Innholdsfortegnelse for Oct/Nov 2017 i Woodsmith

Chisel Rasp. John Doyle, Ankeny, IA, creates a custom rasp that works well in one-of-a-kind settings. He applies adhesive-backed sandpaper to a chisel that fits the opening he’s trying to modify. Using different grits of sandpaper lets him control how aggressive the cut is. Hook for Accessories. To keep tools for the table saw close at hand, Robert Patterson of Wisconsin Rapids, WI, attaches a magnetic coat hook (available at a local home center) to the side of the cabinet. He finds it a good place to hang a hand broom or push stick (inset photo).…

Flipping through the router bit section of a woodworking catalog, I have the same feeling as when I was a kid perusing the Christmas toy catalog. Almost every bit seems like a must-have. While there are several bits in the drawer that have never been used, one that’s turned out to be a real winner is a bowl and tray bit, like the ones you see below. Like many woodworkers, I bought one to make router-carved bowls. The bit works great for that, but it’s the other things that it can do that makes it so valuable (more on this later). UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS. To get a better handle on what makes a bowl and tray bit versatile, it pays to take a close look at what sets these kinds of…

Whether you enjoy a classic game of checkers, old-school cribbage, or maybe an exotic romp with mancala, these three games will delight the family with hours of offline entertainment. They’re all great for road trips as well. This is because all the parts to play each game are stored away in between the boards. Designing the games to fold up employed a piece of hardware that’s not used every day. It’s called a barrel hinge and it comes from a family of hinges known as concealed hinges. The barrel hinges hide in the edges of the game boards. So when the game is open in playing mode, like in the photo above, things keep moving smoothly across the game surface. MANCALA This ancient word means “to move.” That activity is…

One of the things I find interesting about woodworking is the fact that rarely is there only one way to accomplish a specific task. Take cutting rabbets, for example. You can cut them on a table saw using a dado blade buried in an auxiliary fence. You can also cut them with a standard blade by making two passes to define the shoulders of the rabbet. A third way is to rout them, either with a rabbeting bit or a straight bit paired with a router table. All of these methods work well and we use each of them routinely in our shop. But there’s another method that doesn’t seem to get talked about as much and that’s cutting rabbets on a jointer. BENEFITS. Using a jointer to cut rabbets…

One of the easiest ways to improve both the quality of cuts and safety of your table saw is to use a zero-clearance insert plate. By providing support right next to the blade, the insert plate helps prevent tearout when making crosscuts in hardwood and plywood and cutting dadoes. It also keeps small waste pieces from falling between the insert plate and blade and getting wedged. While you can purchase insert plates, I find that it’s pretty simple to make your own. In addition to saving money, it’s easy to make extras to keep on hand to suit just about any task. I prefer making insert plates from 1/2" MDF, as you can see in the photos on these two pages. It’s flat, smooth, easy to shape, and inexpensive. The…

Most of the materials and supplies you’ll need to build the projects are available at hardware stores or home centers. For specific products or hard-to-find items, take a look at the sources listed here. You’ll find each part number listed by the company name. See the right margin for contact information. BOWL & TRAY BITS (p.12) • Woodcraft Whiteside Bowl Bit. . . . . .825834 • Amana Tool Bowl & Tray Bit . . . . . . . . 45992 • Lee Valley Dish Carving Bit . . . . . .16J26.70 GADGETS UNDER $50 (p.14) • Rockler Assembly Square . . . . . . . 29190 • Lee Valley Countersink Drill Bits . .50J04.20 Tape Measure Tip . . . . . 50K58.01 Vix Bits . . . . . .…

Glue Dispenser Spreading glue on a lot of parts means working quickly. I used to pour a puddle of glue on a scrap of cardboard and dip into it with a brush. That works fine for small projects, but it gets messy when the brush starts to tack up and stick to the cardboard. I decided to control the chaos by making the glue station you see in the photo at right. It all starts with a collection of used dessert cups. I save these and used them for glue and epoxy applications. The station has two holes in an easy to clean plastic laminate top, one to hold the glue that I’m using at the moment. The other is for water to set the brush in so I don’t…

No matter whether your shop is large or small, there’s going to come a time when you need to move a machine, cart, or workbench to a different spot. In order to save your back, the best solution is to keep your large and heavy items mounted on casters for quick and easy mobility. Of course, choosing the right caster for your specific application depends on several variables. Is your floor smooth or bumpy? How heavy is the item that you need to make mobile? And how maneuverable does the item need to be once it’s on wheels? DESIGN SIMILARITIES. Almost all casters have a few things in common — a wheel, an axle and bracket to hold the wheel, and some type of mounting system for attaching the entire…

Has someone special in your life been asking you for hints for Christmas gifts this year? Well, we’ve put together this short list of items that several of us here at Woodsmith like to have around in our own shops. Most of these items weren’t things that we’d normally buy for ourselves. (Some were even given to us as gifts.) But once we had them, we didn’t want to give them up. Read on to see if there are any you’d like to add to your wish list this year. [1] Assembly Squares First up is a solid set of assembly squares as shown in the main photo above. Having a couple of these on hand is essential for perfectly square case construction. Available in a couple of different sizes,…

It’s seems that hectic schedules are par for the course these days. And one of the areas that’s usually the first to suffer is the time you get to spend in the shop. I’m okay with all the activity in life, but I’ve set a simple goal of having some quality shop time and turning out modestly sized projects that will make great gifts. With that in mind, these stylish picture frames give you a great return on your investment. To start, you can build all of these frames without spending much cash. Frankly, you probably have all the material you need sitting in the scrap bin. All of the frames utilize simple joinery. Wood dowels are employed for one of the frames. The other two are held together with…

Retainer Dado. Install a dado blade to cut a dado to hold the retainer strip. The rip fence acts as an end stop. Upper Tongue. Widen the dado blade and recess it in an auxiliary fence to form the tongue on the top edge. Tenon. The same dado blade can be used to cut the tenon on the end of each side to fit the mortise in the rear jaw. Retainer Strips. Glue the retainer strips in place after assembling the the sides and anvil with the rear jaw. Nut Block. Glue up an oversize blank to create the nut block. Once the glue is dry, trim it to final size. Off-Center Hole. The hole to accept the coupling nut is offset. Take care to orient the nut block correctly.…

A Sides (2) 3/4 x 17 - 70 1/2 B Stretchers (2) 3/4 x 3 1/2 - 38 1/4 C Bottom Cleats (2) 3/4 x 2 3/8 - 37 1/2 D Seat Cleat (1) 3/4 x 2 - 38 1/4 E Seat (1) 1 x 17 3/8 - 41 F Bottom (1) 3/4 x 16 3/8 - 38 1/4 G Top (1) 3/4 x 10 7/8 - 38 1/4 H Partition (1) 3/4 x 10 7/8 - 52 1/4 I Coat Hook Stretcher (1) 3/4 x 6 1/2 - 25 1/2 J Shelf (1) 3/4 x 10 7/8 - 25 1/2 K Shelf Divider (1) 3/4 x 10 1/2 - 10 7/8 L Lower Dividers (2) 3/4 x 13 1/4 - 16 3/8 M Molding 3/4 x 3 5/8 -…

In the course of becoming a better woodworker, I’ve picked up a few other skills (and tools) in related areas. One of those is metalworking. Whether it’s modifying a piece of hardware or creating a custom component, having some metalworking abilities can help you create better woodworking projects. What’s nice is that you don’t need a lot of expensive tools to get started. (You may have a few of them already.) Metalworking follows the same kinds of processes as in woodworking: layout, drilling, cutting, and shaping. Most of the tools here can easily be found at hardware stores, home centers, or online. LAYOUT One of the first steps of building any project is layout. The key here is making clear marks that guide the way for the subsequent steps. Two…

Routing Pockets The three game boards that are being built in this issue have one thing in common — pockets. Each of the games has pockets routed into them. The checkers and cribbage boards use the pockets to store playing pieces when not in use. The pockets for the mancala game do double-duty. They store the stones and serve as an integral part of the playing surface. Making these pockets is best done with a router and a bowl and tray bit. You can learn more about these bits on page 12. To give me a little more control, I made a set of jigs that allowed me to rout the pockets on the router table. The mancala game has the most pockets to make, so I started there. MANCALA…

One of the challenges of building any project is choosing the right hardware. This is especially true when it comes to hinges. It’s not for a lack of choices by any means. The key is to find the hinges that are best suited for your project. In the case of the games on page 18, barrel hinges fit the bill. The barrel hinges that are used in all three game boards are a member in a family of specialty hinges known as concealed hinges. One of the main suppliers and inventor of these hinges is Soss, a hinge manufacturer that created the first concealed hinge a little over 100 years ago. While their larger siblings are used in heavy-duty environments from fancy boardrooms to battleships, these barrel hinges are designed…

It seems like whenever I need to make a rip cut that’s wider than say 10", I start by having to clear off all the stuff piled on top of my table saw. Push blocks, featherboards, saw blades, and even jigs all seem to take up residence on the nonworking side of my rip fence. The obvious answer is to add storage below the extension wing of the saw. In fact, we’ve featured several of these types of projects in the past. This storage cart is a little different though. STORAGE OPTIONS. A drawer just under the top of the cart provides a handy place for storing many of the most-often used saw accessories. But it’s the storage area below the drawer that is really interesting. Rather than just an…

A heavy-duty workbench sits at the center of most workshops. Equipped with stout face and end vises, it’s ready to tackle just about any kind of task you can throw at it. Part of what makes it so capable is that it serves as a platform for accessories. These can range from bench hooks and shooting boards to hold-downs and assembly jigs. Another add-on is shown here — an auxiliary vise. A small vise like this may seem redundant, considering the large vises already on a workbench. However, this vise offers some great benefits. First, the vise raises a workpiece to a more comfortable level, whether you’re sitting or standing. Second, the smaller jaws offer greater access to a workpiece and are less likely to interfere with a tool. In…

Hub & Handle. A V-block stabilizes the screw to drill the hole for the pin to secure the hub and the larger hole of the handle. Plug the Hub. Use a plug cutter to create a thin wood plug to give the hub a finished look. Add a Pin. Install the screw in the front jaw along with a washer. Mark the vise screw for a hole to accept a cotter pin. Install Rear Jaw. Slip the nut block into the rear jaw and thread the vise screw through the coupling nut. Shape the Sides. A hack saw makes quick work of removing most of the waste. A file refines the profile. Install the Plates. To provide clearance, slip a folded piece of paper under the rear jaw before installing…

When it came to joining the front jaw and base of the vise shown on page 36, I really wanted to use dovetails. Strength was my biggest concern. Coming in at a close second is the classic look of the joint. And as woodworkers know, a good-looking tool works better, right? With the decision settled, the trick was how to cut such large joints. They’re too big to tackle with a router jig. The thick parts and large joint surfaces are a challenge for hand cutting — especially if you haven’t mastered the technique. That lead me to the band saw. I use a band saw for ripping thick stock and resawing, so it has the muscle to make the cuts. What it needs is a little help in the…

Getting crisp, splinter-free edges at the table saw or router table doesn’t happen by accident. The wood fibers typically separate just fine when cutting with the grain of a workpiece. However, when cutting or routing across the grain, precautions need to be taken to avoid tearing the back side of the workpiece as the cutting tool exits. Employing just a few simple strategies at each of these tools will help you see better results without much extra effort. TABLE SAW STRATEGIES The first thing that you need to do to set up for successful crosscutting on the table saw is to ensure that you have the proper blade in place. While a combination blade may be fine for run-of-the-mill work, it won’t necessarily deliver the tearout-free results you’re looking for.…

Acme threaded rod sounds like something Wile E. Coyote might use to construct a trap for the Roadrunner. But in fact, this type of rod is commonly used in all sorts of everyday machinery and industrial applications. As you can see in the photo at left and the drawings at right, the profile of an Acme thread is different from that you’ll find on typical threaded rod. Standard threaded rod has V-shaped threads that are cut at a 60° angle and form sharp peaks. Acme threads have a trapezoidal shape with a steep, 29° thread angle and a flat top. STRENGTH. Because they’re thicker in cross section, Acme threads are stronger and less prone to stripping than common V-threads. This makes them better suited for heavy loads. They’re often used…