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    Woodsmith Magazine - 103

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    245 views44 pages

    Woodsmith - 103

    Uploaded by

    rsotoqp
    Woodsmith Magazine - 103

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 44
    Roll-top Desk * Cherry Desk Organizer * Fretwork Picture Frame * Extension Wing Router Table EDITOR’S COLUMN SAWDUST O= the years it seems that February has become a month for improvements here at Woodsmth. In February 1989 we changed our graphic presentation. And in February 1900 we increased the number of pages. Well, in keeping with that tradition, ‘we've decided to make some changes starting with this, the February 1996 10 of Woode mith. As I said before, it has been seven years since we've done 2 major over- haul to the graphic presentation (the Jook and arrangement ofart and text) ‘And while we have often made gradual and subtle changes, we all felt that it ‘was time for something new. NEW LOOK. We spent alt of time dis- ‘cussing what changes to make and why. After al, I didn’t want to fix anything, that wasnt broken. What! really want- ‘ed to do was make some refinements. Our goal wasto give Woodsmith afresh Jookand make iteasiertoread and use. ‘Tomake Woodomith easier to read, we basically made three changes. Firs, the page color has changed. I've always felt the buff-colored page was easy on the eyes. But we decided to make ita Dit lighter, which makes the text even more readable. Next, weincreased the size ofthetype. And finaly we put a lit tle more space between the lines to ‘make them less crowded. Besides making Woodemith more readable, we also wanted it to be east ‘er touse.To do that, we've made a num ber ofchangesto headlines, typefaces, and page layout. But the changes you'll probably find most noticeable have to Woodsmith do with the illustrations and photos To make the artwork stand out ‘more, most ofthe illustrations now have white background. And we made the box numbers more prominent, 0 you can locate them quicker when working coma project. ‘Another big change has to do with photos. Basically, you'll be seeing larg. ‘er photos and more of them. NORE PAGES. For the last six years ‘Woodsmith has been a 32 page maga- Zine. But that’s changing too — we're adding four more pages, Of course this means that we'll be able to present you with more infor- mation and projects. But we did more than justincrease the number of pages ‘We also increased the quality of the paper as well Now we're using an extra hheavy-weight paper to print the front and back cover. This means that Woodsmith should stand up even bet- terto being used in your shop. NAME GHANGE.The only otherchange here at Woodsmith is Don is now the publisher (@ role he has been moving towards for some time), and Ive picked up the responsibilities of editor. And while the name at the bottom of this age has changed, I assure you that ‘Woodsmith will continue to bring you the high quality woodworking projects and step-by-step instructions that you've ‘come to expect. As you can tell, I'm very excited about allthis. But I like to hear from you. So drop me aline and tell me what you think. I always enjoy hearing from other woodworkers. Taw No. 103 ~ Shop Notes.... A LOOK INSIDE 1 -GONTENTS <1 2 Features Roll-top Desk... Classic shape. Simple design. Both come together to matke tis roll- top desk a rewarding project that's easy to build Desk Organizer Slide this desk organizer into the roll-top desk. Or build it as a sepa- rate unit that looks good from any angle. Either way, it helps orga- nize all your writing materials. Building Tambours. 20) Understanding how a tambour door works takes hen mystery out of building one. By using a few basic designs and changing the profile of the slats, you can build a tambour door to fit most any application. Fretwork Picture Frame .... 24 The intricate fretwork on this picture frame is only half the story. It’s hinged to another frame that holds a standard 3x5 photograph. This freestanding frame makes a great weekend project. Scroll Saw Techniques p20 There's a trick or two to using a scroll saw to cut fretwork panels. We show you the best blades to use and how to reduce chipout so you dan‘ spend aloof cme cleaning up the panel aftr i's cut ove Extension Wing Router Table............ 28 This router table replaces the extension wing on your anes Besides saving space, there’s a unique fence system that attaches to the existing rip fence on your saw. It features a built-in storage com- partment for router bits and a dust collection hook-up. Departments Tips & Techniques. ............-0005 4 Reader's Jig Sources. No. 103 Bench Holdfast Sometimes, the only way to clamp a project to a work bench is with a bench hold fast. But you don't need to go out and buy one if you make a small alteration to a regular bar clamp. Just remove the fixed jaw by drilling out the rivet that holds it to the clamp bar, see Fig. 1. Then install a ‘small metal strip with a machineserew and nist, ee ig. 2. Note: Crimp the threads of the screw atthe end to help “lock” the nutin place, see Fig. 2a Now ewivel the metal strip to ft through a dog hole in the bench and sviv- elitbackto hold the clamp, see Figs 3 and 3a. Michael Marinll Tempe, Aza Woodsmith BDI Tilt) If you would like to share an original shop- tested tip, send it to: Woodsmith, Tips and ‘Techniques, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Towa 50B12. Orifit’s easier, FAK itto usa: 515- 282.6741. Or use our E-Mail: 75320,2001@com- ‘puserve.com. If published, you'll receive $30 to $150, depending on the published length. Include brief explanation and sketch or photo. We'll rewrite the tip and redraw the art, ifneeded. Also, please lista daytime phone number. FEATURE PROJECT ROLL-TOP DESK A tambour door is only part of what makes this desk special. It also fea- tures a simple, classic shape and straightforward construction. S ‘ometimes the more obvious things tend to hide the ‘important ones. Take this roltop desk. Your eyes auto- ‘matically drawnto the tambour door. There'sjust something about a door that opens and closes without swinging on a hhinge. But you really need to look past the door to see what makes this desk a special project to build. For one thing there's the desk organizer helen behind the door. Normally, an organizer is builtas an integral part ofthe desk. But this one is designed as a totally separate project that can fit on any desk. Yet once it's completed, it slides easily into place under the tambour door. Another example is the desk hardware. Ormore accu- rately, the lackofit. What you have isa classic“sshaped” ‘Woodsmith. ‘or double curved roll-top desk which requires virtually no hardware Gust a few woodscrews). Or take a look at the design features, Sure the deco- nitive cutout on the bottom edge ofthe front railis appeal ing. But at the same time, it provides additional clear- ‘ance when sitting down to write at the desk. And the tapered legs give the desk a light, graceful appearance. But the most important feature of making this rolltop desk is how easy everything went together. I credit this to a good design. Right from the start, when cutting the J) tapered legs to gluing the slats o the canvas forthe tam- our door, the straightforward construction went like clockwork. I guess you can't ask for anything more, No 10% Construction Details Overall Dimensions: x 43x 24" ae Desk organizers built Ssprtey ard ids theterto page tator ler more des) CROSS SECTION CUTTING DIAGRAM unt 60" = Bd. Fy Wx 5496" (3.4 BSF 7m eee aire eer 1917 urn 6x96" (4 Bd Ft) =“ wT = - x 96" (5 Bd. Ft) ae) ) Al four sides of Tambour Slats (28) She x7 = 40% Rail Support Strip (1) %x Y-40 en eke eshop ulti See page 18 MATERIALS A Legs @) 17x 1%-27% B Front Rail (1) 24x4-40 © Back Ral 1) %x4-40 D Side Rais 2) x4-21 E Ft. Cleats(@) 74x 3814 F Side Cleats) *4x2%- 19% G Desk Too (1) 24x24 H Cone Ses(2) 24x 12-23 1 Case Bek (1) x12 a0" 3 Cleat (1) Ux 40 K Case Ton (1) nse -43 Ltt Rai(t) 1px 140% ™ N No. 103 Woodsmith oo BASE ‘The base for this rolltop desks built like simple table. There are fourlegss ‘and top joined by some rails started ‘work on the base by making the legs. UGS. These legs (A) start cut as /at-square pieces of 8/4 stock cut to a finished length of 273/4', see drawing at rightand leg detail left. ‘Atone end, I marked the location for 4 pair of 1/:!-wite mortises to hold the tenons cut later on the rails, see Fig. 1. These mortises are cut on adja- cent faces. But what’sa litle different here is they aren't centered on the leg. Instead, they're offset by 1/2" ‘from the outside edge, see Fig. 1a, To cut the mortises, I used a Forstner bit and drilled overlapping, holes #/ie-deep to remove most of the waste. This depth provides a lit tle extra clearance for the °/s/-long tenons on the ends of the rails. Since the bit cuts a clean, flat-bottom hole, itonly takes a few minutes to square up the ends andclean up the sides of the mortise with a chisel. ‘aPER, Now to make the legs look more graceful, Icuta taper on all four sides, see Fig. 2and leg detail at let. For more on catting tapers, plus a simplejig that makes it easy, refer to Shop Notes on page 18. Ralls. After tapering the legs, set them aside until the rails are com- pleted. The rails that hold the leas together are identical in width (4"). But their lengths are different. The front rail (B) and back rail (©) are 40" long, while the side rails (D) are only 21" long, see exploded view. ‘Next, [euta$/s'“ong tenon on each end ofall the rails. This tenon is cen- tered on the thickness, but there really no trick to doing this. Just flip the rail over between passes to remove stock from both sides. But to make sure the tenon fits snug i the mortise, you'll want to sneak up ‘on the final thickness, see Fig. 3. ‘To complete the tenon onthe rails, all that’s lefts to create a shoulder on the ends so the tenon matches the length of the mortise in the legs. To do that, 1/#"of the tenon isremoved from both edges. see Fig. 3a. ‘Woodsmith No. 103 BASE The base for this roltep desk is built Mrikeasinple table. There are four legs ‘and atop joined by some rails. started ‘work on the base by making the legs. Liss. These legs (A) start out as 18/4!-square pieces of 8/4 stock cut to a finished length of 271/1, see drawing at right and leg detail atleft. ‘tone end, I marked the location for a pair of /-wide mortises to hold ~ the tenons cut later on the rails, see [ZY Fig. 1 These mortises are cut on adja cent faces. But whats litle different haere is they aren't centered on the leg. Instead, they're offset by 1/2" from the outside edge, see Fig. Ia. To cut the mortises, I used a Forsiner bit and drilled overlapping holes /¢"leep to remove most of ‘the waste. This depth provides alit- tle extra clearance for the */(long tenonson the ends ofthe rails Since the bitcutsa clean, fla bottom hole, itonly takes afew minutes to square ‘upthe ends and clean up the sides of the mortise with a chisel. (> _ WH Now to make the legs look ‘more graceful cut a taper on all four sides, see Fig. 2and leg detail atleft. For more on cutting tapers, plus a simplejig that makes it easy, refer to Shop Notes on page 18. ALLS, After tapering the legs, set them aside until the rails are com- pleted. The rails that hold the legs together are identical in width ("). tered on the thickness, but there's But their lengths are different. The _ really no trick to doing this, Just flip front rail (B) and back rail (C)are the rail over between passes to 40" long, while the side rails (D) remove stock from both sides. But are only 21" long, see exploded view. to make sure the tenon fits snug in Nexieuta{/"4ong tenon oneach the mortise, you'll want to sneak up end ofall the rails. This tenon iscen- _on the final thickness, see Fig. 3. To complete thetenon on the rails, allthat'left isto create a shoulderon the ends so the tenon matches the length of the mortise in the legs. To do that, 1/2" of the tenon is removed from both edges, see Fig. 3a DECORATIVE CUTOUT. Up to this point No. 108 ‘Woodsmith ROLL-TOP CASE After completing the base Iturned my attention to building the rolhtop case. Itconsists of twoidentical side pieces held together by top and back panel, see drawing at right. I started on the case by working on the sides. BLANKS. The sides are glued-up blanks that are cut oversize (mine were 12/2" x 24"). Once the glue Aes the “sshape” for the side pieces ‘ean be drawn on the blank. SIDE TEMPLATE. An easy way todo this isby making template first, seetem- plate detail at right. Draw the shape ‘on a piece of hardboard, cut it out, and sand the edges smooth. ‘Now the template can be used to transfer the profile to the glued-up blanks. Just trace around it and cut ‘out the case sides (HD. To make sare these piecesare identical, I stuck: them together with double-sided car- pet tape and sanded them smooth. ‘GROOVE TEMPLATE. Once the side rieces are sanded, the nextstenis to rout identical grooves on the inside face of each piece. This 1/,!-leep sroove follows the shape ofthe case side and provides a channel for the sts and lft rail of the tambour door to slide in as its opened and closed. ‘To make the door slide smoothly, the grooves have to be positioned in the ‘same location on both pieces. So [used a template again, but this time to guide my router. It guaran- tees that the grooves will be posi- tioned in the same loca- tion. But didn't make a new template, Ijust down- sized the one I had used to make the side pieces, This smaller template is used with a guide bush- ing in the router. See the box at lower left ‘How much smaller is this template? There are a couple things to keep in mind. How far the -grooveis from the edge. The groove width. And the distance from the edge of the router bit to the outer edge of the guide bushing. In my case, this ended up at 7/. Now use acompass set at?/«" and follow the existing shape of the tem- plate along the front edge and across the top, see Fig. 8. But the back edge isalittle unusual, ‘Woodsmith No. 103. Here you need a 11" radius so the and flat.To do that, just measure out door can side aroundthe corner. And abot 9" from the back edge and @¥ for clearance between the door and make amark where you want to stop ‘case back, the distance changes tothe profile, see Fig. 11. 1/1, see Fig. 8a. Once the lines are BACK DADO. To complete the side drawn, cut the template to size and pieces, a dado is cut along the back sand the edges smooth. ‘edige to hold the case back, see Fig. ROUTING GROOVE. Afier making the 12. This'/4' With the case complete, built two joints, andthe 1/4" plywood bottom fil the groove openings, see photo. ravers to fit the organizer. Cut the (6) is held in a groove thats cut in ‘Then trim the top and bottom edges draverfronts/backs (I), and sides each piece, see Figs. 6a and 6b. fora" gap above the drawer, A After each drawer is assembled, the grootes for the dyawer bottom twill be exposed on the sides. Small hardwood plugs will hide them. No. 103 “Woodsmith Ww Tips FROM Our SHoP Taper “Tapering all four sides of a legrequires an “adjustable” jig. That's becauseafter two faces ofthe leg aretapered, there aren't any more ‘straight faces to work from. Sothe angle ofthe ig must beadjusted to compensate. For the desk on page 6, I made a taper jig with a piece of plywood and a hardboard stop block, see Fig. 1. These pieces are mounted to a hardboard sled that carries the leg past the blade. STOP Bock. The sop bloc. is the key to the jg. Here, noiches offset theleg to set the angle of the taper, see Fig. la. There are two notches here so this angle ‘can be adjusted. But you don't have to worry about any angles, Just determine how much stock needs to becut from theend of theleg with each pass ('/s" in my case). This is how far the first notch needs to be offset irom the edge of the plywood, see Fig. 1a. The second one is offset 1" from the first. To determine the length of the taper, the stop block alsoneeds to be positioned lengthwise on the plywood, see ig. 1b. (The tapers on thedesk legs are 22" long) Note: I attach the stop block to the front ofthe jig. ‘This means you push the workpiece, not jus the jig. I find it more comfortable and safer to use this way. USING THE 6. To use the be jig, simply place the leg in the first notch and make ‘two passes, rotating the leg between passes, see Fig, 2 ‘Then for the lest two faces, place the jig in the second notch. 7 sexi woodserew Trl he 3¢ plywood PASS Postion workpiece ” Infisenoten ‘andsecond passes eae Petenrrien vor ston eee a sien | se Erne | a = length of taper. Offset ig baoienco” | sete es Woodamith No. 103 Router Table Insert Buying ormakinganinsert However, if you cut the for a router table is easy. opening this seo, the inert Gust make sure it’s large would fall through. Soyou enough to get your router need tobuilda ledge to hold inand out.) Butcreatingthe _ the insert. To do this, I ‘opening that holds the _madeasecond “outline"*/s!" insertisalitle more work, inside the first, sce Fig. 2 ‘ROUTER OPENING. To begin, ‘When that's done, drilla youheveto cutan opening holeateach comer and cut. for your router to fit between them to remove through. To do this, first _ the waste, see Fig. 2. setthe insert on the able UDGEFOR WSERT, Now i's and trace around it, seeFig. time to add the ledge that 1. positioned mine 1}/s" puts the insert flush with fromthe back ofthe table.) the table top. Fora tight fit, the opening of this ledge the bit set so the insert hhas to match the insert. ends up fiish with the sur To do this, I used the face ofthe table. insert es a template and Simply place the insert createda form” around it, and the router on the form, see Fig.3. When theinsert _see Fig. 4. Then lower the is removed, a pattern bit bit until itjust touches the will follow the form to rout table, see Fig. 4a. Remove the ledge, see box below. the insert and the depth of Note:The formsneed to the bitwil match the thick- bbe at least 1”-thick so the ness ofthe insert. bearing on the bit has Note: When routing the something to ride against. ledge, just remember to The important thing move therouter clockwise, here is to get the depth of see Figs.5 and 5a. rigst. Drawlines 3° Ahom outine NOTE: Form peces ‘must be Te thi (used i hardboard ‘and i" plywood) a A pattern bitis a lush trim bit with the bear- {ng on the shank, notat the end, sce photo. (Por sources, see page 35.) Its big advan- tages that itcan cutastep or openingin the center of a workpiece. However, or shallow. couts, either the template you're folowing. thas tobe thick (o match the eutter'slength), ‘or you'll need to adda spacer. Woodsmith 19 NiO TECHNIQUE BUILDING TAMBOURS Here are some design pointers and building tips that will come in handy when working on and installing tambour doors. Oxvsecvse: enjoy about woodworkingis there's ‘usually more than one way to solve a problem. And ‘maybe that’s how tambour doorswere invented, Someone needed a door that would store out ofthe way when open. ‘The “solution’ a tambour or rolltop door, seems fairly obvious now. Make it flexible by gluing a bunch of thin Sats to apiece of fabric. Then cut a groove forthe pieces to follow so the door can slide aut of sight inside its own cabinet. That's it Nothing complicated about it Now alot of people think tambour doors are a mystery. ‘Afterall there must be some trick in getting all those pieces, to work together asa sliding door. Bu all you really need isa good design to follow and alittle patience cutting and assembling the parts. ESIGN SHAPE. So when building tambour door, find its ‘easiest to stick to a couple triedanc/-true designs. These designs are straightforward and give me consistent results. ‘They incorporate what I refer toas an “sshaped” (double ‘urve) or “eshaped!” (ingle curve) tambour, see Fig. 1. Each design has some advantages over the other, depend- ing on the application. For example, I like to use an s- shaped tambour when the project cals for a wide door (ike the rolltop desk inthis issue). This shape looks less Woodsmith bulky and more graceful fora large tambour, Pls, adding theextra curve help the thin slats resist sagging inthe mi- dle, And having a door with less sag means it will side that much more smoothly. On the other hand, when I need the maximum amount ‘of storage space fora project, a eshaped tambouris abet terchoice. Itprovides the largest usable space behind the door. This comes in handy when you need to storea large mixer or blender in an “appliance garage” in the kitchen. ‘TaMBOUR ANATOMY. Deciding which shape to use is the first step to building a tambour door. Once that’s taken care of, the next thing to considerare the parts ofthe tam- ‘boar: What this means s figuring out how the actual pieces of the door will beeut and put together. Al tambour or rolltop doors consist of the same three parts. There's usually a thick, heavier piece atthe front (@ litrai, followed by a quantity of thinner pieces (ambo slats), all held together with a piece of fabric, see drawing fon next page. The roll-top desk on page 6, for example, thas a ift rail and 28 slats glued toa piece of canvas. lfthere’s one thing that's similar about all the tambour doors that I build, isthe fabric. [always use canvas Usually this is alight to medium-weight artist's canvas available at No. 103 - art supply stores. Some people lke using a dark denim backing because it doesn't show between the slats. But whatever the mate- rial, itnot only holds the pieces together, italso actsas the hinge. ‘The canvas allows all the individ- ual pieces to flex.as the door slides through the groove. Butit takes more than a piece of canvas to allow a door to flex in ‘morethan one direction (ike ithas to for an sshaped tambour). The real “secret” isthe style (or profile) of the tambour lift rail and slats. Sst¥it. The key to having a tambour flex is building in clearance between the slats. This can be easily accom ed by changing the slat profile. | ‘wanted the door on the rolltop desk (eatured on page 6) to move through some pretty tight curves. By round- ing over the slats, they can flex or move back and forth as the door moves through the curved groove, see Figs. 3 and Sa. The greater the clearance between the slats, thetighter the curve the door can follow. SLA WIDTH. But there area couple of other things that come into play to allow the door to slide smoothly through the groove. One is adjusting the width ofthe slat, see Fig. 4.A wider slat makes a sturdier door. Buta wide slat cant slide through a tight curve. It’s physically impossible, That's why you typically don't find slats wider than 1" onmost tambour doors. ‘There is one exception to this: the liftrail located at the front ofthe door. Hereyou want a wide piece to take al the wear and tear ofbeing pushed and pulled as the door is opened and closed. Its traditionally cut wider and thicker to make it stronger (ike on the rolltop desk), Getting a wide piece like this to work: na groove doesn't require any wood- ‘working magic. Simply reduce the thickness on the ends of the rail by ‘cutting a rabbet to create atongue, see Fig. 2. For the desk, this tongue was only #/#thick soit could slide smooth- lyin the 3/f-wide groove. tileknéss, When you reduce the thickness ofa lit rail or slat, you can make it wider and still have it slide ‘smoothly. This is because you've cre- ated more clearance around it. Of ‘course you can go too far and make them too thin. Then on a wide door the slats could start to sag and even fall ‘out ofthe grooves. ‘CLEARANCE Finally, there’sone other ‘consideration for making tambour doors side smoothly. You need toallow for clearance between the slat and the (cROSS SECTION $W-wide groove Fabbeted end on thie Ife rail rall tb ft groove without ‘edcng dices \ ‘groove. You can't expect a %/!-thick slat to slide very well in a %/e"-wide groove. The tambour door in the rol top desk used §/i!thick slats in as" _groove, see Fig, This provided just ‘enough clearance so the tambour door ‘would slide smoothly but without rat tling around when it moves. ‘CROSS SECTION No. 103. ‘Woodsntith (CROSS SECTION Wide sats can be Bed in» tambour Geer they follow ‘shallow curve tofoliow tight curve a Okay, so now you know there's more to designing a tambour door than glu ing some sticks to a piece of canvas. ‘The next step is to put this informa- tion touse. Forme this means starting ca the case panels that hold the door TAMBOUR CASE. The first step is to make the grooves on the sides that guide the door. They're mirror images of each other so the door doesnttbind asits opened and coed ‘The easiest way to keep these grooves alignedis by making atem- plate, see Fig. 5. This way a guide ‘bushing in a hand-held router can fol Ibw the template and rout the groove, see Fig. 6. As long as the template is installed in the same spot on both side pieces and the guide bushing stays tight against the template, the srooves will be identc UFT RAIL Afterrouting the grooves, the lift rail can be built for the door. Justeutitto length oft between the grooves and rabbet the ends soit slides easily inthe grooves. ‘edge, see Figs. 7and 7a. Then switch small notch cut at one end that match SLATS. Next I turn my attention to to the table saw to rip the slats from __es the thickness of the slats, see Figs. the tambour slats. I start with awide the edge of the board. 8 and 8a. This way as the slat is cut, ; piece of stock and cut several slats To make cutting these thin slats from the blank, the carrier will push 3 from it. First, rout the profile on one safer, | use a carrier board with a _ it safely past the blade. Talso like to number the slats as they're cut, see Fig. 8b, That way they can be reassembled for the best color and appearance. And while you have ‘the saw and router setup, make some ‘estras, Theres always afew ats that twist or bow and need replacing. WEP, To hold the slats and lift rail together, they're glued toa piece of canvas. In this case, I don'tuse yel- low glue. [prefer contact adhesive. A ‘equals length of slot 2 ‘Woodsmith ‘No. 103 ‘mall roller spreads the adhesive ‘quickly, and if’ not nearly as messy. @ Pius, there’sno squeeze out, and you don't need to worry about clamps. Now before you start, trim the can- xvas 20 i's narrower than the slats. This keeps the canvas out of the ‘groove. Then use a couple coats of. audhesive fora good bond. This is easy onabig piece ofan. Butit can be tedious work on the narrow slats. So temporarily assemble a few slats by taping the ends, see Fig. 9. ‘Thetape holds the ats together so there's a large surface to work on. ‘And once you removeit, the ends are free ofgiue. (Glue onthe slats would eep them from sliding freely.) assemby, Now the challenge is get ting the slats and lif rail installed on the canvas co they'reequare to each other. Here's where an assembly jig helps, see Fig. 10. This jig is just a ‘couple of pieces of srap screwed to eof plywood at right angles to neh oPsioe tom give one another. These guide boards ‘Keep the door pieces straight at the sides and parallel to each other. stretch out the canvas first (adhe- sive side up) soit’s lat and tight. Just screw a guide board at one end to hold it in place, stretch it out, and secure the other end with a piece of scrap. Then using a framing square, install the other guide board square to the first one. Now the lift rail and slats can be installed on the canvas. Just remem ber, when they make contact, you ‘won't be able to move them. It also a good idea to periodically check that theslats are running true, see Fig.l After the slats are all in place, tap them with a malletto remove any air gaps under the slats. Finally, to com- plete the door, trim off the excess canvas at the end. a to smooth rough spots Liftrail. Vihen a tambour won't slide freely, check the ift al first. The ‘sharp comers and edges can hang up in the groove, Use a sanding block to round over the end of the tongue. 9 No. 103 Slats. The slats can also hang up in Sand & wax. it’s always a good idea the groove. Here again, round over to sand the groove lightly to remove the top and bottom ends. But ‘any chatter marks left by the router because the groove is shallow, keep Then apply a coat of paste wax so the radius small so it’s not exposed. ‘the door will slide freely. and cutting fretwork patterns with ‘ted hold "35" photo se / FRAME PIECES Ore) WEEKEND PROJECT FRETWORK PICTURE FRAME With a scroll saw and afew extra hours, you can tum a plain frame into this elegant one. ny scroll saw, The change in pace is ce break from my typical wood working routine. time, Plu, itturns a plain frame into But like any time I spend in the an attractive, heirloom project. shop, I want to end up with some- PANELS. The best way to begin isto thing I can be proud of. Something cut two identical panels: one for the that belongs ona mantle, a night fretwork and another to back the stand, orina grandchild’s bedrcom, photo, see the drawing below. I ‘This retwork fameisjustthekind designed them to hold 3x5 photos. oiproject [enjoy tdoesn'ttake much Butaftertaking a few measurements, axe Ph on cating fretwork, I Seepage 26 | Woodsmith I realized that 2x5 photos aren’ exact: ly 3" by 5". Soif you have a particu lar picture you want to put in this frame, cut the panels to match your photo, (My panels were 31/.! x4/4!,) ‘Once the panelsare cut to size, it's time to cut the fretwork pattern in cone of the panels. So set the other ‘secon: Round ever sof eine 6 round-over bit “THIRD: Cut grove) fohold pane! No. 103. panel side, and photocopy one of the 5 shown below. For more on iting fretwork patterns, see the arti- ‘le on page 26. FRAMES, When the fretwork is com- plete, the panels are ready for the frame pieces. I started with extra- Jong 1" x 1/2" blanks, see detail ‘aon the previous page. Just be sure to make a few extra. You'll need them ‘when setting up the cuts. wanted the frames to be simple, so the attention would be on the photo and the fretwork. So for deco- ration, all I did was round over the ‘edges of the blanks, eee detail ‘b. Nei, to hold the panels, a centered groove is cutin each piece, see detail ‘c. This groove should be just wide ‘enough to hold the panels. With my. 1/4! thick panels, a single pais on the table saw with a combination blade ‘was all that was needed. ASSEMBLY. Now the frame pieces are ready to be mitered to finished length. and then assembled aroundthe pan ‘els, With the frame for the fretwork, this is simply a matter of gluing and clamping the frame around the panel. But the frame for the photo has to be assembled alittle differently. Here, glued up one corner ata time until three of the pieces were together. ‘Then the bottom piece is simply screwed in place, see Fig. 1. Atthis point, the pancl that backs the photo fits too snug in the grooves to include the photo and an acetate cover. So I sanded the panel just ‘enough to reduce its thickness until ‘everything fit into tte grooves. FHMSH. Finally, [finished the frames with an oil finish. Then I stacked them together andjoined them with pair of brass hinges, see Fig. 2. No. 103 ‘Woodsmith WOODWORKING TECHNIQUE FRETWORK TECHNIQUE _ Want a change of pace? Pull up a chair and cut out some fretwork patterns with your scroll saw. Here are some simple tips to get you started. though most of the work I do. saw and work on a small fretwork pro- GETTING READY Just like any project, there’s a litle preparation to be done before you can actually get started cutting, (CHOOSING A PATIERN. The first thing to ois pick out apattern — and some are easier than cthers. [find an organ- ic design with curved, flowing lines, like the vine pattern on page 25, is easier than a geometric design, like the latticed pattern. I's harderto cut straight lines and repeated shapes. Any “mistake” stands out much more. MOUNTING A PATTERN, With the pat- tern selected, cat a panel to size and mount the pattern. To do this, [frst make a photocopy and use a tempo- rary spray adhesive. It goes on quick- Iyand comes offwithout ames. Just make sure you use a temporary adhe- sive, like 3M's Spray Mount.) BACKING UP THEPATTERN, With the pat tern in place, I often take an extra A Unlike a skip tooth blade (left), the teeth at the battom of a reverse toth blade face up. This way, the bottam teth cut con the upstroke to reduce chipout | dee epee eae precaution — especially on panels that will be seen from the back as well as the front (ike those on the picture frames). use a backing board to reduce the chipout on the back side ofthe panel, see drawing below. PREPARING THE SCROLL SAW. Now that the panel is ready, make sure your scroll saw istoo. First, it'simportant that you have the right blade. For fretwork, I generally use a No. 5 reverse tooth blade, see margin on Tf) Bement | 70 minize ipo, a a a ete, | rer x pane) || ioe oro | NOTE: Backing board | oversize trate | panel eaiertoharte | le ‘Squaring the table. To square a scroll saw table, cut akerf. Then line up the Kerf with the back of the blade 26 Backing board The downward stroke ofa scoll saw blade tends to chip out the boitom face of a panel. Tominimize ‘Woodsmith this, [use a reverse tooth blade and carpet tape the panel to a backing board made from "fe" hardboard. No. 103 opposite page. (For scroll saw sup- plies, see page 35) © With the blade installed, I tension itso twill only flex /4"front-to-back under finger pressure. Then I square up the tale, se lower lefthand draw. ___ing on previous page. GETTING STARTED Now youre ready to stat the fretwork. But actually, the place to begin is at the dillpess, not the seroll saw. STARTER HOLES. Because fretwork is mostly inside cuts, thefirst steps to drill starter holes so you can feed the scroll saw blade through the panel, see the drawings top right. ‘Maxine THE UTS. When the holes are drilled, you can begin cutting. With patterns ike those on page 25, there's no particular progression. But some patterns have one or two very large ‘openings. Alarge opening will usually Jeave the panel fragile in some areas, so Teutthem last I tend to remove the waste from an opening in small pieces, instead of trying to gti allinone shot. For ‘example some sharp corners Ill cut intwo orthree steps, see drawings at right. For other corners, the trick ‘when rotating the pane! is to push the piece against the sides and back ofthe blade (the edges that dont cut. With fretwork, the thing that takes some goting used to rotating the panel as you work. Fortunately, all this takesis alittle practice. Starter holes. Drie" holes wherever Hole locations. Dril starter holes at ‘you can. But the small vaining in this easy “entry points” But keep them pattern requires the" starter holes. away from the lines to avoid chipout. 2 - ‘Cutting outside comers. Ceen sharp _don'tneed to make aquick, sharp tum, comers aren't dificult — just tke your Instead, loop your way around in the time. To cut an outside comer, you oppesite direction. Inside corners. Instead of cutting an inside cor- loop around from the other sie (center) Now Ter in a single pass, [often doit in three steps. spin the piece around so you can continue cut- First, cut into the comer (left), Then back outand _ ting out from the corner (ight) ‘Woodsmith SHOP PROJECT ROUTER TABLE EXTENSION This space-saving router table replaces one of the wings on your table saw. Its fence temporarily attaches to your saw’s rip fence. ‘shop was too big. Whether a shop is efficient use of every square foot. manent replacement for the right take up any additional shop space. that attaches to your saw’s rip fence. It’s simple, but it does have some inserts, dust collection capabilities, ROUTER TABLE ‘When designing this table, I decided to use medium density fiberboard (MDF) instead of plywood. MDF is heavy enough todampen router vibra- tion; it's stable, and unlike plywood, you'l get a clean edge when routing the opening for the insert. (Formore on MDF, see page 35.) We made good use of every square inch ofthis router fence. There's even a router bic storage tray that slides inside the fence. Plans for the fence begin on page 31 FIND DIMENSIONS. To build this table, the first step isto determine the over all dimensions. This is simply a mat ter of measuring the wing of your saw’s table front to back, see drawing next page. (Mine was 27") The depth of the router table isa't crucial, but you do want it to extend beyond the table saw rails. Otherwise, you'll run into them when working with the Cutend pieces fotebelveen ont & back esaing NOTE: Use contact Together and to attach laminate Woodsmith router, (My router table is 18" deep) Se LAMINATE TOP, With the size of the table determined, I laminated two pieces of MDF and cut them to size, see drawing below, Just keep in mind that this is 11/9" less than the overall size, That's because a°/s"thick hard- ‘wood edging covers the MDF on all sides to provide better holding power when screwing the table to the saw. — Paste laminate TABLE CORE (ie 25) (two layers oF 2" Mor) NOTE tke tow glue roam edging a EDGING extemal) No, 108 After the edging strips were glued ‘on, I rounded the front corners, see detail ‘a in drawing at right. Then 1 ‘glued on.a piece oflaminate to create a smooth surface, see box belo Finally, trim the laminate flush trim bit and soften the sharp edges slightly, see Fig. 1. ‘ROUTER INSERT. Now you can add the insert hat holds the router. [bought iy incort with pre-driled holes, ccc page 35. But you can make your own from %" material. All it needs are three holes: one for the bit opening and two for the handles, see Fig. 2. Once you have yourinsert in hand, ‘you can install it in your table. This process takes two steps: cutting an opening for the router and routing a ledge for the insert to sit on, For more technique, see page 19. entront ‘only Table saw fence rails tae sig Contact adhesive will never replace regular yellow gluein my shop. But itdoeshaveits advantages. For gl: ing up two large surfaces (like adding the laminete to the router table), t's quickand easy to use with: ‘out having to worry about clamps ‘or messy glue squeeze out. ‘To apply contactadhesive, areg- No. 108 ular paint brush is all that’s needed. 1 paint" a uniform layer on one face ‘of both pieces. Then let itdry and apply another coat. The key is to let the second coat dry completely. Ifthe adhesiveis shiny it'stoo wet. ‘Once the surfaces are dry, the pieces can be joined together. But since the adhesive grips oncontact, ‘Woodsmith you'll want to use spacers between the pieces so the warkpiece can be adjusted a needed. lay dowels between the pieces to start with. Then after the work- piece is where I want it, I start ‘removing the dowels from one end, Rolling the laminate down as you. go will help give you a good bond, After routing the opening for the insert, all that’s left to add is a miter gauge slot. Then the table can be mounted to the saw. MITER GAUGE SLOT. I cut the miter gauge slot 4" from the front edge of the table, see Fig. 3. The important thing is that themiter gauge doesn’t rraninto the bit when you're routing, ‘The width of the slot should match your miter gauge bar (mine was?/"), and the depth should be a hair deep- cr than the thickness of the bar. Cutting the slot is easy. Icut mine with a dado blade on the table saw, see Figs. 3 and 3a. (MOUNTING THE TABLE Once the slotis cut, the table is ready to be mounted. This requires remov- ing the metal wing from the saw and replacing itwith the new table. Design Note:The table saw shown in the drawing below is a Delta con- tractor’s saw. You may need to make some adjustments when mounting the table to your particular saw. PILOT HOLES FORTABLE. After the wing is removed, the frst step is to locate the pilot holes to mount the table, see drawing and detail ‘a’ below. To do this, I used the extension wing as a template to locate the mounting holes in the router table ‘Then I drilled the pilot holes for the lag screws, see detail a’ below. NOTE: To create ‘iter slot, cut dado slichty. eepor than thickness ef gouge bie PILOT HOLES FOR RAILS. To attach the table to the rails, I used the same fence bolt that was used on the orig- inal wing, see detail’ below. To find the location of the holes, 1 clamped the router table flush with the top of the table saw and used a brad point bit to mark the holes. When the shank holes died, the We next steps to create an opening for the nut that screws to the fence bolt For this, Iturned the table ver and drilled a 1-dia, hole into the shank hole, see Fig. 4.Then I squared one end with a chisel so the nut has a lat edge to tighten agnins, see Fig. 4a. * NOTE: when satin fextersionying check ‘alignment of o surfaces efore final oghtenng ‘able tosaw rails a ROUTER FENCE Now that the table is complete, i's time to add the fence. This fence is just a long hollow box made out of 3/.! MDF and ¥/." hardboard. It's hol low fora few reasons. First, it allows you to attach a vacuum or dust cok Tector hose to the fence 30 you can remove the chips. Second, it provides, ‘an opeaing to “bury” the router bit, ‘And finaly the space inside the fence can be used for bit storage. ‘One nice thing about this fence is that t's easy to adjust end lock down, That's because the table saw’s rip, fence does all the work. The router fence is screwed tothe rip fence with ‘a couple studded knobs. FENCE S18. To build the fence, the first step is to determine its length, Tojointhesides tothe topand bot. the hole to match the hose on your see drawing. You want the router tom (and also to hold the ends later), vacuum or dust collector. fence longer than your rip fence so Icutshallowrabbetsaroundthetop, _Tsanded and chamfered this hol. you can attach a vacuum to the back bottom, and ends ofthe side pieces, Then glued the fence together. side, see photo atright. (My ripfence see drawing and detail ‘a! below. #408, To complete the basic box of. >is 331 long, and I made my fence ‘These rabbetsare ¥/e" wide and deep the fence, Icut a piece of 1/" hard- 41/3 longer — 38") enough to hold the 1" hardboard. board tofitin the end next tothe dust FENCITOP & BOTTOM. When the sides VACUUMHOL. Now, before gluing up collection hole and glued itin place. of the fence have been cut to size, the fence, cut a dust collection hole The other end is left open for now. theneststepistocutthetop and bot. near the end of one ofthe side pieces, _It'lbe closed later when the bt stor tom, see drawing, see details ‘a and b' below. Just size agetray is added. hardboard cutout for vacuum hose The router fence Islonger than the taedan’s np Yence toallow for the dust colection hook. No. 103 ‘Woodsmith 31 At this point, the fence is along box ‘open at both ends. The next stepis to create an opening near the center of the fence for a router bit, ‘When making the bit opening in the fence, the important thing is that it aligns with the bt opening in the insert, see drawing above. What's unusual is the fence isn't centeredover the table, Its offset so a shop vacuum can be hhookedto the back. To create this bit opening, start by rilingfour Via holes. This estab- lishes the corners, see Fig. 1. Now with a hand saw cut akerf between these holes and remove the waste ‘with a chisel. Then you can sand the ‘opening smooth REMOVABLE INSERT. After the opening, ‘was cut, [addled a replaceable insert system. Actually, I made several inserts. One was cut to match the ‘opening in the fence. And others were ‘made with zero-clearance openings, see photo below. ‘The removable inserts are pieces Woodsmith ot hardboard with beveled sides. To, hold them in the front face of the fence, Icuta wide, dovealed dado, Tocut the dado, [used a3! dove- tai bit in my hand-held router, see Fig. 2. Thea to guide the router, Clamp boards tothe fence on either side ofthe opening. The width ofthe dado inertial (mine was 3", but the depths. thas tomatch the thick- ness of /' kardboard, see Fig. 2a. With the dado routed, Imade sew. eralinserts. To do ths, start with an extra-long blank and bevel the sides, on the table saw. Just tt the blade WL so the bevel onthe insert matches the bevel on the dado, ses Fg. 8 ‘When the blank slides into the dado, you can cut the inserts o length and shape ther bit openings. STORAGE TRAY ‘The last feature to add to the fence is atray that slides in and out ofthe open ‘end ofthe feace and holds 1" shank router bits, see photo above, ASE. The ase of this tray is made up of two pieces of MDF that are lam- inated together. Simply cut them to fit inside the fence and drill'/:" holes in them to hold the shanks of the router bits, see Fig. 4 We replaced the extension wing on our table saw with a router table. Then we added a snique fence that attaches to the saws rip fence. Detaled plans start on page 28, rom the Editors of Woodsmith tf . ome * Wood -Tools - Joinery - Finishing pyri i n ay Rights Reserved Copyright© 1995 Woodsmith Corporatio A Supplement to Working with Wood 2x4 vs. 4/4 @ Why are some boards oie a sree srg Sy Ps tate aa avo eet building construction. Where eee and “five quarter”) designates eee (rst often hardwoods). cate oo. reese (such as 2x4, 2x6, ete.). This ‘Way, carpenters aly need to cut the workpieces to length. And they can use the boards ce eee aaa lengths. So hardwoods are usually milled only to specific thicknesses, but they're left as aa Ofcourse a 2s4 isn’t exactly zy" and Ysiokislessthan see the charts below. These deetgations idiots how big the stock was before it, was milled and dried, Note: The thickness figure inthe chart belowis thestand- ad set by the National Hard- ‘wood Lumber Association. Your local lumber dealer might sella 44 board, for exam- pile, 34, 250", or 146" thick. HARDWOOD STANDARDS Nominal_| Actual cA het % Tas % 1c % 194 SOFTWOOD STANDARDS ‘THICKNESS WIDTH Nominal_| Actual Nominal_| Actual a ” (onetyy | a at a a (owe | te 6 BA = va a (four-by) ae: 10" 4" ee 1M @ How are flatsan and quartersawn wood different? ‘A: The differeree has to do with the method used to slice ‘te tree into lumber. The easi- est way to “see” the difference is to look at the end grai Most wood is flatsawn. With flatsawn lumber, the growth rrings on the ends of the boards are arched and almost parallel to the faces, And the faces have oval, U-shaped or V- shaped markings, Flatsawn wood is common. Its the easiest way to eut the logs, and there's less waste. flat vs. quartersawn But the boardsare much more prone to euppiag and also ex- pand and contract about twice asmuch as quartersawn wood. ‘With quartersawn wood, the growth rings on the ends are perpendicular tothe faces, and the face grain is straight and parallel. Tse boars are ‘uch more stable, Phus, some ‘woods, like cak, may’ have decorative ray flecks, But cutting log into quar tersawn lumber leaves & lot ‘more waste than flatsawn, so its generally harder to find and more expensive. storing lumber Q: What's the best way to Hoeinee docu ed or lying face down? ‘A: Leaning wood against a wall makes ft easier to sort through, but unfortunately, fhe wood may eventually start to “belly” towards the wall. If the lumber is dry, I lay it down flat. But not directly on the floor, especially a concrete floor, (Wood will soak up mcis- ture’ from the concrete, So keep the boarts elevated.) Tf the lumber needs to dry some, then the. important thing is to allow air to circulate around each board. The way to dothisisto lay the boards face down and “sticker” them — separate them with small seraps of wood placed every few feet, see Drawing. kiln vs. air-dried @ Which is better, kiln- ‘dried or air-dried lumber? AzIn our shop we we mostly kilnried lumber. It’s inexpensive, commonly avail- able, and usually ready-to-use, But it’s not necessarily our first choice. Td prefer to use air-dried lumber for a couple reasons. I think airdrying is more gertle fon the wood than kiln-drying. ‘The kiln-drying process can put the wood t alotof stress, whit is hard to detect until you try to nip a piece, waiting to work Qe it okay to start work- ingonaprojectas soonas [get the wood hame from the lum- beryard? A: I'm always eager to get started on apraject as S001 a8 Tean. Butrealy,i'sbest let the wood sit in the shop fora couple of weeks, ‘st heease wood has been kiln-dried doesn’t mean that it ‘won't expand or contract any more. Wood always moves. ‘And after & piece leaves the Ian, there ae alot of chances forit to move some more. Pie thee oat eee house for part ofits life and Also, 1 find that airdried Iumber has better color. When sitting site-by-side, kiln-dried lumber often looks “washed cout” in ecmparison. ‘The problem with air-dried umber is that it takes longer to dry. You have to be a lot ‘more’ patient — and have a moisture meter to be sure it’s ry enough to use. (in most parts of the country, hard- ‘woods should be under 10% ‘moisture content. And to get ‘the wood this dry, it will have tobe stored indoors.) warehouses are never very dry). ‘Then it's loaded on @ truck, then stacked at the lum- beryard or retail store. But even if you were to move the wood directly from the kiln to your shop, you'd stillwant to lett sit. That's be- ‘cause the shop might beso dry that the kiln-dried wood dries even alittle more. ‘Soplanahead. Buy thewood afew weeksin advance and let itsit inyour shop to see fit will shrink or warp. This way you ‘ean eut out any problem areas — before you build them into ‘your project. Master Woodworking Techniques @ reaction wood @ When I am ripping @ board, sometimes the kerf will ether close up pinching the back ofthe blade or open up likea wishbone. Whyis this? A:There are a couple reasons why a board will pinch or open up. One has to do with the tree the wood came from. The other with hhow the wood was dried. In Dotheases, there was stress or tension inside the wood. ‘The wood you cut may have been “reaction wood” — wood that’s been eut from a leaning tree. The tree has to adjust or reac: to the gravity trying to pull it down. So it develops special cells ‘that can with- stand this extra stress, ‘When you rip a piece of re- action wood, you're eutting through these cells and the stress in the cells is released. ‘The wood either pinches the blade or opens up wide. ‘CASE HARDENING But reaction wood isn’t the only explanation, Tt can. also happen with kiln

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