101 woodsmith 1995.10, Woodsmith
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Walnut Cabinet • Lamp Table • Serving Tray
Spray Painted Finish • Molded Stub Tenon & Groove
No. 101
October, 1995
EDITOR'S COLUMN
Sawdust
Publisher
Donald B. Peschke
Editor
Terry
J. Strohman
Assistant Editors
Jon
Garbison
Mark Williams
Senior Illustrators
David
Kreyling
Cinda Shambaugh
DirkVerSteeg
Illustrator
Erich
Lage
CREATIVE RESOURCES
Creative Director
Executive Editor
Project Design
Dir.
Sr. Project Designer
Shop Manager
Shop Craftsman
Photographer
Electronic Publishing
Electronic Graphics
Elec. Comunication
Graphic Designer
series of connected steps that leads
to a final goal. Usually, this goal is a
functional, good-looking piece of furniture.
But that's not what I find most rewarding. I
enjoy the whole process — from planning
to building and finishing the project.
PLANNING. After the design is complete,
the first thing I do is figure out where I'm
going to start and how I hope to end. So
even before picking up a piece of wood, I
sit down with the plans and work out the
procedure. Actually, I build it several times
in my head. The goal is to come up with
the best way to build a project before I
make my first cut.
For instance, I bet there are nearly a
dozen different ways you could build the
serving tray on page 24. Some are safer
and more efficient than others. But I know
from experience that working with small
pieces can be tricky. And it can be tough to
get them to fit together just right. So on
the tray, I planned to use oversized blanks
and test pieces. The blanks would keep my
hands safe, and the test pieces would en-
sure accurate cuts.
BUILDING. But when the building
be-
gins, there's a subtle change in the proc-
ess. Early on, I consult the plans carefully,
making sure of each measurement. But it
doesn't take long before I start consulting
the project. Then instead of relying on
pre-
cise numbers, I begin to get my
measure-
ments right from the project.
Of course, there's always a little room
for error when I'm not working with "hard"
measurements. And the difference
be-
tween a good fit and a sloppy fit is probably
only a few thousandths of an inch. So
often, I
won't
try to cut a piece "dead on"
the first time. Instead, I'll sneak up on a
perfect fit by making several cuts. And
when the pieces finally slide together —
well, that's what woodworking is all about.
Take the Walnut Cabinet on page 6, for
example. Building the plywood case is
pretty straightforward. Just follow the di-
mensions in the plans. But as the base, the
doors, and the top are added, it's more im-
portant that the pieces fit the case. Not that
the measurements match the plans.
FINISHING. When the project is built,
there's one final step in the process: finish-
ing. A finish can make or break a project,
which is probably why I can be a little
re-
luctant to try something new.
So when Kent, our Senior Project
De-
signer,
suggested
we paint the base of the
lamp table on page
18,1
was skeptical. To
me, wood and paint mix about as well as oil
and water. Maybe it's because I've spent so
much time stripping paint off old furniture
that it seems like a crime to paint a new
piece. But when Kent made a "mock-up" of
what the finish would look
like,
I was sur-
prised and impressed. The
glass-smooth
finish looked great.
OTHER NEWS
To celebrate our 100th issue last month,
we decided to have an open house.
Frankly, I didn't know what to expect. But
I certainly didn't expect over 500 people to
attend. We had visitors from as far away as
Austria. And subscribers from California
to Alabama planned their vacations around
the open house.
I am deeply appreciative of this show of
support. And I wanted to extend a special
thanks to all who attended the open house,
to those who worked hard to make it a suc-
cess, and to all our readers who have made
100 issues of
Woodsmith
possible.
NEW INDEX. At the open house, a few of
you reminded me that it has been a couple
years since we've offered an updated index
of back issues. How time flies.
Well, we got busy, and now there's a
new and complete index of woodworking
projects and information from issues 1-100
of
Woodsmith
and issues 1-23 of
Shop-
Notes.
The price of this index is $4.95,
which includes shipping and handling. To
order, you can call us at
1-800-444-7002,
fax
us at
515-283-0447,
or write to us at P.O.
Box 842, Des Moines,
IA
50304. We'll be
glad to send it right out to you.
NEW NAME. Speaking of new, we have a
new corporate
name—August
Home Pub-
lishing. As many of you know, we recently
launched a new gardening magazine
called
Garden Gate.
To reflect this new ad-
dition, I thought a name change seemed
appropriate. After all, while we plan to
keep producing the best woodworking
magazines on the market
(Woodsmith &
ShopNotes), I
hope to look to other areas
that will help readers interested in improv-
ing their homes and enjoying hobbies.
Ted
Kralicek
Douglas L. Hicks
Ken
Munkel
Kent Welsh
Steve Curtis
Steve Johnson
Crayola England
Douglas M. Lidster
Chris
Glowacki
Gordon C. Gaippe
Cheryl L.
Cynor
CIRCULATION
Subscription Managers:
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ell, Paige Rogers •
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CORPORATE SERVICES
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•
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Maintenance:
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WOODSMITH MAIL ORDER
Operations Director:
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Materials Mgr.:
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tomer service Mgr.:
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Buyer:
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Operator:
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Customer Service Reps.:
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wooDSMrra STORE
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ery •
Office Manager:
Vicki Edwards
Woodsmith® (ISSN 0164-4114) is published bimonthly
(Feb., Apr., June, Aug., Oct., Dec.) by August Home Pub-
lishing., 2200 Grand, Des Moines, LA 50312.
Woodsmith® is a registered trademark of August Home Pub.
Copyright© 1995 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved.
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Printed in U.SA
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T
he way I look at it, woodworking is a
A LOOK INSIDE
Contents
Walnut Cabinet 6
It's the details that count: ball-tipped hinges, quarter-round
molding, and decorative feet are just a few of the many
features in this classic walnut cabinet
Walnut Cabinet
page 6
Molded Stub Tenon 14
You don't need an expensive router bit to make this joint.
It can be made with the tools in your shop and a simple jig.
We'll walk you through the procedure step-by-step.
Lamp Table 18
With its Shaker-style lines, this lamp table
will
fit well in
a variety of settings. And it's easy to build. We've even
included a quick shop-made jig for tapering the legs.
Spray Painted Finish 22
Get a smooth painted
finish
—
without
any
expensive
spray
equipment.
We'll recommend which paint to use and show
you how to prepare the surface for professional results.
Molded Stub Tenon
page 14
Serving Tray 24
This tray has several design features we find appealing: a
maple panel that contrasts with a narrow cherry frame,
some sculpted handles, and simple
curved
feet.
Reader's
Jig 30
Need an extra hand? This assembly jig, sent in by Roger
Balling of Santa Ana, California, uses a simple cam lock-
ing system to help you hold case pieces during assembly.
Painted Finish
page 22
DEPARTMENTS
Tips
& Techniques
4
Shop Notes
17
Talking
Shop
28
Sources
31
Serving Tray
page 24
No. 101
Woodsmith
FROM FELLOW WOODWORKERS
Tips &
Techniques
MITER GAUGE WEDGE CLAMP
• Trying to hold a long, wide
board tight against the miter
gauge when it's standing on
edge, is nearly impossible. I
tried clamping it, but my clamps
don't have enough clearance. So
I made a simple clamp that fits
on the miter gauge bar.
see Fig. 1. The block is a
3
/4"-
thick piece of stock with two
W
1
dowels glued in one edge. The
dowels fit into mating holes
drilled in your miter gauge bar.
the block is cut to hold a
3
/4
M
-
thick piece. But on the other
end, I cut the block to hold
1
W-
thick stock. The trick here is to
leave just enough room for the
wedge to fit between the work-
piece and the block.
To use the jig, position your
workpiece against the miter
gauge and tap down the wedge
to lock it in place, see Fig. 3.
George Clark
East Windsor, New Jersey
3
/4"-thick
workpiece
Trim block to
hold
different stock thickness
V/2"-thick
rr~i
workpiece
1
/4
tt
-diameter
hole
mates with dowel
in block
Wedge holds workpiece
tight against miter gauge
during cut
TRUNNION ADJUSTMENT
QUICK TIPS
• I needed to align my saw
blade with the miter gauge slot.
But, on my contractor-style saw,
that meant moving the trunnion
(the casting that holds the
blade). The problem was the
mounting holes in the trunnion
weren't large enough.
Then I came up with an easy
solution. Instead of making the
holes bigger, I made the bolts
smaller. Simply remove a bolt,
grind off the threads just below
the head, and reinstall it in the
saw, see detail below. After
grinding all the bolts, you
should have the room needed
for any adjustment.
Keith King
Crooksville, Ohio
TAPE
TIP
• In my shop, double-sided car-
pet tape gets used a lot.
But
I
could never find my scissors
when it came time to cut it to
length. To solve this problem, I
keep a single-edged razor blade
stuck under the end of the roll
(sharp edge in) to cut the tape.
Guy Miller
Charlottesville,
Virginia
Grind
away threads
from below bolt head
for added clearance
GLUE SPREADER
• A quick and effective way to
spread glue on the edge of a
board is with a plastic bread tie.
The kind made out of thin plas-
tic with a slot in one end. It
works like a small squeegee to
spread an even layer of glue
across the joint. Then when
you're done, just throw it away.
And
best
of all, they're free.
Arthur Smith
Reading,
Pennsylvania
Remove bolts one at a
time from trunnion
for grinding
Woodsmith
No. 101
I trimmed the ends of the
block to hold different sizes of
stock, see Fig. 2. On one end,
The clamp consists of two
pieces. A wedge and a block at-
tached to the miter gauge bar,
SAWHORSE INSERTS
• I built the sawhorses featured
in
Woodsmith
issue 97, but was
a little reluctant to use them. I
didn't want to "chew-up" the top
with my saw. So before putting
them to work, I added a
replace-
able insert to take the abuse.
This insert is simply a
1V£"
x
1V&"
square piece of scrap stock
that sits on the top of the saw-
horse. It's held in place by a cou-
ple of 3/4" x
1V4"
cleats. When
screwed to the top, the cleats
form a slot for the insert to fit
into. If
you're
worried about hit-
ting the screws when making a
cut, simply glue or carpet tape
the cleats to the top instead.
David Moss
Statesville, North Carolina
KEYHOLE SAW
• A keyhole saw works great to
cut holes in tight places. But in-
stead of buying one, I made my
own.
All
you need is a sabre saw
blade and a wooden or plastic
file handle, see photo above.
For wooden handles, sharpen
the shank end of the blade to a
point before you drive the han-
dle onto the blade.
For plastic handles, heat the
blade and push it into the handle
with a pair of pliers. Safety note:
The hot blade can cause burns.
Brad Burns
Wapakoneta,
Ohio
JOINTER ADJUSTMENTS
• When I got a tapered edge af-
ter running a board across my
jointer, I knew I had a problem.
My owner's manual suggested
checking the
infeed
and
outfeed
tables to make sure they were
parallel with each other. An easy
way to check this is with a cou-
ple of
shop-made
"squares".
To make these squares, I use
rectangular pieces of
V^"-thick
Insert can be
replaced
when
needed
Screw cleats
to top to hold
insert in place
plywood — with the corners cut
at exactly 90°. (A good set of
metal framing squares will also
do the job.)
Just set a square on each ta-
ble so their edges touch, see
drawing. Then check for gaps
between the edges. A gap indi-
cates the tables aren't parallel.
Wayne Beedy
Buckley, Washington
ROUTING HANDLES
• I like to make my own han-
dles. But routing the edges on
small pieces is difficult and dan-
gerous. So to play it safe, I make
handle blanks first and then
glue them to a larger support
board made from a piece of
scrap. This way, I can keep a
good grip on the workpiece as I
run it past the router bit.
Gap between
squares indicates
tables are out
of alignment
To use a support board, first
cut out your blank and glue it to
the board. Once the glue dries,
rout the inside and outside
edges of the handle blank. Fi-
nally, make a rip cut on the table
saw
to separate the finished han-
dle from the support board.
Ronald
Whitsel
Churchville, Pennsylvania
Glue blank to scrap piece to
rout workpiece safely
SUBMIT
YOUR
TIPS
If you would like to share an
original
shop-tested
tip, send
it to
Woodsmith,
Tips and
Techniques, 2200 Grand
Ave-
nue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312.
Or if it's easier for you, FAX
it to us at:
515-282-6741.
Or
use our E-Mail address: 75330,
2301@compuserve.com.
If we publish it, we'll send
you $30 to $150, depending on
the published length of the tip.
Include a brief explanation and
sketch or photo. And don't
worry, we'll rewrite the tip and
redraw the art, if necessary.
Also,
please
include a daytime
phone number.
No. 101
Woodsmith
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