NO. 25 NOTES FROM THE SHOP $2 s0

TAMBOUR VIDEO CABINETTURNED CANISTER SET

OAK COFFEE TABLE

TECHNIQUE, STAVECONSTRUCTION

3:.

N

Sawdust U

EditorDonald B. Peschke

Design DirectorTed Krallcek

Assistant EditorSteve Krohmer

Graphic DesignersDavld Kreyllng

Marcla Slmmons

Subscription ManagerSandy J. Baum

Subscription AssistantsChrlstel Mlner

Vlcky RoblnsonKlm Melton

Jackle StroudShlrley Feltman

Computer OperationsKen Mlner

Administrative AssistantCheryl Scott

ISSN:0164'4114

WOODSMITH is published bimonthly (January,March, May, July, September, November) byWoodsmith Publishing Company, 1912 GrandAve., Des Moines, lowa 50309.WOOOSMITH is a registered trademark of theWoodsmith Publishing Company.ocopyrlght 1983 by Woodsmith PublishingCompany. All Rights Reserved.Subecrlptlons: One year (6 issues) $10, Twoyears (12 issues) $18. Single copy price, $2.50(Canada and Foreign: add $2 per year.)Change Of Addrees: Please be sure to includeboth your old and new address for change ofaddress. Mail to: Woodsmith, 1912 Grand Ave.,Des Moines, lowa 50309.Second class poetage pald at Des Moines,lowa.Postmaster: Send change of address notice,Form 3579, to Woodsmith Publishing Co., 1912Grand Ave., Des Moines, lowa 50309.

BACK ISSUES

A list of the contents of all back issues appearson the wrapper of this issue. lf the wrapper ismissing, you can send for a booklet describingthe contents and prices of all back issues.

SAMPLE COPIES

lf you have a friend who would like to see a copyof Woodsmlth, just send the name and address,and we'll send a sample (at no cost).

ABOUTTHIS IssUE. I have to admit some-thing. I've always been fascinated withtambours (roll-tops). And it doesn't takemuch to talk me into building a projectwith one of these "moving wood" doors.

When we were building the video cabi-net for this issue, I thought it was a goodopportunity to include a tambour. But thisriised a question of practicality' Wouldanyone really lower the tambour to cover-up the T.V. screen?

After we finished this cabinet, I took ithome for a few weeks, and found I couldn'tresist closing the tambour every once in awhile. It was then I discovered that oncethe T.V. was out of sight . . . well, I com-pletely forgot about Love Boat and Fan-tasy Island. (Maybe this tambour is morepractical than I thought.)

PHorocRAPHS. There's something dif-ferent about the photographs in this issue.We've been experimentingwith a new pho-tographic process. In past issues, all ofthephotographs were printed in a processknown as a duo-tone. This is basically ablack-and-white photo that's printed intwo colors (brown and black in our case).

The photos in this issue are still printedin only two colors (which is why greenleaves Iook brown in the photo on thecover), but we've changed the way thephotographs are processed so they have aIittle more life in them.

We're still in the experimental stageswith this new approach, but I think it'skind of exciting. It should improve thequality of the photos so you get a muchbetter picture of what the projects reallylook like.

INDEx. We're including a special 4-page

section in this issue: an index to the con-tents of the first 24 issues of Woodsmith,plus a page of sources for mail-order wood-working catalogs.

The index should help locate articles andprojects in past issues. We'll up-date itagain next year in the January issue'

The list of catalogs includes almost all ofthe mail-order sources we've used for theprojects shown in past issues of Wood-smith. This list is by no means a completeaccounting ofall the catalogs available, butit does include some ofthe best sources fortools and supplies we know of.

But why do those catalog comPaniesmake you pay for what is essentially a bookof advertising?

Granted, the catalog comPanies are"selling" an advertisement. But I thinkthey're worth it. (And I didn't even getpaid to say that.) I've learned a great dealfrom these catalogs - just knowing that acertain tool or a piece of hardware is avail-able is worth a buck or two.

PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT. ONCC CACh

year we're required (by the Post office) toinclude the Publisher's Statement shownbelow. Last year, this statement showed atotal circulation of about 30,000. Nowwe're up to 74,000. But that was as of theSeptember issue. With this issue, the totalcirculation is 110,000, and growing'

This kind ofgrowth has put a few strainson all of us here at Woodsmith. And this isone of the reasons we're behind schedulefor getting the issues out on time.

NExT MAILINc. The next issue of Wood-snlilb (No. 26) will be in the mail during thefrst week in April. Until then, thanks foryour patience.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)

t. Title of Publication: Woodsmith. 1a. Publication No.: 01644114. 2. Date of Filing: September 30, 1982. 3. Frequency of issue:

Bimonthly. 3a. No. of issues annually: six (6). 3b. Annual subscription price: E10.00. 4. Complete mailing-address of known offrce of

publication: 1912 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, (Polk County), Iowa 50309. 5. Complete mailing-address ofthe headquarters ofgeneral

Lusiness offrces of the publisher: 1912 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. 6. Complete address of publisher, editor, and

managingeditor: Publisher: Donald B. Peschke, 1912Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa50309, Editor: (same as publisher), Managing

Editoi (n-one). ?. Owner: Donald B. Peschke, 1912 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. 8. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and

other security holders oming 1 percent or more oftotal amount ofbond, mortgages or other securities: None. 9. (does not apply) 10

Extent and nature of circulation:

Actual no. copiesAverage no. copies of single issueeach issue during published nearest

preceding 12 months to frling date(SePt.,1982)

A. Total no. copies printed (net press run) 54'832

B. Paid Circulation1. Sales through dealers and cmiers, street vendors

and countcr sales2 . M a i l s u b s c r i p t i o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 ,18548,93850,123

80,782

1,78172,53r74.312C. Total paid circulation (Sum of 1081 nd 1082) ..... " '

D. Free distribution by mail, canier or other meanssamples, complimentary, and other free copies ..........

E . To ta l d is t r ibu t ion (Sum o f C and D) . . . . . . . . . . .2 t B

50,144 74,335F. Copies not distributed

1. bffr." ur", left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing 4'624 6'424

2. Retums f rom news agents . . . . . . . . . . M

G . T o t a l ( S u m o f E , F l a n d F 2 ) . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . M ' 8 5 2 8 0 , 7 8 2

11. I certiiy that the statements made by me above are conect and complete. (signed) Donald B. Peschke, Publisher/Editor

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PHYS|CS r O l

Recently, I experienced considerabie diffi-culty trying to put a sanding sleeve on mydrum sander. Then I remembered a trick Ilearned in my high school physics class.

To reduce the size of the sanding drumso that the sleeve would slin on withoutdifficulty, I put the drum into the freezerfor about fifteen minutes. As the drumcools off, it contracts enough so that thesanding sleeve can be slipped on withoutany problems.

Datid l{. BowerLaurert s, South C arolina

ROUTING EDGES ON SMAtt CIRCTES

I've come up with a jig to use on the routertable that eliminates a lot of the problemsassociated with routing the edges ofroundblanks. First of all. it makes routing smallround blanks a whole lot safer than tryingto rout them free hand. Second, you canrout the edges of round blanks using bits

that have no pilot bearings (since the jigitself limits the u'idth of cut the bit makes).

And finally, when it comes time to routthe edge on the finish sicle ofa round blank,I can do it accurately without having tomar the face of the blank with a tramtnelpoint (which requires drilling a hole on theface sides of a blank for the trammel pointto ride in.)

To make the jig, I used a piece of 3/n"plywood approximately 12" x 30". Then Imade two cuts for the opening as shown inthe diagram. (I tried to keep the two sidesofthe "V" at a 45'angle from the front sideof the jig). Then where the two sides of the"V" meet, I cut a 3" square opening forclearance around the router bit.

Next, I attached a hinged bit guard tothe back side ofthe S" square opening. Thisway, the guard can be flipped up out oftheway when not in use.

To use the jig, I've found the key thingtowatch for is that the round blanks are cutout as cleanly as possible. And the bestmethod I've found to do this is to use the

nrouter and a trammel point on the backside of the blank.

Then I position the jig on the routertable so that the bit is only taking a lightcut when the blank is held against the sidesof the "V". After the jig is clamped inposi t ion, the b lanks are routed in acounter-clockwise direction, keeping pres-sure against both sides of the jig, andagainst the surface of the table.

Brian SmithKeyser, West Virginia

AN INEXPENSIVE DRIt t ING JIG

I use a piece of Masonite peg board as amarking gauge to drill evenly spaced holesin cabinet sides, etc. The advantage ofpegboard is that you can cut it to the size ofthepiece being drilled, and then just hold itagainst the side ofthe cabinet. It's easy tokeep everything flush and square, and theholes are evenly spaced every time.

RaLph ScottW oo d\and,. C a,lifonlia

CARRIAGE BOTIS

I've found that whenever I'm using car-riage bolts in wood, the square shoulder(that's supposed to hold the bolt securely)has a tendency to slip when I'm trying toremove a nut on the other end.

What I've done to counter this effect isto cut a slot into the end of the bolt with ahack saw. Then as I'm removing the bolt, Ican insert a screw driver in the end ofthebolt to keep it from turning.

This has been particularly helpful whenworking with woods that have deter-ioraled from age, or when the nuts onca r r i age bo l t s have to be removedfrequently.

PauI IngmansonMarseilles, Illinois

IT TAKES THREE IO GET ONE

In Woodsm,ith No. 23, you described atechnique to flatten the bottom of a handplane using two surfaces. To be honest,you must have gotten lucky because theonly way to get a truely flat surface is byusing three surfaces, not two.

Start by marking the surfaces 1,2, and3. Then rub surfaces I and 2 together(using the silicon carbide slurry as an abra-sive) until they show good contact all over.Then rub surfaces 2 and 3 together, andfinally surfaces 3 and 1. By using finer andfiner grades ofsilicon carbide slurries, youcan get any degree of polish you want.

This method doesn't take anv fancv hold-

ing fixtures, but it does take a little timeand patience. The end result is three abso-Iutely flat surfaces.

S. W. HathawagS udburu . M as s achus etts

ARTIST'5 rnlnr.rOr.rS

I have a suggestion for quick and accuratesetting of the miter gauge on the table saw.For common angles (30', 45', 60', 90'), Iuse good 12"-14" drafting triangles (avail-able at art supply stores) to set the mitergauge. They're extremely accurate, andyou get the same angle every time.

Bruce WalduogelManteno, I\Iinois

DOVETAIT CHISETS

I'd like to make a suggestion to the readersof Woodsm,ith that I find to be very helpfulwhen hand-cutting iap dovetails.

I've found that the hardest part in cut-ting lap dovetails is cleaning out the waste

in the corners between the nins. What I'vedone to eliminate this aggravation is pur-chase two inexpensive %" chisels andregrind them at a skew (one has a 15"right-handed skew, and the other has a 15"left-handed skew).

The long point of the skewed chiselsreally helps to get into the tight cornersbetween the pins when it comes time toclean everything up.

John R. MountjoyW inston - S alem, N orth C aro Lina

lf you'd like to share a woodworking tip with otherreaders ol Woodsmith, send your idea to:Woodsmith, Tips & Techniques, 1912 GrandAve., Des Moines, lowa 50309.

We pay a minimum of $10 for t ips, and $15 ormore for special techniques (that are acceptedfor publication). Please give a complete explana-tion of your idea, lf a sketch is needed, send italong; we'll draw a new one.

Shq&ge cabinetA PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

a

"Where am I going to put all this stuffl I'verun out of baby-food jars and little plasticdrawers; and I need a place to put all thesescrews, brads, sandpaper, bolts, nuts, anda dozen little tools.

"How about a cabinet? Something aboutthe size ofa three-drawer file cabinet thatdoesn't take up much floor space. Thatshould work. And it should have a lot ofshallow drawers . . . and the drawersshould have 'modular'dividers that can bearranged any way I want them."

I had these thoughts one Saturday as Iwas going through my monthly "cleaneverything in the shop" routine. I wasget t ing f rust rated wi th l i t t le p last icdrawers that don't hold enough, and bigworkbench drawers that force you to piletoois on top of tools.

I finally decided to build this Shop Stor-age Cabinet. It takes up less than 2 squarefeet of floor space, yet there's almost 13square feet of storage area.

THE DRAWERS

The cabinet shown here has 12 drawers:six small, f ive medium, and one largedrawer. However, the size and number ofthe drawers can be altered to suit yourneeds. Each drawer is a multiple of theothers: A medium-size drawer takes upexact ly twice the space of two smal ldrawers. And the large drawer equals onemedium and one small drawer. (If I werebuilding another cabinet, I'd skip the largedrawer and replace it with three smalidrawers. These small drawers are reallyhandy for all sorts of things.)

In addition to being multiples of eachother, the dimensions of these drawersallow you to cut all the pieces from stan-dard construction lumber (1x4's and 1x6's)with very little waste (see Cutting Dia-gram on page 7).

One last thing, these drawers are de-signed to take full advantage of multiple-cutting techniques. Once you make a set-ting for one drawer, it's the same on alldrawers (no matter what size they are).

THE CABINET

In normal construction procedures, youwould decide on the size of the cabinet firstand then build the drawers to fit the cabi-net. But since there are so many drawers,I wanted to simplify the drawer con-struction as much as possible.

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The best approach, I decided, would beto determine the final dimensions of thedrawers (so they would be easy to cut), andthen bui ld the cabinet to accept thesedrawers.

After a little experimenting I found itworks best if the outside dimensions of thedrawers are lSYq" wide by 15X" cleep. Thisgave me the dimensions I neecled fol thecabinet.

TOP AND tsOTTOM. F irst cut tu'o piecesfor the top and bottom ofthe cabinet 15%"wide (this is the clepth of dran'ers). Thelength o f these p ieces i f 1 { i ; - ' t th is a l lou 'sl1Vq" for the width of the dlau'er ' , plus %"for clearance on the sir les. lr lus 1: :" for therabbets used to attach the cabinet sides.)

Then cut t /2" \ : t ' i ' r 'abbcts on the ends ofthe both pieces, see l- ig. l . Also cut a %" x1/2" rabbeL on the back erlge tto attach thecabinet 's back).

T H E S I I ) E S . T h e s i r i e s h a l e a l o t o fgrooves for the drari 'c l rLlnners (see I ' ig.1 ) , and I u 'an ter l to rnake sure thesegrooves l ined up perlrct l l ln both sides.

To do this, I cut a 1rir ,ct, ,r f plvu'oocl to the.f inal letryt l t of the sir l ts. but lr l rce thez.uidlf t (plus a l i t t l r r . \ i ra lor t l im). Thisway I coukl cut al l tht, { l ' (){rves at the sametime in this ont r lr i ihl t .-n' i r le rvorkpiece.Then I l ipperl tht \ \ 'o1'k11i1'c' t ' to get twosides * ' i th 1rt,r l i .cth' nratcht,r l gl 'ooves.

To stalt . I cut thr u l lkpiece to a roughwidth of ;Jf anrl : , ' :ht. t inal lensth of theside pieces t iJ-1: ' . t . t . I ' ig. 1. This lengthmeasul 'cnrenl al i ,rr ' : i rr t ' the amount ofspace rerluirerl i r l tht. 1f r l lau'ers ( includ-ing clealance r, 1rlLrs I t 'ol the ts'o %"-deeprabbets on th f t ( ) l ) an t l ho t ton i p ieces .

G R O O \ ' t l S t ' o l t R t ' \ \ U H S . N o w t h egrooves for the l'unnlr': (an be cut 7:" wicleby %" deep. I cLrt tht.se gl 'ooves on a tablesaw with a cla<kr biarlr . l 'ht,n.reasurementsfo r these cu ts tsh , ,s r r in l ' i g . 1 ) a re thedistance fronr the. li,nt't, to the "beginning"edge of the glot,r ' t .

I 'm using the tt lnr "bt 'ginning" edgebecause the six g1'o{,\ ' rs at the top of thecabinet are cut ri'ith the lrrTr edge of theworkpiece against the tence. But the lowerf ive grooves al 'e cut rvi th the Doilorrr edgeof the workpiece against the fence. Note:There's no need for a gloove (<lr a runner)for the bottom dlau'er ' .

RIP TO wtI)TH. After the grooves are cutin the double-u' ide u'orkpiece, r ip the twosides to final g'idth to match the ton andbottom. Then cut a rabbct on the back ecleeof both pieces for the cabinet 's back.

ASSEMBLY. Before the top, bottom andsides are assembled, I cut the %" Masoniteback to final size. Then glue and nail thefour pieces for the cabinet together, andalso glue and nail the back in place. (Theback will help hold the assembly square).

Finally, I added edging strips to thefront on the cabinet (to cover the exposedplywood edges), see Fig. 3.

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*=-%" RABBEI r 7r"DEEP ON BACK EDGE

'IATI GROOVES

t/z', ttflDE x tA', DEE?

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(B ' r/i' RAaBEI x t/2" DEEP

NAII. BACK IN PTACE

(D)/r" MASONITE BACK

DRAWER CONSIRUCTION

The construction method I used for thesedrawers is a little out of the ordinary, andprobably neecls and explanation.

The strangest thing about these draw-ers is that the sides extend beyond thedrawer's front and back. This was done fortwo reasons. F irst, I needed a little extra"meat" at the front and back to strengthenthe tongue and groove joint.

The other reason has to do with what Iclidn't want to happen. I didn't want to puta stop on the drawer (so I could pull it outeasily and take it wherever I neecled it),but at the same time, I didn't want to pullthe clrawer out too far and have it fall downancl hit my toe.

To get the best of both worlds, I simplylengthened the drawer sides so they ex-tended beyond the drawer's back. As thedrawer is puiled out, you naturally stopwhen you see the drawer back. But ifyoupull a l i tt le too far on these drawers,there's still enough left on the drawer sidesso they don't fall out of the cabinet.

THE CUTTING SEQUENCE

Now the fun begins. I spent the better partof a day cutting all the pieces for the 12drawers. To speed things along, I mademultiple cuts: Once the saw is set up tomake a cut, I made this cut on all pieces. Iused the following sequence of cuts.

l. cUTT() ROUGH LENGTH. I find things gomuch easier if I 'm working with smallpieces. So I started by cutting enoughpieces for the sides, fronts, backs and cli-viders (plus a feu'extra pieces to use fortest cuts) to a rough length of 15%".

This rough length easily accommodatesthe final lengths needecl for all the pieces,ancl also allows you to get six fuli cuts out ofan 8' board (allowing %" for the kerf).

2. TRIM TO LIINGTH. Next, I used a panelcutting jig (shown on page 13) to trim allthese pieces to their f inal length, seel' ig. 5.

3. RIP rO wIDrH. Al l o f these roughpieces are ripped to final width to get thefour basic pieces for each drawer (thefront, the back, and the two sides).

Note: The dividers (which are optional)are a total of %,i' narrower than the fourbasic pieces to allow Vz" for the drawerbottom and %,i' clearance below the topedge of the drawer sides.

1. SELECTIoN. When the pieces are cut tofinal width and length, mark what eachpiece is (to avoid confusion), and also markthe inside face of each piece.

5. DADOES. Now, a whole bunch of Vt" x%" dadoes must be cut in all these pieces.The position of these dadoes is such thatyou can set the distance from the fence tothe inside ofthe dado blade, and make a cuton one end, then turn the piece around andcut the other end.

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SMAII. DRAWER DIVIDER

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TARGE DRAWER DIVIDER

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GROOVE %"FROM BOTTOM

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I worked on all the side pieces first, seeFig. 6. The dadoes on the front and backpieces and the dividers are all the same(see Fig. 7), except the dividers are cut onboth sides.

6. TONGUES. After the dadoes were cut, Icut the tongues on the ends ofthe front andback pieces to fit snugly in the dadoes.(This is just a matter of cutting two rab-bets on each end to leave a tongue.) Thenreset the saw to cut tongues on the divi-ders so they fit somewhat loosely in thedadoes. (You want to be able to removethese dividers easily.)

It's best to make test cuts for thesetongues on a piece ofscrap first. Thenjointhis test piece between two sides'uo checkthe final width. (This test assembly shouldfit between the sides of the cabinet withabott t/s" of clearance.)

?. GROOVE FOR BOTTOM. Cut a groove forthe drawer bottom on the inside edge of allthe fronts, backs and sides. This gl'oovestarts %" from the bottom edge and is wideenough to accept a %" Masonite bottom.

8. RABBET FOR RUNNER. Next, rabbetsare cut on the outside, bottom edges ofthesides to fit the drawer runners. To get asmooth cut here, I cut these rabbets on therouter table with a straight bit.

9. NOTCH FoR HANDLES. The final step isto match up pairs of drawer sides and markthe front edges. Then cut a %"-deep by"/i'-high notch on the front edge of eachside piece for the drawer's handle.

10. DRAWER BOTTOMS. Dry-assemble thefour pieces for the drawer to get the mea-surements for the drawer bottom. (I cut allthe bottoms out of r/a" Masonite.)

11. ASSEMBLY. F'inally, the drawers canbe assembled. Appiy glue to the tongueand groove joints and join the four piecesand the drawer bottom. (I tacked a smallbrad through the drawer side to hold eachjoint together while the glue dried.)

12 , DRAWER HANDLES. The d rawerhandles are ripped Vz" wide from some ofthe remaining stock. Then they're gluedand nailed into the notch on the front edeeof the drawer's sides, see Fig. 9.

13. RUNNERS. If all has gone well, thedrawers will fit in the cabinet wilh a totalof /a" of play. All you need now are therunners. I ripped Vz"-wide strips fromsome of the remaining stock. Then I re-sawed each strip so there would be about|Aa" clearance between the runner and therabbet on the drawer side, see Fig. 11.

14. DIVIDERS. Use the remaining Mason-ite to cut dividers for the drawers. (Someof the options are shown in the detailphotos on page 4.) Since these dividers arenot glued into the dadoes, they may have atendency to raise up. I cut them about %a"less than the height of the drawer sides).

r5. CASTERS. I added four swivel castersto the bottom of this cabinet so I couldmove it where I needed it.

TOWARD CORNER OF NOICH DRAWER RUNNER

MATERIATS I,IST

ABcDEFGHIJKtMNoP

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Dimensions: 35t/z"H x 16,h"W - lSt/z"D

Plywood Sides (2) 3 A x l S t / z - 3 4 t / z

Pfywood Top/Bof (2) 3/q x 15t/a - 167/sMosonite Drqwer Bol (l2lr/a x 141/4 - ll3hMo3onite Cose Bock (l ) t/c x 341/z - l63hMosonite DividercSmol l Sides ( I2)

Smoll Fronts (6)

Smol l Bocks (6)

Smoll Dividers (6)

Runners (24)

Hondles (12)

lorge Sides (2)

Lorge Front ( l )

lorge Bock ( l )

lorge Div ider ( l )

Medium Sides (10)

Medium Fronts (5)Medium Bocks (5)

Medium Dividers (4) 3h x 27h - l4t/q

cut to fi i3 h x l t t / t c - l 5 t / a

3 h x l t V t c - 1 4 1 , / q

3 /qx l t t / t c - 141/c

l q x 7 t / a - 1 4 1 / c3 / a x t / z - 1 5

t / z x 1 / z - l 1 t / q

3 h x 5 7 A o - 1 5 1 h

3 h x 5 7 A c - 1 4 1 / q

3 / c x S ' A c - 1 4 1 / c

3 / q x 4 7 A - 1 4 1 / t

3 / q x 3 7 / r c - l 5 t / c

l c x 3 7 / t c - l 4 t / t3 h x 3 r / t o - 1 4 t / a

CUTTING DIAGRAM

%" PLYWOOD

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%" MASONITE 48" x 96"

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JOINERY THAT TURNS INVISIBLEAlmost every turning project begins bygluing up enough wood to work with. Thisusuaily means laminating several smallpieces to get one big chunk of wood.

If the shape you're working with is acylinder, the size (and weight) of thatchunk ofwood can quickly get out ofhand. . . unless you use stave construction.

This method of laminating is just a vari-ation on a mitered frame. The only differ-ence is that the miters (or bevels in thiscase) are cut on the sides of each board,rather than on the ends.

Then these boards are glued together toform a six, eight, ten or twelve-sided"cylinder." It's just like building a barrel(or a hot tub, for those of you under 40).

The result of this method of lamination isa woodturner's dream come true. Staveconstruction eliminates the nagging prob-lem of end grain on the perimeter of thecylinder.

The biggest advantage, however, is costsavings, Stave construction uses verylittle lumber because the whole point is tocreate an almost round surface to beginwith. This, of course, also speeds up theturning process.

CHOOSING THE WOOD

The first step in stave construction is tochoose the lumber. From a visual stand-point, certain types of wood work betterfor this type of assembly. In fact, if theright type of wood is used, the joint linesare almost invisible. (Thus, the cylinderdoesn't look like a bunch of scraps gluedtogether.)

The best woods are the open-grainedspecies: oak, ash, butternut, walnut andmahogany. (I used butternut for on thecanisters shown in the following article,and koa for the bowl on page 24.)

There's one other factor in choosing thewood. If the lumber is warped, twisted, orbowed, it's almost impossible to cut thestaves correctly. And the joints wiil neverbe tight. The solution is to use only flat,straight (expensive) wood.

THE NU'IABER OF SIDES

Once the wood has been selected, the nexthurdle is deciding the number of sides forthe cylinder. This sounds simple enough,but it takes some planning.

The ultimate goal is to turn a cylinder (atrue circle) out of a bevel-ripped assembly.Which means a circle has to fit within across-section of the assembled pieces . . .and there has to be enough width to get thewall thickness needed for a cvlinder.

The best way to determine the "right"number of sides for the size cylinder youwant is to draw it out on paper first. For allfour canisters shown in the next article, Iknew I wanted a wall thickness of '/*", plusat least %" for waste (when truing up thecylinder walls).

Since the largest canister presentetl themost problems, I started with it. I clreu' acircle with a radius of 3"/s" (for a tliameterof 6/n"), see Fig. 1. Then I clrew anotherone inside it with a radius of 2%" (rvhich isenough for the Vs" wall thickness, plus the%" for waste).

It turned out that using 4/4 stock foran eight-sided assembly worked for thelargest canister, and it also worked well orrall the smaller sized canisters.

CUITING IHE BEVETS

Once I clecided on eight sides, I had tobevel-rip the sides to make the cylintler'.The angle of the blade for these cuts iscritical - even a slight error can lead to bigheadaches. In the case of an eight-sicledassembly for example, there are eightjoints. But eachjoint consists oftwo sides.So, there are 16 cuts involved.

Any error in the angle of the bevel ismultiplied by 16 - a t/a" error in the bevelsetting adds up to a 4o error when theassembly is glued together. That's morethan enough to create some unsightlygaps.

SOLUTION. The best way I've found toget around this problem is to make twosub-assemblies for the cylinder. Each sub-assembly consists of one-half the totalnumber of sides.

The advantage of two half-cylinders isthat they can be sanded to mate perfectly(which we'll get to later). (This also meansthe cylinder must have an even number of

ARC OF CYI.INDERMUST FIT WITHIN THETHICKNESS OF SIOCK

sides so it can be divided into halves.)Although some corrections can be made

on these sub-assemblies, it's rather im-portant to get as close as possible whencutting the bevels. (For eight-sided as-sembly the blade angle is set to 221h".)

SETTING THE SAW BLADE. The MOSI ACCU-

rate method I've found to set the bevel ofthe blade is to use an adjustable triangle.(Acljustable triangies that can be set to anyclegree between 0o and 90'. See Woodsm.ithNo. 20 for more on these triangles.)

Set the angle on the adjustable triangleancl hold it against the body ofthe blade (soit doesn't touch any ofthe teeth). To checkthis setting, go ahead and cut a piece ofscrap rvoocl, and then check the bevel oftheactual cut. (The best way to do this, is toduplicate the angle on a sliding bevelgauge. )

If the angle is off, adjust the blade andmake another test cut until you get as closeas possible. (Slight errors can be com-pensated for later.)

CUTTING IHE STRIPS

Once the bevel is set, I cut eight strips tothe u'idths neecled for all of the cylinders.(See page 10 for the widths of each stavefor the foul different size canisters.) Justto be on the safe side, I cut one extra stavepel cl ' l inder.

After all of the staves are bevel-rippedto u'idth, cut them to length. (To com-pensate for some loss during the turningprocess, cut the staves about 2" longerthan their finished lengths.)

L A Y 0 L T A N D M A R K I N G T H E S T A V E S .When the staves have been cut, lay theeight staves side by side and arrange themto get a nice grain pattern. Then to keepeverything in order, number all of thestaves to maintain their sequence duringthe gluing process.

ASSEMBTING THE CYLINDER

It's possible at this point to glue all eightstaves together at once to form a cylinder.But whenever I try this, I wind up withfrayed nerves and an expanded vocab-ulary. Instead, I glue the staves into setsof two, then into sets of four, and finailyinto the completed cylinder. The first twosteps of this gluing procedure are donewith hand pressure only.

Hand pressure only? Does that reallywork without using clamps?

It's surprising what you can do with alittle pressure and the right glue. I useTitebond glue, which is a fast-setting gluethat makes it possible to "clamp" the

WoODSMITH

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staves together with just hand pressure.Spread some glue on one surface of the

jo in t . Then s l i de t he beve led edgestogether and hold them firmly for aboutone minute, see Fig. 1. As you slide thetwo staves together, try to keep the out-side corners ofthe bevels tightly together.Also try to keep the bottom edges flush.

Once all of the staves have been joinedinto sets oftwo, join these sets together toform sets of four, using exactly the sameprocedure.

CORRECIIVE MEASURES

These sets of four form the half-assembliesmentioned earlier. Any error in the bevelscan be corrected at this point before thehalf-assemblies are joined together.

But first, the angle ofthe bevels must bechecked with a straight edge, see Fig. 2. Ifthe bevels are at the correct angle, thestraight edge will touch the entire width ofboth beveled edges.

But that's not usually the case. Most ofthe time (at least in my shop) the straightedge only touches the inside or outsidecorners ofthe bevels. And, they have to becorrected. l'ortunately, this is a relativelyeasy operation.

To correct the angle ofthe bevels, fastena piece of sandpaper to a flat surface (atable saw, or a piece of plate glass). Thensand both half-assemblies until the bevelededges are flush with the flat surface, seeFig. 3. (As you sand, rotate each assemblyto prevent rounding over ofthe ends.)

1 Gltre the staues into sets of two, thenI into sets of .fotrr. Hold them with ha nd

pressul'e on|11 .for about otte minute. Besure aLI of the bottont. edges are flush.

4 Wtr :!:,:,:'f 'fon fi i lH,,Yi rtr l'l:;and band-clamp the entire assembly ouer-night. Be sure the bottom edges areflush.

BAND CTAMPS

Sanding the beveled edges like this pro-duces two flat surfaces that can be easilyjoined. However, it also changes the an-gles of the bevels just slightly, and altersthe final proportions of the assembly. Thisis usually not a problem, but you want toremove as little material as possible tokeep the assembly close to the originalsnape,

Once the two halves match, glue themtogether using two band clamps, keepingthe bottom edges flush, see Fig. 4.

MOUNT FOR TURNING

Now this stave assembly is ready for turn-ing. In order to turn it into a true cylinderit must be mounted to a plywood disc,which in turn is mounted to the faceplate ofthe lathe.

CENTERING THE CYLINDEN. The tricK isto mount the cy l inder so i t 's exact lycentered on the plywood disc, and so thedisc is exactly centered on the faceplate.All of this centering is critical becausethere simply isn't enough material to allowremoval of very much stock when the cylin-der is trued on the lathe.

To make the plywood disc, draw a circieabout 1" larger than the diameter of thecylinder. (I used a compass to draw thiscircle so I would know where the centerpoint is.) Cut out the disc and then drawanother circle to a diameter that matchesthe cy l inc ler 's widest (point - to-point )width, see l'ig. 5. This circle is used tocenter the outside of the cvlinder as it's

CHECK BEVEI. WIIH STRAIGHT EDGE

s1 When the g lue is dry on the hal f -,3 assemblies, the beueled edges should

form a straig ht line . If they don't, it can beconected before final assembly.

PTYWOOD D|SC

p. To mount the cyLinder on the lathe,J prepare a plywood disc by drawing acirc\e equal to the manimum diameter ofthe cylinder. Center cylinder on this line.

being glued to the plywood disc.However, before gluing on the cylinder,

you should drill pilot holes in the plywooddisc to mount it to the facenlate. Onceagain, draw a circle that hai the sameradius as the outside row of holes on thefaceplate.

Lay the faceplate on the plywood disc,centering the outside row ofholes over theIine and mark the location of all the screwhoies. Then drill pilot holes completelythrough the plywood. (The faceplate isactually attached to the other side of thedisc. )

Finally, the cylinder can be mounted tothe plywood disc. Sand the bottom edge ofthe beveled assembly as smooth as pos-sible to get good contact. (I used the sametechnique shown in l'igure 2, except theend ofthe assembly is on the sandpaper.)

When the bottom edge is smooth, applya Iiberal coat of Titebond glue to the bot-tom edge ofthe cylinder. Then position thecylinder on the plywood disc so all of itscorners touch the drawn circle.

To clamp bhe cylinder to the disc, put apiece of plywood on top of the cylinder andplace this whole assembly on a drili presstable. As pressure is applied with the drillpress, be sure that the cylinder doesn'tslide around. (Let the cylinder sit on theplywood for just a minute or two beforeclamping to help eliminate some of thetendency to slide.)

Allow the glue to set overnight. Thenthe cylinder is ready to turn.

tl To corcect ang error in the beuels,tJ saird the assembl ies on a flat surtace.Occasionally rotate the asseitbly eid .So,end to preuent rounding ouer the edges.

6',:Yn,ii:,' lnir; #,:!' "i"#:ilueight. Be sure cylinder doesn't slide outof marked circle as pressure is applied.

KEEP CYTINDERCENTERED

WHEN CIAMPING

Trrned Canister Set gFOUR TURNS FOR THE KITCHEN

I just couldn't take it anymore. Everymorning as I stumbled to the kitchen formy first cup ofcoffee, those awful canisterswere staring me in the face. You know theones. Those ceramic things that look like abrown log with a little squirrel handleglued on the side. I finally decided they hadto be replaced . . . I had to turn a set ofwooden canisters.

For the canisters shown here, I usedbutternut for the main body, and walnutfor the base and lid. And just to makethings interesting, I thought this would bea good opportunity to use stave con-struction to laminate the cylinders. (Seethe previous article for a detailed descrip-tion of stave construction.)

Turning a canister (cylinder) that's builtusing stave construction requires pro-cedures that are different . . . even by awoodturner's standard.

First, the cylinder is partially turnedeven before the base is attached. Thenlater, the base is added, and the wholeassembly is reversed on the lathe beforethe turning is finished. A strange proced-ure, I admit, but it's the best way I'vefound to get the job done.

TURNING THE CYTINDER

The first step is to bevel-rip the stavesneeded forthe fourcanisters. I used eight-sided assemblies for each of these can-isters. (This means a bevel setting of22Vz'.) But to get the four different sizes, Ivaried the width ofeach stave, as shown inthe drawing below.

The final length of each stave (which isthe height of the cylinder) is equal to thefinal diameter of the cylinder. I cut eachstave about 2" longer than needed to allowa little waste for turnins.

Once the staves are cut, they're assem-bled to form the rough eight-sided cylin-ders. Then these cylinders are mounted to

plywood discs (as described on the pre-vious page).

DETERMINE WALL THICKNESS. The mostcritical part of turning these canisters isdetermining the thickness of the walls. Istarted by turning the largest size canisterbecause it will have the least amount ofwall thickness after it's trued-up on theIathe. Then the other three canisters areturned to the same thickness.

Mount the largest cylinder on the lathe.Then the outside walls of the cylinder (andthe plywood disc) are turned true using alarge gouge, see Fig. 1. Remove only asmuch material as needed to turn the walls

clean and straight. You want to leave asmuch thickness as possible for the insidewalls.

The section ofthe cylinder right next tothe plywood disc is difficult to get to with agouge, so I switched to a square-nosedscraper here. Then I checked the walls tomake sure they were straight. (Use out-side calipers to measure the outside diam-eter along the length of the canister.)

sMoorH THE wALLs. Once the diameteris consistent, the next step is to improvethe finish left by the roughing-out gouge.Normally, the tool I'd reach for is a skew.But in this case, there's a problem. The

- l '"1- SI.IGHTSHOUTDER

NOTE: GLUE A PIECE OF 4/4 STOCKON TOP OF I.ID BTANK IO FORM KNOE

RA88ETt/a" DEE?

III

5t/a"

RABBETt/a" DEEP

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10 WooDSMITH

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tool rest on the Sears lathe I was usingcan't be raised high enough for the skew tocut at the proper angle.

Instead, I cleaned up the walls of thec1'linder in a two-step procedure. First, Imade a couple of very light passes with afreshly sharpened gouge. (Depending onthe wood, a heavy scraper may also help.)Then for the final clean-up, I used an or-bital sander, see Fig. 2.

Although a sander is not a typical turn-ing tool, it does a terrific job for the final' cleaningon the outside ofthe cylinder. Setthe lathe to the slowest speed and use onlvthe lower half of the sander's pad (to pre."-vent the "leading edge" from grabbing thecylinder).

v

TRUE THE RIM. When the outside issmooth, check for straightness again, andthen true the rim ofthe canister. I used aparting tool for the initial cut on the rim(see Fig. 3). Then to ensure the rim forms aclean joint when the base is attached, Imade a second pass with a skew to improvethe finish.

PREPARING FOR THE BASE. To preparethe cylinder for the base, true the insidewalls to a depth of 3" or 4". Here, I used asquare-nosed scraper, making only verylight passes until the high points wereremoved, see Fig. 4.

(Shop Note: Normally, a rabbet wouldbe cut in cylinder walls to accept the base.But on these canisters, I cut the rabbet inthe base because the walls of the cvlindersare too fragile to accept a rabbet.)

1 True the majortty of the cAlinder (andI the dise) with a large gouge. When

working near the plywood disc, take tightcuts with a, square-nosed scraper.

After the rim is cleaned up, turn thei,nsid,e wqll to its final thickness with a

square-nosed scraper. This area can betunwd to a d,epth of about S" or /1".

REDUCE WAlts TO FINAI.THICKNESS FOR A

After the walls are roughed down to adepth off 3", I turned them to their finalthickness, and checked for uniform wallthickness with outside calipers.

Shop Note: By turning the inside wallsslightly deeper than needed for mountingthe base, I eliminated having to turn thisarea later. (This will be the bottom of thecanister, and difficult to get to.)

Finally, the cylinder is taken off thelathe, and the faceplate is removed so itcan be used to turn the canister's base.

IHE CANISTER'S BASE

The base of each of these canisters isturned from 514 stock. (I used walnut.)Edge-glue enough stock to cut blanks l%"larger than the outside diameter of thecorresponding cylinder. Then, to avoidscrew holes in the bottom of the base(when it's mounted to the faceplate), Imounted these blanks to a plywood discwith the paper-and-glue method.

First, cut a plywood disc 1" larger thanthe blank. Then pre-drill pilot holes in thedisc (to match the holes in the faceplate).Next, cut a piece of paper slightly l"rge"than the plywood disc and glue the paperbetween the disc and the blank. Let thisassembly dry overnight.

Finally, attach the blank assembly to thefaceplate. (I used 6" faceplates for the twolargest canisters, and S" faceplates for thetwo smallest canisters.)

pREpARTNG THE BASE. After the blank ismounted to the faceplate, it's turned true

ONIY USE EOTTOMEDGE OF SANDER

sl After the walls of the cylinder are. 3 c l e a n e d u p , ( a n d c h e c k e d f o rstraightness), use the bottom ed.ge oj anorbital sander to sand the outsid,e walls.

I Use a par-ting tool to cut a rabbet onJ the base so it fits the turned section of

the cglind,er. Check the size of the rabbitwith the cylinder itself.

with the lathe, reducing the diameter ofthe b lank to 1" larger than the cor-responding cylinder.

Before the base is completed, a rabbet iscut on the rim ofthe base so the cylindercan be mounted to it. Mark the width of therabbet so it'ssAa" from the edge nearest thetailstock. Then use a partingtool to cut therabbet until it's slightly larger than theinside diameter of the cylinder, see Fig. 5.

When you start to get close to the finalsize, use the cylinder itself as a guide todetermine the final size of the rabbet. Besure the rabbet fits quite snugly in thecylinder, or there will be a gap where thecylinder walls meet the base.

Once the rabbet is cut, finish sand theinside face of the base to eliminate havingto sand this area when the canister i iassembled.

MOUNI THE CYTINDER

Finally, with the base blank still on thelathe, apply glue to the rabbet and attachthe cylinder. (Don't apply too much glue,or it will squeeze out into the inside cornerof the canister. )

Since the plywood disc is still mounted tothe cylinder, I could use the tail stock ofthe lathe (and a live center) to clamp thecylinder against the base blank, see Fig. 6.As you apply pressure with the tailstock,make sure the edge of the stave assemblyand the bottom blank meet securelv on allsides of the cylinder. Allow this asiemblyto dry overnight.

TRUE RIM OF CYI.INDERWITH PARIING IOOI

tl The rim of the cyLinder is tnrcd with a9 parting toolfirst. Then it's cleaned upusing a skew so itforrns acLeen, tight jointwhen the base is attached.

6y;':lf ,y;:;'i:if!'!:,y'a2':;::tr,cylinder meets the base to forrn a tightjoint. Let this assembly dry ouernight.

WooostrnrH t1

IURN THE INSIDE WATLS

Before the inside walls can be turned, theplywood disc must be removed from the"top" of the canister. Mark the finishedIength ofthe canister on the outside ofthecylinder. Then stad a cut with the partingtool about V,t" to the outside of the markedline, see Fig. 7. Make this cut only about%" deep.

Then, turn off the lathe and use a handsaw to finish the cut. After the plywood isremoved, trim the cylinder to its finishedlength with the parting tool, and clean upthe rim with a skew.

TURN INSII)E WALLS. I trued-up the in-side walls with a square-nosed scraper,removing material in very small incre-ments, see Fig. 8. When the inside wallsare close to the right thickness, make onlylight passes to match the wall thicknessalready turned at the bottom of the can-ister. I'inaily, to improve the finish of thewalls, I made very light cuts with a round-nosed scraper.

TURNING THE BEAD. The main body ofthe canister is almost done. The next stepis to turn the bead on the base of thecanister. First, reduce the diameter ofthebase so it sticks out about %,i'from the wallof the cylinder. Then use a small gouge toturn the bead so it's t/s" wider than thecyl inder , see Fig. 9. ( I swi tched to asquare-nosed scraper to finish the righthalf of the bead that's next to the cylinclerwall.)

REMOVE ORIGINAT : PARI INGPTYWOOD D|SC ,/ \ \ rool

FINISH CUT WIIHHAND sAW

I To retnoue the plywoori disc .frott t lhef cu l inder . t t toke a pa f i [a l c t t t u ' i l h a

parting tool. Then tu,nL o.ff'the Lathe artdcomplete the cu.t u: i t ,h, a hand san.

lO"Tli,iilo'i[zT;:l#;l::'f f :{'i:i"!,tlrc same size on aLI Lids, btLt t lte krtob andthe holloto qet sm,aLler on each sntal.ler l id.

REMOVING THE CANISTEN. AftCT thcbead is turned, the entire canister can befinish sanded, inside and out. Then thecanister is removed from the lathe and thebase is separated from the plyrvoocl disc bydriving a 1" wide chisel right at the paperjoint. (This will split the paper rvasher andseparate the two pieces.)

Finally, I sanded off all traces of thepaper and glue off the bottom of the can-ister. I also hollowecl out the bottom ofthebase (with an orbital sander) so it rvoultl siton a flat surface without rocking.

TURNING THE I IDS

The lids for these canisters are probabll'the most diff icult aspect of thi: |.r lojt 'ct.The problem is trying to turn four diffelentsized lids to look the same.

To do this, I turned a taperecl bead onthe rim (see Fig. 10) so it was exactll' thesame on all four of the lids. Then I simph'reduced the size of the knobs (and the'hollow around the knobs) on each sltc-cessively smaller licl.

All of this begins by cutting out fottt'blanks. I used 5/4 stock for the major por-tion of the lid, and addecl a small piece of -l -1stock in the center of the blank for theknob. Then I used the paper glue methodagain to attach the blanks to a pllrwoocl discand finally to a faceplate.

Turn each lid blank true with the lathe.and reclucing the diameter of the lid blankto %,i' larger than the cylinder.

RAIIBET. When the blank is trued, cut a

rURN WAI.IS TO MEEI 3"

@ 1'o finish tlte inside of'the c'yLittdet,lED turn the walL tui.th a. square-noserlscrapel" tt,ntil the tlickness natches thept'euiously-t'urned sect[on near the bottotn .

l l f,? {"#';,! ii: Jti' t;:;z":'::f ; i!::o' :ithe rim oJ'the lid, and.form a 1"-wide taperuith a routtd-nosed Ecraper.

%"-wide rabbet on the bottom of the ]id,see Fig. 10. This rabbet should be cut deepenough so the lid fits loosely inside the rimof the canister. When you get close to theright size, remove the entire assembly andtest it on the canister.

SHAPING THE RIM. After the rabbet iSturned, mark the apex of the bead on theremaining edge of the blank, see Fig. 11.The apex should be slightly to the left toallow a little extra "meat" on the right sidefor the tapercd shoulder.

I turned the left side of the bead first.Then the oversized right half is turned tomatch the left side. And finally, I used alound-nosed scraper to form the taper thatflorvs from the bead. This taper ends with adefinite shoulder 1" from the outside edgeof the beacl. (I cut this %,j'-deep shoulderu'ith a square-nosed scraper.)

THFi K.r*oB. Next, I worked on the knob.F olni the neck of the knob with a round-nosed scraper, see l ' ig. 12. At the sametime. form the hollow around the knob so itflon's smoothly out to the shoulder of thetapered beacl.

Then the eclges ofthe knob are roundedover'. ancl the slight hollow is carved in thetop of the knob. l'inally, sand the lid, anclthen separate it from the plywood discs'ith a chisel.

t't\tsHl:\ic. I finished the ozrlside of thecanisters u'ith Hope's Tung Oil Varnish.Huu'er-er. on the inside, I applied threecoats of Behlen's Salacl Bowl finish (a non-toric t inish that's safe around food.)

)

--USE SQUARENOSED. SCRAPER WHERE SEAD

MEETS CYTINDER

TURN BEADCENTERED ONBASE BTANK --

9 il:;? T i' : !,:::#:', it' il f ,l "il

21,' !]fder ' . Sr l i l c l i to a squ,are-nosed scraperu' l tere the beed nteets the cuLinder.

l2Y,l':,:X',",I!ilof ,,?{'"iioof #'i,{ii,iJ,around the neck u i th a ro tLnd- t tosedscraper. Then Jinish. tu"rning th,e knob.

Wooostr.tt:tn

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Index of ConterrtsvINDEX FOR ISSUES NO. I THROUGH NO. 24

v

This index covers all the articles shown inthe first 24 issues of Woodsmitla (No. 1through No. 24). In order to make it easierto find information on specific topics, we'verlilided this index into six sections. Thefil'st section is a general catalog ofarticles,*'hereas the last five sections deal spe-c i f ica l ly wi th techniques, pro jects andJolnery.

The numbers following each iisting referto the Issue Number and the page number.l 'or example, 16:10-11 refers to Wood-sli i l lr Issue No. 16, pages 10 to 11.

GENERAT

The articles listed in this section Eive in-formation on general vroodworking: topics

, (excluding joinery and techniques). Also

Drawer Guides, Construction ExamplesDado 13:14Metal 7:9, I2:7Web Frame 8:10Wooden l4:7, L8..12, 22:14, 22:18, 24:20

FinishesFillers 2:2, l5:3, 17:3Non-Toxic 19:23Polyurethane 16:15, 17:11Shellac I7:9, 17:15Staining Pine 19:23Tung Oi l24:11Tung Oil Varnish 16:7Varnish 14:9

GlueBottles 9:3, 10:3Brush 7:3Clean Up 9;3Frczen 20:23Hide (Scotch) 19:28Removal 17:20, I8:3Resin 1:1, 3:11, 6:4Resorc inol 3:7, 3:11, 16:10Waterproof 3:7, 3:11, 16:10

Grinding Wheels 20:4-6, 20:12, 23:23I)ressers 20'.6-7, 20'.12'lool Rest 20:7, 24:3

Harclware\,ampalgn /:/Wall-Mounting 18:23

HingesButler's Table 14:16Drop Leaf 14:8Wooden 9:4-8, 9:11, 20:16

LatheDrilling 23:4-5l'aceplate Mounting 23:4-5Gouges 21:22Scrapers 2 l :22,22:23

Lazy Susans 21:10-11Leaf Supports 14:6-7, 23:11Legs, "X" F'olding 3:6, 16:4Marking Gauge 19:12, 19:13, 21:3Mathematics

Miters l2:14-I5Tapered Legs 11:11

Music Box Movements 6:6-7Planes, Bench

Flattening SoIe 23:22Parts 23:16-17Setup 23:20-21,23:22Use 23:21

Plastic Laminates 21:10-11Plywood Edging 22:Il, 22:22Pumice Stone 14:9Rosan Inserts 19:13, 22:II,24:3Router

Bits 9:3, l2:3, l2:Il, 23:23Collets 7:3, 9:3, 12:3Dovetail Fixtures 22:10Multi-Purpose Eclge Guide 1Z:4, 1Z:20

Router (continued)Stand 22:16-17Table 5:6-8, 9:3, 20:18-19, 24:3

Sanding Disk 11:12, 13:3, 15:3Sanding Drum 12:11, 13:3, 15:3Saw Blades

Band Saw 10:3Cleaning l7:3,21:23Dado 17:12, 17:20Dovetail 19:5Protectors 18:3

ScrewsBrass 18:3Dry Wall 18:3, 19:23

Scribe 19:4-5Sharpening

Chisels 20:8-11Plane Irons 23:18-19

Sharpening StonesCleaning 20:13Diamond Stones 20:L3, 23:18. 247Flattening 20:13Japanese Water Stones 23:t8-19, 24:4-6Oil Stones 20:4-6, 20:10, 20:72-13

Silicon Carbide Slurry 20:6, 21:23Table Legs, Construction Examples

Gate Leg 20:14-16Pedestal 1l:6Straight I4:I0, l5:4Tapered 11:4, 11:8, I4:4, 23:12, 23:24Trestle 22:14, 23:72. 23:24Turned 12:4

Table Tops, Construction ExamplesBread Board Ends 23.12, 23:24Butier's Table 10:8Drop Leaf 11:8, 14:4, 20:14,23:8Frame and Panel 16:4,2I:12Laminatecl 15:4, 19:14Molded Edge 14:4, t8;4,2414Oval 14:4Round 11:16, 20:14

Tambours 4:6-8, 17 :4-l l, 203T-Nuts 16:19Triangle, Adjustable 20:23Tools

Cabinet Scraner 14:12Drill Press Elevator 16:20, l9:BDovetail Router l'ixtures 22:10Rockwell Speed Bloc Sander 14:12Sears Belt Sander Stand 10:10Slow-Speecl Shaper Bits 12:3Stanley "No-Mar" Hammer 19:5Wagner Safe-T-Planner 10:10

Tranrmel Point 17:4-5, I7 7, 17:20,20:IBUphoistering 2:8, 15:11Veneer

Pliant Woocl 14:10-11Tape 13:6, 17:8, 22:lI

WooclDimensions 22:23Storase 19:23

listed in this section are general referencesto "construction examples" that may behelpful if you're looking for ideas for build-ing doors, drawers, table tops, etc.

AnglesCompound 16:10-11For Miters 12:14

Becl Rail Fasteners 21:23Bench Hold-Down 23:3Branding Irons 10-3Bullet Catches 19:12Cabinet Scrapers l4.2, l4:I2-13, t7:3Carpenter's Triangle 1:6, 15:6Chairs, Construction Examples 2:6, 4:17,

15:8Clamps

Finger Boards 1:6Pipe Clamp Pads 15:3Wedge Clamps 5:3

Dado Blade L7:20,23:23Doors, Construction Examples

Cane Panel 22:14Glass 9:11, l3:4, 2l:I2, 22:18Plywood 22:14,22:LGPlywood Panel 13:4Raised Panel 8:7, 8:8, 18:4, 18:12, 18:16,

2 l :12. 22:12.24:14Tambour 17:6, 17:10

DovetailsLayout and Marking 19:6-7Tools Needed 19:4-5

Drawers, Construction ExamplesBox Joint 17:16Curved Front 14:5Dovetailed 19:14, 22:12Flush 11:4, l2:4, 20:14, 24:20, 24:24Frame and Panel 8:8,22:2ILipped 13:14, 18:4, 18:16,21:12Mitered Front 21:3Piywood 7:8,22:15Recessed 13:14, 17:6

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FURNITURE PROJECTS

Follou,ing is a list of the major furnitureprojects shown ln the first 24 issues ofWoodsrnil lr. Where possible, we havetriecl to group them by category, such asCabinets. Tables. etc.

BenchesGarclen 3:8Trestle 23:24

Book Case 7:6Cabinets

Bed-Side Stand 18:4Cabinet/Hutch, European 22:18Chair-Sicle Commocle 24:14Curio Cabinet 2I:12Dry Sink, Coionial 18:12F rame ancl Panel, Contemporary 8:8Hutch/Cabinet, Contemporary 13:4Mocluiar Storage Cabinets 22:12Stereo, Tambour 17:6

Cart, Serving/Microwave 23:8Cases, Wall-Hung

Colonial Raised Panel 8:?Display Case, Glass Door 9:11Tambour Door Case 17:10

ChairsContemporary 2:6Deck, Canvas 3:6Oak Kitchen 15:8

ChestsBlanket 16:12Six Drawer 17:16Sweater 9:8

ClocksDesk 10:4Mantel 24:8Schoolhouse 21:4Wall, Octagonal 12:8

DesksLap 9:6Slant Top, Shaker 12:4

!'ile Cabinet 7:8Lamps

Acljustable Bracket 9:4Dovetail Base 22:24Hanging 2:9

Hutch, Wall-Hung Colonial 18:16Jewelry Case 24:20Mirrors

Hall Mirror 21:16Round Frame 12:10Vanity, Small Swivel 10:5Vanity, With Drawers 24:24

PlantersCedar Plant Pillars 3:4Hanging 3:12Redwood Plant Tub 3:3Tapered-Sided Tub 16:10

Step Stool, Shaker 19:20Tables

Butler's Tray Table 14:10Candle Stand, Shaker 11:6Coffee 1:7Coffee, Three Drawer 19:14-17Drop Leaf, Shaker 11:8End 1:7

OTHER PROJECTS

All of the smaller projects and projects forthe shop are listed in this section.

Boxes, SmallEnd Grain Top 15:13Jewelry 9:5Music Box 6:6Recipe Box 10:8Routed, Free l'orm 13:12Slide-Top 17:14Spice Box, Six-Drawer 6:3

FramesHall Mirror 21:16Octagonal l2:8Oval 5:9Note Board 18:24Round Miruor 12:10

Shop ProjectsBow Saw 5:5Diamond Point Holder 20:7Drill Bit Storage 4:9Improved Tool Rest 20:7Leather Stropping Pad 20:7Marking Gauge 19:13Nut and Bolt Storage 4:5, 15:14Pencil and Card Holder 2:12Revolving Tool Holder 4:9Router Case 4:3Router Table 5:6-8, 20:18Router Table Stand 22:16Sharpening Stone Box 20:?Shop Cart 13:14Shop Stool 4:11Tool Holder 4:12Trammel Point 20:13Wedge Clamps 5:3

Small ProjectsBelt Buckle 10:6Binder 7:4Book Rack 7:12Bread Board l:1,20:24Candle Sconce 6:5Christmas Ornaments 6:4Coin Holder 10:6Coin Sorter 16:9Compass 7:3Cooling Rack 1:2Cookbook Rack 6:4Knife Holder 10:7Letter Opener 10:7Pencil and Card Holder 2:12Rack, Shaker Peg 2:3Serving Tray 19:19Spice Box 6:3Spinning Server 21:10Tie Rack 1:2Tfivet 2l:24Waste Basket 7:5

Tables (continued)Gate Leg 20:14Oak, Kitchen 15:4Prembroke 14:4Shaker Stand 11:4Trestle I:3,23:12T.V. Tray 16:4

ToysRace Car 5:12Train 5:10

Turned ProjectsCanister 14:14Fruit Bowl 21:8Goblets 23:4

JOINERY: STEP-BY-SIEP

The articles listed in this section give in-formation on how to cut a particularjoint.These articles include complete step-b1'-step drawings and instructions.

Box Joint 2:4, L7:12-13Dado/Tongue (also called Rabbet/Dado)

6:8. 10:9. 18:20-21Dovetail

Lap (Half-Blind), Hand-cut 22:4-5Lap (Half-Blind), Machine -cut 22:6-9Through 19:6-11Through Rabbeted 21:3Tongue and Groove 9:7, 20:22

Dowel, Blind 12:9Drop Leaf (Rule) 11:10, 14:8Edge-to-Edge 15'.6-7, 16:12-15, 17:.6-9,

18:16-19Finger Joint 17:12-13Groove, Stopped 2:5, l5:4Half Lap, Mitered 2:11Miter

Cross 12:9. 2l:8-9. 2l:17Locked 9:10Mathematics 12:14Rip/Bevel 7:11, 9:9, 16:11

Mortise And TenonHaunchecl (for Groove) 8:3-6, 13:10-11,

18:8-9Molded Edge 24:12-13Open (Mitered) 16:16-17, 16:18Open (Through) 24:18-19Staggered Shoulder 13: 10-11Trvin Tenons 8:5, l2:t2Wedged 15:12

Rabbet/Dado 6:8. 10:9. 18:20Splines

Edge-to-Edg e I5:4, 23'.22Miter, Cross 21:8-9Miter, Rip 7:11Parallel 9:9

Tambours (Roll Top) 17:4-5

JOINERY: CONSIRUCTION EXAMPTES

The articles listed in this section refer toprojects that use a particularjoint. Thesereferences may be helpful in deciding whenand how a joint can be used.

Box Joint 17:16-19Dado 6:4, 6:5, 7:8-9, 12:6, 13:6,22:20Dado/Tongue (Rabbet/Dado) 6:6-7, 9:5,

9:11, 10:8, l3:7, 2l:7, 22:14, 24:10, 24:22,q/l 'OA

DovetailLap (Half-Blind) 11-4, l2:7,22:14Through 19:14-15, l9:I9, 19:20-22, 19:24Tongue and Groove 9:6-7 , lL :6-7,

20:20-21,20:24

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Y16:5-615:4, 15:13,

! '.:,r ler Joint 17:14-15Ha, i Lap 16:7Hal f Lap. Cross 2:12, 6:12, 13:5, 13:8,

I i : l l -15ll: ' .er

('ross 7:6-7, 9:8, 12:8, L2:10, ZI:L}-l l,2112-15, 2l:16, 2l:24, 23:2L, 24:16

Ii ip Bevel 3:3, 7:5, 8:8-11, 13:7, 16:10,2l:-1-6

]l,rt ' t ise and TenonAngled Shoulder 11:8-9Haunched (for Groove) 8:8-11, 11:4-5,

13:8, 14:10-11, 18:7-8, 18:15, 18:17-18llolded Edge 24:8-9, 24:16-17Open (Mitered) 16:4-5, 16:12-13Open (Through) 24:20 -2IStra ight l2 :5, 14:5-6, 16:15, 23:8-9,

22:I4-I5Stub 22:18-19, 24:15Tw in 12 :5 , 14 :5 , 18 :4 -6 , L8 :12 -14 ,

20:14-15Wedged 1:3, 15:8-9

Rabbet 3:3, 6:3, 9:6,18:22Rule (Drop Leafl 11:8-9, 14:7Spline

E dge-to-Edge L5:4, 23:13Miter (Cross) 21:10-11, 2l:12-15, 2l:16,

2 l :24.22:2I . 24:16Miter (Rip) 7:5, 7:7, 9:8-9, 2l:4-7Parallel 9:8-9

Tambour (Roll Top) 4:6-7, 17:6-9, 17:10-11Tongue and Groove 16:14, 23:12-13, 23:24

TECHNIQUES

The articles l isted in this section giveinformation and details for specific wood-working techniques and procedures (ex-cept for joinery).

Angle CuttingHexagon 12:11, 16:8, 18:3Miter 12:14. 2l:8. 2I:I7Octagon 12:9Tapered Bevel 16:11

Beads, Cutting 14:11, 16:3Cabinet Scraper I4:12-t3, l7:3Carpenter's Triangle 15:16Circle

Cutting 19:3Routing 20:13, 20:17, 21:10-11Sanding 11:12

ClampingFinger 1:6Hexagonal Frame 12:11Octagonal Frame 12:9Table Tops l5:7, l7:3Wedge 3:3

CleaningOil Stones 20:13Saw Blades 21:23

Cove, Cutting 12:16, 20:23Curves, Drawing2L:23

CuttingDuplicates 23:3Plywoocl 22:11Small Pieces 9:2, L5:I5-I6, l7:3Small Strips 9:12Tambour Strips 17:5

Doors, Building 13:8, 18:8, 24:17Muntins 13:9Stops 13:9

DowelsChamfering 10:3Custom Made 19:3Cutting 16:3Grooving 16:3Making 19:3Sanding 9:12Use 24:23

Drawer ConstructionBox Joint 17:19Lipped I8:20-2IDovetail 19:18

Drawer Guides 18:22Drilling

Angle 4:10Evenly Spacecl Holes 22:23Horizontal 12:13Lathe 23:4

Drill Press Jigs 1:6, 18'.23,22:3Ell ipse, Drawing 5:8, 14:3, 16:3, 19:3, 24:3Finishing Techniques

Dents, Removing 15:3Hand-Rubbed Finish 14:9Measuring 17:3Pumice Stone 14:9Sealing Encl Grain 9:3Sealer And Varnish 14:9Tambours 77:4, 20:3

FramesHalf-Round Arch 21:16Hexagonal 12:11Octagonal 12:8-9Oval 5:9Round 12:10-11

GlassCutting 13:16, 17:20Sanding 13:3

GlueCiean up 9:3Removal 7:3, 17:20, L8:3

GluingEdge-to-Edge 15:6-7, 17:20, 23:22Mitered Splines 21:9Tambours 17:4

Hinges, MountingButler's Table 14:16, 16:3Door 13:9, 18:3Drop Leaf 11:10, 14:8

JigsAngle Drilling 4:10Bead Cutting 16:3Box Joint 2:4, 17:13Circle Sanding ll:12, l2:IICove Cutting 12:6Cut-Off 8:12, 11:3, 18:23, 22'.3, 22:IIDrill Press 18:23Fret Work 6:10Horizontal Boring 12:13Miter 12:15

Jigs (continued)Radial Arm Cut-OfT 17:3Radial Arm Mortise 16:18Raised Panel 2:10, 20:3Resawing 6:9Tambours, Gluing 17:5Taper Cut t ing l :6 , 5:4, 11:3, 11:11Tenon Cutting 24:18

Laminating 10:9, 15:13Marking Gauge 20:13, 21:3Miters

Cutting l2:I5,20:8-9Mathematics 12:14

Panels, Raisecl 2:10, 8:6, 15:12, 18:10, 20:3,24:2I

Plywood, Edging 22:3, 22:11,22:22Radial Arm Saw

Cut Of f l7 :3,22:3Mortise Jig 16:18Replacement Inserts 20:3Router Jig 20:3

Resawing 6:9, 17:5Rosan Inserts 22:II, 24.,3Routing

Circles 20:13, 20'.17, 2l:10-lI, 24:9Dril l Press 10:11-12Round Corners 17:5Router Table 7:10, 10:11, 18:3, 22:16,

24:3,24:23With Template 4:7, 13:13

SanclingCircles l l:72,l2:IIDowels 9:12Glass 13:3Small Areas 13:3, 15:3

SharpeningCabinet Scrapers 14:13Chisels 20:8-11Clearance Angles 20:8, 23:18Diamond Stones 23:18, 24l.7Hollow Grinding 20:9, 23:18Japanese Water Stones 24:4-6Lathe Tools 2I'.22, 22'23Micro-Bevels 20II, 23:L9Plane Irons 23:18-19Stropping 20:11

Sharpening StonesCleaning 20:13F'lattening 20:4-6, 20'.13

SplinesCutting 10:3, 2l:9Uses 16: 10, 2 l :5 , 2110, 2 l :12, 2313

Table Saw, Alignment 20:3, 23:3Table Tops

Leaf Supports 11:8, 14:4, 20:14,23:l lMounting l4:-7,I5:5, 18:6, 20:16, 21:23

Tambours (Roll-Top) 17:4-5, 20:3Tapered Legs, Mathematics 11:11Turning

Bowls 21:18-19Calliper Setting 21:3Canisters I4:I4-I5Cutting vs. Scraping 2l:18,24:2ilGoblets 23:4-7Faceplate Mounting 23:4-7

Upholstering 2:8, 15:11Wall Hanging Techniques 4:12, l8:2i)Wood Storage 19:23

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MAI L-ORDE R \VOODWORKI NG CATALOGSOne ofthe biggest headaches inwoodworking is trying to findthe tools, hardware and fin-ishes needed to build a project.More and more we've come todepend on mail-order catalogsfor easy access to almost everyw o o d w o r k i n g p r o d u c t w eneed. Here's a list of the cata-logs we use most often.

Note: To order these cata-logs, send your payment di-rectly to the catalog address.Do not send it to Woodsmi.t,h.

REQUIRED READING

This first group of catalogs arethe ones we feel deserve extraattention because they carryfull lines of quality woodwork-ing tools and supplies. Eachone is well worth having in anyshop library.

GARRETT WADE161 Avenue Of The AmericasNew York, New York 10013Toll F'ree: (80U 22I-2942Catalog: $3.00 (244 pages)

Ma.jor emph,asis: Quality handtools for woodworking, turningand carving; l ' inishing sup-plies; Japanese tools; Work-benches ; I nca power t oo l s ;Books.

Without a doubt, this is thefinest catalog we've seen. Gar-rett Wade has recognizecl theneed for quality woodworkingtools and provides them in oneof the most beautiful catalogson the market. But more im-portant their catalog also sup-plies a wealth of solid informa-tion at the beginning of each"chapter." The description offinishing supplies, for example,is among the best informationwe've seen anywhere (betterthan most books). This cataloeis highly recommended.

WOODCRAFT SUPPLY41 Atlantic AvenueP.O. Box 4000Woburn, Massachusetts 01888Toll Free: (800) 225-1153Catalog: $2.50 (128 pages)

M aj or emp hasis.' Quality handtools for woodworking, turningand ca rv ing ; Ha rd - to - f i ndtools; Speciality small powertools; Books.

Woodcraft Supply has pro-duced a very complete tool cat-alog that always seems to havethe edge when it comes time topay the fiddler. They also havea knack for keeping current onthe tools (whether new or old)that are in demand - the onesyou've heard about and can'tseem to find anywhere else.

THE WOODWORKERS'STORE21801 Industrial BoulevardRogers, Minnesota 55374Tel: (612) 428-4101Catalog: $1.00 (114 pages)

Ma jo r em.phas i s : Cab ine thardware; Veneers, molding,hardwood; Finishing supplies.

Whenever we need cabinethardware, this is the first placewe look. They carry a compieteline of specialty hardware thatnot only looks nice, but solves alot of problems. They a isocarry a wide variety of woodfinishes and supplies, and agood selection of veneers andhardwoods.

WOOD FINISHING SUPPLYDept. 2C1267 Mary DriveMacedon, New York 14502Tel: (315) 986-4517Catalog: $3.00 (56 pages)

Ma.jor enrphasis: Finishes andfinishing supplies.

This is the most complete cata-log ofwood finishes and relatedsupplies we've found. Not onlydo they offer every finish we'veever heard of, but they provideexcellent information on whenand how to use it.

"WORTH HAVING"CATATOGS

The following catalogs tend tospecia l ize in cer ta in areas.Each one is certainly worthhaving, if you're interested ini ts ind iv idual area. (L is tedalphabetically. )

CRAFT PRODUCTS2200 Dean StreetSt. Charles. I l l inois 60174Tel: (312) 584-9600Clock Book: $1.50 (116 pages)

Craft Products offers one ofthe best se lect ions of c lockmovements, palts and kits ofany catalog u'e've seen. Mold-ings and other clock accessor-ies are also available. Highlyrecommendeci if 1'ou're lookingfor clock parts.

CRAFTSMAN WOOD SERYICE1735 W. Cortland Ct.Addison, I l l inois 60101Tel: (312) 629-3100Catalog: $1.50 (146 pages)

This is an "oid line" catalogthat's been around fol years.The major emphasis is hard-woods and veneers, but the se-lection 0ftools and harclu'ale isalso quite good. Horvever, it'sorganized in a "random search"methocl that's vert, annol-ing,and the descr ipt ions of theproducts need to be expanded.

THE FINE TOOL SHOPP.O. Box 126220 Backus AvenueDanbury, Connecticut 06810Tel: (203) 797-0772Catalog: $1.00 (98 pages)

Fine Tool carries a good se-lection of quality woodu'orkingtools - at prices that can't bebeat . In fact , they of fer a"Buyer Protection Plan" (until8-1-83) that states, "Ifyou canbuy for less from any other mailorder company after you havebought from us, Fine Tool willnot only refund the difference,but also will pay you l07o ofyou r ne t pu rchase p r i ce . "That's an offer that's hard torefuse.

KLOCKITP.O. Box 629Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 53147Tel: (414) 248-L150Catalog: Free (48 pages)

Good select ion of quar tz(battery operated) clock move-ments, and a lso par ts anclaccessor ies.

LEICHTUNG4944 Commerce ParkwayCleveland, Ohio 44128Toll Free: (800) 831-6840Catalog: $1.00 (66 pages)

Specializes in quality, im-ported hand tools at very rea-sonable prices. They also carryLervad workbenches and Ma-kita power toois. Leichtung of-fers a number of "sales" duringthe year that are worth gettingin on.

MASON AND SULLIVAN586 Higgins Crowell RoadWest YarmouthCape Cod, Mass. 02673Tel: (617) 778-0475Catalog: l'ree (32 pages)

A combination of clock kitsand movements. Their empha-sis is on the kits, but they alsooffer the movements and partsneetled to build clocks of vourorvn design.

WOODCARVER'S SUPPLY3056 Excelsior Blvd.Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416Tel: (612) 927-7491Catalog: $2.00 (72 pages)

One of the most completecatalogs of woodcarving toolsand accessories on the market,Also includes standard wood-working power and hand tools.

WOODLINE1731 Clement AvenueAlemeda, California 94501Tel: (415) 521-1810Catalog: $1.50 (50 pages)

W o o d l i n e p r o v i d e s t h elargest selection of Japanesewoodworking tools in the U.S.Since Japanese tools are allthey offer, Woodline has thebest selection, and the best in-formation on the proper careand use of the Jananese tools.

WOODSMITH

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v Shq&SOME TIPS FROM OUR SHOP

v

'fr.i:rle salvs can do a lot of things, but

:, 'nletimes they need a Iittle help. We used:rlo different cutting jigs to make some of: he. "specialty" cuts needed for the projects::r this issue.

PANET/CUI-OFF JIG

The first jig is one we originally used to cutglued-up panels to size back inWoodsmith\o. 18. Since then we've been using it fornrore and more "specialty" cuts.

('I'TTTNG LONG pANELs. For instance, thepl1'rvood top of the Coffee Table in thisissue had to be cut to a length of 44V2" . Thisis a difficult cut to make because the ripfence (on most saws) can't go beyond 24",and a miter gauge is too small to giveadequate support for a workpiece thislarge. Instead, I used the panel-cuttingjigas a giant miter gauge to support theplywood while cross-cutting it to length.

cur-oFF rtc. This same jig served an-other role when I cut the legs for the Cof-fee Table and the pieces for the drawers ofthe Shop Storage Cabinet. In both cases, Iu'anted to cut several pieces to iclenticallength. And I was abie to use the panel-cutting jig as a cut-off jig by adding amoveable stop block.

coNSTRUcrIou. The basic jig is veryeasy to make. Cut a piece of %" plywoodfor the base about 16" wide and longenough to extend 12" past the wing ofthetable saw.

The base is guided with two runners.The first runner is cut to fit the mitergauge channel . The second runner ismoun ted to t he ou ts ide edge o f t heplywood base so it rides against the edge ofthe extension wing. (Some extensionwings have bolts along the edges, so you

may wat to add a wooden strip to the edgeof the wing.)

ASSEMBLv. To assemble the jig, placethe first runner in the miter gauge channeland spread a thin bead ofglue along the topofit. Then position the piywood base overthe runner so the "working" end of thepiywood extends into the path ofthe blade.

.-%" SPACER BETWE€N FENCES

Temporariiy tack the plywood to therunner with small brads. Then pick up thebase and turn it over to drill pilot holes anddrive screws to secure the runner to thebase. Return this assembly to the saw andmount the outside runner so it fits snuglyagainst the wooden strip on the end of theextension wing.

Now trim the working end of the basesquare by pushing it through the sawblade. (This way you know the end of thebase is exactly on the path of the blade.)

THE FENCE. Finally, add the fence to thetrailing edge of the base. Chamfer theinside edge of this fence to create a saw-dust relief. Then use a large framingsquare to position the fence square withthe working edge (and the blade), and glueand nail it in place.

Up to this point the jig is the same as theone shown in Woodsm,ith No. 18. But re-cently I added a moveable stop to the

fence. This is simply a matter of cuttinganother strip the same width as the fence.

Before aclcling this second strip, cut twosnrall squares of /,i' plywood. Glue theplywood squares to the ends of the firstfence, and then add the top strip. This willform a /a" groove for a carriage bolt thatholds the wooclen stop block to the fence.

USING THE JIG. To get the best (cleanest)cuts when using this jig, I use a three-cutprocedure. l'irst, cut all of the pieces to arough length (about / : " longer thanneeded). Then cut a clean end on one end ofeach rough piece.

Mark the final length on one ofthe pieces(measuring from the clean end), and adjustthe stop block so the cut is made on thismark. All remaining pieces can be cut toidentical length using the block as a surestop for the final length.

RIPPING JIG

The second jig is used for ripping verynarrow strips, like the tambour strips forthe T.V. Cabinet shown in this issue. Thenormal procedure when cutting narrowstrips is to work off the outside of the

CARRIAGE

SAWDUSTWING NUT

board. (If the cut is made so the strip isbetween the blade and the rip fence,there's a danger of kickback.)

But this procedure is kind of a hasslebecause you have to re-set the fence foreach cut. To get around this problem, I usea push shoe thit allows you to rip verynarrow pieces toithout re-setting thefence.

To make this shoe, rip a piece of plywoodto a width of about 6". Then make a second(partial) cut about Yn" from the outsideedge of the shoe. Stop this cut 3" to 4" fromthe end ofthe plywood and cut offthe looseedge with a hand saw. This will create asmali "heel" (stop) at the end ofthe shoe.

To rip the tambour strips, hold the shoefirmly against the fence and measure thewidth of cut you want ('/"" in this case) fromthe left side of the shoe to the inside of theblade. Then use the shoe to push the work-piece through the blade.

ROUIING NARROW PIECES

One last (very simple) jig. When I cham-fered the top edges ofthe table legs for theCoffee Table, I wanted to use the routertable. But making any kind of cut on theend ofa long narrow workpiece (like a tableleg) is awkward at best, and sometimes

dangerous. The problem is that you can'thold the workpiece square to the fence asyou feed it through the bit.

To get around this problem I use asimple piece of plywood as a stabilizingguide. Just hold the workpiece against theplywood to keep it square with the fence asyou move it through the bit.

AGAINST JIG

ROUTER TABIE

WooostrltrH 13

Thmbour TV CabinetVIDEO EQUIPMENT - OUT OF SIGHT

Donkey Kong. Can you believe that's thename for one of those new video games? Ofcourse as soon as I found out about it. I hadto be the first on my block to get in on allthis excitement.

All you need, I discovered, is a videohome computer (Atari), some "joy sticks"and a collection of game cartridges. Thereis one drawback however. One eveningwhile I was absorbed in a hot game ofSpace Invaders, I missed the latest epi-sode of "Dallas." So. now I needed a videocassette recorder to tape the shows Imissed while I was playing video games.

Modera electronics has made relaxationa real challenge. Almost overnight, allsorts of video attachments have come outto keep everyone glued to the tube.

But there is a silver lining to this elec-tronic cloud. All of these gizmos need ahome. A good excuse, I thought, to breakaway from the tube, head for the shop andbuild a T.V. cabinet to store all thesegadgets.

I decided to have some (old-fashioned)fun and build this cabinet with a tambour(roll-top) door in front of the T.V. Then,with a bow to contemporary styling, I alsothought it would be nice to have smoked-glass doors in front of the video storagecompartment. And as it turned out, thesetwo features provided more challengesthan Pac Man.

DIMENSIONS

This cabinet is designed to hold a 19" tele-vision set, a video recorder and a videocomputer game. Since all of these thingscan vary widely in size from model tomodel, you may have to alter the dimen-sions of this cabinet.

The maximum usable space in the T.V.compartment (with the tambour dooropen) measures 28" wide by L9/z'high.And the usable area for the two shelves(behind the glass doors) is 26" wide by 8Yz"high, and l6Yz" deep, These dimensionsshould be large enough for most videocomponents. But you may want to checkbefore you build.

IHE CABINEI SIDES

I started construction with the two "webframe" sides of the cabinet. These framesare fairly easy to build - they're just 5/4solid oak frames tlrlrth Tq,' oak veneer ply-wood panels.

rHE srILEs. After I had decided on theoverall dimensions of cabinet (allowing forthe usable space requirements givenabove), I cut the pieces for the frame from

514 oak. (5/4 stock is 1%0" thick.) The stiles(G, vertical pieces) are ripped to a width of2" and cut to length to the full height ofthecabinet (48").

THE RAILS. The rails (H, horizontalpieces) are also ripped to a width of2" and alength of 15%". (Since I wanted the sidesto be a total of 19" wide, the length oftherails accounts for 15" between the stiles.plus 7a" for the two 7e"-long stub tenons.)

After these pieces were cut to finalwidth and length, I cut a %"-wide by%"-deep groove on the inside edge of eachpiece. As shown in Figure 2, this groove ispositioned Va" fromthe inside face of eachpiece.

Next, stub tenons are cut on each oftherails. This is simply a matter of cutting

rabbets on the ends of each rail, makingsure the shoulder-to-shoulder distance be-tween the rabbets is 15", see Fig. 1.

PLYWOODPANEL. Now, the frames (railsand stiles) can be dry-clamped together toget measurements for the plywood panels(A). I cut these panels abare lrc" short ofthe groove-to-groove measurements of theframes to allow for glue squeeze-out.

Next, cut rabbets on the in side face of allfour sides of the plywood panels. Thisshould leave Ya" xVa" tongtes that fit in thegrooves in the frames. These rabbetsshould be cut so the inside face to theplywood panel is exactly flush with theinside face of the frame, see Fig. 2.

Finally, the frames and plywood panelscan be glued and clamped together.

T4 WOODSMITH

v

GROOVES FOR SHEtVES

.i::tl the frames are assembled, mark out::.r r'osition ofthe stopped gtrooves used to::. .int the top (B), the bottom (D) and the: . r ' , , shelves (C and E), see Fig. 1.

I cut each ofthese grooves with.i l',,utef (using a piece of scrap plywood.irlpecl to the frame as a guide for the

' ise. ofthe router). Each groove stops 1%"-:., rrt of both the front and back edges of::.r fi'ame . . . except the front edge of the'.:.:rd groove from the top; it's stopped 3":r',,m the front edge, see Fig. 1.

( H^{MFER EDGES. After the grooves'.r rre cut, I chamfered all edges of the:r'ames on a router table with a chamfer: ,1t . see Fig. 3.

TAMBOUR GROOVE

l'he tambour for this cabinet rides in:'n L-shaped groove. Since the tambourifooves on both sides must match per-tectly, I made a template to cut them.

THE TEMPLATE. The dimensions for thelemplate (shown in l'ig. 4) are based onltsing a router with a %ri' outer-diameterguide bushing. This is a fairly standardsize, and should be available for any makeof router.

To make the template, cut a piece of %"Jlasonite I77A" wideby 24" long, and clampit to one of the cabinet's side frames so thetop edge of the template is 1%" from thetop edge of the frame.

Next, 2%" radius curves are marked onthe front and back corners. The centerpoint for the front curve is ZVa" ftombotheclges of the template.

The center point ofthe back curve is 2%"fi'om the top edge and 31/a" from the backeclge. After marking this back radius, con-tinue the curve gently out to the backedge, see Fig. 4. (Any gentle curve wiiln'ork here, as long as it's not too abrupt.)

Once the curves are marked, cut thetemplate to shape with a sabre saw. Thencarefully sand out any roughness on the cutedges of the template.

ROUTING rHE GROOVE. Making the tem-plate was the hard part. Routing thegroove is relatively easy. Tack the tem-plate in piace with small brads as shown inFig. 4. (This will position the template sothe groove is cut only on the solid wood,and not on any part ofthe plywood panel.)Then rout the groove with a Vq" carbide-tipped straight router bit set to a cuttingdepth of %e".

When routing the tambour groove onthe lffi side frame, start the router on theback edge (as shown in Fig. 4). Then torout the g"oove on the right side frame,start the router at the front edge (at theself groove). By using this procedure, therouter always moves to the left so therotation of the bit forces the guide bushingagainst the template.

b

T::',lmrx@Tll r-ts'. 'l I - f -

I il ll[-' +

I il I l].+RABBETNS,DEFACE+

lilllll-P'LYw"Dtiill lI il i lfisEEF'GuRE2liffil

'i @

lilllllzervwoo'nNerti||lIiI]III%WEBFRAME-

lilllll(# | F--"------i

rffi

RA88EI INSIDE FACEOF PTYWOOD

@%" PTYWOOD PANEI

l" MEASUREMENIS roSEE FIGURE 3 GROOVEBOTTOM OF

t\

\.sEE FIGURE 4

_FRONT EDGE

24

I TAMBoUR

I

ESCAPE

EACK EDGE.

%"

t

l (

STOP GROOVE

/- 3" FROMFRONT EDGE

%"

9t,

STOP GROOVE- I %" FROM

FRONT EDGE

2th"

GROOVE %"

WEB FRAIAE

@

FIGURE 4 posrnoN TEMpTATE r%- FRoM Top EDcE

CONTINUE TAMBOUR GROOVE DOWN TO SHEIF GROOVE

l < : - \;,,,." ROUTE COUNTER-CIOCKWISE AROUND IEMeIATE ̂ .r'2'/a R zva"Rr \\ - r - t -

/, I usE 7;'ROUTER BtT GENTTE CURVE FORflwnn,/ra" GUTDE BUsHTNG rAMBouR rscarrf-

t l|

"" TEMPTaTE

I2V;,+1 TACK TEMPIAIE IN PTACE WITH SMAI.T BRADS *-Iv;'

WOOOStvtttH l5

l 4Vz '

ONE PIECE.SIIDING SHEIF BASE

GRAINDIRECTION

Ys" %" RABBET ON - |AND Two ENDs-iIEACX

NOTE: NO RABBETON fRONT EDGE i

F IGURE 5

I

2834

TOP, BOTTOM AND SHEIVES

Once the cabinet's sides are comDleted. thetop {B) , bot tom (Dt and two sheives (C anclE) can be cut from the remaining'/t" oakplywood (see Cutting Diagram on page19). Three of these pieces (the top, theT.V. shelf, and the bottom) are ripped to au.idth of l5:%". The second shelf (E) isripped to a width of I47A', see !'ig. 5.

Then all four pieces are cut to a length of28:t/t". It's rather important that all fourpieces be cut to exactly the same length.To do this, I cut them a little long to beginrvith and then trimmed them with thepanel cutting j ig shown on page 13.

R.{IIBETS. Next, rabbets are cut on allfour pieces in order to form :t/"" r :t/"''tongues, see l ' ig. 6. These rabbets are cuton all four edges ofthree ofthe pieces (8, Dand C). However, the front edge of thebase for the sliding shelf (E), is riol rab-bcted, see Fig. 8.

Shop Note: When cutting rabbets inpl1'u'oocl, you get the cleanest cut with aroilter, rather than a table saw blacle. ILrsed the router table (shown inWoodsrttith\o. 20) to cut these rabbets.

Aftel the rabbets are cut, all four piecesczin be glued and clamped into the groovesin the side frames.

EDGING AND MOTDING STRIPS

fhe larv plyil 'ood edges of these fourlrit,ces are covered with solid oak eclgingstrips. Filst, cut seven edging strips out of;-r -1 stock to fit exactlv between the cabinetsidcs. tOnll 'seven lt ieces are neecled be-caLlse the front edge of the sliding shelfbase is coveLetl ',r'ith a simple lr" edgingstri l). sec' F ig. 8.)

Next. cut a't/," \ 'r/r" groove on the edgeof each edging strip to fit on the tongues ofthe ph'rvood, see F-igs. 7 and 8. Once thesest l ips are cut they can be g lued andclampcd to the plywood tongues.

]toll)Ir-(; STRIPS. The top and bottom ofthe cabinet also have moldecl facing strips,see F ig. 7. Two of these strips (one on thefront and one on the back of the top) areused to cover the curve of the tambour.The third molding strip (on the bottom)ser'\'es as a kickboard.

To make these strips, rip three boards2t/2" ulde and cut them to length to fitbetrveen the sides. Then cut a 30'bevel onthe back of the two strips for the top, seecletail in Fig. 8. Next, round over the topoutside corner of ali three pieces with a %"corner round bit. (I did this on the routertable.) And finally, cut a t/q" d,eep x r/n"wide rabbet opposite the rounded corners.After these strips are cut, they can begiued to the edging strips.

THE SL ID ING SHETF

Depending on what you plan to use thiscabinet for, the sliding shelf may not be

U

v

5/4 EDGING STRIP TOPIYWOOD SHEIF

SHOUtDER WIIHJOINT tINE

%" x %" TONGUE

FIGURE 8'r," coRNER l*

' 'o

2t/z

:

t

7:" CORNER lrv;- l t

3h" x 3,te" RABBET AND GROOVE

TOP SHETF

EDGING STRIPt/a" x 3/e" RABBEI

M O I . D I N G S T R I P

BEVET EDGE FOR TAMBOUR CI,EARANCE

6 0 ' B E V E T

START BEVET %" FROM FRONT EDGC

T,V SHEI.F

ROUND -

t-lBOTTOM

SH EI.F

D

2v i i * l l ' - ' ' x %" RABBET

I

r l 7 ' ; B - * ]

TAMBOUR GROOVE

SrDE CROsS SECT|ON

' c| 7 t / z

a 1'/," =1

Wooost'ltrH

v

r6

v

v

:.r.(essai'y. I added it for a video recorder:'(-cause most recorders need access to the: ,1) to loacl the video cassette.

The width of this slidine shelf is cut a' :.aI of 2" less than the inside width of ther,linet (to aliow 1" space on both ends).I 'he depth is exactly the same as the depthI ' the base shel f (E) .-\fter this sliding shelfis cut to size, cut a

. rabbet on the front edge to leave a:, ' lrgue, see Fig. 9. Then the pull bar (O) is: ':1r1red to a width of 2", and alk" x tYe"!'r'.)ove is cut to mate with the tonEue on: ir,. .helf. Finally, a finger grip is cul on thei,:ick of the pull bar with a Yz" cove bit (on:he fouter table), see detail in t ' ig. 9.

The sliding shelf is mounted to the base-helf with metal drawer (shelO slides. The,,nes I used require two dadoes on thei rottom of the sliding shelf for plastic guide)' i lnners. These slides (with comolete in-.t luctions) are available from The Woocl-l . o r k e r s ' S t o r e C a t a l o e ( C a t . N o .I ) r '031-16", $13.95 per pai r ) .

THE CABINET BACK

.\lthough there's no back on the part ofthecabinet behind the T.V. set, I wanted toar ld a back behind the shel f area tostrengthen the cabinet (to prevent rack-ing). I went all out and made a web frameu'ith a %" plywood panel, see Fig. 10.

This frame fits between the sides of thecabinet and is attached (screwecl) to theback eclge of the T.V. shelf and to the backedge of the cabinet's bottom.

l'irst, cut the rails and stiles to size to fitt his area. Then cut a t/t" x Vt" groove on theinsicle edge of each piece for the plywooclpanel. Finally, cut %"-long stub tenons onthe ends ofthe rails to fit the grooves, see,letail in l ' ig. 10. Before gluing this rrebflame together, I cut two slots in the pl.v-u'ood panel to run the wires for the videoequipment.

F IN ISHING

The tambour door and the slass doors stillhave to be mounted to the cibinet. (See thenext two pages.) However, before thesecloors were mounted, I finished the cabinetrvith Watco Danish Oil.

The best way we've founcl to apply\\ratco oil (especially on open-pored woodlike oak) is to use a liberal amount of oil andri'et-sand all surfaces with 220-grit (Wet-or-Dry) siiicon carbide paper.

As you sand, small amounts of sawdustrvill mix with the oil to form a thin nastethat f i l ls the pores of the rnoocl. t l i thispaste gets too thick, just add more oil as.\'ou sano.)

When you're done sanding, wipe off theexcess paste and oil, and let the wholeth ing s i t for about I hour . Then addanother coat ofoil (without sanding). Thisnrethod produces a natural-lookine finishthat's as soft as a baby's bottom.

Wooosurrn

FIGURE 9

,CHAMFER FRONT EDGE3h x 3h" RABBEI

"/e" x 3/a" RABBET ON FRONI EDGE ONLY

DADO fOR SHEIF SI.IDEth" DEEP x | 7r" WIDE

FlcuRE rol- 2s"---.* - 1 %" prywooD

I17" )

1"r""

l1sTil.E

- - e"-*] 43/;' i

- - - - - - 7 _ - |sror FoR coeos-/ |

17"

C-)-r%- GROOVE x Vq" DEEP ICENTERED ON STOCK 4I/; '

RAII.

\2" ptywooo

FIGURE I I

% WEB FRAME

WEB FRAMEFOR BACK

SCREWBACK PANETINTO CASE

BEVEI FOR IAMBOUR- CTEARANCE

MOIDING STRIP IK

(A)%" PIYWOOD

IsTIDING SHETF TOP

D BOTTOM SHETF

- EDGING STRIP ' I

IHE TAMEOUR

It just doesn't seem fair that something asmysterious as a tambour should be so easyto build. The secret behind a tambour (roll-top) is a simple piece of canvas. The tam-bour strips are glued to a canvas backingthat's flexible enough to follow the groovesin the cabinet. That's it. Easy enough, butit does require some work.

The tambour I made for the T.V. cabinetis kind of a "roll-and-pleat" design. Eachtambour strip is a "custom-made" half-round molding strip.

You need 30 strips in all, but it's best tomake at least 40 because there's bound tobe some waste. All of these strips are cutfrom 414 (1%0" thick) boards. As shown inthe Cutting Diagram, I used four 1Yz"'wide boards, cut to length to match thefinal width of the tambour. (This widthshould be 283/a", which is %" Iess than thedistance between the tambour grooves inthe cabinet.)

RouND EDGES. I used a router table andtable saw to make the half-round strips.First I rounded over both edges of eachboard with a 3/e" corner-round bit (on therouter table), see Fig. 1. Then I used anotched jig to cut off %"-thick strips on atable saw, see Fig. 2. (More on this jig isgiven on page 13.) It's just a matter ofrepeating these steps until you have about40 half-round strips.

MOUNTING STRIP. YOU'I ] AISO NCCd A

mounting strip (used to mount the lift bar).

I Cut St / i ' -wide boards to the f ina lI length of the tambour. Then round'

ouer both edges with a s/t" corner-round bit.

4Yif o',1;',Y-q,',f ';:::,'nt''"1:':,12stnps are positioned square with br'rs.

I9-Y.{K\'\-Z- *

BE Ar RIGHT ANcrESURFACE \9tl TO HO;D DOpN BAR

PIACE 30 sTRIPsFACE DOWN

PIUS MOUNTINGSTRIP

This strip is %" thick by 1" wide (see I'ig.3). I used the jig again to resaw it off apiece of 5/4 scrap.

sELEcrIoN. After the strips are cut, letthem sit for a day or two until they get allthe warping and twisting out of their sys-tem. Then the selection process begins:choose the best of the bunch, avoidingthose that are badly warped or twistecl.

GLUING JIG. To hold all these stripstogether while gluing on the canvas, I useda simple jig, see Fig. 4. This jig is just ttt'oside bars with a !t/a"-deep rabbet on oneedge, and front and back cleats.

Lay the mounting strip and the 30 tam-bour strips face down on a piece of scrapplywood, and tack the rabbeted side bars

a\ Use a notched jig to rip the tarttbutcZ strips to a thickness of '/i'. Then re-peat process until you haue /10 strips.

p Spread thin layer of glue ouer back ofJ tumbour. Then lay cen Das (or denim )

in place and roll doun with a rolling pin.

PRESS AND SMOOTH CANVAS

SPREAD THIN TAYEROF GIUE ON STRIPS

18 WOODSMITH

v

over the ends of the strips. (Make sure thestrips are square with the hold-downbars.) Then tack the back cleat in place,push the strips tight against this cleat, andtack down the front cleat to hold them allin place.

GLUE oN cANvAS. Now the canvas back-ing can be glued to the backs ofthe strips. Iused a light-weight artist's canvas that'savailable at art stores. However, denim(blue jean material) could also be used.

Spread a thin layer ofglue (I used Tite-bond) across all ofthe strips. Then lay thecanvas (or denim) over the tambour stripsand press it in place with a veneer roller ora rolling pin.

After about t hour, uery carefully takethe tambour out of the jig and "crack" thejoints. Ifany glue has seeped through thecracks between the strips, you want tocrack them apart before the glue has achance to harden. As you crack thejoints,roll the tambour into a loose cylinder.Stand this cylinder on end and let the gluecure overnight.

RABBET. Since the strips of this tamboura,-e 'th" thick, the outside edges of thetambour need to be rabbeted to fit therur"-wide grooves in the cabinet. I cut theserabbets on a table saw, see Fig. 6.

Set the height of the blade to Ieave a'r,r,;"-thick by t/n"-Iong tongue. It's best tokind of sneak up on this cut, testing the fitin the tambour g"oove until the tambourslides easily (without binding) but doesn'trattle around too much.

GOOD STRIPSFOR TAMBOUR

RIP %" FROM% STOCK FOR

tl You'l l also need a 3/, '-thick mountingrJ slnp. I cut this from a piece of 5l/1scrap to get the final width of 1'/'i'.

6*:;1i,flL#tJ!_ilg,i;t jlJ!i#;torryues to fit the t/t"-wid"e grooaes.

v

v

v

v

THE t IFT BAR

lhe last step on the tambour is to make a.:i: bar to match the molding strips on the'',p ancl bottom ofthe cabinet. Rip a board:, ' a rviclth of 2Vz" and to a lencth that's %".,.ss than the inside measurement of the-'abinet (to allow clearance). Then resaw itlip on edge) to a thickness of Ts".

FINGER slor. I decided to get a little:r,nc1' .,r'ith the finger slot on the lift bar.I )r'ill two l"-diameter holes 4" apart, seei'ig. 7. These holes are centered 1%" down:i'om the top edge of the lift bar. Since theirlttoln edge ofthe lift bar is rounded-over,: his puts the finger slot at the uiszr,al center,,f the l ift bar.

After the holes are drilled, clean out the(enter wi th a sabre saw and f i le therdges smooth. Then round-over the insiderrlges of the finger slot with a /t" corner-rouncl bit (on the router table). Also, roundthe bottom edge of the lift bar with a Yz"crrrner-round bit, see Fig. 7.

.{TTAcH. To mount the lift bar, first slidethe tambour into the cabinet. Then the baris attached (from the back side) to themounting strip with ,%" pan-head screws.I used pan-head screws because I needed

trr add a washer so the point of the screw,lir ln't go through the front of the l ift bar,see cross-section in Fig. 8.)

Finally, I added a piece of weatherstripto the bottom ofthe mounting strip to actas a shock absorber, see Fig. 9.

GTASS DOORS

The last step on this cabinet is to mount thesmoked-glass doors. The whole trick tomounting glass doors is the harclu'are. Thehardware I used is available from TheWoodworkers' Store catalog.

The door hinges are listed as "Pivot Hin-ges F or Glass Doors" Cat. No. D5612 (po]-ished chrome), $2.35 per pai r . I wentahead and mounted the hinges (see l-ig. 10)in order to get the final measurements forthe glass doors.

The height of each door should be a totalof '%" less than the height of the cabinetopening. (This allows t'/yi' at the top andbottom for the hinges.) The width of eachdoor should allow :%a" between the twodoors and about :t/te" on the outside edEe(between the door and the side of the ca-b-inet). I had the doors cut (at a local glasscompany) a total of %" less than one-halfri ith width of the cabinet opening to allow alittle extra clearance.

The doors are mounted in the U-channelof the door hinge and held in place with twosmall screws and a friction plate. I alsomounted two "No-Bore Glasi Door Pulls"Cat. No. D3410 (Polished Chrome), 92.95each. These handlesjust mount to the edgeof the glass. Finally, I added small mag-netic catches behind the handles to holdthe doors closed.

WooosurtH

, - ]T-

2t/z'

IROUND OVER EDGES OF SI.OT

WIIH VC" CORNER ROUND

7," CORNER ROUNDON BOTTOM EDGE

-j-, *ote, REsAw uFT BAR'i To %" THrcKNEss

\ t l

F IGURE 8

UP POSITION

(t)EDGING -

STRIP

a K l

TOP SHEI.F

MOIDINGSTRIP

(!_,I.IFT BAR

MOUNTINGSTRIP

'

FOAMWEATHER

STRIPPING

Overof f Dimensions: 48t/z"H x 30"W - 19"[A Sides (2) le x 1S3h - 44shB Top Sheff (l) 3h x 153/e - 283/qC T.V. Shelf (l ) 3h x 153/e - 283hD Boitom Sheff (l) 3/a x 15a/c - 28YaE Sfiding Sheff Bose (l) 3h x 143/s - 283/cF Sl id ing Shel f ( l ) lq x t6 - 26G Side St i fes (2) l t / tc x 2 - 48H Side Roils (2) lVto x 2 - 153/qI Edging Srrips (7) lt(o x t1/q - 28J Tqmbour Sfrips (40) tl/rc x 3/e - 28t/zK Mofding Pfeces (3) t3/tc x 21,/z - 28t lifi Bor (l) 3/a x 2Vz - 277hM Bock Roils (2) t3 c x 2t/q - 28N Bock St i fes (2) t3 c x 21/q - 17O P u f f O u t B o r ( l ) B / t c x 2 - 2 6

514 (11/tc"l x 5t/2"

I.IFT 8AR IOMOUNIING STRIP

WITH '/;' PAN HEADSCREW AND

FIGURE 9

i.J_lTAMBOUR

STRIP

( t lIIFT BAR

FOAMWEATHERSTRIPPING

(l)

STRIP

%" GIASS-

DOWN POSITION

MATERIATS t IST

rRONT EDGE OFEDGING STRIP, %" FROM SIDE

CUTTING DIAGRAM

514 (lt/ro") x 5t/2" - 72"

/z414 1t27t"", x 5t/2" - 96"

414 (11Ac') x 5t/2" - 72"

t9

Coffee ThbleCLEAN LINES WITH SUBTLE A CENTS

. l

think of using a tongue and groovejoints, refer to Fig. 5. Ifound it was best to cut the grooves in thebanding strips before cutting the tongueson the plywood.

Cut the four strips to a final width of lYa'and to rough length (about l" longer thanneeded), see Fig. 1. Since these strips are1%e" thick (the actual thickness of 4/4hardwood) and the plywood is only %'

Most of the timerouter, I think in terms of making a Iot offancy molding cuts. But q router can alsobe used to add a few subtle touches thathelp define the shape and design of aprojeet.

This coffee table is a good example ofputting a router to work. Actually, Ishould say a router table (like the oneshown in Woodsmith No. 20). I used arouter table to make most of the joints forthis table, as well as the molding (chamfer)cuts on the pieces for the top and legs.

THE PTYWOOD TOP

Normally, when building a table, I wouldstart with the base (the legs and aprons)and then add the top. But for this coffeetable I found it easier to start with the topbecause ofthe way the notched corners ofthe top fit around the legs, see detail photoat right.

cr.l'rrlNcrHE pr,ywooD. The first step isto cut a piece of %" plywood to size. (I usedoak-veneer plywood for this table.) Theplywood is ripped to a width of l8l2" firstand then cut to a length of 4412", see Fig. 1.However, eutting a2' x 4' sheet of plywooddown to a 44Y2" Iength is very awkwardbecause you can't use the rip fence to guidethe piece. Instead, I used the panel cuttingjig (shown on page 13) to cut the plywoodto length.

BANDINO STRIPS

All four edges of the plywood top arebanded with solid (oak) edging strips.These strips are joined to the plywood with

nbbet on tlte outside edge. (This rabbet isused leter to mount the table top to theeprons.) To cut this rabbet, switch to ag/t"drriSbt bit set to a depth of cut of Ya".Then adjust the fence so the rabbet leooesa l6'-wide tongue, see Fig. 4.

This cut is made with the banding stripon edge and the marked face of the striphcing ott. (Cutting the rabbet this wayenaresafairly clean corneron the tongue.ltis correr wiil be visible when the tabletop ia jofurcd to the aprons.)

tot{cuEs oN PtYwooDNext, tongues are cut on all four edges oftlte plywood top to fit the grooves in thebending strips, see Fig. 6. Once again, Idid this on the router table. Set up therouter table to ctJt a/q" xlt" rabbet using a%'straight bit.

What you want to do is cut two rabbets(one on each face) to leave a Yq,"-thicktongu.e in the center, see Fig. 6. I madeseveral test cuts on a piece of scrap ply-wood until the tongues fit snugly in thegnooves.

IRIM BANDING srRlps. After the tonguesare cut on the plywood top, the bandingstrips can be cut to final length. The end ofeach strip should stop at the shoulders ofthe rabbets on the top face ofthe plywood,refer to Fig. 10. This will Ieave an opencorner that fits around the legs of thetable.

ASSEMBTY

Now the banding strips can be glued andclamped to the edges ofthe plywood top.

thick, the grooves should be slightly ofr-center (so the top face ofthe banding stripsis flush with the top face of the plywood).

CIlr THE GRoovns. Mark what will be thetop face ofeach banding strip. Then I useda %" straight bit on the router table to cutthe %o"-deep grooves. Set the fenceexactly lq" from the bit (see Fig. 3), anduse a feather clamp to force the markedface ofthe strip against the fence, see Fig.2. When the groove is cut, it should leave a/r" shoulder on the top edge, then the la"groove in the middle, and ftnally a s/rc"shoulder on the bottom, see Fig. 5.

RABBET. Each ofthese pieees also has a

20 WoonsurrH

M A T E R I A L S L I S T

Overol l Dimensions: l6 : H r 22-W - 48-!

P lywood Top ( l )S h o n E d g i n 9 S t n p r ( 2 1

long Edg ing Stnpr (2 )

L e g P i x e : I | 2 )

Shor t Aprca l (2 )

Long Aprcar {2 )

' . r l t ' 2 - 1 4 1 2' ' ' o r l t r - 1 8

' r ' r r l r r - 4 4

' t ' o r 2 r i - 1 8' t ,o r 2 t /z - 20' ' t c r 21 /z - 46

ABcDEI

C l J I r r N G D I A G R A M

Since there's a rabbet on the outside edsesof all the banding strips, it helps to cut asmall filler strip so the clamp contacts afull-thickness edge, see Fig. 7.

TRIM CORNERS. Once the glue is dry,trim the excess plywood from the opencorners ofthe top, see l'ig. 10. I'inally, thesurface ofthe table top should be sanded toremove any variation between the bandingstrips and the plywood.

V-GROOVES AND CHAMFER CUTS

No matter how harcl I try, I find it verydifficult to get the face of a plywood top tomatch perfectly with solid-wood bandingstrips. Even when I'm successful, the solid\vood strips and plywood top will expandanr l contract at c l i f ferent rates wi ths(,aso])al changes in humidity - so there'sr,. l,,st alu'ays some variation between the: . ' . - : i r '1aces.

'. -,. ' . l |ound this problem, I cut a small

\ '-;, ' .. ,. 1'ritht nt the joint l ine of the band-ir, i - ' .: ' . : :,:.,1 the plywood. This V-grooverlra^!.: . ' . ' . ,. i ' . . ' r l i ff igu]f to see (or feel) any!ar: i . : : ' l . .1. : l .r- : \ \ 'O SUrfaCeS.

I i t . ,- , i l , \ ' - Jl ' r rr r \-e router bit on theroutef :11i ' . i - : : ' . i r^t: these cuts, See Fig. 8.The p , , i1 ; ' . : ' : : . . . : . : sh , ,u l r l be t igh t on thej o i n t I i n r i l : . , i : i . , i , . r , : h , , f c L r t s E o u l t l b e ascant : ' ' . \ \ ' i . t : . t ' , . i : l g th is V-groove, Icon t inued i t , , . i : i , . , t . i :h | en( l s ra in o f theb a n d i n g s l r ' : 1 , . . . , . , . l : i . l r r .

CHAllI t 'ER Elx;r.s. - \ l :r I the \--g|ooveswere cu t . I n ra , i t . i1 l t i i r : r .h : l t j rhant fe | cu ton a l l o f the ou ts i r l c r , l s r . , , i the band ings t r ips . Th is \ \ 'R : r1 r ,111. , , r . :h r . r . , ,u te r . tab lewith a chamfer bir. set t ' ic. tr .

t3 /16 t ' x 5 t /2n _72 i l

t3 / r6 , , x 51 /2 i l -72 t '

l 0

CONTINUE V.GROOVEIHROUGH END OF BANDING STRIP

TRIM AWAY EXCESS TONGUE

- 44vz

At |vz" %, ,P [YWOOD TOP

TENGIH OF BANDING STRIPS EQUAIS5HOUI.DER IO SHOUI.DER I.ENGTH OF PIYWOOD

%" GROOVE x t/ro" DEE?

cRoSs sEcTtoNEANDING STRIP

DEPTH OF GROOVESI.IGHTIY IE55 IHAN 7S"

V-GROOVE BtT--'\ i rece sloe oowN

FACE S|DE DOWN L-----t_J--{CHAMFER BtT

PI.ACE SPACER INWHII.E CI.AMPING

!'

Woopsurrn

IHE IEGS

In order to get blanks big enough for the2"-square legs, I laminated three pieces of4/4 stock for each leg. First cut a total of 12pieces to a rough length of 17" and roughwidth of 21/q". Then glue three piecestogether to form each leg.

When the glue is dry, rip the legs downto final size of 2" x 2", making two cuts inorder to keep the joint lines an equal dis-tance from the outside faces ofthe legs, seeFig. 11.

MoRTtsES. The legs are joined to theaprons with mortise and tenon joints. (SeeWoodsmith No. 18 for complete step-by-step instructions on making a mortise andtenon joint.)

The mortises on these legs are cut s/rc"from the outside edge, and %" down fromthe top edge of the leg, see Fig. 11. (Thistop measurement allows enough room forthe top edge of the apron and the tongue ofthe banding strip, refer bo Fig. 16.)

I arranged the legs in their final positionand marked out the mortises so the facegrain of each leg would be on the long sideof the table, and the edge grain (with theglue lines) would be at the ends. Then I cutthe mortises on a drill press by drilling aseries of holes with as/e" bit.

CHAMFER EDGES. After lhe mortiseswere cut, I chamfered all four corners andthe top and bottom edges of the legs on therouter table with a chamfer bit. (See page13 for more on this technique.)

THE APRONS

Since the table's top has already beenbuilt, the aprons musl be cut to accept thedimensions of the top. Rip the four apronsto a width of 2Yz" . Then bhe aprons are cutto length so they're equal to the length ofthe banding strips on the table top, plusenough for the tenons on each end.

I used the banding strips as a gauge tomark off the shoulder-to-shoulder lengthof the aprons (the distance between theshoulders ofthe two tenons.) Then I added2" (for the two l"-long tenons).

When cutting the tenons, I set up thesaw to make a test cut on a piece ofscrap tomake sure the outside face of the apronmet the chamfered edge of the legs, seeFig. 16. Once the outside face was cut, Imade a cut on the inside face to set thethickness ofthe tenon so it fit snugly in themortise. (This, in effect, is cutting tworabbets, leaving a tenon to fit the width ofthe mortise.)

Then the shoulders on the top and bot-tom edge of the tenon are cut to fit theheight of the mortise. Finally, round-overthe corners of the tenon with a file soit fits the rounded ends ofthe mortises, seeFig. 12.

ROUT EDGES. The last step on the apronsis to chamfer the two bottom edges of the

TENON IO MATCH MORTISE

CHAIAFER

F IGURE I5

GI.UC I.INES PARAI.I,EIWITH LONG APRON

CHAMFER EOTIOM EDGES

TENONS I LONG r r r IH ICK

aprons, see Fig. 13. And then round olei'the top outside edge with a /2" corner-round bit, see Fig. 14.

ASSEMBTY AND FINISHING

Now the aprons and legs can be glued andclamped together. Before tightening theclamps, set the top in place to hold everl-thing square.

ADD THE ToP. When the glue is dry, thetop can be glued and clamped to theaprons. Since there isn't a good clampingsurface on the top, place a piece of scrapwood across the width of the table top touse as a surface for the C-clamps.

FINISHING. I applied three coats ofHope's Tung Oil Varnish to the table topand two coats to the legs. This finish isvery easy to apply and has just enoughvarnish in it to protect the top.

I

Y

zz WooDSMITH

Tulki"gShqpAN OPEN FORUM FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

!

WooostrltrH 23

CHAIR SEATS

I haue uu)oodworking questionthat I hopeyut, can enswer. I'm in the process of mak-ing a set of walrrut bw stools, and so fw,I'ue cut all of the pieces withput any prob-lems. But when it came time to hollow outthe chair seat, I was stucle .

Whet I was haphry to d,o is d,ish out theseat similar to the old office chair seats.But I can'tfigtne outthe bestmethodto dothis (a router, or q, sand,er?). Do ym, haueany suggest;ions?

Ray FortBloomfield, Iowa

Whenever I'm faced with a task like thisthat requries a lot of work, my initial reac-tion is to grab the closest power tool. Butthere are times when power tools simplywon't work. Hollowing-out a chair seat isone of those times.

In this case, you'll have to resort totraditional hand tools (and traditionalmethods) to get the job done. There areseveral hand tools that could be used: anadz, a scorp, and inshave, or even a car-ver's spoon gouge.

Traditionally, chair-makers used an adz(pronounced add's) to rough-out chairseats. An adz is an oldtimer's tool thatlooks something like a small garden hoe -the blade (either flat or curved) is at a 90"angle to the handle.

The chair-maker would stand on theedges ofthe seat blank, and swing the adzbetween his feet to rough out the hollow.However, if the adz fades off the mark andhits your foot, you'll lose a pair ofshoes atbest. Rather than skipping around theshop with a bloody foot, I'd ratherjust skipthis step and use an inshave or a scorp torough-out the seat.

An inshave is basically a two-handleddraw knife with a curved blade that makesa concave cut. A scorp is kind of a smallinshave; it has a single handle with a U-shaped cutting blade. Another tool thatcould be used is a carver's spoon gouge. (Ofall these, I think my first choice would bea scorp.)

After the basic shape of the seat isroughed-out with one of these tools, thebiggest headache is trying to smooth outthe ridges. Here, I'd use a curved scraperblade. When I got the seat fairly smooth,I'd switch to a modern power tool, an or-bital sander, to sand the chair seat abso-lutely smooth (to eliminate any chance ofsplinters in the hind-quarters).

All of these tools are available fromeither the Garrett Wade or WoodcraftSupply catalogs. (Addresses are given inthe special catalog section of this issue.)

For more information on old tools andhow they're used, an excellent source isthe book OLd, Ways of Working Wood byAlex W. Bealer: $12.50 in the GarrettWade catalog.

SOUTCES FOR TURNING FINISHES

We've received a lot of mail asking whereto purchase Behlen's Salad Bowl Finish(used on the goblets, Woodsmith No. 23),and Renaissance Wax (used on the fruitBowl, l|oodsmith No. 2I).

Both products can be purchased fromeither Woodcraft Supply or Ganett Wade.Their addresses are listed in the specialcatalog section in this issue.

One follow-up note I'd like to make aboutusing the Renaissance wax for the fruitbowl: After using the bowl for a while, it'sbecome apparent that Behlen's Salad Bowlfinish would have been a better choice. Infact, from now on, whenever we makeanything that comes in contact with food(like the Canister Set on page 10), this isthe finish we'll use.

A PTANE WARNINO

lro Woodsmith No. 23, you described amethod to tighten up the Y-yoke of a handplane. Using your method, I remoaed, thebrass knob and used a screwdriuer tocrowbar one of the legs forward, (so ittouches the front shoulder of the groove),and, the other leg back (until it touches theback shoulder of the grooue).

As ittunwd, out, theY-goke onmy handplane was made of cast iron. And as I wastrying this procedure, one of the legs of theY-yoke broke off. I think some sort of cor-rection should be made so that no one elseruins a good plane using this procedure.

RaEmond, B. WallacePeoria, Illinois

After reading Mr. Wallace's letter, Ichecked all of the planes in our shop to seeif any had a cast iron Y-yoke. I did find one:my grandfather's 90-year-old woodenjointer plane. The mere thought ofbreak-ing the Y-yoke on that particular planemade me very nervous.

Other than this one jointer plane, all theother planes in our shop (we have about adozen planes, some of them rather old),were equipped with a steel Y-yoke whichcan be bent without breakase.

However, I have to agree with Mr.Wallace that a warning should be made.Our recommendation is that if your planehas either a cast iron Y-yoke, or if you'renot quite sure what type of metal it's madeof, don't try to crowbar the legs of theY-yoke with a screwdriver. After all, it's alot better to live with a working plane thathas a slightly sloppy adjustment than tohave one with no adjustment at all.

IHE HAIR.I.INE CRACK

In the article on the Mantel Clock (Wood-smith No. 24, page 8), we described amethod of cutting glass to fit the odd shapeof the clock door. We also mentioned howwe got lucky before we ran out of glass.Well, we spoke too soon. Soon after theissue was sent to the printer,.Dave noticeda small problem. The glass had a 6" hair-line fracture running right across the faceof the dial.

Undaunted, I set out to try to cut theglass again. Unfortunately, this time I ranout of glass, twice. And in the process, Ialso ran out of patience. But I was toostubborn to admit defeat . . . there had tobe a way.

I finally decided to try a piece of Plexi-glas, just to see how it would work. And tobe honest, I was pleasantly surprised.

The nicest thing about using Plexiglas isthat it can be cut on a band saw, or with asabre saw, just like a piece of plywood.This eliminated having to rely on LadyLuck when it came time to cut the arch.

After cutting out the arch in the Plexi-glas (on the first try, by the way), I applieda coat of paste wax to both sides of my"unbreakable glass" to protect it fromscratches. Then I installed it in the doorframe of the clock.

To unknowing eyes, it looks exactly likeI got lucky again.

SHIFIY MITERS

I tried, the method of using sandpaper onthe mi.ter gauge fence to stop the piecesfrom creeping as d,escribed iz WoodsmithNo. 23. The on\y problem I had, was thatthe grit of the sandpaper fell off, andscratched the top of my table saw.

I'ae found, qnother method that workswell for me. I simplE apply double-facedtape to the miter fence. Then to preuent thestock from becomirry ooerly attached, to themiter fence , I coat the tape with a oery finedusti.ng of sawdust.

Kenneth C. HammWisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin

PoHOW TO TURN POPCORN INTO SOMETHING SPECIAL

Several years ago Sunday night meant onething: watching Bonanza. . . with a bigbowl of popcorn. I miss the weekly epi-sodes of Bonanza, but the tradition ofwatching Sunday T.V. with a big bowl ofpopcorn is alive and well.

The only trouble is that my plastic pop-corn bowl has finally begun to show its age.So I decided to turn a wooden replacementout of koa (a native hardwood of Hawaii).With the price of koa being what it is, Iused the stave construction method de-scribed on page 8 to reduce the amount oflumber needed.

THE BOWL

I wanted the popcorn bowl to be about 10"in diameter, and 4" in height (to hold lots ofpopcorn). So with these dimensions inhand, I drew out the profile on paper andfound that I needed a twelve-sided cylin-der with Z'/t"-wide staves.

THE cyLINDEn. To make a twelve-sidedcylinder, the bevel on each piece is cut at15'. After the pieces are bevel-ripped,they're cut to a rough length of 6" (to allowfor some waste during the turning pro-cess). Then the cylinder is assembled, andmounted on the lathe using the methoddescribed on page 8.

ATTAcHING THE BASE. After the cylinderis trued on the lathe, I reduced the thick-ness on the inside walls to %". Then thebase is mounted on the laLhe, and a 3/""

wide rabbet is cut so the remain ingshoulder fits the inside of the cylinder, seeFig. 3. Finally, the base and cylinder areclamped together using the tail stock of theIathe. (For a detailed description on turn-ing a stave constructed bowl, see page 10.)

THE INSIDE wALLs. For this bowl, Iwanted to taper the inside walls just

slightly. I used a square-nosed scraper totaper the walls to %" thickness at the rim.

THE FLoATINc tsASE. The final step onthe bowl is to create a "floating" base. Todo this, I simply used a parting tool toundercut the remaining part of the rabbeton the base. (This is the shaded area in l-ig.3.) Then the bottom corner ofthe cylinclerwall is chamfered, and the bowl is finishsanded and removed from the lathe.

THE t ID

There's really only one major differencebetween the lid for this popcorn bowl andthe lids used for the canisters (page 10).

The popcorn bowl lid has a double rabbetcut on the rim. This double rabbet keepsthe outside edge of the lid %" above the rimof the bowl, see Fig. 2. This gap visuallyseparates the vertical grain of the bowlfrom the horizontal grain on the lid.

After the double rabbet is cut on the rim,I used a round-nosed scraper to form theneck around the knob.

Then I cut a slight hollow on top of theknob, and a gentle curve on the main bodyof the lid. l'inally the lid is finished sanded,and separated from the faceplate.

To finish the popcorn bowl, I used threecoats Behlen's Salad Bowl Finish.

FIGURE I

l_2%"____n

STAVE 4/4 STOCK

CUI IWEIVE sTAVEs

watl %" THtcxON TOP EDGE

FIGURE 3EOTTOM CORNER

FINAI STEP: UNDERCUTSHOUIDEN OF RAIIET

24 WoODSMITH