1SDATe) ay COLUMN No. 147 June, 2003 ee SAWDUST Assistant Editors Ted Raife Phil uber eee eee [scsi Itsoneofmy So what's the solution? Well, we See ere eee ee ‘avorite parts of woodworking. So came up with away to create a glued Des Va ee naturally vas excted when Lfrstoaw — up le Blank without any visible glue ; ee the sketches ofthe table featured in join lines, This may not sound Hike a Graphic tulernt | Nettaa Robeceen thisissue. It had a unique, flared leg big deal, but to me it’s one of those design thatwehach’t done before. small details of craftsmanship that nine Dinas AEMERESOUMES Of course Twas anxious to start make wodvorkng so revardng Shatin Mni Cis PRR op working on this project. But first For the complete story on how to Graton Sev Curis, Seve Johnsn + Slater things first. We spent quite a bit of use this new technique on your next Beate 3 time talking about the procedure for projet, be sure to checkout the arf Ce en eae making the legs. And Im sladwedid, cle that besins on pase 6, Sci pi Dear Cis i rE Cai Because the design ofthe fared legs ewer Jonnie Bilt itr Cay Throat aul fed to anther pao wood epee working {enjoy —problem solving, ‘arr Sri Din ly Bata Nes aes Cr gc However, the problem did't have ‘ve hao Prt ae ick Wh rt Mr anything te do with actuslly shaping Speaking of new, we've added a new igs Pe alts lee is Ch Seve ey : ie ee tee eens Pal Deas eS the legs. That's suprisingly straight feature to our web site — The rie er ae a Feed forward, Itcan be doze easly wih a Woadsrith Video Workshop. l'sanew ConPoRKTESERVICES band savand arouter‘abl. The prob way for us to share more woodwork Yeof Pane: Mary R, Scere + Cotes Raa lems one you can run into any ime ing informetion with you. Han Anu Laad nes Ae Fry Sch ders Meese Mage fas © Preton youmae table legs — the blank. You can expect to find the same os kee coi ah Di Das Mie © Now you can cally glue upa Blank detsiled and. practical information Sconanitieee ca ti D to cut the legs out of The problem youve come to expect from comes in whenyou cut through one of Woodsmith. The bg difference is — Cott i Ds ig Stes Noe «Wee art the glue joint ines, You can end up the photos and artwork are moving. Bree ee eens en eee en with a sudden change in grain drec- Now you can virtually stand next to fe hig Nae Ls etic gc folios © tion a glaring inti, or both someone as they show you a new Fee ts alte Dee Vee Sure, you could buy alarge, solid wocdworking ip or technique, Visit \WOODSMITH Mall ORDER piece ofstock, butthatcan bearather —ourveb site to check tout and let me ee ee eee expensive option. And it doesn't nec- know whatyou think. ‘sc Ng i Se yea essary solve the problem of grain SSerhiittinsRerdaeeSheGay este Tye ne ee Wile straight grain and the adjacent face \wooDsirm sroR® : stg Dave Late Mesure fn Seek willhave figured grain. ‘hee lanager Tina Thelen «Sls Sof Wen Se Larry “Mornsa, Mr Johnam, Gregory Kanan, van NeCafum © pe Ae Viet rar oo ‘Noa anata een Woodsmith Readers’ Gallery Sear crease St Setar diye sem Visit oher Wandsnitsubserbers workshops, and se Sea oe photos of he projects they We bul sal nie in the ee ee ware ton ome Mose Mary camel vwww.Woodsmith.com dT sei Gren metnnersorote ‘Wot Wide Webi oso, Prmeainu sa. ‘Woordsmith projects or views of your shop, folow the instructions you'l find at the Readers Gallery. August HOME Woodsmith No.1477U boo INSIDE 2 CONTENTS _ Making Leg Blanks A great-looking table leg starts with the right leg blank. We'll show ‘yout how to make the best blank without any hassle Cutting and Shaping Table Legs ..........8 Table legs don’t always have to be straight. Shaped legs can add a litle flair and you'll be surprised at how easy they are to make. Hall Table iene ecuial OF This chery and curly maple veneer hall table looks like it might take some pretty sophisticated woodworking. But don’ be fooled. Ie’ just straightforward joinery and a couple special techniques. Adjustable Mortising Jig .... Build a jig that can handle just about any mortising job you have. @ Plus, we'll give you some handy tips to get the most from it. Classic Oak Plant Stand ............... 24 Featuring a simple joinery technique, this classic-looking plant stand comes in two sizes. It’s a perfect weekend project. Shooting Board ‘Tight miters are no longer a problem with tis jig and a plane Tips for Sanding Success ................ 30 Gee the most out of your sanding time with these basic guidelines The Secret to Wipe-on Finishes . 2 Confused about wipe-on finishes? Learn what you need to know to pick the right finish and apply it like a pro. Low-Angle Spokeshave.... This redesigned hand tool can help you smooth out the curves Departments e Tips & Techniques. Shop Notes. Sources... Classic Plant Stand ese 24 No. Mr Woodsmith 4Fie two grits of sandbaper on a vise cander at the same time, PINON ousBreyy WOODWORKE ‘Storage space in my small shopishard to comeby.So ‘when it comes to keeping things organized, pays to bealitl creative Finding a pace to store Jong pipe clampsis a chal- lenge for anyone, but I ‘came up with a swing-out rack that Lattached to some shelvesin my shop. Most of the time, the rack sits against the shelves. But when Ineed to get something from the Duo Disc Sander ‘The dsesnder in my shop gets lotof use. Its used for quick wood removal and for final smoothing. Unfortunately, this means frequent dise changes. Swinging Clamp Storage shelves, the rack easily ‘swings out of the way, as in the drawing at right. “The best part about this rack Js that it can be attached just about any where. AS you can see the drawing below, the clamp rack is made from some “two-by” stock and 3Arthick scrap. Two frame arms are joined bya hha lap joint at the lower comer to form an “L.” An angled, SA"ahick cross ‘nd mace ‘aif are ik ‘That is, unt I came up swith this simple solution. attached a small dise of ‘one grade of sandpaper to the center of the sander and a ring from a different PF hake ae, —~ Siecees irons | sper ‘grit around it, as inthe drawing. I you cut both dises at the same time, youll end up with two seis of sanding rings, # yyou ean see in the photo at left Dan Reeve Suanvile, Maize Woodsmith y A eS opting ees eee Pe seers brace supports the lower ‘arm and a clamp rail. The ccross brace is screwed into angled dadoes cut in the frame arms. ‘The clamp rail on the lower arms just apieve of “tworby” stock. Then the clamps are simply tight ened on the rail. The clamp rail is fastened to the lower frame arm by 34p4long woodscrews To attach the clamp rack to the shelves, Iused @ pair of heavy-duty hinges. ‘There's just one thing to watch out for, since the rack can be pretty heavy, you'll want to make sure the hinges are anchored securely tothe shelf post. Bob Kalley Vanceeer, Washington Shrink Wrap Clamping Pipeclamps and bar clamps {'ve Started using plastic work greatformost ofthe cling weap. You caa fied it projects [build Burwhen tat hardware storesor from comesto angled orcurved a moving supplies com- paris, heyjustdoa'twork. pany, like U-Haul. ‘Toclamp oddsized pieces, Whats great about itis that i does" mar the ‘workpioce and ean be ‘wrapped pretty tightly around objects like the legs of the stool, as shown in the photo at left, Another advan- tage is that glue does not stick tot Dade Evans Cleon, Washinguon No.147 Bracket for sorsgeDrill Press Sanding Jig Imake alotofwooden toys formy granvhildren, sich aspushhorses,trucks,and trains, ThismeansT'm cut- ting and shaping a lot of wheels. usually use a hole saw to quickly cut out the wheelsto roush size. ‘The problem is that the edges are pretty rough and they still need to be rounded over. What I needed was a way to speed up the shaping and sanding process, ‘So I devised this simple Jig for my drill press, as you can see in the photo below, The jig is basically just an axle to hold the wheel in place while I shape and sandit, PVC Sanding Blocks For sanding molding and softening edges, [matte 2 pair of sanding blocks out of some PVC pipe, as shown, in the drawing below. One of the blocks is made for sanding concave Handle Use with Tops, ikdhesive wed sandpaper surfaces and the other handles convex surfaces, and edges. The blocksare nothing more thana short piece of PYC (mine were long) with selEadhesive sandpaper stuck on the bottom. To make the con- ‘vex sanding block, simply cut the PVC In half on the fin ieee shorter piece of 14". Of es PYC is Va on top to make the blocks easier iin to hold on to. Sfope They're sim- ‘The axe is simply a car riage bolt with the head cut off The boltshould be the same size as the axle of the wheel you need to shape. (also made a Ionger version for shaping. thicker wheels) To act as stop, Iihreaded aut on. Next the bolt canbe chucked into the drill press. Then a wheel can be slipped over the bolt and tightened in place with a wing nut, as shown, inthe drawing. Now Jean quickly and easily round over the edges with afile, as shown in the photo at left. To smooth the wheel, used some sandpaper wrapped around a piece of scrap, A A. Use the convex sanding Dock to soften the edges ofa workpiece ple to build, so you can make several other ina short time. Wale Boyt Yakima, Weshington Woodsmith T've found that for best results ithelps to set your drill press at a lower speed. When one wheelis, finished, all you have to do is unscrew the wing nut and sip another wheel cn. Ron Zega ‘Agua Dulce, California QUICK TIPS STICKY SPINDLE PROBLEM Recently Ive discovered a simple way to remove a sticky sanding drum from a stubborn spindle. All you have to do is pop itin the ireezer for a few minutes. ‘The rubber spindle will contract just enough for you to slip the drum off. Dan Milipaw Cony, Pemsyleania FIXING LOOSE FASTENERS Tve found that tabletop fasteners are great for connecting a tabletop to a frame. But ifthe groove is alittle of, the top can be t09 loose. To tighten them up, alt takes {sto pace each fastener ina metalviseand sive ita litle squeeze, Bye Olumd Cape Grodan, Misorst ‘SHAMPOO BRUSHES After painting, always clean out my paint brushes with mineral spirits. But when | goto use them again, thebristles are tiff and difficult to use. To make them softer, rubbed ina litle conditioning shampoo after deanlng, Now the bristles are jus. a9soft as when the brush wes new. Job Fos Colunbus, dianaA Veron yeon nie PiosNelus MAKING LEG BLANKS — A SEAMLESS SOLUTION fen you look at an attractive table, what's the first thing that you notice? Well for me the answer's easy — the legs A great table starts with | good looking legs. } So what makes a really distinetive table leg? Part of the answer lies in what you do before you start the } cutting and shaping. The } key here is something I thats oftenoverlooked. To make a really top-notch | table leg you need to start | | with the very best possi- bleleg blank. ‘The hall table project on page 10 has very graceful, flared legs. And I wanted the grain of the wood and the shape of the leg to work together — not clash. To achieve this, I realized that not just any leg blank would do. ‘00-04. Take look atthe left pi ture below and you'll see an easy way to come up with a blank for a flared leg. It saves a fair amount of material to just “addon” a couple scraps of wood to the bottom of a squared blank. I's simple and it ives you the thickness needed to cut outthe curved foot But 25 you can see, this makes pretty sorrjlooking leg. When you cut across a ghie ine, you're going to sce grain changes and color dif ferences. Short of a coat of paint, there's justno way to hideit GIUEUP. So how about a full-sized glueup? Three pieces of 3/thick stock will give you a blank thick enough forall bt the toutestlegs. But the middle photo shows that vouire right back to the same prob- lem. Three separate pieces means two glue joints and at least some color and grain variation, When you goto cuta shaped or tapered leg cut of this Blank you're bound to cross at leasta glue line or two, SOLD BLANK, The simple solute to just go out and spend the money for some solél blanks, right? It sure sounds good and I considered it ‘There wouldn't be any glue ups to mess with and no git lines to see, and the color would be conssteat. But when I checked it out, a cou ple drawbacks popped up. The first is that thick blanks cost a lot more ‘money than you might want to part with — as much as forty dollars apiece for a 3'square Dani. 1 wanted the right look, but didn't ‘want o break the bank. ‘The right photo below shows the biggest problem with a solid blank. ‘You just won't have a consistent ‘grain pattern on all four faces. On one face you can get straight, quar tered grain while the adjacent face thas figured, fat grain. When you cut a shaped leg out ofa blank like this the grain s surely going to be a dis traction — not a complement. A ‘blanelike this still woulen't produce the refined look that Iwas after. ‘Add-on. Gluing scraps onto the bot- Glued-up Blank. A three-piece Solid Blank. A solid blank won't have glue tom ofa square blank to forma foot glueup cates the right thickness but leaves too mary gue ines {abo a otof colorand grain variation Woodsmith lines orcolor vaiaton,buteach face can have a diferent gram pattem No.7Mitered Leg Blank What | wanted for my legs were blanks with no visible glue lines and matching grain on all four faces. Starting from this point, Leould make legs that really showed off their shape. ‘This might sound impossible, but it turns out there’s a fairly easy way tomake ablank that fits this descrip. tion, Take a book at the photo at right and you'l get an idea of how this works, With a little careful wood selection, gluing, and cutting, you can end up with a two-piece blank with sinilar grain on all four faces and an invisible glue line. As you can see on the end, the glue lie runs from corner to corner so tcan'tbe seen onthe faces. Even after the leg is shaped, no one will be ableto tell thatit was made trom a two-piece, glued-up blank. But the real advantage you get from this type of biank is the match- ing grain. The two halves of the blank are glued up so that the grain on all four faces is a very close match. Just take a look at the lange photo at left and youll see what I mean. The shape of the leg and the ‘grain pattern work together to make ‘a greatlooking leg. TWO HALVES. Getting this look takes alte extra work, but itisnl dift- ‘eal Basically, you start with an oversized, slued-up piece and then cut a square out of it “on the diago nal” fo get the finished blank. The ey (0 getting the right ook is in Ihow you match the two halves ofthe ‘oversized piece. The rest is just sin- pe gluing and table saw work, For the oversized piece you need two pieces of 1Y-thick stock, 3/6" wide. You want to end up with a rough blank that’ 314" square. Take @ look at Fig, 1, and you'l see the grain orientation you're shooting for. This part of the process is pretty important. As you ‘an see the rings on the ends of the ‘to halves should form gentle arcs ‘across the width ofthe pieces. Ihad topic and choose the lumber care- fully to get it right, but the extra etfort really paid off LAYOUT. Afer the oversized piece is glued up, check it to make sure it’s square. (This i important later on.) Then you can ley out the shape ofthe finished blank on one end. A hhardboard pattern cut tothe size of the finshed blank does the job. Just trace the pattern on the ends ofthe rough blanks as shown in Fig. 1a ‘You wantto center the pattern in the oversized piece and the corners should be righton the glue line. SHED BLaNK. Now cutting the fr- ished blank is straightforward. If you just follow the layout lines, vou ‘A With a ‘mitered” leg blank 3ou'l fave an invisible glue line and aaxching grin on al four faces. can't go wrong. With the table saw blade set at 45°, the first cut is made as shown in Fig. 2. As you can see, the glue lin is vertical. And you can just sneak up on the layout line by adjusting the fence. Next tura the rough blank 90° to cutthe second face as shown in Fig. 2a, What you're looking for here is the glue line to fall ight on the cor- nerof the finished blank. “The final two faces should be rou- tine, Figs. and 3ashow you what to do here. With the saw blade set at ‘90°and the fence adjusted to the fin- ished width of the blank, the glue line wil fll ight on the money. ‘Thats it. Now you've got the per- fect blank for any leg. Rough blank s ‘Stued uptrom ‘ings form ‘vo thick gentie arcs matched pieces ross wide> @, Uso pattern to ue ine lark, centered on rough bank Os five Ine vertical — | setfenceto |Z eth of finshed ‘lent Rotate blank 90° fweutsecond face Keepatue tineon ? = Rotate blank and cut aay remaling waste Give lineCurTinc & . TABLE LEG! Av you tackle a table project vith shaped es ike the Maret legs forthe hall table projet) yourun ino some special challenges. What kind of blank do you use? How do you do the shaping? Andhow doyou ‘ake them consistent? Well fort nately, these are only minor chat lenges. (Making the blanks is covered on pates6 and 7.) And with a few simple techniques, shaping able legs bocomes pretty easy. THE BLANK. The flared legs that 1 snide forthe hal table start out as 2Y4" square blanks. And like any leg, the frst thing you want to do is look over the blanks and find the two best faces to put “forward” (to the outside). On the flared leg this takes a little bit of guesswork. The outside faces will end up being cut away to form the curve of the foot, butyou can make a good guess. ‘And now remember, with any table leg you're going to have some joinery. So next I checked the two inside faces of each leg to make sure they were square, These are the faces that will be mortised for the apron, s0 they need to be true, PATTERN. I's always a good idea to start with a pattern when making shaped legs. Far the flared legs, this is easy. The sweep of the foot is identical in both directions, so you'll only need one pattern (you can just dip it). And since the upper section is perfectly straight, my pattern just covers the foot. The fullsize pattern on page 9 gives you the idea. [made it out of 1(" plywood so it would be flexible, This helps later) ROUGH GUT. After tracing the pat tem onto both outside faces as showa in Fig. 1,1 took the blanks Cover (o the band saw. This is where the real work starts. ‘The inside of each leg only needs to be cut at the bottom where the {oot sweeps outward. So [started by cutting the inside of the foot on one face. Next, the opposite, long out side foce was cut, as shown in Fig. 2. But now there’s a small problem. ‘The pattern lines traced on the sec ond sie are now laying on the shop floor. Whether you're cutting a fem, with ‘NOTE: foudmor bot?” Woadsmith Tape vaste conto bank To complete cuts No.147dlared leg or any other shape, the solution is simple. Tape the waste pieces back: in place and rough out the other two sides (Fiz. 2a). ‘CUANUP. The band saw will do the carpet rough stuffquickly butitleaves you | rempiote to // op | | ae | eur bead oy i peal az eee Ca S S Eman No.7 Woodsmith aADJUSTABLE MorrtisING JIG Quick and easy mortises. This jig makes it simple to set up and rout ‘mortises in straight or angled stock, on the end or edge of a workpiece. What makes this jig stand out is tha it makes routing mortises in the end of straight or mitered workpieces easy. is hen itcomes to cutting mortises, Lusually ‘rill overlapping holes and clean up the sides witha chisel. But white drilling the mor tises for the plant stand (page 24), I started thinking about ideas for a mortsing jig to use vith a router. What's great about this figs that itcan easily handle mortises on the ends of staightor mitered workpieces for loosetenons. ‘The jig is pretty easy to set up. There are four adjustable stop blocks on top that control the width and length of the mortise. And a couple of interchangeable fences on the front ‘Woodsmith of the jig let you easily secure both vertical and horizontal workpieces. Tor. began by building the top. The top (A) is just a piece of %4" plywood with an opening, in the center for the router bit. There are two sets of intersecting grooves cut in the top that guide adjustable side and end stop blocks. ‘There's nothing complicated about making the top. After cutting the plywood to size and rounding the corners, [ made the opening by Ariling four starter holes and cutting out the ‘waste with 2 jig saw, asin Fig. 2. The opening No.147is large enough to alow you to see the mortise for setup and routing. ‘The next thing to do is drill coun- terbored holes for studded knobs and T:nuts that will secure the stop blocks, as you can see in Fig. 1b. 1 also drilled some countersunk shank holes for screws that will be used later to attach the top to the base of the jig. Fig. 1) ‘Two sets of grooves are then cut in the top to guide the stop blocks that are built next. The grooves are sized to fit!/" hardboard thst will be used as ranners on the stop blocks. STOP 810CKS. With the top com: plte,all tha’ leftist make the end stops (B) and side stops (C). They're ‘cut to size from %4" plywood. Then anadjustment slot iscutin each one for a studded knob. To do this, dill ahole at the end of the slot and cut ‘out the waste with ajg saw. ‘Next, @ pair of grooves are cut i the bottom of each block to match the grooves in the top, Then [ripped 'Yf hardboard runners to ft in the ‘grooves, as in Fig, La Finally, the two end stops have @ wide rabbet cut on the opposite side ofthe grooves Figs.3 and 2a). This provides clearance for your hanils, Nou? brillstarter holes then remove vaste wth aig saw cross secrion (Studded knob ~ MATERIALS END VIEW Aut fence ‘Woodsmith Awl) — %phy.- 19x17 B End Stops) _34ply.- 5x5 C Side Stops 2) % ply. -5 x 3/2 D Front (1) 4a ply. -8 x16 E Sides (2) 34 ply - 7x8 F Back(1) — %ply-8x11%2 G Feet(2) 1% ply.- 12x 47% 4H Fence) Yaply- 1x7 ‘ALSO NEEDED: 1" haraboard for runners SUPPLIES + @) Ye" x118" Studded Knobs * (©) %6" Washers * @) Ye" Fnuts + (23) #8 x 1/2" Fh Woodscrews + @) o" x 1%" Flange Bolts + @) %e" Through Knobs + (1) 36" Ftrack Ga" x 36") + (10) #63 16" Fh Woodscrews + (1) Me Clear Plesiglas - 6" x7" 19NOTE: See Fo. 1 Tar see le ck Ce 8Ex16) NOTE: Al parts made trom 3 plywood ‘With the top of the jig completed, I ‘The next step is to cut two hori- ASSEMBLY. With the base complete, began working on the base. As you zontal grooves in the front, one you can aftach the top. The impor- caasecinFig.4,thebaseofthejigis above and the other below the tant thing to remember here is to just a plywood box with «wide front clamping holes, There's nothing dif make sure the top is square to the face where the workpieceis attached. ficult here. The grooves are sized to front ofthe base. The reason for this ‘Two Ttracks mounted onthefrontof fit the T-track. I cut them on the is so that the mortise will be cut par- the base let you attach one of two table saw with a dado blade, as in allel to the sides of the workpiece. @ fences for supporting a workpiece Figs, 6nd Ga. Once the grooves are The easiest way to do that is to hovizontally or vestically.A couple of complete, you can cut some Ttrack make sure the back edge ofthe top feet attached to the sidesof the base to length and screw it in the grooves is ush with the hase, asin Fig, 4a let you quickly and securely clamp and then file the ends flusb. Ifyou reach through the opening the jigto your workbench. At this point, the remaining parts in the top with your finger, you'll ‘ont, To make the base, I began of the base can be matte. The sides notice that there's a small (4) lip by cutting the front (D) to size from () and back (F) are cut to size between the front of the base and {At plywood. Two large holes are from °%" plywood. Assemble the the router ing, asin Fig. 4b, then cut in the face, These holes hase by screwing the back between You can use this lip to register the allow youto damp the workoiece to the sides and then screwing the end of a workpiece so that the mor- the jig while ts being routed. After front to the sides. Next, Icut two feet _ tise will be square to the face. driling a starter hole, Icut out the _(G) to size from two layers of ply- Now the jig is nearly finished. All ‘waste with ajg saw and sanded the wood and serewed hem tothe sides that’s lefts to make a pair offences edgessmooth, asshownin Tig.5. ofthe boxjust behind the font. and an auxiliary router baseplate. dees snocth 20 Woodsmith No.147Fence and Baseplate ‘Zo support a workpiece while it's @ being mortised, [ built a pair of fences. For mortising the end of a workpiece, Imade a simple vertical feace that’s attached to the Track on the front of the jig. (To build an optional hor: zontal fence, see te bux below). VERTICAL FNC. To make the wort cal jence (H), simply cut a piece of plywood to size, as shown in Figs. 7 and 7a, Next, a mounting hole is drilled to secure the fence to the lower Ttrack, The top of the fences slotted s0 that the fence can he piv ated to support the workpiece at an angle. This slotis made by drilling a series of overlapping holes and cleaning upthe sides witha file. ROUTER BAS. The last par of the jig to make is a replacement baseplate for the router. The flat-sided base- plate is used to tilt the router into the jig to cut the mortise. And to make iteasier to line up the router bit with the mortise on the work- piece, its made from clear Plrilas. Talso found that the standard e baseplate on my router isn’t cen- tered. The problem is that if the router pivols in use, it would result in an offcenter mortise. This would {how tho jeint outof alignment. ‘The baseplate is sized to bejust a little wider than the base of the router (about 6"). It’s about 1p" longer to give your hands more room when tipping it into the jg, as shown in Fig. 8, After dilling a 74" clearance hole for the bit, I drilled and countersunk the screw holes NOTE: Use orginal baseplate as template forloeatine screw holes —— brill and countering needled to attach the baseplate to the router, es illistrated in Fig. Sa, ‘The jig is pretty straightforward to use. But to get the best results, turn to the article on page 22. 1 eri Horizontal fence made trom "a" plywood No. M47 Ifyouplan onusingthejig ‘or mortising long parts, lke the legs of the plant stand or hall table, you'll ‘want to make a horzontal fence, as shown in the photo at right. ‘The fence is nothing more than a U-shaped piece of plywood, as you can seein the drawing at left. After cutting ito shape, twoslots are then cut in each Jeg. And justlike the vertical fence, the horizontal fence is held in place by knobs, ‘washers, and flange bolts A The horizon fence supporesa lang work piece when cutting mortises along the edge. Woodsmith 2hbo MORrTISING Mabe Easy Put away your chisels. We'll show you how this jig and an ordinary fixed-base router can give you mortises in minutes. Simpler IeSjusta matter of damping the work. piece in the jig and set tingthestops. But to get the Dest resis, is a rowing ond — testpiecesonhand/This ||)" mortises | way you can get the jig A. Clamp the workpiece to the ji, then postion the stops. ‘That’ all it takes to set up this jg for routing mortises in just about any workpiece, set up to rout perfect mortises without ruining one of your parts, SHIUP. The first stop i Horizonial fence supports Torg precestor routing aden mortises to lay out the mortise. Here you'll want to take time tomake sure that the mortise is centered on the thickness of dhe workgiece, The workpiece can be clamped to the front of the jis whether horizontally or verti- cally, asin Figs. 1 and 2. (CROSS SECTION J For mortisng the end of vworkpiere, slide the vertical fence against the workpiece and ighten it in place. Then lamp the workpiece ‘o the = a8 Shown in Fig. 1 For making mortises aloag, the edge of a workpiece, use Fins: Pest sce tops inter router bit over morte the Ushaped fence to sand- wich the workpiece against the top of thejig (Fig. 2), Atthispoint you're ready 10 position the stops. Start by setting the router (with bas= plate) on the jig. Ifyou look down through the baseplate Woodamith and table, youcan see the out Jine ofthe mortise. Now pos tion the side stopsso the bitis centered over the mortise. Finally, you can set the end stops for the begining and ent of the mortise, as shown in Figs. 3 and3a, ROUTING. To cut a mortise, Just set the bit depth and plece one edge of the base- plate against an end stop. I turned the router on and then slowly lowered the router into the workpiece, just like losing a li, as you ‘can see in the photo above, Slide the router to the other end stop and back again and then shut the router off. Once the bit stops spinning, you can lit off the router and compare the mor. tise with the layout No. 17- SHop NOTES Laying Out Evenly Spaced Holes Thad two omall challenges when drilling the holes for the dowels in the plant stand rails, First I wanted thedowelsto be straight up and down, and paralle to each other. But the fact that the top ane the bottom ralls are different lengths makes this litle more difficult. Plus they also needed tobe centered across the width of the rails. Well it turned out both parts of. this puzzle have an easy solution. avouT. Half the baile to drilling the holes accurately is the layout. 1 started on thisby a making a center- line along the width of the rail and then finding the center along the length of each piece. This is the position of the middle hole (Fig. 1) ‘Now to besure thatthe spacing of the other holes was equal, I turned to a compass. Fig. 1 shows how this works, First carefully cet the con: pass to draw a 2"ia. circle. And then using the centerpoint on the rails, draw an arc in each direction. marked all the pieces (6 rails) using this same setting. Next reset the compass to a 4"dia. circle and repeat the process. CENTERING. Once the holes are laid ‘out, the next tricks to drill them so they're centered across the width of the rails. Figs.2 and 2a explain the centering process pretty wel First, I puta fence on the drill press to keep the holes inline. Next, you can adjust the fence until the ‘point ofthe dril bit falls inthe same hhole after you flip the rail end for ‘end. Once you've found the center. point, you can drill the holes. Working With Small Cove Pieces ‘The problem with making small mold- ings on the router table is that the pieces can be too hard to handle, The ‘cave needled for the hall tables only Shel x 3" Trying to run a piece this sizeacrosstherouter table would be asking for trouble. ‘As you can see in the photo at right, the simple solution is to make multiple pieces from one large blank. Its quicker and easier. RovT. I started by cutting a 14" wide blank from 1"-thick stock. With this size blank, routing a 14" cove on all four corners, as shown in Fig. 1, isa safe and simple job. TARE SAW. After the coves are rout- ed, you're now ready to make four pieces ofcove out of the single over- sized blank. Figs. 2 and 2a show how to get started. First I made a “all” cut — ripping two Sfe!-thick pieces from the blank, as shown in Fig. 2a. You only want to expose as much saw blade as necessary. And using a notched push block will make the end of the cat safer. Now completing the molding is just a matter of turning the two pieces into four. Take a look at Fig 3 for help here. I just lowered the blade, reset the fence and carefully ripped the molding to final size. 8 A One oversize lank wil safety ive you four cove trim eco No. 147 ‘WoodsmithWEEKEND Project Cxassic OAK PLANT STAND. With its classic looks, this plant stand is rock-solid, uses a simple joinery technique, and is easy to build in a weekend. W hhen you think aboutit, splayed legs make sense for a tall, narcow project like this plant stand. Because t's wider atthe base, i beless likely tip ‘over witha heavy potted plant ontop But fora wood: ‘worker, any time you start adding angles, it means the joinery can get pretty complicated. However you ‘won't find any tricky joinery here. Ordinarily, a piece like this would have tradi tional mortise ard tenon joinery. But Iwatted this to bea simple and straightforward project, so 1 fried something a litle different. The legs and rails are joined with ‘loose tenons.” Think of them as shortsplines. AUT had to dowas cut matching mor tices in both the legs and rails, And allt akes to make the joints are a drill press, hand drill and doweling ig. Or you could out the mortises using a mortising jig, see photo on opposite rage. Ityou'e like me, building just one ofthese plant stands isnt going to be enough. As an option, you can build the shorter version shown on page 27. Gs. The first thing to do is size the 114"-square lege (A) and cut them to reugh length (42" long). Next, mark one edge of the leg “UP” to help keep the angled cuts on each end oriented. Thea attack along, auxiliary fence to the miter gauge to sup- port the long workpieces. Now tilt the saw blade MATERIALS & SUPPLIES ‘A Legs (4) Whx 1%4-39%6 B Bottom Rails (4) 94x 1%4- 111% € Middle Rails (4) 94x 1%4- 8% + @) Je" x14" Steel Tabletop Fastaners + (8) 48x 7" Bh Woodscrews (1) 8" x8" Ceramic ile D Upper Riis ia) 34x 194-7% E Spindles (20) Yacdia. x 64 F Tenons (24) Ux e- te G Frame (4) Wax Ql - 12% H Pane! (1) Yapl.-10%10 | | eandangle the miter gauged as you canseein Figs 2,2a, and 2b. @ _—_Wimone end case nex ing to do is cut all four logs to final length. Todo this, simply move the miter gauge to the other side of the blade and slide the auxiliary fence over (Fig. 3a). Then clamp a stop block to the fence and eut all the legs to the same length, asin Fig. 3. NORTE. Once the legs are cut to final size, you need to cut three sets cof mortises on their inside edges for the rails. There's nothing unusual haere, just take your time laying out the mortises to they line up with each other, as in Figs. 1a and 1b. Then the mortises are drilled out with a series of overlapping holes using a9%4"-dia. Forstner bit on the drill press. Finally, I cleaned up the sides of the mortices with a chisel Note: Since the loose tenons you'll be making later have rounded edges, you don't need to square up the ends ofthe mortise (ig. 1). ‘made on del ss wth Se fa"Forsiner bit ‘aor aoe Move miter ta other side ofthe blade fd repost te fence CUTTING DIAGRAM 3" ed Oak 65 Bl Ft) ZEEE ZEEE GEE cee eae ‘ALSO NEEDED: he 12". 12" pec of 6" plywood for the panel four -a.«36' dowels No. 147 ‘A This simple moresing jg makes it easy to row mortises on the end of a workpiece or om ts edge To build one, tur to pag: 18. ‘Woodsmith4A Forashnple end courte wary to lay out evenly spaced holes, turn to page 23. Base Now that the lege are complete, I turned myattention tothe parts that connect them — the rails Ills. Thre are three sets of rails needed for the plant stand. The middle and upper rails are con- nected by dowels. The lower rls add strength to the base of the stand. [ began by ipping the botiom (B), middle (C), and upper rails (D) to width, Note: The upper rails are ripped extra wide @. Next I mitered the eads of the rails. This time there's just one angle to cut, so st the miter gauge toad? angle. Thea, [cutthe rails to length using the same stop block and ausiary ence set up as before. semouts. With the middle and upper ralscutto length they can be Arlled for the spindles that connect them. The key thing here is thatthe hhoks ae centered onthe thickness and evenly spaced along the length of the rails. For an easy way to do this, turn to page 23 Once the holes are dried cut the spindles 2) to it from ida. dowels. At this point, the ends ofeach rail ‘can be mortised, The problem i, it ‘would be difficult to do thie on the Ari press To soke this problem, T used a seltcentering doweling jig, as you can see in Fig. 5. The jig is. secured aver the end of the rail, which gets clamped ina bench vise. Then with a %6"-a. series of overlapping holes, adjust- ing the jig as Twent Again, clean up the mortise sides with a chisel ‘There are still a few things left to do on the upper rails. First, the top edge needs to be beveled to final width, 2s you can see in Fig. 6. Finally Tcuta groove for the table. ence the rails (Fig. 2). Iputthe flat side of the ral against the feace so that the beveled edge wouldn't sneak under the rip fence, as shown in Fig, 7a ‘TENOMS. The base is almost ready to be assembled. All thats leftis to make the loose tenons (F) that join the rails and legs. T began by plan- py cota oss nade ace og w ps af eeedoeg Dc a (ree 4 ee . : ‘groove Yor fasteners ‘Bld tilted 49 OF recesses = ie | 1 “Tape serves END VIEW. Jside of rail| END VIEW (ata L| a aoe y us ( ore i ute * Ag LY ie a ioe i tf Ie = 26 Woodsmith5," thick. After rounding over all four edges, the tenons can be cut to length, as shown in Fig. 4 ‘The base is now ready to be assembled. I found it easier to make ‘two side assemblies, then join them together, as in Fig. 4. FRAME AND PANEL TOP ‘The top ofthe stand is nothing more than a hardwood frame wrapped around a plywood panel, as in Fig 8. “Then an 8square ceramic tik is set inthe center. Notal 8" llesare exactly the same thickneso or size, co its a ‘2001 idea to have the tile on hand before building the top. This way you can fit the frame parts to the fle. “To build the top, the first thing to dois make the frame. As you can se¢, thio emall frame has a rabbet cut along the inside boitom edge and a bevel on the outside edze. However, the pieces of the frame are pretty small. To make things easter anda lot safer, tinakes sense to do afew things litle differently. RANE. For example, the frame (G) pieces start out as an oversize blank. This way, you can cuta wide groove in the middle of the blank, as in Fig. 9. you tried to cut arabbet this wide cn the edge ofthe narrow workpiece, there's a chance the piece would tip into the blade asit’s being cut. Doing it this way elimi nates that problem, You'll want o size the depth of the groove 90 that the remaining “tongue” is equal to the thickness of theceramic tle. When the groove is cut, lp the blank on its back and rip itto final width (2%). At this point, a panel (2D is cut from ¥6" plywood to fit inside the rabbeton the frame (109. Then the frame pieces can be mitered to fit ang the edzes softened. Next, the underside of the frame is beveled (Fig. 10a). I waited to bevel the edge because it’s safer cating a larger piece and I can be sure the bevels wil line up a the comers. [attached a tall auxifary fence to the rip fence to keep the frame from tipping, asin Fig. 10. Finally the top is serewed to the setin place. ND view Frame assembly i Blade ited Bee Ly Afer building the first plant stand, I realized that one size doesn! fitall, S01 made a smaller version, as sown in the photo. at right. The best part about itis. that there's not a whole lot that needsto be changed on i. To keep things simplo, the frame top, middie, and upper rails remain the same size, But since the legs are shorter, the ower rails have to *slide” up, shortening them as well, as illustrated in the draving at It.OARD With a sharp plane and this simple jig, you'll be on your way to perfect-fitting miters. YW. dig steal 10,3 ong erfect miters. They seem simple ‘enough. Just make a 45° cut on two pieces and you're done. But if Yyouive ever tied fitinga picture frame together, you know it’s not that easy. No matter how carefully you set up your sa, there's always some “tweak: ing” that needs to be done. That’s where this shooting board comesin. When used with a hand plane, the shooting board allows you to take paper-thin shavings off the end of a tered workpiece. So you end up with aperfectsitting joint. ‘The great thing about this shoot- ing board is that it doesn't require ‘much inthe way of time or materials to build, Infact, { built mine from some scrap MDB and hardboard I had laying aroand the shop. a small platform that hooks over the edge of a workbench. A couple of fences support and back up the workpiece — one for straight joints and the other for mitered joints, TABLE Tobuild the shooting boerd, marER Fence (se ctamtered NOTE Each over Hardboard %. $92" Thegan by cutting the base (A) from ray Frsheet 28 Woodsmith — meia/ sens No. 473h" MDE. it's then covered with a piece of ¥/" hardboard (Fig. 1).In the center of the base, I ghted a nar- row hardboard guide plate (B) to create a two-sided siraightedge for the plane to ride against. Nextthefence (C) is cut from two layers of 4" MDF and attached behind the guide plate. Then a filer strip (D) can be glued on as well Fig. 12). An MDF cleat (B) keeps the jig in place on the workbench MITER FENCE. The last part of the shooting board to make is the miter fence (P). Here again it’s nothing more than two layers of 24" MDF with two angled sides that are cut at 45° to forma triangle. To hold the miter fence in place, I drilled a pair of holes through the fence and into the table. A pair of steel rods are then cut to length Fig. 1b). Finally I stuck a couple strips of selfadhesive sandpaper to the guide plate to keep the work: piece from shifing, asin Fig. 2 stp. That's really all there is to building the shooting board, But there are a few things to do before you start *shooting” miters. Firs, choose a plane. I ike to use aNo. 5 (or jack) plane because its large size will help it cut through end grain (Fig. 3). You'l also want to make sure the sole is square to the sides, as in the upperright photo, With the plane set to take a thin shaving, there's one thing eftto do. ‘Take a pass (without a workpiece) tocreate clearance for the blade. Now you can set the workpiece ‘on the jig It should barely overhang the end of the fence. Hold it ight against the fence and take acut. To prevent tearout, it helps to damper the end grain, as shown in the lower photo at right. Check the fit of the joint after each pass. You may need to take several strokes befare the joint fits tight. CLASSIC HAND TOOLS: MITER PLANES Although any plane can be used on the shoot- ingboard, miter planes (ike the onesshown at eft) are designed tobe used onthe sides. ‘The wide, lat sides make them very stable duringa cut. They're heavier than standard bench planes to help piow through end grain. ‘The miter plane on theright ismore than 100 years old, The body is made of cast iron and is “filled” with rosewood and ‘mahogany, Itsthick, tapered blade is held in place ky a wood wedge. ‘The plane on the left is made by Lie- ‘Nielsen, It features a screw-tyre adjuster and a front knob that mounts on either the Ieftorright side. For sources, see page 25. Woodsmith A For best resules dhe sides of the plane should bs square to the sole, A Dampen tke end rain with a wer loth to heb reToo. & TECHNIQUES Se: ing is something that most woodworkers takefor granted. We don’t thins mach about it, we just do it. It can be preity cull, it's always dusty and it’s usually a little tiring, But whenyou think aboutit, sanding is what creates the final surface of a project. To pat it simply, the finish sanding that you do or don't do can make or break a project, After spend ing more hours sanding than care to remember, 've managed to come up Tips FoR SANDING SUCCESS with a few simple tips to help reduce the “chore” of sanding, THE GOAL. Before you jump into any jb, it's a good idea to hare an end goal it And sanding is no exception. Here the goal is simple but pretty important. You want to smcoth and refine all the surfaces so that when the finish goes on, the project will ook its best. Tm likely to use 4 or 5 power tools during construction and each one Thu aace of chery, Seaight from tie ral Ub) The sare ere of cheny sous aiclenn sue sth prety seis tw and planer mars, face ard csp omer, ofter usa le work Beds ates rete preys tid Garns 100 grt sondpepers 20 Woodsmith ‘can leave its mars, But when I'm all done, 1 want the project itself to showoff, not what I used to make it ‘And good sanding isthe key here. 1 like tabletops and other large surfaces o be nice and flat with only the grain of the wood showing (no ghie joints, planer marks, dips, or bumps). And any contours should be smooth and graceful. When Iran my fingers over a flush joint, I don't ‘want to feel 2 thing. Invsible to the eye and to the touch. That's what 1 always try to shoot fr: SIMPLE TOOLS. In the end, lke to make sanding a “handson" task. 1 use belt sanders, pad sanders, and drum sanders for the rough stuff but when it comes to the final sur face, nothing beats sandpaper and litle elbow grease. Its not rocket science, s0 just keepit simple. ‘When fim working on any flat sur face, rom a door stile to a tabletop, the sandpaper is always wrapped around a padded sanding block Using a block helps to create flat surfaces and keep them flat No.147A little bit of “herd” podding makes a big difference. What the padding does is form soft spots where the dust can accumulate and be released from under the block. Your paper won't clog quite as fast and you won't get streaks on your work from lumps of sanding dust. It’san old trick, butit sure works. FINGERS. The second important sanding tool isn't very “high tech.” It’ just your fingers. Sometimes ‘quarter sheet of sandpaper, folded in thirds and wrapped around a fin- ‘ger or two isthe only way to get into that small cove or smooth therouter ‘marks off that bead trim. Its pretty ‘simple, but there’s nothing better And | use my fingers in another ‘wax. They can sometimes be a bet: ter judge of flainess than your eyes. ‘An auto body repairman once told ‘me that “ifyou can't feel it, you can't sect” And he was right. Ifyou run your fingers over a joint and it feols ‘smooth, you can trust that it will Took good. So for me the final testis usually the finger test. Ifmy work passes thistes, I hnow its smooth. (6900 LIGHT. I's really just eomumon sense, but good! light can be a tool Itshard to do.a good job when you cant see what youire working on. ‘And look at the work from more than one angle. Sometimes prob Jems aren't noticeable until you see them in a “different light” If youre not sure about your progress, litle ‘mineral spirits wiped on the surface ‘ean help. Under good light the wet thinner will give you a preview of ‘what you'll get with @ finish, but it won't raise the grain. START EARLY. [ don't wait until the project is assembled before I start sanding. Almost a5 soon as my pieces come off the table saw, I start sanning. It's really just another step to work into the building process. And when you fi: it into the flow ‘youll get abeter result in the end, Idor't do alt ofsanding right off the bat, but enough to get a good head siart. The bottom photos at ieft show the difference that just a small amount of work with some coarse sandpaper can make. Nout Get started at removing the sur facing marks and saw marks and any major blemishes on your rough ccut blanks before you get tothe oin- ery. This way you'll be working with pieces that are pretiy cose to final ‘thickness so your joinery should be alittle crisper and moreaccurate Next, I concentrate on removing tool marks and smoothing the flat surfaces and contours. This. is rough work. Coarse sandpaper can be a pretty good shaping tool, and I take advantaze ofit. (One of the few times I sand below 100-gritis when Tm “refring” a curve.) ‘THE RIGHT S{QUENCE. Wren it comes to sanding it sometimes pays to be aggressive. Early on, used to waste alot of time and energy trying to sand away planer or jointer marks with 180 or 220grit paper. But no Jonger. Now I ustally start with 100 or 120arit paper. You can get a Tot farther, alot faster this way. ‘This may be stating the obvious, bat the key to this strategy isto start coarse and then work your way up Uhrough the finer grits. Start at 100- ‘it, and your next stop could be at 150grit, And when you've got acom- sistent surface at 150, step up to180. THINK AHEAD. And think a bit ahead when you're sanding. Sand the hard torreach spors before assembly, Ive Jearned this lesson the hard wey on project or two. So | make sure the difficult spots get all the attention they need before glueup. STAY FOCUSED. Its very easy to lose track of what you're doing when sanding and I try reelly hard to avoid this. One of the goals of my woodworking is 10 have crisp, sharply defined surfaces and edges. want my projects to look like I paid tention to the details. ‘You want joint ines to end up per= fectly flush. On a door frame, for ‘example, you don't want to be able to see or feel where the sfile ends and the rail begins. And you dont ‘want to accidently “round aver” the square edges. I work tokeep all the ceiiges crisp and sharp while work: ing up through the sanding stages. (This is where a sanding block Wocelsmith earns its keep. ‘And thea as a final step, you can gently ease the sharp corners with some fine paner. Just enough tomake them feel com- fortable (see page 5 for a tip on eas- ingsquare edges) ‘AL THE Same, Corsistency is one of the keys to getting a smooth final surface ani a good finish, Treat all the parts and surfaces the same. I's as simple as that. Don't be tempted to skip over one of the grits or maybe quit a litle early, It might look fine atthe time but youlregret itlater on. The finish is likely to give away the “cut corners.” ‘Thisis especially important if you plan to stain, Rough areas will usu- ally stain darker than smoother sar faces. A blotchy stain job can be the result of some hasty sanding. But if you sand everything the same, it ‘will stain and finish the same. ‘And if you pian to stain, sarc lit: dle finer on the end grain. Te tends to soakup more stain and ends up looking darker than the face grain. But fits sanded to a finer git, the color will be more consistent, WHERE TO stOP. Where you stop usually depends on the type of finish you plan to use. IfT'm going to paint a project, a 120 or 150arrt surface is sreat. For a clear buileup finish like varnish or shellac I don't go past 18G-grit. But if you're applying a really thin, oilype finish, it doesn't hurt tosand to 220i. ‘When Im giving a project the final once over with fine sendpaper, work until everything looks good, and then Isand a ittle mere. A litle extra effort at this point beats regrets ater on. Ifthe projectis con- sistently smooth, I know Til be pleased when the finish goes on, A Whether its stop rade or "store bought, a paddled sanding block wil rake the job easier swith beter results. a‘THE SECRET TO WIPE-ON FINISHES With the right wipe-on and a litle know how, you can finish like a pro. Seas ee eee SUIS oe Jap marks, or drips to worry about. ‘You can get a top-quality finish in a fairly short time, without a lot ofhard eee eco ies a are so many of these products and they're all a little different. Take a look at the photo below and eiereece oo ies wipeon is right for your project and how to apply it LNSEED OL. One of the olfest wipe On finishes is boiled linseed ofl and it’s still in use today. It’s called “boiled” because it used to be heat processed to make it dry faster. But today, metallicdryers are added. ‘The best thing about linseed oil is the warm, amber color it gives to the wood. But beyond this, it dors: n't have too much going for it. When linseed ol cries (@ very slow process), it just forms a thin, soft film. No matter how many coats you apply, you'll never get much of a build or a decent sheea. And to top it off, linseed oil gives you litle ifany moisture or scratch, resistance. At times, Il use a coat of linseed ol just for the colori adds @ But then {always put a harder fish rer it for exra protection TUNG Ob. Next in ne comes pure tung oil, Just about every wood- worker fas heard of tung oil Deeause the name appears on so many finishing products. Pure tung olis jut «small step up from linseed oil. After many coats itl give you a very thin build with a slight sheen. And since it Aries litle harder than linseed oi, you get litle more moisture and scroich resistance. coat of aw tung oil can Iteraly take several daysio dry, s0 don look to tung of fora quid finish. Woodsmith No. M7A.A pave ol (ung or linseed) dries soft, wrinkled, and very slowly. ‘WIPING VARNISH. When you take a Arying oil Ginseed, tung, or even soybean), add hard varnish resins and “cook” this mixture, you get a standard varnish. The oiland resins combine to form a completely new substance. Ifyou add some mineral spirits to thin the mix, you have ‘what’ called 2 wiping varnish. ining varnishes have most of the good qualities of a brushedon varnish without the hassles, You'll _geta decent build with a nice sheen and plenty of protection. And with a ‘wiping varnish, you're apolying thin costs of finish, so the drying time is cut way down. You don't have the ‘worry of dust setting the finish But there are acouple drawbacks to wiring varnishes. One is that they can éry too fast. You can't just wipe on a coat and leave it for an hour before wiping it down. It will tack up leaving you with a sticky ‘mess. The second drawbacks that you'll geta pretty slow build (6m thickness) compared to a brushed- on varnish. But Iprefer the “in the -wood” look ofa thinner finish, OIL/YARNISH BLENDS. Alot of the ‘wipe‘on products you'll nd on the shelf are cil/varnish blends (Walco Danish Oil, Minwax Antique Oil) ‘These products are basically just a dollop of cil (inseed or tung), a dol lop of varnish and some thinner. So they have some characteristics of both apure oll and a varnish, “The oil in the mix slows the dry- ing time so the application task is a litle more leisurely. You've got longer to let these products “soak in” before they tack up. The oll aso “softens” the sheen a litle. Finally the varnish ia the mise provides a harder and quicker build than a No.4? 4 A.wiping varnish will dry smeoth, hard, clear, and quick. pare oil with a fair amount of mois- ture and scratch resistance. But on the other hand, an oi/var- nish blend wont give you the hard film of a wiping varnish and won't build as fast to a high sheen. Plus the results ftom this type of product can vary quite a bit depending on ‘the cil to varnish ratio. But allinall itcan be a pretty ood compromise. WAHCH IS WiICH? You can't rely on ‘the can or botle to tell you exactly ‘what's in your wiping finish, A lot of ‘what you read on the label is just ‘marketing hype. A good way to get an idea of what you heave is with a “puddle test.” Just pour a small “dab? of the finish on a piece of giassand letit st. The photos above show how the different iypes of wip- ing finish will dry. The length of the ccare time and the look after drying vill give you a pretty good idea of ‘what's in the can or bottle. ‘APRLCATION. When Ihave to brush ‘on a finish, Pm always a litle ner ‘ous. There's lot that can go wrong. ‘But J acteally enjoy applying a wipe- on. I's 80 easy that you can enjoy watching the finish bring out the color and grain ofthe wood. ‘wire OW/¥PE OFF. No matter whet type of vipeon finsh you're using, the process is pretty much the same. You wipe it on and then you off the excess. Pretty imple, I don’t worry too much at the ipeon stage. You can jas pick up a Tint free rag (old tshirts are great) and go to work. I put the finish on pretty wet to make surel get into all the grooves and corners. Dont worry about runs, theyll get cleaned up later. ust don't get too ‘far ahead here. Depending on the finish, you might not have much ‘Woodsmith AAs y0u might guess, an oilftarnish blend is somewhere in between, time to start the wipeotf before the finish starts to tack up. ‘The wipo-off stage is where you need to payalitle more attention. A wiping varnish is going to tack up pretty quick. Don'etit sit for more than a few minutes before you start wiping off the excess, But with an oil or an cil/sarnish blend youve sotpleaty of time. You can afford to letit soak in a litde bit. When I do the “wipe down,” I try to be thor- ough. This will give you a more even build and sheen. A minor problem to watch for is “bleedback.” Thisis when the finish comes out of the pores ofthe wood and forms spots on the surface. If they don’t get wiped off before they dry, cleaning them offean bea pai. OATS. With either a wiping var nish or an oil/varnish mix, alittle light sanding or a rub-down with some steel wool between coats is a god idea. Most wipe-ons take at least three coats to get much of a build, but this depends on the type you're using, A wiping varnish is oing to bailda litle faster than an oil/varnish blend. But one of the best things about wipe-ons is that with thin coats you've got great cone trol over the build and the sheen. You can get just the right finish to bring out the bestin a project. RECOMMENDATION. Most of the time ‘when Igo witha wipeon finish, its ‘wiping varaish. They can be a litle trickier to apply, but Fike the advan- tages they offer. The quicker build, better protection, and fest drying time are what I'm after. But I will switch to an oi/varnish blend if im taking on a large project. It's more relaxed. Either way, you'll get 2 sereat finish with minimum stress iY 3334 BWoO; Wirw hrs Low-ANGLE SPOKESHAVE This tool excels when you need to smooth a curved surface. Aw made the flared Jegs for the hall table, Tame across a new tool that wish Fadkmewn about before — the Veritas low- angle spokeshave. ‘Now [know that spoke- shaves aren't exactly new. Batthere’s something new about this one. If you've tried using a spokeshave before and found them to be a little fussy fo set up, ‘you just might want t give this one atry REVERSILE TOE PCE. What really sets this spokeshave apartis the reversible toe piece (Fig. 1). It controls the depth of cut and guides te Dade. Inthe old days you needed one spoke- shave to cut inside curves and another one to cut out- side curves. This one tool will work ‘ondoth set seus hes toe piece in place The drawings below show what I'm talking about. Ifyou needto trima flat edge or an outside curve, set the wide end down, as in Fig. 1a. This acts as a flat sole to guide the blade around the curve. To make a cut on an inside curve, all you have to dois flip the toe piece around. Now the sole is much shorter. And as Fig. Abshows,it still guides the blade but without getting in the way of an upward: sloping curve. USING THE SPOKESHAYE. A spokeshave works aot like a hand plane does. But instead of being driven across the workpiece in a straight line, you steer it ‘with two handles — like the handlebars ofa bicycle, Spokeshaves can be used by pushing or pulling, depending on what's most ‘comfortable foryou. (lust: ally pull) Grip the spoke. shave by holding the handles with your thumbs pointing toward the mile. to hold it ata slight angle othe direction of cut, which gives the blade a smoother, slicing action. ‘When using the spoke: shave, it's usually best to ccutwith the grain. Butthat's not always easy to doona curved piece where the grain isn't always running in the same direction, Here's where the low cutting angle can make a bigdifference.Italiows you to geta cleaner cut on end ‘grain and where the grain direction changes. Adjst toe piece soseedepth of cut AnwustAnLE MOMTH. Justlike some blockplanes,youcan adjust the mouth to help prevent tearout. To dothis ‘on the Yerias spokeshave, just loosen the blade and le it closer to the toe piece when taking thin, wisoy shavings. When the tocpiece is set for a heavy cut, set the blade farther back to keep the shavings from clogging, as in Figs. 2and 2a I's good idea to practice on some scrap to getthe feel of using it ‘This spokeshave costs, about §45 and comes with a sharp blade and instruc. tions for use. You can order it from Lee Vaaley or fom the sources listed on the ‘opposite page. @. Blade moves inandout | blade to body, (to egjust mouth opening ¢ lode sides, iE pee Pe a ' wee aaree! | : | Q ee nN | | | Wooden No.147SOURCES Hall Table ‘The hardware needed to build the hall table doesn't amount to much. You just need a handful of steel table top fasteners and the screws to mount them, If youcant find the table top fasteners locally, they can be ordered from Rockler (#84215) oroneofthe other sources listed. veneer, The beautiful curly maple veneer I used onthe table waspurchased fom Certainly Wood — a company that specializes in cabinet grade veneers. ‘They were very helpfl i supplying the size and qual- ity of veneer that I needed ‘or this project. Their num- bers listed at rightas well as a couple other good sources for veneer ROUTER BIT. To make the flared legs for the hall table you'll need a 2" flush trim router bt like the one pic- tured. This size bit really shouldn't betoo hard to find. I used an Amana dit #47126) that was purchased from the Woodsmith Store Severalot the sources listed at right carrya similar bit that will do the job for you. Mortising Jig To build the mortising jig, you'll need some pretty common hardware and a few apedtal em, The pace wahere Ta, fad Bugera found at any hardware or home improvement store. ‘Thealuminum Ttrack and the studded knobs are ait tle tougher to find, Tbought the Ttrack at the Woodsmith Store, but there are other sources listed at right. Just make sure that what you buy is the right size GA" x34", ‘The studded knobs came from Rockler. They stock a -goodselection of parts live those needed for the mor- tising jig. Another good source for specialty hard- vwareis Reid Tool Suppl. Spokeshave ‘The low-angle spokeshave featured in the article on the facing page is made by Veritas Tools — a division ofLeeVatey. bought mine from Wooderaf, butyou can also purchase it directly from Lee Valley. Plant Stand ‘The plant stand is another simole hardware project. All you'l need are afew of the same steel tabletopfas- teners mentioned above for the hall table, TH, Youll also need to purchase one or more ceramic tiles forthe too of the stand. The tile I used was sold as 8" square although it actually meas- ured about 71%/g! square. ‘The finished sizes of ceramicttile can-vary quite abit, so youprobably want to have the tile purchased before you start to build. ‘Thisway you can adjustthe top tofitthe tile found my tileatahome improvemert stare, but you could also try aflooring or ceramic tile store, WOODSMITH PROJECT SUPPLIES To order ba No. 47 Doweling Jig Doweling jigs are pretty ‘easy to come byand there are lots of types to choose from. The self-centering model that | used works area! for diling out cen- tered mortises. The setup is really simple If you can't find one locally, there are several sources for doweling jigs Tisted at ght. ‘= “Online Extras’-Plans, Patterns & More ‘* Over 100 Woodworking Tips Onine + Visit Our Reader’ Project Photo Gallery + Proect Pins You Can Dowload + Catalog ofProject Kits, Tools, igs, Plans * Forums fr Woodworking, Tools & Clasfeds += Links to Other Woodworking Stes ‘Onder Woadenith & SiopNoter Back Issues www.woodsmith.com Woodemith Online Extras Ifyou don’t have internet access, you can havea copy ofthe Online Extras mailed to you, Just specify which aricles you'd keto receive ane send a selFaldressed, ‘stamped #10 envelope to: Woodsmith No. 147 Online Extras BO. Box 842 Des Moines, 1A 50904 | j MAIL ORDER SOURCES Similar project supplies may be ordered. from thefollowing companies Rockler 800.270.4443 rckler.con Sino bl Top Fasteners Fira Venn Wordsmith Store '909.895.5084 Daeg is, Ponto Bi ‘Pac Bob Neo Woodworking 302.225.5655 ‘morzanwood.com Vower Certainly Wood certsinkywood con Neer Lee alles leevaley.com Dneatg Sie, Studd Krab, Biss Table Top Fasteners Vertis Spee LieNiceon Tookworae "300.827.2520 Heelsen.com “end Pano Reta Too Supply 800-258-0421 ‘eidton.con JaSieplin Wooderaft 800.295-1152 ‘wooderattcom "Darel as eri Spates Woodworkers Supety "800-645-0202 ‘woodworker: com “Dacelig Je, owen Bi, able Top FastersA LAST Baroy FINAL DETAILS Y Adjustable Mertising Jig. Thissimple jg ca tem your han held router into pression mortisng tol. Widk wo adjustable fences, yu can rout mortises on dhe end or edge of st about any workpiece. Dele plans star on poge 18 ‘A Classic Ock Plant Stands. We've made angeles sraihtforwand to bul swith a semple joinery technique. So you cam make onc or two ofthese geat-oking plan sands in a twedkene, Seepage 4 for complet pens ‘A Hall Table, Wi flared, chery es and hight figred maple vencer ths hai tale has exery- thing. Yer wih all hee fre dels, i's sunpisinly easy to build. The step-by-step instuctoms begin on page 10, And leam the secret to shaped es starting on page.