VOL. 15 -_ NOTESFROMTHESHOP————=ONO.88 Hs NO188 “Woodsmith. k Cherry & Maple 2 ? | SHAKER BENCH - Also: ¢PORTABLE WORKBENCH ¢#THREE-LEG STOOLEDITOR’S Sawdust COLUMN Anca Bll Gorn Gg © SGrapie Art eer Whiner Mat Mac Hoe fe Mr Id kth ete Wodoth Boe down and take a break for a cup of coffee. wasalone inthe shop,and fora few minutes everything was quiet. Tegave me time to reflect on my progress onthe Bench... andto think about the shop itsel. I began to wonder whet a 19trcen- tury Shaker craftsman would think about the Woodsinith shop. Screeching routers. Amoitern table saw. Random arbit dise paaders And my favorite Japanese dori This did't seem like a place for a 19%h- ‘century Shaker sake strie. The Shakers are known for their simple, yet graceful furniture. And the image this usualy bringsis ofa group of pious craftsmen working patiently Hand tools. But the more I lear about the Shakers, the more 1 wonder whether they would really fel cut of place in our “modern” shop. For a religious motement that only had shout six thousand members at its peak in 1850, the Shakers developed an incredible number of iaventions, ‘recit for inveating the circular saw biade about 1810. And, in 1828, Brothers Amos Bisby and Henry Bennett designed a tongueand-groove machine. (They were ving to figure a way to develop 2 stron joint and speed up production of table tops, ‘and floors.) ‘The list goes on. Mortising machines. A jig saw made from a treadie sewing ma- chine. And even a rather complicated- looking surface planer (with 2 selffeeding feature on it), Not only were they inventive, but they orrowed ideas irom outside their comrur tlie as well They would adopt and then adapt any machine or device that would make their work more efficient and acct rate. So while their furniture was simple, their machinery wasnt. Backtothe Wootsmuith shop, Yes, think 2 19th-century Shaker probably would be fascinated with allthat goes on in our shop. (Thats, after he got used to the electrical cords running everywhere — their ma- chines were usually powered by an ingen- ious system of water mills, shaits, pulleys, ‘and belts) MAKINGSPINDIES. A visiting Shaker might be especially intrigued with the ‘pethod | used for making the spindles on the Shaker Bench. The Shakers (and most everyone else) would probably make the spindles fortis Bench on alathe. tthe probiem Tve always hd is turn- ing identical spines on the late. And in this case, there are I8of them. Allied up close together lke arow of soldiers stand ing at perfect attention. Any slight cffer- tances between the spindles would probably brewery noticeable ow about using lathe duplicator? That would work Gfyouhave one), butitinvoles alot of setup time, You have 1o make a template, and then need a way to keep the thin spindles from “whipping” as they're i turned. That requires some kind of steady rest. ‘ANG. Sol got to wondering ifthere was same ctr way to mate the spindles ith- outalathe. What Leaded up with was aig for"turning” identical spindles with arouter and electric dil, see page 18, Fach spindle starts out 2s an ordinary dowel rod thats “chucked” ito the di, Thenitssetinto the ig Gortofacradle) and asthe dowel is turning a router isrun over thetepotit tocutthe taper Tino. Itsounds ite strange — butit actualy works, Once I got going was able {tum out perfectly identical tapered spin- dles in under seven minutes each, (The Shakers would have been impressed) The results were 50 good that I bul. slightly laner jig using the same principle to make the “cigarshaped” legs for the Bench. Then made three more egson the samvejig and ended up with alte oak stool (Gee paze 16) MELE WANTED. As we plan for future aqrowth, we've locking for another fulltime calor to join our staf here in Des Moines. Candidates should have firsthand know cage of woodworking anda background in ‘ting and communicating ideas Ityoute interested inthis poston write usaletierexplainingaliteaboatthe wood working You've been doing ately and your welling experience ‘Send your letter to Doug Hicks, Manag. ing Editor, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines. 1A 50312. He'll get Back to you ina fewdays. re || Woodsnith No. 88AUTLOOK INSIDE Contents Tips & Techniques G] Seven Great Tips. 1) Pipe Clamp Portable Workbench Stopsfor Router.) S Sawhorse. 2) File Guide. 3) Depth topCollar.5) Cutting Biseuit Slots. 6) Finger Shield. 7) Bungee Cord Clamp. Plus Two Quick Tips. GIA solid top doubles as a sturdy bench vise. And when thetop is “un: buckled” from the base, the whole bench can be easily carried to the job site. Band Saw Blades Smooth cuts, tighteurves, orfast re 12} rowing — there's a blade for every ‘band smo task. Here's what to look for plus some tips for using different blades. Shop Notes [A] 2 Shop-Made Dowels. 2) Fluting Tenons. 3) Custom Sanding Block. 4) Drawing Ares. 5) Wooden Bench Dogs. 6) Preventing Slip During Glue-Up. Three-Leg Stool The seat for this Stool is actually a Gs cmbor of procen plied vq to look like. solid slab of quarter-saron oak. Routing Spindles [a] Perving lots of identical spindles on a lathe takes time. We did the same thing quicker —with a router, elec- tric drill, and this simple jig. Shaker Bench [2a] A table saw can be used in place of hand tools for rough shaping the seat on this Shaker-style Bench. Finishing The Bench 5p] Cherry wood gradually darkens over time. But a similar effect can beachieved ina day witicthe right stain. Sources Hardware and supplies needed for 3A PP J the projects in this issue. No.88 Woodsmith Portable Workbench Three-Leg Stool Shaker Bench page 6 | page 16 page 22FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS | Tips & Techniques MA pipe clamp can be used for 2xt's) Then, pipe flanges are ‘more than clamping. In my used to attach the pipes to the shop, apai ofclamps (threaded feet. (Flanges arc available at ‘on both ends) doubles asasaw- hardware stores or around $2) hhorse. (don'thave room ia my Finally, to add stability on an shop for “boarding” a conven- uneven floor. I glued a pair of tional sawhorse.) Y4lthick “horseshoes” to the “Tomaketheclamps work asa bottom ofeach foot, see Fig. 1 sawhorse, cut one stretcher and Peter Williams two “feet” see Fig. 1. (used Corpus Christi, Teres A cabinet scraper is sharp- ‘ened by burnishing (bending ‘oves) the edge. Butbeforeitean be burnished, the edge must be filed fat and square io the face. ts difficult to-do this without rounding over the corner. Toavoid this, lusea fle guide ‘made from two pieces of scrap, see Fig 1 ‘The scrap pieces have match ing grooves that hold the file. ‘When the file isin place there's a gapbetween the blocks forthe scraper blade. By running the scraper between the blocks, the ‘le will always cut a perfectly ‘at, square edge, eee Fig. 2 Fred Jones Rock Island, Ilinois DEPTH STOPS FOR ROUTER WWhen routingasingle dado, 1 slightly deeper cut in each. And seak up on the final depth by then continue this process until loweringthe bibetween passes. they are alleutto final depth But when routing a series of Theeasiest waytodothis isto dadces to the same depth, Ido add ast ofauxfary base plates ‘something litle diferent. "to the bottom of the router. see Instead ofchangingthe depth Fig. 2. Note: Two of the plates ‘ofcutand completing one dado are 4" Masonite, the third is and then moving on to thenext Ae plastic laminate (Formica). dado. 1 make a shallow cut in Ta start out, adjust the height ‘each, Then I proceed to cut a ofthebit tothe finished depth of the dado, see Fig. 1. (Once the bit is set leave it alone.) Then ccupettapetheauniliary platesto the base ofthe router, see Fig 2. Now remove one plate at time to lower the bit, See Fig. 3 ‘Thetinal pass willbe a is"deep skimeut thatleavesacleandado atthe correct depth, David A. Cole Goudlettevilte, Tennesse iF sequent oF oureren |} A's WoodsnithCUTTING BISCUIT SLOTS ‘MOnarecent project, [used bis ‘cuits to join shelves to the sides ‘ofa cabinet, Normally the short slotsforthe biscuits arecutwith plate joiner, see Fig. 1. Laying ‘at and cutting the locations of the slots onthe ends ofa shes straightforward. Butsetting upa sgqide enceforthe pltejoinerto sides, used the table saw and ‘ct a stopped dado for the bis ‘cuits, see Fig 2. ‘To do this, first mari thetoca- tion ofthecenterofeach shelton the sides of the cabinet. Then cutadadocentered anthelayout Tine to accept the biscuits, see Fig.2. Alterthe slotsand dadoes When using my routertable,1 like to keep my fingers away from the bit Soforrouting small pieces, I made a safety shield that grabs the workpiece and shields my fingers from the bit. ‘The shield is made from a piece of thick Plexiglas with ‘a pair of I'-dia. dowel handles, ing thin workpieces, or when taking deep cu. see Fig. La ccutthe lots ontheinsideface of are cut, the biscuits are glued in see Fig. 1. A smaller piece of Lusedoublesided carpet tape the cabinet sides ean require a the shelf slots.then the biscuits Plexiglas attached to the firstis to hold the workpiece firmly on Jotof measuring, are glued into the dadoes, ‘optional —itprovidesclearance the botiom of the shield. So instead of using the plate Dennis Amy for the aut or screw that holds Peter Gibean Joiner to cut short slots in the Buatington, Ontario the bearing on thebit whenrout- West Bond, Wisconsin 1 1 BUNGEE CORD CLAMP Clamping across two edges that aren’ parallel is just about Impossible to do with ordinary clamps. | recently faced this pipe clamp across both sides of the workpiece. Then I hooked bungee cords around the clamps and stretched them SEATING T-NUTS Driving a T-nut into a hole with whhammer ean result i the with a block of wood. ‘The heat generated by the frictionsoftens the glue, making. iteasier to serapeaway. challenge when ataching dg: srounitoholdthe edging strips workpiece spliting or the Tat ickant A Perry {ng steps around a tae top inplace qoing in crooked: To prevent Quakertown, Pennrylvonia shaped likeaboat, see Fig. 1. Charlie Beach ths. install Pats with aise. ede th fe ced «Marae Mcur esiacthe Fantini Wi BUY Tips then postion the workece Ketwcen thejaws ofthe vise. As | ff You have an orginal tip the vise is slowly tightened, the Seteal ‘Tautisseaedin hehole. | Wier woodworkers jsf Michart 8 Thoma | Techaiques,2200Gran Are, Upland California | Deghtoines,fowa50812. SCRAPING GLUE ‘We will pay (apon publica. dried glue from 2 tion) $25 to $100, depending luedup pane! is work. Espe | ga¥pebubastie ath fhe Gay sote make heater | Hames oF skeeh a Srepe Greys ae Socincemacie the ve by rubbing it bes ! No. 88 Woodsmith sSHOP PROJECT Portable Workbench This bench is designed to be light enough to carry around, yet strong enough to provide a stable work surface. Y: ars ago, when I first saw a portable bench like this one, I was impressed. And intrigued. Could I design and build one outof wood — without using 2 fot of ste! or aluminum? [finally decided to give ita try “There were a aurmber ofrequirements for this workbench. It had to be trong and sta ble. But still easy to foldupandcarry around, And the top had to open and close like avise without requiring let of special hardware [BASE DESIGN. The first design challenge anulactured benches have Took like they were de- signed to hold up ¢ hinar module. And the legs fold up o the whole bench can be car ed around tikeasuitcaseItdidn' take long to see this leg system would be difficuk to build out of wood, Sol tried something different. Istarted by making a strong, wide base from 34° ply wood. Then, to make the bench easier to cary, the top lifts off,and the ex fold in lat against stretcher, see photo below. ‘VISE MECHANISM. Another desiza chal lenge was the vise mechanism in the top of the bench, For the vise screw. I knew a threadedrod would work the best. But had to figure out how to get the rod and the top towork together ‘Wooden runnersand guides werethe an- swer. They slide in and out Tike exte slides for a drawer. And the ru auides give the top said support Tosioreormovetheworkbench, just With bench dogs, the clamping ca- The inside of each vise face has a release the drase catchor. Then, lift top isinereased from 7* V-groove to allow the bench to hold (Of) the top and fold in the leas. ‘row or irregular-shaped objects. No. 88EXPLODED VIEW ‘OVERALL DIMENSIONS: ‘30"W x 24"D x 32"H MATERIALS BASE A Lose, Saptyx7he-2M2 B doing Wx € Stretcher) Yaptyx25- 18h. © Edging) Yxie-25 E Foot) yaxs-12 F Pode) Yond Tor 6 Core) Yephye 14-28) B sans)" ax aa 2854100 1 Eaging-Shot Max lla 18%. 4 Eogna-tong@) Yax1'4-20laign K VeoFecer@)—— Maxll4-30laroh VISE L Rinpersce) Yx2- 71h. 1M Gudes a) wxdh-16 N Spacers) Moxa © Handwhees()§— Y4x4- 1010 P CotchBocis) Max lls-2 “Cut hom Tempered Masonite SUPPLIES ‘BASE & TOP: © @1\6' x18" Prono Hinges w/Screws: + (@Moo, Cotches w/stkesanc Screws + @ Drew Cotches wiserows + Giant mvloodicrows + 08 48x7 MWoodscrom VISE + 0 1-20, Dow 3ong Dvs-0a dows 2 ona (2 Wy-16 x 177%" Treaded Rods Teveveweve CUTTING DIAGRAM Serta 73.7504.) No.88 Woodsmith‘The base on this portable workbench hhasto be strong and stable. Otherwise, youre not going to work on it. I'de signed the stretcher and the legs wide ‘enough to support alot of weight and stand ‘upto the heavy blows of ahammer. Lecs ‘The fourlegs (A) arecutta size fest, see Fig. 1. Lused Sethick birch plywoorl) Then to preventtheedgesofthe plywood from splin- tering, Ladded edging (B) to the outsides, ‘Note: Hardwood plywood is usualiyalittle eas than 4" thick. But I tll used 34"thick birch forall the edging pieces. This way the cciging could be planed Mush with the ply- twood aferit was glued on. ‘Shop Tis: To wim the edging Mush with- A cutout inthe tp ofthe stretcher be- out digging int the plywood, run astrp of comes a handle for earying the base, sce Inasking tape besidethe edeing.see Fig. 1a. Fig. 22 And | also cut a section out ofthe ‘The tape protects the plywood and lets you bottom ofthe stretcher, see Fig. 2b. now when to stop planing Shop Note: Tomake te hanle easier on ‘When the workbeachiscompete,thetop _ thehands, [softened the edges with acham- of the bench rests right on the leps. So to fer bitin the router. Why not use 2 round make the op section easier to set in place, routed a chamier along the topedge of each Teg, see Fig. tb. ‘When the legs are complete, cut the stretcher (C) io size, see Fig. 2. Ialsoadded ‘edging (D) tothe top ofthe stretcher. ‘over? Ive found rounding over the edges of plywood tends to create splinters. TFIANO HINGES. A sturdy base wasa't hard to design, but it had to be portable too. To allow the base to fold fat (see photo on page 6), cach legis attached to thestretcher with apianohinge. Thissolved the problem with- oat sacrificing rigidity ‘To mount the hinges, screw them down fluch with the edges of the stretcher, see Figs. 3 and 3a. (Otiset the hinges s0 the screwsdon't hit each other.) ASSEMBLY. Now assemble the base by clamping two legs together, and center the Stretcher on the joint line, see Fig. Then {hil pilot holes and screw down the hinges, FEET this pointthe baseis strong —butadding feet (E) extends the base and provides si bility, see Figs. 5 and 6. (Design Note: To remove the sharp point from each fot, Leut off the top outside corner at 45°) [3Next, pads (F) can be glued on the feet, see Fig. 5. These pads lift the base off the sgrouncl and allow the bench to sit squarely ‘nan irregular for. To attach the feet, just glue and screw leave atiny markforlocating the strike plate. Note: Sometimes is easier when clamp” ing a panel vertically to setiton dogs. you ‘want to do this, you'll need to rill come ‘oles in the stretcher, see box at right them irom the inside sce Fig. 6 But make surethe les are flash with the bottom ofthe feet —not the bottom ofthe pals, MAGNENICCATCHES, There's ‘one final problem with the base ‘The legs will swing open and shut a6 you carry it around, To prevent this, I mounted mage netic eaichesto the insidesofthe legs, see Fi 7 First. drilla Sig! holeand gue in the magnetic catch. Then, stick the strike plate on the mag: netand press the lex againstthe stretcher, see Fig. 78. This will a ‘To make it easier to hold vertical pan- ls, holes cam be riled inthe stretcher. ‘Then, insert the bench dogs (used on the tap), cand set the panel om ther. TOP ‘The top ofthis work bench isn't a single slab lke on atypical Dench. 'sreslly two Dieces — one fixed and one movable So the top opens and closes ikea vise. “Tor. Three lavers ‘of material make the top of this bench strong, I sandwiched a core panel of pli- ‘wood between two pieces of Masonite. Tbe- ganasiithe top were one piece. then cuttin twoaer adding edging strips Fist.cutthe core (G) tofinished size see Fig.8 Thencutboth ("thick skins (ED of Masonite alte oversize (Note: Tused tem pered Mason ani Masonite is not as strong. It tends to flake apart with use) ‘Alter gluing up the layers, tim the edges withaflush gimbitin the router, see Fig. 6a. EDGING. Next, add edging (i) along the ends, see Fig. 8. Then, afier cuttingtheends flush, add edging (io the front and back. ‘VISE FACES. AMter the edging is attached, the top iscutintotwo pieces, see Fig. 9. Ther two vise faces (K) are aided tothe inside edges. These are really jut two more strips ‘fedging. But! made thera ite different. First, I wanted to be able to replace the faces if they got banged up. So they're screwed ininstead of glued, see Fig. 9a, But before screwing them in, cut a vgroove on ‘each viseface sothey can gripround objects, see photo on page 6 Finally, to complete the top sections, 1 drilled a series of oles for bench dogs, see Fig. 10.This increases the clamping capec- ity ofthe vise from 7" to 17%. (To make the dogs. refer to pase 15.) No. 88 WoodsmnithVISE MECHANISM Thetopisserewedio ‘pair ofvise mecha. nisms, Bach vise has threaded rod that ives” a sliding runnerinandoatola guide unit, refer to Fig. 24 on the next page. To get a good fit, built the vise from the inside out, starting withthe runners, RUNNERS Begin by ripping fourhalvesfortherunners (L) to width, see Fig. 11, Thenripa ys" groove on one face of each, see Fig. 1a (Thisis or thethreadedrod orun through.) Next, glue the halves together with the grooves fac Shop Not used "To align the grooves, squarephigs. Once therunnersareclamped together, remove the plugs. But don’ throw them away. (You'll use them later.) TONGUE. The top of the workbench is screwed oa tongue on the op ofeach run- ner, To ereate this tongue, cut a rabbet on cach face oftherunner blank, see Fig. 13 Now, cut each runner biank into two lengths, See Fig. 14. These pieces should ‘match te widths ofthe two top sections. FRONTRUNNERS, The runners need afew anodifications before assembly. To seat somenyloa spacervalthe Frontend (referto Fig. 20) te short, ent runnersneed a shal Jowholedriledin them, see Fig ta. ‘Shop Note: To guide the centerpoim of the del bit usethe same plogs that keptthe ened. the olesanc mark an ate the centers SUDING RUNNER. Now. thelonger (back) runnersaced tobe trimmed to slide easilyin the guides. This is done by re-cutting the rabbetsthatcreated the tongues, see Fi. 13. Simply set the dado lade so the rabbet i Ms" widerand ig" deeper. GuiDe uNrs A pair of guides sandwich each runner, ab lowing terunnersto"elescope“in and out. Aer cutting fourhalves for he guides (M) tosize,ripagroovedown the length ofeach piece, see Fig. 15 The depth of this groove should match the depth ofthe original rab- bets in the runner blanks @$"). ‘SPACERS, Unlike the runners, the guide halves aren't glued together — spacer (N) hholds them apart. This way, the back runner cantslide in the guide unit, See Fig, 163. CCateach spacer blank tomatehtheZength ofthe guides and the width of the runners, seo Fig. 16.Then todeterminethe thickness ‘of the spacers, dry assemble the guides ‘around the ron! runners, see Fig. 163. ‘When the spacers fthetweenthe runners and the guides, screw the gies and spac- ‘ers together, sce Fig. 17. VISE MECHANISM. ‘Todivethe siding runnersinand out, pair ‘of handwhecls turn threaded rods, space | pens 16) 7 WoodsnithHANDWHEELS The handwheels start out as square blanks with two holes dred in ‘ech —onehole orahandleand oneforthe tod, see Fig 18, Next, cut a shallow kert seresseach Bank foracrosspin. The cross pin locks he hanéwhee oa the rod.) ‘Now. the handwheels (0) can be cut roand andthe edges sitened. For handles, ‘lucadowelineachbandwheel, see Fig. 18 THREADED ROD. Next, therndsean becat tosie, see Fig 19. Shop Tip. Before cutting the rod, thread a nut beyond the intended cutine Removing the nutafter the rodiscat ‘wlrepaieary damaged threads. Withtherod cutto size, drillaholeinitfor the cross pin (6d common nal), se Fig. 1. To help the bit get started fled a fat spot sear the endof the threaded rod. THANDWHEEL ASSEMBLY. Avaching each hhandwheelis three-step process. Fire.the hanuwhee!s locked on the end ofeach rod th aeap aut and the eros pin, see ig. 10. Neat, sip three nylon spacers an the front ramaer on the rod, and secure them with @ ‘tasherand leet see Fig 20 Finally.the Jroutrunnercan be screwed inside the froat end ofthe guide unt, see Fig. 21 SUDING RUNNER ASSEMBLY. Finally, i's Aime to install he slidingrunner, seo Fig 24 ‘But the sling nner wont work unt its connected tothe threaded rod. To connect them added acrossdowel wit threaded inser, see Fig. 2a. As the rod turns, thie Ale! drives the runner in and out. "To do this, driled s hole through the runner, see Fig. 22, Then I mounted 2 {hreatked jsert into a dowel, se Fig 23. ‘Shon Note Ifyou fle or eu at suriace ‘on the dowel then youllreduce the amount bftear out when installing the insert ‘Alter the doweliseat,setitin the ioe lat side facing bach see Fig. 24. Then sldethe ing the Hanewhee! unl the gages the insert. eit or sand the Sides the ruerift fstoo tight) FINAL ASSEMBLY Now it's time to put the bench together First, the vise assemblies are locked io the ‘base with draw catches, see Fig. 25. (To do this, catch blocks (P) must be mounted first.) Thea,catches are mounted across the {eet to lock the legs in the open position ‘Next, the tops of the workbench are ‘screwed into the runners ofthe vise assem blies sce Fig. 26, The front section ofthe top should he flash with the fronts of the vise assemblies, And the back section should be flush with the backs. Note: The movable runner should also be screwed fush with the backedge ofthe top, see Fig “Tocomplete the bench, give ta thorough sanding. Finally, protected my bench wth acoupie coats of polyurethane. a No. 88 Woodsnith WLTOOTS, TECHNIQUES & JIGS Band Saw Blades first realized how versatile the band saw is when T saw one being used in a butcher shop. But whether i's cutting meat, wood, or metal, it is, besically thesametool—thereal difference isin the blade. ‘Band saw blades lock simple thin band of metal sith teth, But browse through any wood ‘working catalog. The number of choices can be intimidating. Ttwould be nice ifthere was a combination” blade for a band monare standard (orraker) skip tooth, and hooktooth blades, see theexamplesatleftand drawings ‘below. Each one isused for make ing a different type of cut. The difference berween them is the cutting angle of the teeth (he rake), and the amount of space between the teeth the gullet). STANDARD BLADE. Standard tooth blades are usually nar rower (eto wide) and have the most teeth per inch, They're ‘evenly spaced so the teeth and ssawjustasthereis foratablesaw. Unfortunately, no band saw blade can do everything wel. ‘But choosing the right blade doesn’t have to be a guessing ame. You just have to know \ Je] ulletsare the same size. The cutting angle on the standard bladeis O° This means, the teeth are 90° to the back of te blade, so they don't really cut the wood — they actually serape qeodionslonk. 7 a e it instead. Ths allows th Z Sraothest cut ofthe three pa rte terns, but you have to feed the. To select abun sw blade, he STANDARD SKIP HOOK worigice lowand ety inion fiat question | ek show ighta Standard tooth blade, Curve lca. The aarrower the bide the smooth cut. There are te things hat > _sxarTooTH Hane. The sp oath lade smaller the cece it wil cut HLADE WIDTH. So why notleave anarrow ‘lade on your band saw al the dime? It may cut circles well. But when resawing or cut ting a straight Tne in thick stock, a narrow blade can bend or flex under pressure. The result is either a wavy cut or one that's not square but “barrel-shaped” ‘Anarrow blade also heaisup faster than a wide blade. If it gets too hot, the teeth will Soften and dull, ruining the blade. ‘SmoomH oR FAST CUT The next questi 1 ask when selecting a band saw lad ‘whether I want locutquickly orend up with fect how a blade cuts, The pitch of the tooth ‘andthe tooth pattern. PITCH. Tooth pitch can throw you— its not the angleor the lope ofthe teeth. tsthe number of teth per inch (pi). The more teeth a blade has, the smoother the cut. (Each tooth js cutting smaller shavings off the wood.) But because the shavings are ‘smaller, you have to cut much slower. Oth- ‘erwise the blade will get too hot TOOTH PATTERNS ‘There area lot of fferent tooth patterns for band saw blades, but the three most com- hhas a 0° cuting angle just like the standart bade. But the skip tooth biade only has half the number of teeth asthe same size siand- ard blade (it's missing every other tooth). ‘This increases the sizeof the gullets so the skip tooth can cut a litle faster than the ‘Standard blade. Of course, the end results not quite as smooth. OOK TOOTH RIADE. The teeth on the book tooth point down a litle (usually at 5 10°). Sotheycutthe wood — not just scrape it And because it cuts more aggressively ‘and needs to hold more sawdust, the hook tooth blade aso has larger rounded gullets. Seroll-type Cuts: For tight circles, 1 use 214" standart blade with 15 tpi. Itean cut a circle with a %' radius, cand it leaves ‘mice, smooth surface. But narrow blarles need mnore support, refer to nezt page. Gentle Curves: cut gentlecurveswide ‘ndsandtothe ine, soa smooth finishisn’t needed. A %"wide skip tooth blade with 4 tpi works well The small number of tooth ‘and wide gullets lets me cut quickly. Resawing: Resawing wood into thin stock ereates a lotofrevittance.A V'-wide blade won’tfler or bend easily. And a hook tocth pattern with $tecth por ich (sp) ill clear out the waste quickly. 12 Woodsnith No. 88NARROW BLADES Band saw blades keep getting narrower (Vie! and Viwide blades arenow available). ‘Youcanuse them tocut very tight circles — just hea seroll saw. But because they're so ‘arrow, they require more support. ‘THRUST EARINGS. Thrust bearings keep the blade from being pushed off the whee! of the band sav. Usually, [set them i" behind the blade. But with narrow blades, I set the thrust bearings so they're touching the blade or even pushing itforward Ves" GUIDE BLOCKS. Using metal guide blocks is also a problem with narrow blades, They'resupposed to supportthe sides ofthe ‘ladle, but they contact the teeth, they can ‘quickly dull the blade. And with ¥45" Blades, theres not much bladeto begin with ‘Cool, Blocks are one alternative (o metal guide blocks (for sources, see page 31). are made of a phenolic lam f metal So they ean surround the blade without damaging the teeth, see photo aright. Andthey don'tcreate asmuch heat since they contain dry lubricants to make the blade run smoother and quieter. ‘Bat you do have to watch for one thing. Cool Blocks tend to wear down. So check them periodically male sure the faces are both latand againstthe blade, (They canbe resurfaced with ail or sandpaper.) Cool Blocks give extra support to narrne Dlades. They also contain « dry lubricant, 0 the blade rune smooth andl quiet EXTENDING BLADE LIFE Gece ve selected bade want Keep lade, The ‘most important is tomake sure the band saw is welktuned. (A good reference for this is Mark Duginske's Band Saw Handbook) [also hack the tension off the blace after ‘each day’s use. (Shop Tip: Count the num ber ofturms it takes to decrease the tension I's easier to tension it again next ime.) ROUND BACK. Another step I take to ex tend the life ofa blade isto round the back ‘edge. This decreases the wear on both the blade and the thrust bearings. And with rounded back, the blade will cut curves ie more smoothly because there aren't any sharp comers to get hung up on. To round the hack oftheblade, Tusea fle ‘ora coarse stone (cometimes caled a “tun ing” stone, seepage 31). see Fig. Whilethe saw is running, fle an angle on both back ‘comers. Then Carefully round the back. With smaller blades, round the back ofthe blade whilectting into scrapof wood. This prevents the blade frombeing pushed offthe Front ofthe band saw’s wheels ‘Safety Note: Because the stone will pro- Guce a lot of sparks, be sure to clean the sawdust out of your band saw before round ing the back ofthe blade. ete ST Recently, came across an ad foraband saw blade called the “Wood Slicer.“Itsdesigned for resawing boards. The Wood Slicer is ad- vertisedto make very smooth, fast cuts, and its sai to be “extra durable." But it costs $80. Since use my band saw forresawing, I decided to give one a try. Tanted to compare it with other blades Td used before (and really lke) —a Lenox. and an Olson. (Both cost about $10; for Sources, see page 31.) To make sure Iwas ‘comparing apples to apples, all three were ‘4p" hook tooth blades with 3 teeth per inch. ‘SnoPrTEST. I ran a simple (but unseien- {ife) test. mounted each on my Delt 14° ‘band saw and set the tension to the same ‘boint on the tension scale. Thea lresewed a ‘Stwide piece of hard maple. I timed how Jongzittook to make the cut, then compared the finished surfaces. Iwas surprised with the results All three ‘blades cu at about the same rate. And the ‘surface ofeach board was equally smooth. “WOOD SCHR BLADES. So why does the ‘Wood Slicer cost $20 more? The folks at Highland Hardware gave ‘me some answers. (igh: land Hardware owns the exclusive rights to the ‘Wood Slicer) They claim the Wood Slicer is mani. factured much better than other hand sav blates. “Tobeginwith,iheblade made from a different type of steel than most band saw blades This al- lows it (0 be 10% thinner than the typical (025% thick) band saw blade — without los. Ing any ofits strength. ‘They algo mentioned the teeth on the ‘Wood Slicer are precision set and individu- ally filed, This reduces the tendeney of the blade tolead or wander. And the teethon the blade are hardened differently too. Roth Lenox and Olson harden their teeth by heat treating them. The teeth on the ‘Wood Slicer are electronically hardened, 0 there’s no chance of tempering problems daring the manufacturing process. One of the test things about the Wood ‘Slicers that Highland Hardware wil stand behind. fe bade breaks prematurely at the weld (where blades usually break) jst ‘senditback, and they wil replace it CHOICES, Sos the Wood Slicer worth $30? From the tests Id, Im notconvinced, Teouldbuy three naw Lenoxr Olson Blades forthe price of one Wood Shier. And forme, three blades willast quite awhile. Ifyou do a lot ofresawing. you may want toconsiderthe Wood Slicer: But vealways Trad good luck with Lenox blades. WoodsmithSOME TIPS FROM OUR Shop Notes SHOP-MADE DOWELS Sometimes when T'mbaiiding a project using a dowel, I want the dowel to exactly match the rest ofthe wood in the project ‘The way todothisisto makethe dowel from the same wood, PREPAKE BLANK. To make a matching dowel, start with an oversize piece ofSiock.Firstcat it about 4" longer than the de- sired length of the dowel. Then rip the blank to produce a pisce the same width and thickness as dowel (iy the projects in this issue), the desired diameter of the lia for the legs on Now, draw a pencil mark to- ward each end of the blank to icateastart ad stoppoint for routing the blank, see Fig. 1 ROUT& ROLL. To rout the blank into a dowel, use-a round. cover bit that’s half the desired diameter of the dowel. Then pivottheblankinto the roster bit and begin routing at the left hand (start) mark, see Fig. Run the blank across the outer bit until reaching the righthand (stop) mark, see Fig 2. Then pivot the piece out from the fence and rollit 90"te round over the adjacent edge. see de- tall in Fig, CUTOFFENDS. After round ing over allfour edges, the dowel will sill have two square ends. Cut these off and the dowel is ready to be used, SHOP When a dowelfitstightina hoe, it usually scrapes ofthe glue as it's driven home — unless the end of the dowel is fed Feat futesus- ingabowend wrench We" smaller than the tenon, see drawing. CUSTOM SANDING BLOCK The best sandingbiock is one that matches the shape to be sanded. But where doyou find a sanding block to match the ‘Shape of a large cove? (Like on the seat ofthe Shaker Bench) was to make my own ‘The solution I came vp with ‘sanding block from a 11th ‘rap of foam insulation board, ‘SHAPE THE BLOCK. First Yandsaw orfilethe foam block to rough shape. see left photo Then, to smootl out the shape, place apiece of adhesive. Backed sandpaper across the ‘ove and rub the block across the sandpaper, middle photo. stom SAND THECOVE, To use the sanding block, removethe sand paper from the workpiece. Then stick a new piece of sandpaper on the coved face ofthe sanding block, see right photo, ut te suring block to rough shape. stuck tothe surface of the workpiee A pieceof Styrofoam insulation board can Smooth the shape ofthe sanding Wack by Now peel the sandpaper from the work be used to sand an irrgular shape. First rubbing it across a piece of eanidpaper pioce and etick a frech piece of eandpaper (onthe block. Then sand the workpiece. 4 ‘Woodsmich No. 88DRAWING ARCS MSome ofthe most interesting projects have curved shapes And TH ordinarily use a small ‘compass to draw the parts of a ‘curve. But for lange curves (with 2 radius over 6") improvise. LARGE ARCS. A simple beam compass ean be made from a scrap piece of thin material cut ‘couple inches longer than the desired radius, see Fig. 1. ‘Aholetowardone endholdsa nailthatactsasapivotpoint. nd ‘anoteh catin the other end hos 4 pencil for drawing the are. LARGER ARCS, For layer arcs use alee sick as a drawing ‘muide see Fig2. Firs, iocatethnee points on the workpiece. Thea ‘rive ina par of small ails to ind cate the desired ends of the are. ‘The flexible stick bridges the nsilsto indicate the desired crown (thethird point) ofthe curve. Trace along the eige of the stick to draw the are. WAfier building the Portable fere with a hand plane or belt Workbench, Ladded afeatureof sander when working the sur my larger bench — 2 set of face ofa%"thick board. ‘bench dogs. (I wanted to teach SHAPE. Also, the sides of the mynew bench an old trick) blocks are slightly beveled ‘These dogs are made by gh (canted), see detail. This way, ingasmallblock ontotheendof when the vise is tightened the ashortdowel,photoabove. Two workpiece won't slip out from ‘simple design details make between the dogs. these bench dogs work great, Safety Note: To make the SIZE. Firs, the blocks on top small blocks, stat with anextra- are less than %' thick, sce de- long, strip. Alerts beveled, cut tailin Fig. 1-So they won'tinter- off the blocks.one a atime. a When edge-gluing multiple stipsinto a thick slab, the st tend tostiparound whenthey're claraped. Because ofthe glue) ‘Thats the problem | faced when aluing up the seat of the Three- ‘Leg Stcol on page 16 So I came up with a way to keep thestripsin alignment dur ing glueup. The trick involves cutting the pieces extra long to begin with, then using splines on the ends for alignment. ROUTSLOT. Sturt by dry as sembling all the strips into slab, see Fig. 1, (The pieces ‘sip ifthere'sno glue) slab with a spline in each slot, Next cut a slot across both see Fig. 2. ends ofthe slabusinga sloteut- cUTTO LENGTH Afterthegiue tevin the router table. (Ahand- hascried between the strips, cut held router works too) Note: It theslab tothedesired length. By doesa'tmatteriftheslotisnitex- cutting offboth ends thesplines actly centered ontheends. — and also the slots — will be ADDSPUNE. Then glue up the removed, see Fig 3.Normally I don’ like surprises, But when working on this ‘ThreeLeg Sio0). Igotapleasant one after I glued up the blank for the seat. ‘APROBLEM. It actully started ‘ut a8 a problem I thought the seat would look best if it was 114" thick. But red oak (or any. other hardwood for that matter) {isnot commonly available in that thickness. When it comes to thicker hardwoods, most lum- Deryards carry 8/4 (54" actual thickness) and 6/4 (15g! actual thickness) stock. If you want something different, you have to plane itdown, Planing 8/4 stock is casy if you're running it through a thickness planer. But the blank for the stool seat is ‘Wider than the bed of my planer. ‘Toavoidhandplaning ¥ offawide blank, WEREKEN DO PROJECT Three-Leg Stool first I ripped the slab into 144"-wide strips. ‘Then I flipped the strips ap on edge and ‘zlued them into a blank. The surprise | got ‘was a highly-figured, quarter-sawn blank, STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS SHAPE, The seat has three sides, all the same length, (There'sprobably aname forthe shape, but fm sot sure what it is) It ssortofamodified angle = with large ares instead of straight lines Leos. For strength, 1 also used red oak for the legs. You can start with 1a. oak dow. els for these. But since I had enough 8/4 stock leftover from the seat blank, I made my own dowels, For more on this, see page i. WEDGES FINISH. Tokeepthe legs firmly in the seat, I wedged the leg tenons. A wedged tenon will hold a joint together beter than aint without a wedge. (or contrast, Teut the wedges from walnut) Then for the finish, Iwiped ontwocoatsof tung ol, allowing 48 hours between coats. Y reiila te ston, Later by ging upa sent blank from 1" widestripe ‘Slipped on edge. Sand the blank. and then ‘draw a centered baseline fora triangle. Now the third corner of the triangle can be located and marked. To do this, used o beam compass to strike to ares that intersect a the top. ‘Next, lay out the comers of the seat To get emooth, rounded curmers, use a composs and dre «1 Now the shape of the seat can be es- tablished. Ised the beam compass 4 ‘et to a radius of 1244" to draw the arcs. (Lee the same conterpointe as in Steps.) ater, todrit the Leg holes atthe cor rect angle, you will need eenterlines as reference marks. Socompletethetrian- ‘gle and draw centertinea nove 6 Teles step tte tthe eat ie o mark 1°-dia. holes for the loga. I used a compass (set for radius) and the same centerpoints os before. 16 Woodsmith No. 88J sere tg hole are lid ont hey cau be drilled at an angle, Position the drill bit guide (abe hottom of page) di relly over eteles dvason in Because my Foratner bi haa a short ‘shank, Icompleted eack bole without guide. Todo this, eyeball the angle of ‘the rest of the wry through the hote the the ‘Once the holes are drilled, et out the seat. For this, Ieut just outside the line. Then sanded wp to the line, To com pleto ron over all the edges. , =| = = } he io can as : ucoite TO Newitt can be made. wea the technique deseribed on pages 18021. After the loge are turned ta shape, cut ther to eugth, teaving a 2-Long tenon | DD Berets ie eg int stronger, 1 wedged the tenon, refer to Step 1s The vafest way Ive found to cut a kerf for wedge isto use a shop-madte kerfing i. VD ct te weds te fi the onan from an oversized blank. For a tight fi, tlt the saw blade 3° and eut the wedges 50 they just fit the Kerfs. | ] | 13 Berreget binding hen ating the wedges to length, I positioned the rip fence so wedgeafall tothelefiside of blade. With achisel, split wedges init ie 1A Nie the se0 cone ase First, apply glue to tenows. Nezt, insert tenoma through bottom of reat. Then le and drive the wedges into the kerf DS Peacerplete the toc, trim the tenowedd ends flush with the seat Todothir, used ahard held ronterwitha straight bit st flush tothe base plate. rick dling te oe ees in tnsesiogsoaicosesoagie Teeter Tere ate mune or drilling 1"-dia. holes at a 10° angle, |“ Totaketegae sete san scoot lente Pe Neda feneninescoath toc ihendiiat= ak conor othe nce Fo the able sav Sade or endo tm edge oa eee vodsmithJiGs & BESTURES Routing Spindl the eighteen identical spindles ‘Therouterridesalong apair of tapered runners. As the outer moves down the nin- ners, the router bit shapes the tapered spindle. 1eG.G. After building the spindle fig, | applied the sa idea ajigfor duplicating the legs for the Bench and the ‘Stool (page 16). This jig works just like the spindle jig. The ‘urn dupticate spindles — in a iain difference isthe shape of ADUPLICATING NG. The basic idea is thatthe runners — they're humped, thejigactsasacradletohold thedowel.The _ Onemore thing, For safety ind someone a tapered candle stick. (With drils the motor that turns the dowel And _elsetooperatethe drilfor you Thisway you very lite sanding required) the router bt does the cutting ‘ean keep both hands safely on the router. SPINDLE JIG Sometimes projects just evolve. figs, The first vers built for use witha block plane. The biock plane slid across the top ofthe lig to “Tur” the shape of the round spindle. But that went too slow — the plane had to remove (oo mach waste Sato speed things up, Timodified the jg for use witha router. ‘The router rides ths jg much like a train riddes.apairof racks down ail. The router ae ain) rides on two tapered runners (the Fails). The runners are supported by a base (the track bed), And twe guide blocks keep the router running straight. (cut these parts from %'thick pine.) ‘Since | wanted a4" taper along the length ofeach spindle, the router has to go “down hil’ alongthelength ofthejig: Todo this, cut 39" taper on the runners (A), see Fig. Then the guide blocks (1) are screwedl to therunners, ‘Now the runner and guide block aesem- bilies are ready to be screwed to the base (©, see Fig. 1. The trick isto screw the as- sSemblies down so the base of the router just fits between the guide blocks. ‘Note: To determine how far apart the guide blocks chould be from cach other, measure the diameter ofthe base plate on {your router and add Vig. Aso, when screw ingtheassembliesdovn, leave an overhang- ing lip at the front of the base. This lip is used to clamp the gto the workbench TAILSTOCK & HEADSTOCK ‘The ends of the jig are enclosed by two blocks. The headstock (D) (ike the head na lathe) ist the dril end of the jig, see 18 Woodsnich No. 88Figs.2 and 2. This piece has a short slot for the workpiece (addowel to resin. ae The tallstock (E) is located atthe other ead ofthe jig. This piece hasa shallow hole dried in it for hokding the free end ofthe dowel. (Because of the frietion created by ck hard ‘maple for the headstock and talstock) Shop Note:The dimensions shown on the headstock and talstock are specific to the diameter of the spindles for the Shaker Bench. But you could easily modify both of these blocks for other diameter dowels ‘Toallow for slight adjustments when set ting up the igforturning, {drilled oversized serewholesin the ends ofthe headstockand tallstock, refer to Figs. 2nd 3. Then | used serews and washers o keep themin place. “yap OF ASE PLAT PS ict ‘The Shaker Bench requires eighteen spin- disthatare tong But hedseeclrtbe spindles mist start out alte longer (18°). ‘The extra length allows enough room 10 “chuck” one end ofthe dowel ia the drill and insertthe other end into thejig. PREPARING BLANKS. To prepare the spin- | dle blanks, frst cut 56?-dia. dowel rod to a | rough length of 18", see drawing aright. ‘Shop Note: Start with the straghtext dow: ls you can find. And, when mass producing ‘parts like this, TM usually cut two or three extras. One ofthe extras sused to setup the Jig, Andtheotherscan beusedforpracticing the: ‘the “turing” technique and replacing re jected spindles after they're all made. Next, cut around, centered tenon ‘have to cut one of ie hace nion Eerie oa se tol "into spindles. ee broke drilled in the ialstock, referto Fig. 3. plained on the next page. Tesi Eaton certiyre su lade 4" bow the table. Then poiton he rip fonce estas the shoulder ofthe tenon. a 8 ‘across the top of the blade. What SD the dowel slightly and slide it bork _yostredorng ie removing the waste with the the blade. Repect this until the end Sdonftheleeth. ‘fhe dowel hasbeen raced toa onon. No. 88 J Woodsmith, 1959" dowel toa diameter of 3 at one end. But to get the correct taper, you have to make some slight acjustments to the fig (hop Note: [fine tine the taper on a tet dowel before tapering the actual spindles) ADJUSTING THE JIG. To begin the acjusiment, insert a spindle blank in the jig. see drawing below ADIUSTING HEADSTOCK. Now mou: core box bitin the router and lower it V Delow the base of the router, see Detail a ‘Then to check the alignment, place the router on the runners where te taper fs to begin. (For the spindles on the Shaker Bench, the taper sarts 4¥" from the shou! der of he tenon, see Detail ain drawing.) Neat,check the distance between the bot tom ofthe bitand the dowel. feverything = setup right, the spindle blank should justbe touching the router bit, and the router USING THE SPINDLE JIG ‘The jig (as shown here) is designed to taper should be resting fat onthe runners. any adjustments are necessary, raise or lower the headstock AQIUSTING TALSTOCK, Now move the router to the other end of the runners and check the tail end of the blank, see Detail b in drawing, The bit should just touch the tenon. I necessary, adjust the tailstoek just 3s you did forthe headstock. ROUTING SPINDLES properly adjust Withthe test spindle CHUCK INTO DRILL. To do this, first se ccurely chuck the end ofthespindle blankin the drill. Shop Note: A variable speed dril, turing clockwise, works best. BLANK INTO JG, With one end of the blank chucked in the drill, lubricate the ‘other end that goesinto the llstock. used paraifin wax.) This reduces friction so the é,youcancuta ‘TURNING, The nice thing about using this spindle figis isa simple (but noisy) opera tion. Its probably best to find a friend to help. One person can operate the drill. Gust about anyone can do this. I's « matier of holding the drill and turning iton.) But the person operating the router will require a lite moreskill (That would beyou. right?) ‘The idea is for the drill to begin turning the spindle blank. Then the person operat ingtheroutersets the router on therunners (next to the dril), and moves the router slowly tothe other entd ofthe spindle. One ass, one smoothly tapered spindle. A note about speed. For the smoothest taper (hat requires minimal sanding), the nil should turn the workpieceataconstant speed — about medium on most drills. And the router should be advanced very slowly (Ghout Yo" per second). Otherwice, the re sult will look more ike a “threaded” dowel than a tapered spindle, see box below. G ‘To addjuet the jig, fret set the depth of tha router bit! below the base plate of the router. Then place the router on the runnersatthe drillend ofthejig. bees eld tf tetra so nt tang tl arate fiat Nest, check thatthe router biti just touching the dowel where the taper bogins. If adjustment ia necessary, move the headstock xp ordown. If your dene! ends vp looking tke ‘cre oe orig te ner Now slide the ronter down the ran ners tothe other end ofthe fig. Then check that the bitia just touching tho tenon, ‘Adjust the tailstock if necessary. If the deel “chatter a0 i mpeg, tower the ape fhe dri slighty. ths teow help tape thd Bc oGe bes plat, bokind the Dt wath he flock bps the cel era eng 20 Woodsmith No. 88LEG JIG ‘The legs for the Shaker Bench and the -g Siool could be turned on the ‘of you could use aig similar tothe one for turning spindles. The only differ ences between the legs and the spindles are their length and shape. (The legsarelonger and fater in the middle Hkeacigar.) THE JI16 The ee ig works ust The the spindle. A delle used to spin the workpiece while @ core box bitin te roatr cuts the shape “NG DIFFERENCES, [started the legit as 1 Gi with the spindle jg. Fs, the un ters andthe guide blocks are cut to sie then screwed tozether. Then they're screwed toa base, see Fig 1. (For these, | also used "thick pine.) Allthe parts are longer to accommodate longer (24°) dowels forthe logs. And the ‘runners have a small 44"“hump” (arc) inthe center toprodice the igarshapedleg (For ‘moreonhow olay outanarcontherunners Seepage 15) ‘Note: The headstock and tailstock pieces are also diferent, see Fig. 2. They have larger holes for supporting the larger diame- ter leg dowel. (And just like the spindle jig, used 34'hick hard maple for the hea stock and lstoce) ‘Aer the jes built, the next step isto prepare the dowelsforihe legs. PREPARING DOWELS Each leg starts out 28 a 24%ong, Win dowel, youd lice to make your own dow: tlovreterto page 14) ‘To prepare the dowels for the leg jig, ten- ons must be cut on the ends, sev Fg. 2 roa {ater the ster tenon wil be immed off = 7) twion once the leg is cut to length. And the larger Been 2 tenon wil be used to mount ihe es Also, to avoid plunging the bit into the dowel al the star of routing the cigar shape Tou. {uta relief notch near the smaller tenon, a re seeFig 3. Before twrving te legs, the jig mast) Now check tht the bits just touch ‘Next, slide the router over the langer beadjusted. Todo thi, frst tthe bit ing the dowel, and the router hase is tenon near the tailstock. If neces- "below the base plate of the rower. Then on therinners. fnecessary, move the hend- sary, adjust the tailsiock wo there's 0 Vs" place ronter inthe middle of the runner, stock up or dou wntil the bit just touches. gasp between the bitand the tenon. No. 88 Woodsmith aHEIRLOOM PROJECT Shaker Bench This Bench isn’t built the Shaker way, but it would take a Shaker craftsman. to notice. The biggest differences are the kinds of tools used. 'm always looking for a better way to do something. For this Shaker Bench, Istarted with the seat. The Shakers would have shaped the contoured seat by hand, usingascorp orinshave. But that Salot of work, andunlessyou'vehad experience wwith these hand tools, it can be difficult to get a tuniform shape. Insiead, I used the table saw to profile on the seat. Talso made the legs and spi. rouglsshapet lathe, and no two of the pieces turned out exactly same. (That's part ofthe unique Shaker look.) ‘But I wanted to save time and produce identical legs end spindles, So I made a couple of igs to form these parts with a router and an electric dil Abit unusual, maybe, but it produces. ready-to-use leg or spindle in amatter of minutes, (Theligsare shown in a separate article that bogins on page 18) DIFFERENT WOOD COLDES. There's something ce about different ways of working. The Shakers kknew their woods and how to make the best use of various types of wood. They used a strong wood (Guich as maple) forthe legs. And a softer, easier to shape wood (such as pine) fo the contoured seat. Since Ididn't have to hand-shape the sea, {didn't have to use a soft wood. But I sill ike the look of ‘contrasting woods sa Tused cherry forthe seat and back rest, and hard maple for the spindles and legs FINISHES. To make a project less flashy looking, the Shakers often disguised contrasting colors of ‘ood with a stain or paint. Here again, L used an ‘alternative technique for finishing, I's @ technique that ve never used before, refer to page 20. WoodsmithOVERALL DIMENSIONS: © Setxisye x33"H PATTERNS MATERIALS CUTTING DIAGRAM To-Go (WO noaROE 8758 FL A Seat (1) Vax loxsa B Sectrackets(@ — 1x3l9x2%5 € Legs (a) ex iI dowel D Stetchos(> S418 oh) dowel E Backrest (1) Sax dxod F BockSpindies 18) 94x 18 toh) dowel No. 88 Woodsinith 2BSHAPING THE SEAT Forthe Shakers the seatforabench ikethis ‘would probably have been cut from a wide, thick slab of wood. But finding wood that size today is almost impossible. So for this Bench, { started out with two narrower boards. This makes it easier to shape the seat on the table saw. First, I cut the two blanks to the same rough size rom 194"thick stock, see Fig. 1 ‘Then, to make it easier to handle. [started work on the blank for the back half of the seat, see Fig. La SPINDLE HOLES Before shaping the back half, Haid out @ Series of oles alang the blank forthe spin. des. But I dida't mark the position of these holes on the workpiece right away — I started withatemplateinstead. That way the template can be used again later foracouple other operations. TAVOUT TEMPLATE. First, rip the tem. plate to match the width of the area that wil beflatalongthe backofthe seat (214%), refer to Fig, 1a. Nove: The template is cut shorter than the seat blanke— i's the inihed length, ofthe hack ofthe seat 53"), see Fig. ‘Thea mark the position of the spindle holes on the template and drill a series of holes at each mark, see Fig. 2a. The holes should match the diameter ofa scratch awl.) "Next, place the template onthe workpiece ‘and use the scratch awito markthelocations ofthe holes for the back spindles, ANGLED WEDGE. For comfort while sit- ting, the back spindles are installed at a slight angle. And to drill the holes forall the spindles at the same angle, [wanted to use the drill press, But there was a problem — the dril press ‘able doesn’ tt in the right direction (front to-back). So instead, Ibevelsipped a wedge to the desired angle, see Figs.3 and 3a, Then this ‘wedge can he used to support the workpiece ‘on the drill press ee Figs. 4 and box below. Now the holes can be drilled forthe spi= dies, see box below. Se a wrote eins ling sng oles, So be ‘ringtone a ate {othe drilpresstble seg 24 Woodsmith No. 88[ didn’t make the layout template just for marking the postion ofthe spindles. There wwas another reason — the template can be used when setting up he table saw for cut: ting acove onthe seat blank CUTTING THE COVE To setup for cutting the cove. frst achustthe height ofthe blade to the desired depth of thecove G4), see Fig. 5 ‘Then, place the template on the saw table ‘on the outfeed side ofthe blade and adjust hemiter gauge angle 1038,"see Fig. 5. This determines the width ofthe cove (fora 10" dia. saw blade) ‘GUIDE FENCE. Now, with thebackedgeot the template touching the front tooth ofthe blade, clamp a long, straight guide fence t the saw table, see Fig. 6. SECOND GUIDE FENCE. When the guide fence is clamped in place. lower the 8 blade and clamp a second guide fence tothe other side of the workpiece, see pltoto at right and Fig. 7. Postion this fence parallel to the first so the distance be tween the two is equal to the width of the workpiece (6%, ‘CUT cove, While eating the cove. the drilled side ofthe sia (the spindle side) should be against the upper guide fence ‘Shop Note: Cut the cove in ple passes. Start with the blade Ye" high and then raise the blade ¥ie" between passos. ‘Safety Note: Usea push stick tokeep your hands clear of the saw blade asthe end ofthe slab passes through the blade. ‘OUTFEED SUPPORT, A word about bal ance — since the lab islong and awkward to handle, there must be some additional seppart for the piece as it leaves the saw Hes easi of guides etowen th to eut a cove om a long workpiece with a pair And.a platform (uithasupportleg) clamped e guides heepe the piece from tipping down. table. If you don’t have an outfeed table, clamp a piece of plywood between the two uidefencesto“lengthen” the saw table, sec photo. This wllcatch the slab and supportit, asitextends offthe ead ofthe saw table 6 zx JOINING THE SEAT HALVES ‘After the cove has been cut on the back sec tion of the seat, the front section ean be shaped. This shape is actually an extension ofthe cove on the back section. But first the two sections ofthe seat (A) are edgeglued together. see Fig. § ‘TEMPLATE. The shape ofthe seatissho ina scale drawing on page 23. But I didn' draw this shape directly on the workpiece, Instead, firstenlarged the shape and made template from the enlargeme ‘To do this, have the drawing on page 23, enlarged 320% at acopy shop,or redraw the shape fullsize onto a piece of grid paper: ‘Then transfer the shape to a piece of scrap plywood (atleast '2" thick). Finally, cut the ‘emplateto rough shape and sanditsmooth, ‘Now transfer the shape irom the template tothe ends ofthe seat, see Fig. § SETUP TABLE SAW. Now the template can be used as a setup gauge for cutting the shape onthe front half ofthe sea, see Fig 9 ‘The actual shaping is done with a stacked dao blade in the table saw Firs, the blade stitedto match the an ofthe curve (84149, see top drawingin Fig. 10, Then the fence ismoved until the inside edge ofthe blade aligns to the desired area ‘of cut. (Set up to start shaping where the ‘cove shape “blends” into the lat shape.) Cura move. Aitereach pass,usethetem- plate to adjust the postion ofthe rip fence and the height ofthe dado blade, see Fig. 9. 9 10 lose roUucN e eset saw [Roe SHAPING SEAT SHE, 10)SMOOTHING THE SEAT ‘When the topside ofthe blanks shaped, the seat should now look abit more inviting 10 sion. But there's sila sharp com front. Before euting off this comer, ‘Seatto finished width, see Fig. 1 ‘Then knock off the square corner with a bevel cut on the table saw, see Fig. 1a. PLANE & SAND. Thebeachisbegianingto look more sculpted. But there's stillasenes of ripples running the length of the blank where the dado cuts didn't quite align. To smooth out the seat, I used 2 hand plane, just ike the Shakers woald have, see Fig. 12. (used a lowangle block plane) Plane th length of the sea, starting a the cove and working toward te front ‘Shop Note: For the most consistent shape while planing, use Une pencil marks on the ‘ends of the seat as a visval guide, And the best way totell when to quitplaningistouse ‘your hand — feel the surface of the seat to ‘check for dips and ridges. ‘When all the bumps are gone, sand the surface of the seat smooth, see Fig. 13, ‘After the top ofthe seatis smooth, the ends of the bench can be shaped next. And like ‘most Shaker designs, the simpler the better. ‘TeMPLATE. When it came time to lay out the shape on the ends of the seat, [had a Certain look in:nind. Then I noticed that the template used forthetopoithe seatwasjust about right, se Fig. M. At first I thought f would cut the ends to ‘match the shapeof the template. But didn't like the look ofa big “bump” sticking out at the back ofthe seat. So I modified the shape CUTTING OFF THE ENDS of the template to “atten” the area at the back, see Fig 148. KEKF & SABRE SAW. After drawing the shape of the modified template on the ends Of the seat, the ends can be cut to shape. Note: This slso cuts the blank tolength. ‘The easiest way to shape the ends of the seat isto use the sabre saw. Butto keep the blade from bending whencutting such thick Stock, frst made aseriesofshortreliofeuts at right anglesto the pencilline.see Fig. 15. ‘Then, these shortcuts can be connected witha smooth cut that follows thefine. SAND sMOOMH. The blade of the sabre saw willleave some “ripples on the ends of the seat. To remove these and smooth the curves, [used a hand dill wich a sanding drum, see Fig. 16. hop Note: A drill guide (uch asa Portalign) helps tokeep the ends squareto the faces, 'ROUT COVE. There's one more decorative detail involved in shaping the seat ts sim pya small cove that Souted all around the lower edge, see Fig. 17 4 Weodsmich, No. 88SEAT BRACKETS Joining Tees tothe seat of bench can pre ‘entseme problems. There aretwothingsto be concerned with — strength and comiort Bat the solutionsarentt complicated. TBRACKETS. There's a lot of tess on the legs of a bench. If they're not securely at tachedto the seat, the whole benchcan wob- be orthe legs can even sagpofl Soon this Shaker Bench, {aed blocks to increase thesirenggh ofthe legjoints, “The seat brackets (B) start out as 21 thick piece of stock (again Tused chery), see Fig. 18. Then the brackets are cut to Gaished dimensions. Note: Cut the recta ular blocs so that when theyre attached later the gran wllrun parallel to the grain ‘onthe seat, see photo atright [ANGLEDHOUS. The seat brackets add strength tothe egjoints. And angled holes Inthe Blocks allow te les to be spread out under the seal This adds stabil ‘By drilling a steeper angle forthe hack legs, the seat will it slightly to dhe back, refer to the Cross Section on page 23. This makes the bench ‘more comfortable to sit on. Drilingholesat ananglecan be almost impossible ifthe ta- ble on your drill press doesn't tit. But you can get the same result by keeping the table fat and titing the workpiece, refer ‘oFig. 12 Far the heles ia the seat brackets, | did this by resting the brackets on blocks that were beveled tothedesired an- ile, see Fig. 190. ROUT COVES After the an- igled holes have been drilled in the seat ‘brackets, a cove can be routed around the bottom edges. Thismatchesthecoverouted ‘earlier on the seat, but [routed these coves ‘onthe router table, see Fig. 20 [ATTACH TO SEAT. Now the seat brackets can be screwed to the seat. Note: The A rectangular block strongthens each leg joint. First, ‘an angled hote is drilled on the drill press, This guides ‘anelectrie dvll that completes the mortise for the leg. brackets are positioned an equal distance ‘om the centerline ofthe sea, see Fig. and "from the edges, see Fig. 21. ‘Alter the brackets have been glued and screwed tothe bottom ofthe seat, Luse: the angied holes as guide for dling the mor- tixes into the seat, see Fig. 22a No. 88 Woodsmith nuLEGS & STRETCHERS ‘To make the legs for a bench, the Shakers ‘wouldhaveusidalathe: But wanted all the legs to be identical, so [shaped them from dowels usingashop-madejig. see the article begining on page 18. Shop Note: On the legs, Ialso cut Mates on the ends ofthe ten Fig, 23. To do this, refer to page 14. STRETCHERS. After the legs (C) have been shaped, they can be dry.assembled into the seat, see Fig. 28. Thisisto test the ft ‘of the tenods, and also to measure for the ‘stretchers (D). The stretchers are cut irom -a99"dia. dowel rod, see Fig. 24 used the router table witha core box bit ‘to rout a round tenon on the ends of each stretcher, see Fig.24a. Thisissirilarto the ‘procedure showa forthe table sw on p.19.) CUTOFF Hartoms, Before assembling the stretchers and legs, Icut the bottom off ‘each leg so the bench would sit fat on the floor. Te do this,place the bench on alarge, flat surface. used a door on the floor.) ‘Next, scribe around the bottom of each leg to indicate where the legs should be trimmed, see Fig, 25. Then remove the legs and trim off the ends, (Mabeled the les $0 they woulda't get mixed up later). ASSEMBLE LEGS & STRETCHER Before the legs can be attached to the seai, a mortise must be drilled in each leg to accept the stretcher, sce box below. After the mortises are drilled, the stretch- cers can be glued into the legs, and the legs sued into the seat, see Fig 28. Woodsmith No. 88BACK REST After the legs and stretchers are atached to the seat, I started work oa the back of the bench. This consists of a back rest con necied to the bench with tapered spindles. CUTMACK REST, The backrest tops offthe ‘Shaker Bench and secures the tops af the back spindles. Firs, cut the hack rest (E) to finished ith and length from apie of hick stock, see Fig. 2. ‘Then, to“blend” the back rest in with the seat of the Bench, I trimmed an angle off ‘cach end, see Fig. 273. Next, sand a radius on all four corners ( used a drum sander in the dill press) -MORTSES. Now ly outa series of mor- tises on the back rest to accept the spindles. To do this, used the same template Thad used earlierto lay out the holesalong the back ofthe seat. First align the centerline onthe template with acentestine drawn, onthe hack rest, see Fig. 27 Then transfer the marks for the locations of the mortises ‘cum the template to the bottom edge of the workpiece, Now the mortises can be bored in the Shop Note: Aguide back rest, centered on the thickness of the fence attached to the drill press helps hold workpiece. see Figure 28, the workpiece upright while drilling. SPINDLES & FINAL ASSEMBLY ‘The back spindles start out as extradong pieces of 5¢"dia. dowel rod. For a more fraceful look, the dowels are tapered from the bottom (thick) end to a thinner top (4 dia) end, see Fig. 29. (See page 18for this) After te dowels have been tapered, cut the spindles (F) to finished length by cut ling offboth ead, see Fig, 29, Shop Note: If's easier to insert the spin- ‘les into the seat (A) ifthe bottom (thick) ‘ends are lightly chamfered, see Fig. a. RE-USE TEMPLATE. There's one last use for the layout template. First, enlarge each hhole inthe template ty 94"-dia. Then ripthe can be “bottomed out” inthe holes. template in half, see Fig. 0.Now the tem- _ FiNtstt. To see how I finished the bench, plate can help align the spindies, see Fig.32. refer othe article on the following page. des, frst glue them into the holes in the back rest, see Fig. 21. Then, glue them inio ‘the holesin the seat. Note: Becausethe spin- dles aren't tapered atthe bottom ends, theyFINIS HING TECHNIQUE Finishing the Bench When the Shakers built a piece of furnk ture out of different woods, they usually Stained itor paintedit ‘with, milk paint. The goal was simple. Make the woods look the same so the piece wouldn't draw atten tion to itself With this Shaker Bench, 1 decided to use a stain too, But wanted to hightightthe dilferences between the darker cherry and the lighter maple —not hide them. STAINING CHERRY don’ usually stain cherry. It may bea pale pink or salmon when you're working with it ‘Butas cherry is exposed to light, the wood darkens naturally toa rich reddish-brown. (This takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months depending oa how much sunlight it gets) ‘With theShaker Bench, I wantedto speed up the aging process s0 the contrast be tween the two woods could be seen right away. And staining also evens ‘out any dliferences inthe cherry between the lighter sapwood and the darker heartwood. STAIN PROBLEMS. One prob- Jem with staining cherry t that there aren't many stains avail able that look ike naturallyged cherry. They te either too red or too dark. ‘Another problem with staining cherry ‘hatitcan end up withdarkblotches. Butthe problem realy ist the stan, I's the grain. ‘The grain in cherry can be wavy. As the wavy grain tums up towards the surface of the board. it becomes end grain. This can result in a beautiful, highly-igured work piece. But when stained, this figured grain ‘often ookslike blotches. That'sbecause end sain soaks up stain lke a problems? Gel stains are one solution ‘They're thicker than other stains (about the consistency of pudding). This means the fend grain can't soak it up a8 quickly. The ‘stain doesa' penetrate the wood as deeply, Dutitpenctrates more evenly. The resultisa consistent color and less biotching. ACRYLIC WOOD STAIN. After testing sev ral gel stains. found one | liked: Licuitex Acrylic Wood Stain (see next page). I's a transparent stain that’s water-based and ‘non-toxic. This stain had the best “aged” cherry color ofany stain Tve seen. And tleft the grain both clearand consistent. STAINING THE BENCH 1 stained the seat and the back rest before ssembling the Shaker Bench. That way 1 didr’thave to tapethespindles or worry that the stain would bleed under the tape. PRECAUTIONS. I took 2 couple of precau- tions before staining. One wasto sand allthe parts up to 320grit sandpaper. This helps the cherry to accept the stain evenly across the faceand the end grain. Cherry stains don’t usually look like naturally-aged cherry. But I found a gel stain that doe: [also took another simple precaution. (1 tend to be very careful when it eomes to fin ‘shing a project.) I plagged the holes in the sca co potatoe | i eto kepthe and preventing the tle from bonding when Iglaed inthe pin dles, (But since the stain is thick and dries ‘quickly, I doubt that you'd have any prob- Jems if you eft the plugs out) RAISING THE GRAIN. Usingaa water based stain also requires another step before you begin — you have to raise the gras. ‘When wood gets wet, the loose fibers stand up like whiskers. Soyou have to“pre- ‘wet” the project and then lightly sand effthe whiskers before using a euter-based sain. Tuiped both the seat and rail with adap rag. Then after the wood had died, ITightly sandedthesurface again with 320 grit paper. Don't sand too much, or youll expose new Sbersand have the same problem again APPLYING THE STAIN. At this point. the cherry is ready to be stained. Lfound the Liguitex stain dries very quickly, and lap marks can be 3 prob- Jem, So to extend the drying time. | lightly misted the wood witha spray bottle of water before applying the stain. Then I squirted on the Liquitex stain and wiped it in with a cloth, see photo. T worked one large section.at atime, start ing with the concave section on top, From there Istained the fat section (with the holes). Then the edges, and finally the bottom. ‘The best time to even out lap marks and Tight areas is while the stain i tll wet. For this Lusethe same rag as used for staining, but lightly dampened with additional stain Andto avoid swirl marks, alwayswiped the stain with the grain —net incircles TOP coat A stain doesn't protect the wood. It only changes the color. So after the Shaker Bench wasassembled, I applied atop coat Note: Whenever you use @ water-based stain, besure to give the stain time to dry completely ‘before applying a topcoat ARMRSEAL [use oil/ure thane finishes alt. They're sim ply wiped on, and the excess wiped off For the Shaker Bench, 1 wanted to use Seal because it has ahi urethane and hardens toa protective shell APPLYING THE TOPCOAT. I's best to ap- ply an oil ish i: cots. Again I workedin lage sections, butthistime Lused a foam brush. (You can use a raz) Then I it off with aclean rag almost immedi ately. always wiping withthe grain. To allow both sides ofthe seat toexpand and contract evenly with changes in humidity nish the bottom of the seat too. Note: Ifyau find the ollis ticky when you ‘wipe tof ithas already started drying. Sime ply add more oiland wipe it offimmediately. Whea the first coat of ArmR-Seal had ried overnight, Lapplied a second cost. AE ter it was dry, Iighily sanded the surface with 400-gritcandpaper (to smooth out the bumps) and followed up with one morecoat. ‘Once that dred, | felt that the Bench had ‘enough protection, but was.a litle glossier than I wanted. So Tightly rubbed out some ofthe gloss with 6000 steel wool 30 Woodsmith No. 88PROJECTESUPPLIES Sources PORTABLE WORKBENCH SHAKER BENCH FINISHES ROUTER BITS A hardware Kit with all of the Thereisn'tany specialhardware On page 20 there's an explana A variety of router bits are patstobuildthePortableWor'- needed for the Shaker Bench tion about how 1 finished the needed wo build the projects in bench (shown on page 6) is shown on page 22. Sometimes, Shaker Bench. The key thing thisissue. available from Woodsmnith Pro- though, itcan be difficult to find wasfinding asain that would be- All of the necessary bits can Sect Supplies, lange diameter dowels in differ- close in color to‘aged” cherry. be ordered from Woodemith Note: Youwillnced to cutthe ent woods. (used mapieforthe found aproductat an art supply Project Supplies. (Note: Order dowels, hinges, and threaded Shaker Beach and red oak for store that does as good ajob as theshank sizetofit your specific rod inthekitiofi, The woodand the Three Leg Stoolon page 16.) any Ive seen. I's called Liquitex router) plywood needed to build the There'satechniqueshownon Wood Stain. This is a water ‘These bits arcallhigh quality workbench are not included in page 14 for making your awn based gel sian. One 4 oz. bottle and carbideipped bits. They're the kit dowels on the router table with wasenough tostainthescatand the same bits used in the | #4) Piano Hinges, 129" x 18", square stock. But if you would back rest of the Bench Woodemith shop. Brass Screws "prefer to purchase dowels in a W88-1514-811 p' Round- ©.) Magnetic Cylinder Catches variety of woods, they're avail Over Bit (4 shank) $7.95 with Strikes and Screws able from the *Mail Order WSB-1512-821 4" Round- *+(0) Draw Catches, Brass Soueeststed below re Be shal 5 q ith Screws W88-1514-817 59" Round- | | +0) Dia Dowel, 36" Long BAND SAW BLADES Over Bit (4 shank) $24.95 ‘or Bench Dogs and Cross A number of band saw blades - # Dowels) are mentioned on page 13. =@) W"Dia, Dowels, 9" Long Listed below are some catalog, (ForHandwheel Handles)” sources for band saw blades. FD) 2 ete Sees, Tota eaderotlenae 36" Long band saw Blades call American Woodamith Project Supplies (U4 shat) evermore 829.95 2)" Cap Nuts, Brass Sawat800-628-8030.For Olson is offering the Liquitex Wood WBB-1514.721 Core ) 34 Flat Washers blades call 203-792-8622. For Stain (Cherry only) Box Bit (" shank) ....-$21.95 ) 3" Lock Nuts Wood Slicer blades call Highy WS8-4003-060 Liquitex _- WRB-1512-730 9 Core + (©) Nylon Spacers, 34" Inside land Hardwarcat 800-241-5748. Cherry Sain.....£4.79 per 4.02, Box Bit (4" shank) $25.95, Dia,, 1" Outside Diameter The Cool Blocks and band After the stain dried on the W88-1514-885 Flush Trim 2)$4"ThreadedInserts,Stcel saw blade tuning stone mem Shaker Bench, 1 applied two Bit (M4 shat) xno-n$1595 #2) 64.Common Nails toned intheartcle areavallable coats of General Finishes’ Arm- W8S-1512-887 Hush Trim 2 (@)48x5("Fh Woodscrews from the sourceslisied below. R-Sealsatintopeoattothe whole Bit (16" shank) $17.95 # (06) #8x "Fh Woodscrews For more information about heach (both the maple andthe WBS-1514-170 Chamier Bit 4 | 2G048x 1" FhWoodscrews band sav biadesand wining upa cherry). It's a durable oll and (¥4" shank). o-S21.99 # (4 #8x2"Fh Woodscrews band saw, I would recommend urethane finish, W88.1512 175 Chamier Bit W88-788-100 Portable The Band Saw Handbook by W88-4003-620 ArmRSeal Gs" shank) $23.95 | Workbench Hardware Mark Duginske. It’s available Oil and Urethane Top Coat 1828.85 from the catalogs isted below. (Satin) en 89.95 quart W88-1514 381 V Groove Bit (4 shan MAIL ORDER SOURCES ‘Similar hardware and supplies may be found in the following catalogs. Pleaue call each company fora catalog orinformation. Gace Wate Gant Blacks, Toning ‘ao ger er ‘se Sion, Band Sox Rertbch Handsome, ‘Band Sane Bladen, ‘endnote te Das 9, ea Bi tt Sit aed No. 88 ‘Woodsmith etA VAST Poon Final Details Shaker Bench Le sais used in place of hand tools ok the same for shaping’ ve cowtoured seat. And the tapered table eaw and router, It all in the teck- legeand spindles are turned!” with a router ji. Portable Workbench i 1 For sail he lags of inl arc tnllied’ The lop ofthis Portabe Workbnch alo a eek ape doa be ieag ction, gd aa ane Tock eras eertocaren fopeieacltencit eigen” ” ae mtepuepiosita/ allows tape Woodsmith