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    Woodsmith Magazine - 102

    Copyright:

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

    Woodsmith - 102

    Uploaded by

    rsotoqp
    Woodsmith Magazine - 102

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Wood Drawer Guides - Drill Press Sanding Table Drawing Arcs - Cutting Board - Hardware Storage Vol.17 / No. 102 No. 102 _ December, 1995 EDIGEOR’S COLUMN Publisher dior Associate Editors Ar Director Senior Mustraters Donald B. Pesce ‘Terry J.Strohman JonGarbisoa Mace Wiliams ‘Toul Lambich, David Kreying Cinta Stambaugh Dirk Ver Steg Mlustraior Brich Lage (CREATIVE RESOURCES eae Dror: To rk seati Eo: ‘Ancana Project Design Dir Ken Mukel Sr. Pro- Jeet Designer Kent Welsh» Shop Masia Steve Carts Shop Cratemen: Stereohnsan Sr. Pho- {coreper: Crayola Bghnd Blecronic Pushing: Douglas Lutter Bucronie Comte Coor dinatr: Garton C Gipe eAssecateGrphic De- tien ron Byse br apli Deiger Che Glomaci Graphic Designer: Chel aoe CIRCULATION CGrcsnion Drector: Susan Du Hs © Acstant Cir- agin Dic |, Dora «Seton Satan Mexeor ie roa pr Keath Boeaoa ore! [Ne Thin « Adin sistontes Cheng A. Seat, Julia Fish «Riceptionrt: Jeanne Johnson © Build ‘WOODSMITH MAILORDER peations Director: Bob Baker © Art Dr: Cindy Ssunino® Meterils alr: Mark Mato @ Cua- tomer serie Morena os Warahouse Super ‘sor Nancy inom suger Ln Joncas Stone (pratoe:Tarany Ai Ta Lar Ra Cronin ‘Tek Supp Dave Sone # Custoner Soren pe Sawdust ver the years, T've found that many ‘of the problems that crop up with ‘woodworking projects can be solved with simple solutions, Tale the projects in this issue for example. wanted the wardrobe to look as good ‘on the inside as it did on the outside and still remain afforlable, Instead of using sold chemy or expensive $4'shick ply- wood, te solution was Simple, Just sand- ‘wich two thin pieces of plywood back-o- back inthe case and door frames. ‘With the cutting board on page 18, the problem was keeping the ends from spit- i ing it in water. Here, a key gether to keep the joints from opening, And who hasnt had to pick through a pile of hardware dumped out ofa can tiy- ing to find just the right screw? We came ‘upwith a couple of quick solutions. Checle ‘out one of the hardware organizers fea- ‘ured on page 22. NEW FACES. While we've been busy pat= ting out this issue, we've also been busy adiiing some new faces around here. First of all, Todd Lambirth joined us as ‘Art Director for Woodemith, One of ‘Todd's main responsibilities is to gather in- formation from Mlustrators, Editors, and Designers. Then he has to decide how to present al this information visually in the best possible way. ‘Then, Susan Du Bois came on board as our new Circulation Director. Susan is in charge geiting new subscribers and kee ing the old ones happy. Next, Vince Ancona and Susie Rider joined our extended family. Vince is an As- sistant Editor, and Susie is an Associate Graphic Design Director, and both work in the Creative Resources department, Creative Resources is made up of alotof talented people and their job is to support the magazines produced by August Home Publishing. (This includes; Weodsmith, ‘ShopNotes, and Garden Gate.) Finally, we've added three people to oar ‘Mail Order department. Margo Petrus is ‘ur new Customer Service Representative And Scott Gilliam and Cathy Steiner have joined the Warehouse Staff ye ‘STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION ‘Requiredby 9 USC. 3889) 1, Peete: Wasnt bean No: O15 ng Date: Spee 61 ae Fes: Be tony Nu, of wes ped oy 5 0,6 Ae aacrpton ce S18 7, Conlae meg eso ab 29 he Deane Cyr 2A Ca alg de, Des ao ir 22 al igeatariettenc enka: | | Ss een renter ether uence See eee Sesser emer hoe: Gra Sean, Chuck Coton Si Cay, ‘Dat kn ht 58.18, ata moo run: Soe Sea ee S22 oe WooDSMET STORE eo ie es Uae a Meme ca En SMEG srt Macon Peloncy | | Aelmsoterind goa ae ‘or Soper le Siegert cece = ele eae te oan 8 se oe es ee eee oll SEB as nmtente oe Boe tag cen on = Bele cocta oon nn ares tr a iy EAD Pe Conserve ety pouaush 2 Woodsmith No. 102 A THO O KO EN S 1D E Contents FEATURES Cherry Wardrobe ... ast .6 Hlow é you bila «big project sithout Becoming over- whelmed? Keep the design clean, the joinery simple, and. work on it one section at « time, That's the concept behind. thio chorry wardrote. Drawing an Arc 17 Anytime you need to create an are, you have two problems: findling the centerpoint and drancing it. But a jig sent in by ‘reader solves both problems easily. Cutting Board............ 18 ‘Ana cting Board ie exposed to ater, the joint Lins tend to split open. Our solution for this project was to “lock” the Joints together with attractive butterfly shaped keys. Hardware Storage............. NZ “Hore ore two simple hardware storage stems: One organ ‘izes the hardware on your bench, The other is a handy tote ‘for taking the hardware from the ehop to the job. Wood Drawer Guides 26 Adding a drawer to.a design requires more than justdeter- ‘mining its size. Tt also has to slide in and out sravothly. Here are some design and building notes we put together on the two types of drawer guides used in this issue, Drill Press Sanding Table...................30 This unique table, sent in by one of owr readers, clamps to ‘your drill press and uses a single insert that can handle up. to six different size sanding drums. DEPARTMENTS Tips & Techniques... a4 Shop Notes rs 28 Sources ...... i eel Hardware Storage page 22 No. 102 Woodsmith. FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS Tips & Techniques KEY HOLE HANGER ‘MI wanted to make a keyhole Tomakeakeyhole sot, drilla an attached edge guide to rout head of a woodserew see Fig. slotin the kack ofeframe.ButI starter hole 14" deep with the thedovetal slot, ee Figs.2and 2a, Just locate a wall ud where didn'thavea special keyhole bit brad pointbit, see Figs land Ja. 2a, Simply plunge the router you plan to hang the frame. thatyou usewith yourrouter.So. (( used a brad point bit but a into the hole, lockitin position, Then use a No, 10 woodscrewto 1d of buying one, Tused a Forstner bit would also work.) and rout the slot. hold tin place, see Fig. 3. Next linstaled a2" dovetail The dovetail bit cuts a fared Larry Heinonen anda ¥2" dovetail bit bitinmy plungerouterandused slot that matches the tapered Union City, Michigan se dovetail bi to 3 ‘oucsotn ame GLUE SUPPORTS INEXPENSIVE END VISE i use pipe clamps to glue up pipe with inexpensive spacer, m™An end vse is « good way to dureaded on both ends large paneS. But the steel pipe These spacers are just PVC hold a workpiece securely to 2 Simply attach the flange to can create problems. If there's couplings available at most workbench. But commercial your workbench and install the any glue squeezeout that con hardware stores, They slp over _imuels are just two expensive. pipe and screw handle. Nox. tacts the pipes, it can end up_ the pipe and are easly adjusted So I made my own with the For clearance, you may need to staining the wood, One way to to support the workpiece. Screwhandlefromapipeclamp, cut offthe top part of the flange. prevent this from happening is George Johnsen an inexpensive threaded floor Doug Thatacker fonaise theworkpiece up offthe Foster City, California flange, and a short piece of pipe Racine, Wiseonsin ee ez 4 ‘Woodsmith No. 102 ‘Adjusting the angle on my contractortype table saw was never easy. The handvheel, tucked under the right wing of ‘the saw, was hard to reach and dificult to turn. To solve this problem, 1 added an extension {to my angle adjustment handle. CARRIAGE BOLT ‘MIF the square shank on a ear riage bolt rounds out the hole, there's no way to keep it from turing. Instead ofgetting abig- ger bolt, | modify the existing One. Jus lea small notehin the hheid and érveina small tradto keep the bolt from turning. Temo Johnston Shelton, Washngton Simply remove the existing hhandvheel and replace it with a 4¥9 coupler and a length of 1! dia.steelrod, see detal. The rod extends through apiere of wood bolted to the wing for suppor. Robert Skow Schaller, Tova ‘Muse beeswax on the thresds of my screws, But the cake of wax that sits on my vorkberch is always covered in sawdust — when can find To keep my wax handy and cleaner atthe same time, I melt and pour a litle into an empty ‘deodorant applicator. Then sin ply turn the knob on the applica tor fora cleansupply as needed. Charles Lokey Allanta, Georgia ‘Driving small nails or brads can be hard on your fingers. One way to hold them in post tin so they can be started in the ‘wood is with a stall magnet, James Nicmato Lackawanna, New York BAND SAW TENSION Setting the tension on aband the deflection with aruler. AMA" saw blade is a guess at best. To deflection with a one pound pull solve thisproblem, Iset the ten- isjustaboutrightfor a4" blade. sion by measuring bladedeflee- You may have to experiment tion with an inexpensie fish to ind therighttension on other weighingscale and aruler. size blades. But this way its Todo this, remove the throat easy fo set the same tension, plate and back off the blade everytime you change blades. guides. Then pull on the blade Donald Honenberger with the fish scale and measure Layne Indicna WATERSTONE DISH MOP ‘muse a waterstone to sharpen ‘my chisels and plane irons. But to work properly, waterstones ‘ust be cleaned after each use. One way to do this is with a ‘common household dish. mop. (eaballofcotton threads, held together with atwisted wire, and stuck intoa plastic handle). Just dig i€ in water and swab’ the stone clean after each use. Ba Hegyera Kenostut, Wisconsin. No. 102 Woodsmith 5 EEACT URE oP RO Jer Cherry Wardrobe Just because a project is big doesn’t mean it has to be complicated. When designing this wardrobe, we kept the design and joinery simple. Ts problem with large projects is that they can seem much more intimidating ‘han they really are “Take this wardrobe, fori stance, You might think a pro- ject this size would be really complex. Especially when you addsome optionslie the fur Graver inner case, But the in- ner case just slides inside the wardrobe, And the rest ofthe joinery isn't complicated ata. Just simplemortise and tenon joins, rabbets, and stu tenon and groove joints. Even the curved upper rails fon the doers are easier than they look. Rather than buy a sperial router bit, I cut the {rovve tobold the door panels before the curve is cut. I's deeper thaa usual, but it can te done onthe Bliclean aad | it also lets me avoid cuting ‘curves on the parels that fit totter 1 ‘Another questioa that often comes up with large projectsis ost. Afterall, hardwoods can beexpensive. Buttakeacleser 7 Took. Much of what you see is plywood, not hardwood. Both the door and side panelsare made up oftwo levers of cherry plywood placed back:to- back. Two layers are used because 14" ply- ‘wood has only one good face. And I wanted the doors to look as good when they were ‘opened as when they were closed. Woodsmith No. 102 ae ered + (3 pai 2¥2" x2" Extruded Brass Hinges = (@)114%-dia. Cherry Knobs © (71) #656" Fh Woodscrews No. 102 Woodsmith CASE SIDES ‘The easiest way to build the case of this wardrobe is to do it in sections I started with the sides of the wardrobe. Then I con- nected these side assemblies with rails at the front and back. ven though this project is big, the nice thing is there isn’t any procedure that's es. pecially difficult or complicated. Its all rey straightforward. CORNER POSTS. The first step is to make the corner posts (A). This s lke building ‘a fence. You set the comer posts and then ‘work your way in. With these comer posts, there are quite a few things to cut: grooves forthe sides, mortises forthe front, and rab- bets for the back. Ofcourse, the tickis geting the grooves, mortises, and rabbets positioned correctly ‘on each post, see drawing at right. So after Tout the corner posts to size from8/4 stock, took the time to.carefuly lay out the cuts. ‘oneach post, See Fig. Land drawing atright. When all the grooves, mortises, and rab- bets have been laid out, the first step is to cut. a groove 34" from the inside face of each post. This groove will hold a couple of side rails and two Yé'thick plv- wood side panels The resson for using two panels instead of one is sm> ple: ¥2" cherry. plywood is, hhard to find and 1" plywood. hhasonly one good face. Soto ‘get two good faces, I used two sheets and set them Dbackto-beck, see photo on page 9. This determines the width of each groove. Since these grooves run the length of the posts, ater the sides are assembled there willbe gaps atthe bot toms. To remedy this, Tut some 19/long plugs and ‘glued them in the grooves flush with the ‘bottom of each post, see Fig. 1b. This will fillthe gap and create a shoulder forthe bot- tom ral to siton ater. ‘Once al four grooves have been plugged, I decided io cut the mortises andrabbetson the posts for the front and back rails before assembling the sides. i we | it eed t ie First, Lworked on the front posts. Each post requires two mortises: one for the up- per rail and another for the lower ral, see Fig. 1a. These mortises are the same size, but they don't line up with each other. The lower mortise is centered, while the upper ‘all mortise is offset towards the inside of the case to allow room for the doors. 1 ‘Woodsmith: No. 102 When the mortises onthe front postsare cut on their inside edges that matches the ‘complete, it's tine to set them aside nd groaves on the comer posts. ‘work on the back corner posts. Both back Now the upperrail is done, but the lover pests need a ¥-wide rabbet on their back, rail requires a litle more work. First, a inside edges that’s deep enough to holdthe _ shoulderneedstobecutonthebottom edge plywood backs (there will be two—an ofthe stub tenon, see Fig. 3. (The shoulder ‘upper back and lower one) added later, see on top is created by the groove) Second, drawing at left. there's an are eut along the bottom edge. Finally, chamfered the bottom edges of Note: To lay out these arc, see page 17, allfour corner posts, see Fig. 2. SIDE PANELS. Now theposts and railscan RAILS. With the posts complete, he next be dry assembled so you can measure the stepis to add apairofrails. These rails con- opening forthe side panels. Cut he two M4" nect the comer posts to create aframe. The plywood side panels (C) for each assem- V'thick side rails (B) are the same size bly to fit into the grooves. Then glue the (62x 1712, And they also have a groove posts ris, and panels together. FRONT RAILS Panel Construction. The greave onhis side raithaa been sized to hold too 45 plywood pan- ls. These parels ‘are back-to-back 80 there's a good Jace toth inside ‘and ont. With the side sssemblis complete they [7p can be joined witha pair ofrails athe front ofthe case, see Fig. 4 The nice thing here is that half the work is already done — you've akeady cat the mortises that hold these front rails, FRONTRAIS. Both front rails (D) are identical. I started with thick blanks cut to finished length and width, see Fig. 44 (Mine were 494" x39%2") Then cut tenons ‘on both ends of each blank. These tenons ‘shouldbe sized tft the mortises that have already been cutin the corner posts, refer toFFig. 1a Note: The top front rail fits fash swith the tp of the side rails, But the lower ral sits 44" below the bottom side rails to Jeave room for acap added later, see Fig. 4c, ‘When tie tenoasfithe mortises, the only thing lefts to cuta gentle are atthe botiom ofeach piece, (For more on laying out these ares, see paye 17) ‘Once the frontzlsare complete, youcan ‘gh them between the tvo sides. Since the seis only being held together atthe front, you need to make sureits square. RAIL CAP. Before moving to the back of the case, there's still onemore piece to add to the front. A “cap” is added to the lower railto create alipbelow the dra -thatwill | Deadded ater, see Fig. 4c. 5 This rail cap (E) is cut fro. “a stock to ft between the posts. I wa -/ ‘ap flush with the back edge of the Dut in the front, the cap should sick outa" toecreate the lip below the drawer. ‘Tohold the capin postion. agrooveiscut ‘on its bottom face, see Fig. 4c. But keep in ‘mind that the groove won't be centered on the width ofthe cap. Another thing to keep jn mind is that the depth of this groove ‘should put the top of the rail cap fush with the top ofthe lower rails on the sides. (The depth of my groove was 14") ‘To complete the rail cap, create an 46" ‘chamfer on al four edges ofthe front face, see Fig. fe. Then ge the rail cep to the lower front ral. saSeats Dee a No. 102 Woodsmith BACK RAILS After the front rails were added, 1 walked ‘around and worked on the back side. There are three rails that connect the corner posts inback, sce Fig.5 Butthey also serve acot- ple other purposes. They hold the two 14". thick plywood back panels that are added Tater. And the middle back ral wil also hold a shelf, refer to Fig. 12 on the next page, BACK RAILS. All three back rails are <4" thick, andall are cut to the same length, sce Fig. 5. The important thing here is that the rals are long enough to hold the case ‘square, se measure the opening at the front ofthe case and add 1" forthe tongues onthe ‘ends of the rails. (Mine were 3912" long.) As for the rails’ widths, both the upper end ower back rails (F) are 512" wide, while the middle rail (G) is only 3" wide, Like the front rails, some ofthe work has already been done for the back rails. Here, the rabbets that hold the rails have already ‘been cut on the back posts. So when the rails are cut to siz, the next step isto cut a tongue on each end, see Figs. Saand b. The length and depth of these tongues should ‘match the rabbets on the posts. ‘Next, Icut rabbets on the rails that will hold the backpanels, see Fig. 5b, These rab- bets are identical to the ones on the back corner posts — they're Ywide and deep enough to match the thickness of 14" ply- ‘wood. Cut the rabbets on the back, inside ‘edge of both the upper and lower rails, but ‘on both back edges of the middle rail. ‘SHELFPOCKET. Before installing the back rails, the middle ra still needs a litle bit more work. Since there's a 1"thick shelf that will be added to the inside of the cese, Tereated a “pocket” in the middle back ral to support it. This pocket is simply a 54". deep groove that's cut on the front face of the rail 7" from the bottom, see Fig. 5b. INSTALLATION. Nowall the back rails can ‘beglued and screwed in place. Istarted with. ‘the upperrail.’sinstalled flush with thetop ofthe case, see Fig. 6. ‘The lower back rail is a little trickier. It should end up level with the rail cap infront, see Fig. 7, To do this accurately, Iseta fram: ing square on the cap. holding itagainstthe el! font coraer post. Then { marked the posi- tion of the rail Once the lower rails in place, the middle back railcan be added. The postion ofthis rail i important It determines the position ‘of the shelf added later, which in turn will determine the height of the lower drawer ‘underneath the shelf, I glued and screwed the middle rail 746 up from the top of the lower rail, see Fig. 8. Note: At this point, you could cut the up- ee pes Le thick and screw them in place, But Tccdcdnottoatdthemyet Iromucheas fer to install the shelf and lover drawer ‘while the backs are off. 10 Woodsmith No. 102 CASE TOP & SHELF ‘Now it's time to add a top and a shelf, both thick panels, There haven't been any ‘solid wood panelsused onthe wardrobe yet, Sothere ent been a nesd to worry about the expansion and contraction ofthe wood from changes in humidity But now ithasto betakeninfoconaderation. The slutiontor both the top and the shelf was to use cleats, ‘but they're not used the same way. TOF, Isartedalte topofthe cake AL his point there's nothing toatach the tp t0,50, I started by cutting a couple $4'-thick top cleats (H) 0 it between the side rails see Fig. 9, Thefront cat willwork without eny problem, but at the back, the comer posts get in the way. So I notched the corners of the back deat, see Fig. 2. Now tosove the expansion ard contrac- tion problem, I drilled some oversize mount- ing holes, see Figs. 9a and 10a. These holes ave also counterbored to hide the round- head screws used to attach the top. ‘When the holes for attaching the top have been drilled, the cleats canbe glued fash with the top of the case, see Fig. 9. To ad the top (0), start outwith a "= thie oversize panel. Cutt size (mine was 22! x 46} and chamfer the top and botiom edges, see Fig. 10. When securing the top, itshould be centered sileto-ide with en ‘¥8' overhang in back, see Fig. 1a. SHELF, With thetop complete, moved to the shel Agai, before you make the sel, there are a eouplethingsto do. First, when the shelf is installed, there wile a gap between theshel andthe sde panels. Sol madesome filler strips (J), see Fig. 11, These tps are ripped # wide and at ct tot between the corner posts ‘After the flr strips have been glued in place, thenext step is to cut two hard maple lets (K) forthe ends ofthe shelf to rest fn, see Fig. Il. These are simply Thvtde Sips, screwed tothe inside ofthe case But positioning these cleats is a little more work than with the top cleats. They Ihave o setback at Teast 7 rom the font of the case, see Fig. 11a And at the back, ‘they must line up with the bottom of the ‘roove onthe mide bac ral see Fig. 11 Once the cleats are in place, the shelf (L) ‘can be glued up and cut to size, see Fig. 12. The shelf should be deep (wide) enough so that when it sticks out 44" in the front, there's still 14" that fits inside the pocket in the middle ack rl, se Fig. 12, And Hee the rail cap that sits below the shelf, all four front edges are chamfered. en stalling the shel the cleats work different than the top cleats. Here, I wanted to direct the exgansion of the shelf pane! Imo the pocket on the back rll Todo ths, Tatached the shelf with glue and screws in the front only. The pocket holds the shelf at ‘the back and gives it room to expand. No. 102 DRAWER Now that the case is complete ifs time to build the wide draver under the shel. DRAWER. bul this drawer out of hard maple and.sed a dovetal iz with a1" bi see drawing at right. The height of Arawer is based on the dovetail: wanted a halfpin athe top and bottom ofthe drawer. ‘When building the drawer, size f soit sets ‘ack from the ront edge ofthe posts to, allow for afaloe font) and has oom in the back for astop, see Figs. 15 and 16 As for the drawer bottom (0), I used 4 plywood and lneated & 516" up io allow ‘Also Needed: One 12" x48" piece of '%" plywood No. 102 DRAWERS ‘Now that the inner case is complete, all that’s leftis to add the drawers, DRAWERS. To determine the height ofthe drawers, measure the opening and subtract ‘340 for the gaps atthe top and bottom and between the drawers. Then dividethis num- berby two. (Mine were 514" tal.) With the pieces cut and the dovetails outed, next cut the openings for the han- dleoon the drawer ronts, sce Figa 8 and. ‘Shop Tip: After the handle was ut outof one drawer front, lused itas a template for marking the other fronts. ‘With the handles cut, the drawers can be assembled. Then rout a stopped _groore along the sides of each drawer, see Figs. 3a and b, This groove is centered on the side pieces andis part ofthe drawer runner sy tem, see page 26. (For some tips on cutting, this stopped groove, see page 29) RUNNERS, Now the four drawers can be installed in the case. This means cutting a drawer runner ({) that attaches to the in ner case and fits into the grooves on the Sides ofthe drawer, see Fig. 4. Iastalling runners in the case can be tricky. They have to be parallel to each other an¢ level, and theymust be located 4" from. thefront ofthe case, see Fig. 5. To make this ‘easier, I set the runners oa spacers. Then | ‘simply have to position them front to back. ‘And since the runners are screwed to solid panels that need to expand and contract, I used slotted holes, see Fig. 5 and page 2 FILLERSTRIPS, Once the dravers slide smoothly, the inner case is almost ready to besetin the wardrobe, Butjustlike the shelf the wardrobe, there aregaps between the ner case and the side panels. These re- quire some filler tips. ‘The two side filler strips @) for the sides are identical to the ones used in the wardrobe, see Fig. 6. Butthere’s one more filler strip needed: Its a back filler stsip (and twill be thinner than thesides, see Fig. 7, (Mine was 1!) There's another thing different about the back filler strip. In stead of gluing itto the back of the war robe, I screwed it to the inner case. Just ‘make sure it ends up flush with the tops of ‘When thefinish is dry, simply slide the case into the vardrobe, see Fig. 7. Its heavy ‘enough that you won't need to secure it. t SH OP EG Drawing an Arc Here's a simple jig sent in by a reader that makes drawing arcs foolproof. All you need are four nails and a couple scraps. hen its time to lay out an are (especialy large ones like those used on the wardrobe on page 6), You practically need adegreein mathematics to calculate the radius. But Ben Rickey, of Arlington, Virginia, came up with an easier solution. He sent in a simple jig to draw perfect arcs. And the beauty 0! itis, you dan't need to use any math at al, Ben's jigs a couple ofstrips of wood and. a few finishing nails. Butthe secret to make ing it work is where you place the nals. LAYOUT. To find the location for the nails, you need a few layout lines to mark the Tength, height, and center of the arc, see Fig. 1. drew these lineson a piece of hard- board (Masonite) so it could be used as a template. They could be drawn right on the workpiece, but yeu'd be left with nal holes. Once the layout lines are drawn, fourfin- ishing nails can be driven into the hard- beard at points ‘A, ‘B,C, and D’, see Fig. 1. These nails serve two purpases. First, they're used to help constructa s ie two strips of wood), see Fig. 2. they guide the arm when drawing the arc. SUDING ARM. To construct the sliding ‘ake hardboard template to S00id nal holes Inworkpice ‘Layout fines Height of are am, lay the wood strips against nails ‘AB, and 'C; see Fig. 2. Where the strips overap, join them together with a litte glue and a few short brads, see Fig. 2a, "Now cat off the “ear” from the overiap- ping end of each strip and make a small notch on the outside corner where the pieces intersect, see Fig. 2b. This holds the polnt of your penell when you use the fi ‘But before you can draw the arc, nall‘C” has to beremoved, see Fig. 3. Itgets inthe ‘way when using the sliding arm. USING THEIG. To use the jig, hold the ‘arm againet nails ‘A’ and ‘BY and elide the ‘arm along the nails to draw the first half of. the arc, When one half is complete, simply ‘move the sliding arm against nails ‘B’ and “D’and finish the arc, see Fig. 4 A band saw or a sabre saw can be used tocutouttheare:Then tosmooth theedges, Tsanded them byhand with sanding bck, see the tp on page 29. 2 No. 102 Woodsmith 7 18 Ls ‘my workbench, this cutting ooard’s laminated, maple top provides asolid working surface. And {they're both built solid to Keep them Butacutting board hes to one element that ‘workbenches don't ~ water. Allthis moisture expands and con tractsthe wood and eventually breaks down the glue that holds the top to- ‘gether, The result is the joint fines split open (usually atthe ends), see the box at right ‘To prevent this, Luse water resis- tant glue when I lznow the wood wil be in contact with water. Bu for this project, I combined a special wood- working technique in addition to the iglue io prevent the top fromspliting. ‘This technique i to install buttery. shaped Keys into the top. ‘These Keys certainly make the cut- ting board more attractive. But fror practical side the keys tie or “lock” the pieces together. So even if the glue bond falls, the keys keep the joints from splitting completely open. TOP ‘Before making the keys, you have to ‘uid the top. This isn't complicated. Justedge gue fiveboardstogetheraf ‘ercuttingnotches for the keys, SIZING STOCK. I wanted to reduce ‘the amount of chipout when planing ‘the boards toa firal thickness of 1" Soll spent some extra time sorting through my 5/4 maple stock picking out the boards with the straightest possible grain. I used five of my best Woodsmith PE cr hey loo he Basle ties prevent the ends from splitting. Joint separation. On many ext fing boards the joints split open from excess moisture. To prevent ‘ha joint from opening completely, a dovetail-shaped key locks the pieces together. The strength of the key is in the grain direction, Since & rune perpendicular to the grain in the top, it won't split as the joint opens. No. 102 piezes to make up the 11}4-wide x 16“ong top, see drawing aright. Ths also a good idea to make a couple ex trapieces. They come in handy later as test pieces, Note: ‘To enoure tight joint lines ‘when the pieces are glued together, make sue the edges are smooth and square. NOTCH LAYOUT. With the stock planed to size, the next step isto shufle thepieves 50 the best face is up. Later, these pieces are paired together so. pai of doveailshaped notches (one at each end) can be cut into the mating edges. Each notch forms a bat- terfly-shaped opeting fora key tot into, It can get a litle confusing cutting al these notches. Especially since the three pieces in the middle have notches cut on both edges. So to help keep track of every- thing, Inumberedeach ofthe mating edges, see drawing at right. Unless you lke worke ing jigsaw puzzles, this makes it easy to get allthe edges realied with each other after they've been routed. ROUTING NOTCHES. With the pieces num- bered, the dovetailed notches canbe routed next. A simple way to do this is with a 32" dovetail bitin the router table, But there's a ‘small problem, Trying to make afulldepth cut (is) with a dovetail bit can cause the ‘workpiece to shift in the middle of the cut So instead of starting with a dovetail bit used a /"straightbit andleft about Mo" for the dovetail bit to clean up, see Fig. 1a also added an auxiliary fence and stop block to the miter gauge. This way, the ‘workpiece can be securely clamped to the face ee fom sing. Ad the sop “ekeeps al the boards in : Ment vical ober oo te peenes alles tupin the same location, Note: See the box bebw foranaltenalemethodofeuting the notches without amiter gage. Note:The test iecesalsoneedthis notch rontedTheyil cone in handy Wer when Seng the depth ofthe dovetail tit One tick that use when routing these notches i o rout two pieces atthe sae tine. Tis is where the numbered faces re ally help. Simply fold two pieces together, umber tonumbs, and eutanot i bo Pieces, seg: land deta atright. There's couple vantages to doing this Fis, the holes will be agned perfectly wi one anather And secon, there's less chance or chipout onthe good faces, Start by removing the waste from the notch atone end. Then roiate the workpiece 18)" and rout the other end. Note: When us- inga V4 btto remove waste, makea couple ofpacses to reach the final ¥! depth. With the waste removed, the dovetail bit {s installed in the router, see Fig. 2. [use a test piece first to check the dovetail bit depth, And I set mine to cut 1s" deep, see Fig, 2a. Then routthe dovetail-shaped notch inall the pleces. Here again I palted-up the ‘mating boards and cut the notch in both pieces at the same time. peated Noteh-eutting jig. You dovitneed ose ‘a miter gauge 10 row the notches for the ‘keys. Asmall piece of plywood with on at- tached fence will do the same thing. No. 102 19 rece the notcheshave been routed, the op Pieces of the cutting board are complete Now, keys can becut to fil the notches, KEYS For this towork, i sportant thet the grain direction of the key runs perpendicular to the grain othe op, see photo on page 1 Otherwise, the key splits right along with the joint. But don't worry about getting the fain rection Firured ou rs actomatc ‘when you crosscut the key blanks off the end of the board, see Fig. 3. MAKING BLANKS: I chose cheny for my key blanks because of the contrast th the maple top But vhatever wood you choos, the goals the same. Geting aight tt To do this, the first step is planing down apiece of stock to match the widest part of the notch cut in the top pieces, see Fig. 3. (nmy case ¥9".) I checked the fitafter each pass through the planer. Once it fits tight, the blank can be cut to length. ‘The length of the key matchesthe height of the opening created by the paired notches. This opening is 74" on my pieces, -somy keys are this length. Note:It’s a good Pete ecco tera SHAPING REVS. Nowalthats esto cut the butterfly shape. Unfortunately my ronter tale waen'™ sot fr these saul pieces, So I added an auxiliary table with a ‘smaller hole for the bit, see Fig. 4. And for ‘salety, Iused a push blockto routthe pieces, ‘see Fig. 42. (For more on this auxiliary table reler to page 29.) With he isetto cut 6" deep Imada stallowextonallfursidesofthebians sce Fig. 5. Then to check the fit, I dry clamped ‘the top pieces together and inserted the key. Finally, the keys can becut to length from. the blanks. You need eight keys to complete thecutingDoardop but lmadestewexts ‘My keys were also extra long (about 114"). ‘The extralength comes in handylater when trimming the keys flush, see Fig. 3. GLUE-UP. With the keys complete, I used anaterreistant gue ice Titebond 1D to ‘glue the top together. It sets up quickly, so Tada ost one boardand two keys sa tine, serie 6 imply spread an even layer on the mat- ing edges, down in the slots, an¢ a little on the keys Then amp to pieces together and tapinthe keys Note: camp the com ter lps Keep the pieces aligned. vet Tor, Yo complete he top, the keys must be trimmed flush and the gue ‘squeeze-out removed. [used a chisel to pare the keys flush, see box at right. And then I fished wp by saading. ‘With the top sanded, you could stop here and havea perfectly usable cuting bosrd. Butinstead, ladded feet. They raise the cut- A Carefully pare aware the key ‘with a chisel until it flush ‘with the top. Then sand syiooth. 20 ‘Woodsmith. No. 102 ting board up and make it easier for me to pick up and move around, What's special bout these feetis they're attached to the top with a sliding dovetail int. This helps keep the top from cupping. ‘And because theyre pinned in the middle, not glued, the wood can sill move. EETBIANKS. The feet start out as ‘'- thiek cherry blanks cut to finished size (Gis! x 1114), see drawing above, Ne Anextra blank (or two) ishelpful when siz ing the dovetail tenon cuton the top edge. ROUTING DADOES, Each ofthe tenons cut fon the blanks fits into @ long, dovetail. ‘shaped dato in the bottom of the cutting. ‘board. Like routing the notches for the top, Lused a M4" straight bt to remove most of. the waste, see Figs. 7 and 7a. And followed ‘up with a 42" dovetal bt to finish up, see Figs. 7 and 7b. Note: After completing the datoes, don't change the bit height. Its used next o rout the tenons on the feet. ROUTTENON. To rout this “tenon” simply run the blank past the bit taking alight cut offeach side, see Fig. . The goal here isto ‘get a tenon that fits in the dado and slides ‘Smoothly, Since the bit height wasa't changed, the only adjustment necessary is =: tomove the fence tochangetthe width, Note: ‘When checking the fitin the top, don’t push the feet in too far. They can be almost in- possible ta get back out. ‘TAPER, Once I'm satisfied with the fit, the enils are tapered next. Simply adjust the: 9. The taper cut should intersect with the base ofthe tenon, see Fig. 9a AKC. Finally, to complete the feet, an arc is cut on the botiom edge. This creates a small pad at each end to help the cutting ‘board sit sold, The simplest way to lay out this arc is to use a piece of hardboard (Ma- sonite) and bend it into an are shape, see Fig. 10. Thisisa threehhanded operation, so while you hold the hardboard, have some- ‘one trace along the edge. Then use a band ‘saw to cutout hearcand sand upto theline, ASSEMBLY, Now the feet can be installed the top. To hold them securely. they're pinned in the middle with a 14%iameter dowel, see Fig. 11. ‘Simply slide in the fect co the endo are flush withthe top. Then dilla hole to match No. 102 Woodsmith a SHOP PROJECT Hardware Storage There are a lot of ways to store hardware. But the trick is finding what you need when you need it. That's where these two storage projects that can help. Ls to think a good hardware storage system was a bunch of coffee cans and mayonnaise or beby food jars sitting on the workbench. And an “organized. system” consisted of dumping all the screws in one can or jar and all he nails in another. But after a fruitless 20 minute search to find 10 serews all the same size, I knew there had to be abetter way. So on my next tripto the hardware store, camehome with ‘a dozen pastic storage bins that stack one ‘on op of the other: [led each bin with a different type of hhardware and stacked them up in two col ‘urns fo save space. I soon found out the laws of gravity till apply whenever [tried to ‘get anything stored on the bottom. That's ‘hat inopired thie open bin storage project. It's designed touse misimal space onthe workbench (they're stackable), And since eee binislikea lite drawer it's easy to pull them out and get at what you need, see photo. thought these bins solved my sior- ‘age problems unt had ahome fit project that needed tending to. quickly foundoutthatcarrying the open bins to the job wasn’t any beter than haul ing coffee cans around. So on another trip tothe hardware store, happened to wander info the sporting goods department. Here, atackle box with anothersmallerbox inside OPEN BIN STORAGE ‘This open bin storage system is a simple, stackable case that holds plastic hardware bins available from most hardware stores, for additional sources, see page 31. The beauty ofthis design is thatthe organizer is constructed around the size of the bins you purchase, Although the one I built holds 4" bins, the dimensions ofthe organizer can be cesily changed to hold the size you need. Note: I's good idea to purchase the bins before you start building the organizer. This, makes it a lot easier to determine any di- ‘mensional changes needed. What makes these organizers useful is the way they stack one on top of the other, (the kind that holds hooks, sinkers, and Swivels) gave me the idea fora tool tote So I made a portable storage unt to bold six ofthese smallboxes or trays. You simply sortoutallofthesame type of hardware and put it into one ofthese trays. The traysare ‘This way, as your sur- with it. Of course, as things stack up, they also want to fall down, To get around that problem, two small feet are added to the bot- tom. They keep the case from shifting sdetoside. ‘This way a ight bump won't spill the cos tents ofthe bins all over the floor, ‘This organizerisso simple to build, you'll probably want to make three or four atthe Ccear plastic, so you can see at a glance what's inside. And it swings closed whien you carry itto “lock” thetrays inplace. Now its easy to load the tote with the hardware you need and avoid those return trips to the Shop for whatever was forgotten. n Woodsmith No. 102 ‘same time, Theyre simply two ¥2"thick side pieces, with ¢ Y'-thick bottom, and a VYrthick piece of hardboard Masonite) sued on the backto add strength, ‘SIDES & BOTTON. I began construction of the workbench organizer by cutting the sides (A) (454” x 512"), then the bottom (B) is" x 133" to finished size. see Fig 1, What's a little unusual here is the sides arewider than the bottom by ¥4!. The rea ‘son or this difference is there's arabbet cut in the back edge of the side pieces, se Fig. 1a, Later, the hariboard back wil fit into this rabbet to help strengthen the sides. ‘Next, ali". widedadoiscuton the bottom of the side pieces, see Fig. 1b. This is the firs half of tongue and groove joint used to join the case together. With the sides complete a Ye'ong tongue Is cut on both enils of the bottom pieze, see Fig. Ic. This tongue i sized tofit the dado already cut in the sides. Now to ‘complete the bottom, a pair of ¥4'swide daoes are cut on the inside face, see Fig. 1d. These shallow dadoes hold two hard- board dividers added later ‘Note: An easy way to cut these dadoes so they end wn evenly spaced isto use the rip fence for a sop. With the fence set, make your first cut, then rotate the workpiece fené-for-end and make your second cut. Finally, the sides and bottom can be glued together. Simply glue and clamp the pieces ‘making sure the sides aresquareto the bat tom, see Fig. 2. BACK & DIVIDERS. To strengthen the bot tom and side pieces, a Ythick hardboard back (©) is added to the organizer, see Figs. land2, Thispieceiiscutto fitthe open- ing between the rebbets in the site pieces ‘and flush with the bottom. (In my case, ‘542 x 134") Then glue the back in place. Next, cut a couple hardboard dividers (D) from some serap pieces. They fit in the ‘dadoes already cut in the bottom and actas spacers to Keep the storage bins apart. ‘These pieces are ¥" wide and fit dush with the back of the bottom piece. Finally, glue them to the bottom. ‘HLAMEER. Once the glue dries, the next step isto use a4" chamfer biton the router table to roat a chamfer on the boitom front edge and the two, top front comers, see Figs. 3and3a. This chamferiscutto protect the top of your hand when you reach in to pullout abin. To prevent chipout when rout ing the two top comers, I used a backing board for support. FEET. All that’sieft to complete this stor age project is a peir of hardboard feet (E) slued to the botom. They're set in ¥ fram the sides and 44" in from the back, see Fg. 2. These feet Tock" the completed casesin place so they wont slide ofto theside or off theback when one storage bin stacked top of another. No. 102 HARDWARE TOTE ‘The second hardware storage project, the hardware tote, combines storage with port abllity. lesa carrying case that holds a vari ety ofhardware needed tofix small projects. ‘Note: Here again, you make this tote to fit. around the storage containers that go in: sie. It.can be built to most any size, butit’s 4 good idea to build the project after you purchase the containers (he contain- ers [used were 4" x8"). It’s easier this ‘way to adjust the measurements so everything fits, (For contalner sources, ‘see page 31.) CASE. The case for this tote is basically two small boxes joined together with a pair ‘ofhinges. Tray supports on the inside hold upto six plastic containers. These contain- ersare like small rays with snapdown lis. ‘Ard a large handle on top makes the tote easy to carry. Since the case is the heart of this project, I started with t first SIDES, 10P & BOTTOM. This case consists ofidentical sides (A) separated hy identical top (B) and bottom (C) pieces, see Fig. 1. 1 sarted by cutting all thepiecesto finished size from 4)-thick maple stock. ‘Once the blanks are complete, dadoes ‘can be cut into the side pieces. The dadoes ‘cut at the top and bottom fit together with tongues cut on the top and bottom pieces to jon the sides to gether, se Fig. la, ‘And. the three dioes in the port the plastic trays, see Fig. 1b. Note, The bot- tom supports lorated just lite above the bottom ofthe case. This provides clearance for your fingers to grip the containers. Finally, tongue can be cut at both ends of the too and bottom pieces to fit the dadoes, see Fig. Ic. Sneak up on the thick: ness untilthe tongue fits snug inthe dado. ‘CASE ASSEMBLY. With the tongues and grooves complet, the case can be assem- bled. Simply glue the top, bottom, and side pieces together, see Fig. 2. Keep in mind that this hardware tote consists of two ‘matched boxes that have to ft together flush. So double check that each box is square before the glue dies. Shop ti: Its not always easy to glue up {oar sides ofa box and stil keep everything square. So I cut a square piece of plywood first to match the inside dimensions, Then before tightening down the clamps, slipthe piywood square into the box. It keeps the sides from shifting whenclamping pressure isapplieg, see Fig. 2a. ‘CASE BACK. With the case assembled, it's ‘easy to size the back (D)tofitthe case. This ‘W'thickpiece ofhardboard is cutto fit fush ‘with the top, botiom, ant sides and then is, _guued in place, see Fig. 3. (My back piece ‘was 816" 954) ‘Then, 1 soften the sharp edges, Irouted a4! chamfer on the back and side edges, see Fig. . Note: Don'troata chamfer onthe inside face where the twp boxes mate. This will create a gap when the tote is closed. ‘meaysuPPORTS. Next, hardboard tray supports (E) are added to the inside. ‘These Vé-thick pieces, cut to finished size (Dix 494"), are glued in the dedoes eat in the side pieces, see Fig.3. 1 FIRST Rout top and bottem idadoes (See cetall a.) a Woodsmith No. 102 HANDLE. Finally, to complete the case, a hhandle (P) is adéed to the top. Each half hasit’s own 14"thick handle, With the tote closed, the two handles come together to form a thicker handle thas easier to grip. ‘The handle is cut out ofa Y4"thick piece of hardboard (2" x 534" blank), see Fig. But to get identical handbs, I carpet taped thetwo blanks together and madeboth han- dies atthe same time. T started by drawing layout lines for the handle on the blank and then removing the ‘waste from the middle, The easiest way to

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