..

ST0 mu-rn WAY ROU1

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Issue 71

September 2003

PUBLISHER
EDITOR

enjoy a challenge. And, as you know, woodworking is certainly Wed with them. They pop up when CONTRIBUTING EDITOR we're w o r k on aproject and usnally ART DIRECTOR deal with some aspect of joinery, SR. GRAPHIC DESIGNER assembly, or finishing. SENIOR ILLUSTRATORS But in this issue we started with a different kind of challenge: what can you build from just one sheet of plyC R E A T MR E . w R G L I wood? It also had to he practical and CIwhva Dimctm: Ted KraBeek Sc Pmje* Dssignm: Ken M ~ , K ~ t W d ~ h , R y ~ ~ e k , C h n s F i t o h . S h ~ ~ stand ~ ~ : up to everyday shop use. Stevecuah,SteveJohnson. Sr Photqmphsr CrayolaSqlaad Ifyou take alook at the front cover SPYOUL wsLlw.notaa you11 see we ended up with not just Carp. V P :Douglw L. H i e k s -A?i Dimcfm Douglss A. F h t one, but five great shop projects. St G7aphIc Designer Chna Giowacld Graphic Desipa: Jonathan Eike Sr Editm Craig Ruegsegger. Assoc EdUw: There's a pair of folding sawhorses, JoelA.Hess an easy-to-build workbench, a rollaround cutoff storage h i m ,some wall Circ OF Dimdm Ssndy Bsum Cix. Ma~kstiwDiv.: Wayde J. Xlingbeil Stmtagic B u s i n e s s Anolysfs KnF S e N m w , cabinets and a couple of tool totes.It's PaulakLDeMatteis. Cin. Ma?!&ingAnalyst.Patnck W&h. hard to believe you can get a shopfnl R m w a i M g r PaigeKogera. CircFdfi1lmntMgr:Stephanie Forinash.S7.GNghioDe8W*:M811kHay~~, Jr.,RobinFlilid of projectsfromj u s t five sheets of plyCOWORATEWVICU wood. I guess sometimesyou need a V.P. o f -120Msry a. Scheve Cmzholler.Robh K. challenge just to see whats possible. HaWlinmn Sr.Acei: L a u r a X l % m -Aoots. Pay061e:MsryJ. Schultz A u k R m h b i e : Margo PetPmd Dii.: George New Store. Speaking of chalChmielar. Elecho%* P u b D i ? . :Dougk M. Lidnter- Systanc lenges, quite afew of the people here Adnun.: Ctis SehsehebRk P C Moint. T s e h . R o W D . Cook h~ha I m a p Spcs: Tmy Clark, m e t i e Job Aasoc. at August Home Publishinghave been swhDk:F@b-~ NemMdhMm: kdmC.Gaippe MdtimdiaA~Dii:EugenugenPedem. Wab.%-m~ii:Caml working on another hii project. Tnis Schoeppler .Web Content Mg-: David B a g s M%Etimcdia snmmer the Woodsmith Store moved Kara Blessing .Ressonh Coonlinelox Nichols A.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Donald B. Peschke Terry J. Strohman Bryan Nelson Vincent Ancona Phil Huber C a ~ Christensen y Kurt Schultz Roger Reiland Mark Higdon

Cutoffs
*.
: .

to a new location here in Des Moines, Iowa This new store has over 20,000 square feet of space, padred with tools, lumber, hardware, and supplies. Everything a woodworker couldwant, including three f u k display shops. If you're in the area, be sure and stop by for a visit For more information and directions on how to get there, visit the website: g;: -?a ,.:q::z., 2 www.WoodsmithStore.com ~ 2 , . .. . .. . : 41 :c

-.?
: .

..

~aegv h j ~ s vmr: . XCM B@ a R, A * %temoele OficeMgr: Natslie hnsdale Fadieim M r . : Kurt Johnson. AdminAssURPrspt:Jdbn. MdRwmC~LouWebber
VOODUllTli STORE

We're looking for a couple of experiencedpeople to join us here atAugust Home Publishing as an editor and a graphic designer/illustrator. If you're enthusiastic aboutwoodworhg and home improvement and enjoy working as part of a team, then we would like to hear from you. Send a cover letter and a m e highlighting your experience to: Human Resources, 2200 Grand Ave., Des Moines, 1 4 . 50312. Or you can send an email to: hr@augusthome.com.

OpmtionsDileefm BobBaker .CwtmnaS&Mgr:Jennie

Enos W'orehauseSuyr: Nancy Johnson Bzlyer Linda Jones. Admin. h a t : Nmty Domney Sr. Cust. S m ~ e p s . amm : my TNckebrod,hnaCux,DeborahRieh,ApriIRe~eell. CustServ. W'Y'Y~~: Reps.: VaietieJoRliey, E i m H a r I ~ n ~ C h e ' y l J o r Sylvia Carey, Larry Morrison. Stom M a w e r Dave Lmon r Merchendisa Morkatiw M r . : John G i b e d Paii~t Dqt. Mgr: James Hoehins .AsstMgl: Tim Thelen Stme Sola Staff: Gmoiy Kauzla?ich, Mark Johnson, John W , Dave Fremmi%, Stephen Duneah Brian Simmons, Mii MeCavley. O m e Mgr: View Edwards

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Sha~Notns@OSSN10629696)i8p~bLishhdb'b'onthly( J a n May,July, Sept., Nov.1 by August HomePubljshing,mOGmd,

DesMoines, IA5OSlZ.
WopmightZW3 byA~tHommPub~g.AUlightststststsed. Subacriplions:Sinpleeopy %4.95.0neyesrsubs~ptititi(6isisueis), $n.95.CandwTntemational add$lOperyem,U.S h d s .

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Email: SbopNat es@shopnotete.mm Internet:http:ihmv.shopopott.mm

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ShopNotes

No. 71

Contents
Features
Stow-Away Router Table
6
This space-saving shop essential has features some b~gger router tables only dream about It stows away when you don't need it and mounts to your Workbench In less than a mlnute

Super-Strong Box Joints

12

Cutting small box joints is one thing, but cutting them with fingers 2" long requires a little different technique. We show you how to do it with our step-by-step instructions.

Shop-Made Benchtop Vise

14

Round stock, carvings, odd shapes - thls benchtop vlse can handle it all We'vedesigned it w~th a variety oflaw faces and updated a classic des~gn to meet todayk needs

Working - with Plywood

22

Do you dread the thought of moving, storing, or cutting a large, heavy sheet ofplywood? Learn a few of the techniques we use to make working with plywood hassle-free.

5 P b o o d Shop Projects

26

It won? take a lot of time, effort or material to outfit your shop with storage, worksurfaces, and several handy accessories Each project can be built from a single sheet of plywood.

Departments
Readers' Tips Too1 Chest

4 32

Shop-tested tips to solve common woodworking problems.

Block planes have been around for a long time But we've found one that incorporates some new features and accessories that are sure to make ~tone of your favorite tools

Shop Talk Sources

No. 71
ShopNotes

34
35
5 Plywood Prqjeds

Glue doesn't keep forever. Herek what you need to know to determine if it's "too old to hold on your next project.

Mail-order sources and supplies to help you complete the projects featured in this issue.

page 26

Readers' Tins
TO FIT SNUG INTO JIG
#0xWFh WOODSCREW,
(1"x 1" 3%")

m CUT BLANK

K PIECE TO HOLD GAINST FENCE

NUT

(1" x 3w j . l )

HARDWOOD SUPPORT

OF FENCE

ilZE W LONG FRONT TO HEIGHTOF RIP FENCE P L U S I" BEVEL I 5 MADE

@i"xW-5%")

fore

Its made by gluing and screwing two hardwood supports to a '/a1( projects. One of my favorite designs hardboard kont, as in the drawing. is from ShopNotes No. 26. But after (Shop Note: Make sure the screws making a few by hand, I came up are located above where the saw with a jii to safely cut them on the blade will pass.) A hardboard arm is table saw, as in the photo above. screwed across the front to help hold The jii rides on the rip the wine nut blank in dace. Fmallv a fence and holds the blanks in guide &d back piece &e attachedto and acounterboredhole through the place while they're being cut the front to run on the rip fence, as center for aT-nut and bolt Then slip It's designed to cut wing nuts shown in detail 'a' the blank in the jii to cut to size. from ll1-thickblanks, as you To make a wing nut, start by Bob Satterlee can seem the photo at left drilling a circular opening at the top Madisonville, Louisiana
wing nuts for j i i and other shop

To save money, I make my own

Wall-Mounted Rags
There never seem to be enough rags in my shop to clean up spills, apply finish, or wipe off my hands. While oldT-shirtswill do fine, I h d it easier to just buy a box of r a g s .The problem is the box of rags is so light When I try to pull one rag out, I end up picking up the whole box. And if my hands are dirty, I end up getting the box dirty as well trying to get the rag out My solution is to mount the box to a pegboard tool rack, as in the photo. I made two hardwood cleats to hold the box. They are connected to threaded rod at the ends. Each threaded rod is then screwed into athreaded insert mounted in the pegboard, as in the inset photo. Now the rag box is secure and I can pull out one at a time. Brent Garbusehwki

L
No. 71

ShopNotes

A To keep router bits from bottoming out ~nthe collet, Serge Duclos of Delson, Quebec, Canada preve
puts a dab of silicone on the end. from I

/s s

Donald Slabe of Swissvale, PA eeps h ~ s cordless dr111with~n easy reach by hanglng ~tfrom a hook screwed to the ce111ng of his shop
L

Routing Parallel Miter I

w The box joint j i i from ShopNotes No. 62 makes it easy to make box joints on the table saw. But I adapted the design so that it works on my router table, as shown in the photo. The benefit of this is that since router bits are a consistent diameter. it's even easier to set up. However, the jii has two runners to fit both miter gauge slots on the table saw. So I needed to rout a second miter gauge slot on my router table. And for the jig to work correctly, the new slot has to be perfectly parallel to the original slot. To do this, I made a simple jig for a hand-held router, as illustrated in the drawing below. Its made from a piece of 3h" plywood. I attached the

r
I using the existing ning parallel :slot I installed a nonnting hole screws. A 3h"-dia. straight bit and then routed runner that rides in the the groove in two passes. gets screwed to the zeps the router rnnV U . . U
I . .

. " U .

Y . . ,

If you have a unique shop tip, we3d&e

to consider featuring it in one or more of r i: our print or electronicpublications. We'll pay up to $200 for a tip we publish. Just write down the tip and mail it to SheNotes, Attn.: Readers'Tips, 2200 Grand Ave., Des Moines, L4 50312. Or FAX it to 515-282-6741, or send us an email a t shopnotes@shopnotes.com. Please include your name, address, and daytime phone number in case we

1;
&

i.:

,et stows awy easil~

challenge in most shops is kding room for all To make set ulJ even quickt:r, check your tools. 'Ihe router tabe shown above solvesthe out the center ~ h o t below o to see how the problemof alwayshaving aroutertablehandy, yetit doesn't router is held in the table. of quick-release toggle takeup valuable shop space when its not in use. clamps allows you to install (or remove) the router in The mmpad size of this tablemakes it easy to store just seconds. Unlike most router tables, you won't be about anywhere. But when you need to use it,the table can wasting a lot of time getting your router in place or be pulled out and mounted easily to any workbench. If removing it once you're done. your bench has a face vise, clampingit in placeis a snap, Finally, the aluminum tracks dong the kont and sides as in the photo above. Or you can simply mount it to the of h e table make it easy to quickly and accurately posibench with clamps Oeft photo below). tion the fenceor afeatherboard (lower right photo).

I"

set

A Alternative Mount

You can also mount the router fable usmg clamps on the tabs at the back of the table.

A Toggle Clamps. Qu~ck and easy, A Accessories. An alum~num track

toggle clamps make ~t a snap to remove (or ~nstall) the muter ~nthe table. allows the use of a mfter gauge or the featherboard shown above

FENCE SLIDES ON T - T W K FOR EWY ADJUSAENT

GUARD MOUNTS TO FENCE WlW STUDDEDKNOB AND WASHER

TOGGLE CLAMPS ALLOW QUICK AND EASY REMOVAL (OR INSTALLATI OF ROUTER

Materials & Hardware

A Table (1)
S Front t i p (f) C Rear Sslppon (1) 0 Side Support (1) E Fence Face6 (2) F Fenoe Brackets (2)

17% x 2 4

I ~x 21% / ~

/4 Ply.

Y/z x 2% 3/4 PIy. H/zx 11% % Ply. Y/4 xZ1 9 4 Ply.

1% x 3 - 4

~ry.

REAR S U M F'ROVlRffi FACE WSE MOUNTIW OPnON SWITCHED OUTLET

(I Dual Track I ?=Track 132" h a 1 { 3 ) 2134 D k - ~ t a - G ~ o g g cbamps ~e (8) %@-I0 Brae6 Inserts (0) %6" Washers 1" Studded Knobs (2) %@"x ~ 5tudded Knobs (2) 5 h e " 1%" (41 5%6"-18Through Knobs (4) 5b6"x 1%" Flange Bolts (4) # 8 x f/4" Fh Woodscrewa (2) #6 x 2" Fh Woodsmw6 (2) # 8 x 2'/ar' Fh Woods~rews Fh Woodscmws (6) #6 x */em (0) # 6 x 5/e" Fh Woodsorews (M) # 8 x 5/s" Ph Woods~rews ) Ou6t Hood
(f)

SIDE SUPPORT PREEN* TOP FROM SAGGING

- DUAL TRACK

* (1)

Guard Featherboard N o t e To order a c o m p t . . hardware kB, turn t o Souffies on page 3 5 .

QUICK-RELEASE TOGGLE CLAMP

JIGS

&

A C C E S S O R I E S

Table
A quick look at Figure 1shows that the top of this router table is large enough to do serious routing. But what makes the table really versatile is the aluminum dual track and Ttrack installed in the top. T-Track- I wanted to make it easy to secure the fence to the table IW Fh and easy to adjust afterward. T-track DE-STA-CO is the answer. TOGGLE CLAMP This is just an extruded aluminum channel that allows you to use a flange bolt and knob to attach a fence or accessories, like a featherboard. Iikewise, dual track uses the BACK ' SUPPORT same extruded channel. But it's paired with an L-shaped extrusion to SUPPORT create a groove for a miter gauge. Size the Table - Beforeyou can add either track, youll need to make your attention to the work uustrated the bottom of the table. To see how the table. The table (R) starts with a in Figures 2 and 3. I did this, take a look at the box on redangular piece of 3/4" plywood. ( I Mounting the Router - To pro- the opposite page. used Baltic birch.) Then to provide a vide a quick means of mounting the Cut Grooves for Supports smooth worksurface and help stiffen router, yet make it easy to remove With the recess complete, the next the plywood, I applied plastic lami- when I needed to use it for a hand- step is to cut a series of shallow nate to both sides. held operation, I used toggle clamps. grooves in the bottom of the table, as It's best to apply an oversized But the clamps won't prevent the illustrated in F i e 2. These piece of plastic laminate to each side router from moving around under grooves serve the purpose of of the table and then trim them flush. the table. To solve this problem, I locating the two plywood supports Once that's complete, you can turn created a "pocket" for the router on that help stiffen the top of the table.

mrlminum Track.
Adding a dual track and T-track to the router table makes it easy to position the fence and accessories.

NOTE: TABLE 1 5 MADE FROM ONE PIECE OF %" BALTIC BIRCH

ON BOTH SIDES

RECESS MATCHES BASE OF ROUTER CUTOUT FORMS TAB AT BACK

OF TABLE

ShopNotes

No. 71

You'll also notice a shallow ('/a1') rabbet along the front edge of the table. This is for a plywood lip that's added later. The lip supports the front edge of the top and also provides extra material for screwingthe dual track in place. Add Grooves for Tracks Now yon can flip the table over and work on the top side. The pair of grooves shown in Figure 3 run from the front to the back along each side of the table. These grooves accept the T-track used to attach the fence. I used a dado blade sized to match the width of the T-track and cut just deep enough so the T-track was level with the top of the table, like you see in Figure lb. And like the bottom of the table, there's a rabbet along the front edge. You can see in Figure 3b that this rabbet is cut a little deeper to accommodate the extra thickness of the dual track (Figure la). Now all that's left to do to complete the top of the router table is to make a cutout along each side of the table. These cutouts leave tabs along the back edge allowing you to clamp

(31h" x 11%")

SUPPORT

.,,, \
EL-

the router table to a beuchtop WOODSCREW with a pair of clamps. Attach the Supports & Lip - In the bottom view shown in Figure 4 you can see how the table supports Add the Hardware - All that's and front lip are attached. After cut- left to do at this point is install the ting the 3/4" plywoodfiont lip (B) to hardware. To locate the toggle size and beveling the ends, it's clamps, it's best to a p the table over and set the router in place. This way, simply glued in place. Next, cut the table supports (C, D) you can position the clamps clear of to size and knock offthe outside cor- the router handles and controls. Next, cut the dual track to length ners.Then these pieces can be glued and screwed in place. Note: Locate and position it so your miter gauge the screws for the back support in slides smoothly Finally, cut the Tthe grooves for the T-track track to length and screw it in place.

The toggle clamps do a great job of holding the router against the table. &t they won't keep the rc&er from moving from side to side.Asimple solutiontot h i s t o creak a pocket in the bottom of the table to house the router. Gi-Cutting Jig To cut out the pocket, I I e a simple arcle-cuttkg jig from a piece of hardboard. P;fter dding a hole for a pivot pin (2 used a I/d1 the machine saw), I *bed router to the j i g with a couple pieces ofcape$tape, as shown in the &axing at right. The touter is located so that

&r d d h g a Vei'-dia. pipot hole in the table, rout a l/4"deep eirde. Once that'scomplete, you can d r i l l t h e Z 1 ' d i a clearance . hole for the router bit. Then all that's left to do is remove the rest of the waste from t h e recess so the router will slip& place, &I see in the photo at right.

No. 71

Add a Fence

a.

, WOODSCREW #B x 2m' Fh

# -&mitstasy@cli~;lide*-

BACK FACE

F X

FRONT FACE . . .

pimalougthefme a8 yourduR % & h - m w & e M a t e flush on boih b &ees, Stou catl m y o w ~ ~ ~ t to io c a n a g .

FlgCpe; 5. skom aI*&e;dfalar &oa &ed d m q the bbttnm edge af-ttreb&>he. TI& opening & m & e d W k a * *pit& up ma%& dust aad chim as &i$* lvnaabigthtapeilge dtbebtak

Plem.tbewwkm@badkfQ%

and h.ysu to ~ p f l / ~ f a y ~ u%e~mq+flefc)wkbesthusha@hfbits, rbE h f s Be ranks GI@

t h e ~ m u I ~ r @ m ~ ( f ~ h ~ p m v l c l e s . b e ~ r ~ ~ a r a ~ c -hpBon*. e~~~p~bitS.

10

%opNote#

No, 91

Mounting the Fence. Heavy-duty

NOTE: 6RACKET
END C U D ON BAND SAW

STARTS OUT A S AN EXTRA-LONG PIECE OF 1%"-THICK

brackets keep the fence square to the table T o reposition the fence, you just lwsen the knobs and then easfvshde the fence rght where you need it.

HARDWOOD

THIRD: cur

&

BRACKETS TO LENGTH

W'-DIA. \
HOLES

$
.

g;,.

; '

Because the brackets are somewhat small to work with, I started with an exIra-longblank that Iplaned to final thickness and cut to final width (F'lgure 6).Then I removed the waste at each end by making the amled cuts on the band saw.

After sanding the surfaces smooth, you can d r i l l the holes for mouuikg the brackets to t h e back face as well as the hole for the knob, washer, and flange bolt used to attach the fence and brackets to the T-track in the table.

Once that's complete, you can trim each bracket (F) to final size. Then screw them to the backtre a, they're flush along the bottom edge, like you see in Figure 5a

ELECTRICAL SWITCH
Although the router table is ready to use at this point, there's one more thing you might want to consider.

M U a holeand then

With the router plugged into a

need to turn the router off in a hurry. To see a complete hardware list

No. 71

ShopNotes

11

Don't be intimidated by big box joints. They're so simple to make, you don? even need a j i g .

aking traditional box joints with a j i g is a job that typically requires a lot of fussing around with stops and index pins to get a perfect f i t But if you're making long rows of tiny box joints,

using a j i g is really the only way to get consistentiy good results. On the other hand, when it came to making a handful of extra-large box joints for the benchtopvise (see page 14), I figured that there justhad

I
1

MARK WASTE AREA5 WITH 'X'

Start by laying out the fingers on your workpiece and marking the waste areas with an "X "

to be an easier way. What I came up with is a simple technique that doesn't require a j i g . Instead,you cut the box joints "by eye" on the table saw. It might sound difficult at first, but because these box joints are so few and so large, they are fairly forgiving.The truth is that you can have all the box joints cut and fitted in about half the time it would take you to set up and adjust a j i g . The technique I used to make these box joints is to simply lay out and cut the joints on one of the workpieces. Then I used that piece to lay out the joints on the face of the mating workpiece. Layout -As with any joint, much Using the mating workpiece as of the success depends on a careful a gauge, set the blade about layout I started by measuring and %2" higher than the workpiece. laying out the fingers of the box joint

I ! !
I . I L . . . ~

-a .

To cut the fingers, start by cutting along the waste side of the layout lines. Then remove the material in between with additional passes. A tall auxiliary fence helps to back up the workpiece and prevent tearout.

4.

A chisel is used to remove the rfdges left behind by the saw blade at the ends of the slots.

No. 71

Using the first piece as a template, lay out the fingers on the mating workpiece with a pencil.

T o sef the blade height for the fingers on the mating piece, the first piece is used as a gauge.

Cut the fingers on the mating : . usmg the same proworkp~ece cedure as before.

on the 6rst workpiece, as shown in Step 1.Then I used the mating workpiece to set the height of my saw blade (Step 2). You actually want to raise the blade so it's just sliphtly higher (about %zl? than the thickness of the workpiece.

with a sharp pencil or marking knife. I f the second piece is a different thickness than the first (as is the case with the vise) you can use the first piece to set the height of the saw blade (Step 6). Then cut the fingers on the second piece just like you did with the first one (Step 7). e U m N 6 THE FINGERS M e r cleaning up the ends of the Because these fingers are so long, I notches, try fitting the two pieces couldn't cut them with mv 6" dado together. What you're aiming for is a set So I used a single saw blade fitthat's snug, but at the same time doesn't have to be pounded together. instead, as you see in Step 3. I started by cutting right along the If you need to he-tune the fit, you layout lines fist to d e h e the shoul- can shave a little bit off the sides of ders of each finger. Then I came the h g e r s with a chisel. Assembly - Once you've got the back and cut away the waste with box joints fitted, you're ready for additional passes. There are a couple of things to mention here. First, I added a tall auxiliary fence to my miter gauge. Thishelps supporttheworkpieceand backs up the cuts to prevent tearout as the blade exits the workpiece. Second, I added a piece of selfadhesive sandpaper to the front of the auxibry fence. This prevents the workpiece from "creeping" while you're making the cuts. Clean-Up After cutting all the fingers, I took a chisel and cleaned up the ridges left behind by the saw blade at the ends of the notches (Step 4). When this is done, you're ready to start cutting the ftngers on the second workpiece. Mating Piece -To lay out the fingers on themating workpiece, I used the b t piece as a template (Step 5). Just set the b t piece on top of the second and trace around the h g e r s

some assembly. Because you cut the box joints a hair long, the ends of the ftngers will stick out past the face of the mating piece. This makes it difficult to clamp up the joint To get around this, I made some s p e d clamping blocks (see photo below). Then after the glue is dry, all you have to do is sand the ends of the h i t b the surface, as you gers &rsb w below. & see in the inset ~ h o t o

No. 71

things that an cdmy face v k LW'L T o start with, the whdg vise swkk so m n t it at an angle to the fmnt of you the bench. ?hi d h you ta Bnd the mu& conwnient d n g positton when clamping a worEcpke in the

FWly, un&e other v i e that are

mount this vise just alnnit anywhqre on bench where there's a dog hde. And you'rr done with it you c a n ercsily m and store itout a f t h e m .
Amfifthesearentencugh-

.
,

try &&ing a look at the &@art'mtofvi~cjawfncwmpsge20, aaweIlaathe+nal*-rrb m h i m w prge2l.

. . .

me materials list

M) page 15 and :igure 7 on page 18 show the rear jaw face as 8 % " long.

(0

OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 41/4WxflYa/s"Hx189/s"L

UmLODED MEW

BRONZE SHOULDER BUSHING PREVENTS BINDING AND WEAR TO JAW

(10)

#6 x s/4" Fh Woodscrews
5/4"~ 1 5 ' / 2 "

. .

(141 #0 x */4" Fh Woodemwd a suit) (1) */4" Hex &It (length t

HANDLE QUICKLY SECURESVlSE TO BENCH

(1)

(1J '/a"% 'I2 - 36" Alum. Strlp (1) 2" x 2" xlta"- 36" Alum. Angle (1) 3/4"Nut (5) 5/4" Washer6

Threaded Rod

* (I)

(2) (1)

3UCoupIitrg N u t s
9/4"

1. V. Shoulder Bwhing Clamping Handle (2) Wdia, Steel Rods (4Wlong) (4) '/aa'-dl- Rare-Earth Magnet6 ( 4 ) *el Cups for Magnets (4-16) Seeel Washem for Magnets (0-20) #4x '12" Fh Woods~rews

A Fmnt Jaw (l) B Base Runner6 (2) C Filler Blook (1) 0 Top Plate 0) E Rear Jaw Face (IJ F Rear Jaw Sides (2) G Rear Jew Cap (1) H Nus Block (1) I Nut Block Retainers (2) J Handle (1) K Plain Jaw ,%3c06 (2)

NO. 71

ShopNotes

Front Jaw & Base

The vise is made up of three main sections - a kedfrontjaw, abase, and a rear jaw. The front jaw and base are joined together with box jointsto create a single assembly, just like you see in P i e 1.So I built these two sections of the vise first. Front Jaw If you take a look at Figure 2, voull see that the h n t jaw (A) is cut from a piece of 13/4"-thickhardused I oak) wood stock. ( There's not much to making the front jaw. First, a counterbored hole is drilled in the jaw blank for a bronze shoulder bushing that will hold the vise screw ( E i e 2). Then a pair of smaller holes are drilled in the face of the jaw for a couple of rare-earth mahets that d b e used to bold some replaceable jaw faces. To complete the jaw, all that's left is to add the ogee prose to the top of the blank as you see in F Y e 2.
FRONT
JAW

-,

COMPOUND TO SECURE NUT AND CLAMPING HANDLE TO

BRONZE SHOULDER

CLAMPING

CUT BOX JOINTS AFTER BASE I S ASSEMBLED

k Clamping Handle.
This large, comfortable handle allows you to really tfghten down the jaws of the vise (See page 35 for sources.)

After lavina out the ogee on the blank, 1-cu;it to shape with a band saw. An oosciUating drum sander or a drum sanding atttachment mounted in your drill press makes quick work of sanding the ogee

smooth. Then vou can set the iaw aside while y& work on the h i e .

BkSli
If you take a look at Flgure 3 on the opposite page, youY see that the base is actually made up of four separate pieces. At *t, you might wonder why I didn't just use a solid block of wood. The reason is the Tslot in the bottom of the base, which you can see in the Cross Section on page 15. This T-slot is sized to hold the head of a bolt that fastens the vise to the top of the bench. But instead of trying to cut the T-slot out of a solid piece of wood, I found it's easier to create it by gluing up four separate pieces. To build the base, I started by making a pair of b m 0 mnners (B) as shown in Figure 3. These two pieces start out as identicalblanks.The k t step after cutling them to sue is to cut a rabbet along one edge. Once you've rabbeted both pieces, you can trim off part of the shoulder on each piece, as shown in Figure 3. But be careful here. You're going to be creating a left and right runner, so pay attention

FRONT
.IAW

1"

16

ShopNotes

No. 71

I)

to which end of the workpiece you are trimming. Jf you need to, take another look at Figure 3 to see what I'm talking about FiUer Block &Top Plate -With the runners complete, you can make the other two parts of the base. The filler block (C) is just a small block of wood that gets sandwiched in between the two runners. And the top plate (D)is a 3h"-thick piece of hardwood that is sized to fit on top of the other three pieces of the base. After cutting the fiuer block and top plate to size, you can glue up all the pieces. To help keep the runners aligned during the glue up, I made a small, temporary spacer to fit in between them, as shown in Figure 3a. Just make sure that you don't accidentally glue the block in place. Box Joints - Once the base is glued up, you can cut the large box joints on the base and front jaw pieces. You can read all about how I cut these in the article on page 12. Before gluing the box joints together, there are acouple of things left to do on the base. F i t , you'll need to create a couple of "tracks" in the sides of the base for the rear jaw

TOP PLATE

WITH THE AID OF A SPACER BLOCK. GLUE UP ASSEMBLY (SEE DETAIL ' a ' )

-FU?STi

CUT%" x 'Yte" RABBET

I
I

I h

FILLER BLOCK

I BA5E @

RUNNER (1W x 1W - IT')

SECOND:

REMOM WASTE FOR FILLER BLOCK

MD MEW
to run along. To do this, just cut a later. O e s e are shown in Figure 1.) groove along each side of the base, These strips are let in to the sides of as shown in F i e 4. Since these the base so that they end up flush grooves are 3/16" wide, youll have to with the surface. In order to do this, cut each one in a couple of passes youll need to trim back the edges of the base, as you see in Figure 5a using a single saw blade. To prevent wear to the base from Once this is done, you can glue the the sliding action of the rear jaw, a base and front jaw together. To couple of aluminum wear strips will help reinforce the box joints, I be added to the sides of the base drilled a couple holes through the sides of the front jaw and glued in a pair of steel pins (see F i e l a and photo in margin at right).

a
YY

I
ShopNotes

The last step is to add the hardware to the front jaw/base assembly I started by attach'ig the aluminum wear strips to the sides of the base. The strips are cut to length with a hack saw and then simply 7 drilled and screwed in place, as you see in F i e 1. Next, I installed the magnet cups and magnets in the holes in the front jaw. F d l y , I added the bronze shoulder bushing, the threaded rod and handle, a pair of washers, and a hex nut as shown in Fimve 1. (See page 35 for sources.)

A Pinned Box Join

To strengthen the box joint, 1 added a par of steel rods to act as reinforcing pins.

No. 71

17

>

Rear Jaw Assembly

Nowthat you've gotthe front jaw and base finished, you can start working on the rear jaw assembly The boxlike rear jaw is built out of four separate pieces F i r e 6). Aluminum mils attacbed to the sides of the rear jaw allow it to travel back and forth in the grooves in the s~des of the base. And the threaded rod in the front jaw threads into a large nut captured in~idethe rear ,aw. So when you turn the I large handle on the front of the vise, the rear jaw opens or closes. To build the rear jaw, start by cutting out blanks for the rear jaw face (El and the two jaw sides (F). I f you take alook at Figure 7, you'll see that the 6rst step is to drill a large hole through the jaw face for the vise screw. And just like on the front jaw, a couple of holes are drilled to hold a pair of rareearth magnets that will be added later. Once this is done,

I,

you can cut and sand the ogee profile on the top of the blank to match the profle of the frontjaw. If you take a look at F i e s 7 and 8, you'll see that the jaw face is notched and the sides are rabbeted on the ends so that the pieces lock together when assembled. To do this, I started by cutting notches in the edges of the jaw hce Frgure 7).

/'

/I

I,

REAR HEW
I just used a dado blade to nibble away this material. Once this is done, you can cut a shallow rabbet at the end of each jaw side piece. Youll want to size these rabbets so that the side pieces fit flush with the edges of the jaw face. Jaw Cap - With the face and sides of the rear jaw complete, you can set these pieces aside on your bench while you start working on the jaw cap. The purpose of the jaw cap (G) is to simply protect the threads of the vise screw from dirt and debris. The cap is cut from 3/41" thick stock Then the edges are rab beted to fit over the jaw sides. When you've finished makiug this piece, yon can go ahead and glue up the jaw face, sides, and cap. Nut Block -It sounds like something you might get as a holiday gift from your great aunt. But the nut
C '

A Rare-EaM Magnet. This rareearth magnet is mounted in a steel cup to increase its strength. The washer gets mounted to a removable jaw face.

'

- -

d. Ordinary playing cards act as shin.during the installation of the rails to create the necessary clearance between the base and the rear jaw block (Hi is really just what the inside the jaw a little to give the vise name says - it's a block of wood screw some freedom of movement with a hole drilled in it to hold alarge when you reverse diiection. Rails -The last thing to add to the coupling nut I glued the nut in place with a twepart epoxy. rear jaw are the rails. As you can see To prevent the rear jaw kom in Figure 6, I made the rails by cutbiding, the nut block is only held ting down a couple of pieces of aluloosely in place by a pair of r e t a i w minum angle stock. Then I drilled shps (I).These are just a pair of some countersunk holes in the aluthin wood strips that are glued to the minum for the mounting screws. sides of the jaw, just behid the nut To attach the rails, I set the rear jaw on the base of the vise with a block and washer, as in F i e 8. This lets the nut block "float" couple of playing cards in between to

rlr

N m ;TO BUILD JAW

GE 20

FACES.
J/4"

(LENGTH TO SUIT)

HEX BOLT

act as spacers. Then I clamped the rails to the rear jaw, drilled some pilot holes, and added the screws. Assembly - To add the rear jaw to the vise, k t slip the washer and nut block into place behind the rear jaw face. Then slide the rear jaw onto the base so the rails enter the grooves in the base and the threaded rod enters the hole in the rearjaw. (It helps to turn the vise upside down while doing this to prevent the nut block from falling out of the rear jaw.) Now a l l you have to do is turn the handle on the front of the vise to thread the vise screw into the nut block in the rear jaw.

HANDLE
Thevise can be attached to the top of a workbench with a large hex bolt, a coupling nut, and a pair of washers. The only thing left to make at this point is a wood handle for the nut @@re 9). This way you can tighten or loosen the nut without having to get out a wrench each time. The handle (J) is made from a 1"-thick hardwood blank. After laying out the profle on the blank and drilliog the hole for the nut (see drawing in margin), you can cut the handle to shape and round over the edges. Finally, glue the coupling nut into the hole in the handle with epoxy and tighten it onto the hex bolt F i e 9a).

Jaw Faces
The last thing to do to complete the vise is to make a set of replaceable jaw faces. In fact, I made four sets a set of plain ones and then three optional sets of special-purpose jaw faces. The nice thing about all of these jaw faces is that they are held in place with rare-earth magnets. So it's easy to swap in another set Plain - The h t pair ofjawfaces (K) I made are just plain hardwood faces as you see in the photo on page 14. If you're only going to make one pair of jaw faces, these are the ones to make. They are made from 1/2'1thick hardwood stock. The magnetic system I used to hold the jaw faces in place consists of three parts. The rareearth magnets fit into steel cups that are mounted in holes in the vise jaws. Then a pair of washers are screwed to the back of each jaw face so that it w i l l "stick" to the magnets. But instead of countersinking the washers, I just screwed them in place on the surface of the jaw faces so they stand proud. Since the magnets are recessed into the jaws on the vise, the washers will fit into the holes for the magnet cups and keep the jaw faces aligned.
JAW FACE)

NOTE: D I M E N S O N 5
FOR PLAIN J A W
FACES ARE IDENTICAL

JAW FACES ARE CUT FROM W-THICK STOCK

NOTE:

The only tricky t h i i about doing this is that you have to be careful when it comes to laying out the position of the washers on the jaw faces. They need to match up exactly with the position of the magnets. Soft Jaws -The plain jaw faces are tine for most work. But when you don't want to take a chance on marring your workpiece, it's nice to have a set of soft jaw faces (see left photo below). These are identical to the plain hardwood faces, but they are lined with leather for a soft, non-slip grip (Elgure 10).

Prismatic Jaws - For holding round objects like pipe or dowels, I made a set of "prismatic" jaws. I f you take a look at Figure 11, you can see that these jaw faces are made from 3/4''-thkk stock They have V-grooves routed on the faces in two different directions so that you can hold round objects vertically or horizontaliy (see center photo below). Swiveling Jaw - The k a l jaw face that I made is one that swivels to hold tapered workpieces (see right photo below). You can see how this

()

aorr Jaws. For nolalng aelicare

objects (like carvings), these leather-linedjaws provide a firm but non-marring grip.

Prismatic Jaws. The V-grooves in this pair ofjaw faces allows you to hold dowels or round stock either horizontally or verticaily.

awrve~~rry~A aw rirr~ye . arruws this jaw face to swivel, making it possible to clamp up tapered or non-parallel workpieces.

20

ShopNotes

No. 71

jaw face is put together by taking a look at F i e 12. The jaw face is actually made up of two halves that are joined together with a hinge. After cutting the two pieces of the jaw face to size, you3 need to cut a couple of bevels on one side of each piece. Whis orovides clearance so- the front half can swivel from side to side.) In order to attach the hinge between the two pieces, you11 need to use a h i e with a removable oin. This allows$ou to separatethe hinge into two halves so that each half can be screwed in place. Once this is done, all that's left is to line the face of the swivelingjaw with leather. &

b
P _

m i
BEVELS 1" HINGE REMOVABLE
PIN)

Although the benchtop vise works great, it does have one drawback. It takes quite a few turns of the handle for the rear jaw to travel from one end of the threaded rod to the other. To speed up this process, we came up with a quick-release option. The secret behind the quickrelease mechanism is a "half nut" Imade to replace the nut block. ( this by sawing a coupling nut down the middle.) A springloaded cam mechanism is used to engage and disengage the half nut with the threaded r<

U he cam presses the half nut wainst the threaded rod. the vise operates as normal. But a simple flip of the lever on the side of the rear jaw releases the cam and allows the half nut to disengage from the threaded rod. Now you can slide the rear jaw t position along the base.

for Working with Plywood

Shop Secrets

Plywood has its challenges. It's heavy and cumbersome to work with. And the edges and veneer are prone to being damaged. But with a few of our shop secrets, you can meet each and every challenge.

H The first step in dealing with ply wood is just getting it into your vehicle - and then back out once you get it to your shop. I came up with a way to do this with an old appliance cart (see photo). With the cart resting on the *ate (with the wheels uo). I lift oneend if the sheet onto thet;heels. Then I pick the other end up off the ground and "roll" the sheet into the bed of the pickup. To get the sheet out simply reverse the process.

Move it Along

w Once yougetthe sheet of plywood home and out of the truck, youllneed to move it into the shop. To avoid having to carry it around the shop, I made a "skateboard" from a piece of scrap 2x6 and aset of casters, like you see in the photo at lefL
IVdS-WIDEx

To ensure the plywood doesn't slip off the top as you're moving the sheet around, there's a shallow groove cut down the center of the top, as illustrated in the drawing below. And to make it easy to steer, the caster at the front swivels.

GROOVE PREVENTS

%"-DEEP

SLIDING OFF

PROVlDES
SOLID SUPPORT FOR PLWOOD

ALLOWS EASY STEERING

No. 71

#8x 3"Fh WOODSCREW

W Rolling a sheet of plywood around is quite easy. But sooner or later you11 need to carry a plywood sheet to get it right where you need it. When thaes the case, I use the "bandy" tote shown in the drawing and photo at right. The tote is designed to hookunder the bottom edge of the plywood. A round handle that fits into the sides of the tote is easier on your hand than the sham . edges of the olvwood. And the extended sides on Zhe tote make it possible for me to pick up a heavy sheet by lifting with my legs rather than my back. Note: Whenusing the tote, be sure to center the plywood sheet on the support for better balance. And to prevent the plywood sheet from tip ping, place your other band at the top of the sheet to steadv it

WOOD

CHAMFER

,;;w ;;

I '
I ripped the index bar to width from a short length of 2x4. Once you have it cut to size, the holes can be drilled. Then, to soften the sharp corners and allow the index bar to clear the wall, I sanded a radius at each end of the bar. To use the storage bracket, selecta hole in the index bar that takes the most slack out of the front bracket When you want to sort through the stack, just set the index bar so the dowels are in the outside holes.

& Up Against the Wall

I like to cut up the plywood for my the opening of the bracket to allow project right away. But there are for varying amounts of sheet goods. times I can't always do that. So I The hinged bracket is nothing came up with away to store plywood more than two 2x4s joined together at one end with a 3"butthiige. You'll sheets nice and flat until I can. All you need to do this is some also notice that there's a 1/2"-dia. free wall space and the storage dowel glued into the top of each 2x4. bracket shown in the photo and illusThese dowels fit in holes drilled trated in the drawingbelow. into the index bar so you can adjust The wall bracket consists of two the frontbracket piece. The plywood parts: a hinged bracket attached to is held against the wall with another the wall that holds the plywood in '/zl'dia. dowel (8" long) thats glued place, and an index bar that adjusts into the bottom of the front bracket.

-,

>

@ Build a 2-in-1 Cutting Guide

One of the biggest challenges when working with plywood is cutt i n g a large sheet down into pieces that are alittle easier to handle. Even with help, it's a hassle to cut plywood on a table saw. To avoid this, I use my circular saw and a cutting guide like you see in the photo at right The cutting guide not only solves the problem of making a straight cut, but it makes it easy to position the saw so you know exactly where the cut is going to be. An Accurate Reference Edge The way this works is simple. The edge of the guide acts as a reference that indicates the path of the blade (or router bit, but more about that in a minute). Ensuring an accurate cut is just a matter of aligning one of the edges of the guide with the layout line on the workpiece. Build the Guide - There's nothing too complicated about making the cutting guide. Start out with an extra-wide base made horn l/4" hardboard (see drawing below). The next step is to glue and screw a piywood fence to the base. Since the fence is going to establish the reference edge, it's important to attach it so it's perfectly straight

'* , . , . . . d .

A Circular Saw
Blade. To help reduce chipout, the mexpenslve, steel saw blade shown above has tiny, razor sharp teeth that remove small amountsofmaterial.

Once the fence is in place, you can create the reference edge by trimming off the waste with a circular saw. The nice thing about the &a width on the base is that by using a hand-held router and a straight bit, When I'm using my circular saw, I you can create a second reference edge on the other side of the guide. like to use asteel saw blade designed specifically for plywood, like the one shown in the margin. But when Although the guide will make a using my table saw or router, I use a straight cut with either a circular saw differentblade or bit To learn a little or a hand-held router, itwon't always more about these, check out the box below and Sources on page 35. guarantee you a chipout-free cut

END VIEW4

START WITH OMRSED

BASE+ WASTE

HOLD SAW OR ROUTER TIGHT AGAINST FENCE WHEN CUTTING OR ROU~NG BASETO wimn

24

ShopNotes

No. 71

Breaking Down Big Sheets f&

Before making any cuts, you'll need to lay out the pieces on the plywood first. Ifs a good idea to allow a minimum of l/4" extra a l l the way around to provide enough material to make the final clean-uppasses later. Still, cutting plywood to rough size doesn't mean you want a ragged cut. The goal is to end up with clean, straight edges that can ride against the rip fence (or be placed against a miter gauge or an acudliary sled). Foam Support - To accomplish this, I use the cutting guide and saw blade I mentioned earlier. In addition to the guide, you2 also need a way to support the plywood d u r k - the cut The best way I've found to do this is to lay the ply- = wood on a sheet of foam insulation, as in the photo at right @ got mine at a local home center.) Keep the Good Side Down One thing to be aware of is the hlade on a circular saw cuts on the upstroke. This means the top sur-

face of the ply- .'i,&;, ,a,,& * wood is likely to splinter. So even with a specialtyhlade that reduces chipout, ifs best to place the plywood with its good face down on the foam.

1 . 2Get a Pedect Finish Cut

I One of the reasons for allowing a little extra material is to remove the "factory edge." You can usually count on this edge to be straight and true. But its often dented or nicked. So ifs best to trim it off. To do this, adjust the rip fence to make an &-wide cut, as in Flgure 1.Then, after readjusting the fence, run the 'Tust-cut" edge against it and r i l ,the ~ i e c to e finalwidth. One problem area is crosscutting a wide piece. Trying to do this often results in the bar of the miter gauge not being fully supported, resulting in a less than accurate cut. Sliding Platform -The solution is a large, slid'mg platform that pro vides extra support for the workpiece, like you see in Figure 2. The platform is just a plywood base that carries the workpiece through the blade. The base is guided by a hardwood runner that slides in the miter slot. As you make a cut, a fence keeps the workpiece square to the blade. Flush Trim It - Sometimes a workpiece is too wide even for the slidingplatform. Thafs when a handheld router comes in handy. Wip th: cutting guide and a compresslon b ~(see t oppos~te page), you cancut a clean, straightedge without any chipout Figure 3). &

FENCE

No. 71

ShopNotes

Too, '""8
As much as I enjoy woodworking in my shop, I find that 1spend almost as much time working on projects around the house. And because that usually involves carrying tools to where I'm working, irs nice to have something to carry them in. That's where these tool totes come in. Each tote is open on one side to make it easy to load and unload your tools. And a narrow cleat along the front edge of the opening prevents small items from falling out. Not only does the tote hold an armful of tools, hut it's just the right height for sawing the end off a board. In fact, you canmake apair of them to use as mini-sawhorses. And when you want to take a break, the tote makes agreat little stool. The tool totes are so small that you only need half a sheet of 3/4'1 ply wood to build apair of them (see cntting diagram below). To build the tool totes, start by cutting the ends (A) to size as shown in F i r e 1.The a n then be cnt out on the "feet" c ends using a hand saw or a'g saw. After you've finished making the end pieces, you can set them aside while you cut out the hottm (B),
1 V d ' x 5%"5WT. CENTERED ONTOP

totes are assembled with yellow glue and screws. To make sure everything lined up accurateb I dry clamped all the pieces together &t and then drilled the pilot holes for the screws. Then I removed the clamps, glued the pieces together, and added the screws. I started by screwing the bottom and back together and then adding the front cleat The bottomback assembiy gets sandwiched between the two end pieces. Again, I used screws and glue to attach the ends. Top The last piece to add is the top. The twp (E) also doubles as the '%andlee'for the tool tote (see photo above). So after cutting this piece to size, you11 need to cut out an opening in the center. I made this

slot by simply driUing a starter hole at each end point of the opening and removing the waste in between with aj i g saw. Then for a more comfortable grip, I eased the edges by sanding them lightly To attach the top, I used some metal corner braces (see photo in margin). These are just mewed to the inside faces of the end piecesand then to the underside of the top, as you can see in Figure lb.

A corner ~races;
These metal corner braces provide a qu~ck and easy way of securely attachtng the top of the tote.

CORNER BRACE

GKArN DIRECTION

ARE CUT FROM %"PLYWOOD

:UT OFF CORNERS OF CLEAT FOR

b Piano Hinge.
Also known as "cont~nuous" hinges, plan0 h~nges are used to attach the ends to the legs of the sawhorse

Sawhorses are a necessity in just about any shop. But these sawhorses are a little dierent in that they fold up for storage. This makes it easy to carry them anywhere and they don't take up much room when they aren't being used. But don't let the folding design fool you - these sawhorses are plenty sturdy for just about any task Iags - Before you start cu.tting out the pieces for the sawhorses, it's a good idea to take a close look at the cutting diagram at right. In order to get all the pieces for two sawhorses out of a single sheet of plywood, you11 need to do some careful laying out before you start cutting. And because of the shape of the legs, you'll need to cut these pieces out to rough size with a jig saw and then sand the edges smooth. Or you can t r i m them with a router and a straightedge guide. Ends -After you've cut the legs (A) to size, you can start making the ends. If you take a look at Figure 1, you'll see that each end is actudly made up of two separate pieces that are hinged in the middle, as well as to the legs. This is what allows the sawhorse to fold up. After cutting out all the ends (BJ they can be attached to the legs with piano hinges. (You11 need to

-v'

( 9 6 ' x 26%")

LEG

NOTE: ALL PIECES ARE CUT FROM %"PLYWOOD

cut the hinges to length first.) Its a lot easier to attach each half of the end to a leg of the sawhorse k s t Then the two halves are connected with another piano hinge. Top -The top of the sawhorse is nothing more than a narrow, rectangular piece of plywood. The top (C) rests on the legs of the sawhorse ShopNotes

it isn't permanently attached. But to help lock the top in place, a couple of cleats (D)are screwed directly to the underside of the top. To use the sawhorse, simply open it up by pulling the legs apart and folding out the ends. Then set the top in place so the cleats fit s e w e ~ between the legs.

28

No. 71

Cut-Off Bin Dealing,with short cutaff pieces of lumber 1s a problem that just about every woodworker has to face. No matter how neat you try to stack the cutoffs, it doesn't take long for a small pile to turn into a mountain. And this makes it almost irnpos sible to sort through the cutoffs to dnd a piece that you can use. Which is exactly why you need a storage bin like the one you see here. It's hkly small, so it doesn't take up much space. But it holds a lot of cutoffs. And dividers inside the b i n allow you to sort the cutoffs, making it easier to End that one piece that you're looking for. Construction - To build the cutoffbin, start by cutting thefront (A), back (B),and bottom (C) to size (see the cutting diagram below). After cutting out these pieces, you can glue and screw them together. The bottom is trapped between the front and back to create a U-shaped assembb. But when you're doing this, make sure that the ends of the pieces remain flush. Dividers -The next step is to add the dzvzders (D). These three pieces are all identical. They are cut to fit in between the front and back of the b i n . After cutting the pieces to size and cutting the taper on the front edge of each piece, the two end dividers can be glued and screwed in place so that they are flush with the ends of the front, back, and bottom of the bin. The center divider sepai n into rates the space inside the b two equal sections. Tnis divider is centered between the two ends and then glued and screwed in place. Interior Dividers - The last pieces to make are the two interior dividers Q. These pieces help to separate long and short cutoffs by dividing the b i n into smaller compartments. The interior dividers are centered between the front and the back of the bin. After cutting them to size, they're attached with corner braces & w e @ la). Most of the h e , this cut-off b i n will probably just sit in a comer of your shop. But you may want to

I
I
move it occasionally to clean behind i t The only problem is that once it's loaded up with lumber, moving it is no simple task. So to make t h i i easier, I added some casters to the I use two k e d casters and bottom. ( two swivel casters.) As you can see in Figure lb, the casters are just screwed in place near the corners.

NOTE: ALL PIECES

BACK
@

ARE CUT FROM

PLWOOD

t
hL

-7

6"

Casters. To make 'e cut-off bin eas~er .J move around, i added casters to
L

CUTTING MAGRAM

WorkbenchI

This workbench is just the right size

for working on small projects. It can be set against the back wall of the garage without taking up too much space. And ithas some starage room below the top for your tools. Even if you already have a full~izeworkbench in your shop, this bench makes a great "backup." Joinery - Like the other plywood projects, there isn't any complicated joinery on this bench. Ifs put together with screws and buttjoints.
thing But the in a trick slxcific is toorder assemble and cut everythe

s "
g
r

A Shelf Pins. The par6 to fit is yougo along. I started by cutting out the he acfjustable shelf is supported by (A) and back (B) of the bench spoon-style shelf v i e 1).Tnen I used a j i g saw to p~ns 11kethe ones cut away the waste and create the shown here 'Yeet" on the bottom of the two ends.
I also drilled some shelf pin holes in the right-hand end piece.

M e r screwing the ends to the corner braces (Figure la). Then back, you c a ncut thefkad sNRlf(C) yon can cut the divider (E) to tit in to fit in between the ends. Once between the top and the &ed shelf you've positioned this piece between Before attaching the divider, however, you11 want to drill some shelf the ends, you can screw it in place. Top - The top is cut to size pin holes to match the ones in the and attached to the ends with end of the bench. Then you can screw the divider to the tixed shelf and attach it to the top of the bench with a couple of corner braces. Finally, I cut an adjustable shelf (F) to fit in the space between the dividerand the end of the bench.

( a

Wall Cabinet
The last project I made was the wall shelves. I did this on the drill press. l all the cabinet that you see in the photo at After you've hished d right. Actually, this project is two shelf pin holes, you can assemble cabinets - one with a door and one the two cases. The sides, top, and without. You can stack them or hang botiom are all wrapped around the them on the wall side by side. back panels and then glued and Cases -The cases of the two wall screwed together. cabinets are identical except fortheir With the cases assembled, you depth. One of the cabinets is 3/4" can cut some adjustable shelves (G, shallower than the other one to allow H) to fit inside them. There are three for the thichess of the door. shelves for the open cabinet and two You can start by cutting all the for the cabinet with the door. sides (A,B, C), t q s and bottoms (D, Door -At this point, the open cab E),and backs (F) to size, as shown inet is done. To complete the other in F i e 1below. When it comes to cabinet, all you need is a door. The cutting the sides, you11 notice that door (I) is just apiece of plywood cut the cabinet with the door has one to fit over the front of the case. Ks side that is 3/1$ narrower than the attached with a piano hinge. Then to other. This is to allow for the door help keep the door closed, I added a hinge that will he added later. couple of magnetic catches -one at The next step is to drill some the top of the cabinet and one at the holes in the sides for the shelf pins bottom. Finally, I mounted a handle i l l be used to support the to the front of the door. & that w

I
I

NOTE: ALL PIECES

ARE CUT FROM 3 ' 2 PLYWOOD

H")

TOP

SHELF PIN

CUTTING DIAGRAM

, Door Hardware.
I w~ndow sash pull makes a low-cost, yet practical door handle. And a magnetic catch ensures that the door stays shut until you're ready to ooen it.

TOPVIEW

No. 71

ShopNotes

Veritas Low-AngIe

ne of the most versatile tools I have in my shop is a block plane. I keep it handy in my apron a l l the time. This way, I can quickly smooth edging flush with a panel, plane a clean chamfer along the corner of a workpiece, remove saw and mill marks from an edge, or easily trim some end grain to get a workpiece to fit just right If you've never had a block plane, or if you're thinking about

getting a new one, the Veritm lowangle block plane, shown in the photos and drawing above, is worth a look. I recently gave it a workout and was glad I did. A Design Difference - Sure, you still get the adjustable mouth and the low blade angle typical of many block planes. But Ihritas has made a few improvements. One of the first changes was in the body of the plane - the sides are shaped differently. They're not only higher, but they're a little wider. After using it for a while, I can see the advantages. For starters, each side provided solid support when I was using the plane with a shooting board, like you see in the inset photo at left It felt solid and stable, unlike some block planes I've used. ShopNotes

Another advantage with the sides of the plane -no matter how I held the plane, I was able to find a comfortable grip. That's because my fingers nestled right into the indents machined into each side. Many block planes need a "tune up" before you can use them. But that isn't the case with the V e r i t a s . 'Ike machining and casting are top quality. The sides are perfedly square to the sole, which is very important for shooting, as Imentioned earlier. Plus, I didn't have to take any time to flatten the sole. Speaking of the casting, Vkritas uses a slightly d i i r e n t material to make the body of the plane - ductile iron. That's really just a fancy. name for iron that's stronger and more forgiving of an accidental

32

No. 71

drop that might crack the casting on a typical block plane. Plus, it just feels downright substantial in my hand when I'm planing. Adjusting the Blade - On most block planes, adjusting the blade can be a hassle. You have to advance the blade with one knob and control the skew (angle) of the blade with a s e p arate lever (ifit has one at all). V a t a s combined these two controls in a single lateral adjust/feed lever' (see drawing on opposite page). As I turned the knob to adjust the depth of cut, I was able to "twe&'the skew of the blade by pivoting the same control. Once I have a blade set, I always worried about it moving laterally during a cut or when I loosened the

lever cap to make a depth adjustment Vwitasadded a nice feature to prevent this that you won't find on other block planes -guides. These "guides" are nothing more than a pair of set screws installed in the sides of the plane. All I had to do was turn the screws in until they just touched the blade. This prevented any lateral movement unless I controlled it by moving the adjustment lever. H e a v y D u t y Blade - 'Ihe improvements to this plane show up in the blade too. Iike the body of the plane, the blade is also made from a different material than typical blades. Veritas uses a material caned A2 tool steeL This material is tougher than the steel used in most blades. This

means the blade will stay sharper longer and resist chipping. And since the blade is a l/8" thick y p (almost half again as thick as a t ical block plane blade), it practically eliminates any annoying chatter as you plane. Is It Worth It? A typical block plane costs $40 - $50. &you might expect, the Veritascosts alittle more ($89). But consideringthe features it has and the quality thafs built in, I think the price is quite a bargain. Accessories - One last thing. The Veritas has a couple other things going for it - accessories. They're easy to use and install, and they make the plane more versatile. To read more about them, take a look at the box below. &

BOO-BTI-8158

i7oodworkers tend to be a whether its a scrap of wood, a wornout piece of sandpaper, or an old, h a l f empty bottle of glue. But unlike some other supplies, glue doesn't keep indeMte1y. And if you use glue that is too old, you're risking glue joint Mure down the road. So, how long is it safe to keep a bottle of wood glue around the shop? Most manufacturers will tell you that yellow glue has a sheIflife of two years from the time it is mannfactured. But there's the rub. When you buy a bottle of glue from the store, its hard to know how long it may have been sitting on the shelf or in a warehouse. Dak Code - Fortunateb, most of the glue manufacturers print a code on their glue bottles that, once dedphered, will tell you when the glue was manufactured. For more on these codes, see the box below.

I
A Fresh Glue. Glue from a brand
new bottle is smooth and slick, and spreads out evenly with your finger.

But the two year rule is really just a minimum. Aclnally, the glue can l a s tas much as three or four years. It all has to do with how the glue ages.

prime turns thick and stringy, and doesn't spread out smoothly

WIUU HAPPENS TO MIR

Yellow glue is made up of individual particles. These particles each have a coating that prevents them from sticking to one another inside the bottle. Exposure to air,h e mold, and The amount of time it takes before the bacteria all cause the coating to deteri- glue starts to go bad depends a great orate. When it does, the glue particles deal on bow it's stored. The most start to adhere to each other and the important thing is to remember to glue gets thick and stringy, like you close the cap after using the glue to prevent air from entering the bottle. see in the lower right photo above. One way to tell if the glue is still Nothing will cut short the life of a good is to spread some out on a piece bottle of glue faster than allowing it to dry out And if you buy glue in gallon jugs, it's a good idea to immediately separate it into smaller containers. As you use the glue, therell be a smaller volume of air in the bottle than if you Most glw r i m t u h prlnt ~ a pradudioqeode had left it in the galloujng. q &t. back of eaah glnr? b o a t o Beep tracb: of WBmant2whwethe@uew~~ma&.&tt&marr Ideally, yellow glue should be ~ u s e s a ~ Cmtingsystem. ~ m t stored in a cool dry environment (55"65"Fl. Hot, humid conditions nW-*photoat3eft>Wm encourage the growth of bacteria that i d c a t s the year $ =ZW2,3= 2-003).B eSeMnd breaks down the glue. And despite $hmi2m h&ate$ the menth @ -Jam B= what you may have heard, freezing lea$rT% &$@d to m i d F e k w , &$will not ruin glue. m e glue may . ) emfmionlvith thenmber 1 thicken, but it will return to its normal IhSte-TbeMnumberden~te$theyearaad state if you stir it up a bit) the next fbx numbem the k af 'theyear. P~or One last thought When you conample, a mde of 2175 meam the gIue was sider how inexpensive glue is, it's just raadeonthel75thd$of2M)2. EZm& -%.efsildhristheyear@=2QOZ+ n o t w o r t h ~ a c h a n c e o n r ~ a project by using a suspect bottle of f 2% etc.). 'IhedaUowbg two n u m h e m u n b e r sare the glue. So I use the same rnle with g l u e . day afthe -.'&is is fdbwed by a letter in& as I do with leftovers in the fridge ~ t h e m o n f (Ah Januaty, B-Februaty, &.I 'Wben in doubt throw it out" %%

of wood with your finger. If the glue spreadsout smoothly,its okay. Butif it balls up behind your h g e r as you try to spread it, its beyond its useful life.

34

ShopNotes

No. 71

Sources
Router Table Hardware Kits
W The stow-away router table requires abit of hardware, some of which you probably won't find at your local hardware store or home center. To save you the hassle of tracking everything down, ShnpNotes Prnject Supplies has put together a hardware kit that contains werything youll need

Online Extras
You can also order just the T-track and dual track T-Track and Dual Track Hardware Kit 6871-125.. . .. .$39.95 To order either idt, see the box below. If you choose not to get either kit, we've listed several sources for some of the hard-bfind hardware in the margin at right
If you don't have access to the internet, we'd be happy to mail a copy of the Online Extras to you. Just which one you'd like and send a self-addressed, stamped #lo envelope to:

MAIL ORDER SOURCES

Similar project supplies may be ordered from the following companies:
www.mcklr.com Knobs, P l v d Saw B&, ?b@b chWLp8 Reid Tool 800-253-0421 waw.reidtaol.com Handlr,Knobs,
lbggb Clamps

The kit has the T-track, dual track, guard, featherboard, dust hood, toggle clamps, knobs, and all the miscellaneous hardware. The only thing youll have to provide is the router, plywood, hardwood, and plastic laminate. Stow-AuqyRouter Table Hardware Kit 6871-100.. ... .$99.95

ShopNotesNo. 71 Online Extras P .O. Box842 Des Moines, IA 50304

Benchtop Vise Hardware

w Most of the hardware Valley. The part number required for the benchtop for the l/z"-dia rareearth viseshownonpage 14can magnets we used is be found at your local 99K31.03. Be sure to get hardware store or home the matching magnet cups center. But there are a few (99K32.53) and washers items youll have to order (99K32.63) to complete through the mail. the installation. Leather Fially, youll Handle - The handle we used for the vise came need a small amount of from Reid Ibol. The part leather. We got ours at a number is ASG7T. Their local leather shop. If you can't find any phone number and website l o * , give lbndy Leather are listed in the margin. 1 Magnets - To hold the a call at 1 ~ 9 0 1 6 1 or auxiliary vise faces in check out their website at place we turned to Lee www.tandyleather.com.

Plvwood Bits & Blades

- -

-- -

0.

If you work with plywood alot, you may want to consider adding some specialty saw blades and router bits that will help make clean, chipout-freecuts. Saw Blades Whether you're cutting plywood down to size with a circular saw, or cleaning up the edges on your table saw, there's a saw blade that will help. For drcular saws, look for a steel plywood blade at your localhardware store or home center. They're inex-

pensive and do a great job. And for table saws, a triple chip grind blade with a negative bookangle fits the biu. We use a Freud LU97R blade in our shop. But other sources have plywood saw blades (seemargin). Router Bits -To make a chipout-free cut on both faces of a sheet of plywood, a compression bit is what you need. Freud makes single (77-106) and double (77-206) flute versions. Sources for these bits are listed in the margin.&

MeFeelys 800-443-7937 www.mdeelys.com Knobs, P l d Saw B&, W B clamps ~ Freud 800-472-7307 www.hudtools.wm Compresm BUS, Plywwd Saru Blade8

Lee Vdey 800-871-8158 aawv.14ey.com h & b Blaek Plane Accessonas, Rare-Earth M a g n e t s ,C u p , & W a n k Woodsmith Store 800.835-5084 Knobs, Plytmd smu B&, lbggb Clamps Eagle America 800-872-2511 www.eagle%meriea.eom CmmssumBzb, Plyuxlcd Saw Blades

+ '

To order back issues or a hardware kit from

Discover, or American Express card ready.

0)

well as any applicable sales tax.

No. 71
ShopNotes

O N L I N E

E X T R A

Correction:
ShopNotes 71

Adjust the rear jaw of the vise quickly and easily with this simple option.

Rear Jaw

Quick-Release

The materials list on page 15 and Figure 7 on page 18 show the rear jaw face as 81/2" long. The correct dimension for this part is 9" long.

his quick-release allows you to rapidly open or close the jaws of the benchtop vise in Issue No. 71. It works just like the quick-release mechanism on a manufactured bench vise. Instead of turning the handle of the vise, all you have to do is flip a lever and slide the rear jaw to where you want it. Then flip the lever back to lock the jaw in position. An added plus to this quickrelease feature is that the main parts of the vise the base and front and rear jaws remain basically the same. The only thing that changes are the parts inside the rear jaw. (You will also have to add a bronze bushing to the face of the rear jaw, as shown in Figures 1 and 1a.) As you can see in Figure 1, the secret behind the quick release is a half nut. A cam raises and lowers this half nut to engage or disengage the threads of the vise. The first step in making the quick release is to make the half nut assembly. Start by cutting a coupling nut lengthwise into two pieces, as

shown in Figure 1. This can be done with a hacksaw. (Note that you want to make the cut slightly off center.) Save the smaller half and discard the larger one. The half nut is sandwiched between two blocks of wood. To make these blocks, I first cut a groove down the center of a hardwood blank. Then I cut two blocks from the blank. After epoxying the half nut into the groove in one of the

blocks, I glued the two blocks together (Figure 3). Like in the standard version of the benchtop vise, a couple of retaining strips are glued to the inside walls of the rear jaw assembly to hold the half nut assembly in place. Figure 1 shows you the position of these retaining strips. Rails The rails of the quick release version of the vise arent really any different than those on the

a.

FIGURE

Page 1 of 2

ShopNotes No. 71

2003 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved

O N L I N E
standard version. The only modification you will have to make is to cut a notch in the right-hand rail for the cam lever that will be added later. I did this by simply drilling a hole in the rail and then cutting away the waste and filing the edges smooth. Cam Assembly To raise and lower the half nut, I used a cam mechanism, as you can see in Figure 5. This is nothing more than a couple of wood disks that are mounted on a shaft that passes through the body of the rear jaw. A lever on the end of the shaft allows you to tighten or loosen the cams. And a spring helps to hold the cams in place. To make the cams, I just used a hole saw to create two round disks of wood (see detail in Figure 5). Then I drilled an off-center hole in each disk for a wood shaft. To mount the cams inside the rear jaw, youll need to make a shaft. This

E X T R A

a.

FIGURE is nothing more than a 3 short length of /4"-dia. dowel. A couple of holes are drilled in the sides of the rear jaw to hold the shaft. Then the shaft can be slipped through the rear jaw and the cams. The cams are secured to the shaft with a couple of screws (Figure 5b). Just make sure when you are doing this that you line the cams up so that they both have the same orientation (see Figures 5 and 5a). Spring With the cams and shaft in place, you can of 1/2"-thick hardwood stock. After add the spring. To do this, start by drilling the hole in the end of the drilling a small pilot hole in the handle blank, it can be cut and shaft and thread in a screw eye. sanded to shape. Then the handle Next, drill a hole in each side of the is attached to the end of the shaft rear jaw for a steel pin. This pin is with a single woodscrew (Figure used to anchor one end of the 5c). The key here is to position the spring. Its glued in place with epoxy. handle so that the half nut is The other end of the spring is engaged when the handle is in the hooked over the screw eye on the forward position. This way, pushing the handle back will disengage the shaft of the cam assembly. Handle The last step is to add half nut and allow you to slide the the handle. I made the handle out jaw to the desired position.

FIGURE

b.

c.

Page 2 of 2

ShopNotes No. 71

2003 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved.

O N L I N E

E X T R A

Adding a

Switched Outlet
With just a handful of hardware and an hour of work, you can add a switched outlet to any power tool.

urning a power tool on and off is easy right? Just flip the switch. Unfortunately, its not always convenient or even easy to access a switch quickly especially on a hand-held router thats been mounted in a table. I found this out on the StowAway Router Table in Issue No. 71. To solve this problem, I added a switched outlet to the side of the table. With a switched outlet thats positioned for easy access, you wont have to worry about finding

the on/off switch especially if you need to get to it in a hurry. Wire the Switch At first glance, you might think that adding a switched outlet isnt a task for a woodworker. But its not that difficult. All you need to do is run a length of electrical cord (with a plug wired on one end) between a wall outlet and a switch/receptacle, like you see in the drawing below. The hardware youll need to do this is detailed in the Electrical Hardware box at the lower right.

Note: The switched outlet I purchased also came with its own set of wiring instructions. Once youve wired the switched outlet, just plug the power cord from the tool into the receptacle and youre all set. Note: Youll need to leave the switch on the power tool in the on position. One last thing. If youre at all uncomfortable working with electricity, you may want to locate a qualified electrician to wire the switch for you.

Electrical Hardware
(1) 15 Amp., 120 Volt Switch/Receptacle (1) Switch Box (6) No. 8 Spade Terminals (16/14 ga.) (2) Grounding Pigtails (12 ga.) (1) Switch Jumper (12 ga.) (1) 3/8" Cable Connector (1) Wire Nut Connector (Yellow) (2) #8 x 5/8'' Ph Sheet Metal Screws (1) Duplex Box Cover (1) 15 Amp., 125 Volt Plug (Grounded) (1) 16-3SJ Electric Cord (Variable Length)

Page 1 of 1

ShopNotes No. 71

2003 August Home Publishing. All rights Reserved.