glue. (t may also be necessary for you to smooth up the sides witha hand plane or scraper.) Then rip the runners (A) to width, see Fig. 5. Now, cut the runners to length and trim thecurled ends, refer to CrossSection, page 19. Finally, sand the edges smooth, and dri holes oralateral support rod, see Fig. 1 ANLES. The runners are connected with brass ties and twoaxles (B), see Fig. 1. Cut the axles (B) to final dimensions, and chanfer the ends witha sanding block. 20 Woodsmith No. 83 The runners and axles are held together by pair ofties and two pairs of springs, refer ig. 1. The springs and ties are made from SPRINGS. To make the springs, frst cut four brass strips to alength of6". Thea drill holes for screws, see Template below. Note: Tokeep the drillbit from wandering arourd on the brass, I punched the hole with a nil, punch before drilling Next, bend eachbarintoa3!*radius curve, see Template, (When bending the bars, i ‘ower bent them just alittle bit, Then I bent them back until they laid flat on the side of three pound coffee can.) When you're satisfied with the shape of the springs, mark where the bends near the ‘ends are to be located, see Template. (L made the markswithanawl, AndI placed the marks on the bottom side of the springs so they'd be hidden.) Once you've marked the ‘corners, bend the brass, Se photo, ATTACHINGSPRINGS. Now thespringscan be attached tothe axles, First position each spring 3s” in from the end of the axle, see Fig. 6. Then dri a pilot hole and screw the spring to the axle. TIES. To provide lateral support tothe run nerassembly, added brasstiesbetmeenthe runners. see Fig. 7. Tomaketthe tes, first cut two brass strips to alength of 6. Then dell holes forthe screws, see Template Now, mark the corners and then bend the ies to shape, see Template ATTACHING TIES. To attach the tes to the runners, first mark where the Screws go in the runners, refer to Fig. 1. Then. align the holes in the ends ofthe ies with the marks ‘on the runners, see Fig. 7, Now, drill plot hholesand screw the tiesto the runners. ASSEMBLY. Once both ties are attached, the runner assembly can be assembled. To do this, first center one of the axles directly ‘over the front te, see Fig 8 Next, adjust the springs until they're BENDING TEMPLATES centered onthe runners When they’relined up, dril pilot holes and screw the springs to the runners. Now attach the rear axle. To complete the runner assembly, drill pilot holes and serew the ties to the aades, see Fig.9, Then, to dress up the runner 2s ‘sembly, cuta piece of Vs-dia, brass rod fora lateral Support and glue it between the run ners with epoxy, Woodsmith CARRIAGE ASSEMBLY Once the runner assembly is complete, _work can begin on the carriage assembly. ‘The carriage assembly consists of an en closed platform with four comer posts. PLATFORM & POSTS | began by building the platform. For this 1 resawed a piece of Shick walnut tomake a Vtthick blank. PLATFORM. To build the platform, first cut the 5!'wide blank to rough length (12°). cut the blank longer than necessary so T ‘ould use partoft or thekickboard, see Fig. 16) Then, to provide a slot for the side panels, cut a ¥iwide groove along both edges othe blank, see Fig. 0a. Next, cut the platform (C) to final size, see Fig. 10, Note Becausetherearpancland ‘kickboard siope out, bevel the back edge of the platiorm 10° and the front eige 2212" ‘Nov cut the kiekboard (D) to final size, see Fig. 10. Note: To get the bottom edge of the kickboard fish with the bottom face of the platiorm, bevel the botiom edge of the kickboard at 22%". (The top edge of the Ieickboard remains t 90") ‘After the kickboardiscutto size, glueitto the iront edge of the platform. Posts. To help support side panels and brass rails I added four grooved posts, see Fig. 10. ‘To make the posts I started out with two 12'ong walnut blanks, sec Figs. 11 and 12. { used! one blank fr the front posts (E) and the other blank forthe rear posts (F). ROUTING GROOVES. Torout the grooves, used a 4" straight bit and a stop block, sce Fig. 11. Rout two grooves in the rear posts. and three grooves inthe front posts. Now, cut the posts (E, F) to length, see Figs. 12 and 13. Note: The rear posts (F) are ceatto length with a 10° bevel on the bottom. ‘To complete the posts, drill W"dia. holes forthebrassrails, and chamfer the topends, see Fig. 14, Note: Each post gets two holes, The small parts of the train on plywood like a 3-D jigneve pucale