VOL. 16 NOTES FROM THE SHOP NO. 95No. 95 October, 1994 ‘Sales Kert A Bocktox PUBLISHING SERVICES i Bio: Ger Gee * Graph Artie Stee ‘CORPORATE SERVICES Fionning Dior Jon Macatiy + Corti Woio then Aes ats Tos Jie Cnc Proton Carl ee a ‘Sore, Mgrs Joce Mose * lee Pub Ceont Doug Mt Lester ® Aptic Spc ints Maron Suge dase Nk Thien © Admit Auiatnts ‘Ghee ‘A Seat fla Fah ¢epeon: Jexie Yemen Bast Mare: Ren Getth Sen Pulbliment Mors Vase Wiese ® Calon Prak.Mgr: Bb baer © Pe Contr Pro. or ‘Supple LndaJonnse Pech Sport eas «ep: Coia Kerman ‘CUSTOMER SERVICE ‘Sap: Nene Joion Fafitment GoiaSbckan Dpnie Mave. Cac, Savin are ‘WOODSMITH STORE nage Drs Laon Asien Menage Pm Stale # Sats Sta Wendel Stne, Pat Low cy fies Saag: Ved Ears DITOR" Sawdust esearch, I's one of the first things swe do when we start to design a project. This is especially important if we're planning to build a traditional piece of furniture. (Like the Classic Bookcase featured on page 6.) More than anything else what we're looking for is inspiration. Typically, this ‘means spending seme time in the library reviewing old furniture designs. We al most always find some feature or design element that we can use as an inspiration {for creating the look we want. However, we ran into. an inspirational reaciblock when it came time to design the bookcase for this is- ‘see, From the startthe idea was to design a classic bookcase. The trouble was we were having adevil ofa time ‘coming up with the ook we wanted. And none of the traditional furniture we looked at seemed to offer mach fnspiration. ‘So we took 2 slight detour, instead of look- ing at traditional fur lure we began looking at traditional architee- tre, That. was. all it took to get us on the ight track, “The endl resull wasa design that used traditional architectural elements to create a cass woodworking, project, see the drawing. Once the look of the project had been determined the next step was to work oat ‘the construction detals. Typicaly, a pro- ject is built in the workshop and then ‘moved to another location. But this can be dificult to do with 2 tall project lke the bookcase, (AL its highest point, i's over ‘seven and a hal fet tall) “The solution was to design the bookcase so itcould be builtin sections (or compo- nents). The sections are held together with knockdown haniware. This allows ‘you to break down the bookcase into parts that are easy to move. But enough about the bookcase, there are a couple of other ‘things [want to tell you about. ae NEWFACE, Asmost of you know Llke 10 introduce new members of the Weodemith family. Well ths time T get to introduce a new face and 4 new position. Jon Macarthy has joined us.as Planning D- rector, Basically, Jon willbe helping me ty ‘to undersiand allthe pages of numbers the Circulation and Accounting departments keep piling on my desk. Preity exciting sul, right?) Actually Tm hoping that lean, spend less time reading reports and more time down in the shop. matt. A couple of months ago we set up an electronic (computerized) mail sys- tem between the offices here at Woodtenith. At first 1 was a litle skeptical, but 've found it acon: venient way to write a quick message | Someone, oF schedule a meeting with every- ‘nein the company. Its turned into such great communics- fion tool that I got to thinking sbout how we could use i to commun e with readers Ive always felt that finding out what our readers waat to see in Woedsmith and shar ing information is the most important thing wwe can do. So we decided to join a couple of online computer services: Prodigy and Com puServe (and gain accese tothe Internet). Now we're thinking about other elec. tronic services we can provide readers. If you've got any ideas along these Hines oF have a compter and modem and waat to visitwith us or ask aquestion, the ines are now open. Send E-mail through any ofthe following: (Atm: Wocatsmit): Prodigr: EDJE9ZA CompuServe: 75390,2301. Internet 75130-2001 @compuserve:com. PS. If you don’t understand the last three paragraphs, don't worry. (didnt un derstand them myself until recently.) You can sil send us a etter the old-fashioned way — with a stamp. 0 Woodsmith No. 5A LOOK INSID Contents FEATURES Classic Bookcase 6 This project looks traditional, but it uses simple joinery ‘and knock-down hardware. The result is an impressive bookcase that’s much easier to build than it looks. Cutting Board 16 This Cutting Board is built from small blocks with the end grain facing up. This looks good and is extremely durable, And it's not built one block at a time — there's a quicker and easier way, Assembly Tips 20 Useful information for cutting, gluing, flattening, and smoothing the Cutting Board, Or any other project made with the end grain facing wp. Clearing the Air 22 Heavy-Duty Shop Filter: This unit uses a furnace blower and three filters to clean the air in the whole shop . Small Area Shop Filter: This economicul unit uses @ pair of bailervom exhaust fans anda single filter Oil Finishes 28 Therearea lot of oil finishes available today. Here are some helpful tipsso youcan choose the right one for your projects Fluting Jig 30 With this shop-built jig, you ean rout a series of decorative flutes that are parallel and equally spaced. Tips & Techniques 4 Shop Notes 14 Sources 31 No. 95 Woodsmith Classic Bookease page é Cutting Board page 16 Shop Dust Filters page 22FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS Tips & Techniques Wlt’s a challenge gluing miter joints, There just isn't an easy ‘way to clamp them together. In the past I've tried a variety of storebought chimps. But ‘dey don't always pull the joint together. So I eame up with a shop?uilt corner clamp thet pushes (or presses) themitered pisces together with wedges. This corner clamp uses a piece of plywood for a base. A square block of wood and two outside braces are ghied and screwed on top, see Fig. 1. ‘The important thing is to be sure the square block is really are. Double check that the inside corner is cut exactly 90° Then align the two outside braces parallel with the two sides ofthe block AA pair of wedges does all the ‘work. They apply pressure to WEDGE CLAMP WWhen edge gluing, biscuits ‘area quick and easy way toalign the boards, But the problem i, ittscems Bke more timeis spent clamping and unclamping the boards than cuiting the slots. ‘Aad the dlamps.can leave marks the wood As Teame up with a simple expensive solution — a Sredge camp, is basically two pieces of plywood separated the mitered pieces in two direc vions at the same time, When the inside wedge (he one in sontact wih the mere piece) together an! firmly holds the pieces in place, see George Clark Eoat Wineteor, Neve Jersey RS i Apo ss) Simse is “oy from each other by a wedge shaped spacer, see Fig. ‘The wedge spacers the heart of the clamp, It's thin strip of wood that I bevelripped from theedge ofa 2x4, see Fig, 2.The thickness of the spacer deter mines the sizeof the epeningbe- {ween the top and base pieces This opening must be small ‘enough soa board iswedged in place before it contacts the spacer, see F The’ way it works i the top forces the workpiece against the base asit slides into the clamp, sce photo. Fricion between the boards holds everything. se- curely. Now! don'thavetowaste have to worry about protecting the board fromclamp marks. A This wedge clamp grabs a Dave Standrich workpives securely and lets go Mulvane, Kansas quickly. With no moving parts. Woodsmith No. 95BOOTLACE STROP 1 used to put off sharpening ay chisels untl they were dal Butnow I hone them regularly with 2 poster stop, This way, they don’t need to be sharpened early as often This siropusesaleather boot: lace wrapped tightly around 2 dowel. This 1a dowel has a slot cuton one end witha hole at the other end, see Fig. 1. A ‘stall hole js driled in the side. ‘Wedge the bootlace in the slot and wrap it around the dowel in aclockwise direction, see Fig. 2 Note: Keep the tanned side (Gark side) facing the dowel Then screw a hex head belt into the hole to hold the boot- lace in place, see Fig, 3. Cutoff the bolt head to form the arbor. ‘To use the strop, set the drill press ata slow speed and apply honing compourel to the boot lace. Safety Note: Hold the chisel so the strop rotates away from the cutting edge to keep it from grabbing, see photo. few Slack Edmonton, A Use a slow apecd and hold the chisel 20 the strap iy tern: ing away from the tool. 1 we, cae 3 nore Oe (ote TEE ae feel a Thread aslow, \ pubis semua ei we, ‘reed eee mee | Li a Sree ta = bor cet nah htt See PICTURE FRAME RETAINER ive always had a problem finding good way to hold a pe ture in its frame. Those ite tri- angle-shaped glazier point push into te wood never work very well on hardwood. And us ing small brads near the edge cansplit the wood. ‘Now I hold pictures in place wvith panhead serews andfender washers. The secret is creating a recess forthe washer to sitin. “To do that, use a Forstner bit to drill holes on the back of the frame, see Fig. 1. The holes are dill” larger than the washers, and overlap the edge of the ‘ame, When the washers are i- stalled, they stick out from frame and. hold the picture in place, see Fig, 2. ‘Ann the cenier hole eftby the sour on the Forstner bit is the perfect size fora woodscrew. Leroy Pruard Vaneonser, Washington WI build alot of pro- jects that_ require builtup pieces of molding (ike small pictureframes). The pieees can be hard to clamp. together. But Ive found that common “bungee” QUICK TIP PLAN PROTECTOR MBL work rom fullsize furniture plans whenever possible. But they lakeup a lot of space on my ‘workbench, Andbefore 'athall- ‘way through the project, they're usualy torn and dirty. Sol tapemy plans oawindow ‘badk tp out ofthe way when Tm done. So they're well protecied Watter Stecker Garden Grove, California cori work we ne val conform 1 any Aye ould eg sare andy 0 SIG depend Shape and won't ma oni . ‘on the publshed length, eee er it around AL my hardware store, the | to Wootemith, ‘Tips and Include. brief explanation and the molding and te a knot to bungee cords come on spools, | Techniques, 2200 Grand Ave- sketch (or photo). And don't hold tblace. The bungee so you-can buy the exact length | tHe, Des Moines, lowa $1012. worry, well rewrite the ip and yecesenoaltatbelane Wiis see Orifits easier for you, FAXit redraw the art if necessary. constrictor (The larger the de Paul Ruppiery | © u8a815-202-6741. Also, please include a daytime ameter the tighter it squeezes.) Millbrae, California |_Héwe publish the tip, we will_phone number. No. 95 Woodsmith 5FEAT URE Woodsmith PR QJECT Classic Bookcase It’s what you don’t see that makes this project unique. Knock-down hardware is ) PIG ef hidden within the sides. So it's easy to assemble and convenient to move. ld a large But 1 had visions of wresling it around my shop when cable and finish it changed rd sysiem manageable simple breaks the project down int sized picces that are easy to handle To see what's special about the design. you need to look behind the plywood back. Not something you'd expect oF piece of furniture, ‘What makes this system work are the in i used to build the se, sides, and top are all bull as separate assemblies. Once they're all completed you just bolt them together, apart. You ow ifyou get fined ofit sitting in the livingroom. Another benefit to using components i being able to change the overall appear: ance. By replacing the top assembly, the project takes on acompletely new look. For ‘example, the classic top with theoval can be replaced with a straight one, (See page 11 foran alternate top.) ‘A All you need to ereate the elossie look of ted col a rower and the simple fluting jig that's shown on page 30. No. 95EXPLODED VIEW 1 ge Bimenstows: a ea 12M" | ower Case Front (1) Lower Case Sides (2), LUppee CaseFiont 1) taxaot- 395% Lipper CaseSides 2) 14 x454— 11916 TopfBottom Panels (2) ply -119)6 x397% lower CaseBlodks @) 4x38 65 | Upper Case Blocks 2) 4x34 4% Filler Peces (4) oxi DA Lower Comer Bks. (2) ¥4 x4¥4-8)2 Upper Corner BkS, (2) 14x270- 33% UXGh-3P% x6 %- MMe SenumpvozE x zo 7mone> Bead Molding) Vex te 14feot levelerBlocs (8) 4x5%- 216 TopMolling(1) axl 7B heat (1) x78 “op front) 14x6-Ad (gh) Top Sides (2) Yax3-14 (Qh) Cove Molding (1) 44x 198-78 Fluted Cops(2) Man 3%4- 84 09h) Interior Panels@) Yap 1115 x72 ExterorPanels 2) Maply- 114472 ivs(8) sa py-2x 1104 Alignment Blocks (#) Ya py-1¥4x11%4 Va ph -38Y2 x73 3a ply -10%2 x33%e NA 36 (@) Me" Rat Washers @) 20 Fu ()72" Shel Standard Brackets (Browe) (52) Bracket Nais Grown) © 2) 11a" cia Lovelers with TNs 20) Shel Suppers I8rown) CUTTING DIAGRAM 7s. 96° Cherry (5 Be. Ft) ae 56" 84" Coeery 32 Bd FA) Me x6" 84° Cherry B.5Bd Fe) - perand lower case assem bles are almost identical (The upper case is 2 Shorter than the lower ing them at ime reduces the number of setups that Teed to make. asipes. Both ‘the upper and lowercase assemblies consist ‘ofa frontand two side pieces, Plywood pan- es are added later. I stared work on the lower case front (A) and sides (B), see Fig. 1. Icut them to finished size and then repeated the same steps tomake the upper cease front (C) and sides (D)- Nest, [used a locking rabbet joint to hold the front and side pieces together, see Fig. 2. A tongue cul on the front pieces fits im 8 Yedcep dado eut on the side pieces. The ‘important thing here is to make the tongue ft smug in the dado. ‘Afier cutting the tongue, I rabbeted the top edge ofthe lower case ascembly and the bottom edge of the upper case assembly, See Fig. 3. These rabbets will hold a top and ‘bottom panel which are made next. ‘Top/norToM PANELS. To determine the lengzh of te top/bottom panels (E), dry assemble the fronts and sides together and measure the distance between the rabbets ‘on the sides, see Fi. 4 Then to determine the witth, measure from the rabbet on ih font pieces to the tack edges ofthe side, But you need to Jeave room for the pivwood back (added Inter). So the width of each panel ict so its 4 short ofthe back ede, see Fa. 4a Im cave, the finished size afboth tp /bot tom panels ©) was 116x397. ‘Aer the panelsare cut to size, the next sepis w rabbet three edges ofeach panel Gront and side edges), see Figs 4 and a This rabbet creates a “shelf for molding thats added later, refer to Fig. 9. ‘Once both panels have been rabbeted, 1 sued the upper/lower case sides, fronts, and panels together. Clamp the pieces and ‘heck that everything remains square CASEALOCKS The neat step is to add lower ease blocks (F) and upper case blocks (G). The blocks cover up the end xzaiaontheste pieces, and they help give the Bockease «distinctive look Both sets of blocks are cut to the same width Gx). But the heath ofeach set is determined by the height ofthe upper and lowerassembles seeFig 5. Note: For more on cuting the blocks see page 1. ‘You might be tempied fo glue te blocks directly 10 the front pieces, But the wood cutpane to fe Between ret ee 8 * No. 95grain on the blocksrunsina éifferent direc. ‘Hon than the front pieces. So there's good chance the blocks would “popaf! ‘wood moved from changes in humiity. Instead, I drilled two countersunk chank holes through the case fronts and screwed the blocks in place, see Fig, Sa. FILLER PuECeS. Next I yanted to fil inthe space between the case blocks and plywood panel on each case assembly. To de that, 1 ct Hs"thick hardwood filler pieces (HH) and glued thera in place, see Fig, 6. ‘CORNER RLOCKS. Then T turned the up- per/lower case assemblies around so. 1 ‘could add lower corner blocks (1) and up- per comer blocks (J) a the back comers, see Fig. 7. These trianale-shapedblocksadd support to the op/bottom panel on each as- ‘sembly. To install the blocks, simply she and screw them in plice. ‘Note: The blocks are installed flush with the back edge of the plywood panels. CCHAMFER EDGES. AMler installing the cor nerblacks, [tured the upper and lower as semblies over androuteda chamferaround three edges, see Figs. 8 and 8a. Note: For more on this see page 14 “The only prablem isthe chamfer bit won't cut square inside comer. Sotoleanup the inside corners next to the case blocks, 1 ised a sharp chisel and followed the profile of the bevel. se Fig 8b. HEAD MOLDING, The next step is 10 make thebead molding (B). The molding fits on the rabbeted edge on both the upper and lower case assemblies, see Fig. 9 First] cutthe mokdingto sze,see Fig. 3. ‘Then I used a 30" roundover bit in the router table torout.a bullnose profile onone edge ofeach piece. Note:1 madeextramold ingin case it vas needed. ‘When installing the molding, cut the long pieces first (the ones that cover the lower ‘and upper case fronts). That way ityou cut ‘one a ile short, I sil can be used for the Side pieces. Then work your way around t0 the sides, cutting and fiting the pieces as ‘you go. Finally, gue all the pieces in pce. LEVELER BLOCKS Because the Bookcase stands stall, evel ersareaulded{o the wer case assembly Keep the back ight against the wall Told these levelers, aided leveler locks atboth front corners, see Fig. 10. The leveler blocks also act as glue blocks and help sirengthen the corners. Each leveler Block (L) is glued up from two pisces of "hick stock. A Tanti ia- stalled in one end and the levelers screw into the at, see Fig. 1. When installing the blocks, postion them up tight against the plywood panel. Then ‘ue and clamp them in place No. 95 WoodsmithUPPER CASE MOLDING At this point, the lower cave assembly is done, so you can set it aside for ‘how, But there's stillwork todo on the upper ease, Whenit'scomplet, the upper case assembly ill look like the roof on a house. And like a roof, it isn't added all at once. in Stead, several ayers of ‘molding are stacked one ofthe other, mn piece of mold added to the upper case is the top molding (OD, see Fig. 11. The molding starts out as ‘a single workpiece cut into three pieces. It's the base for the rest of the molding. Tnsealling the molding Is pretiy stig forward. Simply miter the pieces so the molding overhangs the sides and the ease ‘blocks on the front by 4, see Figs. and Curt. The next “layer” added to the top assembly is the cleat (N), see Fig. 12. Here ‘againa single beardis cut into three pieces. dso its back the back edge of the top 12a, This creates a 2"- ‘wide “shelf” on the sides and front for the next ayer of molding to rest on. “TOP FRONT. Once the cleat is installed, the next piece that'sadded o the topassem bly isthe top front (0), see Fig. 13. (Note: Foran alermate design see next page.) The top front isa beveled pieve of mold- ing with an oval cut out of the midde and ‘wo tapered sides. I eut the beveled ends first, see Fig. 13a. And then marked the cen- terline ofthe length of the board. From the center ofthe top front drew an oval, (For more on drawing ovals see the box below) Then Imarked the location for the tapered cuts on the sides. TLeut atthe oval with a sabre saw close to the ine and finished up with a drum sander, Then cut the tapers and glve and camp the top front‘o the cleat, see Fig. 15b. ee NS havent drawn an oval in quite awhile, So before starting, 1 ‘brushed the cobwebs off my cl ace drawn, Then all you need to do fsdrawtwocireles and two arcs ‘with a compass. ep ave: Che ener pois @ e tineae et ocen Fo tends eo Woodsmith‘Tor sipes. Once the top font was in salle, Istarted work on the top sides (P). See Fig. 14. The goal here is to make the Sides flush with the tapered edge on the sce Fig, Ma. mplest way too do that is by start ing with a board that’s wider than needed "), Then ipa 10° bevel along, ‘sce Fig. Lda This bevel matches the angle of the taper eut on the top front. | Next, miter one end to match the miter ‘on the top front, and cut the sidesto length. “The side pieces shouldend upflush withthe ‘ends of the side cleats. Then sneak up on the final width by make ing several rip cuts onthe side opposite the 10" bevel (My side pieces ended up 154" wide), After the sides fit fush, glue and damp them tothe cleats. ‘COVE MOLDING. ing added to the molding (Q). It attaches to the top front 1 piece of mold and sides, see Fig. 15. I arted by cutting the molding toits fin- ished width (136"). And then routing a 2" ‘cove, see Fig. 19a. ‘Next. cut the frontand side pieces to fit on the top frontand sides, Position the front Pieces of cove molding so they overhang. ‘both edges of the oval by the same amount, ssee Fig. fhen glue and screw the front and side pieces of cove molding in place. Note: The back edge of the cove molding is installed flush with the inside face ofthe top front and sides, see Fig. 16, (Mine were 10" past the edge.) 15 1 Pil ‘This Bookcase is built with components. By ‘Chasgitg one component the whole apear- anceof the bookcase cen change Fora sin- Bler approach we designed an alternate top assembly. This design does away with the {apered cuts and the oval. Suaight pieces are used instead, see Drawing below, cove MOLDING mond Cut the top front and sides to length and ‘glue and clamp them to the cleat. Then cut the cave molding tft on top ofthe top front ‘and sides. Position the cove molding so the ‘back edge isflush with the inside face ofthe tep fontandsides. Then ghte snd screw the ‘cove molkfing in place. No. 95 Woodsmith u—<— — SIDE ASSEMBLIES Cree heop ant votom pleted I started work on theside assemblies. What makes. them unigoe 1s they're built with double wll construct. And the space between the walls is for knockdown hardware. ‘This hardware connects the sides wih thetop and bottomassem- bile. A fisted cap om the front hides the hardware fromview. LUTED CAP. [stated work onthe side 2 sembles by making the Muted caps (Rt). They have evenly spaced tes on the face a half utes on exch edge. ‘To help space the flutes evenly, I used a fluting Dae 30 foe more on the ji) | used an oversized blank to make each cap. They wore longer than needed so stop blocks could be ciampedontheends. These blocks stop the jig in the same spat tokeep the Mute lengths equal, see Fig. 17. “The blanks were also wider than needed 24"). That way the twooutside utes could ripped in half when cutting the blanks 10 finished width, see Fig. 1 After the caps are cutto finished size. cut two grooves on the back side of each cap. These grooves are sized to match the tongues cut in the side paiels, When the cease is ready to be assembled they heip ‘keep the cap aligned with the sides. SIDES. After cutting the grooves in the ‘cap, [started work on the sides. Both sides have an interior panel (S) and exterior ‘panel (1) made from plywood, see Fig. 18. ‘These panels are identical in length, bat the interior pane! is cut ¥4" narrower. This al- Tows forthe thickness of the plywood back thats installed later. ‘Afler the panels were cut to finished length and width, I rabbeted the front edge ‘ofeach panelto forma tongue. Thetongues are cut so they/ll it smug inthe grooves on. the back of the fated cap. Next, four dadoes are cut on the inside walls of both the interior and exterior pan- els, see Fig. 18c. Plywood ribs fit in these dadoes to help keep the panelsaligned, Fig. 18b, These are for metal shelf stand. ands which are added later. sans. After the grooves are cut. 1 mack ribs (U) for each side assembly, s a, These ribs fit in the dadoes cut in the interior and exterior panels, Two of the 7) i da oles eae ae Woodsmith No. 95ribs are drilled to accept T-auts, Bolts in terted through the top and bottom assem- blies and into the Touts are used to draw everything together during final assembly. SIDEASSEMBLY. After the T-nuts are in stalled in the ribs the sides can be assea bled. First give and install the ribs in the dadboes, see Fig. 18. As you install thera, re- member toputtheribs with the Tauisatthe ‘opand bottom locations, “Then glue and clamp the fluted caps on the front of both side assemblies. AUCNMENTBLOCKS. To help. put. the Bookcase back together if i's taken apart alignment blocks (V) are aided to the wpe lower case assemblies, They automat cally align the sides andthe cases Firs, the blocks are cut to fit into the top ‘and bottom openings inthe sides, see Fig, 19, Chamfer the edges to makeit easier for the blocks to fitin the sides. ‘Next, gue and screw the blocks to the top/bottom pane, see Figs. 20and 20, Then dil oversize holes through the blocks and top/botiom panels. The larger hholes make it easier to get the bolisaligned with the Tuts INSTALLATION. AMter the holes are drilled, [attached the sides to the upper and lower ‘ease with bolts and washers, see Fig. 21. ACK. Now measure the opening for the back (W) andeutitto size. see Fig. 22. Then screw tin place, Note: The back doesn't fit Thish with the back of the Bookcase. In- stead, it buts up agains the inside edge of both exterior panels. SHELVES ‘To support the shelves, | used metal sheit standards, They're installed inthe grooves you cut earlier in the interior panels. (See page 31 for sources.) One thing io Keep In mind as you install the standardsis check to make stre they're sexier rooster positioned in the saine direction (ue num bere stamped on the brackets are allright side up.) Then use the nals that came with the standardsto hold them in place. ELVES, Now the shelves (X) can be cutto fitbetween the standartls, see Fig. 23. [added trim pieces (¥) to the frontofeach plywood shelf. They strengthen the shelves and hide the edges at the same time. ‘Glue and clamp the trim pieces in place. Adjust the position ofthetrim pieces so they fitGush with the top ofthe shelves. When it came time 10 apply a finish to the Bookcase I decided to use a cherry stain, | ‘wanted the rich reddish-brown calor without | “waiting for the aging process. Andusing stain | | would even cut the color differences between the lighter sapwood and darker heartwood. Tusedda gel suiin (see page 31 for sources), Itdoesm’t penetrate into the woods much as regular stains, That way the wavy grain found in cherry won't soak up the stain and leave dark blotches on the surface. ‘After the stain had dried, | applied three thin coats of gel varnish, Just wipe itom with arag.and buff it out before it gets tacky.OM EO PLRS 7B OM OUR SHOP Shop Notes BACKROUTING mF rechand routings normaly ‘uneventil. Turn on the route, rake a pass, then turn off the router. ‘The result is usually a perfectly molded surface. But ‘you can run into a problem ‘when you try to run the router around a corner. ‘That's the situation I faced while building the Bookcase on page 6 Both the upper and lower cose assemblies call for chanfers around the sides and front, reer to Fig. 8 on page 8 Ifyou ty to rout these cham fers in the normal way (feeding the router fromleftto righ?) you vill be approaching the corner ‘ofthe font tim piece from be- Ind, see Fig. ‘Asthe router bitexits the cor- rer it will ake a chunk of wood ‘sth t, see Fig ta. But chipout lke thiscaneasily he avoided by approaching the corner from the front, see Figs. 2 and 2a Freehand routing from right to leftiscalled backrouting, and its a good way to eliminate chipout on corners. But be cause it's not the normal direc tion offeed, i's something Tsu ally ty to avoid, Safety Note: Never backrout (feed the workpiece from left to right) on the router table. Inthis situation the router bt can grab the workpiece from your hand and pall your hand into the bit FIRMGRIP. There are a cot ple things to Keep in mind when ackrouting across a work piece. First keep a firm gripon the router. Inthe normal feed di rection, the router bit pulls itself smoothly along the workpiece asit’s guided by the bearing. ’s different when back- routing. Now the bitand bearing tend to “hop” along the edge. Taking Bttle nibbles out of the ‘wood, not continuous slices. ‘SHALLOW PASSES, The second tip for backrouting is to take light (Ghallow) passes. Again, the reazon for thisis control. By taking. smaller nibbles, the ‘outer bit will do less hopping. RELIEF CUTS lw The success ofa projet de ends on the fit of the parts Tight ft, clean lines, neat ap- pearance. Thisis especialy true for a piece of tm that's applied tothe face ofa project. Such as the case blckson the Bookcase inthis sue On the Bookease, the blocks are solid pieces of cherry ‘They're applied to the comers ofthe base and top cabinets, see second drawing in Fig. 1. The blocks should fit ight 10 the case along their edges. But if the blocks are cupped even slighily the edges won fish, see Fig. 1. The same is true if ‘This is the same problem faced by carpenters who install trim molding in houses, Their ‘solution fs to use molding that’s milled witha shallow “relief on the back side so the molding pulls tight to a ell So I cut a shallow channel across the backside tocreatere- licf behind the block, see Fig: 2. Note: In order to avoid weaken ‘ng the block, only cutthe chan- nel 116" deep, see Fig. 2. “Alercutiing the channel, the block can be screwed tothe case. ‘Wooxlsmich.CUSTOM SCRAPER W The secret to a clean router ‘cut isto keep the router moving. But some projects call for & “stopped” router cut. The Book case shown on page 6 is one of those projects ‘The caps on each side of the Boockcase have decorative fates outed on the front And the tes are stopped 142" from the ends, see photo. To stopthe futes, you hhave to stop the router. ‘The only problem is, when the router stops moving, the router it doesn't. It keeps on ‘spinning and burns the wood at the end ofthe fute Ordinarily, "igetridotaburn mark with a sanding Hock or a cabinet scraper. But a stopped flute has a rounded end — not the ssune Shape as any of my blocks or scrapers So I made a custom scraper for the stopped flutes, see photo, It starts out as the cut offend ofa hacksaw blade, see Fig. 1 Then I groundthe ‘end of the blade to match the shape ofthe fue, see Fig. 2. Finally, luseda ile to put a slight bevel around the rounded profile, see Fig. 2 (This producesasharper edge) 1A shop-made scraper quickly removes fnurn markson the ends of ites. The seraper tajustapiee ofhacksaie bite fied toshope. ‘Now the scraper can be used to quickly clean out the ends of the flutes. Just be careful not to deepen the flutes — ight serap- ings all that's needed. FLATTENING A BUTCHER BLOCK W The Cutting Boardonpage16 _stzp. The key to the tech ‘went together well, and ii wasn't riqueisawide,stiffreplacement lot ofworkto getthe beardilat base for the router (1 used 4" ‘and smooth. Igot by with just a plywood), see drawing. The beltsandertoflaten thetop,see hase should be wide enough to Fig. 7, page 2 straddle the workpiece and sift But | knew there haelto be a enauigh so it won't bow. way to make the Matiening step RUNNERS. The other yart of easier and faster. (Thinking this this setup isa pair ofrunners ior project would be good for seme- the router to ride on. The most ‘one making Christmas gifts) important thing about the run- ‘Sol didsome quick research. ners is their thickness — they How would 2 real meat cutter should be at least 419" thicker flatten a bestup butcher block? than the project. Thisallows the ‘The butcher in my neighbor base plate to clear the Cutting hood told mehe used to have a Board as the router bit flattens Special Saw that actually ext a the top,see desal in drawing. thin section off the top. Note: Secure the workpiece Obviously this method was to the worksurface. And alsose- ‘out of the question for the Cut- cure the runners on either side ting Board. The metliod Icame ofthe board, sce drawing. up with is similar to the To flatten the workpiece, sim butcher's. But instead of asaw, ply guide the router across the it involves a simple setup and board inback-andorth motions Justa router with a straight bit, until all the high spote have see drawing at Fight. been leveled out. — sega No. 95 Woodsmith16 WEEKEND PROJECT Cutting Board A project with all the advantages of a “true” butcher block And some practical solutions to working with end grain bunch of blocks glued together in a ab That's aboutal there isto acutting board. But when the blocks are oriented with the © ‘grain of the wood as the cutting surface, the Broject isa “true” butcher block cutting board. There's agood reason atrue butcher block is made with the end grain facing up — its ex durable, End grain resists deating and scratch: ing better than face grain or edge grain. That's why the old butcher block in the back of the meat market lasted so long. But durability int the only reason I had for esigning the Cutting Board thiswar. | wasjust as interested in appearance. For the most inter: sting effect, the board is made up with ditfer: entsize blocks. With the orientation of the ‘growth rings alternating from block to block Okay, a cutting board, even a butcher block ceuting, board, can be built faily quickly. (i shouldn'ttake more than weekend.) But build ing 4 cutting board with small blocks of end rain does present some challenges. ‘SMALLBUOCKS. First of all, whats the best way to cut and assemble a lot of small blocks? The answer is to cut the blocks from a blank ‘nade up of separate strips. It less messy and a Ibt more efficient. Flare swoorii, The second c ge has to do with the end grain. Because i's so durable end grain can he difficult get smooth and flat Here, the solution takes a litle more eflort You might think of using apinter to ten the surface and a thi ness planer to smooth itout iting Board —i'stoo wide for shop jointers or planers. “The est tool is a belt sander instead of a jpinter Anda finish sander inplace of the planer. Note: There are more tips for building abutcher block cutting board ina separate article that be gins on page 2. Woodsmith No. 95There are two main parts to this Cutting Board — the beard itself and the feet rests on, But to get the butcher block ef fect without usinga let fof saall blocks, the beard is: mate from “butcher block strips” BLANKS. I started by gluing up piece 14i'Ahick stock ino bo differentsize blanks see Fig. 1 Note: used hant maple and watersesistant glue (Titebond 1D, ‘One of the blanks has three pieces and theother has four, see Fig. | But the pieces aren'tall the same width. The main reason is looks —I wanted the Board to look Eke was made up of arandom series of blocks. By staggering the joint lines between ad jacent blocks, then following a certain as- sembly sequence, there is always at least YW" between adjacent joiat Hines ‘Note: There are alot of ge jin's in this project, And they must al fit perfectly. So ‘Sut with pieces that have square comers ‘and smooth, fat edges. (Per more on this, ‘see pages 20 nd 21) “There's another detail that adds to the random ook. {made sure toalternate the d= rection of the growth rings on the ends of the pieces, see Figs.1 and 1a, ‘STRIPS. Alter the two blanks have been glued up, they can be planed to final thick: ). Then, sipseanbecutfrom the 8 2. Note: The blanks are ex- ‘tralong So the seven strips needed can be ‘salely cut from each, Each strip must be ex actly the same length (1¥")Soluseda stop block clamped to the rip fence, see Fig. 23. ASSEMBLY, Afterall the sirps have been cout from the blanks, tum each so the end ‘grain faces up. Then mark one end of each, strip to act asa reference during assembly. blocks) and a wider one (four blocks). Now, arrange the strips with the marks oriented 25 shown in Fig. 3. Note: Each row can beglued together one row ata time see Cconsistsof wo strips—anarrowone (three Fig. 4, Note: For ips on this, see page 20. When all the strips Gt together well, they Mark 3 PO a wt — a Woodemith 17JUICE GROOVE Afer the Cuiting Board was com pletely glued wp, 1 sanded thoroughly toflatten andsmooth the surface. (For ‘moreinformation on hhow to do this, refer to the article begin- ning on page 20) ‘Then I moved on tothe details ofthe pro- ject hat make it easier to use. Ta my house a cutting board like this gets cused for cutting a Tot of messy foods, lke fresh tomatoes and hot roast beef. That's why 1 decided to add a groove around the top ofthe board for catching juices, see the photo af left. TEMPLATE. Thekey torouting the groove is consistency. For the neatest appearance, the groove is inset the same distance (4") from all four edges ofthe board, see Fig. Ga And because the groove is routed with 2 core bex bit, there needsto be atemplate to ‘muide the router bit. (A core box bit has no guide bearing) made a template from 44° Masonite, jg. 5. Also, there's guide bushing stalled in the router base to ride agains! the edge of the template, see Fig, 62 ut the template to size to account the diameter ofthe router bt, and alsothe diameter of te guide bushing, See Fig. 6a, (in my case, the tem plate is 259" smaller in both dimensions than the Cutting Board, see Fig. 5.) ROUTINGGROOYE. Afier attaching the template to the center of the board, adjust the router bit o the desired cutting depth, see Fig. 6a Then, the groove is route counterclockwise direction, see Fig. 6. ‘Note: Ifyou ng a plungeiype router, begin the cit by carefallytippingthe othe workpiece while keeping the bushing tight against the template. 6 CORNERS & EDGES Aer routing the juice groove in the top of the board, moved on tothe cor ners and edges, “The idea is togive ‘the board a more fn ished appearance, ‘And also make ital Ue easier to handle BADIUSCORNERS. The first thing to do is round off the square comers of the board. Do this by first drawing an arc on each of the comers using a compass, see Fig. 7 Design Note: For this Cutting Board | wanted to leave a consistent 4"swide rim around the board just outside the “juice ‘groove.” This meant the ralius of the are shouldbe 174". “To deaw the are first adjust the compass to form the desired radius, ee Fig. 7a. Then draw an arc around each comer of the board, see Fig, 7. After drawing an arc on wach of the cor ners, I shaped the radiusin two steps. First, Ccutjustoutside the mark using the bandsaw ThenI sandedthearesmooth using hedise sander. (A belt sander or drum sander ‘would also work, but may bea litle trickier to get the coners perfect) ROUND OVER EDGES, Thenextthingtodo to make the board more finished looking is toround overall the sharp edges. To do [again used a hand-held router, only this time with a4" roundover bit, see Fig. 8 Note: Inorder to avoid burn roundovers in several ight round over the edges on bath the lop and bottom ofthe board, see Fig. 8a 18 No.5THE FEET When the corners and edges of the board have been rounded, the board ‘could be put 19 use But 1 thought ‘would look more in- teresting: with some feet on the bottom, Looks. isn't the ‘only reason forading the feet —they serve 4 useful purpose, too. They elevate the board off the surface of a countertop s0 it's easier to pick up. Design Note: The feet are nothing more ENLARGE HUB. The feet work wellforele that fis in both the axle hole of the whee! vating the Cuting Board. Butthey also make and a piece of scrap secured to the dill itnmore ikelythe boardwilstide around while press table, see Fig. 9 youre using it So, to give the feet a little Note: The drill bit for the dowel must more “grab,” I added a rubber bumper to match the diameter ofthe aade hole, and th ach ofthe wheels, see photo at left. Ari bit for the counterboce must match the “To secure the bumpersin the wheels the diameter of the rubber bumper. axle hole in the wheelneeds to be enlarged ally, a clamp attached to the whee! | ‘Thiscan be donc by drilling ashallow coun keeps the wheel from spinning while the terbore on the back (lat) side ofthe wheel counterbore is being drilled, see Fig. 10 But drilling a counterbore in an existing bole is almost impossible. There's a simple solution to take the quesswork out of driling the counterbore in the right place. It involves securing the wheels, the rubber applied fn f the board (and also to the wheels), see box below. than wooden wheels used for toys. And we experimented with several different sizes before deciding that 244"ciameter maple wheels look best. wheel on e drillpress so ‘up directly under the center of Finally tom ofthe Cutting Bo For sources of woadlen whee sew Fig. 11 ber bumpers refer to page 31 | ATTACH WHEEL. Affer the counterbores | feet canbe screwed to thebot and rub a 6x1 Rh wwodrew — 1 a rubber bumper Flat face ‘There are several products available for fin ‘Shing a cutting board (see page 1 for some ames and sourees). But for this project 1 scent press, Roughly fen parts mi. eral oil to one part paraffin wax. That's it. The way I mixed it was to filla small coffee cup about half full with the. oil, see holo, Then scrape shavnas eto the cup froma block of paraffin wax. Just like carv- inga barolsosp) ‘To dissolve the wax shavings I simply placed the cupin the warmest place could ‘think of — the sunay dashboard af my vehi- cle. A pan of hot water would do the seme decided to try making my own. ‘thing_ Just stay away from open flames — | wanted two things from the fish. First, paraffins petroleum distillate and poten the penetration ofan oil. And I also wanted tally flammable, the shine ofa wax Soff mixed upa batch of After about fifeen minutes the wax had cibwax finish. (used mineral ol because and is safe for consumption) tsnotacomplicated formals, andi’snot CUTTING BOARD: CUSTOM FINISH No. 95 Woodsmith 19“CUTTING BOARD ‘The Cutting Board on page 16's. built like areal butcher’s block. Its just a smaller version, The important thingisto.nd up with aa board that’s perfectly fat and ‘smooth, So I pay extra attention ‘when the partsare beingcutand ‘ghied together. PREPARING THE STOCK A butcher block starts out like ‘any cutting board, with several sips glued together to form a blank. (Strips of muliple blacks areoasiertovwork wih thandoz: ens of individual blocks) But a butcher block oes a step further than an ordinary cutting boar The blanks are then cut apart | and gheedtogether with theendgrainfacing up, refer to page 17 of the projedt article What's most important in this process is that all the strips fit iogether well TIGHTJOINTS. After the strips have been ripped to rough width, Lused anedge jointer to square up all the edges and remove the saw blade marks BM Abutoherb veoad, rather than d sembied ina. sequence that pro ek eutting boar The gol isto get the strips tofit together with no gaps between them, see Fig. 1. To othis, it helps to have extra sinps on hand. So you can shufile the pieces around, turn them over. or flip them end for end. What- ever ittakes to get the best fit. Light clamping pressure across the strips helps show how the strips will during aluep, see Fig. 2 farts out with muuliple strips of ns of smaller blocks, Then the stripe areas: esaflat, smooth cutting surface | Assembly Tips Shop Note: Bar clamps don’ automatically distribute even pressure across a joint tine There'satendency for the sirips to “roll”, see Fig. 2. So when clamping, be sure to postion the bur of each clamp a8 fat as possible, se Figs. 2and 3 If there are any gaps at this point, I would replace any strip that's twisted or bowed before applying any glue. FLATTOP. Besides fitting per- feetly from edge te € also important thatthe: flat across the top, see Fig. 1 ‘Wat a minute, if the strips aren't flat now, cant just plane the whole blank fat after it’s pived up? Ye you wil pkmnethe blank later. But I've found that some warped pleces have a”"memory” ven ifthe stripe dont guarantee they'll hold stil lster on Here again, dry clamp the strips before addingany glue. I'shouln'take mores, Tight clamping pressare across the ends to see ifthe strips will gue up Mt surest oars oo ftmany strips of wood, it can be a slippery mess when i's being glued up. Butts easy ings under control. One thing that sto work with only one ointata time, And don’t overdo it on the glue poly a narrow bead of water resis: tant glue toone ofthe strips Gused Franklin Titebond I). Then spread the bead into a thin, continuous film. STUPRYSTUP. Now, to keep the strips from slipping around under the pressure of the clamps, begin clamping at just one end, seeFig 3. Afler the ghie has beyun to set up (Gt doesn't ake long) theremaining clamps. ‘some “bumps” across the joint lines. So to eliminate the bumps, T next planed the blanks flat on both sides, see Fig. 4. Design Note: The blanke for the Cuting Board are nartowenough to berun through ‘portable thickness planer. ICUTAPARTANDRESGLUE. Now the glued: tap blanks are cut apart and reassembled to get the buicher block effect. For more on this, refer to Fig. 2 on page 17.) the blanks have been cut into strips the strips are rolled so the end grain faces up, see Fig. 5, Then the strip are glued to- gether to form the cutting board. “Thisis « bit diferent than gluing up the two blanks. First, two sirips are giued to ether end to end. And clamped across the fends to keep the joint ight “Then, a second row of stipsis aided to sce Fig. 5. Here again, let the ghue b before patting onailthe clamps. Shop Note: No matter how careful you ite almost impossible to avoid little steps” and glue squeex-out between the two strips in arow, see Fig. fa “To get rid of the steps and keep every: thing smooth during assembly, make alight skim cut along the edge alter ech new row hhas been glued in place, see Fig. 6. te bel sander with | seam den Fao ape FLATTENING & SMOOTHING ack when butchers actually used butcher blocks, an expert would sometimes come around to reflatten the block. To do this, a special saw and system of guides was used. But don’thave any special tol for litem ingacutting board. Just ordinary shop tools. (For another method of dattening a cutting board, seethe article on page 15.) FLATTENING. The object ofthe sanding at this point is to first atten the block. The easiestway todo thisis touse a beltsander. Star with a coarse grit (I se $0-get) and sand across the block, moving from end to end, see Fig. 7. Then sand ata rightangle to thefirst direction, Note: It may seem unnatural to sand across « board in two different directions. Butdos't worry —since the blocks areend rain the sanding direction doesn't matter, SMOOTHING. After the board has been Aaitened, the next step is to smooth it. Ac ‘wally. you first want lo remove the SOarit scratches left by the bet sander. On end {grain this works best with the belt sander, But use a finer grit (120) paper this time, and sand in just one direction, ‘Nowswitch to # finish sander or sanding block to I, ‘Then! finished the block witha non-toxic finish, see the box on page 19. No. 95 ‘Woodsmith.SHOP PROJECT Clearing the Air Whether ripping at the table saw or finish sanding airborne dust is a nuisance every woodworker has to deal with. Here are two inexpensive solutions to clear the air in your shop. [secre mc saving or sanding ick uupa bl of dust. Anda shopfullofairborne dust isnota good place to work DIST PROBLEMS. Wheninhaled,sandust makes working in the shop uncomfortable. twill imitate the eves, roa, ant sinuses, And prolonged expo- health problems. Then there's nishing. Most woodworkers don't havea separate ashing room sealed off fran te reat of their shop. So when the sanding begins, a thick cloud of dust develops, lke a ran cloud threatening to spol a picnie. Except with sanding lust what gots spoledis afresh coat of finish The ‘dust may not be nciceable as the finish ist oes fn, but rub a hand over it after e's dry. The dust ‘Stands at ike bral And the dust problems don't stop when you leave the shop — especialy ifitsinthe basement. Airborne dist ‘ends to “migrate” throughout the house, spreading afine layer over alte furniture and countertops (DUST COLBCTOR, Of course, you may already have a dust cileeior. But a dust collector is de signed for chips and large sawdust It won't pick up the small, airborne dust that many stationary tools fend hand sanders produce. But even ifthe dust does get sucked into the colecior, the weave of the bag is too coarse (0 trap it. The dust will slp ough the bag and back into the air AIRFILTER. There is a way to set rid dust Professional shops often havea seps unit that will remove dust from the air. Uniorta nately, these w ‘Many commercial air filters are just open encled boxes that house a blower and some expensive bag fiers, Sowe decides totake this basieconcept and design our own ai fiker for the shop. One that wa both easy to build and inexpensive. Our firs filter unit worked great,and it wllclean large shop quickly, see next page. Butit may ac tually be more than what you need fora smallshop, Sowe decided to build a second fiter unit that was even less expensive, see pase 26. This fers de- signed fora smaller area (and a smaller budged. Either filter unit canbe builtin aweekend. There are no messy filter bags No complicated hook-ups. And a lot less dust in the a Woodsmith,Heavy-Duty Shop Filter This shop-made filer unit can be built in a weekend. Best of all, it will remove the airborne dust in your shop quietly and efficiently ‘This Heavy Duty Shop Fiteris designed to use three furnace filters to clean the air. It doesn't rely on just one. There are two pre- Alters atthe intake end of the unit and one at the exhaust end ‘Sobby the time the ar passes throagh the last filter, there's not much dust leftto tap. The results are dusty furnace filers and Tp make the unit even more efficient, used pleated furnace filters instead ofthe f berglass mesh ype, sec the box on page 24 These filters are commonly available and only cost a couple dolars more BLOWER. To circulate the air through the shop, Iused a squirrel cage blower with an enclosed moter. This blower is easily the most expensive part of this project (about $115). Butit'sa workhorse. I creulate the air in 250 sq. shop in about 5 minutes CASE. The woodworking part ofthis pro- jectis easy, The filters and the blower are housed in a simple, openended case ‘Changing the fiers iseasy too. To get at the filters, the bottom of the case isnt per: manently attached, It slides dircetion, andthe filters simply drop down MATERIALS. This Shop Fiker doesn't re quirea lot of materials, (For alistof supplies, see page 31.) For the wood, I used three board feet of harebwood and litle over half a sheet of 44"shick plywood, ( used birch, but any type plywood will work.) BUILDING THE FILTER CASE To build the Shop Fiter, I started with the case. The case is made up of four pieces: 3 Fixed panel a sliding panel, and two sides see Exploded View. The size ofthe case re depends on the size furnace filters you use. [used 12" x 24" pleated furnace fiers But I found that furnace filters aren' ex actly 12" x24". They're alittle smaller. (And ‘each brand is slightly different) So betore cutting the ease parts to size, measure the filters you intend touse. Then mike the case ‘opening 14" larger in width and height. This way the filers will ft wel ‘Also, to help the sliding panel open and close easily. it's 1s" narrower than the fixed panel, see Exploded View, (Continued) No. 95 EXPLODED VIEW ) 08 aia) Woodsmith uu nore hae Seaton bata os eile taal(Continued from page 23.) LOCKING RABBET, To hold the filter case ‘ogether, Tused a locking rabbet joint, refer to Fig. la.on the previous page. Like a plain rabbet join, a locking rabbet provides an siright seal betwcen the sides and the fixed panel. But it also has one other advantage. Itallows the sliding panel to open and close ‘without any special hardware. ASSEMBLY. When both the tongues and the grooves have been cut in the case pieces, the filter case can be glued up, refer to Fig. 1 on previcus page. The easiest way to do this i to build ‘he siding panel set itaside fornow,) When the filter case is assembled, there needs to be some way of positioning the fur nace fikers and blower inside. To do this, | added simple frame cleats, see Figs. 2 and 3, These cleats are -square strips of hard wood that are screwed to the inside of the frame. ‘one thing really critica with these cleats. They must end up flush with the grooves in the sides, sce Fig. a, This ensures. tight seal between the cleats and theslidingpanel. Which is espectallyimpor tant since this panel isnt glued in place, Note: Most of the cleats are screwed to the case with 114° woodscrews, see Fig. 3 But since the last leats are screwed into the fend grain of the side cleats, I used 134° woodserews for extra strength, FILTER FRAMES. The Shop Filler requires ‘of frame cleats to hold the fers, 2, Three sets sandwich the two in dhaust filter. To allow for the filters, space the frame cleats 1" apart, see Fig. 2. | experimented here. Ifyou sandwich the they're harder tochange because they tend to catch on the cleats. Pleated filters use a eloti-like material wid have more surface area. So they're ‘more efficient than fiberglass mesh. Fora ight seal inst mtb fos with groavesin ses 24 Woodsmith No. 95MOUNTING THE BLOWER. ‘There's one last set of cleats that forma frame near the cen ter of the case, see Fig. 2. This frame sup Doris the blower. But I couldn't screw the Dlawerdirectly tothe frame. Instead, I made amounting plate out To make the mountin piece of plywood to fitinsdethe: Teutan opening in the plate match theex hhaust port on the blower see Fig. 4 ‘Screw the blower fo the mounting plate firs, see Fig. 9. Then screw the plate to the center cleats. HITTING THE PANEL. The lest stepis to in- stall the siding penelthat was made eater, ‘see Fig. 6. This pane! already has a tongue ‘that its the grooves in the case sides. But at this point, the fit istight.So sand the tongue ‘until it slides smooth, see Fig. 6a. (A litle ‘wax wil help oo.) Finally, | atiached pulls near the ends of thesliding panel, see Fig.6. These pullsgive you something to grab onto when siting the pane! open to change the fiers LOCATING THE UNIT After the Shop Fiter is complete it ean be {installed in the shop. But where? “The obvious answers are the ceiling and ‘wall. But there's something to consider first Thisfilter unit should be located so al the dust is drawn into the intake filters, see Fig. 7. Thismeansyou don't wantiteentered di- rectly over a dust producing: machine lke 3 table saw or sanding table. The reason is simple. You don’t want to blow dusty air around. Just clean air ENING MOUNTED. If you decide to eus- pend the fiter unt from the ceiling, all you Fig But be careful. This filter ni ist fight So before youattemptto mountit locateand drill the mounting holes first. Then be sure to get plenty of help when lifting the fi into postion. ‘And if your celing is low (as ina base: ment), make be knocking WALLMOUNTED. Tf you decide to m the filter unit to the wall, it can be into the studs, see Fig. 9. But ifyou go this route, make sure it has a fa wall space. The shop filler won be nearly as effective at circulating the air if it has to push it around cabinets or stationary tools, | To-wire the Heavy-Duty Shop Sea ad one eer ‘Note: This wiring iso'thard, but ifyou're _ not comfortable with it, hire an electrician. No. 95 Woodsmith| | Small Area | Shop Filter | ‘This mexpensive filter isthe per- | fet sie fora small sho, Or for Ghasing i tar cathind a tae sckultuics Matiomeary scntler | | ‘Area Fiker uses om circulate the air around the shop, it uses two bath room exhaust fans instead of a heavy-duty blower. These inexpensive fans are readily available at home centers — I bought mine for about $10 each, (For a complete list of | supplies, see Sources on page 31.) So while this filter int really big enough for a large shop, it's the perfect size for a small one, Orfor filtering the air rund one or two dust producing toolstike a table sw ora stationary sander. The Area Filter is just a simple plywood ‘case, see the Exploded View. The exhaust | fans are atached to the topof dhe unit. The single 16? x 20! furnace flter sides into grooves in the sides and becomes the bot tom of the case Note: Here again, | used pleated furnace filters — not your typical ibergiass mesh i ters, refer to the box on page 24. Also, the {ters won't be exactly 16" x 20°. Theyl be slightly smaller So measure your Bter and build the case around it BUILDING THE AREA FILTER ‘To build the Area Fier, start by cutting the case sides to finished size, see Exploded ‘View. (The length ofthe sides should match the length ofthe filter.) Next. cut ¥"-deep grooves in the sides to | hold the furnace filter, see Fig. 1. CASE ENDS. After the grooves have been he next step isto add the ends. But the ends aren't the same width as the sides. They're cut sothey end up fush with the top ofthe groove in each side, see Fig. 1. This way, the filter will slide in easily but will stil keep a tight seal. The length ofthe ends depends on the ac tual size of the fiker. They should equal the actual width of the fiter minus 74" Now, the sides and the ends can be glued and screwed together, see Fig. 1 ASE ToP. The next step is to add the (op, ‘see Fig.2.It'scutto cover the case assembly and then glued and screwed in place Now cut two square openings in the top pisce for the intake ports on the fans, see Fig. 2. (Make them Y2" smaller in both di EXPLODED VIEW | | Note ‘Allpars are Seplyrood cet Bock amsiow DeRLECTOR Caste) 26 Woodsmith No. 95rections) But don'tattach the ans quite yet. ‘There are a couple things to do first. AlRFLOw DEFLECTORS. To make the air- flow more efficent, I added two deflectors, tw direct the flow ofthe air into the fans, see Fig. 3 and the detail in the Fxploded View. ‘Ako, it's much harder to wire the fans af- ter they/ve been attached to the case. So do all the wiring now, see box below. ATIACH FANS. When the wiring is done, the Area Filter is just about complete. All ‘that’ left isto attach the fans. ‘To do this, I didn't gluc or screw them in place. Instead, [used sliconized latex caul ing to create an airtight seal see Fig. 4. found out the hard way that regular sllicone caulking won'tadhere to the plastic bodies fon the exhaust fans.) After the caulk dry, the laststepis to hang the filter unit. But before you do this, the unitneeds a sight modification. AIRFLOW PROBLEM. There was a bit of problem with the exhaust ports on the fans. ‘They pushed the filtered air away with such force that they disturbed the dusty air below the filter. So what ended up happening was a lot of the dusty air never got pulled through the fer. EMHAUST PIPES, Buc there's an easy solu- fion. | addled a 24* length of dia duct to extend the exhaust ports away from the unit see Fig 5.This way, the dusty air hangs Yeneath the unit unti it can be drawn up through the fier HANGING THE FILTER. To hang the Area Filter, you can't just screw it in place. The twofans are inthe way. So the unit has tobe suspended from the ceiling. To do this, 1 used ceiling hooks and some short lengths of chain, see Fig. 5 ‘And finally, since the fans draw the air straight upthrouggh the fier, this unit works best if t's suspended directly above a tool that creates a lt of dust. oFINISHING Oil Finishes There are lots of oil finishes on the shelves these days — some better than others. Here are a fow tips for choosing the right one for your project. nl finish isan oil finish. Just sve ton ltt soakin awh a wipe off the excess. Right? ‘Well, yes and no, Oi nishes can bbe wiped on and off. But theyre not all alke. In fac, many ol finishes area really “os” et all. Sound con fusing? is Uniortunately, the manufacturers don'tofer much help. Thecontainer rarely tells whats inthe finish. And ‘ven the namescan be confusing “THENAMEGAME. Take “tune cil” as an example. 1d expect Behlen's Tung Oi, Formby’ Tung Oil Finish, and Minwax's Tung O51 Finish would al bethe same typeof ol nish. But they're not. Each siffereat, refer the potos elow ‘Or how about Watco's Danish Oi, Minveax’s Antique Oil and Behten's Salad Bowl Finish. These products sound ver different Butthey'te not They may not be identical but theyre the same type of oi finish TYPESOF OILS. Varrange ols into three groups! natural el, processed oils, and oil/varaish blends, And there are ‘cme imporaat dllerences between them. Some look more “natural” but don't protect ‘well Others provide more protec Cause they build up a glossy flim, bu ako look less “natural NATURAL OILS There are actually two kinds of natural ols: non-drying and drying, see let photo th Natural Oils. Some natural oils wil take ‘several days to dry. Others never dey at all Neither typeof cil afers much protection. ‘dry quicker and ogfer ‘AIL finishes are some of the easiest finishes to apply But that doesn't mean they all work equally well, Some ~ protection than others Non-drving ols, lke mineral oil may be used for salad bowisane cutting boards, see “Safe” Finishes, next page. But offs that don't dry are poor finishes for most pro- jects, They're just not darable Other oils ike linseed and tung ofl, dry (or cure) as they react with oxygen. Unlor ‘tunately, thiseantake a long time tehappen. igoil requires. few daysto drybetween, coats, And linseed oil takes even longer. ‘wiping varnishes, cure herder ‘and faster than naterai oils and offer more protection Because of the long drying times, naturaloils often have metallic driers added to ther or are thinned with ‘mineral spirits, These additives help the oils cure faster. “Boiled” linseed oil dries in a day. (But it isn't really boiled. Ithas metallic driers in it) If the drying time wasn't bad enough, natural oils don'toffer much protection, The problem isthey dont Airy hard. They're always a bit sof, likerubber, (One way to ee thisisto put a drop on a piece of glass, see photosnext page.) Which meansyou ‘cant build up a hard, protective film The only time Td consider usingea natural ols for a cutting board or a kitchen utensil, see box right. Oth terwise, they dry t00 Slow and just don't offer much protection. PROCESSED OMS (One way to improve natural oilsis to “cook” or process them. If the oils heated and special solids (called res- ins) are added, the oilchanges. Itbe ‘comes varnish IPINGVARNISH, This. discussion isn't about varnish. But ifyouthin down varnish, itcan be applied alotlikeofl—you can wipe iton and off in thin coats In fact many popu laroil nishes re really “wipingvamishes.” see center photo below wiping varnish cures much faster than natural ofl. And it cures hard, see photos next page. So you can build up relatively thick coats of finish, depending on the pro- § —_— OiUVarnish Blends. A mexofoilant vor Ish gives more protection than oil lee glean than tarrish. Plus, its th ensiest to apply. Yoodseith,tection needed. This film is bit glossier. But thats the trafe-off with ols: you get either a“natural” look or glossy ‘Wiping varnishes are the ol most. They offer the bea protection for the ‘pest rice cll theoilfinishes. wll use wi ing varnishes on almest every type of furnt ture. (The excepdionsare projects that get Jotof abuse, lke dining tables or desk tops Forthese, typically use straight varnish) POLYMERIZED OMS. Actually, there's a other wav 10 proce oil to make better By heaing the olunder special con ditions, i becomes “polymerized.” Like wiping varnish, polvimerized oll cures much more quickly. Anditcures hard, 49 you can build up a protective film. Bul fonce again, the thicker the coat of fish, the fess “natural” the wo looks. Polymerized oil i a good Gaish, and | ‘would use it more often, But there are two problems. tsnot commonly available, and BA natural ol, lke linseed oil, wont pro- tect well, as this wrinkled sample shows. It stays soft Ton? dry hard and emooth WORKING WITH OIL FI Oilfnishes ere probably the cases finishes to work wit, see Finishing Notes" at right. Because the coats are sothir they brush or wipe on without any problems. But there are some subile cfferences between the three ‘ops of ols NUMBER OF COATS. With natural oils and cil/varnish blends, you dont need to apply tore than three of four cous. Since the’ of soft even ater i's cared, you cant build up a protective layer of fim anyway nthe other hand wih polymerized ofl and wiping varnishes, you can built up more protection by appiving more coats DRYINGTIME. There's another thing 10 mention about the processed of. They can dy very quicly. Om aot day you may find thefinih already tacky after only acouple minutes. So if the wood stats to ook dry, add mare nish. It does get tacky, just ap ply more cil and wipe i off ight avay. SsoOTH FINISH. Getting 2 smooth finish with ois iseasy Lighlly sendin the fnalcoat i's very expensive. The only polymerized cil 1 know of that’s available is a tung oil made by Sutherland Welles, and it costs over $20 a quart, see page 31 O1L/VARNISH BLENDS There is a happy metium between natural oils und processed ols — just combine the ‘seo, This type of oils called an oil/varnish blend, see right photo on previous page. il/varnish blends have some ofthe ad ‘vantages of oll finishes. They're very easy to apply and have 2 “natural” satin look. But because ofthe varnish, the finish also dries ‘quicker and provides more protection than pure oil The oll still docss't curecompletely hard. But ifs adeinite improvement. would recommend using an oil/varnish blend whenever you want a quick, easy fin- ‘sh but doa't need a lot of protection. Pro- jects lke clocks, picture frames, and small decorative boxes, for instance. A Wiping carvishes and polymerized oils ‘1c hard and smooth, So you can build up ‘a relatively thiek layer of protection. of finish with 320-grt wet/dry paper while it's still wet. Then wipe away the slurry, BLEEDING FINISH. Once the finish has ‘been wiped off, it's nota good idea tojust go off and forget about it Occasionally with the first couple of coats, the finich will bleed” a litle, What happens is the oil comes back ‘outof the poresand then hardens onthe sur- face in tle spors, There's not much you can do to prevent bleeding. But youcan eliminate the spots by wiping them away before they dry. Check- ing the piece every hour oF so is enough MAINTAINING OIL FINISHES, There's ar: other thing to mention about oil finishes, They can look “dried out” or worn after awhile. So an oll fnish needs to be rejuve- nated periodically. Butthere's no trick here. Justclean itand appiya new coat of oi. Small nicks and scratches will blend in. And the sheen will recur. SAFETY. Oil finishes are so easy to use they seem harmless. Butthey can spontane- ously combust ifyou wad the rags up and throw them ina ple (or a garbage can). To prevent this, lay the rags out fat or hang them up uni they are stiff and dry. Then they can bethrown avay safely. 2 ‘Woodsmith