Guide for cabinet and furniture construction

Assembling Cases

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Assembling Cases

Excerpted from The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction

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Assembling Cases

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

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by Andy Rae

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The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery

The dry run

Six books of recent articles from Fine Woodworking in an attractive slipcase set

One of the best techniques I've come to learn about assembly (and learned it the hard way, meaning I had to make many mistakes first) is to always -- and I mean always -- do a dry run of any assembly. This means assembling all the parts without glue. Make sure you use all the necessary clamps you'll need and check to see that you can confidently close all the joints. In effect, you're practicing the entire assembly sequence.

Assembly tools and jigs There are innumerable jigs and tricks used in assembly. All are aimed at making the process of putting together multiple parts easier, more accurate, and ultimately less frustrating. There's nothing worse than spreading glue only to find you don't have the right tools or setup ready to go. Here are some essential assembly aids that make glue-ups go a lot smoother.

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Dead-blow mallet

When you're ready to assemble your furniture, you usually have only one shot to get it right. Once the glue is spread, there's no turning back. Glue up a cabinet out of square, and you'll pay dearly later in the construction process because your error will accumulate so that fitting subsequent parts becomes a nightmare. To get it right the first time, it's vital to have the right assembly tools on hand and to use the proper clamps and clamping technique. After all, who hasn't glued together what was a perfectly fitted miter, only to find the joint slipping out of alignment as you placed pressure on the joint? Learning and practicing the correct approach to assembly will save you untold hours of frustration.

And 9 times out of 10, you'll discover during a dry run that something is missing or you need more clamps in a specific area to bring an assembly together. Or perhaps you'll need to rethink the glue-up process and break the assembly sequence down into smaller, more manageable parts. It may take more time, but investing in a dry run is well worth avoiding the horror of applying glue, only to find that you can't quite put the parts together as planned.

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Pinch Rod

Reading square with a pinch rod It's vital to square up a case or opening immediately after assembly--before the glue dries. One way to check for square is to read the diagonal measurements from outside corner to outside corner with a tape measure. When the two measurements are equal, the opening is square. But clamps

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In full-color photo essays, expert woodworker Gary Rogowski show you how to make every practical woodworking joint Essentials of Woodworking

Boxes, Carcases and Drawers

39 vintage articles from Fine Woodworking on choosing, making and using every kind of carcase joint

Assembling Cases

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often get in the way, it's practically impossible to get a reading on the back of the case, and reading the outside corners won't tell you whether the inside of a deep case is square. A more accurate method is to use a pinch rod. A

Pinch Rod

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

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traditional pinch rod is simply two sticks, sharpened at one end, that you pinch, or hold together, in the center. The modified version shown at right adds clamping heads that make things a little easier and more precise. Set the rod to the length of one of the diagonals; then check the opposite diagonal inside the case. Push the sticks into the case to read the entire depth. Keep adjusting the rod (and the case) until the rod fits equally between both diagonals. Squaring a case with a board As an aid to assembling a case square, cut a piece of plywood to the exact width of the case opening, making sure adjacent edges are square. Before you clamp the case joints, clamp the board inside the case, lining up one edge of the board with the case sides. Voila! No more twisted or outof-square openings.

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

Shims and blocks align parts It's a good idea to keep on hand a variety of shims and blocks in varying thicknesses, from playing cards, squares of plastic laminate, and strips of leather to 1/4-in.-, 1/2-in.-, and 3/4-in.-thick blocks of wood. These spacers help align or position parts during glueup, and they're great for protecting the surface of your A box full of shim materials work. In the photo at right, comes in handy during glue-up. small squares of MDF align the clamp heads over the center of the joint, while plastic shims prevent the pipes from dinging the surface. Riser blocks raise the work Gluing up assemblies often means having to get underneath the work to attach clamps or other parts. The simplest answer is to raise the entire assembly on blocks of wood. But finding stock thick enough can be a pain. Just as strong, and easier to make, are sets of riser blocks made from 3/4-in. plywood glued http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/bw0001.asp (2 of 3)25.09.2004 22:28:35

Assembling Cases

and nailed together. Blocks about 5 in. high by 2 ft. long are sufficient for almost all your glue-ups.

Simple plywood risers elevate the work for easy clamping.

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

Clamping cauls Like blocks, cauls made from scrap material can prevent dings in your work. More important, cauls distribute more clamping pressure across a joint, allowing you to use far fewer clamps when gluing up. For broad gluing surfaces, use bowed clamping cauls. For narrow joints, scrap plywood or leftover sticks of wood work fine. The trick to getting the cauls to stay where you want them until you add the clamps is to tape them temporarily in place. Dovetail tapping wedge In many cases, you don't need to bother clamping dovetail joints, especially on small box constructions, such as a drawer. To assemble and fully seat the joints without damaging the pins, tap over the joint with a wedgedshaped block of dense wood. The shape of the block allows you to position it over the joint regardless of the size of the tail. [ next ]

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

| 1 | 2 |

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Assembling Cases (page 2)

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Assembling Cases

Page 2

Excerpted from The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction

Entire Site

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Assembling a case For most cabinets, there's a basic assembly sequence that will guarantee success -- or at least a more comfortable heart rate. The trick is always to begin assembly from the insides out. In most instances, this means assembling any interior dividers or partitions to the top and bottom of the case. If the case is wide, clamp one side of the work while it sits face down on the bench (A). Then flip the assembly over and clamp the opposite side (B). Tackle the outside of the case, often the sides or ends of a cabinet, after you've clamped all the interior assemblies. Depending on the type of clamps you use and the design of the cabinet, you might have to wait for the glue to dry on the interior parts before clamping the outside of the case. When possible, use long-reach clamps, because they can reach over existing clamps and let you clamp the entire case in one assembly session (C).

Clamping corners Corner joints constitute most of the casework in furniture -including small boxes and drawers--and it's necessary to find an effective way to clamp across what is typically a wide surface. Like edge work, the answer is to use cauls to help distribute clamping pressure. When joints protrude at the corners, such as in through dovetails or box joints, use notched cauls to bring the corner together (A). Make the notch cuts on the bandsaw or table saw. The blocks gain purchase and don't interfere with closing the joint, and they center over the joint to avoid bowing the sides.

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Miter joints have a way of not closing at the most inappropriate times. To get good purchase on what is often a very slippery joint, there are several clamping

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Pinch Rods Dead-blow mallet

The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery

In full-color photo essays, expert woodworker Gary Rogowski show you how to make every practical woodworking joint Essentials of Woodworking

Six books of recent articles from Fine Woodworking in an attractive slipcase set Boxes, Carcases and Drawers

39 vintage articles from Fine Woodworking on choosing, making and using every kind of carcase joint

Assembling Cases (page 2)

Schools Clubs Knots Forum Events

strategies. The tried-and-true method is to clamp all four corners of a mitered frame at once with bar clamps. The deep throats of Bessey K-body clamps make it easy to get over and under the joint (B). Tighten each clamp a little at a time, like tightening the lug nuts on a car wheel. Make sure to check the frame for square before letting the glue dry. The block-and-rod frame system shown here (from Lee Valley Tools) gives you very precise control when closing four miters at a time, and it doesn't require lots of clamping force (C). Like the bar clamp approach, tighten each corner a little at a time to align the miters. One of the simplest ways to close the joint is to clamp shopmade blocks to the frame before assembly. Cut out the blocks on the bandsaw so that the clamping surfaces are parallel to each other when the frame is assembled (D). A picture framer's vise is handy for closing one miter at a time (E). This is useful when you're nailing or screwing the joint, since you can assemble the frame one piece at a time. Web clamps allow you to glue up all four corners at once, and they work well on both flat frames and boxes (F). You can use heavy-duty web clamps for large cases, but plan on having several on hand to close the joints.

Clamping difficult parts

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Assembling Cases (page 2)

If your pipe clamps are too short, you can extend them with metal pipe joiners, available at plumbing-supply stores. Make sure at least one of your pipes is threaded on both ends so it can accept both the threaded joiner and the clamp head (A). Another effective way to grip long work is to join two clamp heads together. Shims center the clamping pressure over the joints, and rubber pads slipped over the clamp heads prevent the work from being marred (B). Get a grip on difficult pieces, such as a panel, by securing it with a wooden handscrew (C). A bar clamp holds the handscrew to the bench, leaving your hands free for more important tasks. [ previous ]

| 1 | 2 | Andy Rae has been woodworking for over two decades. He worked with George Nakashima and Frank Klausz before founding his own woodworking business. In 1990, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts granted him a fellowship for his furniture designs. Rae wrote over 100 articles for American Woodworker magazine during his six-year tenure and served as senior editor until 1998. He currently works in the western North Carolina mountains, making furniture as well as teaching and writing about woodworking. Photos: Andy Rae; Drawing: Mario Ferro Excerpted from The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction, pp. 88-94

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper Different woodworkers use different sharpening methods by Jefferson Kolle Many years ago, as the new, inexperienced guy on the carpentry crew, I was in charge of lugging giant piles of plywood from one side of the job site to the other. "I went to college for this?" I used to ask myself. There was a guy on the crew, Mark Fortenberry, who had the sharpest tools. He made finish work look effortless -- smooth, fluid, precise. Every morning he'd pour coffee from his stainless-steel thermos and sharpen the tools he needed for the day. Different-colored stones were unwrapped from an oily towel; a little can of threein-one oil appeared; and Mark would sharpen. Knowing I would need to acquire tools and skills if I ever wanted to do anything other than get intimate with sheet after sheet of rough plywood, I bought a block plane and a roll of chisels, the same plane and chisels that Mark had. But there was something wrong with my tools -- maybe they were defective. The problem was they were dull. "Dull as a hoe," Mark said. Eventually I got lots of tools: tools I used everyday, tools I didn't really need, tools I never used. And I got my grandfather's two sharpening stones -- oily, black things, one with a big chip out of the corner. Often when I tried to sharpen something, I think I made it duller. (What's duller than a hoe? A hoe handle, maybe.) The whole process mystified me. I decided that electricity would remove the mystery of sharpening, so I bought a powered waterstone made by Makita (www.makita.com). It's a great tool: The platterlike, 7-in., 1,000-grit stone moves at fewer than 600 rpm, and water drips onto its surface from a plastic reservoir. The tool comes with a honing guide and an attachment for holding planer or jointer blades. It couldn't be more jerk-proof. Fill the reservoir with water, turn on the tool and hold the blade against the stone. The motor thrums along quietly, reassuringly, telling you that now, finally, you are going to get truly sharp tools. And I did. For the first time since Mark sharpened some of my stuff, my plane irons and chisel blades would shave hair off my forearm.

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Eventually I went into business for myself, restoring houses, building an occasional piece of furniture, and the Makita never failed me. I got to the point where I stopped using the honing guide. Instead, I held blades freehand against the turning

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The Complete Guide to Sharpening

Tool expert Leonard Lee shows you the most effective ways to sharpen your tools -- from chisels to drill bits -- so they cut better and stay sharp longer Sandpaper Sharpening

In this video, Michael Dunbar demonstrates sandpaper sharpening. Sharpening a blade takes only minutes, and it all happens without special gauges or messy lubricants.

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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stone, and after a while I wore a trough in the stone, which made it harder and harder to get a flat edge. If the machine has a fault, it is that it is messy. Water gets flung around, especially when you're trying to true the back of a blade. Every time I sharpened, my shirt would get soaked right at my belt line, and I would have to mop water off the workbench when I was through. I got a catalog recently that devoted seven pages to sharpening stuff. Waterstones, oilstones, synthetic stones, diamond stones, electric-powered stones, jigs for this, jigs for that, rouges, powders, potions. I'm sure they all work. There are a zillion ways to sharpen steel -- I know a woman who sharpens her kitchen knives on the unglazed bottom rim of a dinner plate -- but what works for one person might not work for another. For two days, I drove around New England, visiting three woodworkers, talking to them about their methods of getting an edge.

Waterstones and the art of sharpening Scott Schmidt has a shop in The Button Factory, a warehouse of artists and craftsmen in Portsmouth, N.H. Schmidt was schooled at North Bennet Street, and he uses Japanese waterstones. "The way I was taught," he said. At the end of his shop, there is a bench dedicated to sharpening. In more than 20 years of woodworking, Schmidt has used up one waterstone, and he is halfway through another. All sharpening stones are sacrificial -they wear away as steel is rubbed over them -- but waterstones are softer than most, and it is the gritty slurry that's created as the stone erodes that works with the stone itself to provide the sharpening medium. Schmidt soaks his stones in a grungy, water-filled plastic basin -- the type of container a deli might use to store coleslaw or potato salad. The basin lives under his bench, and he pawed through it, pulled out a dripping stone and set it on the benchtop, wiping off the water with his hand. On top of his bench is a piece of rubber rug padding that keeps the stone from moving. He set the stone on the pad, and before touching steel to stone, he spritzed the stone with a water bottle. "I think of sharpening as a process of constantly flattening the stone, keeping it flat by using its whole surface," he said. "You can't make a blade flat with an unflat stone." The natural tendency, one that Schmidt takes pains to avoid, is to work a blade onto one spot in the center of the waterstone, creating a declivity -- in effect, unflattening the stone. When a stone's surface needs redoing, he flattens it on a concrete block. Schmidt sharpened one of his favorite chisels while I was at his shop. For a new tool or one with a badly damaged edge, he'll first work the blade on an electric grinder before going to his waterstones. For a long time he used a magnifying glass to http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (2 of 9)25.09.2004 22:31:17

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

inspect the edges he'd honed, but familiarity with his tools has enabled him to forego this practice. He told me that it's easier to sharpen a tool he uses a lot. "If you know the way a certain tool cuts, you know the way that tool will take an edge. A large part of both processes, cutting and cutting an edge, is done by feel." He does not use a protractor or angle gauge; rather, it's a matter of touch and sight. To flatten a waterstone, rub it on a concrete block. A little water and a little rubbing on a concrete block will true an unflat waterstone. The concrete abrades the stone quickly; true a stone only when it really needs it.

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

He started on the back of the chisel using a 1,200-grit waterstone, working the steel back and forth along the length of the stone and mixing up a slurry of water and abraded stone particles. He often stopped and checked the chisel's surface, tilting the tool to look at the shiny areas and the dull spots. "I can feel that this stone has a little high spot on this end," he said, concentrating his efforts in that area. "When the stone is perfectly flat, you can feel sort of an even suction between the wide surface of the chisel's back and the stone. If there's a high spot on the stone, the steel grates a little bit, sounds rougher." When the chisel's back had a uniform shininess -- no dull spots to be seen in the steel -- Schmidt turned to the bevel. As he did on the back of the chisel, he started the bevel by working it back and forth along the length of the stone for several minutes. Then Schmidt changed tack. Another spritz or two with the water bottle, and he was working again, this time pushing the blade back and forth along the width of the stone. And then he switched again, running the blade in a series of diagonal strokes, crisscrossing the stone from one corner to the other. The slurry built up in little waves. He spritzed again and changed his stance so that he could work the steel from the opposite corner, this time making Xs of slurry. By the time he was finished, the bevel had been worked across the stone in four directions: back and forth along the length; back and forth across the width; and diagonally across the stone in two directions. He felt the edge with his fingernail. A thin, wire edge had developed, which he removed with several strokes on the http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (3 of 9)25.09.2004 22:31:17

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

chisel's back. When Schmidt was finished, he repeated the process on both the back and bevel, using a finer, 2,400-grit stone and then, finally, a 6,000-grit stone. After five minutes on each stone, the chisel was razor sharp. The back and bevel shone like mirrors.

Oilstones, kerosene and a little diamond paste After a hard right turn at the end of a Vermont dirt road, I arrived at the shop of Garrett Hack. Hack is a father, a farmer and a woodworker, in no particular order. He is somewhat of a traditionalist, and it shows in the architecture of his slateroofed brick shop and in the furniture he makes. But there's also a contemporary side to Hack. A Federal-style chest he made has an outrageous band of checkerboard inlay, and the bright-green trim and certain interior details of his shop belie a man who is not a slave to history. Hack's sharpening methods parallel his architecture; he favors traditional oilstones, but he occasionally uses a new product -diamond paste -- to get a keen edge in hard steel. Spread on his benchtop was an array of planes, ready to be sharpened. Hack removed the iron from an old Stanley No. 3. "I just got this," he said, giving the plane a critical eye. "The back of the iron has probably never been flattened. It needs to be lapped." For the quick removal of steel, Hack will use a diamond stone with an aggressive grit. Because it is messy -he uses a lot of water with the diamond stone, constantly dousing the surface -- he usually works outside on the shop's granite steps. The diamond stone is also good for removing small nicks in a blade's bevel. Hack dipped the diamond stone into a water bucket and worked the back of the plane bade against the stone in slow figure eights. After a while, he held the steel up to the light. The shine on the blade was uneven, meaning the back of the blade still needed work. "Lapping the back of a blade takes some time, but once it's lapped flat, you should never have to do it again." Hack stores his sharpening paraphernalia in a drawer built into the underside of his workbench. The drawer is full of oilstones, each in its own wood box. And there are tiny plastic jars of

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

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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

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

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

A dab of 4-micron diamond paste is Hack's secret weapon for getting a good edge. He mixes the paste with a little kerosene and smears it around on his hard, black Arkansas stone.

When he was finished he checked the sharpness of the blade by using it to pare the end grain of a scrap of soft pine. "Why not hardwood?" I asked.

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

"Almost anything will cut hardwood," he said. "But only a truly sharp blade will cleanly cut the end grain of pine without tearing some of the fibers and leaving a ragged edge. If it's really sharp, the blade will sever all of the wood fibers evenly, leaving a cut on the end grain that looks almost burnished." Hack flattens his stones with gritty silicon-carbide powder, water and a scrap of plate glass. "It's pretty messy," he said. "Sometimes I do it outside." It's also pretty simple: Hack sprinkled some powder on the glass, added a little water and worked the face of the stone in big circles. When he thought the stone was flat, he held it up to the light and checked it with a straightedge. "Needs a little more right here in the center."

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

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

Plate glass and sandpaper Even before Mike Dunbar opened The Windsor Institute where he instructs 600 students a year in the craft of making Windsor chairs, he was a teacher, albeit an itinerant one. He traveled all over the country, going to woodworking shows and giving demonstrations at woodworking stores. He packed a lot of stuff for his trips: chair parts and tools. It was a hassle to find a way to sharpen tools on the road; either he had to bring all of his oils and stones or rely on the store to provide them. Most good inventions are born of necessity; Dunbar's so-called scary-sharp method of getting an edge with plate glass and sandpaper is no exception. "Sharpening tools doesn't earn any money for a woodworker," Dunbar said. "I like to get my tools sharp and then get to work. Using glass and sandpaper is an extremely fast way to get an excellent edge." Along the back wall of Dunbar's shop is a darkgreen, built-in cabinet, and right on the edge of the cabinet's countertop sat a dirty piece of 3/8-in.-thick plate glass about 8 http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (6 of 9)25.09.2004 22:31:17

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

in. by 40 in. Next to the glass were three rolls of adhesivebacked sandpaper. Dunbar grabbed a razor-blade window scraper and gouged off the three strips of spent paper from the plate glass (the glass is held on the bench with a couple of wood strips). "We sharpen a lot of tools here, and we go through a lot of sandpaper." He went over to a wall-mounted rack of the school's tools -- planes, chisels, gouges and drawknives -- and grabbed an almost-new, 1-1/2-in. chisel. All of the school's shop tools are spray-painted bright green. "If they're painted, they don't walk," he said. He looked at the edge of the chisel and noticed two big nicks in the blade. I asked him if he would not ordinarily grind out the nicks from the student-abused blade. "I'm telling you," he said, "this method is really fast."

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

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

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

When the back was even with scratches from the 80-grit paper, he colored the back of the chisel with a red, felt-tipped marker. "The marker works like machinist's chalk," he said. "If there are any low spots on the blade, the marker won't get removed when I rub the blade on the sandpaper." He worked the blade against the paper again, and when he held it up to the light, only a faint trace of red showed in the center. Dunbar decided http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (7 of 9)25.09.2004 22:31:17

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

the back was flat enough and told me that future sharpening will make the blade truly flat. Then he switched to the bevel, or bezel, as Dunbar calls it. "Check your dictionary," he told me. I made a mental note. Dunbar held the front of the chisel on the sheet of 80-grit paper and rocked the blade forward until it rested on the bevel. "Simple," he said. "You don't need a honing guide or anything like that. Just rock the blade until you can feel the beveled surface resting on the paper." With one hand on the handle and the other putting pressure on the back of the chisel, he worked the blade side to side along the length of the 80-grit sheet. A forward-and-back motion or a figure-eight pattern would tear the sandpaper. He worked the blade for a minute or two and then asked me if I wanted to try it. I told him that I felt like Huck Finn being fooled by Tom Sawyer when Tom convinced Huck that it was fun to paint a fence. "No one believes how easy and fast this is," Dunbar said, "until they try it." I looked at the blade and saw the nicks. I worked the bevel against the sandpaper the way he showed me. After a minute I looked at the blade again; the nicks were almost gone. He looked at me looking at the blade. I smiled, and he raised an eyebrow, knowing he'd won another convert. After a little more work, Dunbar had removed the rest of the nicks. Total time to remove the nicks in the blade was about five minutes. Then he switched to the 120-grit paper but not before sweeping away the filings with a mason's brush. "Keeps the paper from clogging, and you don't want to get coarser grit on the finer-grit paper." When all of the scratches from the 80grit paper had been supplanted by the 120-grit scratches, he swept the filings and moved onto the 320-grit sheet. The sequence was the same: He worked the chisel on the 320-grit paper until there was an evenness of scratches, brushed off the paper and moved to the next-finer grit. After working the chisel, Dunbar placed a piece of 600-grit wet-or-dry paper right on top of the 320-grit sheet. The roughness of one paper holds the finer-grit paper in place. For most tools he feels that 600 grit gives a sharp enough edge; for the keenest edges he will go from 600 grit to 1,000 grit and sometimes all the way up to 2,000-grit paper. A blade honed on 2,000 grit shines like chromium.

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

Unlike using oilstones, waterstones or powered stones, with Dunbar's method you don't have to worry about flattening the stones. The plate glass is always flat, and when the sandpaper gets dull, you scrape it off and stick on another piece. As I drove home, I thought of my Makita electric sharpening

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

stone lost in the garage of my ex-wife's house. I thought of Schmidt and Hack and how well their sharpening methods worked for them. (Different strokes for different folks?) And then I thought of the glass store near work, and I decided to stop in and get myself a piece of 3/8-in.-thick plate glass. Tom Sawyer wins again. Jefferson Kolle is a former managing editor of Fine Woodworking. Photos: Jefferson Kolle; drawings: Bob La Pointe From Fine Woodworking #140, pp. 56-61 Purchase back issues

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper Different woodworkers use different sharpening methods by Jefferson Kolle Many years ago, as the new, inexperienced guy on the carpentry crew, I was in charge of lugging giant piles of plywood from one side of the job site to the other. "I went to college for this?" I used to ask myself. There was a guy on the crew, Mark Fortenberry, who had the sharpest tools. He made finish work look effortless -- smooth, fluid, precise. Every morning he'd pour coffee from his stainless-steel thermos and sharpen the tools he needed for the day. Different-colored stones were unwrapped from an oily towel; a little can of threein-one oil appeared; and Mark would sharpen. Knowing I would need to acquire tools and skills if I ever wanted to do anything other than get intimate with sheet after sheet of rough plywood, I bought a block plane and a roll of chisels, the same plane and chisels that Mark had. But there was something wrong with my tools -- maybe they were defective. The problem was they were dull. "Dull as a hoe," Mark said. Eventually I got lots of tools: tools I used everyday, tools I didn't really need, tools I never used. And I got my grandfather's two sharpening stones -- oily, black things, one with a big chip out of the corner. Often when I tried to sharpen something, I think I made it duller. (What's duller than a hoe? A hoe handle, maybe.) The whole process mystified me. I decided that electricity would remove the mystery of sharpening, so I bought a powered waterstone made by Makita (www.makita.com). It's a great tool: The platterlike, 7-in., 1,000-grit stone moves at fewer than 600 rpm, and water drips onto its surface from a plastic reservoir. The tool comes with a honing guide and an attachment for holding planer or jointer blades. It couldn't be more jerk-proof. Fill the reservoir with water, turn on the tool and hold the blade against the stone. The motor thrums along quietly, reassuringly, telling you that now, finally, you are going to get truly sharp tools. And I did. For the first time since Mark sharpened some of my stuff, my plane irons and chisel blades would shave hair off my forearm.

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Eventually I went into business for myself, restoring houses, building an occasional piece of furniture, and the Makita never failed me. I got to the point where I stopped using the honing guide. Instead, I held blades freehand against the turning

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The Complete Guide to Sharpening

Tool expert Leonard Lee shows you the most effective ways to sharpen your tools -- from chisels to drill bits -- so they cut better and stay sharp longer Sandpaper Sharpening

In this video, Michael Dunbar demonstrates sandpaper sharpening. Sharpening a blade takes only minutes, and it all happens without special gauges or messy lubricants.

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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stone, and after a while I wore a trough in the stone, which made it harder and harder to get a flat edge. If the machine has a fault, it is that it is messy. Water gets flung around, especially when you're trying to true the back of a blade. Every time I sharpened, my shirt would get soaked right at my belt line, and I would have to mop water off the workbench when I was through. I got a catalog recently that devoted seven pages to sharpening stuff. Waterstones, oilstones, synthetic stones, diamond stones, electric-powered stones, jigs for this, jigs for that, rouges, powders, potions. I'm sure they all work. There are a zillion ways to sharpen steel -- I know a woman who sharpens her kitchen knives on the unglazed bottom rim of a dinner plate -- but what works for one person might not work for another. For two days, I drove around New England, visiting three woodworkers, talking to them about their methods of getting an edge.

Waterstones and the art of sharpening Scott Schmidt has a shop in The Button Factory, a warehouse of artists and craftsmen in Portsmouth, N.H. Schmidt was schooled at North Bennet Street, and he uses Japanese waterstones. "The way I was taught," he said. At the end of his shop, there is a bench dedicated to sharpening. In more than 20 years of woodworking, Schmidt has used up one waterstone, and he is halfway through another. All sharpening stones are sacrificial -they wear away as steel is rubbed over them -- but waterstones are softer than most, and it is the gritty slurry that's created as the stone erodes that works with the stone itself to provide the sharpening medium. Schmidt soaks his stones in a grungy, water-filled plastic basin -- the type of container a deli might use to store coleslaw or potato salad. The basin lives under his bench, and he pawed through it, pulled out a dripping stone and set it on the benchtop, wiping off the water with his hand. On top of his bench is a piece of rubber rug padding that keeps the stone from moving. He set the stone on the pad, and before touching steel to stone, he spritzed the stone with a water bottle. "I think of sharpening as a process of constantly flattening the stone, keeping it flat by using its whole surface," he said. "You can't make a blade flat with an unflat stone." The natural tendency, one that Schmidt takes pains to avoid, is to work a blade onto one spot in the center of the waterstone, creating a declivity -- in effect, unflattening the stone. When a stone's surface needs redoing, he flattens it on a concrete block. Schmidt sharpened one of his favorite chisels while I was at his shop. For a new tool or one with a badly damaged edge, he'll first work the blade on an electric grinder before going to his waterstones. For a long time he used a magnifying glass to http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (2 of 9)25.09.2004 22:32:12

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

inspect the edges he'd honed, but familiarity with his tools has enabled him to forego this practice. He told me that it's easier to sharpen a tool he uses a lot. "If you know the way a certain tool cuts, you know the way that tool will take an edge. A large part of both processes, cutting and cutting an edge, is done by feel." He does not use a protractor or angle gauge; rather, it's a matter of touch and sight. To flatten a waterstone, rub it on a concrete block. A little water and a little rubbing on a concrete block will true an unflat waterstone. The concrete abrades the stone quickly; true a stone only when it really needs it.

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

He started on the back of the chisel using a 1,200-grit waterstone, working the steel back and forth along the length of the stone and mixing up a slurry of water and abraded stone particles. He often stopped and checked the chisel's surface, tilting the tool to look at the shiny areas and the dull spots. "I can feel that this stone has a little high spot on this end," he said, concentrating his efforts in that area. "When the stone is perfectly flat, you can feel sort of an even suction between the wide surface of the chisel's back and the stone. If there's a high spot on the stone, the steel grates a little bit, sounds rougher." When the chisel's back had a uniform shininess -- no dull spots to be seen in the steel -- Schmidt turned to the bevel. As he did on the back of the chisel, he started the bevel by working it back and forth along the length of the stone for several minutes. Then Schmidt changed tack. Another spritz or two with the water bottle, and he was working again, this time pushing the blade back and forth along the width of the stone. And then he switched again, running the blade in a series of diagonal strokes, crisscrossing the stone from one corner to the other. The slurry built up in little waves. He spritzed again and changed his stance so that he could work the steel from the opposite corner, this time making Xs of slurry. By the time he was finished, the bevel had been worked across the stone in four directions: back and forth along the length; back and forth across the width; and diagonally across the stone in two directions. He felt the edge with his fingernail. A thin, wire edge had developed, which he removed with several strokes on the http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (3 of 9)25.09.2004 22:32:12

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

chisel's back. When Schmidt was finished, he repeated the process on both the back and bevel, using a finer, 2,400-grit stone and then, finally, a 6,000-grit stone. After five minutes on each stone, the chisel was razor sharp. The back and bevel shone like mirrors.

Oilstones, kerosene and a little diamond paste After a hard right turn at the end of a Vermont dirt road, I arrived at the shop of Garrett Hack. Hack is a father, a farmer and a woodworker, in no particular order. He is somewhat of a traditionalist, and it shows in the architecture of his slateroofed brick shop and in the furniture he makes. But there's also a contemporary side to Hack. A Federal-style chest he made has an outrageous band of checkerboard inlay, and the bright-green trim and certain interior details of his shop belie a man who is not a slave to history. Hack's sharpening methods parallel his architecture; he favors traditional oilstones, but he occasionally uses a new product -diamond paste -- to get a keen edge in hard steel. Spread on his benchtop was an array of planes, ready to be sharpened. Hack removed the iron from an old Stanley No. 3. "I just got this," he said, giving the plane a critical eye. "The back of the iron has probably never been flattened. It needs to be lapped." For the quick removal of steel, Hack will use a diamond stone with an aggressive grit. Because it is messy -he uses a lot of water with the diamond stone, constantly dousing the surface -- he usually works outside on the shop's granite steps. The diamond stone is also good for removing small nicks in a blade's bevel. Hack dipped the diamond stone into a water bucket and worked the back of the plane bade against the stone in slow figure eights. After a while, he held the steel up to the light. The shine on the blade was uneven, meaning the back of the blade still needed work. "Lapping the back of a blade takes some time, but once it's lapped flat, you should never have to do it again." Hack stores his sharpening paraphernalia in a drawer built into the underside of his workbench. The drawer is full of oilstones, each in its own wood box. And there are tiny plastic jars of

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

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

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

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

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

A dab of 4-micron diamond paste is Hack's secret weapon for getting a good edge. He mixes the paste with a little kerosene and smears it around on his hard, black Arkansas stone.

When he was finished he checked the sharpness of the blade by using it to pare the end grain of a scrap of soft pine. "Why not hardwood?" I asked.

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

"Almost anything will cut hardwood," he said. "But only a truly sharp blade will cleanly cut the end grain of pine without tearing some of the fibers and leaving a ragged edge. If it's really sharp, the blade will sever all of the wood fibers evenly, leaving a cut on the end grain that looks almost burnished." Hack flattens his stones with gritty silicon-carbide powder, water and a scrap of plate glass. "It's pretty messy," he said. "Sometimes I do it outside." It's also pretty simple: Hack sprinkled some powder on the glass, added a little water and worked the face of the stone in big circles. When he thought the stone was flat, he held it up to the light and checked it with a straightedge. "Needs a little more right here in the center."

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

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

Plate glass and sandpaper Even before Mike Dunbar opened The Windsor Institute where he instructs 600 students a year in the craft of making Windsor chairs, he was a teacher, albeit an itinerant one. He traveled all over the country, going to woodworking shows and giving demonstrations at woodworking stores. He packed a lot of stuff for his trips: chair parts and tools. It was a hassle to find a way to sharpen tools on the road; either he had to bring all of his oils and stones or rely on the store to provide them. Most good inventions are born of necessity; Dunbar's so-called scary-sharp method of getting an edge with plate glass and sandpaper is no exception. "Sharpening tools doesn't earn any money for a woodworker," Dunbar said. "I like to get my tools sharp and then get to work. Using glass and sandpaper is an extremely fast way to get an excellent edge." Along the back wall of Dunbar's shop is a darkgreen, built-in cabinet, and right on the edge of the cabinet's countertop sat a dirty piece of 3/8-in.-thick plate glass about 8 http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (6 of 9)25.09.2004 22:32:12

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

in. by 40 in. Next to the glass were three rolls of adhesivebacked sandpaper. Dunbar grabbed a razor-blade window scraper and gouged off the three strips of spent paper from the plate glass (the glass is held on the bench with a couple of wood strips). "We sharpen a lot of tools here, and we go through a lot of sandpaper." He went over to a wall-mounted rack of the school's tools -- planes, chisels, gouges and drawknives -- and grabbed an almost-new, 1-1/2-in. chisel. All of the school's shop tools are spray-painted bright green. "If they're painted, they don't walk," he said. He looked at the edge of the chisel and noticed two big nicks in the blade. I asked him if he would not ordinarily grind out the nicks from the student-abused blade. "I'm telling you," he said, "this method is really fast."

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

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

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

When the back was even with scratches from the 80-grit paper, he colored the back of the chisel with a red, felt-tipped marker. "The marker works like machinist's chalk," he said. "If there are any low spots on the blade, the marker won't get removed when I rub the blade on the sandpaper." He worked the blade against the paper again, and when he held it up to the light, only a faint trace of red showed in the center. Dunbar decided http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (7 of 9)25.09.2004 22:32:12

Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

the back was flat enough and told me that future sharpening will make the blade truly flat. Then he switched to the bevel, or bezel, as Dunbar calls it. "Check your dictionary," he told me. I made a mental note. Dunbar held the front of the chisel on the sheet of 80-grit paper and rocked the blade forward until it rested on the bevel. "Simple," he said. "You don't need a honing guide or anything like that. Just rock the blade until you can feel the beveled surface resting on the paper." With one hand on the handle and the other putting pressure on the back of the chisel, he worked the blade side to side along the length of the 80-grit sheet. A forward-and-back motion or a figure-eight pattern would tear the sandpaper. He worked the blade for a minute or two and then asked me if I wanted to try it. I told him that I felt like Huck Finn being fooled by Tom Sawyer when Tom convinced Huck that it was fun to paint a fence. "No one believes how easy and fast this is," Dunbar said, "until they try it." I looked at the blade and saw the nicks. I worked the bevel against the sandpaper the way he showed me. After a minute I looked at the blade again; the nicks were almost gone. He looked at me looking at the blade. I smiled, and he raised an eyebrow, knowing he'd won another convert. After a little more work, Dunbar had removed the rest of the nicks. Total time to remove the nicks in the blade was about five minutes. Then he switched to the 120-grit paper but not before sweeping away the filings with a mason's brush. "Keeps the paper from clogging, and you don't want to get coarser grit on the finer-grit paper." When all of the scratches from the 80grit paper had been supplanted by the 120-grit scratches, he swept the filings and moved onto the 320-grit sheet. The sequence was the same: He worked the chisel on the 320-grit paper until there was an evenness of scratches, brushed off the paper and moved to the next-finer grit. After working the chisel, Dunbar placed a piece of 600-grit wet-or-dry paper right on top of the 320-grit sheet. The roughness of one paper holds the finer-grit paper in place. For most tools he feels that 600 grit gives a sharp enough edge; for the keenest edges he will go from 600 grit to 1,000 grit and sometimes all the way up to 2,000-grit paper. A blade honed on 2,000 grit shines like chromium.

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

Unlike using oilstones, waterstones or powered stones, with Dunbar's method you don't have to worry about flattening the stones. The plate glass is always flat, and when the sandpaper gets dull, you scrape it off and stick on another piece. As I drove home, I thought of my Makita electric sharpening

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Getting an Edge with Waterstones, Oilstones, and Sandpaper

stone lost in the garage of my ex-wife's house. I thought of Schmidt and Hack and how well their sharpening methods worked for them. (Different strokes for different folks?) And then I thought of the glass store near work, and I decided to stop in and get myself a piece of 3/8-in.-thick plate glass. Tom Sawyer wins again. Jefferson Kolle is a former managing editor of Fine Woodworking. Photos: Jefferson Kolle; drawings: Bob La Pointe From Fine Woodworking #140, pp. 56-61 Purchase back issues

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg Tapers can be cut quickly and accurately with a bandsaw, a thickness planer or a tablesaw by Gary Rogowski Table or desk legs that have been tapered top to bottom have a grace and delicacy that square legs just don't seem to have. Shaker furnituremakers exploited this leg style, and so have many others. Although legs may be tapered all the way around, more often than not I cut tapers on two adjoining faces of a leg. The process can be both quick and reliable. Roughing out tapers is best done by machine; either a bandsaw or a tablesaw is a good choice. Tapers also can be cut by mounting leg blanks on a jig that's passed through a thickness planer, a process that requires very little cleanup. Cleaning up the cuts also can be accomplished in a number of ways--on a jointer, with a router and a flush-trimming bit, or with a handplane. How much taper a leg gets and which faces are tapered are personal choices best made with plenty of experimentation.

Tapering on the bandsaw By far, the simplest and safest way to cut a taper is to draw lines on two adjacent faces of each leg and cut just to the waste side of the lines on a bandsaw, making straight cuts.

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The cut is not that difficult to make if your bandsaw is properly tuned and the blade is sharp. Mark out the taper on a milled leg blank, striking a line from the widest point, where the taper starts, to its narrowest point at the foot. If there's a flat near the top of the leg where an apron will intersect it, strike a line across the face of the leg where the taper begins or just slightly below it. The idea is to leave enough material on the leg so it can be cleaned up without making the leg too thin.

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Bandsawn tapers are safe and simple. Feed the leg blank slowly with one hand, steering as you go, and use the other hand to help guide the cut. Cut to the waste side of the line.

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

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If the leg shape is one you might reproduce often, consider making a template of 1/4-in.-thick hardboard or mediumdensity fiberboard. The next time you need to lay out this taper, it will take just a few seconds. It's easier to sight down the layout line if you lower your head a bit as you make the cut. Use two hands to help guide the leg through the blade, feed slowly and try to compensate for any drift before you wander from the line. With practice, it becomes quite easy to cut a straight line on the bandsaw. But be careful to keep your fingers out of the way. It's easy to run your thumb into a bandsaw blade.

Tapering with a thickness planer A thickness planer isn't the first tool that comes to mind for cutting tapers. But a planer will do an absolutely consistent job of tapering leg stock if you use the proper jig--one with a simple carriage that supports the legs at an angle and has stops at either end. The only real drawback is that it's fairly slow.

All four legs of a table can be tapered at once. The author's

I made my jig from a piece of planer jig is made from a piece scrap plywood several inches of 3/4-in.-thick plywood and three angled strips of wood to longer than the length of the support the legs. Stops at legs. To get the taper I either end of the plywood keep wanted, I drew the taper on the legs in place. one of the legs, placed the leg on the plywood base of the jig and raised one end until the taper line was parallel with the plywood. I measured this height near one end of the plywood, cut a support piece to fit there and glued it on. I added a stop just behind it. The narrow end of the legs butt against this stop. The next step is to cut angled pieces that will support the legs and prevent them from flexing under the pressure of the feed rollers in the planer. With these supports glued to the plywood base, I added another stop at the front end of the jig to capture the legs securely--I didn't want the stock moving around beneath the cutterhead.

Tapered sled jig

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The best thing about this method of tapering legs is that all the legs for a project can be done at the same time. Take light passes, especially at first, to minimize deflection of the stock. Also, make sure the legs don't rock on the support pieces. If they do, you'll see some vicious sniping.

Tablesaw tapering The most commonly used tool for cutting tapers is the tablesaw--and why not? It's fast and, if the saw is well-tuned, very little cleanup is needed. You can either make a dedicated jig every time you need a different taper, or you can use a hinged, universal tapering jig to cut many different tapers. I prefer using dedicated jigs because I often reproduce designs. With a dedicated jig, I'm assured of getting the same results every time.

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Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

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

Tablesaw jig

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

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measure from the inside edge of the jig to the widest part of the taper--either the corner of the leg if it's a full-length taper or a few inches shy of the corner if you want to leave a flat section on the leg for an apron. Use this measurement to set the distance from blade to fence. Keep the jig firmly against the fence, and feed steadily as you make the cut, running the narrow end of the leg into the blade first. For the second taper on a leg, rotate the leg blank 90° clockwise in the jig. By rotating the leg this way, a square, untapered face will rest on the tablesaw.

Three ways to clean up the cuts Some cleanup is almost always required after you've cut the basic tapers. Even a planer can leave mill marks. Here are three simple methods for cleaning tapers. Jointer: This tool does a great job of cleaning up sawmarks. I generally go straight from the bandsaw to the jointer. I set the infeed table for a light cut and use a push stick. To avoid tearout, you should cut with the grain. That usually means the narrow end of the leg is last to go over the cutterhead. Inspect the taper first, though, checking for grain direction as well as for any high spots that may need to be taken down by hand before you joint the whole http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00036.asp (3 of 5)25.09.2004 22:34:12

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

Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

length of the taper. Check, too, to see if one end or another needs more wood removed. You may be able to take slightly more off one end than another by varying the amount of hand pressure you apply. Make sure the tapers are well marked so you can tell when you're finished. Feed slowly to minimize cutterhead marks. Router: A flush-trimming bit mounted in a router table is another quick way of cleaning up tapers, especially if you don't have a jointer. This technique also guarantees that all the tapers are precisely the same. Both top-bearing and bottom-bearing bits will do the job, and you can use the same templates here that you used to lay out tapers for the bandsaw. Double-faced tape works well to attach the template to each leg. For a production run, a jig with attached toggle clamps is better and faster.

Template routing ensures consistent results. Both bottom-bearing bits (shown) and top-bearing bits work. Double-faced tape secures the template to the legs.

When a bottom-bearing bit is used in a router table, you will have to make a tapered template for the second taper so the router bearing (which is at a fixed height) has something to ride on. You'll need thicker stock for this template. Cut and clean up the first taper. Then mark the second taper on the template stock by placing it on the tapered leg and setting them both on a flat surface, like a bench or jointer bed. On the template stock, mark a line that's parallel with the bench or bed. Then cut and clean this second side. The template is ready for use. Make sure the tapers have been cut close to the template shape; there shouldn't be more than 1/16 in. of wood to clean up with the router. Set the height of the bit so that the bearing rides firmly against the template. Start the cut back just a little from the end of the leg. Work from the widest part of the taper to the narrowest. Rout the full length, and finish up with one smoothing pass. Handplane: On wood that's not particularly gnarly, a welltuned handplane can be used to clean up tapers straight off the bandsaw, planer or tablesaw. A plane also is a good choice for tapers that have been cleaned up with a jointer or router but still need a little more polishing. Generally, you'll want to plane A handplane cleans tapers downhill (from the wide part of efficiently. A plane leaves a surface that's ready for finish, the taper down to the narrow), but take care to plane with the but you should check the grain grain to avoid tearout. direction of each face you're planing to be sure. The grain may surprise you. Make sure your stop or bench dog won't interfere with the plane at the end of its stroke. Mark a line http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00036.asp (4 of 5)25.09.2004 22:34:12

Three Reliable Ways to Taper a Leg

across your stock at the start of the taper, and take lighter passes as you approach it. Gary Rogowski designs and builds furniture in Portland, Ore., and is a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking. Photos: Vincent Laurence; drawings: Jim Richey From Fine Woodworking #128, pp. 6063 Purchase back issues

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

The versatile chisel

Used correctly, a simple set of chisels covers all of your chopping and paring needs Free Project Plans Tools Skills & Techniques Joinery Finishing Workshop & Safety Materials Project Ideas Current Work Online Video Tips Online Extras Books & Videos

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

Prepare the chisel

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As with many other tools, the performance of a chisel is determined by how well it is tuned. The back of the chisel -the unbeveled side -- must be dead flat for at least 3/4 in., and preferably 1 in. to 2 in., behind the cutting edge. This flat plane guides and controls the cut: A curved back will rock and provide little control.

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Classic Hand Tools

A celebration in word and picture, plus practical information on using, choosing and tunng these mainstays of the woodworker's shop The Complete Guide to Sharpening

Learn the most effective ways to sharpen your tools, from chisels to drill bits The Woodworker's Guide to Hand Tools

An A to Z manual for your hand tools

Bench-Chisel Techniques

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

How to tell if your chisel is sharp It's worth repeating that a chisel must be very sharp to work well. A dull edge takes far more power to drive through the fibers and, more importantly, is harder to control. Everyone has a special way to test the sharpness of an edge: dragging it against a fingernail, shaving arm hair or plucking the edge with a finger. The problem is that these tests are all a bit subjective. I test the sharpness of a chisel by paring a block of end-grain http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00116.asp (2 of 6)26.09.2004 20:10:31

Bench-Chisel Techniques

white pine and then looking at both the shaving and the cut surface. Because softwood fibers are weak and easily torn from the surface, only a really sharp edge will cut a thin and whole shaving. Looking at the end grain, ideally it should be uniformly polished. But more likely there will be light flecks in the surface where fibers were torn away, or it will exhibit fine tracks where tiny nicks in the chisel's cutting edge scraped across the wood. Next lay the chisel with the back flat on one of the longgrain sides of your block. If you can pare a shaving without lifting the chisel, the back and cutting edge are flat. If you have to lift the chisel to get it to cut, the back or cutting edge is rounded.

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

Proper technique ensures good results For most of us, the days of If you can leave a clean cut on working with hand tools alone pine end grain, your chisel is ready for action. are long gone. Whereas chisels would once have been our primary tools for cutting all manner of joints, today we typically use them more often to adjust joints cut on a machine. Chiseling tasks can be simplified to chopping, paring or some combination of the two. Cutting end grain, such as excavating a mortise, is chopping. A mallet usually delivers the driving force, so everything works best when you chop vertically, down against your bench, preferably directly over a leg. Paring is often a hand-powered operation, using the chisel horizontally or vertically to slice away a thin shaving. This can be against the end grain or along the grain. I also pare with the chisel in one hand and use my thumb as a lever, much the same way you would use a knife.

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

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

Chopping to a line vertically -- Cutting with a chisel held plumb is an acquired skill. Finding the right angle is easiest when you are only slightly above the work and looking across the chisel. Sighting against a square set on end helps, as does good light shining toward the work and you. Holding the chisel plumb greatly speeds any chopping task. If this is hard for you, or if you have to cut an angled mortise, saw a waste block to this angle and clamp it in place to guide your chisel. For heavy chopping, driving a chisel with a mallet allows you to concentrate all of your efforts on directing the tool. Light cuts yield more accurate results. Think about the cutting edge sinking into the wood. The back is trying to guide the chisel plumb while the beveled side of the cutting edge presses the chisel against the back. With a light cut this pressure breaks out the chip and holds the back right to the line. Try to chop too large a chip, especially in softwood, and the pressure will push your chisel beyond your line. Take little bites, waste up to your line, and then take a final light cut right on the line. Because I have a good selection of chisel sizes, I waste as much wood as I can with a chisel narrower than the mortise. The final cut is with a chisel snug in the mortise and right on the line. Paring to a line vertically -- Paring end grain gives you a whole new appreciation for the toughness of wood. Good paring takes both muscle and a feel for controlling the cut. A sharp chisel and a light cut give you the best chance for doing accurate work. After you have removed the bulk of the waste using a mallet, switch to a light paring cut right on the line. This provides greater accuracy and control and allows you to undercut slightly. Also, it's just plain quicker than reaching for the mallet each time after moving the work. Work around all four sides of a tenon to establish the shoulder line and to give you something to sight against when paring. Position your body above the work for paring the final shaving or two, using the weight of your upper body to drive the chisel and both hands to guide it.

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

Paring to a line horizontally -- Given a choice, I prefer the control of a plane to shave a surface. But there are plenty of times when I don't have the right plane close at hand or when

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

it's simply quicker to pare a few shavings with a chisel. Long and thin-bladed (for flexibility) paring chisels are the tools of choice here, but a well-tuned bench chisel will work almost as well. For maximum control when paring, I find it's best to have one hand on the chisel handle and the other as close to the work, or cutting edge, as practical. This way you can raise or lower the handle slightly to control the depth of cut, while the hand close to the cutting edge holds the chisel steady and helps guide the cut. This hand also acts as a brake, smoothing out the pressure delivered by the hand on the handle. The smoothest and easiest cuts are made with a slight shearing action, slicing both forward and sideways.

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

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

Paring while using the thumb as a lever -- Holding the chisel like a penknife or a potato peeler, with the blade cutting toward you, takes some getting used to. Once mastered, this technique allows for fine controlled cuts, even in end grain. I use it to pare the end of a table leg, to shorten a tenon and to chamfer its ends. Cutting bevel-side down -- When paring the bottom of a groove, the flat back of a chisel can no longer be used as a guide, and the natural inclination of the chisel is to dig in. Turn the chisel upside down and use the bevel to guide the cut, raising or lowering the handle to adjust the depth of the cut. This method is useful to deepen a mortise or dado (or shape a curved one) or to smooth the bottom of a recess for an inlay. As with all tools, there are many paths to accurate and satisfying results. Sharpen a few chisels and practice these basic techniques. Some of them might not feel comfortable at first, but everyday use at your bench is the surest way to master them. Garrett Hack is a furniture maker in Thetford Center, Vermont. Photos: Mark Schofield and Michael Pekovich From Fine Woodworking #150, pp. 62-65 Purchase back issues

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Bench-Chisel Techniques

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Making Sense of Sandpaper

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Making Sense of Sandpaper

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Making Sense of Sandpaper Knowing how it works is the first step in choosing the right abrasive

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by Strother Purdy Years ago at a garage sale, I bought a pile of no-name sandpaper for just pennies a sheet. I got it home. I sanded with it, but nothing came off the wood. Sanding harder, the grit came off the paper. It didn't even burn very well in my wood stove. Sanding is necessary drudge work, improved only by spending less time doing it. As I learned, you can't go right buying cheap stuff, but it's still easy to go wrong with the best sandpaper that's available. Not long ago, for example, I tried to take the finish off some maple flooring. Even though I was armed with premium-grade, 50grit aluminum-oxide belts, the work took far too long. It wasn't that the belts were bad. I was simply using the wrong abrasive for the job. A 36-grit ceramic belt would have cut my sanding time substantially. The key to choosing the right sandpaper is knowing how the many different kinds of sandpaper work. Each component, not just the grit, contributes to the sandpaper's performance, determining how quickly it works, how long it lasts and how smooth the results will be. If you know how the components work together, you'll be able to choose your sandpaper wisely, and use it efficiently. Then you won't waste time sanding or end up burning the stuff in your wood stove.

Sandpaper is a cutting tool What sandpaper does to wood is really no different from what a saw, a plane or a chisel does. They all have sharp points or edges that cut wood fibers. Sandpaper's cutting is simply on a much smaller scale. The only substantial difference between sandpaper and other cutting tools is that sandpaper can't be sharpened.

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The Wood Sanding Book

Veteran furniture maker and author Sandor Nagyszalanczy expands your understanding of abrasive materials, machines, and methods

Making Sense of Sandpaper

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Sandpaper is made of abrasive minerals, adhesive and a cloth, paper or polyester backing. The abrasive minerals are bonded to the backing by two coats of adhesive; first the make coat bonds them to the backing; then the size coat locks them in position.

Look at sandpaper up close, and you'll see that the sharp tips of the abrasive grains look like small, irregularly shaped sawteeth . The grains are supported by a cloth or paper backing and two adhesive bonds, much the way that sawteeth are supported by the sawblade. As sandpaper is pushed across wood, the abrasive grains dig into the surface and cut out minute shavings, which are called swarf in industry jargon. To the naked eye, these shavings look like fine dust. Magnified, they look like the shavings produced by saws or other cutting tools. Even the spaces between the abrasive grains serve an important role. They work the way gullets on sawblades do, giving the shavings a place to go. This is why sandpaper designed for wood has what's called an open coat, where only 40% to 70% of the backing is covered with abrasive. The spaces in an open coat are hard to see in fine grits but are very obvious in coarse grades. Closed-coat sandpaper, where the backing is entirely covered with abrasive, is not appropriate for sanding wood because the swarf has no place to go and quickly clogs the paper. Closed-coat sandpaper is more appropriate on other materials such as steel and glass because the particles of swarf are much smaller. Some sandpaper is advertised as non-loading, or stearated. These papers are covered with a substance called zinc stearate -- soap, really -- which helps keep the sandpaper from clogging with swarf. Stearated papers are only useful for sanding finishes and resinous woods. Wood resin and most finishes will become molten from the heat generated by sanding, even hand-sanding. In this state, these substances are very sticky, and given the chance, they will firmly glue themselves to the sandpaper. Stearates work by attaching to the molten swarf, making it slippery, not sticky, and preventing it from bonding to the sandpaper.

Methods for sanding efficiently Sanding a rough surface smooth in preparation for a finish seems a pretty straightforward proposition. For a board fresh out of the http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00006.asp (2 of 5)26.09.2004 1:35:07

Making Sense of Sandpaper

planer, woodworkers know to start with a coarse paper, perhaps 80-grit or 100-grit, and progress incrementally without skipping a grade up to the finer grits. At each step, you simply erase the scratches you made previously with finer and smaller scratches until, at 180-grit or 220-grit, the scratches are too small to see or feel. But there are a fair number of opinions on how to do this most efficiently. Don't skip grits, usually -- Skipping a grit to save time and sandpaper is a common temptation, but not a good idea when working with hardwoods. You can remove the scratches left by 120grit sandpaper with 180-grit, but it will take you far more work than if you use 150-grit first. You will also wear out more 180-grit sandpaper, so you don't really save any materials. When sanding maple, for instance, skipping two grits between 80 and 180 will probably double the total sanding time. This, however, is not as true with woods such as pine. Soft woods take much less work overall to sand smooth. Skipping a grit will increase the work negligibly and may save you some materials. Sand bare wood to 180- or 220-grit -- For sanding bare wood, 180-grit will generally give you a surface that looks and feels perfectly smooth and is ready for a finish of some kind. Sanding the surface with a finer grit is only necessary if you're going to use a water-based finish. These finishes will pick up and telegraph the smallest scratches. Sanding the wood to 220-grit or finer will prepare the surface better. However, it's not always wise to sand to a finer grit. You will waste your time if you can't tell the difference, and you may create problems in finishing. Maple sanded to 400-grit will not take a pigmented stain, for example. Pigments work by lodging themselves into nooks and crannies on the surface; without them, they will have no place to stick. Sand faster across the grain -- How many times have you been told never to sand across the grain? True enough. The scratches are much more obvious, look terrible and are hard to remove with the next finer grit. But what holds true for planing wood is also true for sanding. You will plane and sand faster and more easily when the direction of your cuts is between 45° and 60° to the grain, because the wood-fiber bundles offer the least resistance to the cutting edges. Cross-grain scratches are harder to remove simply because they are deeper. Use a combination of cross-grain and with-grain sanding to get the smoothest surface in the fastest manner. First make passes at 45° to 60° to both the left and the right, making an X-pattern on the workpiece. Then, with the same grit, sand with the grain to remove the cross-grain scratches. Do this with each grit when belt-sanding and hand-sanding. The non-linear sanding action of random-orbit and orbital sanders can't take advantage of the wood's grain properties. When I use my orbital, I just sand with the grain.

Choosing from the four abrasive minerals Four common abrasive minerals are aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, ceramics and garnet (see Four abrasive minerals). Except for garnet, they are all manufactured, designed if you will, for different cutting properties. Harder and sharper minerals cut deeper scratches and, consequently, sand the wood faster. But these deep scratches leave a coarse finish, whether you sand with or across the grain. Softer minerals within the same grit size will cut far more slowly but leave a smoother finish. For example, if you sand a board on one side with a 120-grit ceramic, the hardest abrasive mineral, and the other side with 120-grit garnet, the softest, you will be able to feel a distinct difference between the surfaces. It will seem as if you sanded the two sides with different grit sizes.

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Making Sense of Sandpaper

It's easy to rate each mineral's hardness and sharpness, but it's not as simple to prescribe specific uses beyond generalizations. There are many other factors that influence the appropriateness of a sandpaper for a job.

Some fine points about grading scales If you don't mind that we have two measurement systems, the U. S. Customary (foot, gallon) and the International (meter, liter), then you won't mind that we have three major abrasive gritgrading systems. In North America, the Coated Abrasives Manufacturers Institute (CAMI) regulates the U.S. Standard Scale. CAMI-graded sandpapers simply have numbers, such as 320, printed on them. The Europeans have the P-scale, regulated by the Federation of European Producers Association (FEPA). These abrasives are identifiable by the letter P in front of the grit size, such as P320. Finally, to make sure everyone is really confused, there is a totally different micron grading system. This system is identified by the Greek letter mu, as in 30µ. The three systems grade particle size to different tolerances but by the same methods. From the coarsest grits up to about 220, particles are graded through a series of wire mesh screens. The smaller grit sizes are graded through an air- or water-flotation process that separates particles by weight. The chart is helpful in comparing grits of the three grading systems, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Abrasives on the Pscale are graded to tighter tolerances than CAMI-graded abrasives. This means that the CAMI-scale tolerates a wider range of grain sizes within the definition of 180-grit than the P-scale. Tolerances are even tighter for micron grading. P-graded and micron-graded abrasives give more consistent cuts with fewer stray scratches from outsized minerals. Micron-graded abrasives on polyester films are about three times as expensive as paper products and probably not worth it for sanding wood. I have a hard time telling the difference between wood sanded with a 100µ finishing film abrasive and standard 120grit sandpaper. But for polishing a high-gloss finish, I find microngraded abrasives make a substantial difference.

The supporting role of backings and bonds The backing's stiffness and flatness influence the quality and speed of the sandpaper's cut. For the most part, manufacturers choose adhesives and backings to augment the characteristics of a particular abrasive grit. You will have a hard time finding an aggressive abrasive mineral, for example, on a backing suited to a smooth cut. The stiffer the paper, the less the abrasive minerals will deflect while cutting. They will cut deeper and, consequently, faster. Soft backings and bonds will allow the abrasives to deflect more, giving light scratches and a smooth finish. You must even consider what's behind the backing. Wrapping the sandpaper around a block of wood will allow a faster cut than sanding with the paper against the palm of your hand. For instance, an easy Soft backings on sanding tools won't support the sandpaper way to speed up your orbital and make it cut more slowly. sander is by exchanging the soft pad for a stiff one. The other consideration is the flatness of the backing, which has nothing to do with its stiffness. Flat backings position the minerals on a more even level so they cut at a more consistent depth, resulting in

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Making Sense of Sandpaper

fewer stray scratches and a smoother surface. Cloth is the stiffest but least-flat backing. It will produce the coarsest and fastest cut. Cloth comes in two grades, a heavy X and a light J. Paper is not as stiff as cloth but it's flatter. It comes in grades A, C, D, E and F (lightest to heaviest). A-weight paper that has been waterproofed is approximately equivalent to a B-weight paper, if one existed. Polyester films, including Mylar, look and feel like plastic. They are extremely flat and pretty stiff. They will give the most consistently even cut and at a faster rate than paper. The backings for hand sheets and belts are designed to flex around curves without breaking. This is not true for sanding discs for random-orbit sanders. They are designed to remain perfectly flat, and if used like a hand sheet, the adhesive will crack off in large sections. This is called knifeedging because the mineral and adhesive, separated from the backing, form knife-like edges that dig into and mark the work.

The adhesive and backing on a random-orbit sanding pad can crack if the disc is folded like ordinary sandpaper.

Adhesive bonds on modern sandpaper are almost exclusively urea- or phenolic-formaldehyde resins. Both are heat-resistant, waterproof and stiff. Hide glue is sometimes used in conjunction with a resin on paper sheets. It is not waterproof or heat-resistant, but hide glue is cheap and very flexible. When this article was written, Strother Purdy was an assistant editor of Fine Woodworking. Photos: Strother Purdy; drawing: Tim Langenderfer From Fine Woodworking #125, pp. 6267 Purchase back issues

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Axminster Universal Vertical Whetstone Grinder

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The Axminster Universal Wetstone Grinder is an effective and economically-priced sharpening machine, perfect for maintaining a super-sharp edge on a whole range of turning, carving and general woodworking tools. It is equipped with two aluminium oxide grinding wheels, a 5", high speed one for small dry grinding jobs and a 10" diameter 220 grit one which runs at low speed in a water bath to put a really fine finish on the edge without any risk of burning. The built-in grinding rest, which can be adjusted to the ideal grinding angle for all your tools, carries an adjustable bevel guide for the accurate grinding of skew chisels. There are two optional extras available for the machine: firstly a 10" diameter 800 grit Japanese waterstone for getting the ultimate polished edge on the tools and secondly, a precision grinding jig from O'Donnell Sharpening Systems. This jig, comprises the O'Donnell sharpening jig, an adaptor to fix the jig securely onto the grinder and full instructions on setting-up and use. A full description can be found in the "Grinding Jigs" section. Order Code

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Axminster Universal Vertical Whetstone Grinder

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DELTA 23655 230V BENCH GRINDER V/S 6IN, Bench Grinder from Tool-Up UK

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DELTA 23655 150MM BENCH GRINDER WITH LAMP This variable speed Bench Grinder has a 300W, 220-240V, 2000-3450 RPM induction motor, flexible lamp, tool rests with drill bit sharpening guide, eye shields, spark deflectors, grinding and white friable sharpening wheels, diamond wheel dresser, adjustment wrench and instruction manual. Features Include : - Adjustment wrench and diamond wheel dresser. - White friable wheel for sharpening. - Powerful 300W induction motor for long lasting, smooth performance. - Cast iron base which minimises operating vibration. - Variable speeds (2000-3450 RPM) for grinding or sharpening. - Flexible gooseneck lamp for a clear view of grinding wheels and workpiece. - Adjustable tool rests to compensate for wheel wear; includes drill bit sharpening guide. Specifications : Motor : 300W, 220-240V, 50 HZ., 2000-3450 RPM. Shaft Diameter : 13 mm (1/2). Wheels : Diameter - 152 mm (6). Face - 19 mm (3/4). Hole - 13 mm (1/2).

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DELTA 23655 230V BENCH GRINDER V/S 6IN, Bench Grinder from Tool-Up UK

Motor Control : No load push button switch. Weight : 9 kg.

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Product Code: DEL23655 DELTA 23655 230V BENCH GRINDER V/S 6IN

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Vineyard Table

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Excerpted from Dining Tables

Vineyard Table

Complete plans for a trestle table with a twist by Kim Carleton Graves

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The vineyard table is almost as old a design as the trestle table, dating back 300 years or more. Some sources claim these tables were used by grape pickers in French vineyards for working lunches, while others say they were used in wineries for wine tastings. Both stories may be true, since the tables fold easily for storage and transportation. The central "harp" spins around on one set of dowels and the tabletop flips on a second set of dowels to create a remarkably compact package. Neal White of San Jose, California, designed and built this table as a second table for family gatherings at his house. He found it too useful to stow away between occasions, and it's taken up permanent residence in his living room.

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

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I love the look of the figured white oak in this table, but the original tables were made by carpenters from whatever woods were available locally. Like all trestle tables, this one is easily modified to suit the builder's taste and talents. Vineyard tabletops are typically round or elliptical, but you can make the top for this table in almost any size or shape as long as the width clears the feet when the table is flipped. Furniture maker Kim Carleton Graves has been designing and building high-end custom furniture for ten years. His article on duplicating spindles appeared in the May/June 2000 issue of Fine Woodworking (#142). He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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Beds

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On the vineyard table, hinges replace joints between the legs and cleats, and the tabletop is held level by a beautiful harp-shaped support.

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Vineyard Table

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This is an excerpt from the book

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

Vineyard Table he vineyard table is almost as

taken up permanent residence in his

old a design as the trestle table,

living room.

T

dating back 300 years or more. Some

The vineyard table is similar to

sources claim these tables were used

the trestle table on p. 40 except that

by grape pickers in French vineyards

hinges have replaced the joints between

for working lunches, while others say

the legs and cleats, and the tabletop is

they were used in wineries for wine

held level by a beautiful harp-shaped

tastings. Both stories may be true, since

support.

the tables fold easily for storage and

I love the look of the figured white

transportation. The central “harp”

oak in this table, but the original tables

spins around on one set of dowels and

were made by carpenters from whatever

the tabletop flips on a second set of

woods were available locally.

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

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

designed and built this table as a

typically round or elliptical, but you can

second table for family gatherings at

make the top for this table in almost

his house. He found it too useful to

any size or shape as long as the width

stow away between occasions, and it’s

clears the feet when the table is flipped.

57

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

Top

Cleat

Harp

Dowel

Leg

Stretcher

Footpad

58

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

Foot

END VIEW

SIDE VIEW 1"

32" 16"

17/8"

11/2"

33/16"

2"

21/2 " 3/4"

dia.

R 31/2"

13/8"

3/4"

dia.

11/4 "

33/16" 221/2 "

2" 27"

27"

21/2 "

1/2"

2"

7/16"

4

23/4"

23/4 "

33/4"

23/4"

1" 1/2 "

1"

11/2 "

25"

HARP 191/2"

2"

2215/16"

41/2"

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

59

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

Tabletop

60 in. x 46 in. x 1 in.

2

Legs

27 in. x 31⁄2 in. x 1 in.

2

Feet

25 in. x 23⁄4 in. x 11⁄2 in.

4

Footpads1

5 in. x 1 in. x 11⁄2 in.

2

Stretchers

221⁄2 in. x 21⁄2 in. x 1 in.

2

Cleats

32 in. x 33⁄16 in. x 1 in.

2

Harp legs

2215⁄16 in. x 41⁄2 in. x 1 in.

1

Harp cross bar

191⁄2 in. x 2 in. x 1 in.

2

Leveling blocks1

5 in. x 13⁄8 in. x 2 in.

Hardware 2

Hardwood wooden dowels2

3

⁄4 in. diameter x 3 in.

2

Hardwood wooden dowels2

1

4

Steel wood screws

11⁄2 in. by #10

⁄2 in. diameter x 3 in.

1

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

2

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

T

60

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

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

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

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

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

woodworkers recommend springing the boards so they

surfaces being glued. Imagine clamp pressure as radiating

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

45 degrees on either side from the point of application.

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

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

I prefer using enough clamps to provide pressure at all

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

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

points on the glueline. Moving the outer clamps toward the

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

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

the same size and narrower boards, I would have needed

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

even more clamps.

No pressure area

Low pressure area

Good overlap pressure in all areas

Overlap pressure

Not enough pressure

Good pressure

45°

45°

a

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

b

c

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

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

61

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

Place a small finishing nail at each end of

The sum of the distances to the two foci

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

is equal from any point on the ellipse.

crossing the center of the first line at right

Following this definition, you can lay out

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

an ellipse with two nails, a pencil, and a

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

piece of string. By varying the position

Take a piece of string about 100 in. long,

of the nails and the length of the string,

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

you can generate an infinite number

nails. Adjust the position of the knot so that

of ellipses.

a pencil held against the taut string will hit

To generate the ellipse for this table,

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

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

once adjusted, should measure 981⁄2 in.)

the tabletop, centered along the long axis.

Finally, draw the ellipse.

1

Hold the pencil here.

As the pencil moves, the ellipse is formed.

String Put small finishing nails at the two foci.

46" 90°

191/4"

191/4"

23"

60"

62

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

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

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

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

PATTERNS FOR CURVED PARTS

Foot

Cleat

Harp leg

1 in. = 1 square

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

63

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

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

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

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

64

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

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

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

65

SCREW HOLES FOR ATTACHING CLEATS TO TABLETOP

1/8"

through hole (”wobbled out“ for wood movement)

3/8"

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

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

66

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

Making the cleats

Making the harp

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

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

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

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

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

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

HARP LAYOUT

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

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

67

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

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

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

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

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

68

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

69

LEVELING BLOCKS 5’’

2’’

The thickness will vary depending upon the individual table.

11/8"

1"

13/8" 3/4"

Countersunk screw holes

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

70

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

71

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The sounds your tools make can tell you a lot about how they're working — with John White A Safer Tablesaw

As one company prepares to take its safety-centered cabinet saw to the mass market, here's a look back at an early demonstration of the technology — by the editors of Fine Woodworking Cove Angle Calculator

A few quick keystrokes yield tablesaw-blade and fence-angle settings — by Stuart Sabol Black & Decker Acquires Pentair's Tools Division

Both buyer and seller stress a positive outlook on the pending sale — by William Duckworth World Wide Woodworking

An online portfolio can provide a virtual window into your woodshop — by Darrell Peart Transatlantic Planing

Editor takes a course with David Charlesworth in a remote English village — by Mark Schofield A Revolution in Turning Technology

Modern tools cut through conventional wisdom, opening up the craft — by Howard Lewin Why a Combination Machine Works for Me

A veteran woodworker explains what changed his mind about combination machines and why he's still happy with his seven years later — by Tony O'Malley Squaring Up a Square

An edged needle file is all you need for tuning up a combination square — by Steve Latta Making Three-Phase Machines Work in a One-Phase Shop

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King Heiple's Shop-Built Jig

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Gadget helps round over square corners — by Tom Begnal Micro-Adjustable Router Fence: Parts List (online extra)

A parts list for readers who want to build the fence described in Pat Warner's "Micro-Adjustable Router Fence" in the September/ October 2000 issue of Fine Woodworking magazine. — by Pat Warner SawStop Finger-Saver Update (online exclusive)

Safer tablesaws and bandsaws might soon be an option — by Tom Begnal Cordless Brad-Nailer from Porter-Cable (online exclusive)

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There's nothing plain about this plane — by Tom Begnal Parts for Chisel Plane

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

The scraper can replace a stack of sandpaper — by Phil Lowe The Peerless Tool Chest of H. O. Studley

This masterful tool chest stands as an extraordinary example of 19th-century craftsmanship — by Lon Schleining Why Tablesaw Blades Get Dull

Identifying the common culprits can help you postpone your next trip to the resharpening shop — by Tom Begnal Setting Bandsaw Blade Tension

Learn to set your bandsaw's tension to ensure cuts that are straight and even — by Lonnie Bird Fixed-Base Routers

An introduction to a popular and useful tool — by Pat Warner

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Router-Bit Matchup

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

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Making an End Table

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From the pages of Fine Woodworking Magazine Joinery Details

Making an End Table

The beauty of this Arts-and-Crafts design is in the details

Carving a Lamb's Tongue

by Stephen Lamont

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

Tables

Anthony Guidice presents plans and instructions for building ten classic tables Dining Tables

From Kim Carleton Graves, plans and instructions for building nine tables This end table is solidly constructed and meticulously detailed. It should last generations.

About two years ago, I designed and built this end table. Although it's an original design, many details come from other pieces of furniture in the British Arts-and-Crafts tradition. The joinery is mortise-and-tenon and dovetail throughout.

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Traditional Furniture Projects

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

Making an End Table

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The construction of the table can be divided into five main steps: stock preparation and panel glue-up; making the front and rear leg assemblies; connecting these two assemblies (including making the shelf and its frame); making and fitting the drawer; and making and attaching the top.

Skills & Techniques

Stock selection, preparation and layout

Joinery

I milled all the stock for this table to within 1/16 in. of final thickness and width. I also glued up the tabletop, the shelf and the drawer bottom right away to give them time to move a bit before planing them to final thickness. This helps ensure they'll stay flat in the finished piece. With these three panels in clamps, I dimensioned the rest of the parts to a hair over final thickness. I finish-planed them by hand just before marking out any joinery.

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Making the front and rear assemblies Layout began with the legs. I numbered them clockwise around the perimeter, beginning with the left front as I faced the piece, writing the numbers on the tops of the legs. This system tells me where each leg goes, which end of a leg is up and which face is which. Dovetailing the top rail into the front legs -- The Keeping track of the legs is dovetails that connect the easier when they're numbered top rail to the front legs on top, clockwise from the taper slightly top to bottom. front left. This system helps I used the narrower bottom prevent layout errors. of the dovetail to lay out the sockets in the legs. The slight taper ensures a snug fit. Don't make the dovetails too large, or you'll weaken the legs.

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Making an End Table

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

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

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

Tapering and mortising the legs -- I tapered the two inside faces of each leg, beginning 4-1/2 in. down from the top. I removed most of the waste on the jointer and finished the job with a handplane. The tapers must be flat. To avoid planing over a penciled reference line at the top of the taper, I drew hash marks across it. With each stroke of the plane, the lines got shorter. That let me know how close I was getting. I cut the mortises for this table on a hollow-chisel mortiser. It's quick, and it keeps all the mortises consistent. I made http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00078.asp (3 of 5)2005.09.14 01:02:51

Making an End Table

sure all mortises that could be cut with one setting were done at the same time, even if I didn't need the components right away. Tenoning the aprons and drawer rail -- I tenoned the sides, back and lower drawer rail on the tablesaw, using a doubleblade tenoning setup. It takes a little time to get the cut right, but once a test piece fits, tenoning takes just a few minutes. After I cut the tenon cheeks on the tablesaw, I bandsawed just shy of the tenon shoulders and then pared to the line.

Joinery details

One wide apron tenon would have meant a very long mortise, (opens in new weakening the leg. Instead, I window) divided the wide tenon into two small tenons separated by a stub tenon. That left plenty of glue-surface area without a big hole in the leg. Mortising for runners, kickers and buttons -- The drawer rides on runners that are mortised into the lower front rail and the back apron. Similarly, the kickers at the tops of the side aprons, which prevent the drawer from drooping when open, are mortised into the top front rail and the back apron. I cut the 1/4-in.-wide mortises for the runner and kicker tenons on the back edge of both drawer rails and on the back apron. There are eight mortises for the drawer runners and kickers. Another seven mortises of the same size are for the buttons that attach the top to the table's base--three on the back apron and two on each kicker. I also cut grooves for the dust panel at this time. The 1/4-in.thick panel is set into the frame of the table just below the drawer. It's a nice touch, even if it's not needed structurally. I cut the grooves for the panel into the bottom of the back apron and into the back of the drawer rail. (I cut the dustpanel grooves in the drawer runners later.) Then I made a test-fit with a scrap of the same 1/4-in. cherry plywood used for the panel. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00078.asp (4 of 5)2005.09.14 01:02:51

Making an End Table

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Find and purchase articles from the Fine Woodworking Archive to help you with your project. Building a Humidor

Maintaining tropical humidity in a box takes precise joinery and Spanish cedar — by Rick Allyn Search Fine Woodworking Archive YES! I want expert woodworking advice, tips & techniques.

Building a Sleigh Bed

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Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel

Plans for a project that shows elegant proportion, restraint, and balance...and it can be built in a weekend — by Mario Rodriguez

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Vineyard Table

Complete plans for a trestle table with a twist — by Kim Carleton Graves Making an End Table

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The beauty of this Arts-and-Crafts design is in the details — by Stephen Lamont In the Modern Style: A Stylish Credenza

Symmetry and subtle shadow lines give this maple and yellow satinwood office credenza a dynamic visual rhythm — by Patrick Warner

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Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel

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Excerpted from Building Fireplace Mantels

Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel

Plans for a project that shows elegant proportion, restraint, and balance...and it can be built in a weekend Dining Tables

by Mario Rodriguez

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

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

SimpleFederalMantel.pdf

(Download should take approximately 3 minutes on a

Mario Rodriguez, a professional woodworker for 20 years, teaches woodworking at Fashion Institute of Technology. A contributing editor of Fine Woodworking magazine, he is the author of Traditional Woodwork.

From Building Fireplace Mantels, pp. 50-63

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Plans and instructions for seven classic chests of drawers Design solutions and strategies for creating functional, delightful built-ins

In this excerpt, Mario 56K modem) Rodriguez provides complete plans for building a federal mantel, a common style in 19th-century farmhouses. Rodriguez takes you through the steps of choosing the materials, priming the parts, installation, and painting. The mantel is structurally straightforward and can easily be built in a weekend.

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Photos: Bruce Buck and Mario Rodriguez; drawings: Ron Carboni

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Building Fireplace Mantels: Simple Federal Mantel

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This is an excerpt from the book

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

Simple Federal Mantel his mantel is typical of those

family possessions and a backdrop for

found in many rural farm-

social gatherings and important events.

T

houses in the early 19th century.

The mantel’s design shows elegant pro-

Almost always made of wood and

portion, restraint, and balance. And the

painted, the style was taken directly

simple moldings cast bold shadows that

from classical architecture and imitated

highlight its timeless appeal.

the design of basic shelter: columns

The federal mantel is structurally

supporting a beam and roof. The simple

straightforward and can easily be built

moldings and joinery indicate that it

in a weekend. Three boards joined

could have been built by a local carpen-

together with biscuits form the founda-

ter instead of by a furniture joiner. But

tion, which is fastened to the wall.

its simplicity doesn’t diminish its appeal

Plinth blocks (doubled-up 1-by stock)

in any way. The mantel’s flat relief and

support the plain vertical pilasters,

plain treatment perfectly frame the

which support the horizontal archi-

Federal-period hearth opening and pro-

trave. Add a few moldings and the

vide a focal point for the display of

mantel shelf, and you’re ready to paint.

51

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

FRONT VIEW 79"

⁄4" x 51⁄4" mantel shelf

3

⁄4“ x 3⁄4" cove molding

3

1" 111⁄2"

Architrave

111⁄2"

71"

52"

42" Foundation boards

Firebox opening

71⁄4" pilaster

311⁄2"

31"

8" 12" ⁄4"

3

52

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

9" plinth

⁄4" x 11⁄4" side cap

3

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

B

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

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

Choosing Materials During the 19th century, pine was abundant

havoc with human comfort but spared furnish-

and readily available, and carpenters used it

ings and interior woodwork from drastic

for most interior trim, including fireplace man-

changes in temperature and humidity. In a

tels. So a meticulous reproduction would

modern ultra-insulated home, wood is sub-

require large, wide boards of clear pine.

jected to extremes of temperature and relative

However, the use of solid pine for this project

humidity created by efficient central heating

would present problems (besides price) for the

and air-conditioning. The use of wide, solid

modern woodworker that 19th-century car-

boards and true period construction methods

penters weren’t concerned with.

in a modern home would probably cause

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

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

unusual to experience surprising differences

would be to construct this mantel using

in temperature. With a fire blazing in the

lumbercore plywood instead of solid wood.

hearth, the warmest spot in the room would

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

have been a seat in front of it, while other

thing except the plinth blocks and the mold-

areas of the same room might be as much as

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

15º colder. These conditions surely played

discussion of materials.)

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

53

Join the foundation boards with a couple of biscuit slots.

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

54

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

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

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

55

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

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

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

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

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

56

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

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

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

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

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

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

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

This detail shows the capital molding that caps the pilasters.

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

57

ARCHITRAVE-PILASTER JOINT

Foundation

Architrave/pilaster seam is concealed

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

Capital molding Trim screws placed behind capital molding band

Pilaster

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

58

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

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

PLINTH

Mantel foundation Pilaster

Torus molding

Furring strips

Laminated plinth block

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

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

59

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

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

DETAIL OF CORNICE/ARCHITRAVE

⁄4" x 51⁄4" mantel shelf

3

⁄4" lumbercore plywood

3

Furring strip Cove blocking 21⁄4" cove molding

Wall

Foundation Architrave

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

60

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

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

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

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

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

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

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

61

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

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

The mantel shelf

This detail shows the plinth with the torus molding.

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

The cove molding

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

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SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

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

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

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

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

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

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

SIMPLE FEDERAL MANTEL

63

Building a Sleigh Bed

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From the pages of Fine Woodworking Magazine Turning rosettes

Building a Sleigh Bed

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

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I've been building furniture full-time for 21 years and have made more than 1,000 pieces, including dozens of beds. But until recently I had never built a sleigh bed. So when a friend and longtime customer asked me to build one for her, I had some research to do. The Photo: Dennis Griggs nicest one I found was designed and built by William Turner and featured in FWW #91 (pp. 46-51). To my eye, it was all a sleigh bed should be. It had classic lines, style, grace. The only problem was that it took 1,200 hours to build. My client's budget dictated that the bed be built in less than 100 hours. So I had to capture the essence of a sleigh bed, but build it efficiently. The design work was left to me, with just a few stipulations: The bed was to be queen size, and both headboard and footboard were to be 54 in. high. I worked out several sketches for the post profiles, finally settling on this one. Along with twin bands of cove-and-bead molding that ring the bed and rosettes at the top of each post, this profile gave the bed the classic look I wanted.

Plan for the sleigh bed

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The bed is a very simple construction. The headboard and footboard assemblies are joined to a pair of thick rails with knockdown fasteners. These assemblies are each made up of two posts into which are tenoned a turned crest rail and a flat lower rail. A single large panel floats in grooves in both posts and in the crest and lower rails.

The crest rails had to be 611/2 in. long, but my lathe's capacity is only 39 in. So I farmed them out to a local millwork shop where I used to work. While I was at the shop, I ordered eight 8-ft.long pieces of cove-andbead molding.

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00077.asp (1 of 7)2005.09.14 01:06:33

An extensive visual tour of more than 140 classic Shaker pieces Beds

Nine attractive bed projects accessible to woodworkers of any skill level Beds and Bedroom Furniture

From Fine Woodworking magazine, 23 articles on bedroom furniture in a variety of styles Fine Woodworking on Chairs and Beds

I saved time on this bed by using flat panels for the headboard and footboard, rather than coopering a curved panel or using a tambour. Also, instead of carving the rosettes, I turned them (see Turning rosettes). It took less than an hour and a half.

A template speeds fabrication of posts

The Shaker Legacy

From Fine Woodworking's classic black-andwhite era, 33 articles on chairs, stools, rockers, sofas, cribs and beds

Building a Sleigh Bed

About Your Safety Schools Clubs Knots Discussion Events

I glued up the posts and rails from 8/4 stock (about 120 bd. ft., including waste) and then planed the eight planks to a bit more than 11/2 in. thick. I bandsawed a pattern from 3/8-in. plywood and carefully sanded the edges so that all the curves were smooth and fair. I transferred the post profile to the blanks and then bandsawed the posts, staying about 1/16 in. back from the line. I bored 3/32Bandsaw the post profile. Stay in. holes through the outside of the line; what centers of all four crest remains can be routed or circles and all four foot sanded. An outfeed table circles on the drill press. attached to the author's These holes were essential bandsaw makes maneuvering the large blank much easier. in indexing both the pattern and the rosette and in drilling the crest-rail mortise hole. On the finished bed, the top holes were covered by the crest rail and rosettes; the holes in the feet were plugged. With the shape of the posts roughly bandsawn, it was time to template rout the posts to final shape -- that is, attach the pattern to the posts and follow the template with a router and a flush-cutting, bearingguided bit. Sounds good in theory, but there were a few problems. First, as with planing, you shouldn't rout into the grain. That meant having to make all downhill cuts on one side, switch the pattern to the other side of each post, and make the downhill cuts from that side. I penciled arrows onto the wood to indicate stop and start points for the bit.

Use a flush-cutting, bearingguided bit and a template to rout the profile. Rout with the grain to avoid tearout. For sections where you can't rout with the grain, flip the post over, and reattach the template to the other side. Rounded areas at top and bottom are smoothed on a sander.

I also discovered that a 11/2-in. flush-cutting bit starts to burn after only a few minutes of chewing its way through 1-1/2-in.-thick cherry. After seeing this on the first leg, I changed tactics. I sanded all the convex curves I could reach, including the crest and foot circles, using a stationary disc sander and a belt sander with an 80-grit belt. For the straight portion of each post, where the side rail meets the post, I ran the post over the jointer. As a result, the router had only half as much work, and the bit burned a lot less. On tight, inside corners, where the circles meet the curves, I used chisels, gouges and files to get a neat transition. Then the real fun started. All the edges of all four posts had to be sanded to 320-grit. I used a belt sander and a block plane here and there, but for the most part, it was burned fingertips. Incidentally, the 80-grit disc sander marks were easier to sand out than the router burns.

Laying out and cutting mortises The next step was to decide which side of each post was going to be the face. I marked the faces with a pencil and then drilled a 1/2-in.-deep, 2-in.-wide hole on the inside center of each of the crest-rail circles. These holes matched

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Building a Sleigh Bed

the tenons turned on the ends of the two crest rails. I then laid out the mortises for the lower head and foot rails. I offset the mortises to give more strength to the outside wall of the mortise. This gave me 1/2 in. of wood from the outside of the post to the mortise, a 3/4-in.wide mortise, and still allowed the rail to have a 1/4-in.-wide shoulder on the inside. I routed the mortises using a fixture that has two parallel fences with pieces connecting them. The distance between the fences is the diameter of the router base. For ease of operation, I used two routers. The first, with a 5/8-in.-dia. bit, made three passes to achieve the mortise's full 1-1/4 in. depth. With the second router, I used a 3/4-in.-dia. bit to take the mortise to its full width.

Joinery details

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When all four mortises were routed, it was time to cut the end rails to length. Because this is a queen-size bed, I allowed 60-1/2 in. between the posts. With the addition of a 1-1/4-in. tenon on either end, that brought the total rail length to 63 in. I cut the rails to length and then cut the tenons (remember, they're offset -- a 1/2-in. shoulder on the outside and a 1/4in. shoulder on the inside), leaving 1-1/2-in. shoulders at the top and bottom for an overall tenon width of 9 in. I rounded the ends of the tenons with a knife, so they would conform to the routed mortises in the posts. Then I dryfitted the rails in the mortises. Be sure that the rails are flush with or slightly in from the posts. It's much easier to take a little off the back of the post than it is to sand down the whole rail. Build a box to groove the crest rail -- I needed to cut 3/4-in.-wide by 1-1/2-in.-deep grooves at 10° along the entire length of both round crest rails to accept the headboard and footboard panels. This required some creative thinking. My solution was to drill centered 1/2-in.deep by 2-in.-dia. mortises in two 4-in.-sq. end caps and slip the caps over the tenons on the crest rail. I set the whole thing flat on the tablesaw and outfeed table and connected the end caps with two pieces of scrap -- one on the side to run against the fence and another on the top to keep the jig from racking. Screws through the end caps keep the crest rail from rotating while being cut. Remember to keep screws away from the area being grooved. I laid out the location of the groove on the end cap, put the 3/4-in. dado set on the saw and adjusted its height and angle. I set the fence to align with the marking on the end cap and ran the entire unit through the blade. Only one end cap had to be removed to repeat the operation with the second crest rail. With the dado in place and already tilted, I cut the identical groove in the tops of the head and foot rails. Remember that head and foot panels tilt out from the bottom rails and, unlike the crest rails, cannot be reversed. Think before you cut.

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Building a Sleigh Bed

A two-sided box with end caps holds the crest rail at a fixed angle to the blade and provides a flat surface to run against the fence.

Tenons on the ends of the crest rail fit snugly in mortises in the end caps, which are screwed to the crest rail and to the two sides of the box.

Sized stick provides layout lines for head- and footboard panels -- The next trick is to lay out the grooves for the headboard and footboard panels on the inside faces of the posts. To do this, I used a stick to align the grooves that were already in the crest and lower rails. I set one of the posts face down on a pair of low sawhorses and placed both the lower rail and crest rail in position. The top outside edge of the lower rail should meet the junction of the curved and the flat back sections of the post. This is essential if the molding is to align all the way around the bed. I placed a straight stick, precisely 3/4 in. wide and about 29 in. long, into the crest rail groove and turned the crest rail until I could drop the stick into the groove in the bottom rail. Perfect alignment. I marked the post on both sides of the stick, then removed it. Without shifting the crest rail, I marked inside the grooves so I'd know where to stop the groove. I routed all four posts, using the same router fixture as before. To position the fixture, I cut a scrap so it fit perfectly between the two fences, marked a 3/4-in.wide section at its center and moved the fixture around until the marking on the scrap matched the marking on the post at both ends of the groove. As before, I took two passes with a 5/8-in.-dia. bit and a final cleanup pass with a 3/4-in.-dia. bit for each 1/2in.-deep groove. I squared the ends of the grooves with a chisel.

A piece of scrap as long as the space between the fences aligns the routing fixture. Marks indicating the width of the bit are lined up with the groove lines near both ends of the fixture. Then the fixture is clamped to the post.

Now the headboard and footboard assemblies can be dryfitted. I cut the headboard and footboard panels to size (281/2 in. by 61-1/2 in.) and sanded both sides of both panels to 320-grit. Because the whole unit is so large and unwieldy, I first dry-fitted each edge of the panels in its respective groove and then dry-assembled the entire unit. I disassembled it, finished sanding the posts and eased all the sharp edges with a block plane.

Sizing side rails and adding hardware To determine the length of the side rails, I laid one foot post http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00077.asp (4 of 7)2005.09.14 01:06:33

Building a Sleigh Bed

and one head post down so the inside faces of the end rails would be 80-1/2 in. apart (enough space around a standard queen-size mattress or box spring for sheets and covers). The distance from the inside face of the end rail to the inner edge of the post was 5-1/4 in., so I subtracted twice that from 80-1/2 in. and cut the side rails 70 in. long. Hardware for a bed this large proved to be difficult to find. I finally located some heavy-duty, zinc-plated knockdown bed fasteners in the Whitechapel catalog (800-468-5534). I ordered eight pairs, two for each rail end, because this is such a heavy bed. To mark out the bed fastener locations, I clamped all four posts together with feet flush at the bottom. This ensured that all eight mortises would line up precisely. For accuracy, I used a knife to make the scribe lines. Then I transferred those lines to the ends of the side rails and marked the top edge so that the rails couldn't be flipped upside down. The rails took the pin part of the fasteners; the slotted plates were fitted to the posts. I did all the mortising on a horizontal mortiser, To lay out mortises for bed transferring the scribe lines fastener hardware, clamp all four legs together with their from a bedpost to the fence feet flush, and use a marking of the mortising table. Then knife to get a crisp line. I set my stops and proceeded to cut. Because the bed hardware was about 7/8 in. wide, I used a 1/2-in. bit. I flipped the posts and rails over to make two overlapping cuts, which ensured a centered cut. Next I squared the ends of all 16 shallow mortises with a chisel and marked and mortised the deeper slots to accept the rail pins. The routing and inlaying could be done with a router and jig. Before attaching the hardware, I checked mating pieces for a fit. I noticed about 1/32 in. of side-to-side play -- very little really, but for this situation, still too much. The hardware had to align the rails perfectly flush with the posts so the moldings would line up. To remedy this situation, I took a metal punch and pounded a dimple on either side of the slots. It worked perfectly. Absolutely no play. With the hardware in shape, I drilled pilot holes in all the posts and rails and screwed all the bed fasteners into place. Before gluing anything, I dry-fitted the entire bed to be sure that everything was in order and that the rails were interchangeable. Then I disassembled the bed and sanded all the parts to 320-grit.

Gluing up the head- and footboard assemblies I set one post flat on a piece of carpet on the floor and another on a sawhorse within reach. I spread glue into the two round mortises for the crest rail and the two long mortises for the lower rail. Then I set the headboard panel into position, leaving a 1/2-in. gap at both the top and bottom of the groove. The headboard and footboard panels are not glued in; they must be free to expand and contract with seasonal changes in humidity. Holding the panel with one hand, I first slid the crest rail and then the lower rail into their mortises. Then I lowered the opposite post onto the lower rail and manipulated the crest rail into position. Before pounding the post home, I made sure that the

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Building a Sleigh Bed

headboard was centered in its groove. I pounded the post home, laid the unit gently down on its back and clamped it. To make sure the panel's edges wouldn't be exposed when it contracted in the winter, I drilled counterbored holes into the posts at midpoint along the groove. I screwed the panels in place and plugged the holes. This ensured that the headboard panel would remain centered between the rails and that they would expand evenly top to bottom. Once both head- and footboard units were assembled, I pinned the tenons of the lower rails and screwed the crest rails through the posts with 2-in. drywall screws, just off center, to reinforce the mortise-and-tenon joint. Finally, I sanded the posts flush with the lower rails where they meet.

Molding and rosettes finish the bed Before attaching the two bands of molding, I made sure that the rails were firmly seated all the way down in the hangers. It would be embarrassing to have the molding glued on only to have one section of the rail drop 1/4 in. when the box spring was set in place. Attaching the molding is pretty straightforward, but a few hints are in order. I did the top of the end rails first because it's the most difficult to attach. I fit, mitered, drilled brad holes about 8 in. apart along the center and glued and attached the molding with brads. The molding here is virtually impossible to clamp. The short pieces of molding across the grain of the posts needed special attention because the post will change slightly in width. My posts were at about 11% moisture content. To allow for some shrinkage, I left about a 3/32-in. gap between this short piece and the side-rail molding. I tacked down this short strip with a brad at either end and one in the middle, and glued about two-thirds of the way from the miter to the end. The side rail moldings were cut to precisely the same length as the rails and glued using spring clamps and bits of molding cutoffs turned upside down to spread the clamping pressure. The procedure was the same for the lower band of molding. To support the box spring, I marked and routed mortises for short (1-1/4 in. wide) sections of 1/4-in.-thick, 4-in. steel angle iron I had cut for that purpose. I screwed those brackets directly to the side rails. The crowning touch was attaching the turned rosettes. I drilled a 3/32-in. hole into the center of the back of the rosette, tacked in a snipped off piece of 6d finishing nail to center the rosette with the post hole, and glued and clamped the rosette. The bed was finished with three coats of Tried and True varnish oil (available from Garrett Wade; 800-221-2942; www.garrettwade.com). This is the only pure linseed oil on the market, with no additives or driers. It requires a good deal of elbow grease to wipe off, but the build and depth of shine is worth it. For the record, the bed was completed in 96 hours. Chris Becksvoort is a professional furniture maker in New Gloucester, Maine, a contributing editor to Fine Woodworking and the author of The Shaker Legacy. Photos except where noted: Vincent Laurence; drawings: Heather Lambert From Fine Woodworking #124, pp. 5461 Purchase back issues

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Building a Sleigh Bed

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Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker

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Excerpted from Children's Furniture Projects

Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker

Plans for a sturdy plywood chair that can be disassembled and stored flat by Jeff Miller

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

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

ChildsRocker.pdf

Children's Furniture Projects provides a mix of projects that (Download should take has something for approximately 3 minutes on a woodworkers of all 56K modem) skill levels. The ten projects -- ranging from this excerpt to a fanciful rocking dinosaur to sturdy children's beds -- are designed to help make the children's room as well furnished as any other room in the house.

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Jeff Miller, winner of the 1998 Stanley Award for Chairmaking & Design, is also the author of Beds. A professional furniture maker and father of two, he also designs children's furniture.

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

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Children's Furniture Projects: Child's Rocker

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This is an excerpt from the book

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

K

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

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

✦ 91

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

Decorative cutout

Back panel

Cap nuts

Side panel

1/4-20

threaded rod

Dado for seat panel

Strut Seat panel Side panel

92 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

BACK PANEL

All parts 3/4" plywood.

Top and bottom edges rounded over

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

ALTERNATE BACK PANEL

35/8"

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

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

1" 153/8"

Sides bevelled Back edge bevelled Top

SEAT PANEL 153/8"

STRUT Approx. 17"

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

21/4"

Four edges rounded

Fit to rocker to determine exact length.

181/2" Ends beveled

Front edge rounded

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 93

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

Side panels

3

1

Seat panel

3

⁄4" x 16" x 26"*

1

Back panel

3

1

Strut

3

⁄4" x 12 ⁄2" x 18 ⁄2" 1

1

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

Hardware 1

Threaded rod

1

4

Cap nuts

1

⁄4-20 x 36" long** ⁄4-20***

Miscellaneous Scrap wood for interim jig

1

⁄2"–3⁄4" x 8" x 18"

Plywood for side panel jig

3

⁄4" x 25" x 32"

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

T

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

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

The Side-Panel Pattern

1 square = 1"

94 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

Side-Panel Dado Jig 3/4"

plywood

25" 15"

10"

Reference line

30" radius

32"

51/8"

90°

43/16"

8"

3/8"

37/16"

131/4" 811/16" 5"

23/8"

89/16"

2"

33/4"

Straight for 31/2"

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 95

MAKING THE INTERIM SLOT JIG

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

18"

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

7/16"

3 25/8"

121/2"

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

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

Save for filler strip.

25/8"

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

96 ✦

7/8"

37/16"

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

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

23/8"

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

jig to rout the short slot for the strut.

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 97

Cap-Nut Locations

Cap-nut holes

1"

1" 1"

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

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

Transferring the Shape Shaped side

Unshaped blank

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

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

3/8"

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

98 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 99

PHOTO D: Locate

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

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

Determining Strut Length Side panel Back panel

Seat panel

Ruler

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

100 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 101

Making the Angled Drilling Platform

Wedge blank

Mark this angle onto wedge blank. Cut apart.

Align these edges. Seat panel

Match second wedge to first.

12" 12"

SIDE VIEW

Plywood top, 12" x 12"

2" Wedge

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

102 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

11"

Plywood base, 11" x 11"

11"

The Threaded Rods Side panel

Threaded rods

Cap nuts

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

4. Attaching a piece of plywood to the under-

PHOTO F: With

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

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 103

PHOTO I: Slip the threaded rod with

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

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

PHOTOS G AND H: Assembling the rocker can be frustrating

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

104 ✦

CHILD’S ROCKER

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

TIP

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

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

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

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

CHILD’S ROCKER

✦ 105

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