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    Woodsmith Magazine - 115

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    266 views36 pages

    Woodsmith - 115

    Uploaded by

    rsotoqp
    Woodsmith Magazine - 115

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 36
    Serving Tray & Stand * Lantern-Base Lamp ® Hall Tree * Cutting Half Laps * Dado Blades CUTTING ATLAS Projects, Tips & Techniques [i] bs No. 115 February, 1998 Publisher Donald Peschice Editor Terry Stotmen Ascosiate Fditors JonGarbison ‘Viren Ancona ArtDirector Todd Lamtieth Senior Iustraters David Keeling Dirl Ver Stoeg Mike Minermeler ‘CREATIVE RESOURCES Gesteebeaa let kak « Poget reper ea el Selle Rea Nah Pret Dae Heo Cosi Sop Map Sewe Curt + Sep Cran Ste Sdnon Hetpap ie La Stn Pe. riper Cris BOOKS Brie Bor Dougan Hicks At Dic nase * Sor Grate Despre Cars Gack ker Sr phe esr ee Sapo ‘CORPORATE SERVICES Vie Preset of Banning and Ponce. Jou Nacacthy + ‘etter amen Dinan © Bicones Pa: Downs Un Prepres gy Spey Cu Now aa ‘Manager Gorden Cape » Wed St Ar Dineor Gene Patersen © Neteed Amine Al Barns « 7 ‘Supprtduitnt Chilarcn I Auton Raton Foele Aé Asana Fish «Reo Jeanne Jehan, ShervIRiber Seca Pee Li Set ran ‘ulin Mee Kent WOODSMITH MAIL ORDER Spain Mai it ‘Cater Sie ee Ban Meee SiN Jason « Be Linea lene sTebnea Sore >: Maw TeRodes Oper Asie" Terma = Tome Lealor Voila Estoger * Cast Se Bop ana Cox, ‘Tanny Trackenbrod, Nancy Downey, Aan Best, Deora i+ acacia QualvCond Tec Belobo woosaTH STORE Mowage Dave Lain = Asian Monae Pa Soir « ‘Safes St Fat Love, Jerome Her, Wealell Soe, Ji rac, Kathy Sit, Jobo. Joson tie Moneger Vice Rawarde ie Ee tee Fe a ctl gas ig in Bg Cant es crn Sepeaeomes aaa ss es pein Meta eres ‘ie Webhost on Pentedia US. 2 EDITOR’ [COR e Ny SAWDUST U- when we get together and startialking abput the projets for an upcoming issue, one of the first things we discuss ishow we wantthe project to look. We spend quite bit of time making sure the proportions are right and al ofthe design details ‘work well together. Once the look ofa projects fina led, we siart talking about what type of joinery to use to get all the pieces to ft together Butwith two ofthe projects inthis issue we took the opposite approach, We started with the joinery — half Japs in this case. And then we designed the look ofthe projects WA APS, Now I realize that by itself a single halflapis probably not too interesting, After all, its just @ notch that fie into another notch in a mating workpiece, Yet as simple as they are, half laps can have a dramatic effect on the appearance of a project. When you ccuta Series of half laps on a number of workpieces they createa grid that turns an ordinary project into some- thing special. SERVING TRAY. The serving tray fea tured on page 6 isa perfect example. ‘The bottom of this tray could have been a thin piece of plywood, Instead, we made it much more interesting by using thin strips of wood that appear to be woven together like a basket. Butreally, the strips are joined with hel laps to create astrong, lightweight tray. Woods lume. The other project in this issue dat features a half lap grid is the lantermbase lamp on page 16. This time, I didn't have to worry about malcing the grid strong. What T wanted was a delicate looking ‘wood grid that wrapped around the top of the lamp base like an ole-fash- {oned lanter But there's more w this project than a simple grid. What makes it really shine is the way it lights up. You can turn on a stall bulb in the base for « sof, diffuse light. There's also a regular bulb for reading. Or you can use both et the same time. (We used a special type of turn-knob socket thatallows you to operate two bulbs from the same switch.) WEB PAGE. The last thing Pd like to mention is our Web page. If you've never seen it (or if i's been awhile since you've visited), check it out ‘We're always adding something new. Currently, we have project plans and a database of projects and art les in Woodsmith and ShopNotes. Pls there's lots of woodworking tips, techniques and tool reviews. And recently, we added an online ‘woodworking catalog. To see what's sping on, point your browser to LNTTP: ww. wooDsmiTH.coM, ‘And while you're atit, end us an cemuail and give us some feedback. Or suggest some projects you'd like to sce in Weodemith. We're always fad to hear from you. No. 115 Ure) INSIDE CONTENTS Features Serving Tray & Stand ..............0..0. 6 This lade ray serves up some interesting woodworking. The grid inthe centr is created with half aps. And forthe optional stand, ‘ow can try your hand at making a dowel to allow the legs of the ‘sand to pivot. Allin allies a project that’s sure to come in hardy Cutting Half Laps pete Tf you're looking for a good, solid “meat and potatoes” joint that can be made quickly, half laps may be just the ticket. Here, we walk you through the procedure for cuing half laps, along with some shop-tested tips for getting a perfect-fitting joine Lantern-Base Lamp ..................... 16 This lamp has an interesting design of half-lap grids on the sides. Bue the real surprise comes when you tum it om. A small bulb in the base of the lamp casts a lantern-like glow. Hallirees insite mee Home is where you hang your hat. And this hall ree makes a ‘great home jor your hat (and your coat). Plus the interlocking design will keep your guests wondering how it was put together. DadojBladesiey ns... ts.s con eee 28 Despite the name, dado blades do « lot more than just cut dadoes. Here are some helpful tips on how to select and use this mportant table saw “accessory.” Storage Contest Winners . The envelope pease..the resuls are in for our shop storage con- test. The winners include a cut-off rack, a wall storage system and d portable seorage bin Departments Tips & Techniques ... Shop Notes Talking Shop Sources....... : No. 115 Woodsmith FROM FELLOW enon Louvered Doors Awhile back, Iwas building ‘smal wall cabinet that called for louvered doors, But instead of making a complicated jig to rout the slots fr the Iouversin the door stiles, [ came up with a different method that allowed me to quickly cut the slois ona table saw. made a “louver strip” by cutting the slots on a sepa rate blank, see drawing. ‘Thenthe blank is glued into a groove cut onthe edge of the door sie Tea the grooves in the exlges ofthe doorsflesfist. This way, the lower strips can be sized to fit in the ‘grooves perfectly after the slots areca “The slots can be mace on the table saw by sim- ply cutting a series of THIRD: Glue stp nto groove angled kerfs using the miter gauge, see detail‘. An auxiliary fence is attached to the face of the miter gauge to back up the blank while cuting the erfs to prevent tearout. Spindle Sander Jointer [don't have ajointer in my shop, so I came up with a way to use my oscillating spinclle sander for jointing edges. Ijustmade a simple *Jolnting” fen ‘The fence is nothing more than astraight board with a Ushaped cut out to fit eround the drum of my oscillating spindle sander. ‘Then to create an offset between the front and back ofthe fence, [shaved about Yo" ofthe “infeed” side of the fence, see detail ‘a’. (The deeper the cut, the slower youtl have to feed the workpiece.) To use the fence, simply clamp ito the top of the sander so thedrum isflash with the “outieed” edge of the fence. Thenallyou have to do is feed beardsalong the fence past the sanding drum, see photo, Cort Santon Linde, N. Covina Woodsmith RSF Cut groove in edge of door stil ‘SECOND: Cut angled kertsin louver stip Kerare cst 2020" orgie nee the kerfs are all ing the louvers, just mnake cut, the blanks can be sure to size the thiclmess ripped to width to ftinthe _ofyourlouvers tomiatch the roovesin he stiles Then width of the kerfs in the they are glued intothedoor door stiles. stiles and sanded flush, Tom Balph ‘When it comes to mak- Mesa, Artzona eye Pare a0 Clamping Jig Tye always kad a difficult wedges and moveable ee ee bar orpipe clamps to giue The base ofthejigisjust up small panels or frames, apiece af 4@"thick plywood ‘The size and weight ofthe _ with some holes drilled in clamps makes them it (1 made my base 15" unwieldy. So instead, 1 square). First, holes are ‘came up with a gluing and drilled in two opposite cor. base. The arms are noth: arms to pivot freely. clamping jig that can be noroforthe hardware that ing more than a couple A.couple 1/!'dia, hard ‘used for small projects. is used toattach the arms. pieces of %/!!thick hard- wood dowels and wedges My jig uses a couple of Then, a series of holes is wood, They're attached to complete the clanging jig pivoting arms to trap the drilled in an arc around the hase ofthejigwith car. By mavingthe dawels to a workpieces. The arms each pivot hole.Theseare riage bolts, washers, and diferent set of holes, vou ; equalize the pressure along for the removable dowel lock nuts, see drawing — can clamp up workpieces the length of the edges pinsthat areadded later, —_below, The lock nuts are of various sizes. Next, the two pivoting not tightened down alll the ‘Paul Murphey arms can be added to the way in order to allow the ‘Sydney, Nowa Soria SN toknn Ea Dail counteroores Seer on bottom of base fer ceriage vat hasos oe Fora long time, Fused a pipe Instead of placing wax the wax paper. And the clamp rack that consisted of paper down on my lip around the cookie couple of rails, each with a Dench when gluing up shetkeepssmllpieoes row of holes, The problem I suallpiecesTuseanor from rolling or “wan- found vith this type of rack ‘slick cookie sheet. ering off.” was that [alvays had a hard The cookie sheet R.B.Hlines time trying to slip the end of doesnt side around ike Yiwu Ghe the clamp through the hole in the botiom rail. And some of ‘my clamps were to0 short to Aree ent mad even. reach the holes in the dekh bottom ral, ‘To solve this problem, I ‘med a new damp rack with Pv sleeves. 1 simply drilled ‘oversize holes in both the top ‘and bottom rails, Then Igiued a length of PYC pipe in each pair of holes. Now Idon't have ‘any problem sliding the clamp right int its “holster” Roger Bo Vedios, Wisconsin Woodssnith UV uO) U3 PROJECT SERVING TRAY & STAND Like the weave of a basket, the grid in the center of this tray creates a light, elegant look. And building it is a matter of cutting afew simple half laps Jguring out why I think this serving tray is so tractive isnttoo dificult Its the grid in the center. ‘This simple grid, bit wich hualflaps, lightens the ook. ‘ofthe ray and transforms an otherwise plain, func- tional project into a rather elegant one. The nice thing ‘about this half lap ‘gid is that ifs not as ificltto build as youmight expect Allthe hhaflapsare cut in blanks that start out extra wide, 50 the repetitious workis kept toa minimum, And ncealltheleps arecutin 1M increments, there’s not a lot of setup time cither (For more on cutting halt Japs, see page 12) STAND. After coming up with the design for the tray, we thought it might benicetoaddasiand,Thisstand can bing. But whet’s especially helpful is thing Td like to mention about this, come in handy ifyou don’t have a thatthe standis sizedtofit“into” the tray. With most projects, you can ‘good surface to ect the tray on. bottom of the trey. The sides of the choose from a variety of woods and ur stand pivots open and closed tray formalliparound the bottom, so _ the project will stil look just as nice. onacross dowel And it's held open the traysits securely onthe stand. __Thisistruehereas well You could with a conple straps of nylon web- WOOD SEIECTN. There's one other build this project out of mahogany (like we ci, cherry, maple, or wal Tfyow'd like > ‘ut. However, you'll probably want to a place w set this avoid wood that has wild or pro- ay, you can also nounced grain (like oak or ash). It build an optional, would tend to compete with the folding and, straight lines ofthe grid. So tik to see page 10. ‘wood that haste grain pattern or ‘one that has a strait grain pattern Of course, youre going to need a straight 1'“dia. dowel in whatever wood Youchoose. And we founditeasiest to make our own, see page 90, Woodsmith No. 115 Construction Details oveeau pensions: Sie aw eTSeD Tayatdfome rah embles rider joints iene Bepaye 12 erton otfstard MATERIALS A Grd dono () — %4x1-17% B Gnohon)(®) — 4x1- 11% © Frame Fronv/Oack 21% x 174 - 20% D frame Encs (2) Yex Wh- 14% E Tray FrontBack 2) Yex194-21% F TrayEnds(2) Mex 3egh.- 15% G Legs (a) Wx Mh Ne H Cross Dowel (1) -dia. » 20%4 1 Crossbar (Long) (1) 4x 1%argh. - 20% 3. Crossbar (Short (1) %2x Terah. - 18% SUPPLIES + (1) 1--wide Nylon Webbing (48 long) * (4) #6 x96" Rh Woodscrews wiWashers * (4) #4.x 1%" Fh Woodscrews: + (2) %"-dia. x 1* Dowel Pins + (2) Ye"-dia. x Vs" Mahogany Plugs + (2)34" LD. Shop-made Plastic Washers may oe Frame captures paame "“tentsr gre Bus ‘in grocue may Rou nylon wetbin feopere and 4 chtsoy ends nore Serving way 5 Bune then Stand iesoed! tehald tay Wr Br 2a" Mahogany (25 Sq.Ft) CUTTING DIAGRAM NOTE: Also reed apiece of 54 stock 24" long (ough) i 1". dowel snot avaiable. No. 15 Woodsmith ‘A Before glue up the Tray ‘To build this tray. worked om he inside out, starting with the grid in the center of the tray. GRID Buiding the Vi'thick grid is easier than you might expect. For onething, the individual pieces start outas wie Dlanks, refer to Figs. 1 and 2.Teut five -wide blanks forthe grid —two that were 17//"long and three 1112" Jong. Gut make atleast one more Dlanleforatest piece) a : NO a Sa 2 nu Ee, ee cen, blank, see Fig. 1. Todo this, | ene? used the router table, routing arabbet with a" dia straight bitraised exactly hlfthe thick ness of the stock (14, Shop‘Tip: When cutting the rabhets, place the good fare of This blank is used to set the stop need tomaketwo passes over the bit ‘each blank down oa the table. blockontheauxilary fence soallthe for each. But you don't have to reset ———<— With the blanks cut to size, (@. sie view repr ery - the next step is to create a o— l a tongue on both ends of each +t pieces ofthe rid, [dry CUT WAIF UPS. After the rab others will end up identical the fence. For the second pass, I assembled them and bets are routed, the half laps ‘The only thing to keep in mind is placed a ¥4" spacer between the blank checked ro make sure canbecut, sce Fig. 2andarti- thelapsaren'tallroutedonthe same end the stop, referto page 15. they were square cle on page 12. For this grid, face. On the lng blanks, theyre on RPTOWDIA. Aer thehaflape aro Ws the half laps in the long andthe opposite face as the rabbet, see cut on the blanks, the individual grid short blanks are identical (I" wide detail’a’ Forthe short blanks, theyre pieces (A, B)can becutto final width and spaced 1" apart), see detail ‘a’ routed on thesameface asthe rabbet. to fitinto the half laps. above. So [laid out theselaps on the Another thing to point out is that ASSEMBLY. ACthis point, the grid can top (good) face of one Tong blank. these half laps are 1" wide. So you'll_beassembled. First I dry assembled Woodsmith No.115 the pieces (good face down), using a framing square to make sure the > sscembiy was square, see photo in left margin. Then I removed each short piece, applied a drop of glue to the laps, and replaced i. And tokkeep_ the assembly fai, I placed a piece of plywood and aheavy weight on it. FRAME, SIDES & HANDLES After the grid is completed, the next Steg is to build the frame around it. FRAME, To make the frame, I start ced by ripping the front, back (C) hore: and ends (D) to width (1%) from 0% back spd ond 1YMbick stock, sce drawing at left Farman” But before mitering these pieces to length, first cut grooves tohold the tongues on the grid, see Figs. 3 and a. The grooves are positioned so the ‘tops ofthe grid and frame willbe flush. | With the grooves cut, the frame pieces can be mitered to fit around the grid, see drawing at left. To find the lengths of these pieces, I mea sured from shoulderto-shoulder on the grid pieces. Then the frame can © gm eeived aroune the end ‘Now before making the ron, back a. ; and ends ofthe tray, cuta rabbet along nls S Se qroore the bottom edge ofthe frame to cre- OO es 4 vofelerae iva "x Yt tongue, see Fig. 4. : pene TRAY FRONT, BACK & NDS. The front, Inadeand ends ofthe tray wrap around the frame. I started by ripping }4"- " thick blanks to width, see drawing 7 U above. The way front and back (EB) are 9%wide (all) but the ends ) are "to allow for the handles. there are couple things to do first. ‘Thenext thing to dois round over Next to hold the tongues on the First, I cutthe curve along the top the top and bottom edges of the front, frame, cut "x 4" grooves 1" from _ of each end piece (F) and sanded it back and end pieces (including the the bottom of exch piece, see Fig.5, smooth, see details and Fig. 6.Then handle opening), se detail’ With the grooves cut, the front, created the opening forthe handle Nowalltha's leftist ge the tray back and ends canbe mitered to wrap _ by drilling two %%"-dia. holes and pieces around the frame, see Fig. 7. around the frame, see drawing. But removing the waste between them Just make sure you center theclamp- before you can give them in place, withasabresaw,scedesal a’ nig pressureon the fra. teh Ee tnd ‘NOTE: Start curve, 2 introm ord of Cworplece No. 115 Woodsmith 9 wide ebbing — [ire 3" thick Crasibors ae Ve thick 1k The stand for he sersing ray pivots on a crass dowel s ie can be folded up and put ‘away until che next cime it's needed, Stand Aer the serving tray is complete, you can build the stand, The stand folds onacross dowel, and two straps of nylon webbing keep it from open ing too far, see photo above lees. To build the stand, [started by ; sipping the four legs G) to finished / Make ploos width (129 from "thick stock, see —— beg eter drawing and detail’? Now to get the legs to rest flat on the floor when the stand is opened, [ f a beveled the ends while cutting them atthe center, see drawing, [found it cutthe dowelto thistenzth (26°, to engt 224"). Todo this, angled easiest wo start withthe cross dowel Next,Leuta°4¥a, tenon on each the miter gauge 24° and added an and thea cute bars tofitlaes. end oe dowel, see Figs. and 9a. aiiary fence and a stop block so The only prublemisfindinga "dia. Cutting tenons onadowelisro peob- they'd end up identical. And after dowelthat’s straight ndmaiches the lem; [typically use my table caw, soe they're cut to size, Tals chamfered wood. We had adiffcultimefinding photoin margin and page 20. Bu the bottom tp of the leg so it would amehogeny dowel for his project,s0 uring out the length ofthe tenon on A Toute tenon on roteatchonthe carpet, scedetal’b’ _wemade our own. Fortunately, thisis each end isa bit more work the endofadowel All thats lett to complete the legs simple procedkire. Allyouneedisa Each tenon on the cross dowel wihauble saw. is todrilla "dia hole atthe center 4" round-pver bit and an auxiliary should match the thickness of the Refer wo this cof each leg to hold the tenon on tite extension for your router table, For two legs (1¥%") with a Ao" gap simple echnigque dowel, see Fig. 8. ‘more on this technique, see page 30. between the stand and the tray. But on page 30. (ROSS DOWEL. With thelegscutout, Cutting the cross dowel (H) to didn't want the legs to rub against it’s time to connect them — with size is easy. I simply measured cach other and wear away the finish, crossharsat the topand acrossdowel between the handles on the tray:and so Ladded a shop-macle plastic wash- NOTE Tarate Blste washer See boxes ge 10 Woodsmith No. 15 € (Ao"thick) between them, see box below. Adding up the legs and wash- cand allowing for the gap between the tray and stand, my tenons ended up 1%e" long, sec Fig. 9a. Note that when the tenonsarecutto thislength, they will stick out roughly i" This excess can be quickly sented oft. ‘Aer the tenonsarecut the keesare ready to be attached to the cross dowel, see Figs, 9 and 9a, Again, i was hard to find a¥f"dia. mahogany dowel to pin the outside legs. So instead, used a "Jong maple dowel, ‘see detail ‘x'in drawing on page 10. Then | ied the holes with 14"-long. plugs. (/used a plug cutter) RosstaRs. Now, the tops ofthe legs can be connected with "-thick crossbars (I, J), see Fig. 10. The inside edge ofthese piecesis beveled 24° to match the angle of the legs ‘And they are cut to length fo span ‘across the legs. (My long crossbar ‘was 2s the short one was 1596) WEBRING. AMter the crossbars were screwed to the lezs, I added the 1!" ‘widenyion webbing that prevents the legs from opening too far | aligned the webbing with the first grid piece near each end. And to makessure the ‘webbing was he right lenath,Ifpped the tray upside down and setthe stand upside down inside the tay, see Fig. 11, This war, when Tserewed the web- ‘bing to the crossbars, it would end up the exactlength needed, TINH, Finishing the stand is easy. ‘The tray with its grid is alittle more difficult So instead of trying to wipe ‘or brush the finish in the grid open- ings, | found it easier to spray on a ‘couple coats of finish, I used Deft spray-on Jacque) ‘Yo keep the legs from rubbing together and wearing off the n- ish, I added a plastic washer ‘between them. But afer a tripto a couple hardware sires, [decided it would be much easier just to ake my om iy ieee of astic will work. (happened, tse aeoffe can lid) No. 115 stand fitsin Tp under vo ‘Sandwich plastic first, sand- Drill holes. Next cri 34*-cfa. Cut out washers. Finally, Wich 2coffee canlid between holes to match thessize of the dravvtwo 1 la, orces and two peres of pljvocd. ‘enon on the cross done cut them out with scisors. Woodgmith 1 WOODWORKING TECHNIQUE “They're strong and quick. The Jointsaressrons because there'sa lot offacetoface surface fora good glue int And halflaps are quick because both workpieces can usually be cut with the same setup. To cut ahalflap, half the thickness ‘of each piece is removed so the two ‘overt and their faces are fash. In most cases [use a table saw and a ‘allo blade Butihere are times when Ipreferthe router table, see page 15. 1 should also point out that halflaps ‘are versatile, They ean be cut on the ‘ent ofthe pieces to create a frame, see next page, Or they ean becut in the middle to create a grid, see page 14, The concepts the same, but the procedures are abit different. xker THAMES. There are Ovo keys to cuttingahallap successfully First, ‘you want to make cure all the blanks are exactly the same thickness. If theyre not (orifyour thickness plar- er “snipes” the ends of the pieces so theyre sightly thinned, then itl be Impossible to cut the halflaps so the rating pices are flash onboth faces. ‘ARGFUL BLADE SUP. The otfer key to cutting accurate balf laps isto set the blade tothe proper height — the blade hast be raised exactiyhalfthe thickness ofthe stock To gettthe blade cose to the right height quickly Isartwithatestriece and set the blade just under half the thickness. (Any test pieces must be the same thickness as the work: pieces.) Then I make two passes on the same end, fipping the test piece ‘over between passes, see Fig. | ‘Whatyou end up withis atiny siv- ‘erof wood ai the center ofthe piece, Now raise the blade half theheight of ‘the sliverand repeat this process until the sliver is just removed, Now you'reready to test the setup with two test pieces, see Fig. 2. Todo this, you need to cut the hal lap like youwill on the goad workrieces, refer to Figs.4and 5 Ifthere’sasoall shoulder, you'll need to adjust the Blade up or down depending on whether the la is too deepor shallow. Be patient here, ifthe hall laps are aoffnow, they're sure to be off later. Sotake the time to getthe setup per fect. And one more thing. Is impor tant to be as consistent as possible ‘when cutting the half laps (applying the same downward pressure on all rieees, forinstance). Otherwise, you ‘can end up with half laps that are Woodsmith aces of plecee— shoud te fed No. 115 End Laps ‘Whenever younced to create a quick, ‘strong frame, end laps are a good ‘choice. I typically use my table saw, making multiple passes over a dado blade, refer to Fig. 4. And to suppart ‘the workpieces, I use an auxiliary fence atached tthe miter gauge. exc ser. The rst sep to cating ‘end laps is to get your dado blade set tothe rightheight see previowspage. ‘Once that's done, all that's leftis to set upastop to establish the width of the cut. Most times, se my rip fence 28a Sop [se itso the with from the onside ofthe dado bla to the fence equals the width of the work- pieces, see Pig: 3. (Por more on using the rp fenceasa stop, ee pege 14) {MULTE ASSIS, Now thelaps ean be ‘cut on both ends of each piece, see Fig. 4. Usually the workpieces are wider than the dado blade, so you have to make multiple passes:To do ‘this, simply cut the shoulder passand then slide the piece away from the fence and make another pass until all the waste is removed. ‘LEANN TH CHEE. With sore dato blades, these passes will eave tiny -groaves along the cheeks of the half Jap, see Fig. Sa. These tiny grooves are going to show, but you can remove them in one of two ways. One way to remove most of these grooves is to push the piece over the blade slowly while moving it side-to- side, see Fig 5. (Is ike pating your head while rubbing your stomach) ‘The other method you can use create cleaner half lap cheeks, but it requires a different technique with an extra setup, see box below. setuP. After some light finish sande ing, is time to assemble the frame, sce Fig, 6. (fyou are adding a grid inside the frame, youll need to cut the cross lps frst) End laps aren't chiteaseasy to assemble asthey are to cut. This isn't a big deal. You just hraveto be careful that the frame goes together square without any gaps. End laps require clamping pres sue in three directions, see Fig. 6 First ciamp the workpieces against the shoulders of the mating pieces ‘Then when I've checked that the assembly is square, [add clampsat each corner too. 8 u ‘With atlas youcan ddo more than just build a simple fame. Forboththelemp andthe serving ray inthis isue, we used halflaps to create agri To do this, series ofhalflaps are cut along, the center ofthe workpieces so they cross over each other. To do this, the oo'sare the same as with end laps, butthe dado has to match the width of the laps (or you hhave to make more than one pass, seenext page), And the procedureis alitie diferent too For one thing laying out and cut ting the laps accurately on each inter secting ploce would bea hassle. But fortunately, there’s an easier way. Instead of working with individual workpieces Ieutthe halflansin extra: wide blancs (vide enough for tvo oF three pieces), see Fig. 8 After the half Japs are eatin the blanks, the pieces ‘ill be ripped to final width, Note: It there's a frame that sur rounds the grid, you can cut these pieces to finished width and cut the ‘nd laps on them firs, se the photo above and page 13. When the blanks are planed and sanded to final thickness, the next Sep isto lay cutthe alflaps. Because Tusea stp block when cutting the Pais ee Rd Occasionally, wel get a fetter warning ts about the danger of using the nip fence as stop when pushing a piece with the miter satuge. The danger is tha the cutoff piece «an kick back at you. And we agree. You shoul never eut completely through apiece using both the rip fence and miter gauge. ‘The key word “completely.” And when cutting half laps, you're not eutting com- pletely through the workpiece, so there's 1 cuto pieceto kick back at you, laps, I only lay them out on one of the long blanks. And I like to draw the layout lines on theface opponite the laps. Then T draw reference lines for the notch on the auiiary fence see Fig. 7. This way, to set the stop block, 1 simply align the jayout ines between the reference nes on the fence. Another good layout tip sto mark an“X"to indicate where the half aps are to be cut, refer to Fig, 8. Other- wise, you could accidentally cut one ofthe laps inthe wrong place With the halilap lid out, the next step isto cut them. To do this, Luse the rip fence as a stop. You ean set thefence foreach lap, orifthe layout is symmetrical, you. can make two passes with each setting, ippingthe Piece encHorend., (his will cut the number of setups in all) Note:fthe haflaps are wider than the dao blade, youl ned to make ‘more than one pass, see next page. ‘After the laps are cut, the blanks can be ripped into individual pices, see Fig. 9. Butbefore doing this, it's Woodsmith ‘a good idea to mark onc end ofeach blank. This way when it’s time to asgemble the grid you can make sure the pieces are oriented the same, ‘When ripping the blanks, the key isto size the individual pieces so they fit smug in the half aps, see Fig. Sa ‘You can use atest piece to\do this or rip your frst workpiece a hair wide and sneak up on its final width, ‘When allthe pieces have been cut to size, the last thing to do is assem- ble the grid. Todo this, typically dry assemble the gridto testtherit ofthe pieces. Shop Tip: To check that the assembly is square, use a framing. square. Then glue the grid togete ef, [remove one piece at ¢ time and add a drop o glue to each lap. Air the pieves are gluedin place, [keep the assembly fat by setting a piece a plywood and someweight on top, refer to photo on page 8. Hob Stars oigecorentone No.8 Wide Half Laps Sometimes, a project will require a half lap tha’s wider than your dado blade set. (This was the case with the serving tray grid, see page 6) This ‘means you have to cut the laps in bo ‘or more passes. Here you have a couple options. I there aren't many half laps to cut, I simply set the fence (Stop) far each shoulder ofeach lap. But fthereare alot oft lapsto cut, then Ican save time by making a spacer and using @ twestep process To determine the thickness ofthe spacer, start with the overall width of the half lp (1 on the serving tray rid). Then subtract the width ofthe dado blade (4°) from this overall with (o find the thickness that your spacer should be (4. ‘The nice thing is that you don't need to worry that the final half lap ends up exactly 1" wide. Its a hair wider ornarrow, that’s okay— youl rip the pieces to fit in the laps after they're cut refer to Figs. 9 and oa With the spacerin hand, itstimeto cutthe halflaps. AsT mentioned ear- lic, this isa two-step process. The first stp isto set upthe stop block to cut the shoulder forthe! from the block, see Figs: 1 and 10a. (ase 2 Jong auxiliary feneeand a stop block PL Sg Using the table sawisa dick and easy way to cuthalflaps, butts not aways my ist choice, Whent'mworking with thin stock (ess than ¥9) Vike to use a straight bitin my router table, see photo. ‘There are two rea. sons for this, First, it makes a cleaner cut than a dado blade. The bottom of the lap §s perfectly smooth when ccutwith a sraight bit ‘The second thing llikcis hat half Japs end up more consistent when Trout them. The preblem with a table saw is that the rotation of the No. 115 met Sarees Sarat instead of the rip fence. This way, when the spacer is added, i “ride” along with the fence, see Fig. 11) ‘After malking the first pass with the blank butted against the stop block, slip the spacer between the block and the blank, see Figs. 11 and 1a. Thistime, the blade willeut the shou- blade tends to push the pieceup off the table. So you lave to maintain consistent downward pressure all the way through the cut. And thin picces will flex more than thicker ‘pisces, which compoundsthe prob- Jem. A router solves this because For fis pas of wise op, set top block waurrarsnouicer size space; to aqua! wists St hoi op minus ‘nldth of dace blade Spacer der that’s closest tothe stop block, ‘This spacer technique can even be used for laps that require more than two passes: Simply cut both shoul dors (using the spacer for the second pass) and then remove the spacer and Clean out the waste between the two shoulders in multiple passes. the bit rotates ina dif fetent direction, However, watch out forone thing when rout. ing halt laps. Because most of the chips end up on the table, you need tomake sure they dont end up under the ‘workpiece and affect the depth ofthe cut. Assembling thin lap Joints can also reqnire a different approach, Ifthere'saframeto glue up, asin thefamp on page 16, then ‘centering the clamps ou the stock can be a bit ofa balancing act. But ty solution was to come up with a clamping ji, see page 20. iv avO 3 OOOH LANTERN-BASE LAMP There’s no genie inside this lamp; instead it houses a small bulb that casts a soft, diffuse light. And a wood grid in Hon of the panels creates a unique design. O. cof my favorite childhood memories sof my father igging out an old oil lantern whenever a storm knocked out our electrical power: The whole family would sit huddled around the kitchen table within the warm, glow ofthe lantern, talking and telling stories. Akhough never sid anything, Iwas alwaysa litle bit disappointed ‘when the power was eventually restored, This lamp reminds me a ot ofthat old lantern. Asarall light bulb illuminates the base of the lamp. But instead, ‘of bright, intense light, paper covered panels inthe sides ‘of the lamp diffuse the light, casting a soft glow. RUEPEPRR. To create this effect, the panels are made aut ‘of rice paper (available at mostart stores, or see sources: ‘on page 35)..But because rice paper is fragile, [was con- ‘cerned that it might get damaged unless it was sapport- ‘edby a backing. Soto strengthen the paper we mounted it to some clear Plexigias, ‘Butthat’s not the only interesting thing about this amp. ‘Atthetopofezch frame isa wood “grid” made up ofsmall rieces joined together with half laps. So when the panel is backlit by the light bub, itcreates a windowpane effec. Ws a simple design that creates a unique lamp. AALFLAFS. The trickiest part about making the lamp is figuring out a safe way to cut the halflaps on all those tiny pieces. The solution we came up with is to make the halt lapsin “gang” cuts, Thisjust means that we eut the ints ‘on several pieces at one time. (For more on cutting half lap joints, see the technique article on page 12) ‘A. This lamp features two bulbs — one in the base and ‘one above. A suitch wich thee settings allows you 10 tr on the base only, the top only, or both a once. No.5 re ante seepage 2” froma oe ‘apo: MATERIALS ‘A Upper Frame Rall 4) Yax¥%e- 5% B Lower Frame Rail (4) Yax¥e - 5Y Frame Stiles (2) Yar 12 D Vertical Dividers (12) Yax¥- 4% E Horizontal Dviders (12) Ya x™A -5¥a F Top/eim.Frame(®) — Yax a- 72 G Topi. Panels(2) Yah. - 4x 4% sul ES + @ %9"-da. flat cherry Plugs +) 44x34" Fr Woodscrews + (@) Rice Paper Sheets 5* x 12° (Rough) + @)%6" Peesiglas Panels 434" x 1134" + (1) Hickey + (1) 1%4" long Nipple @6" 0.0.) + (1) 36"-Jong Nipple 4" 00.) + (1) Colar + (1)2 Chreuit 3 Wire Brass-Plated Switch + (1) 2" Candelabra Base ° + (1) Plastic Hold-cown wiNal + (1) Bt. 18/2 Cord witlug + (1) Brass-plated Harp w/Finial + (1) lamp Shade s- OVERALL Besa rot give PANE Plexiglas — (Re plynnec) ue oversize Sheet of rice (paper Plotgies panel, then tinecges ainda of oe onesie ofheced ibe J \ ‘glued eo ice ‘eames nt ()) Details er TBH x72" Wx 7%e"D- NOTE: Alo need to 5" x5! pieces of thick cherry pywood No. 115 Woodlemith wn FRAME STLES (2 blanks) are Sides ‘When [frst saw the design for this lamp, it reminded ime an ewfll lot of the box Kites [ used to make as a id, And actually, the con- structions similar: Its just four frames glued upintoa box. The only difierence is the erdwork ofhelfleptrim pieces at the top of each fame, see drawing at right, ALANKS, The frame that makes up each includes two rails and two stiles, joined with half laps. ‘Then the gritwork inside each frameis made up of three horizontal clividers and three vertical dividers again joined with half laps. At first ‘elance, you might think this involves cutting half laps on a lot of small pieces, But the process is really a ‘hole lot easier (and faster) if you start by cutting the hal laps on wider ge blanks, and then rip the individual pieces to width. f _ Todothisstarted by mkingsep- arate blanks for the frame rails (A, B), frame stiles (C), and vertical ancl horizontal dividers (D, B) out of V/"thick stock. Shop Note: Some of the pieces require two blanks, see drawing in margin at lef. ‘When cutting the blanks tolengih, iffsimportant to make sure the ends are square with the sides. Otherwise, youll have a difficult time keeping the half laps lined up. Because the frame pieces are only 44-dhick, I decided to cut the halflaps con a router table with a straight bit (Gee the technique article on page 12). The router leaves a cleaner, more consistent cut than a table saw, But the NOTE: Cut a halt iopson tnide banks st hen Incivehil pcos to ve ‘See craig Hani of Important things to take the time to ake several testeutsto check both the depth and width ofthe half laps ‘CUTTING THE HALE LAPS. The first step in cutting the joints is to make the 4. endl half apson both ends of the blanks, see Fizs. land fa. (Note: ‘The Dlanks for the vertical dividers receive a laf lp on only one end) ‘This is done by malking two passes, lemping a stop block to the miter gauge fence to establish the shoul ee ofthe end half aps, see Fig. Ta 18 No. 115 Once the half laps are ext on the ‘ends, you can start cutting the Y= >) Yitehallas tat join heard pisces together, soe Fig. 1b. Theseare cutin ) ‘the same manner, using a stop block ‘lampesto the miter gauge The only ! things thatyou'l have to reposition the stop block to create the spacing between the half eps. RIPPING TH FEES T0 WOTH, Aer all the half laps are eu, the individual pieces can be ripped to width from the blanks, see Fig, 2. The important thing here isto make sure the fin- ‘shed with ofthe nieces matches the ‘ith ofthe half laps, otherwise the pieces won't fittogether. (made my dividers wide andthe frame pieces +f wide, see Figs. 2aand 2b.) ‘There'sone more step tocompkete before the grit can beassembled. To add litle interest to the grid, Ivar- ied the ength ofthe vertical dividers. ‘The center vertical divider of each aid isa Mle tonger than the two iverson either side, sce drawing ) on opposite page. To create this dif ference, [trimmed %! off the end of ) D> cightotthe vertical dividers ‘AsSHAL When it came to ghuing, the sides up, [used a simple ig 10 help keen the frames square and fat, sec Fig. 3. (Por more on this jig, see page 30.) And rather than trying to slic upallthe pieces atonce,Iglued the frame pieces first and then glued the grid pieces into the frames, see tilking the blade 45° andrippingeach crushing the “box.” Soinstead, Lused Fig 4, Shop Note: avoid having to sidealongtheedges,seeKigs Sand5a, ordinary masking tape, laying the clean up alot of gue squeeze out, I GING UP IE 0X. The sides ofthe framescown inarew and placing four ‘used a single drop of glue on each lamp are assembled before making stinsof tape lngthwise across them halflap when gluing inthe dividers. the top and bottom panels, But overhanging one side , see Fig 6. Before the sidescan be glued up because the sides are so delicate, I Thenafterapplying ght tothe edges Into a*hox,” the edges nced tobe was aid thetusing clamps tohold ofthe frames, simply taped the box beveled Todothis,lusedatablesaw, the pieces together might end up _ together, see photo below. BRST Lay sides erties Oe Strips of ondary masking ie hold the delicate sides of the lamp together. Just remember check and make sure the boxis square. ‘Secono: ace “srs of masting tone aros: esoe ening tur orc oro uch No. 115 Woodsmith 9 Top & Bottom ‘With the sides othe lamp ged up, the base is amos. compete, Ait needs isa top and abot, which hhappen tobe identical Both the top and bottom consist ‘of a square plywood panel sur- rounded by a mitered hardwood frame. But since the frames are sized to overhang the skles of the ‘amp, but them first and then cut the pane’s to fit ‘ants. Coch frame is made up offour mitered frame pieces (F), see drawing tright Toma these ries, [started by ippingtve long blanks to width (194') out of! thick stock, (one forthe top fame andone fo the bowom), Normally, I make frames by molding the profile on the blank first and thea mitering the indvid- tual pices to length. But in this se vent about it itl different began by routing. chamfer on the edge of each uncut blank, see detail ‘c. But didn’ cut the lange bevel om the out se ofthe frame until ofter the individual |S pieces were mitered io Tength and the frames 7 were assembled, see Figs. Zand. ue TismmteUalrcnrn al miata 2 clamp the frames pieces during en oe assembly and glue up. PANELS. Once the frameswere cont- and 8s. The height (depth) ofthisrab- the top panel, drilled a%-dia hole pleted, I made the plywood panels bet is 14". Butthe width will depend right in the center of the panel forthe that fit inside. Fach panel (G)starts upon the opening ofyourframes. (My lamp hardware. But on the bottom outas a square piece of thick ply- rabbet was 1" wide.) |found it east panel, a4" hole is drilled in the wood, cut to fitinside the opening of est to cuttherabhetsslightlynarrow corner for the electrical cord, see the body ofthe kanp. (Mine were" and then sneakcup on the final width. detail‘! above. Then the panels can square) Nextarabbetisrouted onal DRILWOUS. Before gluing the pan be glued into the frames. four ediges of the pane! to fit inside els into the frames, holes are drilled The top and bottom are attached the opening of the frame, sce Figs.8 forthe lamp wiring and hardware. Onto the sides of the lamp with screws, 20 Woodsmith No. 118 So the next step isto drill counter: bored holes forthe mounting screws. see details’ and'c on opposite paz. ‘The top doesn't get screwed in place unilafter the lamp is wired. But the bottom is attached at this peint. ‘Then [glued //'di, tapered, flathead phugsto the bottom to serve as “eet” see detail‘ at ight MSA. Ifs easier to finish the base ofthe lamp before the hardware and wiringare added. And because ofall the tiny spaces created by the grid- work, [used a spray laequer (Deft PANES. While the finish was drying, I started working on the rice paper panels [could have simply glued the rice paper behind each grid, but Lwas ‘worried that it might get torn or dam- aged. So to provide some backing, 1 mounted the rice paper to Plexiglas parelsusing a spray adhesive. These panels are cutto ft inside the lamp. (Once the rice paper is attached, the panelsare plzced inside the lamp and ‘gived in place with a hot glue gun itm. Final, I threaded the cord through the hole inthe botom and wired the lamp, see box below. Then I secured the top with serews and aiddeda lamp shade, OY Wiring dhe lamp isnt really dificult, but youre at all unsure about how to proceed, it's probably best to hire an cleetrician or take the lamp to @ Jamp store to have it wired. Although the lamp has two socks fs the one that contains the switch isadhwire socket, which can operate each bulb separately or both at the same time. This type of socket has tho “hot” leads and one neutral lead. ‘Thisallows the sccond socket to be *pigailed” to the firs. Ashoctlength of 182 wire is used te connect the neutral leads and the hot leads of the two sackets (make sureto keep these separate —hot to hhot and neutral to neutral, Then the two wires from the power cord are attached to the upper socket, one to thencutrlIeedand oneto the remain. ing hot lead. No. 115 ‘Woodignith a sANUO ty PROJECT HALL TREE We designed a strong, stable tree without a massive “trunk.” I Theres zaulit tisha tre: poss hooks, feet and cress pieces, But a simple asi , working out the final daign took quite « few revisions. P0St. For one thing abl tre requires a center pos. ‘Asli post would have been hard to find — and prety heary Plus, itwould ve had a tendency to warp. Wecon- sidered laminating the pos trom two or tee pieces of stock, Butte there would have been visbe in nes running helen ofthe post. Soinstead ofa singe, oid post we decide on four nar rower posts (each I thie) that are connected by the hook, et, ad some special cross brases, This “ineola oa” approach lightened the weight of te tree and also madeitquite bit moreinteresting tolokat land build) HOOKS & FE. With the post designed, next we worked nthe hooks en fet. Of couse, these noes have tolcok right, But changing ther size (and shape) also afected the sabity and ubly ofthe tree. So me played with the shape of the pieces and their lengths, trying to gct a bal ea ak aie dade Rees ane unbrells This required bullding several prototypes. Buttba! wasn’ hig deal yu don't have to eu any tenons onthe inside edges. Instead the pieces are simply sand wicked beameen the posts MATERIALS: A Posts (2) 11-65% B Cross Peces (4) 1x13 © Top Hooks (4) 1x4-10 D Bottom Hooks (4) 14-8 E Feet (4) 15-13%, CUTTING Ye 5* 60" Rad Oak 26 bd Ft) e : . e 1 4" 34" Red Oak 29.64.) © © & ¢ > 2 2 2 18" 84" Rec Oak (26.84. Ft) 22 Woodsrnith No.115 Construction Details ‘OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 6934"H x 223%"W x 22%4’D No.115 Woodsmith % POST DETAIL | osu i eat snouloer Srescnath Gut shoulder fine then Femove waste in trgen the wrunk." This trunkcismade up of four long posts, see drawing in mar gin, Each post hasa series of notches Ccuton two adjacent faces to hold the hooks, cross pieces, and feet. Posts ‘To make the posts, I started with a Stawide blank of 5/4 stock pianed 1" thick. Keep in mind when you're choosing and milling this blank that the straighter these pieces are now, thecasieritwill boto cut the notches ‘and assemble them later. ‘GIT TOUBIGTH. With the blankrresaly, cut it to final length (6544") and ripped itinto four "wide posts (A), ‘see drawing in margin, This way, all the pieces will end up exactly the same length, which is important when itcomes time to cutthe notches. ‘GU NOTCHES. With the posts cut to Size, I began work on the notches. ‘These are cut on the inside faces of each post, see Fig. 1. And since they trap the hooks and feet, i's important that they lineup across the four posts SANDING BLOCK. (the notchieson the _osts aren't smooth, youl notice itwhen the hooks and feet are _ghied between them later. So ere. ated a simple sanding block, see: ‘drawing.‘The “handle” ofthe block ‘pans across the notches so their depth stays consistent and their ‘edges aren't rounded over, Todo this, frst Ils cut the notch- ‘es on a single post, sce draving in margin. (Note that the top and bot- om notches are the same distance ‘romtheends ofthe post, buttheyre not the same length) ‘With the notches laid out on one post, I set the dado blade to make a pia ey Cl Weodsmith 44-dcep cut. And Ladded along aux: flary fence tothe miter gauge to sup- port the piece, see Fig. 1 ‘The rick to making sure that the notches are identical is to use a stop. block, see Figs. | and Ja. After set tingitto cut the rst shoulder, Imade two passes on each piece, rolling the No. 115 nore: Moke blanks Nore: Cross pieces eure rergtn iter halt ors A To keep the posts from bouingat be center, theyre held together with simple cross pace assemblies, NOTE pare enoved Dost between passes so the notches ‘ended up on adjacent faces. ‘When the first shoulder had been. cutonall the posts, Imoved the stop block to cut the second shoulder of the notch. After making this cut, any waste hetween the two shoulders ean be removed with over‘apping asses ‘Then Lworked on the next notch, fo lowing the sare procedure. ‘Note: Because of the length of the posts, youllnced to flip them eround © _haativay through this process, When the notches were cut, I noticed they had some shallow kerf marks left by my dado blade. Iwas concerned that these marks would be visiblefter assembly. Soto remove them, I made a simple sanding see the bexcon page 24 COUMEER EDs. With the sw marks removed, all tha’ lefts to chamfer theends, see Fig 2. These pieces are ‘so Jong that | was concerned about ischamier, but found that holding them favon the table wasn't dificult, especially when using the miter gauge and an auxiliary fence to support the piece. However, Idid OVERSIZE BLANKS. The cross pieces cle beginning on page 12) decideto addazero-clearancetence. (B).ftinthe notches inthe center of COTTO SIZE. Now the blancs can be pieces together Gross piece assembly (For more on this, see page 30.) the post. (Mine were 1" x 1") Their eutinto four cross pieves, see Fig. 4 final length willbe 3°, However, since (Thistime. you can'tuse the rip fence ‘CROSS PIECES thisis a bitshortto workwith on the asa stop because the piece will kick When the postsare complete, Thegan _tablesaw safely, ISaried with wo7"- back, see the box on page 14.) Thea workingon some crosspieces. Each long blanks, see drawing above. _all that’ left is to chamfer the ends, cross piece assembly consisisof two With the two blanks inhand, cut sce Fig §. Here agein, [used the 2ero- individual piecesand lookslike short _aelflepnearboth endsofcach so the clearance insert, But this time, Isup- A> Lincoln Logpieces stacked together. cross pieces would overlap, see Fig. ported the pieces with a push block. [ Their purpeseista connect the pests 3.Tosupport these blanks, attached Nowrthe cross piecescan beghued inthe middle of the tree so the snac- an auxiliaryfence tothe mitergauge together and set aside until after the ing sts even from top to bottom, andused theripfenceasastop, (For hooks and feetare made and the tree see photo above. more oncuting halflaps, seetheart —sready to be assembled, see Fig. 6. No 5 Woodsmith 2 ‘With the posts and cross pieces com plete, the lst pieces to makeare the hooks and feet. With the two differ ‘ent sets of hooks and the setof feet there are twelve different pieces to mide, Fortunately, the procedure is. identical. The only difference is the shape of the pieces. HOOKS & FEET [started by cutting the blanks forthe ‘top (C)and bottom hooks (D) from ‘Wthick stock. (Top hook blanks are 4" x 10" bottom blanks are 4" x8") ‘aren, With the blankscutto size, created one pattern for the top hook ‘and another forthe boitom and then ‘mounted them to to of the blanks, (The patterns for each piece can be found on page 23. Fulksize patterns are also available, see page 35) NsMEEDGE. The nex stepis to shane the inside edge of each blank (the ‘ne that fits into the notches on the posts). This is a two-step process, First, [angled the miter gauge and ‘et the inside edge ofeach piece, see Fig. 7 Note: Both hook blanks are cout with the miter gauze angled 40° With the inside ede cu, next cut the top and bottom edges so the ‘hooks fitin the notchesin the post. cut the bottom edge first with the blank standing on the inside edge. cut the blank with the pattern frst ‘and then traced this cut on the other blanks and cut them) Next, [cutthetop edge ofthehook, see Figs 8 and 8, Here, instead of fF owing the patiera, you'll want to sneak up on ‘ho inal height (width) of the Piece so ifits snugin the notchesin the posts, see photo at left. When it does, you can clamp a stop block to the auxiliary feace so all the other ‘blanks will be identical. Note: You'll need to reset the stop block for the other set of hook blanks. (UT TO SHAPE, Now the rest of the patiern canbe cut out. used theband ‘saw for thisand sandedup tothe ine. When this piece was complete, I ‘raced it on the other Blanks so they ‘epuld be cutand canded to match. ET, With the hooks cut out, you ‘ean work on the feet CB). The pro- cedure here isthe same, The only dif ferences are that the blank is larger x 1344, sce pattern on page 23) ‘nd to cut the inside edge, the miter gauge is rotated 25°, refer to Fig. 7. CGAMFER INSIDE EDGE. When the feet axe cut out and sanded, there's sill ‘one more step for both the hooksand_ feet. Irouted achamfer on the inside edges ofeach piece, see Figs. 9 and 9a. This /" chamfer allows all four Ficeesto come together the center, see the Secon View detail on page 23 No. 15 ASSEMBLY Now that the hookssand feetare come plete, the hall tree can be assembled. Here it begins to look lke a large “Lincoln Log” project. But fortunately, there's not much to the assembiy, you take iin steps. GLUE UP HAWES."The first thing I did ‘was gue up one set of hooks (opand ‘otto anda footbetween two poss, sce Fig, 10. I used the cross piece assemblies to help keep the posts aligned. But the important thing is that the inside edges of al the posts, hooks ane feet are fash, see Fig 10a ‘When one halfis glued together, ddd the same with the other bal Then connected the two halves by gluing the cross piece assembles between them, sec the drawing below. ‘di emannng hook and foot AXthis point the remaining parsof ‘nooks and feet can be wed into the notches, see drawing below. ladded ‘one piece at atime, inserting tito the notch and clampingittight Shop Tip To prevent glue equoezo-out, apply lve only to the notches on the post. [Afterall the hooks and fet were In pace, [checked to sei there was shoulder atthe bottem ofthe hooks, there was, I sanded the hooks so they made a smooth transition into the posts. Then I softened all the “hard” edges on the hooks and feet. ANISH, The les thing todo is apy thefnish, Because ofthetigntspaces ‘between the posts a spray gun would work best. Butif you don' have a spray gun, you can do what did wipe ‘oathree aro coats ofan ol finish. mmo: Lane) Sand hock od ‘feoro often edgos A A wobble blate (op) cuts a dado witha concave bomom, while « sack dado set (bottom) leaves a dado with a dlean- er, flat hottom, Ey Too & TECHNIQUES to the shop after buying my first dado bade. quickly set up the bade ‘on my table saw. Then grabbing 2 piece af woe from the scrap pil, Let adadoand anxioasiy tured ihe piece over to inspect the results, [couldn't have been more disappointed. The edges were ragged and splintered, and the bottom ofthe dado was thing but flat That’s when I realized there's more to « dado blade the moots the eye Basialy speaking alldadoblades {all into one of two categories — aujustable or “wobble” dadoes and stack dado sets, Wobble dado blades rely on an adjustable hub which cre- ates runout (wobble) in the blade. Thisin tum causes theblede tout wider kerf. By varying the amount of runout, you can vary the dado with On the other hand, a stack dado setuses two blades and aset of “chip- pers" (hese are reallyjust moliied Blades, ually with only to oF fur teeth). By sandwiching tacking) the clippers between the outer bles, you can cut dadces of varying widths CHOOSING A BLADE you donitalready have a datlo blade, there are a couple of things you ‘should know before rushing out to HELPFUL DADO BLADE TIPS © Clean. Fer best performance, Keep your ado ede finding the chippers) deen. Bitch end wood fiberscan reduce the cut- ting efficiency of the blade # Sharp. Have your dado blade sharponec bya reputabiesharp- ning service, Andee sure to have al cippers ofa stack dado setsharpened atthe same tine the outer blades are sherpered buy one; Like many thingsin life, you get what you pay for when it comes to dado blades. Although you can pick. tioa wobble dado blade for betsoen $25 0 $70, a recommend spending the extra money to bay «carbide. tinned stack dado set (S100 103, and here's why. ‘Since a wobble dado uses a single blade tht fans back and forth, the bottom of the dado usually ends up * Set-up. To help in setting up a dedo sei, | meke a reference stick. IVS juste narrow board with several dadoes of varying width aut across it. Nextto each dado, | waite tre number and. thickness of the chipper (or shims) | used to cut the dade. © Chippers. if you routinely cut dacoes using only one or tivo. chigpers, make sure not (0 use Woocismith Slightly concave, see drawing in mar ‘ginal Feit. On the other hand, a stack dado setuses several blades, so itcan ccutaflat bottom dado with much less splintering. This may seem like a trv. ial point at first, but the cifference in quality of cut between a wobbledado and a stack daulo is amazing. ‘SHE Another point to consider when choosing a blade is size. With sow blades, | usually end to think bigger ‘the same ones each time, This wil help avoid uneven wear of ie chippes. ‘© Tear out. fe prevent tearoutat the end ofa dado cut, try back ing up the cut nith a piece of scrap stock. You can also start with an extra wide workpiece, then rip the piece dovn to fn- ished width after cutting the adoes to remove any teerout. No.115 isbetter, Butthisisn'tnecessarly true width of the dado, wilds Badea Sse Ieee” rob he bid ingabet © ehescoperten snc nd tng pad ace eng thle dilecdisonrtl Agiod fe wile dado Wahab 6a. set will handle just about any datlo, you can simply rotate the hub dadoyyoulleverneed tomake,and it to getthe width you need (atleast in can be purchased for justover $100. theory). But there's a little more Davo TifoxT nse In adciton to a involved when it comes to adjusting blade, youll also need a dadlo throat a stack dado set to aprecise width. A. Mageti: shims (top row) are easy insert for your table saw. The wider sHMS.Adjustingthe width ofastack co use hecause they stich to the side opening ofthis insert allows for the dado set isa two-step process. To ofthe blade, bur brass or plastic increased width ofthe dado blade. begin with, you add or remove the shims will also do the trick. The problem with most store: chipperbledes asneeded But usual ought cada insertsisthattheopen- lythisoniy gets you into thebal park. _ABWUSTING IE EIA. Adjusting the ing istoowide. Iff'm cuttingnarrow To fine‘tine the dado width, youl width ofthe dado is only baif the bat dadoes, I dow’t tke having all that need to use shims. Placing one or te, When cuttingadaco ora groove, ‘open space eround the blade.A good more shims between the chippers you're alsoconcerned with the depth solution to this problem is tomake a and the outer blades inereases the ofthe eut. You might think adjusting couple ofdado throatinserts with dit overall wicth ofthe dado. the depth ofcutis simply a matter of ferent size openings. This way, you Shims are usually made of sheet _ tweekingthe blade height adjustment ‘ean choose the insert fo mateh the _brassor plastic, and their thickness is_ wheel on your table saw width ofthedadoes you're cutting. marked sothat you knowhowmany Bt the problem Ive found (espe ‘of each thickness to add. (You can cally with most contractortypesaws) USING A DADO BLADE also make your own shims out of is the bizde raising mechanism isat Installing a dao bladeonatable saw paper or posterboard.) allthat precise. There's typically quite is rally justlixe installing any other Shimminga dado set takes atte a bt of play in the gears, especially blade. But there are two points to patience. The key is to make atest when going back and forth between Metin itl parceaten ct ater och austmert to check sag and lowering the bide. And fion when installing the two outer the width of the dado, This isa lot thiscan makeitdifficalto “fine tune” blades ofa stack dado set. Although more accurate than trying to mea- the height ofthe biade. theseblades lookalike, there isacti- sure the widthof the dado biadeisel. To get around this, [lke fo start allyarighthand bladeand alef-hand One other thing about shims. Ive _ with the blade set low, Thea I steak ‘lade, sobecarefulnotto switch them found that when using them, they _up on the final height, raising the around (they're usually marsed to ell sometimes have a tendency to fall blade in small inerements and mak yyouwhich side oftheblade faces out). down into the threads of the saw ing atest cut after each adjustment, Wheninstling the chipperblades, arbor.‘Then when I goto tighten the Shop Note: If you overshoot the youll want to make sure the carbid>arbornt, theshims getjammed, For _ height when following thisprocecure, teeth of one chipper con't touch the thssreason,Ilike touse the new mag- it’s a good idea to lower the blade teeth of the blade next to it, netic shims (e photo above). They — back down and start over again, Otherwise, the plates ofthe blades stick lo the sides ofthe dado blades Once both the width and height ‘wor't ft together tightly, and youl and chippers, so you dont have to ereadjusted, you'rereadytostarteut have a difficult time adjusting the worry about them getting caught. ting dadoes. IY NEW STYLE DADO BLADE The biggest problem with most increases (or decreases) the width. stack dado sets is hassling with ofthe dado by 004, making italot shims to “fine tune” the width of easier to adjust the blade. the dado. Butrecently, Freudhes You might want to check your come out with a new stack dado table saw before buying one of set that does away with shims. these blades, however: [found that 2 “This dado set is fitted with an because of the thickness of the co 3 adjustable hub on one of the outer hub and the length of my saw. » blades, The width of the dado is arbor, I couldn't fully thread the adjusted by simply turning the arbor nut when using the blade hub. Each “click” of the hub with all ofits chippers. No, 115 ‘Woodlsmith UUs GON OES): SHOP NOTES Clamping Jig for Lamp ‘Whenitcame to gluing up the frames that inake up the sides of the lamp (see page 16), I had two con: corns, First, I wanted to ‘make sure the frameswere _giued up square. And sec- ‘ond, Iwanted fo be able to apply clamps tothe face of the halflap joints aswellas the edges of the frame, sma Pci. The problem was with the size of the frame pieces. Sincethey're ‘60 small and thin, is iff cult to position all those Camps without damaging the workpiece. So to make thingsalltle easier, made ackampingjig. Basically, the jig isjust 2 piece of /"-thick plywood, ccatsiightly small than the frames. A couple of cleats are tacked to one side and come ent! (0 create a lip to hold the frame square. ‘Theato help mise the ig up off the workbench co the half lap joints can be clamped, a riser block is screwed to the plywood base. This allows the jig to bbeclampedina hench vse ‘ssseuttyTo gue up the frames ofthe lamp, I dry assembled all the pieces first. Then | glued the four ‘comer joints of the frame. Once these had dried, I Zero-Clearance Fence for Routing Chamfers (Chamifering the end of a workpiece isnt much of a problem with a router table and a chamfer bit. But the idea of routing cchamferson theendsof the pices ofthe hglltrecmade me a litle nervous. Because the ends are only 1" square, I was wor ried that they might get caught in the opening of my router table fence. So to play it safe, Imade a zero- clearance fence to fit around the chamfer bit. I started by lowering the chamfer bit so only the bearing was sicking above the surface of the table. ‘Then I positioned my router fable fence soit was about an "in front of the router bit bearing. Next, clamped! piece ‘of "thick hardboard to the fence, see Fig. 1. The Dearing is actually behind the hardboard fence) ‘To create tho zero clear ance opening, all you have to dois slowiyrit the bit ‘hile therouterisrunning, see Fig. 1a. Shop Note: Raise the bit just high enought cut thechamfer Now all you have to do isroutthe ends ofthe work iecos. Since the chamfers are being cut onend grain, i's a good idea to use a hacker board to help pre- eat chipout No. 115 Making Dowels While rounding up the materials for the serving tray (see page 6), I looked high and low for a 1™dia. snahogaay dowel. When I couldn't find one locally, I decided to make my own. ‘Theidea behind making a dowel is pretty simple. You start with a lone, straight piece of square stock and simply rout a roundover on all four edges. The only problemis thatafter youve routed the first three roundovers, there isn't anything forthe bearing of the router bit 1o ride on while routing the fourth and final roundover. ‘Thesecretisto leavethe ends of the dowel blank square, and use the fence on the router table as a bearing, see Fig. 1 e ‘Shop Note: Because the of the dowels [needed for the blank, start serving tray were longer ing and stopping than my router tble top, an inch orso shortat had toclampalongersup- cachend, secFig. 2, portbaseand fenceto my ‘Then justroundedover router table theother three edgesinthe To make the dowel, I samemanner Afterwards, started with a l"square Ieutthedcwelto length and blank 24"long.Usinga'#" lightly sanded ittoremove roundover bit Irouted one any burn marks, NOTE Leave endssqusreon workpiece Cutting Tenons on Dowels After Imade the dowel for the serving tray Gee above), I still had to cut ‘round tenons on the ends. Since there were only two tenons to cut, I didn’t want to goto the rouble of mak ing.ajie. So | simply used ny table saw. ‘The trick Is to use the saw blade to graduly“nib- ble” away the waste of the tenon. Todo this, started by seling my rip fence 10 establish the length ofthe tenon, sce Figs. 1 and ta. Shop Note: Make sure to ‘measure from the outside ofthe blade tothe fence Next, [raised my blade to Yat and mede a shoul- der cut around the cit cumierence of the dowel Thisis simply a matter of holding the dowel against over the blade, rotating it the rip fence and rotating slightly between each pass, it into the blade. An auxit see Figs 2 and 2a. iary fence attached to the Once I removed the titer gauge helps to sup- waste around the entire port the workpiece while tenon, I raised the blade its being rotated, another sie" (to a total Next, [began “nibbling” height of ") and repeated away the waste betweenthe _ the process, see Figs. and shoulder andtheend ofthe a, This way, [ended up tenon by simply sidingthe _ with alia, tenon oa the workpiece back and forth end of the 1'-dia. dowel. thick ordooord ares ees oe READER’S Jic SHOP STORAGE CONTEST few issues back, we announced 1a. shop storage contest and asked you to send in ideasand sol tions to the storage problems youve ‘aced in your shop. Werreceived a jot ofingenious and unique ideas, Narrowing the field down to the three shown here was not an easy task (although we cer- Short pieces fin Be corted Inside one of Rurshelver i SIDE view 17 tainly enjoyed looking over all the centres). In the end, we based our cision on a fevr factors, First, we were interested in colt: tions to common, everyday storage problems that plague most wood- workers, Second, the idea had to be ‘one that didn't require alot of special cor bard-tofind materials, Finally, it Cut-Off "Ladder" Neatly everytime I build « project, Tend up with some lef-over wood. ‘After a while, these seraps really ‘start piling up. But Reggie Brown, of Crittenden, Kentucky has come up with a great way of storing a Tot of cutoffs in a small space. He constructed a cut-off rack that resembles a ledder, The rack con- sexticrh —Wocasrew pall odes ad to be something that could be tbuilt orimplemented withouta great eal of effort or expense. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks toall ofyou who took the time to participate, Editor's Note: In the ‘ase of tivo or more similar ideas, ‘we gave preference to the one with the earliest postmark. siets offive shelves for storing short ‘cutofis (under two feo), while longer pieces can be stored upright against the sides ofthe rack. The framework of this cutoff rack is built out of dimensional lunt- ther @xds). The shelves and cross nails are made of "thick stock while ‘hardboard (Masonite) is used for the end panels on the sides of the rack And tokeepthejoinery simple, the entire rack is assembled with glue and woodscrews, see Fig. 1. ‘Toul the rack, sart by cutting the four legsto length (72") from 2x stock, mitering the ends at Then a piece of "thick hardboard is screwed to each pair of legs, see drawing at left. A 2x4 cross brace is screwed in between the legs at the ‘bottom of each side. A series of 9"thick cross rails join the two sides, see Fig. 1. These are simply glucd and screwed to the ‘outer faves ofthe legs, Then the Li witle shelf slats can be screwed to the cross rails. ‘To keep longer pieves in place ‘against the sides ofthe rack, aral is added to the botiom of the base on each side anda couple of eye screws are inserted helfivay up the legs to hold a “bungee” cord. Finally, to make the rack mobile, four swivel casters are added to the bottom. These are attached to a ‘couple of°%"thick wood caster sup- Doris that are screwed to the bo tom of the rack. No. 115 Wall Stud Storage Like many woodworkers, Danny Williams of Lawrenceville, Georgia hhasa shop with unfinished (framed) walls Butinstec of finishing the walls and then hanging up cabinets for stor age, Danny took another approach. He but “shelves” between the open framing of the wall studs and then added doors to create storage cabi- nets, see drawing atright. To create a deeper cavity for the storage cabinets, 2x2 furring strips can be screwed to the faces of the wall studs, see Fig-1.Then cleats can be nailed or screwed to the sides of the studs and furring strips to pro- vice support for the shelves. ‘Thesheles are nothing more than 1p'shiekcdimensional lumber cut to ‘it in between the wall studs. After they're fastened to the cleats, they can be ketopen oc somesimple doors can be added to help keep out dust and debris, ee Fig. 2. Ghop Tip: You might try contacting kitchen remod- lersin your area to see ifthey have any old cabinet doors.available,) Portuble Storage Bins Storage for nails, serews and other ‘small parts is another problem that nearly every woodworker faces. Although we rceived dazens ofideos ‘or storgeconhainersusingjus about everything imagineable, Ireally liked the design of these portable storage bins sentin by Peter Coope of North Stonington, Connecticut. Not only do these bins hold a lot, buttheyte great ior carryingto ajob- site-You can easily carry two in one hand by placing them back to back. ‘And a simple rack allows youto store the bins underneath a benchiop so the contents are within easy reach. ‘The size of the bins can be readily adjusted to suityour neods “The ‘wont, back and bottom of each bin is made of i" hardboard, while the sides are made of 4s"thick solid wood (pine), see drawing at far right. Rabbets along the edges of the sides. hold the front and back panels. And a groove near the bottom ofeach side piece holds the bottom. Before assembling the bin, a han- dle is made by driling: a couple 1"- No. 115 irs ein Vsheped shetves 50 Contents are acessole dia. holes ia the back panel ofthe binand removing the waste in between with a sabresaw-Then the pieces, ofthe bin are glued togeth- rand fastened with bras. ‘Therarkisnothing more than a couple of boards nailed togetherina"V” for- mation between two uprights. The boarésactas a “cralle” to hold the bins, see Figs. Land la. Woodsnith, COMMENTS & QUESTIONS ‘TALKING SHOP Cutting Cove Moldi @ Tve just received Woodsmith No. 168, aud 1 think you made a serious ‘mistake in your article on cutting coves. You show tho fence placed behind the saw blade. All the books I've ‘seen show the fence in front of the blade. This seers ikea safer metlod than the one you show. Warren Walters Wairaut Crook, CA ‘We've received several let terspointing out this“mis- take” in our article on ‘cutting coves. Butthetruth is we showed the fence ‘behind the blade because ‘we feel thisis the best posi tion (and just as sae). As we were preparing the article on cuting coves, we tested the setup with the fenceinboth positions —in front ofthe blade as wellas hindi At first glance, it might seemlike putting the fence between you and the blade 5 i i 4 =i Is safer since the fence will preventhe blade from i ing back the workpiece. But the problem with this setup is that you have tohold the workpiece back against the fence while at the same time pushing it forward over the blade. Notonlyisthis awkward, Dut I found that the work pce has a tendency to pull avvay from the fence a it starts to drop off the back ‘edge of thetable saw atthe end of the cut, see Fig. 1 (On the other hand, with the fence behind the blade youreonly pushinginafor- ward direction, sce Fig. 2 This is more like making an ordinary rip eut (which i probably why it seems ‘more comfortable to me), And since you're only ralsing the blade "ip" for ‘cach: pas, there isn't real ly any danger of kickback — you simply areritremov- ing enough material forthis to be a concern Even though I prefer putting the fence behind the blade, I wouldn't say that there is any “right” or “wrong” way. Both met ods will work. ‘The question is which fone you feel safest with. ‘And the only way to deter. ‘mine thisisto try outeach position and then use the one that feels most com- fortableto you, TWOFENCS, There is one other option, and that is to Lusetwo fences, one on each side of the workpiece, 10 uid tas it’s fed into the blade. This method takes, alittle Tonger since you have to set up two fences instead oust one. You slo have to make sure the fencesare perfect parallel tocach othertopreventttie ‘workpiece irom binding. Butonceyou have both fences in place, you don't have to worry about hold ing the workpiece against the fence at ll Woodsmith SOURCES Woodsmite Project Supplies you'll need for the lamp. offers hardware kits and This lamp kitincludes: supplies for some of the (0) Plastic Holddown projects shown in this w/Nail issue. Similar supplies for (1) 2 Cireuit, 2 Terminal these projects are akoavail: Brass Plate Switch ableatyourlocalhardware (I) Hickey store or home center. () 2"Candelabra Base 1) %s" Collar LANTERN-BASELAMP (1) 194'-Jong Nipple To bulld the lantermbase (1) '4ong Nipple lamp featured on page 16, (1) 8Ft. 18/2 Cord wPlug you'llneed quiteafew elec (8) #4x34"Fh trical supplies that aren't Woodscrews normally associated with (4) IF FlatCherry Plugs ‘woodworking. ) Rice Paper (19"x 24") ‘Youmight be ableto ind the supplies for the lamp at hardware store. Butifnot, you should be able to find what you need at a lamp shop. They'll also be able to answer any questions you have about wiring the lamp, since its three-way feature is sightly unusual, referto the box on page 21, (Or you can even have them wire it for you) However, if dontt havea lamp shop near you, then Lamp Hardware Kit 7115-100 $1795 PAgKiolAs. When putting together the kit above, we decided not to include the Plexiglas since it can be found ata hardware store ite readily. (You need a Diece of clear ¥4"-thick Plexiglas 12" x24".) SHADE & HARP. We tried three or four shades for our lamp and quieldly found that theshape andheight ofthe shacle re an important con- sideration. (If the shade Woodsmith Project Sup- A if you're used to hinges, screws and knobs, the hand plieshas puttogether akit ware om the lanp will take some gerting used 1o— with with most ofthe hardware names ike hickeys, nipp et a tae sy Ifyou would ike to order projct supplies or bookssfrom Woodsmith Project Supplies, please use our Toll Free order line, see below I's cpen Monday through Friday, ‘rom 8 AM to 5 PM Central Time. Before calling, please ‘haveyour VISA, MasterCard, or Discover Card ready. If you would like to mail in your order, call the ‘number below for more information concerning ship- ping charges.as well as any applicable sales tax. 1-800-444-7527 ‘When ordering please use Key W115. ete: Price subject to change ater Apri 1998 No. 115 collars and rice pap hangs below the top of the Jamp,itshardto reachin to turn the lights offandon), Also, depending on your bade, younay needaharp and bracket. Again, their size will depend on the shade, so bring your lamp tothe shop so you can get everything in one trip, RICE PAPER, I should also mention that like lamp shades, you can also find a wide variety of rice paper for the base of the lamp. So you might want to check uta local art store or a good crat storeto see what they have in stock. HALL TREE The hall tree doesn't require any hardware atall. All you need are patterns ‘or the two sets of hooks and the feet Thereare pat- terns for these pieces on page 23. But if you would liketo purchasefulleize pat terns, they are currently available rom Woodsmith Project Supplies. Hall Tree FullSize Patierns 8005-144 $3.95 Wood Net wow on re weet ‘© Over 8) Woodworking Tips Online «Project Plans You Can Download ‘© Forums for Woodworking, Tools, & Classifieds ‘© Catalog of Project Kits, Tools, & Jigs «© Power Tool Reviews Links to Other Woodworking Sites '* WoodsmithiShopNotes Back Issue Index Point your browser to: http://www.augusthome,com Select “Woodworking” from the Welcome Page mens, Woodsinith A Last Loox ‘A One click. Thebaseof A Tuoelicks. The bulbon A Three clicks. Both this lantem lamp gees off top of the lamp lights up us are dluminated.

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