Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2022 i Woodsmith

Square Nail as Punch. Tim Shaffer of Kiefer, OK couldn’t drive a nail in any farther without possibly marring his piece. His metal punch wouldn’t be useful, as it might glance off. Luckily, he had a square nail handy with a flat, narrow tip. In a few blows, the nail was sunk into the wood. No Drift Band Saw. Antonio Torres of Ottawa Hills,OH was trying to take the drift out of his band saw. He snapped a 6" ruler to a rare-earth magnet, then to the blade. The ruler exaggerated the alignment of the blade, helping him to adjust the tracking and make sure the blade was parallel to the miter slot.…

Truing a Metal Plane. Flattening a metal sole requires some special consideration. You’ll need to do so with the plane assembled (just be sure to back the blade off), as the tension of the lever cap can flex the metal sole. A lapping station like you see at right is ideal. The one I used was merely a piece of plate glass with adhesive sandpaper attached to it. You’ll need three patches of sandpaper: one around 100, one around 150, and one around 220. Start with the coarse paper, making a few passes and checking the progress on the sole. It can be difficult to follow the progress on a metal plane, but a few lines drawn with permanent marker can be a good guide. Work through the grits, going…

After gluing up the frame you can focus on the few tasks left to finish up the project. Lets start with the rabbet in the back. As you see in Figure 1 on the previous page, a rabbeting bit in my handheld router takes care of most of the work. But there’s additional waste that needs to be removed from the area around the cloud lift profile. To do this I made a simple L-shaped fence that lets me continue the rabbet into the corner (Figure 2). After installing a straight bit in the router, I ran the base along the fence to establish a rectangular rabbet. Then, as Figure 3 shows, it’s just a matter of clearing out the remaining waste. After a little chisel work, you’ve got a…

The hutch as we know it today has its roots in the homes of early American settlers. It was furniture born of necessity, capable of serving multiple functions in a small home and built with rudimentary techniques. A hutch could be built by the average person, who might not be a consummate craftsman and has only a relatively small selection of hand tools. The form can vary widely, from hutch tables to more modern china hutches and dressers (like the one you see here). Despite this, the broad concept of the hutch is unified by two principles: prioritizing function over form and using simple yet effective joinery. While fanciful hutches aren’t hard to find these days, our designer, Dillon Baker, chose to take a more traditional approach. With this project,…

Knife hinges are a subtle, sleek choice for cabinet doors. As you can see in the Intarsia Spice Cabinet on page 50, the hinge is nearly hidden when closed, and it remains largely out of sight when the door is open. This makes them an excellent choice when you want to emphasize the cabinet itself, with the hinge as a functional accent. However, precision is key with knife hinges, meaning they can be a bit tricky to install for the first time. Knife hinges are composed of two halves (or “leaves”). As you can see above, one leaf is mortised into the door while the other is mortised into the cabinet. The door is suspended from the top and bottom, rather than off of the side. Here I’ll be installing…

The lowly baseboard is a piece of trim that cleans up the transition between the walls and floors in your house. Even more than its cousin, crown molding, baseboards intersect all manner of items as they journey through the room, so you’ll have a chance to hone your woodworking skills in a whole new dimension. Learning those skills, combined with the rigor of getting up and down a lot is why “running base” is assigned to the young cats on trim crews. There’s a top view of a room on page 14 that will show you the different tactics you use to install baseboards. But first, let’s look at the tools you’ll need for the job. THE TOOLS & MATERIAL It doesn’t take a lot of equipment to install baseboards.…

If you need to add worksurfaces and storage to your shop quickly because of projects piling up, help is on the way. First, there are two pre-made leg products that let you put a bench together fast. Then we’ll look at some custom pegboard hangers that help you streamline and expand the use of the space above your bench. SHOP FOX HEAVY-DUTY LEGS For a heavy-duty workbench, the bench leg system from Shop Fox is a good option (photo above). It makes a nice-sized bench at 56" long and 28" deep (base measurements). The top and shelf aren’t included, but this system does come with rectangular cross braces, hardware, and adjustable feet, in addition to the legs. This system features square column legs made from galvanized steel for extra stability.…

Mention “shop-built hand tools” and a few images likely spring to mind. Maybe it’s a wood hand plane a la James Krenov, or wood layout tools, or even a simple shop knife. Creative Director Chris Fitch aims for this coping saw to expand the concept into something a little more complex. At the same time, the project should be as accessible as possible to woodworkers. Metalworking can be a stumbling block for toolmaking. Chris’ solution is to use a high-strength aluminum alloy. This means that the hardware components you see in the photo at left can be made easily with tools you probably already have in your shop. Another benefit to the aluminum is its light weight. That made it ideal for the frame. WORKSHOP SIDEKICK. Coping saws tend to…

It’s an age old problem — bottles of spices in varying sizes and shapes that often occupy a shoe box lid, (maybe two) on a low shelf in your kitchen cabinets. This is complemented by the body of the shoe box stuffed away on a higher shelf with larger bottles that are all too willing to tumble down on you when you pull the box down. This captivating little cabinet is an attractive addition to any kitchen that will put an end to that nonsense. An oak case and door frame warms you to the geometric treat of the Baltic birch end grain plywood pattern of the door panel. A decorative pattern known as intarsia. INTARSIA PATTERN. This version of intarsia reminds you of its close cousin, parquet — the…

Easy Does It. Some knife hinges will come with a set of brass screws and one steel screw. As brass is a rather soft metal, it’s prone to stripping out or breaking off. If you’re using brass screws, you’ll want to first drive in a steel screw of the same size to “chase” the pilot holes. Use a screwdriver to sink in brass screws, as the force of a drill or driver could break them off. Alternatively, some people choose to use steel screws instead, painting them to match the hinge afterward.…

Threaded Knob Riser I loved the shop-made threaded knobs from Woodsmith video tips so much that I had to make some for myself. I decided to make them as part of a set of hold-down clamps, but I did make a small change. As you can see in the photos at right and above, I created a riser under the knob to give my fingers more room when using it. After making the hold-down, I made a riser from a 1" maple dowel. I drilled a hole to accept the carriage bolt and made a recess in the threaded knob for a T-nut. The carriage bolt feeds up through the riser and into the bolt. To ensure the riser wouldn’t slip around, I glued it securely to the knob. Jim…

Hand planes have an ancient history. The oldest hand plane on record was recovered from Pompeii, coated in volcanic ash and a little under two thousand years old. While I’ve never come across one quite that old myself, it’s not uncommon to find planes that were produced almost a century ago, if not even earlier. And many of them show it. I’ve always been impressed by restoration projects, whether it’s cars, houses, tractors, or hand planes. In the last couple years, I’ve come by a few fixer-upper planes for cheap. I’ve found that restoring them to their former glory can be a great shop project. This restoration project is on a Stanley No. 26 plane, with a beat-up wood body, plenty of rusty castings, a broken horn on its tote,…

There’s nothing quite like the distinctive look of Greene & Greene homes and the furniture that resides there. Yes, the brothers Charles and Henry Greene designed most of the furniture and even light fixtures for their homes. To keep the harmony flowing, all the early pieces were built by another set of brothers, Peter and John Hall who clearly understood how to weave the magical details into each of the many unique and beautiful specimens. Our picture frame boasts some of those classic details. The ubiquitous cloud lift that you see in the rails. The organic offset that lies between the rails and stiles, gracefully shunning square corners. Last, but far from least, the contrasting dash and dot of the ebony plugs and splines. So that’s the Arts & Crafts…

Epoxy Sandwich. Waxed paper keeps the blank from adhering to the MDF clamping cauls. Relief Holes. While the blank is oversized, drill the weight relief holes using the pattern available online. Yup, Band Saw. A regular blade works well to cut the frame to shape. Careful cutting means less sanding. Square Sides. The hardwood sides and fillers provide anchor points for the hardware that holds the blade. Refining. Use light passes at the disc sander to avoid heat buildup. A sanding block at the end leaves a smooth edge. Curved Taper. The round end of a belt sander shapes a curved taper to transition the sides to the frame.…

Just outside my shop window lies my little vegetable patch. This project aims to provide a place for all my insect helpers while combining my woodworking with my gardening passion. CENTRAL TOWER. The house is made in three sections: a tall central tower flanked by shorter additions. The drawing below shows the construction details. The sides and floors are joined with dadoes (detail ‘c’). The rear edge of the sides is rabbeted for the back, as in detail ‘d.’ The top ends of the sides are cut at 45° for the gable roof. Detail ‘b’ shows the two-piece roof is connected with a tongue and dado joint. You can assemble the sides, floors, and roof with waterproof glue. This assembly determines the final size for the back. BEE TUNNELS. Several…

The router bit I use the most: a chamfer bit is the one I think about the least. On one hand that’s good because it means the bit does its job well. However, a little contemplation about your options can lead to better results in our projects. 45° IS A GIVEN. The chamfer bit you likely have cuts 45° profiles. The result is a balanced, light-catching facet. That’s the reason I reach for a chamfer bit. That crisp glint transitions from one surface of a project to another. The drawings on the top of the next page show the range of functions that a chamfer fills. THINK ABOUT SIZE. There’s more going on behind that facet. As you can see in the photo at left, chamfer bits come in several…