Finger Joint Boxes * Mail Organizer * End Table » Router Table Tips » Stackable Storage RacksWoodsmith April, 1997 Donald, Pesehke Terry}. Stroman Jeon Garbison Vincent Ancona ‘CREATIVE RESOURCES hai Dior Tea Keak» Pret Deo Ke Mu «Pret Desa Ted Wg J, Re Cope» Sip Nan: Scere Sop Cutoman Selo athe [EE\Soathenn » Sm grr ranged BOOKS ssn Dog ks» rt Dirt Lind ee + Sonor Grephic Deine: ChrisGlowacks CIRCULATION, Crate Sues Du Bs © Dine Mai Merge (Glenda Btls «Sudsrstion Manager Sandy Basen ® Renewel Monogr Paige Rogers * Asad Dirac Mail Ng: Jie Gren» Aston Sabeition Bg: J Kaus Asoeiate Graphic Design Director Suse der Se Graph Designer Chery. Sixpson + Promion CORPORATE SERVICES ice Preside of Planning and Finance Jon Macarhy © Conte Robin Huts »S Arca aura Tatas * dec Pale Mary}. Schr Pcon Di Gorge Chanel «Pract Aston Sn Dan tone ‘a Doce tr auton re on ere Br ‘preg STAC » New ata Monger Gorton CXGsigpe* Network Administ AL Barnes +f Deseipmen loge Moore» Aone Keener ‘Admin Assan Juba Fish © Recoptnie Jeanne Seheson, Sher Rey Bly Mat Ken Gah ‘oops a ome cranes at hag eerie rears aerince Neeser Seether ay Weel ee eee ist Nesoa, Nancy Downey, Jefe Lack + Nase Sana WOODSMITH STORE ‘Manager: De Lari» Asiston Manager Pl Shier «Sales Staff Pat Lowry, Jerone Her, Wendell Sone, Jim Barnet» Ofce Manager Vicki awards Sao Spies : rae Ran Heme Pt Congas As cope Ones inne, Secmsat BRR PR fo HD UTO ey COLUMN SAWDUST Tec iertsr ronnie through some old boxes in the basement of my parent’s home Anyway, as worked my way down to the bottom ofthe last cardboard box, Tame across a real “treasure. Now this treasure reilly wasn't worth much (at least notin dollars) In fact, most people would have thrown it away a long time ago. So ‘what was this great find? Well iy first woodworking project — an ordinary box. ‘As you can see, it ‘sure wast anything fancy — just five pieces of wood and a inged lid. And since I was new to woodworking (was about 12 years old), the joinery was far from being periect. Luckily, my joinery skills have improved somewhat over the years, But I stil get a kick out of building boxes even though I've moved away from nailsand but joints. Now when build a small box, I often use finger Joints to hold it together. FINGER JOINTS, Besides liking! the san, precise look of interlocking ingers", there’s something else about finger joints I enjoy. They're quick and easy to make. In fact, cutting finger joints is so quick and easy I sometimes get car: ried away. tn this issue we have three ojects (a sliding lid box, a curved box, and a mail onganizer) that use finger joints. Each has its own itwas Wooésmith ccan be built time, And to ina sh st poy-step article on es, For more WORKBENCH We've added another new face toour f 's here at August Home Publishing — Workbench As you probebly already krow, n't really anew magazine, It has been around forsome time. (t's celebrating ite 40 year anniversary) But with the change in owner: ship there's been some changes. to the magazine as well he idea is to make Workbench the magazine for woodworking around the home, from framing decks, wall, and dormers to builtin abi furniture. Along the vway you'll also learn other skills needed to complete your projects, like laying tle and installing drywall, for example Itsort of givesus the best of both worlds, Woodsmith will continue to offer detailed, stepbystep instruc- tions for a variey of woodworking projects that you can build in your ‘home shop. ‘At the same time, Workbench will explore a variety of ways for you toimprove your home, No, 110CONTENTS Features Sliding Lid Boxes 6 You'll be surprised at how quick and easy itis to make these finger joint boxes. And the sliding lid design makes them functional as well as auractve Curved Box AS Allie skes ae se sal plces of wood and a cole oferagons construct this handsome box— which males it a perfec gf item. Mail Organizer =O Finger joints aren’ just for boxes. We also used chem to join the ends and conseruct the drawer ofthis mail organizer. Finger Joint Technique . A table saw, a simple jig, and our stet ‘you to turn out perfect-fitting finger joints every time — whether ‘you're making one box or a dozen, End Table Here's a simple end table with two unique characteristics: diamond-shaped legs and a shelf made with slat. Router Table Tips . Over the years, we've used a router y jects. And we've come across a lot of router table tips. Although it ‘wasn’t easy, we managed to pick our favorites. Stacking Storage Racks 32 The neat, interlocking design of these racks allow them to be stacked in different configurations. And when you need to move them, just pick them up one-by-one, contents and all. Departments Tips & Techniques ... Shop Notes . Talking Shop . Sources No. 110 Wooddsmith Stacking Storage Racks page 32FROM FELLOW A Corey Ost Tips & TECHNIQUES Pickup Plywood Rack Thaul alot of pywood and sheet goods in my small pickup. Since the sheets won't lie flat in the bed of mmy truck, I made a rack. ‘The rack is made out of common 2x4's. i's nothing more than three runners attached to a couple of cross rails, see Fig. 1. The rack is designed to clear the whee! wells ofthe truck. {positioned the rear cross rail just inside the tai gate so the rack wouldn't slide out of the ruck. ‘To connect the runners tothe cross rails, used hex bolts, washers, and lock nuts, see detail'a ‘The hex bolts and lock nuts fit into counterbored holes so they don't protrude above the surface of the rack. This way, you don’t have to worry about damaging your stock (or your truck), And by placinga washer between the runners and cross rails andl leaving the lock nuts lightly lose, Tm able to fold up the rack ‘when I'm not using it Daual Petersen Auatin, Texas Portable Workbench Storage use a portable workbench because its easy to fold up and move around, But it seems like whenever I'm using the workkench on a project around the house, Pm constantly running back to my shop for a tool So to provide a conve- nient place to store a few tools, Fbuilt small toolbox. that’s mounted tothe bench itself, see photo. ‘The box is shallow enough so the bench can stil be folded up without the box getting in the way. The front, back, and sides of the box are made out of I4"thick stock, see Fig. 1. Theends ofthe front and back are rabbetted to hold the sides. Then Ialso ‘cut rabbets on the top and bottom edges of each piece tohold a top and a bottom made out of 4" herdboard (Masonite). After cutting the top and bottom panels to size, I Woodsmith “ira hex head bolt —4 glued up the box. Then I cet the box in wo tocreate ali To fasten the ld to the box, I used ordinary butt hinges. And Ialso aided a catch tothe front ofthe box. Finally, [screwed the box i | toa bardboard tray that's ‘attached to the workbench, Now wherever I take the bench, I have my basic tools right at hand, (Canon Gary, ColoradoDrill Press Accessory Bar like to keep a few small around the support column clamps near my dill press of your drill press) forattachingfencesorstop Alter attaching the blocks. But the trouble is rack Imadea tray outof finding a place to store ‘thick stock and 14? them where they are hardboard, see Fig. 2. handy, yet out of the way. By bolting the tray tothe To solve this problem, 1 angle iron, Talso have a made a storage rack that place to keep dri bits. attaches to the column of Ron Hole my drill press, seephoto, Joshua Tre, Califia Therackisnothing more than apiece of angle eon. JJ sorrom secon view And to attach it tothe col 4B ‘umn, I delle a couple of holes for-a mutter clamp, ri see Fig. press ‘Muffler clamps can be Soe purchased at auto parts = th stores. You'll need one =n i that's large enough to fit Sse ey Band Clamp Corner Protection QUICK TIPS Bend clamps area great ner protector pads out of way to glue up small corrugated cardboard, see PAINTING ‘ADHESIVE REMOVER mitered boxes. But the draving. The cardboardis SCREWHEADS = Tuse pressure sensitive trouble Ihave is that the heaty enough to protect Onoceasion, Ineed to adhesive (PSA) sanding ‘metal corners that come the corners. Yet itwon’t _paintthescrewhieals of discs onmy dise sander. with the clampsofienleave _ leave any marks behind on. dents in the wood. your project. To getaround this prob- ‘Tom Moria Jem, I make my own cor- ‘Newark, New York RT iy Ifyou would lketo share an original shoptestd tip, send it to: Woodsmith, Tips and Techniques, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, lowa 50312, Orifitseas- ier, FAX itto us at 15282-6741, Or use our E-Mail: ‘woodamith@woodsmith.com published, you'll receive $30 to $150, depending on the published length, Includea brief explanation and sketch or photo. And don't worry, we'll rewrite the tip and redraw the art, ifnecessary. Also, please include a daytime phone number. No.110 a project before assem- bling it. Trying to hold the serews while paint- ing them is messy and dificult, So instead, 1 stick all the screws into a scrap pice of foam insulation (blue board). Then lean easily paint the screw- heals and let them dry without touching them, John Pierce Corba, Cabjomia Sandpaper Bag During the summer, Hind sandpaper curls up in my basement shop because of the humidity. To prevent this, Inow store my sand- paper in largesize reseal able pastic bags. And the ‘writen label area provides handy place to identi the rit ofpaper inthe bag. ErchLage West Des Moines, lows Woodsmith But sometimes when I peel off the sandpaper, adhesive sticks to the metal disc. ‘To remove the adhe- sive, I use something I always have around my. shop — WD-40. Just spray the WD-40 on the disc, leit soak in for a minute, and wipe the adhesive off. ob Kellan Sid's, NF, CanadaWEEKEND PROJECT SLIDING LID BOXES Finger joint boxes aren't all that common anymore. But they’re siill attractive, strong, and easy-to-build. boxes were often joined with finger mass produce, and with a little ghe, ‘son, I can build a box quickly with a Se Up, The other thing I like about these boxes are the lids. They're irre- 728 you justhave to slide it open and shut The lid om this box Because the lid its inside rather slides imo shallow than on top ofthe box, the fingers are the — cutalittle different than explained in the article on page 14. Basically, you justcut fewer fingers on the front cor- ners, see photo in margin, Note: The stepby-step drawings grooves cut in sides ard back wore. ae here feature the short pine box inthe photo above, Overall dimensions for the other boxes in the photo are included in the box on thenext page. SIDES & NDS. These boxes start out as /thick front, back (A) and sides (B), cut about 4" oversize in width, ‘Then the inger joints canbe cut, and the box ean be assembled as shown inthe article on page 14 —except for a few important differences. ‘FRONT E405. When laying out and ‘marking the pieces, lalsolabeled the frontend ofeach side piece so [would remember to cut them differently nore: Extieces fa fnal with Shercuting finger forts 6 Woodsmith The fingers on these pieces aren'teut all the way tothe top edge, see photo in margin and deail ‘a’ below. What I dois stat with the backend of these pieces and count the num- ber of passes I make over the blade hirteen for the box shown below). Then when cutting the front end, I simply make two fewer passes over the blade (eleven, inthis case). Note:The thirteen slots on the back «end will become twelve after the waste is trimmed off the top edge. (GROOVE FOR LD. Before trimmingthe front piece, [cut the groove for the lid ee stop tingersshort onfrontend ofsices ‘olon ath groove No. 110 @‘onthe top inside face ofthe back and sSidepieces. This groove is identical to the one for the bottom (6! x 34") ‘TRIM FRONT PIECE, After the grooves forthe lid were cut, raised the blade and trimmed off the top edge of the frontpiece. This way, it ines up with the bottom of the groove perfectly see detail'a’ on page 6 Now,a "thick hardwood bottom (©ean be added, and the box can be slued together, reer to page 1d. tp. With the box assembled, work. ‘can begin on the lid (D), see Fig. 1 ‘The ld is nearly identical to the bor tomofthe box. Butts /is"longer so tends up flush with the front of the box. And instead of utting a Y4wide rabbet along all four edges, the lid only has three edges rabbeted. Tsized the tongues created by these rabbets so they would just ft into the grooves in the box. Then I sanded the tongues on the sides ofthe lid so it would slide in and out easily. But leave the back edge tight so itl hol the id in place. FINGER PULL. At this point, the id will fitinto the box, so next added a small recess 30 I could pullitout easily with the ip ofa finger, se Fig. 2. Figuring out just how to cuta clean pulltook some experimenting. But found a quick and easy method using adril press, I"dia. Forstner bit, and an angled serap block, see Fig. rst, I lid out the position of the pull, see Fig. 2b. Then to prevent chipout, I scored the pull’s straight edge "from the front ofthe lid Now to support the li, | trimmed oneend of a scrap niece of 2x at 8° Ilike these boxes because I can turn out two or three in no time at al. In fact, ound myself trying dit ferent woods and changing the size of the boxes, see photo shove left and thedrawing a ight. One note of caution, though. Since the stock is only 1" thick, don’t make your boxes much wider than 5", Otherwise, the lid will more than likely cup. No.110 so it would hold the lid ata slight angle, see Figs. 2 and 2a. Next, posi tion the lid so the drill bit starts cut ting at the “point” of the pall. Then lower the bitto the scored line. PLUG GROOVES, All hat’ Ietnowisto plug the holes left by the grooves at the top and bottom of the box. But ALTERNATE BOX SIZES Larce Box (Reduced) ‘Woodsmith - * cnoss section /—No gap ‘ot beck D take special care with the plugs at the top, see Figs. 3 anda. Ifthey extend to0 far into the groove, they could prevent thelid fromelosing. For more ‘on making these phigs, see page 19. Finally, wit the plugs glued in and trimmed flush, I sanded the box ‘smooth and wiped.on an oil finish, Pewal. 80x + (Quarterawn Oat) ow.AWC) PROJECT ® CURVED Box _ The curved sides on this box make the fingers look curved too. But the box and the fingers start off square — the sides are curved after it’s assembled. always amazing to me how one I imple detail can change the whole ‘bok and feel ofa project. Take this box, for instance. After building sev- eral square boxes, I built this small box with its gently curved sides. Now. you might think that these curves would make this box compli «ated to build, butts really not. The fngers are cut while the boxis square. And the ld starts out square, too. In fact, the curvesare cut only afer the box and tid are petty much complete Buiuo#0x, To tulld the box, Istart edout with #/"thick maple stockand ing below. (For more on cutting fin- nary for finger joints. [trimmed the — @) cut the sides (A) and ends (B) to gerjoints, seethearticleon page 14) side pieces so there's a finger at the final length, But left them a ttle When trimming the box pieces to the top, see draw. wide at this point. Then I cut the fin- final width after cutting the fingers, ing. And the en pieces are just the serson each ofthe pieces, see draw did something a bit out of the ord opposite; there's slot at the bottom we Curve Template NoTE:cut oxpieces fo final width after esting fingerioints from fe-thick hordwood Wocdsmith No. 110and a finger atthe top. This allows {forthe fingersized chamfers that are @ vutcditer song tre botom edge Now, grooves can be cutin the box pieces, and a/thick hardwood bot. tom (C) can be cut to size and rab> betedtofit the grooves, see detail‘! ‘on page 8 and the article on page 1. 00 UD. After the box is assembled, work can begin on the lid (D), see ‘raving on page 8. Since it matches the size of the box (644" x 7¥A"),1 ‘could have cut the lid from a single board, but I decided to glue up two pieces of Y"-thick mahogany to reduce the chance of cupping. After the lid blank is cut (0 final size, I rabbeted its bottom edges so it would fit into the box, see Fig. 1 ‘This rabbet should match the thick- ness ofthe box sides @/"), But dont try tocut them exacly to size the fist time, Its better to sneak up on the final width of the rabbet so you end ‘up with a tight fit, see Fig. 1a. ‘aT aRvis, When the lid fits the box, itstimeto cutthe curves. Tused dow e Dlesided carpet tape to hold the lid to the boxso [could cu them both tthe same time, see Fig. 2, But don't use too much carpet tape here, oF itl be hard to remove thelid later Tolay out the curves, I simply laid out three points (one at the center andtwo more 1" infrom the outside ‘corners), see template at left. Then | ‘connected them, drawing the gentlo the exposed grooves and trimmed fer bit with the fistfinger atthe bot ccurve freehand, But you could also the plugs fish. Then Iclamped the tom ofthe box, see Fig. Ga. So I rout photocopy the template at 200% and box in the vise and hand sanded ed the chamfer around the bottom ‘race around it, see Fig. 3. everything smooth, see Fig. 5. (The edgesofthe box fis, starting with the With the curves drawn on the lid, box and lid should still be taped ends and then chamfering the sides. theycan be roughed outon the band together at this point) Then rout an identical chamfer saw,seeFig.4.There'snotrick here, ROUT CHANFERS. The last step is to around the top edlges of the lid. juststay about je" outside each line, rout a chamfer around the box and Now the lid can be removed from PLUG GROOVES 2 sANO. Nowwhilethe lid, see Figs. 6 and 6a. the box, anda couple coats ofa wipe boxand lid are sil rough, [plugged Theideahere sto align the cham- on nish can be applied. OY 0 Woodsmith10 sOV UU: 1a) 04 MAIL ORGANIZER ee If you have to dig to find your desk, then take a look at this organizer. Trs uncluttered design and simple joinery make it a great project to build. Tiesto clean is like trying to keep dust off it, there's more paper than desk. So recently, I designed this mail above that, a wide tray for magazines. BASE ‘The desk organizer starts out as a simple base. It’s made up of three rieces joined together into a Ushaped assembly. The important thing tonote heres thatthe grain direction of these sieces is the same so they/ll expand and contract at the same rate with changes in humility. OVERSIZE PANEL. began by gluing up a single oversize panel out of thick. stock, making it big enough for all down to 9" after gluing up the pan- three base pieces. (Minewasrough- dls, (For sources of "and 3A"'thick )) Note: Youmay want to stock, sce page 35.) ‘hick stockand planeit At this point, you can cut the bot MATERIALS & SU! A Bottom (1) 3axBe-18 G Dwr. Sides (1) %x2%6- 936 B Ends(2) — %6x9%-4% H Dwr Btm.(1) Yaply - Bex 11% C Shef(1) 36x9M- 12% 1 Tray Fr/Bk (2) Yex1- 11% D Dividers (2) 36x9%-4 J Tray Dividers.(3) ¥e x 1- 2% E Back (1) 4ex3%- 12» (6) #8x 1" Fh Woodscrews F Dw Fr/Bk.(2) Yo x2¥e- 12 CUTTING DIAGRAM ex! 72" Cherry (2550 Ft) + ()%4"-dia. FeltPads [a] mesa TE [el A |e sy tS aioe pyro Woodsmith No. 110tom (A) and ends (B) to size for cut. ting the fingers, see drawing above. ‘This means they should be cutto final Tength, but should be a litle wider than the final width (The final width ofmy base pieces was 974"). CUT FINGER JOINTS. Now the finger joints can be cut on the bottom and en pieces, refer to page 4. Istarted with the end pieces. But when cut- ting the first slot on the bottom piece, found itnecessary to clamp the end piece to the fingerjoin jig, see Fig. 1. ‘This way, [had twohands free to hold the bottom piece. After the finger joints are cut, the pieces can be trimmed to final width, see Fig. 2. But before you can ghie the base together, there’s some work todo on the end pieces. SHAPEENDS. The first thing [did was to shape the top edges of the ead pieces. [wanted toremove the sharp corners and create a cut out soit ‘would be easy to get atthe letters First, drawa "radius roundover at each top corner. Then lay out a 2Ypradius arc centered on the top edige of each end piece, se Fig. 3.10 strike this larger are, used a com- pass, locating the center on a scrap piece that was butted to the end piece. The next step isto rough out the shape of the ends with a band saw 18 Nore: Gut pieces 0 final width, after ettng inger joints (though a sabre saw would also ‘work), see Fig. 4. Then they can be sanded smooth, see Fig. 5. ASSEMBLE BASE. Now the base can be assembled, see Fig. 6. But keeping a NOTE Ue Sssembhroquare Usshaped assembly square requires alittle help. The easiest way to keep the end pieces square isto cut a cou ple scrap blocks to fit between them ‘while the base is being assembled. No. 110 Woodsmith uraver) NOTE shet 4 Seine cut . ‘emasnale oversize Phe pe! i autre so they're level wath the top of end pieces CENTER SECTION ‘The center section of the organizer creates the opening for the drawer and atray for magazines, see drawing. above. This H:shaped assembly starts oiflike the base —as.a34'thick bank that's long enough for the shelf and dividers. Again, this keeps the grain direction on these pieces the same. SHELF & DIVIDERS. Once the blank was glued up, I cut the shelf (C) and dividers (D) to final width and length. The dividers match the depth (width) of the bottom panel (A) and ‘should end up level with the tops of the end pieces (B). The shelf, onthe ther hand, s 94" narrower than the dividers. This allows fora back that's alded later, see drawing above. ‘After cutting the shelfand dividers to size, Icuta shallow dado (4) on the inside face ofeach divider to hold fexr"Fh oosscrew the shelf see Figs. 7 and 7a. Next, I shaped the dividers to ‘match the ends on the base. Only this time when laying out theroundovers and ares, I didn't have to start from scratch. Instead, I set the dividers against the ends and traced the hand ‘opening and corners, see Fig. 8. ‘Then ike the ends, I cut the ares ‘outon the band saw and sanded them smooth, see Fig, 9. BACK. At this point, the shelf and dividers are complete. But before ghar ing them together, 1 added a back piece that acts as a stop for both the drawer and the tray, see drawing above. The thick back (E) fits between the dividers, so to find its final length, you'll need to dry assem ble the center section. ASSEMBY. After the back is cut to BACK oe ary size, the center section can be giued together. But ikethe base, this assem- bly needs a little support to keep it square. The back piece keeps the dividers square at the back. But to keep the front square while clamp- ing, added a scrap piece that's cut the same length as the back, see Fig. 10, PLUGS. A this point, the grooves are exposed a the back. So before adiing: the center sectionto the base, I decid ‘ed to plug these grooves in case the organizer is ever set on top ofa desk ‘with its back exposed, see Fig. 10a. ‘Todo this, Irigped an /"'widestrip off of some-thick serap Thad and then sanded the serap until it ftinto the groove. Then its glued in place and trimmed flush. ATTACH TO BASE. Now the center sec- tion can be attached to the base. To ‘Woodsmith No. 110DRAWER Back NOTE: Sze doth, imply chm and screwthem ge s0draver together, see Fig, 1. Then finaly to om fentot protect the bottom corners ofthe °g#ner rganizer, | added fel pads see the ‘drawing and detail ‘a’ on page 12. DRAWER With the main part of the organizer complete, began workcon the drawer, see drawing atright, CUT 10 SIZE, When cutting the 1/- (0 plywood) ‘@ L98—Sibe thick drawer front and back (F) to OTE A cat ‘Sze, I made them the same length are test aad width asthe drawer opening. And vwhen determining the length of the sides (G), I sized them so the draw- cer would set back 14" from the front of the organizer ‘Then after the finger joints andthe groove for the bottom are cut (see the article on page 14), I cut a" thick plywood bottom (H) to size and rabbeted theedges to leave a tongue tofitthe grooves, see detal‘a. _NALFITING. With the drawer glued ing over the drawer’s corners, I phced (UT ARCS. Before assembling the up, sand or plane) the topand bottom athesive-backed sandpaper on # flat drawer, arcs need to be laid outand edges equally until the drawer ftsits surface to sand the sides. cut on the front and back pieces,see opening with a's! gap-long thetop. _PENCILTRAY. Finally, to create a com> detail’D'above. (Thearc onthe front Next, sanded the sides until the _partmenttfor pens, stamps, and other acts as a drawer pull, and the back drawer sid in and out smoothly, see supplies, l added a pencil tray inside oneallows the drawer to close easier) detail’c ahove. Note: Toavoid round- the drawer, see box below, 1 Yt ag ‘To keep the inside of the drawer as organized as the top of my desk, I added a small pencil tray, see Fig. 1 ‘The tray wes built from 1/-thick stock and included a front, back (0) and three dividers (J), see Fig. 1.1 Bos cut the front and back pieces to fit Inside de drawer ight. (You can sand the ends of the tray after assembly, if necessary.) And as for the height of all the tray pieces, I made sure they all ended up below the arc on the (ubeeties = drawer font. Mine were 1 ull) ‘Tocut the halflaps, [used the miter. gauge with an auxiliary fence. And for the halflapson the ends, I used the rip fence with an auxiliary fence as a stop, see Fig. 2, ‘The only trck with half laps i to make sure the blade height equals half the height of the workpieces. Also, I used a rip blade, since it cuts. at bottomed half laps. cut o fe vont iiss dover Miter gauge No, 10 Woodsmith 3WOODWORKING TECHNIQUE FINGER JOINTS The nice thing about building boxes with finger joints is that you don’t need any special tools. And you can start and finish a box in a day. of “fingers” on one piece fits between the “fingers” onthe other. But what provides the “muscle” here is glue. lotof edge-to-edge surface area for areally strong glue joint — which, And while cutting all those tiny fin- gers might seem tedious, it’s really a can build in about fifteen minutes with Plus, you don't need a shop full of rip blade (or any other blade that cuts a flat-bottomed kerf, see page 19). FINGER JOINT JIG To build a box with finger joints, a series of kerfs are cut with the table ‘saw. And the pieces are supported ‘and positioned with the help of sim- ple jig — basically, just an auxiliary fence with a key to indecthe fingers, FeNcEe LeDGe, My auxiliary fence is apiece of stock temporarily clamped tothe miter gauge, see draving below But | also add a ¥/"thide hardboard ledge under this fence. This way, the workpiece doesn't ride directly on the table (and over the blade insert that ‘may not be flat and level). Instead, the piece rests securely on the ledge. nore: Ate tes icjntmens re made, wren fce tomiergouge i ~ blade a. Miter T sage — | | Ayetany ‘oP view | | fence’ Tea ez Hee) Weodismith ey. While the fence and ledge sup- port the workpiece, small ey added tothe fence is really what makes the Jig work. 1fs cut to match the width ofthe kerfleft by your saw blade, And thiskey is positioned so the distance between it and the blade is identical to the width of the Key, tse. ‘To add the key, first I clamped the fence to the miter gauge and cut a notch in it, see Step 1 above right. Then Ieut the key from a serappiece to ttight into this notch, see Step 2 Atight fit here's critical —youdon't ‘want any“play” when fting thekerfs of the workpiece over the key, SETING UP THE, With the key glued inplace, the igis bull, but it's notset up. There are two things to do: posi tion the key by adjusting the fence onthe miter gauge and raise theblade to the right height, see box at right. ADJUSTING THE Fence. When setting, up the fence, the distance of the key from the blade has to match thethick- ness of the biade (and the key). Otherwise, theft of the fingers will either be too tight or loose, sce box. I start by positioning the key with No. 10) @ a second, identical key, see Step 3. ‘Then I check the setup by cutting a series of finger joints on two test pieces, see Step 4. But don'tjust use any scraps that hhappen to be lying around. Instead, 1 ‘make my test pieces identical to my final pieces in width and thickness (but not necessarily length). even use the same type of wood. This way, can use these test pieces later when plugging the holes left bythe grooves. for the bottom, Using a second key to set the first will get you close. But you'll proba- bly still need to"tweak” the fence one way or the otter, see box and tp in ‘margin at right. It's important to be patient; it will probably take several adjustments (and test cuts) before the fit is perfect. Tike to end up with a snug ft so that when dry assembling the pieces, Thave to work the pieces abit topress the fingers together and pull them apart. Butthis way, can usually avoid using clamps when gluing the boxes together. But more on that later. SETING THE BUDE. After the key isset ‘and the fence has been screwed to the miter gauge, I set the height of ‘the saw blade. Ofcourse, when you're done, you want the fingers perfectly FINGER JOINT JIG: STEP-BY-STEP Ye eae 9 ee mara tie below the thickness of the stock, min the notch that was just cut in uta notch in the fence (and ledge). the fence. Then glue it in place, 3% sing a spacer the same size gy Test the setup and make needed asthe key, move the ence so the SF adjustments to fence andbiade. spacerfits between thekey and blade. Then screw fence to miter gauge, when setting the blade, I let the fin- the height ofthe workpiece and sneak gers protrude just slightly—lessthat up on the finalheight as Itestthe fit, Yo (Mi sand them flush later) __ see box below. This way, the auxil “To set the blade height, I position iary fence will back up the cut com> the workpiece next tothe blade. But pletely, and there will be less chance flush with the matingpicces.Buchere, I start with the blade slightly below for chipout when cutting the fingers. ‘ie ft fo gt ot oe, Loase fit fthere'sa gap between Tight fit. Ifthe fingers won't fit each finger, simply side the key into the slots at all then slide the and fence anay from the Bade. ma key and fence towards the blide Short fingers. if the blade is set 100 low, the fingers will be short, 0 raise the saw blade sight, No. 110 rN [ ringers are oo ‘ong or shore, | Long fingers. f the fingers extend ‘Wust DC | too far, the saw blade Is too high and needs to be lowered. inga line the jig anBUILDING THE BOX With the jg set up, the hard part is ‘over, and the fun really begins. With ‘this simple ig, you can build any num- ber of boxes quickly. Plus, about the only adjustment you'll ned to ‘make isto raise or lower the blade ‘to accommodate different thick- nesses of stock. WIDE PIECES. When building a box, 1 ‘sart with all four sides of the box: planed to finished thickness and cut to final length. ButITeave them slight. ly oversized in width. I don't worry about the final height (width) until alter the fingers are cut, see Step 10. ase prees. With the pieces ready, the next step is to label them, see drawing at right I mark the bottom edge of each piece as the good edge that I reference my cuts from. [also umber the comers to keep them together as the fingers are cut. CUTTING THE JOMTS. With the jig to guide you, cutting finger jointssjust about automatic But you do need to keep some things in mind. found that i's good to be extra careful with the very firstslot that’s cut ineach tiece, see Step Stelow. Check that there's nothing on the jig dike ‘sawdus)) to throw off this cut; the piece should rest squarely on the Tedge and against the key. ‘Then when cutting the rest of the fingers and slots, you need to be as ‘consistent as possible, se Steps 6-9. Even shifting the pressure slightly can affect the final fit of the corner. So Thold the piece against the jig with ‘oth hands and try to make each pass. exactly the same, ‘cHlpoUT. I should also mention something about chipout. Chipout can be a problem any time you cut finger joins, buttwo things wil help. First, make sure your blade is sharp And second, make sure the notch in FINGER JOINTS: STEP-BY-STEP To begin, set the bottom eage of the piece against the key and hold i tight as you pass it over the blade. ‘Now, straddle the first slot over the key and cut a second siot Repeat this process across the piece ‘Next, fp the piece end-for-end, keeping the bottom edge against the key. Then cut the slots on ths end. st ‘Nowy, rotate the piece so the fist slr straddles the key. Set the mat: ing piece in place and cut its fist sfot. 9 oA S Tocut the next sot slide the siot just cut up tight against the koy. Then continue as before Woosismith 1020. plete, trim the top edge of each piece to leave a full finger or slot No. 10your jig-matches the height ofthe _ setup with the end piece. slots with one of skits you're cutting. This way, the ASSENBIY. When the bottom is cut the test pieces that I workpiece is backed up completely. andlrabbeted to ithe grooves (Step used earlier to se up of FINAL HEIGHT. Afer the fingers are 12), 1 dry assemble the box. Then _thefingerjointjg. see Step cut, I trim the opedge ofthe pieces when satisfied withthe iyi’stimeto 13. Often once the joint is so there's fll finger (and slo) let, glue ittogether, see Steps 13:16. seated, there's enough friction ste Step 10. Because my blade is a GUE. Dey assembling abox can be to hold the corner together, so 1 hair over Ythick, usually find this done at aleisurely pace, butwhenit’s don't even have to use any clamps. dimension ends up alitle more than timetoaply the glue, there’sno time ADDING CLANPS. However, once in a theone!mshooting for butformost todawdle. You have o et glue in all while, I'l have a cupped piece that boxes the final heightis not rita the fingers and get the cits togeth- needs toe clamped, see Step 4. In Of course, there are times when er beforethe glue sets up. this case, apply the clampsjustinsde the finished heightcan' be ignored. Tohelp, Lapply glue tothe ends of the fingers and adda smal spacer in “Take the mail organizer on page 10. the pieces, see margin photo below the middle to keep the sides of the Its drawer has tofita specific open- right. And Iuse a slow setting gue, _ box from bowing i. ing, But sill make the pieces over- ike white glue orliquid hide gue. Of _Plues. When the glues dry there size and then trim them from both the two, Iprefer hide glue because it _are still a couple “clean-up” steps. thetopand bottom so the fingershere cleans up well wth water and ifany First, I plug the holes left by the are identical, ue js left on the inside corners, it _ grooves for the box bottom, see Step BOTTOM PANEL. The next step is to doesn't Sand out much after an oil 15. (For a quick way to make plugs, ad the bottom janel, see Steps 11 finish is zpplied. see page 19.) Then I trim them and and 12, To cut the grooves for this And speakingofglue on theinside sand the sides ofthe box smooth. panel, use the same saw blade and corners, { scrape it out and wipe off FLATTEN BOTTOM, Finally, you may set the rip fence with a side piece, asmuchas possible withadamp rag notice the corners of the bottom of referto drawing on page 16and Step before it ets up. I's justtoo hard tothe box arent perfectly fash. Butthis| below. Setthe bottom edge against remove after it's dried. is an easy fix. Just attach sandpaper thefence and align the blade withthe SEATING IE JOINT, Once the glue Is toa flat surface and sand the botom first finger. Then double check the applied, Idrive the fingers into the _ ofthe box lightly, see Step 16. [tae emeebtonemet gy vitritebonompaataaio Ye Tosstthohts st aeph- Team fram cut a groove on each piece, size, rabbet its bottom edges ing glue (see margin), use 2 joint quickly, I nen using a workpiece to set the fence, _to.createa tongue tofit the grooves. mallet and one of the test pieces. the he across the ends ofthe fingers LA eee: Rye eae a nice 7 tree cree sFrecessny A spacer wil keep ‘exposed grooves at the bot backed sandpaper to a flat the sides from bowing in tom ofthe box and trim them flush. surface and sand the bottom flat. No. 110 WoodsmitTaper Jig ‘There are a lot f different sways to cut a taper: But for the legs on the end table, we decided to use a table saw and a shop made ji. The jig is nothing more than a"sled” which the leg rides on as t's pushed past the saw blade. To construct te jg, start by making a base out of 9" plywood. I made mine about 10" wide and 30" long, see Fig. 1. ‘Accouple cleats screwed to the base ofthe ig hold the leg atthe proper angle SHOP NOTES for cutting the tapers, see drawing: This ensares that all the tapers will be the same length To position the cleats, I Jad out the tapers on one of thelegs,extendingthe fines down the side and end of the leg. Then I set the leg onthe base ofthe ja sothe Jeyout lines aligned with the edge. see Fig? Now just trace the out- line oftheleg ontothe base Now all you have to do is set the cleats along these NOTE ig bse W-thckpy0d. Besar pik ol oe. Tighten dome square’ Soran od lege Tinesand screw them down to the jg base. ‘To use the jig, I set the Fipfence to match the width of the jig base. Then 1 ‘clamped the leg against the jig cleat, see photo. (Be ‘sure to keep the clamp out of the path ofthe blade) Instead of pushing the jig all the way past the blade. I stopped as soon as the taper was cut. Then T ‘turned off the sav, pulled thejigback, and rotated the leg tocut the second taper. Clamping Rounded Stock Because of the rounded shave of the legs, I was afraid that bar camps ‘wouldn't apply even pres- sure when gluing up the sides of the end table on page 20.50 instead, used band clamps, see drawing. The band clamps creat- ed a new problem, howev- er. On one of the side assemblies, the band ‘lamps caused the legs to flex outward, see detail ‘a. ‘Consequently, my mortise ‘and tenon joints weren't as sug as I ike them tobe. To solve this problem, 1 just laid the side assembly ‘on top of my workbench. (I placed a couple spacers ‘under the side to prevent the band clamps frombind- ing, see detail’) ‘Then I clamped the side to my bench with a small bar clamp. By tightening the chmp down, Iwasable to pull the legs back into square, see detail b. No. 10| ‘e Cutting Bevels Usually, there's not much to ripping a bevel. Just tilt the blade and run the work- piece through the saw. Butwhen itomesto rip: ping the bevels on the legs ofthe end table featured in this issue, there are a few pointers that make the job aitle easier ani safer: ‘Tostart with, make sure ‘you set up your rip fence so the blade tilts away from the fence. (Depending upon your savy, this may mean moving the fence to the left side of the blade.) Otherwise, the waste can set trapped between the fence and the bade, and a Kickback could occu, Talso used a feather- board to help hold the legs sight aginst thefence. And ‘because they areso narrow, {used a push tick to each leg through the saw. Ripping the first bevel is Pe, Finger Joint Plugs Whenit comes to plugging the voids created by the sroowe forthe bettom offn- gerjoint boxes, luseasim- ble techiniaue, Instead of trying to cut plugs to exact thickness for the holes, simply use the test piece I have left over ‘om cutting the finger joints foreach box. No, 110 ‘which to rest the push stick, see Fig. 1. When it comes to th ‘second bevel, however, allitle more dificult tocom- tuo! the leg with ¢ conven: tional push stick The push stick hasa tendency to slide down the bevel that is already cut. So here usea different approact. ‘Tomaintain a better grip ‘onthe workpiece when cut- ting the second bevel, I used a different kind of push stick, see Fig. 2, It's kind oflike the sticks used topick up litter. It’s just a hardwood dowel with a wire brad rsiled into one end. Then | snipped off the head of the brad, leaving about a Ys" projecting from the end of the dowel. By actually pushing the brad into the leg, I don’t have to worry about the push stick slipping off the surface of my workpiece. All do issand z taper on the end of the test piece to taper the fingers, see Fig. 1. Then with a hand saw, I ‘cut the fingers off lensth- wise, one by one. Now all that’s left is to glue the plugs into place, then trim and sand them flush with the surface ofthe box, see Fig. 2. Finger Joint Kerts Bere maki the Sager joints for the projects in this nee yes may want oaks a look at your saw blade. TF you uso. croeweut Sake oe emi eyo Grn ens Gy vi kger joints that look those in the top drawing at the right. Mate because tipit Guaciels aire combination blades) have per nse ey the top at an angle. This leaves a peak in themiddle ofthe ket. Arip blade, on the other hand, usually has teeth that are ground flat across the top. So you wind up with a se tabbed ierk ee bottom drawing, Just make are tv coe ane ary fence to prevent chipout.) Woodsmith ‘A Crosscue Blades have teeth that are round across the wp at an angle leaving a peak in the kerf ‘A. The teeth on a nip blade are fl across the top, producing a f bottomed kerf.daeW aes PROJECT END TABLE The clean lines and basic construction are reminiscent of traditional fur- niture. But the unusual shape of the legs give this table a modern feel. — womens ——— cee ee ase e a Space en Ee ome ee eee ner ee oo ecco tear Stee aes Sacer cere cee — Rosen Soe oe ee ae nas shelf (60 you wen't have an excuse for ere oe Se ees Celene eer eee cece ra that’s cut on the shelf rails, Small spac a Soot ae ew estn aoe ruicted with mortise and tenon joints, And the drawer front features halébiind dovetails. (Weused router and a dovetail jig to cut these.) CONTRASTING WOODS. Probably the ‘most dificult decision will be figuring out what kind of wood to use. We selected hard maple for the legs, aprons, and shelf ofthe table. Then toprovide a warm contrast, we chose cherryfor the top, Finally, we added a simple cherry knob to the drawer to tie itall together. Woodsmith ‘The legs on this table actually stat off as square blanks. Then they're tapered, beveled, and rounded to a “diamond!” shape No. 110Construction Details NOTE: Fasteners oe Imortsed nto top. OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 19°Wx24°H x19°D cane Figures fttener thei eherry knob y Machine-cut faltbling dovetails ‘CROSS SECTION NOTE: Plugs fin Groove between slots 16" plywood bottom — MATERIALS CUTTING DIAGRAM A Legs (4) 13x Ph 23% B Aprons (3) HSA x1 1¢44"- 48" Maple 27 Bd. Fe) © Shelf Rails) 1-14 EERE D DrawerRalls(2)-¥ax2-14 bars to make top E Shelf Slats (6) 3x2 13% Chery (3.2 be Fe) F Drawer Runners (4) ¥ax 1%4- 11 G Drawer Guides (2) 96x %4- 13 H Face Rails (2) W013 1 DrawerFront(1) 44x 494 - 12846 or ee iB 4 Drawer Back (1) 414% - 12% K Drawer Sides (2) 1 4%4- 13 L Drawer Bottom (1) Ya ply. 12%ex 126 M Drawer Stop (1) -¥4x¥*- 12h N Top (1) Hx 19-19 *Actual width willbe determined by drawer size SUPPLIES + (1) 1Wet-dia, Cherry Knob wiscrew + (@)Figure-8 “ableton Fasteners + (8) #8 x54" Fh woodscrews + (1) Flush-mount Panel Retainer w/screw No. 110 Woodsmith aWhenTbuldataletaimostaiays de work from the ground up, starting. L— ‘with the legs. And this end table is no exception tothe rue. ae LUGS, Despite their finished appear- ance, the legs (A) actually start offas four 194" square blanks cut to fin- ished length (234). But before beginning to shape the legs, Iad out the mortises that join them to the ‘other pieces of the table. This way, Faint Fightback eg the mortises can be drilled and chis- a rs ‘ee out while the legs are stil square. vy U Laying out the mortises requires, some attention to detail The back Jegs each have to pairs of mortises, ‘one near te bottom forthe shelfrils and one tthe top forthe aprons ‘The front legsalso have a pair of prow mortisesforthe shelfrails However, "Ie each front leg has only a single mor- — a Bl tise atthe top fora side apron, see drawing and detail ‘b’. (There'sno ofeach eg—twoon theinsidefaces here iswhere they really taro take apronatthe fontofthe table) andathindaperightinthecenter of _ shape. Fist, rounded over the font ‘One other thing to note when these two, see detal‘aIstarted by corner of each lg ona router tbl, Youire making themortises. Because cutting the side tapers using ajig and 3. Then to give the legs their oftheir depth and positon on adi a table sw, see Figs. 1 and ta, (For distinct shape, I ripped a bevel on cent sides of the leg the mortises more on the jig, see page 25) each side, see Fg. 4. (For more on @) actually intersect, see detail’ For cutting the narrow center _ this, see Shop Notes on page 19) ‘Wri, Makinghe mortisesisonly tapers, used a dfferentapproach. 1 APRONSBSAELRAS. The legs re con- half the task The next step is to cut simply planed the tapers by hand, nected by aprons (B) and shetf rails the tapers and stape the legs. using my block plane, see Tig. 2. (©) Since all these pieces have sim If you look closely, you'll notice SHAPING THELEG. At this poin, the ilartenonson the ends, Imade them there are three tapers atthe botom legs silllook pretty squash. But _allat the same time, This way, Lean 2 Wootsmith No.110cata tions atic wit @ ine dupa my saw setup, see drawing at right and detail ‘a’. ¢ ‘To maximize the gluing surfece of the tenons, I made them 9'"Jong. But this creates a small problem. Because of their length and position, the tenons P+ run into each other, To correct this, Tjust mitered the ends, see detail ‘b’. ‘There are a couple more steps to complete the aprons and shelf rails. First, a pair of groovesis cutin the two side aprons to hold some of the draw- ‘er support pieces that are addedlater, see deta Then rounded overthe bottom outside edge of all the aprons. ‘The shelf rails get a similar treat- ment. The two side shelf rails are ‘rooved —butthisgrooveisohold ‘some shelf slats, see detail ‘a’. And roundovers are routed on all the edges of the shelf rails. ‘SIDE ASSEMBLY. At this point, I decided to go ahead and assemble the two sides of the table, see drawing. This makes ita little easier when it comes: time to assemble the estofthe abe, SQ Cormore on ghing upthesides see Shop Notes on page 18) { Daten RAS &SHLSUTS While the two table sides were drying, I began work on the drawer rls and set slats. I started by cutting a couple of drawer rails (D) out of "thick stock. Then I cut rabbets on theends ofthese pieces to create tongues that ftin the grooves ofthe side aprons, i 10 onan eS see detil's below. ‘The shelf slats (B) are cut from {W4hick stock. And lke the drawer rails, the ends ofthe shelf slats are also rabbetted — but tis time to fit inthe grooves in the shelf rails, see detail‘ below. Then tocomplete the slats simply round overthe top edges. ‘Since the shetislatsare held inthe side Woodsmith NOTE: Miter ends of. shelf rail grooves without any gli, 1 needed a way to keep them evenly spaced. So, I glued small wooden plugs into the grooves to act as spac- crs, see detail. Finally the side assemblies can be slued together sandwiching the back apron, shelf rails, drawer rails, and shelf sats in between, see drawing.With the base of the end table com. plete, the nextstepis toadd a drawer. RUNNERS & GUDES. But before builiing the drawer, I decided to make some drawer runnersand drawer auides. I started by making four identical drawer runners (F), see drawing above and detail’b™. These are glued into the grooves in the side aprons. ‘Technically, only two of these pieces are runners (thetwo on the bottom). ‘The other two keep the drawer irom {iting up as it’s pulled open. To keep the drawer from shiting ‘fom side to side within the opening, J added a couple of drawer guides G), see drawing. These guides are really just filers that are glued to the side aprons just zbove the lower draw: 1b. rronr section view cer runners, see detail FACE RAIS, Then to create the draw- cer opening, [added a pair offace rails ‘@)to he front ofthe drawer rails, see drawing and detail ‘c’. These two pieces are identical with the excep- tion of one small detail—the bottom piece has an ¥4" roundover routed on. the bottom, outside edge. ‘DeaWEt, With the face rails added, the next step is to make the drawer. ‘There aren't any surprises here. The ‘drawer front (Dis cut from "thick stock, while "thick stock is used for the drawer back (J) and two drawer sides (K). Hal-blind dove- tails join the sides to the front, and rabbet joints are used atthe back of drawer, see details’ and 'b. After cutting grooves on the inside ‘aces ofthe drawer pieces, a drawer ottom (L) canbe cut out of 4" ply- wood, see drawing. Then the drawer can be assembled. To complete the drawer, I routed i roundoverson the outside edges ofthe drawer front and added a1!" dia, cherry knob, Finally, I added a plastic pane! retainer tothe back of the drawer to prevent accidentally paling the drawerall the way out ofthe oper: ing, see drawing. DRawer stor There's one morestep before thedrawercan be placedinthe table, Most drawers fitfush with the frontoftheir opening. Butthis table is designed so the drawer actually pro- jects 17" beyond the face rails, seedetail ‘bat right. To create this pro- jection, ladded drawer stop (M). ‘Todetermine the width ofthe drave er stop, just place the drawer in the opening so it sticks out 4". Then measure the distance between the hack apron and the back of the draw- et After cutting the drawer stop to size, its just glued in place against the back apron, see detail‘a' at right. T0R. Now all that’s needed to com- plete the tableisto add atop (N). To do this I started by gluing up an over- size blank out of 34"-thick cherry stock, see drawing at right. After cutting the blank to size, cut 260° bevel on the underside ofall the edges of the top. (Note: I attached a fall uniliary fence to my rip fence for extra support, see Fig. 5.) Next, to soften the sharp edges of the top, Lrounded over the top edges with a router anda }" roundoverbit, see Fig. 6, ‘The topisattached othe table with figure-eight fasteners, Normally, these fastenersare mortised into the aprons ofatable and then attached to the top from the underside, inside the aprons. But the problem with this type of arrangement is the overhanging ledges ofthe top can often cup upward as the humidity changes, since they aren't fastened down, fastener SIDE SECTION VIEW ‘VIEW Tohep prevent this, mortised the fasteners into the top instead. This ‘way, Iwas able to position them clos- ertothe outside edge ofthe top, (This helps todraw the top down fat) And the shalow mortises help keep the fasteners hidden from view Mortising the fasteners into the top, 's simple, Just start by attaching the fasteners o the tle aprons, see Fig. ext, positon the top onthe able and trace the outline ofthe fasteners on the underside ofthe top. Now just remove the top and dri ‘wo overlaping holes to createamor- tse for each faiener, see Fig. 8 pueatnore ~ Races =u. See esis , ee. Yo.t10 ndsCOMMENTS & TALKING SHOP There aren’t really any secrets to jointing the edge of a board. Just a prop- erly adjusted machine and the right jointer technique. The other day Iwas joint ing some workpieces down (o1% wide. As Imeasured the width of the pieces to check on my progress, I noticed the stock was end ing up slightly tapered. I checked the outfeed table, and it appears to be flat, I the problem with my jointer, or mith the way Pm feeding the boards through the mackine? M.MeMahon Greensboro, N. Carolina Tapered cuts are usually your outfced table in rela- adjustment of the outfeed for this test because it caused by an improperly tion to the height of the tableisastraightedye.Just _ lessens the chance of dam adjusted jointer, $o let's knives. In order forajoint- place the straightedge on aging the knives.) start by taking a look at ertoworkproperly the out your outfeed table so it But if the knives pass your machine, feed table shouldbe exact- overhangs the cuttethead, under the straightedge First off, make sure all ly level with the knives in see Figs. 1 and la. without touching it, the the cutterhead knives are the cutterhead. Now slowly rotate the _tableis positioned too high. arthesame height. Thisis If the table is slightly cutterhead by hand. As Use the table adjusting veryimportant,since most higher than the knives, each knife reachesthe top mechanism to lower the oftheotheradjustmentsto you'llwind up with tapered ofthecutterhead,itshould table accordingly. the jointer cant be made cuts. That's because the just lightly graze the Note: Not all jointers until the knives are posi- tle actually litsthe front strightedge, makingafsint have adjustable outfeed tioned properly. ‘ead of the board up. “tice, see detail ‘a (ke tables. fyours docent, you Next, check the level of All it takes to check the touseanaluminumsquare _ may have to raise the level —_ of sour oer nies JOINTER TECHNIQUE > ones wave methane your mettine 9 aie Wien Each kate, rly, you might want ce st ye T should just Pen ist Seesmic | eee, | Biel oe Bin : : 2 eeretee| | ing technique pliiititil ties When I’m jointing an eckeon the inter keto Pavintotbokes © the infed table. Theo ay iether te a. my vaht hand toe the a} I J stock forward. %6 Woodsmith No. 110‘Then once the board Ifyou try to joint both jointer-To get good results, reaches the outfeed table, edgesofthe board onajoin-Tlike to follow a few rules. movemylefthand orward ter, you'll end up with two Firs, I set my jointer to to hold the stock firmly straight edges, but they take alight ut (about i"). against the outfeed table _maynot be parallel. Notonly does this produce and fence, see Fig. 2. So why not just use a _asmoother cut, butit'salso Butaside fromtechnique table saw for both edges? _easieron the jointer knives. and adjustment, there's Evenwithanaccuratetable ‘The only exception is another point to consider. saw and rip fence, you can when I'm jointing a very Itmay be that thejointeris still get uneven edges. rough edge and I need to nottherighttoolforthejob. _‘That'sbecause mest sur- remove a lot of material ‘A jointer isn’t really faced boards that are pur- quick Then [increase the designed to reduce the chased fomalumberyard depth of cut to about ia". om the edge. When the jointey has width or thickness of a donthave perfectly sraight Buton the final pass, ll removed the entre line, you know ‘workpiece. The main pur- edges. So they won't fit set the depth of cut back the edge is straight pose of a jointer is to tight against the rip fence down to remove only 4c" ‘tighten an edgeorflatien of the table Saw unless or less of material. This feeding the stock too fast. the face of a board theyre jointed first. leavesanice, smooth edge. Finally, I mark the face ‘When I need to trim a Second, [feed the board of the beard near the joint board down to.a specific EDGE JOINTING through the jointer at aed edge with an X’. That width, IIljoint one edge But there’s more ta joint- slow, even rate. This belps way, ilknow which edge to first, Then Illrip the plece ing an edge than simply prevent the“rippled” edge place against the rip fence towidth on the table saw, running a board across you sometimes get from of my saw, see Fig 3.00 ‘Use right hand to eed Boar, left hand {hold board down, a ee Inaddition tojcinting an _As with edge jointing, _As safety precaution, can cause the workpiece ‘edge, ajointer is also the _ when jointing the face of Talways use push blocks to fracture apart. best tool to use for flat- aboard, Iplacethe piece when face jointing, see Once ! have one face teningacuppedboard. (A so the cupped side faces drawing below. And Tuy ofthe board flat, Twitch, thickness planer won't down, see detail‘e, This _toavotl jointing any mate to the thickness planer to ‘actually flatten aboard, it way, the board can ride rial under thick. The _ make the second face flat will only make itthinner) onthe two edges. force ofthe jointer knives and parallel to the first. a = eons ae | oo ‘SECOND: Use planer to fatten opposite face No. 110 Woodsmith‘A To make curved pieces that are identical, I use at hardboard template and a {flush vim bie WOODWORKING Ue eb; ROUTER TABLE TIPS In our shop, the router table gets a workout on just about every project. Here are four pages of our favorite tips we've collected over the years. [first mounted 2 router under atable back in 1979 (Woodsmith No. 5). At that time, Iwas amazed at how much ‘more versatile my router was when attached undemeath a small able. ‘And now, nearly 20 years and two designs later, Iuse a router table on nearly every project I build ‘As was thinking about all the dif ferent ways we make use of our router CUTTING PROFILES WITH TEMPLATES When making several curved pieces thatare identical, Fereate a'/"hard- board template and use a fush trim bit, see photo in margin. This way, 1 ‘can rough out the shape with theband ‘sawand cleanitup with therouter Its ‘quick, easy, and [have a pattern that ‘can be used again and again. But curved fieces aren’ the only. TE eee Se | Staightedge — ROUTER BIT INSERTS The problem wth router table ences isthat the opening forthe itisoften uch too wide for smaller bits.Long pieces get hung up on the outfeed ‘edge. And there just isn’t enough sup- Port to rout sal pieces safe One solution to this problem is to add a replaceable hardboard insert ibe ben senieaf "To begin, rout a shallow mertise inthe fence around the bit opening to match the size and thickness ofthe inserts you planto use. (Allow enough room to screw the insert in place) ‘Now you canmake a custom nsert — «carpet ape thing a template and a dush trim are goot for. They can be helpful with making straight cuts too. For instance, when working on a ‘base that has two profiles connected byastnaight edge, Ihavea procedure that ensures a perfectly straight line. First, rough out the straight line with a band saw, Then Lattach a Doublesided for each bit. To cut the profile on a bit without a bearing (ike a straight bid), I turn on the router and slowly raise the spinning bit into the insert. Profile bits (ike round-over bits) ‘Woodsmith tableandall thetips our readershave sent in over the years, I thought it might bea good idea to come up with alist of our favorite router table ‘So here they are...some of our best, straight template with doublesided carpet tape flush with the layout line, sec Fig. 1. Nowthe flush trim bit ean clean up the edge, see Fig. 2 You do have to stop short of the profile though— the bearing won'tlet ‘you rout tight into a corner. But the template will eso help guide your chiselasyoucean upthecorner. — @ require an exra step because the | @ bearing gets inthe way, see deal ‘a! First, you haveto cuta clearance slot in the insert. Then you can raise the bitto create the profile No. 110MULTIPLE PASSES Anytime you're routing deep grooves, it's a good idea to take two or more passes. But with my router, there's tco much play in the mechanism that ‘controls the depth of cut—a problem that's typical of many routers. So what happens is that when T ‘change the depth of the bit for the ‘second pass, the bit will cut ata slight- ly different point than it did on the first pass. Each successive pass leaves: alittle step on one side of the groove, ‘see photo below right, ‘To solve this problem, instead of reising the router bit, Hower the work Pieve. First I set the bit to cut the full depth ofthe groove. Then Tuse a "= thick spacer to “raise” the workpiece, see drawing above. My spacers 4" hardboard with a ‘clearance opening cut forthe bit. But tomake it easy to secure, [also add acleatto each end. Now, with the spacer in place, the first pass will be a shallow one, see detail ‘a. Then to make the fall depth ‘ofcut, simply remove the spacer and RUB ARM Toften rout full mundover alongthe edges of a workpiece, whether its a piece of molding or the top ofan end table. But this procedure isnt quite as straightforward as you might expect. ‘The problem iswith the bits guide bearing. The firs: pass isn't a prob- Jem. There's pleniy of surface forthe bearing to ride against. But when you flip the piece over to complete the roundover, there's nothing for the bearing to ride against. And the bit cuts a shoulder instead of a smooth roundover, see margin drawing. Normally, the solution here is sim- ple, Luse the fence to guide the work: piece, refer to Fig. 6 on page 25, USING A RUB ARM. But what about when the pieveis curved? Here, Tuse arub arm, see drawing, It acts as a substitute bearing surface, and when installed, it rubs against the center- point of the workpiece, see detail‘. This prevents the bt from removing. too much stock. CONSTRUCTION. To make a rub arm, start with a piece of 14" hardboard No, 110 Fardpart cer take another pass, see detail ‘This technique works in other sit- tuations, too. Sometimes, when rout- ing a profile in a wood that has a ten- dency to burn (ike cherry), I willuse athin piece of cardboard asa spacer. Mostofthe profileis cut with the first pass. But when the cardboard is removed. the lighter secend pass will create a smooth, clean cut and cut @ notch wide enough to fit around the bearing. Then glueabase piece under the arm, see drawing. Even though the notch is wide ‘enough, itstill may not fitaround the bearing — the bit's cutting edge may be in the way because the rub arm fits around the bit below the bearing, see detal‘a.Ifso, you'll have to rout the profile inside the notch. Turned ‘on the router andfed the arm intothe bit. Then after the router is turned off, align the front of the arm fash with the bearing and clamp it tothe lable, see detail ‘Now that the rub arm is installed, full roundovers can be routed with ‘oat creating any unwanted shoukler, 4 If you're cutting a groove in more than one pass, you ray end up with a stepped cut on the second pas, ‘A When routing a full rxondover, the second pass ‘can leave an swented shoulder‘A This tall fence allows you to routthe end ofa long workpiece. 30 TALL ROUTER FENCE Usually, the height of a router fence isn'ta concern. Afterall, most times ‘tall piece can be laid flat onthe table, 80 a short fence is more than ade- quate. But I have found a few occa- sions when a tall fence does come in handy, see photoand drawings below. ‘The tall fence I builtis made up of plywood base, a fence, and two tri- angular braces, see drawing at right. BASE & FENCE, To build the fence, begin by cutting abase irom 3y"thick plywood. ‘The ength ofthe base should equal the top of your router table, ‘Then you can cut the 9'-high fence to this same length, NOTCH FoR.BIT. Next, to provide clearance for the router bit, [outa notch in the base and fence, MITER GAUGE GROOVE. Then after the notches were cut, Teuta groove along, the fence to hold my miter gauge. Safety Note: The position of this ‘groove is criticel — don't cut it too Jow. The miter gauge should easily clear any router bityou use when the bit is set at its highest point. -AUXIARY FENG. The trick to using a miter gauge is holding it in the stove, To do this, Ladded a special auniliary fence. This fences screwed to the miter gauge and hooks behind the router table fence so the miter ‘gauge can't fll out ofthe groove. Note: When screwing the aux iary fence to the miter gauge, posi cut base 19 | curgroove to ft fitrouterable #3 tion t's" above the table. This gives BRACES, Next, cut wo 7" x7 tian- ‘you enough clearance totilt the miter gular braces to support the fence. ‘gauge, see details ‘a’ and“b' above. (Note: Make eure one corner ofthe RaBBET, Next, Icuta x" rab- triangle is exactly 90°) bet along the bottom edge of the Finally, glue and screw the fence fence. This rabbet allows me to trim together. Then after the glue dries, the edging fush on aplywood panel, wipe a coat of wax on the face ofthe see left drawing below. fence and the miter gauge grooce. Flush Trimming. Ton the edging ona plywood panel fash 2 rabbet along the bottom of the fence provides a recess forthe lio, Of the edging that protrudes beyond the face ofthe plywood. grooves for splined mites. Woedsmith ‘Splined Miters. The miter gauge and auxiary fence are able t0 tit forward or backward, which really helps when you're routing No.110 eROUTING SMALL PIECES ‘When routing smal pieces on arouter table, how do you keep the piece from tiyping into the large holein the table? ‘The first thing I do is add an aux- ilary table made from hardboard, see drawing. In the center of the hard- board, I drill a hole that's slightly larger than the exposed part of the bit. To secure the auxiliary table, I slideitunder the router fence (hough ‘you can just clamp it down), ‘When routing the piece, also hold itwith wood hand clamps, This way, my hands are never close tothe bit. ROUTER PUSH BLOCK When using a router table without miter gauge slot, a push block essential. It keepspieces square and helps reduce chipout. One push block! like starts outas a rectangular piece of #4" plywood. ‘Then I add a hand hold to the top of the block flush with the front edge, see detail ‘a, And cut away part of the plywood behind the hand hol, Finally, [added a simple ¥/" dowel asa push handle. And to keep the stock from slipping, lattach a stripot sandpaper to the front edge, SETTING UP WITH A COMBINATION SQUARE When it comes time to set up the router bitand adda stop block tothe fence, I've found that a combination ‘square often comes in handy. I start by setting the height ofthe bit The combination square works Dest here because it sits lat against the top ofthe router table, see Fig. 1 Simply fush the edge ofthe ruler to the bottom edge of the handle, Then set the ruler next o the bit. Pie tence over uli table to hold it place a Hand bold, GE plywood) | sendpaper nore ~ Cotnoteh after attaching hand hold ffm making a stopped cut, also use a combination square to set the stop block see Fig. 2.Setthe rulerto thelengthneeded, Now, place the flat ‘edge of the square’s handle against thebit The trick here is tomake sure the handle is resting against the ip of the cutting edge on the bit. Clamp the stop block tothe fence at the end of the ruler. Then make a test cut tocheck the setup. No. 10 ‘When changing bits, one thing you ‘want to avoid is inserting the bit too farinto the collet —the radius (let) at the point where the cutting head ‘meets the shank may prevent the eo! Jet from gripping the shank tightly. But it's hard to hold the bit and tighten the collet at the same time. So I slip a common rubber O-ring ‘around the shank ofthe bit, see above. Itholds the bit at the correct height. Woodsmith32 be PROJECT The inurlcking design ofthese comes lows yout stack them in diferent configmations and move them ann easy, in by Arnold Baker of Independence, Missouri, they “crates” stack together. The slats on the top of one crate you need them, And the modular design allows you to ‘move them around easily. This makes them great for shop Jongand a larger one 31" long. You can make the crates. any size in between by simply changing the length of the slats and the back pieces. Note: The crates can be made the end panels, Each one consists of two rails (A), two ‘stiles (B), and a cross rail (C), see drawing. The cross half lap joints. To make these, I cut rabbets on the ends of all the rails, stiles, and cross rails using a dado blade the table saw rip fence as a stop, see Fig. 1a. With the half laps cut, the rails and stiles can be glued up. In order for the crates to stack properly, the end pan- seanylassetenbly poison box dient pode Thajig taki. eachpanel square whilea shank holeis drilled and awood- alt © (NOTE: End pane! ‘ental fenton , ‘imal and forge 16 A erates ae ce 4 ® { sme Aes teow NOTE Make two end Ae ‘panels for each cate, Be /-Rigoet Woodsmith No.110screws inserted nto each corner Once the glue is dry, centered dedloes can be cuton the stiles forthe cross rails, see Fig 2, These dadoes are sized to fit the half laps on the ends of the cross rails, see Fig. 2a, ‘Then the crossrailsare glued in place. 4ack. The end panels are connect ecb two identical back pieces. These backs (D) arejusta couple of 3".ide pieces of /shick stock. Then the ends ofeach piece are rabbeted tft around the end panels, see Fig. 3. (Note: For large crate dimensions, see Fig. 3b) ‘Woodscrews are used to attach the back pieces to the end panels, But 1 didn't wantto drivethe screws nto the jin line of the half laps, so I posi ticned the screwholes 14" from the ends, see Fig. 3a Stats. To complete the crate, all that’s left isto ade the slats (B), see Fig. 4. These are nothing more than 2twvide pieces of wood that are fas: tened to the end panels. The slats are attached with wood- screws (again, postioning the screws NOTE: For large “SS Grate see det 8° ‘se rp fence spb cutting Ralflans 4" from the ends). But in order for theboxesto stack properly, youneed topaycarefulattentionto howthestats are spaced on the crates, see Fig 4a. On the top of sat is set back ch crate, the front from the front of, DIMENSIONS. ee nd panel—e| BED, — Woodsmith Ausaiey. | aan EP me Le res 7 CSO. the end panels. Then the second and third slats are spaced 214" apart. On the bottom of the crates, the front lat is set flush with the end yan- els, Then the second and third sats are attached, again spaced 2/" apart. ‘To help keep the end panels ‘square while gluing them up, I made a simple assembly jis Itsjustfourleats serewedto abase. (Tuseda square to posi- tion the cleats.) The cleats hold the panel square. Tinserted a screw in each corner while the panel was still inthe ig, see photo. This way, the panel can be removed immediately without for the glue todry. 33BASE ‘Toliftthecrates up offthe oor afew inches, [built a base, Basically, this base is just an open box with three slats across the top. And it uses the same interlocking feature found on the crates, see drawing at right. MAKING THE BOX. After cutting the font and back pieces of the base to size, the ends of hth pieces are rab- beted for the sides, see drawing at right and detail. (Note: The front and back pieces of the base are i tical to the backs of the crates,) Next, the sidesare cut to size, see The versatile design of th sacks make them a gr tion t0 a shop — ce page 32 for plans. Ze 4 Finger Joint Boxes. Finger jones are a quick way to tum out attractive Doses ofall shapes and sies. And we've included plans fora few different box desis, staning on page 6 ‘A End Table. This project fearres unique diamond-shaped les, a drawer, and a surage shelf, making ican ideal end table or bedside nightstand, see page 20. -