wwwwoodsmith.

com

Vol.26/ No.153

lllllli

A Publication ofAugust Home Publishing

PleasedisplayuntrlAug.2

lookinqinside

Tableo
departments
fromourreaders

smallshopsolutions

Tips& Techniques.
..............4

Extra
WorkSurfaces
. . . , . . . . . . . . 42

toolsof thetrade

O n e - H aBnadC
r | a m p s . . . . . . . . .8
...
These
c amps
aresoeasy
to usqyou'llwonder
howyouevermanaged
without
them.

all about

Perfect
Plane
Performance..
.. .. .. 10
5 shop-tested
tune-up
techniques
formakirg
thishandy
toolworkeven
better.

techniques
fromourshop

AnInvisible
Plywood
Edge.
.. . . .. . 12
A plywood
edqe
thatwon'tbenoticed?
We'
youhoweasy
show
it istodo.

tipsfromourshop

ShopNotebook.

.. .. . .25

Can'tfinda space
to doanassembly
oreven
set
downa tool?Take
a lookatsome
easy-to-b!ild
problem.
solutions
to thiscommon

workingwith tools

T h r e e E a s i c R o u. t. e. .r.B
. .i.t.s. 4 4
Youprobably
already
have
thebltsyo!need
to
profi
rnake
a hostofdecorative
es.

finlshing
room

Solving
Finishing
Problems
.. .. . .45
shellac
canhelpyouavoid
common
finishing
problems
andgiveyoubefter
resuJts.

in the mailbox

Q&A...

............48

hardware
andsupplies

Sources..

,.,.........49

Knock-DownBookshelf

features

editor'snote

weeKenoprojecl

P d n e l e d W i n d o.w
. .S
. .e. .a. t. . . 1 4

Sawdust

plywood
luststartwith
a simple
boxandgoflom
there.You
won'tbelieve
theendresult.
Dtl|cr|l
ltotroor

rld<i^nor <oria< nr^io.r

Knock-Do
Bw
oo
n k h e.l.f. . . . . . . . 2 0
great,
It'sfunctional
andlooks
butthebestpart

withnotrouble.
isitgoes
together
ffinmt
. .
projeci
nerfloom

P e n cPi ol sBt e d

........28

Thi5
classic
bedfeatures
sirnplejoinery,
hand
hardwafe.
catued
detailtandtraditional

Dtltottl|

Lolroor

D||tm!||otllool

Choosing
theBestJoinery

f\"
Fl

you -ighr "*p".1, quile a bit of pld.ruing goesinto ed(n issue

parl thal I
ot wood.ntth.Blrsu?nsln8ly, rl s uxeunplannecl
find the most interesting.
?*e the pencil post bed in this issuefor example.I'v always
been impressedwith the look of this twe of bed. And I've been
planning on featurhg it as a prcject for quit sometime. But whar
I didn't plan on was how excited everyonamund here (mysIf
included) becameabout thjs prote.t For one thhg, it gave us an

38

Learn
theinsandoutsofhowto selecting
the
rightjoinery
foryour
nextproject.
.la1:il< ^{.r>{i<m)n<hi^

A Lamb's
Tongue
Chamfer
.. .. .. .50
A chisel,
carvinq
knife,
andfileareallit takes
to
create
thisgrcat-looking
traditional
detail.

opporhmity to try our hand at somediffrent woodwoiking tchniques.Espcialy when it cameto making the tal, tapeied po6ts.
The initial plrn was to taper them on the band saw,then plane
the edgesto createan octagonalslupe. This method works Fst
fine. But, SteveJohnson(our shop aaftsman) cameup with a jig
which allows you to do most of tlte shapingon the table saw.
But the po6tsareiust part of th pmjct You stil nedto connect
them with a headboard and rails. Like the Shakers,we used a
draw bolt systemto hold th rails to the posts.And th headboard
just slips into mortisBbtwentt tal posts.Nothing is glued in
place.This meansthe bed can be completely taken apart which
maks getting the ta[, tapered posts throuSh a dooMay much
easier.Made snsether! stil makessensetoday

-rrr,\
ffiffi
online
at
These
twosymbols
letyouknowthere's
moreinformation
you'llseestep-by-step
www.Woodsmith.com.
There
videos,
tehnique
and
anda Iotmore.
hardware
animation,
bonus
cutting
diagrams,

PencilPostBed page28
No. 153

fromour readers

Tips& Techniques
BondSowArcJig
I likedthe tile toptable in issuers2
so much that ldecidedto makea
few ofthem as giftsforfrisndsand
family.And whenbuildingmultiple,
identicalpieces,it's importantto
findwaysto makecutting
andshatr
ing p6rts as quickand effident as
possible.One placethat I needed
to find a way to save
some rme was culting andshapingthe
arcs on the lower
rails of the table
shown in the photo
at left. Cutting each
arc free hand on the
band saw and then
sanding it smooth
would be a difficult,
time'consumingjob.
To speed things
along,lbuilt a simple arc-cuning jig
for my band saw, as
shown in the photo

There'sreally not much to this

jig.justtwo mainparts.Thefirstis
a r/a"plywoodbase.To locatethe
b6se on the band saw table, I
attacheda hardwoodrunflerto fit
in the mitergaugeslot.Th baseis
heldin placewitha springclamp.
The second part of the iig is a
pivotarmth6t holdsthe workpiece
as it's beingcut. The %" plywood
arm swivelson a nail set into the

baseto matchthe radius(26s,6"

for
the tile top-table).A side and end
stop registerthe workp;eceand
keepit in placeduringthe cut.
To usetheiig,allyouhavetodo
is pullthe pivotarm awayfromthe
blade,set the blank in place,and
thenmakeyourcut.Noweverycut
willbe identical.
CulVood
BrLsm, lts

aboveright.Therare two advancuttlnglignrakes

it tages to this iig. First,it makesit
easyto cut identi- easy to create identicalcuts on
multiple pieces.Second,the surlikethe lowerrals lace is a lot smoother,so I won't
on thistable.
needtodo as muchsanding.

SUBilITYOUR
TIPS
lf you have an original shop tip, we would like
to hear fiom you and considerpublishingyour
tip in one or more of our publications.
Just
write down your tip and mall il tot Woodsmith,
Tips and Techniques.2200 Grand Avenue, Des
Moines,lowa 50312.Pleaseincludeyour n6me,
address,and daytimephone number in case
we have any qustions.lf you would like, FAX
it to us at 515'282-6741or send Lrsan email
messageat woodsmith@woodsmith.com.
We
will pay up to $200 if we publjsh your tip.
4

|r

woodsmidr

No.153

DdllPrereStorugeftrr
In a smallworkshop,makingthe most of
everysquareinch of spaceis important.
Oneareathat hasalwaysgoneunused,is
the spacearoundmy floor modeldrill
press.Then I found the solutjon in my
kitchen-a rollingpantrycart,as shown
in the drawingat right.
What makesthe cart so perfectis that
it's not much wider than the drill press,
and it rolls out otthe way if Ineed more
space.The shelveshold boxes of bits,
clamps, and other accessorieswithin
e6syreach.And the wire shelveslet dust
6ndchipsfall rightthroughto the floor.
EmbStziw

200
June/Juln

No. 153
Publishe.

Donald B.Peschk

Editor Terry J. Strohman

A$istant Editors TedRaife
Phil Huber
Contdb. Editors
ChrisFitch
An Di!ctor
Senior lllusEatorg

Todd Lambirth
David Kreyling
Dirk Ver Steeg
HarlanV Clark

Illustrators
Dave Ka emln

Goodr@, 1fi\@

SpinYourFilterCleon

Everyso often I needto cleanout the

pleatedfilter in my shop vacuum.To get
the ,ob done faster I've come up with a
way to dothis usingmy electricdrill.
Start by chuckinga pieceof threaded
rod in the dr;ll. Thentwist on a hex nut,
washr,and the fiher Next,cut 6 circular
pieceof scrapto fitthe openendof the filter andsecureitwith anotherwasherand
nut. After going outdoors,I run the drill,
holding a brush againstthe pleats.The
bristlesbrushawaythe dustin thetolds.
Ro4er
bw
Blaminsh,

Minmoia

CREATI\,'ERESOURCES
R'dW'fuEd.9q.'fu*

.i"

yPj b4]rs

SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
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o4gh.

^ Eh'.

s&6',H

qlrctwbstu.

CIRCULATION
idFl
cGtu

hsd
h,

siLh r rrur
4i PrF rs
. .JE .!4rMi
{y
5k

COR?OR-IIIE SERVICES
r]lt)lD.h.}kk}J$d'.b,d
,'6cfude.rhB(fuDiifu4EM'Be.sJrd
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&is

. M eiFa

b6 Br6ds . *,

tu

(cb..farrr,
kh
NrdEl-l,dtu
/#,k'&{ld]er,fu.NRp@4hRb'M|

Edgebonding
lupporl

While makinga set of plywoodbook- extra worksurfacethat would hold the

shelvesrecentlvlusediron-onveneertaDe piecason edge while keepingmy workto hide the edgssof the plywoodpanels bsnchfreefor assemblingthe shelfunit.
and shelves.The problemwastindingan
The solutionwas right in front of me.
Themitergaugeslotsinthetablesaware
3/a'wide, which is a perfectfit tor the
slightly undersized3/.- plywood. Using
the slotsleavesone handfreeto position
the veneertape and iron it in placewith
th otherhand.Fora littleextrasupport,I
positionedthe saw'srip lence alongside
the workpiece,as you can see in the
photoat left.Bestofall.the piecesareset
at the perfectworkingheight,so thereare
no longreachesorstoopingover.
Theslipfit of the panelsin the slotslets
me work quickly.I can pickup one piece,
set it in place,apply the dgebanding.
Then pull out the shelt and move on to
the next piecein a shortamountoftime.
BrcuWdlAip
AJdillo,

No.153

lvoodsmit1l

Tetu

st|cPdq'Qtd@lvd!bnl#4P

Online Cusroh. Seni.,

tNlv.Woo&mith,.om
. A.cess you. accost
. Checl a subsdiption paldent
. Te[ us if you've misd an issue
' chd8e you miliry or eroil adde$
. Renew yow subsaiption

Ehail woodsmith@woodshirh.com
Write to Woodsritl, PO. Box 842, D6 Moines, tA
5030!L9961oi call 1-80G333-5075,8:00 m ro 5:00
pm, Cotral Tme, w@kdays. Or sd m emil to:
ordeB@woodsmirh.@
I

AucusrHolc
\ PrBri3Hinii conF;ni

Prinidin u.s.A.

a
moretipsfromourreaders

ShopllodeBarh Doga
Benchdogs come in handyfor all
kindsoJjobsattheworkbench,like
for routclampingalongworkpiece
ing or planing.
Butwhattheycant
do is hold somethingdown on the
top ofthe bench,for example,the
planingstopshownin the photoat
right.Forthjsjob,lturnto a diffeF
ent "breed"of benchdogs.
These dogs can be locked in
placewitha sjmpletwistofa wing
knob. The secret is a stove bolt
loted in the stem,as you can
seein the drawingat rightThe taperedhead of the stove
bolt rests in a countersunkhole
drilledthroughthe lengthofa 3L"dia. hardwooddowel. Twistinga
plasticwing knobatthetop ofthe
dog draws the head of the bolt
into the stem.A slit in the dowel
allowsit to expandand hold fast
in the dog hole, as illustratedin
detait ,a., A 3/4"ptywood cap is
glued around the dowel and
anchorsthe jig or workpiece.
MeruaVanftle
Behe,OhD

Rouferftble llold.Down
While working on my router table
recently, I noticed that the workpiece
had atendencyto ride uponthe bit.
The way to solve this problem is to
use a hold-down, asyoucan see in

cRosssEcnoN

The hold down that I made is

pretty simple and doesnl take
much materialor time. lt's made
from a piece of 3r" plywood, as
illustratedin the drawing below.
Thereare tlvo angledsaw kerfsin
the bottom edge to hold a short
pieceof steelstrapping.(Thekind
usedon shippinsboxes.)
All you haveto do is clampthe

hold'down to the router t6ble

fencewith the strappingset a hair
lowerthanthe top of the pieceyou
will be routing.The strappingacts
likea springand appliesenough
pressureto the workpieceto hold
it firmly againstthe routertable
and in contactwiththe routerbit.
Paitk Brcnl@
Butla, K6.eL,

2U,

-l_

c
No.153

BondSowDustColle(tor
Resawing
andcuttingthickstockontheband
saw createsa lot of dust that seemsto get
everywhereandcanbedifficulttocle6nout.
Althoughmy saw hasa buih-indust collection pon, l've nevrbnrealhappywith it.
Itiustdoesn'tseem
to be big enoughto catch
muchofthe saw dust.
To overcomethis problem,I built a new
dust collectorattachmentfor my saw,6s
shownin the drawingatrightand below.lt!
just a small box madefrom %' hardboard,
with an openingatthe top and bottom.Th
upper openingfits under the lower blade
go;des.The loweropeningis sizedto fitthe
hosefrom my dust collctor.
When makingthe collectorattachment,
you want to makesur the joints are well
sealedto makeitasairtightas possible.The
top of the collectoris angledat 45" so that
the sawtablecanstill be tihedwithout hav
ing to remove the collector attachment
{detail'a').I sizedthecollectortofit overthe
dust port on the band saw. To attachthe

QuiokTipe
SEIT.ADIII'IYE
IEfl PI.AIIS

l'vehadtrouble
inthepastkeepi
papertemplates
in placeon a work
piece-Tosolvethis problem,I now
copy the templateson clearlabe
stockavailableat officesupply
storcs.Thaiwaylcan peelandstick
the templaterightwhereI needit.

lin Hedd
Gr@e,Okhn ro

sl t PnooHltc
ctaflPs
dust collectorto the saw,I boltedit to back
of the band saw case (not the door) with
somealuminumL brackets,bolts,washers,
and nuts.Thisway lcan still openthe door
to accessthe bladeand lowerwheel.
CLrt Urnsla
SieleruPonr, U/6.min

Too manytimes l've found stains

on glued-uppanels that were
causedby the pipe clampsreact
ing with glue squeeze-out.
To pre
ventthisfrom happening,
lgave
the pipesa coatoffastdryingspray
lacquerWhenit wearsoff,youcan
simplysprayon anothercoat.
Antue@
k@M
Crc@Pomr,lnAam

Pltoto EfioRYflD

Remembering
howto setup a iig or
tool
for
a particularopera
Power
tion cansometimestake
a littletria
a n de r r o r B u t l f o u n dt h a tI c a n
jump startmy memorybytakinga
photoofthe setupwith a digitalor
,nstant
camera.
lcanthentapeth
phototothejig or keepit in a filefor

Tm Coo
Fdirore, Pmtullmid

WnrTI{ls

BruocB
Crrv

Br.ocr<PreuB

That'sright,sndus your shoptips. lfyour

wooclworking
tip ortechniqueis selected
asthe featuredreaderttip, you'llwin a
BridgeCityBlockPlanejustliketheone
shownhere.Sendyourtips andtechniquesto:
Woodsmith,\ps and Techniques,
2200 Grand Avenue,Des Moines,lowa 50312.
Or send us an email messageat woodsmith@woodsmith.com.

lhe Winner!
Congratulations to CarlWood
of Burleson.Texas.His tip on
making6 bandsawarc-cutting
jig wasselectedto
bethewinnerofa BridgeCityBlockPlane
just likethe one shownat left.
Carl designedthe jig to
build sevoraltile-toptables
and found that it had many
other uses6swsll. To find out
how you couldwin one,see
the box on page4.

toolsof thetrade
lwo-way Levez Theslidingkw advancingleveron the

quickand

?:::';;-;:"H:::v;:iilbardam

eaSV

BarClamps
One-Hhnd
BEssEy

Get a gripfastwith thesenew clamps.

P,OlilrERGRlP

ai.ilE:";ltjf";k

l&-1.

Largehand <ew lets you

in.a3edahping pe3uc

Adamp js a damp, right? That'swhat I thought I have

my trusty pipe damps along with a good selectionof
bar damps and C-clamps.And they handlejust about
everyclampingjobI nedthem to. Thetroubleis,sometimes I need a third hand (or even a fourth) - fast.
That's whre theseone-handedbar damps come1Il.
Although they look a 1ot lil the bal clamps you
my aheady own, theseyou can pick up and lock in
poEition with on hand. One-handedbar clamps can
be dividd into Lwo categodes: heavy duty and
mdium dury I'[ start by iaking a look at the heary
hitters. To find out where you can get these bar
clamps,turn to Sourceson page49.

IIIYY DUIY- flGl lotout

toRGEISEil

-.:..

Hea\y-duty bar clamps woik great for assembly

work, like you sein d1ephoto abov.Thtwo models shown in the photo at left are the BesseyPoa,e/G/ip
(top) and drcJorgensmE-ZHold(bottom).And as
you cd see,they have similar featurs.
-
RUGGI0
ItATUtEt.
Both clamps are built
a
beb'
steel
bar that resistsflexing.
around
The bar on the Pozrdcflp has an I-beam ooss-section
for evn more ngidiry The metai stiding jaw is posi.

Woodsmith

No.153

Inline grip and leveradvancet

sliding iaw to exert up to 300

tioned against the workpiece and held in place on &

bar by small teeth. On the E Z Hold, a multiple-disc
cluich keeps the jaw from slipping.
At ihe top of the sliding jaw, a hand screw leis you
cranl up the pressure io beween 600 and 1,000 lbs.
The jaws on both clamps have removable, plastic pads
to Fote.t against marring ihe workpiece.
0IFHA[D[0 (0[TR0l. The feature that separates tlEse
clamps from oiher bar ctamps, however is ihe lever
located under the screw handle. This lever is linlGd io
a ratcheting mechanism in ihe sliding jaw that
advances d1ejaw foryard with every squeeze.
The squeeze lever provides about 200 lbs. of dmping foice. And as I mentioned before, after the ctamp is
set, you can tighten it dolan even more wittr the hand
screw On tl Porrelcrp the lever works from both d
bar side and the handle side (ilrset photos at left).

- outfl(REtPot{tE
EDtUn
DUIY
Not everyjob requnesa healy-duty clamp. For el<ample, when you're clmping a jig to the workbench or
holding smal partstogether.That'swhereihe medimduB' .lamps aF hmdy. The jaws on these.lamps are
made tuom glass-fiberreinforced composite.But that
doesn'tmeaniheseclmps areweaklings.They'recapable of exertingr.rpio 300lbs. of forceIn the photo ai right ald in the box below you can
seethe threet1?esof medim-duty clamps available.
The most common are the pistol-grip style Irwin
QrirckGr,p (seebox below) and cmfs,,na (middle at
right). The other two clanps are ihe JorSensen
E-Z
Hold lI and the BesseyKl,fth,?,p.lnstead of a pistol
grip, the E Z HoldII usesm inline gdp aid lever (top,

,ORGE SEfl
E.Z HO!-D ll

CRAFTS|uAIC
Fixedjawr car bellippd
areund to act ar tpreadmak$ clamplightweight

photo at ight)- The KiiHd,??p

lockssecurelywith a slmple lever actionon the sliding jaw (bottom).
oilt foR[vtRY.108.
Another greatthing about these
clampsis ihat ihere'sa sizeto fit almostany job from the snmall]est
Klkld?,p ar 4" up to a 50"QuickGrip.
They aI comewith rubber or plastic clamp pads that
preventmaning the workpieceand resistglue.
The<afeaiues dlonemi8ht be enoughto convin.e
you to pick up a few of thesedamps, but iJ you tal a
look at the box below, you can see severalother
options that make ttlesedamps a Dust-have. N

WorthALoolcCla
withVersatili
their smaler size and light weight can flip the jaws aiormd to use
males medium-duty clamps such them asspreadeis(photo below).
asthe kwin QrLlr-Grp Fetty handy
Also, you can remove drc stanto have in your shop.
dard, soft rubber pads that com
One of the best featuresof most with the Irwin Qlt.k-Grp clamp
medium-duty clamps is that you and replacethein with deep reahing padr as shown in the photo at
right. Thesepads can apply pressur from the tip of the jaw an the
way down to th bar.
llTtn (LA[PlllG.Another accessory is a miter clamping set. A
lar8e,V-shapedfaceattachesto the
fixed jaw to hold th outside of a
miter joint. A matching rubber
block fits over the sliding jaw. As
the clamp is brought together it
Sqeader lhe jaws on medium- forcesthe joint iogether A rclief in
duty bar clamps can be easily the V-faceprotects ihe comer and
rcveRedto useasa spreader
alows foi glue squeeze-out.
No.153

lvoodsmith

and hold miteE at 9(r

BE55EY
KLIKI.A|I|P

5steps
forperfec[

PlanePerformance
I still remember my tust aitempt at
using a hand plane. It was a Pal lsson in frustration. No maiter how
much I fiddled sith ihe plane, I

couldn't Bet a decent shaling.

Bui just like super-iminB a car so
it lus faster there are some hicks
to improvin8 the results from your

plme. Here are five quick ways to

rev-up your plane's performance,
whether ii's brmd new or been si!
ting on the shelf for years.

CherkOutYourSole

nealonqthe bottom

\#{,,
. As you ap the '<n o

rhe npn

np(

wrLwearaway.Once
theyreqon,
thesoe isfat
10

For a plde to ceate a flat surface on a workpiec, ihe bottom of

the plan (the sole) also has to be
flat. To check this, turn the plane
over and hold a straightedge up to
the bottom. If you can see light
eniering underneath ihe straighted8e, you cm bei the sole isn't flat.
Forhnately all you need to flattm
dE sole is some smdpaper, a flat suface, ard a little elbow $ease. Start
by drawing a squiggily line along
the sole of the plane with a felt pen.
Then begin "lappjng" the sole by
lubbjn8 the plane on some loGgrit
wet or{ry sandpaper attached to a
piece of plate glass (seedrawing).
Lubricating the sandpaper with a litde water or oil lvil] carry away ihe
metat "drtst." The squiggly line you
drew earlier wil help you to meas-

You don't have to worry about

getting the entire sole flat. The
aras you wani io focls on arc ihe
back and front of the sole, as well
as the arca jusi in fiont of the blade
opening. When these are flat, you
cm move up to finer grits of smdpaper, siopping ai arcud 4{]0 grit.

ti

No.153

ReplorcBhde ondCoplron
One of the easistand simplest upgrades you can make to
you plane is to replace the blade
that came with th ptane. Most
stock blades ar fairly thin.
lnstead of slicing through the
wood, they may tend to flex and
dlatter giving you a poor{uality
cut- But ihere are a handtul of
manufacturers who make highquality rplacement blades for
bench planes. Typically, these
blades are thicker and made out

of better steel,so they stay

sharp longer A quality
rplacementblade will cost
you around $30, but it's
worth every penny. (See
l Thethinblades
sourcesin right maryin).
thatcomwith
In addition to replacing
the blade, you miSht want
to also consider replacing the cap
tenng.
iron. Lile the replacementblades,a
rplacementcap non is thicker and
beefier. It helps to stiffen the cutTheextramassof thisthick
ting edgeand support the blade.
bladeandcap
replacement
cut.
irong vesyoua smoother

Q lr"poringtheBtode

drawing. To do this, iust tilt the

blade slightly by lifting up one
plan, it's important to hav a uneven ridges in youl workpiece. side so that the opposite corner
To prcvent this from happn- rests on the sharpening stone.
sharp blade. \.rr'hetheryou use oil"round off" the cor- After making a couple of passes
stones,waterstones,or sandpaPer ing, I like to
to sharpen your blade, the ners of the blade, as shown in the on the stone,repeat the Pro.edure
method isn't nearly as important secondexampl in the lower right for the other comer
as taking the time to make sure
the dge is huly sharp.
BLrtone thing that is often overlooked when sharpening a blade
is the profile of the edge.A honing
guide will a[ow you to create an
edge that is shary, straight, and
squaie with the sides of the blade.
But ihe only problem with this is
that it's all too easyfor ihe comers
lL goe' without saying rhat
V
to ger the best rcsults from your

of lhe bldde to di8 inLo lhe workpiece you're Planing, laving

To prevent tarout as you

planetlle workpiece,theotting d8e
of the blade should be positioned
do6to ttretont ofdxeopningin tt
soleof the plane.In order to do this,
you'[ need to adjust the "frog" of
theplane drepan of *le pl"ne that

No.153

Lie-Nielsen
Toolwork5
(Blades)
800-321-2520

f,, ldiusl Blode

ldiurr lrog

To adjust the frog, remot e the

blade and slighdy back off the two
sdews thathold the frog to thbody
of *rc plane (see&awing at ri8ht).
Then us the frog adjusting screw
to mov the frog forward oi backward. The goal her is to position
O frog sothat the gapbetwenthe
blade and the froni of the opening
in the piane is about r/3r" to 146".
After the frog is properly positioned, you can tighten down the
screwsand reinstall the blad.

HockToolr
(8adesand
capirons)
848-282-5233

v
frco fowrd d ba.k
with tdg adj5tins new

7
r-n"*or.rop *'or. ui'glouprane ,' .oaojusr
the blade. And there are two adjustmentsto be concemedwitn. To adjust the depth of fte blade,tum the
adiusthg knob unril * bladejust barcly startsto Proi
ectfmm Orcmouth opning.Thenusethe lateraladiustment lever to position thebladeso&at the cutting edge
is paralel with thefront openingof themou& (seedetail
'a'). AJter initally adjusting the blade,give the
Planea
the
blade
sef
go on a pieceof ssap wood and fine-hme
tings until you get wispy-thin shavings.N

11

techni uesfromoursho

getaninvisible

PlywoodEdge
Youwantto hideLheedgesof

yourplywoodpanels.
butyou
don'twantthe edgingto show.lt's
not ashardasit sounds.
A thickeredging

a rnn eoge.

.4,
: ",i:''

I usehardwoodp\1!'ood in my proi
ectsaI tlLetime. It makestlrc iob go
easierand tlrc quality of Orcproject
better.But threis onedrawba& to
pl'aa/ood- drc exposededges.To
put it simply, the edgesof pry"wood
can be downright ugly.

./::;:Al

And more often than not,

Heat-sens
tive veneertape can be easly
they need to be hidden.
appledto ihe pywoodedgewith a warm
For some p.ojects, I'l
iron When trimnred{lush, the thin
simply glue on a r/a"-wide
veneered
edgewon't be noticed.
strip of solid wood, trim it
flush and not worry too much if tape that's made specificanyfor
the edging doesn't"blend" well this puryose. It comesin mls and
But other times,you might want to is made ftom very thin hadwood
apply an dge io the pl',wood veneers.You cm find it in most of
that's a little more subtle - an the commonwood species.
invisible edge. Sound impossible?
There are two different q?es of
We thr are actually a number or edging tape and both are pretty
ways to accomplish this without easy to apply. The self-adhesive
too much extra effort.
t?e works jusi like siicky tape. It
canbe applied using nofiing more
fl rc|l |ll
thm somefirm pressure.
Whenyour edgingis ihin enough,it
The heat sensitive 9?e takes
becomesnearly impossible to see. only a littl more work. It has a
Edging thars only y3r" to yr6 ' wide coating of adhesiveon one side
won't benoticeableexceptunder th ihat can be activatdwith "gende"
closestexamination.And there ar heat AI you do to js set it in place
severaldifferent "thin" options.
and use an iron to apply the heat,
lDclxcIAP[.One of the quickest as shown in tt photo above.Both
and easiest options for thin ply- types of edging tape are made
A thickedgingpiece wood edging is adhesive veneer slightly oversizedin width. Once

gluedinto a rabbetin the

edge of the p ylvood laves
< dn invisible
seam.

Edging Frcm Plwood, To make

thinedgingfron pflwwd scraps,lirst
makea saw cut an the joint line
betuveenthe faceveneerand aorc.
12

Cut lt Loose.Next,usea sharputilily knife to cut the veneerstripfram

the plwood panel.Ihe edging wil
he a peiect matchin grainand color
No.153

i
1
{l

the iape is siuck firmiv in place, F i L S i .

. ,i-"1
you irim it flush to the surface of i h c p l \ dr prywood and you're done.
s'ood edge is
TRI$lT lHlx. Sometimes I want a rabbetecl so that
din edge drai rvill hold up to a lit
or y the ihin iace
de more wear and tear than -"dCing vcneer of the pl,$'ood
tape.Soin this caseI make mv o$in remais on one side. When
slighily thicker edging, as shown a ihick edging strip is glued
in the upper example at far ieft.
tightly inio this rabbet, the joint
The easiestway to do this is to linc between ihe thin face veneer
start thick and end up thin. By this and the edging sirip disappeais.
I nee you apply a ihicker edging
You end up lr'ith wl1at looks Like a
(aboui Y4" thick) to the plys,ood
seamless, solid wood edge. This
and then irim off the excess on the icchnique involves a little more
table saw A final thickness of work,buiitwork
like a charm.
about Yr6' gives you a little more
durability at the edge, but ji sti1l
DFoU|$|l
jsn't thick enough to be noticed.
N4aking it thin isn't the only way to
A PIRIIC flAlq{. If you want to hide you p\M'ood edging. Another
apply a drin edge and also ensure a strat'gyinvolves using a thicker edgperfect match between the edging
ing piece and then disguising it. Ihe
and pl'wood face, the two draw- idea is to visua Lly blend the the plyings on the opposite page show wood md the edgjng piece so that
you how. This method uses the the trasition from one to the other
thin, face veneer from a scrap piece won'tbe noticeable.
of ihe same plla'ood as the edging
I siart by ghing a standard %
piece. When it's glued to the work
ilick cdging strip to the pll.wood
piece, you have both a ihin edge and then trimming it flush to the
and one with the same grain and surface. Then I add a little somecolor as dr pryvood fac veneer
tling extra. A molded edge that
A0llf tRtilTAPPR0A(H.
Anoiher way easily draws your eye from the
io go "ihin" wiih edging takes a cdging io the plywood face can
'rique approach. l-tere, the ply- succcssfully hide the joini line or
wood veneer provides the thin at1y grah or color difference
edge. A thicker edging strip is bctrlecn the iwo pieces.
used, but stili createsan in!,isibl
Thc drawing and ihe photo
edge on onc face of the ply'lvood.
above givc you dreidea. The edges
The tri.k here is shos'n in the of the rouicd molding cuts (cham
lower example and .lrawing at left. fer or roundove4 on the edging

On occasionyou not only need to

hide the edgc of fte pllvood, but
also add some extra strength and
thickness. Healy-duty bookshelves
come to mind. So how do you do
this and not make it look obvious?
Wel, a couple solutions are shown
in the photo at ri8ht.
The firsi example (top shelf)
shows a thick rabbeted sh.ip
applied to the plyvood ihat adds
both visual thickness and a consid
e.able amomt of stiffness. And
No.153

then nohce how I bo(owed the

trick shown above to disguise the
edge.A simpl roundover createsa
seamlessflow from the plywood
panel to the soli+wood edging.
The second example (lower
shelt usesa similarideabut with a
different joint. Here I applied a
stout pieceof edBingwith a caretuIy cut splined miter joint. The
resultinginvisiblejoint and crisp
edgewin have anyoneguessingis ii prywood or soud wood?

onto the edgrng

st p wi I provde
a disgusefor the

A Smooth Transition. A carefully

rauted roundaver ending right at
the joint line bet"^reen the edging
and the plryaad can foal the eye
strips fall right at tlE joint ]nle. And
if ihe panel wil] be seen from both
sides, make a se.ond cut on the
bottom edge. You siil ha\.e edSed
plvwood but you wouid have to
look pretty cbse io see it. S!

l A thick edginqpiece
car-"fuy joinedto the
prylvooo nor onry
hidsthe "core,"but

apaneled
'WindowSeat
Somebasicmaterials
andsimplejoineryadd
prolect,
up to a great-looking

r Thlsbeadboardpaneled
noragecheststartswth
rh" ." na'fr" nao pl,alooo
oo Jr.-dnqeoa
fewofthe detas fora lssformallook
14

You'Iprobablyhaveor y one problem when yolr build the window

seat pictured above
convining
your friends that itonly took a couple of days to build.lt looks much
too njce to be so easy
You start by building a simple
pllvood box. A sheei of pl)ryood
and a little bit ofbasic joinery is all
it takes. Next, you cover this
"shell" with
solid-wood framinS
and add some tradihonal molding.
Glue, brads, and a lundful of

screws hold ii all iogether. ln no

time, ihe basic pllvood box is
trmsfomed into a classic.
One of the shortcuts that makes
this possible is using pre-made
moldings purchased at a home
improvement store- This saves a lot
of work with no sacrifice in quality.
And if the casual look of th
bead boa.d paneled chest in the
photo at left grabs you, it's an easy
chdge. It's the same box and framing with different details.

No.153

-13

il'p,ryll,
The drai{ing at right shows ho*' to
gei started on the window seai bv putting together a sturdy plyi{ood bot. To ke.? weight down,I
deciddto use Yr" p\a'ood.
T[t JolillnY.The box needs io be
solidly builibutalso easyio assemble, so I used some basic joinery
ihai se^,esboih puryoses. As you
'a,'
can seein detail
ihe ends of the
box sides are rabbeted to hold ihc
box ends. This gives vou pleniy of
glue surfaceand alo$,s you io easill, Une up the comers of ihe box
during th assembly.
The bottom is firnrly captured in
grooles cut into th inside faces of
all four panels (detail'b'). So it $'ill
stay put under the heaviest loads.
And woodscrelr's take the place of
clamps during the glue up.
IHt RA8[[T5.Once the ti\,o ,oi stdcs
rA) and the two bor crds (B) are cui
io size, the next siep is to cut the
rabbets in the box sides. For this job
I nrstalleda dado blad on the iable
"buried"
saw and
it in an auiliarv
fence as sholr'n in the box below
The widih of these rabbts
should match the thickness of fte
pllvood you're using. (The plys'ood is often a bit undrsized.)
And just as important is a consis-

NOTE:Rabbett and grooeet

blade on table saw

tent depth. A simple hold-down

like that shon'n in the lower ght
photo s'ill help keep the pli4\'ood
pmels flat on the table saw for an
easrcrmd more accuraiecut.
rHt GR00V[9.
After cutting the rab
bets,I switched to a narrowerdado
blade to cut the grooves that cap
ture the bottom panel.lust like the
rabbets in the side panels, yor.r

want a snug fit. Soasshom below,

this is a "two pass" operaiion. The
tust cui doesmost of the work dd
after adjusting the fence,a se.ond
cut wil completethe job.
A|{tA80x.Now, after cutting ihe
bottom to size,you can assemble
the box wiih couniersunl $'oodscrews and glue. Then youle
readyto sta addingthe"extras."

How-To:
Cutti Rabbets
and
Grooves ShopTip
.,
a

'

cut to
thi<knettof
ptywoad

Rabbets.Cuttingthe rabbetsin the endsaf

thesidepanelsisahb for a dadobladebutied
in an auxilbryrip fence.lust naxh thewidth
of thenbbet to the thkkns of theplwaod.
No.153

:novrcw

Grgoves,A narrawerdadobladeis usedto

cut tight-fittinggr@vesin thes/desandends
af the box to hold the bottom. Thesecond
af two passessizesthe graaveaccurately.

Hold-down. A simple shop-made

hald-dawn nakes thejob af cutting
the rabbetsand the graavesin the
plryaod panelsa little easier

o
with toD edae
ot b6t--

@
I

rOP
ENDRAiL

'

fruming
the

Box

1l[

Once tlli' bLr\ is assrmbled, ilt rr\t

step js to add d1csokt rlood fraDlc,
asshownin the dawing abo\c. Ard
si.ce all th ftame paiis nre na;led
ancl gLue.lto th plr''vood bo\, I kept
tlle joinery io a nlnmum.
IHI (oltltRs. The first job is to
make and install the four pre
assenl'Ld coners. A glance at
detail 'n shows how thc), go
iogcihcr ILNi likc thc plyrvood tro\,
a ratrtreicd coNcr johi adds
sirengih and cases thc asscnbly

Tlt "pockci" crcaied by tlle rabbet

in ihc sidc siilcs fnmly caFhuesthe
end stilc. Tlis gives yolr d stronli
flush cornef thafs easyto install.
Startbv.ltting ih sr?c..f,rrstrls (D) dncl tlle nrrro\r'er crli ..r
,r.f st,l.s fEl to siz lrom 1+ thlck
skrck. When the ndfower end
siiLesare fit irlto th rdbbet n) the
sjcle sijlcs, the result is af eqlrtl
"revcal" on theconcb
ldet.il .r')
Oncc ihc stilcsarc cut to sizc, tb
ncxi iask is to use the dadobl.rcleto

theBrads
-..t-z
T h e o n l y d r a w b a c k t ou s i n sb r a d sl s
t h a t y o u h a v e t oh i d e t h e m .B u t t h i s
i s s i m p l y am a l t e r o f" s e t l i n g "t h e m .
F i r s t ,L t r y t o a v o i d " h a m m e r
d i n g s " b y l e a v i n gt h e n a i l ss l i g h t l y
p r o u d o f t h e w o o d s u r f a c eT. h e n a
fine-poinrnail set takes over to
d r i v et h e n a i L f a re n o u s hb e l o wt h e
sudace to be comp etely hidden
w i t h w o o d p u t t y( a b o u t r / r 6) .
Il]]

r a b b t t h e s i d e s t i l e s .J u s t m a t c h
theNiclth of therabbet t(r the ihick
nessof the end siiles fof a ilush fit
lvhen vou re throughal the iabic
sar', the stiles can be asscnblcd
(glue and L'rads)inLoconcF. ?\rld
finall)', the cornefs arc glucd and
naile.l in dace on thc bo\, flush kl
t h e t o p e d S e( d e t a i l ' a ' ) .
IHt rRAMt.Completnlg ihe haming goes cluicklr First, ctrt the iop
nrcl l)ott.,r st,turdjis f/, Cl and the
nils (tt, I) ro
lo/r and r(r1i.,r tt
$'idth and rough len8ih. Then clrt
ach rail to fii snr8 h beta'een L\c
corners.Use glue and L'radsio fas'
ten them in place. Finall), vou can
cut the sri?r'd;i,i?,T(/) to fit and add
A CAP.
To complte the haming, I
applied a cap to the iop e.1gofthe
tro\. This piece lrides the Fltalood
e.lge and the joint befu'een the
Iram g.rnd the bo.-. Cut the l,or
c/rt l() to size from i/r' thick siock
and then chamier both edges
blirre iteringit io iitasdescribcd
'b'
'c').
ai right (cltirils an.l
N o .1 5 3

,q

{r ftimming
it
OUI

lvrth th iraDrnrgor thftn,\

.onrplete(t,lor.in blsnr to
add. llttl.s indon dr.ssiDE.
I rzntfd n) gi! thc bo\.
mfe torn.l l(hk $ ith a n ri|Ferl
base...l sonc "P.riel nn)ld!rg. But
I d i . l n ' t \ ' n n i t o m . k c . t l o t o ae \ h n
n 1 , r ko u t o f t h r s .l h e . ) n s n c f r 2 s k )
r'scsomsic,.l nold i,)gsPlurhas!l
f r o D ra l o c . r lh o n r e l i r p r o \ . . n r e . t
stofc fhesc "l.rnc\ " rrol.llngs
s 1 u l . l h . r \c L r c c n . r L , cthu ) d i i i t . u t r
afd rimeconsuml.s k, n.ke,rfd
thc.ost \'.s Prcttv tuasonabl
T R | M I I | NTG
H r8 A S rI. t h o u 8 h t t h c
tr.sc oi thc bo\ neerlcd a soli(t
t.trutl.tio. \.iih. liftl e\h.a d-.r.rit
F o f t h i s j o t ,I p i c k . L lo u t ! o m . . u l o
rlrl stl'le lrns. nnnLllfg The Lmse
thiIlL nd $is.Lrrrt5 \r'Llc.nd
tlis s.s . ilttlcouioipir+nnliof to
th! s.rle of rhc box. So Lr.iinc gei
thg sta(c(l on iitting thc b.rse
N)lLling tu thc Lro\, I t(\)l ii nr the
Lrblc s.r' .lful ripped it i() l1: if
sidrh (.li1.ll a'). Ihtssizcsrr h.d
th. solld recl ihat I \..rnt.Ll bri ilt
th! bo\. littlc Lrctltl.
L ) n . ct h e b i s . m ) l d i n g i s . u t ( l
$ i r ] i h , i t s i ! 5 t a m a t t e ro f D l i t . r i n s
it n) ijt the bo\
ofe pic.c at.r
hn.. Lse thc sanre nriicf t(riit

I
L

I
I

NoTE:3ase naldihqt arc

rnitcrc.t to fit nanAd Lox

icchnjquc thatrou usld tirr the c.rp lr.nre.l p.n.ls (.s n

Fcficci com
n o l L l i f g A s e i . h p i e c f i s . u i , g l u e plcnrent to thc coloniribasc. \1tr1'll
a n L ln a i l i t i n p i a c - . l l u s hh ) i h c b o t ncc.l enough io franre .tll oi the
"panls".nd
k,n eLlgeof thc .u.frs Gctail 'b')
lhc proc.j1,rcis sinr
Wi)fk.rounrl th. Lr\ Lntil \(r.nd
pLc.. s \'oL,clid nn ihe lr.rs. nolll
up back \ hlrc vou strficd.
ing, miier one piN. io iit.jnd glue
P A r l l L r i l o t D lIl h
l ce. p a n c ln r n L l i r g . n d n a i l i t i n l t . . c a s j . d l t a i l ' . . '
(sol.l asc.rp nol.llng) that IboLght
TIcn ('ork arolnd the.,pfnnrgs til
l . i f s t . l l n n N n d t h e i n s e o t t h e iit the rnl.tirlinil pieces.

How-To:
MiterMoldin
toPerfection
\

Miter OneEnd. Usingthisnterta,fit technique,yau dan't need ta rely an "hard,,

neasuremenfs.
sirnplystatt by mltenngane
endot an extralong watkpiece
No.15:l

Make Your Ma*. Nexl set the mireled

pteceit placeta nark far theiecond clt A
pencl line an the insideedge af the wark
pte.e willshaw whereta cut.

TheFinal Cut. Nary backat thesawyou re

readyfat the se.ondcut. Warkingfrcn the
lelt sideaf the blade,yau can eteakup an
your nark for a pedect fit.

,$

l ' o

odding
o

1n

ri}

Ai this point, the box looks pretty

slurp,but ii's lackjng one imporiant
part. ff this project is going to be usd
asa windos'seat, itneds a solid lid
or seatto cover ihe box. And agam
I iook the easv route. Rather than
make a tricky-io-install,hinged lid,
I lYeni with a simple,lift offlid.
HowlI rlr. When vou take a look
at the drawing above, you'll see

hor! ihis lid js pui ioSether.With

no hinges on the lid to hold it in
placc, I ncded a different way to
keep ihe lid on ihe box. I solved
this problcm by ushg thc same
molding used io frame ihc panels
as a "tid stop." Added io ihe
underside of ihe lid pmcl, ii keeps
ihe Lid in place md also adds some
depih dd dctail as we .

How-Tor
Getthe
Rihtrit

0psidedow,

Lid nalding

an lid

atauhd bo\

Tuh ft Upside Down- lt's much easierto

accuratelyfit thecapmoldingto thelid if yau
tuh the whalew)rks upstdedawn. With the
l8

i o - @'oi'3,'u
box.enteted an the lid andsome spacesin
pla.e, simplymiter the lid maldingto fit and
installit just asyau havethe othernoldings.

BUIID
l T .T h e s a m e Y : p l y w o o d
that you used for the box will do
nicely for the lid. So get started by
by cutiing the l;d pflrsl (|,, io size.
Nexi, vou'll want tohide dreedges
oi thc ply&'ood. You can make
cnough cdginS (I used leilover
framing scraps) io wrap the iid
palel md L\en applr it as you did
dre prevjous mitered pieces one
piece at a iime, gluing and nailing
as you go (details'a' an.l 'b').
LIDrlotDlilG.After fie edging is in
place and sanded ilush, the lid
molding can be added to the bottom of the ]id. The box at left shorls
the process. Working ('ith i]le box
and lid upsidedown nakes thejob
of filting the nolding a loteasier.
You !\'antthe lid to fithghtly but
shll b easy to Lifi on and off. So I
used spacersto createa Yr6 clear
anceon allsides.Thistumed out to
be a good conpromise.
Once the lid molding has been
insialled, all you need to do is fill
the brad holes and do a liitie sanding and vou're ready to paint. 0
No.153

Utoffi

a different

Look

Todownloada
materiah
lisiand
crlting diagranfor thh bad
boardpaneledchen, go to:

"caet-)al"
Tne
beadboarache6l,int"he
Arawinq
atrriqhLha6r,heoar.e ba.ia
6lruaLve ag ilg r.areformalcau6in,
Bulta fev:/.imple chanLeeqiveiL a
veryAifre.ert ap?earance.
Fir6L,I lrada^ the wrap?eaba6e
far a ein?le chamleran lhe bot"
taYr'ol Lhe e6b:' And the frame
a?enit1q' are covereAwilh beaa
board,Finally, Na?pedLhe che6t
y-flni'he^ pine liA
with a natrural
laaaelyhela in paeilion by c eata,
'fhi.
vereionioiroL ao ea6yLc ^il^
ana bok6iu.t a6 trice.

3Ax th' Fh woa.|t.rcw

No.153

Woodsmith

19

knock-down
rO

CheryBookshelf

A classic
design
that
looksgreat.Anda
few woodworking
techniques
thatjust
you.
mightsurprise

When you hear the phras"lnockdown tumiture," what comes to

mind? You pobably pictur some$ing that comesin a cadboad bor
tals haff an hour to assembleand
canbarly hold its own weight.
WI, the cherry leock-down
booksh[ in the photo at Ieft definitly dosn't fit that mold. It may
be knock-down construction, but
tllags whrc th rsemblanceends.
You start with two solidly built
frame and spindle sides.Usingbiscuit joinry in placeof mortis and
tenonjoinery on t]rc stilsand rails
simplifies building Arc sides without sacrficing any strength. And
another work-saving technique
alows you to fit th conhastint
spindles to the side assemblis
accuratelyand quicl:ly.
Soif you want to leam a litttrebit
about knock-down construction,
the way it should be, this prcject
n'ight just be for you.

%'i20

CoIITRUGTIOI{ DHAIL3
OVERALL
DlMEl,lSlOl'lS:4AW x U"D x 63th"H
h'x20

No.153

Woodsmith

21

fl

@l

fl,

!
t

lo

buildinq
fte

Sni
TS

Th tllo id.ntical s e asscmlrlies

p(\ i(ie thr main shlcllrrc .nd sLp
por t to ihc bookshclt. So this is .
gocrl plac. to si.rrt LrLril.llns.
T n IT W oS l D t sA. s r o u c . r n s e ei n
t h . d r a ( i n ! a t r i g h t , l r i s c u i t s. r r e
u s c d h ) j o n i h c s t i l e si n d r i i l s o l
th. hLo sntcs.Thiswillensurc g.rf
lrer jonlts Lrch\'.cn ihc sheh es an.l
s i d c . sT. h c 1 t h i . k s l i l c s i n . l Y r
thick raits itu jolrcd ilLrsh ilong
thr hsntc iicc (dciail'Lt).
Snull tcnons on lhrspifdles fit
Dnrfiisls nl the fails. Ult a linrL .)t
L l c i . i l' . ' s l n \ r s t h r t t h i sl s n o t v o u r
c\eNdav nnlise anLl tenon jonrt.
Thc nrorlis.s Lrcgirl .s centereLl
g r o o l c s c u t i n b t h e r a i l s .W h r
vou iili thcsc a(ues with some
notchcdijllcr sirips,vou efd !p
N i t h a c c u r a t c \ ' s i z - p dm o r t i s e s .
AnLl thc b.ncfii is thrt vou do.'t
halc h).ui i lot ofsnr.ll nrotises.
RA[t AND5PNDtEt.
I st.rrtedbuild
nlg thc silles from the insjde o!t
srih lhr rails rnll s|ir.1les Tlle
rcasonis simple. l .le.ided th.rtgh,
irg th! spnlllcs into the mo|1lss
in ihc njls ilasn't n.ess.r\. lhce
th. spindl.s and fails ire p!ll.1
tishily n)geihctrgl!nrg the r.rils to
thc siilcs rlill keef thnr in pl.rrc
So frrst con.entr.rte or th. rail io
spi'L1lejolnerv .rn.l thc!.ts\ Lriscuit
lolrerv will conie l.rter
G R 0 0 YA
t 5N DI l t l E n t .A t t r r c u t t i n g
ihr lrlrid"r mih lA), nrt,,rrls ltsl, nn(l
,/;,l,ll.,rri^ ral, io si7e,the fi.st st.p
L/r' .le+l
jr ih.
tolrcrv is to.ui the
.cnicrcLl Bfoo\es in the r.rlls that
i r c i h e s t a r t o f t h n ) o r t i s e s .

lo

a
I

o
I
J

i 3rr

How-To:
&Tenon
QuickMortise
t/i souata

,p rpn.i:..J..----=----..-L

r,r
Filler Strip Blank. fa make Square Tenons. Use a dada
cansistent ltller stflps, I cut blade butied in an auxiliary fence
nat.hes inta a wide blank and ta aacuratelycut the tenons an
th. ahtt. ^l tha.^'^.1t..
then npp-ac!it into sLrips
No.153

stilet raik, an.l spindles

Llnc. ihr gruoYes in ihc rails arc

.ut, nc\t rou rvant nr irLn thcrr
into nldilidual
mortiscs. Thc
noich.Li iilicf sirD ncihod rlill
rnsure ihat the moriiscs are accu
raielv sized tu1d e\ e ) spacect.
The tro\ or1 the pre\ious page
shoils an easvwal to speeduF thL'
jdenfical
Frocessof naking ihe 16
Ti{o
i{idc
blanks
ilill bc
l.icccs.
cnough io nakeall ihc sirjps.
tvhcn ihc notchcd fillcr siril's
.rc glucd inio thc groolcs in ihc
fails, vou haYc "hsta1i" nrcrtiscs.
Jr$i nakc surc thai ihc fillcr strips
tund rails are flush on both ihe

.,\

THt 5PlilDttS.Non it's time t.)

make and fii the spinctles. First,
vou should notc that ihrfe nrc hlo
differcni lcngths of sl.indlcs. And
fc,r . good rail b rail iii, ii's inPortant ihai ihc hLolcngihs arc consistcnt. So whcn cuiting thc sphdlcs
b length, I rlsd a stop trlock
clampe.l to the nite. gaugc.
NrN th spindles nee.t a square
tenon on e.rLhenrl sized f(, fif the
nro,t,s.' in thc ,iil\ Thc Lt,Nir
righi bo\ on the Frc\ious pagc
gjles l'(nr ihe i.lca. Sincc troih ihc
sphdlcs md ihc ienons arc s.luarc
lou can sinph rotate thc spindlc
to cut eachiace oi ihe tenon.
ADDING
THttTlU5.Once ihe spin
dls afe fit io th rrils, ),ou can
\'c'k on nddins the siiles to th
mi\. The biscuit joLnefythat I used

mndc this a

bclo!v). BrLtthrrc arc

a fclv ihhgs yollll nccd
Thc tust ihing I did aitcr
cuttfig thc l ihick sr.n stil(\ fcl
rlas io clrjll thc r/r dia. hdes for
th conneciLr.bolis. Ii's easierbdo
nt this Foint ihan lateron.
Ard oncc )'ou have a good tight
fii bch{ccn the s}rindles nnd ihe
rajls, you wani to kccp ii that i{al,:
To do ilis, I clanpcd ihc sl.nldlcs,
raiis, anct stilcs togcthcr on my
bench,as shoi{n abole, bcior lay
ingoui thc biscuitjonefy Once the
pieces afe alignelt and clanpd,
simply mafk .tcrossthe stils ancl
ihe rails for thc Lris.uiicuts.

'-/a"

tpace6 will keeo

stiles and hilt fluth

Second, in ordr to create a flush

inside face, i,ou !\'ant to lav out and
cui the biscuit joinery fron this side.
Y o u ' L ln o t i c e t h a t t h e i n s i d e f a c e i s
positioneclface up on the benh.You
'/r" rhick spacers ro
raise the rails flLrshl\ith the thicker
siiles,as shorvn in detail'a.'
AtsEii0tY.
Afteryo! set dos'n thebis
cllit joiner the gherp goes smoothl):
As I entiond before, ihe spindles
aren't glued. Just Pull them iight lviih
n.l.mp and ihe'r Blue the siil.s to ihc
.dils to keep them thaisr\r

Stron

jatnerycanbe a quickalter
Btscuit
The Layout. Layingout biscuit
nattveta traditianalmartiseand
locatiansgoes quickly.A line
tenanjoinery.strang,peffedly flush squared
acrassthe stilesand rails
jaintsanly takeminutes.
marksthe centers
af thecuts.
No.153

#20 Biscuits.Next,I usedthe

layoutlinesto cut a slat far a
#20 biscuitin bath the stiles
and theendsof the rails.
:til

connectinq
fie

4a

$irs

At ftb point, th hard$i stretchof

the pmject js over. Now, it's just a
matter of connectingihe two sides
with a coupleof reinJorcingframes,
addinga top, and fiially the shelves.
ruo nrIiIS. First in Iine are th
uppr and Iower cormecting
fiames. These frames will be fastened tighdy to ihe sidsto seat a
ngid framework that will esist
racking.As you canseeat right, the
1'-thick frame ends and the 3/a'thicl ftame sides are joined at the
comers with a tongue and dado.
But each frame has a couple of
deails worth noting.
UPPTR
tt$lt. When you add th
solid-wood top, you'I need a way
to attachit that allows it to expand
and contract. The back mil of th
ftame has deeply countei-bored
shrnk holes ro hold the top tighdy
with woodscewE. But at th front,
the top will be held "loosely" by
tabletop fastenersthat fit a groove
in the front rail. A final
detail is a rabbet ut into
the front lower edge of th
upper frame that mirrors a
detail you'I se later on
ttre shelves(detail 'a').
rcfil lrr L A tal bookshelf needs to sit fairly
lvel. SoI instaled cabint
levelrs on the lower
fram that can be easily
adiustd by lifting the
L A coarse
ouurtueal.nunqs removable bottom sheu
(detail 'c'). And a Iip crenusedveaded
ir'ser*ided
ated by th taler {ront rail
fot Be in enl sain.
of the lower frame wil
serve to lock fte bottom shelf in
placewhen i{s added later on.
0[I
Sl. Onc tlrc upper and
Iower ftames ar completed, you
can put them to work connecting
dresides.Usethe holesthmugh t]rc
stils to locat the position of the
holes for the connectinghadware
(details'a'andS').I usedcapnuts
at the top in the bottom frame I
instaled tluaded inseis.

SIDE

SIDE
43Ib

IHI I0?. l4ith the casassembld,

I turned my attention to making
the top. As you can se abov, it
startsas a panel glued up from 1'thick stok.AJtrcutting it to size,I
beveled th undrsid of th top
along the front and sid dges.The
box on the following page showB
how to do this on the table saw

No.153

fte
1"roddino
Silrrvrs

o
I

\\'iih ihc ifanrc ot thc booksheif

a s s . n t r l c d ,r o u . a n ( o f k o n t h e
" b u s i n e s s "p i f t o i t h l s p r o j e c t
sheh es b hoi!l the bools.
5 T 0 USTH t w t SA. s y o l r c a n s e e j n
t h e L l r a w i n g. t r i g h t , t h e s h e l \e s
thit I built nre designd lor
strcngih. I hes reiniorcLlsheh es
add b th riBi.l structlrre of the
hr)ksh.li anll rlill easil) hol.1any
hralv lo.Ll wiihoul ih. leasi Lrii of
sag Th. ihrcc middle shches are
i.lcnir.al.'Ihc bottonrshelf has a
.ouplc of mrbf Lliiiefencesthit l'll
meniion atong the Nay.
A l l I o u r o f t h - "s h e l l e ss t . r r to u t
a s r / i - t h i . k 8 1 u e . lu p p a n e l s .T h
boii(rn shcli is cul a bii shorler so
ihai it ( on'i bnLl sten remo!'ed
i., adjL$i ih. lcrcicfs.
T H tR A l t SA. i t h i s p o i n i , I a d L l e d
sonc rciniitrc.ncni. FiNt, a ii on
ih. L'ackcdg. of .acll shell d oub les
. s L r o t ha s l i i i c n e r a n l l n " b a c k
st(+r." ]\ gu\c
in ihe back frrll
.aldurcs ihc shcli ior n little e\tra
stfcngth.,\ narro(cr irrnt ril is
g l L r l L lh k , a g r o o \ . c . l o n s t h e
l(nt .r .dgc of ca.h sh.li Gerr il 'b').
Thc Lroinnn shcli Llocsn'l halc a
ironi rail but il siill has a gnrve

that lits o!r the front of the lN\ef

hinne.rnd kepsit n'rFositirtrl.
C l . c e a l l i h L ' s h e h , c sa r c c o n
flet, the middl shel\s c.in be
f.stened b th si.ies (.1et.ril '.r')
The right bo\ belo$, shons the
i r i c k .A f t e rr l i t t l e s n r d j n g n n ds e !
e r a l c o n t so f w i p i n g v n m i s h , t h e
bookshlf is re.dy for !ise. W

SIDESECTIONVIEW

Chamfers
and
Cleats
i t How-Tor
o.
_

dep

SECTION

A 30" Bevel. Theshallowangle af the bevelan the under' Cleat Supports. With the shelf restingan a cauple af long
side af the top makes a vetlical table saw cut a necessity. cleats, the holes far the threaded insert can be ac.urately
With the saw blade set to 30" and a tall fence in place ta locatedin the endsofthe shelveslust clampthe top edge af
steadythe tap, thiscut isn't a prablem.
the cleatflush to the bottam edge af the ratls.
No.153

:5

tipsfromourshop

sH@p
HffiFBOOK
Cutting the tapersof tlrc pencilpost
bed legs on ihe band saw and thn
creatingd chamferswith a spokeshave and plane is a great way to
get some"hands-on"expedence.
But if you want to do the job a little
quicker,the table sawjig you sein
the photo at right is the answel
This unique jig is designed to
ride on the rip fence of the table
saw and funchons in two ways.
Fnst it actsasa taperjig - holding
the leg blanl at an angle as you
feed it through the blade. Second,
(this is the best part) it alows you
to easily duplicate this taper cut to
quickly oeate both the tapers and
chamJerson tlrc pencil post legs.
lilDtIlilS810(|{.The key to accu
raiely duplicatin8 the cuts is the
indexing block (the numbered
block in the drawing below). This
block has eiShtindexing holescorresponding to the eight cuts you'lt
mal on the leg blanl. wlen fas
tened to the bottom end of the

blanle it alows you to easily rotate

the blank between cuts and then
securely lock it in place with a
dowel indexing pin. Onc the leg
blant is mounted in the jig and the
rip tunceis seLihe only adjustrnent
you'll need to make to the stup i-s
to rotate the blank betweencuts.
ItoUiT TfiElilDtlllc ll0((. The
indexingblock is fastenedio the
leg by tust driling a centeredhole
in the botttom end of the leg blar&.
Thepivot pin is then used to enter
the indexing block on the leg
blank. lt's important that the blo.k
is mounted squareto the blark, so
a pair of dia8onallinesdrawn on

Buildithe

the back of the block help you align

the block and blank - cornei to
corner. Then a coupl of woodscrewshold ihe block in place.
Gfl nmY. After mounting the leg
blar& in the iig, you'[ want to set
up boft infed and outfeed support. The iig is eiShtfeet long. so
tlis js pretty essntialfor a smooth,
easyfed.And as you make the
cut, the leg won't nde on the table
of the saw,so adding a centersupport as shown in the enterdmw
ing at n8ht, helps stiffen the long
blanl dudng the cui.
(UTt.The four taper uts
TAPEI
come first (upper drawings at
INDEXING '_U'-dia.
,
3roc,( - r
ridelng
'\:\
i
hole

-2.i

,.,'lii

2 i"2

NolE: 3th' sq. ihdexinS

botton end of leg blank

NorE: Mounting blo.ksare

ret at an anoleto kee,
thensquarc-toleqblahk

woodsmior

4s" dia dowet

ptv.t ptn

,,

-.^

Cut the TapeB Fitst. ThefiBt stepin the 'tabtesaw

process'is to usethejig to cut four even tape6 an
the four facesof the leg blank (detail'a,).

dgho. For t}se uts,you, usethe

indexing holesmarked with a ,1.,
Wiih the jig resting on the fence,
sei it so that the saw blade will
enterihe blar <just to the outside
of the layout lines drann on the
top end of the blanl. (I teft about
'
%, for final cleanup.)Now ifs just
a matter of standing behind rhejjg
and pushing it through the saw.
After the first cut, just rotare the
blant one quarter ruln to .epear
the prccesstlrce mor times.
(HAflftn(UTS.
The four chamfer
cuts fo ow the tapers(lower dJalr,
ing at right). Thesecurs use rhe
indexing holes marked with a ,2.,
The differencehereis that thesare
stopped cuts. You wanr to end the
cut before the "lower edge', of the
blade the reachesyour layoui tines
for the lamb's tongriechamJer
Soto makecertainI didn,i go too
laa I installed a simple srop on rhe
jig (nearrighr photo). This piece
iits under the saddle,and simpiy
butts up against the rip fence to
stop the travel of tne ji8.
Aftr reaching the end of each
chamJer cut and rurning off the
saw just back the jig beyond the
blade,rotaie the 1e8and remove
the wastepiecewith a caretulhand
sawcui (1arright photo).
You']lfind that onceyou,re set
up, going from leg blmk to accu
rately 'loughed out" pencil post
leg only takesa few minutes. S
No.153

Cenftr suryott. A simde L-srE(fd

supqn-Cstending beneaththe leg
blank, is clamped to the guide
beam of the jig to providea little

Chamfers

NOTE:Cehtet suobort
\
t u s e do n f i R t . h ; n f e r . u t _ , . 4

An Eght-Sided Leg.Oncethefour tapersarecut makinqthefaul

stoppedchdmterturs ^ l con)tete fie eight sidedupp;r tegse.
tian. Theindexingholesrarked ,2, are usedfot thesecuts.

I a simpestopbarinnaledon the thejtg fof

the chamfer
cut keepsyoLrfromruininga
blankby cuttingtoo far Thebarsimplyruns
intothe ripfefceto endthecui

A Thewastep ece eft attached

to the btank
is femovedaftereachchamlercut with a
h.nd saw lustmakea carefucrrtthatfof
lou/sthe angleof rhesawkerf.

trs

OVEF,ALL
DIMENSIONS:
55."1u.{
x AS"Dx B3h-ti

tapeted and .hahtsed

for a tradhi@al look

Thirteenparrs.Thaysft. Thafs aI there

is to this pencil-post bed. But whn
thosepie.escometogetheathe resultis
rcally strikin& as you can seein the
Photioon th oPPositPage.
It's also a chatlenging project ro
build becausethere,s a Iot that goeB
into those13parts. There,smor to it
than it sedls.You,I sprd most of the
time wo*ing on just iour parts - rlrc
pencit posb. But by the time vou,re
IinislEd with 8js be4 you.Ii hav
reand somenew tedmiques _ like
now to taper and chamfer larqe
pieces,simple carving, turnine, ;d
working wi*! old-tihe hardwale.
No. 153

Woodsmith

rhe
Posrs

Whaifcnlh cntchcs) orrr e!eon ihis

LreLlarc ih. nrr pencil posts. AnLj
like I siiLl L'cn)rc,this is \\heir a lot
of the Rnk tak.s l.l.ce. Tl)e P()sts
si.r oui asl(Dg,squ.rre Lrhr ks fnsl,
th.fc.it a fctr nulises to cut, nc\i
.oncs lhc sh.ping (nrfeting an.l
chinft rg) ofthc posts.AnLlfin.ll);
)ou'll c.u c a snall dft.ll cillell r
"lamlrs t(nglrc."\'()u c.r re.c1nNre
abori thii on pag.50.
IriltASURlNG
IHt MAITRtSS.
Don't st.rrt
b L , i l d i n gt h c L r c r jtu s t ) c i A s $ i t h
.nv ted !'rcj.ci, it s n good idei to
h i \ e l h . m a t h r s sd f d b o \ s i ) r i n B
on hind ((,r ai lcnst ensufed).
lllnt's cspcciallJ-hu, hre be.aus.

t h c t h i . k n s so r t h e m a i i r c s sa n d
bo\ .pfing dter ine ihe lo.ainD
oi thc hcadbdrrd. lntntc1 ihc
hca.ttroard to be iLrout an nlch
b!l(\ thc bF ot the nrattrcss,as
THt POSTS.
\on vou'fc
IT^A|(ING
rcadr- to get st.rr1e.l.firsl, \1u'll
nccd to nr.le bl.rls ior thc posis.
Surccthcs! parts.i so lon8, vollll
r!.ni n) iakc sonre e\trn tinre nl
selcciing stf.ight gr.ined shrck
ihai is pfcttv dry )'ou don't lvani
ihc B,si b de\ eloF nn) 1\,afpir18.
Onc. ihc Fosts \\'efe sizcd, I
dillcd a hole jn tl) top anLlt\nknn
oicach post. Tl) top holc '!illhdd
i finirl th,rt is mr.le laicr Yu u \
nccd to drillih lroiidn holc ii vou
dan on using the spe.ial i.llnc saw
tapcr jig sho$lr on tage 26.
\c\i, you'll.ut two s-.tsoi nntrtiscs. Th. first st holds thc L'.Li
rails. The.llnrensions n)r ihcse
n o r t i s e s . r e i n t h ed r a s h g a t l c f t .
The olher set of nrcrtiscs vou'll
c r t $ i l l h o l d t h c h c a d l . o a r da n c l
nre clt in onlt hlo oi the posts As
I nrntioned .arlicr ihe locatiolroi
thes moftiscs d.l.cnds on thc
ihi.knss oi ih. mattr:s .n.l bo\
sping. C!tting ihcse moriises
no$, r!hil. ihc l.osts ire siilL
stt!.r., nikcs thnrgs i krt e.sicr
Final\: I rutcd a rcun.lolcr on
'this
is
the Lroinrn oi each post
nrrc ihan n dcco(rti\e dciail. Thc
rcundolcr i!ill kep tlle c.tgcs
frcnr sFnli. lg ol,t (hen (not ii)
the Lrellis dragged n.ross thc iloor

Post
Ends
Treatthe
How-To:
!
i

2h

Dri ing Holes. Takeep the drill bit

centered on the end grain, use a
dawelhnqtiqta dril'/s -clia holes.

2h

RoundoveL Ta rcut a i/s'tad.

rcundaveron the rcuter table,usea
supponstund fot the lang posts.
No.153

,l

-lh

Shapingihe pcncil posts is the most

chalnging part oi the bed.The rea
son is fiai the posts are taperedon
alt four sides.Then each comer of
the iapemis dramiered.What yodn
looking for is to keep all the faces
flat, smooih, md consistent.
There are a couple of wairs yoLr
can taper iheposts.Iuse.l the band
saw tLrdo much of ihe heaw cut
iing and tl1en clcmed Lrp the faces
with somc hand-tool work. You
could also cut both ihe tapers and
chamJers on ilE iable salv using a
special jig shown in ihe photo ai
right and on page 26.
lAYllGoUTTfltTAllRS.
To cut accLr
rate tapers, you'll need to start
with an accuratelayout. I did this
by making a simple template for
the iop end of fte post, as you can
se in the lo&'er right dralving

belo!. Next, 1m.rkecl the cnd

poinis oi the tapefs on the sides of
L\e posi and connectedthc points
with a long straighiedge.
(UIII G 0 IflE BAilDSAW.
Wiih ihe
paiienl in place,you can cut a$'ay
U1e$'aste. tsecausethe posts arr so
long, I sei up a suppoft siand on
both sides oi the sarv fLrr a liitle
hclp, as shorln in the photo abovc.
Nos you can siart cutting.
It's a 8oo.l ida to cui s cil to the
waste sid of the line, so you'll be
able to sneak up on thc iinal size
latc!. Ailer each cut, rotaic thc
workpiece 90'and make the next
cui. To keep ihe piecesquafe to ihe
biadc $'hile cutting, I tapd ihe
cutoffsback on the post.
9fi00THlrlclrll IAPIR5.With ihe
tapcrs cut, you can nolv clean up
ftc faces.If j/ou have a jointcr dns

CleaniU theTa
'.

step is pretty simple. Bui if not,

you'll stari by redrawing thc lavout lines that were cui away. Then
with a bLockplane and somc sandpaper as shown in the box below:

Y o uc a n. u t b o t ht h e t a p e r sa n d , : h a m f e r s
on lhe tab e saw with this s mp e I g To
b L d o n e ,t u r n t o p d g e2 6
<

2r/,
I

Suppartbl.ck ptops
up rdpeteoeno
and keepsit stable

TADEN
IEMFLAE
(Fun the)

f*

Smooth Faces.After chmping the post to the workbenchand prop

ping up the taperedend, usea bla<kphne ta smaoth away the blade
matksfrom the band saw Thenfinishup with a sandingblack.
No. 153

t
I

I
3l

the
tooling
hond

Cmrurns
v block holds chanfeR

Once all four iapers have ben cut

md dcand up, the nexi st P rs to cut
fie chan{ers. As beiore,it's impor
tmi io keep the chamfers consistent
for a perfect eightssidedpost.
\ryhat's diftereni aboui cutting
thc chamfers is ihat insiead of
using the band saw to rcmove the
wast, I did it all with a spokeshave,block plane, md chisel.That
ma), sound like a lot of work, but
vou aren't removin8 a ld of mate
rial and ihe processgoesquickly

simple Holding Device. A tula-part V blo.k makesit easyto clamp the

post to a workbenchfar cutting the chamfers.lt also holds the chanfers
faceup at a comfatTableworkingheiqht Sandpaper
Eves it a firn grip

Since all
ttllllc UPIHI WoRKP|t(t.
the l\'ork will trc done at thebench,
I stat.l b)' nraking a sirnple Vbbck to holct ihe posi, as you can
see in the drawing above. The
block has a couple of advantages.
Fnsi, itholds the posi steadvsnlih
I'n 'vorking. Second,it positions
ihe post with the chamler lacing
up so it s e.sier b $,ork onWith the (orkpiece secure,Ilaid
oui the chamfers on the taPercd
sides of the posts like I did before
when cutting the tapers,as shos'n
in ihe drawingat leit and detail'a.'
(UTTIlicIHI (NAlUlR.Begin shaP"
hg the chamfcrs *'ith a spoksha\,eset for a hca\,y cut. I uscd a
Lay Out Chamfet Mark the end paintsaf the chamfers spokeshavelrre bca!6eit lcis me
an the end ancJedgesaf the past. Cannectthe points remove a lot of material .ittickly, as
in the box below. As you approa.h
with a lang straightedgeto guide theshaping.

the layoui lnes, you can set the

blade for a inlcf and smoothercui.
To flatten out the tapet I reached
ior a block plane.The longer soleof
thc block plane makes it easier to
straighten out any .tips left bY ihe
spokeshave. Kcep planlng uniil
I'ou reach L\e layout lines, then iinish up rlilh a sanding block.
Unlike the tapefs, the chanrJers
are stoppcd. Butnither dt sPoke
shave or block plane can work in
tight enough to creaie a cdsP edge
and a straight line. For that, I
picked up a chisel to cut dlc shoul
der of the chamfer and clean up lts
face. To avold tearoui, Ifind it's
besi io take !,ery li8hi shavings
acrosstl1egrain- l\hcn You re tuishcd, give the chanfr one lasi
passi{ith some smdPaPer.

rJ

St
How-To:
Cuta

,t
Rough Out Waste,A spokeshavesetfar a Snooth With Block Plane Next,a block Finish Stopped End. Tacleanup the ends
hea\,ycut is grcat way to quickly rcmave plane set for a fine cut straightensand af the (hamfers,I useda chisel.Takelight
smaothsthe chamferup to the layoutlines. cuE aarassthegrain ta awid tearcut.
mostof the wastealang the chamfer.
32

No.153

1...-

&
o

' llrlii
'?l

'${

a)re of ihe u.i(luc teaturcsoi this

bed is ihat nonr oi the jonrrs.re
g l u d . T h e r e a s . Di s s l m p l .
ir
nlhrts fic LredtLrconrnpart easil),
and be sci up alnrsi an\whcre. llut
thjonts siill necd to be srron8,so i
used a Shnker siie knock-Llol{!1
linnt thai combirlcsa shallow mof
t'se anLl tenon wilh a dralv bolt rL)
Fll c\ crvthins t()getheL
i{A|(lilCIHI RAltS.B-.stdesthe ioin
erv th. bed falls n.ell to Lrcsrfong
as well fler I used 11/: -thick
stock. Thcv .re tjcefler than vou
Drghtcxpect, bui snrceth. failsnrc

bclorr.r1d nl detail 'tr' abo!,e I use

siandn,clhcx bolts.rnd nuts for ihe
draw bolts, but n'.rdiinrnat "b.Ll
bolis" nrc siill n\ailible. DcD'r
norry aboui the erposed bolr
hca.ls,thc_y']ILre
covcrcd !p lailr
tven ihol,gh ihe jonlr isn'i
InADllloltAtHAnDW
RI. lb suplnrl
ih-. nintircss and tro\ spring, I
8lued, vou stiil rvant n snu8 fit
I h i s i { i r t h e m o r t i s e a n d i e n o n tlrrne.l kr anoihr picce of trad!
bftrr ih. Neight of the.raih..ss and honnl hnrd\yare "bcd irons, ' as
Lro\ sprh8 (and slccpers).
sln)sn in ihe drawnl8 abovc.
I h e o t h e r h a l l o f i h j o n 1 t ,t h e Thcse l. shapcLlsteel bfackets arc
dra(' tjolt system, can be a.tdeLl scrcived inb shallow
B)ckets cut
once the rajls . re complete VN ern
see ho$ th1s works in ihc Lro\
iairlv narow, ihc e\h.;r thickness
prlents ihe rails iro b.nding
an.1 tlvistjng. Thc thick fajis also
alloN rrc io makc i ihick icnon ro
keep tllc bell f,om facking, as illus

InstallDraw
BolR

",?\,
Drilling the Recess.Staft by drilting a 11h'- Flatten One Side.Cuta flat facei, the recess
Dri ing Rolt Hole. Usea drillbitto
dta. recessin the insideface af the bed raits. an the tenanside. Theflat pravidesa bearing
lo.ate
the hole in the rail. Dtill the
Therecessis 1I/4"deep
3/s.dia hale wnh a dawelingjig.
suiace for a washerand nut.
No.15ii

Woodsnr;th

33

fte
odding

Hrnosonno
Ancnro

Thc hendtn)ardis rhc lasr trig pi.cr

thai you ll ncc.1to m.kc lor ihe Pen'
cil post bed. It's just a LargcPan.l
w i i h a c l r ^ e c u t a l o n g t h c i o Pn n d a
pair of tenons in e.ch enLlto fit ihe
Dn)rLisesin lhc Posts ihai )'ou cut
eariiei ns in thc clrawnlg above
Bccausethe rardldnrl(D) is such
.1 \'isible part of the bcd, I took
sonc e\_tracarc iLrseleciPiccesthai

h a d a s i l n i l a rc o l o f a n d g r a n )P i i tenr. Nc\t, I shricd work on thc

Yrr'll noiice in the.lrawnrg
tL1r!n1s.
atrole thit th inons on thc hend
'Ihct
e's .1
t'orrd arca 1ittle.l iftereni.
r e n s o ni o r t h i t . I f v i i g t o . u i a n . l I ' i
tenons f()r i tighi lit on taFereLl
Fosts wotlld b. very Lliffi.L,lt lir
soh. ihat pfoblc.r, I born\'e.l a
ihc
.rnoihcf te.hnique lrtn

l{

ShakcN.Here I rcm e.l ihcshoulders oi ihe tenon albgethci Th.

"s.ooped" on botli
shouldcrs dre
sides so thnt thc hendboarll jtrsl
floats Lrchllen thc Fosts, as jn the
'a' .bovc.
clrawug ;,n.1 in rleiail
N4akinS thcsc s.ooPcd tenon
s h o u l d c r si n d . h e e k s i s a s i m P l e ,
h!o-si.p prcccss. To scc how it's
.lon., tate a l(x)k at thc Lro\ b-"lr^!

ft

Tenons
theScooped
area
Thetenonson the headboaro
detailloundon manyShakerstyle
bedslis a greatwayto lit thetenon
to the narrowmortseswithouthav
Ingto get a tight fit on the tapered
post Sometmes,it3 done on Y on
the backsldeof the headboardBut
IthoLqhtil ookedso goodthat I
appledit lo bothndes.
To make lt, I rout the shouLder
wth a corebox bri on tfre router
table. Beca!setrre workplece s
long,t'sa goodidea10setuPsorne
sidesupport.Thento removethe Routing the Shoulder TheftRt steptn mak'
ren of the wane, I took the head- ing the tenansis to tout the shaulderwith a
1/!'dia catebax bit an the rautet table
boardoverto the tabLesaw
34

'J
completing the Tenon. To cut a$/ay the
wastean the .heeksof the terron lused a
dada bladeon the tablesaw
No.153

,li\

Io(ATINGIHI ItN0il5. Oncc rhe

shoulders aie cleincd up, you caf
mole on io cutting the renonsLofit
t h e p o s t s .B u t t o d o t h d t , v o u ' l l
n.cd to gfalr ihebdposts ro usc as
a guide. Thc mortisesnr the ln)srs
ilill help Iou tocate the renons as
r\'.U as th .'nd poinrs of ihe cun.e
on the top of ihe hea.lboard. You
can feacimorc aboLrtthis in thc bo\
. t D s h t a n c cl l e t a i l ' b . '
The lpFcr and loirer tenons are
separatctLry a half-circle cuiout.
T h . e n d s o f i h e 3 r a d i r | sc u i o u t
shorlld llne up ilith the Dsi.ie
eclecsoi the mortise hcations vou
jusi marked ftom thepcncilFosi
t A Yo U IA D ( U T I S I ( U n VOr n c ct h e
tenon locahons a' marked. you
cai lavout ard c!'t thc cunealong
the iop e.]gc. What vou're looking
for is a gap,iree fii at rhe iop and
botiom of ihe ienons, so usc the
paticn shorln below as a $ide to
c r e a t ca n e \ e n c l r n e a r . 1 n s m o o t h
transiiion to thc tenons.
tllTlilG IHt T!IoN5. IVhen ihe
tenons are cui out, you may nced
io do a tittLefiiiing for rhem to slip
into ihe moriises. A fiie and some
sandpaperrvill take careofthat.

\o. 153

To ocatethe tenonson the headboard,

I
a d one of the pons alongside
the head
boardblank.Alignthe bottomedgeof the
headboard
with the bottomof the tower
monrse,as shownin the dfawnq above.
Thentransferthe locationof the moarses
n the poststo the headboard.
Thisdefines
the sizeot the tenons.
lhen you candraw in the 3 radiusarc
rnat sepafatesthe tenonsand cut it oLrt
w[n a ]r9 saw as in the drawingar right
allddetaii'b'on the oppositepag.

the
odding

Frrun
foucnrs
Thcre'sjusta.ouFLeoi thnrgsleft to
do Lrciorcthc becl is compLi,t.Th
firsi is b cap off the tops of thr'Fef
cil posts ivith a hrNecl iini.l. Th
sccond is io co\cf th dnrs bolt
headsaf cl coLhtrbores.
l N l A t .A l t h o ! g h
T U R n ErD
fnrcl nrail orLler
cnn
)oL,
sour.es fof iinLrls, I
>
col,lLln't iincl ofe
that lookeclj!st filiht,
soI hrmcd \osr)
If !1rLrhavc .r l.the,
thb rs Frettr ns\.
B!t e!nit vou don't,
JII
)uL, ..,n ifill rLnl
forr orvr nnrlls or1
t h e c lr i l l p r e s su s i n g
t h e t e m p L r t es h o w n
rr, .t leltlor. glriLle
To do this, vo!'ll
necd a te$' t(]olsr n
gorge, i
urghmg
s p i n ( l l eg o i r g e . n d a
p.rrting tool. I.lso
Lluilt a simfle tool
rcst (se bo\ bel !)

.nd slorle.l ihc d rill prcss.loiln ki

.rbo!ii Sil0 j,(l0l)+rnr.
A f t e r c ! t t l n g t h e i i n i a l L r l a n kt ( )
sl7e, lLlrilled . hole in th. Lroii(rn
nfLl g[r-".] in i cut-oif Lnrli sjth
epox\r is sllo\Ln trr ih. rlfa\\ ing ai
right. lho Lrrlt pfo\ id.s i sinrg
anchof polrt fof shapng thc ftrl.l
on eiihcf ihc Llrill l.rcssorlathe To
s.!e linr., I knockcd off the .0
ners oi ihc Lrlankon ihc b.nd snr!
Aiter shiping ihc inriil $ iih thc
tuhhli tools,\'ou can spccd Llp thc
clrill pi('ss and sand il snlooth.
DRAW
80tT(0VIn5.Thc l.sidc.cira
ti\e i(Nch is.tincling a setof tf.di
tional dnw bolt covcrs t() hid the
countcflnns and thc bolt hads,as
in ihc l{Ncf rlfa$ ir1g. ight.
Thc coYrfs arc attnche.l \,lth
s.rclvs aiicr sc\craLtoats of finish
hi\r bc.n appiicd.Tlrrc's no nee.l
to dri\'. thc scrcws in tc( tight. In
ia.t, it's Lrcstk) l.avc th coveF i
l i l i l c l ( r ) s en ) t h . i t h e y c . r ne a s i l vb c
flipPcd out of ihr $,r\' h'lthout
s.ral.hng ihc finish. M

How-To:
TurnitheFinialon
aDrillPress

31,

ir
tt,

.j,

ti
i:

$,

NO|E: lig i5 na.le ft.n

Dti Prcss Tuning Jig. 1bullt the taal restout af t/r' thick hardwoad.lt's
then clanped in pla.e an the dril presswith the -.dge af the tool rcst
pointing at the centerlineaf the warkpiece
No. 153

NOry
qIDESIGT{EKS

ooK

stor

traditi

thi! project,go toi

ln the aA aay., ?ehcil?oet.bed. aer,lea

a ?raatical?urpa.e.the Lap af Nhe
paar,ahelaa I)eotor- a f6fie af alato
ana rail6,as ehownin lhe drawln6.
lh lhe winler,yar coua drape blarketg, ara aurlaina over it ta keepin
I:,hewarrnth.Thenin the 6ummer,the
qult6 and cnrLainswerercplaceAwiNh
maoqui+"o
neL'inqto kee?the buqsai
bayard eh.urc a qaoAniqhfb elee?.
)n rhoaernhamee,bueo an^ aav

niehte aren't a prob)em,

but the
teal,arcan aLil adAa Lra4itionalelement to a c)a65iabe^.You'llfird lhe
mar"eriala
and .up? ie6hee^e^bebw.

Ti"t',
o ' , )

j._=1
, t
NOTEresiat

pafts nadenon
7' rht.trto.k

!
i:

4 AddedMaterials& Supglrgp
A TestorSde Rails(2)
B TestorEndRaits
(2)
C TestorSlats(2)
No.153

1x1t/2-84
1x11/r-64
1x1/,-64

'

.'

ir_ <
.

Tettot hahe
pdtts.anne.ted
ni11)hall lan
ano tap lot.ety

37

NOTfEBOOK
DESIGNEKS

theBestJoinery
Choosing
pro1ect
your
for

ne>ct

\ryhenit comesto choosingjoinery

for a project, the possibilitiesoften
seemendless.Mortise and tenons,
haff laps,dovetails,dados,rabbets,
grooves the choicescanbe a little
puzzling. Fortunately,choosingthe
right joinery doesn't have to b a
mystery AI it takesis a litd underslandingof theprinciplesbehindthe
joints and how they work.
When we select the joinery for
tlte projeclsin t{oodslxitr, thereare
severalfactorsthat come into Play
- strength, appearance,and ease
of constructiorrto namea few.This

all sounds good on paper But

maybe the best way to illustrate
how th processworks is to take a
iook at a 9?ica1 project and examhe the tPes of johts we use.And
even more importantlt talk about

ClseConstru.lion
Whethei you are building a bookcas,a disser,or a cabinel rnostturniture proiects are really nothing
more than a basicbox (or maybe a
group ofboxes). But in ordrfor the
pieceof fumiture to standuP to the

test of time, the box has to be built

to last.And the s.tetto this is in th
johery used in the construction.
(IROSEJolil Y.II you take a look
at the project shown below, you'[
seewhat I mean.Th; is a casefor a
small cabinet.To constructthe cas,
I used several different tt?es of
joints, eachfoi a specificrcason.To
join the top and bottom of ttl case
to the sides, I used a tongue arld
dado joint. Although you could
use a simple rabbet joint here, a
tongne and dado joint is stronger
because it interlocks the two
AACKFlrg
PLYWOOD
INIORAEgEIEO
OPENING
To dREN6'}IEN G{ENET
AGAINs'IACKNG

l=-----)

t\VI

r l

l\t

I
Woodsmith

tI
No.153

pieces.The shoulder on the tongue

helps to keep th two pieces
square, which makes assembly a
little easier.And finatly, you get
bettergluing suface with a tongue
and dado joint than you woutd
with a rabbetjoint.
D|YDIIS.In choosing a joint for
the vertical drawer divider of rhe
cabinet,I went with a simpler dado
joint insteadof a tonSueand dado.
The ieasonis a dado joint is a tittle
easier to make since it only
involves one setup. It's just a matter oI cutting a dado to fit the lnaring pice. And sinc the drawer
divider is not a structural elemmt
of the cabinet, I wasn't as concemedwith stength.
uq( To complte th basicbox,
a[ w need to do is add a plt'rvood
back. Now you ould jusr glt]e or
nail the back directly ro the case_
But a bettr method is to crearea
recessedopening to hold the back
by routing a rabbet aI aromd the
back edSe of the case.This does
two things. Filrsr, it conceals the
edgesof th panel. And scon4 it
helps pivent th casefrom racking. Once the back panet is glued
into th rabbetedopenin& it actsas
a shearpanelto stiffenthe cas.

Jorelrcme
With the basicbox completed,the
nextstepis to add a facfiame.Face
framesareoften usdro concealthe
joinery or pry-woodedgesartlle fionr
of a cabinet - or simply tjo give a
pieceof furnitur a morc rraditionat
look. And becauseof this, I thinl
there's a tenden.y to vie'/ face
framesaspurly de.orative.But th
truth is thar face frams serve an
impoitant strutural puryose as
well Justlik the backof th case,a
faceframekepsthecasesquarand
prventsit Iaom ra&ing.
Faceftames are constructed our
of stilesand rails rllat arc joined ar
right angles. But in order for rh
face fiame to be effective at preventing racking, the joints need to
be strong.For this reasorLmortise
and tenon joints are usualy mv
first choice when U"nai"e tu"u
ftames. They are mecharLicaXy
No.153

strong and alsootfer plenty of glue

surfacfor a joint rhat realy holds.
For less formal projects or shop
fumitur, I often use lap joints for
making fae frames. From the
standpoint of strengrh, a lapjointed faceframe wil be narly as
strong as one made with mortise
and tenon ioints. But th lap joinfs
ar a lot quicker to make. (All you
need is a table saw.) The onty
downside to using tap joints is th;t
the end grain of the pieces is
Woodsmirh

exposed. On some proiecrs, this

doesn'trcally matter,but on orheE,
it may stand out like a sorthuinb.
Although they aren't a "rraditional" fa.e hame ,oint, bisorits ar
another option for building face
ftames. They're fast and easy to
use, and really help to speed up
production. They're a good choic
ror proietsthat won't b subjecred
to a lot of rackint stress - like
kitdlen cabinetsthar are going to
be attaded directly to a wall

Oncethe basiccaseis complete,the

next stp is to add the doors and
drawrs. Unlike the casq doors
and draweB are subjcted to the
additional stressof beinS opened
and closed. Becauseof this, ihere
are some different tt?es of joints
that corneinto Plali

r \ i

Doors
When it comesto doors,the t}?e of
door you us wil depend largly
on th style of the project. Fof this
cabinel I chosea frame and panel
door with a plywood panel (see
drawing). The advantage of this
tt?e of door is that sincethe panel
is pl''wood and won't expand and
contract (asa solid panel would) it
can b glud into the frame. And
gluing th panel rnto the frame
makes lor a stonger, mor rigid
door Becauseof this, I was abl to
us stub tenon md Sroovejoinery
to build the door frame.
Stub tenons and grooves aren't
quite as stong as traditional mortise and tenon joints, but they are a
lot lesswork to male. Youiust cut a
groove on the inside edge of the
door mils and st es to hold the
panel. Thn cut stub tenonson the
ends of th rails to fit in the
grooves. The whote thinS can be
done on a table saw or a router
table.Orce the shib tenonsand the
panel are glued inro th grooves,
Orcdoor becomesa solid unit.
Stub tenons and grooves work
geat when the door panel can be

-ti
\

JOINIS ARE ETgLY

MADE ON TA9LEgAW

glued into the frame.But for doo$

with glasspanelsor floating, solid
wood panels,you'n want to use a
joint that js stronSer, since the
panel won't be adding any
strengthto the door.
In caseslike th*, I usualy opt
to m&e the door frame with bridle
joints or a mortise and tenon;oints
(sdrawings below). Bothof ttrcs
joints have more gluing ara than
the stub tenon and groove, so
they're stronger. And they also
alow you to rabbetout an oPening
in tlle back o{ t}rc tuameto hold the

panel, whether it's a pane of glass

or a solid wood panel.

Drowerr
Drawers are always a chalerge to
"project
build. In a sense,they are a
within a pmject." Not or y do they
havto be caretullymadesothey fit
accurately,
but theyhaveto bestrong
enough to widrstand tlrc stressof
rpeatedopeninSand dosing. this
is especiallytrue for thejoints at the
Sincethis cabinetis a faidy tradihonal style, I went with a tradi-

TH^NMORflsEANDTENON5,

tut NorourEA5sllor.{6

No.153

ilr1

tional drawer ioint - half-blind

dovetails (seedrawing at righr).
Dovetails have alnost everything you could want in a drawer
joint. For starters, they arc e)<ceptionatly stmng. The interlocking
tails and pins create a strong
mechanicalcormectionas well as a
great amount of glue surface. In
addition to strength, dovetaiis ar
vjsually appalin& so you don't
haveto wony abour coveringthem
up. Add to this th facr thar you
can us dovetails either wirh or
without a fals front, and it
becomesobvious thar this is the
most vrsatildrawer ioint amund.
r dovetaG have a downside,ir,s
that they can be dif6cdt and timconsuming to male. Even wirh a
router and a dovetail ji& they
rquire a fair amomt of set-up
time to get good results. Tllat,s
why I usualy save dovtaG for
DOVETAIsIMIERIOCK
To COM'INE
heirloom furniture projects where MECHANIC1L
SIRENO'HwlIH LARG
the xtra tim is wel spenr For less 6LUEAREAFORA VERY9TRON6JONf
fomat projecg tllere are a coupte
of other drawer joints I Iik ro use. applied false front. In rhis case,I
oPlloll/tlDRAWII
,otilTt.For draw- usualy tuln to a tongue and dado
ers that don,t rquirea falsfronL I joint (see right drawing below).
olten use a lo&int ralbet (seeleft This is essentially the same joint
drawing below). This joint is easily that we used ro build the caseof
made on the table saw, and once the cabint. AlthouSh it doesn't
assmbledit is hidden when rhe have the sameamount of glue surftawer is viewed from the front. faceasthe lo.king rabbet,it is sritl a
Ils alsofairly strong.Soifs a good rasonablyshong drawer joinr
doice for projects with smal to
One last thing. In woodworkin&
medium-size&awers.
rarely will you find that ther,s
Drawrs that use metal dlawer only one "ri8h1' way to do some.
slides commor y cal for an thing. The same thing holds rrue

LOCKING
RA9AET
JONTPRO1IDE9
_ 6OOD
NENTYOF6!UE SURFACE
cltolcE FoRDaAmRgWTHOW

No.153

HALF-'LIIIDDOVETAILS
ARE
5rtoN6 ANt ATT!rcnyE G{N EEUSEOWTh OR

'-

---1r:T"l

D&\WER..lYI

'Ro|.r

f+

l, l -.

l.dd

srDE

lsw;

whell slectingjoinery No matter

what you are buildin& your primary consideration wil be rhe
streBssand demands that are
going to be ptacd upon th prcjct. But beyond that, rhe ioinery
you eventualy choos wil be
basd on other factors such as
appearanc,the equipmentyou arc
working with, and your own abilities. In most situations,you'[ find
that therat leasta coupleof different joints that wil wo*. N
IONGUEAN' DADOJOIMT19
EAgYTOMAKE- 6REATFOR

15 HIDDEN6Y FALgEFRONi

,z

lL RS **"

smallshopsolutions

savlng
space

Work
Surfaces
) great waysto get
the most out of
your shoP.

HANDLE9
FLIP.UP
MOVEMENT

It's frustrating when You can't rind

a clear sPacein the shoP on which to
set a glueup,lay some workPieces,
or just temporarily st down a tool
Sure, a workbench can't be beat tor
doing lay our joinery, or some of ttle
oiher eleryday shoP task ButI find
a shortage
ihat one worksurface is never One way to 8et arolurd
areas
wo*
is
to
have
floor
space
of
enough. And in a smal shoP, fhd'
the
in
work
When
move.
that
You
irg spacL for permment worlsurto
siation
go
from
often
shoP,
),ou
t a c e sc a n b e t o u g h T o s o l ! e t h r s
s
ork
suthave
a
not
why
so
station,
pmblem, you need to be creahve
face thai does the same The t$'o
worktables in ihe drawings above
and below illustrate fte Pornt

tloke if tlove

3/aaDlA.lRON
HEA!'/-DUTY
570RAAE
LOCKTNO
CAgTER9

CART15 9UILT
U9INO LIOHTWEIOHT
1xCON9TRUCIIoN

fi
The sturdy storageworktable in
the lower drawing rests o'1 large,
locking casten This allows it to be
easily moved around the shoP and
ihen firnny locked in Placc for dte
task at hand. You might *'ant to
build ii to maich iheltightoryour
tablc sas and use it as m ouiteed
table,as shown in ihc drawrng
The bon s is that ii's designedto
do doublc-duiy as a lunter sior
age ra.k. Stort horizontai PtPes
below the worksurface createeasY
to get to, trut out of the $'a, storage
"t'\'o
sDace.Ard wi*l heav-v duty
b;" conshlction, it i\rillhandle all
that you can Ptle on
lf you ilink somcthnrg a liitle
smaller and easier b move about
would betier lit yolt needs,take a
look at the hvo-handle.t shoP ca
shorql above. Storage sPacebelo$'
and a small bui soLjd toP make uis
caii a Practical solution io Your
extra surtacenecos
The two fliP-uP hdldles and the
fixed cast.rs on the hont legs make
steering the lightweiSht cart
arolmd a crampd sl1oPa breez

No.153

Usethe CornerSpote
The comcrs oi ihe shop can be a
tough space lo get a handle on.
Oiher ihan maybe a ddl press, no
ldrg machine fits welL into a corner and often ihis space ends up
not being used very effectivelv.
Well, one way io make good usc
orihe comrs of fie shop is to add
a cornr workstation as shown in
the drawing at right. A sturdy 2x4
frame \\,itl a 3/r'plfvood top creates a large worksurface thai can
be usd for arv number of tasks.
Here you see the workstation
suPPorted by base cabineis (and
the lvals)on eidrr side. Butifdns
arran8emntdoesn't work in your

shop, simply modily thedsign by

adding a pai of stoui ]egs to the
outsidecLrmersofi]le frame to creale a lree standing station.
The advantagcs b ihis type of
'/oPen
sPace'/ arranSement are
easvio see.\Mlatyou've.lone is to
add another lai,ei of useful space.
As you can se,lhc spaceLreneath
the work areacan still be used for
storage.A shop laclrunr, tools or
any number of other iiems you
want to keep widlh easy reach can
still be stashedin the corner.And
above,you havc a spacioussurface
ihat yo! surely won't have any
houble finding a use for

4' AUl\
HINOE9

10? CREAIE'.
WORKSURFACE
OUTOTUNUSED
5?ACE

LAROEAREAEELOW
CORNER
9IATION
CANBE UgEDFOR

A lold.AwoyBenrh

SOLIOLY
FASTEN

?x4 CLEAI

LEAYINO
SPACEoELOW
CLEAR

Ever a small shop may have some

open $'allspace. So ii makes sense
b put this space to thc best use.
1\.ndthis use mlght be for a foldawav auxiliary workbench.
As you can teu from the dnwing
at left, this bench can be used for
norc thal light-dutvwork. A soLid
2x.l frame and a % plywood iop
makc iisuitable for the toughcstof
shop iasks. And notice how it's
hingd to fold up, noi dorvr lca\ing the floorsp.ce below clear
Usc it as a work station for a
benchiop iool or to clo a hea\.y
glueup. Ard when the task is .orrpleted, ),ou snnplv fold the bench
up and latdr it in place on the lral]

Si [eKnock-Down
Table

One minute it's there, the next

mL,ute it's gone. Well, honesrly ii
s'iU probably take more ihan a
ninute to disassemblethe knockdown table shown in the drawing,
but yolt gei the idea.
And the idea is a good one. A
simple, knock down worktable
can reallv help sretch the Limited
spacein a smallshop. Justsetiiup
rvhen you need it, take ii apart and
siore the pieces out of the lvay
when ihe job is complete.
And the neat thing about this
"stripped
down" design is thai
building it won't take much of
N'o.153

your time or money. One.1 x 8

sheet of 3^ plywood will do the
s'hole job. Ihe inierlocking joinery
used io assemble ihc base is about
as simple as it coi d be. And once
the base is assembled the top is
merely set into place. A couple of
cleatsaitached to the undrside of
ihe top act as siops to kep ii toom
sliding aromd while you work.
You can easiiy adjust the size io
fit the needs of yorr shop. But
regardlessof the size, this knockdown table rvill provide a handt
extra work placc without taking
up valuableshop space.E

KNOCK'DOWN
TAELEI5 MADE
FROMONE 9HEET

43

--

workin withtools
makealltheseprofiles
andmorewith

ThreeBasicRouterBits

Beating an be
renovedfar_

OvertheyearsI've accumul,ated
alot
of dilferent router bits. The "workhorse" bits that have standardpmfiles get used over and over aganr
while the more exotic"big money"
bits usualy just gatherdust. This
finally led me to the realizationthat
you don'i need a drawer full of
expensivebiis to rcut fdcy profiles.

,USTTHnEIUTS.Th photo above

iilustrates the poini. A[ of the
molded edges shown (a[ examples
are % -thck siock) can be made
using just thr common router bits.
These are biis you'll find in just
about my woodworker's coilection.
And as you cd clearly see,the possibilities for putting ihem to use are

yi

The ihre biis (shown at lefi) I

used io make these examples are a
% iouid-ovrbit, a % iolmd-ovei
bit, ard a Yr"-dia..or box bit.
(UTS-The following
oilt 8lT,STVIRAL
page shows how to make a ferv of
my favorite profiles- To see ever
more options, be sure to check out
the Online Extrasat ourwebsite.
Thre's really no greai secrei to
the process. First, I tsy to avoid getring stuck on the idea that a single
routerbit cm or y make one t}?e of
cut. The truth is that many 9?es of
bits can produce a variety of shapes

/aund over
trit

- e
A = c l

#S*;.
44

.ore box

dependingon how you put them to

use.To makesomeof the profiles
above,I useddifferentpartsof thebit
or changedthe depth or heightof
the rut. For example,a corebox bit
(or covebit) canbe used to cratea
wide, shailowcoveo/ a dpholola'.
UulPlE
8llt. Somof the simple
piofiles you seewere made using
or y a single bit. But to oeate the
more complex shapes,you' need
to use a combinationof bits. For
insiance,a % rcundoveralongwith
an accurately
cutr/r'cove oeafesa
large reverseogee.
A(oRATICUTSOne of the keys to
successfulrcsr ts is to mal<efte cuts
carefully and accuraiely.Two or
ttuee (or more) light.uts wil} often
yield beiter results than one deep
.ut. This is more important than
doing the job qui.Uy. And finaly, a
little fine sandingis often neededto
"blend" multiple cuts into one
smooih,seardessprofi1e.E
No.153

How.Tor
7EasProfiles sh Ti DesiYourO
As you can see,the layouttools I usedto designtheseprofiles are pretty basic. A section ofrr" dia. dowel works
sreat as a template for a r/a"roundover or a r/a"cove (%"
core box bit). And a 1'Ld'a.dowelwas my r/r" found-over
bit. Chancesafe if you can draw it on paper,you can find
a way to make it with a few common router bits.

Onagieup

Irrc S.lupr

m a kn q a d d l t i o n a l
modededqetqo to

l
\.::-'

p-j

-a) /'

r-!q,!d$"t
I
l-

.J.,''aTn
1," l

No.153

yourfinishing
solve
problems
with

Shellac
AJierspmding a lot of time building
a piojci, the last thing I want is to
wipe on somestainandend up with
a blotchy mess.ff you've ever had
this happen, you know how frustrating pioblems like thjs canbe.
There are quite a few produ.ts
that you canbuy that claim to solve
finishing problems. But chances
are you hav the solution to most
of theseproblemsin your finishing
cabinetakeady - shelac.
sAilDlxG
stAlEr.One way shellac
can prevent finishing problems is
when it's used as a sealerbefore
applying a fiLn finish to a project
(instad of an oil finish). \ r'hen
using a film finish, I'm
looking for a glass

shella(.omrelr the stain,

reruftingin a moE ewn
@lor,evenon endgrain

]| Toprevent
stan
blotchng on p ne (top
board),applya thin coatof dewaxedshelacto
evenout the colorandcontrolabsorption.

smooih surface and a proteciive

layer, which js great for table tops.
The problem is bare wood can
absorb a lot of finish, so it takes
several coats to get a good build.
And you end up sanding away
quite a bit of the finish to get a
smooth, flat surface.
In this case, a coat of shellac
works like a coat of primer wil] for
paint. The shellac penetrates the
surface of the wood and seals the
pores that abso$ finish- This
mear's you won t need as many
coats to get a decent build.
Once dry, the shellac is easy to
sand flat. And since it's compatible
with most finishes, it provides a
good bonding surface for the finish. You'[ also find that the finish
lays out flaiter as you brush ii on.
SlAtll (olltloltlR. Like I meniioned at the beginning of the article. one of the most frustrating
finishing problems is stain blotching. Blotching is .aused by the
stain beinB absorbed unevenly in
the surface of the wood.
To see what I mean, take a look
at the two pine boards in the photos ai left. On the upper board, I
applied an oil-based stain on bare

wood. Some areas had the even

coloring I was looking for In other
areashowever, the stain is much
darker and muddy looking.
To prevent bloiching on the
lowr board, I applied a thin coat
o{ shelac and then lightly sanded
it with 220-grit sandpaper. The
shelac evensoui th surfaceof the
wood so that the stain Penetrates
uniformly. AId you an see the
results. Not only does the piece
have a more pieasinScoloa the
siain doesn't obscurethe grain.
Becauseshellac stows th absorption of stain, you may need to
apply another coat of stain to get
the color you're tooking {or.
ff this was aI shelac could do to
solve problems,ii would eam a
place in my finishing cabinet,but
as you'[ see,ii doesmuch morc.
sIAlilsEAtER.
Even if you aPply
stain without blotchin& it .an stiu
causea pirblem once the finish is
applied. The stain lifts from the
suface of the wood and nul<esthe
finish look cloudy. \,ar'hathappens
is the solvents in the finish react
with the pigments in the stain
causingthem to redissolve.This is
especiallythe casewhen I'm in a
No.153

hurry and don't give the stajn

enough time to dry completely.
A coatof shela solvesthis prots
lem by actin8 as a bdier between
the stain and the finish. Bestof all,
shelac dries {ast so you can apply
the finish in just a few minutes.
One more thing, the choice of
shelac can affect the finish. The
premixedshellacyou'ie likely to
find in thehardwarestorecontains
wax. The wax can intrfere \arith
polyurethaneand causeit to pel
away. If you plan on using
polyurethane,male sure the shellac is labeled de.rnredor wax-free.
It may be caled a universal saler
To avoid the problem altogether,
you can use spray-on she ac or
mix your own from dwaxed
flakes,asshown in the box betow.
loDllg (olOR.Thre'sone oihe.
thing shelac is good for And that's
to add color and enlance the Fain
in a project like a stain. The thrce
cherry boardsin the photo at riSht
show what I'm talking about.

rl|

The board at the top is unfinjshed. Given time, chrry will

darkm on its own. But let's faceit,
that cantake a long time. And even
adding a coat of {inish (especially
wateFbasedfinishes)doesn'tdo
much to change the .olor, as you
cansein the middle board.
To speed things along, I brush
on a thin coat of coloredshellac.
Shelac comesin a range of colors
with strange-sounding names.
Most of the tim, I use "supe.
blonde" (clear),but heie I use
amber shellac (boftom) to walm
up the color and grain. You can
then apply a clear topcoat and let
nature take its course.Amber shella works greaton pine too, giving
you an "antique" pine look.
STIIL
ilEIDS
PtoTt(TlO|{f
On of the
problems with shlac when it's
used by itself as a finish is that it
can easily be damaged by water
But you can overcome this by
applying a more durable topcoat,
like vamish or polyuttrane. N

Unifnithed(herryispale
or lightpink,but gradually

A (@t of amber rhella. .dds

@lor .nd enhanc tie figuE

How-Tol
MixYourOwnor
lf there's one downside to using premixed shellac,it's that it has a limited
shelf life, usually about one year. So
whenlonlyneedtouseasmallamount,
I
liketo mix it upfrom driedflakes.
The unmixedflakeshavean unlimited
shelf life, so you never have to worry
aboutthe age.Thellakescomein a range
of colors,as you can see in the photos
belowTomb(it.lfilla pintjaraboutquaF
terfullwith llakesandthen pour in denatured alcoholtoflllthe jar (photoat left).
This makesit a littlethinnerthanif lwas
using it as a finish. Then cover the iat
shakingoccasionally.
The flakesshould
dissolvein abouttwo hours.

--t{

Suus EYE

$l|Euc

' lFoler&
I rhish"rpl

Forevenfasterdrying
times,tryspray-on
shellac,
whichis
always
dewaxed
and
safefor allfinishes.

= -.FLemn Yellow (anber)

No.153

Woodsmith

47

in the mailbox

& Answers
Questions
Glues you can
use outdoorc

Fmnklinbfnebond I .rhis
is a new formulationfor
the standardwood glue
that makesit waterprcoi
."-"
Theadvantage
of thisglue
o";Hi"g
fit'^
prciec.s is that it works a lot like
Voutdoot
the glue you use every
andfd fiketo know whzk
day. lt cleans up with
the bestghte to useT
Hdt@u waterand it hasa couple
Jash
PhMir, Anztu other advantagesover
yellowglue.
regular
project
isthat it hasa
Euilding
for
The
first
a
A
outdoor use has longeropen time. This
/n
some uniquechallenges. meansyou have more
Outdoor projectsmust time to assemblea projwithstanclrain, extreme ectand getthe clampsin
temperatureand humid- place before the glue
itychanges.andsunlight.
Besideschoosingthe
The secondadvantage
dghtbuildingmaterial,
the is thatit cnbe appliedat
(47").
grue you use can go a a lowertemperature
The downsideis that
longway in makinga proj'
ectsurvivethe weather. thisgluedoesnlfillgaps
lll. The newest sotheioinerymustfrttight
TlllgollD
waterproof g lue is

Do you have
anyquestions
IOr USr
lf you have a question
related to woodwork;ng
techniques,
tools,finishing,
or hardware,we'd like to
Just write down your
questionand mail it to us:
Woodsmith, O&A, 2200
Grand Avenue, Dss
Moines, lowa 50312. or
you can email us the question at woodsmith@wood-

POLIUREIIIIIIE
OIUI.A SECond type of waterproof
glue.
glueis polyurethane
Like n@bondI , polyurcthane glue is prettyeasy
to apply.Thebestfeature
glue is
of polyurethane
that it bonds to most
materials:wood, plastic,
glass,and evenmetal.
Polyurethane glue
needsmoistureto cure,
So it's a good idea to
moistenone of the faces
beforeapplyingthe glue.
As it cures,polyurethane
glueexpandsintoafoam.
But donl worry,onceit's
dry, you can scrapeoff
anyexcesswhha chisel.
(0il5Ttucl0ll lDHl5lvt.
Whilenot usuallyconsidered as a woodworking
9lue, constructionadhesivworksgreatin some

situations.
lf you'rebuildinga deckorgarden
shed,
constructionadhesive
it
comesin handybcause
grabsquicklyanddoesn't
needtight-fittingjoints.ln
fact,it'ssothickthatyou'll
needto allow plentyof
roomforsqueeze-out.
tPoxY.The last wateF
proof glue is two-part
epoxy.Although it's the
most expensive,the big
advantage
is that it fills
gaps.This makesit great
for patchingholesand
replacing
damagedor rotten wood, But since it
won't takest.jn, jt needs
to be painted.
Whatyou needto do is
matchthe gluetothejob.
one
To helpdecidewhich
to use,takea look at the
chartbelow.N

C o mp a ri n gWa te rp ro o fGlues
TyPe

,v

Easeof use

StrenSth Weakness

Cost

wotkt tutt I'k. teFlhr

ff

@d
Apply ||fth e stzndard

Pleaseincludeyour full
name,address,and day'
time telephonenumberin
casewe havequestions.
48

ft

No.153

hardware& supplies

T Sources
P:l|dt P03lttD

Brasses (#H-550).These bed

You'llreallyonly needa small irons can vary in size, so it's
amountofhardwaretobuildthe best to have them in hand
pencil post bed. To attach the before you start cutting the
railstothe legs.I usedstandard monisesin the bed rails.
3/s'x 6" hex-headbolts with
washersand nuts. You should
r(tr0d(.Domt
B00t(tIru
be abletofindtheseat any welf All ofthe hardwareused on the
stockedhardwarestoreor home knock-downbookshellwaspurimprovementcentet
chasedlrom RocklerTo assemlf you would like to use tradi- blethe bookshellyou'llneed2"
tional bed bolts on the project connectorbotts {#31849},cap
(photo below), these can be nuts{#31815},
hex-drivethreaded
purchasedlrom Bockleror one insens {#31872},and a handful
ot the other sources listed. of tabletop fEsteners{*t34215).
You'll need to buy a bed bolt To help levelthebookshelf,you'll
want to install lour cabinet lifting levelers(#81696).

To covor the counterbored

holes I drilled in the legs to
install the bed bolts, I puF
chasedeight 1%"-dia.antique
brass bed bolt covers with
screws (#99235)trom Rockler.
And finally,you'll need eight
traditional bed irons to support
the box spring and mattress.
They're available lrom either
Rocklet l|138593) ot Horton

or RockleLlhe Bessey Kliklamp

is cattied by Rockler. Craftsman
clampsare availableat Sears
storesorthrough their catalog,
The one-handed Jorgensen
E-Z Hold clamp shown in the
anicle was ordered from the
Adjustable Clamp Company.
Their numberis listedat right.

talt

ORDER

s0uncE

Similar nroiect
s wnes tnaao(
thefo\dwin!)

lfifilED w tDoYtJItt

l{ youte lucky,you can flnd all

ofthe materialsandsuppliesyou
need to build either ofthe window seatsin a singletrip to a
lumberyard or home improvement center, The pre-made
moldings(colonialbaseboard,
panelmolding,andbeadboard)
IInEEtOUlEntlts
used are pretty common styles
You may alreadyown one or all but they may vary slightlyfrom
olthe standardrouter bits used storeto store.lt's notcriticalthat
to makethe protilesin the 6rticle the moldings you use precisely
on page 44.The three bitsthat I matchthose shown. Just find
used are made by Amana Tool somethingcloseand if necesand can be purchasedtrom the saryyou canmakeminor ad;ustWoodsmith Store. Very silnilal
mentsto the design.
bits are availablefrom many
qfte (udomf S..|ie
other manufacturers.
Clickon Suhscrihs
SeNices
or
www.wondsl'l,frl,.6n
oltE.[altDED
ctt[Pl
Theone-handedclampsfeatured
. 6!isa yor n!ih! d milodd6
in the anicle staning on page 8
camefrom severaI sources.The
Irwin Auick-Gip andthe Bessey
.I!fl B ii yu/w [iEd m iw
Power Gip ate hoth available
. Frdqi ilFU wnar iG h6 @ivd
from eitherthe |toodsmith Store

aoo.a35-5044

312.66646,!0

aaa-242-5233

aoo-?54-9127

WOODSilIilPNOJECT
SUPPI.IES
Wenow{aturehardwarefom RocK LE R in many
of our newprojectkits.To order,pleaseusour toU-fee
order lin,sebelowIfs openMondaythrough Friday,
from 8 AMto 5 ?M CentralTime. Beforecalling,please
have your talsA,Mastercard, Discover,or Amencan
Expresscardready.
IJ you worrld Fefer to mail in an ordet pleasecall
the toll-free phone number beloly ior more ir.formation concerning shippingchargesas well as any
applicablesalestax.

r.800.444.7527
No.153

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

"O ine ExFas"- Plas, Patierns,& More

over 100woodworkincTips On[re
M6it Our RqdeF ftoject PhotoGalery
ProjectPlac YouCd Domload
Calalosof Projdt ICts,Tools,Jics,& Plans
FoMs lor Wood*ortins,Tools,& Cla$fieds
Lini<sto OtlBr WoodworkinsSites
Orde. WoodMitLr& ShopNores
Backlssus

800,871-815a

400-225.1153

www.woodsnilh.con
Woodsmith

49

detailsof craftsmanship

l,

carvrnga

LambtTongue
Chamfer
Extradetail.That'swhata lamb's
tonguechamferis all about.Sure
you could cut a stoPPedcham"
fr. But on the Pencil Post Bed, I
wantd to add an extra, handmade detail, one that couldn'tbe
duplicated by machine.
The lamb's tongue chamfer
is a traditional dtail that's

rrv
hand

carving. And you don't need

special tools - just a chisel,
knife, file, and somesandpaper.
If you take a look at th
lamb's tongue in the photo
above,you can get a good idea
of what you'll need to do. The
lamb's ton8ue stats at a line at
the bottom of the chamfer. It
then nses to a small round, and
dips into a hollow bforefading
to a point on the squaresechon
of the post. while it's a feature
found on pencil post beds, you
can apply this detail to just
about ajily stopped hamfer
tltPARllloYoUl I00lS. Ii Soes
without saying that sharP tools
are important. Evn so, in carving this detail, you'll be doing a
lot of cross-grain autting. So I
took some time to hone my
hisel and knife more than I
usually do. A shary tool will
help the cutting

edge clanly siie the wood

fibers.A dull tool lifts the fibers
and causes tearout, which can
be diffi.ult to sand away.
With your tools ready to go,
all you'll ned to get .eady is
the post. The important thing
here is that you want the post
secure. Any movement in the
post while you're cutting can
lead to a tool slipping and spojl
the cut. To keep the post steadt
I held it in ptace wiih a Vshaped block clamped to my
workbench (shown below). The
block holds the chamfer face up
and puts th posi at a comfortable working heighi.
The last thing t did before
carving was to make a temPlate
of the lamb's tongue out of r/{"
hardboard. Then I traced the
profile on the workpice. You
can use the full-size pattern
shown on the oppositepag.

you're
reody
tocnnvt
now
The first step is to rough out th
b a s i c s h a p e .i d i d t h i s r v i t h a
chisel, cutting a V shaped notch
t o f o r m t h e c o n c a v eh o l l o w , a s
y o u c a n s e ei n F i g . 1 . T o p r e v e n t
c h i p p i n g o u t a l a r B ep i e c e , t a k e
small cuts, rYo.klng first from one
s i d e , t h e n t h e L ) t h e r ,s t a d i l y
-nl r ro nu rh- n,,rrlr

SHAPING
THtToP.\{iih ihe hollo$,
roughd out, it's tine to (ork
on ihe round 'rpper part. This
becauseth short grain wood
fibers can chip off priiy easilt'.
There are iwo ihings you can
do io prevent ihis. First, take
ihin, paring cuts cithci across
ihc grain oi diagonal io ihe
8 r a i n , a s i n F i B s .2 a n d 2 a . T h e
second wav to preleni iearnrS is
to moistcn thc grain wiih a
damp rag. This softens ihe
wood fibers making them easier
to slice away cleanly.

As )'ou approach the layolt

l i n e s ,b e c a r e f u i n o t t o s p o i l t h e
line beiween the chamfer and
i h e l a m b ' s t o n g u e .Y o u w a n t i h e
l i n e s a n d e d g e so f t h e c a r v i n g t o
be as crisp as ihe chamfers and
taprs on ihe rest of the Fost.
SHAPINGWITfl
A (Nltl. To refine the
curve of the holloe, I picked uF
a carving knifc. Whcn using a
knife, al$,ays work "do$'nhill."
That is, you want to take light
shavings with the blade running
dorvn the slope of ihe hollow
\^,ith a slight rocking moiion, as
illustrated in Figs.3 and 3a.
Coing uphill, you'rc morc likely
b lift and icar oui the grain.
rlnAl tAlolric. At this point, ihe
lamb's iongue should be in
pretty Soocl shal-e. All that's left
is some smooihing to clean up
ihe carvedprofile alrd ed8es.
This is a iwo-step process. The
first step is io remove anv iooi

marks and smooth out the

curves $,iih a file, as shown in
Fig.4. Then, I like to stick a
piece of adhesive-backed sand
papcr to my thumb for final
smoothing on ihc cuives. Using
my thumb, I have more control
and can feel any rough patches.
The second step is to use a
sanding block io clean up and
define the ed8es of the lamb's
tongue and the faces of the
lower portion of the posi. m

!.i.,:
prcventtearout

srDE
vtEw

stDEvtEw

s ' d n L a . ! t i o r h a l d m b \ t o n g u a b ) m d \ i n g d v < h a p F d Shapethe rcond pottian of the detailby taking thin, crossnotch in the hollow of the prafile, cutttng from bath sides. gfttn cuts Moisten the wood to make it easier ta cut.

a
A thin catvtng knife warks well ta reftne the curve aF the
hallaw Again, work fram both directians ta dvotd tearaut
No.153

smaothout anytaalmarksandraughpatcheswitha fileand

samesandpaper
Besurenot ta roundavertheedges.
51

Knock-Dozon
Boakshelf.
f his sturdybookshell
featuresbiscuitjoineryandeasy'to-install
knockdownhardware.All
of whichmakeitsurprisingiy
simpletobuild.Theinstructions
startonpoge
20.

lookinginside

FinalDetails

BendBoardSforageChesl.Buildthiscasualbead
board
versionor onethat'sa littlemoretraditional.
Eitheronewill
fit rightinanywhereyou
needtoaddsomestorage
space.
youcan
Withbasicconstruction
andready-made
moldings,
plansbeginpage1.1.
Step-by-step
buildonein a weekend.

< PencilPostBed.There'sno mistaking

theclassic
detailsofthis pencilpostbed-from theeight-sided
lamb'stongue
taperedpostsandhand.carued
chamfercdown to thetraditionalhardware.For
plans,tumtopdge28.Thearticleon carvinga lamb's
tonguestartson page
50.