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Feature Library - Joinery

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Fine Woodworking Home

Joinery

Entire Site

• A selection of great information from our Magazines, Books, and Videos.

Tablesawn Keys for Mitered Boxes Pieces of wood inserted diagonally into the outside corner of mitered joints add strength as well as beauty — with Gary Rogowski

•

Skills & Techniques

Make the Tenon for Floating-Tenon Joinery Mill the tenon stock once you've established the size of the mortises

Joinery

— with Lon Schleining

Tools Finishing Workshop & Safety Projects & Design Materials

• Tablesawn Dovetails Accuracy and hand-cut look in half the time — by Steve Latta

• Three Tongue-and-Groove Edge Treatments for Plywood Besides giving your plywood edge added protection, these treatments let you shape the edge into a bullnose, a bevel, or any number of configurations — by Mario Rodriguez

Reader Showcase

• Edge Joints An introduction to the various types of edge joint, and what you need to know to make them — by Gary Rogowski

Get instant access to over 600 of the best Fine Woodworking articles. Fine Woodworking Online Archives

•

A Simple Dado For Shelves A router technique for an exact dado — with Pat Warner

• Tenoning Strategies Finding your way to a well-fitting mortise-and-tenon joint — by Gary Rogowski

Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information. Techniques

• Making Round Tenons from Square Spindles A tip for making this difficult joint with a radial-arm saw — by Rex Alexander

• What Makes a Good Mortise? A good fit and a strong glue bond are critical — by Strother Purdy

Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing

•

Picture-Frame Jig Helps You Master the Miter Cut adjoining parts on opposite sides of the jig to guarantee a 90° joint — with Gary Rogowski

• An Easily Aligned Jig for Routing Shelf Dadoes Adjustable pivot ensures accuracy — by Robert R. Knights

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Feature Library - Joinery

Carving Professional Topics

• A Faster Way to Make Half-Blind Dovetails It might not please purists, but it does speed up the process — by Rob Cosman

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Tablesawn Dovetails

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Tablesawn Dovetails

From the pages of Fine Woodworking Magazine

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Tablesawn Dovetails

Four cuts are possible with each setup

Accuracy and hand-cut look in half the time

Custom-ground blade is the key

by Steve Latta

Sources for grinding

Dovetailing -- time-tested, reliable and strong -- is also ornamental and should reflect the personality of the builder. For this to happen, the cabinetmaker must control the number of pins and tails and their size and spacing. Unfortunately, most router dovetailing jigs don't allow for that type of expression. The appearance of the final joint, with thick pins and uniform spacing, is void of personality.

Through-dovetail pins Half-blind dovetails

Hand-cutting represents the other end of the spectrum. The size and spacing of the pins are determined by the cabinetmaker. Combine that with the natural irregularities of handwork, and this technique yields a look that is truly wonderful, tying the builder to traditions that are hundreds of years old. However, it requires a great deal of time and skill. I teach students a tablesaw method that bridges the gap between router-cut and totally hand-cut dovetails. The technique guarantees accuracy while allowing you to control spacing and size. The tails can be as close together as the width of your sawblade. And it's easy to make the spacing irregular, another sign of handwork. The main problem my students have with hand-cutting dovetails is crooked sawcuts, which come back to haunt them when they use the tails to lay out the pins. Any irregularities create gaps and splits when the boards are joined. Cutting the tails on a tablesaw, using a miter-gauge setup or a guide block riding the rip fence, ensures square cuts. This leads to an accurate transfer and, inevitably, a better joint. The guide-block setup also lets you run a stack of parts in one pass.

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery A comprehensive, stepby-step pictorial reference on joinery Joinery From Fine Woodworking's early years, 36 articles on choosing, making and using the mortise-andtenon, dovetail, specialty joints, and more Dovetail a Drawer In this video, cabinetmaker Frank Klausz cuts quick, precise dovetails without jigs or templates

The tablesaw setup involves a tall support board attached between two miter gauges. A simple stop and clamp allow for accurate repeat cuts.

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Tablesawn Dovetails

Carving Professional Topics

Another big advantage is that you spend less time on layout. For multiple dovetails that are identical, the tails need to be marked on only a single piece of stock. The tablesaw setup guarantees repeatability. This also means that pieces are interchangeable, so when running compo- nents such as drawer sides, I send a few extra parts along for the ride. If one gets damaged later, a replacement is at hand.

Four cuts per set-up

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The pins are pretty easy, as long as the layout is transferred accurately with a marking knife. I use machines to remove the waste between the pins and then pare them by hand, working to the incised line. Have a blade specially sharpened Years back I read an article where a cabinetmaker ground all of the teeth of a tablesaw blade 11-1/2° in one direction and used the blade strictly for dovetailing. Fascinated by this idea, I spent $12 to have an old narrow-kerf blade ground this way to work with my Unisaw. I had another blade sharpened in the reverse direction to fit my lefttilting Powermatic 66. When tilted to the proper angle, the top edges of the teeth should be parallel to the surface of the table. Although this tablesaw technique will work with a standard blade, the cut will not reach all the way into the corner. The specially ground blade cuts a perfect corner, leaving only the small triangle of waste between the cuts.

Custom-ground blade

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You can have your blade ground to your favorite dovetail angle. I chose a 5:1 angle, which works out to 11-1/2°, but you might prefer 6:1 (91/2°) or an 8:1 ratio (7°). The cost of having a blade custom ground is usually under $20 (see Sources for grinding). The blade will handle its light task for many years without resharpening. I'm still on my first one. I recommend using a carbide-tipped blade that has a flat-top grind. Square-tipped teeth like this are common on older blades and blades designed for ripping. The problem with alternate-top-bevel (ATB) teeth is that too much of the carbide may have to be removed to get each tooth down to a common angle, and then the blade may not cut properly. Try telling your local sharpening service what you want; they may be able to work with almost any blade. Cut the tails first When teaching students to cut dovetails, I lay down a simple rule: pencil marks for the tails, knife marks for the pins. Because the tails are cut first, it's no big deal if your cut misses the pencil mark by a little. If it's a scribe line, however, you'll have to cut or pare all the way to that line to remove it and get rid of the small blowouts from http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00120.asp (2 of 4) [11/3/2003 2:51:07 à«]

Tablesawn Dovetails

severed fibers. Of course, I use a marking gauge to scribe the depths on both the pins and tails boards.

Make a test cut to set your sliding bevel tool. Use that setting to lay out your dovetails.

Size matters -- Basically, I cut the tails by setting the board on

end and pushing it through the angled blade. However, depending on the size of the workpiece, I do this in two different ways. For large case pieces, I use drywall screws to attach a support board of mediumdensity fiberboard (MDF) to a pair of miter gauges, which makes a very stable jig. Then I clamp a stop onto this board to allow repeat cuts. With a very high support board and a waxed table, I've made dovetail cuts on boards standing over 6 ft. tall. Rather than using a miter-gauge setup for narrow pieces such as drawer sides or drawer stretchers, pieces can be guided by a heavier chunk of stock riding against the rip fence (I save the cutoffs from bedposts for this purpose). This method has a couple of advantages: It's quicker to set up, and the stop, which is the rip fence in this case, is easier to adjust. Typically, I'll run each set of drawer sides as a pair, cutting The rip-fence-and-supportthrough both simultaneously. For block method works well for smaller parts. In this case the larger-scale jobs, with several rip fence acts as the stop, drawers equal in height, I often making it possible to run up to six parts at a time and keep run a stack of six parts in one them aligned. shot. The rip fence keeps them aligned. Once again, this support block also works to prevent chipout, so make sure each cut goes into fresh stock. Setting the blade height -- For through-dovetails, when using

the marking gauge to scribe the baseline, go a hair deeper than the thickness of the mating piece. This will cause you to leave the tails slightly proud when the joint comes together; then they can be planed flush to create a perfect appearance. The same should be done for the pins. Half-blind dovetails, however, should be laid out for a flush fit. Scribe a piece of scrap stock and use it to fine-tune the blade height. Tilt the blade to the appropriate angle and raise it slowly, making several test cuts until the blade is cutting right at the line. If you

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Tablesawn Dovetails

accidentally go too high, reposition the support board or flip the support block. That board or block backs up the cut to prevent chipout. When the blade is hitting the scribe line exactly, you can use the sawkerf in the scrap piece to set the angle of your adjustable bevel. Lay out the dovetails on your first workpiece. Move the stop block so that the blade lines up with the pencil line, then guide the piece through the cut. [

next ]

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Tablesawn Dovetails (page 2)

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Joinery

Tablesawn Dovetails

Page 2

Rabbet the tails before cleaning out the waste Before I clean out the waste between the tail cuts, I rabbet the inside edge of the joint. The rabbet is flush with the bottom of the tail sockets and serves a number of purposes. Most importantly, it makes it much easier to locate the tails board on the pins board, resulting in a precise layout transfer. Rabbeting the tails also leaves a clean corner on the inside of the finished joint, with the shoulder covering blowout, milling errors and glue squeeze-out. Cut this rabbet after making the tail cuts. If the rabbet is there first, you will get blowout when cutting the tails. When you put the rabbeted side against the miter fence, there will be no support there for the cut. However, rabbet the tails before cleaning out the waste between the angled tablesaw cuts. There will be less waste to clean out and the rabbet will help guide your chisel if you're chopping by hand. For small to medium workpieces, make a shoulder that's less than 1/8 in. deep. You can make this cut in a single pass over the tablesaw blade. For carcase pieces or drawer stretchers 5/8 in. or thicker, when the rabbet is thicker than a sawblade, make a shoulder cut followed by a cheek cut on the tablesaw. It is critical that this rabbet hit the scribe line exactly. Otherwise, the joint won't fit or there will be an unsightly gap on the inside corner. After rabbeting the inside of the tails, don't forget to reset your marking gauge for the pins, which now have less stock to pass through.

Techniques Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing

Custom-ground blade is the key Sources for grinding Through-dovetail pins Half-blind dovetails

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery A comprehensive, stepby-step pictorial reference on joinery Joinery From Fine Woodworking's early years, 36 articles on choosing, making and using the mortise-andtenon, dovetail, specialty joints, and more

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Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information.

Four cuts are possible with each setup

A small rabbet behind the tails creates a clean inside edge on the finished joint and makes it easier to locate the tails over the pins board when transferring the layout. It also protects the corners of the tails when the boards are stacked.

Latta prefers the scroll saw for removing waste stock between tail cuts. He cuts directly across the scribe line, leaving no waste, and the job is done in one step. This waste also can be removed quickly with a chisel.

Clean out the tails -- I prefer to use a scroll saw to cut away the waste. The thin blade can slide sideways down to the base of the tablesaw cut and then cut straight across the bottom in one shot. Cut to the scribe line. It's a waste of time to stay shy of the line and leave the rest for hand-paring.

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Dovetail a Drawer In this video, cabinetmaker Frank Klausz cuts quick, precise dovetails without jigs or templates

Tablesawn Dovetails (page 2)

Carving Professional Topics

If you don't have a scroll saw, waste some of the stock out with a bandsaw and finish with a sharp chisel. Of course, chop only halfway into the workpiece before flipping it over and working in from the other side. Regardless of the method, this step goes quickly -especially if the spacing between the tails (the size of the pins) is kept to a minimum. Now cut the pins Use a marking knife or X-Acto when transferring the location of the tails to the pins board; a pencil line is just not accurate enough. Also, during the final paring, the tip of your chisel will fall right into the knife mark, leading to a perfect fit. How you waste out the stock between pins depends on the type of dovetail being cut, the size of the workpieces and which machines you own. Three options for throughdovetails -- For smaller workpieces,

Through-dovetail pins

I use a scroll saw to clean out the waste between the pins. Cut in along the widest part of the pin and across the depth line. With a little practice you will be able to cut right to the scribe line. Having removed the bulk of the waste, use a chisel and marking knife to pare away the remaining triangles of stock.

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For larger case pieces with through-dovetails, or when you have a lot of parts to do, use either a router setup or a dado head on the tablesaw. By working with the board set on end, you can use the height adjustment on these machines to establish a clean and square surface at the bottom of these wide spaces. A router with a straight bit leaves the cleanest cut at the bottom of the pin spaces, and it lets you work closer to the angled cheeks of the pins, but it involves one quick extra step. First clean out most of the material with a scroll saw or bandsaw. The router will work more smoothly with less material to hog through. Because the router will be riding on the end of the board, clamp on a wide support block. This piece will also back up the cut. Remove as much stock as possible, then pare to your scribed layout lines with a sharp chisel or knife. On the tablesaw, use the double-miter-gauge setup. I usually stack the dado head to a 1/2-in. thickness, which doesn't hog away too much material in one pass but still makes the job go quickly. Just as before, if you go too high with your test cuts on scrap, reset the support board so that the cut plows through fresh stock. Place the workpiece so that the widest part of the pin is facing the dado head; that way any blowout will be mostly in a waste area. Again, finish the joint by hand. Router setup for half-blinds --

The router-and-support-block setup works well for just about all half-blind dovetails, whether fitting dovetailed stretchers into the tops of table legs, http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00120_p2.asp (2 of 3) [11/3/2003 2:51:59 à«]

Tablesawn Dovetails (page 2)

drawer sides into drawer fronts or case tops and bottoms into sides. Once again, set the router's cutting depth exactly to the scribe line. Finish the pins with a chisel and knife.

Half-blind dovetails

Method is a good compromise I'd love to teach my students to cut all (opens in new window) of their dovetails by hand, cherishing both the process and final product. But their skill levels and the reality of the marketplace they're entering simply won't allow for that. The structural integrity and final appearance of the joint is what matters most. With this tablesaw technique, you get most of the character of a hand-cut joint in much less time. All in all, it's a compromise I can live with. Steve Latta is a furniture-making instructor at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Photos: Asa Christiana; drawings: Kelly J. Dunton From Fine Woodworking #152, pp. 5661

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Three Tongue-and-Groove Edge Treatments for Plywood

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Three Tongue-and-Groove Edge Treatments for Plywood

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Three Tongue-and-Groove Edge Treatments for Plywood

Skills & Techniques

Besides giving your plywood edge added protection, these treatments let you shape the edge into a bullnose, a bevel, or any number of configurations

Joinery

by Mario Rodriguez

Tools

The three common versions of a tongue-and-groove lumber edge for plywood offer the most protection for a plywood edge. A significant advantage of adding a substantial piece of lumber to the edge of plywood is that you can shape that edge in any number of decorative configurations, such as a bullnose, an ogee, or a bevel.

Finishing Workshop & Safety Projects & Design Materials

Grooved Panel

Grooved Lumber

Plywood Spline

(opens in new window)

(opens in new window)

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But these edge treatments have a couple of drawbacks. They are timeconsuming to carry out, and each of them produces a visibly discernible seam. You can go about cutting these joints a couple of different ways. You can buy a matched set of router bits to make the required cuts, or you can make all of the necessary cuts on a tablesaw using either a combination blade or a stacked dado set, or both. There's not a lot of room for mistakes when you're setting up these cuts -- you must be precise. I usually begin by plowing the grooves first, using a stacked dado set. Naturally, you must be prepared to make allowances for plywood that is not a full 3/4 in. thick, because it rarely is. Plowing the groove from both sides guarantees that it will be perfectly centered, regardless of the actual thickness. After plowing the grooves, clamp a plywood scrap to the fence and reposition it to cut the tongues to fit. I prefer to make the shoulder cuts first, using a combination blade for a clean cut. When gluing up any of the three versions shown here, a clamped, slightly concave batten will give you tighter seams, distribute the pressure more evenly across the span of the edge and will require

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Concave batten aids clamping

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery Gary Rogowski's comprehensive, stepby-step pictorial reference on joinery

Three Tongue-and-Groove Edge Treatments for Plywood

Carving

fewer clamps.

Professional Topics

Mario Rodriguez is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking. Detail photos: Kelly J. Dunton; other photos: William Duckworth From Fine Woodworking #156, pp. 6061

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Edge Joints

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Edge Joints

From the pages of The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery Entire Site

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Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information. Techniques Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing Turning

Edge Joints

Spring Joints Splined Edge Joint

An introduction to the various types of edge joint, and what you need to know to make them

Tongue-and-Groove Joint Problems Edgebanding Options

by Gary Rogowski

There's no more thorough and readable guide to joinery than this new book from expert woodworker Gary Rogowski. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery uses full-color, step-by-step photo essays to show you how to make every practical woodworking joint. In this excerpt from Section 14, Rogowski provides an overview of edgejoint construction. If mortises and tenons represent most of the joinery available to a woodworker, edge joints make up the rest. Edge joinery relies mostly on adhesive strength, although there are exceptions. Unglued tongue-and-grooves or If you have two good mating shiplapped boards can make up you can glue up the the back of a cabinet, and unglued edges, boards by just aligning them coopered staves for a barrel can and rubbing their edges together. be held in place by an iron hoop. Some edge joints do have reinforcing, like biscuits, dowels, or even a tongue and groove. But these types of reinforcement are used as much for alignment as for strength. What edge joinery depends on is two good mating edges cut straight and true and bonded together with a good adhesive. Edge laminations put together with a good adhesive are so strong they are often stronger than the surrounding wood. But this strength depends heavily on the mating surfaces being true, clean, and without twist, so as the wood moves it does not put the edge joint under any additional strain. You can pull together any joint with enough clamping pressure, but the joints that will last are the ones require only moderate pressure to close.

Burned wood will not glue up well. Make sure your surfaces are always clean, straight, and without any twist.

Edge-joint uses

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The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction From Andy Rae, a graphic, step-by-step presentation of basic furniture construction techniques The Complete Illustrated Guide to Shaping Wood Furniture maker Lonnie Bird makes the complex subject of shaping wood accessible to every woodworker Router Joinery Gary Rogowski examines a wide variety of joints and construction techniques

Edge Joints

Carving Professional Topics

You can use edge joints to make simple laminations, construct coopered door shapes, or create wide panels from narrow widths. You can also construct tabletops, carcase sides, and the panels that fit into frames. Edge lamination is used to band the edges of plywood or other sheet-good materials with solid wood. Spring joints Edge joinery attempts to do a very basic and yet sometimes difficult task: mating two edges together completely along their entire length. Most boards flex enough even in their width to allow you to clamp out any gaps at the ends of a board. But consider that twice as much moisture loss and gain occurs out at the end of a board through the end grain.

To check for a spring joint, look for a little bit of light showing through the middle of the edges. The boards should also have some pressure at their ends when you try to spin one board on the other.

If an edge lamination is going to fail, it will usually fail at the end of a board first. This is where a spring joint really shines. By planing in a small hollow along the length of the boards, you will need to apply pressure to close up the joint. This creates more pressure and a little bit of springback at the ends where the boards start to lose moisture first. Cut this hollow into both mating edges and then check for a sliver of light shining through the joint.

Edge gluing Before doing any edge lamination, get in the habit of checking some details for the best results. Arrange the boards for grain direction before joining the edges. Some woodworkers alternate heart sides up or down to Before jointing the edges, mark out the face sides and align the minimize cupping. Others run the boards for looks or grain or boards consistently heart side up both. or down to yield a consistent cup. Still others just choose the best-looking combination of boards. If you're going to handplane the faces after gluing, line up the grain for a consistent planing direction. Remember that there are eight possible ways to arrange two boards together for a simple edge lamination, so there are plenty of options. Mark out the face sides and which edges will be glued together. Use flat pipe or bar clamps that you can register the boards on accurately. Have them resting on a good true surface. If the clamps and work surface are flat and you keep the boards flat on the clamps, your laminations have a much better chance of coming out flat as well. Plane the edges and then dry-clamp the boards together. This will make you get out all the clamps and tools you'll need for the glue-up before the glue starts drying. Check to see that the joint closes up on both faces. Make sure the pressure is consistent across the width and length of the joint. Bang the boards flat onto the clamps at their ends where they tend to lift up. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0002.asp (2 of 4) [11/3/2003 2:53:04 à«]

Slipcase Set: Essentials of Woodworking In six books, the best techniques, advice and shop solutions from the pages of Fine Woodworking Slipcase Set: Methods of Work Four volumes of proven shop tips from the Methods of Work column in Fine Woodworking: Finishing, Router, Tablesaw, Workshop The Glue Book William Tandy Young explains how to work successfully with a wide variety of glues

Edge Joints

Check both faces for squeezeout and add a clamp, if needed. Also check to see that the boards are sitting flat on the clamps.

Dry-clamp the boards arfter planing them to make sure the joint closes up on both faces.

Use enough glue that you get some squeeze-out when you apply clamping pressure. Use a C-clamp to keep the ends lined up flat or a dead-blow hammer to coax the boards into place. Check both faces for consistent clamping pressure. Add more clamps if needed to get a good consistent pressure. Alternate the clamp heads to even out the pressure. Reinforcing edge joints An edge joint mates long grain to long grain, which allows ideal gluing surface. For that reason, a glued edge joint has great strength, even without the addition of reinforcements. Tests have shown that an edge joint properly jointed and glued with modern adhesives has greater strength than the original solid wood. So why reinforce an edge joint? Reinforcements in the form of biscuits, dowels, splines, or tongues and grooves make alignment much easier. Beyond this, reinforcements provide a mechanical connection, which strengthen the joint. Without them, you must depend on the adhesive alone to hold the joint together. Splines help align edge joints and can be used decoratively. Use plywood splines or use solid-wood splines with their grain running across the groove for the best strength. It's easier to cut a spline to match the grain direction of the mating boards, but it's also easier to break it along the long grain. A tongue-and-groove joint is another effective way to join edges. The key to making a strong joint is designing and cutting it to the right proportions. Edgebanding Sheet goods are invaluable in cabinet construction, but plywood edges are ugly. Although commercially available edgebanding may be a quick solution, custom edgebanding is more durable and certainly more elegant (see Edgebanding options). Making your own edgebanding allows you to match stock color, especially for unusual species. Custom edgebanding also means more design options, including profiles. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0002.asp (3 of 4) [11/3/2003 2:53:04 à«]

Edge Joints Cover the edges of sheet-good material with a simple edge Gary Rogowski has been building lamination. furniture since 1974 in Portland, Oregon. He has taught furniture making classes and workshops around the country for 21 years. In 1997 he opened The Northwest Woodworking Studio, a woodworking school in Portland. He is contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine, the author of Router Joinery (The Taunton Press, 1996), and has appeared in Taunton videos. Photos: David L. Minick; Drawings: Mario Ferro From The Comoplete Illustrated Guide to Joinery, pp. 269-272

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Tenoning Strategies

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Tenoning Strategies

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Tenoning Strategies Finding your way to a well-fitting mortise-andtenon joint by Gary Rogowski

The mortise-and-tenon joint might be the most relied-upon joint in furniture making. After all, a well-fitted tenon can mean the difference between a sturdy table and an embarrassingly wobbly project. Cutting tenons can be approached from a dozen different directions, and the approach you take depends on your tools and how you like to use them. Some folks love the precision and power of their saw or router; others prefer the more contemplative whoosh of a backsaw and handplane. The method you choose will determine your speed and the risk factor.

Cutting tenons by hand Cutting tenons on the radial-arm-saw and bandsaw Cutting tenons on the tablesaw Cutting tenons vertically Router-table tenons Plunge-routing wide tenons

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A tenon should fit tightly in a mortise -Types of tenons snug, like a good shoe put on with a shoehorn -- not like a ragged old sneaker that you can flip off and across the room as you're sitting down. Regardless of the cutting method you choose, aim for a joint that is loose enough to put together by hand but (opens in new window) tight enough that it takes a few mallet taps to get it apart. Leave room for a little bit of glue in the joint, and always cut tenons just shy of the depth of the mortise so there's a gap at the bottom of the joint for excess glue. Remember that accuracy comes from the patient hands of the builder and that precise joinery depends upon accurate millwork. If your millwork is sloppy -- if your stock cups, warps or doesn't have parallel faces -- you'll have trouble cutting accurate tenons, no matter what method you choose. Also, I never cut mortises or tenons without first planning ahead on paper, even if it's just a quick sketch. It's better to risk a few simple eraser smudges on paper than to waste precious wood. A sketch will help you locate the joint for the most strength and best look. For strength, a tenon should be at least one-third the thickness of the stock to ensure there is enough material to support the joint. Cutting tenons by hand In these days of machines, it may seem a waste of time to cut a tenon by hand, but if you have only a few tenons to cut, you may be surprised by how much set-up time you can waste with some machines. When I have to cut only a few simple joints, I'll often

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Plunge-routing loose tenons

12 Ways to Make a Mortise & Tenon In this video, Gary Rogowski shows you a dozen ways to cut this essential joint

Making Mortise-andTenon Joints In this video, Frank Klausz shows you how to make the joint cleanly and quickly, using hand tools or basic woodshop machines

Tenoning Strategies

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reach for a backsaw and a shoulder plane.

Professional Topics Hand-cut tenons require careful setup and layout (see Cutting tenons by hand). Your method may involve using a marking gauge and square, a mortising gauge or a pencil and square. But whatever your method, be consistent with your approach and always be dead-on accurate. Even if you are using machines to cut tenons, the same guidelines for marking out hold true. Using the radial-arm saw and bandsaw to cut tenons The radial-arm saw probably crosscuts more efficiently than any other machine, and the bandsaw rips better than any tool in my shop. You can take advantage of both features to save time cutting tenons (see Cutting tenons on the radial-arm-saw and bandsaw). If you have a few tenons to cut, use a pencil to mark out one tenon shoulder and cheek. Set a stop for the shoulder cut on the radial-arm saw table or fence. Adjust the depth of cut on the radial-arm saw and cut all of the shoulders to the proper depth. Move to the bandsaw for the cheek cuts, and be sure to use a blade that suits your material. A 4-tpi (teeth per inch) blade works fine for most tenon cuts. But if you're cutting tenons in something hard like oak or mushy like green cedar, use a 3-tpi blade, which will push chips away and allow you to get through the cut more easily. On especially narrow tenons, a 6-tpi blade will work fine. Cutting tenons using a tablesaw By using various blade setups and jigs, there are several ways to cut tenons on the tablesaw. When choosing a method, consider speed, safety and accuracy -- and make sure that the blades and jigs you use are running true. A dado-blade setup for quick work -- The fastest way

to cut tenons using a tablesaw is with a dado blade (see Cutting tenons on the tablesaw). Set to the proper height, a dado blade will cut your cheeks and shoulders while you hold the stock flat on the saw table. Be careful while using a wide dado setup on the tablesaw, because these blades can take a big bite out of your board. Move http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00011.asp (2 of 4) [11/3/2003 2:53:52 à«]

Router Joinery Furniture maker Gary Rogowski shows you simple methods for using the router to cut joints and explains how you can use these same techniques in your shop Router Joinery In this video, Gary Rogowski demonstrates router joinery techniques that can be mastered by any woodworker

Tenoning Strategies

slowly through the cut, and keep the board flat on the saw table. Tenons cut vertically -- Because switching to a dado-blade setup

takes some time, it doesn't always make sense for small jobs. The method I've used most often calls for a combination blade on the tablesaw (see Cutting tenons vertically). I cut the shoulders with a crosscut jig, rough-cut the cheeks on the bandsaw, then trim the tenons to fit perfectly by holding them vertically on the tablesaw and passing them through the blade using a shopmade tenoning jig. Cutting tenons using a router table Given the proper amount of patience and set-up time, tenons can be cut successfully using a router table, and this setup really comes in handy if you have quite a few tenons to cut. This tenoning method is similar to the dado-blade setup on the tablesaw in that you need to set the bit height for a perfect cut. But with a good bit chucked in the router, you get a much smoother cut than you get with a dado blade on the tablesaw. You can work the stock slowly toward the fence, or to save some wear and tear on your router bits, you can rough out the cheeks first on the bandsaw. Then set a fence for the proper shoulder distance, and set the bit height for the first cheek pass. With a router table you can package two boards together for a more stable pass by the bit (see Router-table tenons), or you can use a backer board to support the cut and to prevent tearout on the back of the cut where the bit emerges. Make the first cheek pass and then check it against the mortise. Raise the bit for a deeper cut. Even with a wide bit, it will take several passes to get back to the shoulder cut. This is an end-grain cut, which tends to burn when you cut too slowly, so move relatively quickly through the bit, making sure you don't leave uncut any patches of wood on the cheeks of the tenons. If you're cutting mortises using a router, you'll either have to square up the mortises or round over the tenons. When I opt to round over the tenons, I do it quickly with a chisel and file. A simple jig (nothing more than a short cut made with the router bit used for mortising) tells me when I've trimmed the tenon to the correct shape. Plunge-routing tenons on wide stock To cut tenons on a wide board, use a plunge router with a fence mounted on it (see Plunge-routing wide tenons). A breadboard end with multiple tenons is the perfect situation to use this method, but it also works well for narrow boards. You just have to package a few of them together to get better support for your router base. Plunge-routing loose tenons on long stock When your stock gets too long to cut tenons, you can use loose tenons (see Plunge-routing loose tenons), which are simply two mortises joined together with a long spline (for lack of a better word). The mortises are easy to cut using a mortising template and a plunge

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Tenoning Strategies

router mounted on a template guide. Make up loose-tenon stock out of the same material as your mortised pieces and trim it to fit in thickness (at the planer) and width (on the tablesaw). Then take it to the router table and, with a roundover bit, round the stock on all four long edges. Next, cut a glue-escape slot on the tablesaw before crosscutting it to length. When cut to length, the loose tenons should fit smoothly into the mortises. Using a horizontal routing machine to cut tenons When a job calls for cutting a large number of tenons, it might be time to call out the big guns. When set up properly, a horizontal routing machine outfitted with a router can save you a lot of time and work. The machine does an excellent job of cutting a large number of tenons very quickly. You can use standard-sized tenon templates or design the joint to whatever dimensions you want. Another advantage is that the machine can cut angled tenons with ease simply by angling the worktable. But with prices starting at around $1,500, you have to be able to justify the cost of the machine. The method of choice There are countless ways to cut tenons. The methods you choose should depend on the tools you have in your shop and on the number of tenons you have to cut. For a single small tenon, you can probably cut it quickly by hand. If you're cutting hundreds of tenons, a horizontal routing machine could save you hours and hours. For many of the jobs you encounter, you might find a happy medium with routers and saws. Just remember that what matters isn't how you cut tenons; it's how they fit. Gary Rogowski is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking. Photos: Matthew Teague and Michael Pekovich; drawings: Bob La Pointe From Fine Woodworking #142, pp. 6067

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Making Round Tenons from Square Spindles

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Making Round Tenons from Square Spindles

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Making Round Tenons from Square Spindles A tip for making this difficult joint with a radial-arm saw by Rex Alexander

Making round spindles in a PVC pipe jig on the radial-arm saw is faster than using traditional methods for machining square tenons. To cut round tenons on square stock, slip a piece of PVC pipe over each end of the spindle, allowing it to roll (Step 1). Carefully rotate the spindle against the radial-arm saw's fence and a stop block while moving the cutterhead, fitted with a dado blade, to remove the waste (Step 2).

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Step 1

Step 2

Rex Alexander makes furniture, cabinetry and millwork in Brethren, Mich.

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Photos: Anatole Burkin; drawing Bob La Pointe

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From Fine Woodworking #130, p. 81

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Joinery, Shaping & Milling Articles from Fine Woodworking describe techniques and strategies for making furniture parts Radial-Arm Saw Joinery In this video, Curtis Erpelding shows you how to use an ordinary radial-arm saw to cut precise joints for making furniture

Making Round Tenons from Square Spindles

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What Makes a Good Mortise?

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What Makes a Good Mortise? A good fit and a strong glue bond are critical

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by Strother Purdy

12 Ways to Make a Mortise & Tenon

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A good mortise needs two things: a clean surface for a strong glue bond and a tight fit with the tenon.

In this video, Gary Rogowski shows you a dozen ways to cut this essential joint

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The fit should be...

Making Mortise-andTenon Joints In this video, Frank Klausz shows you how to make the joint cleanly and quickly, using hand tools or basic woodshop machines

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not too tight: If you have to hammer the joint together, it's too tight. You'll likely split the mortise if you tap aggressively. not too loose: You shouldn't be able to move the tenon in the mortise at all or feel any back-and-forth movement when you try. just right: The tenon should fit into the dry mortise with hand pressure only. It should not come apart easily, and it certainly should be able to withstand gravity. A good fit may even need light mallet taps to drive the joint apart.

For a strong glue bond, the mortise cheeks should be...

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● ● ●

flat and smooth, so they meet the tenon evenly. unfinished, so the glue can penetrate the mortise cheeks. free of loose fibers, which would soak up the glue and not allow it to penetrate solid wood.

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Strother Purdy is a former associate editor of Fine Woodworking.

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Photos: Strother Purdy

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From Fine Woodworking #130, p. 59

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Joinery, Shaping & Milling Articles from Fine Woodworking on milling lumber straight, flat, and square; creating curves through bending, laminating and coopering; and developing techniques for routing a wide range of complex shapes and joints

What Makes a Good Mortise?

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An Easily Aligned Jig for Routing Shelf Dadoes

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An Easily Aligned Jig for Routing Shelf Dadoes Adjustable pivot ensures accuracy by Robert R. Knights

Recently, I had to rout lots of dadoes in cabinet sides for 3/4-in. plywood shelving. I came up with a method built around a 5/8-in. patternmaking router bit (with the bearing located above the bit) and a simple jig made from two pieces of 1-in.-thick plywood about 6 in. wide. The two pieces of plywood are joined by a small piece of 1/4in. plywood at one end that pivots.

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To use the fixture, clamp one side to the cabinet side along the index line you have drawn for the shelf location. Position an offcut of the same material you will be using for the shelf between the two parts of the jig. Swing the second fence toward the first fence so that it sandwiches the offcut, and clamp it in place. Now remove the offcut, and rout the dado, running the bit's bearing against the sides of the jig's arms.

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This system is more accurate than any other method I've used. It even adjusts for minor variations in sheet thickness.

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Robert R. Knights lives in Woombye, Australia.

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Drawing: Jim Richey

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From Fine Woodworking #124, p. 26

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Joinery, Shaping & Milling Articles from Fine Woodworking on milling lumber straight, flat, and square; creating curves through bending, laminating and coopering; and developing techniques for routing a wide range of complex shapes and joints

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Router Joinery Furniture maker Gary Rogowski shows you simple methods for using the router to cut joints and explains how you can use these same techniques in your shop Router Joinery In this video, Gary Rogowski demonstrates router joinery techniques that can be mastered by any woodworker

An Easily Aligned Jig for Routing Shelf Dadoes

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A Faster Way to Make Half-Blind Dovetails

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A Faster Way to Make Half-Blind Dovetails

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A Faster Way to Make Half-Blind Dovetails It might not please purists, but it does speed up the process by Rob Cosman

I was fortunate to learn how to cut dovetails from one of the best in the craft. In 1987, I spent two weeks as Alan Peter's assistant at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. After all of that training, I can cut a set of through-dovetails as fast as I can set up a router jig. But cutting half-blind dovetails is another story. Although there are some tricks to speed up the process using a router, removing the bulk of the waste from between the pins is mostly a slow and tedious process using a chisel. My solution is to start with a thick drawer front and rip a fat, 1/8-in.-thick slab off the front. I do this while the drawer front is still oversize in width and length. Then I plane both pieces and set aside the 1/8-in. piece. After that, I cut regular throughdovetails -- front and back -- and assemble the through-dovetailed drawer. Once the drawer is together, I simply laminate the 1/8-in.thick piece back onto the drawer front. After trimming the front piece flush on all four sides, I have (from all appearances) a set of perfect half-blind dovetails.

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Joinery, Shaping & Milling Articles from Fine Woodworking on milling lumber straight, flat, and square; creating curves through bending, laminating and coopering; and developing techniques for routing a wide range of complex shapes and joints

A Faster Way to Make Half-Blind Dovetails

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Another advantage of this approach is that I can rip a set of drawer fronts in sequential order from one thick board, resulting in a nicely matched flitch pattern on the fronts of all of the drawers. Rob Cosman lives in Grand Bay, N.B., Canada. Drawing: Jim Richey From Fine Woodworking #141, p. 20

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Feature Library - Skills & Techniques

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— with Michael Dunbar

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• Bench-Chisel Techniques Used correctly, a simple set of chisels covers all of your chopping and paring needs — by Garrett Hack

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Chop a Hinge Mortise Rough out the mortise, then chop and pare to the lines — with Garrett Hack

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Install Strap Hinges on a Blanket Chest Testing and adjustments yield a perfect fit

Using Your Souped-Up Spokeshave Even a well-tuned shave requires practice to master — with Brian Boggs

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Two Simple Jigs to Aid Your Cuts on a Router Table Safe operation and clean cuts result from proper control of the workpiece — with Pat Warner

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Using the FasTrack Honing Guide with Diamond Paste Learn how to maintain the same honing angle for each iron — with Aimé Ontario Fraser

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Cutting with a Dovetail Saw Phil Lowe demonstrates the clamping and cutting techniques that lead to tight-fitting joints — with Phil Lowe

• Turning Bowls: Rough Turning the Profile Step-by-step instruction from a master woodturner — by Richard Raffan

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Turning Beads and Coves Mastering these two shapes will allow you to turn virtually any furniture spindle — with Ernie Conover

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Use a Boring Bar for Hollow-Vessel Turning Drill an entrance hole, then cut from the center out for a thin-walled vessel — with Howard Lewin

• Assembling Cases Get it right the first time with the right tools and the proper clamps and clamping technique — by Andy Rae

• Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones and Sandpaper Different woodworkers use different sharpening methods — by Jeff Kolle

• Carving the Foot by Hand How to make an 18th-century style pad foot without a lathe — by Lonnie Bird

• Carving an Egg and Dart Molding With two gouges and a mallet, you can make this classic design — by Lee Grindinger

• Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg Tapers can be cut quickly and accurately with a bandsaw, a thickness planer or a tablesaw — by Gary Rogowski

• A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop? For cutting sheet goods in tight quarters, this carpenter's tool, used with a sacrificial table and dedicated cutting guides, produces jointquality cuts with ease — by Gary Williams

• 12 Quick Tips Readers’ ideas make woodworking easier, safer and less expensive — by Fine Woodworking Readers

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

The versatile chisel

Used correctly, a simple set of chisels covers all of your chopping and paring needs by Garrett Hack

A few thousand years ago someone clever hammered out a hunk of bronze into a narrow blade, fitted a handle to one end, sharpened the other against a stone and produced a chisel. Generations of craftsmen since have tweaked the design: Tough steel replaced soft bronze, the shape and length of the blade were modified to suit various tasks, but in essence, chisels have not changed much. They are still simple in form and, when used effectively, one of the most useful tools in the shop (see The versatile chisel). Every week catalogs arrive, full of a dizzying array of different chisels: long, fine-bladed paring chisels; stout mortise chisels; heavy and wide framing chisels; stubby butt chisels; intriguing Japanese chisels; and many sets of bench chisels. Few other classic hand tools are still available in such variety. Unless you work entirely by hand, all you really need is a good set of what I call bench chisels or, as some prefer, firmer chisels. These are chisels with blades about 4 in. to 6 in. long, in a wide range of widths from about 1/8 in. to 2 in. and with a wooden or plastic handle. The only substantial differences between sets of bench chisels are the quality of the steel and the shapes of the blades. The blades on my everyday set of Swedish bench chisels are slightly tapered in length and beveled along the long sides. Tapering the blade yields a tool stout enough for the hard work of chopping a mortise yet light enough to pare one-handed. A blade with flat sides is stronger than one with beveled sides and is less expensive to manufacture. But a beveled blade can reach into tighter places, such as for cutting small dovetails. Prepare the chisel As with many other tools, the performance of a chisel is determined by how well it is tuned. The back of the chisel -- the unbeveled side -must be dead flat for at least 3/4 in., and preferably 1 in. to 2 in., behind the cutting edge. This flat plane guides and controls the cut: A

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Classic Hand Tools A celebration in word and picture, plus practical information on using, choosing and tunng these mainstays of the woodworker's shop The Complete Guide to Sharpening Learn the most effective ways to sharpen your tools, from chisels to drill bits The Woodworker's Guide to Hand Tools An A to Z manual for your hand tools

Bench-Chisel Techniques

curved back will rock and provide little control. Another common problem is a slight rounding of the cutting edge on the back side. The back might still be flat except for this tiny back-bevel. Sloppy technique, not keeping the back absolutely flat on a sharpening stone while honing, creates this sort of rounding. The result is a chisel that will not cut while At least the first 3/4 in., and resting on its back because the preferably the first 1 in. to 2 rounded edge is in the air. A in., of the chisel's back should chisel with a rounded edge must be perfectly flat. The back guides and controls the cut and be angled forward slightly, thus ensures a fine edge. losing the back as a source of control. Flattening the back of a bench chisel right to the cutting edge is tedious but important. Work through the range of grits until you get a bright polish on your finest stone. Once you have flattened the back, choose a cutting bevel angle based on the type of work you do. The finer the bevel, the more easily the tool slices through wood fibers. A fine bevel, 15° to 20°, is a little delicate, but it works for a chisel reserved for light paring cuts in softwoods. To chop tough end grain, a stouter 30° to 35° bevel would hold up better. For everyday bench work I aim for a 25° bevel whose width is about twice the thickness of the chisel. This is a compromise between ease of cutting and the durability of the edge. Lightly hollow-grinding the bevel every three to four sharpenings speeds the honing process by reducing the area of steel in contact with the stone. I use a grooved block of wood that holds the chisel handle, set at a distance from the wheel to achieve the desired bevel angle. I then hone the edge on a medium India stone and a fine black Arkansas stone hollow-grinding a 25° using kerosene as a lubricant. I try After bevel on the grinder, the author to hone at a consistent 25° bevel hones the bevel on a medium and then a fine oilstone. The with little or no microbevel along author guides the chisel the cutting edge. The only freehand, but a honing guide can help until you master the exception is when I need a technique. slightly tougher cutting edge for an extremely hard wood, such as rosewood, where I raise the tool handle to hone a microbevel of 30°. For a final strop I use some 0- to 2-micron diamond paste smeared on a piece of Baltic birch plywood. I prefer this to a leather strop, which being softer and more uneven, increases the risk of rounding over the bevel. How to tell if your chisel is sharp It's worth repeating that a chisel must be very sharp to work well. A dull edge takes far more power to drive through the fibers and, more importantly, is harder to control. Everyone has a special way to test http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00116.asp (2 of 6) [11/3/2003 2:56:42 à«]

Bench-Chisel Techniques

the sharpness of an edge: dragging it against a fingernail, shaving arm hair or plucking the edge with a finger. The problem is that these tests are all a bit subjective. I test the sharpness of a chisel by paring a block of end-grain white pine and then looking at both the shaving and the cut surface. Because softwood fibers are weak and easily torn from the surface, only a really sharp edge will cut a thin and whole shaving. Looking at the end grain, ideally it should be uniformly polished. But more likely there will be light flecks in the surface where fibers were torn away, or it will exhibit fine tracks where tiny nicks in the chisel's cutting edge scraped across the wood.

The tuned chisel should be flat on the back and have a narrow band of honed steel along the cutting edge, with a slightly concave ground surface just behind.

Next lay the chisel with the back If you can leave a clean cut on flat on one of the long-grain sides pine end grain, your chisel is of your block. If you can pare a ready for action. shaving without lifting the chisel, the back and cutting edge are flat. If you have to lift the chisel to get it to cut, the back or cutting edge is rounded. Proper technique ensures good results For most of us, the days of working with hand tools alone are long gone. Whereas chisels would once have been our primary tools for cutting all manner of joints, today we typically use them more often to adjust joints cut on a machine. Chiseling tasks can be simplified to chopping, paring or some combination of the two. Cutting end grain, such as excavating a mortise, is chopping. A mallet usually delivers the driving force, so everything works best when you chop vertically, down against your bench, preferably directly over a leg. Paring is often a hand-powered operation, using the chisel horizontally or vertically to slice away a thin shaving. This can be against the end grain or along the grain. I also pare with the chisel in one hand and use my thumb as a lever, much the same way you would use a knife.

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

With experience you will be able to hold the chisel at the correct angle merely by sighting across and down it (left). A square set on end acts as a guide when squaring up the end of a mortise (right).

Chopping to a line vertically -- Cutting with a chisel held

plumb is an acquired skill. Finding the right angle is easiest when you are only slightly above the work and looking across the chisel. Sighting against a square set on end helps, as does good light shining toward the work and you. Holding the chisel plumb greatly speeds any chopping task. If this is hard for you, or if you have to cut an angled mortise, saw a waste block to this angle and clamp it in place to guide your chisel. For heavy chopping, driving a chisel with a mallet allows you to concentrate all of your efforts on directing the tool. Light cuts yield more accurate results. Think about the cutting edge sinking into the wood. The back is trying to guide the chisel plumb while the beveled side of the cutting edge presses the chisel against the back. With a light cut this pressure breaks out the chip and holds the back right to the line. Try to chop too large a chip, especially in softwood, and the pressure will push your chisel beyond your line. Take little bites, waste up to your line, and then take a final light cut right on the line. Because I have a good selection of chisel sizes, I waste as much wood as I can with a chisel narrower than the mortise. The final cut is with a chisel snug in the mortise and right on the line. Paring to a line vertically -- Paring end grain gives you a whole

new appreciation for the toughness of wood. Good paring takes both muscle and a feel for controlling the cut. A sharp chisel and a light cut give you the best chance for doing accurate work. After you have removed the bulk of the waste using a mallet, switch to a light paring cut right on the line. This provides greater accuracy and control and allows you to undercut slightly. Also, it's just plain quicker than reaching for the mallet each time after moving the work. Work around all four sides of a tenon to establish the shoulder line and to give you something to sight against when paring. Position your body above the work for paring the final shaving or two, using the weight of your upper body to drive the chisel and both hands to guide it.

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

Lightly chopping all the way around defines the shoulder of a tenon (left) before a final paring with hand power (right).

Paring to a line horizontally -- Given a choice, I prefer the

control of a plane to shave a surface. But there are plenty of times when I don't have the right plane close at hand or when it's simply quicker to pare a few shavings with a chisel. Long and thin-bladed (for flexibility) paring chisels are the tools of choice here, but a welltuned bench chisel will work almost as well. For maximum control when paring, I find it's best to have one hand on the chisel handle and the other as close to the work, or cutting edge, as practical. This way you can raise or lower the handle slightly to control the depth of cut, while the hand close to the cutting edge holds the chisel steady and helps guide the cut. This hand also acts as a brake, smoothing out the pressure delivered by the hand on the handle. The smoothest and easiest cuts are made with a slight shearing action, slicing both forward and sideways.

When cutting horizontally, the smoothest cuts are made with a slight shearing action, cutting both forward and sideways. The need for a perfectly flat chisel back is apparent when fitting a tenon.

Using the chisel as you would a penknife allows you to make delicate cuts such as slicing end grain or beveling a tenon.

Paring while using the thumb as a lever -- Holding the chisel like a penknife or a potato peeler, with the blade cutting toward you, takes some getting used to. Once mastered, this technique allows for fine controlled cuts, even in end grain. I use it to pare the end of a table leg, to shorten a tenon and to chamfer its ends.

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

Cutting bevel-side down -- When paring the bottom of a groove, the flat back of a chisel can no longer be used as a guide, and the natural inclination of the chisel is to dig in. Turn the chisel upside down and use the bevel to guide the cut, raising or lowering the handle to adjust the depth of the cut. This method is useful to deepen a mortise or dado (or shape a curved one) or to smooth the bottom of a recess for an inlay.

As with all tools, there are many paths to accurate and satisfying results. Sharpen a few chisels and practice these basic techniques. Some of them might not feel comfortable at first, but everyday use at your bench is the surest way to master them. Garrett Hack is a furniture maker in Thetford Center, Vermont. Photos: Mark Schofield and Michael Pekovich From Fine Woodworking #150, pp. 62-65

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Assembling Cases

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Assembling Cases

Excerpted from The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction Entire Site

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Assembling Cases

Pinch Rod Dead-blow mallet

Get it right the first time with the right tools and the proper clamps and clamping technique by Andy Rae

When you're ready to assemble your furniture, you usually have only one shot to get it right. Once the glue is spread, there's no turning back. Glue up a cabinet out of square, and you'll pay dearly later in the construction process because your error will accumulate so that fitting subsequent parts becomes a nightmare. To get it right the first time, it's vital to have the right assembly tools on hand and to use the proper clamps and clamping technique. After all, who hasn't glued together what was a perfectly fitted miter, only to find the joint slipping out of alignment as you placed pressure on the joint? Learning and practicing the correct approach to assembly will save you untold hours of frustration. The dry run One of the best techniques I've come to learn about assembly (and learned it the hard way, meaning I had to make many mistakes first) is to always -- and I mean always -- do a dry run of any assembly. This means assembling all the parts without glue. Make sure you use all the necessary clamps you'll need and check to see that you can confidently close all the joints. In effect, you're practicing the entire assembly sequence. And 9 times out of 10, you'll discover during a dry run that something is missing or you need more clamps in a specific area to bring an assembly together. Or perhaps you'll need to rethink the glueup process and break the assembly sequence down into smaller, more manageable parts. It may take more time, but investing in a dry run is well worth avoiding the horror of applying glue, only to find that you can't quite put the parts together as planned. Assembly tools and jigs There are innumerable jigs and tricks used in assembly. All are aimed at making the process of putting together multiple parts easier, more accurate, and ultimately less frustrating. There's nothing worse than spreading glue only to find you don't have the right tools or setup ready to go. Here are some essential assembly aids that make glue-ups go a lot smoother. Reading square with a pinch rod

It's vital to square up a case or opening immediately after assembly-before the glue dries. One way to check for square is to read the

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The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery In full-color photo essays, expert woodworker Gary Rogowski show you how to make every practical woodworking joint Essentials of Woodworking Six books of recent articles from Fine Woodworking in an attractive slipcase set Boxes, Carcases and Drawers 39 vintage articles from Fine Woodworking on choosing, making and using every kind of carcase joint

Assembling Cases

Carving Professional Topics

diagonal measurements from outside corner to outside corner with a tape measure. When the two measurements are equal, the opening is square. But clamps often get in the way, it's practically impossible to get a reading on the back of the case, and reading the outside corners won't tell you whether the inside of a deep case is square. A more accurate method is to use a pinch rod.

An adjustable pinch rod allows you to compare inside diagonals quickly and to any depth. If they match, the case must be square.

A traditional pinch rod is simply two Pinch Rod sticks, sharpened at one end, that you pinch, or hold together, in the center. The modified version shown at right adds clamping heads that make things a little easier and more precise. Set the (opens in new rod to the length of one of the window) diagonals; then check the opposite diagonal inside the case. Push the sticks into the case to read the entire depth. Keep adjusting the rod (and the case) until the rod fits equally between both diagonals. Squaring a case with a board

As an aid to assembling a case square, cut a piece of plywood to the exact width of the case opening, making sure adjacent edges are square. Before you clamp the case joints, clamp the board inside the case, lining up one edge of the board with the case sides. Voila! No more twisted or out-of-square openings.

A squared-up board cut to the width of the inside provides an easy way to square up a case.

Shims and blocks align parts

It's a good idea to keep on hand a variety of shims and blocks in varying thicknesses, from playing cards, squares of plastic laminate, and strips of leather to 1/4-in.-, 1/2-in.-, and 3/4-in.-thick blocks of wood. These spacers help align or position parts during glue-up, and they're great for protecting A box full of shim materials the surface of your work. In the comes in handy during glue-up. photo at right, small squares of MDF align the clamp heads over the center of the joint, while plastic shims prevent the pipes from dinging the surface. Riser blocks raise the work

Gluing up assemblies often means having to get underneath the work to attach clamps or other parts. The simplest answer is to raise the http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0001.asp (2 of 4) [11/3/2003 2:57:30 à«]

Assembling Cases

entire assembly on blocks of wood. But finding stock thick enough can be a pain. Just as strong, and easier to make, are sets of riser blocks made from 3/4in. plywood glued and nailed together. Blocks about 5 in. high by 2 ft. long are sufficient for almost all your glue-ups. Simple plywood risers elevate the work for easy clamping.

A piece of tape comes in handy as a third hand when positioning clamping cauls.

Clamping cauls

Like blocks, cauls made from scrap material can prevent dings in your work. More important, cauls distribute more clamping pressure across a joint, allowing you to use far fewer clamps when gluing up. For broad gluing surfaces, use bowed clamping cauls. For narrow joints, scrap plywood or leftover sticks of wood work fine. The trick to getting the cauls to stay where you want them until you add the clamps is to tape them temporarily in place. Dovetail tapping wedge

In many cases, you don't need to bother clamping dovetail joints, especially on small box constructions, such as a drawer. To assemble and fully seat the joints without damaging the pins, tap over the joint with a wedgedshaped block of dense wood. The shape of the block allows you to position it over the joint regardless of the size of the tail. [ next ] | 1 |

A wedge-shaped block helps seat dovetails in their sockets.

2

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

Skills & Techniques

Different woodworkers use different sharpening methods

Joinery

by Jefferson Kolle

Tools

Many years ago, as the new, inexperienced guy on the carpentry crew, I was in charge of lugging giant piles of plywood from one side of the job site to the other. "I went to college for this?" I used to ask myself. There was a guy on the crew, Mark Fortenberry, who had the sharpest tools. He made finish work look effortless -- smooth, fluid, precise. Every morning he'd pour coffee from his stainless-steel thermos and sharpen the tools he needed for the day. Differentcolored stones were unwrapped from an oily towel; a little can of three-in-one oil appeared; and Mark would sharpen.

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Knowing I would need to acquire tools and skills if I ever wanted to do anything other than get intimate with sheet after sheet of rough plywood, I bought a block plane and a roll of chisels, the same plane and chisels that Mark had. But there was something wrong with my tools -- maybe they were defective. The problem was they were dull. "Dull as a hoe," Mark said. Eventually I got lots of tools: tools I used everyday, tools I didn't really need, tools I never used. And I got my grandfather's two sharpening stones -- oily, black things, one with a big chip out of the corner. Often when I tried to sharpen something, I think I made it duller. (What's duller than a hoe? A hoe handle, maybe.) The whole process mystified me. I decided that electricity would remove the mystery of sharpening, so I bought a powered waterstone made by Makita (www.makita.com).

Workshop

It's a great tool: The platterlike, 7-in., 1,000-grit stone moves at fewer than 600 rpm, and water drips onto its surface from a plastic reservoir. The tool comes with a honing guide and an attachment for holding planer or jointer blades. It couldn't be more jerk-proof. Fill the reservoir with water, turn on the tool and hold the blade against the stone. The motor thrums along quietly, reassuringly, telling you that now, finally, you are going to get truly sharp tools. And I did. For the first time since Mark sharpened some of my stuff, my plane irons and chisel blades would shave hair off my forearm.

Finishing

Eventually I went into business for myself, restoring houses, building

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The Complete Guide to Sharpening Tool expert Leonard Lee shows you the most effective ways to sharpen your tools -from chisels to drill bits -- so they cut better and stay sharp longer Sandpaper Sharpening In this video, Michael Dunbar demonstrates sandpaper sharpening. Sharpening a blade takes only minutes, and it all happens without special gauges or messy lubricants.

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

Turning Carving Professional Topics

an occasional piece of furniture, and the Makita never failed me. I got to the point where I stopped using the honing guide. Instead, I held blades freehand against the turning stone, and after a while I wore a trough in the stone, which made it harder and harder to get a flat edge. If the machine has a fault, it is that it is messy. Water gets flung around, especially when you're trying to true the back of a blade. Every time I sharpened, my shirt would get soaked right at my belt line, and I would have to mop water off the workbench when I was through. I got a catalog recently that devoted seven pages to sharpening stuff. Waterstones, oilstones, synthetic stones, diamond stones, electricpowered stones, jigs for this, jigs for that, rouges, powders, potions. I'm sure they all work. There are a zillion ways to sharpen steel -- I know a woman who sharpens her kitchen knives on the unglazed bottom rim of a dinner plate -- but what works for one person might not work for another. For two days, I drove around New England, visiting three woodworkers, talking to them about their methods of getting an edge. Waterstones and the art of sharpening Scott Schmidt has a shop in The Button Factory, a warehouse of artists and craftsmen in Portsmouth, N.H. Schmidt was schooled at North Bennet Street, and he uses Japanese waterstones. "The way I was taught," he said. At the end of his shop, there is a bench dedicated to sharpening. In more than 20 years of woodworking, Schmidt has used up one waterstone, and he is halfway through another. All sharpening stones are sacrificial -- they wear away as steel is rubbed over them -- but waterstones are softer than most, and it is the gritty slurry that's created as the stone erodes that works with the stone itself to provide the sharpening medium. Schmidt soaks his stones in a grungy, water-filled plastic basin -- the type of container a deli might use to store coleslaw or potato salad. The basin lives under his bench, and he pawed through it, pulled out a dripping stone and set it on the benchtop, wiping off the water with his hand. On top of his bench is a piece of rubber rug padding that keeps the stone from moving. He set the stone on the pad, and before touching steel to stone, he spritzed the stone with a water bottle. "I think of sharpening as a process of constantly flattening the stone, keeping it flat by using its whole surface," he said. "You can't make a blade flat with an unflat stone." The natural tendency, one that Schmidt takes pains to avoid, is to work a blade onto one spot in the center of the waterstone, creating a declivity -- in effect, unflattening the stone. When a stone's surface needs redoing, he flattens it on a concrete block.

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

Schmidt sharpened one of his favorite chisels while I was at his shop. For a new tool or one with a badly damaged edge, he'll first work the blade on an electric grinder before going to his waterstones. For a long time he used a magnifying glass to inspect the edges he'd honed, but familiarity with his tools has enabled him to forego this practice. He told me that it's easier to sharpen a tool he To flatten a waterstone, rub it on a uses a lot. "If you know the concrete block. A little water and a little rubbing on a concrete block way a certain tool cuts, you will true an unflat waterstone. The know the way that tool will concrete abrades the stone quickly; true a stone only when it take an edge. A large part of really needs it. both processes, cutting and cutting an edge, is done by feel." He does not use a protractor or angle gauge; rather, it's a matter of touch and sight.

Scott Schmidt works a blade across a waterstone in four directions. He repeats the process with stones of 1,200, 2,400 and 6,000 grit.

He started on the back of the chisel using a 1,200-grit waterstone, working the steel back and forth along the length of the stone and mixing up a slurry of water and abraded stone particles. He often stopped and checked the chisel's surface, tilting the tool to look at the shiny areas and the dull spots. "I can feel that this stone has a little high spot on this end," he said, concentrating his efforts in that area. "When the stone is perfectly flat, you can feel sort of an even suction between the wide surface of the chisel's back and the stone. If there's a high spot on the stone, the steel grates a little bit, sounds rougher." When the chisel's back had a uniform shininess -- no dull spots to be seen in the steel -- Schmidt turned to the bevel. As he did on the back of the chisel, he started the bevel by working it back and forth along the length of the stone for several minutes. Then Schmidt changed tack. Another spritz or two with the water bottle, and he was working again, this time pushing the blade back and forth along the width of the stone. And then he switched again, running the blade in a series

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

of diagonal strokes, crisscrossing the stone from one corner to the other. The slurry built up in little waves. He spritzed again and changed his stance so that he could work the steel from the opposite corner, this time making Xs of slurry. By the time he was finished, the bevel had been worked across the stone in four directions: back and forth along the length; back and forth across the width; and diagonally across the stone in two directions. He felt the edge with his fingernail. A thin, wire edge had developed, which he removed with several strokes on the chisel's back. When Schmidt was finished, he repeated the process on both the back and bevel, using a finer, 2,400-grit stone and then, finally, a 6,000-grit stone. After five minutes on each stone, the chisel was razor sharp. The back and bevel shone like mirrors. Oilstones, kerosene and a little diamond paste After a hard right turn at the end of a Vermont dirt road, I arrived at the shop of Garrett Hack. Hack is a father, a farmer and a woodworker, in no particular order. He is somewhat of a traditionalist, and it shows in the architecture of his slate-roofed brick shop and in the furniture he makes. But there's also a contemporary side to Hack. A Federal-style chest he made has an outrageous band of checkerboard inlay, and the bright-green trim and certain interior details of his shop belie a man who is not a slave to history. Hack's sharpening methods parallel his architecture; he favors traditional oilstones, but he occasionally uses a new product -- diamond paste -- to get a keen edge in hard steel. Spread on his benchtop was an array of planes, ready to be sharpened. Hack removed the iron from an old Stanley No. 3. "I just got this," he said, giving the plane a critical eye. "The back of the iron has probably never been flattened. It needs to be lapped." For the quick removal of steel, Hack will use a diamond stone with an aggressive grit. Because it is messy -- he uses a lot of water with the diamond stone, constantly dousing the surface -- he usually works outside on the shop's granite steps. The diamond stone is also good for removing small nicks in a blade's bevel. Hack dipped the diamond stone into a water bucket and worked the back of the plane bade against the stone in slow figure eights. After a while, he held the steel up to the light. The shine on the blade was uneven, meaning the back of the blade still needed work. "Lapping the back of a blade takes some time, but once it's lapped flat, you should never have to do it again." Hack stores his sharpening paraphernalia in a drawer built into the underside of his workbench. The drawer is full of oilstones, each in its own wood box. And there are tiny plastic jars of diamond paste in http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (4 of 9) [11/3/2003 2:58:40 à«]

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

different grits and an oil can filled with kerosene. He reached in the drawer and removed a small, trapezoidshaped wooden frame. The frame, spotted and stained with oil, had a cleat on the bottom. When Hack rested the cleat against the edge of his bench, it was apparent that it was made to hold his sharpening stones at about 30°. "It's a comfortable work angle," he said.

Any oil will do, but Garrett Hack likes kerosene for his oilstones. A quick drizzle of kerosene keeps the stones from clogging with abraded metal. When sharpening, Hack's stones are held stationary in a cleated wooden frame.

Exerting firm, even pressure on the blade, Hack moves the steel in a figure-eight pattern around the surface of the stone. A good grip on the blade allows him to move the steel off the edge of the stone without tipping, and thus he can use the whole stone.

After the blade had been lapped, Hack, like Schmidt, started his sharpening on the back of the plane's iron. He squirted a few drops of kerosene on the stone, telling me that there are all sorts of honing oils available. "But anything will work," he said. "I heard of a guy who uses olive oil." He hunched over the first stone -- a manmade India oilstone -- again working the steel in slow, lazy figure eights, moving around the whole surface of the stone. After some time, the back of the blade had an even, slightly dull shine. Hack then turned his attention to the bevel. He held the front of the blade flat on the stone and rocked the blade up onto the bevel, starting again with the figureeight pattern. When the bevel had an even shine, just like the blade's back, he switched to a finer-grit stone -- a hard, black Arkansas stone -- and repeated the entire process. Hack's secret weapon is 4micron diamond paste (which is the abrasive equivalent of a 4,000-grit waterstone). He picked up a sliver of wood from the shop floor and scooped out a half pea of paste. "It doesn't take a lot," he said. "Even this is probably too much." He wiped the paste onto the fine stone, smearing it around with the wood sliver, mixing it in with the kerosene.

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

And again he started on the back of the iron, working the steel, checking it in the light, until he was sure of the evenness of the shine. Same thing for the bevel. When he was finished he checked the sharpness of the blade by using it to pare the end grain of a scrap of soft pine. "Why not hardwood?" I asked. "Almost anything will cut hardwood," he said. "But only A dab of 4-micron diamond paste is Hack's secret weapon for getting a a truly sharp blade will good edge. He mixes the paste cleanly cut the end grain of with a little kerosene and smears it around on his hard, black Arkansas pine without tearing some of the fibers and leaving a ragged stone. edge. If it's really sharp, the blade will sever all of the wood fibers evenly, leaving a cut on the end grain that looks almost burnished." Hack flattens his stones with gritty silicon-carbide powder, water and a scrap of plate glass. "It's pretty messy," he said. "Sometimes I do it outside." It's also pretty simple: Hack sprinkled some powder on the glass, added a little water and worked the face of the stone in big circles. When he thought the stone was flat, he held it up to the light and checked it with a straightedge. "Needs a little more right here in the center."

To true his oilstones, Hack uses gritty silicon-carbide powder mixed with a little water. Hack mixes the paste on plate glass and works a stone in a circle. Later, he checks the flatness of the stone with a straightedge.

Again he worked the stone against the paste-smeared glass. He checked it one more time and could see no light coming through between the stone and the straightedge. Satisfied, he wiped off the stones and the little can of kerosene, and everything went back into the drawer, except for the oily rag, which he hung off the corner of the bench to dry.

Plate glass and sandpaper Even before Mike Dunbar opened The Windsor Institute where he instructs 600 students a year in the craft of making Windsor chairs, he was a teacher, albeit an itinerant one. He traveled all over the country, going to woodworking shows and giving demonstrations at woodworking stores. He packed a lot of stuff for his trips: chair parts and tools. It was a hassle to find a way to sharpen tools on the road; either he had to bring all of his oils and stones or rely on the store to http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (6 of 9) [11/3/2003 2:58:40 à«]

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

provide them. Most good inventions are born of necessity; Dunbar's socalled scary-sharp method of getting an edge with plate glass and sandpaper is no exception. "Sharpening tools doesn't earn any money for a woodworker," Dunbar said. "I like to get my tools sharp and then get to work. Using glass and sandpaper is an extremely fast way to get an excellent edge." Along the back wall of Dunbar's shop is a dark-green, built-in cabinet, and right on the edge of the cabinet's countertop sat a dirty piece of 3/8-in.-thick plate glass about 8 in. by 40 in. Next to the glass were three rolls of adhesivebacked sandpaper. Dunbar grabbed a razor-blade window scraper and gouged off the three strips of spent paper from the plate glass (the glass is held on the bench with a couple of wood strips). "We sharpen a lot of tools here, and we go through a lot of sandpaper." He went over to a wall-mounted rack of the school's tools -- planes, chisels, gouges and drawknives -- and grabbed an almost-new, 1-1/2-in. chisel. All of the school's shop tools are spray-painted bright green. "If they're painted, they don't walk," he said. He looked at the edge of the chisel and noticed two big nicks in the blade. I asked him if he would not ordinarily grind out the nicks from the student-abused blade. "I'm telling you," he said, "this method is really fast."

Mike Dunbar sharpens his tools with sandpaper stuck to 3/8-in.thick plate glass. Working steel across three grits of paper, 80, 120 and 320, cuts an edge in no time. Another plus: plate glass never needs flattening. When the sandpaper gets dull, scrape it off the glass with a razor blade and stick on a new piece.

He cut three strips of sandpaper from the 4-in.-wide rolls, one each of 80 grit, 120 grit and 320 grit, and adhered them to the glass. Holding the chisel handle in one hand and using the palm of his other hand on the top side of the chisel, he started to rub the tool back and forth along the length of paper, checking occasionally the evenness of the shine on the back of the blade.

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

Felt-tipped marker shows a blade's low spots. When lapping, Dunbar colors the back of a blade. After working the blade across the sandpaper, the ink is removed from all but the low spots on the blade.

When the back was even with scratches from the 80-grit paper, he colored the back of the chisel with a red, felt-tipped marker. "The marker works like machinist's chalk," he said. "If there are any low spots on the blade, the marker won't get removed when I rub the blade on the sandpaper." He worked the blade against the paper again, and when he held it up to the light, only a faint trace of red showed in the center. Dunbar decided the back was flat enough and told me that future sharpening will make the blade truly flat. Then he switched to the bevel, or bezel, as Dunbar calls it. "Check your dictionary," he told me. I made a mental note. Dunbar held the front of the chisel on the sheet of 80-grit paper and rocked the blade forward until it rested on the bevel. "Simple," he said. "You don't need a honing guide or anything like that. Just rock the blade until you can feel the beveled surface resting on the paper." With one hand on the handle and the other putting pressure on the back of the chisel, he worked the blade side to side along the length of the 80-grit sheet. A forward-and-back motion or a figure-eight pattern would tear the sandpaper. He worked the blade for a minute or two and then asked me if I wanted to try it. I told him that I felt like Huck Finn being fooled by Tom Sawyer when Tom convinced Huck that it was fun to paint a fence. "No one believes how easy and fast this is," Dunbar said, "until they try it." I looked at the blade and saw the nicks. I worked the bevel against the sandpaper the way he showed me. After a minute I looked at the blade again; the nicks were almost gone. He looked at me looking at the blade. I smiled, and he raised an eyebrow, knowing he'd won another convert. After a little more work, Dunbar had removed the rest of the nicks. Total time to remove the nicks in the blade was about five minutes. Then he switched to the 120-grit paper but not before sweeping away the filings with a mason's brush. "Keeps the paper from clogging, and you don't want to get coarser grit on the finer-grit paper." When all of the scratches from the 80-grit paper had been supplanted by the 120grit scratches, he swept the filings and moved onto the 320-grit sheet. The sequence was the same: He worked the chisel on the 320-grit paper until there was an evenness of scratches, brushed off the paper and moved to the next-finer grit. After working the chisel, Dunbar placed a piece of 600-grit wet-or-dry paper right on top of the 320-

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

grit sheet. The roughness of one paper holds the finer-grit paper in place. For most tools he feels that 600 grit gives a sharp enough edge; for the keenest edges he will go from 600 grit to 1,000 grit and sometimes all the way up to 2,000-grit paper. A blade honed on 2,000 grit shines like chromium. Unlike using oilstones, waterstones or powered stones, with Dunbar's method you don't have to worry about flattening the stones. The plate glass is always flat, and when the sandpaper gets dull, you scrape it off and stick on another piece.

Rougher grit holds finer-grit paper in place. For the keenest edges, Dunbar uses fine-grit sandpaper without adhesive backing. Tools sharpened with 2,000-grit paper are truly scary sharp.

As I drove home, I thought of my Makita electric sharpening stone lost in the garage of my ex-wife's house. I thought of Schmidt and Hack and how well their sharpening methods worked for them. (Different strokes for different folks?) And then I thought of the glass store near work, and I decided to stop in and get myself a piece of 3/8in.-thick plate glass. Tom Sawyer wins again. Jefferson Kolle, former managing editor of Fine Woodworking, is now a freelance writer. Photos: Jefferson Kolle; drawings: Bob La Pointe From Fine Woodworking #140, pp. 5661

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Carving the Foot by Hand

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Carving the Foot by Hand How to make an 18th-century style pad foot without a lathe by Lonnie Bird

All 18th-century pad feet that I've examined are round, presumably because they were turned on a lathe. But even if you don't have a lathe, you can produce an attractive pad foot; you'll just need to be prepared to spend a little extra time at it. When you bandsaw the leg blank, go ahead and bandsaw the foot outline as well. This will create a square pad foot that provides a guideline for shaping by hand. Next, locate the center of the foot by marking diagonal lines. Then draw the circumference of the pad with a compass or template. To shape the foot, remove the four corners with a chisel and rasp. A carving gouge with a curvature to match the foot contour is also helpful in achieving a pleasing appearance. Finally, smooth and blend the surfaces with a file.

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1. Use a circle template to position the circle at the bottom of the pad.

2. The circle at the top of the foot is penciled in by eye.

Projects Workshop Finishing Turning http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00031.asp (1 of 2) [11/3/2003 2:59:07 à«]

Carve a Ball-andClaw Foot In this video, Phil Lowe shows you how to design and carve this hallmark of 18thcentury furniture

Carving the Foot by Hand

Carving Professional Topics

3. Use a carving gouge to establish the curve on one corner, then use a chisel to cut away the small shoulder at the bottom of the pad.

4. Rasps and files help round the pad down to the bottom of the leg. Once the bottom has been shaped, sight down the leg and clean up the top profile.

Lonnie Bird teaches furniture making at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio. He is the author of The Bandsaw Book, published by The Taunton Press. Photos: Matthew Teague From Fine Woodworking #144, pp. 4849

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg Tapers can be cut quickly and accurately with a bandsaw, a thickness planer or a tablesaw by Gary Rogowski

Table or desk legs that have been tapered top to bottom have a grace and delicacy that square legs just don't seem to have. Shaker furnituremakers exploited this leg style, and so have many others. Although legs may be tapered all the way around, more often than not I cut tapers on two adjoining faces of a leg. The process can be both quick and reliable. Roughing out tapers is best done by machine; either a bandsaw or a tablesaw is a good choice. Tapers also can be cut by mounting leg blanks on a jig that's passed through a thickness planer, a process that requires very little cleanup. Cleaning up the cuts also can be accomplished in a number of ways--on a jointer, with a router and a flush-trimming bit, or with a handplane. How much taper a leg gets and which faces are tapered are personal choices best made with plenty of experimentation. Tapering on the bandsaw By far, the simplest and safest way to cut a taper is to draw lines on two adjacent faces of each leg and cut just to the waste side of the lines on a bandsaw, making straight cuts. The cut is not that difficult to make if your bandsaw is properly tuned and the blade is sharp. Mark out the taper on a milled leg blank, striking a line from the widest point, where the taper starts, to its narrowest point at the foot. If there's a flat near the top Bandsawn tapers are safe and of the leg where an apron will simple. Feed the leg blank intersect it, strike a line across the slowly with one hand, steering as you go, and use the other face of the leg where the taper hand to help guide the cut. Cut begins or just slightly below it. to the waste side of the line. The idea is to leave enough material on the leg so it can be cleaned up without making the leg too thin.

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Joinery, Shaping and Milling Articles from Fine Woodworking on milling lumber straight, flat, and square; creating curves through bending, laminating and coopering; and developing techniques for routing a wide range of complex shapes and joints

Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

Carving Professional Topics

If the leg shape is one you might reproduce often, consider making a template of 1/4-in.-thick hardboard or medium-density fiberboard. The next time you need to lay out this taper, it will take just a few seconds. It's easier to sight down the layout line if you lower your head a bit as you make the cut. Use two hands to help guide the leg through the blade, feed slowly and try to compensate for any drift before you wander from the line. With practice, it becomes quite easy to cut a straight line on the bandsaw. But be careful to keep your fingers out of the way. It's easy to run your thumb into a bandsaw blade. Tapering with a thickness planer A thickness planer isn't the first tool that comes to mind for cutting tapers. But a planer will do an absolutely consistent job of tapering leg stock if you use the proper jig--one with a simple carriage that supports the legs at an angle and has stops at either end. The only real drawback is All four legs of a table can be that it's fairly slow.

tapered at once. The author's planer jig is made from a piece of 3/4-in.-thick plywood and three angled strips of wood to support the legs. Stops at either end of the plywood keep the legs in place.

I made my jig from a piece of scrap plywood several inches longer than the length of the legs. To get the taper I wanted, I drew the taper on one of the legs, placed the leg on the plywood base of the jig and raised one end until the taper line was parallel with the plywood. I measured this height near one end of the plywood, cut a support piece to fit there and glued it on. I added a stop just behind it. The narrow end of the legs butt against this stop. The next step is to cut angled pieces that will support the legs and prevent them from flexing under the pressure of the feed rollers in the planer. With these supports glued to the plywood base, I added another stop at the front end of the jig to capture the legs securely--I didn't want the stock moving around beneath the cutterhead.

Tapered sled jig

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The best thing about this method of tapering legs is that all the legs for a project can be done at the same time. Take light passes, especially at first, to minimize deflection of the stock. Also, make sure the legs don't rock on the support pieces. If they do, you'll see some vicious sniping. Tablesaw tapering The most commonly used tool for cutting tapers is the tablesaw--and why not? It's fast and, if the saw is well-tuned, very little cleanup is needed. You can either make a dedicated jig every time you need a different taper, or you can use a hinged, universal tapering jig to cut many different tapers. I prefer using dedicated jigs because I often http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00036.asp (2 of 5) [11/3/2003 2:59:46 à«]

Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

reproduce designs. With a dedicated jig, I'm assured of getting the same results every time. The base of the jig is a straight, flat piece of plywood just a few inches longer than the leg stock. I cut it so its sides are parallel and its ends are square. Then I screw a back stop to one end to catch the wide part of the taper. A front stop, near the other end of the jig, captures the leg and cants it from the plywood at the correct angle for the desired taper. To set up for the cut,

Tablesaw jig

Tablesawn tapers are fast and accurate. A dedicated jig like this one produces consistent results but is limited to a single angle and leg length.

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measure from the inside edge of the jig to the widest part of the taper-either the corner of the leg if it's a full-length taper or a few inches shy of the corner if you want to leave a flat section on the leg for an apron. Use this measurement to set the distance from blade to fence. Keep the jig firmly against the fence, and feed steadily as you make the cut, running the narrow end of the leg into the blade first. For the second taper on a leg, rotate the leg blank 90° clockwise in the jig. By rotating the leg this way, a square, untapered face will rest on the tablesaw. Three ways to clean up the cuts Some cleanup is almost always required after you've cut the basic tapers. Even a planer can leave mill marks. Here are three simple methods for cleaning tapers. Jointer: This tool does a great job of cleaning up sawmarks. I generally go straight from the bandsaw to the jointer. I set the infeed table for a light cut and use a push stick.

To avoid tearout, you should cut with the grain. That usually means the narrow end of the leg is last to go over the cutterhead. Inspect the taper first, though, checking for grain direction as well as for any high spots that may need to be taken down by hand before you joint the whole length of the taper. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00036.asp (3 of 5) [11/3/2003 2:59:46 à«]

Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

Check, too, to see if one end or another needs more wood removed. You may be able to take slightly more off one end than another by varying the amount of hand pressure you apply. Make sure the tapers are well marked so you can tell when you're finished. Feed slowly to minimize cutterhead marks.

The jointer cleans up tapers quickly. A few light passes over the jointer should clean up any mill marks or other surface irregularities left after roughing out a leg by machine.

Template routing ensures consistent results. Both bottombearing bits (shown) and topbearing bits work. Doublefaced tape secures the template to the legs.

Router: A flush-trimming bit mounted in a router table is another quick way of cleaning up tapers, especially if you don't have a jointer. This technique also guarantees that all the tapers are precisely the same. Both top-bearing and bottom-bearing bits will do the job, and you can use the same templates here that you used to lay out tapers for the bandsaw. Double-faced tape works well to attach the template to each leg. For a production run, a jig with attached toggle clamps is better and faster.

When a bottom-bearing bit is used in a router table, you will have to make a tapered template for the second taper so the router bearing (which is at a fixed height) has something to ride on. You'll need thicker stock for this template. Cut and clean up the first taper. Then mark the second taper on the template stock by placing it on the tapered leg and setting them both on a flat surface, like a bench or jointer bed. On the template stock, mark a line that's parallel with the bench or bed. Then cut and clean this second side. The template is ready for use. Make sure the tapers have been cut close to the template shape; there shouldn't be more than 1/16 in. of wood to clean up with the router. Set the height of the bit so that the bearing rides firmly against the template. Start the cut back just a little from the end of the leg. Work from the widest part of the taper to the narrowest. Rout the full length, and finish up with one smoothing pass. Handplane: On wood that's not particularly gnarly, a well-tuned handplane can be used to clean up tapers straight off the bandsaw, planer or tablesaw. A plane also is a good choice for tapers that have been cleaned up with a jointer or router but still need a little more

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

polishing. Generally, you'll want to plane downhill (from the wide part of the taper down to the narrow), but you should check the grain direction of each face you're planing to be sure. The grain may surprise you. Make sure your stop or bench dog won't interfere with the plane at the end of its stroke. Mark a line across your stock at the start of the taper, and take lighter passes as you approach it.

A handplane cleans tapers efficiently. A plane leaves a surface that's ready for finish, but take care to plane with the grain to avoid tearout.

Gary Rogowski designs and builds furniture in Portland, Ore., and is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking. Photos: Vincent Laurence; drawings: Jim Richey From Fine Woodworking #128, pp. 6063

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A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop?

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A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop?

Skills & Techniques Joinery

by Gary Williams

Tools

Contractors couldn't live without the portable circular saw, but we of the warm, dry furniture shop tend to leave it on the same shelf as the chainsaw. Great for building a deck but far too crude for quartersawn oak. Necessity has a way of teaching us humility, however.

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Setting up the table Using the guides

For cutting sheet goods in tight quarters, this carpenter's tool, used with a sacrificial table and dedicated cutting guides, produces jointquality cuts with ease

Finishing

Tuning the saw

I've been a sometimesprofessional woodworker for nearly 30 years, but somehow I have never managed to attain the supremely well-equipped shop. I work alone in a no-frills, two-car garage that I share with a washer, a dryer, a water heater and a black Labrador. My machines are on the small side, and I lack the space for large permanent outfeed and side extension tables for my tablesaw. Perhaps you can relate. Under these conditions, cutting a full sheet of plywood can be a very challenging operation. Even if you have your shop set up to handle sheet goods with ease, perhaps you've run into similar difficulties cutting plywood and lumber accurately on job sites and installations. The solution? May I suggest the humble circular saw? Cutting lumber and plywood with a handheld circular saw is nothing new. You've probably done it before, with varying degrees of success. You get that 4x8 sheet up on the sawhorses, mark your cut line, rig up some kind of straightedge and cut. Trouble is, in the instant before the cut is complete, gravity happens, and you are presented with an entirely new challenge. Now you have two pieces that either want to collapse in the middle or fall off the end. Meanwhile, the scrap you used as a straightedge bowed a little during the cut; and it wasn't quite long enough to begin with, so the last few inches of the cut were done freehand. And as to the cut produced by that blade you last used to cut creosote-soaked fence posts... I've developed methods of tuning the saw, supporting the workpiece and guiding the cut that combine to make slicing up sheet goods and

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Mastering Woodworking Machines Mark Duginske shows you how to choose, set up, and tune your machines for safety, precision, and efficiency Woodworking Machines 40 articles from Fine Woodworking's classic black-and-white days will help you assess and using a variety of machines Power Saws and Planers 26 articles from Fine Woodworking cover tuning up your table saws, adjusting your bandsaw wheels, small thickness planers, workshop noise, and more

A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop?

Carving Professional Topics

unwieldy planks of solid wood with a circular saw so simple and the results so clean that I don't even daydream about the big shop and the behemoth tablesaw anymore. You must tune the saw If you're going to make joint-quality cuts with a circular saw, there are rules: Rule No. 1: Start with a good saw, one that can be properly adjusted and that has good bearings to prevent the blade from wobbling. Rule No. 2: Install the best 40-tooth carbide blade that you can find. Rule No. 3: Always check the blade tilt with a machinist's square before starting a job. Rule No. 4: Make sure the blade is exactly parallel to the edge of the saw's base. Use a dial indicator if you can (see Tuning the saw). If you can't adjust the base, see Rule No. 1. Use a cutting table to support the work The backbone of my system is a sacrificial cutting table with folding legs. Picture that unwieldy sheet of plywood lying serenely on a dedicated cutting table, waiting to be operated on like a patient in surgery. When each cut has been completed, both halves of the sheet will still be lying there, awaiting further disposition. Nothing caves in or falls off the end. Each cut makes a shallow kerf in the table, and when you've chewed up one table, you simply make another (for me, a matter of a couple of years). The table is cheap, easy to build and lightweight, and you can store it in a narrow space when you're not using it (see Setting up the table). The table's open-grid format serves three purposes: It keeps the table light; it keeps it clean (sawdust falls through, and you can't pile junk on it); and it allows a clamp to be used anywhere on the table surface. It doesn't take a 4-ft. by 8-ft. table to handle a full sheet of plywood. I build mine a little under 3 ft. by 7 ft. This size is comfortable to work on and easy to store. If you have to cut a foot or less off one end of the sheet, you can slide it over so that the far end hangs over a foot or two. Same thing with width. As long as there is enough table to support more than half of the piece, it's not going to fall off. There are various ways to assemble the grid. If you have a regular workbench large enough to lay out all of the pieces on, you can use a couple of bar clamps to snug the assembly together while you insert screws. Alternately, you can lay the pieces out on the floor and use a wall to give you something to push against while driving the screws. I use fir 2x2s for the long rails and 2x4s for the crosspieces. I drive 3in. drywall screws to connect them, and I drill clearance holes only for the screws at the ends of the long rails, where there is some danger of splitting the wood. If you work on the floor, you can assume the grid won't be perfectly flat, but that's okay. As long as it's not far out of flat, it should perform well. You can place your tabletop on sawhorses for use, or just put it on a bench or table, but I'd recommend fitting it with folding legs. Folding banquet table legs, available in many woodworking catalogs, are

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A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop?

fairly inexpensive and add a tremendous amount of convenience. To get a heavy sheet of plywood or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) up on the table, there's a simple way to save your back. Place a couple of wood scraps on the floor and tilt the table down so that the edge of the tabletop rests on them. This gives you room to get your fingers underneath. Then set the plywood on edge on the blocks as well. Lean the plywood against the tabletop, reach underneath and tilt up the table and sheet together. Make dedicated cutting guides The difficulty in using a straightedge with a circular saw is that you have to offset the straightedge from the cut line to account for the width of the saw's base. My first approach to simplifying this process was to rip a strip of Masonite the exact width of this offset. I would lay this spacer down next to the cut line and then snug my straightedge up to the spacer. It didn't take long to figure out that it would be more convenient to attach a Masonite spacer to the bottom of the straightedge. Now I simply lay the Masonite base of a cutting guide right on the line, clamp the guide to the workpiece and cut (see Using the guides). One bonus is that the saw glides smoothly across the Masonite instead of on my workpiece. And another is that the Masonite backs up the cut, minimizing splintering of the veneer in cross-grain cuts. I keep several of these guides in the shop, in different sizes and configurations. Together with the circular saw and the cutting table, they make dissecting large panels a breeze. I recommend at least three different guides: an 8-ft. guide for cutting sheet goods in the long dimension, an easier-to-wield 4-ft. version for shorter cuts and a 90° guide for perfectly square cuts. To make a guide, begin by cutting an 8-in.-wide strip of 3/4-in.-thick plywood for the fence portion. Next, measure the saw's footprint -the distance from the blade to the edge of the base on the side under the motor. Then make the Masonite base. Its width is 8 in. plus the saw's footprint plus 1/2 in. or so extra, which will be trimmed off. The plywood for the fence should be of good quality -- something with good inner plies, such as hardwood or marine plywood. The edge that the circular saw will be running against should be free of voids, if possible. For the Masonite base, tempered is best, 1/8 in. or 1/4 in. thick. To assemble a straight guide, lay the plywood fence, best-side down, on the table, and lay down the Masonite strip with the best side down on top of the plywood. Drill and countersink clearance holes in the Masonite, about every 6 in. along the length of the assembly. Clamp the two boards and screw them together, being careful to get the screws fully countersunk. Your next move will be to trim the Masonite base. If you haven't bought a good sawblade yet, drop everything and do it now -- your guide will be trimmed to match your exact saw and blade combination; you don't want to make a guide with one blade and use it with another. When you get back from the store and put your good carbide blade in the saw, check the blade for square and parallel according to those iron-clad rules listed above. Then clamp the guide http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00035.asp (3 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:00:04 à«]

A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop?

to your cutting table and trim off the excess Masonite by running the saw down the length of the assembly. Now the guide is ready to go. The key to making the right-angle cutting guide is getting an accurate 90°. I use a scrap piece of plywood as a form when I join the two legs of the guide. I use a factory corner (checking with a square to see that it is 90°) or cut one corner square. Using a guide is a snap. The only thing to remember is that the guide is always placed on the good side of the cut marks -- that is, on top of the piece you're going to be using -- so that the saw kerf is in the waste. Nonstandard cutting with the guides Once you've used this cutting system for a while, you will no doubt see other applications for it. Here are several that have come up in my work since I first made these guides. Straight-lining crooked boards -- The 8-ft. guide offers an easy way to straighten the edge of a long, waney-edged plank. Use scraps the thickness of the workpiece to space the cutting guide off the table. Clamp the guide to the table. Then tuck the crooked edge of the board under the guide's Masonite base just far enough that the waney edge disappears. Then clamp the plank to the table and rip. Mitering -- What if you need to rip a wide mitered edge to make a

large box? All you need is another cutting guide. Make one with an oversized base, just as you did with the others, and then trim it with the sawblade set to 45°. When you are ready to cut the miters on the workpiece, mark the cut on the edge of the piece with a 45° marking square and line up the beveled Masonite with the marks. Ripping skinny pieces -- Narrow pieces are typically best cut on

a tablesaw. But on site or on an installation, there may be times when you want to cut a piece narrower than the cutting guide. In these cases it's difficult to clamp the two together without the clamps interfering with the saw. The solution is to clamp the workpiece to the table, with the clamps in the waste, and hold the guide down with different clamps. As with the straight-lining, elevate the guide using scraps the same thickness as the workpiece, positioning them under the clamps. Slide the workpiece under the guide, line up the cut marks with the Masonite edge, and clamp the workpiece to the table. Then rip as usual. If you need to rip a number of skinny pieces to the same width, position the spacer blocks to serve also as stops, determining the width of the cut. A cutting table and guides should make your life a little easier around the shop, especially if it's a small one. You may even find them helpful next time you go out in the cold to build a deck. Gary Williams is a technical writer and woodworker in San Diego. Photos: Jonathan Binzen From Fine Woodworking #143, pp. 7073

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A Circular Saw in the Furniture Shop?

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12 Quick Tips

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12 Quick Tips Readers' ideas make woodworking easier, safer and less expensive by Fine Woodworking readers

Shellac prevents glue squeeze-out problems To prevent glue squeeze-out problems when assembling drawers, simply finish the insides of the drawers before assembly. Sand all of the inside drawer parts, and apply two or three coats of shellac, carefully avoiding the surfaces that will be glued. Later, when you assemble the drawers, any bead of glue will pop right off after it has dried. -- Joe Barry, Lumberton, N.C. From Fine Woodworking #148, p. 14

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Make shims from compact discs Compact discs make excellent shims for setting up dado blades. Simply enlarge the hole to your arbor size, and insert the discs between the blades to the required thickness. If a disc breaks, take heart: A replacement will arrive shortly in the mail from an Internet service provider. -- Tom Carpenter, Vernon, B.C., Canada From Fine Woodworking #149, p. 18

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Abrasive stick removes gum buildup from bandsaw blade The same rubber abrasive stick that you use to clean sanding discs and belts will also remove gum buildup from your bandsaw blade. Just push the stick against the sides of the blade while the saw is running.

Techniques

-- Robert P. Cromwell, Royalston, Mass.

Furniture

From Fine Woodworking #148, p. 16

Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing Turning

Masking tape helps eliminate tearout When working with sheet goods, I trim the pieces to an approximate size with a handheld circular saw. Then, before I make any final cuts, I put down a piece of 2-in. masking tape, affixed directly to the wood. I can then mark my final cut line on the tape. The tape all but eliminates tearout.

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Methods of Work: Slipcase Set The best tips from 25 years of Fine Woodworking in a four-volume set Woodworking Techniques The best methods for building furniture from Fine Woodworking

12 Quick Tips

Carving

-- Craig Duff, Del Rio, Texas

Professional Topics

From Fine Woodworking #145, pp. 18, 20

Inexpensive inserts from plastic cutting board When I wanted to build a router table, I checked out the phenolic and acrylic inserts in the mail-order catalogs and decided they were too expensive. Then I came up with the idea to use a plastic cutting board, the kind found at any store that sells cooking utensils. The board machined well and cost less than $5. -- Rick Grinstead, Charlotte, N.C. From Fine Woodworking #141, pp. 20, 22

Food vacuum pump for small veneering jobs I use a food vacuum-storage setup for small veneering jobs. Because the bags are sealed, the vacuum pump doesn’t have to run continuously, and you can do as many projects as you want with only one vacuum tool. With the proper attachment, the device will draw air from Mason jars to enable long-term storage of finishes with no skin forming on the top. -- Tom Love, Delmont, N.J. From Fine Woodworking #150, p. 20

Plastic bags keep brushes from drying out To keep brushes from drying out, place the brush inside a slide-lock plastic bag, and snug up the slide on the brush handle. The bag will keep the brush from drying out for several days. -- John Martin, Racine, Wis. From Fine Woodworking #147, p. 18

Latex gloves protect hands from splinters To protect my hands around the shop, I use inexpensive latex examination gloves, available by the box from wholesale supply stores (such as Sam’s Club). The tight-fitting gloves are sensitive enough to operate machinery but strong enough to protect from splinters when handling rough lumber. They are surprisingly durable. As a bonus, the gloves leave my hands in dramatically improved condition at the end of the day, reducing the need for moisturizers and rehabilitation. -- Lawrence A. Salibra II, Gates Mills, Ohio From Fine Woodworking #143, p. 22

Sweeper cloths remove wood and sanding dust Procter & Gamble’s disposable refill cloths for the Swiffer dust sweeper make excellent tack cloths. The cloths do a great job of removing wood and sanding dust and do not interfere with http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00081.asp (2 of 3) [11/3/2003 3:00:16 à«]

12 Quick Tips

subsequent finishes. They are relatively inexpensive and can be used repeatedly. -- Paul L. Stotler, Leonardtown, Md. From Fine Woodworking #147, p. 16

Color code to quickly locate correct wrench To locate the correct Allen wrenches quickly and easily, wrap a different color of electrical tape around the handle of each wrench. Also, place a dab of paint on each tool with a color that matches the tape on the Allen wrench used to adjust that tool. -- Jim Wheeler, Plainfield, Ind. From Fine Woodworking #149, p. 18

Paraffin lubricates scraper’s cutting edge When using a scraper, swipe the edge of it along a block of paraffin after every few strokes. The paraffin lubricates the cutting edge, reducing chatter and preserving the sharp edge. -- Mike Zaslav, Cherry Hill, N.J. From Fine Woodworking #149, p. 16

Rubber thimbles for feeding work into bandsaw I use rubber thimbles, the kind used by mail sorters, to make it easier and safer to feed work into my scroll saw and bandsaw. Worn on the thumb and middle finger of each hand, the extra traction they provide is amazing. The thimbles are commonly available at reasonable prices from office-supply stores. -- Tom Johnson, Sandy Hook, Conn.

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Feature Library - Tools

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• Installing a Bandsaw Blade Six quick steps for accurate installation and tuning — by John White

• Steel Wool vs. Abrasive Pads Even with the advent of synthetics, there still is a place for oldfashioned steel wool — by Jeff Jewitt

Joinery Tools Finishing Workshop & Safety Projects & Design Materials

• A Revolution in Turning Technology Modern tools cut through conventional wisdom, opening up the craft — by Howard Lewin

• Why a Combination Machine Works for Me A veteran woodworker explains what changed his mind about combination machines and why he's still happy with his seven years later — by Tony O'Malley

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Combination-Machine Changeovers Five-function machines are heavy-duty and save space; the conversions are a minor inconvenience — with Asa Christiana

• Tools & Shops 2001 Sample six articles and view two video tips from Fine Woodworking's first special issue. •

Tool Review, 1-hp Mortising Machines The $1000 machines are bigger, beefier, and mightier than benchtop models, but there are a lot of differences in adjustment mechanisms, clamps and lever arms — with Roland Johnson

• Squaring Up a Square An edged needle file is all you need for tuning up a combination square — by Steve Latta

• International Woodworking Fair 2002 Fine Woodworking editors report from Atlanta on woodworking tools and trends

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Carving Professional Topics

• Making Three-Phase Machines Work in a One-Phase Shop Most heavy machinery is designed to be run on three-phase electrical power, but a number of options are available to get the tools running in your one-phase home shop — by John White

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Folding a Bandsaw Blade It's trickier to explain than it is to do, so watch! — with John White

• A Classic Bowsaw (online exclusive) This low-tech tool still has appeal — by Tom Begnal

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Open a Flush Door Without a Handle The door fits perfectly, now how do I get it out? — with Chris Becksvoort

• Turbine HVLP Sprayers Keep Getting Better We take a look at several high-volume, low-pressure turbine sprayers that sell for under $500 — by Chris A. Minick

• Craftsman Mini-T Compact Drill (online exclusive) In tight spots, it might just be the ticket — by Tom Begnal

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Bandsaw-Tension Handle Extension A quick fix for an awkward problem — with John White

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Bandsaw Table-Tilt Fix A technique for quickly adjusting the tabletop to frequently used positions, both forward and back — with John White

• King Heiple's Shop-Built Jig Build your own sharpening jig with these plans by Fine Woodworking author King Heiple • A Tool for Perfect Mortises This router template is quick to make and easy to use for accurate mortises every time — by Gary Rogowski

• Clamp-It Assembly Square (online exclusive) Clamped to a case, it helps keep the "right" in right angles — by Tom Begnal

• Radius Cutting with a Router Template (online exclusive) Gadget helps round over square corners — by Tom Begnal

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Feature Library - Tools

• SawStop Finger-Saver Update (online exclusive) Safer tablesaws and bandsaws might soon be an option — by Tom Begnal

• Cordless Brad-Nailer from Porter-Cable (online exclusive) Mini-compressor maximizes convenience — by Tom Begnal

• Jumbo Clamp Pad (online exclusive) Aftermarket add-on is simple and effective — by Tom Begnal

• Bosch Improves Dust Collection on Random-Orbit Sanders (online exclusive) Unique microfilter keeps fine dust out of the air — by Tom Begnal

• Miller's Reproduction Plane (online exclusive) There's nothing plain about this plane — by Tom Begnal

• Low-Angle Block Planes A veteran woodworker reviews two of the eight models currently available — by Chris Gochnour

• Parts for Chisel Plane A complete parts list for the wooden chisel plane featured in Norm Pollack's article in the March/April 2001 issue of Fine Woodworking (#148) •

Special Tools for Crown Molding A tool set designed to make crown molding from solid stock — with Lonnie Bird

• Using Card Scrapers The scraper can replace a stack of sandpaper — by Phil Lowe

• The Peerless Tool Chest of H. O. Studley This masterful tool chest stands as an extraordinary example of 19thcentury craftsmanship — by Lon Schleining

• Cabinet-Saw Test A review of 10 heavy-duty cabinet saws from Europe, North America and Taiwan — by Niall Barrett and Lon Schleining

Why Tablesaw Blades Get Dull Identifying the common culprits can help you postpone your next trip to the resharpening shop — by Tom Begnal

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Feature Library - Tools

• Dovetail Jig Review Router jigs have their place, but don't expect them to duplicate handcut joints — by Gary Rogowski

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Returning Your Crosscut Sled to Pristine Condition Keep zero clearance around the tablesaw blade for accurate cutting — with Lon Schleining

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Squaring A Crosscut Tablesaw Sled An indispensable jig that makes accurate miters, crosscuts and tenons a cinch — with Lon Schleining

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What to Look for When You Buy a Bandsaw A few conclusions drawn from Fine Woodworking's latest tool review — with John White

• Setting Bandsaw Blade Tension Learn to set your bandsaw's tension to ensure cuts that are straight and even — by Lonnie Bird

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Replace Router Brushes to Prevent Motor Damage A router with badly worn brushes won't run well — with John White

• Midsized Plunge Routers A hands-on review of eight routers in the 2-hp class — by Tom Begnal

• Fixed-Base Routers An introduction to a popular and useful tool — by Pat Warner

• Router-Bit Matchup We put 17 brands of straight bits to the test — by Anatole Burkin

• Routers for Router Tables Choose a fixed-base model over a plunge router — by Patrick Warner

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Drilling Vacuum-Port Holes for "The Ultimate Router Table" An adjustable-wing circle cutter cuts accurate holes and the discs to plug them up — with John White

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Testing Biscuit Joiners for Parallel A dial indicator tells if the slot is cut parallel to the face of the workpiece — with John White

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• Jigsaws In this excerpt from his new book, Power Tools, Sandor Nagyszalanczy examines a variety of jigsaws and their accessories — by Sandor Nagyszalanczy

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Applying an Aerosol Finish Proper technique yields a flawless finish — with Mark Schofield

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Skills & Techniques

Use Pullover for a Hand-Rubbed Lacquer Finish To remove brush marks, make the denim rubber, and start polishing — with Sean Clarke

Joinery

An Easy, Durable Finish All you need is spar varnish, sandpaper and lots of clean rags

Tools

— by Lon Schleining

Finishing Workshop & Safety

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Projects & Design

— with David Sorg

Materials Reader Showcase

Finishing a Raised Panel Avoid drips and pools of finish by brushing the components in a specific order

• Respirators for Finishing Not all respirators provide the same protection against harmful vapors. Jeff Jewitt helps you choose the correct one for the job. — by Jeff Jewitt

Get instant access to over 600 of the best Fine Woodworking articles. Fine Woodworking Online Archives

• How to Fix Damaged Finishes Scrapes, scratches, water marks, dents and dull finishes are not fatal — by Jeff Jewitt

• A Primer on Sealers How and why you can benefit from these often misunderstood products used under clear finishes — by Jeff Jewitt

• Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information. Techniques Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop

A True Oil Finish Nontoxic and easily repaired, this traditional finish is still worth considering — with Chris Becksvoort

• Selecting a Finish Before you start your next furniture project, consider a finish's appearance, its method of application and its durability — by Jeff Jewitt

• Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish Understanding the chemistry behind many common oil varnishes helps you choose the right product — by Chris Minick

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Carving Professional Topics

• Polyurethane: A Versatile Finish This durable finish is much scorned, but much used — by Michael Dresdner

• Three Reliable Finishes Get good results with oil-varnish, shellac or water-based polyurethane — by Mark Schofield

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An Easy, Durable Finish

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An Easy, Durable Finish

From the pages of Fine Woodworking Magazine

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Get instant access to over 600 of the best Fine Woodworking articles. Fine Woodworking Online Archives

Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information. Techniques Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing Turning

An Easy, Durable Finish All you need is spar varnish, sandpaper and lots of clean rags Fine Woodworking asked its contributors: What's your favorite finish and why? by Lon Schleining

I wasn't asking for much: I wanted a finish with a rich, handrubbed luster, neither too glossy nor too dull, that illuminates rather than hides the grain -- one that would offer real protection from moisture and sunlight and yet still feel like wood, not plastic. I also wanted a finish I could apply quickly and easily, and something I could use right out of the can. And it would be awfully nice if it smelled good. That isn't too much to ask of a finish, is it? The answer turned out to be rather simple: high-gloss spar varnish, turpentine, wet-or-dry sandpaper in various grits, a few rags and a bit of elbow grease. Simply rubbing plain gloss varnish into the raw wood provided the protection, sheen, feel and ease of application I was looking for. Start with a well-prepared surface The key is to scrape, plane or sand each of the pieces of your project before you assemble it. Even if you have to touch up the sanding after final assembly, this step will save lots of time. During the building process I sand by machine (belt sander, 120 grit), then sand by hand with a wood sanding block padded with felt. The sanding sequence will depend, in part, on the type of wood. On hard maple, for example, use 100 grit, then 120, 150 and finally 220 grit. With mahogany and its much more open grain, stop dry-sanding at 150 grit. Be sure to change sandpaper frequently. Make sure the surface is clean by using a vacuum to pull out the sanding grit from the pores of the wood. Don't worry if the surface is less smooth than what you normally shoot for. The sanding doesn't stop when the finishing begins. I wet-sand with finer and finer grits during the application of the finish itself.

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Finishing: Methods of Work The best finishing tips from 25 years of Fine Woodworking Great Wood Finishes Jeff Jewitt's proven methods teach you how to achieve professional results and get the look you want Finishes & Finishing Techniques Articles from Fine Woodworking cover smoothing and preparing surfaces; changing the color of wood with dyes, pigments, and stains; polishing finishes to a high gloss; spray finishing; and repairing damaged finishes

An Easy, Durable Finish

Carving Professional Topics

Materials are easy to obtain The heart of my finish is a high-gloss spar varnish, which has several advantages: Unlike plain oils, it hardens overnight; it's readily available; and it has much greater clarity than semigloss or satin finishes, whose additives not only dull the finish but also cloud the grain. Spar varnish also contains ultraviolet protection that will help keep the wood from fading or yellowing. I've used this varnish for years on boats, protecting the wood from salt water and abuse, so I know it provides the tough tabletop film I'm looking for. As an added bonus, this finish is quite easy to renew by scuff-sanding with 220grit paper and simply wiping on an additional coat of varnish if the surface ever needs it. In addition, this finishing method will also work with other types of varnish, urethanes and even some finishing oils.

Lon Schleining's favorite finish: for the first coat, use three parts varnish, one part thinner, and 220-grit wet-or-dry sandpaper.

Though it's counterintuitive, gloss varnish does not produce a glossy surface when it's rubbed on. Because you're wiping off any excess varnish, not letting it stand on the surface, it doesn't get a chance to build up to its normal gloss. To thin the varnish for the initial coat, I like to use natural turpentine instead of paint thinner, simply because it smells good. As a general rule, thin a finish with whatever the label suggests for cleanup. You will need a few sheets of 220-, 320-, 400- and 600-grit wet-ordry sandpaper for sanding in the varnish. For dry-sanding between coats, use open-coat, self-lubricating 320-grit paper. A box of soft cotton rags from the paint store ensures that you won't run out of clean rags just when you need one. Lastly, disposable gloves are essential. Not only will they protect your skin from solvents, but they also make the job a lot less messy. Application is straightforward Before starting, spread out a plastic sheet to contain drips and spills. This is also a good time to change into an old shirt and pants. (I might even follow my own advice about this one of these days.) Pour a small amount of varnish into a container using a piece of nylon panty hose as a strainer. Thin with one part turpentine to about three parts varnish. The first coat saturates the wood more effectively if it is thinned down a bit. Wearing gloves, quickly flood the entire surface on all sides until it's completely coated, adding more varnish as needed. It's important to cover the piece completely, not in sections. Working on a small area at a time may leave a line where different areas of finish overlap.

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An Easy, Durable Finish

Apply the finish liberally; coat the whole surface quickly to avoid creating lines where the finish overlaps. Schleining uses his gloved hands to spread the thinned varnish over the surface before sanding.

Sand the varnish with the grain using 220-grit wet-or-dry paper. Sanding with the grain creates a slurry that fills the pores of open-grained wood. The color match is perfect.

Sand the wet varnish into the wood using 220-grit wet-or-dry paper. Sand with the grain until you produce a slurry. This helps fill the pores of open-grained woods, such as mahogany or oak, and the color match is perfect. While the varnish is still wet, wipe with a soft cotton rag to remove any varnish that has not soaked into the wood. When removing the excess varnish, there's a point at which the varnish gets quite sticky and difficult to wipe. Working on something like a large tabletop might require a helper. Rub across the grain to avoid pulling the slurry out of the wood pores. Be sure to spread out the oil-soaked rags to dry before disposing of them, to avoid the danger of the rags spontaneously igniting.

Before the varnish becomes tacky, wipe off the surplus using clean cotton rags. Keep changing the rags until no more finish can be removed and the surface can be buffed smooth.

Buff with a fresh cloth until the surface is slick and smooth. Polish the piece every half hour or so to make sure no wet spots emerge on the surface. Joints, such as on the breadboard ends of a tabletop, will absorb excess varnish, which will gradually seep out after the rest of the surface has dried. To avoid this, I blast the joint with compressed air, forcing the surplus varnish out of the gap.

No matter how much you wipe, varnish has a habit of oozing out of joints after you have done your final buffing, creating sticky and glossy areas. Remove surplus varnish using compressed air (right), and wipe the area clean.

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An Easy, Durable Finish

Additional coats require unthinned varnish and finer-grit paper.

Let the piece sit at room temperature overnight. You can carry on working in the shop because it doesn't matter if dust lands on the piece, but it is a good idea to ensure adequate ventilation to avoid a concentration of fumes. The next morning the surface should feel smooth and dry. Lightly dry-sand Scuff-sand the surface the following day. Between coats, it with 320-grit nonloading, or lightly sand the surface using stearated, paper. Use a felt320-grit nonloading, or stearated, paper under a padded block, and sand with the padded block. Always sand grain. Clean the surface with a with the grain. vacuum or compressed air. Apply a flood coat of unthinned varnish and use 320-grit wet-or-dry paper to sand the varnish into the surface. Wipe and buff the excess varnish as before. Repeat this process each day; wet-sanding with finer and finer grits until you have at least three coats. Additional coats will produce slightly more luster. Some folks like to wax the surface when it's dry, but I prefer to leave it unwaxed, because it's easier to recoat should the surface become damaged over time.

Apply subsequent coats the same way as the first coat. Rub in each coat with a higher grit of wet-or-dry paper. The last coat is rubbed in with 600-grit paper to create a very smooth surface.

After the final coat has dried, the surface will be silky smooth with the pores filled. Rub the surface briskly with a clean cotton rag.

I haven't yet been tempted to throw away either my spray guns or my badger-hair brushes, but after using this finishing process on several projects, I can't remember the last time I used those tools. This simple technique meets all of my criteria for an ideal finish and produces very consistent results, all without a large investment in http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00117.asp (4 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:01:31 à«]

An Easy, Durable Finish

equipment. Lon Schleining is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking. Photos: Mark Schofield From Fine Woodworking #154, pp. 4649

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How to Fix Damaged Finishes

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How to Fix Damaged Finishes Scrapes, scratches, water marks, dents and dull finishes are not fatal by Jeff Jewitt

Different wood finishes vary greatly in how well they protect furniture and in how long they last, but they are all subject to the forces of light, moisture, air and general wear and tear. Sunlight, heat and water remain the biggest enemies of finishes, but moving companies, puppies and feisty 2-year-olds contribute their share of damage as well. To repair an injured finish, you first need to identify which type of finish you're dealing with. Evaporative finishes, such as nitrocellulose lacquer and shellac, are the easiest to repair because any new finish will melt right into the old finish. Reactive finishes, such as varnish, are more difficult because new topcoats don't blend in with the existing ones. You can identify an old finish with a two-step test using different solvents. Find an inconspicuous spot and dab a little denatured alcohol on the finish. After 30 seconds, press against the dampened area with some tissue paper. If the tissue sticks to the finish, it is shellac. If the alcohol doesn't affect the finish, try the same test with a little lacquer thinner. If the tissue still doesn't stick, the finish is probably an oil-based varnish, a polyurethane or a newer catalyzed finish. Once you know the type of finish and how it was damaged, you can decide what to do to fix it. A final note: If you think a piece of furniture is valuable, you may want to consult a professional; or you can simply wax it to avoid the possibility of permanent damage to an old patina that may add value to the furniture. Scrapes and scratches Scrapes, areas of finish and color removed from edges, are generally easier to repair than scratches, which occur in the center of a side or top and must be stripped and refinished. The first step is to determine if it's only the finish that's damaged or if part of the color is gone, too. Wet the damaged area with naphtha. If the wet surface blends in with the rest of the finish, you only have to

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Great Wood Finishes Jeff Jewitt's proven methods teach you how to achieve professional results and get the look you want Finishing: Methods of Work The best finishing tips from 25 years of Fine Woodworking Finishes & Finishing Techniques Professional secrets for simple and beautiful finishes from Fine Woodworking

How to Fix Damaged Finishes Mixing dry pigments with shellac for minor color repairs takes some practice and a fine artist's brush. Photo: Susan Jewitt.

Carving

repair the finish.

Professional Topics

If both color and finish are missing, the naphtha will make the scrape appear lighter than the rest of the finish. In this case, you'll need to replace the original color first, then apply finish. The easiest way to replace color is to use a felt-tipped repair pen. The color selection is limited, but you can apply several different colors to achieve a match. A more difficult method is to mix some dry pigment with shellac and paint it in with a fine artist's brush. On a lightly scratched varnish or polyurethane finish that is thick enough, your best bet is to sand out any scratches first. I usually start with 600-grit paper, but I've occasionally used 400 grit. While the traditional method calls for wet-sanding, I prefer to dry-sand. Wet-sanding gives you a false illusion of finish thickness, and it's possible to go through the finish before you know it. Minor scratches in the finish Depending on how deep the will be easier to repair if you scuff the surface of the finish scratches are, you may have to first. Photo: Susan Jewitt. sand the entire area to avoid hollows created by working one area too aggressively. Smooth out the sanded finish with fine steel wool to blend it in. You can match any original sheen by rubbing it out with 0000 steel wool or by using rubbing compounds. If the scratch is deep and white, and the finish is varnish or water-based, you'll need to strip and refinish the entire surface if you want a perfect repair. If a finish is too thin to sand out without going through, simply add more finish. With an evaporative finish, such as lacquer or shellac, some scratches will disappear and blend right in with the new finish, as long as they're not too deep. Fill the scratch with finish by applying some lacquer or shellac with a red sable artist's brush. Several applications with overnight drying may be needed. When the scratch has been filled, sand the built-up layers back to a level surface, then apply more finish to the entire area. When the finish is dry, rub it out to the sheen that you want.

Fix small scratches in lacquer and shellac by painting in the proper finish with a small artist's brush. Then lay on a coat over the entire surface. Photo: Susan Jewitt.

Gouges and dents Some damage is so deep that your only choice is to fill it as best you can to match the surrounding wood. The most popular fillers are colored wax and burn-in sticks made from shellac or a synthetic http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00084.asp (2 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:01:49 à«]

How to Fix Damaged Finishes

resin. Of the two, colored wax is easier to use, but burn-in sticks dry harder, so they're better for areas that will be subjected to more wear and tear. To fill large gouges with wax, rub the area with the wax, or cut off a small piece and pack it into the depression. Then, using a chiseled spatula made from a small piece of wood, pare away the excess wax until it is fairly level with the surface. Rub the wax level with the surface using the back of a piece of fine sandpaper. Burn-in sticks are a bit more difficult to use, and it's easy to damage the surface around the gouge if you're not careful. Melt part of a burn-in stick with a soldering iron or burn-in knife, then quickly press down with your finger to push the resin into the depression.

Gouges and dents

If the resin is shellac and the finish (opens in new surface is varnish or oil, the repair is window) best leveled by wrapping a piece of muslin around a small piece of wood, wetting it slightly with alcohol and rubbing the repair until it's smooth. If the finish surface is shellac or the burn-in stick is made of lacquer resin, level the filler by sanding very carefully with fine sandpaper lubricated with mineral spirits. You'll need to topcoat all burn-in stick repairs with more finish to protect them. While you're at it, you may want to lay on a new topcoat over the entire surface. Water and heat marks If the damage from moisture appears black or gray, water has permeated the finish and discolored the wood below. To repair such damage, you must strip the finish, sand the wood and bleach it with oxalic acid, which is available in powdered form at most hardware and paint stores.

Not all types of damage are equal. The white water ring in the finish will be easy to repair. The black stain, also caused by water, goes through the finish and into the wood and requires more work to repair.

If the damage appears as a white ring or a whitish, foggy area, water or heat caused the damage, and it is confined to the finish. The damage may be at the very top of the finish or closer to the bottom (where the finish meets the wood). There is no easy way to know exactly how far down the damage goes, and where it is will affect how successful any repair will be.

Most damage near the top can be rubbed out with some steel wool and mineral oil, rubbing compound or even fine sandpaper. The whitish color disappears fairly quickly, and once removed, the finish can be rubbed back out to the original sheen. If the finish is lacquer or shellac, a light padding with a rag moistened with denatured alcohol will remove the white spot.

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How to Fix Damaged Finishes

Dampen the rag just enough that it feels like the tip of a dog's nose-moist but not dripping wet--and use a back-and-forth pendulum motion to remove the white spot, working with the direction of the grain. If neither of these methods works, the damage was probably caused by heat to the bottom of the finish. In that case, your only choices are to strip off the finish and start over or find a goodlooking vase to hide it.

It takes a little elbow grease, but not much. Steel wool and mineral oil will usually remove white water rings.

Dull and dirty finishes If a finish appears dull and dry but is otherwise intact, you can revive it with a simple cleaning and a coat of wax. Start by wiping the finish thoroughly with a clean rag dampened with naphtha. This step removes any oil-soluble grime. Then switch to a detergent to remove water-soluble dirt. The best cleaner I've found is to mix one capful of Dawn brand dishwashing liquid in a pint of warm water. Use a slightly dampened cloth, not one that is dripping wet.

A coat of wax will do wonders. This drawer face clearly shows the benefits of a simple cleaning and a coat of wax.

Next, abrade the finish using a dry, no-load, stearated 400-grit sandpaper (such as Fre-Cut or Adalox), then follow up with 600 grit. The goal here is to remove only the very top layer of finish but not to sand all the way through to the wood. After wiping off the sanding residue with a rag dampened with naphtha, use a natural or dark-colored paste wax --depending on the color of the wood -- to bring the luster back up. Jeff Jewitt restores furniture and sells finishing supplies in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking. Photos, except where noted: Erika Marks From Fine Woodworking #149, pp. 60-63

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How to Fix Damaged Finishes

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A Primer on Sealers

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A Primer on Sealers

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A Primer on Sealers How and why you can benefit from these often misunderstood products used under clear finishes by Jeff Jewitt

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Finishers call on sealers to perform two basic functions in the finishing process: to solve problems, such as a contaminated surface, and to speed things up by providing a flat base for subsequent topcoats. Most woodworkers understand what sealers do in the simplest sense -- they seal the surface of the wood. Yet there remains a great deal of confusion about what that really means, when to use a sealer and which one to use in a given circumstance.

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The first coat of any finish seals the wood, because it dries to a film (however slight) that allows you to build subsequent coats of finish on top of that. So theoretically, any finish can serve as its own sealer. And in many cases, a thinned version of the same finish you plan to use as a topcoat is a perfectly adequate sealer. However, sealers also perform a number of other functions, and to address special needs manufacturers have developed some products that work better than thinned finishes. A close-up view shows what a sealer can do. At right is a cross section of an edge of poplar lumber that has been coated with a sealer, before the sealer was sanded smooth. Appearing as a darker band across the top third of the image, the sealer coat (A) encapsulates loose fibers on the surface of the wood(C). What appears as a small hill or bump at the very top of the image (made with a scanning electron microscope at 400x magnification) is a protrusion in the surface of the sealer caused by the captured wood fiber (B) appearing slightly below and to the right. Once the sealer coat has been sanded, these small hills and valleys disappear, providing a smooth base for topcoats to follow.

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When faced with a contamination problem or to prepare for topcoats, finishers turn to any one of several specialty sealers. Sanding sealer, vinyl sealer, shellac and glue-sizing are the four most common choices. Of these four products, only shellac is adequate as a final finish. None of the other three can exist as finishes in and of

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Hand-Applied Finishes Professional finisher Jeff Jewitt takes you through the steps necessary to apply finishing materials by hand, detailing each process, the materials used, and the right technique Hand-Applied Finishes: Applying Top Coats In this video companion to his book, Jeff Jewitt shows you how to apply shellac, oil, varnish, solvent lacquer, and waterbased lacquer Hand-Applied Finishes: Coloring Wood In this video companion to his book, Jeff Jewitt takes you step by step through the application of pigment stains, dye stains, and chemical stains

A Primer on Sealers

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themselves. They are used only underneath other topcoats.

Professional Topics

Sanding sealer tends to be soft Sanding sealers are available as lacquer based, varnish based or water based, and the first two of these varieties are the most commonly used. More often than not, they are simply thinned versions of lacquer or varnish to which zinc stearate has been added. Zinc stearate is a white powder that is soft, fluffy and soapy feeling, but in finishes it appears translucent. In fact, it is called a "soap" by finish formulators. Zinc stearate makes hard-to-sand finishes such as solvent-based lacquer and most varnishes easier to sand down to a level surface so that subsequent coats of finish lay on evenly. The ability of sealers to make topcoats lay on smoothly is This lacquer sanding sealer referred to by finish being brushed on (top) manufacturers as "good holdout." contains zinc stearate, an Holdout is an important feature to additive that facilitates sanding by lubricating the surface of look for when you're finishing the sealer coat. thirsty woods such as pine and poplar, figured woods such as curly maple and other porous woods such as oak, ash, mahogany and walnut. The downsides? There certainly are a few. Sanding sealers are softer and less durable, because of the addition of zinc stearate, particularly in their resistance to moisture. So you should use these sealers with discretion in places where moisture resistance is an issue, such as cabinetry to be installed in a kitchen or bathroom. Also, you must sand them after application, or they won't do the job they are designed to do. Some finishes such as polyurethane will not bond well to sanding sealer, and the catalysts used in high-performance lacquers and conversion varnishes will react adversely with the zinc stearate. Vinyl sealer can be used between coats of different finishing products These specialty sealers are available only in commercial, fast-drying versions meant to be sprayed on, but it is possible to apply them by brush or rag if you work quickly. Don't confuse vinyl sealers with vinyl/alkyd-based varnishes, sometimes sold as a one-step sealer/finish to which the vinyl is added primarily to impart fast-dry qualities. The prime ingredient in most vinyl sealers is polyvinyl butyrate, which endows the sealers with some rather unique qualities. Not only

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A Primer on Sealers

do vinyl sealers have excellent holdout--just as sanding sealers do -- but they also are highly resistant to moisture and possess excellent adhesion properties. These adhesion qualities make vinyl sealers a good choice to use when you need to "tie" or adhere different finishing products together. For example, professionals routinely use vinyl sealers between applications of oilbased glazes or paste wood fillers and solvent-based lacquers and conversion varnishes. The vinyl also will prevent natural oils and One common use for vinyl other chemicals (knots bleeding sealer. Professional finishers often use vinyl sealer on sap) in certain woods from furniture that has been coated causing finish problems. Teak, with an oil-based glaze, because it adheres well to rosewood and cocobolo are some different finishes. of the woods that contain chemicals that will prevent oilbased products from curing. While some folks claim you can avoid this problem in the finish by first wiping the oil from the surface with a solvent such as acetone, my experience has been dicey with this technique. I prefer to seal in the oils with vinyl sealer. Unfortunately, vinyl by itself doesn't sand very well, so vinyl sealers usually contain other resins to make them sand out more easily. Shellac is easy to find and apply This natural resin has some of the same attributes as vinyl sealer, but it's more readily available and easier to apply. Shellac will seal off surface contamination and naturally occurring chemicals in the wood that prevent the curing of oil-based products. Shellac also provides good holdout for other finishes applied over it, as long as you use a dewaxed variety. When used under a water-based finish, Shellac is still the best shellac will prevent some of the candidate for some jobs. Sealing off a contaminated raised grain you'd normally surface, such as that on this expect. Whether you mix your chemically stripped chair, is own (a 2-lb. cut works well as a one of several tasks that shellac performs well. sealer) or use the premixed, canned variety, most shellac imparts a warm, amber color that will optically offset the sometimescool tones of water-based finish resins. Downsides of shellac are similar to those of sanding sealer. It's a less durable finish than lacquers or varnishes, so it can become a weak link in the total finish system. Glue-sizing is typically used to seal end grain

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A Primer on Sealers

Glue-sizings are available in premixed water-based versions, such as a recently introduced product made by Franklin. These are based on a water-soluble vinyl resin called polyvinyl alcohol that lacks the overall durability of the resins in solvent-based sealers. Glue-sizings are used primarily to seal end grain and to promote even staining on wood. They're also marketed as a preconditioner for medium-density fiberboard (MDF) that will be painted. Though they are not sold as such, I've had good success using them to lock in chemicals, such as those in aromatic cedar and cocobolo, that prevent oil-based products from curing.

Appropriate for painted surfaces. End grain on lumber and the porous edges of manufactured panels (such as this routed sample of MDF) are good places to use glue-sizing. The left half of the routed edge shown was coated first with glue-sizing, then with an oilbased white primer. The sized surface is much less porous.

When, where and why to use a sealer Opinions and die-hard habits among professional finishers may vary, but most agree that there are a few very good reasons to use a sealer. To provide a barrier coat -- Waxes, polishes and silicone residues encountered when refinishing furniture can cause contamination problems such as fisheyes, which are small craters in the finish film. You can remove wax by wiping stripped surfaces several times with naphtha or mineral spirits, but silicone is impossible to remove completely. It has a tenacious ability to remain in the pores of wood.

To remove fisheyes, immediately wipe off any wet finishing product (oil-based stains will develop fisheyes, too) and wash down the piece with mineral spirits or naphtha. Then scrub it well with TSP (trisodium phosphate) or a TSP-substitute and the green colored Scotch-Brite nylon pad. After that, apply a freshly made coat of dewaxed shellac to seal in the contamination.

What to do when you see fisheyes.

To make a flat base for topcoats - If your goal is a sophisticated built-up

(opens new window)

finish, you'll need to sand at least the first coat of finish. When the first coat has absorbed into the wood and hardens, it is normal that a slightly rough or irregular surface will result. At this point some sanding is in order so that subsequent coats of finish will lay on smoothly and evenly. The problem is that some finishes don't sand well -- most varnishes and lacquer gum up when you sand them -- which is a good reason to use a sealer first. With the addition of stearates, sanding sealers overcome this problem. Some finishes sand perfectly fine, such as many water-based products and oil-based polyurethane, so sanding sealers aren't needed for these products.

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A Primer on Sealers

To promote adhesion -- In some finishing scenarios, there may be questionable adhesion between the wood and the finish or between different finishing products. Sealers are routinely used in such cases to promote adhesion. In the case of stripped furniture, a sealer coat of a 2-lb. cut of dewaxed shellac will allow any finish to flow out and grab properly. Although manufacturers of polyurethane say not to use it over shellac, they are referring to the premixed, canned variety of shellac that has wax in it. Polyurethane will adhere just fine to dewaxed shellac.

In other cases, you might run into adhesion problems when oil-based paste wood fillers and glazes are used between coats of finish. Manufacturers of high-performance solvent-based lacquers and varnishes almost always recommend vinyl sealers for this purpose, while shellac works well for water-based finishes. To control stain migration -- Sealers work wonders in situations where stains may possibly migrate up into a finish coat. This happens when the finish and stain share the same thinner. It isn't a problem with oil- and water-based pigment stains, because the binders in these are not dissolved by the next coat of finish. It happens typically when water-based finishes are applied over water-soluble dye stains, particularly when the dye is very dark. A barrier coat of dewaxed shellac will prevent the solvents in the water-based finish from pulling up the dye into the finish.

In conclusion, some recommendations A sealer will never take the place of diligent finishing practices such as proper brushing techniques or good surface preparation. It won't get rid of brush marks or sanding scratches, and overuse of a stearated sanding sealer can actually cause more problems than it solves. I believe that a sealer is often used when it's not really needed. In marketing literature, you'll see the term "self-sealing" used to promote a finishing product. This is mostly marketing mumbojumbo, because any finish can be used as its own sealer, as long as it has adequate holdout and sands easily enough. Almost all waterbased finishes, catalyzed varnishes and lacquers, oil-based polyurethane and many of the fast-dry varnishes now being sold fit into that category. A specialty sealer is required only in situations I've described previously. If you want the most durability from your finish, and you don't have a problem with contamination, adhesion, moisture or migrating stain, use a thinned version of your finish as its own sealer. You won't run into any compatibility problems, and you don't have to buy a separate product. To get a smooth base, you'll have to apply several coats of thinned finish and then cut it back with sandpaper before you get a good base for the final coats. At the worst, you'll spend a little more time and use a bit more sandpaper, but the gain in overall durability may be well worth it. Jeff Jewitt is a professional finisher who writes frequently for Fine Woodworking. Microscope photo: Mark S. Floyd/Forensic Analytical; fisheye photo: William Duckworth; other photos: Susan Jewitt

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A Primer on Sealers From Fine Woodworking #145, pp. 5255

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Selecting a Finish

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Selecting a Finish

From the pages of Fine Woodworking Magazine

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Selecting a Finish

Checklist for selecting a furniture finish

Before you start your next furniture project, consider a finish's appearance, its method of application and its durability

Common finish products compared

by Jeff Jewitt

Finishing is one of the biggest bugaboos for many woodworkers. Though they remain undaunted by complex joinery or intricate and precise machining, scores of woodworkers still cringe at the thought of applying a finish to their work. "What's the best finish for my project?" is a question I often hear. Being able to answer that question confidently and comfortably is an important hurdle to overcome. Finishing products can be grouped into manageable categories, based on general working qualities and the degrees of protection they offer: waxes, oils, varnishes, shellacs, lacquers and water-based finishes. Different finishes offer varying degrees of protection, durability, ease of application, repairability and aesthetics. Unfortunately, no single finish excels in all of these categories -- a finish that excels in one may fail in another -- so in choosing a finish you must accept tradeoffs. As a professional refinisher, I routinely ask my customers a series of questions to determine the best finish for their furniture. I've modified my standard questions for this article and added a few as a Checklist for woodworkers trying to decide which finish to use on their own projects. Answers to these questions will point you toward the right finish to use on a given project, based on how well you need to protect the surface, how well the finish will hold up, how easy it is to apply and how you want it to look. To get a better understanding of the choices, let's first take a look at the different categories of wood finishes.

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An overview of what's out there All wood finishes can be classified as one of two distinctly different types, based on how they dry, or cure. Evaporative finishes--such as lacquer, shellac and many water-based finishes--dry to a hard film as the solvents evaporate. (Water is not a solvent -- it's a carrier for the finish emulsion.) These types of finishes will always redissolve in the

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Great Wood Finishes Jeff Jewitt’s proven methods teach you how to achieve professional results and get the look you want Finishing: Methods of Work The best finishing tips from 25 years of Fine Woodworking The New Wood Finishing Book Finishing expert Michael Dresdner focuses on finishes that amateur woodworkers and finishers use, including spray finishing and the new generation of waterbased finishes

Selecting a Finish

Carving Professional Topics

solvent used to thin them, long after they've dried, so they tend to be less durable than reactive finishes. Most reactive finishes -- such as linseed or tung oil, catalyzed lacquers and varnishes -- also contain solvents that evaporate, but they cure by reacting with either air outside the can or a chemical placed in the can before application. These finishes undergo a chemical change as they cure, and after that they will not redissolve in the solvent originally used to thin them. Except for the pure oils, reactive finishes tend to hold up better to heat and chemicals. See Common finish products compared for a summary of how the finishes stack up against each other. Waxes -- I don't consider wax an appropriate finish in and of itself.

I use paste wax (carnauba mostly, sometimes beeswax) to polish furniture but only over other finishes, such as lacquer or shellac. The true oils -- Linseed oil and tung oil, the drying oils most often

used in finishing, are readily available and relatively inexpensive. These finishes are called true oils to distinguish them from other products hyped as oil finishes and to separate them from naturally nondrying or semidrying oils used in finishes, such as soybean oil. These true oils change from a liquid to a solid through polymerization, a process that strengthens the cured finish. Linseed oil is available in several forms. Unrefined, it's called raw linseed oil, which is rarely used on wood because it dries so slowly. Finishers long ago discovered that by boiling the oil, the resulting product was thicker and dried more quickly. Even though linseed oil that has actually been boiled is still available -- it's called heat-treated or polymerized oil -- most of the boiled linseed oil sold these days is raw oil that has been mixed with chemical additives to speed up the drying time. For wood finishing, you should use only boiled linseed oil. Tung oil is derived from the nuts of trees that are native to Asia but have been cultivated in other parts of the world. Tung oil is available in a pure, unrefined form and in a heat-treated or polymerized form. The heat-treating process makes the oil a bit more durable and speeds up the drying time. It also minimizes a tendency of tung oil to "frost" (dry to a whitish, matte appearance). Tung oil is paler in color and has better moisture resistance than linseed oil. Both linseed and tung oils are penetrating finishes, which means they penetrate the fibers of the wood and harden. These are the easiest finishes to apply: Wipe them on, allow them to penetrate the surface of the wood and wipe off the excess with a rag. These oils are usually not built up with enough coats to form a surface film, like that of varnish or lacquer, because the film is too soft. Varnishes -- Varnish is made of tough and durable synthetic resins that have been modified with drying oils. Labels on cans of varnish will list resins such as alkyd, phenolic and urethane, and the oils used are tung and linseed, as well as other semidrying oils such as soybean and safflower. Varnish cures by the same process as true oils -polymerization -- but the resins make this finish more durable than oil. In fact, oil-based varnish is the most durable finish that can be easily applied by the average woodworker. Varnish surpasses most other finishes in its resistance to water, heat, solvents and other chemicals. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00060.asp (2 of 6) [11/3/2003 3:02:19 à«]

Selecting a Finish

Varnishes that contain a high percentage of oil are called long-oil varnishes. These include marine, spar or exterior varnishes and some interior varnishes for sale on the retail market. Long-oil varnishes are more elastic and softer than medium- and short-oil varnishes that contain a lower percentage of oil. Medium-oil varnishes comprise most interior varnishes on the market. Short-oil varnishes (also known as heat-set varnishes and baking enamels) require extremely high temperatures to dry, so they're used only in industrial applications. The type of resin used in the varnish determines the characteristics of the finish. Alkyd varnish is the standard all-purpose interior variety with decent protective qualities. Phenolic varnish, usually made with tung oil, is predominantly for exterior use. Urethane varnish, also called polyurethane, offers a better resistance to heat, solvents and abrasions than any other varnish. Varnish is typically applied with a brush, although a highly thinned and gelled version, called wiping varnish, can be applied with a rag. Oil and varnish blends -- These mixtures, mostly oil with some varnish added, offer some of the best attributes of both ingredients: the easy application of true oils and the protective qualities of varnish. (Watco-brand Danish oil, teak oil and a number of other finishes fall into this category.) It's difficult to ascribe accurate protective qualities to these products because manufacturers don't usually disclose the ratio of oil to varnish. Oil and varnish blends will dry a bit harder than true oils, and the finishes will build quicker with fewer applications. Shellacs -- While most people think of shellac as a liquid finish found at a paint store, in its pure form it's a natural resin secreted from a bug that feeds on trees, mostly in India and Thailand. The secretions, in the form of cocoons, are gathered and eventually refined into dry flakes, which are then dissolved in denatured (ethyl) alcohol to make the shellac solution that winds up in cans at the store.

Shellac is available in several varieties. You can buy it premixed, or you can buy it in flake form and mix it yourself with denatured alcohol. The premixed variety is available in orange (amber) and clear, which is shellac that's been bleached. With the flakes, shellac is available in a wider variety of colors and wax contents than with the premixed version (which contains wax). The wax in shellac decreases the finish's resistance to water and prevents some finishes from bonding to it. Lacquers -- Most professionals still regard lacquer as the best all-

around finish for wood because it dries fast, imparts an incredible depth and richness to the wood, exhibits moderate to excellent durability (depending on the type used) and rubs out well. There are several different types of lacquer, and they exhibit different performance characteristics. Nitrocellulose lacquer is the most common. If the label on the can says lacquer, it's most likely nitrocellulose, which is made from an alkyd and nitrocellulose resin dissolved and then mixed with solvents

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Selecting a Finish

that evaporate quickly. This type of lacquer has moderate water resistance, but it's sensitive to heat and certain solvents. The biggest drawback is the finish's tendency to yellow as it ages, which shows clearly on light-colored woods. Acrylic-modified lacquer is made from a mixture of a nonyellowing cellulose resin (called cellulose acetate butyrate, or CAB) and acrylic. This lacquer possesses the same general properties of nitrocellulose lacquer, except it is absolutely water-white, meaning it will not show as an amber color when applied over light-colored woods. Also, the finish won't turn yellow over time. Catalyzed lacquer bridges the gap between the application traits of nitrocellulose lacquer and the durability of varnish. Catalyzed lacquer is a complex finish composed of urea formaldehyde or urea melamine and an alkyd that has some nitrocellulose resin added to make it handle like normal lacquer. The addition of an acid catalyst initiates a chemical reaction that forms a very tough, durable finish. Catalyzed lacquer comes in two versions: precatalyzed and postcatalyzed. Precatalyzed lacquer has the components premixed, either by the manufacturer or at the store when you buy it; post-catalyzed lacquer is a two-part system that you must mix in your shop, following precise ratios. Once the catalyst has been added, these lacquers have a fairly short pot life (the time in which they can be used). Water-based finishes -- Water-based finish contains some of the

same ingredients as varnish and lacquer -- notably urethane, alkyd and acrylic -- but many flammable and polluting ingredients have been replaced with water. The chemistry in this product is complex. Because the resins don't have a natural affinity for water, they must be chemically modified or forced to combine with water. Water-based finish is usually made with either an acrylic resin (sold as water-based lacquer) or an acrylic urethane mixture (sold as waterbased polyurethane). As with varnish, the addition of the urethane makes the resin tougher and more scratch resistant, but water-based urethane does not have the same solvent and heat resistance as its oilbased counterpart. What finishes are more durable? The durability of a finish is measured by its resistance to water, chemicals, solvents (such as those in alkaline cleaners and acidic foods), heat and scratches. Wax, shellac, lacquer and some waterbased finishes will be damaged if exposed to water long enough. Most of these products also scratch easily; however, they rub out well. (That's the flip side of scratch resistance.) Wax is surprisingly resistant to acids and alkalis. Aside from that, it is the least durable finish. Shellac is neither resistant to alkalis such as ammonia nor to alcohol. Of all the evaporative finishes, lacquer (nitrocellulose and acrylic, water- and solvent-based) fare the best in terms of overall durability. Oil-based polyurethane is the most durable finish you can apply by hand, and catalyzed lacquer and varnish are the most durable sprayed finishes. Choose a finish to match your skill level Your level of experience, the environment in which you work and whether you're set up to spray all play a part in deciding which finish http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00060.asp (4 of 6) [11/3/2003 3:02:19 à«]

Selecting a Finish

to use. The temperature and dampness of your shop, as well as the amount of sanding dust in the air, will affect your choice. Dust falling onto a finish does not pose as great a problem with lacquer or shellac as it would with a slow-drying finish such as varnish. Shellac and lacquer are also the least temperamental when it comes to cold temperatures, and they can be modified with retarder additives for hot and humid conditions. Oils and oil-based products dry slowly in cold temperatures and humid conditions, and dust is always a problem when it has time to become embedded in the dried film. Spray equipment requires a larger budget and, in most cases, expensive equipment to exhaust the overspray. There's also a learning curve with spraying, so it will likely take some practice before you get decent results. The type of finish will notably affect the look of the wood Do you want a natural "in-the-wood" finish? Or does your work demand an elegant, deep, glass-smooth finish? Is the color of the finish a problem, or will yellowing of the finish be a problem down the road? Traditionally, woodworkers have turned to oil, wax or oil and varnish blends (such as Watco) for a natural-looking finish. None of these easy-to-apply finishes dries to form a hard surface film. However, you can get a natural-looking effect with any finish -- including varnish, shellac and lacquer -- as long as you don't build it up more than a few coats and you rub out the dried film with steel wool. But if your goal is a filled-pore, deep, lustrous finish, you must use a hard, film-forming finish (varnish, shellac or lacquer). This type of finish is also mandatory when you have to perform complex coloring options like toning and glazing. The color and the penetration of the finish itself may be an issue. Orange shellac and phenolic-resin varnish both have colors that may be too dark for woods that you may want to keep as light as possible. In addition, many finishes deepen or darken the wood surface. In most cases this is desirable, because it adds depth and increases luster. However, you may want to downplay any deepening effect. Some delicately figured woods (such as pearwood) will appear muddy when an oil finish is applied. Oil and oil-based varnish, solvent-based lacquer and shellac all deepen the color of the wood and increase surface luster the most. These finishes wet the cells of the wood, penetrating into the surface. Other film finishes -- notably water-based finishes and some catalyzed lacquers -- tend to lie on the surface. By not penetrating it as much, they make the wood appear lighter in color. The plastic look that's sometimes ascribed to polyurethane and catalyzed lacquers has more to do with the incorrect application of these finishes than it does with the finishes themselves. On openpored woods (plainsawn ash or oak, for example) the application of thick varnish and lacquer can result in a soupy look on the surface. This is a consequence of the finish film bridging across the open pores rather than flowing into them. By thinning these finishes you can achieve more attractive results. My favorite method to apply oilbased polyurethane is to thin the finish 50% with mineral spirits and http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00060.asp (5 of 6) [11/3/2003 3:02:19 à«]

Selecting a Finish

wipe it on. A finish film that turns yellow with age will be noticeable with unstained, light-colored woods, such as maple or birch. An acrylic finish, water- or solvent-based, does not have this problem. Paste wax and some catalyzed finishes also will not yellow. Think about safety and the environment A solvent-based finish, such as varnish and lacquer, contains a good deal of organic solvents, which can affect the environment as well as your health. It's also highly flammable. If these particulars pose a problem for you, use a water-based finish to eliminate the fire hazard and to mitigate the environmental and health impact. Pure oil is a surprisingly good alternative to a solvent-based lacquer or varnish: Pure oil contains no solvents and comes from renewable resources. However, oil-soaked rags must be disposed of carefully. Shellac is also a good alternative. The solvent for shellac, denatured alcohol, is distilled from corn, and most people don't find the fleeting odor objectionable. All finishes are nontoxic when fully cured, despite what you may have read or heard. Once the solvents have evaporated, any cured film is safe for contact with food. This does not mean that the finish itself is safe to gobble up. It means simply that additives such as heavy-metal driers and plasticizers are encapsulated well enough that they do not migrate into your food. Wax and shellac (apples and candy are coated with these) are the only edible finishes that I'm aware of, besides mineral oil, which is sold as a laxative. Spraying wastes a great deal of the finish material, and the organic solvents are dispersed into the air. Brushing or wiping on a finish is a practical, though less speedy, alternative. Jeff Jewitt writes frequently for Fine Woodworking. His latest book, Great Wood Finishes, was recently published by The Taunton Press. Photo: Michael Pekovich

From Fine Woodworking #141, pp. 5863

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Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish

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Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish

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Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish Understanding the chemistry behind many common oil varnishes helps you choose the right product by Chris Minick

My ideal furniture finish would penetrate deep into the wood, dry quickly, provide good abrasion and stain resistance, rub out easily and look great. Also, I want the option to apply this finish with a rag or a brush or a spray gun. Unfortunately, no finish has all of these properties, but oil-based varnish comes pretty close. Walk into any well-stocked hardware store, and you'll find a bewildering array of cans of varnish. Alkyd, polyurethane, spar, wiping, bar-top, floor, fastdrying, interior and exterior varnishes are the more common types available. With all of these choices, selecting one that's right for your project can be frustrating. Knowing a little about varnish chemistry may help you decide. They're more alike than different All varnishes have one thing in common: The backbone of the finish molecule is composed of vegetable oil. Varnishes are made by chemically combining a modifying resin with a vegetable oil to produce a finish molecule that is liquid when applied to the wood surface but solid after it cures to an impervious film in a short period of time. Linseed oil and soybean oil are the most common vegetable oils used in the manufacture of furniture-grade varnish resins. Tung oil is also used, but because it is relatively expensive, you find it only in wipe-on varnish mixes and traditional exterior varnishes. The type of oil used in a varnish resin has less effect on the finish properties than does the amount of oil used. The long and short of it -- The ratio of oil to modifying resin--

known as oil length in the industry vernacular -- determines the flexibility of the dried film, curing or drying time and application method. Varnish resins containing 75% or more oil are called very long-oil varnishes, and they're typically used for wipe-on finishes, the so-called Danish oil finishes. Very long-oil varnishes dry slowly, have great wood penetration and are extremely flexible when cured; but the dried finish film is extremely soft, has poor abrasion resistance and damages easily. These varnishes perform adequately, provided that no detectable finish film is left on the surface of the wood.

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Finishing: Methods of Work The best finishing tips from 25 years of Fine Woodworking Great Wood Finishes Jeff Jewitt's proven methods teach you how to achieve professional results and get the look you want Finishes & Finishing Techniques Articles from Fine Woodworking cover smoothing and preparing surfaces; changing the color of wood with dyes, pigments, and stains; polishing finishes to a high gloss; spray finishing; and repairing damaged finishes

Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish

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Long-oil varnishes are 60% to 75% oil and are primarily used in the manufacture of oil-based paint but recently have been introduced to the wood-finishing arena as fast-dry wipe-on finishes. Long-oil varnishes do dry faster than traditional Danish oil finishes. However, they share many of the same problems that plague their very long-oil brethren. Medium-oil varnishes contain 45% to 60% oil and form the basis of all brush-on varnishes used in wood finishing. They have reasonably short drying times, good abrasion and stain resistance, penetrate the wood to accentuate its beauty and form a hard but flexible protective surface film. Best of all, medium-oil varnishes can be applied by the three most commonly used methods: wiping, spraying or brushing. Short-oil varnishes are less than 45% oil and typically require heat to cure, so they are not used for finishing wood. Short-oil varnish resins are used to make the paint for refrigerators, stoves and metal office furniture.

Alkyd varnish. Once the mainstay of the furniture-finishing trades, this class of varnish is increasingly hard to find.

Polyurethane varnish. Polyurethane dries fairly quickly and exhibits good moisture resistance, but it does not hold up well to the degradation brought on by ultraviolet light. Fast-dry varnish. The vinyl toluene and naphtha listed on the label identify this as a fast-drying finish.

CAS No. 64742-89-8

Ingredient V.M. & P. Naphtha

Unknown

Vinyl TolueneOil Polymer

64742-88-7

Mineral Spirits

1330-20-7 100-41-4

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Xylene Ethylbenzene

Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish Spar varnish. Tung-oil-based phenolic resins are found in most brands of spar varnish, and they are the ingredients that help this product stand up to the elements.

Ingredient Tung Oil Phenolic Resin Alkyd Resin Stoddard Solvent Mineral Spirits Dipentene

Modifying resins vary in strength -- The modifying resin used

in a varnish will determine how well the dried finish film holds up when it is exposed to moisture, ultraviolet (UV) light and general wear and tear. Alkyd varnishes, a term coined in the 1930s to describe an important class of polyesters, traditionally use phthalic anhydride as the modifying resin. Typical alkyd varnishes have good flexibility, very good abrasion resistance, great adhesion, moderate moisture resistance and take a relatively long time to dry and cure (8 to 10 hours to dry to the touch and 16 to 20 hours to re-coat). Alkyd varnishes targeted for furniture making are difficult to find these days, but they remain a mainstay of hardwood floor finishing. Replacing some or all of the phthalic anhydride with toluene diisocyanate yields the familiar polyurethane varnish, which is also called uralkyd by finish chemists. This modification to make polyurethane decreases the drying and curing times to more tolerable levels and increases the moisture resistance of the finish film, but it sacrifices the UV resistance in the process. Fast-dry varnish, also called VT varnish, uses styrene or vinyl toluene as the modifying resin to produce a product with remarkably fast drying times. Properly formulated VT varnishes will dry and cure almost as quickly as nitrocellulose lacquer--dry to the touch in 30 minutes and cure to re-coat in less than two hours. However, fastdry varnishes have slightly less protective properties than standard alkyd varnishes. Still, they are suitable for most furniture applications. But I would not recommend them for heavily used kitchen or dining-room tabletops. Phenolic resins combined with tung oil produce a varnish with superior water resistance, good hardness, exceptional flexibility and good alkali, grease and UV resistance. It's called spar varnish. Unfortunately, the drying times are excruciatingly long, and spar varnish has a deep yellow color that only gets worse as it ages. Still, spar varnish is the best choice for projects, such as outdoor furniture, that will be exposed to the elements. Most people choose to brush it on You can apply varnish with a brush, a rag or a spray gun. Wiping it on is definitely the easiest method, and spraying is the fastest. But brushing is the time-honored technique for applying varnish. Your success with a brushed-on varnish will depend on practice and attention to detail. I've found that most varnishes are too thick to use right out of the can, so I thin them to about the consistency of whole milk. Prior to dipping the brush into the varnish, you should prewet http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00063.asp (3 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:02:35 à«]

Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish

the bristles with the same solvent used to thin the finish. Prewetting conditions the bristles and prevents the buildup of dried finish at the base of the brush, making it easier to clean later. Shake out the excess thinner, then fill the brush by dipping it into the thinned varnish by no more than half the bristle length. Capillary action will automatically fill the brush reservoir with the proper amount of finish. Tap the bristles on the inside of the can to remove the excess varnish, and always finish the unseen areas of the project first, such as the inside of cases or the underside of tables. You'll be able to judge the flow and leveling properties of the varnish before tackling the show side of the piece. If the viscosity doesn't seem right, add varnish or solvent. Most finishing projects require more than one brush. I use a 1-in. ox-bristle sash brush for coating small or intricate areas such as moldings and spindles. A goodquality 2-in. china bristle brush is ideal for large, flat areas. Larger brushes are inappropriate for furniture finishing because they're just too hard to control. You don't want a big brush for

Avoid the choppy, back-and-forth varnish. A 2-in. or 2-1/2-in. stroke used to apply house paint -- china bristle brush works best for laying a varnish onto flat i t will result in an uneven surface surfaces. Photo: Michael Pekovich. and lots of bubbles. Instead, slowly pull the brush across the panel in one continuous motion until the brush reservoir is empty. Hold the brush at about a 45° angle when it first contacts the surface and gradually increase the angle to almost 90° by the end of the stroke. As this bristle angle increases, more varnish is released from the reservoir and flows to the wood surface. I usually get a stroke length of about 18 in. or 20 in. with a fully loaded 2-in. brush. After the entire surface has been coated, "tip off" the varnish by lightly dragging the bristle tips through the wet finish. Tipping off with an unloaded brush levels out the uneven areas in the wet varnish film and removes unwanted bubbles at the same time. You don't need to sand between coats of varnish unless you have to remove some defect. Simply sanding to increase adhesion is not necessary unless the dried varnish coat is older than six months. Avoid the pitfalls of using varnish -- Extended drying time

under certain conditions is the biggest problem I've experienced with oil-based varnishes. High humidity drastically prolongs the drying time of most varnishes. Anybody that has varnished during the dog days of summer knows just what I'm talking about. I avoid varnishing on those dripping-wet days, if possible; if not, I let a dehumidifier run in my shop for a few days beforehand. Also, old varnish dries more slowly than fresh varnish. This too has to do with the metallic driers that gradually lose their catalytic powers as the varnish ages. The best way to avoid the problem is to make sure you always use only fresh varnish. Typically, I don't use varnish that is more than one year old. I may waste a few dollars, but I save a mint in frustration. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00063.asp (4 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:02:35 à«]

Varnish: An Almost Ideal Finish Chris Minick is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking magazine. Photos except where noted: William Duckworth From Fine Woodworking #143, pp. 121122

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Feature Library - Projects & Design

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• In the Modern Style: A Stylish Credenza Symmetry and subtle shadow lines give Patrick Warner's maple and yellow satinwood office credenza a dynamic visual rhythm • Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel Plans for a project that shows elegant proportion, restraint, and balance...and it can be built in a weekend — by Mario Rodriguez

• Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker Plans for a sturdy plywood chair that can be disassembled and stored flat — by Jeff Miller

Workshop & Safety Projects & Design Materials Reader Showcase

• Building a Shaker Wall Clock Choose your movement first, then build the clock around it — by Chris Becksvoort

• Chests of Drawers: Drawer-Building Basics Details on drawer construction, wood choices, joinery tips, support ideas and more — by Bill Hylton

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• Designing a Rocking Chair Seat placement and back angle are two of the many things to consider — by Mario Rodriguez

• Home Storage Projects: Kitchen Work Station Plans, a cut list and complete instructions for building a kitchen work station on wheels — by Paul Anthony

Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information. Techniques Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing

• Making an End Table The beauty of this Arts-and-Crafts design is in the details — by Stephen Lamont

• Vineyard Table Complete plans for a trestle table with a twist — by Kim Carleton Graves

• Building a Sleigh Bed Sensuous curves and well-chosen details enhance a simple design — by Chris Becksvoort

• Create an Elegant Latch from a Simple Spinner Place the spinner within the door stile for a clean, almost hidden, latch — by Chris Becksvoort

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18th-Century Pennsylvania Secretary A quick tour of an exquisite, yet functional, desk — with Lonnie Bird

•

Secrets of the Desk Gallery This replica of an 18th-century Pennsylvania secretary features hidden compartments for storing valuables — with Lonnie Bird

• The Wood's Fake, but the Bike is Real The frame on Cannondale's new Full Wood mountain bike features computer-generated, seamless wood grain that, at first glance, has you wondering — by Anatole Burkin

• Build a Shaker-Style Bed Using contemporary construction techniques, this bed still captures the essential Shaker style — by Jeff Miller

• Workbench Hardware A complete parts list for Dick McDonough's workbench, featured in the May/June 2001 issue of Fine Woodworking (#149) • Build a Trapezoidal Bookcase This Arts and Crafts-styled piece combines through-tenon joinery and biscuit-anchored shelves — by Niall Barrett

• Building a Humidor Maintaining tropical humidity in a box takes precise joinery and Spanish cedar — by Rick Allyn

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In the Modern Style: A Stylish Credenza

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In the Modern Style: A Stylish Credenza Symmetry and subtle shadow lines give Patrick Warner's maple and yellow satinwood office credenza a dynamic visual rhythm Veteran woodworker Patrick Warner built this credenza to work as a buffet or as a case for audio and video equipment. In this excerpt from In The Modern Style, a collection of articles from Fine Woodworking magazine, he walks you through all the decisions regarding configuration, dimensions, materials and joinery -- and most important -- the detailing.

Open or download the 6-page PDF file below for a Stylish Credenza. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files.)

StylishCredenza.pdf

(Download should take Patrick Warner has over 30 approximately 1 minute on a years of experience making 56K modem) jigs, fixtures, and furniture and is the manufacturer of the Warner router base. He has written numerous books and articles on routing, including The Router Book. Photos: Kevin Halle; drawings: David Dann From In the Modern Style, pp. 10-15

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In the 18th Century Style Instructions for 10 projects inspired by the 18th-century tradition Tables Plans and complete instructions for building 10 classic tables The Router Book A complete guide to the router and its accessories

In the Modern Style: A Stylish Credenza

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Style & Design

PART ONE

PAT R I C K W A R N E R

A Stylish Credenza

SYMMETRY AND SUBTLE SHADOW LINES give Patrick Warner’s maple and yellow satinwood office credenza a dynamic visual rhythm. The same piece could serve as a buffet or as a case for audio and video equipment.

10

■ STYLE & DESIGN

redenza, the Italian word for sideboard, has come to mean a low, lateral piece of office furniture for storage. I designed the credenza shown in the photo on the facing page for my office at home, and its dimensions and organization reflect that. It’s fairly shallow because I couldn’t afford to lose much floor space in my small office and because I don’t like deep shelves—you can never get to the stuff at the back. Its top is counter height: I wanted to be able to work at it standing up sometimes. I chose sliding doors for the piece

C

■

because of the tight quarters and because I like to roam around on my castered chair and don’t need more obstacles. But part of the piece’s beauty is that all these elements are adaptable to your own situation and so is the overall function of the piece.

O PTIONS

AND

A DAPTATIONS

Though I built my piece as a credenza, you could just as easily call it a buffet and use it in the dining room to store china and silverware. In that case, you might add a bank or two of drawers. And the doors, two or

A CASE AGAINST THE FINISH

I

t always bothers me when I begin applying the finish on a piece of furniture and suddenly realize I’m only halfway to completing the job. I work like crazy to apply good design, milling, and joinery to the furniture I make. That should be enough. Now just flood with Danish oil and deliver. Right? Well, perhaps. Danish oil is an easy, cheap, and often acceptable finish, but for furniture that will take a beating or for high-end work, a hard finish and some filling and coloring is often required. To obtain such a finish takes special skills, techniques and equipment, and often large amounts of time and money. This is not woodworking. It’s chemistry, abrasives, coloring, compressors, spray guns, resins, solvents, clean rooms, and rubber gloves. And I’d rather not get tangled up in all of that if I can avoid it. Finishes have their advantages, I admit. But when neither the environment nor the users are particularly threatening, a bare wood cabinet can be a refreshing change. Unfinished furniture is warmer both to the touch and the eye. It develops a nice patina and won’t wear out a minute sooner

than work that’s French polished or sprayed with automotive acrylic urethane. If it does suffer an occasional insulting hand smear or wet glass mark, a simple sanding or steel wool buff-up will quickly restore the original look. Try that with a catalyzed lacquer or an acrylic. When you finish wood, you emphasize the grain, color, and figure, and this will limit its use in some applications. The soft, nonreflecting surfaces of unfinished wood, no matter the tree, play down the characteristics of the wood and put the material more in the service of the design. A “no finish” finish is a natural with light woods like birch, beech, or maple that will yellow badly under finish. These are beautiful woods that shouldn’t be discarded for this idiosyncrasy. Left unfinished, these woods yellow a little, but with the advance of the patina, the color mellows, bringing up light tans and other tonal subtleties, as you can see in the photo of the sliding door of my credenza at right. If you’re hesitant about making an unfinished piece for the house or a client, make something for the shop: perhaps a jig, fixture, or bench. Get firsthand experience with bare stock, and see

how it wears and ages. If you like it, think of how much more quality time you can invest in the next piece—time that would have been spent sanding, priming, sealing, and rubbing out that finish.

COMPLETE BUT UNFINISHED. Fed up with finishing, the author never flowed finish onto his credenza. Two years later, the maple and yellow satinwood have taken on the subtler tones time gives to bare wood.

A STYLISH CREDENZA ■

11

three as you wish, could be mounted on hinges or pocket-door hardware. You could also easily move the piece into a living room, and use it to house audio and video equipment. The center section could have a swiveling television slide installed, and a drawer or two could be added at the bottom of the side sections for tapes. In this arrangement, tambour doors would be an apt solution. They could be made as a pair that wrap laterally and meet in the middle or as three separate doors that track vertically. If you wanted to use the cabinet as a display case, you could fit it with glazed doors, glass shelves, and, possibly, a glass top. In this arrangement, you might want to make shallow, traylike drawers, or simply install bottom-mount drawer slides on the shelving. And interior lighting also might be in order.

J OINERY D ECISIONS Once I’d resolved the configuration and dimensions of my credenza, I set to work on the anatomy—what the parts would be and how they would be joined. Whenever I build a piece for myself, I view it as an opportunity to experiment, so I tested a number of ideas in this credenza that had been brewing as I made furniture for less indulgent clients. AROUND BACK. A half-lapped open frame is all the back the cabinet needs. It is tongued around its perimeter and glued into a groove in the carcase. The back affords excellent clamp access during glue-up.

12

■ STYLE & DESIGN

I decided early on that the whole thing would be solid maple with a top and accents of yellow satinwood. I planned a fairly simple box carcase lifted off the ground by a separate and removable base. I hoped the base would lend the piece an airy feeling and avoid the impression of immovable weight that such office furniture often gives. I knew that the case inevitably would be dragged across a few floors, so I designed the base to be strong, though light, joining its legs and rails with dovetail tenons reinforced with machine-threaded knockdown fittings and hardwood corner braces, as shown in the drawing on the facing page. For aesthetic reasons, I wanted the sliding doors in the same plane. So I left the center section of the case open to give the doors a space to slide into. I also decided to run the doors on a removable track. They would be installed with the track, avoiding the usual loose fit of sliding doors and the wide clearance required at the top to lift them out. The doors could be removed by unscrewing the track and sliding it out. I chose a two-stage joinery method for the corners of the carcase. In the first stage, I joined the sides and subtop and bottom with tongue-and-groove joints across their full width. After the carcase was together, I routed out wedge-shaped recesses with a dovetail bit and filled them with yellow satinwood, as shown in the drawing. I make the recesses and the loose wedges with mating router templates. These floating wedges have the appearance of dovetails, and the joint is nearly as strong. I used the technique in a spirit of adventure to explore the decorative advantages it offered, and I certainly didn’t exhaust them. You could also use any carcase joinery you like on this piece, from true dovetails or finger joints in solid wood to the range of possible joints in plywood or medium-density fiberboard. I wanted to leave the back of the case largely open but give the piece resistance to racking stress. So I made a frame at the back of 212⁄ -in.-wide members joined to each other with half-lap joints and to the case with a tongue and groove (see the photo at left).

■

Credenza

Ends of yellow satinwood top, arced at 8 ft. radius

Top measures ⁄ x 161⁄2 x 601⁄2.

22 32

Back frame pieces are half-lapped together, then tongued into carcase. Carcase measures 24 x 16 x 593⁄4.

Twin thread screws driven through subtop fix vertical dividers. Shot runners eliminate binding; they run in groove in underside of subtop.

False muntin of yellow satinwood Door runners slide in removable track. Dovetails and recesses are routed after tongue-and-groove carcase assembly.

Top is secured with screws through subtop.

DOOR DETAIL For visual interest, thickness of door members increases by small increments from panel to muntin to rails to stiles. Pull recess, ⁄ in. deep

1 2

Pins keep unglued panel centered as it floats in frame. Holes are drilled after assembly. Muntin is tongued top and bottom along with panel.

Overall base dimensions: 12 x 15 x 5813⁄16

Grooves create shadow line.

Carcase is screwed to base through ledger strip. 11⁄16 8

Cap screws engage threaded cross dowels.

A STYLISH CREDENZA ■

13

For the vertical dividers, I chose tongueand-groove joints for the subtop and bottom with the tongues stopped so they wouldn’t show at the front. There’s no real glue surface on this joint, so I screwed the dividers in place with #10 twin-thread screws driven through the subtop and bottom. These wonderful screws contradict the old saw about not screwing into end grain: They get great purchase in a hardwood like maple. When it came to the subtop and the bottom of the carcase, I looked for a way to make them that would simplify the glue-up. Instead of edge-joining them into panels and proceeding in the usual way with an increasingly frantic case assembly, I chose to install them as slats. I machined tongues and grooves along their edges and tongues on their ends and dadoed them to accept the tongues of the vertical dividers. When it came time to assemble, I first joined the sides, the back frame, and the rearmost slats of the subtop and bottom. Having only an open frame for a back greatly simplified the clamping. And once that initial assembly was clamped and squared up, I could then insert the rest of the slats at my leisure. A rare, tension-free glue-up. The top went on when the case was finished. I made it of yellow satinwood and attached it with screws through the subtop.

D ETAILS, D ETAILS With all the decisions made regarding configuration, dimensions, materials, and joinery, it might seem that the design process was at an end. But to me, one of the critical aspects of any piece of furniture is the detailing. Those subtle details are telling, particularly in a piece like this one that I had decided to leave unfinished (see the sidebar on p. 11). In a piece that’s been filled or stained and lacquered, the grain and color of the wood can leap out at you and carry a plain design. But when the wood is left unfinished, it mellows and

14

■ STYLE & DESIGN

recedes. I wasn’t out to do anything startling, just to use what small devices I could to tie the piece together visually as well as structurally. How thick is that?

You could make this credenza using 34⁄ -in. material for nearly all the parts. In a dim room, it would be hard to tell yours from mine. But when light hit the two credenzas, they’d look quite different. I constantly play with thicknesses of material. Variations of as little as 13⁄ 2 in. between adjacent boards can be perceived. I made the top and subtop each a shade under 34⁄ in. and did the same for the bottom and the door track. I made the sides 131⁄ 6 in., so they didn’t seem too skinny by comparison with the doubled elements at the top and bottom. I used 5/8 stock for the dividers to show that their structural role is subordinate to the sides. There are no strict rules governing the thicknesses of different elements, but if you play around with the size of parts, you’ll find the overall appearance of the work can be subtly controlled. Proud of it

Varying thickness is also useful in parts that are viewed face-on rather than from the edge. On the sliding doors, I made the stiles 1 1⁄ 6 in. thicker than the rails, leaving them proud in the front. This slight variation in the plane of the door frames acknowledges the joint line and distinguishes the separate parts of the frame. I inset the panels 11⁄ 6 in. from the rails to create a third plane. And at the center of the panels, I used a false muntin of yellow satinwood as an accent, which stands proud of the panel by a bit less than 11⁄ 6 in. If these offsets were greater, the door might begin to seem fractured, but because they are only slight, they add visual nuance without attracting too much attention.

Shadow lines and shallow grooves

Shadows can be used like a pencil to vary the weight of the lines in a piece of furniture, to interrupt a featureless surface, or to outline and highlight a part or detail. As with the varying of thicknesses, the use of shadows can be overdone and requires careful control. I created a reveal around the floating panels in the sliding doors to underscore the distinctness of the panel and the frame. The reveal is 14⁄ in. deep, and the shadows are dark. Shallower grooves cut to either side of the false muntins create a softer shadow and, therefore, mark the tapered shape with lighter emphasis. In the center section of the case, I created a shadow line with a chamfer at the back of the vertical divider where it meets the back frame. This balances the gap shadow between door and divider and picks out the divider as a discrete part (see the photo on p. 10). The boldest shadow line in the credenza is the one between the bottom of the case and the front rail of the base. I dropped the rail to create this line, intending it to signify the functional separation between the carcase and the base. I’ve always liked the idea of making the base of a case piece look like a pedestal and tried to carry it out in this design. But I didn’t want the two parts to be unrelated, and that led me to introduce several other details. I had routed 18⁄ -in. grooves across the rails of the doors, and I echoed these on the base with the pair of grooves in the front rail. I hoped these grooves, with their lateral sweep across the length of the piece, would tie the three sections of the carcase together. The leg design also was intended to relate the base to the carcase. I borrowed the tapered form from the false muntins and emphasized it (while breaking up the

legs’ blockiness) with grooves parallel to the tapered edges. A curve or two for contrast

As I was finishing up, I saw that virtually all the lines in the credenza were rectilinear. Because the top was of contrasting material anyway, yellow satinwood to the maple of the base and carcase, I decided to express the distinction between them a little further by arcing the ends of the top and rounding over the edges. I cut the arc on an 8-ft. radius with a router and template and the roundover with a router and a 38⁄ -in. roundover bit. I used the same bit to round over the front edges of the shelves to give them a visual link to the top.

ANGLED FORMS PLAY OFF STRAIGHT LINES. Floating dovetail wedges, tapered muntins, and recessed triangular handholds form a subtheme in Warner’s rectilinear composition in lines and planes.

A STYLISH CREDENZA ■

15

Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel

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Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel Plans for a project that shows elegant proportion, restraint, and balance...and it can be built in a weekend by Mario Rodriguez

The building of fireplace mantels is fast becoming one of the most popular home renovation projects in the country. The attractive and distinctive fireplace mantels in this book will inspire you to build your own. Ten projects reflect all the popular home styles from Colonial to Arts and Crafts and Contemporary.

Open or download the 15-page PDF file below for a Simple Federal Mantel. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files.)

SimpleFederalMantel.pdf

In this excerpt, Mario Rodriguez provides complete (Download should take plans for building a federal approximately 3 minutes on a 56K modem) mantel, a common style in 19th-century farmhouses. Rodriguez takes you through the steps of choosing the materials, priming the parts, installation, and painting. The mantel is structurally straightforward and can easily be built in a weekend. Mario Rodriguez, a professional woodworker for 20 years, teaches woodworking at Fashion Institute of Technology. A contributing editor of Fine Woodworking magazine, he is the author of Traditional Woodwork. Photos: Bruce Buck and Mario Rodriguez; drawings: Ron Carboni From Building Fireplace Mantels, pp. 50-63

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Dining Tables Plans and complete instructions for building nine tables Chests of Drawers Plans and instructions for seven classic chests of drawers Built-In Furniture Design solutions and strategies for creating functional, delightful built-ins Traditional Woodwork 10 projects that can enhance any periodstyle home

Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel

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This is an excerpt from the book

Fireplace Mantels by Mario Rodriguez Copyright 2002 by The Taunton Press www.taunton.com

Simple Federal Mantel his mantel is typical of those

family possessions and a backdrop for

found in many rural farm-

social gatherings and important events.

T

houses in the early 19th century.

The mantel’s design shows elegant pro-

Almost always made of wood and

portion, restraint, and balance. And the

painted, the style was taken directly

simple moldings cast bold shadows that

from classical architecture and imitated

highlight its timeless appeal.

the design of basic shelter: columns

The federal mantel is structurally

supporting a beam and roof. The simple

straightforward and can easily be built

moldings and joinery indicate that it

in a weekend. Three boards joined

could have been built by a local carpen-

together with biscuits form the founda-

ter instead of by a furniture joiner. But

tion, which is fastened to the wall.

its simplicity doesn’t diminish its appeal

Plinth blocks (doubled-up 1-by stock)

in any way. The mantel’s flat relief and

support the plain vertical pilasters,

plain treatment perfectly frame the

which support the horizontal archi-

Federal-period hearth opening and pro-

trave. Add a few moldings and the

vide a focal point for the display of

mantel shelf, and you’re ready to paint.

51

Simple Federal Mantel PROVING THAT SIMPLICITY DOESN’T PRECLUDE ELEGANCE, this mantel design is anchored by ideal proportions and perfect symmetry with the brick firebox opening it adorns. Built with readily available materials and moldings, it’s easy to build as well.

FRONT VIEW 79"

⁄4" x 51⁄4" mantel shelf

3

⁄4“ x 3⁄4" cove molding

3

1" 111⁄2"

Architrave

111⁄2"

71"

52"

42" Foundation boards

Firebox opening

71⁄4" pilaster

311⁄2"

31"

8" 12" ⁄4"

3

52

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

9" plinth

⁄4" x 11⁄4" side cap

3

Building the Mantel Step-by-Step egin by preassembling the foundation board and laminating the plinth blocks, you can move directly to installation. I chose to preassemble some of the molding elements as well.

B

The Foundation Board The foundation board is the backdrop of the mantel. It provides a flat surface for the mantel proper, and bridges any gaps or irregularities between the masonry and the adjacent wall surface, while exposing only the neatest brickwork. The mantel foundation was designed

with the lintel section fitting between the columns. That way the mantel parts would overlap the foundation joints, making the whole construction stronger. 1. Cut the two columns and lintel that will form the foundation. The firebox opening in this project is 32 in. high by 42 in. across, and an even course of bricks is left exposed around the sides and top. Using a 14-in.-wide lintel (horizontal section) and 101⁄2-in.-wide columns (vertical sections) produced the balanced proportions that form the basis for the mantel’s design. You should adjust these dimensions based on the size of your firebox opening.

Choosing Materials During the 19th century, pine was abundant

havoc with human comfort but spared furnish-

and readily available, and carpenters used it

ings and interior woodwork from drastic

for most interior trim, including fireplace man-

changes in temperature and humidity. In a

tels. So a meticulous reproduction would

modern ultra-insulated home, wood is sub-

require large, wide boards of clear pine.

jected to extremes of temperature and relative

However, the use of solid pine for this project

humidity created by efficient central heating

would present problems (besides price) for the

and air-conditioning. The use of wide, solid

modern woodworker that 19th-century car-

boards and true period construction methods

penters weren’t concerned with.

in a modern home would probably cause

At that time houses weren’t insulated, so warm and cold air passed through the structure freely. In a particular room, it wasn’t

unsightly checking and splitting. Miters would likely open up, and flat sections would cup. A better approach for today’s woodworker

unusual to experience surprising differences

would be to construct this mantel using

in temperature. With a fire blazing in the

lumbercore plywood instead of solid wood.

hearth, the warmest spot in the room would

I used 3⁄4-in. lumbercore plywood for every-

have been a seat in front of it, while other

thing except the plinth blocks and the mold-

areas of the same room might be as much as

ings. (See chapter 1, pp. 9–12, for a detailed

15º colder. These conditions surely played

discussion of materials.)

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

53

Join the foundation boards with a couple of biscuit slots.

Tip: You’d think pieces of molding stock at a lumber store are all identical. But if there are pieces from different batches, there could be slight differences, which will result in miters that don’t line up perfectly. To avoid this, I try to cut all my mitered pieces from the same length of stock so there’s no doubt that the profile is the same on all the pieces.

54

2. Lay out and cut biscuit joints to connect the lintel to the columns—three or four #2 biscuits should do the job. 3. Glue up the foundation assembly, making sure the columns are square to the lintel. When the assembly is dry, remove the clamps; but before moving it, attach two support battens across the front. The battens reinforce the joints, maintain the dimensions of the foundation opening, and keep it flat during installation.

The Plinth, Pilasters, and Architrave Laminating the plinth blocks The plinth blocks at the base of the pilasters are made with two pieces of 3⁄4-in.-thick solid pine laminated face-to-face. The net 11⁄2-in. thickness is needed to support the pilaster and the plinth molding. You could use a chunk of 2-by stock, but the approach here resulted in a

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

more stable block, plus it made good use of scrap material I had on hand. 1. Cut the plinth block pieces slightly oversize. 2. Saw or rout two grooves into the back face of each piece, about 11⁄2 in. from the edges. 3. Fit a spline into each groove, and glue the mating surfaces together.

Cutting the parts to size 1. Arrange the main mantel parts (pilasters, architrave, and plinths) on the foundation. 2. Center the parts and cut them to length. 3. Cut biscuit joints to align the top of the pilasters to the architrave. 4. Cut the plinth blocks to size. (Depending on the condition of the hearth, you may want to leave the plinth blocks a little long so they can be scribed to the hearth at installation.)

Selecting the moldings I purchased stock moldings from the local building supplier. The simple profiles I needed were readily available, in quantity. By choosing

Laminating two pieces yields a more stable plinth block. A pair of splines keeps the pieces from sliding around when clamping up.

available profiles instead of choosing specialorder profiles, I could pick through the inventory and select the straightest and cleanest material. There were three distinct profiles I needed: a large and simple cove for the cornice molding, an ogee with fillet for the torus molding (at the base of the pilaster), and a large ogee with quirk (space or reveal) for the capital molding. These last two moldings are both sold typically as “base cap” profiles.

Priming the parts To achieve an attractive painted surface, the wood components must be carefully prepared. This involves filling any holes and dents and repairing cracks. I do some of this after installation, but it’s easier to do a first go-over now. Also, on this mantel I primed the moldings before cutting and fitting them to the mantel. 1. Fill any holes, dents, split seams, tearout, or cracks in your material with a water-based wood filler. On lumbercore plywood, I usually apply filler on the exposed edges, paying par-

The flexible blade on a good-quality putty knife will fill any voids in the material and not further mar the surface.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

55

The finger joints, visible on the edges of the lumbercore, should be filled and sanded before you attach the parts to the mantel.

Use a large half-sheet sander or a sanding block to level any primed surfaces. Break square edges slightly but don’t round them over too much.

It can be applied with either a brush or a roller. The primer fills and levels the wood and raises the grain slightly. 4. When the primer dries, look for any flaws that might have been missed the first time around, and fill them. Apply a second thinned coat of primer, and when dry sand again with 150-grit to 180-grit paper. Now the surface is ready for paint.

Installing the Mantel All moldings should be filled, primed, and sanded for the best appearance.

Tip: If a water-based filler dries up, you can easily rehydrate it with a little tap water. You can even change the consistency if you prefer a thinner filler.

56

ticular attention to the finger joints where the solid material was spliced. 2. When the filler is dry, I use a medium-grit (120 to 150) sandpaper to remove any excess and then level the surface. 3. Clean off the filled and sanded boards with a tack rag, then apply a water-based paint primer. For a fluid coating that lays down nicely, I thinned the primer about 20 percent.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

Anchoring the foundation Unless your walls are flat and plumb and you can determine the location of the studs behind, attach furring strips to the wall first, then attach the foundation to the strips. That way the principal method of attachment, no matter what you choose, will eventually be hidden by the mantel parts. In this case the brick masonry surrounding the opening was 1 ⁄2 in. higher than the surrounding plaster wall. In order to make up this difference and give myself a tiny margin, I cut my furring strips to 5 ⁄8-in. thickness.

1. Attach furring strips to the wall. The furring strips can be secured with lead anchors, masonry screws, or cut nails. 2. Position the foundation against the wall, and center it on the opening. 3. Check the foundation for plumb and level, then screw it to the furring strips with #8 wood screws. Locate the fasteners so they’ll be covered over by the other mantel parts later.

Building up the mantel With the foundation securely in place, you can apply the next layer of mantel parts. Working from the bottom up may seem more logical, but I worked from the top down and scribed the plinth blocks to the floor last. 1. Attach the architrave to the foundation with 11⁄4-in. screws. Make sure the top edge is even

Furring strips, shimmed plumb as needed and attached to the wall surface, provide good solid support for the foundation. Use the appropriate fastener based on the wall material.

Position the braced foundation against the furring strips. Make sure it’s plumb and leveled, then screw it to the strips with #8 by 11⁄2-in. wood screws.

This detail shows the capital molding that caps the pilasters.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

57

ARCHITRAVE-PILASTER JOINT

Foundation

Architrave/pilaster seam is concealed

With the architrave in place, set the pilasters, using biscuits for alignment and added strength.

Capital molding Trim screws placed behind capital molding band

Pilaster

The capital band (molding set at the top of the pilasters) is placed over the trim screws attaching the pilaster to the foundation.

58

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

with the foundation board and that the spaces at the ends are equal. 2. Position the pilasters under the architrave, and add the biscuits and glue to reinforce the joint. Secure the pilasters to the foundation with 11⁄4-in. screws. Locate the screws at the bottom and top of the pilasters, where they’ll be covered over with the capital and torus moldings. 3. Fit the plinth blocks. Once the pilasters are in place, measure the remaining space for the plinth blocks. On both sides of this mantel there was a small discrepancy between the wood floor and the slightly raised brick of the hearth. So I scribed the ends of the plinths to fit, made the cut with a jigsaw, and attached them to the foundation with countersunk trim screws.

PLINTH

Mantel foundation Pilaster

Torus molding

Furring strips

Laminated plinth block

The torus band (molding set at the bottom of the pilasters) creates a pleasing transition from the plinth block to the pilaster and helps to visually anchor the mantel.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

59

After the plinth blocks are scribed to the hearth, screw them to the foundation with trim screws.

Blocking for the cove molding In order to provide a stable bed for the cornice molding, I made up some blocks to be placed along the top edge of the frieze and under the mantel shelf. The 45-degree face of these blocks supported the cornice molding at a consistent angle and ensured that the miters would line up properly. To support the small return sections of the cornice, I added a small piece of wood to the back of the angled blocking. 1. Saw the cove blocking from a piece of 2-by stock. Make sure the angle of the blocking

DETAIL OF CORNICE/ARCHITRAVE

⁄4" x 51⁄4" mantel shelf

3

⁄4" lumbercore plywood

3

Furring strip Cove blocking 21⁄4" cove molding

Wall

Foundation Architrave

The cornice blocks, set under the mantel shelf and screwed to the architrave, provide support for the cornice molding. Together the blocking and cornice support the mantel shelf.

60

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

A small block is glued to the angled cove blocking. This supports the cornice molding return piece.

Screw angled cornice blocks along the top edge of the architrave.

Preassembled Molding Bands On any project, moldings attract my attention. I always look to see whether the profile matches up and wraps around the corner cleanly. And of course, I like to see tight miters. If you’re laying down the molding as you go, this is sometimes difficult to achieve. To make the job easier, I often build my bands first and then attach them to the mantel. By mitering, gluing, and nailing the bands together first, you can coax tight joints at the corners, allow them to dry, and then fill and sand them. All of this critical work is a lot easier if you can freely adjust the molding band. In addition, once the band is dry, it will flex slightly and conform to its position on the mantel—while the miter remains tight. And the constructed band will stay in place with fewer nails than if it were laid up one piece at a time. I cut the sections on a miter saw to within ⁄32 in., then I plane 1

A preassembled band of molding can be gently coaxed into place—while the miter remains tight.

them to fit with a low-angle block plane. When I’m satisfied with the fit, I glue the miters and nail them together with a pin nailer. I use a fixed block as a guide to assemble the pieces.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

61

face matches the angle of the cove molding you’re using. 2. Attach the cove blocking through predrilled holes with trim-head screws.

The Moldings and Mantel Shelf The conventional approach to installing moldings is to work your way around the mantel from one side to the other, fitting one piece to the next. (For an alternate approach, see “Preassembled Molding Bands” on p. 61.)

The mantel shelf

This detail shows the plinth with the torus molding.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, woodwork was attached to the studs, then the walls were plastered, with the woodwork acting as a gauge or stop. The finish coat of plaster was then brought up to the woodwork. This method produced an interesting junction where the woodwork and plaster met that was soft and easy on the eye. But today’s woodworkers and finish carpenters scribe their work to conform to the walls. 1. Set a compass to the width of the widest gap between the straight edge of the shelf and the wall. 2. With the pin leg of the compass resting against the wall and the pencil leg on the mantel shelf, pull the compass along the wall and shelf. This will result in a pencil line on the shelf that will mimic the wall surface. 3. Cut along the pencil line, then use a plane or rasp for final fitting.

The cove molding

After setting the legs of the compass to the widest gap between the mantel shelf and the wall, drag the compass along the length of the shelf. Here the mantel shelf is still oversize, so the scribed amount is a full inch larger than the widest gap.

62

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

I cut the cove molding on a miter saw outfitted with a special support carriage to hold the molding at the correct angle. 1. Cut the cove molding to fit. 2. Nail the cove to the cove blocks and mantel shelf with finish nails. Add some glue to the miters to help hold the joints closed. 3. When cutting the short return miter, make the 45-degree cut on a longer piece, then make the square cut to release the return from the longer stock.

The capital and torus moldings 1. Cut and fit these moldings around the pilasters. 2. Use a finish nailer for the long pieces and a pin nailer (or just glue) for the short returns. 3. Cut the side cap molding, and nail it to the edge of the foundation board. If necessary, scribe it to fit cleanly against the wall.

Painting the Mantel Final preparations With the mantel primed, sanded, and installed, there might be small gaps where the various sections of the mantel meet. Although they don’t appear unsightly now, these gaps will stand out later and will work against a clean and unified appearance when the mantel is painted. 1. Fill any exposed screw or nail holes with putty. 2. Use a high-quality water-based caulk (Phenoseal® brand takes paint beautifully) in an applicator gun to apply a small continuous bead anywhere there is a gap. Within minutes of applying the caulk, wipe away any excess with a damp rag.

Applying finish coats I used a water-based latex paint for the final coating of the mantel. For a project like this, I don’t think oil-based paint offers any great advantages. I wanted a smooth surface with just a hint of brush marks that would imitate the finish on period woodwork. The secret to a good job is to take your time, so I decided to apply the paint in several light coats. A thin coat levels nicely and dries more quickly and completely than a single heavy coat. I thinned out the paint about 20 percent and used a good-quality 2-in. synthetic brush. I started on the edges, then did the inside corners, and finished up with the large flat areas. Wait until each coat is thoroughly dry before proceeding with the next coat. The whole mantel required three coats of paint and a couple of 15-minute touchup sessions.

Nail on the capital molding with a pin nailer. Don’t try to nail the miter or the wood may split.

The finish coat of paint should be applied in several thin layers. A thin coat of paint will level out nicely and dry quickly.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

63

Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker

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Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker

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Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker Plans for a sturdy plywood chair that can be disassembled and stored flat by Jeff Miller

Kids are always in motion. It's not easy to get them even to sit down in a chair. But this rocker lets them work off energy while staying in one place. And rocking can be just as soothing for children as it tends to be for adults. Kids love it.

Open or download the 17-page PDF file below for a Child's Rocker. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files.)

ChildsRocker.pdf

Children's Furniture Projects provides a mix of projects that has something for woodworkers of all skill (Download should take levels. The ten projects -approximately 3 minutes on a ranging from this excerpt to a 56K modem) fanciful rocking dinosaur to sturdy children's beds -- are designed to help make the children's room as well furnished as any other room in the house. Jeff Miller, winner of the 1998 Stanley Award for Chairmaking & Design, is also the author of Beds. A professional furniture maker and father of two, he also designs children's furniture. Photos: Tanya Tucker; drawings: Melanie Powell

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From Children's Furniture Projects, pp. 90-105

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Making Heirloom Toys Plans and instructions for building 22 sophisticated projects American Folk Toys 31 easy-to-build toys for kids of all ages Tremendous Toy Trucks Plans and instructions for building a dump truck, a tow truck, a flatbed, a semi, a cement truck, a logging truck, and more

Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker

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This is an excerpt from the book

Children’s Furniture Projects by Jeff Miller Copyright 2002 by The Taunton Press www.taunton.com

CHILD’S ROCKER

K

IDS ARE ALWAYS IN MOTION. It’s not easy to get them even to sit down in a chair. But this rocker lets them work off energy while staying in one place. And rocking can be just as soothing for children as it tends to be for adults. Kids love it. The construction is a combination of the typical and the unusual; although there are simple dadoes routed in the plywood panels to align the parts, everything is held together with 1⁄4-in. threaded rods

and cap nuts. This makes it sturdy enough to withstand the typical amount of abuse that kids will dish out but also easy to knock down and store (or ship) flat. There are lots of ways to finish this rocker to get different results. I’ve gone with interesting colors as well as a basic oil-and-wax finish. But that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with your own design scheme, or just let the child decorate it the way he or she wishes.

✦ 91

CHILD’S ROCKER THE ROCKER IS MADE OF FIVE SHAPED pieces of plywood. Shallow dadoes in the plywood sides and back locate the parts in the proper positions, and the whole thing is held together with two threaded rods tensioned with cap nuts.

Decorative cutout

Back panel

Cap nuts

Side panel

1/4-20

threaded rod

Dado for seat panel

Strut Seat panel Side panel

92 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

BACK PANEL

All parts 3/4" plywood.

Top and bottom edges rounded over

17/16" Oval cutout, 51/4" x 31/4", edges rounded over

ALTERNATE BACK PANEL

35/8"

Slot cutout, 3/4" x 12", edges rounded over 23"

Dado for back of seat panel, 3/4" x 1/8" deep

1" 153/8"

Sides bevelled Back edge bevelled Top

SEAT PANEL 153/8"

STRUT Approx. 17"

Fit to rocker to determine exact length (approx.121/2").

21/4"

Four edges rounded

Fit to rocker to determine exact length.

181/2" Ends beveled

Front edge rounded

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 93

CUT LIST FOR CHILD’S CUT LIST FOR PANELROCKER BED 2

Side panels

3

1

Seat panel

3

⁄4" x 16" x 26"*

1

Back panel

3

1

Strut

3

⁄4" x 12 ⁄2" x 18 ⁄2" 1

1

⁄4" x 153⁄8" x 241⁄8" ⁄4" x 21⁄4" x 17"

Hardware 1

Threaded rod

1

4

Cap nuts

1

⁄4-20 x 36" long** ⁄4-20***

Miscellaneous Scrap wood for interim jig

1

⁄2"–3⁄4" x 8" x 18"

Plywood for side panel jig

3

⁄4" x 25" x 32"

*All parts are Baltic birch plywood or equivalent. **Cut into two pieces based on measurements from completed chair. ***Also called connector nuts; typically used with connector bolts.

T

HE FIRST STEP in making the rocker is to make up a jig for locating the dadoes for the seat, the back, and the strut on the side panels. Because the relationship of the seat parts to the curve of the rocker is so important, you’ll also use the side panel jig to define the shape and location of the rocker relative to the dadoes and thus to the seat and back of the rocker.

Making the Side-Panel Jig Make the jig for the side panels out of a piece of 3⁄4-in. by 25-in. by 32-in. plywood (see “Side-Panel Dado Jig”). 1. Draw a reference line 15 in. from (and parallel to) one of the long edges of the plywood. I measured from the left edge, and that’s what is shown here. You will reference off of this edge when routing the actual side panels. Mark it now as your reference edge.

The Side-Panel Pattern

1 square = 1"

94 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

Side-Panel Dado Jig 3/4"

plywood

25" 15"

10"

Reference line

30" radius

32"

51/8"

90°

43/16"

8"

3/8"

37/16"

131/4" 811/16" 5"

23/8"

89/16"

2"

33/4"

Straight for 31/2"

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 95

MAKING THE INTERIM SLOT JIG

The interim jig is built up to have a 7⁄8-in.-wide by 121⁄2-in.-long slot down the middle of it. The jig is

18"

then used with a flush-trimming bit to cut the slots in the side panel jig. 1. Cut apart a board roughly 18 in. long by 8 in. wide by 1⁄2 in. to 3⁄4 in. thick into two 37⁄16-in.wide strips and one strip exactly 7 ⁄8 in. wide. 2. Crosscut the 7⁄8-in.- wide strip into three parts; one 121⁄2 in. long, and two about 25⁄8 in. long. Set aside the 121⁄2-in.-long strip; it will be used later when routing the short slot for the strut.

7/16"

3 25/8"

121/2"

4. Plane the faces of the jig smooth once the glue has dried.

Making a jig to make another jig may seem like a lot of trouble, but the interim jig helps get the slots in the side panel jig located and sized correctly.

CHILD’S ROCKER

Save for filler strip.

25/8"

3. Glue the two 25⁄8-in. pieces in between the two 37⁄16-in.- wide strips, with the ends of both short and long pieces flush. This should leave a 7⁄8-in. by 121⁄2-in. slot in the middle.

96 ✦

7/8"

37/16"

2. Next, mark out the curve of the rocker. The rocker is mostly an arc of a circle with a 30-in. radius. Mark the center point of the arc on the reference line, about 1 in. down from the top of the plywood. Using a scrap of 1⁄4-in. plywood or a long thin scrap of wood, make up a “compass” by drilling one hole for a nail and another hole, 30 in. away, for a pencil point. Scribe the arc across the bottom of the plywood. 3. The back of the rocker will end about 1 ⁄8 in. away from the left edge of the plywood after it gets rounded over. The front of the rocker extends all the way to the other side of the plywood. 4. Flatten out the back 31⁄2 in. of the rocker to make it harder to tip the chair over. Measure down 3⁄8 in. from the arc along the back edge of the jig, then draw a 31⁄2-in.-long straight line from this point to the arc of the rocker. 5. Now you’re ready to locate the dadoes for the seat, back, and strut. Measure over from the reference line and up from the arc of the rocker to locate the various points shown in “Side-Panel Dado Jig” on p. 95 that will define the locations the dadoes. Make sure all of the lines are perpendicular or parallel to the reference line. 6. The dadoes themselves will be 3⁄4 in. wide, but because you are making a jig that will be used with a 5⁄8-in. guide bushing and a 1 ⁄2-in. router bit, the slots in the jig must be 1 ⁄8 in. bigger. Mark out parallel lines for the slots, 7⁄8 in. apart, based on the reference points you just created. Mark the ends of the slots as well. 7. The best way to proceed now is to make a very simple jig to help you rout the slots. You’ll use this interim jig to cut the 7⁄8-in.wide slots (see “Making the Interim Slot Jig”). 8. Lay the interim jig over one of the marked slot locations on the side-panel jig and clamp it into place. Use a flush-trimming bit in a router to cut the slot all the way through the side-panel jig. Make sure to do this with the jig either propped up off the bench or hanging over the edge so you don’t rout into the benchtop.

Using the Filler Strip Fit in a filler strip to leave a smaller opening (for the strut dado). Interim slot jig

23/8"

PHOTO A: A filler strip can be inserted in the interim dado

jig to rout the short slot for the strut.

9. Don’t worry about the length of the slot for the back of the rocker; it can extend up above where the side panel will end. But you can cut down the 121⁄2-in.-long piece you set aside when making the interim jig to use as a filler when routing the dado for the strut

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 97

Cap-Nut Locations

Cap-nut holes

1"

1" 1"

21/4" PHOTO B: The dadoes in the side panels

are easy to rout, and they come out in exactly the right place if you use the dado jig.

Transferring the Shape Shaped side

Unshaped blank

underneath the seat. This dado should be exactly 21⁄4 in. long; cut the filler strip so it will make a slot that is 23⁄8 in. long in the side-panel jig—1⁄8 in. will be lost when you rout the dadoes (see Photo A on p. 97 and “Using the Filler Strip” on p. 97). 10. Locate and drill two holes which you will use to transfer the positions of the capnut holes (see “Cap-Nut Locations”). 11. Now cut and smooth the shape of the rocker that you marked originally. I sawed the shape on the bandsaw and sanded the curve smooth and fair. The jig is now finished. Time to move on to making the rocker.

Making the Side Panels 1. Cut the side panel blanks to rough size as

3/8"

x 3/4" strips of plywood to align the pieces

98 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

given in the cut list. 2. Clamp a panel blank underneath the side-panel jig so that it is flush with the reference edge of the jig. The bottom of the blank should be sticking out beyond the jig about 1 in. 3. Rout the dadoes using a router with a 5 ⁄8-in. guide bushing and a 1⁄2-in. straight bit. The dadoes should all be the same: 3⁄16 in. to 1 ⁄4 in. deep. While the boards are still clamped

together, mark the curve of the rocker and the cap-nut hole locations onto the blank (see Photo B). 4. Now flip the side-panel jig over and clamp it with the same reference edge flush with the edge of the other side-panel blank. Rout the dadoes on this blank. You do not need to mark the rocker curve on this blank, since you will later transfer over the shape of the first panel. 5. Draw a grid of 1-in. squares on the routed side of the first side panel blank. 6. Create the shape of the upper part of the side panel by working square by square from “The Side-Panel Pattern” on p. 94 until you are satisfied with the overall look. 7. Cut the side panel to shape and smooth carefully to the lines. The rocker should be smooth and even, with no bumps or flats. 8. Now transfer the shape over to the other side-panel blank. Use a couple of narrow rippings of 3⁄4-in. plywood fit into the corresponding dadoes to align the two halves before drawing the lines (see “Transferring the Shape”). This will ensure symmetry to the sides. Cut and smooth the second side panel. 9. Round over the edges of both panels with a 1⁄4-in. roundover bit. 10. Drill the two 11⁄32-in. holes for the cap nuts in each side panel at the locations marked from the side-panel jig.

Making the Seat 1. Cut the seat blank to dimensions given in the cut list. Measure 19⁄16 in. in from both sides of the blank to get the dimensions of the back of the seat. Then draw lines from these marks to the front corners. 2. Bandsaw the sides of the seat to the lines. 3. Rout the front edge, both top and bottom, with a 1⁄4-in. roundover bit. 4. The back edge of the seat needs a bevel, but this must wait until you are working on the back.

Making the Back Both sides of the back are beveled at the same angle as the seat taper. The back also

PHOTO C: The seat can be used to set the angle of the table

saw blade for all of the bevel cuts on the rocker.

has a dado for the back edge of the seat to slip into as well as some decorative shaping. 1. Set the bevel angle for the back on the table saw using the seat itself as a guide (see Photo C). 2. Bevel only one edge of the back for now. 3. You need to determine the location of the dado that will accept the back edge of the seat. The first step is to round over the bottom edges of the back with a 1⁄4-in. roundover bit. 4. Hold up the back with the beveled edge in the back dado of the appropriate side panel (the back should lean toward the back of the chair). Slide the back to the bottom of the dado. Now mark where the seat dado intersects the back (see Photo D on p. 100). This marks the location of the seat dado in the back panel. 5. Cut the dado in the back for the seat. Although this dado should be angled, the saw blade on my table saw tilts the wrong way, and it seemed rather cumbersome to set up the cut. So I cut the dado with the blade at 90 degrees and checked the fit of the seat in the dado. No problem. It hardly matters at all that the angle isn’t there. And it is easier. 6. Hold the back up in the same side panel as before. Take the seat and hold it up in

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 99

PHOTO D: Locate

place as well. Take note of how much wood must be removed from the back edge of the seat so it will fit into place, then mark the back edge. 7. Cut the back edge of the seat with the blade reset to the angle of the seat taper (use the seat as your angle reference once again). Set up for the cut carefully so that the top of the seat ends up longer than the bottom. 8. Now you need the exact width of the back. Hold the seat up in the dado in the back. Align the beveled edge of the back with the edge of the seat. Mark the opposite side. Cut the bevel on this side of the back. Be sure that the bevel angles the correct way. The back panel tapers toward the rear; the edges are not parallel.

the dado in the back panel with the panel held in position on the side panel. The dado goes where the seat dado intersects the back.

Determining Strut Length Side panel Back panel

Seat panel

Ruler

Measure from bottom of slot in side panel to edge of dummy strut. Dummy strut, 12"- to 14"-long piece of plywood cut to fit in slot and beveled at the seat angle on one side

100 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

9. Mark and cut the curves on the top and bottom of the back. Both of these curves are the same: a 30-in. radius. You can use the bottom of one of the side panels as a pattern to mark them out. 10. Rout an oval or a slot in the back panel for decoration. Note that the oval makes a very convenient handle for dragging the chair around. I made up a jig for the oval cutout from a scrap of plywood with a 53⁄8-in. by 33⁄8-in. oval cut in it. The slot can be cut with the interim jig you made earlier. Cut either decoration with a router with a 5 ⁄8-in. guide bushing and a 1⁄2-in. straight bit.

Making the Strut The strut makes it possible to assemble the rocker with a threaded rod and cap nuts. It is simple to make. 1. Cut a strip of plywood to the dimensions given in the cut list. 2. You’ll have to clamp all of the other parts of the rocker together to determine the exact length of the strut. Clamp across the back of the chair above the seat. Then measure the distance from the front of the slot on one side to the front of the slot on the other. A 12-in. ruler and a 6-in. ruler used together can get the length. You can also make up a dummy strut from a 13⁄4-in. by 12-in.- to 14-in.-long scrap of plywood with the seat angle cut on one end. Fit it into one of the strut slots and measure from the end of this piece to the bottom of the dado opposite. Add the two lengths to get the measurement (see “Determining Strut Length”). 3. With the saw still tilted (or reset to the seat angle), cut the ends of the strut at the same angle used for cutting the sides of the back. 4. Round over the long edges of the strut with a 1⁄4-in. roundover bit.

Putting It All Together There is no glue used on this chair. Instead, the chair is held together with two lengths of threaded rod and four cap nuts (see Photo E). The cap nuts are usually used in conjunction with connector bolts, but they work perfectly well with 1⁄4-20 threaded rod.

PHOTO E: This combination of hardware used to hold the rocker together is unconventional, but I found it all at my local hardware store.

Tension from the rods and cap nuts holds the seat and back panels securely in the side panels (see “The Threaded Rods” on p. 103). The only complication to this otherwise simple solution is that the rocker side panels are not parallel. The holes (with shallow counterbores) for the connector nuts need to be drilled at an angle so that they can be tightened onto the threaded rods. The process starts with drilling these holes.

Drilling the angled holes The first step in drilling the angled holes is to make a simple angled drilling platform (see “Making the Angled Drilling Platform” on p. 102). 1. The seat angle provides the angle needed for the drilling platform. Make two identical wedges for the platform out of a piece of wood, roughly 1 in. thick by 3 in. wide by 11 in. long. Align the front edge of the seat panel with the end of this wedge blank and trace the angle of the side of the seat panel onto the blank. 2. Cut a wedge out of the blank, smooth the sawn edge, and use this wedge to mark out a second wedge. Cut and smooth this wedge to match the first. 3. Screw a 12-in.-square piece of 3⁄4-in.-thick plywood to the two wedges.

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 101

Making the Angled Drilling Platform

Wedge blank

Mark this angle onto wedge blank. Cut apart.

Align these edges. Seat panel

Match second wedge to first.

12" 12"

SIDE VIEW

Plywood top, 12" x 12"

2" Wedge

To use, position front edge of side panel uphill and drill into outside face.

102 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

11"

Plywood base, 11" x 11"

11"

The Threaded Rods Side panel

Threaded rods

Cap nuts

Use an angled platform to drill angled holes in the side panels to accommodate the cap nuts.

4. Attaching a piece of plywood to the under-

PHOTO F: With

side of the wedges will make it easier to clamp the angled platform to the drill-press table. 5. Clamp the angled platform to the drillpress table with the angle running sideways. 6. On the outside of each of the side panels draw a line through the two marks for the cap-nut holes. This line should remain parallel to the edge of the angled platform when drilling the holes in a side. 7. Drill a shallow 3⁄4-in. counterbore for the flange of each of the cap nuts first. Drill only until you have a complete hole; it will still be very shallow on one side. Then drill a 9mm or a 3⁄8-in. hole through the center of the counterbore for the body of each of the nuts (see Photo F).

the angled platform clamped in place on the drill press, it’s easy to drill the holes for the cap nuts at the proper angle. Note that the line through the capnut holes is parallel to the edge of the angled platform and that the front of the side panel is uphill.

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 103

PHOTO I: Slip the threaded rod with

one of the cap nuts all the way through the holes in one side and mark where the rod comes out the counterbore on the other side panel of the rocker.

Cutting the threaded rod to length 1. Put the rocker together. You may want an

PHOTOS G AND H: Assembling the rocker can be frustrating

without help. It makes sense to do it on a blanket or a piece of cardboard in case something slips apart.

104 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

assistant or a clamp or two to help hold things together while you measure for the threaded rod (see Photos G and H). 2. Thread one of the cap nuts all the way onto the end of the rod, and insert it into a hole on one side and then through the hole in the other side. Mark where the rod comes out of the hole, flush with the bottom of the counterbore (see Photo I). 3. Cut the rod 1⁄4 in. shorter than the length you marked. File the rough edges and check to be sure you can thread the nut onto the cut end. 4. Repeat the same process for the other set of holes, using the remaining section of rod. 5. Now assemble the chair with the threaded rod in place.

TIP

PHOTO J: Tighten up the cap nuts with a pair of Allen wrenches.

6. Tighten the cap nuts (see Photo J). The rocker should hold together tightly (if not, check to see if you need to cut a little more off of the threaded rods). You can test the chair now if you want.

It’s easy to cut threaded rod with a hacksaw. It’s also very easy to mangle the threads so they are unusable. Remember that you need good threads on only the last 1⁄2 in. of either end of the rod. Clamp somewhere else when you’re cutting.

Finishing I chose an oil-and-wax finish for a natural look on one of the rockers and brightly colored paint for the other. Lacquer or shellac is also a good option, although paint, lacquer, or shellac on the bottoms of the rockers will probably rub off as the chair is dragged around. Sand all parts thoroughly, especially the edges, before applying any finish. Wait for the finish to dry completely before reassembling the rocker. Then put it into use.

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 105

Chests of Drawers: Drawer-Building Basics

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This is an excerpt from the book

Chests of Drawers by Bill Hylton Copyright 2001 by The Taunton Press www.taunton.com

Drawer-Building Basics

D

RAWERS ARE OBVIOUSLY central to a chest of drawers. Each is essentially an open-topped storage container. Just a box. Function doesn’t require a drawer to be fancy or complicated. Typically, we make them of a secondary wood, with just the front made to match (or complement) the chest itself. But we want them to be sturdy and tight, probably not too heavy, and easy to open and close. If you are a furniture maker, you want a drawer to be something you can construct quickly without sacrificing strength and durability or appearance. This is a bigger challenge than it might appear. A drawer arguably receives more punishment than any other furniture component. You jerk it open. You slam it shut. Open. Bang! Shut. Open. Bang! Shut. A strong, long-lasting drawer needs not only good joinery but also good support in the chest and a way to guide its movement. If it sticks in the case and you need to yank on it to get it to move, you put extra stress on the drawer’s joints between the front and the sides. (And you stress the chest itself, too.) Then if you have to throw a hip against it to close it, you are once again stressing the drawer and chest. Traditionally, drawers are constructed and fitted with a lot of handwork. But time is dear, and many a contemporary woodworker favors machine-cut joinery and easy fits. There is, it turns out, no one way to build a drawer.

24

Parts of a Drawer Every drawer has the same basic parts: front, back, sides, and bottom. But these parts can be assembled in a variety ways to produce different types of drawers. Curiously, it’s not so much the way the drawer is constructed as how the front of it relates to the case that gives the drawer type its name.

The front The flush drawer is easily the most common type. The front of the drawer is recessed within the case so its face is flush with the case facade. To look right, with an even gap all around, the drawer has to be right. Moreover, in a chest of drawers, each drawer has to match its neighbors. All need to be flush, all need the same visual clearance around the edges. This makes it the least forgiving type of drawer to the craftsman. The flush drawer is used in the Contemporary Chest (p. 62), the Bow-Front Chest (p. 88), and the Triple Dresser (p. 138). The lipped drawer has a rabbet cut on three edges and sometimes on all four. More often than not, the lip is profiled with a bead. The front nestles partway into the case, and the lip covers the gap between the drawer front and the case. This has the practical benefit of covering up a loose fit. Both the Queen Anne Chest on Frame (p. 166) and the Tall Chest (p. 188) have lipped drawers.

The flush drawer has a front that nestles into the chest, with its face flush with the edges of the chest sides and the drawer dividers.

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

25

The lipped drawer has rabbets around the inside face of the front, so it can fit partway into the chest. The lip overlaps the sides and dividers, giving the chest facade depth.

The third type is the overlay drawer, in which the front overlays the edges of the case, concealing it. Often—but not always—the front is an element distinct from the drawer box, one attached after the box is assembled. It may be attached with adjusters, which are eccentrics that allow the front to be shifted up and down, side to side, or even cocked slightly. With this style, the drawer builder can deal with alignment by adjusting just the front and not the entire box and its support system. The Double Dresser (p. 116) has this style of drawer. Regardless of type, the drawer front is invariably made of the primary wood used in the chest. In any of the constructions, it can be an integral part of the drawer box or added on as a false front.

The sides and back The overlay drawer is a modern contrivance, calculated to expedite production and facilitate the use of manufactured runners. A “show” front attached to the drawer box overhangs the box to conceal the runners and to overlay the edges of the case.

26

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

The drawer sides do a lot of work. Together with the front and back, the sides form the walls of the drawer box. Usually, the sides provide the main support for the bottom, either directly or through slips, which are glued to them.

In traditional drawer systems, the sides support the whole drawer as well, since its weight is transferred through the bottom edges to the runners that are built into the chest. And there’s more. The drawer’s movement depends on the sides. Those bottom edges are the bearing surfaces on which the drawer moves. The outer faces of the sides are the guides that rub against the chest walls, keeping the drawer on a straight course—you hope. The back, in contrast, does little beyond linking the sides and enclosing the drawer box. In the typical traditional drawer, the bottom is secured to the back to keep it in place and to keep it from sagging in the middle. But when the drawer moves, the back is just a passenger. Not only is it set on top of the drawer bottom so it doesn’t drag on the runners but, in some designs, it is deliberately held below the top edges of the sides so it doesn’t drag on the runners overhead either.

The bottom As with drawer fronts, there are several types of drawer-bottom construction, which you use depends on the material, the style of the drawer and chest, and the size of the drawer and the strength needed. Most common is the open-back construction, in which the bottom is fitted beneath the drawer back into grooves in the drawer sides and front. This construction is almost essential if you plan to use a solid-wood bottom. The advent of effectively stable materials— plywood and hardboard, specifically—made the fully enclosed construction reasonable. Here, the bottom is housed in grooves in the back as well as in the sides and front. A primitive, seldom seen type is the overlay construction. Here, the bottom is a panel that’s laid over the edges of the sides, front, and back and nailed into place. The durability and wearability of this construction are questionable (although some very old pieces—now in museums—have drawers built this way). An interesting, yet uncommon hybrid is the NK construction. This bottom is composed of two shoe plates and a bottom panel. It is then assembled and fitted to the chest; finally, the

drawer box is glued to it. This unfamiliar bottom construction is used on the Bow-Front Chest (p. 88).

The pull Don’t overlook the part that’s used to open the drawer. It is a handle or a knob or a finger grip of some sort. It can be wood, metal, or plastic, purchased or shopmade. Collectively, these parts are called pulls. Seldom can you get away without at least one pull on each drawer; wide drawers usually have two.

Wood Choices Woodworkers are pretty acclimated to the idea of making drawers from an assortment of materials. The front is the primary wood, of course. But rarely are the sides and back made from the primary wood. We know we can save a little money by using a less-spectacular, lesscostly wood for the drawer sides and backs. We use this secondary wood for all the nonpublic parts in a chest. In some contemporary chests, the drawer sides and backs (and structural fronts) are cut from plywood. Then there’s the bottom. It’s traditional to make drawer bottoms from thin pieces of the secondary stock. But these days, plywood is used for the drawer bottoms more often than not. It is inexpensive, strong, and lightweight. Plus you can transform a sheet of plywood into a stack of drawer bottoms in a matter of minutes. What are the criteria for selecting materials for non-show parts of the drawers?

Strength and weight The trick is finding the balance between weight and strength. Maple drawer sides are very strong, of course, but they will add considerably to the weight of the dresser. Pine drawer sides will make for a lighter case, but they will need to be somewhat thick. The thick sides may be an advantage, depending on the method of support. Side mounts, a system that requires grooves to be cut in the drawer sides for runners that are attached to

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

27

Without a knob or handle, a drawer can be near impossible to open. These pulls— some handcrafted, most manufactured— barely suggest the range of options available.

the case, demand that the drawer sides be on the thick side. This also means the drawer will be fairly heavy. A drawer that rests on top of the runner, on the other hand, can be slimmed down. Aesthetics enters this picture too. You may not be fully conscious of it, but you do have notions about appropriate proportions for drawers. One that’s too bulky or too slender for its dimensions does get your attention. A smaller drawer—one that’s one-half or onethird the width of the case—is proportioned accordingly. The sides and back are thinner and so, sometimes, is the bottom. The thickness of these parts are bulked up proportionally in a deep, full-width drawer housed in the same case.

Stability and wearability The traditional drawer opening—the one bounded by the case sides and the drawer dividers above and below—is, in effect, a frame that doesn’t vary appreciably in dimension from season to season. A drawer made of solid wood does change appreciably in dimen-

28

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

sion from season to season. And if too little overhead clearance is allowed, the drawer will stick in humid summers. The upshot: Select your secondary wood based on its stability and the way it is sawed. Certain woods move more and are more prone to various types of distortion with seasonal humidity changes than others. These you want to avoid, so you eschew the woods that move the most. In addition, quartersawn lumber is much more dimensionally stable than flatsawn lumber. If possible, take your drawer sides and backs from quartersawn stock. Plywood, of course, isn’t prone to any of these woes. It is stable, strong, and lightweight. But it conflicts with most people’s aesthetic sense. The show of plies at the edges doesn’t suit. If the aesthetics isn’t a problem and if speedy production is a goal, plywood is great. The time spent making the sides and back is reduced—no jointing, no resawing, no planing. You won’t want to dovetail the parts together; but speedy production and hand-cut dovetails are on different pages anyway. You’ll use a machine-cut joint.

Wearability is a different measure. In a chest of traditional construction, the drawer rests on a frame composed of the drawer divider, runners, and perhaps a back rail. The bottom edges of the sides are the bearing surfaces. If you use a soft wood for the sides and/or the runners mounted in the chest, the drawer will wear quickly. The edges of the sides deteriorate, and grooves may be worn in the runners (and even into the drawer divider). The goals here are to use a reasonably durable wood as your secondary and to use the same species for both the drawer sides and the runners. Good choices include poplar, soft maple, and alder. It’s worth mentioning too that in addition to wearing faster, soft woods slide more sluggishly. However, traditional cabinetmakers in the United States frequently used softwood drawer sides because of the ready availability.

Cost and labor Cost is the main rationale behind the use of a secondary wood. The poplar used in the chests I built for the photos cost only 20 percent or 25 percent of what I spent for the cherry, walnut, and hard maple. But the material expense is only part of your cost calculation. Here I’m thinking primarily about drawer bottoms. I pointed out that in just minutes, you can produce a stack of drawer bottoms from a sheet of plywood. How long will it take to make a matching stack of solid-wood drawer bottoms? That job usually entails resawing as well as the usual labor for prepping the materials. Glue-ups typically are necessary to get panels 15 in. to 18 in. wide, which drawers in a large chest require. And joinery cuts will be required in the bottom itself, either a rabbet or some sort of panel-raising operation.

Drawer Construction Everybody likes to open drawers and see what’s inside. But woodworkers usually look at the joints first and will probably slide the

drawer in and out a couple of times to gauge its fit in the case and the smoothness of its action. And then they’ll look at the contents. Such assessments reveal the aspects you need to keep in mind as you select the joints and constructions you’ll use in building drawers for a particular chest. Looks are important. All sorts of joints are used in drawers, from the traditional dovetail to the nailed butt. In my mind, the strongest joint needs to be between the front and sides. This is where the stress hits, every time a drawer is opened or closed. This is also the joint that needs to look good, because it is the one that’s seen each time the drawer is opened. The joint between the sides and back needs to be strong too, of course. But most of the stresses on it are secondhand, more inertial than direct. It’s seldom seen since you have to completely remove the drawer from the case to look at it. Function is more important than looks here.

Front-to-side joinery The front-to-side joints take the bulk of the strain on a drawer. If you try to open a badly built drawer, you may come away with just the drawer front in your hand (see the drawing on p. 30). Dovetails generally indicate a well-made drawer. The half-blind dovetail is the traditional joint for this application. It’s has been the joint of choice for literally centuries. Two hundred years ago the hand-cut dovetail was just about the only joinery option for drawers. It was used on low-end furniture as well as high. Now that there are many other machine-cut joint options, half-blind dovetails are the seen primarily on high-end and custom-made drawers. The half-blind dovetail doesn’t show to the front, but when the drawer is opened, it makes a great impression. It can be used for any of the three types of drawers (lipped, flush, and overlay—remember?), though a false front is necessary for an overlay drawer. If the half-blind dovetail has drawbacks, they stem from the effort it takes to make them. They are time-consuming to cut by hand and finicky to fit. You can use a router

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

29

FRONT-TO-SIDE JOINERY

Dado

Lock joint

Sliding dovetail

Half-blind dovetails

30

Dado-andrabbet

Rabbet

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

Through dovetails

Routed drawer-lock joint

Box joint

and one of several jigs to machine them, but dialing in the proper settings for jig and router can take time. And even with the most adjustable of the jigs, the results are pretty clearly machine cut. The other dovetail variants are not universally acceptable for front-to-side joinery. Through dovetails are strong, but they show to the front as well as the side. If exposed joinery is part of the design, then that’s okay. Other– wise, a false front is needed to conceal them. The sliding dovetail is strong and easy to make (once you have the setup), but you can’t cut the dovetail slot close by an edge. Thus it will work only on an overlay drawer (or a flush drawer riding on commercial sidemounted slides). You can produce through and stopped joints; in the former, the dovetail slot is visible in the top edge of the drawer front, in the latter it is not. A joint that looks akin to a dovetail is the box joint. It’s strictly a machine-made joint (cut using a router or table saw), and it doesn’t have as sophisticated an interlock as the dovetail. The many gluing surfaces make up for that and yield a joint that’s plenty strong for drawers. You can even make a half-blind box joint, though it isn’t used on any of the chests in this book. You can use the box joint in the same functional (but not aesthetic) applications you would the dovetail. At the opposite end of the drawer joinery spectrum you’ll find the rabbet and the dado joints. The advantage of a plain rabbet or dado for joining a drawer front to the sides is ease of construction. Neither joint has any interlock that’s integral to the joint, and there’s no good gluing surfaces, so you shouldn’t expect the drawer to survive for generations. A hybrid, the dado-and-rabbet joint, does lock the parts together and is easy to make. But it exposes the end-grain of the drawer side to the front of the drawer, so it needs a false front for all but the most utilitarian applications. Where construction efficiency is paramount, the lock joints are worth serious considera-

tion, especially the routed drawer lock. These joints are strong and simple. The routed joint is cut with a special bit, which produces both parts of the joint. The lock joints work equally well on overlay and flush drawers and can be used to produce lipped drawers as well.

Side-to-back joinery As noted previously, function is more significant in the side-to-back joinery than appearance. It is quite common to find one joint used at the front, and a very different one at the back (see the drawing on p. 32). Historically, through dovetails were used at the back of a drawer. In custom work, they are still the joint of choice. But it’s common these days to join the backs and sides with less fuss—a dado, dado-and-rabbet, even a nailed butt joint may be suitable. If you’re making the front joints with a particular machine setup—a routed lock joint, for example—it’s practical to make the back joints the same way.

Bottom construction The bottom keeps the drawer’s contents from falling on through. So the bottom itself has to be strong enough to support whatever you put in the drawer. The joinery between the bottom and the walls of the drawer also must be strong (see the drawing on p. 33). The first issue to settle when building the bottom is the joinery. Almost without exception, drawer bottoms are housed in grooves cut in the drawer’s front and sides—and sometimes in the back as well. Just bear in mind that the groove compromises the strength of the side at the most critical location. A groove that’s too wide or too deep carries—along with the bottom—the potential for failing. And a thin side simply sharpens the dilemma. A traditional solution to the problem is the drawer slip. Drawer slips are basically square strips of wood glued to the sides at their bottom edges. The grooves for the bottom are cut in the slips. A reasonably sized groove isn’t going to compromise the material.

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

31

SIDE-TO-BACK JOINERY Side

Back

Butt

Box joint

Dado

Sliding dovetail

Dado-and-rabbet

Routed drawerlock joint

Through dovetails

Slips have an additional benefit. Thin sides that slide on runners gradually wear down over the years, detracting from a good fit. Drawer slips increase the bearing surface and thereby extend the useful life of the drawer. Once you’ve settled on a joinery technique, you’ll need to decide between plywood and solid wood for the bottom. Plywood tends to be the choice for all but the traditional chest 32

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

of drawers. At any given thickness, it is stronger than solid wood. It is stable, so movement isn’t a problem. In fact, it can be glued in place, which helps stiffen the box. And the economics of plywood are excellent. The primary drawback of plywood is the actual thickness. A 1⁄4-in. sheet is really about 7 ⁄32 in., and even that is an average across the board. If you cut a 1⁄4-in. groove for the stuff,

DRAWER BOTTOM CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION TYPES

BOTTOM JOINERY

Rabbeted solid-wood bottom Slip construction Square-edge slip Beveled solid-wood bottom

Rounded-over slip Plywood bottom

Chamfered-edge slip Open-backed construction

BOTTOM MATERIALS

Solid-wood bottom Solid-wood bottom Fully enclosed construction

Plywood bottom Plywood bottom

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

33

it’ll rattle. The solution usually is to use a cutter that’s less than 1⁄4 in. and to make two passes to match the groove width to the sheet thickness. The alternative is the traditional solid-wood bottom. Unless the bottom is very small, it needs to be thicker than 1⁄4 in. (thin wood is prone to crack). A typical solid-wood bottom thickness is 1⁄2 in., though smaller drawers might have 3⁄8-in. bottoms. Some furniture makers favor 5⁄8-in. bottoms. To reduce the width of the groove required, the solid-wood bottom needs a tongue or a rabbet. Use a panel-raising bit in a tablemounted router to mill the bottoms, and you’ll get a nicely formed tongue to fit the grooves. A solid bottom should be used only on open-back construction, so the bottom can expand and contract. Orient the bottom so its grain runs side to side, parallel to the back. To ensure that the bottom can expand and contract, use a screw (or a nail) in a slotted hole when securing the back edge of the bottom. On a very wide drawer a large, one-piece bottom is likely to sag, and it may eventually break. You can deal with this before it becomes a problem by adding a center muntin. This frame piece, which extends from front to back, divides the bottom opening of the drawer box so two smaller panels can be used to form the bottom. The muntin must be grooved like the sides, and it must be securely anchored to the front and back. You can use a tongue or dovetail at the front. At the back, cut a rabbet across the muntin to form a simple lap joint between it and the drawer back.

Two small drawer-bottom panels are stronger than one large one. A muntin divides the drawer box’s bottom (just the way it divides a window) so two panels can be used instead of one.

34

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

Finishing the Drawers Finishing is a topic largely left unexplored in this book. But a few words on finishing drawers are essential. Drawers often are left unfinished. Oil-based finishes, which are favorites of furniture makers, give the insides of drawers a vaguely rancid smell. That’s because the drawer boxes

are usually closed, inside the chest, where air circulation is negligible. This odor can persist for years and years. It can permeate clothes kept in the drawers. Some people don’t notice it, others are extremely conscious of it. Being wary of this problem, some furniture makers avoid using any varnish (not only oilbased ones) on the body of a drawer and even on the inside of a chest of drawers. If you want to finish the drawers in your chest, try shellac. A couple of diluted coats will dry quickly and seal the wood. Then sand lightly with 220-grit paper to eliminate the nibs; finally, apply paste wax.

Supporting the Drawers A drawer alone—just an open box—is an oddity. For it to work as intended, it has to be installed in a case in a way that allows it to be opened and closed. The movement must be smooth; and once open, the drawer has to be able to stay open without your help. Drawer movement can be controlled in several ways. Some mounting systems are integral to the case, and others are add-ons. Regardless, the mounting system should be carefully planned along with the case and drawer design.

Runners, guides, and kickers The most common approach to supporting a drawer is an arrangement of a drawer divider and runners (see the drawing on p. 36). The divider is a rail extending from side to side. It separates the drawers visually and physically. And it also supports the front end of the runners. Attaching the runners directly to the case sides seems simple. But, of course, runners can’t be glued to solid-wood sides, because they’ll restrict the sides from expanding and contracting. Instead, the runners are set into dadoes and glued at one end only. Or they are attached with screws in slots. Or they’re housed (unglued) in dovetail or dado slots. A long-standing practice is to capture the (slightly short) runners (unglued) between

the front divider and back rail, both of which are glued in place. A frame-and-panel chest or a case with a face frame requires an additional element—the drawer guide—to limit side-to-side movement of the drawer. Side-by-side drawers, often included in dressers and other chests, need support in the middle of the case, away from the sides. The usual approach here is to suspend a wide runner between the drawer divider in front and a rail in back. A vertical divider with a guide behind it separates the neighboring drawers. An important element in most drawermounting systems is the kicker. A kicker prevents the drawer from tipping down as it is opened. It is just like a runner but, generally, is mounted above the drawer side. A single center kicker may be used for a top drawer.

Side mounts Some furniture designs make it difficult to use runners. A case that has no dividers separating the drawers is an example. In this situation, you can use side-mounted slides. The slide is a strip of wood attached to the case side. Grooves for the slides must be cut in the drawer sides. All the caveats about mounting a runner to a solid-wood case side apply here. This can be a drawback to the system. Another significant drawback is that the drawer sides need to be quite thick to be able to accommodate the slide.

Center runners Wide drawers supported by side runners have a tendency to cock slightly as they are moved and to bind. The wider the drawer, the more likely it is that this will happen. A single center-mounted runner and guide is the solution. The runner, which is attached to the underside of the drawer, has a channel in it that rides over a guide that’s attached to the apron or web frame (see the drawing on p. 36).

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

35

Runners and Guides SOLID WOOD/PLYWOOD CASE CONSTRUCTION

POST-AND-PANEL CONSTRUCTION

Side acts as guide.

Side rail Runner housed in dado, not glued.

Back rail

ued. Panel

Back end nailed to side.

Tenoned into divider.

Runner Guide (glued to runner and nothing else)

Shallow stopped dado

Drawer divider

The runner is housed, unglued, in a dado cut into the chest side. The chest side serves as the drawer guide.

The runner tenons fit into mortises in the drawer divider and back rail. The drawer guide is glued to only the runner.

CENTER RUNNER AND GUIDE

Front rail

Vertical drawer divider

Drawer guide Center runner Back rail

The runner tenons fit into mortises in the front and back rails. The drawer guide is glued to the runner.

36

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

Manufactured runners Metal slides with ball-bearing wheels are another drawer-mounting technique. The slides are mounted in pairs to the case and drawer or singly under the center of the drawer. They offer a smooth opening-and-closing action that’s not affected by wood movement. They can be used in chests of drawers, just as they can in most furniture applications. Full-extension slides allow the full depth of the drawer to be exposed, something you can’t get with the other drawer-mounting techniques.

Drawer stops Drawer stops keep all styles of drawers from falling out of their cases (opening stops) and flush drawers from sliding too far into their cases (closing stops).

A turn button is the simplest opening stop. It can be mounted on the inside of the drawer back or on the back edge of the front rail. Pivoting it out of the way allows the drawer to be inserted or removed. A small block of wood tacked or glued to the back of the runner is the easiest way to make a closing stop. With the back removed and each drawer inserted so it’s perfectly flush with the cabinet face, apply the closing stops with a dab of glue. Then add a couple brads or a small screw. You can also mount the closing stops onto the front rail, so they will catch against the back of the drawer front. They’re definitely harder to locate and attach here, but such a stop can work for both opening and closing.

Manufactured drawer runners range from sturdy side mounts to discrete concealed runners that hide beneath the drawer box. Low-cost runners mount to the bottom edges of the drawer sides.

D R AW E R - B U I L D I N G B A S I C S

37

Designing a Rocking Chair

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Designing a Rocking Chair

From the pages of Fine Woodworking Magazine

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Designing a Rocking Chair

What makes a rocker work

Seat placement and back angle are two of the many things to consider by Mario Rodriguez

I am interested in designing a rocking chair. I have found plenty of information on chairs but nothing basic about the geometry of a rocker. Can you explain seat placement and back angle relative to the rockers; provide a geometry for the rocker linkage with respect to the ground; and a seat geometry for an average person? -- John W. Williams, Bellevue, Washington Mario Rodriguez replies: You raised a number of legitimate and important questions regarding the design of a rocker. However, I've found that there are no clear and singular answers. There are so many things to consider when designing a rocker. I really couldn't dictate curves, angles and lengths as a formula because they might change depending on a particular design. Because of the special demands put upon a rocking chair (as compared to a regular chair), every aspect of its design and construction should be carefully considered. For instance, a rocking chair's legs must be shorter than those of a chair to compensate for the addition of rockers. And a rocker's back should be only slightly angled; otherwise, a sitter might feel like the chair will tip over when in use.

What makes a rocker work

In my experience, it takes three or four tries to come up with a successful original design, but there are a few (opens in new ways to speed the process along. The window) simplest approach is to use an existing rocker as a model. After measuring, inspecting and trying the chair, you can make adjustments and changes for your version. Another method that helps me in the shop is to experiment with the position of the legs on the rockers. On a Windsor rocker, for instance, the legs are slotted to receive the rockers (see What makes a rocker work). This construction allows you to temporarily clamp the legs to the curved rockers as well as experiment with the position of the chair on the rockers. A small 1/2-in. shift in the chair's position along the rockers can shift the sitter's weight and dramatically change how

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Chairmaking & Design Through seven elegant chair projects, Jeff Miller explores and demystifies the art of making chairs Tables and Chairs From Fine Woodworking, articles on a range of projects plus practical techniques FWW on Chairs and Beds From the early issues of Fine Woodworking, 33 articles on making beds, chairs,and related furniture

Designing a Rocking Chair

Turning

the chair rocks.

Carving

Mario Rodriguez lives in Haddonfield, N.J., and teaches woodworking at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking, and author of two books: Traditional Woodwork and Building Fireplace Mantels.

Professional Topics

Drawing: Vince Babak. From Fine Woodworking #130, pp. 100-102

Purchase back issues

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Home Storage Projects: Kitchen Work Station

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Home Storage Projects: Kitchen Work Station

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Home Storage Projects: Kitchen Work Station Plans, a cut list and complete instructions for building a kitchen work station on wheels by Paul Anthony

There are plenty of good solutions for organizing and controlling the clutter in your home. In Home Storage Projects, Paul Anthony brings you plans and instructions for 13 practical for woodworkers of all skill levels. The projects include a modular CD storage cabinet, an efficient desktop organizer, a handy mobile closet, a convertible wine cabinet, and a snoop-proof medicine cabinet.

Open or download the 14-page PDF file below for the Kitchen Work Station. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files.)

KitchenWorkStation.pdf

(Download should take approximately 2 minutes on a 56K modem)

This excerpt features a portable kitchen work station provides both additional counter space and extra storage.

Paul Anthony has been a professional woodworker since 1974 and has built hundreds of projects, ranging from furniture to musical instruments. He lives in Reigelsville, Pennsylvania. Photos: Rich Bienkowski and Paul Anthony; drawings: Ron Carboni From Home Storage Projects, pp. 94107

Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information. Techniques Furniture Power Tools Hand Tools Projects Workshop Finishing Turning http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0005.asp (1 of 2) [11/3/2003 3:09:17 à«]

Dining Tables Plans and complete instructions for building nine tables Classic Kitchen Projects 17 projects to enhance your kitchen Building the Custom Home Office 10 office projects accessible to anyone with basic woodworking skills Making Country Furniture 15 step-by-step furniture projects that capture the essence of country style

Home Storage Projects: Kitchen Work Station

Carving Professional Topics

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This is an excerpt from the book

Home Storage Projects by Paul Anthony Copyright 2001 by The Taunton Press www.taunton.com

KITCHEN WORK STATION

I

N MANY KITCHENS, counter space is at a premium. There just never seems to be enough, especially when you’re cooking up a large or complicated dinner. That’s when a portable kitchen work station can really come in handy. You can move it next to the stove or sink for an extra work area or for a staging platform for pots and dishes. The problem with many portable work stations is that they typically don’t include much storage, so when they’re not being used, they’re basically wasting space.

I designed this oak mobile kitchen work station to satisfy the need for both extra counter space and extra storage. In smaller kitchens, you can roll it against a wall when you’re not using it, and it’s acts as a wall cabinet. In a larger kitchen, it can be left stationed in the center of the room where it will serve as an island. In fact, you can omit the casters if you don’t intend to move the piece around much. The cabinets underneath can be configured to suit your own needs. You can make all drawers, build a combination of drawers and closed cabinets, or incorporate open cabinets.

✦ 95

KITCHEN WORK STATION Top Top rail

Drawer divider Drawer shim Rear apron Bottom rail Rail divider

Grain

Front stretcher Platform Side apron The work station consists of two basic components: the carriage and the cabinets. The carriage is the solid-wood framework of rails, aprons, stretchers, and platform that carries the cabinets. The plywood cabinets are built separately and then screwed to each other and to the carriage platform.

DESIGN OPTIONS ✦

The top can be made from commercial butcher-block stock if desired.

✦

The under-counter cabinets can be configured to suit your needs. (For example, the drawer cabinet can be replaced with open shelving or the cabinets can be faced with doors.)

✦

For a permanent island, omit the casters and extend the leg length by 21⁄2 in.

Bar

Bracket Leg Rabbet, x 1/8''

1/8''

Side stretcher

Locking caster

Side and Front Views SIDE VIEW

FRONT VIEW

48'' 45''

24'' 21'' 15/8''

31/2''

203/8''

221/4''

321/2''

36''

151/8'' 2''

83/4''

81/4''

1/4''

2''

11/2''

141/2''

3''

171/2''

411/2'' 21/2''

T

HE CARRIAGE is the framework of the work station and carries the top and cabinets. It consists of the legs, aprons, rails, and stretchers. I build it first and then construct the cabinets independently and install them underneath.

Carriage Joinery 1/4''

1/4''

Apron

Constructing the Base Carriage and Tops The kitchen work station uses a leg-andapron framework that serves as a base for the three storage units that fit inside. There are also three tops: one on top of the unit and two smaller tops that fit over the lower storage compartments.

Make the tops 1. Using roughsawn 5/4 stock, lay out the boards for the 1-in.-thick top. Because the top will be prominent, take care to lay out the boards attractively (see “Composing

Tenon x 1'' x 3/8''

Top rail 1/4''

1/2''

41/2''

Rail divider

1/2'' 3/4''

Rear leg

Tenon x 3/4'' x 41/2''

Bottom rail

1/4''

5/8''

1/4''

Tenon x 3/4'' x 1''

Front leg

13/4'' Stretcher 1/4''

Tenon x 3/4'' x 21/2''

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

✦ 97

CUT LIST FOR KITCHEN WORK STATION CUT LIST FOR KITCHEN WORK Cabinets

Carriage

Rear edgings

1

⁄2" x 1⁄2" x 14 3⁄8"

solid wood

2

Front edgings

1

⁄4" x 3⁄4" x 22 1⁄4"

solid wood

4

Front edgings

1

⁄4" x 1⁄2" x 14 3⁄8"

solid wood

5

Front edgings

1

⁄4" x 1⁄2" x 9 1⁄2"

solid wood

3

Divider edgings

1

⁄2" x 11⁄2" x 13 3⁄8"

solid wood

⁄2" x 2 5⁄8" x 18"

solid wood

⁄2" x 3" x 19 ⁄8"

solid wood

⁄4" x 181⁄4" x 183⁄4"

hardwood plywood

⁄2" x 51⁄4" x 18"

solid wood

⁄2" x 7 1⁄4" x 18"

solid wood

⁄2" x 5 1⁄4" x 13 1⁄2"

solid wood

⁄2" x 7 1⁄4" x 13 1⁄2"

solid wood

⁄4" x 18 1⁄4" x 12 7⁄8"

hardwood plywood

⁄4" x 2" x 17 1⁄2"

hardwood plywood

⁄4" x 3 7⁄16" x 20 5⁄16"

solid wood

⁄4" x 6 11⁄16" x 14 3⁄8"

solid wood

⁄4" x 8 11⁄16" x 14 3⁄8"

solid wood

Top

1" x 24" x 48"

4

Legs

1 ⁄ " x 1 ⁄ " x 32 ⁄ "

solid wood

2

Side aprons

3 4

⁄ " x 5" x 19"

solid wood

1

Rear apron

3 4

⁄ " x 5" x 43"

solid wood

2

Side stretchers

3 4

⁄ " x 3" x 19"

solid wood

2

Front/ rear stretchers

3 4

⁄ " x 3" x 43"

solid wood

2

Rails

3 4

⁄ " x 11⁄2" x 43"

solid wood

1

Rail divider

3 4

⁄ " x 11⁄2" x 41⁄4"

solid wood

1

Drawer divider

3 4

⁄ " x 4 ⁄ " x 18 ⁄ "

hardwood plywood

Drawers 4

Drawer sides

1

1

Platform

3 4

hardwood plywood

4

Drawer box front/backs

1

2

Platform edgings

1 4

2

Drawer bottoms

1

2

Platform edgings

1 4

4

Drawer sides

1

2

Drawer sides

1

4

Brackets

1 ⁄ " x 2 ⁄ " x 5"

solid wood

4

1

2

Bars

1 ⁄ " diameter x 19"

solid wood

Drawer box front/backs

2

Drawer box front/backs

1

3

Drawer bottoms

1

3 4

3 4

1 4

solid wood

4

1

1 2

1 4

⁄ " x 20" x 44" ⁄ " x 3⁄4" x 171⁄2"

solid wood ⁄ " x 3⁄4" x 411⁄2" 1 4

3 4

1 4

solid wood

Cabinets 2

Cabinet tops

3

2

Drawer case sides

3

1

Drawer case back

3

2

Drawer case braces

3

4

Small case sides

1

2

Small case back

1

4

Small case top/bottoms

1

3

Small case dividers

1

1

Small cabinet shelf

1

2

Rear edgings

3

98 ✦

⁄4" x 171⁄4" x 12"

solid wood

⁄4" x 18 7⁄8" x 221⁄4"

hardwood plywood

2

Drawer shims

3

⁄4" x 14 1⁄2" x 22 1⁄4"

hardwood plywood

2

Drawer fronts

3

⁄4" x 2 1⁄2" x 14 1⁄2"

solid wood

2

Drawer fronts

3

⁄2" x 151⁄2" x 14 3⁄8"

hardwood plywood

1

Drawer fronts

3

⁄2" x 91⁄2" x 14 3⁄8"

hardwood plywood

3

Other materials 5 pair Drawer slides 18" from Woodworker’s Hardware; item #RH501 18 ALM

⁄2" x 15 ⁄2" x 9 ⁄2"

hardwood plywood

⁄2" x 12 3⁄4" x 13 3⁄8"

hardwood plywood

5

Pulls

3"

from Woodworker’s Hardware; item #A02378 PWT

⁄2" x 151⁄4" x 93⁄8"

hardwood plywood

4

Stem-type casters

2"

from Woodworker’s Hardware; item #JH50 SBB

⁄4" x 3⁄4" x 22 1⁄4"

solid wood

12

Metal tabletop fasteners

1

1

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

Dimensions for all pieces with tenons include tenon length.

Installing a Screw C O M P O S I N G G R A I N F O R PA N E L S GOOD COMPOSITION GOOD COMPOSITION

Straight grain edges

Straight grain to straight grain joint

Bull's-eye entirely on board

POOR COMPOSITION POOR COMPOSITION

GOOD COMPOSITION

Matching grain slope at joint

Wild grain Wild grain to on edge Straight straight grain grain to joint

straight grain joint Straight grain edges

Bull's-eye entirely on board Board widths symmetrical from center outward

M s

Crosscut bull's-eye

Asymmetrical, unbalanced board widths

Thoughtful board layout can make all the difference in the look of a solid-wood panel. When laying out, use long boards, sliding them against each other to create a good match at the joints. The tips shown above are just guidelines, of course. Rip, flip, and arrange the boards in whatever way is necessary to create the most continuous grain pattern and consistent color.

Grain for Panels”). While you’re at it, join up the cabinet tops. 2. Joint and thickness plane the boards; then edge-join them together. 3. Plane or belt sand the tops. If you have access to a wide belt or drum sander, this is the perfect application for it (see photo A). 4. Round over the edges with a 1⁄8-in.-radius roundover bit or a handplane and sandpaper. Don’t round over the edges of the cabinet tops that abut the center cabinet.

PHOTO A: A wide

drum sander is the perfect tool for sanding tops. It quickly creates a smooth, flat surface.

Prepare the parts 1. Lay out the stock for the parts. I used straight-grained material for the legs, ripping the pieces from the outer edges of wide 8/4 plainsawn boards. 2. Joint, plane, and rip the pieces straight and square; then crosscut them to length.

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

✦ 99

PHOTO B: When

routing the leg mortises, plunge to full depth at the mortise ends; then remove the remaining waste, taking shallow passes.

Cut the joints

PHOTO C: A shoulder plane makes neat work of trimming

tenon shoulders.

100 ✦

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

1. Mark the legs for orientation; then lay out the leg mortises for the aprons and stretchers. Notice that the stretcher mortises are set in 1⁄8 in. more than are the apron mortises. 2. Rout the mortises using an edge guide on your router (see photo B). 3. Lay out and rout the mortises for the bottom rail and the rail divider. I use a shopmade T-square to guide the router (see photo A on p. 38). 4. Rout the 1⁄8-in. by 1⁄8-in. rabbets in the three outer edges of each leg. 5. Saw the apron and stretcher tenons. I cut them on the table saw using a dado head. Aim for a snug fit in the mortises and against the leg. If necessary, trim the tenons with a rabbet or with a shoulder plane (see photo C). 6. Saw the rail and rail divider tenons for a snug fit in their mortises. 7. Lay out the stretcher curves. You can either use a long trammel bar as a compass or you can trace along a thin strip of wood pulled to the proper curvature (see “Springing a Curve”).

8. Cut the stretcher curves with a bandsaw or jigsaw; then clean up the saw marks with a spokeshave, files, and sandpaper. 9. Dry-assemble the bottom rail and front stretcher to the front legs. Then lay out the dovetails on the top rail. I use a 7-degree angle on the dovetails and mark the shoulders directly from the legs. 10. Saw the dovetails; then trace their shapes onto the tops of the front legs using a sharp pencil. Align the rear of the rail with the inner faces of the legs. I rout out the dovetail sockets just shy of my cut lines and then pare to them with a sharp chisel. 11. Make the plywood drawer divider, glue it to the rail divider, and cut the biscuit slots for joining its rear edge to the rear apron, as shown in the drawing on p. 96. 12. Sand all carriage parts through 220 grit. Round over the edges of the leg rabbets slightly, but don’t sand the innermost edges of the legs until after fitting the platform.

Make the platform and assemble the carriage 1. Dry-clamp the carriage to make sure the joints all pull up tight and align properly.

Springing a Curve Thin, straightgrained strip

Scrap block

Nail

Workpiece

2. Glue up the side assemblies, making sure that the legs, aprons, and stretchers lie flat and square to each other under clamp pressure. 3. Make the platform edging pieces, cutting them slightly oversize. Then glue them to the platform, centering each one on the edge. Then plane, scrape, or sand the edging flush to the plywood.

TIP When wiping away excess glue, use a clean rag and replenish your water often to avoid spreading diluted glue into the wood grain. Alternatively, you can wait until the excess glue turns rubbery and then trim it off with a sharp chisel.

PHOTO D: After jigsawing the platform notches just a hair small, pare them to final size, guiding a chisel against a square wooden block.

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

✦ 101

4. Dry-clamp the bottom rail, rear apron,

PHOTO E: After gluing up the two side assemblies and notch-

ing the platform, glue and insert the rear apron, lower rail, and stretchers to one side assembly. Then slip one end of the platform unglued between the legs, and glue on the opposite side assembly.

Towel Bar Bracket 23/4'' 11/4''

1''

and stretchers to the side assemblies. Measure the distances between the legs; then mark out the platform notches, carefully measuring outward from the center of the platform. Aim for a very snug fit between the legs. 5. Cut the notches. For the best fit, saw them slightly undersize and then pare them to your cut line (see photo D on p. 101). When you’ve got a good fit, sand the platform through 220 grit. 6. Glue the bottom rail, rear apron, and stretchers to the side assemblies (see photo E). Make sure the apron is lined up with the tops of the legs and that the stretchers are spaced 11⁄2 in. up from the bottoms of the legs. Raise the platform off the stretchers to prevent glue squeeze-out from touching it. 7. After removing the clamps, run a thin bead of glue along the top edges of the stretchers; then clamp the platform down. 8. Glue and clamp the rail divider and top rail into place. 9. Sand the innermost corner of each leg, rounding it slightly with 150 grit and then 220 grit. 10. Drill the holes for the caster posts. To guide your bit, use a block that you’ve prebored on the drill press and then clamped to the leg. The casters I used required a 29⁄64-in.diameter hole, but first drill a test hole in scrap to be sure.

Make the bar assembly

13/4''

If you’re not equipped to turn your own bars, you can order commercial dowel stock. I got mine from Woodworker’s Supply (see “Sources” on p. 172).

15/8'' 5''

1. Make the blanks for the bar brackets.

TIP To prevent marring your workpieces, glue thick leather scraps to the faces of pipe clamps using contact cement. 1/2''

102 ✦

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

Cabinets The cabinets are built of hardwood plywood panels edged with solid wood, which is applied to all front edges and to the rear edges of the sides. Then the pieces are joined with biscuits to ease alignment. Drawers are installed with commercial drawer slides.

#20 biscuit

Top Grain Rear edging

#10 biscuit Brace

3/4''

Groove, x 1/4''

Front edging

1/4''

Divider

Divider edging Side Front edging

2. Make a stiff paper pattern of the bracket (see “Towel Bar Bracket”). Then trace the shape onto the blanks. 3. Using a Forstner or other flat-bottom bit in a drill press, bore the 1⁄2-in.-deep blind holes to accept the bar. If your dowel stock is 1 ⁄16 in. or more undersize (mine was), use a smaller diameter bit. Clamp the bracket blanks to a fence to secure them while drilling. 4. Bandsaw the brackets to shape, sawing just outside of the cut line. Save the offcuts. 5. Sand to the cut line to smooth the curve. I used an oscillating spindle sander, but a regular drum sander in a drill press would work. 6. Cut the bars to length and insert them into their holes. If a dowel is slightly oversize, trim down the diameter with a block plane. Then sand the bars and brackets through 220 grit and set them aside for now.

Building the Cabinets Size the parts and cut the joints 1. Lay out the case pieces and cut them to size. Make sure the drawer case sides and back will slip between the platform and the rail and apron with just a bit of room to spare. 2. Mill the solid-wood edging, ripping it from stock that you’ve planed about 1⁄32 in. thicker than the plywood. The edging at the rear of each cabinet is square in cross section, whereas the edging at the front is 1⁄4 in. thick (see “Cabinets”). 3. Make the edging pieces. Cut each one slightly longer than the edge to be covered. 4. Glue the edging to the case sides, tops, bottoms, and dividers. Make sure that it overlaps the plywood on the ends and both faces. 5. Plane, scrape, or sand the edging flush to the plywood faces. Then trim it flush at the

TIP Manila folders make great material for small patterns. The paper is thin enough to cut easily but thick and stiff enough to trace around.

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

✦ 103

PHOTO F: Trim

the edging flush to the case pieces by aligning a shim block flush with the outside face of the sawblade teeth.

Divider Profile

Full size

104 ✦

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

ends. I do this on the table saw using a shim block clamped to the fence (see photo F). 6. Make a thick paper pattern of the ogee profile for the divider fronts (see “Divider Profile”). Then trace the profile onto the divider edging. 7. Saw the profile. I cut the curved sections with a scrollsaw and the straight sections with a bandsaw. Clean up the straight sections with a block plane, chisel, and sandpaper. 8. Make the braces for the center cabinet and drill the shelf support holes in the sides of the right-hand cabinet. 9. Lay out the biscuit joints for joining the case pieces, including the dividers. The small cabinets take #10 biscuits and the center cabinet takes #20 biscuits. 10. Cut the biscuit joints. When cutting slots into the face of a panel at the edge, clamp scrap to the panel for joiner fence support (see photo G). When cutting the divider slots, prop the divider up on 1 ⁄8-in.-thick shims to center the slots (see photo H).

PHOTO G: Square scrap

clamped to the case pieces provides bearing for the biscuit joiner fence, preventing angled slots. PHOTO H: When cutting biscuit joints for 1⁄2-in.-thick dividers, lay the divider on 1 ⁄8-in.-thick shims to center the slot in the end of the divider. To use the divider as a fence for cutting the case bottom slots, as shown here, use a 1⁄8-in.-thick spacer to offset the divider from the joint intersection line.

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

✦ 105

the back, then the sides. Make sure all the cabinets are square under clamp pressure. 4. Finish-sand all surfaces that will be exposed. 5. Because of oak’s open grain, I next treated the carriage and cabinets with pore filler to ensure a smoother finish. I also installed the case-half of each slide. It’s easiest to do all this before installing the cabinets. 6. Fit the drawer shims to the carriage and screw them in place, as shown in the drawing on p. 96. Then install the drawer slides into the carriage.

Install the bars and cabinets

PHOTO I: To

attach the bar brackets, set them on a length of thick scrap clamped to the legs. Clamp the lower section of each bracket using the curved offcuts. Thick leather scraps protect the finish.

106 ✦

Assemble the cabinets 1. Sand the dividers and the inside faces of the small cabinets, being careful not to round over the edges. 2. The divider cabinet would be difficult to finish after assembly, so mask off the joints and finish the dividers and inside faces of the case pieces now. While you’re at it, finish the bars and exposed faces of the brackets too, as it’ll be difficult to brush a finish onto them once they’re attached. Leave about 3 ⁄8 in. of raw wood at the ends of the bars for gluing later. 3. Glue up all three cabinets. When assembling the divider cabinet, I first glue the dividers to the top and bottom, using deepthroat clamps at the center. Next, I attach

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

1. Spot-glue the bars into their brackets, orienting the annular rings on the ends of the bars parallel to the grain of the brackets to ensure equal wood movement. Then glue the brackets to the carriage legs (see photo I). 2. Install the center cabinet, insetting it 1 ⁄2 in. from the rear edge of the platform. I screwed through the bottom braces into the platform and then into the cabinet sides from underneath. Next, square up the face of the cabinet and shim any space between the sides and the bottom rail, making sure that the rails are square to the legs. Then screw through the rail into the sides (see photo J). 3. Install the small cabinets, insetting them 1 ⁄2 in. from the rear edge of the platform. Screw through the center cabinet sides into the top edges of the small cabinets, and through the platform into the cabinet sides.

Making the Drawers Build the boxes I made the drawer boxes from solid poplar, dovetailing the corners. Alternatively, you could use 1⁄2-in.-thick plywood, joining the corners with rabbet-and-dado joints (see “Quick ’n’ Easy Drawers” on p. 77). If doing the latter, simply subtract 1⁄2 in. from the given lengths of the drawer box fronts and backs.

1. Plane, rip, and crosscut the drawer box pieces to size.

2. Saw the bottom grooves in the sides and box fronts, as shown in “Cabinets” on p. 103.

3. Cut the drawer box corner joints (see “Dovetailed Drawer Construction” on p. 113). 4. Assemble the drawers on a flat surface and compare the diagonals to ensure that the boxes are square under clamp pressure. 5. Sand the drawer boxes and ease the edges and corners with 150-grit sandpaper. 6. Attach the drawer slides to the drawer boxes; then fit them into the case, making sure that the drawer box fronts are parallel to the front of the case and carriage.

Fit the drawer fronts 1. Make the drawer fronts, initially sizing them to the drawer openings; then set them in place. 2. Using a pencil and ruler, draw a cut line around the edge of each drawer front to create a gap of about 3⁄32 in. all around. Then saw and plane to the cut line. Check the fit of the fronts and then remove all of the drawers except the bottom one. 3. Loosely clamp the drawer front to the bottom drawer box. Shift the front to achieve an even gap all around; then clamp the front tightly, remove the drawer, and screw the front on from inside the drawer. Repeat the procedure for the next drawer up. 4. Because there’s no clamp access for the top drawer in the cabinet, use double-sided tape to hold the drawer front in place before screwing it on. 5. Use deep throat clamps to hold the drawer fronts to the two carriage drawers; then screw the fronts on with the drawers in place.

Finishing Up 1. Apply finish to all exposed surfaces. I brushed on two coats of semigloss polyurethane, wet-sanding with 400-grit sandpaper between coats. I sanded the final coat with 600-grit sandpaper to remove any nibs and then scrubbed it with 0000 steel wool to reduce the gloss somewhat.

PHOTO J: After

2. Screw on the cabinet tops, aligning the rear edge of each with the rear edge of the center cabinet. Because a drill won’t fit into the rear of the divider cabinet, I glued the rear portion of the top to the cabinet top. Elongate the front screw holes to allow about 3⁄8 in. wood movement. 3. Using a biscuit joiner or slot-cutting router bit, cut the slots in the aprons and rails to accept tabletop clips. 4. Attach the work station top. I used commercial S-shaped metal fasteners, setting them at least 1⁄8 in. away from the rail and rear apron to allow for wood movement. 5. Attach the pulls.

shimming any space between the lower rail and the cabinet sides, drill a screw clearance hole through the rail and shims. Countersink the holes; then screw the rails to the cabinet sides.

K I T C H E N W O R K S TAT I O N

✦ 107

Making an End Table

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Making an End Table The beauty of this Arts-and-Crafts design is in the details

Joinery Details Carving a Lamb's Tongue

by Stephen Lamont

About 10 years ago, I began to tire of my job as a corporate pilot. The work was challenging and enjoyable, but the time away from home put a strain on my family. The job was becoming more technical, too. Temperamentally, I've always been more of a craftsman than a technician. After considerable soul-searching, I decided to become a furnituremaker. I wanted a solid foundation of basic skills, so I went to England where I trained with Chris Faulkner. He emphasized developing hand-tool skills and building simple, comfortable furniture that asked to be used--a basic tenet of the British Arts-and-Crafts movement. My preferences to this day are for this kind of furniture and for the use of hand tools whenever their use will make a difference.

Tables Anthony Guidice presents plans and instructions for building ten classic tables Dining Tables From Kim Carleton Graves, plans and instructions for building nine tables

This end table is solidly constructed and meticulously detailed. It should last generations.

About two years ago, I designed and built this end table. Although it's an original design, many details come from other pieces of furniture in the British Arts-and-Crafts tradition. The joinery is mortise-and-tenon and dovetail throughout. The construction of the table can be divided into five main steps: stock preparation and panel glue-up; making the front and rear leg assemblies; connecting these two assemblies (including making the shelf and its frame); making and fitting the drawer; and making and attaching the top. Stock selection, preparation and layout I milled all the stock for this table to within 1/16 in. of final thickness and width. I also glued up the tabletop, the shelf and the drawer bottom right away to give them time to move a bit before planing them to final thickness. This helps ensure they'll stay flat in the finished piece. With these three panels in clamps, I dimensioned the rest of the parts to a hair over final thickness. I finish-planed them by hand just before marking out any joinery.

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Traditional Furniture Projects 25 articles from Fine Woodworking magazine on the construction of fine period pieces

Making an End Table

Carving Professional Topics

Making the front and rear assemblies Layout began with the legs. I numbered them clockwise around the perimeter, beginning with the left front as I faced the piece, writing the numbers on the tops of the legs. This system tells me where each leg goes, which end of a leg is up and which face is which. Dovetailing the top rail into the front legs -- The dovetails

Keeping track of the legs is

easier when they're numbered that connect the top rail to the on top, clockwise from the front legs taper slightly top to front left. This system helps prevent layout errors. bottom. I used the narrower bottom of the dovetail to lay out the sockets in the legs. The slight taper ensures a snug fit. Don't make the dovetails too large, or you'll weaken the legs.

Scribing the socket from the bottom of the slightly tapered dovetail ensures a good fit in the leg.

After I marked, cut and chopped out the sockets, I tested the fit of these dovetails. By using clamping pads and hand screws across the joint, I eliminated the possibility of splitting the leg. The dovetail should fit snugly but not tightly. Pare the socket, if necessary, until you have a good fit. Tapering and mortising the legs -- I tapered the two inside

A hand screw prevents a leg from splitting if the top-rail dovetail is too big. The fit should be snug but not tight.

faces of each leg, beginning 4-1/2 in. down from the top. I removed most of the waste on the jointer and finished the job with a handplane. The tapers must be flat. To avoid planing over a penciled reference line at the top of the taper, I drew hash marks across it. With each stroke of the plane, the lines got http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00078.asp (2 of 3) [11/3/2003 3:11:20 à«]

Making an End Table

shorter. That let me know how close I was getting. I cut the mortises for this table on a hollow-chisel mortiser. It's quick, and it keeps all the mortises consistent. I made sure all mortises that could be cut with one setting were done at the same time, even if I didn't need the components right away. Tenoning the aprons and drawer rail -- I tenoned the sides, back and

Joinery details

lower drawer rail on the tablesaw, using a double-blade tenoning setup. It takes a little time to get the cut right, but once a test piece fits, tenoning takes just a few minutes. After I cut the tenon cheeks on the tablesaw, I bandsawed just shy of the tenon shoulders and then pared to the line. One wide apron tenon would have meant a very long mortise, weakening the leg. Instead, I divided the wide tenon into two small tenons separated by a stub tenon. That left plenty of gluesurface area without a big hole in the leg.

(opens in new window)

Mortising for runners, kickers and buttons -- The drawer

rides on runners that are mortised into the lower front rail and the back apron. Similarly, the kickers at the tops of the side aprons, which prevent the drawer from drooping when open, are mortised into the top front rail and the back apron. I cut the 1/4-in.-wide mortises for the runner and kicker tenons on the back edge of both drawer rails and on the back apron. There are eight mortises for the drawer runners and kickers. Another seven mortises of the same size are for the buttons that attach the top to the table's base--three on the back apron and two on each kicker. I also cut grooves for the dust panel at this time. The 1/4-in.-thick panel is set into the frame of the table just below the drawer. It's a nice touch, even if it's not needed structurally. I cut the grooves for the panel into the bottom of the back apron and into the back of the drawer rail. (I cut the dust-panel grooves in the drawer runners later.) Then I made a test-fit with a scrap of the same 1/4-in. cherry plywood used for the panel. [

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Making an End Table: Page 2

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Chamfering and gluing up --

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Stopped chamfers are routed on the legs and aprons of this table, each terminating in a carved lamb's tongue. I stopped routing just shy of the area to be carved and then carved the tongue and the little shoulder in three steps (see Carving a lamb's tongue). Gluing up the table base is a twostep process. First I connected the front legs with the top and bottom drawer rails and the back legs Check diagonals to make sure assemblies are glued up with the back apron. To prevent square. Clamps and a spacer at the legs from toeing in or out the bottom of the legs prevent because of clamping pressure, I the clamping pressure at the top from causing the legs to toe inserted spacers between the legs in or out. at their feet and clamped both the top and bottom. Then I check for square, measuring diagonally from corner to corner. It ensures that the assembly is square and that the legs are properly spaced. Connecting the front and rear assemblies To hold the legs in position while I measured for the drawer runners and kickers and, later, to get the spacing on shelf-support rails correct, I made a simple frame of hardboard and wooden corner blocks. The frame ensures the assembly is square and the legs are properly spaced. After I marked the shoulder-to-shoulder lengths for the runners and kickers, I cut and fit the stub tenons that join these pieces to the front and rear assemblies. The back ends of the runners and kickers must be notched to fit around the inside corners of the legs.

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Joinery Details Carving a Lamb's Tongue

Tables Anthony Guidice presents plans and instructions for building ten classic tables Dining Tables From Kim Carleton Graves, plans and instructions for building nine tables Traditional Furniture Projects 25 articles from Fine Woodworking magazine on the construction of fine period pieces

Making an End Table: Page 2

A simple frame keeps the legs spaced accurately and the base of the table square. A 1/4-in.-thick piece of hardboard and some scrap blocks make up this handy frame. With the legs properly spaced, the author can mark the shoulders of the shelf-frame rail against the tapered legs as well as take precise measurements for runner and kicker lengths.

Runners, kickers and dust panel -- I cut the 1/4-in. grooves for the dust panel in the drawer runners next. I also cut grooves for the splines with which I connected the drawer runners and kickers to the sides of the table. There are 10 grooves in all--one each on the inside and outside edges of the drawer runners, one on the outside edge of each of the kickers and two in each side for the splines.

Then I dry-clamped the table and made sure the tops of the kickers were flush with the top edges of the sides, the tops of the runners flush with the top of the drawer rail and the bottoms of the runners flush with the bottom edges of the sides. Then I cut the dust panel to size, test-fit it and set it aside until glue-up. Building the shelf frame and shelf -- The shelf on this table is

a floating panel captured by a frame made of four rails. The two rails that run front to back are tenoned into the legs; the other two are joined to the first pair with through-wedged tenons. I put the dry-assembled table into the hardboard frame and clamped the legs to the blocks. Then I clamped the pair of rails that will be tenoned into the legs against the inside surfaces of the legs and marked the shoulder of each tenon. I also marked the rails for orientation so that the shoulders can be mated correctly with the legs. Tenons were cut and fit next. With the rails dry-clamped into the legs, I measured for the two remaining rails to be joined to the first pair. I laid out and cut the through-mortises in the first set of rails, chopping halfway in from each side to prevent tearout. I cut the tenons on the second set of rails, assembled the frame and marked the through-tenons with a pencil line for wedge orientation. So they don't split the rails, the wedges must be perpendicular to the grain of the mortised rail. I flared the sides of the through-mortises (not the tops and bottoms)

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Making an End Table: Page 2

so the outside of the mortise is about 1/16 in. wider than the inside. This taper, which goes about three-quarters of the way into the mortise, lets the wedges splay the tenon, locking the rail into the mortise like a dovetail. Next I marked the location of the wedge kerfs in each tenon, scribing a line from both sides of the tenon with a marking gauge for uniformity. I cut the kerfs at a slight angle. Wedges must fill both the kerf and the gap in the widened mortise, so they need to be just over 1/16 in. thick at their widest. An interlocking tongue and groove connects the shelf to the rails that support it. Using a 1/4-in. slot cutter in my table-mounted router, I cut the groove in the rails, working out the fit on test pieces first. The slots are 1/4 in. deep. I stopped the grooves in the rails 1/8 in. or so short of the mortises on the side rails and short of the tenon shoulders on the front and back rails. I notched the shelf to fit at the corners. I measured the space between the rails of the shelf frame and added 1/2 in. in each direction to get the shelf dimensions. I cut the tongue on all four edges on the router table. Gluing up the shelf-frame assembly -- Before gluing up the shelf frame, I routed hollows in clamp pads to fit over the throughtenons on two of the shelf rails. Then I began gluing up the shelf assembly. I applied glue sparingly in the mortises and on the tenons so I wouldn't accidentally glue the shelf in place. I pulled the joints tight with clamps and then removed the clamps temporarily so I could insert the wedges.

After tapping the lightly glue-coated wedges into the kerfs in the tenons, I reclamped the frame. I checked diagonals and adjusted the clamps until the assembly was square. Once the glue was dry, I sawed off the protruding tenons and wedges and planed them flush. Overall glue-up -- With the shelf frame glued up, the entire table

was ready to be assembled. I began the large front-to-back glue-up by dry-clamping the front and back leg assemblies, sides, runners, kickers (with splines), dust panel and shelf assembly. I made adjustments and then glued up. I made and fit the drawer guides next. I glued the guides to both the sides and the runners and screwed them to the sides with deeply countersunk brass screws. I did a thorough cleanup of the table in preparation for drawer fitting. I removed remaining glue, ironed out dents and sanded the entire piece with 120-grit sandpaper on a block. I gently pared sharp corners, taking care not to lose overall crispness. The drawer I particularly enjoy making and fitting drawers. A well-made drawer that whispers in and out gives me great satisfaction. I use the traditional British system of drawermaking, which produces what my teachers called a piston fit. The process is painstaking (see FWW #73, pp. 48-51 for a description of this method), but the results are wellworth the effort. That, however, is a story for another day. Making and attaching the top http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00078_p2.asp (3 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:11:57 à«]

Making an End Table: Page 2

After I thicknessed and cut the top to size, I placed it face down on my bench. I set the glued-up base upside down on the top and oriented it so it would have a 1-in. overhang all around. I marked the positions of the outside corners and connected them with a pencil line around the perimeter. This line is one edge of the bevel on the underside of the top. Then I used a marking gauge to strike a line 7/16 in. from the top surface on all four edges. Connecting the two lines at the edges created the bevel angle. I roughed out the bevel on the tablesaw and cleaned it up with a plane. The bevels should appear to grow out of the tops of the legs. Making and attaching the coved lip -- The cove at the

back of the top is a strip set into a rabbet at the back. I cut the cove from the same board I used for the top so that grain and color would match closely. I ripped the cove strip on the tablesaw and handplaned it to fit the rabbet. I shaped the strip on the router table, leaving the point at which it intersects the top slightly proud. To provide even clamping pressure, I used a rabbeted caul, clamping both down and in.

Rabbeted clamping block helps provide pressure in two planes. The author clamps down the cove strip with six C-clamps and into the rabbet with six bar clamps. A spring clamp on each end closes any visible gaps at the ends.

When the glue was dry, I planed the back and the ends of the cove flush with the top. To form a smooth transition between top and cove in front, I used a curved scraper, followed by sandpaper on a block shaped to fit the cove. I frequently checked the transition with my hand and sanded a wider swath toward the end. It's easy to go too far and have a nasty dip in front of the cove.

I drew the ends of the cove with a French curve and then shaped the ends with a coping saw, chisel and sandpaper. The curve should blend into the tabletop seamlessly. Finishing up with oil -- After finish-sanding, I applied several coats of raw linseed oil diluted with mineral spirits in a 50/50 mix, a few more coats of straight linseed oil and, finally, two to three coats of tung oil to harden the surface. I let the oil dry thoroughly between coats. After the last coat of oil was dry, I rubbed the surface down with a Scotch-Brite pad and gave the table a few coats of paste wax. The drawer was the exception: Aside from the face of the drawer front, all other surfaces were finished with wax alone. Attaching the top -- I screwed the top to the top-drawer rail from beneath to fix its position at the front. That way, the mating of the bevel with the front rail will be correct and any seasonal movement of the top will be at the back. I attached the top to the base with buttons on the sides and in the rear. [ previous ] Stephen Lamont is a professional furnituremaker.

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Making an End Table: Page 2 Photos: Vincent Laurence; drawings: Bob La Pointe From Fine Woodworking #120, pp. 4853

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Vineyard Table

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Vineyard Table

Excerpted from Dining Tables

Entire Site

Vineyard Table Complete plans for a trestle table with a twist

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by Kim Carleton Graves

The vineyard table is almost as old a design as the trestle table, dating back 300 years or more. Some sources claim these tables were used by grape pickers in French vineyards for working lunches, while others say they were used in wineries for wine tastings. Both stories may be true, since the tables fold easily for storage and transportation. The central "harp" spins around on one set of dowels and the tabletop flips on a second set of dowels to create a remarkably compact package.

Open or download the 16-page PDF file below for the complete chapter on making this Vineyard Table. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files.)

VineyardTable.pdf

Desks Seven desk projects from laptop to Chippendale Tables Plans and instructions for ten classic tables, from historic pieces to contemporary styles

(Download should take approximately 2 minutes on a 56K modem)

I love the look of the figured white oak in this table, but the original tables were made by carpenters from whatever woods were available locally.

Finishing

Like all trestle tables, this one is easily modified to suit the builder's taste and talents. Vineyard tabletops are typically round or elliptical, but you can make the top for this table in almost any size or shape as long as the width clears the feet when the table is flipped.

Turning

Furniture maker Kim Carleton Graves has been designing and building high-

Workshop

Beds Plans and instructions for building nine classic beds Bookcases Eleven classic bookcase projects

Neal White of San Jose, California, designed and built this table as a second table for family gatherings at his house. He found it too useful to stow away between occasions, and it's taken up permanent residence in his living room. On the vineyard table, hinges replace joints between the legs and cleats, and the tabletop is held level by a beautiful harpshaped support.

Chests of Drawers Plans and instructions for building seven classic chests of drawers

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Vineyard Table

Carving Professional Topics

end custom furniture for ten years. His article on duplicating spindles appeared in the May/June 2000 issue of Fine Woodworking (#142). He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Photos: Richard Bienkowski; drawings: © The Taunton Press From Dining Tables, pp. 56-64

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This is an excerpt from the book

Dining Tables by Kim Carleton Graves Copyright 2001 by The Taunton Press www.taunton.com

Vineyard Table he vineyard table is almost as

taken up permanent residence in his

old a design as the trestle table,

living room.

T

dating back 300 years or more. Some

The vineyard table is similar to

sources claim these tables were used

the trestle table on p. 40 except that

by grape pickers in French vineyards

hinges have replaced the joints between

for working lunches, while others say

the legs and cleats, and the tabletop is

they were used in wineries for wine

held level by a beautiful harp-shaped

tastings. Both stories may be true, since

support.

the tables fold easily for storage and

I love the look of the figured white

transportation. The central “harp”

oak in this table, but the original tables

spins around on one set of dowels and

were made by carpenters from whatever

the tabletop flips on a second set of

woods were available locally.

dowels to create a remarkably compact package. Neal White of San Jose, California,

Like all trestle tables, this one is easily modified to suit the builder’s taste and talents. Vineyard tabletops are

designed and built this table as a

typically round or elliptical, but you can

second table for family gatherings at

make the top for this table in almost

his house. He found it too useful to

any size or shape as long as the width

stow away between occasions, and it’s

clears the feet when the table is flipped.

57

Vineyard Table THE VINEYARD TABLE is similar to a trestle table in construction, except that the cleats are hinged instead of joined to the legs, allowing the tabletop to flip down or be removed for storage and transportation. The harp-shaped structure pivots outward to support the tabletop when the tabletop is set up for use.

Top

Cleat

Harp

Dowel

Leg

Stretcher

Footpad

58

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

Foot

END VIEW

SIDE VIEW 1"

32" 16"

17/8"

11/2"

33/16"

2"

21/2 " 3/4"

dia.

R 31/2"

13/8"

3/4"

dia.

11/4 "

33/16" 221/2 "

2" 27"

27"

21/2 "

1/2"

2"

7/16"

4

23/4"

23/4 "

33/4"

23/4"

1" 1/2 "

1"

11/2 "

25"

HARP 191/2"

2"

2215/16"

41/2"

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

59

Building the Table Step-by-Step CUT LIST FOR VINEYARD TABLE Ta b l e t o p a n d L e g A s s e m b l y 1

Tabletop

60 in. x 46 in. x 1 in.

2

Legs

27 in. x 31⁄2 in. x 1 in.

2

Feet

25 in. x 23⁄4 in. x 11⁄2 in.

4

Footpads1

5 in. x 1 in. x 11⁄2 in.

2

Stretchers

221⁄2 in. x 21⁄2 in. x 1 in.

2

Cleats

32 in. x 33⁄16 in. x 1 in.

2

Harp legs

2215⁄16 in. x 41⁄2 in. x 1 in.

1

Harp cross bar

191⁄2 in. x 2 in. x 1 in.

2

Leveling blocks1

5 in. x 13⁄8 in. x 2 in.

Hardware 2

Hardwood wooden dowels2

3

⁄4 in. diameter x 3 in.

2

Hardwood wooden dowels2

1

4

Steel wood screws

11⁄2 in. by #10

⁄2 in. diameter x 3 in.

1

The leveling blocks and footpads can be cut from the foot cutoffs. See Sources of Supply on p. 183.

2

he elaborate pattern-cutting techniques described for other projects in this book can be used for this table. However, since vineyard tables are traditionally simple, carpenter-made furniture, I’ve chosen to stick to basic tools and techniques. A jigsaw, coping saw, or bandsaw is all you need to cut out the parts; scrapers, planes, and sandpaper can be used to sculpt them to final shape. Mortise-and-tenon joints hold the legs and stretchers together, but the lap joint, a very basic joint, is used for the harp pieces, and doweled hinges are used for the moving parts. Another new but simple technique introduced here is drawing the ellipse for the tabletop.

T

60

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

The most challenging task is to fit the pieces together so that the tabletop opens and closes easily and remains level when open. Since every table is slightly different, adjustments to the dowels and leveling blocks should be made dynamically.

Making the Parts Preparing the stock The critical dimensions in this table are the lengths of the legs, the widths of the feet, and the lengths of the stretchers. If these aren’t equal, the trestle won’t be square. In addition, the width of the tabletop must clear the feet when the table is flipped up for storage. The shape of the tabletop determines how much clearance you have. Rectangular tables have about 45 in. of clearance, while round tables have nearly 49 in. because the curved shape clears the feet. 1. Begin with 8/4 rough stock for the feet and footpads and 6/4 rough stock for all other parts. Although 5/4 might work, you would risk not being able to get all the parts out. 2. Crosscut the trestle parts 2 in. oversize in length. Face-joint and edge-joint the boards and plane them to finished 1-in. thickness, then rip the parts to finished width. 3. Cut all tabletop boards to the same length. When cutting to rough length, leave them several inches oversize. Face-joint and edge the boards, then rip them to width and plane to finished thickness.

Making the tabletop 1. Glue up boards for the tabletop in a rectangular shape, arranging and aligning the boards to get the best match for color and grain. Clamp the tabletop, using plenty of clamps (see the sidebar on the facing page), and allow the glue to cure overnight.

How Many Clamps? The object of clamping is to put pressure on all of the

woodworkers recommend springing the boards so they

surfaces being glued. Imagine clamp pressure as radiating

meet at the ends but gap slightly in the center. The board

45 degrees on either side from the point of application.

acts as a combination spring and caul, closing the gaps.

If the clamps are spaced too far apart, as shown in illustra-

I prefer using enough clamps to provide pressure at all

tion “a” below, there may be little or no pressure at some

points on the gluelines, as shown in “c.” In this example,

points on the glueline. Moving the outer clamps toward the

I needed five clamps to get enough pressure. With a panel

center, as shown in “b,” solves the problem in the middle

the same size and narrower boards, I would have needed

but creates new low-pressure areas near the edges. Some

even more clamps.

No pressure area

Low pressure area

Good overlap pressure in all areas

Overlap pressure

Not enough pressure

Good pressure

45°

45°

a

2. After the glue cures, remove the clamps and place the tabletop upside down on your workbench. 3. Draw an ellipse on the underside of the tabletop as described in the sidebar on p. 62, and cut out the ellipse using a jigsaw or coping saw. 4. Finish shaping the ellipse with a belt sander held against the edge or a sanding block with 80-grit sandpaper.

b

c

Making the feet 1. Cut the feet to final length. 2. Mark out the 1⁄2-in. mortises with a mortising gauge, making sure the mortise is centered on the foot, and cut them out with a mortising machine or chisel. 3. Glue the footpads to the feet and allow the glue to cure overnight (see photo A).

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

61

Drawing an Ellipse Every ellipse has two foci, or focus points.

Place a small finishing nail at each end of

The sum of the distances to the two foci

the line to mark the foci. Next, draw a line

is equal from any point on the ellipse.

crossing the center of the first line at right

Following this definition, you can lay out

angles. Mark a point 23 in. along this line—

an ellipse with two nails, a pencil, and a

this will be the end of the table’s short axis.

piece of string. By varying the position

Take a piece of string about 100 in. long,

of the nails and the length of the string,

tie it in a loop, and put the loop around the

you can generate an infinite number

nails. Adjust the position of the knot so that

of ellipses.

a pencil held against the taut string will hit

To generate the ellipse for this table,

the point you’ve marked. (The loop of string,

draw a 38 ⁄2-in. line on the underside of

once adjusted, should measure 981⁄2 in.)

the tabletop, centered along the long axis.

Finally, draw the ellipse.

1

Hold the pencil here.

As the pencil moves, the ellipse is formed.

String Put small finishing nails at the two foci.

46" 90°

191/4"

191/4"

23"

60"

62

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

Photo A: Clamp across the joints to register the sides of the footpads with the sides of the feet.

4. Enlarge the illustration below to full size or create a pattern of your own, then trace it onto the feet. 5. Using a bandsaw or coping saw, cut out the feet, then plane, scrape, or sand the edges smooth.

Making the legs 1. Cut both legs to final length. 2. Mark out the mortises for the top and bottom stretchers, then cut these with a mortising machine or mortising chisel. 3. At the top of each leg, lay out a 31⁄2-in. square. Draw diagonals between the corners to find the center of the square. Use a compass to draw a half-circle at the top of each leg (see photo B). 4. Mark the shoulders of the bottom tenons and use a table saw to establish the shoulder line. 5. Using a tenon jig and the table saw, remove the tenon cheeks. Sneak up on the final width so the tenons will fit snugly into the mortises of the feet without binding.

PATTERNS FOR CURVED PARTS

Foot

Cleat

Harp leg

1 in. = 1 square

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

63

Photo B: Mark the outside circle before drilling the pivot hole.

Photo C: Forstner bits leave clean entry holes even in difficult wood. Back up the exit hole with a piece of scrap so the exit is clean.

6. Use a bandsaw or coping saw to cut out the half-circle. 7. Sand the half-circle to shape using a sanding block with 80-grit paper. 8. Drill out a 3⁄4-in. dowel hole at the marked center, using a Forstner bit as shown in photo C (see Sources of Supply on p. 183). Don’t use a paddle or high-speed bit for this hole—you won’t get clean or accurate results.

Making the stretchers 1. Cut the two stretchers to length. 2. Find the center of the top edge for both stretchers, then drill 1⁄2-in. holes 1 in. deep at both spots to accept the pivot dowels on the harp. 3. Mark the shoulders on one end of a stretcher. Set a stop on your miter gauge, and cut the shoulders for all four tenons on your table saw. 4. Using a tenon jig, cut the tenons. The tenons should fit snugly into the leg mortises. You don’t want a loose fit here, so sneak up on the fit until it’s just right.

64

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

Using a Mortising Chisel A mortising chisel is thicker than an ordinary chisel; the extra thickness allows the chisel to self-jig once the mortise is started. It also absorbs the stresses of mortising. You can order the chisels, and the wooden mallet used with them, by mail from specialty tool catalogs (see Sources of Supply on p. 183). Body positioning is the trick to successful use of a mortising chisel. Just as you tune woodworking machinery, you must also train your body to use hand tools. Start by laying out the mortise with a marking gauge, combination square, and marking knife. The knife lines are important because they delineate the top and bottom of the mortise. Clamp the workpiece to your bench so that it’s on your right side if you’re right-handed or on your left side if you’re left-handed. Position the chisel at the far end of the mortise with the bevel facing you, and hold it with your nondominant hand. Align your body with the workpiece (see the top photo). If you do this correctly, the chisel will be vertical. Holding the wooden mallet in your dominant hand, hit the chisel hard with a single whack. Don’t be shy and tap-tap-tap on the chisel. The chisel should cut 1⁄8 in. or more into the wood with each blow. Next, reposition the chisel 1⁄8 in. closer to you and whack it again. Pry the chisel toward you, and the chip between the first and second cut will come out (see the bottom photo). Keep working down the mortise until you get to the near end. Reverse the chisel so the bevel faces away from you, then cut the other shoulder of the mortise square. Now reverse the chisel to its original position and go back to the far end of the mortise. Continue the mortising operation until the mortise is deep enough. The width of the chisel acts to jig the tool in the mortise that’s already cut. If you position your body correctly, and you aren’t shy about whacking the chisel, hand-mortising can be very fast and accurate.

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

65

SCREW HOLES FOR ATTACHING CLEATS TO TABLETOP

1/8"

through hole (”wobbled out“ for wood movement)

3/8"

hole by 1/4" deep (plugged after installing screw)

Tip: For the harp legs, the two lap joints are on the same side. The two halves of the harp are identical.

66

Photo D: If you cut your own plugs, you can match the grain direction and make the plugs almost invisible. Clamp the stock to the drill-press table so the workpiece doesn’t spin.

Making the cleats

Making the harp

1. Mark the positions for the pivot holes. 2. Mark the positions for the 13⁄8-in. radius circles. 3. Either enlarge the illustration on p. 63 to full size or make up your own shape, then mark the pattern onto the cleats. 4. With a 3⁄4-in. Forstner bit, drill out the pivot holes. 5. Saw out the pattern using a bandsaw or coping saw, getting as close as you dare to the line. Mill up to your lines using planes, scrapers, and sanding blocks with 80-grit sandpaper. 6. Mark for and drill the four tabletop attachment screw holes on the cleat bottoms. First drill the plug recesses 3⁄8 in. in diameter by 1 ⁄4 in. deep and 3 in. from each cleat end. Through the center of each recess, drill a hole 1 ⁄8 in. in diameter all the way through the cleat, “wobbling out” the bottom slightly to allow for seasonal wood movement (see the illustration above). 7. Using a 3⁄8-in. plug cutter as shown in photo D, make four plugs from scrap.

The harp is assembled with lap joints that are glued but not screwed or pinned together. Cutting them can be complicated because they are angled, but if you follow the sequence you won’t have any trouble. As always, cut the joinery while the workpieces are still square, then cut out the shapes.

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

1. Practice this joint on scrap wood first. Put a dado set on your table saw, and using two pieces of scrap the same thickness as the harp pieces, mark half the width on each of them. Raise the dado set so it just meets the halfwidth line, and make two cuts in the scrap using a miter gauge (see photo E). Test the joint, adjusting the height of the dado set until you achieve a perfect fit. Adjusting height dynamically is much more accurate than trying to measure. Now that the scrap joint fits, you’re ready to cut your money joints. 2. Cut the two harp legs to length. 3. Rotate your miter gauge counterclockwise, setting it to a heavy 61 degrees. Set a stop block on the miter gauge, and cut the shoulder of the lap joint for the top joint on one leg. Repeat the process for the second leg, then

Photo E: Cut the joint slightly thick, then turn the practice piece over to see the difference between the blade and the remaining work.

remove the stop block and cut out the waste on both top joints. 4. Rotate your miter gauge clockwise, setting it to a heavy 57 degrees. Set a stop block on the miter gauge, and cut the shoulder of the lap joint for the bottom joint. Repeat for the second harp leg, then remove the stop block and cut out the waste on both joints. 5. Glue the two harp legs together while they’re still square. 6. Now that the bottom joint is finished, mark out and cut the harp shape. Enlarge the illustration on p. 63 to full size or make your own design and trace it onto the workpiece. Cut out the design using a bandsaw or coping saw. 7. Make sure the shoulders of the two top laps are perpendicular. Set the fence on your table saw so you just slightly trim the front shoulder, then flip the harp and trim the other leg (see photo F). 8. Measure across the top of the legs of the harp and cut the cross bar to final length. 9. The measurement for the two laps on the cross bar probably won’t be identical, since bandsawing out the harp is not an accurate method of making symmetrical parts, so take a measurement for one of the shoulders from one leg of the harp using a combination

HARP LAYOUT

Glue up the workpieces while they're still square. That way you can glue up across the joint, using the nibs to hold the clamps. The lines of the harp are purely decorative, so don't worry about making them exact. Your only concern is to fit the top bar accurately between the legs. Do this by trial.

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

67

square. Transfer it to one end of the cross bar, then repeat the procedure and transfer the measurement to the other end of the cross bar. 10. Set a stop on your miter gauge so that one shoulder on the cross bar is correctly positioned. Cut the shoulder using the dado set (see photo G). Reset the stop for the second shoulder, then turn the workpiece around and upside down so that the cut you just made faces up, and cut the second shoulder. Remove the stop and cut out the waste on the two joints. 11. Mark the center of the bottom edge of the cross bar and drill a 1⁄2-in. hole there. Fit that hole with a 3-in. by 1⁄2-in. hardwood dowel and glue it in place. Fit the cross bar to the harp leg assembly with the dowel facing down and glue and clamp it. 12. When the glue is dry, cut off the two top nibs using a handsaw. Sand the top flush with an 80-grit sanding block.

Tip: Be sure to cut the two lap joints on opposite sides of the harp cross bar.

Photo F: Run the harp against the fence and cut the top shoulders square.

Photo G: Fitting the bar into the opening between the legs is tricky. It’s easiest to cut both shoulders until the bar just fits. Use paper shims to microadjust the stop.

Tip: Once you’ve drilled the hole for the dowel, the cross bar is no longer symmetrical.

68

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

Photo H: After you’ve glued the cross bar to the harp and cut off the nibs, run the cross bar against the fence to cut the harp bottom. This ensures that the bottom is parallel to the cross bar.

Tip: Make sure the pivot holes on the stretchers are facing up.

13. To cut the bottom of the harp, run the top rail of the harp against the table-saw fence, cutting off the bottom. This ensures that the bottom is parallel with the top (see photo H). 14. Turn the harp upside down and find the center of the harp bottom. Drill a 1⁄2-in. hole into the bottom and fit that hole with another 3-in. by 1⁄2-in. hardwood dowel. Glue the dowel into place.

Assembling and Finishing Up Sanding Sand the legs, feet, stretchers, cleats, tabletop, and harp to 220 grit, using a random-orbit sander on the flat surfaces and sanding blocks on the curves. Start with a belt sander on the tabletop, using a 150-grit belt, then finish up with the random-orbit sander. Break all of the edges using a sanding block so the edges are comfortable to touch.

Assembling the trestle The top stretcher must be inserted through the harp before the trestle assembly is glued up. If you forget, you won’t be able to get the harp on. As usual, doing a dry glue-up will prevent problems from arising when you’re gluing for real. 1. Assemble both leg structures dry to make sure everything fits together properly. Use waxed paper between the leg and glue blocks so the blocks don’t stick to the leg, and dryclamp the assembly to make sure you have everything in order. 2. Spread PVA glue into the foot mortises on one leg structure and then onto the tenons on the leg. Insert the tenons, then clamp the structure, making sure all the joints are tight. Repeat for the other leg structure. 3. Measure for square across the diagonals and correct any deviation. 4. Spread glue into the four leg mortises and onto the stretcher tenons. Insert the stretcher

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

69

LEVELING BLOCKS 5’’

2’’

The thickness will vary depending upon the individual table.

11/8"

1"

13/8" 3/4"

Countersunk screw holes

tenons into one of the leg structures and hammer them home using a dead-blow hammer. 5. Place the harp, which is already assembled, through the top stretcher. 6. Insert the tenons into the second leg and clamp the structure, using clamp blocks on both sides of the exposed mortise to get good clamp pressure. Make sure the trestle sits square on a flat surface. If it doesn’t, adjust the clamp pressure. 7. Remove excess glue and allow the glue to cure overnight. 8. Remove the clamps and, using a sharp chisel, chamfer the edges of the exposed tenons, which should show about 1⁄4 in. on each side of the legs.

70

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

Attaching the cleats to the tabletop With the trestle complete, you can fit the cleats to the underside of the tabletop. It is easier and faster to do this dynamically than to try to measure them. 1. Set the trestle on the floor, and insert a 3-in. by 3⁄4-in. hardwood dowel through the hole in one of the cleats and into one of the legs. The dowel should stand slightly proud of the surfaces. Cut it to correct length using a handsaw, and chamfer the edges of the dowels slightly using sandpaper or a chisel to make them easy to insert. The dowels should be sized to go in and out of the holes with finger pressure. Sand them to size if needed.

2. Attach the other cleat to the other leg. 3. Turn the tabletop upside down onto your workbench, then put the trestle, with cleats attached, upside down on the overturned tabletop. Prop up the trestle so it doesn’t fall over. Center the trestle on the top. 4. Predrill for screws and screw the cleats into the top, using 11⁄2-in. by #10 steel wood screws. 5. Pull out the pivot dowels and remove the trestle. Glue 3⁄8-in. wooden plugs into the screw holes. When the glue is dry, cut off the plugs, then level using a sharp chisel followed by sanding.

Adjusting the harp The harp should pivot on the dowels in their holes, rather than resting on the stretchers. You can accomplish this by adjusting the length of the dowels so that when they are seated in their holes they raise the harp slightly above the stretchers. 1. Mount the harp into the holes in the stretchers. 2. Measure the distance between the harp and the stretchers and subtract 1⁄8 in. The correct dowel length between harp and stretchers is 1⁄8 in., so you’re cutting off the extra dowel length, leaving only the 1⁄8 in. 3. After taking the harp out of the holes, cut off the amount you calculated from both dowels. 4. Remount the harp. The harp should now be riding 1⁄8 in. above the stretchers. 5. If the harp doesn’t swing freely, sand the dowels with 80-grit sandpaper on a sanding block until it does.

Leveling the table The final step is to install the leveling blocks and level the tabletop in relation to the trestle. Rough dimensions for the leveling blocks are given in the illustration on the facing page, but the final dimensions should be calculated dynamically from the finished table.

1. Remount the trestle on the tabletop, which should still be upside down. 2. Pivot the harp so it is perpendicular to the legs, and use shims to level the trestle until the two legs of the harp are equidistant from the bottom of the table. Measure that “leveling distance,” which corresponds to the 1-in. measurement shown in the illustration on the facing page. If your measured leveling distance is greater than 1 in., add the difference to the thickness of the leveling block. If it is less than 1 in., subtract that difference. 3. Make two leveling blocks at the calculated thickness. Bandsaw out the slopes and sand them smooth with 80-grit paper and a sanding block. 4. To test the fit, flip the tabletop level, pivot the harp open, and put the blocks into place. The blocks will be held in place for the moment by the pressure between the tabletop and harp. If the block is too thin, add a piece of veneer or cardboard between it and the table; if it’s too thick, plane off the bottom. 5. Position the blocks and predrill for the two screws, making sure to countersink the heads. Then glue and screw the blocks to the bottom of the table with 11⁄2-in. by #10 steel wood screws.

Finishing Traditionally, vineyard tables were often unfinished, though some had oilcloth covers held on with a strip of wood tacked to the edge. (If you see nail holes around the edge of an antique vineyard table, you’ll know what they were for.) A tung oil finish gives this table a natural look while still protecting it from the elements. If you’ve made the table from scrap or multiple species of wood, you might want to paint it. Milk paint (see Sources of Supply on p. 183) followed by oil will create a period look. See appendix 1 on pp. 178–179 for details.

V I N E YA R D T A B L E

71

Create an Elegant Latch from a Simple Spinner

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Create an Elegant Latch from a Simple Spinner

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Create an Elegant Latch from a Simple Spinner Place the spinner within the door stile for a clean, almost hidden, latch by Chris Becksvoort

Spinners have been used for years to keep barn doors shut. I've redesigned the spinner for my cabinets from the simple but effective exterior latch to a refined and almost completely hidden mechanism within the door stile. The earliest spinners consisted of a small piece of wood with a pin through the center mounted on the frame next to the door. When the spinner is in the vertical position, the door can be opened. With the spinner turned horizontally, the door is locked. A few years back I decided to incorporate the spinner inside the lock stile of the door frame. I make the spinner into an oval. The result is substantially more work in layout, mortising and fitting, but it's much cleaner looking and almost entirely out of the way. The door knob must be placed on the centerline of the door stile, and the spinner must extend out of the stile by at least 1/4 in. when closed yet fit completely within the door stile when in the fully opened position. Begin by drilling the knob hole through the stile. Then make a cardboard cutout of the spinner, sized so that it won't reach into the door-panel groove. Locate the mortise by swinging the cutout in a 90° arc around the door-knob hole. The width of the mortise should be about a third the thickness of the door frame -- usually 1/4 in. for a 3/4-in.-thick frame.

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The Shaker Legacy An extensive visual tour of more than 140 classic Shaker pieces, with Chris Becksvoort as your guide In the Shaker Style From Fine Woodworking, ideas and techniques of contemporary artisans and instructions for more than 10 projects, from Shaker chairs to bookcases

Create an Elegant Latch from a Simple Spinner

Carving Professional Topics

With the knob hole drilled in the center of the stile, use a cardboard cutout to determine the spinner's placement. Then mark the mortise 1/16 in. larger than the spinner itself.

Becksvoort chisels out the mortise by hand.

Once the mortise is complete, shape and drill the spinner and check the fit with the knob attached. If all works well, pin it in place with a small brad or brass escutcheon pin. The spinner should not be glued, because there's a great risk of glue getting onto the knob shaft, which will muck up the works. I aim for close tolerances between the knob shaft and matching hole. For most cabinet doors I use knobs with 1/2-in.-dia. shafts (3/8 in. dia. for very small doors). To make life easier, I shape all knob tenons with a plug cutter, chuck them into the lathe and turn the knob proper. If you think about it, the knob shaft is the only critical part of the process. The 1/2-in.dia. shaft must fit precisely in the matching hole bored into the door. The plug cutter eliminates the most difficult portion of the task.

To avoid splitting the spinner, drill a hole for the escutcheon pin.

For a 1/2-in.-dia. knob shaft, drill a 33/64-in.-dia. hole through the door stile and a 1/2-in.-dia. hole through the spinner. Now the knob will spin freely in the door frame yet hold the spinner securely. Next, with the spinner in the closed position, align the grain of the knob with the grain of the door frame. Then turn the spinner into the open position and pin it. This detail makes it easy to tell whether the spinner is in the open or closed position.

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Create an Elegant Latch from a Simple Spinner The knob should slide in with a little pressure. The spinner must swing freely and should be hidden when the latch is open.

Secure the spinner and knob with a pin. Instead of glue, use a small brad or escutcheon pin and drive it in using a nailset.

After 30 years as a woodworker, I was proud of myself for coming up with this idea of installing the spinner in the door frame. Then in 1996, while shooting photos for The Shaker Legacy (The Taunton Press, 1998), I came across a small chest with drawers and doors at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Mass., in which the door knob passed through a mortise in the edge of the door. Although the spinner itself was missing, it was clear that the Shakers had the same bright idea 160 years ago. Chris Becksvoort is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking. This story is excerpted from "Shopmade Latches and Catches" in the March/April 2002 issue. Photos: Timothy Sams; drawing: Michael Gellatly From Fine Woodworking #155, pp. 4647

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Building a Sleigh Bed

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Turning rosettes

Building a Sleigh Bed Sensuous curves and well-chosen details enhance a simple design by Chris Becksvoort

I've been building furniture fulltime for 21 years and have made more than 1,000 pieces, including dozens of beds. But until recently I had never built a sleigh bed. So when a friend and long-time customer asked me to build one for her, I had some research to do. The nicest one I found was Photo: Dennis Griggs designed and built by William Turner and featured in FWW #91 (pp. 46-51). To my eye, it was all a sleigh bed should be. It had classic lines, style, grace. The only problem was that it took 1,200 hours to build. My client's budget dictated that the bed be built in less than 100 hours. So I had to capture the essence of a sleigh bed, but build it efficiently. The design work was left to me, with just a few stipulations: The bed was to be queen size, and both headboard and footboard were to be 54 in. high. I worked out several sketches for the post profiles, finally settling on this one. Along with twin bands of coveand-bead molding that ring the bed and rosettes at the top of each post, this profile gave the bed the classic look I wanted.

Plan for the sleigh bed

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I saved time on this bed by using flat panels for the headboard and footboard, rather than coopering a curved panel or using a tambour. Also, instead of carving the rosettes, I turned them (see Turning rosettes). It took less than an hour and a half. The bed is a very simple construction. The headboard and footboard assemblies are joined to a pair of thick rails with knockdown fasteners. These assemblies are each made up of two posts into which are tenoned a turned crest rail and a flat lower rail. A single large panel floats in grooves in both posts and in the crest and lower rails. A template speeds fabrication of posts The crest rails had to be 61-1/2 in. long, but my lathe's capacity is

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Beds Nine attractive bed projects accessible to woodworkers of any skill level Beds and Bedroom Furniture From Fine Woodworking magazine, 23 articles on bedroom furniture in a variety of styles Fine Woodworking on Chairs and Beds From Fine Woodworking's classic black-and-white era, 33 articles on chairs, stools, rockers, sofas, cribs and beds

Building a Sleigh Bed

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only 39 in. So I farmed them out to a local millwork shop where I used to work. While I was at the shop, I ordered eight 8-ft.-long pieces of cove-and-bead molding. I glued up the posts and rails from 8/4 stock (about 120 bd. ft., including waste) and then planed the eight planks to a bit more than 1-1/2 in. thick. I bandsawed a pattern from 3/8-in. plywood and carefully sanded the edges so that all the curves were smooth and Bandsaw the post profile. Stay fair. I transferred the post profile outside of the line; what to the blanks and then bandsawed remains can be routed or sanded. An outfeed table the posts, staying about 1/16 in. attached to the author's back from the line. I bored 3/32bandsaw makes maneuvering in. holes through the centers of all the large blank much easier. four crest circles and all four foot circles on the drill press. These holes were essential in indexing both the pattern and the rosette and in drilling the crest-rail mortise hole. On the finished bed, the top holes were covered by the crest rail and rosettes; the holes in the feet were plugged. With the shape of the posts roughly bandsawn, it was time to template rout the posts to final shape -- that is, attach the pattern to the posts and follow the template with a router and a flushcutting, bearing-guided bit. Sounds good in theory, but there were a few problems. First, as with planing, you shouldn't rout into the grain. That meant having to make all downhill cuts on one side, switch the pattern to the other side of each post, and make the downhill cuts from that side. I penciled arrows onto the wood to indicate stop and start points for the bit.

Use a flush-cutting, bearingguided bit and a template to rout the profile. Rout with the grain to avoid tearout. For sections where you can't rout with the grain, flip the post over, and reattach the template to the other side. Rounded areas at top and bottom are smoothed on a sander.

I also discovered that a 1-1/2-in. flush-cutting bit starts to burn after only a few minutes of chewing its way through 1-1/2-in.-thick cherry. After seeing this on the first leg, I changed tactics. I sanded all the convex curves I could reach, including the crest and foot circles, using a stationary disc sander and a belt sander with an 80grit belt. For the straight portion of each post, where the side rail meets the post, I ran the post over the jointer. As a result, the router had only half as much work, and the bit burned a lot less. On tight, inside corners, where the circles meet the curves, I used chisels, gouges and files to get a neat transition. Then the real fun started. All the edges of all four posts had to be sanded to 320-grit. I used a belt sander and a block plane here and there, but for the most part, it was

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Building a Sleigh Bed

burned fingertips. Incidentally, the 80-grit disc sander marks were easier to sand out than the router burns. Laying out and cutting mortises The next step was to decide which side of each post was going to be the face. I marked the faces with a pencil and then drilled a 1/2-in.deep, 2-in.-wide hole on the inside center of each of the crest-rail circles. These holes matched the tenons turned on the ends of the two crest rails. I then laid out the mortises for the lower head and foot rails. I offset the mortises to give more strength to the outside wall of the mortise. This gave me 1/2 in. of wood from the outside of the post to the mortise, a 3/4-in.-wide mortise, and still allowed the rail to have a 1/4-in.-wide shoulder on the inside. I routed the mortises using a fixture that has two parallel fences with pieces connecting them. The distance between the fences is the diameter of the router base. For ease of operation, I used two routers. The first, with a 5/8-in.-dia. bit, made three passes to achieve the mortise's full 1-1/4 in. depth. With the second router, I used a 3/4-in.-dia. bit to take the mortise to its full width.

Joinery details

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When all four mortises were routed, it was time to cut the end rails to length. Because this is a queen-size bed, I allowed 60-1/2 in. between the posts. With the addition of a 1-1/4-in. tenon on either end, that brought the total rail length to 63 in. I cut the rails to length and then cut the tenons (remember, they're offset -- a 1/2-in. shoulder on the outside and a 1/4-in. shoulder on the inside), leaving 1-1/2-in. shoulders at the top and bottom for an overall tenon width of 9 in. I rounded the ends of the tenons with a knife, so they would conform to the routed mortises in the posts. Then I dry-fitted the rails in the mortises. Be sure that the rails are flush with or slightly in from the posts. It's much easier to take a little off the back of the post than it is to sand down the whole rail. Build a box to groove the crest rail -- I needed to cut 3/4-in.-

wide by 1-1/2-in.-deep grooves at 10° along the entire length of both round crest rails to accept the headboard and footboard panels. This required some creative thinking. My solution was to drill centered 1/2-in.-deep by 2-in.-dia. mortises in two 4-in.-sq. end caps and slip the caps over the tenons on the crest rail. I set the whole thing flat on the tablesaw and outfeed table and connected the end caps with two pieces of scrap -- one on the side to run against the fence and another on the top to keep the jig from racking. Screws through the end caps keep the crest rail from rotating while being cut. Remember to keep screws away from the area being grooved. I laid out the location of the groove on the end cap, put the 3/4-in.

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Building a Sleigh Bed

dado set on the saw and adjusted its height and angle. I set the fence to align with the marking on the end cap and ran the entire unit through the blade. Only one end cap had to be removed to repeat the operation with the second crest rail. With the dado in place and already tilted, I cut the identical groove in the tops of the head and foot rails. Remember that head and foot panels tilt out from the bottom rails and, unlike the crest rails, cannot be reversed. Think before you cut.

A two-sided box with end caps holds the crest rail at a fixed angle to the blade and provides a flat surface to run against the fence.

Tenons on the ends of the crest rail fit snugly in mortises in the end caps, which are screwed to the crest rail and to the two sides of the box.

Sized stick provides layout lines for head- and footboard panels -- The next trick is to lay out the grooves for the headboard

and footboard panels on the inside faces of the posts. To do this, I used a stick to align the grooves that were already in the crest and lower rails. I set one of the posts face down on a pair of low sawhorses and placed both the lower rail and crest rail in position. The top outside edge of the lower rail should meet the junction of the curved and the flat back sections of the post. This is essential if the molding is to align all the way around the bed. I placed a straight stick, precisely 3/4 in. wide and about 29 in. long, into the crest rail groove and turned the crest rail until I could drop the stick into the groove in the bottom rail. Perfect alignment. I marked the post on both sides of the stick, then removed it. Without shifting the crest rail, I marked inside the grooves so I'd know where to stop the groove. I routed all four posts, using the same router fixture as before. To position the fixture, I cut a scrap so it fit perfectly between the two fences, marked a 3/4-in.-wide section at its center and moved the fixture around until the marking on the scrap matched the marking on the post at both ends of the groove. As before, I took two passes with a 5/8-in.-dia. bit http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00077.asp (4 of 7) [11/3/2003 3:14:33 à«]

Building a Sleigh Bed

and a final cleanup pass with a 3/4-in.-dia. bit for each 1/2-in.deep groove. I squared the ends of the grooves with a chisel.

A piece of scrap as long as the space between the fences aligns the routing fixture. Marks indicating the width of the bit are lined up with the groove lines near both ends of the fixture. Then the fixture is clamped to the post.

Now the headboard and footboard assemblies can be dry-fitted. I cut the headboard and footboard panels to size (28-1/2 in. by 61-1/2 in.) and sanded both sides of both panels to 320-grit. Because the whole unit is so large and unwieldy, I first dry-fitted each edge of the panels in its respective groove and then dry-assembled the entire unit. I disassembled it, finished sanding the posts and eased all the sharp edges with a block plane. Sizing side rails and adding hardware To determine the length of the side rails, I laid one foot post and one head post down so the inside faces of the end rails would be 80-1/2 in. apart (enough space around a standard queen-size mattress or box spring for sheets and covers). The distance from the inside face of the end rail to the inner edge of the post was 5-1/4 in., so I subtracted twice that from 80-1/2 in. and cut the side rails 70 in. long. Hardware for a bed this large proved to be difficult to find. I finally located some heavy-duty, zinc-plated knockdown bed fasteners in the Whitechapel catalog (800-468-5534). I ordered eight pairs, two for each rail end, because this is such a heavy bed. To mark out the bed fastener locations, I clamped all four posts together with feet flush at the bottom. This ensured that all eight mortises would line up precisely. For accuracy, I used a knife to make the scribe lines. Then I transferred those lines to the ends of the side rails and marked the top edge so that the rails couldn't be flipped upside down. The rails took the pin part of the fasteners; the slotted plates were fitted to the posts. I did all the mortising on a horizontal mortiser, transferring To lay out mortises for bed the scribe lines from a bedpost to fastener hardware, clamp all four legs together with their the fence of the mortising table. feet flush, and use a marking Then I set my stops and knife to get a crisp line. proceeded to cut. Because the bed hardware was about 7/8 in. wide, I used a 1/2-in. bit. I flipped the posts and rails over to make two overlapping cuts, which ensured a centered cut. Next I squared the ends of all 16 shallow mortises with a chisel and marked and mortised the deeper slots to accept the rail pins. The routing and inlaying could be done with a router and jig. Before attaching the hardware, I checked mating pieces for a fit. I noticed about 1/32 in. of side-to-side play -- very little really, but for this situation, still too much. The hardware had to align the rails perfectly flush with the posts so the moldings would line up. To http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00077.asp (5 of 7) [11/3/2003 3:14:33 à«]

Building a Sleigh Bed

remedy this situation, I took a metal punch and pounded a dimple on either side of the slots. It worked perfectly. Absolutely no play. With the hardware in shape, I drilled pilot holes in all the posts and rails and screwed all the bed fasteners into place. Before gluing anything, I dry-fitted the entire bed to be sure that everything was in order and that the rails were interchangeable. Then I disassembled the bed and sanded all the parts to 320-grit. Gluing up the head- and footboard assemblies I set one post flat on a piece of carpet on the floor and another on a sawhorse within reach. I spread glue into the two round mortises for the crest rail and the two long mortises for the lower rail. Then I set the headboard panel into position, leaving a 1/2-in. gap at both the top and bottom of the groove. The headboard and footboard panels are not glued in; they must be free to expand and contract with seasonal changes in humidity. Holding the panel with one hand, I first slid the crest rail and then the lower rail into their mortises. Then I lowered the opposite post onto the lower rail and manipulated the crest rail into position. Before pounding the post home, I made sure that the headboard was centered in its groove. I pounded the post home, laid the unit gently down on its back and clamped it. To make sure the panel's edges wouldn't be exposed when it contracted in the winter, I drilled counterbored holes into the posts at midpoint along the groove. I screwed the panels in place and plugged the holes. This ensured that the headboard panel would remain centered between the rails and that they would expand evenly top to bottom. Once both head- and footboard units were assembled, I pinned the tenons of the lower rails and screwed the crest rails through the posts with 2-in. drywall screws, just off center, to reinforce the mortise-and-tenon joint. Finally, I sanded the posts flush with the lower rails where they meet. Molding and rosettes finish the bed Before attaching the two bands of molding, I made sure that the rails were firmly seated all the way down in the hangers. It would be embarrassing to have the molding glued on only to have one section of the rail drop 1/4 in. when the box spring was set in place. Attaching the molding is pretty straightforward, but a few hints are in order. I did the top of the end rails first because it's the most difficult to attach. I fit, mitered, drilled brad holes about 8 in. apart along the center and glued and attached the molding with brads. The molding here is virtually impossible to clamp. The short pieces of molding across the grain of the posts needed special attention because the post will change slightly in width. My posts were at about 11% moisture content. To allow for some shrinkage, I left about a 3/32-in. gap between this short piece and the side-rail molding. I tacked down this short strip with a brad at either end and one in the middle, and glued about two-thirds of the way from the miter to the end. The side rail moldings were cut to precisely the same length as the rails and glued using spring clamps and bits of molding cutoffs turned upside down to spread the clamping pressure. The procedure was the same for the lower band of molding.

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Building a Sleigh Bed

To support the box spring, I marked and routed mortises for short (11/4 in. wide) sections of 1/4-in.-thick, 4-in. steel angle iron I had cut for that purpose. I screwed those brackets directly to the side rails. The crowning touch was attaching the turned rosettes. I drilled a 3/32in. hole into the center of the back of the rosette, tacked in a snipped off piece of 6d finishing nail to center the rosette with the post hole, and glued and clamped the rosette. The bed was finished with three coats of Tried and True varnish oil (available from Garrett Wade; 800-221-2942; www.garrettwade.com). This is the only pure linseed oil on the market, with no additives or driers. It requires a good deal of elbow grease to wipe off, but the build and depth of shine is worth it. For the record, the bed was completed in 96 hours. Chris Becksvoort is a professional furniture maker in New Gloucester, Maine, a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking and the author of The Shaker Legacy. Photos except where noted: Vincent Laurence; drawings: Heather Lambert From Fine Woodworking #124, pp. 5461

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• Choosing a Butt Hinge Hinges can affect the look, durability, and performance of your fine furniture. Here's how to choose the right one for the job. — by Garrett Hack

• Selecting Sheet Goods A furniture maker offers tips for sorting through the stacks of hardwood plywood — by Mark Edmundson

• Gluing and Clamping Strategies Lots of tape, lots of cauls and lots of clamps make glue-ups easy — by Lon Schleining

• Making Sense of Sandpaper Knowing how it works is the first step in choosing the right abrasive — by Strother Purdy

• A Working Guide to Glues Choosing the right adhesive for the job might mean more than grabbing that old bottle on the shelf — by William Tandy Young

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• From Logs to Lumber With the right equipment and some technical knowledge, you can harvest your own trees, mill the boards and season them — by Redmond Manierre

• Sweetgum: Neglected Wood with an Elusive Identity This Dixie star is a master of disguise — by Jon Arno

• Krenov on Grain: The Story of a Cabinet When it comes to reading grain, Krenov wrote the book Browse our online catalog of in-depth, how-to information.

— by James Krenov

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Choosing a Butt Hinge

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Choosing a Butt Hinge

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Choosing a Butt Hinge Hinges can affect the look, durability, and performance of your fine furniture. Here's how to choose the right one for the job. by Garrett Hack

Don't compromise. Choose a highquality extruded brass hinge for your furniture. Cheaper stamped hinges are made by pressing thin sheet metal around the pin to form the knuckle. Extruded hinges are tighter than these pressed hinges because the knuckle is fitted together and then drilled in one shot for a precisely fitted hinge Stamped hinge (top); brass pin. Stamped hinges will not be hinge (bottom). flat, square or drilled accurately, and there will be slop around the hinge pin. The right size for the job

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The top hinge is the wrong size for this door. It would leave a fragile sliver of wood at the edge of the mortise. The bottom hinge is a more appropriate size.

Choose a hinge size that leaves at least 1/8 in. of wood at the back of the mortise, or this area will be too fragile. Another option is to choose a hinge that reaches all the way across the stile.

Where to locate the hinges

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The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction A graphic, step-bystep presentation of basic furniture construction techniques Building Kitchen Cabinets Expert advice on every phase of the project.

Choosing a Butt Hinge

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It's pleasing to the eye if you relate the hinge locations to the rails (left). However, this may not be possible on doors with thin rails (right).

Plan ahead Choose and purchase hinges during the design stage of a project. You don't want to be ready to hang a door and then realize that the hinge leaf to be mortised into the door is wider than the door stile, or that it leaves just the thinnest ribbon of wood at the back of the mortise to break away someday. Knowing door and carcase dimensions, you can narrow down the possibilities of hinges that will fit. If you're unsure of the best choice, buy two sizes. For more on hinges, see my article, "Installing Butt Hinges," in the November/December 2002 issue of Fine Woodworking (#159). Garrett Hack is a furniture maker in Thetford Center, Vermont. Photos: Asa Christiana; drawings: Vince Babak From Fine Woodworking #159, p. 53

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Selecting Sheet Goods

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Selecting Sheet Goods

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Selecting Sheet Goods A furniture maker offers tips for sorting through the stacks of hardwood plywood by Mark Edmundson

Woodworkers can choose from a wide selection of hardwood plywood. Whatever you want is likely to be available somewhere, especially if you live in a city. And if your dealer doesn't have it in stock, the dealer can order it from a supplier. Most places carry a pretty good selection of 1/4-in.thick hardwood plywood. If you're forced to order something sight unseen, try to be as specific as you can about your needs. Most places will let you decline something if it's not up to your expectations. You'll most likely have to make Some of the finest logs end up as plywood veneers. Most decisions about veneer slice, core hardwood plywood dealers sell type, face grade and back grade. I attractive sheet goods in a put the highest value on the veneer variety of common species, featuring rotary-sliced, bookslice, which is the manner in matched and quarter-sliced which the veneer has been cut. veneers. The best choices for the exterior are either a plain-sliced or quarter-sliced veneer. Both of these are cut in a straight line, duplicating the figure of sawn lumber. Rotary slicing involves centering the log in a lathe and turning it against a broad cutting knife. The grain pattern does not match that typically found in solid wood.

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Understanding Wood 2nd ed. R. Bruce Hoadley's comprehensive guide to wood technology, revised and updated

Selecting Sheet Goods

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Rotary-sliced veneer plywood looks the least like solid lumber. The veneer is peeled off the perimeter of the log, producing a wavy pattern that doesn't exist in solid wood.

Plain-sliced veneer plywood is a better choice. The veneer is sliced as plainsawn lumber would be, giving the look of solid wood. It is often book-matched at its seams.

Choose MDF for a hardwood plywood core For a hardwood plywood core, I prefer MDF because there's no chance of a void being telegraphed onto the surface veneers. The face grade will most likely be A if you've chosen plain- or quartersliced veneer. It's also helpful to know that veneer-core plywood tends to run a little under its stated size, usually by a light 1/32 in., while MDF core is usually deadon.

Quarter-sliced veneer looks like quartersawn lumber. Both are sliced parallel to the growth rings. Quartersawn oak plywood with book-matched ray flecks has added appeal.

MDF- vs. veneer-core plywood. Veneer core tends to run a little undersized, while MDF core is usually right on.

I make it a point to talk with a knowledgeable sales clerk and view everything the yard has to offer. You may find a few nice alternatives or surprises.

Know your panel dimensions before you shop As you leaf through a stack of plywood, you'll notice that the sheets come in runs, that is, there will be several sheets with veneers from the same log, or flitch. This run might be two or five sheets long. If you ask politely, most places will let you go through the stack to find a run that suits your needs. If you're looking at plain-sliced veneer, it is likely that the veneers will be quite wide. A quarter-sliced stack will most likely consist of narrower veneers. When considering which type of figure suits your piece, consider also where the veneer joints will end up. This means you need to know your panel dimensions before you head out to the lumber dealer. A best-case scenario for a top panel might be a face-grain panel, where two book-matched veneers are wide enough to cover the entire top, with the seam deadcenter. For the freestanding cabinet in my article "Fine Furniture from Plywood" in the July/August 2002 issue of Fine Woodworking (#157), I used the top dimension as a rough guide because the sides were to be a bit narrower. I was able to line up the book-matched seam on the sides and the top. A second choice would have been to cover the top and the sides in four veneers (two book-matches). When neither of these is possible, I try to find a veneer that will cover the sides with one bookmatch and hope that a suitable cut http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00134.asp (2 of 3) [11/3/2003 3:16:31 à«]

Selecting Sheet Goods

will present itself for the top.

A second sheet of plywood (top) makes a serviceable edge guide for rough-cutting large sheets.

Plywood veneers may not be totally consistent in width. It's usually a small variation but something to watch out for nonetheless. In deciding how many sheets I need, I play it safe. An extra sheet gives me more options when it comes to laying out the cuts.

A scratch now is a scratch forever, so choose carefully Hardwood plywood is one of the more expensive items at the lumberyard, and most places try to take good care of it, but dings and scratches are still possible. Commercial veneer is paper thin and easy to sand through. A good rule of thumb is if there is a scratch in it now, there will be a scratch in it forever. So I choose pieces carefully and then accept minor dings as character traits. When I have found what I need, I ask for some of the 4x8 sheets of cardboard used for shipping to protect the material for the ride home and when storing it at my shop. When picking out the interior stock, I'm not as particular. I like to use a light wood like maple. At all of the yards in my area, 1/4-in.-thick maple is available only in rotary-sliced veneer, which means there will be no seams to worry about. Also, I take whichever core is available because small voids won't be noticed on the inside. Mark Edmundson is a furniture maker in northern Idaho. Photos: Asa Christiana; drawings: Vince Babak From Fine Woodworking #157, pp. 6467

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Gluing and Clamping Strategies

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Gluing and Clamping Strategies Lots of tape, lots of cauls and lots of clamps make glue-ups easy by Lon Schleining

If you don't have complete confidence A visual guide to in your gluing systems, perhaps it's gluing and clamping time to take a closer look at them. When I ask a group of woodworkers how many trust their glue-ups completely, very few hands pop up. Personally, I couldn't sleep if my gluing techniques were suspect. When my stairbuilding shop is really cranking, it is not unusual to go through 10 gal. or 12 gal. of glue in a year. That's not much by some standards, but it represents a fair amount of gluing for a three- or four(opens in new person shop. We've developed systems window) for gluing that are reliable and fast, not so much because we set out to do so, but because we have to have reliable glue joints so that we can sleep at night. In this article I'll outline a few common gluing situations a woodworker has to tackle and provide a few tips that, hopefully, even the seasoned woodworker can use. It's easy to test your gluing system If a glue joint fails, the first suspect is the glue itself. But the glue is seldom the real problem. Modern glues are so effective as to be nearly foolproof. More often than not, operator error is the problem, not the glue. You can easily test both the glue and your gluing system to increase your confidence. Simply glue up a sample, let it cure, then break it apart. If the sample breaks at the joint, you have a problem with the glue or the joint. If the wood does not break along the glueline, the test demonstrates that the joint is stronger than the wood, which is what you want. If necessary, keep modifying your system until you achieve satisfactory results. Glue has a limited shelf life On those rare occasions when the glue itself fails, either the type of glue being used is unsuitable for the job at hand or the glue has exceeded its shelf life. Remember, some glues have a very short shelf

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Edge gluing

Gluing and Clamping Strategies

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life -- as little as three months in some cases. One year is more common, although it varies a great deal. One thing is certain, though: If you are still using that bottle of glue you got from Uncle Harry before he died a few years back, it's at least suspect. Do yourself a favor and buy a new batch. I recommend buying small quantities of glue, as much as you'll likely use in a few months, from a place where the turnover of merchandise is high. That way, you'll run out of glue before it gets a chance to spoil. When you bring home a new bottle, write the date on the bottle with a felt-tipped marker. Relatively speaking, glue is cheap. When it gets old, throw it away. Many glues are susceptible to spoilage from freezing or excessive heat. It's important to keep track of temperature for both storage and actual gluing. Different operations require different types of glue Before you even buy a bottle of glue, read the label. Glue manufacturers want your glue-ups to be successful. They make a point to tell you exactly what you need to know right there in the fine print. If the label says the glue is unsuitable for use around moisture or under stress, no doubt they mean just that. Lamination bending, for example, puts the glue joint under constant stress. Yellow glue, tough but flexible, is unsuitable. Epoxy or plastic resin is a better choice. Some glues, the polyurethanes for example, like dampness, but most glues do not. Another reason to read the label and do some testing. Well-fitted joints are a must Clean, dry, well-fitted and porous edges glue well. If the mating pieces do not fit well enough without clamping pressure, perhaps the work is not yet ready for gluing. Joints ought to fit naturally without being forced by oversized clamps. If you have to force the joint together, you're asking a lot of your glue to keep it that way once the clamps are released. Porous edges allow the glue to ooze into the pores and strengthen the joint. If you make a very slow pass over a dull jointer, chances are you'll pound the fibers of wood together instead of cleanly slicing them. This forms a glazed, nonporous surface that won't be suitable for gluing. Cauls and dry-fitting are the keys to success Moving too slowly may well be the most common cause of glue failure. Very quickly -- especially in warm, dry weather -- the surface of fresh glue will form a skin, a sort of blister. This blister prevents liquid glue from adhering to the other surface. If the glue skins over before the two mating pieces come together, you might as well call it a day. Sure, you can scrape off all of that excess glue, but the residual glue will seal the surface. The edges will need to be remilled, not just cleaned. One sure way to reduce the time it takes to get something clamped up is to practice. Especially if the gluing operation is complex or large, a rehearsal helps ensure that you have all of the clamps you need and

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Gluing and Clamping Strategies

that all of the little blocks and pieces of masking tape are at hand. It's a good idea to dry-fit and clamp up the project entirely, as if you had spread the glue already, to make sure one last time that the pieces actually go together. Keep in mind that the addition of glue in the joints will change the operation a great deal. It lubricates the pieces just enough for them to move around when you don't want them to. Then the glue begins to set up and grab the pieces, holding them in place just when you want them to move. But these problems are easily solved. The key for almost every gluing situation is to use clamping cauls (see Edge gluing). Simply put, clamping cauls hold boards in alignment while other clamps close up the joints. Clamping time -- The amount of time a project has to remain

clamped up depends on temperature, humidity and the complexity of the project. It's important to follow the directions on the label of the glue you're using. If the label says clamping time is an hour, give it an hour. If the label says overnight, wait until the next morning to remove the clamps. Remember that the temperature requirements are critical. If the label says the minimum is 50°F, that means the air, the glue and the material itself must be at least that warm. It also means that the materials must stay that temperature for the duration of the curing time. It's worth noting that a simple light bulb inside a small, insulated enclosure will keep the contents quite warm, even if the rest of the shop is cold.

Tip: PVC pipe cut into narrow sections works like mini spring clamps. The pressure varies by the diameter of the pipe, its thickness and the width of the section you cut off.

Cleanup -- Gluing over butcher paper or newspaper certainly saves you from having to do a great deal of cleaning up. Wearing vinyl gloves not only keeps hands clean but also helps you avoid contact with toxic chemicals.

With most of the common polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glues, under normal conditions, a project usually has to stay in the clamps about an hour. I have been accused of using too much glue, but because scraping glue before it hardens is so simply done, I see no need to skimp on glue. Along a glueline, I want to see at least a thin bead of glue. When Tip: Use inner-tube strips to hold laminae together for the glue has set up in the joints bending. The strips hold firmly and the clamps are removed, the yet allow the bundle to flex as excess glue should still be soft it bends. and pliable. This is the perfect time to remove the excess with a scraper. I never wipe up glue with a http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00004.asp (3 of 4) [11/3/2003 3:16:55 à«]

Gluing and Clamping Strategies

wet rag, because the added water will raise the grain and the finished surface will be uneven. My favorite glue-scraping tool is a small hook scraper, available in the paint section of almost any paint or hardware store. With a good edge on it, a small hook scraper will remove excess glue while it's still soft, thus saving hours of sanding. If you wait until the glue has hardened to scrape off the excess, it is very likely, especially with softer woods like mahogany, that you'll tear chunks out of the surface.

A hook scraper, filed razor sharp, quickly removes excess glue once it has blistered over but before it hardens.

I do my best to use a simple and quick system for gluing. Once the glue has been spread, I use every trick I know to speed it along. I always follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. When in doubt, I call the manufacturer on the phone. Manufacturers have always seemed more than happy to discuss individual situations. I have a habit of testing my glue joints constantly. If I trim a glue-up to length, I take the scrap piece and snap it over the corner of the bench to make sure the joint is reliable. I am always happiest when it breaks 1/2 in. away from the glueline. Your confidence builds with every test. If you adopt this habit, you'll soon be confident in the boards you glue together. You'll sleep better, too. Lon Schleining builds custom stairs in Long Beach, Calif. Photos: Matthew Teague; except where noted. From Fine Woodworking #141, pp. 4450

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Making Sense of Sandpaper

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Making Sense of Sandpaper Knowing how it works is the first step in choosing the right abrasive by Strother Purdy

Years ago at a garage sale, I bought a pile of no-name sandpaper for just pennies a sheet. I got it home. I sanded with it, but nothing came off the wood. Sanding harder, the grit came off the paper. It didn't even burn very well in my wood stove. Sanding is necessary drudge work, improved only by spending less time doing it. As I learned, you can't go right buying cheap stuff, but it's still easy to go wrong with the best sandpaper that's available. Not long ago, for example, I tried to take the finish off some maple flooring. Even though I was armed with premium-grade, 50-grit aluminum-oxide belts, the work took far too long. It wasn't that the belts were bad. I was simply using the wrong abrasive for the job. A 36-grit ceramic belt would have cut my sanding time substantially. The key to choosing the right sandpaper is knowing how the many different kinds of sandpaper work. Each component, not just the grit, contributes to the sandpaper's performance, determining how quickly it works, how long it lasts and how smooth the results will be. If you know how the components work together, you'll be able to choose your sandpaper wisely, and use it efficiently. Then you won't waste time sanding or end up burning the stuff in your wood stove. Sandpaper is a cutting tool What sandpaper does to wood is really no different from what a saw, a plane or a chisel does. They all have sharp points or edges that cut wood fibers. Sandpaper's cutting is simply on a much smaller scale. The only substantial difference between sandpaper and other cutting tools is that sandpaper can't be sharpened.

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The Wood Sanding Book Veteran furniture maker and author Sandor Nagyszalanczy expands your understanding of abrasive materials, machines, and methods

Making Sense of Sandpaper

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Sandpaper is made of abrasive minerals, adhesive and a cloth, paper or polyester backing. The abrasive minerals are bonded to the backing by two coats of adhesive; first the make coat bonds them to the backing; then the size coat locks them in position.

Look at sandpaper up close, and you'll see that the sharp tips of the abrasive grains look like small, irregularly shaped sawteeth . The grains are supported by a cloth or paper backing and two adhesive bonds, much the way that sawteeth are supported by the sawblade. As sandpaper is pushed across wood, the abrasive grains dig into the surface and cut out minute shavings, which are called swarf in industry jargon. To the naked eye, these shavings look like fine dust. Magnified, they look like the shavings produced by saws or other cutting tools. Even the spaces between the abrasive grains serve an important role. They work the way gullets on sawblades do, giving the shavings a place to go. This is why sandpaper designed for wood has what's called an open coat, where only 40% to 70% of the backing is covered with abrasive. The spaces in an open coat are hard to see in fine grits but are very obvious in coarse grades. Closed-coat sandpaper, where the backing is entirely covered with abrasive, is not appropriate for sanding wood because the swarf has no place to go and quickly clogs the paper. Closed-coat sandpaper is more appropriate on other materials such as steel and glass because the particles of swarf are much smaller. Some sandpaper is advertised as non-loading, or stearated. These papers are covered with a substance called zinc stearate -- soap, really -- which helps keep the sandpaper from clogging with swarf. Stearated papers are only useful for sanding finishes and resinous woods. Wood resin and most finishes will become molten from the heat generated by sanding, even hand-sanding. In this state, these substances are very sticky, and given the chance, they will firmly glue themselves to the sandpaper. Stearates work by attaching to the molten swarf, making it slippery, not sticky, and preventing it from bonding to the sandpaper.

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Making Sense of Sandpaper

Methods for sanding efficiently Sanding a rough surface smooth in preparation for a finish seems a pretty straightforward proposition. For a board fresh out of the planer, woodworkers know to start with a coarse paper, perhaps 80-grit or 100grit, and progress incrementally without skipping a grade up to the finer grits. At each step, you simply erase the scratches you made previously with finer and smaller scratches until, at 180-grit or 220-grit, the scratches are too small to see or feel. But there are a fair number of opinions on how to do this most efficiently. Don't skip grits, usually -- Skipping a grit to save time and

sandpaper is a common temptation, but not a good idea when working with hardwoods. You can remove the scratches left by 120-grit sandpaper with 180-grit, but it will take you far more work than if you use 150-grit first. You will also wear out more 180-grit sandpaper, so you don't really save any materials. When sanding maple, for instance, skipping two grits between 80 and 180 will probably double the total sanding time. This, however, is not as true with woods such as pine. Soft woods take much less work overall to sand smooth. Skipping a grit will increase the work negligibly and may save you some materials. Sand bare wood to 180- or 220-grit -- For sanding bare wood, 180-grit will generally give you a surface that looks and feels perfectly smooth and is ready for a finish of some kind. Sanding the surface with a finer grit is only necessary if you're going to use a water-based finish. These finishes will pick up and telegraph the smallest scratches. Sanding the wood to 220-grit or finer will prepare the surface better. However, it's not always wise to sand to a finer grit. You will waste your time if you can't tell the difference, and you may create problems in finishing. Maple sanded to 400-grit will not take a pigmented stain, for example. Pigments work by lodging themselves into nooks and crannies on the surface; without them, they will have no place to stick. Sand faster across the grain -- How many times have you been told never to sand across the grain? True enough. The scratches are much more obvious, look terrible and are hard to remove with the next finer grit. But what holds true for planing wood is also true for sanding. You will plane and sand faster and more easily when the direction of your cuts is between 45° and 60° to the grain, because the wood-fiber bundles offer the least resistance to the cutting edges. Cross-grain scratches are harder to remove simply because they are deeper.

Use a combination of cross-grain and with-grain sanding to get the smoothest surface in the fastest manner. First make passes at 45° to 60° to both the left and the right, making an X-pattern on the workpiece. Then, with the same grit, sand with the grain to remove the cross-grain scratches. Do this with each grit when belt-sanding and hand-sanding. The non-linear sanding action of random-orbit and orbital sanders can't take advantage of the wood's grain properties. When I use my orbital, I just sand with the grain. Choosing from the four abrasive minerals Four common abrasive minerals are aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, ceramics and garnet (see Four abrasive minerals). Except for garnet, they are all manufactured, designed if you will, for different cutting properties. Harder and sharper minerals cut deeper scratches and, consequently, sand the wood faster. But these deep scratches leave a coarse finish, whether you sand with or across the grain. Softer minerals within the same grit size will cut far more slowly but http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00006.asp (3 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:17:33 à«]

Making Sense of Sandpaper

leave a smoother finish. For example, if you sand a board on one side with a 120-grit ceramic, the hardest abrasive mineral, and the other side with 120-grit garnet, the softest, you will be able to feel a distinct difference between the surfaces. It will seem as if you sanded the two sides with different grit sizes. It's easy to rate each mineral's hardness and sharpness, but it's not as simple to prescribe specific uses beyond generalizations. There are many other factors that influence the appropriateness of a sandpaper for a job. Some fine points about grading scales If you don't mind that we have two measurement systems, the U.S. Customary (foot, gallon) and the International (meter, liter), then you won't mind that we have three major abrasive grit-grading systems. In North America, the Coated Abrasives Manufacturers Institute (CAMI) regulates the U.S. Standard Scale. CAMI-graded sandpapers simply have numbers, such as 320, printed on them. The Europeans have the P-scale, regulated by the Federation of European Producers Association (FEPA). These abrasives are identifiable by the letter P in front of the grit size, such as P320. Finally, to make sure everyone is really confused, there is a totally different micron grading system. This system is identified by the Greek letter mu, as in 30µ. The three systems grade particle size to different tolerances but by the same methods. From the coarsest grits up to about 220, particles are graded through a series of wire mesh screens. The smaller grit sizes are graded through an air- or water-flotation process that separates particles by weight. The chart is helpful in comparing grits of the three grading systems, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Abrasives on the P-scale are graded to tighter tolerances than CAMI-graded abrasives. This means that the CAMI-scale tolerates a wider range of grain sizes within the definition of 180-grit than the P-scale. Tolerances are even tighter for micron grading. P-graded and micron-graded abrasives give more consistent cuts with fewer stray scratches from outsized minerals. Micron-graded abrasives on polyester films are about three times as expensive as paper products and probably not worth it for sanding wood. I have a hard time telling the difference between wood sanded with a 100µ finishing film abrasive and standard 120-grit sandpaper. But for polishing a high-gloss finish, I find micron-graded abrasives make a substantial difference. The supporting role of backings and bonds The backing's stiffness and flatness influence the quality and speed of the sandpaper's cut. For the most part, manufacturers choose adhesives and backings to augment the characteristics of a particular abrasive grit. You will have a hard time finding an aggressive abrasive mineral, for example, on a backing suited to a smooth cut. The stiffer the paper, the less the abrasive minerals will deflect while cutting. They will cut deeper and, consequently, faster. Soft backings and bonds will allow the abrasives to deflect more, giving light scratches and a smooth finish. You must even consider what's behind the backing. Wrapping the sandpaper around a block of wood will allow a faster cut than sanding with the paper against the palm of your hand. For instance, an easy way to speed up your orbital sander is by exchanging the soft pad for a stiff one. The other consideration is the flatness of the backing, which has nothing to do with its stiffness. Flat backings position the http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00006.asp (4 of 5) [11/3/2003 3:17:33 à«]

Making Sense of Sandpaper

minerals on a more even level so they cut at a more consistent depth, resulting in fewer stray scratches and a smoother surface. Cloth is the stiffest but least-flat backing. It will produce the coarsest and fastest cut. Cloth comes in two grades, a heavy X and a light J. Paper is not as stiff as cloth but it's flatter. It comes in grades A, C, D, E and F Soft backings on sanding tools won't support the sandpaper (lightest to heaviest). A-weight paper and make it cut more slowly. that has been waterproofed is approximately equivalent to a B-weight paper, if one existed. Polyester films, including Mylar, look and feel like plastic. They are extremely flat and pretty stiff. They will give the most consistently even cut and at a faster rate than paper. The backings for hand sheets and belts are designed to flex around curves without breaking. This is not true for sanding discs for random-orbit sanders. They are designed to remain perfectly flat, and if used like a hand sheet, the adhesive will crack off in large sections. This is called knifeedging because the mineral and adhesive, separated from the backing, form knife-like edges that dig into and mark the work.

The adhesive and backing on a random-orbit sanding pad can crack if the disc is folded like ordinary sandpaper.

Adhesive bonds on modern sandpaper are almost exclusively urea- or phenolic-formaldehyde resins. Both are heat-resistant, waterproof and stiff. Hide glue is sometimes used in conjunction with a resin on paper sheets. It is not waterproof or heatresistant, but hide glue is cheap and very flexible. When this article was written, Strother Purdy was an assistant editor of Fine Woodworking. Photos: Strother Purdy; drawing: Tim Langenderfer From Fine Woodworking #125, pp. 6267 Purchase back issues

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A Working Guide to Glues

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A Working Guide to Glues Choosing the right adhesive for the job might mean more than grabbing that old bottle on the shelf by William Tandy Young

There is no such thing as a miracle adhesive with magical properties that will tackle any task. When I choose glue for a job, I try to take as many things into account as I can, without spending a lot of time dwelling on details and pondering different glues. This article is designed to help you choose glue in just such a fashion, so that your work flow won't be disrupted by endless head scratching. All glues are carefully formulated Photo: Michael Pekovich products with specific properties, and they perform well only if the conditions in your workshop, such as temperature and humidity, are favorable. Gluing well is a matter of knowing how to get the best performance from the glues you use while also knowing their limitations. By keeping an assortment of glues at your disposal and knowing what to expect from different ones, you can choose the adhesive that best suits your needs in any given situation. Glue or adhesive? Is there a difference between a glue and an adhesive? Technically, there is. Strictly speaking, glues are based on polymers, such as starch and protein, that are derived from natural sources, such as rice flour or cattle hides. Adhesives are based on polymers that are chemically synthesized, like PVA resins found in white and yellow glues. However, most people use the terms glue and adhesive interchangeably on a casual basis, as we do in this article. In general, you won't encounter a formally observed distinction between glues and adhesives unless you read literature of a highly technical nature, such as engineering standards. Comparing the properties of adhesives As you compare the properties of the adhesives listed in the charts that follow, it may be helpful to evaluate different glues by grouping them into the following categories:

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A Working Guide to Glues

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Natural vs. synthetic -- Most glues that are derived from natural

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sources, like wheat paste or hide glue, are reversible, meaning they can be reactivated with water after they harden. Adhesives that are based on synthetic polymers, such as urea resin glue, polyvinyl acetate (PVA) or epoxy, generally can't be reversed after they cure, but they may have other properties that are superior to those of natural glues. Water based vs. non-water based -- Even though water-based

adhesives are easy to handle, in general, they can add quite a bit of moisture to glued work. There often are instances when this added moisture is unwelcome. If you're face-laminating an unstable wood like beech or sycamore, for example, you're better off using an adhesive that contains less water. Of the glues in this article, most natural and nonreactive synthetic glues (except solvent-based contact cement and hot melt) are high in moisture content. Of the reactive synthetic glues, only a few resorcinols and ureas contain a significant amount of moisture. Toxic vs. nontoxic -- It's common to encounter a trade-off

between toxicity and performance: The glues that offer higher levels of performance and power are often more hazardous to use than those that are not as powerful. This is especially true when comparing different variations of the same kind of glue. For example, high-fume urea resin glue (which emits powerful formaldehyde vapors) usually outperforms low-fume urea resin glue, which is safer and less noxious to use. Using the charts in this article Here's an example of how I might choose the best glue for a job using the charts that follow. Suppose I need to glue down a metal inlay. Many woodworkers use epoxy for this type of work, but it's not a good choice because scraping or sanding metal inlay flush with the surrounding wood usually creates a lot of heat. Most epoxy has low heat resistance and softens as the inlay is being scraped, which can cause the inlay to lift out of its recess. As you look at the properties of polyurethane glue, you'll notice that it has high heat resistance, long open and closed assembly times and is very easy to clean up with hand tools after it hardens -- all of which make it an ideal adhesive for metal inlay. If you want to use a natural glue instead, you'll notice that fish glue's long assembly time and high heat resistance make it preferable to hide glue for metal inlay. Natural glues Glues in this group (rice and wheat pastes, fish glue, hide glue, and casein glue) are made of natural ingredients and cure by moisture loss, heat loss or a combination of both. Casein glue is a slight exception, as it is made of milk curd but accomplishes some of its curing by chemical reaction. For a comparison of the properties of the glues in this category, see Chart 1: Natural glues. Nonreactive synthetic glues The glues in this group (EVA, PVA, contact cement, and hot-melt glue) are formulated from synthetic ingredients but cure much like natural glues -- by releasing water, solvent or heat. For a comparison http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00010.asp (2 of 3) [11/3/2003 3:17:43 à«]

A Working Guide to Glues

of the properties of the glues in this category, see Chart 2: Nonreactive synthetic glues Reactive synthetic glues The glues in this group (urea resin, resorcinol, epoxy, polyurethane, and cyanoacrylate) are formulated from synthetic components and cure primarily by chemical reaction.For a comparison of the properties of the glues in this category, see Chart 3: Reactive synthetic glues William Tandy Young, author of The Glue Book (The Taunton Press, 1998), is a woodworker and adhesives consultant in Stow, Mass. Photos, except where noted: Matthew Teague From Fine Woodworking #134, pp. 6067

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Sweetgum: Neglected Wood with an Elusive Identity

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Sweetgum: Neglected Wood with an Elusive Identity This Dixie star is a master of disguise by Jon Arno

As a wood consultant, I am often asked to identify various species of wood. Exotic tropical timbers account for a good many of these requests, but among domestic hardwoods, no species seems to cause as much confusion as sweetgum. The confusion is especially acute if the sample in question has been stained or is old and very oxidized. It's no surprise that so many people are stumped, because sweetgum is a true chameleon, with similarities to many other woods in terms of density, texture, appearance and working characteristics. Sweetgum also takes stain well enough to pass for anything from maple to cherry, even mahogany and walnut. Given all of this, confusion is virtually inevitable. And frankly, it is often intentional. You see, the sad truth is sweetgum is a counterfeiter's delight. As a result, it is often overlooked as a wood in its own right, and this is a great shame, because despite some drawbacks, it is a very fine wood for cabinet work. One tree, two timbers Our native sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, produces two woods so strikingly different in terms of color that the lumber trade markets them separately. The abundant sapwood tends to be just to the creamy side of stark white in color and is sold as sapgum. The heartwood, by contrast, is a complex reddishbrown with a slight grayish hue and is typically marketed as redgum or simply gum. Unfortunately, the name gum leads to some confusion, because several species of tupelo, or blackgum, also sometimes find their way to market as simply gum. Although sweetgum and tupelo are quite similar in texture and density, and their sapwoods can be easily confused, they are not closely related. Tupelo belongs to its own small botanical family, Nyssaceae, and is more akin to dogwood, while sweetgum belongs to the witch-hazel

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Understanding Wood Wood technologist R. Bruce Hoadley's comprehensive guide to the nature of wood has been updated to include new information on wood composites, adhesives, and finishes Identifying Wood R. Bruce Hoadley teaches you straightforward techniques for identifying more than 180 domestic and tropical hardwoods Wood In these articles from Fine Woodworking, you'll find practical advice on buying, drying and storing common North American cabinet woods, plus a few exotics

Sweetgum: Neglected Wood with an Elusive Identity

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family, Hamamelidaceae. In fact, sweetgum is the witch-hazel family's only major timber-producing species in North America.

Professional Topics Sweetgum's native range extends from Missouri to Connecticut and from the Ohio River Valley south to the Gulf of Mexico, but it grows best on river flood plains deep in Dixie from Louisiana through Alabama. When grown in dense forests, it is a magnificent timber tree capable of attaining heights well in excess of 100 ft. Drawing: Kirk Caldwell and diameters of up to about 5 ft. Its corklike grayish-brown bark contrasts with its bright green, star-shaped leaves, which turn vivid red in the fall. The seeds are encased in small, 1-in.-dia. woody burs vaguely similar to those of sycamore. The tree is so attractive that it is a popular cultivar wherever it can be grown, and landscapers have managed to push its range as far north as extreme southern Ontario, where it occasionally suffers from winterkill and seldom attains its full potential. Much used, somewhat abused Sweetgum's great beauty as a living tree has not spared it from heavy, long-term exploitation by the lumber trade. Vast quantities of both sapgum and redgum were used in the 19th century for loose cooperage and railroad ties. Demand for these products declined, but equally great quantities have since been diverted to the crating and pallet-making industries. As to the high-volume use of top-quality redgum, this has historically centered in the millwork and plywood industries. Over the years demand has noticeably shifted. It is still an important species, but its use in millwork seems to have peaked in the 1930s. Until that time it had been one of the primary low-cost, paintable hardwoods used for interior trim, and these products were shipped to markets throughout the country. However, as supplies diminished and prices increased, this role has largely been taken over by yellow poplar. Redgum has much more effectively Inside the sweetgum maintained its market position in the tree furniture industry as a popular secondary wood. Its role here seems secure, because it is substantially stronger than yellow poplar, and its great versatility when it comes to subterfuge provides a key benefit. In the hands of a skilled finisher, it can be quickly doctored with stains and then used in conjunction with more prestigious woods. The application of dark brown pigments allows it to blend in passingly well for the less noticeable (opens in new parts in walnut furniture, while red window) pigments make it one of the better counterfeits for cherry. Sapgum offers some sleight-of-hand opportunities as a blond-wood substitute in

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Sweetgum: Neglected Wood with an Elusive Identity

birch and maple commercial furniture. I think these efforts at misdirection degrade the image of sweetgum, suggesting that somehow it is an inferior cabinetwood when, in fact, it merits considerably more respect. It may take some looking to find a retailer that carries redgum. Two that do are MacBeath Hardwood in Berkeley, Calif. (800-479-9907), and M.L. Condon in White Plains, N.Y. (914-946-4111). Sweetgum is appreciated overseas While we Americans often use our native sweetgum in rather fraudulent ways, this is not a practice shared on the international scene. Europeans are more appreciative of the wood's virtues, welcoming our export of redgum for use as a primary cabinetwood. In England, it is commonly called satin walnut, and it is fair to say that the Brits know a good deal when they see one. Whereas redgum must be stained to approximate the appearance of North American black walnut, its natural color is almost identical to that of Old World walnut (Juglans regia, a.k.a. English walnut), which has long been both scarce and very expensive over there. The fact is redgum has excellent working characteristics, almost identical to those of cherry. It shapes beautifully, and the tendency for it to friction-burn when routed or sanded is somewhat less of a problem than it is with cherry. Like cherry, it contains a natural gum that gives the wood a satiny surface luster, but the gum is not present in high enough quantities to cause serious friction burn or major finishing problems. This natural gum, called Storax, is a commercially important commodity used in the manufacture of medicines and perfumes, but the average sweetgum tree can be coaxed to produce only about 8 oz. of the sticky fluid per year. It would be a gross exaggeration to suggest that all redgum is stunningly beautiful, but like maple it often produces some very attractive special figures. Quartersawn stock almost invariably yields a ribbonlike grain appearance. When this feature is especially pronounced, it is exceptionally showy because of the wood's satiny natural luster. Although less common, even flatsawn redgum occasionally yields a wavy, fiddleback figure, or it may also be highlighted with dark, chocolate brown streaks. These more carefully selected examples of sweetgum are very attractive and deserve to be ranked as prime cabinetwoods. Sweetgum's shortcomings Like all woods, sweetgum has at least a couple of potentially serious shortcomings. Its very poor resistance to decay represents one of its more important limitations, but this is not a particularly serious problem when it is used for furniture and other interior projects. Of far greater concern is its notorious lack of stability. The reason for its instability is somewhat of a mystery. Laboratory tests indicate that its average volumetric shrinkage is 15.8% green to oven-dry. This is, admittedly, very high compared with most cabinetwoods such as genuine mahogany (7.8%), cherry (11.5%) and walnut (12.8%). It is even high compared with notably unstable species like sycamore (14.1%) and sugar maple (14.7%). But volumetric shrinkage alone does not account for serious distortion. A wood's propensity to warp is better predicted by its T/R ratio (the ratio between its tangential and radial shrinkage). Woods with a T/R ratio below 2:1 tend to be less prone to distortion. But the surprise here is that sweetgum's T/R http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00085.asp (3 of 4) [11/3/2003 3:17:54 à«]

Sweetgum: Neglected Wood with an Elusive Identity

ratio is a rather comfortable 1.92:1. Statistically, it should be less prone to distortion than it is. So why does it have such a high tendency to warp? I suspect the combination of its interlocked grain, with its very high volumetric shrinkage, is at the core of the problem. Similar attributes are shared by a few other woods, such as elm, that distort in much the same way. Because of the interlocked grain, even relatively uniform shrinkage, if it is high enough, appears to induce extreme stress in such woods. The fact that sweetgum has a significant propensity to distort presents a challenge, but it should not be viewed as a catastrophic shortcoming. In the hands of a skilled cabinetmaker, it is simply an attribute of the wood that must be managed in the same way it is managed when working with maple or sycamore. Care must be taken to allow wide panels to float, and the project should be designed with an eye for counterbalance. In other words, various subassemblies and structural elements should interact in ways that allow them to be mutually restraining. Redgum's many other positive attributes in terms of appearance, working characteristics and affordable price make it well worth the effort. Jon Arno is a writer and woodworker in Troy, Mich. Photos except where noted: Jonathan Binzen

From Fine Woodworking #142, pp 5659

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Krenov on Grain: The Story of a Cabinet

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Krenov on Grain: The Story of a Cabinet When it comes to reading grain, Krenov wrote the book by James Krenov

James Krenov loves to read, and his conversation is laced with quotations from writers, artists and craftsmen. Much of Krenov's best reading, however, takes place, not with a book in his hand, but a plank. A close look at a piece of his furniture reveals his gift for reading the possibilities in a piece of wood. You see that the wood and the cabinet are beautifully blended: Only this particular plank could have made this piece. When we paid him a visit, we found him working on a new cabinet-on-stand in teak, spalted maple and olive. He was nearly finished with the cabinet and was contemplating the stand. We asked him to explain how he'd chosen the wood for the piece and how the wood had affected the design. -- The Editors

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Identifying Wood R. Bruce Hoadley teaches you straightforward techniques for identifying more than 180 domestic and tropical hardwoods

His cabinet, with its harmony of colors and patterns, proves again that when it comes to reading grain, Krenov wrote the book. Photo: Seth Janofsky.

I started with only a vague idea of what I was going to make. I knew it was going to be a small cabinet and that it would be made of a wood not too light -- and not very dark. Medium, like this teak. I did a little sketch, more of a doodle than a drawing. The sketch just gives me a line on a map -- I can follow it, but I still have to take a look at what's on either side of the road.

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From there, I went to the wood room and picked and poked my way to a sense of confusion, irritation. I looked through the wood I had in my bench room, but I didn't find what I wanted. I had some teak that was very dark brown and extremely straight lined. Teak like that seemed too good to be true -- it didn't excite me. Then, back in the wood room, I noticed a small, crooked, sawn-up log of teak lying

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Wood In these articles from Fine Woodworking, you'll find practical advice on buying, drying and storing common North American cabinet woods, plus a few exotics

Krenov on Grain: The Story of a Cabinet

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partly hidden on the floor. We'd had it for several years, and nobody seemed to want it. It was no more than 5 ft. long and had been sawn into 8/4 planks. I scratched it a little bit and discovered it was rather a lively teak. It had nice color and a lot of motion in it. Once I found that log, I was off and running -- it really gives me energy when the wood helps me with what I hope to do. But I have to take care. If I turn to one plank instead of another to start a cabinet, it can be the difference between night and day. Or maybe just night. ... I sawed some of the teak into veneer and made up parts of the carcase with it, using pleasantly beige European cherry for the inside. Some people like to use high-contrast wood inside a cabinet to make it a surprise when you open the doors. I prefer a soft transition. There's a lot of movement in the cherry; it has rhythm and ripples in it. But it's not wild. When I was working on the sides of the cabinet, it became apparent that something different from what I had anticipated was going on. I was making a perfectly rectilinear cabinet, but here the grain was bending forward at the bottom: The crook in the log of teak was now visible as a pleasing but definite curve in the grain of the veneer. When I saw that the side of the cabinet created a forward curve, I decided to change the stand to one with front legs that swept forward. Making this change is an example of observing what's happening with the wood as you work. But while you sometimes let the wood guide you, you shouldn't let it dictate. You have to refer to the wood without abandoning your intentions. There has to be a cooperation, a partnership between the two. The idea is to follow, but be careful.

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Krenov on Grain: The Story of a Cabinet Going with the grain. When he saw the curve in the grain on the cabinet side, Krenov rethought the stand's front legs. He gave them a complementary forward curve and selected a plank with a matching curve in the grain.

It's a matter of getting acquainted with all of the properties of each wood you choose to work -- a wood's colors; its hardness or lack of hardness; whether its grain is ornery or not. It's a very personal thing, and not everyone pays such close attention. But if you do, you are more in harmony with the wood and the work. And the results seem to flow from this harmony, even though it is connected with periods of stress and doubt. In the long run, knowing about these things will help a person. Making the drawers was dicey. I made them from one short, thick, lively piece of olive, and I had a knife at my throat the whole time, knowing I didn't have extra wood with the same pattern, or anywhere near it, so there was no way I could replace a drawer -- if I spoil one, there goes the whole facade. The olive wasn't long enough to give me all of the drawers with the grain continuous from side to side. But it was thick. So I made end-to-end bookmatches. The challenge was to piece these busy elements together without creating chaos. I may not have achieved quiet, but I think I avoided chaos. The drawer sides, backs and bottoms are made of olive ash. It's a subdued tan color that goes well with both the olive and the teak. It looks much better than if I had used a high-contrast wood like maple. The olive ash just melted together with the other woods. By the time I cut the door panels, I had made most of the cabinet. But again, I knew what I wanted -- sort of. My friend Brian had given me two small pieces of spalted maple as a present, saying, "Make something with these someday." I like that. We have these little exchanges of wood going on. People share pieces of wood, and they become a story. The piece I used for this cabinet was 3 ft. long and about 8 in. wide. Part of it had crumbled, and only about a foot and a half was usable. With spalted wood, the pattern often changes dramatically in ways you can't predict from one slice to the next. Just a bandsaw kerf away you sometimes find the pattern very different. That was the case with these panels. If you open the door and compare the inside with the outside, you'll see they are quite different. I had originally planned to set tiny pieces of ebony as straight lines dividing the door panels. But when I saw the pattern of spalting on the panels, I thought, "There it is; don't mess with it." I should mention that earlier I tried a different set of panels. I had a piece of spalted maple of my own that I sawed up, with spalting in a very intricate pattern, like spiderwebs. The landscape they made was wonderful. But when I saw those panels next to the olive of the drawers, the panels were too pink. There was no other pink in the cabinet -- the rest of the wood went toward yellows rather than toward reds. So I settled for the board my friend had given me. The composition may not be as strong, but the color is better. Once I get finish on them, the greenish cast will fade, and they will be much more mauve. I think it will be a nice complement to the olive in the drawers and to

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Krenov on Grain: The Story of a Cabinet

the teak. I still like the original panels, though. I'll just have to build another cabinet for them someday. ... Maybe. ... Later in the summer, we heard that the cabinet was finished, and we asked Krenov how the rest of the process of making it had gone. When you were here, I hadn't decided on the pulls, although I was thinking about wrought iron, some kind of Japanese-ish drop pulls. I contacted John Burt, a cabinetmaker and blacksmith, and he made these for me. They are in three sizes to suit the smaller, intermediate and larger drawers. John also made the handles for the doors. I placed them a little above the middle of the door because there was already considerable visual weight down at the drawers with all their pulls. When it came to making the stand, after I had abandoned the original sketch and gone for the forward-sweeping front legs, everything was rather simple. There was a little play with the grain. I used the natural curve in the grain for the front legs, and I tried to get some of the less curved, almost straight-grained wood for the back legs, which are themselves straight. On the stand's front rail, you can see an upward curve to the grain. If you turned that upside down, it would look tired; with this gentle, upward curve, it lifts rather pleasantly. So the stand was easy to make, but for a while I had some doubt as to the dimensions. I thought maybe the stand was a trifle heavy for the rest of the cabinet, and perhaps some will think so. But now, after coming back to see it at different times, sneaking up on it and turning on the lights, after asking my wife, Britta, to take a look with me and hearing from other people who have looked at it, I see the cabinet itself is not so delicate. In fact, it has a certain miniature sturdiness. So perhaps the stand and the cabinet are friends after all and get along rather well. To finish things off, I just have to say that I'm pleased with the cabinet, and people seem to like it. And I'm very happy to admit that, in making it -- whether it's for the last time or not -- I have once more been very lucky. James Krenov works and teaches at the College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, Calif. Photos except where noted: Jonathan Binzen From Fine Woodworking #133, pp. 128, 130, 132

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Fine Wood Working - Reader Showcase

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It's impossible for all of Fine Woodworking's quarter-million readers to write an article for our reader-written magazine. But for a long time we've toyed with the idea of how to showcase the work of the many talented woodworkers, professionals and amateurs alike, who toil away in their shops, often in anonymity. Acknowledging the work of others is only one reason for this department; another of its purposes it to provide design inspiration. In the same way that writers learn by reading the work of others, woodworker can learn by looking at the work of their peers. We'd like your comments, and we'd like to see photos of your work. Send entries to: Fine Woodworking's Reader Showcase 63 South Main Street Newtown, CT 06470.

• Reader Showcase from FW #162 (March/April 2003) • Reader Showcase from FW #161 (January/February 2003) • Reader Showcase from FW #160 (Tools & Shops, Winter 2002/2003) • Reader Showcase from FW #159 (November/December 2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #158 (September/October 2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #157 (July/August 2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #156 (May/June 2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #155 (March/April 2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #154 (January/February 2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #153 (Tools & Shops, Winter 2001/2002) • Reader Showcase from FW #152 (November/December 2001) • Reader Showcase from FW #151 (September/October 2001) • Reader Showcase from FW #150 (July/August 2001) • Reader Showcase from FW #149 (May/June 2001) • Reader Showcase from FW #148 (March/April 2001) • Reader Showcase from FW #147 (January/February 2001) • Reader Showcase from FW #145 (November/December 2000) • Reader Showcase from FW #144 (September/October 2000) • Reader Showcase from FW #143 (July/August 2000) • Reader Showcase from FW #142 (May/June 2000) • Reader Showcase from FW #141 (March/April 2000) Photo Tips

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Fine Wood Working - Reader Showcase

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Issue #162

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Brian Bortz

"I am a high-tech corporate dropout who picked up woodworking as a hobby five years ago," said Bortz. He designed and built this bow-front entertainment center (30 in. deep by 43 in. wide by 77 in. tall) because he has always felt that televisions and stereos should not be considered furniture and should be hidden when not in use. Made of walnut, the piece features book-matched pommele sapele veneered door panels, Greek key dentil molding and turned ebony door and inside drawer knobs. It has a lacquer finish. Photo by Alex Justin

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Randall Shope

After his wife decided that they needed a larger desk, Shope volunteered to build this rolltop desk (34 in. deep by 56 in. wide by 48 in. tall). Using Kenneth Baumert's article "Building a Roll-Top Desk" (FWW #79, pp. 48-53) as a starting point, he incorporated design ideas from other antique desks as well. Made of white and red oak with trim and accent pieces of Brazilian cherry, the piece is finished with Danish oil and wipe-on polyurethane.

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Robert L. Millard

Professional Topics Millard made this shelf clock with bracket (5 3/4 in. deep by 11 3/4 in. wide by 32 3/4 in. tall) based on a photograph of a David Wood original in American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection: Volume 8 (Highland House Publishers, 1986). The primary wood is mahogany, and the secondary woods are poplar, white pine and basswood. The piece features inlays of satinwood, curly maple and ebony and a professionally painted clock face. Because the David Wood original is missing its bracket, Millard combined features from several examples for his reproduction. It is finished with a lime-and-water mixture, dye-tinted Danish oil and shellac.

Andrew Wappett

Based on a design that Wappett regularly makes, this rocking chair (44 in. deep by 27 in. wide by 48 in. tall) was commissioned as a Mother's Day gift. The rocker is constructed out of figured birch and cherry. The relief carving of the two chickadees on the crest rail was done by Philip Marshall, a local artisan. The rocker is finished with an oil-andvarnish mixture, and the carving is highlighted with oil paint.

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