Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2021 i Woodsmith

It’s not hard to feel the difference a sharp edge can make with a hand tool. When using a chisel or hand plane, you can tell when your edge stops biting and you have to start putting some extra muscle in. However, it gets harder to tell the difference when a motor is doing the work for you. You may not have the same physical feedback with a power tool, but a dull edge will make a difference all the same. I can’t always feel when my router bits get worn, but when I see rough cuts I know my bit needs honing. With a little care and maintenance, you can get those worn bits cutting like new, adding years to the life of your best bits. WHY HONE? Why…

A Sides (2) 1/8 x 15 3/4 - 4 B Front & Back (2) 1/8 x 15 - 12 C Corner Strips (8) 3/8 x 15 - 5/8 D Upper Back Brace (1) 1/8 x 2 1/4 - 10 3/4 E Lower Back Brace (1) 1/8 x 1 1/2 - 10 3/4 F Front Brace (1) 1/8 x 1 - 10 3/4 G Bottom (1) 3/8 x 4 - 12 H Inner Fillers (2) 1/8 x 3 3/8 - 2 11/16 I Outer Fillers (2) 1/4 x 3 5/8 - 3 3/16 J Lid (1) 1 x 5 1/8 - 12 3/8 K Spine (1) 3/4 x 1/2 - 10 3/4 L Cord Cleats (2) 1/8 x 1 - 10 • (2) 1/8"-dia. x 1 1/2" Steel Rods • (1)…

Refining the Legs. A jig saw gets the profile of side’s legs close, but not perfect. For a crisp contour I used a flush trim bit in my router and the straightedge you see here. Stopped Dadoes. Your router, with a straight bit and guide bushing is up to the task of making all the stopped dadoes in the sides. Square the corners with a chisel. Notches in the Panels. All of the horizontal panels are notched on the front corners. Use your miter gauge with a tall auxiliary fence to support the panels while cutting.…

Add the Hinges. Screw the hinges into the bottom of the cabinet, where the case and door meet. The case is made to be used as a worksurface when open. Clamping the door and case together while installing the hinges helps keep the two even. Chain Supports. Threaded eyelets make it simple to install the chain. Just drill the pilot holes and screw them in. Latches. Latches on the sides of the door and case help hold the heavy door closed. Handle. Screw the handle to the front of the door. The inch-thick plywood has some heft, but the pull makes opening and closing the cabinet easy.…

My latest project was a small cabinet built in the Scandinavian modern style. Near the end of the construction, I reached a decision point about the hardware. The door pulls found themselves. I came across rectangular pulls the matched the proportions of the case. The hinges were harder to settle on. By nature, I lean more traditional than modern. So butt hinges stayed near the top of the list. However, the sleek design of the cabinet seemed to ask for something less visible. John Doyle, one of the Woodsmith designers, fancies concealed or European hinges, like the one shown at left. As you’d guess, the hardware is invisible from the outside. (They are somewhat bulky when the door is open.) He also promised me that installing the hinges and fitting…

Casing a door, or window, is a perfect example of one of the fundamental differences between trim carpentry and conventional woodworking. In woodworking, you’re building from scratch and have complete control over the process. Adding casing to doors and windows is just that — adding. It’s a different ball game. Casing comes in all sorts of varieties and sizes. These thin, long pieces of trim can be combined with plinth blocks in doors, or aprons and stools in windows, as well. But here I’m going to focus on a simple method of adding casing that’s mitered at the corners and wraps the perimeter of the door and window that you see in the drawing above. The steps I’m showing in this article will get you headed in the right direction.…

Trace Casing Profile. Hold a piece of casing in place on the window and lightly trace the outer profile. Remember to erase the line before installing the casing. Remove or Crush. Remove enough of the drywall to allow the casing to sit tightly against the wall and the jamb. Often a little flattening is all that’s needed. Fine-Tuning the Miter. You might need to bevel the edges of the miters so that the joint between the two pieces closes tightly when attached to the window.…

Like me, you may think that a wood backpack is an odd choice for a project — at first. Clunky, heavy, uncomfortable. But an examination of the details of this backpack (and the companion satchel) reveal a clever exploration of the wonder of woodworking design and thoughtful construction. There was a time when a lot of the functional objects that surround us were made from wood, from utensils to furniture to shipping crates. The backpack and satchel call to mind the travel trunks, valises, and campaign furniture of the 19th century. But this isn’t a strict steamship reproduction. Those pieces have an over-the-top grandeur. The look here is updated — clean, crisp, and better suited for bikes and cars. The shared DNA is that the construction has to be both…

A Sides (2) 1/8 x 11 1/4 - 3 B Front & Back (2) 1/8 x 10 1/2 - 15 C Corner Strips (8) 3/8 x 10 1/2 - 5/8 D Bottom (1) 3/8 x 3 - 15 E Inner Fillers (2) 1/8 x 2 - 2 3/8 F Outer Fillers (2) 1/4 x 2 1/2 - 2 5/8 G Lid (1) 3/4 x 4 - 15 1/4 H Spine (1) 3/4 x 1/2 - 14 I Strap Plates (2) 1/8 x 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 • (2) 1/8"-dia. x 1 1/2" Steel Rods • (2) 3/16" Chicago Bolts • (4) 3/8" Chicago Bolts • (1) 1 1/2" x 60" Polypropylene Webbing • (1) 2" Heavy Strap Buckle…

Error-Free Layout. Draw the tail layout on one board then use that as the master for the tops of the tails on the others. Saw & Chop the Tails. Clamp the cabinet side in your vise at the bench and cut the sides of the tails. Clean up the tail with a chisel. For a crisp, square baseline, use a straightedge at the bottom of the tails. Pins Meet Tails. For a perfect joint, use the tail to trace mating pins on the side’s adjoining boards. A sharp pencil or marking knife works best. Rough out the Waste. After defining the pins with a back saw, you can rough out the waste areas of the pins at the bandsaw. For a tight joint between the boards, undercut the shoulder of…

We all know the dangers within our shops. While work in the shop should be fun and relaxing, it’s not a place to be careless. We know to use fences and push blocks, to roll up our sleeves, to wear eye and ear protection, and the list goes on. But one area where my attention to safety often falls short is with my finishing supplies. While there are no sharp blades or motors to worry about, flammable liquids like stains and sealants present dangers all their own. This cabinet was made to meet the requirements of the National Fire Protection Association for a wooden flammables storage cabinet, using exterior-grade plywood, flame-retardant paint, and lipped reservoirs to prevent spillage. Plus, it’s a great way to organize your shop and free up…

Unlike a butt hinge, the concealed hinge you use in a project depends on the application rather than the appearance. The drawings here provide a broad overview of the choices you have. Case Construction. Consider the type of cabinet you’re building. Does it have a face frame or is it frameless? Door type. Next think about how the door relates to the case. The door can rest within the opening. Or it can overlay the case sides with a half overlay or a full overlay projection. Gotta Swing. Your final consideration is the extent that the door opens. A 95° swing is bare bones. A hinge with 120° of swing is what I consider a minimum.…

Grill Frame Shop Cart If you’re throwing out an old grill, or (in my case) if you found one on the curb, then you may have found your next shop cart. A grill ended up being a great base for a shop cart. You’ve got a ready-built frame with a set of casters already mounted. I made mine into a sharpening station, but you can get creative: a planer cart, a bench-top tool stand, or a moving miter saw station are just a few ideas. MAKING THE CART. To start, I pulled off all the pieces aside from the frame and casters, then cleaned the grill up. I used long pan-head sheet metal screws to attach 3/4” plywood for the woksurfaces, which also added some rigidity to the old frame.…

Chamfer then Rip. Rout a chamfer on both edges of an extra-wide blank at the router table. Then rip the strips to final width at the table saw. Box Joints. Thin parts and chamfered corner strips means you need to concentrate to ensure the parts are vertical and supported while cutting. Start with a Notch. For mating parts, use a side piece as a setup gauge to start with a notch on the front and back (detail ‘a’). Remove the side to continue stepping along the piece. Bottom Rabbet. Recess a dado blade in an auxiliary fence on the table saw to size a rabbet on the bottom. Then use a chisel to clip the corners (detail ‘b’).…

Although this cabinet is being presented as a shop project, it could’ve easily qualified for the heirloom category. It’s not often that you see a Shaker piece like this getting such a face lift. That’s right, at its core this is a Shaker-style cabinet. There’s the tidy symmetry of the design, and solid no-nonsense joinery. The only hardware are the hinges and the screws for the drawer knobs. Looks and smells like Shaker to me. But it’s the black accents of the drawer knobs, drawer dividers, and beads that trim the door panels that can throw you off the Shaker scent. Not to mention the added flair of book-matched ambrosia maple veneer on the doors and drawers. Coming back down to earth you’ve got the perfect pairing of working with…

A Case Sides (2) 3/4 x 14 - 38 B Case Bottom (1) 3/4 x 13 1/2 - 23 1/4 C Case Top (1) 3/4 x 14 - 23 1/4 D Case Divider (1) 3/4 x 13 1/2 - 23 1/4 E Drawer Dividers (2) 1/2 x 13 1/2 - 3 3/4 F Lrge Drwr Divider (1) 1/2 x 13 1/2 - 4 1/4 G Horz Drwr Divider (1) 1/2 x 13 1/2 - 23 1/4 H Case Back (1) 1/2 ply. - 23 x 33 1/2 I Lrge Drwr Fronts (2) 5/8 x 3 11/16 - 10 15/16 J Lrge Drwr Sides (4) 1/2 x 3 11/16 - 13 3/8 K Lrge Drwr Backs (2) 1/2 x 3 3/16 - 10 7/16 L Lrge Drwr Btms (2) 1/4 ply.…

Stopped Dado Jig. This jig is built with two pieces of plywood for the base connected by spacer blocks, just wide enough for the guide bushing to fit through. A guide block below keeps the jig against the workpiece. To use the jig, measure out how far your dado needs to go. Position the jig against your workpiece and clamp it in place. Run the router through to the end of the dado. You’ll make the cut with a 1/4" straight bit, and you’ll also need a 3/8" guide bushing (detail ‘a’) to prevent you from cutting into the jig.…

It seems odd that the term “mid-century modern” didn’t exist before the mid-1980s. But that’s when it surfaced as the title to a book by Cara Greenberg that covered a lot of the post WWII trends in architecture, furniture, and accessories. At the heart of this movement was a passion to distill all things to the essence of its function, but not abandon style in the process. “Functionally elegant simplicity” is the ongoing manifesto of the mid-century modern movement. The secondary goal was affordable, well designed furniture. But, as with the Arts & Crafts period that preceded it, the original pieces from this movement can set you back some serious cash. That’s where we can help out, at least if you’re in need of a handsome hall bench. The bench…