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A Publication of August Home Publishing

lookinq inside

Table of Contentsf rorn tilr i"eaa€.5

Tips&Techniques ... .......4all abc,,rl

Knock-DownFasteners .. ....8Take a look at some handy hardware that makes

assembling and disassembling projects a breeze.

tccls ot the lrarleSecrets to a Smooth Surface . . . . .10

A couple of traditional hand tools can take thehard work out of smoothing a workpiece.

.1igs enil f r;<irn"ei

Using Brass Set-Up Gauges . . . . . .12When fast, precise tool setup is the goal, here's

a simple accessory that gets the job done.

tech',, l.L:- ,,: l:" t-rit'

Vertical Cuts on the Table Saw. . . .14With help from a couple of shop-built jigs, you

can make more than just the basic cuts.

tips iralr 0r-;r 1i11p

ShopNotebook ......30

woo0wo ri( i i--: c esse n i ia ls

Seamless Plywood Edging . . . . . . .42Here are the tips and tricks we use t0 guaranteeperfect edging on plywood panels. \\bd.smrh i@ffi

wLri'k,nq wrtli tooi:Avoiding RouterTable Tearout. . . . .44

It's easy t0 tame tearout on the router table by

following a few basic guidelines.

iinr:ilinq rooniA Distressed Milk Paint Finish . . . . .46

We'll show you how to give your project thetime-worn look of a classic antique.

1n1;ils cf craftsrlansh ip

Carving Berry and Rod Molding . . .48You'll find that carving this traditional decorativemolding is surprisingly simple.

rir ilre n;lri'ccx

Q&A ..,.s0

i' rt 'itv,r P ntl(t -. .t , ,

Sources .......51

Glass-Panel Coffee t'lable pase22

Frame and Easel page 18

Woodsmith No. 184

editor's note

Sawdusti\-

\

projects

weekend project

Frame and Easel 18This beautiful frame and easel is guaranteed to puta favorite family photo in the best light. After anenjoyable weekend in the shop, you'll be rewardedwith a lifetime keepsake.

designer series project

Glass-Panel CoffeeTable ....22Building this uniquely designed coffee table is

guaranteed to teach you a couple of new tricks.You'll get a healthy dose of quality shop timealong with a very stylish end result. ffi

heirloom project

o doubt you've heard the saying about how you can,t teach

an old dog new tricks. The same thing can probably be said

of many woodworkers. We tend to get comfortable with certain

types of joinery ormethods of doing things, and thenrarelyventure

outside of our own comfort zone.

One area of woodworking that has always appeared a littleintimidating to me is carving. It seems like a painstaking skill thatrequires years of practice to master. So when Ted Raife, our senior

editor, handed me a piece of molding with a string of delicately

carved beads and rods, I was impressed. But when he told me thatit only took him about half an hour to make, and that it was his fustattempt - well, now Iwas really rmpressed.

As it tums out, this molding (called a'berry and rod,,) is actu-ally quite simple to make, even if you've never done any carving.

It's just a matter of making a few basic, repetitive cuts. It doesn,t

require a lot of practice or artistic ability like some types of carving.

And the nice thing is that you only need two carving tools to do it.It's really the perfect way to spend a relaxing evening in the shop

while trying your hand at a new skill.

But you don't have to attempt something as offbeat as carv-ing to leam a new "trick." One of the projects in this issue - theglass-panel coffee table on page ?2 - features a unique method forjoining the legs of the table to the frame. The technique involvescreating a large notch at the top of each leg for the frame to rest in.

The interesting part is that it's all done on the table saw The secret

is in the leg construction. I won't go into all the details here. (You'll

have to read the article for that.) Butbe careful. You may just leamsomething new - without even realizing it.

ar,'\

This symbol lets you know there's more information online atWoodsmith.com. There you'll see step-by-step videos, technique andproject animatiory bonus cutting diagrams, and a lot more.

\- Drop-FrontDesk ......32You might want t0 build this project for its classicappearance - or maybe for its practicality. But I

think you'll agree, the real hook here is the chal-lenging woodworking.

Drcp-Front Desk page 32

Woodsmith

from our readers

Tips &I Gchniques

illortising tlochine Clompf;:W

C-clamp swingsdown and out ofthe way whenlocking pin is

withdrawn.

TThe hold-down onmy benchtop mortiserdoesn't hold workpiecesas firmly as l'd like. lfthe workpiece twistedeven a little bit, the chiselwould bind in the mor-tise. So I needed a clampto hold workpieces tight-ly against the fence.

To do this, I added a

"modified" C-clamp toan auxiliary base (rightphoto). lt's designed toswing out of the waywhen not in use (leftmargin photo).

First, cut offthe top jawof a 6" C-clamp (detail 'a')and round the cut endso it will swing easily.

Then drill holes in theremaining arm of theclamp for a pivot pinand locking pin.

Next, cut two piecesof plywood to serve as

the base for the mortis-er. Sandwiched betweenthese plywood piecesare the pivot and lock-ing pins (main drawingbelow). Grooves arerouted in both piecesto hold the pivot andlocking pins (detail 'b').For added stability, I

attached a cleat to clampthe base in the vise onmy workbench.

ln order to slide thelocking pin back and

forth, you'll need togrind a flat spot on therod. Then drill and tapa hole through the flatspot to accept a carriagebolt pressed into a hard-wood handle. A squarenut betweenthe slot andthe rod allowsa slight twistof the handleto tighten thelocking pin.

When I wassatisfied thateverything was

working smoothly, I

screwed the two ply-wood pieces togetherand bolted the base tomy mortiser stand.

Donna Casperson

D ill sbur g, P ennsyla ania

shs" -1 8 lock nutTop Layerx 14"- %" ply.)

- Handle(1" -dia. x 2"

t/n"-20 x 3"carriage boltBottom laver

(12" x 14"- %" ply.)

Grind taperon end of

locking pin

t-lnt?

3/a

r-J

Woodsmith No. 184

losy Squore UpLike most woodworkers, I oftenwork alone in my shop.This meansI have to be somewhat innovative whenit comes to completing a tvvo-person tasksuch as squaring up a large case.

I don't own a clamp that's long enoughto pull a large case assembly into square,so I came up with an easy solution. Asyou can see in the drawing above, I usemy sawhorses and a few scraps of woodto square a case.

I spaced the sawhorses far enoughapart to support the case and then addeda wood block on each end of one saw-horse, spaced the same distance as thefinished width of the case.The other saw-horse gets two blocks on one end to hold

Push or pull at the freecorner until case is square

one corner stable.Then I lay the case onits face fitting the front edge between thewood pieces at the corners.

Once I have the case lightly clamped,I can push or pull the free corner of thecase until it comes into square. ThenI just anchor a brace at one corner tohold the case square while I apply moreclamping pressure at the joints.

Dennis Vertrees

El izab e tht own, Kentuclcy

suBilrr YouR TtPs 0il1l1tElf you have an original shop tip, wewould like to hear from you andconsider publishing your tip in oneor more of our publications. Go to:

Woodsmith.comClick on the link,

"SUBMIT ATIP"You'll be able to tell us all aboutyour tip and upload your photos anddrawings. You can also mail your tipslo "Woodsmith Tips" at the editorialaddress shown at right. We will pay upto $200 if we publish your tip.

Woodsmith.com

Space betweeiblocks is same asfinished width of case

Woodsmith

No. 184 August/September 2009

PUBLISHER Donald B. Peschke

EDITOR Terry J. Strohman

MANAGING EDITOR Vincent Ancona

SENIOR EDITOR Ted Raife

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dennis Perkins

ASSISTANT EDITOR Carol Beronich

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Bryan Nelson, Phil Huber,Randall A. Maxey, Joel Hess

EDITORIAL INTERNS Catherine Seiser, Brianna Nelson

EXECUTIVE ART DIRECTOR Todd Lambirth

SENIOR ILIUSTRATORS David Kreyling, Dirk Ver Steeg,Harlan V Clark, Peter J. Larson, David Kallemyn

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Bob Zimmerman

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Shelley Cronin

GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN Megan Leafgreen

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ted Kralicek

SENIOR PRoJECT DESIcNERS Ken Munkel,Kent Welsh, Chris Fitch, Jim Downinq, Mike Donovan

PROJECT DESIGNER/BUItDER John Doyle

SHOP CRAFTSMEN Steve Curtis, Steve Johnson

SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS C rayola England,Dennis Kennedy

ASSOCIATE STYTE DIRECTOR Rebecca Cunninqham

SENIOR ELECTRONIC IMAGE SPECTALTST Allan Ruhnke

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT lvtinniette Johnson

VIDEO EDITOR/DIRECTOR Mark Hayes, Nate cruca

WoodsnilhO (ISSN 01il-4Ul) is publishcd binonthly (Fcb., Ap.,june, Aug., Ocr.,

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5

more tips from our readers

t!:":.?:.

Jtocking FeotherboordsA featherboard is a greataccessory for su pportinga workpiece when cuttingon the table saw. But ifyou're cutting a work-piece on edge, mostfeatherboards aren'tthick enough to provideadequate support.

That's why I built thisstacking featherboard.

It has a full height of 21/q" ,

high enough to hold mosttall pieces firmly againstthe fence. And if you'reworking with a flat work-piece, you can reduce theheight by removing oneor two layers.

The three layers for thefeatherboard can be cutfrom a single 12" x 24"

.a":.ji'?. 't:'

*!li+|1'i.,::.,;,.;r1

/'.,. ./{.-}": | ..'/.-.!.

", :.t

sheet of plywood. Afterthe plywood is cut tosize, you can cut the fin-gers of the featherboardand drill out the adjust-ing slots for the machinescrews, as shown in thedrawing above.

Next cut a piece forthe runner.The runner isripped down the center

on either end and drilledout for the flat-headedscrews that tighten it inthe miter slot.

Finally, I added twostar knobs to the top ofthe screws. Tighteningthe knobs expands therunner and locks it in.

Art OutlawEvansaille, lndiana

Shelf Stondord Drying RorkI don't have a large shop,so whenever I have tofinish a project with a lotof shelves, I struggle tofind a place to set all theshelves while they dry.

While building a book-case with metal shelfstandards, I came up withan idea for a simple dry-ing rack (photo at left).

To make the rack, I cutfour plywood supports.Then I cut a groove downthe center of each supportand installed the shelfstandard. The supportscan be clamped to a pairof sawhorses to make atemporary stand,

Once you apply the fin-ish, you can stack shelveson the shelf standands. I

left about 4" between theshelvesto allow airto cir-

culate over the finish.Andy Grundy

Waconia, Minnesota

Woodsmith No. 184

Shutter lndex JigAssembling movable, lou-

i v€red shutters can be a\' challenge. But one thingthat make this go smoothlyis an assembly jig, like theone shown in the photobelow. Evenly spacedslots in the sides of the jighold the louvers while youassemble the frame.

To make building the jiga little easier, I put togeth-er a quick indexing jig, asyou can see in the draw-ing and photo above.Thejig is made of two parts.The first is an auxiliary

The jig can then be attached to themiter gauge with screws so that the innernotch is aligned with the dado blade.Thesecond part of the jig is an indexing pin.It's a short piece of 1/q"-dia. dowel. Thedowel is slipped into the outer notch. Around dowel makes it easy to slip the

workpiece on and off theindexing jig.

To cut the notches in thesides for the assembly jig,slide the workpiece againstthe dowel and cut one notch.Now move the workpieceover and slip the notch overthe dowel. After cutting thenotches in one side, flip thepiece over and cut the otherside. Then rip the blank towidth to make the jig.

Bert Drost

Des Moines, Iozun

TheWinner!

CongratulationstoArt Outlaw, win-ner of the Bosch

Irnpactor driver. To

find out how youcould win a Bosch

drivex, check outthe in-formationon the left.

QuickTiptPAIIEI. SPACTRS

When assembling raised paneldoors, I always used commercialspacers that keep the panel fromrattling. Recently I ran out of thespacers, but happened on an alter-native that works even better.

I found that the loop side of a

hook and loop fastener worksmuch better for spacing panels,for a couple of reasons. First theclosure usually has adhesive onthe back, so it stays secure in thegroove during assembly. And thesoft loop material has just enoughgive to allow for expansion withchanges in humidity.

Hozuord HtLisingh

Hudsonaille, Mississippi

SffTR PUSH

'IICKSIt's important for push sticks tohave a firm "grip" on a workpieceas you push it across a router ta-ble or table saw. To keep smoothplastic push sticks from slipping,I add self-adhesive sandpaper tothe shop-made or purchased pushsticks that come into my shop.

Richnrd GaudreotL

Snnford, Mnine

BAI{D CIATTIP STORAOT

Band clamps come in handy forgluing up mitered frames and box-es. The problem is they are hardto store and most times becometangled. But l've found they fit per-

fectly in a plastic food storage con-tainer and stack neatly too.

Ctu'tis ClarkEIk Grooe, Califurnia

fence for the miter gauge. lt's made froma piece of 3/a" plywood. Before attach-ing the fence to the miter gauge, I laidout and cut two 1/a"-wide notches in oneedge.The notches are spaced 11/2" aparl.(This is how far apart the notches need tobe on the assembly jig.)

WwTHTS

BoscnImpeuonDruvpnThat's right, send us your favorite shoptips. lf your tip or technique is selected asthe featured reader's tip, you'll win a Boschimpact driver just like the one shown here.Tosubmit your tip or technique, just go onlineto woodsmith.com and click on the link,"SUBMIT ATlP." You can submit your tip andupload your photos for consideration.

lndex pih is made

Woodsmith.com Woodsmith

-l: _ --"*

Connector boltand capgut'-'

Blum KD'fittings

7."ilKnock-Dow

FastenMost projects are assembled onceand, with luck, forever. But some-times, this isn't the most practicalway to put a project together. Withthe lifestyle that many people livetoday, a project can often do a lot

Blum KD Fiftingflush mounts

for minimalexposure

of traveling - from room to room,floor to floor, or even from home tohome. So sometimes it makes sense

to take this mobility into accountby incorporating knock-down (ro)hardware into the design.

Blum I(D FiilingsOne of the best options I've

found for knock-down case con-struction is the Blum KD Fittingsshown in the photos at left. Theinstallation is very straightforward,they have excellent holding powerand, as you see at left, the installedfitting hardly shows.

The two-part fitting consists ofa 1"-dia. plastic, press-in housing

Surface-mountKD connedor

Today, there's a wide range ofknockdown fasteners available -from simple to sophisticated - thatgive you lots of quick, easy build-ing and assembly options. Here's a

look at a good sampling.

and a connector screw. The hous-ing is inserted into a hole drilled inthe support panel while the con-nector screw is set into the end ofthe intersecting panel (inset photo,left). When you turn the lockingscrew on the surface of the housing,an intemal metal cam engages thehead of the connector screw, pullingthe two pieces snugly together.

) Surf ore-tlounl Gon nerlors^I When appearance or pos- The locking platesible obstruction is not quite as is positioned andimportant,thesurface-mountpanel screwed to oneconnectors shown at right might panel. The hous-be the ticket. The big advantage to ing is installed onusing this fastener is that the instal- the second panellation requires nothing more com- to fit over it. A screw on the hous-plicated than drilling pilot holes for ing tums an intemal cam that locks

the two panels tightly in place.

Woodsmith

the mounting screws.

No.184

3 r"*:::ff:::"::j::":1,:,,,ha, when engaged r.rm a

a slick and unique way to create a rigid, locking joint.strong, hidden knock-down joint. To install the fastener, you fit theThey're easy to install and are a halves into #20 biscuit slots andgreat choice for KD table frames or then anchor them with screws.even cabinet bases. They canbe engaged or disengage

The fastener consists of two "bis- easily with a simple sliding action,cuit halves." Each half holds a pair as in the inset photo at right.

Corner loinergWhen quick and effortless

knock-down assembly and disas-sembly are a priority, these simplemetal corner joiners should be atthe top of your iist. Thev're ihe per-fect solution for KD cabinet bases,

simple, utilitarian casework, ormodular storage projecis.

Metalbiscuitfastenerscreate astrong,invisibleKD joint

The joiners come in right-handand left-hand pairs for use in oppo-site corners of an assembly. Yousimply locate and screw one halfof each pair to the mating pieces.Assembly is accomplished by slid-ing the parts together to engage theinterlocking flanges.

-

f,rension Rod NutsJ ,"n'on roo Jolnery rsn r a

new idea. It's an often-used methodfor large trestle construction andother heavv-duty KD applications.But there is a ne'"r, ti,r'ist - tensionrod nuts ar,ailable from Lec Vnlleq.

They offer a more stylish, easier-to-use, and stronger option for this

Z:x,o::;'"'.",."..,simple in concept. As you can see

at right, they work by providing a

solid, but inconspicuous, anchorpoint for a connector bolt. Thisallows you to create very rigid,right-angle KD joints.

You can see how this works inthe inset photo at right. The tappedcross dowel is inserted into an

Woodsmith.com

type of joinery, as demonstrated inthe photos at right.

The large nuts are used in con-junction with a section of threadedrod. Tightening holes around therim of the nut along with a tension-ing lever allows you to apply con-siderable torque at assembly.

(Conne(lor BoltsIl*tr't, always finct a goodselection of connector bolts alongwith the mating cap nuts in myhardware cabinet. This combina-tion is the perfect choice for solidlyfastening the individual sections ofa modular cabinet together.

The idea is that the connectorbolt mates with tl-re counterboredcap nut so that both parts snug uptightly on the surface. The large,flat Allen-drive head provides anabundance of holding power with-out being obtrusive.

intersecting hole in the ,i

surface of the horizontai ipiece. A connector boltthreads through the cross .i

dowel and is tightened I

down to snug up the

loint. They can be usedeffectively on both case-

work and frame-typeconstruction. W

Cross

({a"*a

L:ever usedto tightentensiOn nut

Woodsmith

shop secrets to a

Smooth SurfaceForget the sandpapen Take a look at a couple of scraping tools thattake the work out of creating a smooth surflace on your projects,

A scraper plane(top) or cabinetscraper (bottom)will make quickwork of smooth-

ing the surfaceof a work-

\ piece.

A hand-held scraper is a great toolfor creating a perfectly smooth sur-face on a workpiece in preparationfor finishing. But flexing and hold-ing a hand scraper at the correctangle in order to smooth a surfacecan be tiring and uncomfortable,especially for long periods of time.For smoothing large areas, there are

a couple of other scraping tools thatget the job done quickly and witha lot less effort.

A scraper plane or a cabi-net scraper, like those in the

photo at left, can

dramaticallyreduce theamount of

time you spend sanding yourprojects. They work especially

well on highly figured woods thatare prone to tearout from planers,jointers, and other power tools.And as an added plus, these toolsare a lot more comfortable to use

ihan a traditional hand scraper.

CABINTT S(RAPTR

Cabinet scrapers are among thesimplest of scraping tools. Foryears, the standard for cabinetscrapers has been the classic Stanley

#80 scraper. Essentially, it's noth-ing more than a holder for a hand(card) scraper. It featr.rres two wing-style handles and a simple clampto hold the scraper blade in place.A thumbscrew is tightened to flexthe blade, saving wear and tear onyour thumbs (photo at right).

Woodsmith

Although Sfanlqy still makes thistool, in recent years other manu-facturers have come out with their

Tightening the thumbscrewon a cabinet scraper flexes theblade to take a deeper cut.

10 No.184

own versions, improving upon theoriginal design. The cabinet scrapershown in the photos on the oppo-site page is made by Veritas. (See

page 51 for sources.)Aside from preventing fatigue,

one of the advantages of a cabinetscraper over a hand scraper is thatit has a flat sole. This makes it easierto control the scraper and maintaina consistently flat surface as you'resmoothing a workpiece.

Cabinet scrapers are designed tohold the scraper blade at a single,fixed angle. This is fine for mostscraping tasks. But for a little moreversatiliry you might want to takea look at a scraper plane.

SMAPM PLANT

If you do a lot of scraping, orfrequently work with figuredwoods, then you'll probablywant to consider a scraper plane.Scraper planes come in a few dif-ferent sizes and designs. The largeplane shown on this page is theLie-Nielsen #112, based on anotherclassic Stanley design. (Veritas alsomakes a similar scraper plane.)

With traditional knob and totehandles, a scraper plane looks andfeels more like a conventionalbenchplane. But unlike a bench plane, ascraper plane holds a thick scraperblade instead of a plane iron.

The blade is nearly 3" wide,allowing you to work even large

surfaces quickly. Combined withthe mass of the plane, this toolworks almost effortlessly, makingit the perfect choice for tasks likesmoothing a large tabletop.

SCRAPIR BtADt. Unlike hand scrap-ers and cabinet scrapers, the thickblade of the Lle-Nielsen scraperplane isn't designed to be flexedor bowed in use. Instead, the largebrass thumbscrew simply clampsthe blade in place.

In addition, the blade can besharpened with or without thecustomary burr on the edge. It'sactually a little easier to controlthe scraper plane without the burr.Once you have a feel for the plane,you can add a burr to the edge fora more aggressive cut.

The goal when using a scraperplane is to take thin shavings. To

set the blade depth, just loosenthe thumbscrew slightly and slip a

sheet of paper under the front of theplane. Then tighten the thumbscrewagainst the blade (photo at right).

:

ADJUSTABI.I AllGLI. The biggestadvantage of a scraper plane,however, is the fact that the bladeangle is adjustable. Depending onthe task at hand, the blade can beset anywhere from a vertical posi-tion to leaning fonvard 25'. (See

the How-To box below for more.)Whether you choose a cabinet

scraper or a scraper plane, I thinkyou'll find either of these tools a bigstep up in performance from tradi-tional hand scraping. SX

A scraper planeis ideal forworking highlyfigured woods.

A sheet ofpaper can beused to set theblade depth.

Place sheet of oaoerunder front of olaneto set blade depth

How-Tol Set the Correct An le for theOne of the best features of the largescraper plane shown below is theability to change the angle of theblade for different tasks.

At the factory the blade is set so itangles forward about 15o from thevertical position (left photo below).This results in a smooth cut with

short, paper thin shavings. I usethis angle for cleaning up machinemarks on straight-grained wood.

Tilting the blade forward evenmore will take a deeper cut (cen-ter photo). This angle will producelong curls, almost like a low-angleplane. You could use this angle for

I 5" to 25"for more

obsmoothing an uneven surface, likea glued-up tabletop.

Setting the blade to a verticalposition decreases the depth of thecut (right photo). This will producefine scrapings, almost like sawdust.I use this setting when smoothingwood with highly figured grain.

10" to 15" degreestor averade

, scraping tisks,aggressive

cut

(\611Woodsmith.com

fuJn

Woodsmith

j ! tl:.,].1j.,1

Brass set-upblocks arecommonlyavailable in2lz" and4"lengths.

:::.,,i;'.i:lrifl-t /rt\i

,;ril ll rr:4

ta

Powertools are greatwhen itcomesto consistent, accurate results. Butevery power tool requires somesort of setup to get those results. Asquare and a ruler are often all youneed. But it's easy to misread a rulerwhen you're setting up tools, bits,and blades. To get around theseproblems,I rety on almost foolproofmachinist's set-up blocks.

A(CURA(Y H IHt SH0P. Set-up blockshave been used by machinists

prectston

BrassSet-UpBlocks

Accuracy in the shop is easierwith the right set-up tools

at your fingertips,

for years. They're more commonlycalled gauge blocks in a machineshop. But they have a lot of uses ina woodworking shop, too.

Set-up blocks are precisionblocks, usually made frombrass oraluminum so they won't damagecutting edges. As you can see

in the photo below, a set typi-cally consists of five differentsized blocks (t/a" ,3/to" , t/+" , 3/8" ,andl/2"). For other sizes that

you may need you can combinetwo or more blocks. The nice thingabout set-up blocks is that there'sno measuring involved. You sim-ply use them as gauges to checkdistances and set up bits, blades,fences, and other tools.

Three set up blocks can be stackedtogether to get the right measure-ment for the task at hand.

12 Woodsmith No. 184

Set-up blocks are especiallyhandy where space is limitedor the area you're working in isobstructed. If you have a job thatrequires precise setups even in anaccessible area, I think you'Il findset-up blocks a must-have.

ROUTIR StTIlllGS. Set-up blocks aregreat tools for using when settingup a router, whether it's mountedin a table or hand-held. If you needto set the distance of the routertable fence from the bit, set-upblocks are pretty handy, as shownin the main photo on the oppositepage. I like to use the long set-upblocks on the router table, so theyreach across the opening in theinsert. You can use the blocks to

set the height of the router bit too,as shown in the lower photo onthe opposite page. I place an extrablock over the top of the bit andraise the bit until it grazes the bot-tom of the top block.

BLADt HtlcHT. These blocks alsowork well for setting the heightof a standard table saw blade ordado blade, as shown in the photobelow. You can just grab a plainlymarked block or two for an exactmeasLrrement and raise or lowerthe blade until the highest toothis flush with the top of the blocks.Again, if you add a block to goacross the top of the blade, you canraise the blade until the teeth of theblade just graze the top block.

M0RTISING mAfflNt. I also use myset-up blocks to square the chiselon my mortising machine (abovephoto). This way, I can set the chiselsquare to the fence and set the dis-tance from the fence to the chiselin one easy step. For example, if Ineed to cut a mortise lz" from theedge of a workpiece, I can use theVz" block to square the chisel andset the fence. Then all I need todo is place the workpiece in themachine and cut the mortise.

If you've never used set-upblocks before, I think you'll findthey can be invaluable tools in theshop. Plus, they won't set you backa lot of money - you can purchasea set for less than $15. For informa-tion on where to find them, refer toSources onpage 51. SI

Squaring thechisel andsetting thedistance fromthe fence ona mortisingmachine canbe done inone step witha set-up block.

that you can see exactly how high the dado blade is set on thetable saw. Clear markings on the blocks are easy to read.

An extra block on top of the measuring block acts as a stop so

VeritasSet-U

Lee Valley offers set-up blocks madeby Veritas. These anodized alumi-num blocks range in size [rom7/16"to 3/4". They're clearly marked onthe face for easy use.

Just like the brass set-up blocks,these aluminum blocks won't dullthe cutting edges of yourblades andbits. Plus the anodized aluminumsurface is extremely hard so theblocks are practically impossible toscratch or dent. So the blocks willmaintain their accuracy for years tocome. The black anodized surfacealso makes a good contrast whenit's placed against tool edges.

hr additiory the Velifas set includesa 1-2-3 block. This precision groundsteel block gets its name from itsdimensions: 7" x2" x3". The blockis a machinist's tool that is also

Woodsmith.com

useful in the woodworking shop.Used in combinationwith the smallblocks, you can measure up to411/to" w1Ih the set.

An added convenience of the1-2-3 block is the machinedholes. Some of these holes

A handv storaoe boxis inclu'ded with thisset for safe keeping

this block to posi-tion multiple work-pieces for repetitivedrilling tasks on thedrill press table. Itwill bolt to any steelmachine table.

IEach bloik is clearlv

marked for fast,'accurate identification

Woodsmith 13

attach to machines

techni uesTrom o

table saw tricks for

MakingVerticalCutsUsing the table saw to shape the edges of aworl<piece is a snap with a couple of easy-to-build accessories and simple techniques,

NOTE: Star knobswith studs tightenagatnst np lenceand lock tall fencein position

A table saw sits at the center ofmost woodworking shops - andwith good reason. It's the go-to toolfor ripping, crosscutting, breakingdown sheet stock, and even cuttingjoinery. For most of these cuts, theworkpiece is held horizontally, flatagainst the table. But with a practi-cal method for holding a workpiecevertically, you can use your tablesaw to shape its edge rather thanjust cut it to length and width.

The key is learning a fer,r, sirnpletechniques and building a couple

of accessories. This allows vou tomake raised panels,

cut tenons,

NOTE: Sizesupports to fityour rip fence

and the slots for splined miters. Youcan even make quick rabbets with-out having to install a dado blade.

TA[t ftNCI. The first step to mak-ing vertical cuts is to come up witha way to support a workpiece onedge and keep it from tippingduring a cut. For this, I tum to a

tall fence. An auxiiiary fence to fitover your saw's rip fence keeps a

large panel stable. The height ofthe fence also allows you to makethese cuts safely by keeping yourhands well away from the blade.

The design shown in the draw-ing at left provides a very solidfence. It attaches to your tablesaw's rip fence with two studdedknobs that fit into threaded insertsin the back of the fence. By simplytightening the knobs, the fencebecomes a sturdy fixture, ready tohandle tall workpieces.

BUll.DlNG THt ttilc. I used Balticbirch plywood for the fence, butMDF would also work well. To

make your own fence, start by cut-ting the sides. You can make themthe length of your rip fence andabout 12" tall. You'll need to cutgrooves in the sides of the fence

to house the supports. The width

#8x1"Fhwoodscrew\ --eY

t/t"-20 threadedinserts are

installed on backface of fence -e---.-\ { "

t4

MU LTI - PU RPOSE TALL F ENCE

Woodsmith No.184

To cut the shoulder, simply set the blade height to%0" and position the fence to define the border ofthe raised field of the panel.

Next, set the blade angle and raise the blade to meet the kerfof the shoulder cut. A handscrew adds stability to the paneland makes it easier to control the cut.

of tl-re supports depends on yoursaw's rip fence. Just size them for asnug fit. After drilling countersunkscrew holes for the supports, drillholes for the threaded inserts in theside opposite the blade.

Assembling the fence withscrews goes pretty quickly. I didn'tuse glue in the grooves just in case

I need to adjust the fit after assem-bly. Finally, check to make sure thefence sits square to the table.

RAISID PANEIS. With the fence com-plete, vou're ready to put it to workon a project. And a good first proj-ect is making raised panels. I like

]}rli.!,. iFiji"iiligirlli tiiij I jlni ;-:::irr :l

this technique because it saves thecost of an expensive router bit.

The examples in the margin pho-tos show two options. The top panelfeatures a simple beveled edge. Thelower panel defines the raised fieldwith a shoulder. Both styles are easy

to make using the tall fence.

SH0UIDIR. The photos above showhow to make the cuts that form theshoulder. All you need to do is setthe blade height to %0" and the ripfence to I1/2" and cut along all fouredges of the outside face.

Al{cl.tD CUT. Next, install the tallfence and set the saw blade angle.

I've found 10-12'is about right forthis design. Then simply line up theblade and set the height to just meetthe inside comer of the cut youmade earlier and make the cuts.

As you can see in the photos, Ilike to place a handscrew at the topedge of the panel. The handscrewrides on the fence and helps

slots for splined miters andmore, tum the page.

keep the panel square as &s^*.you make the cut. -*.r-h. r.,r.-_

Thetall fenceisagreatfirst "' t \l;.&..--step in making vertical cuts. To find - "at@i&4

a simple jig for cutting tenons,

A raised field(top) and onewith a shoulder(below).

How-Tol Cut Rabbets with a Ta[[ Fence

With a rip blade installed and the fenceand blade height adjusted to define thesize of the rabbet, make the first cut.

Woodsmith.com

Now hold the workpiece verticallyand make the second cut so the wastefalls to the outside of the blade.

Woodsmith

I usually cut rabbets using a dadoblade buried in an auxiliary fence.But installing a dado blade can betime consuming. So, when I onlyneed to cut one or two rabbets, Ifind it's quicker to just install thetall fence and use the two-step pro-cess shown in the photos.

You start by setting the fence todetermine the width of the rabbetand then the blade height to defineits depth. Next, make the first cutwith the workpiece in the horizon-tal position. Then, flip the work-piece on its edge and adjust thefence position and blade height tomeet the kerf of the first cut. Holdthe workpiece vertically to makethe cut and complete the rabbet.

15

SLIDING TENON & SPLINE JIG

that making a sliding jig for cuttingtenons and splined miters is also agreat addition to your table saw.

Rtv[RSlBLt Jlc. The sliding jigshown in the illustration at rightis similar to the tall fence youmade earlier. But in this case, thejig slides on your rip fence insteadof remaining stationary. You'll alsonotice a cleat on either side of thejig. A 90" cleat holds a workpieceskaight and square for cutting ten-ons. On the other side, a 45o cleatsecures a mitered workpiece whileyou cut a slot for a spline.

Bull.Dll{c IHt Jlc. The sliding jigrelies on the same constructionyou used for the fixed, tall fence.

Two plywood sides with grooveshousing the two supports makeup the body of the jig.

Once again, start by cutting thesides to size and then cut groovesfor the supports. Next, you'll needto cut the supports to the correctwidth for your saw. I did this by"sneaking up" on a good fit, dryfitting the parts, and testing themon the rip fence. You want the jig toslide freely, but without any slop.

90" cleat

ry,9!:: Al:3'l - sn"-wiae

NOTE: All parts are 3/a" plryood

This way, you'll get a feel for howto align cuts to layout marks andalso how to get the most out of thejig in your shop.

SPl.ll{tD mmRS. One of my favor-ite applications is making splinedmiter joints. \A4rether in smallapplications, like picture frames,or larger projects such as edging a

cabinet, the perfect, seamless miterjoint is a woodworking staple. Butno matter how well cut, the jointis inherently weak due to its end-grain glue surfaces.

Adding a spline - a thin strip ofhardwood fit into slots on the mat-ing faces of each piece - dramati-cally increases the strength. Butcutting a perfectly matched slot onthe mitered ends of the workpiecescan be a tricky operation.

That's where the angled side ofthe jig comes into play. By holdingthe workpiece at the correct angle,cutting the slot is a breeze. As youcan see in the photo at left, all youneed to do is position the work-piece on the 45' cleat and fasten itin position with a small clamp.

Then, using a dado blade cen-tered on the workpiece, you can cutthe slot with little chance of error.The jig also allows you to vary thedimensions of the slot. Athin splineis all you need for picture frames

\

cleats with screws '4 -n''u'onlv (no olud for 91.?o,veeai repticeritent '/4- oeeQ

The angledfence supportsa workpiecewhile cuttingslots for splines.

Now you can assemble the jig byattaching the supports with screwsin the countersunk holes.

On one face of the jig, I cut a

shallow dado and attached a cleatsquare to the table. On the otherside (with the 45" cleat), no dado isnecessary. This allows you to adjustthe accuracy of the miter cutby fine-tuning the placement of the cleat.Both cleats are simply attached

with screws - no glue. By notusing glue, you can also easilyreplace the cleats when theyget chewed up.

But before you attach eitherof the cleats, raise your tablesaw blade to full height andmake sure to locate the screwsfor the cleats well above thatpoint. Finally,I formd ithelpfulto add a light coat of wax to theinside of the jig (the part thatslides along the fence). Thiswill keep it ruming smootherby reducing the friction, whilestill maintaining a tight fit on

the rip fence.

USING THT JIG

After assembling the jig,you're ready to put it towork. It's a good ideato experiment a little bitusing some scrap pieces.

Woodsmith No.184

and other small projects, but a

thicker spline will guarantee plentyof strength for heavier applicatiors,such as a cabinet face frame.

SPl.llltS. For the spline, all you needto do is plane some stock to matchthe thickness of the slot. It's a goodidea to make sure the grain of thespline is oriented perpendicular tothe slot. This way, you won't needto worry about the spline splittingunder pressure. Then, a little glueand clamps make for a straightfor-ward assembly.

You can complete the joint bytrimming the spline on both theinside and outside of the assem-bled frame with a flush cut sawand follow up with a little sand-ing. An example of a finished jointis shown in the inset photo on thebottom of the opposite page.

CUmilc Ttl{0t{s. The mortise andtenon joint is another favorite formany woodworking projects. Andthere are several ways to cut ten-ons. One cofiunon method usesa dado blade with the workpieceheld flat on the table and guidedby a miter gauge. This techniqueis quick and reliable. But for manyapplications, particularly whenusing a through tenon, where partof the tenon is visible, the result is

less than desirable. As you can see

in the photos in the box below, a

dado blade leaves a rough surfaceon the face of the tenon.

By cutting a tenon verticallyusing a tenon jig, you get a muchsmoother face. A good-quality ripblade leaves a face that seldomrequires any further planing orsanding to achieve a tight fit. Thesmooth face provides a better sur-face for the glue and adds morestrength to the finished joint.

Fortunately, cutting tenons isa simple operation using the jig.The box below shows the steps.The thing I really like about thisjig is how easy it is to adjust thethickness of the tenon simply bymoving the rip fence. The smoothtenon will result in a strong jointthat lasts for years.

SAttTlf. While the jigs shown hereare designed with safety in mind,there's one thing to remember as

you put them to use. It's a goodidea to get in the habit of sliding a

workpiece all the way through thecut and well past the blade beforeremoving it from the jig. Don't justpull the jig and workpiece backthrough the blade. You risk catch-ing the back of the blade and hav-ing the workpiece kick back.

With a good-quality rip blade in the table sawthe sliding jig makes cutting smooth-facedtenons almost foolproof.

Once you get the hang of usingthe tall fence and the sliding jig,you'll see how easy it is to incorpo-rate vertical cutting techniques inyour future projects. You're sure toagree it was well worth taking thetime to make the jigs. El

!. -: 'rr lt,r,rrltf- .-ri::{:r:tr:::

Use a miter gauge to cut a shoulder on all fourfaces of the workpiece to define the length ofthe tenon. You can use the rip fence as a stop.

Woodsmith.com

I

lo.*:,, ": r

Align the blade with the shoul-der cut and slide the jig andworkpiece through the cut.

Woodsmith

The smooth face of a verti-cally cut tenon makes for a

stronger glue joint.

Cut with r$

tenon jig 't ,

\\i.lirli4a.

{.|:itl I r1'$-'L<:;

l:;, :.:rlli'<i 5l:1*-.+

:-)"

Cut with k.dado blade ffi\

17

mitered

E;,HH BTilJ

Your favorite art or photograph will

frame on a classic, adjustable

base with a support and clampadded to hold the frame in place.The individual components arechamfered to add to the form andcharacter of the easel.

The frame is built by gluing thefacing to a backer board and thenjust adding trim around the edges.

The frame is also chamfered to addcharacter and I chose contastingwood for the facing as well.

Woodsmith

There are two sizes for this proj-ect - one for 8 x 10 photos andone for 5 x 7 photos. I've featuredthe 8 x 10 frame throughout thisarticle, but I've also included thedimensions for a 5 x 7 version inthe cutting diagram on page 21.

You can also build a set for an 11

x 14 photograph or art. The cuttingdiagram and materials list is onlineat Woodsmith.com.

'ifi"'-']ii-iEjii i9..q.*.+;r.fi. l

i1,t

.,tidr ti l,;i'r.

I u F*,r'i

resting

look great in this easy-to-build

easel,

Treasured photographs and art-work deserve a distinctive placein any home. And this frame andeasel combination makes a greatplace to display those gems.

This project is pretty simpleto build. There's no complicated

foinery because both the base andthe frame are built up from three

separate components. The easel is

nothing more than a three-tiered

18 No. 184

NOTE: Dimensionsshown are for8" x 10" frame

NOTE: Glass and poster-board are 8"x10'1 N

Posterboard

huildino the

FRArulEBuilding the frame for the frameand easel duo is pretty straightfor-ward. To keep it simple,Ieliminatedthe need for splines on the miteredcorners biz gluing the facing to abacker and then mitering the trimaround the assembly. The trim has a

rabbeted edge that fits tight againstthe facing and backer.

BACKTR AND tAOt{G. The backer andthe facing are sandwiched together.The backer is Y4" narrower thanthe facing so that when they areglued together they form a rabbettto hold the glass and photographor artwork in the frame.

The backer pieces are cut to sizeand fit with butt joints (main draw-ing). The facing has mitered jointsand a chamfer on the inside edge.I cut the facing to width and roughlength and then routed the cham-fered edge (How-To box below).The facing can be mitered to lengthand glued together with the backer,as shown in detail'a.'

TRIM. The trim is rabbeted to fitaround the facing and backer andhas a chamfer on the inside frontedge (main drawing). Again, it'seasiest to do this work before thepieces are cut to length, as shownin the two right drawings in the

t/1t

Miter jointsjoin trim

Turnbutton

NOTE:Backer is t/n"

hardboard

Rabbet holdsfacing and

backer assembly

14

I

I

---_l

14

FACINGTOP / BOTTOM

Chamferis cut onrouter table

NOTE: Trim is madefrom s/a" -thick stock

NOTE:Trim pieces are miteredto fit around frame

box below. I ripped an extra-longworkpiece to width for all foursides of the trim. You can rout thechamfer on one edge of the work-piece and then cut the rabbet onthe table saw. Finally miter thepieces to length and glue it to thebacker and facing edges.

tor*rr-}-\-i4;-ihi;i" .\Y . Facing.and.

i"'Ai"i"J backer are Qluedtogether to createrabbeted opening

for photo and glass

DtTAlLS. To finish up, youcan add a piece of glass tothe opening. I cut a pieceof posterboard to back thephoto (detail'b'). And tum-buttons will keep the backingand your artwork or photo-graphs in place.

Facing and / 7r;pb- b:,If:;i";

How-Tol Sha the Frame Com

Facing Chamfer. /t3 easlest to rout thechamfer on the facing blanks before miter-ing the pieces to length.

Woodsmith.com

Chamfer. To make the frame trim, staft byrouting a chamfer on the outside edge ofan extra long blank.

Rahbet. Cutthe rabbet on the inside edgeof the trim on the table sattu, using a dadoblade buried in an auxiliary fence.

t9

Cut chamfer onoutside edge

NOTE: Rout chamfer

Woodsmith

oddingrhe EASEIThe easel consists of a base and avertical support that holds a slid-ing lock to secure the frame inposition. The base is assembledusing three hardwood blocks -each with a different edge pro-file. This adds weight and an

intricate design to the easel.

.l. CLAMP TOP VIEW

1 OVz

of the riser will help hold the bot-tom and top in place as you applythe clamps for glue up. After theglue dries, you can cut the notchon the back of the base for the ver-tical support on the table saw, as

shown in the right photo belowSTOP. A stop on the front of the base

keeps the frame from slipping off.

A dado in the back of the Nbase holds the support.

For information onbuilding a frame andeaselforanllx14

photograph,visrt our website atWoodsmith com

t-,ii-::. . irn:.:i.'i:,+l!n:r:

I cut a ho"-deep kerf in < Nthree sides of the top Nface. Then I set the saw \

B0IIOM. The bottom of thebase has a wide chamferwith a shoulder at the top.You can cut the shoulder t-\and the chamfer on the table F\saw. The How-To box belowshows you the steps.

To define the shoulder,

blade at 45" and cut the chamferon the edges of the bottom.

RISIR At{D T0P. The riser in the

edges left square. The top piecehas a l+" chamfer on the bottomedge. After this workpiece is cut tosize, you can rout the chamfer.

Btcll{ ASSIMBIY. Once you have thethree base pieces cut and shaped,you can glue them up. The piecesare assembled centered from sideto side, but flush at the back edge.

A few brads inserted in both faces

Larqe chamfercenter of the base is a rectansu- cutoitablesawlar workpiece cut to size with ihe 6ee box below)

#6x1"brass Fh

woodscrew

Fasten supportto base with

glue and screws

It's a narrow piece with cham-fers on the edges and trimmedcomers. Because the finishedpiece is so small, I cut the pro-files on an extra wide blank.You can miter the corners first.

::::lti, .iaeiti:i:tiliii:-,1:f.it::j+tilti':t:i:;;i.::::it.t::.:irft,.rir!rit:,1:1,i'!;!rir'.,r;,::rri:!,;rji!:;:i,.ir:i:,lrr:1-:.iii:r:::f,:{{:3,iil.:filtit: i: irj:t,r :.:.rr1 :li :iri:ii-r

How-Tol Sha the Base

First. To shape the chamfer on the tablesaw I started by cuxing a kerf t/z' fromthe edge on three sides of the workpiece.

20

Second. To complete the chamfeC tilt theblade 45" and raise it to meet the kerf.

Then cut off the waste.

Notch. The notch in the base that holdsthe vertical support should be cut after thethree layers of the base are glued up.

I1 l/q

#10 -24 x 2" brass machinescrew with head cut off

Three workpieceiare stacked and o

SIDE SECTION VIEW

l__a___=+l

20

I

Iil1 5/sl

+l%+T-

NOTE: Notch iscentered onwidth of base

Woodsmith No. 184

Then take the workpiece over tothe router table and rout the cham-fers on the edges. Finally rip thestop free from the waste.

VIRTICAI SUPPORT. The vertical sup-port for the frame is ripped towidth to fit the notch you cut ear-lier. The miters on the top cornersof the support are cut on the tablesaw. After that, it's just a matter ofcutting the slot to hold the clampand drilling pilot holes for themounting screws in tl-re back.

The slot in the top is made on therouter table. You'll find more infor-mation in Shop Notebook on page30. Tn'o screws hold the support tothe base as shown in detail'b.''

tRAff Cl.AtlllP. The frame clampis also a small piece with sev-eral short cuts and chamfers, soagain, it's easier to work with anoversized blank. I cut the blankto width this time and then cuta bevel on the end of the piece.

Since the clamp is a small piece and needs to bedrilled precisely, I secured it to the drill press using ahandscrew and then drilled the hole.

ff. :.iirt1:i:lI:t ! 1ln!l+ii!i:}i,i.!-:;a: .t . : ) .i: i-1. : ti: . .f;

Once you've completed this, you'll in place in the clamp. Then add a

need to go back to the router table washer and a brass thumb nut asto rout the chamfers on the edges. shown in the main drawing.ThenyoucancutTsz"-deepnotches tlNAl DtTAll.S. The easel has beenat the back of the clamp to form a designed to hold the frame eithertongue. Finally, cut the clamp free. horizontally or vertically, depend-There's more information in the ing on your photo or artwork. AllHow-To box below. you need to do now is to decide

You'll need to drill a hole through which photo to display. Elthe middle of thetongue on the clampto hold the screw thatattaches it to the sup-port. This may be achallenge, but takea look at the photobelow for an easysolution to this.

TINISH ASSIIIIBIY. ThC

clamp is fitted witha cut off 10-24 brassmachine screw Cutthe screw to 712". Abitof epoxy on the end ofthe screw will hold it

NOTE: Parts E, H, l, and .l are planed to thickness

For 5x7 Size

Materials, Supplies & Cutting Diagram8x10 Size 5x7 Size

A Backer Top/Bottom (2) l/ahdbd. - 2 x81/z l/a hdbd. - 2 x5B Backer Side (2) t/ahdbd - 2 x 14 t/qhdbd. - 2 x 1jC FacingTop/Bottom (2) 3/ax21/q-12 3/sx21/a-9

D Facing Side (2) 3/6x21/a- 14 3/ex2t/q- 1lE Trim(1) 5/6x 1-60(rgh.) s/sxl-48(rgh.)F Base Bottom 3/qx4 - 12 3/qx3t/z - 9G Base Riser 3/nx31/q - 101/2 3/qx23/q -l|hH Base Top t7s x 3t/2 - 11 3/s x 3 - 8I Frame Stop I/q xl/q - jjlh t/a xl/q - 7thJ Vertical Support 3/sx1 -20 3/ax1 - llK Clamp 3/qx 1 - jl/z 3/qx 1 - 11/2. (4) 7/a" BrassTurnbuttons w/Screws. (2) #6 x 1" Brass Fh Woodscrewsc (1) 10-24 x2" Brass Machine Screwo (1) #10 Brass Flat Washero (1) #10 Brass Thumb Nut

For 8x10 Size

ALSO NEEDED:One 1 2" x24"

sheet %"hardboard

for the 8x10frame and a

I2"x12" sheet1/t" hardboard

lor tne 5x /frame.

1b" x3" x60" NOTE: Plane to 3/s" -thick

NOTE: Plane to 3/a" -thick

NOTE: Parts E, H, l, and I are planed to thickness

Makin the Frame Clam

Beveled Front. Locate the bevel on thefront of the clamp by marking a point 3/a"

from the bottom of the workpiece.

Woodsmith.com

Chamfers. The chamfers on the edges arerouted on the router table. Use a miter gaugefor the end and angled chamfers.

Tongue. The final steps are to cut thenotch to form the tongue on the clampand then cut it free from the blank.

2I

Auxiliary3/e miter fence

Woodsmith

glass-panel '

This is certainly no run-of-the-mill project,The lool< is sophisticated

and sleel<, and the worl< might add a new dimension to your skills.

It's easy to get into a woodworkingrut - always building in the samefamiliar style using well-practicedtechniques. We're all more comfort-able sticking to what we know

But it can be a nice change ofpace to try something different andexpand yor.u skillsby tackling some"outside the box" woodworking.Building this glass-panel coffeetable will definitely go a long waytoward filling that prescription.

The clean, crisp lines and sim-ple details create an undeniably

striking look. The frame, withits tapered legs and slightly bev-eled apron, has a light, almostairy appearance. But at the sametime, the impression is solid andsubstantial. The contrasting gridssupporting the glass are an imme-diate attention grabber.

But upon closer inspection ofthe table, you come away witha couple of intriguing questions.First, you may wonder how theuniquely designed frame goestogether. Well, you'll discover that

Woodsmith

the joinery used to build the frameis a bit out of the ordinary. And ofcourse this raises the question -how do you accomplish it? Whenyou get into it, I guarantee you'llfind it's all very straightforward as

well as interesting. Thebestway toget the full picture is to schedulesome shop time.

We've even included an optionon page 29 that offers an equallyimpressive table for a bit less r,r,ork.

Either way, you're guaranteed a

beautiful reward for the effort.

22 No. 184

ffiffiffiSTRq#ffiWffiffiffi @ffiFMHRSOVERALL DIMENSIONS:431/2"L x 271/2"W x 78"H

Contrasting grids intop add visual interest

NOTE: Legs are addedto top frame after assembly

Notch is pre-cutbefore leg sections

are assembled

NOTE: For finishingi nformation, see 5ources

on page 51

- ,/-

has seamed edges

Miter jointsoffer

searn/esslook

Grids and glasssimply rest on

rabbeted frame

- Notch at top of leg wrapsaround corner of top frame

NOTE: For design optionwithout grids,

see page 29

%" -thick plate glass

Legs cover headsol screws

Chamfers softentop edaes of

!egs and frame

Legs glued upfrom two pieces

of 1 3/a" -thick stockLegs are taperedafter assembly

FRAME AND LEGCORNER DETAIL

Woodsmith.com Woodsmith 23

E

#8 x 21/2" Fhwoodscrew

Rail faces beveled to 10"

buildingftelbP tnnmrnext step is to cut rabbets on theirtop, inside edges (detail 'b'). The1"-deep rabbets will accomrnodateboth the Tq"thick grids and the7+"thick glass panels that rest on \r

Before putting saw to lvood, let The frame is divided into four them. To ensure clean, crisp shoul-me give you a brief rundown of "grid" openings by a long divider ders, I formed the rabbets with twothe job ahead. First, you'll make and tvvo short dividers. The four passes across a standard blade, asthe divided top frame. Then you identically sized grids simply rest shown in the box below.add the legs to it. This is a bit dif- on rabbets cut into the top edges tRAft JOll{TS. The frame joinery isferent in that the legs are usually an of all the frame pieces. simple and solid. The pieces areintegral part of the frame. Finally, RABBITS. The outer frame is butted in the comers and thenyou'll build the four grids. assembled first and then the divid- reinforced with screws hidden

THt fRAmt. As you can see above, ers are fit inside it. So once the long later by the legs. To do this, thethe rectangular top frame is made and short rails are cut to width and ends of the short rails need to beup of two long and two short rails. length from 172"-thick stock, the trimmed flush with the rabbet, as

tSrE#A SSW

How-Tol Frame Rabbets & Notches

C.

SHORTFRAME

RAIL

of divider to fitin frame

END sEcTIoN vrEW l*tlz

First Cut. Establish the depth of the rab-bet with the first cut. Set the rip fence bymeasuring to the outside of the blade.

24

Remove the Waste. You'll need to raise

the blade and readjust the rip fence toremove the waste with a second cut.

Trim the Rails. I switched to a dado bladeto trim the ends of the short rails flush withthe rabbet. Take multiple light passes.

Woodsmith No. 184

shown in the right drawing in theHow-To box on the opposite page.

THE BtVtl.S. Next comes a designdetail. The outside faces of theframe pieces are beveled at 10o tocomplement the taper of the legs.

This isn't hard to do, but there isone minor complication. Due tothe butt joints in the corners of theframe, the ends of the short railswill need to be beveled as well(detail'a,' opposite page). The boxat right gives you the step-by-stepprocedure for adding this simpleprofile to the frame.

A CHAM[[R. After assembling theframe, there's one more thing todo before starting on the dividers.I used a palm router to add a 7s"

chamfer to the top, outside edge.THt DlvlDltlc RAlLS. Adding the

dividing rails to the assembledframe is pretty straightforward.The important thing is to installthem so that you create four open-ings that are identical in size.

After cutting the pieces to widthand rough length from 172"-thickstock, you can rabbet them with thesame two-pass methocl used to cutthe rabbets in the frame pieces.

The divider pieces are rabbetedon both sides (detail'b,' oppositepage). But note that the rabbets areonly 7a" wide. This way, the widthof the top edge of the dividersmatches that of the frame rails.

A SNUG fll. To install the divid-ers, I first cut the long divider tofit snugly between the shouldersof the rabbets on the frame rails.Then you'll need to notch theends of the divider to fit over therails and flush across the top, as indetail'c'on the opposite page.

Now, with the long divider cen-tered in the frame, you can fit theshort dividers in the same manner.just make sure the two short railsare exactly the same length. Thiswill help ensure the grid openingsare all the same size.

ADD GtUt. The final step is to gluethe dividers in place. I used theshort dividers to center the longdivider at each end and thenadded a clamp. You can cut a cou-ple of identical length spacers tohelp center the short dividers.

Woodsmith.com

' How-Tot Frame Ed e Profiles

A 10o Face Bevel. The first step is to cut a 10"bevel on the face of al I fou r frame pieces. The bevelsbps lb" below the top edge.

Clamp and Mark. Next, lclampedup the frame to mark for the bevelcuts on the ends of the short rails.

11.

..1

rii

r_i

.l:

::.

End Bevels. With the blade still tilted to7 0", carefully make the bevel cuts. I cut tothe outside of my line to allow for sanding.

Pilot Holes. Now clamp up the frameagain to drill the counterbored pilot holesfor the screws used to assemble it.

,t

a:.:i

i,:

,-j

.,

ll

l;.: Sand Bevel Flush. After assembling the

frame with glue and screws, I sanded theend bevels flush with the sur-face.

Chamfered Edge. Finally, lused an easy-to-handle palm router to rout a narrow cham-fer around the top edge of the frame.

cRossSECTION

counterbore SHORTfor #g x 2t/z', FRAME

Fh woodscrew RAILNOTE: Trim bevelto outside of line

Woodsmith 25

NOTE: Legs are glued upfrom 1 3/a"-thick stock.

Splines are %" hardboard

NOTE: Cut notchesin Ieg sectionsbefore assembly

A(tSPLINE

NOTE: Legs aretapered after sections

are glued up

odding fte LtGSWith the top frame assembled,you're ready to start on the legs.The tapered legs are unique in howthey're made and attached to theframe. A large notch at the top ofthe leg wraps around the outsidecomer of the frame. This interestingdesign feature blends the legs intothe apron in a pleasing way.

tW0-PllCt LtG. Rather than cutthe legs from a solid or glued-upblank, they're made from twopieces of 17+'-thick stock joinedwith a splined miter. This con-struction allows you to "precut"the notch at the top before the twopieces are glued together. And theappearance is crisp and seamless.

BLAl{l$. The drawings on theopposite page show the step-by-step procedure I followed tomake the legs. Each leg starts as anextra-wide blank (about 8" wide),cut to final length. This will give

you a good grain and color matchbetween the two leg sections.

I|0TCHIS. Once the blanks are cutto size, your next job is to makethe cuts that will form the notchat the top of the glued-up leg, as

in Steps One and Two. The bottomshoulder of the notch is cut square,while the long face is beveled tomate with the beveled frame.

There are two key points to focuson here. First, you want the inter-section of the shoulder and bevelcuts to form a sharp, crisp comer. So

take care setting the blade height.

b. sEcnoN vlEWt/e" chamfer

llo'---lal't/FrameU

.. ilratt I

NOTE: Support frameupside down on bench

to attach legs

Legs clamped toframe in three

directions

Multiple Clamps. The key to gluing up a tight miter joint betvveen

the leg sect/bns is to stagger multiple clamps across the faces. Aclamp placed end-to-end will keep fhe pieces aligned.

Upside Down. Supporting the frame upside down on thickblocks will make it easier to clamp the legs to the frame. lJse aclamp across each face and a third clamp top-to-bottom.

Woodsmith No. 184

Second, make sure the bevel anglematches (or complements) theangle on the frame rails.

The second bevel rip cut is fairlydeep (about 2"), so you might getbetter results by removing the bulkof the waste with one pass and thenresetting the rip fence and makinga second "cleanup" pass.

MlItRS. After completing the notchcuts, the blanks can be miteredinto two sections, as in Step Three.Here, you want to make sure themiters are cleanly cut at precisely45'. This guarantees a square notchthat fits well to the frame.

SPtlt{tS. I knew that keeping thetwo leg sections perfectly alignedwhile gluing up the miter jointswould be a challenge. For this rea-son, I decided to add splines to thejoints. I simply cut a kerf in eachmitered face, as shown in StepFou1, and then cut 7s" hardboardsplines to fit them.

ASSIMBIY. Once the miter jointsare completed, the two sectionscan be glued together. The splinesdon't need to be glued in. Just con-centrate on getting a tight, well-aligned joint. The first drawing atthe bottom of the opposite pageshows how I accomplished this.

TAPIRS. The tapers can now be cut.To do this, I put together a tablesaw jig. A complication is that youcan't simply rotate the leg in the jigto make adjacent cuts. The thick-ness of the leg and the two-pieceassembly won't allow it. So the jigfence is reversible. You make onetaper cut on each leg with the topfacing you and then flip the legfor the second cut, as in Steps Fiveand Six. You'll find details on mak-ing the jig on page 31.

GAfllttR. Before the legs can beinstalled, you have one more taskto fulfill. The final step is to rout a

chamfer around the top, outsideedge of each leg. This can be doneat the router table (Step Seven).

l1{STALl.ATl0l{. Gluing the legs to theframe is pretly straightforward.The trick is to clamp them snuglyin all directions. This will ensurea seamless joint. The bottom rightdrawing on the opposite pageshows how I did this.

Shoulder Cuts. Use the rip fence to posi-tion the shoulder cuts in the leg blanks. You

can set the blade height with test cufs.

Bevel Cuts. A tall auxiliary rip fence makesthe bevel cuts go easier. Take care whensetting the blade height and angle.

Miter Cuts. When mitering the leg sectionsto final width, I made an initial "rough"pass followed by a second cleanup pass.

Spline Grooves. To cut the grooves for thesplines, tilt the saw blade to 45", then usethe rip fence to locate them accurately.

First Taper Cut. Make the first taper cutwith top of the leg facing you. The taperstarfs at the inside corner of the assembly.

End-For-End. To make the second set oftaper cuts, you'll simply reverse the fencesetup and reorient the legs.

A Small Chamfer. I used the miter gaugewith an auxiliary fence on the router tableto help chamfer the top of the legs.

The tapered leg wraps seamlesslyaround the beveled frame whilechamfers soften the sharp edges.

27Eti

s

O.END VIEW

leg \blank '

Tilt -blade\ t0"


I

t'/8

-T-I

Shortdivider

b. END sEcrroN vtEW

NOTE: Grids simplyrest on framewithout glue

With the legs installed, you're head-ing into the final stage of the proj-ect - makir-rg the decorative grids.This may seem like a lot of work,but it actually goes pretty quickly.As I'll explain, there's a shortcutyou can take to cut the half-lapjoints used to assemble the grids.Another big plus is that all fourgrids are identical in size.

cAt'lc UP. Each grid is made up offclur long bars and five short cross-bars. Three short bars are spacednear the outside end of the grid tocreate two rows of sqllare open-ings. The other ha;o bars are posi-tioned at the inside end to create a

single row of openings.Rather than cut all the joints

individually, an easier approach is

SHORT GRID

to "gang up" this joinery. I cut thehalfJap notches into wide blanks,then ripped the bars to width fromthe blanks. The How-To box belowshows the basic sequence, so I'll justadd a couple of helpful pointers.

BLAl{KS. To get startecl, you'llneed to cut the blanks to finishedlength and rough width. I cut onelong blank (4" wide) and one short

NOTE: Grids aremade from

%" -thickstock

oddingfte

Gnrus & Guss

LONG GRID

How-Tol Make Multi

lnitial Cuts. After fine-tuning the blade height withfesf cutt start by cutting a notch or rabbet on bothends of the long and short blanks.

28

le Half La

Next Cuts. Readjust the rip fencesetting to make the second andthen the third set of cuts.

Woodsmith

Rip the Blanks. Rip the blanks intoindividual strips, leaving a little extrathickness for cleanup sanding.

No. i84

blank (5" wide) foreachgrid panel.You can size the length of theblanks to the openings in the topframe, allowing aboutl/zz" overallclearance. And you'll want to cuta couple of extra test pieces to helpfine-tune the table saw setup.

ll0IG CUTS. After using the testpieces to adjust the dado bladeheighf thecuts aremade using therip fence to position the notches.You can use the same rip fencesetting to make the correspondingcuts in both ends of the long andshort blanks. But you'll cut on thebottom side of the longblanks andthe top side of the short blanks.The long blanks will have a thirdset of cuts only at one end.

RIP CUS. In order to end up withtight joints, the grid bars need tobe the right width. So I cut themjust a tad snug to allow for cleanupsanding of the saw marks.

ASSttlBlY. All that remains is theassembly. The key here is to makesure the grids end up square andare a good fit to the frame. I accom-plished this by gluing up the gridsa few pieces at a time.

Once all four grids are assem-bled and sanded, you can dropthem in place for a preliminarylook. Then before starting on thefinish, I put in an order with theglass supplier. (Allow {6" clearancein both dimensions.) You don'twant a long wait before puttingyour new coffee table to work andyour craftsmanship on display. N

If you Vrefer a

eimVler look and wanl to6AVeyour^elf some work,you can

build the table without Lhe grido. The

conolruclion chanqe6, ohown in lhedetails below, are ?rel,ty minimal.Youoimply olarf, wilh ehallower rabbef,e(1/a" deeV) in Ihe top frame pieceo. 1ub-etitulinq froeted qlaoe for the clearqlaeo will eoflen lhe appearance,

Leg Splines (4)

Long Grid Bars (16)

Short Grid Bars (20)

(4) 7a" Tempered Glass Panels

(8) #8 x 21/2' Fh Woodscrews

ALSO NEEDED: th' - 24' x 24" hardboard

Materials, Supplies & Cutting Diagram

Long Frame Rails (2)

Short Frame Rails (2)

Long Divider (1)

Short Dividers (2)

Leg Sections (8)

F

G

Ha

a

AB

cD

E

1lh x21/z - 41

1thx2t/z- 21

lthx2t/2- 41

11/zx2th-913/4x31/2 - 171b

7a hdbd. - 3/q x 15tb3/qx3/q - 20

3/a x3/a- g

19rs1,6" x19t5ha")

13/n' x 81/z'- 72' Hard

x EY2" - 72" Harcl Maple (8.5 Bd.

E E E E

E E E E


NffiEB@@KHinge illortisesThe drop-front lid on the deskon page 32 pivots on three, brasscard table hinges. These hinges are

recessed into both the lid and theupper case of the desk.

Creating the hinge mortise is a

t\,vo-step process. First, a shallowmortise is routed for the leaves ofthe hinge. Then, a deeper mortiseis created for the hinge knuckle. Allit takes to do this is a router and ashop-made template.

TIMPLATI. The template is simplya piece of 1/2" plywood with anopening sized to match the hinge.You can use one of the hinges totrace the outline onto the blank.

After drilling a hole at each endand removing the remaining wastewith a jig saw, sand the edges

smooth with a sanding drum.To use the template, clamp the

lid and upper case together, leav-itl.g a 1/16" gap between the edges. (Icut a couple of thin strips to use as

spacers at each end.) Then attachthe template to the desk with somedouble-sided tape. As you can see

in Figure 1, a dado clean-out bitwith a top-mounted bearing makes

't i \.?'!.1

7a,&h

'. -.a -elsgr', .

_ 'q"ti

quick work of routing the shallowrecess for the hinge leaves.

To create the cleeper mortisefor the hinge knuckle, first markthe edges of the mortise. (Thismortise is %" long and centeredon the first mortise.) Then, adjustthe bit for a deeper cut and roughout the bulk of the \,\'aste, stop-ping just shy of the lavout lines,as shown in Figure 2. Finallv voucan square up the edges of themortise with a chisel.

10

HINGE TEMPLATE

E

ImSize opening

to match hinge

6

NOTE:Depth of

mortise is equal tohinge thickness

O.

eIm

-) ,, l-TOP VIEW

Eosel SlolTo accommodate different sizes offrames, the easel on page 18 has anadjustable clamp. The clamp slidesin a slot in the support arm. Usinga 3/to"-dia. straight bit, I routedthis slot in two passes, raising theheight of the bit in between.

I began by drawing stop andstart lines on the fence of my routertable (Figure 1). With the bit raisedhalf way, I lowered the workpieceonto the bit at the start line androuted to the stop line. To completethe slot, simply raise the bit andrepeat the process Figure 2.

Woodsmith No.184

leg loper ligTapering the legs for the coffeetable on page 22 presents a chal-lenge. Because each leg is glued upas a mitered assembly, you can'tuse the same jig setup to taperbothedges. lnstead of making two sepa-rate jigs, I made one with a mov-able fence, as shown in the photo.

As you can see in the drawing atright, the jig is just a ply-wood basewith a narrow fence. A small blockof plywood is glued to one edgeof the fence, flush with the end,to serve as a stop. This L-shapedfence will cradle the leg blank as

the tapers are cut.ATTACHING IHt ttl'l(t. The fence is

secured to the base with a pair ofdowel pins. The pins fit into rwodifferent sets of holes in the baseof the jig, depending on whichside of the leg you're tapering.The trick is to locate the dowelsand drill the holes in the base so

everything lines up.To do this, I started by laying out

the tapers on one of the leg blanks

and then placing the blank on thebase of the jig so one taper lined upperfectly with the edge of the base.

Then, I butted the fence up to theleg and clamped it in place. Nextdrill a pair of holes through thefence and partially into the base,

as shown in Figure 1.

After removing the clamps,turn the leg blank around so thatthe second taper lines up with theedge of the jig. Then clamp thefence in place again and, usingthe holes in the fence as a guide,drill a second set of holes in the jig(Figure 2). Now just glue a coupleof dowel pins in the holes in thefence and you're ready to go.

STOP(11/a" x |t/a"- "a pty')

NOTE: Numbereach pair ofholes to aidin positioningfence

FENCEx 173/a" - 3h" ply )

NOTE: To locate dowel holes inbase, see drawings below

This jig allows youto cut both taperson each table legwithout movingyour rip fence.

NOTE: Gluedowel pinsinto holes

in fence

Protruding Hinge ScrewsThe lower doors on the drop-front desk are mounted with no-mortise hinges. Although thesehinges are easy to install, I cameacross one catch - the heads of thescrews stand proud of the hingejust enough to prevent the doorsfrom closing properly.

In order to solve this problem, Isimply enlarged each screwholewith a countersinkbit. Then I useda permanent marker to camouflagethe bright steel rim of the hole. W

Woodsmith.com

Cover Up. After enlarg-ing the countersinks, use a

brown permanent markerto cover the bright steelaround the holes.

et.

Flip legend-for-end toreposi-tionfence

TOPVIEW

Reposition leg andfence to drill

second set of holes- \ ln base -/ ,/through fence

into hase ,/

I

flI

CII0

II

Qto allow icrewsto seat fully

Woodsmith 3.1

Heirl

'-:*

*:,i;$

3l

Keep your home offlcepiece of furniture that's

I aclmit it - rrrv computer cltsk

arrrl rrffiec .rre ,tlr,r,rvs ,r solrrce olfrustratior-i r,r'hen it comes to keep-ing thirgs presentable. The t.rngleof corcls and stacks of paper alr,r,.,tys

look clisorganized and mess\'. Scr

r'r'lren I set olrt to build a ftrr.rctional

ancl aLtractive desk, I had some- c-lef-

irrite ideras.rbout r,r4r.rt it needed.

.f,i.\-1 rsi

lFiiiry..'

or spare noom organized with an attracliveas praclical as it is stylish.

Fir:st, it l.ratl kr keep the computercrise, printer, ar.rtl other peripheririsout of sight but stiil allor,r' ther.n tostav ctxrl. Secorrd, I n,irntec-l it to l.rave:

prlerrtt, of roorn to store the rvcxk-irg pirpers ancl clocr-rnrents that are

ineYit.rLrlV lvitrg aroturcl. Third, r.urd

most inrptxtant, I dir-tr't u,ant it toIook 1ike. a compr,rter clesk.

\,Vootlsnritlr

Tl-ris trad itior.ral clesisr.r sa tisfiesall my recluirerments. It looks greatarrd keeps everything organizecl.Best of all, it's a straightfonvarclproject to builcl. I reliecl on hard-u,c'rocl veneer Lrlvwooc-l (I chosecl'rerry) anrl harclr,r'r'rod eclgingancl facing. Nor'r, mv office is bothne-ater rrrrcl more efficient.

i2 No. 184

ffiffiwffiHffisOVERALL DIMENSIONS:493/e"H x 421/z"W x 2I "D

Flush panel oninside ofdrop-front

Slanted frontof upper

cabinet givesthe desk a

stylish profile

Plywood top is attached toupper cabinet with screws

Solid base

Hardwood facinogives the appearancle

of frame and panelconstruction

card table hingessecure door. See

page 51 forhardware sources

provides flatsurface forkeyboard andmouse

Find tips for making andapplying edging on page 42

Adjustable shelfhandles extrastorage needs

Bullnose edging is madein three easy steps at

the router table

Stub tenon andgroove joinerycreates sturdydoors

Profile on base frame iscreated with a

combination of routedprofile and table saw cuts

supports the\ hutch

m-/

Glue blocks addstrength to the

base frame

Frame and panelconstruction used onall doors

',: A pull-out shelf for a printeris just one of the handy fea-tures of the drop-front desk.

WoodsmithWoodsmith.com JJ

O. FRONT VIEWNOTE: Size rabbets to

match thickness oftoplbottom

NOTE: Drillcountersunk screwholes to attach topand upper cabinet

@LOWERCABINET.- TOP

NOTE: Top, bottom,sides, and dividers

are all 3h" plywood

lUffiilto'N;;The lower cabinet provides a solidfoundation for the desk. It featuresa compartment for a PC, a slide-outshelf for a printer, and an adjust-able shelf for additional storage.The ply'wood case relies on rabbetand dado joinery for strength.

TOP & EOTIOlll. I started with the topand bottom since most of the layoutwork and joinery cuts are on these

pieces. After cutting both pieces

to size, I installed a dado blade tomatch the thickness of the plywoodand cut the 7a'-deep dadoes for thetwo vertical dividers (detail 'd'). Ialso drilled countersunk holes inthe top to attach the upper cabinet.

S|DES. Now it's time to work onthe sides. After cutting the piecesto size, cut a rabbet at each end onthe inside face to hold the top andbottom. Next, I drilled the holes forthe adjustable shelf on the insideface of the left side, as shown indetail 'c.' With an auxiliary ripfence on the table saq you can cutthe rabbets on the back edge of the

NOTE: Top, bottom,and sides are

rabbeted to accept%" plwood back

@LOWERCAB'NETBOT|OM

top, bottom, and sides for the back(detail'b' and box below).

VIRTKAI. DlVlDfRS. TWo verticaldividers form the compartmentsinside the cabinet. Since they'llfit into the dadoes you cut on thetop and bottom earlier, there's noneed for any further joinery workon these pieces. All you need to dois drill the holes for the shelf pin

sleeves in the left divider to mirrorthose on the left side (detail'c').

ASSHTIBIY. At this point, you'reready to assemble the case. Istarted by gluing the dividers inthe dadoes in the top and bottom.Then I added the sides. You mightwant to use clamping squaresto keep the large case stable andsquare during the glue up.

How-Tol Cut Rabbets

Rabbets on the Top, Bottom & Sides. With an auxiliary rip fence inplace and a dado blade installed, bury part of the blade in the fence.Adjust the fence to reveal the right amount of blade for each cut.

FRONT SECTIONVIEW

tf-- -

ItY ?I I Shetr| | pinlsteeve

IJ L--Il1 .I I NorE:I J Vsz"-dia.I I s/eeve| | holes areI I %" deep

llrlI I ayt 6stIl

b. sroe vrew

Size rabbet to-hold 1/a" plywood ,\back -->l .

NOTE: Sizedado tomatch

thicknessof divider

34 Woodsmith No. 184

NOTE: Facing and edging are madefrom /a" -thick hardwood. Cut each

piece to fit for the best result

ADJUSTABLESHELF

(1 83/a" x 1 0/4" - s/a" ply.)

SHtMS. Next, cut the two shelvesto final size. Note the size of thepull-out shelf is 1" narrower thanthe opening. This allows room forthe metal drawer slides.

ADD THt IDGING & tAqilc. To cover theexposed edges of the plywood I cutthin ships of hardwood edging.You can find out more about howto do this on page 42.I also addeddecorative facing on the sides tocreate the look of framed panels.These facing pieces are simply

21/s"-wide strips of hardwood. To

make the edgng you can resawhardwood stock on the table saw

To add the facing, start with thefull-length "stiles" on the sides.I used long cauls and clamps toattach the facing. After gluing theside pieces in position, you can getan accurate measurement for thehorizontal "ralls" and in furn themiddle vertical piece.

DRAWTR StlDtS. All that remainsnow is to attach the drawer slides

for the pull-out shelf. As you cansee in the drawing above, I used a

spacer for accurate placement.8Aft The plywood back fits into

the rabbeted opening and adds sta-bility to the cabinet. After cutting itto size, you'll need to make a smallcutout on the upper and loweredges for power cords and cableaccess. The box below shows aneasy way to do this. After you'vefinished sanding the cutouts, youcan attach the back with screws.

NOTE: Attachedging first, thenadd the facing on

the sides

NOTE: For tips oncutting andattaching edging,refer to page 42NOTE: Attach facing

' on sides flush withfront edging

b.FRONT VIEW

1" radius

oLOWER CABINET BACK

|._5

Make the Cable CutoutsNOTE: Clampworkpiece tobench so thecutout hangsover the edge

Start with a Jig Saw. After laying out the shape ofthe cutouts, use a jig saw to cut the curved shape. Afine-tooth blade makes a clean cut in the plywood.

Woodsmith.com

Finish with a Sanding Drum. A sanding drum onthe drill press (matching the radius of the curve) makes

cleaning up the plwood edge of the cutout a snap.

Woodsmith 35

b. srDE sEctoN vlEW

14%

IFIRST: Attach cleatsto base with #8 x 2"

Fh woodscrews

-f5'/B

IFRoNr vtEW --->l 3 k-

2Va 2t/z radius

NOTE: Basepanel restson cleatssupportedby cornerblocks

The lower cabinet sits on a base thatalso adds some decorative detailsto the desk. It's simply a hardwoodframe with a ply-woocl panel. Themitered front corners and tlle rearbutt joints are reinforced with comerblcxks. The base panel rests on cleats

and the edge of the base back.

NOTE: Basefront, back,

sides, andcleats are3/a" -thick

hardwood.Base panel

is 3k'plywood

profiie on the frame pieces. Thisprofile is created by routing a coveon the top eclge of the front andsides and then cutting a shoulderon tl.re table saw. The box belowshows how it's done.

Next, tilt the table saw blade to45'. Use a rniter gar"rge to guide the

lolkniece or to r miter both errds

of the front ancl the front encl ofeach side to final lerrgth.

CUI THt CURVIS. nvorr' lav out thecurves on the front and sides andcut out the sirape at the band sawor with a jig salr', as shown in theillustration below I cleaned up thesaw marks with a sanding drumfor a smooth, even edge.

ASSIMBIY. With all the framepieces complete, you're readyto assemble the base. I began bygluing up the miters. An easyway to glue up the joints is to lay

- Llf--" *1l-:--.- 'll ,."':rDEcLEAr\ ttb -\\r-

--{q]-/*\q- \<, \ =(. zBASEBACK_}/\ \\ \.1(ih"x4//8"-4t")

.N,,\ ''-.- ,|>.24(Gl/.,\ --{,\ tV e/-!r .7to. R\ y' sXff \.1 ///' ^_T lN\FRolv,Lr, ["\.. 'l 1" \ /ll\[nY6),/t l.- \ -/ aisr.2l; )torr, \ 6 ; I stD2//

\ - CoRNERBLOCK '- ,uY

()/Attx 3/4't' 41/8t') Y

e BAsr TR'NL BACK & srDrs. I star

& DooRs il*#L'"-;xsl::rrouter table to add the decc

v/ l\sLta l--.- i\eY\@,fN"\ 'is+

Va 2/z radiusl If-\-/l)o@ l

nt ur.w ----l : I

ddino th

Bnbr

\

2

lol

0 I started by:, back, andar-rd rough

move to the: decorative

How-Tol Make the Details on the Base

SIDE SECTION VIEWPanel flush with top,- edqe of base

SECOND: Attachbase panel to c/eatsand back of basewith #8 x 11/a" Fh

woodscrews

d. srDE sEcTroN vtEW

Attach lower case to basewith #8 x 11/a" screws

Edge Profile. *,t1, u r7r"-rad. cove bit installed,

set fhe fence flush with the bearing. Rout thecove in multiple passes. Startwith the bit below

36

final height, then raise it to make a cleanuppass. Finish the profile by cutting the shoulderat the table saw with the blade raised to t/a".

Cut the Curues. A jig saw with a

6-tpi blade works well to cut thecurves in the hardwood base.

No. 184Woodsmith

the pieces flat on your bench andtape the outside faces of the jointstogether. Then all you have to dois apply glue to each surface andclose the joints. The tape sealsthe miters and prevents gluesqueezeout on the face. After that,glue up the butt joints on the backand clamp them in position.

(ORl{tR B]0CKS & ffATS. Next, add thecomer blocks and cleats. The thingto keep in mind here is to positionthe cleats so the top panel will sitflush with the top of the base.

Attach the blocks in the cornerswith glue and clamps. When theglue has dried, cut the cleats tofinal size and drill countersunkscrew holes to hold the base panel.Install the cleats, as shown indetail'b' on the opposite page.

BASI PAI{tL. Complete the base bycutting the base panel to size. Butbefore attaching the cleats you'llneed to drill countersunk holes inthe panel to attach the base to thelower cabinet. See details 'bi 'ciand'd'on the opposite page.

D00RS. At this point, you can tumyour attentionto the doors. They'repretty shaightforward frame andpanel assemblies built with stubtenon and groove joinery.

You can start by cutting the railsand stiles to size. Then cut a cen-tered groove on the edge of eachpiece to match the thickness of theplywood door panels. Now, setthe rip fence as a stop and use themiter gauge to hold the workpieceas you form the stub tenons by nib-bling away the ends of the rails.

EULLNOSE EDGING

NOTE: Bullnose edging is%" -thick. Profile is addedafter assembly to top panel

Knob screw hole in linewith lower edge of rail

DOOR STILE

DOOR RAIL

NOTE: Door rails andstiles are t/a" hardwood;door panels are 74" plywood;top panel is Va" plywood

After cutting the panels to size,you can assemble the doors. Whenthe glue dries, drill stopped holesfor the magnetic catches in the cabi-net as shown in detail 'b,' then screwthe washers to the doors. Attachthe doors using no-mortise hinges.

All you need to do is mark the loca-tion and install the screws.

BUltl{0St TOP. To complete the cabi-net, cutthe plywood top to size andglue on the edging. The box belowshows how to create the bullnoseprofile on the front and side edges.

NOTE: Width ofgroove matches

thickness ofplywood

+\/CI

Attach washerto door

Makin Bullnose Ed

Edging. Carefully miter theedging and glue it in place

flush with one face.

Woodsrnith.com

Trim the Edging Flush. Clamp a supportboard to the workpiece for the router toride on and trim the edging flush.

Routthe Profile. With a r7r"-rad. roundover bit installed,set the fence flush with the bearing to guide the work-piece as you rout both sides of the edging.

Attach miterededging leaving itslightly proud onone edge

Woodsmith

BULLNOSEEDGING fOP PANEL

BEVELEDEDGING

#8 x |th" Fhwoodscrew

mokino the L

UpiER CISINETThe upper cabinet with its slanted-front is perfect for housing a flat-screen monitor as well as the key-board and mouse. The drop-downdoor opens to provide a worksur-face. This cabinet is attached to thelower cabinet with screws.

C. FRONT VIEW1',

radius

@

(ABlt{ET TOP & B0n0m. I started bycutting the top to length and roughwidth. Then I tilted the table sawblade 18' and ripped the front edgeto final width. (This angle definesthe slope of the cabinet.) You'll alsoneed to drill countersunk holesfor the screws that attach the top.Next, cut the bottom to final size

and set it aside for now.SIDES. After cutting the sides to

overall size, I attached an auxiliaryfence and installed a dado blade inthe table saw. Burying the blade in

the auxiliary fence makes it easy tocut the rabbets in the top, bottom,and back edges of the sides. Thesides are also tapered to 18o.

I used a taper jig on the table sawto cut the angled front edge (boxbelow). When cutting the tapers,just keep in mind that the left andright sides are mirror images.

BACK. Now you can cut the 7.+"

ply'wood back to size and make thecutout for cord access to (detail'c').Then drill countersunk screwholes,as shown in detail'd.'

G.

SIDESECTIONVIEW

Use #8 x 2" Fhwoodscrews to attachupper cabinet to lower

cabinet

How-Tol Make the An led Cuts

Taperthe Sides. Position cleats on a taper-

ing jig to define the angle of the taper so

you can cutthe srdes to final shape.

38

workpiece a.t' orl.correct angle - i"

Cut the Facing. Use an auxiliary fenceon the miter gauge to cut and fit eachpiece of facing individually.

Align shoulder ofrabbet with edge of

' Edge of jigaligned with

Woodsmith No. 184

See page 30 toinstall card table

ASSEtIBIY. At this point, you'reready to assemble the case. Afterthe glue has dried, it's time to addthe edging. And for the slopedfront of this cabinet, you'll need todo a few things different than youdid on the lower cabinet.

For a start, the upper strip ofedging on the case top needs to bebeveled on both edges to conformto the sloping sides. You'll find aneasy way to cut the beveled edgingonpage42. After installing the toppiece, I cut the strips of side edg-ing with an 18o miter on each end(detail'b'). This way, the edging fitsthe beveled top strip and the squarelower edging perfectly.

fAClilG. You can now add the fac-ing to the sides. Once again, it's allabout getting the angles right. Theright illustration at the bottom ofthe opposite page shows how I cutit at the table saw. I cut and fit eachpiece sequentially, starting withthe vertical pieces.

TOP. The addition of the top com-pletes the cabinet. Cut the ply-wood to final size and attach theedging. Then, head to the routertable and rout the bullnose profileas you did for the lower cabinet.After fastening the top panel to thecabinet, you can attach the back.

D00R. Like the doors on the lowercabinet, the upper cabinet door alsouses frame and panel construction,relying on stub tenon and groovejoinery. But this door requires a sec-

ond panel on the inside to create a

worksurface that's flush with thedoor frame. And since the actual

UPPER DOORSTILE

NOTE: Routbullnoseprofile onupper railand stilesafterassembly

UPPER DOORRAIL

thickness of 1/a" plir.vysod varies,you'll need to measure the com-bined thickness of the two pieces tocalculate the position of the groovein the frame pieces.

You can start by cutting the railsand stiles to final size. Nex! cut theslightly offset groove for the ply-wood panel in the rails and stilesbased on the plywood thickness.The box below has a few tips tohelp you here. After that, you cancut the tenons on the rails with thedado blade using a miter gauge.

D00R ASSilEtY. With the plywoodpanel cut to size, assemble the doorwith glue and clamps. You'll thenneed to rout the bullnose profile on

hinges

the stiles and upper rail using thesame techniques as before. Afterthe glue dries, cut and install theinside ply'wood panel with glue.

HlllGES & Kl{08. The door attacheswith inset "card table" hinges. Iantiqued the brass hinges using acommercially available solution(refer to Sources on page 51 fordetails). Thery I made a template torout the mortises (see Shop Note-book on page 30). As you can seein detail 'a,' above, I installed thehinges with screws and added onelonger screw to help strengthento the hinged joint. Finally, drill ahole for the door knob and secureit in place with a machine screw.

\'Shop Notebookon page 30shows how torout the hingemortises using a

simple template.

Leave edoe ofIower railiquare

(l 5/a" x 37/2" - 1/q'ply.)

SIDE SECTION VIEWRout bullnoseafter assembly

Use one #8 x th"flathead screw in eachhinge to anchor door

1lh"-dia. x 11/a"

Maki the Frame & Panel Door

Cut the Offset Groove. Set the rip fence to match the thickness of Douhte Panels. The inside door panel provides a flat sur-facetheplywoodpanelandmakethefirstcut.Then,movethefenceand when the door is open. A1 you need to do is glue itto thewiden the groove to accommodate the outside panel. outside panel after assembting the door.

NOTE: Cutinside panelto fit openingin door frame


O. FRONT VIEW

5'/8

'/4

3%

(121/zx 173/e-%'ply.)

@SIDE @

NOTE:Organizersides and

shelves are%" plywood.

Back is 1/a"

plywood.

EDGING

NOTE: Drawerfrontlback are 3/t"-thick hardwood.

Sides are 1/2" -thickhardwood.

DRAWERBOTTOM

G.Cut

groove'/4 to thick-., ness ol

oddino on

0[onNrzERIn addition to holding your com-puter's monitor, keyboard, andmouse, the upper cabinet housesa handy desk organizer. The orga-nizer features shelves for papersand DVDs and a drawer for othersupplies. And since the organizerisn't attached to the cabinet, youcan place it wherever you need it.

SIDIS. I got to work on the orga-rizer by cutting the sides to size.

Then, with a dado blade set tomatch the thickness of the ply-wood, I cut the dadoes in both

sides and the rabbets on the topand bottom edges. Detail'a,'aboveshows the spacing of the dadoesand rabbets. To complete the sides,you can use the auxiliary rip fenceto rabbet the back edge.

SHtwtS. After cutting the fiveplywood shelves to size (two ofwhich serve as the top and bot-tom of the organizer), assemblethe case by fitting the shelves intothe dadoes and rabbets in thecase. GIue and clamps are all youneed to finish the assembly.

tDGlt{G. As you can see in thedrawing above, the exposed ply-wood front edges of the organizerare covered wlth 3/s" hardwoodedgng.The edging for the middlethree shelves has a decorative shal-low recess. You can cut the recess

at the band saw and sand it using a

sanding drum, as shown in the boxbelow. Once you've completed therecesses/ simply install the edgingwith glue and clamps. After that,you can cut the 7+" ply.wood backto size and attach it with screws.

c' ToP vrEW

t.-.)-Q-!

1 1/a"

brad

How-Tor Cut the Shetf-Ed Profi[e

Lay Out the Recess. After cutting theedging to length and dry fitting it in theassembly, mark the layout of the curve.

40

Band Saw Cuts. A 1/q' blade on theband nw makes the curved cut a breeze

and leaves a fairly smooth surface.

chucked in the drill press, clean up the sawmarks with a few light passes.

Quick Sanding. With a sanding drum

Woodsmith No. 184

DRAWIR. A small drawer roundsout the organizer. I started build-ing the drawer by cutting the sides,front, and back to final size. Then Iinstalled a dado blade in the tablesaw and cut the rabbets on thefront and back. Next, you'll needto cut a groove in all four pieces forthe Ta" plywood drawer bottom asshovyn in detail'e.'

The drawer front also has a deco-rative cutout on the top edge (detail'd,' opposite page). You can use the

same techniques you used on theedging to make the cutout. Now,all that remains is to cut the drawerbottom to size and assemble thedrawer. After gluing up the backand sides, simply slip the bottominto position and then attach thefront. I used a couple of brads ineach corner to reinforce the gluejoint, as shown in detail'f.'

Then, after the finish is applied,it won't be hard to find the perfectspot for this desk. Sn

R Door Panel (2)

S Top Panel (1)

T Bullnose Edging (1)

Upper CabinetU Top (1)

V Bottom (1)

W Sides (2)

X Back (1)

Y Beveled Edqing (1)

Z lop Panel (1)

AADoor Rails (2)

BB Door Stiles (2)

CC Outside Panel ('l)

DDlnside Panel ('l)

OrganizerEE Sides (2)

The handy desk organizer keeps thingsneat and uncluttered on the desktop.

| /a ply. - 161 5 /1 6 x 19s /6

3/q ply - 203/n x 42t/ax3/a - 10' Rgh.

3/a ply - 40 x93/43/q pty. - 40 x j5t /a3/q ply. - 19 x 151/z

t/aply.-40x19t/qx3/a-39

3/q ply. - 1|t/q x 42:/a x zt /q - 371/z3/tx2t/n - i85/e

1 /4 ply. - 151 /6 x 371 /2t/aply. - 141/6x361/2

3/aply -8x173/e

FF Shelves (5)

GGEdging (1)

HH Back (1)

ll Drawer Sides (2)

t/o pty. - 73/q - 121/z3/nx3/a - 8' Rgh.

1/a ply. - 173/6x 121/z

t/zx8 - 37ha

JJ Drawer Frnt/Back (2) 3/ax37ha - 113/a

KKDrawer Bottom (1) 74pty. - 107/sx7t/z. (34) #8 x 11 /q" Fh Woodscrews. (20) #8 x 2" Fh Woodscrews. (33) #6 x3/4"Fh Woodscrews. (1 pr.) 21/z"x3l+" Flush Bronze Hingesr (4) 5mm Steel Shelf Pins. ('16) 5mm Steel Shelf Pin Sleeves. (2 pr.) Card Table Hinges. (1 pr.) 18" Drawer Slideso (l) 1lla"-dia x 1lle" Knobs. (2)1/z'-dia. Rare-Earth Magnets w/Cups

& Washers

24' x 48" sheet 3/n'

Cherry plywood

ALSO NEEDED:One-48" x96"sheet 1/t" Cherryplywood

48" x 96"sheet 3h'Cherry plywood

Materials, Supplies & Cutting Diagram

Lower Cabinet & BaseA Top/Bottom (2)

B Sides (2)

C Vertical Dividers (2)

D Adjustable Shelf (1)

E Pull-out Shelf (1)

F Eack (1)

G Edsing (1)

H Facing (1)

I Base Front (1)

J Base Back (1)

K Base Sides (2)

L Corner Blocks (4)

M Front Cleat (1)

N Side Cleats (2)

O Base Panel (1)

P Door Rails (4)

Q Door Stiles (4)

3/a ply.- 40 x 191/43/q ply. - 231/a x 19th

3hpty -221/qx193/q ply. - 183/a x 101/q3/q ply. - 173/a x 181/e

1/4 ply. - 40 x223/at /4 x 3/4 - 30' Rgh.

1/qx21/q- 20'Rgh.3/txss/e-421/z

3/qx 47/e - 4131ax55/s-213/qx3/4 - 41/83/qx11/z-4i3/ax ltb - 18

3/q ply.- 41 x201/t3/n x 2t /q - i6lsha

3/ax21/q - 231b

48" x 96" sheet 3/n" Cherry plywood

(3.3 Bd. Ft.)

3/a" x 6" - 95" Cherry @ Bd. Ft.)

3/t" x 4" - 96' Cherry Q.6 Bd. Ft.)

h x 5" - 96" Cherry p.3 Sq. Ft.)

( 3.3 Bd. Ft. )


"'

:i tril *

; irJi.

seamtess ptwvood Edgi ngCovering plywood edges with grain-matched hardwood edging

is a breeze if you l<eep a few simple techniques in mind,

Plywood is a practical choice'" ,,, f,::*i:"*Tffiilffi1:.\ than solid wood, and saves a

\ *..\o lot of time over gluing up larg;e\'IF: :r. panels. The only downside is. . : :r you'll have to deal with the

problem of exposed ply.woodA good rip blade edges. There are several options formakes a smooth covering the edges, but I usuallycut (top). A com- opt for making my own 7+ -thickb i nati on b lad e hardwood edging in the shop. This

often burns allowsmekrmakesurelgetagoodthe stock. match for the color and grain of the

ply.wood. And, if yor-r follow a fewsimple principles, it's easy to do.

Taking the time to match thecolor and grain of the edging

to the plywood makes for, a seamless transition.

SIOCK SlLtCTlON. Attractive edgingshould blend in as seamlessly as

possible with the ply'wood. So Istart by choosing the stock care-

fully. I o{ten cut a test strip andwipe it and the plywood with min-eral spirits to get an idea of whatthey'll look iike after finishing.

SlZlt{cTHt tDGlNG. Generally, you canmake edging from common 4/4stock by planing it slightly thicker(about Zr.") than the ply-wood andther-r cutting strips from the edge.

This wav you n'on't need to worryabout trimming it flush, just a lightsanding is all it takes.

After planing the stock to thick-ness, you're ready to move to thetable saw While cr,rtting the edgingis a pretty straightforward opera-tion, ihere are a few things to keepin mind. First, make sure to installa good rip blade in the table saw. Ahigh-quality rip blade will leave a

surface that needs little follolv-upwork. Combination blades are not

Wooclsrnith

/r----- Plywood

Matchedf-hardwood

edging

as well-suited for these cuts andcan often result in burn marks thattake a lot of sanding or planing tcr

remove (top photo at lefQ.

Tl-re next step is to set the ripfence. For most applications, 7+"-

thick edging is sufficient, and youcan rnake this cut safely by settingthe fence ior a 1/t" cut and using a

thin push block (lead photo).For edging thinner than la",Ipre-

fer to cut the strips on the "outside"of the blade instead. A rippingguide in the miter slot can makeshort work of this. The illustra-tion at ihe top of the opposite pageshows you how it works.

Now you can make the cuts. Ifyou're not satisfied with the qualityof the surface after the cut, you can

always joint the edge of the boardafter eacl-r cut. This results in oneperfectly clean face for each strip.The other side is still good enoughfor a glue surface. It's also a goodidea to cut a couple of extra pieces

42 No.184

Beveled Trim

Cutting the beveled edging for the drop-front desk on page 32 is just a matter of tilt-ing the blade on your table saw

while you have the table saw set up.These pieces can be a lifesaver if youmake a mistake later.

PRIPARIIIG THI P[YW00D. Making theedging is only the start of the pro-cess. Before installing it, I like tomake sure the plywood edges arestraight and smooth. A smooth edgeallows the glue to adhere properlyand maintain its strength through-out the life of the proiect. After that,you're ready to cut the edging to fitand attach it to the plywood. Thisis where a little patience and a feweasy techniques pay off.

lilSTAttlt{c THI tDGlt{G. Normally, glu-ing the edging to the plywood issimply a matter of spreading glueon the ed$ng, adding a caul, andclamping it in place. Sometimes,however, the glue can make thesurfaces slippery and difficult tohold the edging in position whileclamping. Fortunately, there are acouple easy fixes for this problem.

IAP[. The first thing to try is tosimply tape the edging in placebefore clamping. Usually, this willkeep the piece straight. tr fact, ifyou're working on an assembledproject, tape mightbe all the clamp-ing power you need.

BRAD$. You may run into situationswhen tape doesn't prevent slip-ping. This often happens on longerworkpieces or when applying edg-ing to an angled surface. For thesesituations, I use brads to hold theedgtng. I don't nail them throughthe outside, which would spoil theappearance. Instead, I tap them intothe edge of the pll.wood and cutthe heads off. The sharp end of the

brad grabs the edging and holds itin place while you add clamps. Thedrawingbelow shows what I mean.

SAI{Dlllc. With the edging installed,the last step is to make sure it'sflush with the plywood. For this, allyou need is a simple sanding blocklike the one shown in the far rightdrawing below. Simply cut a notchin the block to match the thicknessof the edging. This way, you don'thave to worry about accidentallysanding through the thin plywoodveneer as you dress the edge.

These techniques make addingedging to ply'wood a simple task.And that frees you to use plywoodcreatively in your projects. El

For information onmaking your

own shop-maderipping jig,

visit our website atWoodsmith.com

Cut expansionslot at banrlsaw or withhandsaw

Countersunkscrew hole

tightened, slot. gxpands lo

Notch in mitdr gauge

b. sEcTtoN vlEW

HowTo:A inEd

Clamping Strategies. When possible, use a cauland clampsto altach the edging. When adding edging to an assembledproject, masking tape can take the place of clamps.

Woodsmith.com

Brads. Clipping the heads offof a series of brads in the ply-wood helps hold the edging.

Woodsmith

Sanding Biock. A blxk with a rab-bet cut to match the thickness of theedging makes short work of nnding.

43

Snip head offbrad, Ieavinq

approximatelythz" exposed

Use maskingtape fora tightjoint

tips for taming

Router TableTearout

Tearout on the router table shouldn't be something you have tolive with. Here are a few simple steps you can take to avoid it,

Whether it's for joinery or addinga decorative profile to the edge of a

workpiece,I use my router table onjust about every project. And there

are few things more frustratingwhen using the router table thanhearing the splintering sound oftearout. It's usually a signal thatI'm going to be in for a lot of sand-ing or that I'm going to haveremake a part.

Fortunately, aside fromstarting with a good, sharpbit, there are several stepsyou can take to preventtearout from happening.Here's a look at five, simplestrategies that I use in myshop for combating tearouton the router table.

I n"oo the GroinI J.rrt like the fur on the back

of a cat, the grain along the edge ofa board tends to run in one direc-tion. If you feed the workpieceinto the bit "against the grain,"the odds of experiencing tearoutgreatly increase.

So whenever I have a choice onwhich edge of a board I'm rout-ing, I take a look at the workpieceto "read" the grain before feedingit into the router bit. To minimizetearout, the grain should run offthe edge of the board in the samedirection as the rotation of the bit,as shown in the drawing below.

44

Whenever possible, I try to orient theworkpiece so the grain runs "down-hill" from the feed direction.

Woodsmith

1---- \KT ',',-,;r,'J,

-I follovus grain,i..a ;i-?,:,,i;d: .

airiition -=-'likelihoodof

-- .-- . -

tearout----' ---

No. 184

)snonow Posses

^f \ou may have noiiceci thattearout seems to occur more oftenwhen you're taking a heavy cut.If you try to "hog off" too muchmaterial in one pass, the bit tendsto pull out large chunks from theworkpiece. A good way to avoidthis problem is to rout the profilein multiple, shallow passes.

Botk lt UpWithout a doubt, the worst

situation for tearout on a routertable is when you're routing acrossend grain. As the bit exits the cut,it's almost guaranteed to pull largesplinters out of the trailing edge ofthe workpiece, as shown in theupper drawing at right.

There are a couple of ways todeal with this problem. If I'mrouting across all four edges ofa workpiece, the easiest solu-tion is to simply rout the endsof the workpiece first. This way,the areas of end grain tearout onthe workpiece will be cleaned upwhen you rout the long edges.

BACKTR BOARD. One other methodof avoiding end grain tearout is touse a backer board. This is nothingmore than a scrap piece of woodthat is held against the back edgeof your workpiece as you push it

5::::::."^t"',",r.",uen,,yrely on my router table for is cuttingrabbets. And I find that it's prettycommon to get tearout along theupper shoulder of the rabbet. Thiskind of tearout has a lot to do withthe direction that the workpiece isfed into the router bit.

When routing in the "normal"direction on a router table (fromright to left), the cutting edges ofthe bit remove material from theworkpiece as they exit the cut. Asa result, the bit tends to chip fibersalong the edge of the workpiece.

But by feeding the workpieceinto thebitfrom the opposite direc-tion (backrouting), the bit is cuttingasitenters the workpiece. So you'lleliminate most tearout.

Woodsmith.com

Usually, I'll set the bit to the cor-rectheight and use the fence to con-trol the depth of cut (see drawing). Istart with the fence positioned for alight cut. Then I gradually move thefence back between passes. Tuki.gshallow passes removes less mate-rial at a time, giving you a smoothercut with minimal tearout.

past the bit. (I actually rout intothe backer board for about an inchor so, as you can see in the lowerdrawingbelow.)

The backer board supports thewood fibers as the router bit exitsthe cut, preventing tearout.

The only problem with backrout-ing on a router table is the tendencyfor the bit to grab the workpieceand pull it forward, or kick it outaway from the fence. This is espe-

cially true when taking a heavycut using a large bit. HoweveX, ifdone safely, there are occasionswhen backrouting can really helpto avoid tearout.

The trick to backrouting safelyis to take a very light pass (about1/s2" deep), as shown in the upperdrawing at right. This initial passestablishes a clean, crisp uppershoulder for the rabbet. Once thisis done, you can remove the restof the waste by routing in theopposite direction, just as you seein the lower drawing at right. SI

fln"frce the 0peningI Another way to control

tearout is to provide support forthe workpiece as close to the edgeof the bit as possible. Some routertable fences have adjustable facesthat allow you to adjust the size ofthe opening to match thebityou'reusing. But for even more support,you can make a "zero-clearance"

A zero-clearanceauxiliary fenceprovides extrasupport forthe workpiece.

auxiliary face for yourrouter table fence.

Simply trace the bit pro-file onto a piece of hard-board and cut it out witha scroll saw or jig saw.Thery attach the auxiliaryface to your router fencewith double-sided tape.

The reduced openingprovides back-up supportto the edge of the work-piece, all the way up tothe router bit.

Set fence for Bit set tot/tz"-deep cut full height

Iake severa/ passesin normal directionto complete rabbet

Woodsmith 45

creating a distressedoIMilk Paint Fir

With help from a random collection of "tools" and the vibrant colorof milk paint, you can create an authentic-looking, time-worn flnish,

Today, it seems like old is new.Painted finishes that are distressedto simulate years of wear and tearon a project are quite popular -and for good reason. Applying a

casual, distressed-paint finish offersa pleasantbreak from a fussier andmuch more demanding "formal"finish. And on the right project,Iike the box-jointed pine tray fromWoodsmith No. 183 shownhere, theresult mightbe good enough to fool

the experts. The bonus is that sincethe goal is simply an old and well-worn look, the technique is easyand very forgiving.

ml[K PAll{T. One of the best ways toachieve this casual look is to takeadvantage of the vibrant colors ofhaditional milk paint. Milk paintis quite different from modem oil-based or latex paints. Basically, itconsists of a mixfure of milk pro-teins, lime, and natural pigments.

The milk proteins (casein) play therole of binder in the paint. (Caseinis also used as an ingredient incertain types of glue.) Milk paintcomes in powdered form and ismixed with water as needed. It'seasy to apply, dries fast, and givesyou a rustic, washed look thatinstantly adds authenticity.

IAYERS. The sequence of stepsused to recreate the history of wearand hard use a project might show

Start the process by adding years of wear withsome vigorous sanding. Concentrate on thecorners, sharp edges and other likely spots.

Next, use your "distressing"tools to add to the history withdings, dents, and scratches.

Woodsmith

A coat of red milk paint comesnext. Don't worry aboutsmooth, even coverage.

46 No.184

is detailed in the photos belowand the main photo at left. As youcan see, a distressed-paint finish iscreated in built-up layers of finishand wear and tear.

fln$ S0|NMIAR. You start by add-ing some serious wear to yourproject in the form of vigoroussanding. Don't be afraid to beaggressive. Knock off all the sharpedges and comers. Certain areas(like the handle) would naturallyreceive more weaq, so give thesespots special attention. Don'tworryr about overdoing it. Just tryto imagine the toll that a hundredyears or more of use would take.

DISIRISS. Now you'll add someinsult to your sanding rnjury.Dents, dings, scratches, andgouges are the natural result ofyears of use. This distress can beadded using just about anythinghandy. Keys, bolts, nails, a rasp,a screwdrive4, or any other hardobject will all work well.

The idea is to make this abuselook general and unplanned, as itwould naturally occur. So workover all the surfaces, maybe concen-trating just a bit more on the edges'and otherspots thatwouldbe morevulnerable. Again don'tbe shy. Youdon't want to break anything, butmake the damage noticeable.

A (0AI 0t PAIM. Now comes thefirst coat of milk paint - a deep,rich Barn Red. This is prettystraightforward. Mix up enoughpaint according to the directionsand apply it with a foambrush.

You'll find that milk paint worksdifferently than other paints.The water in the paint is quicklyabsorbed into the wood, so you'llget little flow. You just have tobrush a little more vigorouslythan you otherwise would.The paint may appear streakyand not cover evenly, but thisis normal for miik paint. Sincethis is simply a base coat, basiccoverage is all you're after.

t{l0Rl YIARS. Once the paint dries,you can add more years of age tothe tray. Start with sandpaper andremove the paint from the edges,corners, and obvious wear areas.You want raw wood to show again.Then add a few more decades ofwear and tear to some of the "hightraffic" spots with your arsenal oftools, as shown in the main photoon the opposite page.

A StCOl{D COALAfter all this use andabuse, the tray is due for anothercoat of paint. But this time around,you'll want to use a different color.(I used Soldier Blue.) The processfor applying the paint is the same.And agakr, don't worryr if the cov-erage isn't complete and even.

A HARD Ll;I. The next step is toagain expose some of the rawwood and the underlying redpaint. Sandpaper is your tool forthis step. Hit the corners, edges,handlg and natural wear areas.

A llTllt DIRT AllD GRIME. Now there'sjust one missing feature that willcomplete the look - the "patina"created by the accumulation of

dirt and Sime. To simulate this,I glazed the entire project with alight brown oil stain. This givesthe bare wood an aged color andthe painted surfaces a well-used,slightly dirty appearance.

Go over the entire project, wip-ing on a light coat of stain and thenwiping off the excess quickly. Thegoal is to leave some stain on thepainted surfaces and bare wood,in the distressed areas, and in thecracks and crevices where dirtwould naturally accumulate.

A PR0IICIW fllllSH. The final step isa bit ironic. After your best effortsat making the project look old andbeat up, you want to protect itfrom ftuther wear. So a light top-coat of low-gloss spray lacquer, orwater-based finishis inorder. Nowyou can put your hard work ondisplay and prepare for the inevi-table question, "Where did youfind that great antique?" [il

S The brightcolor of milkpaint and alarge dose ofwear and tearteam up for anauthentic,aged look.

A After adding more wear andteal brush a coat of bluepaint over the red.

Woodsmith.com

& When the blue paint is drysand through it to exposered paint and bare wood.

* A light brown oil stain adds a patina of grimeand age. The stain will darken the bare woodand subdue the bright color of the paint.

Woodsmith 47

When the task is woodcarving, I'llreadily admit to being out of mycomfort zone. But, on the otherhand, I've found that not all carv-ing is equally challenging. Acase inpoint is making simple, repetitivemoldings like the berry and rodshown above. Also called "beadand rod" or "ball and sausage,"this traditional molding has been

The tool kit for carving berry and rodmolding is pretty basic - all you needis a gouge and a skew chisel.

used as a decorative element forcenfuries. And it canbe carved suc-cessfully with just a few tools and aminimum of practice.

WHIRI. Berry and rod moldingcan be used in place of a simplerbead molding. It makes an eye-catching dividing element or edgetreatment. An example is shown atthe top of the opposite page.

PRFtORmtD. A major reason forthe ease in carving this moldingis that you start out with a pre-formed profile - a common bead.

So essentially, you're halfwayhome before you e\rer have to pickup a carving tool.

THt T001.5. Carving berry and rodmolding onJy requires lwo carvingtools - a gouge and a skew chisel.But one key is to use a gouge witha curve or "sweep" that matchesthe shape of your initial beadmolding. For example, since hereI'm working with a 7+ -dia. bead,I used a #9 x 7a" s\.r/eep Sollge.This makes it much easier to formnicely rounded berries and rods.

g{dinS,

How-Tor St Techni

Rout a Bead. You start the mold-ing by routing a "shouldered" beadon the edge of a wide blank.

48

A Simple Layout. To lay out the carving, use

dividers to mark a 3-to-1 series of berries androds along the crown of the bead molding.

Dividing Cuts. Simply "roll" the skewchisel over the bead with firm pressure tomake dividing cuts on the layout marks.

NOTE: Lengthof berry equalswidth of bead.Length of rodequals three

berries

O. Mark"dimples" on crown of bead

Woodsmith No. 184

GgITll{c SIARTID. The technique formaking berry and rod molding isshown in the How-To box below.The first step is to rout a bead onthe edge of a wide blank. (\A/hen

the carving is completed, themolding is ripped free at the tablesaw) I used 78 Lthick stock and lefta %0" shoulder on either side ofthe bead. The shoulders define thedepth of the carved profile.

IAY0UT. Next, you can clamp theworkpiece into the bench vise andlay out the individual elements.For this, a pair of dividers (two arebetter) comes in handy. The lengthof each berry matches the width ofthe bead molding - here 7a". Eachrod is the length of three berries,or 7+". You lay out three berriesfollowed by one rod. Just mark a

series of small dimples along thecrown of the bead molding.

ll{ClSlNG (UTS. You'll begin thecarving by using the skew chiselto "incise" a dividing line at eachlayout mark. Place the heel of thechisel at the intersection of theshoulder and the bead and "roll"it up while applying firm pres-sure. Stop just past the top of thebead and readjust the position ofthe chisel to make the cut downthe opposite side. The trick is to dothis without nicking the shoulder.

The cut doesn't need to go clearto the shoulder across the entirebead. ]ust make it deep enough toprovide a good starting point.

R0Ul{DlllG (UTS. At this point,yqu're ready to pick up thegouge. To cut the roundedends of the berries and rods,the gouge is used hollow sidedown. Holding the gougenearly parallel to the bead,lay it over a berry centeringit between two dividing cuts.NoW lift the handle as yougently push the gouge downinto the dividing cut to formone end of the berry.

If your control is good andthe wood is cooperative, thiscan be accomplished in one cut. Butthis is rarely the case for me. Morethan likely, you'll need several cutsto form a well-rounded end. Tiy toavoid digging the heels of the cut-ting edge into the shoulder of themolding. But this is easier said thandone. So don't worry if you end upwith small nicks.

I like to make eight or ten cuts inone direction, then flip the work-piece around to complete the otherhalf of each berry and rod. Don'tbe obsessed with cutting perfectlyrounded berries. You can take timeto refine the shapes later on.

OtAl{ THt SH0UI.DER. After shapinga set of berries and rods, switchback to the skew to clean thewaste from the "comers" betweenthe elements. I like to use both thepoint and the heel of the chisel toremove the remaining chips andsmooth and level the background.

R[]lt{lt{c. The final step is to usethe gouge to define and refine theprofiles. Hold the chisel verticallyand work around each berryr androd end using gentle pressure tolighily incise the wood. Called"grounding", this gives the ele-ments a crisp, distinct look.

A final once-over, smoothingany irregularities and refining theshapes, completes the carving.Don't worryr about minor inconsis-tencies between the elements. It'sthe overall effect that's important.

fllllOR SAllDll{G.I don't spend muchtime sanding. You want the mold-ing to retain its hand-carved look.Just use the folded edge of thesandpaper to clean a bit betweenthe berries and smooth the tops.

Finally, you can carefully cut themolding from the blank. And you'llhave a small, but very impressive,detail to add to your project. El

r When appliedbelow a crown

molding, aberry and rod

can add aninteresting

layer of detail.

NOTE:Start withgougecenteredupsidedown on

be necessarv toform rounded'end

Skew chisel used to cleanremaining waste and

Work point of chiselbetween berries and rods

to remove remaining chips

Lift handle and pushto round over berry

Hold gougeverticallv andapply light

NOTE: Groundinggives each berryand rod distinct

appearance

Make very light incisingcuts around Derimeter o',B around perimeter of

beads and rod ends

Rounding Cuts. With the gouge centeredover the berry apply fonruard pressure andtip it down into the dividing cut.

Woodsmith.com

Cleanup. After shaping the berries androds, use the skew chisel to remove theremaining chips and smooth the shoulder.

Grounding. Light, veftical incisingcuts will make each berry and rod endstand out from the background.

Woodsmith

tn the mailbox

auestions &Answers

Saw Blade Sharpening

Arn" cost of sharo-\Ienrng a tabte sawblade seems to be abouthalf the cost of a newblade. Will the sharpenedblade pertorm as well orshould I just buy a newsaw bladeT

Bob Taylor

Portales, Nsw Mexico

A You can tell the sawAot"o" is duttwhen itstarts to take more effortto feed the workpiece intothe blade, or you experi-ence burning on a cut.

Deciding whether tosharpen the blade or

purchase a new onedepends on a numberof factors.The first is theoverall condition of thesaw blade.

PlTff EUlltrUP. A dirtyblade will exhibit manyof the same signs as adull blade, but it may notbe dull at all. So to get agood look atthe conditionofthe teeth, I'll first cleanthe blade thoroughly, us-

ing a commercial bladecleaner and a brass wirebrush. This will removemost of the pitch andsawdust on the blade.

T00lH (OllDIIl0l{. With theblade clean, you can geta good look at the cut-ting edge of the teeth.lf you find any chips inthe carbide teeth, likethose shown in the topphoto at left, it's time toconsider sending it offto a sharpening service.

+ After a little clean

up, it's easy to spota chipped tooth ona saw blade, like theone in the upperphoto at left. Theinset photo showsthe same saw bladeafter sharpening.The edges are squareand clean. And all ofthe carbide is intact.

They can usually replacedamaged teeth,

As you inspect theteeth, you can often tell ifthe cutting edges are nolonger sharp. You'll see

a shiny edge caused bya slight rounding on thecarbide teeth. But if theteeth are in good condi-tion, you can put it backin use in your saw.

PRtvloustY SHARPft{tD. lfthe blade has beensharpened before, youneed to take a look athow much carbide isleft on the teeth. Whenthere's not much "meat"left, it's time to get a newblade. Your sharpeningservice can help youdecide whether or notthere's enough materialleft to sharpen.

(05T. For me, the overallexpense is the determin-ing factor in deciding

whether to sharpen orreplace a saw blade. lfthe cost of sharpeningand repairing brokenteeth is close to the costof a new blade, l'll optfor the new blade.

PRoftsslol{Al txPtnrtr{ct. lfyou decide to haveyour blade sharp-ened, there's one otherthing to consider. Andthat's the experience ofyour sharpening ser-

vice. Some blades re-quire special sharpen-ing techniques due tothe geometry of the sawteeth. Most sharpeningservices use automatedequipment to sharpenblades, so it pays to findout about their experi-ence up front.

Finally, it's a good ideato ask other woodwork-ers in your area forrecommendations. M

Do youhavearry questions for us?

lf you have a question related to woodworking tech-niques, tools, finishing, hardware, or accessories,we'd like to hear from you.

Just write down your question and mail it to us:

Woodsmith O&A, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines,lowa 50312. Or you can email us the question at:

woodsmith @woodsmith.com.Please include your full name, address, and day-

time telephone number in case we have questions.

50 Woodsmith No.184

hardware & supplies

SourcesKI{OCK.DOWI{ TASTENERS

Knock-down fasteners come in amultitude of styles.The arlicle onpage 8 shows just a few of themore common ones.

fhe Blum KD fittings (#1484151

and surface-mount connectors(#1485751both came from Wood-craft. Lee Valley carries the metalbiscuit fasteners (00521.10), thetension rod nuts (05G07.10), andthe corner joiners (00S14.02).

The connector bolts, cap nuts,and cross dowels are availablein a number of sizes and finishesfrom Lee Valley and Rockler.

sInooTH suRtAcrA scraper is a great way to geta glass-smooth finish withoutsanding. Both the cabinet scraperand scraper plane shown in theafticle on page 10 will help makethis task easier. The Veritas cabi-net scraper is sold by LeeValley(05P32.05) and the scraper planeis from Lie-Nielsen. Both com-panies also offer other styles ofscraper planes as well.

SH.UP B1OCKS

Brass set-up blocks (like the onesshown on page 121 can be pur-chased from several ofthe wood-working suppliers shown in themargin at right. The aluminum

.s,

set-up blocks were purchasedfrom Lee Val/ey (05N58.01).

rRAmlr & EAsElTo build the picture frame on page18, all you'll need are some brass-plated tu rnbuttons.These are avail-able from Rockler (279121.

The brass knurled thumb nut,machine screw, and washer usedfor the clamp on the easel can beobtained from a local hardwarestore or home center.

When it came to finishing, weused General Finishes' Gel Stain(Javal on the easel and the frametrim.To bring out the figure of thecurly maple, a coat of GeneralFinishes' Seal-a-Cell was wipedonto the frame facing. Theneverything was finished with a

couple coats of lacquer.

COFTEE IIB1TThe only hardware you'll need tobuild the coffee table on page 22is a handful of woodscrews. Wepurchased lheV+" tempered glassfrom a local glass shop.

The legs and frame of the tableare unstained, but the cherrygrids were stained with a mixtureof three parts Zar Cherry Stainand one parl Wood Kote Jel'dStain (Cherry). Then the wholetable was finished with lacquer.

DROP.TRONI DESK

All of the hardware items usedto build the desk on page 32are available from Lee Valley.The list includes the no-mortise hinges (00H51.23), steelshelf pins (00S10.52), shelf pinsleeves (00S10.62), card tablehinges (00W23.01), drawerslides (02K62.451, bronze knobs(02W14.44), and the rare-earthmagnets (99K31.01), steel mag-net cups (99K32.51), and steelwashers (99K32.61).

The solution used to antiquethe card table hinges came fromVan Dykeb Restorers. And thedesk was stained with three partsZar Cherry Stain and one partWood Kote Jel'd Stain (Cherryl.

ffiTK PAINI FII{ISH

We purchased the milk paint usedin the article on page 46 fromWoodcraft. lt's also availabledirectly from the Old-FashionedMilk Paint Company.W

0nline (uslomer Service

Click on Mogozine Customer Service otwww.wdsmith.com

r Access your occounl slolus

. ftonge your moiling or emoil oddres

'Poy your bill

. Renew your subscriplion

. Tell us if you've missed on issue

o Find oul il your poyment hos been received

Project suppliesmay be ordered from

the followinqJ.Ocompanrcs:

Woodsmith Store800-444-7527

Brnss Set-Up Blocks,

Cnp Nuts, Connector Bolts,

Ctoss Douels,

Gen o'nl F i rtishes' S t nins,

Kt rock-Dozm F n st en ers,

Turtfurttoils

Amazon.comBrnss Sct-Up Blocks,

Milk Point

Lee Valley800-871-8158leevalley.com

Aluninnn Set-Up Blocks,

Cabitrct Scrapers,

Cnp Nuts, Connector Bolts,

Conrcr loitrcrs, Crus DotLtels,

DroyrFront Desk Hordunre ,Knock-Dotur Fnstarcrs,

Mctnl Biscttit Fosteners,

Scrnper Plnnes,

Tatsion Rod Nuts

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks800-327-2520

lie-nielsen.comCnbittct Stnpers,

Scrnper Plntrs

Old-FashionedMilk Paint Company

866-350-6455nilkpaint.com

Milk Pnirt

Rockler800-279-444'trockler.com

Brass Sct-Up Blocks,

Calt Nuts, Connector Bolts,

Cross D otpels, Knock- Dotun

F n stcners, Tt uttbu t t ot'ts

Van Dyke's Restorers800-558-1234

vandykes.comBrnss BI nckcn in g Sol u t iotr,

Milk Ptitrt

Woodcraft800-225-1153

woodcraft.comBhuu KD Fittings,

Milk Pnint, Surfuce-Mount

Cotlttcct()rs

lIlAl LORDE R

SOURCES

Get oll 8 hordbound volumes of Woodsmith(Volumes 22 through 29). Eoch volume includes o yeor of issues,

plus o toble of contents ond o hondy index.Regulor Price ..........5239't',VSubscriber Discount Price ...... $.l59.95 SAlf Olfi;R $75FREE SHTPPING on your entire order!lndividuol volumes olso ovoiloble.(Offer expires 9 / 30 / 09)

Go to Woodsmifh.com

S.VOIUME UBRARYSETt-$t<- l[!tsE -t$r$[$FtF

'stg| - r$

n! l " :

!,!

or Cqll l -800-444-7527 Todoy to Order Yours!

(9sa


Final i:

Co_ffr,: Tnblt. Theunique look of theframe and contrast-ing grids immediatelydraws your attention.But this glass-panel

table is surprisinglyeasy to build. Turnto page 22 andyou'llfind all the details.

[) rtt p- F ro r r I /.)cs,(. The traditional styl ing of this desk wi I I

make it an attractive complement to any room. All theelements are here - slant-front top, frame-and-panellook, and simple, tasteful details. lt starts on page 32.

Frttrrtt' rtrrd lia.cr,/. This small project is a great way to vshow off your attention to detail. The bonus is thatthe work will go quickly and, as you can see, the resultspeaks for itself. Check it out on page 18.

Httttdy Cottrlttrltr Slorri,{r'. On the inside, the spaciousdesk meets all your modern organizationa' n""Or.Th"1s's va place for every computer component and plenty of extrastorage as well.

Frame & Easel

Woodsmith No. 184 Online Extras ©2009 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved.

Online Extra

#/4" x 8" - 84" Poplar (4.7 Bd. Ft.)

!/2" x 4" - 84" Curly Maple (2.3 Sq. Ft.)

C C D D

F G H

I J

K

ALSO NEEDED: One 12" x 24" sheet !/4" hardboard

NOTE: Parts C, D, E, H, I, and J are planed to correct thickness

E

Materials, Supplies & Cutting Diagram 11x14SizeA Backer Top/Bottom (2) 1⁄4 hdbd. - 3 x 11B Backer Side (2) 1⁄4 hdbd. - 3 x 20C Facing Top/Bottom (2) 3⁄8 x 31⁄4 - 17D Facing Side (2) 3⁄8 x 31⁄4 - 20E Trim (1) 5⁄8 x 1 - 80 (rgh.)F Base Bottom (1) 3⁄4 x 5 - 17G Base Riser (1) 3⁄4 x 41⁄4 - 151⁄2H Base Top (1) 3⁄8 x 41⁄2 - 16I Frame Stop (1) 1⁄4 x 1⁄4 - 151⁄2J Vertical Support (1) 3⁄8 x 1 - 26K Clamp (1) 3⁄4 x 1 - 11⁄2

• (4) 7⁄8" Brass Turnbuttons w/Screws• (2) #6 x 1" Brass Fh Woodscrews• (1) 10-24 x 2" Brass Machine Screw• (1) #10 Brass Flat Washer• (1) #10 Brass Thumb Nut

Optional 11 x 14 Size

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