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    Woodsmith Magazine- 097

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    201 views32 pages

    Woodsmith - 097

    Uploaded by

    rsotoqp
    Woodsmith Magazine- 097

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 32
    Classic Sideboard + Varnishing Techniques Sturdy Saw Horses ¢ Twin Mortise & Tenon * Veneering ‘Woodsmnith Vol. 17 /No.97 No. 97 ebruary, 1995 OR'S COLUMN We { ith. ai Fair rca Elton agin Asian Lito DonaldB, Peseike Dovglas Hicks Teny 1 Stohman James, Dolan ‘onathan Gartisoa Mavic Walliams Creative Director Senior Mlusirators Iustrator Design Director Seuior Designer Kett Welsh Stop Manager” See Cuts Shop Asst/Fe Steve Johnson Circulation Director LizBredeson Subser Sandy Baum Direct Mail Manager Troy J_Dowell Newsstand Sales Keut A, Burkton Cireulation Analyst Shase 8. Franc PUBLISHING SERVICES Mee Gondon Gaipe «Graph. Att: CoerttCynor (CORPORATE SERVICES. ‘WOODSMITH MAIL ORDER scnbicsbysleng the eal panels bacen thelegs ce ig, 5 When those ae cy, all that's left is to connect the end assemblies ww thera ad the bottom panel ‘DIVIDERS. Atthis point, the outside ofthe cases complete Thenext seps ad he Alvis fore craer, see te raming at fhe ter pe cE on ie ected cad SHOP TIP: To cut grooves for the spli- mes, Fused ai slot Cutter Ott the router (able. This way, could roucthe stots in the horizontal dividers are plywood panels with ‘edgine strips on the front. VERTICAL DIVIDERS. Start with the two vertical dividers (F) fist, ee Fig. 6. Lo de ‘ermine theic height Gength), measure be tween the two mas, Note: In'ease the rails bow towards the middle, measure at the ends ofthe case, not the center, ‘As for their depth (with), the dividers align withthe edge ofthe rabbetin back and ae set back 44" from the front, se Fig. ©. ‘Thins isforastrip ofedging that willeover ‘heplywood edge of the divider After the dividers are cut to size, two things must be done before they can be in- stalled inside the case. Firs, cat 834"-deep dado tha's centered ‘on the inside fice of each vertical divider, end panels (B), rails (C), and botwom (D) with the sume setup. And I didn’t have 10 stand the long bottom panel on end. sxe Fig. Ga, These dadoes wll hold the hori= zontal divider, which is aso a piece of S4- thick plywood, soe Fig. 7. ‘Whee the cidoes are cut, apply astip of S4tsvide vertical edging (G) 10 the front of ech divider. Then the dividers can be screwed inthe case, see Fig.6. Note: When inseling the veneal divide ers, it's ertical that they're parallel to the Sides of the ease, Otherwise, youll have ‘uouble later fitting the drawers. HORIZONTAL pipe The last piese 19 anid to the case isthe horizontal divider (11), With this divider, eutthe plywood to ft between the dadoesin the vertical dividers Then ghie it in piace, see Fig. 7. Finally, 10 cover the exposed edzcofthe plywood, add strip of horizontal edging (1). No. 97 Woodsmith DRAWERS With the case complete, ifs time to work on the drawers. This sideboard has two deep drawers and two shallow drav- ers, Allare made with "thick soft maple and ee joined with doyetals. Later, false fronts are added 0 the diawers DRAWERS. lusedajetoront the dovetails on the drawers, 40 the height ofeach had to be ‘multiple of. (Thisleavesa half pin atthe top and bottom. ack eas oo cet er right) ‘The large drawer fronts/backs (I) and sides 2i4-desparp. (8) are 958" tall (wide). The small drawer frontsbacks (M) and sides (N)are 498 all As forthe Width and depth of the drawers, the fronts and backs are 1" narrower thaa the open- ings, And the sides are 1294" ong, Forthe drawer botioms (L, O), Lused ershick maple plywood sein een _sf00Ves. (The tops ofihese groov oe ne DRAWERGUIDES. When the drawers are built. the next step is to add the drawer guides (P). (The false fronts wil be added g Drawer botoms ft ontoret on botom fats later.) These guides arejust 94° M2" tips ofhard maple, see Fie, 8a, Gating the ues postions corey canbetncky.Therearetwothingsyouneed to get ng. Fits, the guides have t0 be ‘mounted petal the bottom, A quick way todothis isto make a spacer foreach guide toseton, see Fig. 9. Second, the guides have to be set back {Yi to alow for the false drawer fronts. To do ths, simply marked these locations it sma, wane. raiSEORONT Fae rRONT side the ease and lined up the guides with the marks, ste Fig, 8a Farming Tite DRAWERS, With the guides inplace,itstimeto fitthe drawers. The goal here isto endupwith asnug, smooth fiwith no sidetosice movetnent. To fithe drawers, cut centered groove imeach drawer side, se Figs. 10 and 1a. ‘These grooves are cut so the drawers fit over the guides inthe case. But to get the drawers o slide in and ou easily requiresa 8 Nove: Use: core. (CROSS SECTION art Woodsmith No. 97 litle custom fining. For moce on fitting the drawers in the case, see page 16, FALSE FRONTS, After all the drawers are in place, the Inst step is to add the false fronts. Thelarge and small fale fronts (Q. & R) are made trom 44"Athiekeplywood plus a layer of veneer. Usually, [ cut drawer fronts to fit their ‘openings with only a Vie gap on each side ‘But these false fronts are a litle different. ‘They'e S16" shorton each side, see Fig, 11 Inaddition ‘0 the Vis gap, this extra 4° al- lows forstrips ofbeacing to cover theedges ‘ofthe plywood, see Fig. 12 BEADING. To make the drawer heading. S|, I started with oversize blanks (14x 2") that bave an 44 radius routed on all the edges, This way I could gettwo strips from cath blank, see Shop Tip above right, To add the beading, I frst cut al the pices to nah mitringeachend, se Fg 2. Then glued and clamped them to the false font se Fig. 12. ADDING THE FAISE FRONTS. Now thatthe false fronts are complete, they can be mounted fo the drawers see Fig: 13, To do this, canter the false fronts in the openings, Then stick the false fronts to the drawer fronts with double-sided carpet tape, (Make sure theres anevengapallthe wayaround.) Now dill sankand pilothoes, move the ‘ape, and screw them together, ‘To mount he brasspuils, dil two holes through both the fase front and the drawer front, see Fig, 13a, These holes should be ceniered toptobottom and sidetosie [Mine were 3" apart) Finally, screw the pulls in pice. Note: The threaded rod and SHOP TIP. The beadinafor the drawers ‘aid end panels stated as 2*-wide blanks. | Afer rounding the edges, 1 ripped each Hank into tw wide sips. nt provided with my pulls were oo shor to go through both the fae front ané the | rane font. So epacedthem wit, 144% | long machine sexes. | CASE BEADING The same beading that surrounds the draw- cersis alse applied to the bottom edaesofthe cae. But here you need two different size strips to maich the pieces they're glued to. The beading under the end panels is the same as the beading arourid the drawers, see dail a. But the Beading atthe front rail is wider, see Detail c Again, | started out with 2%wide blanks just like the drawer baling. For the end ppanel beading (7), the blank is ripped into {hwo /s"swidepieces. Ihe front rail beading Wp isripped 176" wide, ‘fier the beading strips are cutto length tofithetween the legs. they canbeadiledto the case, The end panel beading strios are simply glued on flash with the inside ofthe end pels see Deal. ut the beading along the fiont requires another Sep. Since the fale ate Push with ‘the legs the ends ofthe beading stick cut, creating tiny, sharp comers, see Det c,So to.temove these sharp comers, [sanded an ¥6" radius on each, see Detail b. Thea T led the front ail Beading in place, No. 97 Woodsmith. EET TOP & BACK Now that the drawers are in plac, the side board is just about complete. The top ancl back areal that still eedto be added. TOP. Lbegan with the top. Like the ather panels, the top CV) 8 54" plywood tha’ ve- neered on one face, see Fig. 14. This moar the pieve of plywood must be cut with the sain dinestion running across the width, notalong the length, Thisallowstthe veneer to be applied across the grain, refer to the article on page 18 ‘The top panel needs hardwood strips to cover the edges ofthe plywood. To do this, used the same method as on the bottom: grooves and splines, refer to page 9. The Splineskeep the iopand the edging alignec, and no tongue needs to be cut on the ply ‘wood panel to ithe groove When the top eding (W) has been mi- tered and glued to the panel, I serewed the 14 OTE: vores or Belen oF vaneorog pane! simply a Vél-thieke picce of maple plywood. This pane! fits into the rabbets that have al- ready been cut onthe rails the back ofthe the topand bottom mils. Thats no problem. ‘These pieces have rabbets foraccepiing the panel, Butto secure the back at the ends, I topo the case, sce Hig. 14. (Its centered leit tw right bur is Mush at the back.) BACKPawe. Finally, I added a back panel (X) to the case, see Fig. 15. This is 15 cease. Note: The grain direction on this ply- ‘wood pieoe is the same a te end panels 1. runs up and down (not lengthwise). Toinsallthe back, I wanted 0 sew ito, ued small maple cleats (X) to the inside lace ofcach back lez (lush with the shoul- der of the rabbet), see Fig. 16, Then I screwed the back to the cleats, a NOTE: Poston asx tie th STAINING THE SIDEBOARD | From the beginning. I knew this sideboard would get stained. T wanted it to have the Jook ofan antique, But also wanted ton sure thatthe curly maple figure wast den Tha’s a prodlem with offthoshelt stains. The pigmen's in them sit on top of the wood, so they tend to cover the grain. The solution isto use an aniline dye. ANILINE DYES, instead of siting on top of the wood, aniline dyes soak in and actually change the color ofthe wood. So they dor't hiide the grain ofthe wood at al, Infact, they benefit. Mixing your own stain means you ean. control the color, I tried a number of dyes in a numberof differentcombinations aid concentrations, Lended upusinga miix- ture of bright ané dark red. (For more on this, see page 31) APPLYING THE STAIN. Because its miced inywater, the stuinisyerythin, Soto prevent drips and runs, the first hing I did was dis assemble the sideboard as much as possi- ble. This way, I eould workin sections, To stain a section, flood the woed and keepit wet. Ifthe stain is allowed to dry be- fore you're through, it wil leave lap marks, ‘Wher the section is covered, wipe the sain offas evenly as possible Wet aniline stains and dry analine tains are like night and day, see ahoto. The dyes several cnats of varnish and rubbed it will look dill when dry. But don't worry. smooth, Formore on this, referto page 24 A Without any top coat (et), an aniline ‘ve will Took dull anda, With a op coat (righ), the depth ofthe color reas, actually enhance it by giving it more depth ‘Aniline dyescome nponder form, soyou have to ix theth yourself. (For sourees, 31) L used a water-soluble dye, kly dissolves in warm water At first,you might think this makes them harderto work with, But acualy, this is a ‘When the top coat of finish is applied, the Aye will regain its brightness and color | ‘After stainingthesiceboard, Tbrushedan | | R Woodemith No. 97 = MATERIALS fe woop ® A Leas) aK -3514 eo © Eni Panes @) Vaply= 12X12 © Rats ®) aa 4 & 'D Bottom Panel (1) 4 ply 11% «42 E Splines () UxVee toh F Vertical Cviders(2) “a oly- Tax100 G Vertical Edging 2) v4: 1072 H Harzonal Ovicer (1) 4 ply 14x 15% 1 Horeonta E399 (1) 4 Ug Dawer F/B) K 1g Drawor Sido (2) 05-1250 L La Draworsim (2) Yay 12/0111 WM Sin. Drawer Fr/Bk @)axaare- 1410 N Sm. Grawer Sides @) 246-1254 0 Sm Drawer Bun @ — Yaply- 120114 ovenauiomensons: P Dower Guides @) vane 1304 ae Q Lg FasoFions 2) vee Sax 11908 R Sn. False Frois(2) 4 p44 1455 S Drawer Beating) Y4x/A-48 0h 1 Fe Ral Bead (1) 3108-6 gh - U Ed Pane Bead 2) vax $2 mh "CUTTING DIAGRAM V Top Pane (f) oy asi - i W To Eiging 2)" VueT fompemmmgocmerety |X. Back Panel (I) 1 oy 400 x41 Y Ghats) wana 1004 S20 Edging to cover Top Panel ena veneer SUPPLIES = 108q.Ft Curly Maple Veneer = (8x2: Fhwvoocsciews + (92)00% 1" FrWoodecrons = @) Swan Neck Brass Puls Serews, © @#Bx 17° FhWondscrews (22) HO x2" Fh Woodscrews x87" Hard Maple (48 Ft) 4x0)" 90" Hard Maple (4.3 80. FL) ers fl S56 vans — : eZ ee es eee rt bt enly one forthe ont ral (1) ana two forthe ond panels No.97 Woodsmith B WOODWORKING TECHNIQUE Twin Mortise & Tenon B«: ot isit always better. Take ¢ mortise and tenon joint, for instane Instead of one large niontise and texon, sometinesit’sbetterio cut wosmalltenons that fit in to small mortises, see photo hove. The resson? It all has to da withthe oriertation oftne workpiece thatfits into the Inortses (the pieve withthe tenons). VERTICAL RAILS. With most projects like tables, for insiance) the rails or stretchers are joined to the legs vertically. That they/e oriented up ard down, see first draw= ing at right. With this joint, there's a lot of 00d face grain fo face pra gluing surface On the long cheeks ofthe tenn, HORIZONTAL RAILS, But the nls on the sideboard are different, They face down, 30 they sit horizontal, nov vertical, see first drawing. This creates an opening for the drawers. But this orientation also creates a problem. Instead of one wide rail wilh g TWINMORTISES sired location on each ke For the sidetoard, the mortises are Vit wide, 4" deep, and 94 ong Second a fence i camped to. the dil press table and positioned for dillng the frst mortise, After cillmg the fst morse, the piece is Mipped end-forend for the see ‘ond morse, se Step 2. Because the outside cheeks ofthe mortises are the ame distance from the outside, edues of the leg, every mortise ean be dilled using this setup. The tind step (not shown) isto square up the ends ofthe mortises with 3 chisel hing sre, what you. grup with are two thin rails with poor ling surface, se frst drawing. ‘The faces onthe top and bortomor thetenon are glued to end grain rota strong glue joint SOLUTION. The solation t this problem istocuttwo mortises and Two tenons, see second drawing below right. While this may look Tike it weakens the joint because the pats ofthe joint are smaller, tha's notthe case. ‘What the ‘win tenons really do is increase the glue surface. Dou- bling the tori adds tivo more checks inside the joint, So there is twice 2s much 200d gluing surface that’s avaible MOREWORK? Okay, a twin mortise and tenionjoint is zood choice forjomina lees ‘with narrow (hin) rails, Butareatcwo mor ies and two tenons twies the work ofa tra ditional (single) mortise and tenon joint? Well its true. there are twice the usual ‘numberofeuts. Butthai doesn't mean there ne twice a5 many setups. In ict the nam ber ofsetups i practically the same. Forthe classic sideboard in his issue, the nailsand leas are designed o be idensical in ‘width, Thismeans the cutsidecheeks ofthe morise (and the tenon) can be the same sistance from the edges of the workpiece, ‘So the two mortises on each leg (and the ‘two outside checks ofthe tenons)can beet with one setup each SEQUENCE, AS with ay mortise and tenon joint. I prefer to cut the mortises fis see below. Allthis requires isjustone setup athe dtl press, ‘Thonthe endscfthe mortisescan quickly uated up with a chisel. (For informa. jon on a special chisel for squaring up the corners ofa mortise, eferto page 30.) Later, the tenons can be cut sigh over- size on te fable sav. And finally theyre trimmed to fitperively, se the siepby-atep sequences on the facing page More rails. To create a drawer opening, there are two rails instead of one. But there’ less good glue surface on the tenons. 5 dome. Gexd ge ond ud Srecf on, ve toron gdoibed ates bios More glue surface. The ghue surface is doubled with a. twin mortise and tenon, And the glue’s on long grain, not end grain, ‘ose out flor ‘Step 1, To indicate the lensth ofthe mor- tise, lay out the top and bottom ofall the mortises On each workpece. Then lay out thefours sides to indicate the widih ‘Step 2. Install a Porstner bitin the drill press, then clamp afence tothe table. Now ‘each morte is dried with overlapping Toles, Then cleaned up witha chisel cc Woodsmith No. 97 TWIN TENONS, hist ike the mortises, the twin tenons are ‘ymmerrical, so there are only two setups. I sarted wit the outside cheeks, ‘OUTSIDE CHEEKS. Firs, position the rip Fence a a stop for cuting the solder of the tenon, see first 1ow of drawings below. This determines the length ofthe tenon, Next adjust the height of the blade to es- tablish the checks — but don't ty 10 gett fect the frst time. Make aseries of over- lapping cuts forte frst cheek, Then flip the ‘workpiece over and cut the second check. ‘Check the fit and raise the blade ifneces- suy, But remember, the cheeks will be trimmed later, so don't remove too much ‘wood at this point. In fact, there should be some smal ridges for you to clean up later. INSIDE CHI inside cheeks are cut next, [lay them ovt directly from the ‘prtises, To do this, just set the workpiece ‘over the mortises and make a mark, see the photo at ight. Like the outside chee! inside chooks also require only one But thistime, the workpiece siands on end, see the second row of drawings, TRIMTOFTT. Aferbath tenonshave been roughed out, the cheeks and shoulders are trimmed fora perfect fit inthe mortises. Mark tenons from mortises. The mor= Fises on the log can housed to quickly indi- ‘eae the position ofthe tenons on the rail Length of teron| save pera ines Outside cheeks AU cuis jor the iwin tenons can be made on the table saw. An ‘ausiliary fence on the miter gauge pre- venly chipout on the backside ofthe cut ‘Step 1. The distance between the rafence ‘and the outsideofthe saw blade establishes the length of the tenon. The waste is ‘leaned out with overlapping cus ‘Step 2. Sneak up on the fal size ofthe cheeks (ust Delow ihe pene marks). The Small ridges Won the checks will be thavedfor a perfec ft inthe monte Byte aue force Inside cheeks. The inside cheeks ofthe Tenons arecut with the workplece suanding on end. A stop block clanped to the ausil- aryfence helps support the workpiece. ‘Step 1. To.cul the inside cheeksfirst raise ‘he save blede oust under the shouer. Then clamp a stop block to the auailiary {force to cul the inside check. Step2, Without changing your setup, Jura the workpiece so the oppasite edge is ‘against the stop block Then eut the cheek and remove the waste bewween the tenons. Tim Chwoke tot Trimming tofit. After both tenons have been rough-cut, est theptn the tn mor tises. The checks and shoulders will prob ably have 10 be shavedfor a perfetfit ‘Step 1. Ifthe tenons donvft perfectly in the morise, the ridges. on the ouside cheeks need to beremoved. AMVittakes isa Jew paring cute with asharp chive. ‘Step 2 In orier for the tenons 10 seat fully tr the mortises, the shoulders of the tenonsalio need to betrinmed, The inside shoulder can be slightly back-eut No.97 Woodsmith Shop Notes + On a formal projec, the legs that canbemale quickly froma used the bandsaw to eutthe position the table saw rip fence look better if they'e tapered, couple pieces ofp wood, taper on the plywood. Then 90 the blade aligns tothe waste rather than square. The fastest MAKINGTHENIG. Start with a sanded the cutedge smooth. F- side ofthe pencil mark andeasies: ayo doth iso pecs of plywood, the same nly, to held the wakes in| Now the ezeanbeapered by usethetable sawanda‘aperjiz. length a the tapered section onthe jig, | screwed a stop to the sliding. both the jig and the If you're tapering all four the actual leg (2214) see Fig. 1. wide ed ofthe plywood workpiece long te fence, sides, youll need ai adjustable The wicth isnt important, What USING THE JG. To use ji To make the Second taper cut taper jig. Butforthe sideboard is important is the amount the fitst, mark the desired widih of onthe agjacen face, jst oll the on page 6, I only tapered two jig tapers from top to bottom, the taper (7a) on the boitom workpiece 90° and repeat the faces, Thiscanbedone with aie (Forthe sidebar, this was %') end of the leg, sec Fig. 2. Then cut, see Fig, 3. FITTING A DRAWER +The ckawers in the sideboard groovessoeach drawerfittight. needs to. be established. The Butremember. you'lbe cutting ride on simple wood guides. So Then I sanded the grooves untii goals atight fit with no side-to- both grooves to getthe drawersto sideinand the drawers sid smcothly. side movement. The best wayto GROVES. When cach Gut easly, the grooves need 0 _CuTGROOVES. A dado blade dothisistosneak up on the inal drawer fits snug in its opening, be sized eracty in the table saw works best © depth, sce Fig. 2. (For the side sand the hottom ef the grooves ‘Note’ Befare installing the cut the grooves. Use a scrap board, I started by cutting the until it sides smoothly, see Fig wood guides, Lehamfered their piece to test the width, see Fis. eroovesjusl under ¥" deep.) 2a But dont automatally sand outside edges first, see Fig. la. 1, Then setthe rip fence so that Test the fitofeich drawer in the full length of the grooves, TWOSTEPS, Geiting all the the grooves are centered on the Int fis too tight (cr only tie igh spots ouvestofittieguidesisatwo- sides ofthe drawers. doesittfitat al), misethe blade Finally, Tadied wax to both Seep process. First, I cut the Nowihedepthotihe grooves ahairand cut the grooves again. the groovesand the guides. 16 Woodsmith No.97 LAY-OUT TOOL ee mpleied. Steve Curtis (Onr shop manager) was preparing 10 install the plywood back. To hold the buck, the plats call for over twenty woodserews, all spaced ‘exenly around the edge of the nc Thats ot stent to lay ant, so Steve deided to make his job litle ease. ‘To mark all the screw holes the sane distance fromibeedge of the plywood, he meunied a ruler on a piece of Serap, sce. photo. This eliminated the need for a tape measure. First, ‘Steve cut the piece of scrap 19 match the length of his 12" shop rule, se draving a left (Atlas 282" wide.) Then, he cat a shale A.A lay-out oT helps when marking many Tow mabbetalongthe serewholes all insetthesane distance. It can edge to hold the he used to markfour differentsize insets. rule in position, But Sieve cut the width ofthe rabbet narrower than iis rule, ‘Thatway i: overhung the edge ‘ofthe scrap. Andthe amount of ‘overhang equaled the inset of the woodserews. After T saw Steve's clever ‘marking tool | thought it could ‘be made even more Useful. So ‘cut a rabbet on the other three edges of the tool, see Denil a This way, the tolean beused to lay out screw holes that require a different inset, DUPLICATE NOTCHES. + One reason the saw horses on page 26 are so strong is tht the top piese is notebed, These notches"lock’ the legs in place. But if you'e building more than one saw horse, laying out and cutting each notch sepi- ately takes a let of time, To speed up the process Tuseil the rip fence asa so "This has (wo benefits. Fin, only ‘one pair of notches ("A" ard “B”) on one top pieoe need tobelaid out. Butalso, you dorit have to concentrate on cutting cenactly on the fine each time. Just Dutt the piece against the Tence and make the e ‘The first step isto setup the rites gauge a shown in Fig, 1 con page 27, with ore change: ‘The block and fence should not extend beyond the end of the ‘workpiece, see drawing at right. The procedureto cut each set ofshoulders i the same, First, cut inside the mark for one of the shoulders, see drawing. ‘Then before you remove the clamp, slide the rip fence over until it buts t0 the end of the workpiece. Then lock the fence. Now, flip the workpiece end- for-end and cut the correspond ing shoulder, Repeat these cuts onal ofyoartop pieces. ZERO-CLEARAHCE THROAT PLATE +A locking rabet is a. great ee ‘the joint is simp! he ‘onthe router able, see page 23. The only problem comes. ‘when routing the grcove across the ends ofthe drawer front. Be- cause the front is narrow (ony 542" wide), it can tp imo the fopeningin he routertable as i's run seress the router bit To solve this problem, I Nelosed up" the opening in the tadleby adding azero-ciearance throat pate to the top of the t= bile, see drawing at right. The throm plate isjust astip of Yéthick Masonite attached tothe top ofthe router able To create an opening for the routerbit simply place one end ofthe strip agains the router ta- ble fence. Then pivot the strip into he router bit "To hold the plate in lsc, I used double-sided carpet tape, Note: Because the throat plate "ries" the surface ofthe outer able, tbe heightofthe bit ‘ustbe adjusted as well Cut the shoulders for all the "A" notches inallthe top pieces (be sure to clean out the waste between the shoulders), Then move the miter gauge and rp Fence oghe opposite se fthe saw blade and repeat the proce- dure forthe "B" notches. No. 97 Woodsmith WOODWORKING TECHNIQUE Wve worked with veneers quite 2-b& (manly the paper-tacked variety on. small projects). So ‘when | came across some large picses of eurly maple vereer, | | thought it would be a good chance to try natural veneer on 4 large project. (Like the site- board featured on page 6) FLATTENING. Natural, sold- wood veneers are 50 thin they "memorize" the way theyve been stored, So before actually ‘working with veneer, you want to make itas flat as possible, Of course, you might getlucky and find some pretty fli sheets. But many mes the pees ofveneer willbecurted and cupped, espe- cially the highly figured varieties, Fortunately, is not very difficult to flt- tenyenzer Youjusthaveto change ésmem- ory. To dothat, Muse litle water. The key ‘word being "itt" Just wipe the back ofthe veneer with a damp sponge. ‘The veneer will react alinos immedictly, But probably not in the way you'd exped. Mypiecesstarted to curl and oll like bacon. inafrying pan. Butthats okay. Ikmeansihe veneer can now be "trained" to lay flat To do that, simply sandwich the veneer between two sheets of plywood and weigh ‘down the top, see Fig. Note: To help absorb any excess mois- ture, I used brown paper (like grocery bags) between the pecs. TRUING THEEDGE. Natural vencercomes in varying widths, usuelly nothing wider than 12% That means youll aced to (Golice) pieces together cover wide areas (ike the top on the classic sideboard. The goal is to end up witha tight-fitting, nearly invisible seam between the pieces. Veneering Using afency, natural veneer is a quick way to give an ordinary piece of plywood a “facelift."4ll you have to do is follow a few simple steps. Todothat,souneedto square up anedge om each piece of veneer. I tried using a sharp utiliy knife and a straightedge. But halfway through the cut the knife “de- cided” to follow the veneer grain instead ofthe straighiedze, ‘Then I switchedtothejointer, ‘The secret using this method is making sure the veneer deesnt move during the entire ‘ut. To do that, Lused a couple scrap Ixfis and clamped the ve- heer between them, see Fig, 2. But 1 couldn't just nun the boars through the jointer, The clamps holding the boards to gether hit the fence, So I eaet= taped an auxibary fence to the jpinterbed for clearance, se Fig, 2 ‘With the auxiliary encein place, Iran the boards and veneer over the jointer, check ing for chipout after each pass, One ofrmy pieces had a small knot located on the Jointed edge. So I used a knife to ct offa sirip of veneer removing the knot. Then ished squaring up the pieces on the ointer. JOINING THEVENEER. Once the veneer elges are square, they can be joined to- gether, Butthere was ¢ problem, I planned ‘mn using eortact cement, and it bonds im- between wo shoots ofplywood 2 Flattening veneer. Pressing ihe veneer benveen tro weighted sheews of plywood will usually latien the veneer overnight. Sauare up the edwes. Square edges are needed 10 join veneer pieces for an invis- ‘le seam. Run the scrap boards with ve- aeerin the middie across theiointer, Make 4s many passes as needed until thejointed ‘edges arefree from chipout, 18 Woodsmich No.97 2 mediately. That makes it iffcult to buttthe picoes together for an invisible seam wie fut getting them stuck to the core. (The core is whatthe veneer will be glued io.) So [tried something a litle different. | edge ‘glued the veneer pieces together first “The pieces ofnatural veneer that! wasus- ing were Vi!hick. Now I know you're probably thinking thatthe veneer isto thin toedge she. Butthereisa wideenough sir- face for the yelow glue to hold the pieaes together, seb Fig, $1 also used several piecesoftape tohold the seam tighturtil he luc dries, se Fig.4. By "walking" my fin~ ‘gers down the join, Iclosedthe seam while taping the pieces together Note: Using clear trapping tape made it easy formeto check fora tight seam, PREPARING THE CORE, While the glue on the edges dried, I got the core pieve ready. ‘There are several materials that will work for a core piece as long as they're flat, gio nd sable, used maple plywood, bbutmedium density fberboardor high den- sity particleboard will also work.) ‘To prepare the core, I simply cut it slightly larger than the piece of veneer. But you need to keep one thing in mind. When ‘adding veneer fo plywood, what youre re- ally doing isadding another ply. So its best to cute plywood eae sie gran of he veneer will un actoss the grain on the ply- ‘wood when it's glued down. This keeps the panel stable Note: If your veneered pane! won't be held in a frame (like the sides of a cabinet), it also a good idea 0 put veneer on both sides to keep the core from warping. But if you veneer both sides, yell haves ctthe corete finish size now. The overhanging ve- neer willbe trimmed ‘Tush later. GLUING UP. Now I vas ready to ge the veneerto tiecore. [used contactadhesive 30 | could eliminate all the clamps and fix- ‘ures thatyou needwith otherkinds ofglue. Contact adhesives come in two types: ol- vert-based and water-based. [tried the water-based adhesive first. It fooked promising no fumes and eisy cleanup. But there was a problem. The warm the adhesive made the vencer ex and. Then as the water evaporated and the vereer dried, the pieces shrank back to omginal size. So my nice tight seam would always open up, ‘To solve this problem, I switched toa sol wert-based conrac: adhesive, The solvents dont expand the veneer whieh eliminates the problem wih shrinkage. Applying the adhesive is easy. Just use a foam brush and spreadaneven oat onbeth thecore and the veneer. After its dry (usually 15 minutes), applied thin second cost over the first. INSTALLATION. Once the second coat of alu» isdry the vensercan be attachedto the Gore. The thing to keep in mind isthat con- ele votoored ony Clear stapping tape ice Ses pe ena toes he Edge gluing veneer. Use a brush 10 spread thinfilm of guealongthejointed edges io hold the veneer pieces ‘ogether: Joining the pieces. As the vencer pieces ‘are buted togethen, nse clear strapping tape to "clamp" then until the glue dries Tim, overs pare © tinted sie Cuttosize. Cit the cove and veneer to size on the table saw. Afiae wou Blade re- duces chipout— especially on crosscus “ive bonds instantly, So you want Pe © vereor exaeily where you Want it the First ime To help me vet things lined up. { put sheeis ofwaxpaperbetween the veneerand core. That way, you ean slide the veneer around until i in postion, Then slip the shots ou from under the veneer a you press i im place For good bond, the veneer needs tobe presed don fimiy: To dota used ard rubber roller and rolled the entre ve= eg sleet By saringatthejoat ne aed wwotking toward th sies, aay ar bubbles Underthe veer get cpeezrd out ‘CUTMNGTOSZE Once the veneer has been attached to the core, you can immedi dely cat the panel to size used the able Flush rim bit, Use a flush trim bit 10 winitheoverhanging veneer flush with the core, Routin a counterclockwise direction. ‘SaW Jo cut my oversize panel to finish size, seo foundusing abla witatlead ikeptchipowt toa minimam, Nebo gs ofbepmel bare heen veneered, the able saw method wont work Instead, use a flush trim bit in your router. ‘That way you can tim both sides without breaking the veneer that overhangs the edges, see Fig. 6 FINISHING The venser can be finished like solid wood. I sanded my panel first to make sure any contact adhesive or finger- prints were removed. But emember not 19 sand fortoo long in ane spet (especially with apowerfinishsander). H docxn'ttake much to sand through the thin veneer. nally, stain and vamish th ‘you normally would for any proj No. 97 Woodsmith FEATURE PROJECT Apothecary Cabinet To build this box full of boxes, to worry about — justrabbets, there’s no complicated joinery dadoes, anda few basic setups. heres a certain fascination with drawers, For many people its “What ea they hold?* In the cae ofthis apothecary cabinet, jut about anything smaller than a shee But the drawers might raise a diferent ques tion trom a woodworker, Such % "How do they YOR" Or Hoy ae the Bul The ave eth questions is the same — very simply, The drawers fit in th eabinet wih no special hard- ware, And they're builtin alonstech way, oo, SIMPLEJOINERY. The jomery used. on the drawersis the same joinery that holds the entire cabinet together — mbbel and dadoes. They're ‘couple ofthe most versatile, and beste jaintsin abd ecked lie en a en ann Exenthough dadces and rabbets are imple to cut, they must be cut perfectly. That's because when the whole cabinet is assembled there are Fo screws or mils 10 reinforce the joints. Just flue, Pus, the joins wil be visble, FINISH, Ordmarly when [ builda project using cherry, | leave the Wood unstained. But this pro- ject was éifferent, and the reason was the knobs. The knobs I thought looked best forthe drawers werent available in cherry, only birch. And if you've ever tried to sain allight wood (such as bireh) to match s darker wood (cherry), you Know what 2 challenge it can be. Instead of tying 10 mitch the natural color of the drawer fronts, I stained the knobs a darter color. Then, for contrast, I stained the res ofthe cabinet the same color as the knobs. Woodsmith, No. 97 PREPARING THE ee 1 cut the parts for most projects only when 'm ready forthem. Bul sometimes there's a zou reason to cut the pars in advance, On this project, the reason is the joinery. The part fit together with dadoes and rab: bats, sv the exploded drawing below. So ‘they muststartout the same thickness, then the joints can all be cutthe same 1 Sat by ehine up an oversize blank foreach ofthe parts. Note: The drawit Fight shownshedeimensions fr the THICKNESS, Before cuing the blanks (9 finisbed size, they should al be panel te the same thickness (94, And to ensure go0-it tingjoinery,ithelpsto check he thickness of ‘eachipam ina test dado, | cutthis Gado using a3/4* staight bitin the router DADOES & RABBETS ‘Alter the pancis have all been planed to the ‘same thickness, the individual parts (A,B, and C) can be cut to fini length and with, see drawings above Note: Set mace ‘the blank for the vertical dividers (D) andi toprbatom blanks (), unt Tater on. DADOES & RABBETS. When the ease pars have been cutto finshed dinersions, the dadoes and rabbets can be cut. 'Nete: Because these cus willbe visble on the front ofthe cabinet, you want te bot toms to be perisey fat and the sides square, So T ted a 34! straight bit in the ee a " = Tenorou Hooters a a d a CHANEY TORGOTTOM VER Ovens (2 Needed) (2 Needed), routertable, see Figs. 1 and2. A stack dado ‘setwill abo work, but only the very best will ‘cut as accurately s a stright bit. SEQUENCE, All the éadoes and rabbets ccan be cut with the same router bit. But there area unber ofdieentroue abe sede “SCRESDIS. Fit I rosted the mbbet on the top and bottom ofthe sides (A) se De- tailabelow. Next, I touted the dadoes across the sides, soe Detail b, These are eriical cuts. With the fence adjusted to the proper tance from the rovterbit (4¥4"), the dadoes MATERIALS A Case Sides (2) B Case TopBatton (2) © Horizontal Dviders (2) Vetcal Dividers 6) E Cabinet ToplBot. 2) F Cabra Soc () Daawer Sides (8) Ht Drawer Eacks () 1 Diawor Fronts @) 4 Drawer Botts ( HARDWARE + 1° dia Bech Knobs @) Wx8%-1316 Yar8ie- 12 Wx8%- 124 4x8 -3% Wx9-14%4 12¥2x1312-Yeohy Vax3%e- Ble YAx3Ihe 26 Ur3he- Fhe 2x TONG ly on each workpiece will create equal: size openings when the cabinet is assembled, see Figs, 1, Zand drawing below. ‘The third setup is for cutting. rabbet to accept the plywood back. Fer this, the router table fence must be repositioned (0 tout asleep rabbet on the bask edges of the side pieces (A), see drawing below. TOP BOTTOM. Now the case sds can be set aside for a moment. Then, lower the Touler bitto cat the remaining dadoes an the ‘ase topbottn (onesie only) and horizons tal dividers (both sides), soe Detail. ‘Nex, Imoved on to the dividers (Goobetae) ‘Woodemith al VERTICAL DIVIDERS ‘Afterthe dadoes and rabbeis have been cut ‘onthe ese pars the lees canbe dryas- sembled to test the fit, Note: The parts should be assembled so theyre all flush across the front of the assembly. And the back edges of the horizontal pieces (the top/bottom and horizontal dividers) should align to the inside edge of the rabbets cut forthe plywood back, sw drawing below. VERTICAL DIVIDERS, Now, work can be gin cn the verival dividers. The frst thing todo is rp the blank for the dividersto fin- ished width (the same width asthe herizon- tal dividers, 84"), refer to the drawing atthe top of page 21. ‘Now the dividers (D) can be eutto fi ished length (height), Bat instead of cutting each piece in one pass using the miter ‘gauge onthe table sa, Idi something dif- ferent. (Agin, the reasoning was to cut all the dividers exc the same length) First, measure between the bottoms of each pair of dadoes. Then cut each blank into three oversize. pieves (slghly longer thanthe dado-o-dado height). Note thatthe ‘grain runs vertically on the assembled di- Viders, se Fig 4. Now the dividers can be eut to finished Iength by trimming the slightly-ong blanks one a atime using the table sain conjunc- tog with her face, we i 5. Salety Note: I dant ordinarily eut awork- picceto length using the rip Fence, Bursince the widest edge of the picoo is against the fence, the procedire is as safe as an ordi- nary rp eat. Even though the piece isbeing cut to finished length FINAL ASSEMBLY FRONT VIEW (cross Secon ‘When the vertical dividers tave all been fit- ted inside the ease, | added atop ard bottom then apply wood back, ‘ASSEMBLY. Firs disassembledthe ease then putt back together again with glue in all thejoints. Its easiestto start from the out- side and work toward the center. No nails Or screws are necessary. ‘TOP & BOTTOM Next, cut a cabinet top and bottom (F)to fiton Ihocaso, Note: Cat these pieces create Saoverhang on the front and sides, see Detail b, (They will be installed flush a the back ofthe case) ‘Then, before ataching the top ancl bot- tom, | outed abullnese profile onthe sides and front (not the back), se» Detail a Finally, I glued the top and bottom onto the cise Acouplenipped-offbrad kep he panels from shipping around when they're ‘glued and clamped in place, see Det ‘ack Finally, cut a pice of V4! plywood for the eabinet back (F). Note: The back fit in the rabbets in the case sides, and flush tothe top and bottom ofthe case, see draw ing a le. Short brads secure itfo the case. ‘Woodsmith No.97 a DRAWERS nee ee ae What makes this cabinet useful are the drawers. And they'reall made thesame way ina sens of repent cuts, locking a> Delia cea ogecn eeplata cure ey to making multiple drawers isthe setup. te crawer openings are allthe same size @¥2" square), the parts 109, see exploded drawing above. ‘Note: The drawer sidesbacks (G, H) are cutfrom "thickstock, andthe drawer fronts (D) are cut fiom !thickmateial ‘When all the drawer parts have been cut {o finished size. work can besin on the lock ing rabbets joins, “DRAWER JOINTS. There are just a few sin- LOCKING RABBET A boeking rabber joint “connects drawer front to the denver sides. 1s a stronefontihat cat be cut witjus! three Setups onthe router able (ee bean). ale eps required maketh int forshe the drawers, And the cuts canbemade with ‘three different setupsusing al4"strajghtbit in the router able, see drawings below Note: Forthe bestfiving joins itelps 9 startwith testeuts on apiece ofserap wood. Finally, routed anarcow chamferaround ‘thetop inside edge ofthe dawers, ee photo. for the drawers can be cut the sume size, “Thofirss cut 10 make is dado on the drawer sides. Start by setting up the router table with afence and a Y'siraight bit, see detail. Check the seiup with a ent on ates piece. Now rout a “dail across both ends ofeach piece with the insidefacing down, With the smae set sp, vont a grooxe on allfour drawer pars for the plowood drawer bottom. Firsi rout the drawersront and tack, Fr the groove othe drawer sds, plunge te prec ‘onto the bit and routfrom heyront dado to the back dado. in the grooves in thesides, To do ths, firsirase the height of the bit, but don't move thefence. Then fold the drawer font on edge and ret it over the bit fipping the piece between passes. By Nene conpete the onze on te drawerfion Todo thi, frst lower the router bit aud reposition the fence. Then lay the ‘plecedownand im offie lower iongue. Fiially, using the sume ‘Seiup, rout a tongue on both ends ofthe dravser back No. 97 Woodsmith sees B FINISHING Varnishing Built-up layers of varnish protect the wood and highlight the grain. The best results come from following a few simple steps: oject deserves a ante nist, Thais how | fot afler deciding on curly maple forthe sideboard on page 6 A projectthet may be heavily used needs extra protection, ‘And sf is built with a éramat= cally figured wood, you want to show it off Perfect reasons 0 finish the sdebosrd with tui up layers ofbrushing varnish. Wait @ minute, Don. I know about vamish .. ifs a sticky, soo baby nes Why opus Use atwiping amish lice younor- mally do? Good question. ‘Wiping vamishisa great fin- ish for many projecs. But for the Classic sideboard in this i= suc I wanted more protection ‘than you get with a wiping vamish. Also, I ‘wanted a deeper, slossier appearance. Some ‘thing that would highlight the interesting grain patter in the curly maple veneer. ing varnish and brushing, vanish are very Similar. But brushing yar- nish has higher concentration of cil nd solids. This makes it thicker when i's ap> pill and harder when fds I bud up Inlayersrather than soaking in. By addin more cous You gt more buikeup an so more protection. How TWORKS. But there are dmawoacks More oil and more, solids make brushing varnishes slowerto dry (cure). Sodrips and brush markscan develop, ordust can setle om the vamish before it dries. But most of these problems can be pre- ‘vented with careful preparation of te woed in alvance, Oreliminaeed by followingacer- ‘aintechnique forbrushing and sanding be- ween coats PREPARING THE SURFACE A sucessful finish of built-up varnish stats with the wocd. And the objective is simple: flatand smooth, I's the sameas any project, dutafier the layers of vamish begin built ing. small imperfections tend to become magnified. And then you must go back 10 the bare wood to fix any scratches ordents. (Wiping vai- onthe otherhand, doesnt build up as quickly, so its easier torepairminor blemishes.) FLAT. Begin by sanding down any highspots. (Lusea sanding block with 120;ertpaper.) And ifthe project has been built us. ingen operant aud = ‘oak, orwalnut, wea past wood fil toil the pores. ‘Note: The sideboard inthis is sue wis uiltusing maple, so no filler was neede SMOOTH. Affe all surfices of the project have been sanded flat oF filled, the next step 1 to smooth the surface. But when usinga brushing varnish, I dont sand a project as smooth 2s I would when usingawipinevamish, (usually sand upto 180-ritfor brushing varnish and 220rit for wipngvamish.) Thatsbecause the var nish needs something to grab onto. WORK SEQUENCE ‘When wsing a slow-

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