Cherry Bed « Children’s Bookcase * Mantel Clock * Wood Pens ° Routing Through Mortises CLassic CHERRY BEDdi ‘ection Jeane Jason, Sry Rey © Bling ‘Maint en Git \WOODSMITH MAIL ORDER Stren Margo Pars» Hand Chak Caio Sat Scot Gillam, Thomas). Russel WOODSMITH STORE Satta Paty re Wee Soe SES act endo o enslsene™ SSC, es Soo neuen ae Aeteesr or econo ef. Rat be Cn eee 2 EpITOR’S COLUMN SAWDUST Tosrcemcrcinet gettin rsa tat range of projects in this issue. From when the fun began. There was alot the queen-size cherry bed (featured of lively discussion around here on onpage 6) tosmall, wood pens turned which plans were the “best.” (Itseems on a drill press (page 24). And in as though everyone had a favorite) between, we managed to fit a cl Inthe end we came up with 12 pro- dren's bookcase (page 20) and.aman- jects, and I think there's something tel lock (page 28). for everyone, Simple wall shelves. Besides all the excitement of Weekend projects. Country projects. designing and building the projects Even our popular Craftsman and in this issue, there's something else Classic Bookcases. Tm excited about —a book. ‘And of course, it wouldn't be Woodsmnith without some techniques les sch as how to cut dovetails ona band Over the years, some of ourmost POP- saw or design shelves that won't sag ular projects have been bookcases nen filled with books. and shelves. Itseems We've named the book Bookeases just about everyone and Shelves (catchy ttle, huh?) Itwill can use another shelf be ready for delivery by the holiday ora place for books in season, If you're a Woodsmith sub- freee scriber, you can get a special early dis Soaboutayearago count price of $17.95. To order, call we decided to put $1” §99- 444-7002. Peed peer together a book of some of the best book- case and shelf plans ‘STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION \ Require by BUS. 368) ‘bon Tike Wendi 2 aban Na O64 3. Fig Dae Ober, 8 se ren Bini aa ar ttt ama 8 Amal meron poe 19 Cnglemating wen own tee ‘ipwbeaten0 Grml nge,Des Mee Cum)Som 12596 © Compe ag arse ead ‘cesar el inn ele aa 20 Gan Aen, Ds an ima S25 Palen ‘cana pablo dmmasegsioe Rehr Doms ache 20 God Ave Ds ee {mS Eaor ery} Sec 250 Gn ene Des a or 51210 er ape Png (C220 Grn ene Desens le 12 Deh Rech 20 Gran Aen De lense IT. Koen ‘ey miu erry dering perce oof te staat a erage tee ree ac) Rem Nos ne a Casa fae rer. cones coh Au oes ‘rvediree mentee sete nal ‘eens cusieg aes ‘ie «piano requested rs {Eas semen of omer wb pedi Ne 1 he Des se of hs pba, [1 Tera te tenets ade me shone rere an colts) Dan Pee Per ‘Woodsmith No. 108A LOOK INSIDE CONTENTS Features Classic Cherry Bed 6 Individual hardwood slats mortised into a curved top rail are just ‘one of the features that make ths elegant project an interesting challenge to build. Routing Through Mortises ... ‘Our step-by-step instructions will show you how to cut perfect through mortises quickly and accurately, The secret is to use your router anda simple shop-made jg Children’s Bookcase This easy-to-build project features solid wood construction and a unique shelf system. There are three shelves that can lie flat or tilt back to “cradle” the books. Wood Pens... Tuming your oun wood pens is a great way to.use up small scraps ‘of wood. And by using our step-by-step instructions and simple turning jig forthe drill press, you don’t even need a lathe. Mantel Clock From built-up moldings to a handy pull-out drawer, this project packs a lot of woodworking in a small package. But best of all, we kept the design simple enough so that you can build this clock from start to finish over a weekend. Maple 33) Here's a look at several differen types of figured maple — and. some tips on working with this special wood. Departments Tips & Techniques Shop Notes Talking Shop . Reader's Jig Sources No. 108 ‘Woodsmith Mantel Clock page 23FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS Flush Trim Saw Recently, [had to cut sew flat on one side. Then I eral wood plugs fish with wrapped one end with duct, the surface of a project I_tape forahandle. The blade was making. Since Tdidn't flexes to cut the plug off have a lush-cutting sav, I nearly flush, and then made my own. sand it smooth, I just took a hack saw John Osborne Dbladeand groundtheteeth South Kens, Connecticut Cord in a Tube I store a lot of small power tools on a shelf above my workbench. But I gottired ofthe cords always getting tangled up. Tohelp prevent this from happening, I use the cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls. ‘just wrap the cord up and slip the tube aroundit. ‘The tubes wear out even- tually, but somehow I always seem to have an unending supply of them. Fred Timer Buena Park, California Router Table Extension Most router tables are too ‘small for big jobs, so I built aremovable table extension. Iksjustacoupl pieces of 34!'thick plywood laminat- ed together, I drilled a cou- ple of holes on the edge of the extension and epoxied ina pair of 6Jong steel rods. When I need a larger work surface, Ijust slide the table extension into a sec ond pair of holes drilled in the edge of my router table. Roy Mrock Spruce Pine, Alabama Router table Woodsmith Dust Hood Asanding table with a dust collector is great when you're sanding small pro- jects. But a lot of the dust floats straight up into the air before it can get sucked into the dust port in the ‘sanding table. To help collect the dust, use a plastic window well ‘cover that I purchased ata home center, see drawing. atleft This traps the dust so the sanding table can remove it from the air. ‘When 'm finished sanding, store the dusthood under my bench out of the way. Harm Weber Webser, Wisconsin No. 108Shop-made Bar Clamp I can't afford a shop full of _ slotis cut in one piece that’s bar clamps, so I make my _ just wide enough to hold a own out of hardwood %'-16 square nut. After glu- seraps, see photo at right. ing the two pieces together, ‘My clamp uses a%4"16 drill a '4"dia. hole alll the machine bolt anda square way through the block. nut, see drawing below. PAD. The clamping padis ‘Theboltfitsthrough acou- also a two-piece assembly. BASE. The clamp base is through the base of the ple of nylon spacers in the One piece has a slot wide _ just two pieces of 34"-thick _ clamp to position the block. clamp head. Fitted overthe _ enough to allow the bolt hardwood. Glue and screw Assembling the clamp is head of the bol wood- head to turn freely. The the clamp head to one of _just a matter of sliding the enclamp pad. At the other other piece is made from these pieces. Then glue the square nut into the slot in end of the bolt is aknob, 14"“thick stock and has a second piece on top of the _ theclamp head and thread- As you turn the knob, the _1"-dia. hole to allow the firstand cut the ends flush. _ ing the bolt through the bolt advances to apply _ bolt to pass through it, To To make the stop block, block. Then to finish the clamping pressure against assemblethe clamping pad, _drilla'4"-dia. hole inablock clamp, epoxy the knob on an adjustable stop block. _ slip the bolt through the of wood and glue a short _ the end of the bolt. ‘HEAD. The clamp head is hole and glue the two section of dowel in place. Calvin Ewald made up of two pieces. A _ pieces together. ‘Then drill a series of holes. Stammit, New Jersey ier eas oe s 2 ji widvroda 7 S&S eee) seared plastic knob SC iri holes spaced 1" apart Handy Screws BU Caley Fe ones ‘Tryout would like to share an original shoptested tip, {keep my nails and screws send it to: Woodsmith, Tips and Techniques, 2200 fin glass jars with metal lids. ‘Grand Avenue, DesMoines, lowa50812Orifitseas- || But Lalo place asmall mag- ‘er, FAX via as Or tise our E-Mail: f net on the top of each lid along with a few of the nails ‘or screws from that jar. That way, I don't have to open a jar every time I need a fas- tener Bil Fely Kansas City, Miso WoodsmithsgaVuO ys PROJECT CLASSIC CHERRY BED With this bed, you won’t lose any sleep figuring out how to make all the mortises for the slats. With our method, it’s as easy as counting sheep. ceveral years back, Imade a wish ist ofthe pieces of bed- room furniture that I wanted to build. Over time, I've managed to build a lingerie dresser (Issue 53), achest of drawers (Issue 58), and anightstand (Issue 76). This bed is the last piece ony list, andit’s one that Ive been want- ng to build for along time. ‘GHALENGES, But I was anxious to build this project for another reason than simply wanting to crossit off my list It involves some interesting woodworking challenges. ike cutting tenons on the ends of the five-footlong head- board and footboard rails. And coming up with a way of ‘making all the mortises for the slats. (We've included a ‘separate article on this technique. Itstarts on page 15.) Like the other pieces of bedroom furniture, this bed con- tains some of the same design features, see photo above. For starters, it's made of solid cherry. Secondly, the head- Woodsmith board and footboard both feature the same bullnose pro- file found on the base and top ofthe other pieces. So even, though Ibuiltall these pieces at different times, they still look like they belong together. KNOCK-DOWN FASTENERS. One of the nice features of this bed is that it uses knock-lown fasteners to connect the rails to the headboard and footboard (see page 35 for ‘sources). These fasteners are not only extremely strong, but they can be quickly disconnected without any tools ‘so the bed can be moved or stored easily, SIZE. One more thing. The bed I made is designed to fit ‘a queen-size mattress and box spring. However, if you ‘want to build a twin-size or fulksize bed, al you have to doisalter the length ofbed side rails and the width of the headboard and footboard. To make this easier, we've pro- vided the dimensions, see the box at right. No. 108Construction Details OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 8 71°W x 8814" x 45°H (Queen-size) y / roorsosno \ SU tt AH IL | | | NOTE: Side rail length con Nl | onqueensize bed i 80° Farsi fall length of ‘ther bed sizes, See bor below: a NOTE: Mores Rout dadoes in each ower rails are form omortses routed in two pieces ‘of tock then laminated SUATS. fogether.For more information (on this technique, refer 0 page 15. ray Woodsmith No. 108| 2 ae = on oe He Posts ‘Whenever Ibu large pro- these pices Ididntetthem to exact tion ofthe mortises, see details and ject, Ilike to break the construction width orlength. Instead, [leftthema ‘bin the drawing above. down into separate assemblies. Inthe litle wider and longer than neces- _Theheadboard posts are also mor- case ofthe bed, Ibuiltthe headboard sary. Then after gluing up the posts, _ tised for the upper and lower rails. and footboard first. Then Iconnected they can besquared up and trimmed — However, because the headboard is, the headboard and footboard with down to finished size. ‘so much taller than the footboard, it sSiderailsand added the mattress slats. _MORTISES. Once you have the posts has a stretcher near the bottom for Posts. The first step in making the cuttofinished size, thenextstepisto added strength. So the headboard headboard and footboard is to con- make the mortises on each post for posts each receive an additional mor- struct the posts (A, B), see draw- the footboard and headboard rails. tise for this stretcher, see detail b’, ing above. Each post is made up of The footboard posts each receivetwo ‘The mortises in the posts are fair- three 1"thickpieces ofstock thatare mortises—one forthe upperrailand ly deep (1!4"). So to remove most of Jaminated together. Butwhen cutting one for the lower rail. For the loca- the waste, I drilled a series of over- No. 108lapping holes with a Forstner bitand addillpress see Fig. 1 Then Isquared up the sides and corners with a par- ing chisel, see Fig. 2. Once the mortises for therails and stretcher were completed, I turned ‘my attention to attaching the bed rail fasteners, see Fig. 3. The fasteners ‘come in two pieces. One piece has a pair of slots and is mortised into the posts ofthe bed. The other piece gets attached later to the side rails of the ‘bed and has a pair of hooks that fit ancl lock into the slots ofthe frst piece, Lay outthe fastener mortisesin the posts according to the dimensions shown in Fig. 3. To determine on ‘which face ofeach post to mount the fastener it helps to lay the posts out asthey willbe when the bed isassem- bled. For details on making the mor- tises and installing the fasteners, see Shop Notes on page 18. TPES, After inserting the fasteners in the mortises and screwing them ‘nplace, I tapered the bottom of each Post. But cut tapers on only the two inside faces of each post — not all four, see Figs. 4 and 4a. Because the posts are so thick, I used a band saw instead of a table saw to cutthe tapers. The easiest way to do this isto lay out the tapers on each post and cut to the waste side of the line. Then smooth out the taper by sanding right up to the pencil line. OUND OVER EDGE. To soften the look ‘ofthe posts, [rounded over the edges. Todo this, Tused a" roundover bit inthe router table, see Fig. 5. Butit’s important not to round over all ofthe ‘edges. The top edges of the posts aren't rounded over (a cap will be added later that covers these). And ‘because the inside and bottom edges ofthe tapered section won't sit fat on the router table, I didn’t round over these edges either. Instead, lightly sand them just enough to break the sharp corners, see Fig. 6. STOPPED HANFERS. There's one more detailtoadd to the poss to finish them off. The two outside edges of each post have 4" stopped chamfers, see drawing on previous page. Laying outa stopped chamferisn't difficult —just mark a couple of stop lines on the edges ofthe posts to indi- cate the ends of the chamfers. The chamfers start 7" from the bottom of each post and end 1°! from the top, see Fig. 7. To rout the chamfers, start near one end and carefully backrout. upto the stopline. Then rout forward. up to the opposite stop line. ‘The chamfer bit will eave the ends of the chamfers a little rough and uneven, So I smoothed them out by Jhand, To do this just wrap some sand- ‘paper around a dowel and lightly sand the ends of each chamfer, see Fig. 8, This isalso a good way toremove any burn marks that may have been left behind by the router bit, No. 108 ‘WoodsmithRails With the posts completed, I began working on the rails that con- nect them, see drawing above. Each set ofpostsisjoined by an upper and lower rail. Mortises in these rails hold row of vertical slats. Ralls. The upper rails (C) and lower rails (D) each start offas two ‘5x 64" pieces of 4"-thick stock. This allows you to rout. series of shallow (A dadoes in each haf, see Fig. 9 ‘Then when the two pieces are glued together, you end up with a row of mortises, see Fig. 10, (For details on making the mortises, see the tech- ‘A Trim the top and nique article beginning on page 15.) bottom shoulders After the mortises are cut and the ‘of each tenon with rails are glued up, they can be achive trimmed to final width (4) ‘The next step is to cut 1/4’Yong tenons on the ends of each rail, see detail ‘a’ above. But trying to cut tenons on pieces this long is a little tricky. So to help support the rails, I used an “outrigger” alongside my table saw and a hold down clamped to my miter gauge fence (see Shop Notes on page 19). like to cut tenons with a dado blade, using my rip fence as a stop to ‘control the length of the tenon. The ‘only problem I have found with this method is that sometimes the four shoulders of the tenon wind up “stepped” or uneven, To prevent this, Lintentionally cut stepped shoulders by sliding the workpiece about 4s! avway from the rip fence when cutting, the fop and bottom shoulders of the tenon. Then later Icome back witha chisel and trim these shoulders 50 they're ush, see photo in margin, ‘RG. Once the tenons were cut, I Iaid outthe arcs on the upper rails see Fig. 11, To draw the arcs, I used a piece of thick hardboard asa flex ible curve. And tohold the hardboard inplace, tack a small brad in the cen- 10 Woodlsmith No. 108‘er ofthe rail onthe waste side of the curve and clamp a couple of wood blocks at each end ofthe rail, To cut the arc, Iused a band saw, ‘making sure to cut on the waste side of the layout line. And a well-sharp- ened spokeshave made quick work ‘ofremoving the saw marks left behind by the band saw, see Fig. 12. (For ‘more on using a spokeshave, see ‘Talking Shop on page 27,) ‘HaneeRS.To add a finishing touch totheares,routa " chamfer to each edge, see Figs. 13 and 13a. Then chamfer the top edges of the lower rails to match, see Fig. 13b STRETCHER. Before assembling the rails and posts, there's one more part tobemade. To give the headboard a litle more stability, a stretcher (E) isadded below the rails, see drawing. Because the stretcher will be con- ccealed by the mattress and box spring, I didn’t worry about making itthe same thickness asthe rails I's just a piece of 1'Aa-thick stock with 1#4Jong tenons cut on each end, see detail’ in drawing on page 10. assum, After cutting tenons onthe ends of the stretcher, I was ready to start assembling all the pieces, But ran into a slight problem. I discov- ered that I didn'thave enough clamps Jong enough to span the entire width of the headboard and footboard. Sol improvised. [used halfa dozen smaller clamps, some clamping boards, and a couple of scrap blocks cut to fit down through the rail mor- tises, see Fig. 4, EDGING. After gluing up the head- board and footboard, the next steps to add edging (F)tothe bottom ofthe _and long enough to fit between the lowerrails sce Fig. 15 and drawing on _postsofthe headboard and footboard, page 10. This edging servestwo pur-_see Fig. 15. A groove cut along the poses. First, it covers the exposed length of the edging allows itto fit ends of the mortises. Second, itpre- smug over the lowers, see Fig. 15a. vents the slats from sliding down all Before attaching the edging, rout the way through the mortises ced 4" chamifers on all four edges. ‘Theedgingisnothing morethana ‘Then glue and clamp the edging to piece of1'Aathickstock,cut2*'wide the bottom rails. Woodsmith nSlats With the posts and rails glued up, the next steps to add the slats (G), see Arawing aright. Since the slats don't require tenons on the ends, is sim- ply a matter of cutting them to fit in the mortises in the rails, UTTOLENGTH. The first step in make ing the slats sto cut them to length. ‘The slats fit all the way through the mortises in the rails and are cut to fit 14! below the top of the upper ra ‘To determine the length ofthe slats, Islipped a thin, narrow piece of scrap down through the mortises and mea- sured the distance to the top of the rail Then [cut all the slats 14" short- erthan this measurement out of%!- thick stock. (Mine were 20% long.) ‘The next step is to rip the slats to finished width, see Fig. 16. This should match the width ofthe mor- tisesin the rails ("in my case), Safety note: Since the slats are so narrow, I used a push block to safely fed them past the saw blade, see Fig. 16. THIGHS, Now all that’s left is to reduce the slats to the proper thick- ness to it in the mortises. (My slats ended up "thick, Todo this, Istart- cd by resawing all the slats so that they were slightly thicker than the mortises Cf, see Fig. 17. Again, I used apush block for safety reasons. ‘When al the slats were resawn, I ‘was able to sneak up on the final thick- ness fora perfect fin the mortises. {made my slats 'f" thick) A thick. ness planer isthe easiest way to do this Butifyou don'thave one ofthese tools, another way is to use a drill press setup with afence and a large drum sander, see box below. 2 DRUM SANDER THICKNESS PLANER Porcine die ds ‘(Make sure to feed the slats in the ‘opposite direction ofthe rotation of. the drum, see detail’) Also, you'll get better results if [- ‘you don'ttry to sand the slats down Bic. Just clamp a fence to your to finished thickness na single pass. drill press table near the drum Instead, make three or four passes, ‘sander, Then feed the slats through moving the fence a little closer to the sander one at a time, pushing the drum each time so you can “sneak up” on the final thickness. INSERTING THE SLATS. Once you've fin ished sanding all the slats, they can be inserted in the headboard and foot board. I didn't use any glue on the slats — they'll be held in place between the lowerrailedging and the Woodsmith cap that’s added later. Most of the slats slipped right into place without any trouble. But fora few ofthe more stubborn slats, used a mallet and a thin piece of scrap wood to gently tap the slats home, see Fig. 18, No. 108Cap Allthat remains to complete both the headboard and footboard is to. add a two piece cap, see drawing at left. The cap consists of a cove molding and a top with a bullnose edge profile. ‘COVE MOLDING. The two cove mold- ings (H) are pieces of %4"-thick stock that are cut to finished size. 1 made my cove molding pieces 4°4" wide and 6974" long. Then I routed a 1" cove around all four bottom edges of each piece, see Fig. 19. To complete the cove molding, al that's leftis to drill a couple of 14'-dia. holes fora pair of alignment pins, see Fig. 20. To drill these holes, I cen- tered the cove moldings on the length and width of the head and footboards and clamped them in place. Then I drilled holes through the molding pieces 14" deep into the posts. T0® The two tops (1) arealso pieces of §4''thick stock (644" x 71"). Both the top and bottom edges of the top are rounded over to create a bullnose profile. First I rounded over the bot- tom edges with a 14" roundover bit. ‘Then for the top edges, Lused a 14" roundover bit, but I set it only 546" deep, see Figs. 22 and 22a. Like the cove molding, the top also ‘has holes for the alignment pins, but the procedure for drilling them isa bit different. Start by laying the top face down on your workbench, Then place the cove molding centered on top of ‘the top piece, also top face down. Now clamp the two pieces down and use cove molding and top to the bed, I _ pieces aligned during the glue-up. the holes in the cove molding as cut four 1"4¢!Jong alignment pins To attach the caps, glue the cove ‘guides for drilling two ¥4"deep holes _ from a piece of f"-dia. dowel stock. moldings to the head and footboard. in the top piece, see Fig. 23. ‘Then I glued them into the holes in Finally, glue the tops down to the cove ‘ASSEMBLY. Before assembling the _ the posts. The pins keep the cap _ moldings, see Figs. 24 and 24a.4 Side Rails Once the head and footboard are complete, all that's left is to connec them with a pair of side rails (J). These are just a couple of boards cut to size from 1'j¢"thick stock, see drawingatright. Then the ‘two outside edges are cham- fered, see detail ‘a’. ‘The side rails are attached to the bed posts with bed rail fasten- ers. These fasteners are mortised into the ends of each rail and connect with the hardware that was installed ear- lier in the bed posts. (See Shop Notes on page 18 for details on installing the bed rail fasteners.) Once the fasteners are fitted into the mortises, they're held in place with woodscrews. But I was worried about the screws holding, since they're driven into end grain. So I inserted '4"-dia. cross dowels from the bottom edges of the side rails to give the screws something to “bite” into, see detail b’. ‘EATS. Before attaching the side rails to the bed, l added a cleat (K) to each ple pieces of hardwood that are strength, Ladded five mattress slats MATTRESS SLATS. ‘The side rails and by thebox spring, any hardwood will rail. These cleats provide a supportfor cleats support the mattress and box work. The slats aren't fastened to the thematttress slats. They'rejustacou- spring of the bed. But for additional bed — they just siton the cleats, ‘iusH, Finally, to finish the bed 1 attached to the side rails with glue (L). Iused cherry for the mattress wiped on three coats of an ol finish, and screws, see details ‘a’ and’c’, slats, but since they'll be concealed sanding lightly between coats. 0 MATERIALS Heap/FoorsoaRD A Headbd. Posts(2) 3x3 43% B Footbd. Posts(2) -3x3- 28% © Upper Rails (2) Wx 5 ((gh)- 64 D Lower Rails 2) Wax 5 (rgh,)- 64 E Stretcher (1) Wo x4} F lw Rall Edgings @) 1%6x2-61 G Slats (34) Wx2-20% H Cove Moldings (2) 34x 4% - 697% 1 Tops (2) AxSM-71 Swe Rats J Side Rails (2) 1Ye x 516-80 K Cleats @) Me x34 - 20 L Mattress Slats 5) 34x34 - 6254 SUPPLIES + (4) 4" Bed Rail Fasteners + (38) #8 x 118 Fh woodscrews + (1) "dia, dowel 36” long (for alignment pins and cross dowels) CUTTING DIAGRAM he x7" 84° Cherry @ boards @ 5.1 Bd. Ft 0a.) ‘he x 15" B4" Cherry (2 boards @ 4.7 Bd. Fe. Tix = Gd boards @ 38d. Fe ea) Siex 6° - 72" Cherry (4 boards @ 3 Bd. Ft 63.) ex 672 boards @-3 Bd Fe 4iex6" 72" Cherry (2 boards @ 38d. Ft e2) 4x4" 72" Cherty (5 boards @ 280. Fea) 3x5" 8" Spleen) ‘Woodlsmith No. 108WOODWORKING TECHNIQUE ROUTING THROUGH MORTISES How do you make a through mortise in a workpiece? One answer is to start with two separate pieces and rout half a mortise in each one. cherry bed, all T could think of was having to chop outall those mortises forthe slain the head and footboard. But Ted came up with an unusual technique that really speeds up the process, Instead of cutting tradition- ‘al mortises in a solid rail, we used a ‘special jg to rout a series of shallow dadoes in a pair of boards. Then the boards are laminated with the dadoes facing each other. What you end up with is arail wth a completed row of through mortises, YOUT. There's a total of eight rail pieces in the bed (two for each rail). Fig. 1 and detail ‘a’. (The 3" at each the dadoes on the other boards. But ButIstarted by laying outthedadoes end allows foratenon plusthe space _ since the dadoesare cut in pairs, you ‘on just one board. To do this, clamp between the slats and the bed post.) only need to draw layout lines on half a tape measure to the board. Then To keep the dado spacing identi- the boards, So just transfer the lines starting 3"from either end, mark out cal inallthe rails, used this piece as _ from the first board to three others, 2.wide dadoes spaced 1'4" apart, see _aguide or“storysstick”forlaying out see drawing below. ‘Starting 2 from end of rll, Ty out 2 wide mortises 1" apart Transfer layout ines to three other ra boards No. 108 Woodsmith 6With all the dadoes laid out, the next step is to rout them. The trick here is to keep the router inside the layout ines. To do this, [used ajig that “corrals” my router and prevents it from cutting beyond the area marked out for each dado, ‘MAKING THEI. To build the ig, Istart- ed with an 1114" 14"base made out of 9A!thick material, see drawing at right. (used MDE, but plywood or solid wood will also work) To square the jig with the edge of the workpiece, I glued a2'-wide edge guide to one end. Note: This guide should be exactly the same thickness, as your rail pieces ("in my case). Next, cuta couple of 2" wide strips forthe fences toguidethe router. The important thing isto attach the first fence at a perfect right angle to the edge guide. To do this, [used a square to position the fence, clamped it in place, and then drilled a couple of shank holes, see Fig 2. attached the fence with glue and woodscrews. ‘The second fence must also be square to the edge guide, but this time I used a different approach. To make sure the fences are parallel, 1 used a spacer to position the second fence, see Fig. 3. Butsince the width ‘of the dadoes will be determined by the distance between the fences, the ‘width of the spacer is critical. ‘To find the spacer's width, simply subtract the diameter of your router bit (used a" straight bit) from the fst fitness Secs Sex 2H" —~——aarrage bole diameter of your router base (6" in my case). Then add 2" for the width of the dado. (Tended up needing a Tift-wide spacer) After cutting the spacer, use it to position the second fence while attaching it to the jig. Then to allow thefences to be tightened down over therrail pieces, ladded carriage bolts and wing nuts at the ends of each Dri counterboe for 2 ‘carriage bolts, see detail 'a" [eS Bacto 16 ‘Woodsmith No. 108fence. (You'll need to drill a hole and counterbore for each carriage bolt.) ‘ROUT NOTCH. In order to position the Jig propery, youllneed toroutanotch in the edge guide, see Fig. 4. This notch is used as a reference to line up the jg with the layout lines. To rout the alignment notch, just slip a scrap piece of wood in the jig against the guide and tighten down the wing nuts. Then set your router bit to cut a dado equal to half the desired thickness of the completed mortises (1/(" in this case). Now rout adado in both the scrap and the edge. auide of the jg, see Fig. 4. USING THE 116. Once the jig is com- pleted, routing the dadoes is a snap. ‘Simply slide the jig over the first pair ‘of rails and clamp the rails together and then down to your workbench. Note: To support the rails while they're in the jg, [placed a couple of riser blocks underneath them at the ends, see Fig. 5. Now label each rail piece so you can keep them togeth- er when it comes time for assembly. ‘Torout the first pair of dadoes, align the notch with the first set of layout lines and tighten down the wing nuts. ‘Since the bit I used was only" wide, T routed each dado in three passes, see Fig. 5. And because the bitis not always centered in the base of the router, make sure to hold the router in the same relative position for each pass. (In other words, don'trotate the router between passes) After you rout the first dado, just loosen the wing nuts, move the jig down to the next set of layout lines, and repeat the process. When you've routed all the dadoes, do the same with the other three ral pairs. ‘GUE-UP, The second part of the process is gluing the rail halves together, see Fig. 6. There's just a couple of points to keep in mind here. First, I wanted to avoid having to ‘RST Push router forward ‘ath base agains let fence “SECOND: Pul router back ‘with base aganst right fence ‘THIRD: Clean up waste ‘along center of mortise clean up a lot of glue squeeze-out inside the mortises, So I applied the ‘glue sparingly, and I keptitaway from. the edges of the dadoes. ‘Second, [wanted to make sure the dadoes remained lined up while clamping the pieces together. So 1 ‘made a couple spacer blocks to fit in the mortises, see Fig. 7. Then Iran a thin piece of wood through each mor- tise to remove any glue, see Fig. Za, Finally, after the glue was dry, 1 removed the clamps and cut about a 14" off each edge of the rails to trim them to finished width (434". No. 108 WTips FROM (Ota s oy SHOP NOTES Bed Rail Fasteners ‘Toholdthesiderailstothe forthisbed, [chose 4"fas- the tenon plate, see Step. _ along the layout lines. posts on the bed, Ineeded teners (424" actual size). ‘The second set ofholes When attaching the fas- astrongknock} fF t pr el aye be a2 Aprons & Fixed Shelf ‘Now that the sides of the bookcase are complete, they ean be connected atthe bottom and top. I used two sim- ple aprons at the bottom and a fixed shelf at the top, see drawing at right. ‘APRONS. I started by working on the front and back aprons (B), see drawing at right. The only difference betvween these 4" wide (all) pieces isthat the top edge of the front apron isbeveled 15%, see detail ‘a’. Later, this bevel will give the lower shelf enough clearance when it’s tilted back, refer to detail ‘a’ at the top of page 23. FIXED SHELF. With the aprons at the bottom complete, Ladded a fixed shelf to connect the sides at the top, see drawing. Like the adjustable shelves added later, this shelf is made up of two pieces: a shelf and a back. Unlike the other shelves, the front edge of this one is curved. To make the fixed shelf (C), start out with a %4"-thick panel that’s 10" wide and cut to the same length as the aprons (30%4"), see drawing. ‘Once the panelis glued up, the only thing you need to dois shape its front edge. This time, instead oflaying out agrid like I did with the sides, [drew the curve using a simple bow, see photo below. (The shelf is 934" wide at the center and 8%4" at the ends.) When the curve is laid out, I roughed it out with the band saw, ‘sanded it to the line, and then routed the same bullnose profile that I rout- ed earlier on the edges of the side panels, see detail ‘b’. Ox BAK, With the fixe shelf com- plete, | added a back to act as a stop and to prevent the shelf from sagging. ‘The fixed back (D)is 414" wide and ‘matches the length of the shelf 014"). ‘b To lay out the curve om the fed shelf, I made a simple bow with -a scrap piece and some string. ‘The first bit of work to do on the dackiscuta groove for attaching itto the fixed shelf, see detail ’b’ above. This groove is °" deep and is locat- ‘edl?4" down from the back’s top edge. ‘After the grooves cut, al thatsleft istoroutthe bullnose profile along the top edge, see detail b’Then the fixed back can be glued to the shelf. ‘ASE ASSEMBLY, Now the case is ready to be screwed together, see Fig. 4. ‘The easiest way to do thisis with the bookcase lying on its back — both ‘Woodsmith the fixed shelfand the back apron are flush with the backs ofthe sides. The tricky partis holding the front apron inpposition. To do this, [cut two spac- ers (13!4" Tong) and stood them up at the sides of the case, see Fig, PLUGS. To hide the screws, I used “dome top” plugs, see Fig. 4a, But instead of adding them now, I waited untilafter the finish had been applied, ‘This way, I could disassemble the case when finishing and lay each piece flat on the bench, No. 108Adjustable Shelves Allthats left now is to add the three adjustable shelves, see drawing at right. Except for their widths, they're all identical. And like the fixed shelf on top, each adjustable shelf has a back to prevent it from sagging. But the backs on the adjustable shelves extend higher than the back on the fixed shelf, see detail‘ atright, This way, the books won't fll out when the shelves are tilted. sneivis. To make the upper (E), ‘middle (P), and lower shelves (G), Istarted by gluing up three %4-thick panels and then ripped each to fin- ished width, see drawing. Then to allow room forthe L-shaped shelfsup- ports, Icut the shelves 1" shorter than the opening ofthe case, referto Fig. 5a, (My shelves were 30!("Tong) Each shelfrests on four supports Butin the front of each shelf, cut a shallow groove in the bottom face just ‘wide enough (4) to hold the sup- ports, see detail’. ‘Now to complete the shelves, rout ‘each front edge with the same bull- nose profile, see det SHELF BACKS, With the shelves com- plete, ut the three shelf backs (H) tosize, see drawing. These pieces are all 414" wide (tall) and match the length of the shelves (30'4") Next, to join the backs to the shelves, Icut a %'-deep groove near the bottom edge of each back piece, see detail'd’. Then before gluing the backs to the shelves, I routed the same bullnose profile on the top edge ofeach back, refer to detail‘. FINISH, After the shelves and backs have been glued together, the book: case can be finished. To do this, 1 unscrewed the case so I could lay No. 108 each piece flat, Then I applied a few coats of a wipe-on finish. ‘Once the las coatof finish was dry, Tserewed the case back together and plugged the screw holes, see Fig 4a ‘on page 2. (You'll want to finish the plugs frst) But to avoid tapping the plugin too far, Fused a simple depth sauge, see the photo below. SECURE SHELVES. Finally, each shelf can be ded to the case. To do this, simply insert the shelf supports and setthe shelf on top, making sure the Woodsmith front supports “seated” in the groove under the front edge, see Fig, 5. ‘Then to make sure litle hands can't ‘knock a shelfloose when it’ tilted, 1 screwed the front supports to each shelf, see Figs. 5 and 5a. ‘Screwing the front support to the shelf also makes it easier when you ‘want to adjust the shelves later Since the shelf now pivots in the front, all you'll need to do is raise the back of the shel, reposition the support, and then drop the shelf back down. ‘A To inset the dome-shaped plugs, 1 used a piece ofserap with a Yh." deep dado cut init.This bareltrim- mer squares the ends of the blanks to the barrels, so the pen mechanism will fic together without any gaps. m4 DVEos PROJECT WOOD PENS Got a few small scraps, a drill press, and an hour? That’s all it takes to turn out one of these elegant little pens. ing one who appreciates a beau- tiful piece of wood (no matter what the size), Im always hanging on to scraps, some no bigger than my fin- ‘ger. But until recently, I didn't know What to do with these scraps except “squirref” them away in a drawer. ‘Then Iran across the perfect pro- ject: wood pens. Wood pens dont take much time or material. And tts great chance to try your hand atalitleturn- ing — even ifyou dontt have alate. 1 turned all the pens inthis issue on drill press with a simple shop made jig, see page 26 Note: Fora listofitems you'll need, see the box on page 25. For sources, of pen-making supplies, see page 35. PREPARE BLANKS, The frst taskto mak ing a penis to prepare the blanks for turning, see Steps 13. This involves cutting the wood blanks to size and adalng the brass barrels that will hold the pen mechanism, SQUARE ENDS. There's nothing com- plicated here, But you do want to be careful when drilling the 7mm holes for the barrels. These holes are cen- tered on the ends of the blanks and run their full lengths, see Step 2. ‘What's important is that the holes ‘are square to the ends of the blanks, Otherwise, you'll end up with tiny ‘gaps when the pen is put together. SETUP. To get these holes as accurate as possible, Imade a fence with a shal- low dado cutin one face, see Step 2 ‘This fence also speeds up the process somewhat. Onceiit's clamped in pos tion, you won't have to worry about centering the bit for each blank. DRIL BIT, But besides the fence, 1 also used a dill bit designed specifi- cally to drill into end grain. (I didn't have a 7mm bit and needed to buy ‘one anyway.) What's different about thisbitis thatthe point is steeper and the flutes are wider to remove the chips more quickly. SUPER GLUE. To glue inthe barrels, Brass pen ‘bare! nore: curblanks Sen To begin, cut two wood blanks slightly longer than the barrels. Then mark the centers on the ends. With the blanks cut to size, the next step is to dil a 7mm hole through the blank to hold the barrel Woodsmith ‘Now glue the bare inthe blank. Then trim of sand the blanks to length, keeping the ends square. No. 108applied quick-set glue to the barrels, see Step 3, But don't use the kind that sets up instantly — you need a litle bit of time to push the barrel inside the blank so it’s sh with one end. BARREL TRIMMER. If you don't mind spending a litle more money, a bar- rel trimmer does a neater job than sandpaper when it comes to squar- ing up the ends of the blanks, see ‘margin photo on page 24. This trim- ‘mer hasa shaft that fits inside the bar- relafter it's glued in place, see Step 3 As you twistt, the cutters scrape the end ofthe blank square to the barrel, TURN BLANKS, After the blanks are trimmed to the right length, it's time to turn the blanks down to size, see Steps 46. (used a spindle gouge.) ‘The blanks are mounted on a steel mandrel with three bushings that match the finished diameter of the pen tip, center ring, and cap. STRAIGHT SIDES. Since I turned the blanks with the drill press, they're held upright rather than horizontal With this orientation, i’salitle tricky to tell if you're turning the blanks straight. So you have to tlt your head ‘occasionally to check your progress. ‘The goal here is to rough out the blanks until there's a slight shoulder atthe bushings, see detail‘a'in Step 5. The sides should be straight or bowed out just slightly. SANDING BOARD. Now to keep the blanks straight while reducing them to their final diameter, used 150rit sandpaper mounted to a board, see Step 6. Then when the blanks were lose to final size (used acalipers to check my progress), I set the board aside and did the finish sanding by hhand, working my way up to 600-grit. FINISH & ADD MECHANISM. All that’ left now is to apply the finish and then press the pen mechanism into the barrels, see Steps 7 and 8 ‘The nice thing about finishing the blanks is that you can do it whil they're turning on the drillpress. And though you can apply almost any fin ish there are special waxes and turn- ing finishes available. ‘When you add the mechanism, the blanks ean be oriented in any direc- tion. And you may find that one end ‘ofeach blanks justahairlarger than the other. I used my calipers to find the end closestin diameter to the cen- terring. This produces the smoothest fit since the center ring isthe part of the pen you feel the most. \_fenth Flank With the blanks secured to the ‘mance! (Gee margin) mount it to the dhl press and turning ji. ‘ex. tum the blanks sigh ger than the bushings. Blanks can be straight or bowed sightly, see detail. finish sand the blanks to 600-grt ‘Reduce the speed and apply a finish No. 108 To add the pen mechanism, use a wood vise, holding the pieces Straight as they/re pressed together. Woodsmith ‘Now the final shaping can be done with 150-grit sandpaper ‘mounted to a board. +8" x5" ~5° (igh) Wood Blank Pen Mechanism Kit + 7mm Twist or Brad Point Drill Bit + Quick-set or Instant Glue Turning Jig (see page 26) or Lathe* + Mandrel w/Bushings* + Spindle Gouge + Vise with Wood laws + Barrel Trimmer (Optional) “Totum pens with lathe, you need a lve center and a mandel with 2 Morse taper, EyTips FROM Our SHOP TALKING SHOP Turning Jig The guys in the shop making plansto turn some looked a bit puzzled when pens of their own, Ishowed upwiththisturn- WOW IT WoRKS. The ing ig, see photo. But this secret to this jg is the bare-bones jig realy does “live center” that holds thejob. Infact afterseeing the mandrel, This is it work, they all got busy _ simply a common 1". dia, dowel center that sits ina bearing, see Fig. 1. ‘As the drill press spins the mandrel, the dowel cen- terhelps keep the mandrel straight, without creating a Inner elameter of And to supportandguide | oe" ameter of the gouge as the wood is turned, I added a tool rest made from a piece of ¥4!- for the steel rod. CONSTRUCTION. To build toone end to provi base cut from 1%".thick _ when turning. deep hole for the bearing mount the pen bl to spin, and finally, a hole in the drill pres pO Uy Tmapushover whenit comes tojigs. So when I saw this one for making pens on a router table, just had to try it, ‘The Tompkins Turner is a turning mandrel on wheels, see photo, The mandrel is a rod threaded ateach end. The att bushings are plastic. And to secure the blanks andlift them off wood is removed by making mul the able, there areapair ofwheels tiple passes over a straight bit. thatscrewonto cach endoftherod. Each passis made from right to ‘Theprocedure issimple enough. left, and the jig is rotated slightly ‘The blanks are prepared just like between passes. To make sure you. youdowhen turningthem, Butthe don't run the jg into the bit, there Woodsmith lot of fiction. bearing should match dowel center Note: I drill speed at 2000 RPM.) dia. steel rod. drilled these holes closer Now position the jig so idemore the dowel center fits in the thejig, Istarted out witha clearance for the gouge dimple on the tail end of the mandrel and clamp the jig stock, see Figs. land 1a. With the holes drilled, securely to the table, Then I drilled three thehardwareis pressedin _Itlltake abitto figure out holes aclearance holefor place (Ididnituse any glue), the best way to hold the the dowel center, a 4". GSETUP. Tosetup thejig, tool Just play with its angle lanks on and position, and you'll thatallowsthedowelcenter the mandrel and chuck it _ soon ind something you're Get the comfortable with. are a couple stop blocks that are attached to the table. Note: The instructions rec. ‘ommend using a ¥4" straight bit with a cutter across the end. (Lused an ordinary straight it, and it seemed to work fine.) Thad no problems with the ‘Tompkins Turner and was sur- prised at how smooth the blanks ended up. Still, sanding and finish- ing are more work since the blanks aren't spinning. And I still think its ‘more fun to watch a pen take shape while turning, rather than routing, No. 108Spokeshaves While many hand tools _hasalotto do with aspoke- have been replaced with shave’s ability to handle modern versions that plug curves. Forsmoothing con- in,there'ssillno better way ver curves, a flatsoled to smooth a long, curved, shave works best. But for orirregular edge than with — the concave arc on the bed a spokeshave. rails (Gee page 11), lused a ‘There's not really much — spokeshave with a curved toaspokeshave, see Fig 1. _ sole, see photo. Basically i’sjustablade it’ SHAVINGS, As the name ted into a small body with implies, spokeshaves are a couple of handles. The designed to lightly shave y blade is held in place by athe wood, nothog offlarge ey capiron. Acoupleofadjust- piecesatatime. To do this, Iw ing screws are used to seta spokeshave needs to be thedepth ofthe blade. properly tuned and adjust-_ make sure that your work blade is fixed. But with a ‘The key to the spoke- ed (Gee box below). piece is firmly clamped to spokeshave, you control shaveisitsbottom,orsole. Using the adjusting your bench or ina vise. the angle by iting the tool ‘The sole of a spokeshave screws, move the blade for- This allows you to concen- forward or backward. is much smaller than that ward until itjust barely trateallyourefforts onthe Finding the right angle typically found on most peeks out from the throat _spokeshave andnoton try. _takesalitle experimenting, hand planes. Thisallowsit opening. (finditeasier to ingto hold your workpiece. As you push the spoke- to ride smoothly over the dothisbyfeeling the blade USING A SPOKESHAVE. A. shave forward, try pivoting irregulartiesinthesurface rather than looking atit) _ spokeshave can be used your wrists until the blade ofa curved workpiece ‘Then before you start with either a push or pull _ starts to take a crisp shay- ‘Theshapeofthesolealso using the spokeshave, stroke. [find thatThavebet- ing off the wood. Pretty ter control when pushing soon, youl geta “fee!” for the tool. But whether you how the blade cuts. push or pull the shave, i's SKEWANGIE. To. make important to work in the working with aspokeshave op iron direction of the grain to even easier, [hold the tool ery | avoid tearout slightly cocked to one side, The secret to using a see photo above. Thiseffec spokeshave is to hold itat tively lowers the cutting the properangle to produce angle ofthe blade, allowing a nice, clean cut, With a _ittostice nto the wood with hand plane, the angle ofthe less resistance. ‘CROSS SECTION Blade-locking screw = Cap iron Adjustment File throat. Like mosthand tools,a brand Flatten cap iron. Next, flaten the under- Adjust blade. After reassembling the ‘new spokeshave needs to be tuned up side of the cap iron so that it also con- _spokeshave, use the adjusting knobs to before it can be used Start by dsassem- tacts the blade along its entre width. advance the blade unt tjust shaft pro- ‘ling the spokeshave. Then usea small fle This helps to ensure that the ble wil trudes from the throat opening. Check to tosmooth te throat opening so the blade be held fimly in lace to eliminate ‘chat. makesure thatthe edge ofthe blade is par- sits flat all the way across. ter or skidding across the workpiece. alle! withthe throat opening No. 108 Woodsmith 2MANTEL CLOCK You expect a large project to attract a lot of attention. But sometimes, a small weekend project, like this mantel clock, can surprise you. T= no doubt about it — what srabs your attention right away is the wood. Its curly maple. This fig- ured wood is so dramatic that you ‘might be inclined to think “the wood ‘makes the clock.” But while I appre- ciate the beauty of the curly maple, there are a couple other reasons why like this clock as much as I do. DESIGN. First of all, there’s the design. This mantel clock has a tra- ditional look to it Its clean lines and simple molding would look great no ‘matter what wood you used. CONSTRUCTION, The other reason I like this clockisn'teasy to see. In fact, ‘you might miss it altogether, ifyou ‘weren't looking fort In spite ofits elegance, there's nothing very difficult about building this clock. Everything is held together with simple oin- ery,and ithouses.a quartz ‘movernent, which is readi- ly available and easy to install. (For ‘sources, see page 35.) Lock BODY ‘The body ofthis clock is quit simple. It starts out as an H-shaped frame that’s sandwiched between layer of molding and a top and bottom. SIDES. [began work on the body by ‘cutting the two sides (A) to size from Ypithick stock, see drawing below. With the sides cut, next [euta%4"- wide groove 14! deep in each side, ‘Then I glued two 14" x34" stops (B) ineach groove, see drawing and detail ‘al below. The lower stop is fora draw- ex. The upper stop will position both. ‘the clock face and a face frame. Note that there's a ¥é"-wide gap between the upper and lower stops, see detal'b’Thisis fora divider that’s added later, refer to drawing on page 29. (One easy way to create this gap is to use a ¥f!thick scrap piece as a No. 108‘temporary spacer between the stops) ‘Tocomplete the sides, the last step istogluea drawer guide (C) behind each lower stop, see detal'b’on page 28. These guides ft flush with the out- sie face ofthe lower stop and should stop 1A" short of the back edges of the sides to allow for a plywood back. ivipers. Next, to create the H- shaped frame, I connected the two sides witha divider (D), see drawing atright. This piece is sized soit's flush ‘with the sides in front and the draw- cer guides in back, see detail’ aright. ‘The trick to gluing the divider and sidesis to keep the assembly square. ‘So I used a spacer that matched the length of the divider, see Fig. 1. TOP & BOTTOM. With these pieces assembled, ladded a layer of molding toeach end, see drawing above. And then added the top and botiom pieces. First, Icut two cove molding (B) pieces to size from %4)thick stock, see drawing. These pieces are cut to create a 4" lip at the sides and front. (Mine were 374" x 934!) ‘To shape the molding, Irouted the ends nd front with a4" cove bit, see Fig. 2. Then I screwed them to the sides flush with the back, see Fig. 3. Now with the cove molding in place, added !4"-thick top and bot- ‘tom (F) pieces, see drawing. These overhang the cove molding 34" on the front and sides, see Fig. 4a. But there is no profile routed on their edges. And since I didn't want screws show= ing, they're simply glued in place.Frame ‘Now that the basic body of the clock is complete, I turned my attention to the frame that holds the glass, see drawing at right. This is a simple mitered frame that fits the opening above the divider and stands a little proud of the sides (4), FRAME PiEcES. To begin, I ripped the frame pieces (G) to width (4) from \pthick stock, see drawing at right, But before mitering these pieces to final length, there's a little shaping that needs to be done on the router. First, I routed a }4" roundover along both outside edges of each frame piece, see detail‘ at right. Next, to hold the 14"thick glass and the #4"thick glass stops, I rout eda rabbet along the inside edge of each piece, see detail ‘b’ at right. Note: Because this rabbet is 34"deep, I'd recommend routing itin two passes. When the rabbet is routed, the frame pieces can be mitered to size, see drawing. Here, you want a snug fit, so after mitering one end of each, Tut each piece to length soit fit the opening exactly. ASSEMBLY. Now the frame can be glued together. But don’t glue it into the body at this point. It will be east- er to make and fit the glass stops before the frame is in place. ‘GASS STOPS. The glass stops (H) are simply 14"-thick quarter round strips, see drawing above. But mak- NOTE: Gass and Stops are added ‘fer staining Beomplete ing these strips can be dangerous. Because they're so small, they can .gethung upin the insert plate on the table saw, and there's potential for Kickback. So I started with oversize Dlanks and used a zero clearance OUT Vat a tte ass stop Gee box below) exe x80" gfoss {nsertin the table saw, see box below. ‘With the stops routed, they can be mitered to fitthe rabbetin the frame. But [didn't glue the frame or tack in the stops quite yet. Instead, I waited until fier the clock had been stained. 30 No. 108Movement Support At this point, the body of the clock is almost complete. All that’s left is to ‘mount the movement and add a back. ‘MOVEMENT SUPPORT. To mount the movement, I took a slightly unusual approach. The clock face and quartz movement are attached to a move- ‘ment support that simply slides in the opening in the back, see drawing. ‘This way, if you ever need to get at the hands in front, all you have to do is slide the movement support out through the back of the clock body. FRONT. To make the movement sup- port, I cuta support front (I) from ‘thick plywood, see Fig. 5. The size of this piece depends on the opening inside the clock. I cut my front to fit the opening exactly ("x74"), and then trimmed it slightly so it would slide in without too much trouble. ‘The only thing that needs to be done to this front piece is to drill a "dia. hole in the center. Thisis for ‘mounting the quartz movement, refer to detail ‘a’ above right. ‘SIDES. Next, I cut two support sides @), see Fig. 5. These match the height of the front. But more importantly, their widths put them flush with the back of the divider when the support is slid inside the clock. (Mine were 2" wide, But this may vary depending ‘on the thickness of your clock face.) ‘When the sides are glued to the front, the movement supportis com- plete, But I waited to add the quartz ‘movement until ater the clock had been finished. At that point, adding the movementisjusta matter of feed- ingiits post through the front and the clock face and securing them with a rut, see detail ‘a! above. Then the ‘hands can be attached to the post. BAG. The last piece that needs to be added to the clock body is a back G), see drawing below. This thick plywood pieces cut to fitthe opening in back. And to make it easy to remove, I drilled a small finger hole. ‘Then to hold the back in place, I used brass turn buttons that are ‘screwed to the back of the sides. ‘To complete the body ofthe clock, all that’s leftto add are four’ia felt pads, see drawing below. But again, waited to do this until after building the drawer and finishing the clock.Drawer Atthis point, the only thing lft toadd fsb Gln is a drawer, see drawing. Like the stether pars frame on the clock, this draver stands @ slightly proud (14"), see detail ‘b. Another thing to note is that this drawer is shallow, so there won't be ‘much binding as it’s slid in and out Because ofthis, I built the draw- certo fitthe opening exactly. Then sanded it untilit slid smoothly. FRONT. I started by cutting the ip'-thick front (L) to fit the opening, see drawing. ‘Next, to hold the '/-thick sides, Icuttwo ¥f"-deep dadoes ‘on the back face of the front, see detal‘a. (These are inset so the sides fit inside the clock.) Then after the dadoes were cut, Irouted a4" round- ‘over on the front’s outside edges. SIDES & BACK. Now, the 14)-thick sides (M) and back (N) can be cut tosize, see drawing. To hold a *4"-thick plywood bot- tom, Iadded a 4’-deep groove in all the pieces, see detail D: Butyou don't ‘want this groove visible on the ends ofthe drawer front, soto prevent this, rout a stopped groove between the dadoes, see detail‘c. highlighted the curly maple with a ‘Now the bottom (0) an becutto _waterbase aniline dye and applied a size, and the drawer can be glued _wipeon finish, see page 35. together. (The back simply butts _ Now, all that’s let to complete the between the sides, see detail'a:) __draweristoadd a "dia. brass knob FINISH. Then to finish the clock, I to the front. | MATERIALS CUTTING DIAGRAM | | { Clock Bony ir x= 46" Maple (15 9. Ft) A Sides 2) Vix 3% B Stops (2) Yx%- 10 19h. Fa te D Divider (1), x3-7% zt 1. E Cove Molding (2) 34x376-9% ae F Top/Bottom (2) %x4-10 G Frame Pieces (4) %4x7%-8 rah. H Glass Stops (2) %&x2-7 19h. Movement SuproRT ‘Ap neede: | 1) Support Front (1) % ply. - 74x 7% Be te Boca 4. Support Sides (2) %x2- 7% it | K Back (1) Yaply.- Thx Drawer L Front (1) WxI%-T + (@)#6.x 1%" Fh Woodscrews + (1 pr) 244-Long “Terry” Clock Hands ‘M Sides (2) Wx 1% - Dh 1) Glass (616"x 614) Turnbuckles with Screws ww) IN Back (1) + (1) Quartz Clock Movement Studded Brass Knob © Bottom (1) Ya ply. - Mex 6% | |» (1) 718% x TI" Clack Face. + (@) dia. Felt Pads 32 ‘Woodsmith, No. 108WOODWORKING MA WuS TENE Meeszcsetessin nae ego. Most of the time, I use it because it’s hard and durable. But there can be a dramatic side to maple, too. Sometimes, it has such striking figure that it can turn a fairly ordinary. TYPES OF FIGURE. Figured maple occurs in several different species abnormal growth due to adverse con- ditions, (though the exact caus rt always known for sure). This figure ‘shows up ina variety of patterns and can be quite pronounced or rather subtle, see photos at right. ‘CURLY MAPLE. Curly maple, also called fiddleback or tiger-stripe, can occur. near the bark of the tree in both hard Hee Here the ribbon-like figure forms tight, light and dark lines. QUILTED MAPLE, Quilted maple occurs in big leaf maple and is similar to curly ‘same rippled satin look, but the figure is not so tight and regular. BIRD'S EYE MAPLE. Bird's eye maple is altogether different than curly and The figure consists of tiny “eyes” that ee you've ever stained regular ‘maple, then the first thing to know - about figured maple is that i's a, “maples grains so way: With ie ‘show up in the tree's annual rings and *grow” out from the center ofthe tree. WORKING CHARACTERISTIS. Working Curly Maple. Sometimes called tiger- with maple does require some spe- _ stripe or fiddleback maple, this figure cialcare. The biggest thing to keepin _is created by the abnormal growth of mind is that figured maple tends to maple's aready wavy grain. chip out — especially the “eyes” of ’s eye maple. Its all that wavy grain So iff need to do much planing, I try to find a local woodworking or cabinet shop that will rent me some time with a thickness sander, Once you get the stock down to size, you're pretty much home free — until it comes time to finish the ‘wood. Finishing figured maple isn’t difficult, butit doesrequirealitle die Quilted Maple. This figure is also 2 ferent approach, see box below. result of wavy grain, but the patterns SOURCES. By now, you're probably _ aren't as straight or consistent. thinking you might like to work with some figured maple — if only you Pile ae Sy could get your hands on some. ‘The first place to go is your local woodworking store. They may not sell it but may know of a mill nearby that does. You might aso ask a pro- fessional cabinetmaker: Another option is to order some boards through the mail, Tis isnt as fun as picking it out yourself, but Bird's Eye Maple. Unlike the wavy there are several sources around the _figures shown above, the “peppered” ‘country that carry figured woods. eyes ofthis figure are formed by small @velisted some on page 35,) 69 dlstortons in the annual ings. BU ee EL sources, see page 35.But the water will raise the grain. So I wet the ‘wood and lightly sand off the whiskers before applying the stain. ‘Then when applying the stain, I Bee eee seer stain, To stain figured maple, Luse an aniline dye, (An offthe-shelf pigment stain tends tohide the figure.) And Ltypically choose water based dyes because they're the eas- Jest to workwith and the mostlightfast. For Woodsmith ‘keep a wet edge and avoid letting the dye drip over thesides. These ‘dyes dry quickly and will leave lap marks. Aniline dyes look great when they're ‘wet, but flat and dull when dry. Don't worry: Applying a top coat will bring back the “wet’, satin look you're ater. 33IVD BISCUIT JIG boards aligned when making slued-up panels. The problems that not everyone has a biscuit joiner But a jig idea sent in by Giles Lindstrom of Tempe, Arizona allows You to cut biscuit slots with an ord nary router and a slotcutting bit. The jg consists ofa Y'thick hard- board template screwed to a hard: ‘wood base, see photo. There'sa sem: circle cutout the template to guide yourrouterinan are. With a%o"swide slot-cutting bt, you can cut a perfect slot for a #20 biscu TenPLaTE. The template starts off as 9" x 12" piece of 14"-thick hard: board-The size ofthe are depends upon the size ofyour router base, To determine the arc radius, simply add 1s" to the radius of your router base plate, see Fig. 1. Use a ‘compass set to this measurement to lay out the ae. Then cut the are out wth a band saw and sand it smooth with drum sander mounted in a drill press. BSE. The base acts asa fence to position the ig against your workpiece. Its just a 414" x 12" piece of hardwood with «notch cut out to allow forthe router bit. The tem- plate is then glued and screwed to the base, see Fig. 1 ‘The last steps to make a centerline index mark at the top of the semi-circle. This allows you to position the jig correctly on your workpiece, ‘Touse the jig, line up the index mark with the desired center of your biscuit slot, clamp the jig to your work- piece, and rout the slot, see photo above, eC ait Ifyou've built an original jig and wish to see it featured. ‘on this page, send your idea to Woodsmith, Reader's Jig, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, 1A 50312. If we publish it, we'll send you $100 and a full set ‘of Woodsmith back issues, with binders. Include a sketch (or photo) of your jig, explain how it’s used, ‘and include a daytime phone number. No. 108SOURCES Woodsmith Project Supplies offers hardware kits and supplies for some of the projects shown in this issue. Supplies for these projects are also available at your local hardware store or through the mail order sources at right. CHERRY BED Forbeing such a large pro- ject, the classic cherry bed ‘on page 6 doesn't require much hardware, All you need are some woodscrews andaset of our ong bed rail fasteners, currently available through Wood- mit Project Supplies. 7108-100 4" Bed Rail Fasteners. $14.95 ‘Note: These fasteners are also available atthe sources listed at right. CHILDREN’S BOOKCASE Like the bed, there’s not much hardware needed to build the children’s book case featured on page 20. Besides a few screws, all you'll need are twelve L- shaped shelf supports and fourteen "ia. plugs. (We used dometopped plugs.) ‘These items are com- ‘monly available at local hardware stores or through the sources at right. ‘WOOD PENS ‘What's funny about this issue is that the two small- cest projects, the pens and. the clock (see below) require the most hardware. Foralist ofthe pen-mak- ing supplies you'll need to xgetstarted at turning pens, see the box on page 25. ‘There are quite a few mail ‘order sources that will be ableto getyoustarted turn- ‘ng pens, see the istatright. TURNING 116 Tomake thejig forturning the pens on the drill press (Gee page 26), therearejust ‘few supplies you'll need. Woodsmith Project Sup- pliesis currently offering a hardware kit for this jig, including the following: () Wa. Steet Rod Q) 14"i.d. bearing 1) Vi'-dia. dowel center 7108-200 Drill Press Turning Jig... 89.95 OO te eld tt) “To order al ea Woodsmith Project ‘a copy of our WoodsmithShop catalog, Be ee ere eed Tagen OM to7 PM Central Time, No. 108 MANTEL CLOCK To build the mantel clock that's shown on page 28, you'll need a common quartz movement with at least a 24Jong post and a ‘PA-square clock face (with a 5¥4"-radius time ring). Woodsmith Project Sup- plies is currently offering a kit forthe clock including: @) Quartz Movement ) 714" x74" Clock Face called Golden Amber Maple. This particular dye is available from Wood- ‘worker's Supply, see listing atright Butaniline dyesare readily available from a number of sources. Wood Kit. Since it’s not always easy to get good lum ber these days, we have teamed up with Weyer- haeuser to offer the wood needed for building the mantel lock in maple, cher- (pr) 2%'sLong ry, or walnut. Note: This is “Terry” Clock Hands regular nonsfigured wood, (@ Brass Turn Buttons ‘The wood hereis Weyer: with Screws hhaeuser's ChoiceWood. It’s (1) dia. Studded nilled $4S ands guaranteed Brass Knob tobecompletely defect free (@) W'dia. Felt Pads omall sides so there are no @ 6x14" Fh ‘mots splits, or cracks. Woodscrews 7108-325 Mantel Clock Note: This kit does not Wood (Maple)... $24.95 include the glass or wood. 7108-850 Mantel Clock (The woods vailableina Wood (Cherry)... $52.95 separate kit, see below:) 7108-875 Mantel Clock 7108-300 Mantel Clock Wood (Walnut)... $65.95 Hardware Kit......$21.95 The hardware listed FIGURED MAPLE above is also available at Ifyou cant find a source of the sources listed at right. figured maple in your area, ANIUNE DYES. To stain the you might wantto try some clock, we used of the mail order sources water-based anil listed at right. NOW ON THE WEB! '* 50 Woodworking Tips Online ‘© Power Tool Reviews © Links to Other Woodworking Sites ‘© Coming Soon; Online Back Issue Database Point sour browser to: Similar project supplies and hardware may be ordered from the following companies: Catan Wood Service 800.543.9367 igor api, Bookenseharsare ‘The Hardwood Store 800.849.0174 Figured maple, Pevating spies Precision Movements 800.592.2024 Monte loch ‘Turneraft Clocks 800.544.1711 Mantel eck hr Wooderaft 300.225.1153. Figural maple Permaking pio, Movil ot handenre Woodsmith Store 800.895-5084 ‘ing i, Breas Mav lock hardver Penmaking mpi, Bat i fitoners Woodworkers’ Store 800.279.4441 Bal faster, Aine yes, Boke haeore, Pewmasing rupee Woodworker's Supply 300.645.9202 Penating upp, Mover aniine dye, ‘Bes rail fatenere| 35Classic Cherry Bed. > You won’ be chopping any mortises forthe slats om this bed. That's because we used a hand- held router and a simple, shop-madejig. Plans for the bed begin on page 6. The technique article starts on page 14 << Children’s ~ Bookcase. The adjustable shelves ‘on tis maple bookcase tl bac to hold books, (Or they fla for toys. Plans begin on page 20. {Mantel Clock. The frst hing ou notice om this clock is the serik- ing curly maple. Buc what's really A Wood Pens. You can suprising is how hardly go wrong. with these easy its to build = tuened pens — they don't For complete take much time or mater- instructions, see ials. And you don’t even page 28 need a lathe, se page 24