Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2022 i Woodsmith

Drill Guide. Quinten Long of Des Moines, IA came up with this way of drilling pin holes. By attaching a cleat to one side of a small piece of pegboard, he had an instant drilling guide. After drilling the first hole, he used a dowel as a spacer, then drilled the rest of the holes using the pegboard and dowel to guide him. Easy Zero Clearance. Mike Strickland of Hiram, GA rarely uses his zero-clearance insert, so it was hidden away when he needed to use it. Instead of stopping to search, he simply used a scrap piece of hardboard. After clamping the panel down, he raised the blade to cut a kerf into the panel, then cut the piece he needed on top. Ruler Snap Bracelet. John Doyle of…

Every summer, I make a couple visits to the Iowa State Fair. One of my favorite parts of the fair is admiring old tractors that have been restored by 4-H and FFA kids. What does this have to do with woodworking? Those tractors remind me of routers. The Farmalls, Massey Fergusons, and Minneapolis-Molines are versatile power sources for all sorts of farm jobs and accept an equally diverse range of accessories and add-ons suited to specific tasks. Sound familar? Fundamental to success with both is control. Fences, jigs, bearings, and guide bushings increase your level of control (as well as accuracy and safety) with a router. However, there are times when you need to operate the router freehand, clear of these guides. Two projects in this issue highlight this concept:…

Mortises for Rails & Stiles. The stopped mortises for the rails and stiles are done at the drill press with a Forstner bit. Grooves for Panels. A temporary fence attached to the base of your router is all that’s needed to make the grooves. Chamfers Next. To make the chamfer that’s on the stiles and rails, start by marking the bit edges on the insert plate. And mark the start and stop points on each workpiece. Beading Details. Your router table will be your ally when routing the decorative bead in the chest parts. The rails and stiles on the back of the chest are left plain. Drawer Rail. The angled shoulders of the drawer rails are easy to cut at the band saw.…

Getting Prepped. Clamp the two panel halves and attach the exterior template, aligning their centers. Drill registration holes in each corner of the waste and trace the profile onto the blank. Main Template. Attach the main inner template with double-sided tape and remove ¼" of material with a plunge router and 3/8" core box bit. Then, use a ½" pattern bit to remove the remaining waste. Basin Templates. To rout the basin, start with the largest template and work your way down. Lower your router an additional ¼" for each of the successively smaller templates. Mirror Templates. Once you’ve routed one half, flip the templates over and repeat the process on the other panel, creating the profile and working your way down the basin.…

When it comes time to make a crosscut, what tool do you choose? There are numerous options, but I find it almost always comes down to the table saw or the miter saw. The table saw, the real workhorse of most shops, is steady, reliable, and able to easily cut miters and bevels. Of course a good compound sliding miter saw can do all that too, and with minimal set up. So, if you’ve got both in your shop (or if you’re just starting out in woodworking and looking at what to buy) what’s the best choice? Which tool crosscuts the best? APPLES TO APPLES. I think it’s important to look at things “apples to apples” in this case. That is to say, tools of comparable value. A high-end table…

Taking care of my saw blades and router bits is one of those chores that I usually ignore until I smell that toasty odor of neglect — burnt wood. Then my shame kicks in and I drag out the cutoff five gallon bucket and work away at cleaning my sad saw blade. Well, what looks like a carry-all picnic cooler from the 1970s has changed all that. The Bladeclean blade and bit cleaning system from Microjig is one of those woodworking accessories that will quietly earn its keep in any wood shop. This system keeps all of the mess that’s associated with the chore of cleaning your saw blades and router bits contained in one place. And when you’re done, it can be stowed away with the cleaning solution that…

It can be a harrowing event moving from messy outdoor activities to the indoor domain. You need a buffer that can take the hit of shedding the boots, coats, and other mud-caked paraphernalia. If you don’t have a mud room, you can park the good-looking bench you see here by any entryway. SERIOUSLY SOLID. It’s surprising how solid and strong this bench is for no more than it weighs. 8/4 oak was the wood of choice for all the parts of this project. The thick legs are glued up from this material and gives you the opportunity to put the best face forward. You’ll also notice that the legs are angled outward; it’s subtle, but it adds a little more stability to the bench. Not to mention its eye appeal.…

Seal It Up. The same epoxy is used to both join the two halves and seal the interior. Just brush the epoxy/silica mix onto each half, coating both the interior and the flat faces of each panel. Epoxy. We went with West System’s 105 epoxy. Mix it with collodial silica until you reach a peanut butter-like consistency before applying. Screw & Clamp. To prevent any movement during the glueup, run screws through the registration holes drilled earlier, keeping the two halves aligned while clamping. Rough Shape. Cut the vessel to rough shape on the band saw, keeping to the waste side of the line. Smooth blade marks with a sanding drum and edge sander.…

Router Table Storage I was looking for some extra storage in the shop when I came up with this use for the open space between the legs of my router table. After making a frame to span the gap, I screwed a piece of pegboard across the bottom, keeping items securely inside. The “door” on this little cabinet is a key-holed panel of pegboard. The key holes allow the panel to easily slide on and off when I need something from inside, and the pegboard itself allows me some vertical storage too. You can see the dimensions I used to the left, but to make your own just match it to the dimensions of your router table. Larry Anderson Brookfield, Missouri Mini Router Circle Jig When it comes to making…

The first woodworking I ever did was carving up sticks with a pocket knife. I’ve had a soft spot for green wood ever since, and I enjoy working with basic hand tools like axes and knives. Here, I’ll go through a common green wood carving project, a spoon, and some tools and techniques for working with green wood. First of course, you’ll want a sharp axe. A hatchet or a small forest axe is a good choice. You’ll also need tools for the final carving. I use a hook knife to work the curves and a straight knife for the longer lines, as well as a spokeshave for some smoothing. Lastly, you’ll need a space to do the carving on. I prefer a tall, thick hunk of wood for the…

While plywood is certainly a useful building material, I can’t say that I would call it beautiful, or that I often see it as the central feature of a project. And yet, this dresser defies my expectations. The painted and chamfered edges add some much desired color and texture, and they contrast wonderfully with the color and grain of the cherry. Although this dresser has a relatively simple design, it really is the contrasts within it that make it stand out the most—along with that vibrant blue of course. As you can see in the photos, the colors juxtapose quite interestingly. The matte blue of the milk paint is the first thing to draw the eye, then the brilliant grain of the cherry. From the hardwood beneath to the veneer…

If you’ve ever wanted to make a historical piece of furniture for your home, the chest you’re looking at here answers that bell and a lot more. But it may not be the type of historical biography that you would expect. First off, Hadley is a place, not a person. Hadley, Massachusetts is where — under the evolution of many hands — this chest emerged. Its ancestry hints at William and Mary English furniture from the 1600s that, taken into Yankee hands, grew in all sorts of ways. Some moved towards a folkish feel with brightly painted colors. Others had initials carved in the front and served as hope chests for young brides. But let’s brag on the chest that you’re looking at here for a moment. MATERIALS WITH HISTORY.…

Organic shapes aren‘t always common in woodworking. Most tools are better suited to cutting straight lines and square corners, but this wooden watering vessel defies expectations in more ways than one. The shape of this project was inspired by the swan carvings done by our designer‘s grandfather. The swooping curves of the vessel are designed to evoke the look of such carvings. Templates and a router do a lot of the work here. They‘re used to create the interior channel and the stepped basin on two halves of the vessel. The halves are then glued together, and another template is used to form the rough profile of the exterior. PREP THE PANELS. Start by gluing up a panel from 8/4 stock (we chose walnut). Once dry, mill it down to…

Applying finish causes the most confusion in the woodworking classes that I teach. The process can feel shrouded in mystery and luck. However, I think the real secrets to success lie in practice and patience. Oil-based wiping varnish is a popular choice because it’s easy to apply and celebrates wood and delights the senses with a barely there film. Getting a finish that matches the care you put into the construction requires practice, following a thoughtful method, and patience to see it through. PREPARED SURFACES. You knew I was going to start here, right? Smooth surfaces count for so much in finishing. Yet it’s a place that’s often short changed. Since the aim of a wipe-on finish is to minimize the appearance of the built-up finish, then starting with the…