Modular Cabinets * CD Storage Case » Photo Box * Router Bit Cabinet * Dovetail Key Joinery ‘Vol. 18 /No. 105 Modular Cabinets‘rective Direct: Te Nels «Prof Dec Di: Ken ‘Nusa «Step snag steve Cus «Shop Crasnan: ‘Seve Jhnvot «Sonor Peter Crayola Eat BOOKS: reantig Edgor Deuglas L Hicks ¢ Senbr Graph ‘esgrer Cars Glewac ‘CIRCULATION irate rector Susan Du Bos «sant Cretan inetor troy }. Dowel + Sutsition Menage Say ‘an Keren Mavager Page Rogers» Asta Dinet ‘Mat Mtr: ule Greeales Aston Sucre. Joy ‘Krause «Asceate Graphic Dei Diredor:SusieRider 1 Grae Deere Cher. 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Vicki Eovards| hee rian Rog Ca ea een aac nine eta eager iecempertn nsdn nt 1D> Sitio Quon? al 06505 840005 pm, ‘oda ids bby osm super, Prnedin USA, EDITOR’S COLUMN SAWDUST ] raditionaly, lange storage projects like cabinets and bookshelves) are designed like any other project: the shelves may be adjustable hut that's about it. You don't have alot of ‘options when iteomestothe way the cabinets look or work. ‘mooULAR cABHNETS, But with the mod lar cabinets featured on pase 6, we took a different approach, I’ furnk- ture that’s designed to change as your needs change, This versatility is the result of working with basic compo- nents that can be interchanged and moved around, Ws the same idea as the plastic building blocks thatchikiren play with. All you need area few biocks that fit together, Then they can be arranged tomake several different shapes. Inourease the blocks" consist of one basic eabinet (with an optional deeper cabined, They can be arranged ina variety ofways depending on your needs. They can even be fitted with doors. With either a wood or glass panel— the choice is yours. Now with al ofthe possibile you might think that this is difficult Drojectto build. Butthat'snotthe case, Each component is relatively small and easy toworkewith. SoitSsnotunti all components are assembled thet this beeomes a arge project HARDWARE. Part ofthe reason that these modular cabinets are so simple to build has to dowith the way they’ assembled, We used knock-down hardware. This eliminates the need for any complicated joinery (all you Woodsmith hhave todo is drilla few holes). Best of all, it allows the cabinets to be put together and taken apart with just a screwdriver. Which isareal plus when itcomes time to move them, While the modular cabinets pro- vide a large amount of storage, we also designed three small storage pro- jects for this issue (DCSE & PHOTO BOX, Firs, there's Cc storage cose that will hold forty of your favorite CDs. And a photo box thats lesigned to storedozens ofpho- tos. Both projects pravide a conve. ‘nent way to store small items. Butit’s what you don’t see that makes them interesting projects to build. ‘TheCD case on page 18 features a pin support system that makes the CCDs appear to foat in midair The chal Tenge is getting the holes for these pins drilled in the right spot. To do this, we used a simple fg that auto ‘matically spaces and aligns the holes. Thepheto box, shown onpage24, also has a hidden design feature. Instead of hinges, the lid opens and loves onsliding dovetails, But what’s unique here is when the lid is elosed, the joinery is completely hidden, OUTER BIT CABINIT. The third small project is the router bit eabinet on page 28 There's nothing hidden here. Dovetail keys highlight the joinery. And the routerbitsare visible behind a Plexiglas panel door. NEW Fact. Mike Mittermeier has joined usas Graphic Designer, Mike will be helping with page layout and doing some ofthe illustrations. ‘a No. 105 ®CONTENTS Modular Cabinets The idea behind these wall the size and arrangement of any number of standardized units, Plus, you can choose between glass or wood paneled doors, Knock-down Hardware .. 14 There's nothing tricky about working with knock-down hardware The secret to making this process quick and accurate is careful layout ardla couple shop-buil jes. CD Storage Case . 18 Ue Tele ly llinal ong oes ose ms favorite compact disc. Bue T didn’t want to use plastic CD holders, so I designed this case with a unique holding systems. ® Photo Box 24 This etlend ropes tg sok sina bor oy 2u5 (aid n0) photos. To open and close the box, the ld males use of sliding ovecails, And ic also doubles as a photo frame. Router Bit Cabinet .................0 28 This storage cabinet fearures a Plexiglas panel, which allows you tosze the its. But what really attracts your attention are the dovetail keys ax the corners of the cabinet. Dovetail Key Joinery ....... 732 Dovetail Keys area great way to strengthen a miter joint. Plu, they've eas) to mae. All you need isa shop -made jig and a router Departments Tips & Techniques Shop Notes . ® Talking Shop . Reader's Jig Sources ..... Router Bit Cabinet pace 8 No. 105 Woodsmith 3 EEE —_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_———FROM FI Tips & TECHNIQUES Adjustable Assembly Table ‘An assembly tabie comes in handy when assembling ‘or finishing a project. But since projects come in a variety of sizes (heights) I made my assembly table adjustable, see Fig. 1. To make ths work, the barre botattecned io each table gs are hinged near leg “locks” itn position. the middle. Simply Ht off Thiskeeps the egttom ip the top (its not attached) ping, sce Fi 2a. and swing the legs down ‘The tableis constructed for tal project, se Fig. 2. with duct legs and 2xt With the lezs raised, a stretchers. The stretchers are letinto the legs to add strength to the table, see Fig. 2b. These stretchers also provide a rest for the legsin the down postion. Jobe Ense Orme, Calfaria era pel al erlarge prec: ne Profile Sanding Block Using sandpaper fo clean pa Vegrowve ora quaries- round edge isn’t easy. It Farely conforms to the pro- fleso you end upchanging theshape. My solution was ahand sander with inter: 1k The hock and oop material wed on ths ‘Snapapeton sanding block lets you quickly change he pone role scpes when soning. changeable heads The rialto thehandl, apiece of hheadsmatch different pro- loop material to the heals, file shapes. and selfadhesive sandps- ‘To make changing the pero the profile edge, se2 headseasy, [used hookand the drawing below. loop material Velcro). Just RB. Himes stick a piece of hook mate- Viena, Oho | —— Hance NoTEHook an lop “eu chan epee ‘ik Hook and Toop mater Use seaatewve Profile hope ‘Woostsith spats | EA wore ur one wo rave fees SS ae aeSanding Over Dadoes Arrandom orbit sander to ound overthe edges ‘works great until youhave So slip a piece of scrap tosend scrossadado ona in the dado to flit Ts flush with the workpiece and salves both problems. Brice Romberg Ridges, Cre flat workpiece, Then the edge ofthe disk cen catch on the lip and tear. Or, if you'renot careful, i's easy Filer stp fs fin th face of workoece| ee ey Modifying a Scraper Acabinet scraper can be itsilleanbe vsedin anor used tp cleanup cfierent _ malfshion Jus cover the profle shapes ifyou grind top edge to protec your amatehing profle on one of hand from sharp profes. the upper corners. By Jac Concha sting oalythe comers, Ha Moon Bay, Cajorua Vr ..: scape con sp ura marks nthe pote, No. 108, Assembly Blocks Sometinesyeualmosineed 2 third hand to assemble a Project. Especially working ‘ih large pieces of ply- wood. To help me keep the leceslgned, fuse assem biyblocks made from sea. “made tee Docks from daadoes cut in the middle, Just se the plywood in the assembly blocks or place the blocks on top told the piecas in place until the ‘lamps are installed. Tein Erin San Diego, Casfor cut aco mtn ro match piywecod tke Squaring Up Boxes One of the problems with gluing a frame or box {together is keeping every- thing square while the clamps are tightened. To, help me keep an eye on things, Iclamp a framing squaretothecornersoty workbench. Thea it's easy to set the assembly against the framing equare and ‘make a quick visual check. Allen Smith Holden, Masacusets Te a) ‘Hyou would like to share an crigival shop tested tip, send it to; Woodsmith, Tips and Techniques, 2200Grand_ Avenue, Des Moines, lowa 50012. Or ifit's easier, FAX. it to us ai: 515-282-6741. Or use our E-Mail: 750.2001 @compuserrecom, published, you'll receive $30 to $150, depending on the pubised ent inl a riefexlanton and sketch or photo. And don't worry, we'll rewrite the tip and cera the ar, tacessary Alo pease include a daytime phone number. WoodsmithMODULAR CABINETS This project was designed with flexibility in mind. Standardized units can be mixed and matched with options to create your own custom cabinets. yen designing these cabinets, | hac two goals in ‘mind. I wanted them tobe flexible so they could be ‘customized. And portableso they could be moved easily For flexibility, I designed modular eabinets. In other ‘words, there's one standard cabinet that can be built, mul tiplied, and arranged in any number of ways. One cabl- not ean stand alone, or you can stack cabinets on top of ‘each otherand place them sidebyside Plus, there ae several options for each unit, They can. be lett open or have glass or wood paneled doors. There Woodsmith are bottom unitsto lithe cabinets off the bor. And stop to give them a finished look. There's even a larger eabi ‘et that'salitle deeper than the standard cabinet. The pos- sibilities here are almost endless, mentioned another goal in designing these cabinets: portability To save my back (Vm notas young as used tobe), bultthese cabinets using knock-down hardware, sno more work In fac, lnockeown hardware makes thejoinery downrighteasy. Formore on this, seethe arti de that begins on page 14. No. 105Construction Details TOP PANEL eae a ee stacking units nit. pee Simple clears ae ‘Al cabinet parts aro conctrctod 24 ory varber ipso Ea) SHELE FACING sree ioe Hardy facing i ted peespoaon Tengub Sadgrocve ony STANDARD CABINET ogi are attached with European ste, Inap-on Winges Beier panels. relePiopage 10 — YY Adlsable shee, ‘hol supbors eae tte rd decane orci <1 OS pe ae 4 standart unt so you can customize ther east. penne ‘Woodsmith 7Cabinets To see just how easy these cabinets are to biti, take a look at a single standard cabinet, se crewing atright. Each standard size eebinetis bas cally made up ofa pair of sides, top, botiom, and back. The side panels are identical. So are the top and bot- tomy one is simply fipped “upside down,” see Fig." And the back is just a '4' plywood panel, see Fig. 5. ‘There are also deep cabinets you ‘can build into your design, These are 4st as simple as the standard cabi- nets, Infact, the procedure is exact y the same, The only difference is that the sides top, and bottom are 4" deeper (vider) than those onthe sian- ard cabinet, see detail‘ at ight. SHS, To bd the eabines, [stat ‘ed by cutting the sides (A) to size ‘rom %4"thick plywood, Then | cor ‘ered the exposed edges of the ply- ‘wood — top, bottom, and front — with veneer: There's no need to do thebackehecaisei’shidden) Adding the edging not only hides the ply- ‘wood, it also helps proteet the face veneer from chipping, Note: You can buy veneer edging, see page 35 for sources. The only problem is the color may not match ‘your plywood. Fora perfect match, made my own veneer edging from een a a some leftover pieces ofplywood. (For bottom panels have edging applied ‘more on this, refer to page 17) to their front edges only. And this TOP £ BOTTOM, With the side edges timo, I used %"-thick harekwood fac- veneered, work can beginon the top ing (C) that I ripped 14" wide, see and bottom panels. Ieutthe top and detail b' above, This type of edging bottom (B) to length, but left them does more thanjust hide the plywood! allitle wide (11%), If a bit unusu- _italso adds strength tothe panels and al, admit, but this way, the top and prevents them from sagging. bottom can be cuttomatch the sides To align the facing slush with one afterthe facing hes been added. face of the panel, Tet a 1A". ide Unliketheside panels, thetop and groove in the facing and a mating Topworrom @)—4 Knock-sown i deep baie taraware tempiate p Gee pane 18) fg ‘w-nartboara Ipslocate template ‘onworkrece ‘Align groove on cam laith top of side ‘Woodsnith No.105tongue on the panel, see Figs 1 and 1a. Then I glued them together. After the glueis dry.it'stime torip the top and bottom panels to final width. The important thing is that they match the width ofthe side pan- és see Figs.2and 2a. (The standard ‘cabinets are 1194'. The deep ones are ‘1%, see detal'a'in drawing ateft.) GROOVE FOR EACK, The next step is to euta groove on all the pieces for holding the back, see drawing and detail bat left. This groove is 1A" deep and just wide enough to hold a Wiplywood panel, KNOCK-DOWN HARDWARE. Now the side (op, and botiom panels are reacty for the knock-down, cam-action fas- teners. (For more on this, see page This hardware simply requires deiling 25mm hotesin the sides and he! holes in the tops and bottoms, see Figs, 3 and 4.'To make this as easy and accurate as possible, Imade adiling template, sce Fig, 3b. Note: The drilling template has three sets of holes. This way it will ‘work with the deeper eabincts aswell as the standard ones, ack, After the hardware installed, the next step is to dry assemble the cabinetto measurefor the back panel, see Fig, 5. (It fits in the grooves you ccutearlier) After back (D)is cut to size, the cabinet is ready tobe assem bled. Butyou wont need a glue bot tle or any clamps, Because ofthe harck svarelI used, the eabinet goes togeth- er with just Philips screwdriver SHEIVES. Final, added the sheives, ‘These shelves rest on spoon-siyle sup- ports, see Fig. Gb, So first, I dilled a series of holes to make these sup ports adjustable. And again, Fused a template to make this process faster and more aecurate than laying out each hole by hand, see Fig. 6a. ‘The shelves (B) and shelf facing (B) are bult the same way asthe top and bottom panels — tongue and groove joinery. But there are a couple differences, They don't have any groovesal theback,and theyresized to ft mvide the cabinet. In my case, the finished size of standard cabinet shelf is 294"ong and 11"wide, WoodsmithDoors Like the cabinets, [kept the doors simple. Just a hardwood frame around a panel, all held together with stub tenon and groove joints, And you can choose either 14" plywood or 'A"thick glass for the panels. Byen hanging the doors is easy used European-style hinges that snap onand off. And they're adjustable, so. ater the doors are installed, you can fine tunethefi, needed —butmore onthe hinges ater. STIES t RAs, To build the doors, 1 beyan by making the stiles (J) and rails (K) from 3/!'thick stock. The width of all these pieces is 24". But their lengths are difierent, To find them, younces to determine the over- allsize ofthe doors. ‘Thestilesare cut 1!4! shorter than the height ofthe cabinets, see detail ste sme an] | L NOTE: 2%" of cabinet, exposed at tp and bottom ‘a’ and drawing above. (Mine were 3344" long) That's because the doors lay over the cabinets, leaving 94" exposed atthe top and bottom, Arriving at the length of the rails (ut groove F | Shaenon to inate plywood takes a little more work. What you ‘want to end up with are two doors ‘with Ae ofthe cabinet exposed on the outside edges and af!" gap between them. Plus, you have to allow for the NOTE: For olass doors omit fpanefand ausenBle rames se DO elo Rout rabbet eboctwriss Even though you don't want to conan ‘hse! ) installthe glass inthe doorsbefore the finish is applied, you can stil get everything ready. After the chamfer has been completed on the outside ofa door, a sabbet can ‘be routed on the inside face, see Jef drawing, To hold the ‘4"thick ‘lass, I cut some thin sirips to act asstops (M), see right drawing: Routrabbet first routa a’ rabbet V2" deep ‘round the inside of the door frame. Then clean up the corners with a chisel. Gut stops. Next cut 4° x +4" stops to hold the Je'-thick glass panel. Be sure to prediil pilot holes before tacking the stops in place‘width of the stiles and the 14" long tenonson both endsofthe rails. My ralls ended up 107" long.) STUB TEHON & 6R00VE. Now to join the Sil and rails frst cut a groove on the inside edge ofall the pieces, see detail b’ateft‘Then cut stub tenons ‘on the rails to fitin the grooves, ‘QUEER. Butbefore assembling the doors, turned mi attention toadkng decorative chamferaround the front, inside edge ofthe frame. The way I ‘id this sa bit different than usual; the chamferis routed in two steps. For now, I used a V-groove bit to rout chamfer on the inside edge of the rails only, see Fig, 7, Later, ajter the frame is glued up, Tl rout the ‘chamfer on the stiles, refer to Fig. 9. AasseuBtY. Next, the plywood panels ‘@ canbe cuttofitinsde the frames, ‘and the doors ean be assembled, see ig. 6. Even if you plan on making lass doors (sce box on previous tage), the door frames can still be ‘glued together at this point. ‘With the doors glued up, the cham- fers can now be completed, see Fig. 9, This chamfer runs the fll ength of the stile, and any excess glue is routed cleanly away, Simply set the router fence so theit follows the joint line, see Fig. a. Then make a pass along the full Iength of each stile, ‘When that’s done, rout another ‘small chamfer (/s") on the outside ‘elge of each door GLASS DOORS, Ifyou're adding lass to some ofthe doors, now’ the time toroutthe rabbet and make the stops thathold the glass, see thebox ate Note: It’s a good idea to install the ‘glass ater the finish is applied. NOUNTNG THEDOORS, Now the doors can be mounted. This is easy with European-tylehinges. Again allthey require are pilot holes, see Fig. 10 and 11.To makethe layout cuick and accurate, Lused ajig see margin, (For ‘more on this, refer to page 15) ‘The really nice thing about these hhingesisthat they come apart socach Tra can be mounted separately, see Fig. 11, Onee they're in place, the hingesjust snap together, see Fig. 12. ‘With the doors mounted, the last ‘Step isto add a wood knob centered onthe stiles, see drawing at right, No. 105 Hinge snaps] So mounting A Toalgn ihe doors and cabinets when mounting the Hinges, I built this layout i, eee knots rile dares Woedsmith u2 Counter, & Base ‘With the doors hung, the individual modules are complete, So T began sworkon putting everything together. ‘This requiressome ackiional pieces. Tadded base framesbelow to raise the cabinets off the floor, see drawing atright, And to finish off the standard cabinets, added a framed panel on top, see drawing atright. There's also acounterto cover the exposed section ofthe deeper cabinet. ‘The tops, counter, and bases are all basically the same. They're harc- ‘wood frames sirengthened wih ply- ‘wood panels that are built fo match the wicth and depth ofthe cabinets. oP. I started with the top, see the the rlywood pane! is located. This time, instead of being flush with the top, the panelis heldinagroovethat'scut 4" down from the top, sec detail’. ‘This provides room for the cleats that ‘will align the cabinet and base later. ‘The lastdifference is that (ike the counter) there's noneed for stiffeners ‘underneath the plywood. FFNALASSEWILY Afierthe top, counter, Woodsmith DEEP ASE PANEL (6 15" x 30%) =i | te) Connecter bolts and base frames are complete, it's time to putthe whole thing together. ‘Tohold the cabinets together side. toside, I used connector bolts, see Fig. 13. (They'renotneededityoure ‘only building one set of cabinets.) To stack the cabinets, | added No, 108cleats (AA, BB) to keep them aligned, see drawing 2 left. The ply- ‘wood cleats are 1!/"-wide with a notch ‘eatin them to provide access for the connector bolts “The deaisare screwed underneath the top frame and the cabinets, see details ‘a’ and ‘c at left. The impor- tant thing hereis to leave the bottom half of the cleat exposed. This ‘exposed part of the clea fits into the cabinet (or base) below. ‘The counter also gets two cleats (CO), But these are simply glued in place, see detail at let. MATERIALS ‘Stanpano Casiner A Sides (2) ‘Yaply. 11% x 35% B Top/atm. 2) Maply.- 11% x 29% © Top/Bim Facings (2) 34x 1%2- 29% D Back (1) Yaply. 30.32% E shelves (2) pl, - 103A x 20% F Shelf facings (2) %ax Yo= 29% Dito Canine? G Dp.sides(2) Sap. - 15% x 38% 1 Dp. Top/etm, 2) Yaply.- 15% x 29% 1 Dp.shalves(2) Yaply.- 1484 x25% Doors J stiles (4) Wx2%- 33% KK Rails (4) Mx De- 10h LL Fanels (2) Yaply.- 10% x29%6 M Stops. Wx %h- 16 lineal ft Tor N FronvBack (2) %x 114-31 0 Sides (2) Bax 111% P. Panel (1) Yaply, ~ 11x 30% Q Stifenars (3) 34x 10% STANDARD BASE R FronvBack(2) %4x 4-31 5 Sides (2) xd 11% T Pane! (1) Yaply.- 11x30% Diep Bast : U Dp. FrontBack (2) ¥4x4-31 V Dp. Sides @) 2x4 15% Wp Panel(1) — Yiply - 15x 30% counter X Fronvack (2) 34x 198-31 ¥ Sides (2) xi Z Panel (1) ‘Yply ~3%x30% Cueats AA Cleats (4) pW. 410% BE Dp. Cleats@) ply - Mn 14¥4 CC Counter Cleats (2) %aply - 1% x 2% * ko Newer Facing (CF) and Back (0) 5 Cherry {4 bd. ft) One Pa of Doore ee BW x alt 96° Cherry (2 bel ft.) Regular Base 4s nA 96° Cheny (be fe) Deep Cabinet, Counter, 6 Base 2 Ais" -96" Chemry Sam | Deep Cabinet, Counter, & Base ST aia tlt: nto) + Blum knock-down Fittings * Spoor-style Shelf Supports © 125° Overlay Hinges + tthe ood Keobs Note:The quantiyof supplies wil vary depending on the numberof cabinets built © #8 1%" Fh Woodscrews No. 105 ‘Woodemith 3 eeEEEEEEEEEEEEE——_—_——_—_—————1 To secthe proper hole depth fora cameaction fastener, drill hole in the edge of a wes piece. “4 SPECIALTY HARDWARE KNOCK-DOWN HARDWARE Knock-down hardware does more than just allow you to take a project apart. It can also make it easy to put together. Keececrtecrecansen ery downright easy. It's a quick way to puta project together (and be able to take it apart again). Usually all you do is drill a few holes. ‘The key is to position the holes eee ees ble, I use a drill press. And 1 Ro mewn clchees things precise. What's unusual isyouhave todrill some metric-sized holes. (Most knock-down hardware was developed in Europe.) But don't worry. A met ric bit works just like any other bit. ‘And you don't necessarily haveto use metric measurements, ‘CAM-ACTION FASTENERS I've used knock- inets together, I chose some hartiware [hadn't tried before: cam-action fasteners. ‘There are severaltypes: of camaction fasteners available, Theones [used have two pieces: pin and ‘cam, see photo at left. ‘The pin looks like an overgrown woodscrew. It has coarse threads s0 it ‘ill gripwhen screwed into the edge ofa piece of 3'-thiek plywood. ‘The metal cam that locks on the head of the pin is housed inside a piece of plastic ahout the size of a quarter, A Philips screwdriver is all you need to pat the two together, ‘To install the fasteners, youneed to Ail two different size holes: a mam NOTE: Last set of ‘hole for seep cabnets Woodsmith pilot hole for the pin (1 used @ he! bit) and a 25mm fat bottomed hole for the cam, Here's whereyoulIneeda. ietsicbit, Forsources, see pare 35) ‘Thepins are centered on the thick nessofaworkpiece, The cams on the ‘mating piece are offset Smm (about ‘0 from the center of the pin (he center of the workpiece), see Fig. 1b. Of course, for the modular cabi- nels there were alot of holes to drill, Rather than laying out each one, 1 made a driling template, see Fig. 1 And since Iwas dealing with two dit ferent size cabinets, made one tem- plateto handle both (that’s why there are three sets ofholes instead of two), But the hole position isn't the only thing that's important. The depth for the cam has to be set properly too, see ipin margin at leit With the jig built didntjust start riling holes inthe medularcabinets, It’s 2 good idea to test the setup on ‘some serap pieces first. Finally, to install the hardware, just screw the pin in place and tap the can in lightly with 2 rubber mallet. Be sure to keep the groave on the face of the eam parallel with the top edge of the plywood, see Fig. ta No. 105Snap-on Hinges ‘To hang the doors on the cabinets, I holes on the drill press, see Fig. 4, a) ‘used Europeanssiyle hinges. I've ised ‘Now you can use the jig to mark them before and knew they wereeasy _ the position of the mounting plate, to install. Butthe hinges I chose this Since the doors overhang the cab time had an added feature — they nets %4’'at the topand bottom, I drew ‘snap on and off, see photo at right. marks on the jig li ‘These hinges come in two parts. inside edges ofthe cabinets, see Figs. ‘The actual hinge attaches to the door 2 and 5. Then I marked the location of stile, while a mounting plate is the back screw ofthe mounting plate, attached inside the cabinet. To attach these hinges, I started S E ‘What's nice is thatthehinge parts with the mounting plates, see Fig, 6, Removing (and installing) a door with these hinges is a ‘mount separately. Butthis means they — [only install a screw in the back hole snap. The hinge simply clips onto the mounting pla. must align exacily, Here again, Imaile so the plate can be easily adjustesl. a jig to help out, see Fig. 2. The jig Then I screw the hinge to the door, ‘With the door snapped in place, matches the height of the door and see Fig. 7. Just make sure it's paral. you don't have to worry if it’s a little has a pair of wings for laying out the lel with the edges of the door, bitcrooked. The fit can beadjusted in centers of the hinges and plates, Now snap the hinge and plate _ three ways see Fig. 9. Thereare three ‘To use the jig, lay outthecenters together and add the lasttwoscrews screws on the ‘mounting plate that of the hinges on the door stiles, see in the plate, see Fig. 8 (This ensures move the door 1" in and out, up and Fig.3. Then I drillthe 35mm (or 84") the hinge and plate are aligned.) down, and side to side. ae ED eee eee, eaTips FROM Ole eeu SHOP NOTES Evenly Spaced Dowel Hi ‘The biggest challenge to bulling the CD holder on page 18is making the sup- Dort posts. The holes for the small pins that it into these posts have to be drilled ina straight ine, On top ofthat, these holes ao have to line up with the ledges already installed in the dividers. 100k care ofboth prod- tems witha simple jig. First to support the dowel and get the holes drilled in a straight line, [made a V- the holes in the same | twice ies a = Tonakele Vee sartvit, gues chert pet oleic apiece of two-by” stock. Thentilt bottom, see bottom drawings, block, see boxbelow. Then tomake sure the alignment between the pins and the cividersis perfect, added ‘an index pin to the bottom, of the Viblock. The extra vider will be used for an index template, SEP This jigis easy to set up. First, [used carpet tape to hold the dowel in place (flush with the end of the V-block), sce Fig, 1. Now mark the location for your first fle ane se the Ve block and divider on the Dril cla hole centered on Vbloc drill press table. only takes afew ‘minor adjustments before the holes can be drilled. To start, I placed the index: pin on the V-block slot Then move the drill press fence until the deilbitis centered over the dowel, see Figs. taand ib. Now slide the divider until thedrllbitis centered over themurk for yourfirs hole, Finally, clamp the divider The key to holding the CDs isto dil evenly spaced holes nthe in the first divider suppor: post forthe He" pins tokeep it from moving, Ust, Then move the index pin from slot 1 slot on the template. Now holes are drilled thet align perfectly withthe spacing ofthe siots inthe divider, see Fig. 2.19. clameter move v-tock Tomslorto siot ‘wadrifpin noes In dowelVeneer Edging From Plywood AY Mretetgngpeisacon cclormatches anditscasy verient way tocover aply: to cut additional edging ‘wood edge. But the color _stripsas nesded, doesn't always match Making your own edg- between the tape and the _ingisn'tdifficult, utitdoes veneer, see Step 3. plywood. This wasthe case take a few steps. First, cut Finally, the edging can ‘with the modular wall cab piecesalittle widerthanthe he glued to the plywood. inets (refer to page 6). edgesto becovered. Then with a couple coats of con- ‘To solve this problem, I rip the veneer from these _ tact adhesive, | like to start tried something alittle dif pieces, see Steps 1and 2, on the ends and thendo the ferent. Imade edging strips Next, | used my belt _ front, see Steps 4 and 5. wood face, see Step 6. A by removing the veneer sander to remove the thin Since the edging is cut sanding block makes fast fromeftoverplywood used layer of core material that's extra wide, it needs to be work of getting the veneer on the project. Thisway the left onthe back side ofthe _ trimmediflush with theply- edges smooth. I Bossi ipa te-nidenice rom gy Now tocutthevereerfiee un A belt sander makes quick work a plywood blank. Thisextrawicth lm the piece on ede, Set the rip SB of removing the core material allows the veneer stip to overhang fence toremove the veneer and about from the veneer Iciamp the strip to the edges of the plywood. Ya" Of the core material a backing board to hold itn place, “and toward votre irae a ee chipping | ree o c =| é aecientingaitcede Wh hele pecs fh te Dian Vea Webs of the plywood, | use two coats veneer on the iront is installed. sand them lightly with a sanding of contect adhesive, Then Isendthe Overlep the ends, then sand the block Tip the sanding block slightly to ‘ends fish, see detal veneer flush with the end, avoid cross-grain scratches. No. 105 Woodsmith w18 sgeeVe) HOO CD STORAGE CASE To support the 40 CDs in this case, we used a unique “pin and ledge” system that makes the CDs appear to float in midair. Ticgep eee cbs (compact dises). They ean be stacked in a pile, filed in a shoe ox, or if you spend a few bucks, housed in a simulated wood, CD rack. Butas a woodworker, none of these options appealed to me. Instead, 1 took a litle different approach and. designed this cD storage case with, several unique featuresto setit apart from other cases, Like most eases, the CDs are stored horizontally so the titles are easy to read. What’ a litle different about this design is the Csseem to be sus: ended in midair I'you look closely atthe photoatright,youcan see small. ‘support pins in one of the posts. The posts are sandwiched between ‘a plywood top and bottom. So f used several layers of molding on top to turntable. This turntable makes it conceal the plywood. Lalso added easy to spin the case around to any ‘molding to the bottom, Butnottojust side so all the CDs are accessible. conceal the plywood edges. This _¢ASE. Building the case for this stor mol age project is alittle like building a ‘Mounting oles o~ ee overs cou oubee ea ‘iued together Yrdiameter (Poles for posts house of cards, You have to startin the middle and work your way out Locatesl inthe center are four dividers that not orlyhold the dises, they also jpin the top and bottom, see Fig. 1. For this reason I started on the case dividers firs. DIvipERS, These dividers (A) are constructed from 14 thick stock and are all the same size iA" x T%6"). But instead of cutting only the four dividersneeded, Imadean extra one. ‘This extra piece will be used later as anindexing template for driling holes inthe support posts. Next, I cut }!+deep slots in one face ofall the dividers (including the femplate), see Figs. 2 and 2a, These slots are used to hold the small ledges. that support one side of the CDs. Al ofthieslots, except the one atthe bot- tom, are spaced 3f! apart. The bot- tom slot is positioned half this dis- tance (i!) up from the bottom edge. No, 105DIVIDER MOLDING. To mak the ends ofthe dividers looksimilaro the posts around it, I glued a piece of molding tothe frontedge. This divider mold- ing (B) isa 46" square piece of stock ‘eutto match the divider blankclength. (778!) with 2 full roundover routed ‘onthe front ede, see Figs, 3 and 3a. Note: Because the bottom sloton the divider is offset differently irom the other slots, the molding mist be installed with the slotslocated on the righthand side, see Fig, 3. DIVIDER ASSEMALY. With the molding Founded over, the dividers can be assembledin pairs, soe Fig, 3. Thisis simply a matter of gluing the back edges together so you end up with an L-shaped assembly, LUDGES. Next, to fil the slotsin the divider assemblies, I used small ledges (C). Since you need 40 ledges, ‘an easy way to cut them is off the ‘edge of thick blank, see Fig. 3b. Ie vou make the blank length the same as the slot length (61, the thick ledges can be sliced offlike pieces of bacon. Then you simply glue the ledges in the dividers, TOP/BOTTON. At this point, the dividers can be set aside, andyou can, cutthe top (D) ancl bottom (E) to fin. ished size, see Fig, 4. These pieces ofA" plywood sandwich the dividers anid the posts. To hold these 34!-dia- meter posts in position, holes are drilled around the perimeter of both pieces. ‘The only thing thatyouneedto keep. NOTE: Give on divider ‘molding frst Then out the roundover rote, 9 woe eave 7h) “oe inmind sto lay outthe hole location on both pieces so they're mirr images ofeach other: Before dling any holes, I positioned the top piece over thebotiomand checked tomake sure the holes would line up. DIVIER INSTALLATION. With the holes drilled for the posts, the dividers ean escrewed to the botiom ofthe case, see Fig. 5a. Theimportant thing is to install the dividers s the front edges: line up with the post holes. Then mau the mounting hole locations, drill 4 diameter mounting holes, and install NOTE: Check that holes Ine up ‘Between the top end Bottom: ry — T1292 italia. holes, Ur deep ‘Nore: holes ailed In top and bottom are ‘miror mages 0feach other , oe im is = ‘cross SECTION 36x10 FH BS wweodeerev| No 105Bottom) ‘With the dividers altached to the ease bottom, youre ready to get started ‘on the rest ofthe project. POSTS. So next I cut the posts for thease sides, These posts ae all "= da, dowels cut to the same length (@'). Bat four support posts (F), are unique. They have \"iameter pins added to support the Cbs, eee drawing at lft Drilling the holes in the support posts requires two things: You have to get the holes drilled in a straight line, and they have to be spaced the same as the lees in the dividers. ‘The key to doing this is using a V- block and the extra divider you made carlier, see Fig. 6and drawing at let. For more on this technique, refer to Shop Notes on page 16. ‘After the hokes are cilled, [out 4"- Jong pins (G) from a {Al-iameter owel to fll them, For me, the safest ‘way to do thisiswith a handsaw. ‘Now the pins can be gued in place. But getting glue in these stall pin holes without making a mess is about as easy as threading a needle, So 1 used a toathpick to place a drop in each hole. Then install the pins, checking tobe sare they're fully set- cedin the pin holes, see left margin. ASSEMLY. Now the case can be assembled. The first piecesto install are the support posts. They fitin the second hole of each section on the case bottom, sce Fig 7. But keep in ‘mine! as you install these posts thatthe pins on the posts have topoiatdirece yat the ledgeson the dividers sothey fully support the CDs. ‘To keep the support posts irom turning, [put alte zze in the holes first. Then just to make sure they ‘woulda't move, Tals pinned them with asmall brad, see Fig. 7. Now put Base Os thiek) Clearance hole allitle glue in the rest of the holes and install the other posts. ToP. With allthe postsin pace, the top (D) can be installed, see drawing above. Since screws connect the top to the dividers you won't need any _giue. It's good thing too, Otherwise, _ziue would drip all over the place. He syppertposs in (MOTE: Sra prevents sypport post trem turning ‘NOTE: Postion pins ‘9n support posts to point at ledges on halos Woodsmith, No. 105TOP MOLDING. Tp cover the exposed heads ofthe mounting screws inthe case top and to conceal the plywood ecg, Ialded several “Taversof uit ‘up molding, see Fi, 8. GE NOLONG, The firs ayer of mold ing added tthe top ofthe cases 1s thick edge molding (H), see Fig.9. Ttcovers the plywood edges, and it also provides afamework around the restof the molding This 11/"-wide molding wraps around the case top. But before instaling the molding, route two ci. ferentprofileson te outer edges see Fig 9, First, there's & 4! roundover on the botom eg, see Fig a. Next, routed a! cove on te tp edge, see Fig. 9b. Finally, miterthe pieces to it on the ease and glue them in place FRANE MOLDING. Wi the edge mold. ing installed, the frame molding (1) can be added next, see Fig, 10, This 48a P'-wide piece ofmolding witha rabbet cut on one edge, The rabbet conceals the joint line between the edge and fame molding, Butgeting the depth ofthis rabbet set requires abitofwork, The goal here is to get the lp of the rabbet fish withthe top edge of theegemolding, see detailin Fig. 10, ‘Todo tis L gradually raised the dado blade checking the fit often, see Fig, 10a. Once the rabbet fis fish with the edgemolding, [softened the cor ner by routing a 4" roundover, see Fig. 10, Then miter the molding to fitand glue itin place, see Fig, § ‘ser rave. With the ‘rame mold inginstalled,itcreates an openingon top of the case, | cut a thie ply. ‘wood inset panel (J) with a" aby bet cut on all four sides and gived i in the cpening, see Figs. and ta IMLAY MOLDING. This rabbet creates groove for T'shaped inlay mold. {ng (K) that’s added next, see deta in ig. 12. Tocutthis molding safely, its good ideato start with an extra wide blankcand rout «fll roundover on one exge, see Fig 12. Next, set up a dado blade and cut a tide groove on both faces to cre ate the Tshape, see Fig. 2a, Then cut the molding free, see Fig. 12, Now miter the ends and glue the molling in place, refer to Fig. 8. No. 105 Woodsmith nore All molding plecesare glued inplice aBOTTOM MOLDING. Justike thetopof the Cb case, thebottomalo as mold ing added to hidethe plywood edges. Bt this molding hangs down below the case bottom to conceal a lazy stisan turntable and base see Fig 13. Making the 1A" thick bottom molding (1) isalot like making the edge molding (H) on top. Its also Tiylovide, but instead oftwo profiles thas only the one’ roundover on the top edge, see Figs. 14 and Ma. ‘Then it's mitered to fit around the case bottom and glued in place, UY SUSAN. After the molding is installed, alltha'eftto complete the holder is to install a lazy susan turntable and base. made the hase (M) by first gluing together two pieces of YA! thick hardboard to ere- ate a Y4thick, 12" 12" blank, see Fig, 15, Then draw a 1144" circle on the hardboard and cut out the base, Before screwing the base to the lazy susan don't forget to drill aclear- ance holeto match the one citin the lazy susan. You'l need to use this hile toattach the lazy susantothe bottom ofthecase, see Fi. 17, Finally, screw the hardboard base to the azy susan and the lazy susan to the the casebot- tom, see Figs. 1Gand 17a, ‘NOTE: Cutbaze Skeatter give dries attach base and lazy susan to ase NOTE: Conter hao ‘and lacysussn on bottom ofcesea) ‘TALKING SHOP Combination Core Plywood While working onthemod- with a relatively new prod- wood manufacturers are vide a smooth, voidfree su ularvallcabinets,Inodeed uetcalledcombinatoncore constantlylookingforways face forthe veneers. the plywood was con- plywood. This type of ply to improve their product In talking with Bob, it Sructed litle differently wood uses particleboard, and reduce costs at the seems combination core from the traditional ply- insteadofthe tradidonal ir same ime. One solutonfor has several advantazes ‘wood Iwas used touusing. plysforthetwo outer ore them has been the use ofa Using particleboard for ‘Traditional hardwood layers, see Fig. 2 combination core in their part of the core utilizes Plywood consists ofsever- ‘To find out more about hardwood plywood.” wood from less desirable al fir plys covered by a this product, [talked with Boh went on to explain sources. That saves money veneerlayer,seeFig.1.But Bob Geimeratthe USDA'S why these core materials and limited resources this new plywood looked Forest Products Lab in sre used together, The fir Also, since particleboard lke it wes made from two Madison, Wisconsin, Bob's plys in the middle are for _provides.asmonth void ree differentcore materials. aparticleboardand veneer strength and screw reten- surface, thinner veneers ‘So did some checking specialist, and he told me, tion. And the outer cross- can be used without the and found Iwas working “Like everyone else, ply- bands ofparticleboard pro- through, Plus, thinner veneers willalso stretch our @. hardwood resources, ‘That's the good news. Bat the bad news is thin- hher veneers ean prevent a problem for woodworkers. With veneers getting as thinas :!thick, anything ‘more than a light sanding can cut right through the veneer. And sometimes, applying the finish is aprob- lem, see the box below. BM pe mh ecrioi 0 ” etic reece ae bopecben outa ‘mineral spirits and a Deaton fe bons cfhe ™ theproviem ao ‘plywood. Then Ican ee -teoad looks lke white streaks ‘put stain on the pa ‘white the pane] willbe any good or net. ecause it won't accept stain. No. 105 Wordsmith BAy Fas cD) PROJECT PHOTO Box The lid on this box does more than just protect what's inside. It’s also a photo frame. And it opens without using any hardware. ishow itopens. Everyone who picksitup starts by tugging on the lid, but there aren't any hinges. The lid ‘slides open on dovetails that are com- pletely hidden until the lid is ‘opened, see drawing in margin. ‘There's another nice litle fea- ture to the lid of this photo box. Inwead of just covering the box, thelid also actsas a frame that holds several small photos, And you can customize the grid design to hold the photos you want Before I get much farther should ‘mention that the wood here is notone we use ojten — it's mahogany, Fora smal prec ike this box, mahogany A The lid om this ‘isaperfectchoice. Itmachineseasily, and two sides (C), see drawing shalfthebatie, The otherhalfis photo box opens and Eke cherry, it darkens naturally, below. These Vé"thick pieces start cutting the pieces exactly the same ‘andclowes with see the box on page 27. ‘out identical, and their ends are length. To do this, I clamped a stop sliding dovecal mitered to createasmall, squarebox. block to an auxiliary fence on my Bue those dovetails Box Though the joinery here is basic, miter gauge, see Fig. 1 arecompletely _-Thisboxssarts outlike many others it's stil important to get a good, _RABBETS. Afler the box pi hidden wreilche lid Tve built. thasafront(A), back (B), square fit. Tilting the blade exactly mitered, Irabbeted the inside edges is pulled eben. nore: Space grooves 11° apart nore: ‘nore: Front piece Box font back, tne sie pecs fort HEtnek sock f‘ofall the pieces (A, B, ©) to hold a 44! hardboard bottom, see Fig. 2 GROOVES, While T was at the table ‘saw, Ialso cut grooves for three 1" hardboard dividers that are added later, see Fig. 3 and the drawing on Page 24, Note: These é"leep grooves are cut on just the side pieces (C). SIDING DOVEIAL. A\ter the grooves arecut itstime to concentrate on the doveiails. Routing these dovetails is ‘ensy. Arouter table and a %" dovetail Ditare all you need, see Fig, 4 ‘But Lwanted to avoid chipout, so dida't try to rout the dovetail in one ass. Insteal took a shallow cut ist, see Fig. 4a, Then Ireset the fence to makea Y!.deep cut, see Fig. db, Note: When it comes time to rout the mating halfof the dovetails, you'll be working with this same setup, so youcan leave itas is for now, Once the dovetails are routed, set the back and side pieces aside for a moment. The front piece (A) needsto be trimmed to create an opening that the id will ide into, To do this, sim- ply cut away the “dovetail” so the top edge of the front ends up flush with the shoulder of the dovetails on the side pieces (C), see Figs. 5 and a. sorTon. When that’s done, I turned ‘my attention to the bottom (D). But to determine the size ofthis!4"hari- board pane the box has to be dry assembled, Then itean be eutto ft in the rabbets cut earlier, see Fig. 6 Now the box can be glued up, (Gncluding the bottom to help keep. things square), see Fig. 6 DIVIDERS. To complete the box, all NOTE: Rout erebi in ail bor pieces ‘that’s lefts to cut three dividers (B) from }-thick hardboard to fin the _grooves cutin the box sides, see draw- ing on page 24. The only thing crt calhere isto make sure the dividers end upsghtly below the shoulder of Depth of rabvet Imatches the tices ofiethardtoard Bortom the doveiail. Otherwise, the lid will ‘eatch on them and wor'tslide closed. Finally, to make iteasiertoremove thephotographs, laid outand cutan are’on the top edges of the dividers before setting them in place, in font corer ‘Shoulder ‘onderNow thatthe boxis complet, itstime to begin on the lid. It slides in the ove grooves cut inthe box and ts flush all around when closed. But one thing unique aboutthe lid is the frontpiece. It won't be routed with the dovetail profil, see details! aac‘ above right. This way when thelidis shut, the dovetail joinery will be hidden from view, FRAME BLANKS.To build the lel star- ed with four’thick blanks for the lid front (F), back, and sides (G). ‘These are ripped to finished width (24) and should bea bitlongerthan the sides of the box. (Mine were 9") GROVES & RAREETS. Before routing the dovetails, Ivorked on theinside edges of the lid, Here, grooves and rabbets will hold the photos and the dass, see drawing above. To be safe, [ wanted to keep the blanks as stable as possible when ‘making these cuts, So first I ut the Yshdeep grooves along the inside edges, see Fig. 7, Then ad the piece on its bottom face and cxta Yéldeep (Cal), vide rabbet, see Fig. 8, SuDING DOVETALS, Next, set the lid front (F) aside and routed the dove- tals onthe outside elges ofthe back and sides (G), see Fig. 9. But with these dovetails, you want to sneekcup oon the final fit, see Figs. 9a and b, You'll know the cut is correct when the outside edge of the lid is fush with the outside edge ofthe box. ITER TO LENGTH, After the sliding dovetails have been routed on the backcand sides, i's timeto miterall the id and box fe should be Mesh pieces to final length so the lid wil fit inside the box. The awkward thing aboutthis procedureisthat to check the it the lid needs to beassembled, But you can’t assemble the lid until the pieces are cut to size ‘The way Ihandled thiswas to start NOTE Mier i lees oft LY ‘box, starting with lid back eZ NOTE: Check that id square after tightening clampe, sneaking up on the mitered length until it slid into. the box, see Fig. 10. Then I worked onthe other pieces (the sidesand the ‘ron\) trimming them until they at. What you're shooting for is « lid that’s dush with the outside edges of the box. Whether it sides easily or ‘not doesnt really matter this point. tean be sanded later, ifneeded) ASSEMBLY When you're satisfied with the fitof the id pieces, you can glue and then clamp them together witha band clamp, see Fig. 11 HEYEL, Aiter the glue fs dry, Leuta bevel on the top face, leaving a deco- tative Yel-high shoulder, see Figs. 12 ore: eritcan wechargee fo eprotos and 12a, (Besure totestthe setup on scrap piece before cutting the lid) After the bevelis cu, the tiny shoul der that was created needs to be ssquared up. All this requires isa few strokes witha smal sanding block, FHOTO GRID. At this point, the lid AW took ikea fae thatwitlhotda sit- ale photo, But decided to break up ‘theopening into smaller spaces Todo this, Iaddeda grid, see Fig, 13, This grid is simply 11x 4" strips of wood glued into the ld to create four openings. The joinery is very simple. Just cut the ariel (H) pieces to fit tight and glue them in place. Note: Youtcan change the sizeand configuration ofthe openings depend Wore: Don't toe in splines | ingon the photos you want fo use, When the photo gri | Yyouscan add the glass, photos, and athe groovesiin the lc, see Fig. 15. on a couple coats of an oil fini ‘4 hardboard backing board (I) to FNISH, Next, chee! in place, cut A! hardboard splines (J) to fitin essary, see Fig, 16. And finally, wine IE make sure you think the mahogany is too light, ‘itin the rabbetin the lid, see Fig. 14. the lid slides smoothly into the box, don’t worry — the color wil darken ‘To hold the glass and backing, I sanding the dovetails lightly, if nec. with age, se the bexcbelow, I Sand dovetsie ntl i siios smoothly saree Hnternay leftonawindowROUTER BIT CABINET The dovetail keys at the corners strengthen the joints to make a stronger cabinet. Plus, a Plexiglas door lets you see what's inside. ‘outer bits and neckties have alot in common. It doesn't take long ‘before you accumulate a sizable number of each. Quality ones are fairly expensive. And mostofthe time there's really no good way to store them. Since I prefer router bits to necldies, I bullla storage cabine! to help organize and protect my router bitcollection, see photo at right. ‘As you can see, the design for this cabinet is nothing elaborate. But the dovetail keys at the corners and a Plexiglas door add enough of a chal- Jenge to make building tis router bit cabinet interesting, MITERS, To start on the cabinet, T made a square box. Itconsists of four ease sides (A) cut to the same width(4") and mitered to length 134"), see drawing on next page. MOTE: cabinet fonstrctee ffemmaplestok 310 dresetat grange Cnegnetic. *P bulleeateh MOTE: Use 9 ena) {row forthe sk B Woodsmih No. 105‘To end up with a tight miter joint, Ap _evieceshaveto becuttothesame length. After cutting an angle on one end ofall the pieces, Tinstall a stop block on the auxiliary fence of my miter gaigeandcutthe pieces tonal Jeagth. A stop block prevents the pieces from moving avay from the Dlade during the cut. SROOV'S. After cutting the miters, the next stop is to eut a 1f!-deep ‘roove atthe back of each piece for a WMhick plywood back, sce detail’ ‘What's a lite unusual is the groove is located 4" from the back edge. ‘This provides room for the cleat mounted on the back, Teouldn'-use my daclo blade to cut thiserooresinceithadtobelessthan jr csp sides ‘Awide (ethickuessofmyplywood are med from wasless than 4"). Soleut the groove "thick stock } bby making a couple of passes with a regularcombination blade to sncakup strength to the case), therouterat an angieso the slotsean ‘on the width. This way, i's easy to DOVETAIL KEYS. Normally before 1 be cutt perpendicular to the joint, A ccheck the fit between passes, ‘ghieabox togetherwith miteredcor- guide bushing attached to the router: ‘AG. With the grooves complete, ners, add splines forstrength. used base followsa template on thejig, and work can begin on the 44" plywood splines this time too. But instead of @ ‘# dovetail bit cuts the slots, For W back) The important things get putting themantheinsiecthpnt, moroor euting te slots, keys, and ting the back sized to allow the miters added them across the outside cor. building the jig, refer to page 32, to fit together tightly. To do that, it's ners, see drawing on previous page. Lrouted three slots “Ae! deep at all ‘a good ideato dry assemble the side ‘These splines have adovetail shape, the corners of the box, ‘see Figs. 2 pieces and back. Then ifthere’s any but they aren't just decorative, The and. Sa, The spacing between the slots. ‘gap at the corners, the back can be splines create more surface area for is decorative, so you can space them trimmed a little smaller. the glue, 20 you will end up with a anyway you want. ‘Then make your ASSEMBLY, When youtre satisfied with stronger joint. ‘Keysto fit snug in these slots, see Fig. the fit, ue and clamp the casesides. To cut slots for these splines 3. Finally, trim them with a hand saw «and back together. (Gluingintheply- requires using an easy-to-build jig, and sand them flush with sides of the wood back is a good way to add see Fig. 1. This jig automatically tips _ box, see Fig3. feed bh somiy DOVETAIL KEY into workoivee SLOT SPACING “aiAfter sanding the keys flush on the outside ofthe case, [tured my atten: tionto the inside and began work on the three bit holders next, ‘BIT HOLDERS. These bit holders (C) are cut from three 1/6"thick blanks with 4 diameter hokes drilledin one edge. To keep thingssimple, [drilled all the holes the same size, For my router bits witha "diameter shank, Tiised nylon sleeves to reduce the size, See the boxatthe bottom ofthe next page. For sources, see page 35. How far apart you drill the holes depends on whatsize router bitsyou have in your collection, see Fig. 4. Once the holesare drilled, lipped the holder from the bank by cutting 45° bevel on one edge. This angle tips the holder so you can get al the bitseasly when they‘reinthecase.To cutthisbevel safely, Istarted with an ‘extra wide blank (1). Itkeeps your hands a safe distance away from the Diade, see Figs. 4 and 5. INSTALLATION. After the three bit hold ersarecut free, they can be screwed to the cabinet bck, see Figs. Gand 6s, ‘Batyou wantto be carefulwhere you iil the mounting holes. They need to be positioned so they don't go through the holes for the router bit shanks, see Figs, 7and 7a, O0R, Withthebit holders installed in the case, ¢ door can be built next to fiton the front. I decided to use & fulloverlay door forthe cabinet. This faa has ‘means the door has to be sized to ‘match the overall dimensions of the case. The door is constructed with & pair of stiles (D) and rails (2) with a lA!shick Plexiglas panel sandwiched inthe middle, see Fig. 8, ‘To hold the Plexiglas panelin the door, a f-wide x M dovetail bit No. 105‘enough to ftthe outside diameter of the guide bushing youplan onusing. For the router bit case, Teut three ‘lois and made the one in the middle ‘wider, see detail'a’ Simply “stop” the slot by drilingza hole at one end and ‘remove the waste in the middle. SUPPORT. Glued and screwed tothe ‘template is a 1/4"hick support, see drawing and detail’. AAS? angle cut ‘on one end determines the angle for the template, And before driving in theserews, [positioned the center of the template over the centerline of the support block. USING THE NG, With the ji essem- ied, all you have to dois clamp it to ‘one ofthe corners ofthe box, se Fig. 1, Then adjust the bit depth as need ‘sce Figs. 2a.and 3a Inmy case, the bit wasextenced below the template ‘on the ig t0 create a Zideep slot, see Fig. 2a The depth can vary, but {fits too deep, youll routthrough the inside ofthe box. ‘Toroutthe dovetail slots the guide bushing follows the slots in the tem plate, see Figs.3and 3b Note: Dontt lituptherouter, other wise youll danr- nee aN SY age the template 1e¥5, Once the slots are cut, Keys can be made to fil them. I started with a thick blank and adjusted the height ofthe bit to equal the depth of the slots, see Fig. 4, Note: Use a thick blank for the small Keys and ‘UY tick pice for the large one. ‘Thensneak up onthe thicknessof the key fora snug fit To save stock, T routed keys on both edges of the biank. Irs agboclidea to check theft Feed btsiowiy into werkbres i ceate #08 ofall the keysin the slots, see Fig. 5. When the keys fit, they can be ripped free, see Fig. 6, Don't worry about cutting them toan exact height. Infact, asmall“cap"lefton top makes iteasiertohandle the keys. Then glue the keys into the slots, see Fig. 7. Once the ghie dries, the keys need alittle trimming. { used a small back sav to remove most of the waste, see Fig. & Finelly, sand the keys flush with the side of the box, see Fig 9 Sancpoper quicly Femones remaining reat aSRe lumber on a band saw usually requires clamping and ‘unclamping the fence several times to to getitin the rid positon. Butthats not a problem with the fence sent in by Bradley Snyder, ofSierra Vista, Arizona, It doesn’t require clamps to hold itin place. ‘That's because at the heart of his jig is a pair of magnets (available at most hardivare stores), see page 35, ‘They securely hold the fence any- where you set ton the band sav table, AGPARTS, Besidesthe magnets the jig consists ofjust to parts. A base and a handle, see drawing below. Since everything is attached to the base, I started with it first. MASE ‘The base consists of a guide boar flanked bya pair of Wings” on the sides. (This provides a platform ‘wide enough for the magnets, Before ‘sluing on the wings, a shallow bevel iscut onboth sides ofthe guide board at both ends, Thisforms pivot point Nore: ‘cute ts bevel on both ends oF ‘guide beard and wings 254° da, thwodicreer works as prot for guiding your workpiece. Also, by ‘cutting a notch on one end of the ‘guide board, you can create 2 short fence for short stock, see detail b, ‘The support wings glued to the bot tom are also angled on both ends to ‘match the bevels on the guide board HANDLE, With the magnets attached, the jig can be completed by making ahhandle, This handle is a “quick release” lever that makes it easy to Deak the magnetic bond to move the va wel cuttont between ‘ides fer aoe ee Can eee Se Ceres & Woodsmith ‘see inset photo above, ‘Startby joining the sie pieces with a¥-diameter dowel. Then screw the sidesto the base, The impoctant thing Js where you dell the screw holes in thehandle. It determines how much Teverage youl have to lift up the base. ‘Mine were abet 1" from the end, 0G USE. This sits behind the blade and guides the stock. Just pivot the ‘workpiece against the fence ofellow your lavout ine, see detail 2 ITU lt eC ‘If you've bull an original jig and would like o seat featuredon this ‘page, send your dea to Woodonith, ‘Reader's ig, 2200 Grand Ave, Des Moines, 1A 50312. Tye publish it, we will send you $100 and a full set of ‘Woodsmith back issues, with binders, Include a sketch (or photo), explain how i's used, and includeadaytime phonenambes: No. 105 ¢