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2 50
OT S ROM TH SHOP
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WOOOSMlTH
in the m ail to you.
NEW FACBS. The gang here at ixl-
it is turning in to
a
thundering her d.
S in ce th e la st issue, we've ad ded four ne w
faces.
K en M iller has been associa te d w ith
Woodsmit
alm ost from the beginning
he dev eloped the com put er programs we
u se
to process and kee p track of every
bo dy' s
n a m e
and ad dres s.
\Ve 'v e ju st u nd er go ne a majorexpansicn
of our com pu te r operatio n, and Ken ha s
agreed ~ work w ith us full-time to >eel
thos e 'm achines w ll irling and click ing.
A s
a
side not e, I've even jo in ed
the
co m
puter ag: e. Instead of p o un ding key s on the
ol d type ~iter to w rite the copy, now 1
ke y- in o n a w ord p ro ce ss or. (D atapoi nt is
the brand.) It's a faney m achine that save s
a lot of tim e.
Dave Kreyling hasjoined Ihe arc team to
help Ted w ith
the
dr aw ings . A lo ng w ith
gaining
an appreciation
fo r the artw ork in
lVoodSlltifh Dav e
is quic kly lea ning bhe
amount of work U)a t goes in to e ac h draw
ing
(3 to 4
hours pel'
drawing),
Since
we
typicllily hav e about
S O
91' aw inllS in each
iss ue, we needed som e help W iththis work
load, and D ave 'is a nx io us to
work,
Vickie.Robinson. Kim
lI1elt onand Jack ie
'S tr ou d h av e
all
signed on to help w ith the
m ail open ing, processiJ:'g and shipping .
Ted likes to say that th is whole business
comesin
in
a m 3JJb a g
a nd goe s out'n a
bag.
J
lhin k V ic kie ,
Kim
an d Ja ckie
will
h'elp keep those m ail
b ag s m ov in g,
TRBSCIlEI)I)LE. This is su e ofWoods niU
will
pr obably be In
the
m ai l
during the
week of
August
16t h. That's about
six
w eeks behind O UI'i nt en ded s ch ed ule.
Althougb I k no w i t' > fr us tl 'a ti ng t o all.of
ou r
subscribers,
jive
never
wanted
to
keep
a rig id s ch ed ule f or p ub lis hin g e ac h is su e.
That's one of tl,e reasons we refer to e ac h
issue by th e issue Number (t his one is
Number 22). rather than the d ate (th e J uly
issue.)
But y ou 'r e r un ni ng a b us in es s. Don , why
don't you keep to 8 sehedule?
W hen w e get behind, th er e's
te ndency
to
want
to slap to ge th e.
an
is sue just
to
meet th e schedule. But that's not fair, I'd
rather put. full effort into each issue ...
even
ifibmeans
we'll
be
late .
To me it s
bettel' to watch the quality of w hat goe s
into
~Vood8mith
rather than to w afc h th e
calendar
fo r
when
it c om e s
ou t.
However, I w ill guarantee that we'll
publish six
ISSUe
a y~ ar, an d w e'll put
100 %
effort in each issue. W ith that in
mind, our next m ailing
W oodsmith
No.
23
sh ould bein the m ail dluingthe w eek of
Octo00 'Ith. 1982 .
A BOUT 'Jl IUS ISS UE .
If you've bee n
re ad
i ng thi s
colum n
fo r the j) Q s te w is sues, you
kn o w that r keep com ing up with reasons
why we.didn't run an-ar ticle on cutting lap
(h al Fblind) dov etails. W II , we
finally
go t
it- in this iss ue. A nd we m an aged tod oift he
w ay we
originally
in te nd ed :
showing
bo th
ha nd-cut an d machine-cut dovetails.
:Jutting dovetail s w ith a m ac hine (a
router) certainly elim inates tha t eld- t ime
craftsm an sh ip. But
it
gets the job done.
A nd
w as qui te content
to-use
the ro ute r
when it came time to build th e gaggle
of
dr awer s needed fo r the m odula r st orag e
system (sho wn on ,page
12).
Yet,
av e to
ad m it s6mething .
r
really
e \io y th e hand-work that goes into lap
dovet ails when it's done th e old -fashi oned
way.
It's
alm os t like working On on e' of
thos e int ricate Ja pane se joints. 1 c an sit
back in the shop an d sa w and
tal'
and chi se l
to my heart's content. It's elljo,l'able w ork .
MODUI,,'R SrORAGt:. For thOSe of ~'ou
who get in to th e design o[ projects, tH e
m odul ar st or age system in this iss ue ought
to
-s trike
a
res ponsive
ch o rd ,
No,
th e r e s
noth in g'pa rticula rly fa nc y a bout it . A nd if
yo u want to get ''e1llly cyn ical, t,his whole
projec t is just
a
bunch of boxes stac ked on
top of one an other.
But what- in brigue s m e about this pl'oject
is the com plet e fl exi bility you ha ve ...
ft~
he project is built The door,
drawers and shelves can all be -m oved
a ro u n d
to suit whatever nee d (o r w him )
arises.
A ll of thi s flexibil ity is due in
P 3 c
to th e
desjgn (give T ed a Jl' t o n the back )
a n d
in
part to the spec ia l' hardware
w e use d.
A U
of the hard ware (except fo. the resan in
sorts) for the m
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3
00DSMITH
W e invile you
10
share
your
woodworking
lips
an~ te ch niques wilh o lhe , readers 01
Wood-
S 7i / th ,W . will pay a minim um01SS lo ra lip , a l)d
SfO or mora lo r a speclallQ ch nlq ua. Allmalerla l
subm iHodb ecomes Ih o property
01Wood ,m ilh
Pubnshiog
Co,
Upon parm en l, you ljive Wood-
s m ith th e righ llo ,use the male rial in any man ner
lor as
10h g
as we ,ish,
II you r idea involve . a dtllwing or photo
to
ex plai n II, d o y our best and, il n_$S 'ICY, we'll
make a new drawing. or bUild the project or jig
ana pholograph it.
A n y
draw ings
or
photos
subm ilted ca nnot
be
,Iuro ed ,)
S en d y our i~eas 10 :
Woodsmilll
'O p,.& Tech
niques , 220 0 Grand Ave.. D es M oin e s, I owa
50 312,
J rf f ll J a c o b s e n
WinChesterKelltucky
screws. Then the \\:311standards are
screwed into tbe dados on the opposi te
side,
I'v e f ou nd that the wall s tandards in th a
baseboard \\~IIslide easily
ill
dados
of the
top i all the wooden parts a re g iv en a coat
o[
seale
and
then w axed .
RADIAL ARM CUT-OFF JIG
Squaring' up andlor cu tt in g
to
l engUt s tock
lh at's wider than tbe reach of th e rad ia l
arm saw (14') has always bee n so m ewhat
of a problem for ,e. Even 011a table l8W,
there's just not enough su PP.ort to cut of f a
w ide table top (80') ,v ith good accuracy .
I cam e up with. a jig for th e ra dia l a rm
saw tha t can ha ndle cu ts up to 30 w ithout
Jan i ederselt
Kam ,olYp8,B.,itisk Columbia
~lAMPTO
S AW T A6 LE
CU T O AO O
;0 iii
THIGK NESS
STANDARDS
SAND RUSH
RAB8T
fll.UlI 1111 --_
SUGHTL ' t OV RSfZED
SOLID WOOD CORNERS FOR PLYwOOD
W ith the lim ited equi pment have in the
shop, I've alway s
baa
problems
cutting
mite re,d co rner s on plywood cabinets . It
seem s tha t the venee r is alw ays spU tting
or the com ers don 't m eet
exa ctly a s
plan
ned. And
bee auseof
the thin veneer on th e
plywood, you ca n 't even san d them
flush.
Conse quently, I've adopted a co rn er
jo in t w h ich is very easy to cu t, e as y to g lu e
an d
has
th e
appearanee
of
a
mitel'eq COI'
ner. And
it ca n be sanded to
fit
pe rfectly
flush w ith the plywoo d cabinet sid es .
The
jO in t. is
a half
ra bbet w ith
a
so lid
wood
corner.
First
I
cut
a rabbet in the
side that 's only w ide enoug h to o ve rlap one
hal f of the top piece (th is is what
I
a ll a half
..abbet). Then the ca binet is glu ed t.oge
th er, w itho ut any
co rn er
strips.
OarlRagelt
U n c a s v U / . e , eOlinecticllt
hole, Then clamp the ba seboard to th e dril l
press table ,vith C-cl amps.
D rill the
fil'st
hol e an d
then
move the
stop pe g
to thenext
hole.an d te pO sW i on the
board to d ri ll the secon d hol e, l:;arge r sp ac
ings between holes be ing d ril le d' ca n be
mad e ) :>yskippin g holes in ihe bnse board.
Thi s jig has saved me ho ur s o f. ~a yo ut
tim e a nd all m y holes are d rille d u niform ly,
It re ally works .
SEND IN YOUR IDEAS
The n I
cut.a
small CO ''I1e ' trip of so lid f
wood a pp ro xim ate ly y . oversize d, This
strip is glued into the come r and sanded
flush w ith the' p lywood su rfa ce .
the cabinet ar e
drilled
exactly lhe sam e,
The jig consists of a pi ece of plyw ood,
a fe nc e, and a stop-peg. Th.e jig
I
use is
10 wide, 48 long, and is l arge enough to
handle alm ost any project.
T o la yo ut th ejig, d raw tw o lin es para llel
to one edge of the
basebcard,
on e
5(A)
from the edge for a row of
W
hole s fot the
s to p p eg s. And the other lin e B is d rawn
6' from the edge, for aligning the front
e dg e o f. th e fe nce .
The holes ar e lai d
out-carefully
al ong lin e
A an d
are
sp aced th e sam e d istan ce
apart
th e fin is he d h ole s will be
use Ispac
ings ). D rill the holes
to
within ab ou t
W
of
go ing through the baseboard.
A 1y wide fenc e is attached to th e
baseboard along lin e B . T his lea ves ab out
2
be hind the fe nc e to clam p the base
board to the ruin pre ss table,
The stop pe g is mere ly a dowel abou t
4
long w ith a sUght chamf(l r ,on o ne end.
To use the jig on the W ill p res s, insert
the sto p peg in to a hol e in th e jig that is fa r
en ough towar d one end to acc ommodate
movi ng the workpiece , th rough, from the
first
bole to the las t. Thel} hold th e work
piece ag ainst th e fence an d the stop peg .
A lign the bi Se boar d so that th e sp ur of th e
bit is directly over the location of the first
~ ~ ~
F- _ @ _ . _ 6 _ - G - _ - . - I
1--'--
ORllP RS5ABlE fENCE
51
PE G
o WORkP tKE
EVENLY SPACED HOLES
T he a rticle on buildin~
the
w aU shelf in
Woodsmith N o.
20 rem inded me
of how
many tim es I'v e
willed
holes in the sid es of
c ab in ets o nly to find that I've spaced th em
a UtUe b it d if fe re n tl y on one side of the
cabinet th an tb e
otber,
T heresu lt is a shelf
th a t t ee te rs.
N ow r use a jig for boring holes in cab
inet sides
which assures
that the shelves
will sit so lid ly o n a ll fo ur corners, Even i
th e h ole s a re s lig htly un equal in sp acin g u p
a nd d ow n th e sid es, th e s he lf w i ll sitsoUdly
on all fom ' co rners because b.oth sides of
__ T_i~s
Techni9_ue_S__
losi ng a llY a ccura cy . T he jig it se lf c onsist s
o f two
2'x4'
pieces o f 'Y . p l ywood , and two
36 aluminu m wal l standards.
I
ta rte d b y d ad oin g tw o g r:o ov es.(% ' w ide
an d
as
de ep as
l4
th e th ickness of the shelf
standard) down the length of the p ly wo od
in exactly the sam e position on both pieces.
The piec e th at becomes the top is fl ipped
over
and
a O/i'x W '
dado is cu t fo r th e fe nc e.
T his d ad o is c u t ac ro ss th e width of the
pl ywood,
3
in
from
the end. an d a
,, x 2 1 1 1
fence is th en g lued into the dad o.
On the base piece, 1attached a o/.txlW
strip to th e
back.edge
so lhat the jig
can be
secured w ith the . .d ial arm saw 's clamp
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W OOOSMlTR
d ef in e. th e c hipped ouL w aste, But as you
g et d ee per, the saw cuts simply
arent
there
anymore.
and things start to look
a
little ra gg ed , F ig , 8,
Ljust keep chopp ing un ti l I r each the lip
of the draw er front
(the rabbet).
Then
I
us e the
chisel
like a
small
hand plan e
to
carve the b otto m Iev el w itll th e lip ,
Finally , y ou h av e to c lea n upt he l 'l lg g (1
sides of th e pins, F ig, 9, This is sort of a
de li ca te woodc arvin g o pe ra tio n. Just hold
t he chi sel at an an gle and carve in,on tbe
sides of the pins (following th e p en cil lin es
on the top and end of
the board).
The hardest part o f th is o pe ratio n is
g ettin g th e sid es p ith e p in s s 'llo oth and the
corners
cleaned
out, This can take some
time, bu t it's
very
pleasant wor
CUnlNG THE TAIlS
O nc e th e p in s
are ct,
a nd c lea ne d u p, ho ld
the d ra wer sid e a ga in st th e en ds o f the pin s
(Fig ,
10
and m ark the cut lin es fo r the ta ils
with
a
sh arp
pencil,
No m atter how
sharp
the pencil is, tb e
pencil line will always be slig htly to the
in side (o n th e g oo d sid e) o f where yo u
w ant to cut, So, w hen cutting the tails,
start th e c uts a bo ut \( ,. a ,y ay (o n th e was te
or
X
s id e) , P ig,
11 . .
C~g'\N otrr WAS'I'E. the pins on the
drawer
front
are
na rrow an d delicate, the
co n 'es~nding w aste
sections
b etw ee n t he
tails \vU l be narrow an d d elica te, T his
c au se s p ro blem s, I f
this
w aste is
narrower
than your sm allest chise l, you 'll have to
turn the chisel at an angle to chip out the
was te , F ig. 12,
Only the m iddle w aste sections need be
cho pped o ut th is w ay, T he o utsid e w aste
sections
( fo r th e h alf-p in s) are cu t o ff w i th a
back sa w ,
THE FIT, al l has gone well, th e sid es
( ta il s) can b e ta pp ed o nto th e.d raw er fro ot
(pins), [ u su ally d o th is w ith g rea t ca re, t
thejointis too tight, there is the-danger of
s pl it ti ng t he
drawer
.front,
A fter tapping the joint about
halfway
together, 1 knock it apart and check for
black rub m3 'J
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WQO SM\TH
I/ t.heuY1stcsec tions are to o smallfor
you ,'
smalle .s~
ch iset, hold ch is e l
at
Il1l{ le . Chip o ut was/e betweBl t tails, ml i
then saw off
O1us i.det1l)0
wast e sections.
9
1:4'1/6 SectiollS of luastewill ( L i t in
thecO> lf:rS. To clean this ou~,lwld 1M
chi~eJat an angle to fa t/ow the m arked
l ines , O J Id 8 l1 w O tl < tM
sides of
liM 1),(IIS .
6
To establish base l i11e,s li de ch ise l into
knifed lille and t ap s f:l'a igh~dolU 't1QiU ,
mallet. 1 'het,
ca ej 'uLLy ca rve
ou t a s-ma l/
V sec io . . ill
[ ron t. o f ba se
line.
Afle r pi'l$ a , . co mple te d, M id
side
piece
aga ins t
6 ds o f p i' l$ and 'USe
s , '1/ pencil /0 mork :
th e
allgled lilies as
wel l es th b as e lin t fo r Ih e
tails.
5
3
Hold
edge of
,.IlI ,' alollg
should61' of
.,b .betto
mark
position
o f p i ns . T he re
sh ou ld b e a Itallpin on ouieide e(ige8
a,1d
full,pins evenlll spaced betW68lll l leIll.
C/l I IYE
our
V st l
HAll PIN
1 1
1VI8 '~sawing o t wast e , pqs-itioll
sa,v abam 1n front tlte'1]aTked lsne.
Hold saw a t a
sttep
anul6 nUt ba.s.e .lirte
s
reached, then. level
it
Qut to fin ish /l tL
O
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WOelDSMITH
The thi ckness of these pieces doesn't
matter too muc h
either.
The
drawer
fr ont
an d
sides
ca n
be
dUrerent
thicknesses,
(i.e,
a' ;y . c th ic k h 'o nt \\~ th y t thick sides),
01
th e sam e th ic kn ess (th e fro nt and sid es
are
both 0 / .
thiek).
However, if you re making several
drawers, it s very helpful if al l
similAr
pi eces are exactly the same thickness.
T ha t is, a ll d rawe r fronts e xa ctly the.same,
an d all sides exactly the sam e.
O nce you know the fina l dimensio ns for
the
draw er front.~ and sides, you can
go
ahead and
cut them to sise , However, a l lo f
the
initial work will
be done on
scrap
pieces,
which
we'll g et
to later.
SETTING UP THE ROUTER
Before y ou ca n start cu ttin g d ov eta ils, the
router has to be
set
up . In order to use the
dovetail fixture, a 'VI' outer-diameter
guide
bllshing has to be mounted to the
pl astic bas e o r$ he
router.
T hen, the do ve
tail b it ca n b e mounted and adju sted to the
proper dep th o cut.
The
Sears instruction
sheet
(tba~
comes
w ith th e d ovelail fixture) says t adjust
th is dep~h of OUt to . . , n . Bu t ~ (e xa ctly
i
seems to work better fo r me, so I
usual ly s ta rt t
y
dep th of cut, and
fine-tune th is settin g la ter,
AJ.IGNalEXl . O nce the b it is i n pla ce , y ou
may find that It's not aligned with (cen
tered
on) the
ttl.l oat
of the guide b ushing.
Cfhis
is a
problem with Sears
routers
be
cause the mounting holes fo both the
b ushing ana the plastic base are s lig htly
lal'gerthan they need
to
be, which means
lile y c an s lid e o ff -c en ter. )
To check the alignment, unplug the
p ow er co rd , an d rotate the do vetail b it b y
h an d to make sure i tdoesn't scrape against
the bushing. As you
rotate
the bit, also
check the distance b etw een th e ins id e of
the b ushin g and the edge of t he bil for the
entil'e rotation to make sure the b it is
centered.
f
th ere alo eproblems, ad jus t- ruent s can
be m ade by
loosen ing the.mounting' screws
on th e. plastic b ase or o n th e b ush in g,Hnd
moving one or both to get the bushing
centered on th e bit,
SETTlNG UP THE FIXTURE
The router is ready to go, but now you
hav e to set up the d ov eta il fixture. There
a l o e tw o o ptio ns h ere. T he fix ture can be
set up for 1) routin g do vetails for a nu~h
drawer (the sides ar e
flush
with the edge s
of th e dr awer fl'Ont) ,0 2) rout ing dpvetai ls
on a ra bbeted draw er fr ont (the sid es ar e
ROU l ~R
srr.
J l i for
dovetail
ro ute r bits,
they come in two s iz es: 14 ' and Yo ,Ve' . re
concentra ting-en 4
dovet ai ls i n t ll is,arti
cle because the
standard
tem pla te th at
c omes w i th dove ta il f ix tures is made for a
V . dov eta il bit.
S in ce you've alre -ady spent a lot of
money on the. fixture, you might as we.U
empty your poc ket and get a carbide
tipped dovetail bit ( they're w orth the extra
m on ey in th is e ase).
LYING OUT THE UTS
Onee you have the too ls, th ere's only one
other thing you need - some wood. And
thi s wood (the drawer fr ont and sid es in
th is case) sho uld be cut to final size.
S ince the finished size of the draw er is
dictated by the op en ing in tile cabin et, you
don' t ha ve much choice here- ju S b cue t he
pieces to fi t the opening .
A lso, sin ce the layout for machine-cut
dovetai ls is determ ined by the dovetail
fi.xture ,
YOUl e
bas ica Uy stu ck w ith astatic
p atte rn o f
Y i
dove ta il s t ha t rep ea ts e very
' Y o ' ,
se e
Fig .
HO \VeV6JJ , t ner
one consideration
to
kee p in mind. Because the
dovetail
layout
has a set siz e, the dimensions or the -eab lne t
openi ng sh ould be planned ahead of tim e to
ea sily accommodate this layout,
I11snice (but no t a bsolut ely necessary) if
the drawer Wont is size d fo r a'pattern b hat
put s a hal f- pin on th e top and bottom edge
(just like the layo ut for a ha nd-cut
do veta il ).
TfIE ~l;\TE~JAL.
~s for th e w oo d itself,
one advan tage of machine- cut dovetails is
tha t th ey can be successive ly cut in either
so lid woo d 01 plywoo d.
If someo ne walked up to a cabinet-maker
100 ye ars ago-andto ld'him there was away
to
cut half-blind
dovetails ,Ut il i, '
m chine
he probab ly would hav e bee n
delighted,
All of th e tim e re qu ire d to cu t d ov etails
by
han d, he might reason , could be spent on
other (less a rduous) l as lr s,
Now adays .
in th is
world
o fm achines
and
robots, we have a tendency to romance
that old- tim e
hand-work
and
disdain
modern m achine .work. aU,t roma nc e a side ,
machine-cut
( ro ute d) d ov eta ils do hav e
their place, even in a home shop, f yo u
want to b u ild
a
ca b inet that has a lot of
drawers, on e of th e best (most effi cient)
way to get the job done is with a route r
and dovetail fixtu re,
DOVET IL fiXTURES
Once you ve resigned yOUI SeI f to th e fac t
Ihat
machine-cut
dovetails are not such a
te rr ib le thing , all you have to do is co ll ec t
the
tools
to cut them .
0nly four things are required : a router, a
dovetail b it , a guide bushing
template
guide), and a dovetail fixture. This last
it em (theooveiail
fixture)
is
the
k ey to the
whole process.
VOVET.UL fLX TURBS. The i xtur that
allows you to cu t lap (hair-bl ind) do vetails
with a ro ute is just a c om b -s ha pe d te rn
plate that
fits
on an alumin um b ase. 'l'h e
bas e ha s c lamping
bars
to hold the
work
pieces
in
place while
th e
router is
guided
in
and out of the finge rs on the template to
cut
ev enl y spa ced dove ta ils on a drawer's
front. an d sides.
Althoug h these fixtur es cut d ov eta ils
quite efficiently, they
have
tw o m ajor
d ra wb acks : 1) th ey 're ex pe nsive ( 60 to
$ S O ) ,
and 2 )
they take time to set up. B ut
when yo u ha ve a lot of
drawers
to build,
a
dovetail
i xtur
is probab ly
worth
the
money beca use of tbe long-run savin gs in
time.
A ll dcvetail fixtures work about the
same way but in order to av o id some
con
fusion (and repeti tion), we're only sh owing
the
Sears
12
mode l
No . 25 '110
in th is a rti
cle. (F or an evaluation of th ree obhel ' dove
tail
fixtures,
se e
page LO.)
GUIV E BUSHIN G . The oute r (a nd hence
the ro ut er bit) is guided in and out of the
fingers on the com b with the aid of a guide
bushing(slso called a template gui de ). Th is
is just a met al eoliar or bus hing (with an
oute r diam eter of
v . .
that mou nts to the
plastic base on th e bottom of the route r.
The
Sears
guid e bush ing, for ex ampl e,
sc rews to the plastic base \V i~h thr ee
machine sc rews.
ONLY YOU AND YOUR ROUTERW ILL KNOW
Machine ut Dovetails
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7
SU P1 O ttt A IM
v SPACE
ADJu nNG NUl 8 ~
Ulf
1 ~ ~ ~ = = ~ ~ ~ ~ f M I t. . .
r /
TIGHTEN ING
t C N O B
D R AW E JI S ID E
ROUtl.5
WOODSMITH
flGUU
t-- \ ~
A S~ .RAWfIt
O O
fait
Pr inceton
2564 39.95
5-
fair
faIr NlA
fa ir
PRINCETON. No. 2661
10
WOODSMITH
C HA RT O F C OM PA RISO N F OR D OVETAlt F IXTURES
SEARS 8 .
No. 26760
work with (and easy on the fingers); a
g o o d rating.
CHART OF COlUARISON.
The c ha rt b elow
co mp ares the
cost
each
fixture, and
gi\ es o ur ra tin gs o C th e fea tu res. T he last
colum n represents our opinion of the in
struction . that co me with th e Iixture.
COX(,Lt:SIO~ S.
o r
t he d ov et ail fi xt ur e.
we t es te d. ou r first cho ic e wou ld p robab ly
b e th e S ea l'S 1 2m o de l. If Sears would jus t
c hung tho se pai n-producing knobs, it
wou ld be u very good fixture in all
re spec t .
The Boshe fixture
is
also quite goo d -
e xc ep t it 's e xp en siv e to begin w ith. and
then you have to buy two different tem
plates for O ush and rab beted draw ers.
The
Perter
Cable
fixture
rated
in th at
m id dle g ro un d. I t wo rk s, but th e Sears an d
Boshe
h av e b et te r f ea tu re s.
As f or t he Sears Irm od el, it 's th e c he ap
est of the bunch, and may be usoful if you
p la n to u sc it o nly o cc asio nally .
1)1I11,t . .')XTI1R F ..
One
other
fixture
we
lo ok ed at (from t he Princeton '1' 0 01c~ t.nlog )
is designed for use w ith an electric drill.
There are
tw o
m ajor draw backs w ith
this
fixture: t 's d if fi cu lt t o dup lica t e
cuts
on several pieces
because
th e
set-up
depend ' on penci l l in es ; and 2 you're
KUP-
posed to use a 0/. . drill rated at 3000 R PM
(8
h ea vy -d uty c o mme rc ia l drill).
\V e tried using a lIlakitn drill ()80 0
R P~I), and have to adm it the fixture
worked ... very slow ly. But the drill
alo ne co sts $6 0. A ll thin gs
cons lde red,
1
would go with one of the router fixl ureij.
rORTER CABLE. No. 5008
swi tc hin g t he t emp la te t o c ut .e ither a flush
Or
rab be ted d raw er fl on t.
The
standard template
011
three of the
f ix tu re s ( th e
Sears
12 . th e Sears 8 . an d
P orter C ab le) can b e easily switched from
one function to the other. However. all
three go ab ou t it in d ilT ere nt w ay s.
The Sears l2 mode l u se . a
0/.-
spacer to
r ep osit io n t he t emp la te r flu sh o r rab-
b eted d ra wer fro nts. 1 1 th e P orter C able
m od el, th e te mp la te is moun ted
to
a s li ding
arm that m oves In and our by Ieosening
hold ing s cr ews on the back o f t he arm .
There is lit tle diff m nte in ease of
ad
justm ent betw een these tw o system s, so
we judged t hem e qu al ly g oo d. , .
The Sears Ir model uses a met al f iJ le r
s tr ip o n t he t emp la te
to
sto p the rou ter for
a Ousb drawer . This works fair, and was
rate d f ai r
As for the B oshe m odel, the Standard
t emp la te w i ll on l y cut aGushdrawer front.
You h av e to b uy a s ep ar ate te mpla te
to
eu t
rabbeted
drawer
fr ont.
KNOBS.
Mer us in g e tle ll lix tu l'e [01
a
while , w e fo un d lh at
an
Insignifi c an t t hin g
l ike theknobs
made
b ig d if fe re nc e o n t he
wear and tear on your fingers as you
change
workpieees.
The
Perter
C ab le and Sears Ir m od els
use w ing' nuts that are just barely ade
quate to their purpose: hence the j>oor
rating. T he S ears 1 2 m od el h as sm all p las
tic k no bs w ith d ec ep tiv ely sh arp (p ain fu l)
corners;
als o a
poor
rating
The Boshe m odel hll uoge three-wing
plas tic knobs which we fQundv ery easy to
When w e decided to do the article on cut
t ing lU I)dovet ai ls w i th
a
ro uter an d d ove
t ai l f ix ture (page
6) .
w e thou gh t it w ou ld b e
a
good o pp ortu nity to g et se vera l rlX tu rea
in the shop to test them out.
T he C o urdovetailfixtures we bough t are
very similar, Each
on e
cuts
l ap dovet a il s
with a router, and each can be used w ith
a ny b ra nd o f ro ute r provided it has a v . . .
guide bush ing).
B llt after w e had a chanee to use euch of
th em
for a
while, we began to develop
some likes and dislikes. W e quickly
teamed that three things became the de
c id ing facto rs
r
ou r op in ion
s ,
T~;)JPLATEADJliSTlIEXT. F frst., we
lo ok ed at th e m eth od o fru iju stin g th e tern-
I
p late fo r th e len gth o f c ut. T hi. a mo re fid dlin g a ro un d.
T he Sears Ir m odel h as n o p ro visio n for
th is a
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11
OODSMITH
veneer tape (cutting w ith the grain).
A s
lon g .as the chisel is held flush against the
plywood, it
will
tr im the edge w ithout
gouging the p ywood or the ve neer tape.
SQ UARE EN IlS.
There
are times
whe n the
veneer tape needs
to
be
cut sq uar e on one
end to butt against another pi ece. To do
this,
1 u se a tittle trick tliat
re qu ire s
no tb
'ing m ore than a 1 chise l.
Stand the chisel 'O n the ve nee r tape
so
you ca n look straight into the flat side of
th e c his el. Y ou should se e a re fle ctio n o f
th e-two outsid e edges of t he veneer tape.
The trick is to tw ist the chi se l u nt il the
edges of the tape in the refl ec tion are in a
st raight line w ith -the edges of the ye n ee l'
in frontofthe chisel. \V hen'b oth e dg es lo ok
like one contin uous straight line, the chisel
is
positione d to cut a sq ua re end .
V R
f It
~OLDHIS EL FW SH
G INS r f C E O f PlYWOO~
rs S t o e . a dheres better, a nd is easier to
use.
than
all: other bra nd w e've hied .
APP LIOAT ION .
m en applying: veneer
tape,
the firsbstep
is to
cuta
s tr ip abo ut
14
loilger
than
is n eeded.
(I use a
pair of old
SCiS Ol '$
keep
around the shop, and they
seem to w ork just fine.)
To app ly
the
v en ee r ta pe . h ea t
p
a n iro n
to the cotton setting. Lay the veneer
tape
on th e plyw ood with one edge o( thg
tape flush w ith one face of the plyw ood.
T )ie lts low ly mo ve the iro n d own th e le ng th
o rthe veneer tape to m elt the adhesive.
Immedia te ly a ft:e r.passing the iron over
th e ta pjl,
press
it in place w ith a sm all
p in e b lo ck . 'T his b lo ck a ls o
a bs orb s h eat to
set the adhesive ..
M ISTAK:&S.
O ne o f th e n ic est th in gs a bo ut
iron-on v en ee r ta pe is that it's easy to fix
mistakes. A U you have to do is to go over it
a gain w ith the iron. T his softens the adhe
sive so that the veneer can be lifted and
repositioned correctly.
TitillAtING
After the ad he siv e h as c oo le d
(about a m inute
01
so), the veneer
over
han~ng one edge of
the
plyw ood can be
trimmed
flush w itb a s rp chisel.
Hol d
ti) e c his el s o th eila t s id e
is
agains the
face
o f t he plyw ood and slow ly push it in to th e
into the hole. T hey have
screwdriver-slots
on the shank, b ut because the rosan in-
sert,
is h ollow thes e
slots
are only on the
very outside edges. This mea ns there's an
ext remely smaU area of contact betw een
th e serewdnver and the slots.
Then to add to the pl'oblem, rosan in
serts are made out of brass, which is re l
at ive ly soft. This all adds up to a real
c ha nc e o f s tr ip pin g o ut th e s lo ts
before
.th e
I ns er ts a re cO .mplet ely
seated.
The procedure
use to mount rosan
tnsertsi s two 'fo ld. Fir.st I coa t th e th re ad s
w ith bee's wax (or so ap) to
reduce
th e
f ric to n b etw e en th e th re ad s
and
th e wo od .
1 ;h en inste ad of u sing the slot in the bo dy o f
the inse rt,
crew a mach ine bolt all 'th e
w ay into the
insert.iand
use it to
SCl eW
th e
in sert int o the wood.
IRONON VENEER TPE
Ancther
major problem with using
plywood is tryi ng to hide the ex posed
edges. One of the easiest wa~s is w ith
Ir on-on venee r tape. (T his w as used on th e
modular st ora ge system , pa ge 12) .
Iron-on veneer ta pe is just a thin piece of
ve nee r about
t,
w ide and has hea t
activated adhesive on one sid e.
A lthou gh the re are severa l different
types of iron-on tape availab le, Edge mate
Real \V ood edging ( so ld b y
T ir e W o o d w 1 k
grained w ood O ike oak) is used for th e fa ce
veneei
of plywoo d, it will splinter (to s ome
ex tent) no m atter what saw blade is used.
T he trick. w e use to elim inate this prob
lem is sim ple: w e apply m asking tap e over
th e la yo ut lin es o n th e p ly wo od . T his g iv es
the face veneer enough support to keep it
from being torn out. b y the saw blade.
Then we cut the plyw ood in the norm al
m a n n e r and rem ove the tape slow ly, pull
ing;t
toward
th e e dg e. Th IS me th od e lim i
nates
sp linte.l'i(lg
evw;y
t ime.
ROS N INSERTS
P i.
rosan
insert
(also
ca lled
a threaded in-
sert)
a handy
little piec ~
of hardware ...
and a pain in the heck. These li ttle gizm os
are designed w ith thread. on both
the In-
side and outside - so you can use the
outside
threads
to s crew itln to.a ho le , and
th e in side threads to mount a bolt.
'rhe problem , is in trying to screw them
cut ti ng j ig by ad di ng a second r un ne l' t ha t,
ri des along the outside edge of the table
s aw 's w in g. T his se co nd ru nner hel ps keep
th e jig lin ed up w ith the bl ad e and it also
keeps the fi rst run ne l' f rom bin ding in the
m iter ga uge groove.
On some table saw mode ls, there are
b ol es on the outs ide edge of the w ings. To
keep the heads orthes e bolts fr om ca tching
th e ne w runner, we bolte d a pi ece of woo d,
to the out side ed ge of the w ing, counter
b or in g to re ces s the head s of the bolts .
THE M SK IN G T PE S OL UTIO N
One of th e most ann, yi ng pro b lems w ith
plyw ood is that it splin ters along the edge
as it's being cut. The most co mmon reac
tion to this problem is.
to
blame the sa w
bl ade . Unfo rtu na tely, when an open -
GU IDE OLTeD TO W ING
SlOP loc;l
W e decided to use plyw ood for both the
major
pro jects in
this
issue.
And
as it
turned out, the decision to usa plywood
was
a
mixed b le ss in g.
Although.th ere are a lotof'advautagesto
using-p lyw ood - no gluing of ra ndom sized
pieces of lum ber, no planing is
required
and the am ount
of
Um
e
r'equired (01
p ro je ct is usuatly reduced- there we also
several disadvantages. P lywood has a
n as by h ab it o f s plin te rin g, it c om es in v ery
awkward
sized sheets, and the ex posed
e dg es a lw a ys
present
a p ro blem.
While
we were buildi ng the
cabinet/
hutch
an d
th e mo du la r s to ra ge. system
f()
t hi s i ssue, w e c am e u p w ith fe w tric ks to
h el p s ol ve some o f t he se problems.
P N EL CUTTING JIG
In
Wootismitlt
No.
18.
we showed the
panel cutting' jig we us e whe n w e need to
cut large
wo c k p i e c e s
on our tabla saw .
\V hat
p r o m p t e d
us to change its design
was
a
n ag gin g p ro ble m th at k ep t p op pin g
up - the runner kept binding in tbe m iter
gauge groove. This caused the jig to jit
ter
as the cut
was made,
causing a
burned edge.
'W e changed the design on
a
ne' pal.,el
____ S_h_o~
ot s
S O M E T IP S F R O M O U R S H O P
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WOODSMlTH
is a rab beted to ng ue/ dado, se e Detail A n
Fig.
J
1 0 m ake this joint, rout the dado on the
top a nd b ottom p ie ce s l ir st. U sin g
a
' bit,
I
set the fence O n the
ro ute r table
'h fr om
the closest edge of the bit and the depth of
the cut
at
, (This V measurement
a llow s f or a y over-hang on the ends of
th e top and bo ttom pieces.)
After the route- table is set up, cut the
dado on both ends of the top and bottom
pieces. Now: This cut should be on the
sam e side
the dado for the center
divider,
THE TOSCt:FS To cut the tongue on the
side pieces. set the fence from the
jarlhesl t'd ge o f t he b it. T his s et -u p will cu t
a rabbet, w hich in tum leav es the tongue
y ou wan t. 1 had to m ake sev eral trial cu ts
(using scrap) u ntil th e to ng ue fit p ro pe rly
in th e dado.
W hen the router table is adju sted, cu i
to ng ues o n b oth e nd s of ea ch sid e piec e (A).
(Note: th e l-a blll ll, s cut on the outsid e of
th e ~ id e pieee.
Noll', to cut the tongue on the center
d iv id er, y ou h av e to a dju st th e d ep th ofcut
of the bit (but don't m ov e the fence), This
to ng ue is fo rm ed b y c uttin g
a
doub le r ab
be t
so
the tongue is ce nte red o n th e thick
ness o f th e p lywood, se e Detail B nFig. L
(Y ou sh ou ldn't m ov e th e fence for this cu t
because th e s ho uld er s o f th e r ab be ts on th e
center d iv id er m ust tine up w ith th e shoul-
ders on the sid e pieees.)
RABBETS FOR BACK. At this point, th e
only thing lel\ to do ts cut the rabbets for
th e p lywood b ac k, On ce a ga in
sed
a
straight bit on the
reuter
table.
Figure 8 show s how the rabbet far the
plywood back i s s topped at the dadoes at
beth ends of the top and bottom pi eces.
th e
35W '
piece (fo r th e comp on en ts) u ntil
th e
baslc
box is built. T he rem ainin g tw o
pieces arc rough cut into six panels
15 '1fl wide .Then two of these pane ls (one
th at's
2 \ I . i
lo ng fo r th e
center
div ider, and
o ne th at's
35
lo ng fo ,'
th e shelves) are
trimmed to final width: 160;.. wide.
The other fOIll 'panels are trimmed to
ISV,w id e fo r t he sid es (A) and th e to p and
bottom (0). To keep t hi ng s s tr ai gh t, follow
the cutting diagram and label
all
of the
pieces
righ t after they're cu t.
N ow all six pieces are cut to their n-
i shed l eng ths using a p an el jig o n th e table
saw (see S ho p N otes. p ag e
11).
C ut the tO P
and bouom sections 4W long, and the
center d iv id er and bo th sides 4V long.
CENTER OI\'IO&R. Since the in te rchange
ab ility o f the draw ers and do ors relies on
t he ins ide measu remen ts o f 'each sid e o f th e
b ox b ein g
t~actly
the sam e, the center
di v ide r must be perfe ctly c en tered on the
top an d bottom pieces.
The W I L Y I made sure that the dad o for
th e
center
c1ivid&,'
was
exactly
ce ntered
was to
cut
i t w i th
a
route,' an d
a
sim ple j ig ,
see ~'ig . 2. 'rhis fence is just a piece of
p lywood c ut to le ng th so it guides t he bas e
of the rou ter do wn the center o f th e wo rk
piece. It works great , ..
if
i t's e xa ct ly
ce nte red o n th e w ork piec e.
To m ake sure it is centered. lamped
the fenee on one end of lhe w orkpiece and
made cut Ihat just barely entered the
back edge of the plyw ood. Then
moved
the fenee to the opposite end of the w ork
p iece and check ed to see if th e lo ca tion of
th e bit WIIS exactly on the rst cut. The
fence m ay hav e to be adjusted until th e
d ad o is d ead center
0 11
t he wo rkp ie ce .
'rilE CORNEll
JO t:; , . The joint used to
co nnect the sid es w ith the 10 1>and b ottom
12
V., 'SaWe is the best word to describe this
m odu lar slo ag e sy stem . N ot on ly can the
i nd iv i dual uni ts b e
arranged
in an y o rd er,
but the com ponents (the doors, drawers
an d shelv es ) a re c omp le te ly in terch ange
ab le b etw ee n u nits.
B esid es ju st b ein g v ersa tile, th e d esig n
nJ lowseach un it to be m ade out of a single
sheet of lV , ' p lywood. I 4 'x4' sheet of
V
p lywood, a nd some specialty hardware,
On
page 15 w e'v e sho wn th ree cuttin g
d ia (( rnm . u tiliz in g th e s ame b as ic b ox , b ut
with d iffe ren t comb in atio ns o f th e inter-
changeable eemponents-cdrswers, doors.
a nd s he lv e s.
A lth ou gh th ese th ree c uttin g diagrams
are v ery efficient, th ey defin itely d o no t
represent the on ly combina tions . f more
than one unit is being m ade, the cutting
ding r ams can be adapted to fit the com
b in at ion you want.
'l 'h er e's one o th er t hi ng I shou ld mention
at
the
start.
'l'o
eliminate the nagging
problem of p lywood s plintering. we used
l he rou ter ta ble (sh own in WoodsmitftNo
20 ) to cut the joints fo r th ese units. S o,
yo u m igh l ccnslder b uild ing the rou ter
table to h elp w ith this p roject.
THE BASIC BOX
h b as ic b ox consists o f six pieces: te
sides (AI. the to p a nd b ottom (B), and th e
center d iv ider (C l. T he se six p iec es a re c ut
from approximately 2/3' of
a
uSsheet of
. ply wo od.
So. the tir~t step is to cut the plywood
into three pieces: 2 Y , long.
a s
lo ng , a nd
350/, .
lo ng ,,. shown in the Cutting D ia
grams. 'l'hese measurements nre rou gh
d imens ion s, p rov id ing abou t v,' le ew ay o n
e ach p ie ce.
A fter the three p ieces . e cut. set aside
odul r
Sto~eyst tn
MIX AND MATCH A MILLION WAYS
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13
TOeDTIOM Of CABINa
+
o
o
o
o
o
o
J c
_-=-_MARk FaDNYEDGE
_ - = : . , 1
HOLtS
SPAC._ro.:.__
e I-
P R T
0'
o
3
+ .6
o
WOODSMlTH .
,
DETAil OF JOINT FOR BASt: fRAME
D ET AIl. O F B AC K C ::O aNER
AGURE.,3
R ABBET
:y WiDE
y P
fO R B AC K
. . .- 2 A
~n~4--_10V
.j..O. -l
---~--SI/,t : --j
HOlt DRIWNG
~PiATE
lO~
.:. tO~
y APART
~
2~ ~
/
~ltt.
4 4
1..s V t~
R A 8B E T
h i
O R 8 ,A OK
A
SIDE
1'/
fiGURE 4
'~S ID E
C EN TER
O I V I R
S l O E
ea sy to c ut on the
router table by
marking
start
and stop lines on the f enc e
T o m ake th es e c uts , s lid e th e wo rk piec e
sideways in to th e bit, usingtne strut line
as a
re ference point to sta rt tbe cue. Theil
c ut th e
rabbet
down th e len gth o f th e w ork
piece , m oving (rom j'ight to le ft . A s you
approach the stop mark, feed the
work
pi ec e very slow ly.
As
tbe
bit
begins to
break
i nt o t he dado,
it'llbave
a tendency to
jump forward and cut to o far.
These . double-s to pp ed ra bb ets a, e onl y
cu t o n the back edg es o f the top
and'bottom
pieces
(B). The rabbets
on
the
sides (A )
do n't have
to be
stopped, see F ig.
3.
ASSEAtBLY. Now the six p ieces o f the
cabinet can be dry -c la mp ed to c he ek fo r
fit
After
I gote ve rything to
fit 1
cut.a pi ece of
Y o { scrap plywood exac tly to th e. Inside
measuremen ts of opening on one side of
the un it . As you g lu e th e u nit tog eth er, use
th e plywood in sert to keep the cab inet
square as the clam ps are tigbtened .
DRII'.I.lNG TEMPLATE.
After che c ab in et
is a ss embled , the
nex~
step is to make a
drilling'
template to
drill
th e holes
for
the
sh elf s up po rts and the drawer runnel'S.
T o m ake this template , 1 u sed tbe piece
o f p ly wo od th at w as u se d
when
t he cabinet
was clamped toge.ther. F il'S t,
I laid
out
th e p osition of the holes on the template,
an d marked the top and fr.ont edges on
both
sides, s ee F ig.
4.
Then
1
used
a POI't
a li gn a tt ac hment on
a hand.
drill to
drill
the
14 '
holes.
W hen the template i s c omp lete, cla mp it
to oneof th e in sid e faces or th e c ab inet, and
use
a
Portalign to drill the V ,-deep holes.
Then m ove the template
ttl
th e
other
ins ide
face and ev en tually to both faces of the
center
divider. As the tem plate is
re-
located , alw ays keep the
top
of the tem
plate
at
th e
top
o f t h e
cabinet,
and the front
o f t he templa te lin ed u p w ith the front e dge
o f th e
cabinet,
TilE BAS,E. 'f ow it's tim e
to retrieve
p
35 '
piece of ply.wood
that was set
aside.
R ip two 2V , -w ide p ie ce s f or t\1 e base, an d
cut them to le ng th , s ee . F ig . 5.
Aftel'
the pieces are cut
to size,
the
comers are jo ined w ith a rabbeted tongu e
dado joi nt. l'h en the base is as se mb led a nd
se t.aside.
until
after
t be she lv es, drawers,
and doors
are
cu t, wh ic h s ho uld produce
so me scrap f or th e CO rn er b lo ck s.
V.ENEF.RTAP~. There are only two t hi ng s
left to do to the basic bo x and the base.
First, a pp ly veneer ta pe to all. the exposed
e dg es o n thefront and sid es o f th e b ox , an d
the front edges of the base. (For more
in fo rm ation on appl y in g v en eer tape, see
Shop N otes on page
11.)
T he lash step is to cut a piece of v
p lyw oo d for the back, and tack it into
place. ( Th e b ac k is cut from a 4 ,4 sheet of
~. plywood. The lef l: .over sc rap is
used
fo r
the drawer bottoms.)
RGUR;E NOT6 POSITIONDADO TO
hi s doubl e st o pp ed ra bb et is rea ll y f ai rl y
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W OODSMITH
TH E OPTIONS
N ow it's decision tim e. The units are de
sign ed so th at either the d raw ers, doo rs
or shelv es w ill w ork in an y p ositio n, an d in
any com bination . T he C utting D iagram s
show thr ee po ss ib le comb inat io l1$ t ha t c an
be cut from the p lywood that rema ins a lt er
b uild in g th e b asic b ox .
TlIE SHELVES-
The shelves (D )
ar e
th e
ea sie st of th e
three
c om pon en ts to make .
In fac t, o th er than cutting them to size to
fit the cabinet, all that needs to be done is
to ap ply v en ee r
tape
to lhe front edge of
each
sh elf. T hen lh e sh elv es are mounted
in the cab inet w ith sm all paddle shaped
supports that fit in the y . holes.
RECESSED DOORS.
The recessed doors
are
abou t as sim ple to m ake as th e sh elv es
thanks to a nifty little h in ge c alle d a p iv ot
binge. W hat really m akes this hinge
so
special is th at it only requires a
V a
ho le
ch i ll ed in th e c ab in et (wh ic h tran~ ln te s i nt o
110morti8e8
A
pl astic socket (tha t co mes with the
hi nge)
fits
in to this v....hole. Normally, lh e
shoulder on this socket pr ovides II V
clearance so the door doesn 't ru b on the
ca binet . But in th e event that the un it is
rearranged
so
a door
is repl ace d w ith
drawers, I had to mak e a small change in
the w~ this hinge is mounted.
T o g et th e p las tic so cke t out ofthe way, I
had to recess it in a counte rb ore and odd a
sm all washer, see Fig.
7.
Now, the doo rs E) ca n be cut to size ,
al low ing for twic e the total thi ckn ess of the
was he r, the pi vot h alf o f the hinge, and the
veneer
tape.
After th e doors have been cut, apply
veneer tape to
all
fo ur ed ges. Then serew
th e stationary half of th e hinge to the bsck
of the door (see Fig .
7),
and pu sh
the
pivot
ing half o fthe hing e in to th e p lastic so ck et .
THE DRAW ERS
We laid out the cuts for the draw er fronts
so th ere w ould be a continuo us grain pat.
tern from one to the next,
se e
Cutting
D iagram. Then, since we were making
several
draw ers, w e decided to use a rou
terJixture to cut la p d ovetails to join the
drawer fron ts to the sides.
Howe ve r, th er e is one p re ca utio n wh en
making
tMse cuts.
The draw er sides
are
about
less in w idth than the drawer
fron ts . So, when cu tt ing the la p dov eta ils
(s ee page 6), be sure to use a stop on th e
dovetail
fixture
so only
6
sockets are cut on
t he d rawer front
F)
to match th e 6 pin s in
the draw er sides (G ), se e Fig. 6.
ORAWER BOTroM AND B~CK. AftAlrthe
lap doveta i ls are cut, go ahead and cut the
groove for tb e d raw er bottom so it's cen
tered on the bottom socket of the dra wer
front, see Fig.
6.
Then cu t th e draw er back
H) to size (see Fig. 8) and join it to the
sid es with a ra bb ete d tongue/ dado joint.
DRAWE-. GUIDI
AUGN lA CK O F GUIDE
Wlnt INSlD E lO G E
0 ' R A8 1E T F OR IA CIt
MAUPOsmON
OF HOlES
CA I'NET SIDE
GUtfll
O
fR ON T E DG E
OfCA lNET
DRAWElSARE
.-CESSIO
t..
6
,/, CtEARANCE
8 E TW E fN DRA,WiRS
I
RGURl9
~OTE: CENTER
F
/
1........ G.OOVt: lOR DRAWER
RU NN El : MUST
at
3' FROM
aOTTOM EDGE OF OttAWER SIDE
5/
IA CI(
8 2
MACItINI sc.ew
o
........---COUNT O
o
~.WASHe.
,' HOL Al lOWS
AOJUSTMINT
o
DlAwtl
GUiDI
AGURf l O
IACIt IUtS ONTOP
OFPl't'WOOOacTTO'
\'.' GIOOYI fOl aonOM
GtoeVt::
to.
GlAWE . G U IDE
v
WIDE .'. OEEP
NA IL
OnoM
INTO
0
_ W
H IA CIC
'IVO T HING E
SIDI
A.
: : : : : = r
V. V i v. -
GIOQVl
fOR tt'fWOOO lonOM
DRAWU
NT
,
FlONT
S
VfNE'. TA'E
-
-
510 0 GftOOVf fOR OIAWRGUIDf
V. WIDE . .. DU P
A PP lY VENEER
lAP TO
T OP E DG E
Of
DRAWl.
fRONT AND
srDfS
AGURE 6
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5
OODSMITH
TIlE GROOVES.Finally, a groove must be
of the groove illthe drawer sides, and then Thi~ > i I hole illthe.drawer guide is 18~ge
CUl in the drawer sides to accept the
they're trimmed to fit the width of the enough so there's some play around the
drawer guides. This groove is~ Wide, i groove,
#832 bolt. When the guides are attached
deep and is positioned on the drawer sides
To determine the length of the guide, to the cabinet. they can be adjusted UI>
1
so that it's centered 3 from the bottom
insert it in tlie groove iii the drawer side
down so the drawers are evenly spaced,
edge, see Fig. 8. The easiest way to CUt
and mark where the guide meets the back
see Fig.
9 .
this groove is on the router table, UShlga
edge ofthe drawer sides. Then cut it.to this FlNISlllNG.We finished these units with
stop block
to
stop the gnoove.just short of
le~gtII. Watto Danish Oil because it produces a
the dovetail pins, see Fig. 6.
~IOUNTINGUE CL'll>ES. '('0 mount the nice natural finish and doesn't clog the
After cutting a 14 plywood bottom
(I),
drawer gUides, counterbore a shallow hole holes in the cabinet.
the drawers can be glued up. Then the last
for a washer, and-then drill a'ii. pilot hole
THE HARDWARE
step is to apply veneer tape to the top
Cor the #8-32 bolt that screws into tbe
edges of the drawer's front and sieles.
rosan inS
the new position.
F
OfQwer Front ~.)I. 157t, . S i ,*
Eor each s/re lF . (4) Shelf Supports, v .
CUTTING
THE GOIDES.
To make the
G
Drawer Sides
-'AN:II: 5lk 14 '.4 '
pins, Stock
D.9154,
.12@
guides (J), start by rounding over the end
H Drawer 8ack
1 /, , ~ ~_47 ,4
For each unit (5)rolls Edgemate Wood
ofapiece ofhatdwood that's apout 15 long
,
Drowor Bottom
1 .
x
1 S -
14
1f. i
Edgillg, 2.60 per 8 ' roll
and 5 wide.
(I
used the router table and a
J
Drawer Guide
Cut To Fit
From Woodc. o/lSupply:
~ rounding over bit to do this.) The
K
Base Front/8ct~(2) 0 / - . 1 .
33h 2'/.,
For each dr wer (4') v . . Outside
individual guides are then sliced off so
l
8ase Sides 2)
o/ .
. x 14 . 2V t
Diameter 'i'hreaded inserts, Stock
they'L. about
V
thi ker than the depth
M 8o,, 8a cle (1
I/
x
33tA 24n
#12K41FT, ;s
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W OOOSM ITH
RO lEIt T
WItH ILOT
WORKPtCE
DIRteTION c >
OF FEED
10< .. lIT
W TH PILO T
WORKf t fECE
i .Cr ION
O F fE ED
t
OttP
v
[
I
M HIN~
OOYElAJlS
WOODSMITH
plete now. All you need is the top (B) for
o
VINYl GUIDE _SClEW DRAWl
1'0 FAlSEBONT
fAlSE M ONY
GUtI S
D RAWER CONS TRU CTED W ITH
I...STOCK
N T R
GUIDES
IN OPENING
SC It W TO Top
W EI F RA IM
D OOR '- OR U 5. ' CAalNET
A N D F AL SI , ItO Nr
I. . '
'OR
DRAWER
fiG UR E T 4
r
1~~ /:;;:; ; : ; : ; ; ; :S~~ TNIC
flAME
FOR 8ASECAIIH T
oooa
GAOOYE
f OR S PU N
p
C lO SS S EC .TJON OF
FIAMf
. o.oovt ......EW
DO OR fO R HU TCH
fOl HUlCH
SflUNlS
length, cut the gt'OO es for the splines.
Then cut. o wide. ~. deep rabbet on the
inside back edges of all the pieces. A t last.
the six frames
can
be glued up.
CANE PANLS.
The frames for the
base
cabinet and the drawers have
1 4
plywood
panels, cut to fit loosely in the frames.
These panels
are
covered with sheet (pre-
woven) cane. The best way to apply this
cane
to
the plywood is
to
soak it in
warm
water until il becomes pliable (Ltet itsoak
for about minutes).
Then while it's still wet, stretch it
OVeJ
the plywood and staple it down with a
staple gun. [ used a lot of staples, placing
them shoulder
to
shoulder all around the
perimeter of the plywood.
\Vhen the cane drie~. it will stretch ~ery
Ught and should be nat against the
plywood. Then lhe panels
can
be mounted
in the door and drawer frames with small
wooden Slops, see Fig. 13.
T
CLASS. I took the frames for the
hutch to a local glass store
and
had them
cut the glass to size. (Don't.install the
glass
yet, the frames have to be trimmed first
TRIM TO IZf:.
Once the four door frames
810e assembled cut mortises fo,'the hinges.
(There 8C two hinges on each of the base
cabinet doors, and three hinges on each of
the hutch
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WOODSMITH
curnso SEQ U ,, ,C
AGUR 18
- - -
OR su u NOS E SHOULD .R TO
SF lOU1H R
:::--~.WOOO1 0f
r
I -
3.
,
,//,/ ,I
/ 0 OAStCAINt ....
7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 022
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2 3OODSMITH
IV rll yo ,,'n : rig ilt a bo t .w tfilld in g a Y'
iJling i> l \Vood.mith a bo ll l b oo l8 (or are
I Il ey ca ll ed sh il 'S? ), T o b ep er fe cl /y I lO l Ie st ,
, t I don 't kno Iile jirsllhiltg abo t tile ,.
And
IItt D illy rea l expc,'ie> wt w e've h ad
w itll a b o a t is lUi/h ttie O1>ell lJ,t 100 find
oW 'selvos in w llN lw e go p th o; l.particular
c ro ck I ll it/ tO ll t a l>d,lle.
7 'h88 i$ a l>right 8 ide to Y OlO 'p ,joblelll.
thougll . Wooden Boat
i
I l1lagazj.,.., Ihal/s
p blis lwd j> l ,\< fa il le t ha t d eo .ls u nih. the
de sign , cOI I. II uC t iO l I.a lld ca lo eoj woodell
h al td cr yifl ed b oa ts. Tltis is all ,cell,,,t
publication am i
1 1
Tecam mend it ('ery
highty to yolt e illterested
ill
lCood,
lCOrking '. it applie s to ' b oo t b uild in g,
TheiT 81 ,b..~riptia m tt is S15 for 0'
year
6 i
eo), For more information,
COltlact\VoodenBoat, P 0 Box 18, Brook
lin, .Ifoi> lc Q~616
Jl for Ihe heck o f it, I looked
t
a
d ic tio na ry to fi nd
Oltt
wh at a g oo se 1l ee k is
an d it said Iha il .sOll le th ing t lw) , 's
cwve d
like th. eck of a goo .e, as
il l
a d'r oi n p ipe.
t think Ive lta d on< o f t lw s e on OUT trip 1Ip
th e creek. - 5.1(.
James Plait,,,
Atlanta,
(}eqrgill
7' 0 '' (I lI ya .wer
I/OIl'rqIUJ8ti01I,
(' Inafraid
I'U have to an8wr> ' two oth er lOliwrstandard 8~umber is surfaced
to 11/, ), 7'ltis
i.
wlty th e 51~pille in yo ,'
qU ClItiolt h a a different tlctual (or > Io m
inal) Ihic klles.
1 11 011 IJ
c/t err y.
~ I'IIc we l is t Ih e t hi cl t, lC s s o f a boa}-d; '1
\Voodsmlth, 'we tty to i ll elude tl ie Uq '~ '1.., r
or i c ll diisll/,w ti lJ 'n / ollg w ith th e aat a~
thickness
II,.
i.,du.try sl1 lll da. -d for
~ItT
f ac ed l su n be r) ; 1 inahe 80YOIfollOW.. hG t
you need to bltll/o r Ihe pro je ct. T he a cc om
panying clw '1li~ t8 a fel ' exam ples o f the
standard Illic kn ... e sfo r Ita rd wo od .
A SInER EDGE
I eljjoyed your latcst issuc of I V oodsm ith
(No. 21), and 1\ usual, I found your tips
and t.echnique,; most worthWhile, 1would
like to add a suggestion that your readers
may
find helpful.
Your advice for grinding and maintain-
ing the domed sCI'aper depends too much
on living with the manufactut'el s supplied
grinding surfaces. For the mOSbpart, this
is a ltllutively coarse grinding and when
IVm If. Del Solar
\I estll101lt, IUi. lOi$
toro ug h l um bo , I., .. than I
pr.,iJ.td In In(he..
ROlIgh -QUG .I Su.-fcud
Thllen. .
Ot lgnation
Thidcneu
I .
{ /l
Yi.
I.
{ I.
t
I
4
0/,.
1
I. '
5 1
I; . .. .
1 '/ ,
6
1~
.
8 1
1 ' ..
lIe3s has challged . And Ot is i s wher e a 10 1of
tlt e (0 ,I /I . . i0 1l b rg i ... ,
In order
t o a ss re th e
C)..
tollU lr th a t he' s
actually co ,npclI 'i119 app/68 to apples
fro m
Ol1e
yard
I, a nother,
th e lumber ill
slr u
ha s C lJ ta b lis fled
ce rl ain standards
w ilh ConCaI'll1 0 tl te tJ I' iIJkne88of 81 ,r/aced
lu mbel' . Il Idivid 'lC Illumber yards are 81 '
a
large sc leeliO lI of in ll '
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DEl,A l C
RABBET VO fDftP ~
CHAMFERGOnOM
EOG E SU GH ll (
COUNlfRO a
tn DEEP
0f1AIL
11 KOU.OW
HIADED1
DONor
GLUE
SK:lIONS
fOGETHEa
I
DECOItAJlVE SlEtvE
....- UASS RANGE
L ~NS
l l
ClOSS StOlON
movepiece #2 to the topofthe
jig and mount piece 3 in the
front of the jig.
\Vhen piece
is finally
moved to the top of the jig.
retrieve piece and insert i
in
the front of the jig to com
plete the box.Then the > COO
box is made the same way.
Once the boxes have been
routed. glue them together and
round over
al l
the edges with
a
Y Z corner round bit.
To make the top. the center
divider, and the bottom, first
cut three pieces to
y , ,
larger
than the openinltSin the boxes
Then rabbet all three pieees
seeDetailsA, BandC. ~'inRlly
the edges of the top piece nre
rounded over with the
\ Z
cornerround bit, and the edges
ofthe bouom piece are slightly
chamfered.
'fo mount,the lump, we used
a hoUow.threaded rod, On the
top end of the rod, them's a
decorative
sleeve tha~ Ills be
tween the lighllixture and the
base.
Onthe bottom end, there's a
nul attached t the rod (it fits
intothe counter-sunkhole. Fig
1)
to
pulleve ythillg together.
All
o r
these parts can be
found at any local lamp store.
Dovetail La m _
SHE SOME LIGHT ON THE OVET ILS
tOPVIEW
INSIDE sox
OlMGN510N
lUS t.,
UP ON AU fOGES
y
IHS1 fA CI
SIOU
,..leU)
SOCKErs
S
AGURf I
Th is is an
unconventional use
of
the dovetail joints to say the
least. But we thought that it
was
time to bring the dovetails
out ofthe drawer. and into the
tight.
The first step for the lamp
base is to rip a
wide, 22 long
board into two 4.wide
pieces. (The width of these
piecesmust be a multipleofy , . .
so
there's
a
half pin on both
edges of the joint.)
Thencut
each
board into four
pieces, 5 in length. To get a
continuous grain pattern
aroundeach
base,
numbereach
piece consecutively, and label
the tOI)edge of each one.
The next step
i
t set up the
router template jig
.IS
de
scribed on psge 6. AUof the
pieces receive tails on one end
and
sockets
011Ihe othe,.
Slad by
pl~cingpiece #1 on
the top of the jig (as it it
WCl.
a
drawer front), and piece #2011
the front ofthe jig (as irit were
the drawer side).
The side of each place thllt's
labeled should be facing out
ward, and the lop edge should
be against the guide pins.
Ane,' these two pieces have
been routed. remove piece
and set it aside for now. Then
