Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2021 i Woodsmith

Micro Mesh Grits. Greg Kopp of Norwalk, IA kept losing the grit chart that came with his Micro Mesh sanding pads. Instead of relying on the chart to match the color to the grit, Greg has started to mark the grit with a fine-tipped marker on the edge of the sanding pads. Now, Greg can quickly see what grit the pad is. Strop Cushion. Bill White of Grand Portage, MN often uses hold-downs in his work. However, using a hold down with softer woods can often leave dents in the workpiece. When chopping dovetails, Bill found that his leather strop was the perfect cushion to his holdfast. It keeps the workpeice from getting dented, and also keeps the strop close at hand. That way, while he works, Bill can quickly…

Spoon carving occupies a curious corner of our craft. Within the last five years, I’ve seen more and more woodworkers make at least one. Some are hooked ... and one of those would be me. Carving a spoon or small bowl forms an interesting diversion from my typical straight, flat, and square projects. You can carve a spoon with just about any sharp knife. My first very first were shaped with my trusty Swiss Army Tinker. The only tool-related obstacle is forming the bowl. A straight-bladed knife gets you only so far. What you need is a knife made for diving in. Crooked (or hook) knives feature blades with varying degrees of sweep along the length. The versions with a gentle curve excavate material easily. Sharply curved blades extend your…

A Legs (4) 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 - 29 B Upper Side Rails (2) 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 - 16 3/4 C Lower Side Rails (2) 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 - 16 3/4 D Side Panels (2) 3/8 x 15 1/8 - 14 5/8 E Front Top Rail (1) 1 x 1 3/4 - 32 1/2 F Back Top Rail (1) 1 x 1 3/8 - 32 1/2 G Front Middle Rails (2) 1 1/4 x 1 3/4 - 32 3/4 H Back Middle Rails (2) 1 1/4 x 1 3/8 - 32 3/4 I Front Lower Rail (1) 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 - 32 3/4 J Back Lower Rail (1) 1 3/4 x 1 3/8 - 32 3/4 K Short Dividers (3) 1 x 1…

Stemming from India in the 7th century, chess is the ultimate game of strategy. What appears to be a simple objective on the surface, capture the opponent’s king, is much more involved than that. There are few games that require more planning, strategy, and cunning, than chess. This modern take on the classic game is sure to get the attention of your opponent, and maybe give you an edge. DESIGN DETAILS. As you can see in the photo, this elegant chess set features a walnut and maple playing surface that appears to float above the base. A soft, flocked drawer allows you to safely store the chess pieces when not in use. While the playing surface is beautiful, the real show-stopper, in my opinion, is the set of pieces. SOME…

Horses Neck. Define the end of the horses neck by drilling it out with a brad-point bit. Shape the Knight. Use a band saw to shape the knights. A narrow blade allows you to easily follow the pattern. Kerf the Pawn. Kerf the pawn blanks for the visor. After turning, create the football shape by removing the center section at the band saw. Rook Holes. Drill the end of a blank for the hole in the top of the rook. Use a stop block to position all four rook blanks. Cross It. Create the cross through the stopped hole at the table saw. Make a kerf, then turn the blank 90° to complete the cross. Drive Spur. You can hold the pieces with a four jaw chuck, or with a…

In talking with woodworkers, it seems like many build at least one dining table during some point in their woodworking journey. However, the number of woodworkers that build the matching chairs seems relatively small. And I can understand that. You just completed a large project. The last thing you want to do is start four, six, or eight other, slightly smaller, more complex projects. MATT TO THE RESCUE. Luckily, woodworker and You-Tuber Matt Cremona has introduced a line of chair kits that allows you to assemble and finish chairs with little effort. I had heard a lot of hype around Matt’s kits, so I ordered a set of chairs to see what the fuss was about. As you can see in the lower left photo on the previous page, the…

This armoire challenges woodworking rules on several fronts. Like using hardwood on the inside, and plywood on the outside. To me, it hearkens back to the years of dealing with eye-rolling fits, and chilly shoulders from teenagers who want to do things their own way. But as you see here, what at first might seem naive or over the top actually works quite well. Who would have thought that painted edges of Baltic birch plywood that are then chamfered would look so good? And the cherry veneer fronts calm the look and provide balance to the whole. On occasion, youth isn’t wasted on the young. Making a strong CASE The case for the armoire starts out as a simple box with butt joints held together with screws. The drawing to…

Left Side. Mark the start location for the left side on your router fence. Then, turn the router on and lower the workpiece over the bit, lining it up with the start point. Rout the dado through the workpiece. Right Side. Now, mark the stop location on the router fence. Rout until the right side edge lines up with the stop mark and turn off the router. Both Sides. Routing the stopped groove follows the same process as the dadoes, except this time, you’ll mark both the start and stop points on the router table fence. Wide Rabbets. Define the ledge with a dado blade. Keep pressure against the top edge of the workpiece so the bottom doesn’t kick in. Thin Tongues. Set the dado blade height to cut the…

Hook knives do a great job of creating concave shapes and, depending on their design, could be used from start to finish when hollowing small, shallow bowls. You could even start your cuts with a gouge then move on to the hook knife only when your gouge stops performing well. This uses different muscle groups and helps prevent fatigue and injury. THUMB AS A BRACE To create a shallow bowl like the one made with a bent gouge, but with a hook knife, again start by taking a cut across the grain in the center of the hollow. Use your thumb to brace against the side of the blank to create leverage and maintain control. A left-handed hook knife (with the sharp edge on the right side of the blade)…

Another way to get more value from your drill press is to use it for a different woodworking operation altogether. In my case, I like to use the drill press for sanding. By purchasing spindle sanding drums that are designed for your drill press, turning your drill press into a go-to tool for smoothing out the edges of curved parts is a snap, as you can see at right. These drums work great, but I do have a couple of suggestions for getting the most from them. First, it’s important to fully “seat” the drum to get good results sanding. To do this, I just make a plywood table with a hole in the center slightly larger than the diameter of the sanding drum (inset photo). Then lock the drill…

When Bridge City Tool-works released the original Jointmaker Pro a number of years ago, people were skeptical. But, as the reviews started rolling in, most people stated that it was one of the single most accurate ways to make cuts in wood. As a hand tool nut (this is technically a hand tool, right?), I knew that this was a tool that I needed to try out, and see if it really was worth the price of admission. FAMILIAR FORM. As you can see in the photo above and on the next page, the Jointmaker Pro v2 (JMPv2) will look familiar. If you slap a round blade in there, along with a motor, you’d have a table saw. The sliding table on the JMPv2 looks very much like a cross…

The original cabinet that inspired the one you see here came from the Shaker colony that once thrived in Hancock, Massachusetts. The formal description from antique dealers would be “A four-over-two-over-one sisters sewing cabinet.” The drawer count is clearly important to today’s audiences. The Shakers, though, saw things with a more holistic eye. The relation of their buildings to the land, the rooms to the buildings, and the furniture to the rooms, were all governed by a precise set of intentions — the singular mission of simplicity. This cabinet’s clean, clear, and organized geometry echoes all of this. Gorgeous cherry glows all over this project. With poplar serving as a pragmatic supporting cast for the drawer shells and cabinet back. Birch plywood humbly works as drawer and cabinet bottoms. If…

A Sides (2) 3/4 ply. - 17 x 70 1/2 B Top/Bottom (2) 3/4 ply. - 17 x 32 C Back (1) 1/4 MDF - 32 x 72 D Upper Divider (1) 3/4 ply. - 16 1/4 x 35 1/2 E Lower Divider (1) 3/4 ply. - 16 1/4 x 45 1/4 F Shelf Dividers (2) 3/4 ply. - 15 1/4 x 16 1/4 G Drawer Shelves (3) 3/4 ply. - 15 1/4 x 16 1/4 H Left Shelf (1) 3/4 ply. - 15 3/4 x 15 1/8 I Right Shelf (1) 3/4 ply. - 15 3/4 x 14 3/8 J Legs (2) 3 x 1 1/2 - 38 7/8 K Drawer Sides (8) 1/2 x 7 3/8 - 15 L Drawer Backs (4) 1/2 x 6 7/8 - 13…

A Sides (2) 1 1/4 x 2 7/8 - 16 1/2 B Back (1) 1 x 2 1/8 - 15 1/4 C Sub Top (1) 3/8 ply. - 13 3/4 x 15 D Edging (1) 3/8 x 1/2 - 14 E Drawer Front (1) 1 x 2 - 14 1/2 F Drawer Sides (2) 3/8 x 1 3/4 - 14 1/4 G Divider (1) 1/4 x 1 1/2 - 13 7/8 H Drawer Back (1) 3/8 x 1 3/4 - 14 1/8 I Drawer Bottom (1) 1/8 ply. - 14 x 13 3/4 J Top (1) 3/4 x 16 - 16 K Knight (4) 7/8 x 1 17/32 - 2 17/32 L Pawn (16) 1 x 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 M Rook (4) 1 3/8 x 1 3/8 -…

For years, both corded and cordless drills handled the hole drilling tasks in my shop. As my skills increased (along with the size of the projects) it became obvious that a hand-held drill didn’t supply the accuracy I needed. And, it certainly didn’t allow me to use some drill bits, like Forstner-style bits, to their full advantage. So I bit the bullet and added a drill press to my arsenal of shop equipment. And it took my drilling tasks to the next level. The challenge with a drill press, whether it be a floor or benchtop model, is that it’s really designed for machine shops where drilling metal takes center stage. While drilling metal, and other materials like plastic, is something I do fairly often, I needed to “upgrade” my…

It might surprise you to learn that you can use your table saw to make perfect-fitting through dovetails, like the ones shown in the inset photo above. All you need is a simple shop-built jig and a saw blade ground to leave perfectly angled corners. Best of all, this technique results in through dovetails with that distinct, “hand-cut” look. The jig is similar to a crosscut sled but the fence is adjustable to allow for cutting both the pins and tails. (For more on building the jig, go online to Woodsmith. com/255.) Besides the jig, you’ll also need a special saw blade to cut dovetails on the table saw. THE BLADE. If you use a regular blade to make the angled cuts needed for the dovetails, you’ll end up doing…