A Magazine Committed to Finding the Better Way to Build Filled with Good Craftsmanship, the Best Techniques and No Ads Simple Stickley Sideboard Finish the Inside? It’s a Stinking Lie Why Wood Warps – And How to Stop It 3 Tips for Stout Tenons And 3 Tools to Get Them Just-right Tight Don’t Get the Shaft: We Test Drawbore Pins New Technique: Make Ripple Mouldings With Your Router Table POPULAR WOODWORKING PRESENTS US $5.99 CAN $7.99 93 0 FnL1 04 0120 01 JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo 02 SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL 03cnVlZ2VyAEk3vSkEMTAuNAI4MAExBVVQ 04 Qy1BDDA3NDQ3MDAxMzU1NgA= 74470 01355 6 Display until August 17, 2009 woodworking-magazine.com ■ SUMMER 2009 “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” Contents — John Dewey (1859 - 1952), American philosopher and psychologist 1 On the Level 27 New Drawbore Pins Are there any true secrets left in wood- We review four new examples of a very working? Should there be? old tool, and they’re all a little different. Learn how to pick the one that’s right for 2 Letters your work. Questions, comments and wisdom from readers, experts and our staff. 30 Finish the Inside? Period woodworkers rarely – if ever – 4 Shortcuts finished the insides of their drawers and cases, yet many modern makers swear Tricks and tips that will make your by it. Learn the pros and cons before you woodworking simpler and more accurate. decide on your approach. 6 Why Wood Warps 32 Lessons from It’s an inescapable fact that wood warps. Craftsman Farms The challenge is in predicting that move- MAKING FRAMES: PAGE 21 ment and working with that knowledge to Gustav Stickley envisioned a different avoid problems. approach to education than compulsory schooling – an approach that aimed to ensure 10 Stickley Sideboard 18 Wave-form Mouldings the continuation of the woodworking trade. Wood selection is the key component in Replicate this traditional decorative moulding building this handsome sideboard – the using modern machinery; the result makes Stickley No. 802. Get that right and the rest even the blandest wood come alive with detail. falls into place. 21 Making Frames Sooner or later someone is bound to ask you for a picture frame – and it’s not as simple as it seems. Here’s how to get it right the first time. 24 Tuning Tenons Before you can make your tenons fit just so, understand the strengths and weaknesses of the joint, so you can exploit them. WHY WOOD WARPS: PAGE 6 TUNING TENONS: PAGE 24 NEW DRAWBORE PINS: PAGE 27 Summer 2009, Issue 14 woodworking-magazine.com Editorial Offices 513-531-2690 On the Level PUBLISHER & GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR ■ Steve Shanesy x11238, [email protected] EDITOR ■ Christopher Schwarz x11407, [email protected] ART DIRECTOR ■ Linda Watts Too Precious for Cash x11396, [email protected] SENIOR EDITOR ■ Robert W. Lang x11327, [email protected] used to wonder if there were any secrets in sionally since high school – and that makes an SENIOR EDITOR ■ Glen D. Huey I x11293, [email protected] woodworking until I met Troy Sexton, who runs a enormous difference. Many accidents in shops MANAGING EDITOR ■ Megan Fitzpatrick one-man cabinetshop outside Columbus, Ohio. occur because the user is uncomfortable with a x11348, [email protected] I’d heard a tale about Troy from a number of machine or an operation. ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR THE WEB ■ Drew DePenning reputable woodworkers that seemed unlikely. But there’s something else, too. This week I x11008, [email protected] ILLUSTRATOR ■ Mary Jane Favorite Here’s the short form: Because of a series of mix- spent a morning with Jim Tolpin, one of my favor- PHOTOGRAPHER ■ Al Parrish ups, Troy had to build a full-blown stepback cup- ite woodworking writers (“Measure Twice, Cut board in one day. Once” set me straight) and one of the founders F+W MEDIA, INC. David Nussbaum ■ CHAIRMAN & CEO That meant two separate case pieces from of the Port Townsend School of Woodworking James Ogle ■ CFO solid wood, dovetailed drawers and moulded (ptwoodschool.com). Our conversation turned Sara E. Domville ■ PRESIDENT divided-light doors. Oh, and the delivery truck to this topic, and Jim wondered out loud: Is it a Phil Graham ■ SENIOR VP, MANUFACTURING & PRODUCTION was on its way to pick the piece up. good idea for us to tell or sell these shop secrets Chad Phelps ■ VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL MEDIA With the help of a couple assistants, Troy to other woodworkers? Mike Kuehn ■ VICE PRESIDENT IT, CIO Sara Dumford ■ CONFERENCE DIRECTOR pulled it off. The stepback went into the truck “Is that the right way to teach woodworking?” Linda Engel ■ CIRCULATION DIRECTOR on time, the customer was happy and Troy passed he asked. “Students pay me money, and I show Susan Rose ■ NEWSSTAND DIRECTOR into legend. them what I know?” Vicki Whitford ■ PRODUCTION COORDINATOR When I first started working with Troy, I was In many trades, Tolpin said, skills are earned stunned at how fast he worked. We’d start in on a by apprentices who show they are competent, pas- SUBSCRIPTION RATES: A year’s subscription (4 issues) is $19.96. In Canada: Add $5 for postage & handling (includes GST/HST). Outside the cabinet in the morning: sionate and ready for the U.S. and Canada: Add $10 for postage & handling and remit payment in U.S. funds with order. He’d build it, and I’d information. I’ve read NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION: Curtis Circulation Co., 730 River Road, take notes and photos of accounts where a mas- New Milford, NJ 07646 “Whoever wishes to keep a secret must POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to Woodworking Magazine, P.O. the process. By the early ter would hide his meth- Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Canada GST Reg # R122594716. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: Subscription inquiries, orders and address afternoon, the carcase hide the fact that he possesses one.” ods from his apprentice changes can be made at woodworking-magazine.com (click on “Customer would be together and to find out what lengths Service”). Or by mail: Woodworking Magazine, P.O. Box 420235, Palm — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 - 1832) Coast, FL 32142-0235. Or call 386-597-4322. Include your address with all Troy would be knock- German poet, novelist and playwright the apprentice would go inquiries. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. BACK ISSUES: Back issues are available. For pricing ing out the doors and to in order to obtain the information or to order, call 800-258-0929, visit our web site at woodworking-magazine.com or send check or money order drawers. knowledge. The drive to: Woodworking Magazine Back Issues, F+W Media Products, But I never saw the whole process. I’d leave for to obtain the skill was almost as important as 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990. Please specify Woodworking Magazine and issue date. ©2009 a week, and he’d do some critical operations in my the skill itself. absence. After a while, I figured out some of his In hobby woodworking you can purchase tricks: To cut tenons he had two contractor saws the knowledge, even if you don’t know what to bolted together. One saw was set up to cut face do with the information or how to apply it. You Highly Recommended cheeks; the other cut only edge cheeks. He kept could argue that spending a great deal of money 3 Before the advent of the steel tape mea- a portable planer set permanently at exactly ⁄4". to take a woodworking class shows a passion for sure, woodworkers used 24"-long folding Every piece of stock went through it for a finish- the craft. That’s true, but simply spending money rules for most of the measuring chores in the ing pass, which made all his dedicated jigs work doesn’t signal that the student has the base skills shop. Folding rules never sag, cup or kink. and left a lot less sanding for him to do. necessary to use that knowledge. And vintage ones are widely available and But I didn’t get the whole picture. Troy could In my heart, I’m terrified that if I don’t show inexpensive. We recommend you find one cut haunched tenons without changing his setups. everything I know to someone (anyone) there’s that is “brass bound,” meaning the wood He could get shoulder cuts on his tenons with a chance this craft will wither away. But then, is entirely clad in brass. Brass-bound rules absolutely no blow-out (which is a typical problem sometimes when I see the furniture-shaped gar- are more likely to be straight. One common when you use a dado stack to cut your tenons). bage sold in stores, I wonder if we don’t deserve example is the Stanley No. 62, which can And he was faster than I could ever be. that fate. WM be found used for about $20. After a year of working with him, he opened — Christopher Schwarz up. I now know most of the ins and outs of how he makes mortises and tenons. But I’ve always hesitated to put it all down in print. Why? For one thing, I would be put in jail by the safety police. Troy’s methods step over the line in some places. He has all his fingers and a clean Christopher Schwarz safety record; he’s also been building profes- Editor woodworking-magazine.com ■ 1 Letters ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROBERT W. LANG & MARY JANE FAVORITE Should You Sand After Planing? an abrupt transition between the part of the wood by our eyes as differences in color.