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April 2016 ■ #224 Roubo Moulding Planes Easy-to-Make Traditional Tools

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c2_1604_PWM_FPAds.indd c2 1/20/16 10:45 AM CONTENTS APRIL 2016

30 36 50

FEATURES

22 Roubo Hollows 36 Arts & Crafts 48 ‘Melencolia’ & Rounds Occasional Try Square Use tools you likely already own to make three Table This nearly lost layout tool from Dürer’s 1514 matched pairs (Nos. 4, 6 & 8) of traditional This geometric Baille Scott project offers a “Melencolia I” engraving is fun to make, French-style hollow and round planes. fun joinery challenge with tapered legs, plus accurate and useful in the modern shop. BY CALEB JAMES curved and angled stretchers. BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ BY MITCH ROBERSON ONLINE u Mouldings by Hand ONLINE u Ancient Layout Watch this video to see just how quickly you Get free plans for some early layout tools that ONLINE u 3 Ways to Finish can cut a moulding proﬁ le by hand. Discover three ways to create an authentic- you can make from shop scraps. popularwoodworking.com/apr16 looking Arts & Crafts ﬁ nish. popularwoodworking.com/apr16 popularwoodworking.com/apr16

30 Guerrilla Guide to 50 King of Spray Finishing 43 The Core Windsors Harness the speed and quality of a Hand Tools After 35 years of teaching, Mike Dunbar is professional spray ﬁ nish with this guide to For the cost of one quality piece of large closing the doors of The Windsor Institute using an inexpensive system at home. machinery, you can set up a complete hand and opening the doors to a one-man shop. BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ tool shop – here’s the tools to get you started. BY MEGAN FITZPATRICK BY DENEB PUCHALSKI ONLINE u Make a Spray Booth ONLINE u Milk Paint Read this free article from Bob Flexner on Read this free article from Mike Dunbar on ONLINE u Sharpening Jig making your own spray booth. how to mix and apply traditional milk paint. Get free plans for the author’s jig that helps popularwoodworking.com/apr16 popularwoodworking.com/apr16 you set the right sharpening angle every time. popularwoodworking.com/apr16

COVER PHOTO BY DANIEL DUBOIS PHOTOGRAPHY; SPRAY FINISHING PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; SIDE TABLE PHOTO BY MITCH ROBERSON popularwoodworking.com ■ 1

01_1604_PWM_TOC.indd 1 1/20/16 10:42 AM CONTENTS APRIL 2016

61658

REGULARS

4 Woodwork 12 Festool’s New 58 Give Me a Brake By the Book 5" Sander ARTS & MYSTERIES OUT ON A LIMB TOOL TEST BY PETER FOLLANSBEE BY MEGAN FITZPATRICK BY THE EDITORS 60 ONLINE u Tool Test Archives Water-based 6 Sharpening We have many tool reviews available for free Finish isn’t on our web site. Pond’s Top popularwoodworking.com/tools Lacquer Attachment FLEXNER ON FINISHING LETTERS BY BOB FLEXNER FROM OUR READERS 16 Graduated Drawers 64 Humble Job 10 Dust Collection DESIGN MATTERS Endures For Ports of BY GEORGE R. WALKER 1,000 Years All Sizes 54 END GRAIN TRICKS OF THE TRADE Custom BY JIM BAKER FROM OUR READERS Push Pads JIG JOURNAL u ONLINE More Tricks BY JERRY C. FORSHEE Read some of our favorite vintage tricks. popularwoodworking.com/tricks

Number 224, April 2016. Popular Woodworking Magazine (ISSN 0884-8823,USPS 752- 250) is published 7 times a year, February, April, June, August, October, November and December, which may include an occasional special, combined or expanded issue that may count as two issues, by F+W Media. Editorial and advertising offices are located at 8469 Blue Ash Road, Suite #100, Cincinnati, OH 45236. Unsolicited manuscripts, photo- graphs and artwork should include ample postage on a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE); otherwise they will not be returned. Subscription rates: A year’s subscription (7 issues) is $24.95; outside of the U.S. add $7/year ■ Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 40025316. Canadian return address: 2835 Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7 ■ Copyright 2016 by Popular Woodworking Magazine. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and 60 additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Popular Woodworking Magazine, P.O. B ox 42023 5, Palm C oast, F L 32142- 023 5 Canada G S T Reg. # R13259 4716 ■ Produced and printed in the U.S.A.

ILLUSTR ATION BY MARY JANE FAVORITE; CHEST PHOTO BY GEORGE R. WALKER; 2 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 BRAKE PHOTO BY PETER FOLLANSBEE; FINISHES PHOTO BY BOB FLEXNER

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APRIL 2016, VOL. 36, NO. 224 popularwoodworking.com Woodwork by the Book EDITORIAL OFFICES 513-531-2690 VICE PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER ■ Jamie Markle f I could apply in the shop the su- Techniques [email protected], x11452 perabundance of knowledge I’ve ■ “Chairmaker’s Notebook,” by Peter GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR & EDITOR ■ gleaned through books, I’d be an Galbert (Lost Art Press) Megan Fitzpatrick I megan.fi [email protected], x11348 excellent craftsperson. My job involves ■ “Illustrated Cabinetmaking,” by Bill SENIOR ART DIRECTOR ■ Daniel T. Pessell reading about woodworking, as does my Hylton (Fox Chapel) [email protected], x11596 ■ freelance editing work. Then for fun, “Modern Practical Joinery,” by George ONLINE EDITOR ■ Jon Russelburg I open a book. I’m a voracious reader. Ellis (Linden) [email protected], x11434 Here are a handful of the many books ■ “Modern Practical Stairbuilding & CONTRIBUTING EDITORS ■ I fi nd invaluable (specifi c to my interests Handrailing,” by George Ellis (Linden) Bob Flexner, Christopher Schwarz, Steve Shanesy and toolset – actual and metaphoric). ■ “The Perfect Edge,” by Ron Hock PHOTOGRAPHER ■ Al Parrish (Popular Woodworking) PROJECT ILLUSTRATOR ■ Donna R. Hill Design ■ “The Woodworker, ONLINE CONTENT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER ■ ■ “Furniture Treasury,” The Charles Hayward David Thiel by Wallace Nutting Years: 1939-1967,” [email protected], x11255 (Macmillan) (Lost Art Press) (due ONLINE CONTENT DEVELOPER ■ Jacob Motz ■ “Human Dimension out in April – I edited [email protected], x11005 & Interior Space,” by it, and have thus read ONLINE EDUCATION MANAGER ■ Nick Lieurance [email protected], Julius Panero and Mar- it multiple times; solid 970-279-4254

tin Zelnik (Watson- gold) CONTENT EDITOR, BOOKS ■ Scott Francis Guptill) (this one is ■ “Woodwork Joints,” [email protected], x11327 new to me, but already by Charles H. Hayward F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company a treasure) (Evans Bros.) ACTING CEO, COO & CFO ■ James Ogle ■ “Measured Drawings PRESIDENT ■ Sara Domville of Shaker Furniture & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, Materials OPERATIONS ■ Phil Graham ■ Woodenware,” by Ejner “Woods in British VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS ■ Stacie Berger Handberg (Berkshire House) Furniture Making 1400-1900,” by ADVERTISING ■ “The New Fine Points of Furniture: Adam Bowett (Royal Botanic Gardens) VICE PRESIDENT, SALES ■ Dave Davel Early American,” by Albert Sack ■ “Understanding Wood,” by Bruce ADVERTISING DIRECTOR ■ Don Schroder (Crown) Hoadley (Taunton) 331 N. Arch St., Allentown, PA 18104 TEL. 610-821-4425; FAX. 610-821-7884 [email protected] Finishing Inspiration ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATOR ■ ■ “Flexner on Finishing,” by Bob ■ “A Reverence for Wood,” by Eric Connie Kostrzewa TEL. 715-445-4612 x13883 Flexner (Popular Woodworking) Sloane (Ballantine) [email protected] ■ “Underst anding Wood Finishing,” by ■ “The Soul of a Tree,” by George Na- NEWSSTAND Bob Flexner (Reader’s Digest) kashima (Kodansha) For newsstand sales, contact Scott T. Hill: [email protected] Tools & Shop In a 1980 interview, Charles Hay- ■ “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” by ward said, “Books can guide you, ex- SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: For subscription inquiries, orders and address changes go Christopher Schwarz (Lost Art Press) plain about techniques, tools, materi- to: www.popularwoodworking.com/customerservice (ﬁ le also under inspiration) als, present ideas, steer you away from U.S. Subscribers: 877-860-9140 ■ “Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic pitfalls…Books include a great deal International Subscribers: 386-246-3369 Email: [email protected] Woodworking Tools,” by Mike Dunbar of valuable information but it is up to NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION: (Popular Woodworking) the reader to apply that information.” Curtis Circulation Co., 730 River Road, New Milford, NJ ■ “The Table Saw Book,” by Kelly Go forth and read. Then get thee to 07646. PHONE: 201-634-7400. FAX: 201-634-7499. Mehler (Taunton) the shop. I’ll see you there. PWM SHOPWOODWORKING.COM Visit ShopWoodworking.com for woodworking books, ■ “Workbenches,” by Christopher projects, plans and back issues of this magazine. Schwarz (Popular Woodworking) Copyright ©2016 by F+W Media, Inc. ■ “The Work shop Book,” by Scott L an- All rights reserved. Popular Woodworking Magazine is a registered trademark of dis (Taunton) F+W Media, Inc.

4 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTO BY AL PARRISH

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04_1604_PWM_OOL.indd 5 1/20/16 11:34 AM LETTERS FROM OUR READERS

Anarchist’s Tool Chest” (Lost Art Press), Sharpening Pond’s a book written by contributing editor Christopher Schwarz. In a nutshell, he argues that Ameri- Top Attachment can anarchism is a non-violent, anti-con- sumer approach to living. It’s a tendency of individuals to eschew large organiza- am building William Ng’s “Sharp- fasteners or even pocket holes). tions, corporations, governments and ening Pond” from the November I use “tabletop fasteners” (avail- religions – a preference for individual I2015 issue (#221). How is the top able at any woodworking supply store action as opposed to mandates and mass- fastened to the base? or online). manufacturing. Bob Wood, I cut the slots using an 1⁄8" spiral bit In a woodworking context, it’s a ten- via email at the router table. The slots are 7⁄8" in dency to build rather than buy. Bob, length x 1⁄4" deep. If the pond base is Megan Fitzpatrick, editor I’m sorry I missed that step. I took it glued up, there’s enough head space for granted that people would use their to rout with a fence. I set the fence 1⁄2" P100 Dust Mask & Eyeglasses preferred method for attaching any from the top edge. On page 12 of t he December 2015 issue tabletop (shop-made buttons, metal William Ng, contributor (#222), the “Highly Recommended” shows Megan Fitzpatrick wearing a P100 dust mask. It looks like a great value for the price, but I always have trouble with my glasses fogging up when I wear any dust mask – even the fancy ones with a rubbery strip. Did your glasses fog up with the P100? Chuck Strauss, via email Chuck, That’s one of the things I like most about the P100 – my glasses don’t fog up with it (and I always wear glasses; I can’t see Slot without them). Metal fastener I have heard – though I have no expe- riential knowledge of course – that the mask’s effectiveness is somewhat under- mined by having a beard, but that it’s still Weight of Workbench Parts that by the average weight per board for pretty effective. How much does each component of the the species you are using. The weight per Megan Fitzpatrick, editor November 2015 (issue #221) “Knock- board foot and board footage calculators down English Workbench” weigh? are both widely available on the Internet. Sliding Lid for Japanese Box Browne Altman, Christopher Schwarz, I have been studying the “Japanese via email contributing editor Sliding-lid Box” article in the Decem- Browne, ber 2015 issue of Popular Woodworking Wow. Some guesses: What is Meant by ‘Anarchism?’ Magazine, and I do not see how the lid The top is the heaviest – maybe 80 Two recent articles uses the word “an- “slides.” What am I missing? pounds or a little more. The end assem- archist.” What does this word mean in Karl Schwab, blies are about 35-40 pounds each. The context, and why is it used? Warren, Michigan aprons are about 20 pounds each. Same John Stroud, Karl, with the shelf. via email The lid hangs on its three battens. The If you need a more exact weight, I rec- John, three battens prevent the lid from drop- ommend ﬁ guring out how many board It’s a reference to (and shorthand for) ping to the bottom of the box. feet are in the project then multiplying some of the philosophy espoused in “The To “lock” the lid, you slide the lid CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

6 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 ILLUSTRATION BY MARY JANE FAVORITE

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toward either of the two end battens that worthless – but I have come to love are nailed to the carcase. Then the top the turret depth stop on the 735. I can surface of the top encounters the case’s change the cutter height to whatever I end battens. The friction between the end need it to be and always return to the battens and the lid prevents the lid from exact same thickness as previously sliding open unless you want it to move. planed wood with this feature. Christopher Schwarz, Jacob Morrill, contributing editor via email Highly Recommended Bamboo Harvesting at Home Ductile Plates for Workbench: Thank you for William Ng’s excellent How Many & Where? If you’re in the market for a mallet, consider Blue Spruce Toolworks. This maple “Sharpening Pond” article in the No- In the “Knockdown English Work- acrylic-polymer-resin-infused tool won a vember 2015 issue. bench” article (November 2015), one “Best New Tools” award from us in 2009. Here’s my advice to those who want photo shows a metal plate attached to The one I bought then looks almost as to harvest their own bamboo: the underside of the benchtop. What pristine as the day I pulled it out of the This species will last for only two is this and why? box – despite using it to chop countless dovetails in the last six years. It’s available to three years after harvesting if un- Also, the materials list show 15 in two sizes: 16-ounce ($80) (what I have) treated. Bamboo is related to sugarcane ductile mounting plates and 15 bolts. and 13 ounce ($70). — Megan Fitzpatrick and it contains sugar (starch), which I count only 14 (two in each leg through encourages microorganisms. the aprons and six in the top). Where Harvest the branches during the does the 15th go? new moon, when the sap is at minimum Marlin Collier, concentration, and thus the sugar con- Carthage, Mississippi Customer Service How can I contact customer service with questions tent is lowest. Marlin, regarding my subscription, including a lost or damaged Treat bamboo by soaking it in The metal plate shown in some photos was issue? Visit popularwoodworking.com/customerservice. Or write a 10-percent solution of boric acid/ a little insurance I added to the benchtop. to Popular Woodworking Magazine, P.O. Box 421751, Palm Coast, FL 32142-1751. Or, if you prefer the telephone, Borax for several days. This is said to I was worried that the planing stop might call 1-877-860-9140 (U.S. & Canada), 386-246-3369 (International) and a customer service representative will eliminate the sugar and add protection split the thin benchtop. So I added the plate be happy to help you. against decay. – an inexpensive mending plate from the When does my subscription expire? The date of your subscription expiration appears on your Also, don’t use your fi nest tools on home center – with screws. magazine mailing label, above your name. The date this material; it contains a great deal The 15th ductile plate is used to help indicates the last issue in your subscription. Can I get back issues of Popular Woodworking of silica, so it is quite abrasive. hold the crochet in place. I thought I had Magazine? Back issues are available while supplies last. Visit Pedro Ribeiro, included that in the article, but I must popularwoodworking.com/backissues. Or if you know Embu, Brazil have cut it. My apologies. PWM the exact month and year of the issue you want, call our customer service department toll-free at 855-840-5118 Christopher Schwarz, to order. contributing editor What if I want more information about the projects or Portable Planer Points tools I read about in Popular Woodworking Magazine? I enjoyed Christopher Schwarz’s Febru- For all editorial questions, please write to Popular Woodworking Magazine, 8469 Blue Ash Road, Suite 100, ary 2016 (issue #223) article on portable Cincinnati, OH 45236. Or send an e-mail to planers. Having owned and run thou- [email protected]. ONLINE EXTRAS Does Popular Woodworking Magazine offer group sands of feet of wood through a DeWalt discounts? Letters & Comments Group discounts are available by special arrangement with 735 planer for years now, I think of my the publisher. For more details, send an e-mail to Debbie “litt le” planer as an absolute nece ssit y At popularwoodworking.com/letters you’ll Paolello at [email protected] or call 513- fi nd reader questions and comments, as 531-2690 x11296. in the shop. well as our editors’ responses. Our Privacy Promise to You I would like to point out a couple We make portions of our customer list available to carefully of things not mentioned in the article We want to hear from you. screened companies that offer products and services we Popular Woodworking Magazine welcomes believe you may enjoy. If you do not want to receive offers that may or may not be unique to my and/or information, please let us know by contacting us at: comments from readers. Published cor- List Manager, F+W Media, Inc. particular model. respondence may be edited for length or 10161 Carver Road, Suite 200 Blue Ash, OH 45242 First, the blades are double sided, so style. All published letters become the prop- when they get dull all you have to do is erty of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Safety Note Send your questions and comments Safety is your responsibility. Manufacturers place safety fl ip them around and you get twice the devices on their equipment for a reason. In many photos life out of a set. via email to [email protected], or you see in Popular Woodworking Magazine, these have by mail to 8469 Blue Ash Road, Suite 100, been removed to provide clarity. In some cases we’ll use an Also, Christopher mentions that awkward body position so you can better see what’s being Cincinnati, OH 45236. demonstrated. Don’t copy us. Think about each procedure some added-on features are almost you’re going to perform beforehand.

8 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR

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06_1604_PWM_Letters.indd 9 1/20/16 11:37 AM TRICKS OF THE TRADE EDITED BY MEGAN FITZPATRICK THE WINNER: Boot Tray Soaking Setup Dust Collection for Many woodworkers like to clean their vintage tools by soaking them in a rust remover or citric acid solution. For long, Ports of All Sizes fl at tools such as a panel saw, it can be diffi cult because of the need for a long container. Storage bins are large and made t his adapter to hook up dust cate them so they don’t intersect the bulky and buckets are not deep enough. collection to the odd-size fi tting clamping holes. I’ve found that a plastic boot tray I(2") on my oscillating sander. Now you’re ready to split the block is the easiest solution both in use and Start with a hardwood block that is (I used my band saw). After sawing clean-up. Most boot trays are inexpen- (in my case) is 3" x 4" x 11⁄4" thick. it in half, I touched up the faces on sive (less than $10), about 1" deep, at I required a 2" hole, so I used a 2" my belt sander to remove just a litt le least 1' wide and more than 2' long. The hole saw to drill in the middle of bit of mater ial so t hat it would clamp depth is plenty enough to hold enough the block. solidly on the 2" fi tting. solution, and offers the advantage of The next thing is to drill the holes With the block split, drill a 3⁄32" easy access to scrub the tools as they for the split-block-clamping and pilot the rest of the way through for are soaking without getting up to your block-attachment holes. I drilled a the 3" clamping screws. elbows. The length and width can eas- 3⁄16" clearance hole, 15⁄8" deep. Drill Drill a 2" or 21⁄2" hole in the ply- ily hold several full-size panel saws the hole just more than halfway deep wood, then install the adapter for the simultaneously, as well as other tools – that way, when you split the block, hose and screw the split-clamping such as drill bits and chisels. you’ll have a location for drilling the block to the plywood piece, with The be st part is t hat clean up of bot h rest of the way through with a 3⁄32" elongated holes on one piece to al- the solution and tray is dead simple. drill bit for the pilot for the screw. low it to open and close. Bill Lattanzio, Now drill holes on the face side Dan Martin, Spring City, Pennsylvania to attach the 3⁄4" plywood piece; lo- Galena, Ohio Editor’s note: Contributing Editor Chris- topher Schwarz keeps his sharpening stones in a boot tray, stored under his bench. It contains the mess when sharpening, and it’s out of the way when not.

Tighten screws to clamp to port Quick & Easy Filing Cleanup When shar pening hand saws or fl attening plane soles, metal fi lings can accu- mulate quickly. If you are like me and don’t have a dedicated metal-working area, the metal fi lings run the risk of becoming embedded in your workbench or anything else they touch. 3⁄4" plywood To easily remove them, I place a rare- earth magnet in a small envelope, then run the outside of the envelope over the affected area to pick up all of t he fi lings. I then go over to the trash can, open the envelope and remove the magnet. Hardwood block with 2" hole; saw in All of the fi lings instantly fall into half after drilling the trash and the magnet is spotless. No more t r y ing to remove t hose fi lings from rare-earth magnets anymore, and your workspace is clean! Jason Thigpen, Cedar Park, Texas

10 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY JANE FAVORITE

10_1604_PWM_Tricks.indd 10 1/20/16 11:41 AM Stick registers cut to length against Hook Rule Story Stick side of blade For Cutting Multiple Parts While working on a project, I needed to cut 10 pieces of the same length: 431⁄2". My table saw’s miter gauge cut- off feature doesn’t extend far enough, and I didn’t want to fuss with a repeated measure-and-mark method (not to mention the opportunity that presents Hook glued to end to introduce an error). of stick After puzzling a bit, I came up with the following setting device for these repeat cuts. I cut a 3⁄4" square piece to the length needed (in my case, 431⁄2"). On one end I glued a short perpendicular piece to act like the hook on a hook ruler. Then I carefully placed the hook miter gauge and the tabletop (so as to ONLINE EXTRAS against an already cut and squared end not lose indexing), I removed the story of the workpiece. stick, set it aside and made the crosscut. For links to all online extras, go to: ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 While carefully retaining the hook’s It worked perfectly to allow me contact with the square end, I placed to cut 10 boards (plus a couple extra TRICKS ONLINE: We post tricks from the past and fi lm videos of some Tricks of the Trade the board against the miter gauge and pieces) to the exact same length with in use in our shop. They’re available online, slid the other end of the “story stick” no measuring. free. Visit popularwoodworking.com/tricks against the left side of the blade. Cordell Roy, to read and watch. While holding the board against the South Jordan, Utah Our products are available online at: ■ ShopWoodworking.com Cash and prizes for your tricks and tips! Each issue we publish woodworking tips from our readers. Next issue’s winner receives a $250 gift certifi cate from Lee Val- ley Tools, good for any item in the catalog or Mirror on the web site (leevalley.com). (The tools attached to block Refl ection of pictured below are for illustration only and backside of are not part of the prize.) dovetail cut Runners-up each receive a check for $50 to $100. When submitting a trick, include your mailing address and phone number. All accepted entries become the property of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Send your trick by email to [email protected], or mail it to Tricks of the Trade, Popular Woodworking Magazine, 8469 Blue Ash Road, Suite 100, Cincinnati, OH 45236.

Baseline Reﬂ ections block to the back of a mirror, then plac- Gang-cutting dovetails has its pros and ing the mirror on my bench to reﬂ ect cons. One common complaint is that it the work. I can tell at a glance when it’s is easy to overcut on the far side, thereby time to stop cutting. PWM marring not one but two boards’ faces. Charles Mak, I solved this problem by attaching a Calgary, Alberta

popularwoodworking.com ■ 11

10_1604_PWM_Tricks.indd 11 1/25/16 7:50 AM TOOL TEST BY THE STAFF ETS EC125/3 Eccentric Sander Festool’s newest 5" compact tool delivers on comfort and performance.

well-sanded surface makes a huge difference on a fi nished Apiece. Unlike many woodworkers I know, I appreciate the relatively mindle ss nature of sanding. In addit ion to recently using the Mirka DEROS for benchmarking purposes, my go-to power sander has been a 10-year-old 6" Ridgid model. It’s heavy, has a high center of grav it y and is le ss t han grace- ful on small parts. So I was excited to take Festool’s new 5" brushless model for a test drive. The tool comes in Festool’s standard “Systainer” hard case, including a separate power cord. The kit included only one sheet of #120-grit sandpaper – considering the cost, it would have Low profi le. The Festool EC125/3 delivers been nice for the factory to include a good performance and comfort in a low- few more sheets. For this test, I used profi le tool. The dense backer pad (right) accepts any hook-and-loop sanding disc. Festool’s #80-, #100-, #120-, #150- and #180-grit sanding discs on walnut and cherry. The power switch, positioned at the This tool is everything my current top front of the tool, is easy to reach sander isn’t. It’s quiet, compact and while in use, however the speed-setting rpm operating speeds. light, weighing in at only 2.65 lbs. Plus, dial requires a bit of a reach-around. The tool’s 400 watts give it plenty it has a much lower center of gravity Initially at start up, I found the tool of power to hog through bark and than other Festool models I’ve used. produced a slight uneven wobble when sapwood with 80# on a natural-edge This is a plus; I’ve found that sanders it contacted the wood surface; this was surface, while still allowing enough with a high center of gravity can fa- alleviated by dialing down the dust- control with #180 grit on a flat sur- tigue your hands with extended use. collector suction by about half. The off face. (Full disclosure: I also tested it The balance of the tool is a bit different button smoothly stops the motor in less with Abranet discs – the tool accepts than an even lower profi le tool like the than 0.5 seconds, reducing the chance any hook-and-loop disc – and found DEROS. After a bit of trial, I found the of leaving power sander loop marks on them better than Festool’s discs when right hand position (a modifi ed pistol your piece or bench. I love t his feature. it comes to fewer surface marks.) The grip with my thumb atop of the tool), This tool is compatible with my tool’s dense foam backer pad allowed makes it comfortable to use. Festool CT-26 dust collection system, for just the right amount of cushion including the convenient automatic to work around convex and concave EC125/3 Sander on/off feature when the tool powers up surfaces without fear of creating a gi- and down. I also tested this tool with ant fl at spot. Festool also offers softer Festool ■ festoolusa.com or 888-337-8600 the D27/22 antistatic hose, which is backer pad s for t his t y pe of applicat ion. sold separately ($250). Unlike my usual Because this tool has a lower pro- Street price ■ from $385 sanding setup, this experience was fi le and lower price point than most of ■ ONLINE Read a review of the Mirka static-free. Overall I found the dust col- Festool’s models, I consider it worth DEROS mentioned above. lection suffi cient on a variety of sanding the money. Price correct at time of publication. grits across its variable 6,000-10,000 — Andy Brownell CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

12 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTOS BY THE AUTHORS

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Chestnut Tools Universal Sharpener

Sometimes a small advance in technol- when sharpening. ogy makes an enormous difference in For starters, it makes short everything. The Chestnut Tools Uni- work of marking knives, pocket versal Sharpener – just $18.50 from Lee knives, scissors and a variety Valley Tools – will absolutely change of tools that are difficult to the way you sharpen tools. sharpen. The carbide works It looks like a folding pocketknife, like a scraper. You tilt the tool but instead of a blade the sharpener has slightly, rub it with gentle pres- a piece of sub-micron carbide about sure on the steel and it shaves 1⁄8" wide and 7⁄8" long. The carbide steel away as if it were wood. has sharp corners, unlike a carbide Full instructions are includ- burnisher. And it’s the combination ed with the tool, which show of the incredibly fi ne carbide and its you how to create a burr with shape that makes it a game-changer the tool and remove it from the back with a slightly different stroke. It’s ening a scraper, getting a square edge Universal Sharpener like a miniature grinder and can even with sharp corners is the most diffi - straighten out a dubbed-over bevel on cult. Stone the scraper a bit and you are Lee Valley ■ leevalley.com or 800-871-8158 an incannel gouge (tricky stuff, indeed). ready to turn a burr with your regular I love it for sharpening card scrap- burnisher (the corners of the Universal Street price ■ $18.50 ers and use it instead of a fi le. Clamp Sharpener are too sharp to turn a burr). ■ BLOG See the Universal Sharpener in use the sharpener upright in your vise and All I can say is this: Get one. You’ll on a card scraper. you’ll create a perfect square edge on thank me. Price correct at time of publication. your scraper. Of all the steps in sharp- — Christopher Schwarz CMT’s Inexpensive Moisture Meter

If you ever work with wood from un- rugged case, is simple to oper- reliable or unusual sources, such as ate and comes with the 9-volt one-person sawmills, it pays to own battery that runs it. a moisture meter. I slip mine into my On the minus side, all pin pocket whenever I head to the lumber- moisture meters have limita- yard and it has saved my skin several tions. You have to drive the times in the last 20 years. pins in fairly deep to activate But not everyone can afford an expen- the meter, and so you don’t want sive pinless meter with all its features. to use the meter on wood that So I was interested to try the new will be a show surface – the pins CMT DMM-001, a pin-activated mois- leave obvious holes. ture meter that costs about $40, or The other limitation is you about one-fi fth of the price of a nice cannot calibrate the meter for commercial meter. the specifi c gravity of the wood On the plus side, the CMT has a species. Expensive meters allow you to absolute ones. So test some maple that adjust for wenge or white pine. So you are has been sitting in your wood rack all DMM-001 Moisture Meter unlikely to get a dead-on correct reading. year then compare it to the maple at After comparing the CMT to my own the lumber yard. You’ll know whether CMT ■ cmtutensili.com or 888-268-2487 meter, I think the CMT is calibrated the maple is wet or dry. Street price ■ from $40 for something between oak and maple, In ot her word s, it’s defi nitely useful, ■ BLOG Read more about moisture meters which is a perfectly reasonable setting. and at $40 it’s silly not to have one from and how to use them. This limitation means that you can a reputable company such as CMT. PWM Prices correct at time of publication. get only relative readings instead of — CS

14 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

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12_1604_PWM_ToolTest.indd 15 1/20/16 11:44 AM DESIGN MATTERS BY GEORGE R. WALKER Graduated Drawers Ancient architecture provides a starting point for tall chest design.

ar back in our past, one of our Graduation. Even on a early ancestors cobbled together small scale, drawers that a box with a lid and created a fur- diminish in size from F the bottom up lend a niture form still in use today. Wooden lightness to this bank of chests, sometimes equipped with fancy drawers. locks and hinges, were used store everything from blankets to tools, toys, treasure and grain. Chests perform basic storage tasks by keeping our valued possessions safe from the elements and unwanted crit- ters, while providing a handy bench to sit on and don our shoes in the morning. But as useful a piece of furniture as it is, the chest form has some drawbacks. For one, its height is usually limited to the length of our arm. Any deeper and we cannot easily retrieve items that migrate to the bottom. This also points to another drawback. A chest at its simplest is just a large cavity. That’s perfect for storing fl our or sugar, but it can be frustrating when we want to house sweaters and socks. That favorite pair of argyles will always hide in the most remote corner of a chest. Then a genius came along and started fi lling chests with drawers. Draw- ers give us the storage advantages of a effect can look static. Boring repetition chest but allow us to keep underwear might be effi cient and lend itself to mass and socks in their own neighborhoods. production, but our eye usually doesn’t The blanket chest became a chest of respond to it. drawers and was no longer limited in This is one problem where furni- height by the length of our arms. We ture designers looked to architecture could stack up drawers as high as we for a solution. Roman architects fi rst could conveniently reach. Chest-on- tackled this when they perfected con- chests, highboys and simple tall chests struction using bricks and concrete. became the “walk-in closets” of their This innovation allowed them to build day, and t hey cont inue to prov ide prac- the fi rst large-scale multi-story build- tical and attractive storage solutions. ings. To help draw the eye upward, they made the height of each story slightly Architectural Aesthetics shorter than the one below it. They Multiple rows of horizontal drawers achieved it by using support columns pose some aesthetic challenges. If we with a slightly smaller diameter (thus simply make all the drawers the same shorter) for each successive fl oor. To Going up. The window heights on this town- height, like a stack of pancakes, the this day, builders continue to use this house façade pull the eye upward. CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

LEAD PHOTO & DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED; 16 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 HOUSE FAÇADE ILLUSTRATION FROM BENJAMIN ASHER, “THE AMERICAN BUILDERS COMPANION”

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16_1604_PWM_DM.indd 17 1/20/16 11:49 AM DESIGN MATTERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

fl oor, they often divided the façade into drawers as one unit, then just divide sections, each graduated separately, or them in half or thirds. By treating the they chose not to apply graduation to top two drawers as one unit we reduce the bottom or top fl oors. the graduating sequence by one. Finally, we can simply leave the Tall Stacks bottom two or three drawers the same Here are some practical solutions to ar- height, then graduate the sequence of range a tall array of drawers and avoid drawers above them. these pitfalls. The most common can be All three of these solutions buffer found in a form called a chest-on-chest. the effect of graduating too many draw- Tall chest pitfalls. Graduating too many In this traditional form, the case is di- ers while still helping to draw the eye layers squeezes the drawers at the top, while vided into two parts, usually a shorter upward. piling up identical drawers like pancakes square case on t he bottom w it h a t aller Hopefully you can use this knowl- tends to look static. rectangular case on top. The two chests edge to design an attractive tall chest were frequently separated by a thin of drawers that keeps your socks at the to trick to the eye, even if all the stories strip of moulding that provides a transi- ready. PWM are the same height – sometimes by tion between the two cases. using windows to organize the façade, Often in these chests, the bottom George is the author of two design DVDs making them shorter as they climb up portion is graduated, usually three or (Lie-Nielsen Toolworks) and writer of the Design Matters blog. the building. four drawers, then the sequence starts Furniture makers borrowed this over anew in the top case, with a new idea and employed graduated drawers set of graduated drawers independent of in their chests to draw the eye upward. the lower case. Usually, the fi rst drawer Graduated drawers are simply a se- in the upper case is taller than the one quence where, starting at the bottom, directly below it in the bottom case. each successive drawer gets slightly This would seem to contradict the shorter in height as they climb to the idea of a progression of ever-shrinking top. (It’s a good solution for a chest with drawers, but that’s now how our eye three to fi ve drawers, but we can run perceives it. We just see two cases both into some pitfalls when we push the reinforcing this seemingly upward mo- height of the chest upward and increase tion. the number of drawers.) Another solution, especially in a tall So let’s look at some of the problems continuous case, is to treat the top two and solutions that come with designing Simple solution. Soften the effect by either a tall chest with a bank of graduated treating the top two drawers as one unit (left) drawers. Here are a few key design con- or simply repeat the bottom three drawers siderations to keep in mind. and only graduate the top four (right). To avoid problems similar to fi nd- ing stuff in a blanket chest’s deepest recesses, we want to avoid drawers at ONLINE EXTRAS the bottom that are so deep as to be- For links to all these online extras, go to: come a black hole. Overly large, deep ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 drawers are unwieldy and, because of BLOG: Read more from George R. Walker on their weight when full, do not always his Design Matters blog. slide smoothly. IN OUR STORE: George R. Walker’s DVDs. One of the pitfalls of graduating all Our products are available online at: the drawers in an unbroken sequence ■ ShopWoodworking.com on a tall chest is that we can end up About This Column with a ver y deep drawer at the bottom Design Matters dives into and a thin tray-like drawer at the top. the basics of proportions, forms, contrast and compo- Roman builders faced this same di- And again. A “do-over” creates a trick of the lemma when buildings soared more sition to give you the skill to tackle furniture eye in this traditional chest. Graduate the bot- design challenges with confi dence. than fi ve stories. To avoid a cramped top tom case then start over with the top case.

18 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 TRADITIONAL CHEST ILLUSTRATION FROM GEORGE HEPPLEWHITE, “THE CABINET–MAKER AND UPHOLSTERER’S GUIDE”

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16_1604_PWM_DM.indd 19 1/20/16 11:50 AM SEPTEMBER 16-18, 2016 #8 #88S#Ęĺ="

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c2_1604_PWM_FPAds.indd 21 1/20/16 10:45 AM www.thetravellerest.com Roubo Hollows & Rounds BY CALEB JAMES Make these French moulding planes that are essential for every hand-tool kit.

22 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 22 1/20/16 2:32 PM ollows and rounds are mak- billets. Sometimes you can fi nd wide fi ne. Lay out the angles according to ing a strong comeback in the plain-sawn boards that have been cut the drawing below, then cut freehand Hhand tool woodworking world. close to the quartersawn orientation with a backsaw. Don’t fret if your an- However, many woodworkers are on the outer edges of the board. gles aren’t perfect; any variation will scared off from jumping in by either a Once you’ve selected t he stock, pre- be worked out later in the process of limited tool budget or the limited avail- pare two blanks for the bodies for each fi tting the wedge. Just try to make the ability of antique ones in good condi- plane size – one for the hollow and one 55° side of the guide 90° to its face as tion. Don’t let that hold you back any for the round. The blanks are all 31⁄2" best you can. This will simplify fi tting longer. You don’t need a whole set to get wide x 91⁄2" long. The thicknesses will the wedge later, as you will see. started anyway. The three sizes in this vary: 3⁄4" for the No. 4s; 15⁄16" for the No. Now true up these cut surfaces with article – Nos. 4, 6 and 8 – are the ones 6s; and 11⁄8" for the No. 8s. a handplane. For the fence, choose I most often reach for. (A No. 4 cuts a You’ll also need 1⁄8"-thick O1 tool some material that will overhang the 1⁄4" profi le, a No. 6 cuts 3⁄8" and a No. 8 steel blade blanks (surface ground on bottom in all directions. Screw this to cuts 1⁄2".) After you make a pair or two, both faces) to match the size of the the bottom. Use the angled surfaces you may fi nd you never need another profi le (two each per set). Tool steel is of the jig’s body to guide your saw in size to suit your working needs. available in short lengths at a number of I’ll teach you how to make your own online suppliers, including McMaster- planes – just like early craftsmen did. Carr (mcmaster.com) and Online Met- They were woodworkers, not profes- als (onlinemetals.com). sional planemakers, so they made The fi nal length of the blades shown planes with tools that were readily here is 8" (7 3⁄8" works for the Roubo- available in their tool chests. In other style planes, too). words, tools you likely already have. André-Jacob Roubo shows and de- Time Well Spent scribe these planes in his 18th-century Making a jig is not how I like to spend master work “l’Art du menuisier.” What shop time, but this saw guide is worth I’ll show you refl ects Roubo’s plane con- the investment. Consistent bed and struction coupled with British/Ameri- breast angles are at the heart of effi cient can styling and proportions. That way, planemaking and this jig will help you your new planes will fi t nicely in your achieve that. Planemaker’s helper. A guide that registers British-style tool chest, and likely match Any stock that didn’t quite make your cuts for the bed and breast angles is many of the planes you already have. the cut as plane material should work worth your time to make.

Choose Wisely While you can make a plane out of just about any hardwood, some woods are clearly the better choice. Tradition- 3 ally, Western planes were made mostly 3 ⁄4" in beech. Other historically choices 65.5° 55° Screw breast bed include yellow birch, and fruitwoods angle angle such as apple and even pear. If you plan to work hardwoods with your planes, 1⁄2" choose a diffuse-porous wood such as 11 4 ⁄16" 25⁄8" the ones mentioned. Measurement determined by A non-traditional wood that is worth angles; must overhang body considering is hard maple. enough to trim to match SAW GUIDE – Avoid ring-porous hardwoods such SAW GUIDE – SIDE VIEW FRONT VIEW as oak because the soft early growth ring layers can suffer undesirable ef- 9" fect s once t hey begin to wear w it h use. No matter what you choose, select quartersawn stock for seasonal stability. 3.5° 90° Because many diffuse-porous woods are often hard to ﬁ nd quartersawn, you might ﬁ nd 16/4 material that is plain- sawn that you can cut into quartersawn SAW GUIDE – BOTTOM VIEW

OPENING PHOTO BY DANIEL DUBOIS PHOTOGRAPHY; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAN PESSELL FROM THE AUTHOR’S DRAWINGS popularwoodworking.com ■ 23

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 23 1/20/16 2:32 PM Breast cut. For the breast angle, align your saw guide forward 5⁄32" at the depth or your previous saw line.

Bed cut. Secure your saw guide in place with a holdfast and cut down as deep as your plane blade is wide.

trimming the fence to match their re- spective angles. True up these surfaces with a handplane.

Dado – Triangle Style Controlled excavation. Use the saw guide as a reference to help remove the material without damaging the mouth. Work from the opposite side to remove the bulk of the waste. Creating the heart and soul of this plane is not much harder than making a dado…only it’s a triangular dado. Position your saw guide 33⁄4" back Therefore, measure forward 5⁄32" at the Orient the plane body so that the from the toe then subtract the thickness depth of the previous saw cut. Thus, grain runs downhill from toe to heel. of your sawplate. Secure the guide in 5⁄32" will be the maximum width of the Lay out the width of your plane blade place with a holdfast, then register your opening at the sole. (1⁄4", 3⁄8" or 1⁄2", depending on the size crosscut backsaw against the guide Now excavate the material between plane you’re making) on the top and and cut down the layout line for the the two kerfs down to the blade-depth bottom of the plane body from the es- plane blade. line. You can use a 1⁄8" chisel or, bet- capement side. Flip the guide from left to right so ter yet, a specialty 1⁄10" mortise chisel Secure the body between bench that the breast-angle side (65.5°) is now (Lie-Nielsen car r ie s a nice one) to pass dogs, with the escapement side up and facing left. Place the guide forward of through the sole opening. Follow up the sole toward you. Place your saw your bed-angle kerf on the sole by 5⁄32". with a narrow blade in your router guide on the body so that the bed-angle Because the breast cut is not at 90˚ – plane to achieve a consistent depth. If side (55˚) is facing left and the fence is it’s skewed approximately 3.5˚ – it will you don’t have a router plane, simply pressed against the sole. not create a consistent-width opening. undercut the dado slightly so that the

Sole material. Use the thickness of your blade to mark off how much material needs to be removed so the blade can pass through the sole.

Skewed for removal. The skewed breast will leave a triangular bit of material that will need to be removed.

24 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 24 1/20/16 2:33 PM blade and wedge will seat snuggly at clear this material. Be careful not to 11⁄4", respectively, from the sole. I ﬁ nd the top and bottom. remove too much. You will reﬁ ne the that an 18mm, No. 7 gouge works well opening later. for carving it. You want the shape to Don’t Open Wide The lower and upper limit of the look almond-like, with the wider part Because the breast is skewed, you will escapement should be about 1⁄4" and toward the sole. Don’t carve clear down need to remove some addit ional material so that the blade can pass through Leave a little. Don’t the sole. carve clear down to the Use your plane blade as a guide to bottom of the breast wall. The wedge needs mark out how much material needs to to have support against be removed. Position the blade along the breast wall all the the bed angle and let it overhang the way to its tip. sole. With your striking knife, mark along the front of the blade across the portion of the breast that blocks the blade’s passage through the sole. Trans- fer this line down and square across the sole. Use a chisel, working down from the side and up from the sole, to

Blade Wedge

Grip Dashed lines are British-style details Toe 1⁄8" chamfer Heel Escapement side

66.5° breast angle, 17⁄8" skewed at 3.5°

1⁄2 55° bed 3 " Blind side angle 3⁄8" r

Escapement 1 1 3 ⁄4" 1 ⁄4" 30° relief bevel ~ ⁄4"r (#7 sweep/ 18mm gouge) 3⁄8" Wear bevel Sole 33⁄4" ~60° 3 91⁄2" ⁄16"

PROFILE ELEVATION

Initial breast saw line Approximate ﬁ nal mouth opening

Bed line 3⁄8" 15⁄16"

Measure 5⁄32" forward of bed line here NO. 6 PLAN – BOTTOM VIEW when making breast saw cut

3.5° skew angle

3⁄8" NO. 6 PLAN – TOP VIEW

popularwoodworking.com ■ 25

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 25 1/20/16 2:33 PM to the full depth of the breast wall; allow True up the edges of the wedge with “Tradition is not the worship of a narrow area between the bottom of a small shoulder plane and check to ashes, but the preservation of fi re.” the escapement and the breast wall for ensure that the angles are correct (90˚ —Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), the tip of the wedge to taper smoothly for the bed side of the wedge, and make Austrian composer toward the mouth opening. sure the breast side corresponds to the breast skew angle in the body). Small Wedge Work adjustments can be made to the skew Use enough pressure to let the paper Make a wedge using quartersawn mate- angle of the wedge by pivoting the iron do its work, but don’t press too hard rial; you want the sides of the rays to be in the shoulder plane body so that it or you’ll round the edges excessively. exposed on the sides of the wedge, just takes a slightly deeper cut on the side You’re done when you achieve a con- as they are on the plane body. that needs more material removed. sistent scratch pattern on both faces. Dimension your wedge stock 71⁄4" Your blade is now ready for test- long (or longer) by 11⁄4" thick, by the Straight as an Arrow fi tting the wedge. width of your blade, plus about 1⁄64". Now you’re ready to get started on pre- (This extra width will be smoothed paring and shaping the iron. Flatten the Snug Fit in All the Right Places fl ush to the side of the plane later.) lower 21⁄2" or so of the blade on front This is where the rubber meets the road. Mark out an 11.5˚ taper along the and back. Do this by rubbing it back A well-fi tted wedge and iron is half the length of the workpiece, and a 3.5˚ skew and forth on a 3"-wide strip of #120-grit battle in making a great-functioning across its width to match the breast aluminum-oxide sandpaper adhered plane. The key is to get the wedge to skew angle. Place the piece in your vise with spray adhesive to a fl at surface. have a tight fi t at its tip and to progres- and rip the wedge free. If your stock (A granite surface plate or even the sively diminish its tight fi t as it moves was long enough, save your offcut for bottom of jointer plane sole makes a away from the tip. making a second wedge. great fl at surface.) So in essence, the wedge will have a slightly more acute angle than the bed and breast angles. If the bed and breast have an 11.5˚ angle, then the wedge would be slightly less than 11.5˚. This will ensure that the blade is always securely fi xed where it needs it most: nearest to where the cutting action will take place. A good clue that the wedge has a slightly more acute angle is that when you place it in the plane with hand pressure, at the top of the plane there will be a small gap between the wedge and the breast angle. If the gap closes up once the wedge is tapped with a plane hammer, then you are just about perfect. A Tight tip. The wedge should fi t tight at the tip rather than at the upper portion of the wedge. hairline gap at the top of a wedge and (There’s a hairline gap at the top, but none at the bottom.) a tight fi t at the bottom is preferred. To achieve this, ensure that the bed Make sure the bench and breast areas are clear of any stray is fl at. Placing both fi bers in the corners. Place the blade in the wedge and the the body and test-fi t the wedge. Deter- shoulder plane fl at on the benchtop will keep mine if the angle of the wedge needs to the edge of the wedge increase or decrease. square while making Make adjustments to the wedge by adjustments to its fi t. laying the wedge fl at on the benchtop and grip it with one hand. Use a sharp shoulder plane to take tapering cuts along the length of the non-skewed side of the wedge to either increase or decrease its angle. If the fi t is too tight at the top, for example, take overlapping cuts start-

26 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 26 1/20/16 2:33 PM HEAT TREATING

eat treating O1 tool steel is simple. In short, bring it to critical tempera- Hture, quench it in vegetable oil, then temper it in an toaster oven or regular kitchen oven for one hour at 400˚. Hardening steel is the easy part; minimizing warpage is another. The road to success is to evenly heat the metal. Creating an enclosure with something such as fi re brick will help you achieve this. Heat the steel slowly using a simple MAPP gas torch. Heat it more slowly than you think you should. If one side is hotter than the other when you quench it in the oil it will warp. So heat slowly. There are a few methods to determine when you have reached critical temperature. Avoid relying on color because ambient light will affect the color you see. Just like a fl ashlight appears brighter at night than in daylight, so too color alone in changing light conditions can be deceptive. The simplest way to check that you have reached critical temperature is to use Round layout. Lay out the profi le on both a magnet, because O1 tool steel loses its magnetism at approximately this ends. Use a compass to accurately mark the temperature. The stick of maple shown below has a rare-earth magnet glued arch. to the end; it’s a simple tool for safely checking the steel as it reaches critical temperature. Just periodically remove the steel briefl y from the fl ame and check it with the magnet. Another option is to watch the surface quality of the steel. It will change when the critical temperature is reached because the carbon begins to fl ow within the steel and some decarburization takes place at the surface, thus changing how it looks. It can be described as the steel “sweating” or having a “fl ushed” appearance. Accompanying this change will be a noticeable uptick in the “brilliance” of the steel. In other words, rather than seeing a particular color change you would simply see the color become more radiant. Once critical temperature is reached, quench the steel in oil by plunging the blade straight down vertically, not leaning to one side or the other. Now immediately move to your oven to temper for one hour at 400˚. — CJ Don’t wander. Try to take passes straight in line from one end of the profi le to the other to get consistent results.

ing with short passes at the heel of the wedge, and make the passes progres- sively longer until you take a full-length pass all the way to the tip.

Making the Rounds Now you’re ready to shape the sole. You’ll make the round fi rst, because you’ll use it later to shape the hollow profi le. Lay out the “round” profi le on the toe and the heel as shown in “Eleva- tion” (page 25) and the photo above. Note that the drawing shows center points for using a compass to lay out a 3⁄8"-radius arch (which corresponds to the No. 6). A compass is the most accurate way to do this and keep both ends of the plane profi le coplanar. It’s important that the profi le not twist or your plane won’t function correctly. Even heat. A fi rebrick enclosure helps evenly distribute heat on the tool steel. Now give the profi le some clearance

popularwoodworking.com ■ 27

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 27 1/20/16 2:34 PM the sole’s profi le onto t he blade. Gr ind the profi le, then grind a detail of your choice (or not; it’s optional) on the heel of the blade. Roubo shows a sneck on his irons – a small fl ag-shaped bit of material at the heel t hat allows t he iron to be ret racted or removed with a light hammer strike upward. (The alternative method to remove the iron is to strike the top of the grip at the toe with the non-metal Scribe & grind. I use a shop-made scribe Take it or leave it. Make a sneck for easier side of a plane-adjusting hammer.) to carefully transfer the sole shape onto the adjustments or leave the iron as is. It’s a A sneck can be made as easily as blade. Then I grind to the line. preference thing. notching out a bit of the steel on the side of the iron near the heel. Or, you can along the blind side (the side without you – but secure it only by part of the replicate Roubo’s sneck style by select- the escapement) of the plane body by heel section to avoid distorting the ing a piece of steel that is at least 1⁄8" striking a 30˚ angle up and away from plane along its length (which could wider than the required blade width. the corner of the profi le. Go ahead and throw off the profi le once you remove Grind the lower portion down to the remove about 90 percent of this bevel it from the vise). I fi nd the opening of required blade width while leaving with a plane so that cutting the round my tail v ise works perfectly. Plane the the last 11⁄8" or so of the heel portion portion is easier. profi le from toe to heel working with the full width. Because you don’t have a curved the grain. To grind the hollow profi le, I use a profi le plane to match your radius (oth- Finish up the profi le by removing narrow metal-working cut-off wheel erwise you wouldn’t be making this, the remainder of the side bevel with a mounted on my grinder. right?) you can use any fl at-soled plane handplane. Secure it on the benchtop to cut the profi le. You’ll end up with a between two bench dogs as before, and Boxy or Curvy? faceted surface that can be smoothed plane down to the profi le width. Take While the blade is tempering in the round with a few light passes of #220- care to not remove the side of the mouth oven (see “Heat Treating” on page 27) or #320-grit sandpaper. Remove just right up to a knife’s edge; that would take this time to round the heel of the the tips of the facets and no more. weaken this point and cause shavings Before you plane the profi le, insert to jam in this area and be a constant the blade, pull it back slightly from the problem, so leave it a bit heavy. mouth (so that you don’t nick it), and insert the wedge. This will introduce any Metal Work stresses to the plane from the wedging Put machinist layout fl uid on the lower action before you cut the profi le. edge of your blade. Wedge the blade in Now secure the body in your vise the plane and place it in your tail vise w it h t he sole facing up and toe toward with the sole up. Use a scribe to trace

A little mouthy. A mechanical pencil makes an offset line that is consistent and easy to see.

One for show. The wedge tip curve is actually two cuts. One makes the “eye” shape while the other visually continues the circular shape of the escapement around.

28 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 28 1/20/16 2:34 PM to one (or more) of the following: a dull blade; a blade profi le that doesn’t match well or extends out too far at the blind side; a mouth that is too small for the depth of cut; a wedge tip that extends into the wear bevel; or a wedge tip that is not tight-fi tting, which creates a gap in which shavings catch. You might need to adjust the wedge angle slightly to compensate for slight thinning of the blade edge during fl attening and sharpening. No catch. The wedge tip must fi t tight on all three sides or shavings will catch. Now bring the thickness of the wedge fl ush with the sides. grip on the body. A carving gouge is the Again wedge the blade in place, but All that’s left to do is cut the wedge’s perfect tool for this. Simply place the leave it extended beyond the sole a short fi nial profi le w it h your coping saw. The body on it s side and pare st raight dow n distance. Using a mechanical pencil, 18mm, No. 7 carving gouge will work across the heel. Cut the toe profi le if strike a mouth line on the sole by rest- well for cleaning up some of t he shape s. desired or it leave square, then chamfer ing it against the blade as a reference To make the matching hollow, fol- the top edges and refi ne the surfaces. while drawing that mouth opening line. low all the steps above up until shaping Using the mouth-opening line as a the sole. For that, you’ll use your new Sharpen reference, mark your wear bevel angle round plane to cut the hollow profi le. After your blade is tempered and (see the “Profi le” on page 25). It w ill lie If you were careful to make bot h bodie s cooled, fl atten it again to remove any approximately midway between the the exact same thickness, then you can distortion from the heat. bed and breast angle. Now, cut the wear align the profi les for cutting by laying Start with #120 grit as before, then bevel with a chisel, using a combina- both planes on their sides and sliding follow with #180- through #320-grit tion of cuts from the side and bottom. the round to plane the hollow. sandpaper on the cutting face, then Using the same gouge as before jump to a #1,000-grit stone. (18mm, No. 7 sweep), shape the wedge Finish Stop there and put layout fl uid on the tip to match the curve of the escape- I fi nish my plane s w it h a coat of Tr u- Oil face of the blade and scribe the profi le ment. I fi nd a spoon-carving knife is a Gun Stock fi nish. Let the fi nish thor- on the blade end as before. Now fi nal- great tool for refi ning the shape. oughly cure unassembled to avoid hav- grind and hone the edge. ing your parts seize together. Put a light To sharpen the blade for the hollow, Tune-up coat of jojoba oil on the blade for rust I prefer to use a ceramic slipstone. Take a few test cuts (of course working resistance and ease of adjustment. PWM with the grain). Ensure that the sole Clear Your Throat is straight and that the blade profi le Caleb is a planemaker and furniture maker based in It’s time to refi ne the mouth opening matches the sole as closely as possible. Greenville, S.C., who offers a full range of wooden and, at the same time, cut the wear If you fi nd shavings keep getting planes. To see more of his work and read his blog, bevel angle. jammed in the mouth, it is likely due visit calebjamesmaker.com.

Line ’em up. Use the ﬁ nished round to shape ONLINE EXTRAS the matching hollow For links to all online extras, go to: proﬁ le. ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16

BLOG: Read the author’s (mostly toolmaking) blog at his web site.

INSTAGRAM: Follow Caleb James on Instagram at instagram.com/calebjamesmaker.

IN OUR STORE: “Choosing, Refurbishing & Using Moulding Planes,” a video by Bill Anderson.

TO BUY: “Making Traditional Side Escapement Planes,” by Larry Williams (Lie-Nielsen). Our products are available online at: ■ ShopWoodworking.com

popularwoodworking.com ■ 29

22_1604_PWM_RouboPlanes.indd 29 1/20/16 2:34 PM Guerrilla Guide to Spray Finishing BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ It’s fast, forgiving and affordable – and you don’t need a spray booth.

he hardest part about learning to spray finishes is becoming Tconvinced that you can learn to spray fi nishes. Of all the ways to apply finishes – brush, rag, rubber and spraying – there’s only one method easier than spraying: ragging on oil. Spraying fi nish is always faster than any other application method – astonishingly so. I can spray two coats of lacquer on a chest of drawers and have the thing as- sembled in just a few hours (compare to a few days with a hand-applied fi nish). Oh and one more t hing: In my opinion, spraying produces better results. Plus, with good spray systems now costing about as much as a half-decent cordless drill, you just ran out of rea- sons to avoid spraying. If you’re a professional fi nisher or refinisher, this story is not for you. Most of the resources I’ve read about fi nishing are aimed at people in cabinet shops or industry. This article is for the home woodworker who wants to get the speed and quality of a spray fi nish but doesn’t have money or space for dedicated setup. I fi rst learned to use a spray gun as a teenager working in a door factory, and

30_1604_PWM_SprayFinishing.indd 30 1/25/16 7:52 AM Fluid control

Air cap ring

Air cap Air feed tube

Air hose Trigger

Fluid tip Cup

A simple spray gun. Here you can see the fl uid control knob, the air cap, fl uid tip and the “cup” – which holds the fi nish. These are the essential parts you need to be concerned with.

I’ve used everything from industrial to atomize it. But for a practical, do-it- When buying a spray system, the equipment down to the plastic DIY at-home woodworker, it’s best to spray more expensive units have more power units. And while I could spend most of fi nishing materials that are thinner and can atomize heavier fi nishes – that’s this article discussing all the differenc- than latex paint. what you are paying for (plus usually a es among the systems – high-pressure Finishe s such as shellac, lacquer, dye nicer spray gun). If you are only going vs. high-volume-low-pressure units and milk paint are all easily sprayed by to spray light-bodied fi nishes at home, (HVLP), bleeder vs. non-bleeder guns even the most basic spray systems. You you probably don’t need a heavy-duty – I don’t think that’s as important as the can indeed thin varnishes and heavier system. basic techniques involved in spraying. fi nishes so they w ill spray. But I rarely No mater which rig you purchase, (I do think that most home woodwork- do this because lacquer and shellac dry you will need a few needles and match- ers would be better off with an HVLP faster and lay out evenly, so that spraying fl uid tips in different sizes for the system, but that’s just an opinion.) ing a heavy slow-drying varnish is silly spray gun. If a small tip won’t atomize All the systems are more similar in many (but not all) cases. your fi nish, swap out to a bigger tip than they are different: Air is forced through the fi nishing material, atom- izing it into a fi ne spray that you control with a spray gun. You control the mix of air with the fi nishing material, the shape of the cone of fi nish squirting from the gun, and (of course) when finish is coming out of the gun and when it is not. These are easy things to learn to control. The second part of spray fi nishing that bemuses people is how to actually spray the work. Where do you start and fi nish? How do you fi nish interior spaces? What about legs? I’m going to discuss all of these as- pects of spray fi nishing. But fi rst, let’s talk about what you can and can’t spray. Thin enough. After stirring the fi nish, I pull a Start small. I have three tips for my gun. The stick out of it to see how quickly it runs off the smallest one (1.0mm) is good for shellac. The What to Spray stick and breaks into droplets. If it looks thick middle one (1.5mm) is good for lacquer and In theory, you can spray almost any enough to put on waffl es, I add some thinner the largest one (2.0mm) is for thinned acrylic fi nish if you can get enough air into it to the mix. paint.

LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR popularwoodworking.com ■ 31

30_1604_PWM_SprayFinishing.indd 31 1/20/16 3:10 PM into my heated shop to cure. Really, If you have a system t hat allows you there are only two months (January to also control the airfl ow, I recommend and February) when I don’t spray. you read your system’s instructions. It will tell you a good place to begin Set up the Gun when regulating the airfl ow. Balancing So now that we have the spray booth airfl ow and fi nish material takes a little sorted, let’s set up the gun. All the guns experience and it is a good idea to use I’ve used let you control how much someone else’s gun that’s been set up so fi nish goes into the airstream; some you know what a good fan looks like. systems also allow you to increase or The other important adjustment decrease the airfl ow, either at the gun or on the gun is the air cap – it controls from the source of the compressed air. whether the fan is spraying a horizontal If you buy an HVLP system, you’re band of fi nish, a vertical one or some- probably going to be able to regulate thing that is roundish. only t he amount of fi nishing material. A horizontal fan is ideal for spray- Nature’s spray booth. I like to have a little So setting the gun is easy. Begin with ing vertical components such as legs breeze when I spray outside and make sure the fluid control turned all the way or spindles. A vertical fan is ideal for I spray predominantly in the direction of the down. Pull the trigger and start to open panels. I like a round pattern for work- breeze. Also, I avoid direct sunlight on my up the fl uid control. You’ll see the fan ing inside casework. spraying area. And bird poo. get bigger and denser as it fi lls with Oh, and you need to learn to use the atomized fi nish. When you reach the t r ig ger. It’s good pract ice to let go of t he (or thin the fi nish). Having a few com- point when you open the fl uid nozzle trigger when your fan is not hitting the mon sizes will help avoid frustrating and the fan does not change in size or work, even if it’s for only a second. This dead ends. density, stop. saves fi nishing material. It also helps Some systems come with “viscosity That’s a good mix to begin working prevent you from getting too much fi n- cups” that allow you to see if your fi n- with on a test board. ish material on the perimeter of a panel. ish is thin enough to spray. I generally don’t mess with these. If the fi nish is thinner than pancake syrup, it probably will work fi ne.

Where to Spray? For most of my career I’ve sprayed in an industrial spray booth. These are nice, but I don’t think they are practical for Remember this. Here’s the home woodworker. You could rig a vertical fan on my up a ventilation system with a special HVLP system. I have opened the ﬂ uid con- fan and curtains (see the Online Extras trol until I see this fan. at the end of the article for more infor- Opening it up more will mation), but that’s a hassle for some not change the shape woodworkers and it can bring a lot of of the fan, but it will solvent smells into the house. deposit too much ﬁ nish on the wood. At home, I spray outside and with a respirator. Yes, I have to wait for a decent day sometimes, but I have been amazed at how I can even spray in the Midwest in December by spraying a furniture component then taking it

“Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don’t forget to breathe, very important.” — Mr. Miyagi, “The Karate Kid“ Three fans. Here you can see how rotating the air cap can produce three separate shapes of fans.

32 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

30_1604_PWM_SprayFinishing.indd 32 1/20/16 3:10 PM Second pass

Overlap

Back edge. Spray the back edge of the piece. Ends. Then spray the ends of the piece.

First pass

Rule of thirds. Make your new stroke overlap one-third of your previous stroke.

tinue to spray the face of the board. Your strokes need to overlap – I overlap one-third of my previous stroke with the next stroke. The board will Front edge & face. Spray the front edge, then continue working on the face of the panel. change color as you spray fi nish on it, so that will help guide your efforts to How to Spray a Board After spraying the back edge, spray lap your strokes. So with you gun settings somewhat the end-grain edges of the board in the After spraying the board, crouch dialed in, it’s time to spray a test board same manner. Then position yourself down so you can see the refl ection of to see how the fi nish is fl owing out – if to spray the front edge. Spray the front the fi lm lying on the board. It won’t your fan is too wet or dr y. Some people edge. But instead of stopping after the look perfect (usually) but it should look use cardboard or Masonite for this step. front edge, adjust your wrist and con- consistently wet with no bone-dry areas I use a scrap piece that is the same species I’m spraying and that has been prepped in the same way as my project. Rough or machined lumber won’t tell you what your gun is really doing. Cardboard absorbs fi nish too readily and is rough. When you spray the board, keep the gun about 10" away from the work. Begin by spraying the underside of the board and start at its back edge. You Film fi nish. When you lower your view to the want to work robotically – keep the board you can see the light refl ecting off the gun at 90° to the work and a consistent fi lm and see if it looks somewhat consistent. distance at all times. Pull the trigger an This is lacquer on mahogany, about 30 seconds after it was sprayed. Open-pore woods Second coat. After sanding the fi rst coat, here instant before the fan will hit the board such as this will look like this at fi rst – kind of is what the second coat looks like after about and release the trigger an instant after splotchy. After 15 or 20 minutes the fi lm will 30 seconds. Better, but still wrinkly. This will the fan goes off the board. be much more consistent. So don’t panic. fl atten out easily after about 20 minutes.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 33

30_1604_PWM_SprayFinishing.indd 33 1/20/16 3:10 PM might be a little rough, like your skin after one day of not shaving. Sanding that down will fi x those nibs. What’s important is the fi lm is thin and con- Done. The second sistent. If it looks thick and gloppy, coat after 20 minutes you need to reduce the fl uid in the fan. of drying – perfectly smooth. This is a low- If it feels like coarse sandpaper and luster lacquer. I don’t there’s no fi lm whatsoever, you need to like blindingly shiny increase the fl uid in the fan (or you held fi nishes, but these same the gun too far away from the work). techniques work with If you are uncertain about your re- high-gloss fi nishes. sults, wait for the fi nish to cure some more (about 30 minutes in a warm room). Then use a #300-grit sanding sponge to remove the fuzzy nibs and level the first coat. If you get white dust when sanding lacquer or shellac, don’t worry. That’s good. If you don’t get white dust, let the fi nish cure longer A dust-up. If the and try again. lacquer or shellac gets Then repeat the spraying process white and dusty when for the test board and evaluate your you sand it, that means results. After spraying a few projects, the fi nish is cured and you will dial in the gun settings im- hard. mediately – especially with a familiar fi nish material. or huge puddles. If it’s dry in one area you either lingered too long in one spot only, you probably missed a spot. If it’s or you have too much fl uid coming out But Everything’s Not a Board dry in stripes on the board, then you of the tip. Spraying complex assemblies can seem didn’t overlap your strokes or you need Let the fi nish set up (for lacquer or overwhelming. It helps to break down to open the fl uid control a bit. shellac this can be about fi ve to 20 min- the project into interior surfaces, sec- If you have puddles (or lakes), then utes). Then evaluate the test board. It ondary surfaces and primary surfaces.

Interior surfaces. Here I’m spraying the inside of a tool till for a chest. I spray one end, the bottom, then the other end. The goals are to keep the center of the fan pointed at 90° to the surface you are spraying and a consistent distance – about 10".

34 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

30_1604_PWM_SprayFinishing.indd 34 1/20/16 3:11 PM Interior surfaces – such as the inside of a chest of drawers – don’t need to be sprayed at all. If they get some overspray, no big deal. Historically, the inside of casework was left unfi n- ished. This philosophy can extend to the insides of drawers and cabinets as well – but that’s an aesthetic choice. Secondary surfaces – shelves, the insides of doors, cabinet backs in open casework and etc. – need fi nish, but they don’t have to be as perfect as the primary surfaces. Primary surfaces are the showy bits – the tabletop, the case sides, the drawer fronts. In my shop, I don’t spray the interior surfaces. So I start by spraying all the secondary surfaces. The fi nal surfaces to get sprayed during a coating session Stop sticking. Lubricating the interior parts prevents things from gumming up – even a few molecules of sticky fi nish can prevent parts from moving smoothly. are the primary surfaces. So when spraying a bookcase, for example, I: 2. I set the air cap at a diagonal to When you are done spraying, run 1. Don’t spray the backs of the back- produce a round cone and spray the a few ounces of solvent through the boards. interior of the case and shelves. gun. Shake the gun occasionally while 3. Set the air cap to make a horizon- spraying the solvent to ensure it cleans tal fan and spray the front edges of the the entire cup that holds the fi nish. case and shelves. Disassemble the gun and soak the 4. Spray the case sides. needle, fl uid tip, air cap and any other 5. If the case has a visible top, I set parts that came in contact with the the air cap to make a vertical fan and fi nish in a little solvent overnight. Lu- spray the top. bricate the needle and the trigger of the Another good strategy when spray- gun (most people use petroleum jelly ing is to spray as many parts that can or mineral oil; just don’t use silicone). be laid fl at as possible. If you can take If all this sounds simplistic, that’s the shelves out and spray them fl at on because it is. Yes, there are fi ne points sawhorses, you’ll get better results than to spraying fi nishes, especially when spraying them while inside the carcase. you get into advanced techniques, such After a coat of fi nish sets up, level as toning a board. But if you want to it with a sanding sponge (or stearated simply apply a topcoat fi nish and have it sandpaper) and add a second coat. For look dang-near perfect after a few hours most projects, two coats of lacquer or of work, spray fi nishing is defi nitely shellac is plenty. Three coats is fi ne. something to try. PWM After three coats things will start to look plastic-y. Christopher, a contributing editor to this magazine, is Final tip on leveling the fi nish: If it a furniture maker and the editor at Lost Art Press. looks good but still feels a little rough, wait two weeks and rub down the fi n- ONLINE EXTRAS ish with a brown paper bag. It is just For links to all online extras, go to: coarse enough to level t he nibs w it hout ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16

showing visible scratches. ARTICLE: Find out how to make your own spray booth.

Clean-up IN OUR STORE: “Flexner on Finishing.” Spray equipment needs to be clean to Horizontal fan. When spraying legs, I get TO BUY: “Wood Finishing 101.” work. Most problem s t hat I’ve encoun- them vertical and use a horizontal fan. This Our products are available online at: reduces the chance of getting dry spots on tered with spraying are caused by poor ■ ShopWoodworking.com your legs. gun hygiene.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 35

30_1604_PWM_SprayFinishing.indd 35 1/20/16 3:11 PM Arts & Crafts Occasional Table

BY MITCH ROBERSON Conquer some fun joinery challenges with this geometric Baillie Scott build.

s soon as I saw Mackay Hugh The lightness and movement of the that were not challenging enough, the Baillie Scott’s 1901 occasional table, which come from a play between legs are tapered and hexagonal. A table on display at the Museum positive and negative space, make it a If you enjoy the problem-solving of Modern Art in New York, I knew I true piece of sculpture that looks dif- aspect of making furniture as much had to make one. ferent from every perspective. as I do, this project is for you. Read on Baillie Scott (1865-1945) was an Though it is made from only seven to discover how to face each challenge. architect at the forefront of the Arts parts, this little table presents several The three legs are joined to the & Crafts movement in England. His challenges. First, there is not a single stretchers using ﬂ oating tenons. The diminutive and elegant table is unchar- right angle in sight. The three legs are legs and top are joined with wedged acteristic of the often substantial and splayed and joined with curved stretch- through-tenons. Figuring out where earthy furniture of the Arts & Crafts ers angled upward from left to right, the joints go is the goal of a full-size style. which ﬂ ow into t he round top. A s if all drawing.

36 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATIONS BY DONNA R. HILL FROM THE AUTHOR’S MODEL

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 36 1/20/16 3:13 PM Start square. Lay out the top of the table using a piece of plywood, which will make it easy to transfer the lines to the other side of the plywood, which has the elevation drawing.

One drawing. The three stretchers and legs are identical so you need to make only one drawing for the elevation.

LEG PATTERN PLYWOOD LAYOUT 1 square = 1⁄2"

Start with Full-size Drawings Establish a center point on the circular This project demands accurate draw- top and draw a vertical line through it. ings that you can use to deﬁ ne angles Mark one leg (we’ll call it the back leg) and locate joinery. The best way to ap- on this centerline that is 31⁄2" from the proach this table is to create full-size back edge of the top. Then draw lines drawings on a piece of plywood. On out at 120° to locate the other two legs one face of t he ply wood, you’ll draw t he (we’ll call these the front legs). Make plan view of the table. On the other face, marks on these three lines 63⁄4" from you will draw the elevation. These two the center. These are the locations of draw ings work toget her to give you t he the mortises. all the angles and part sizes you need. Now we’re going to pull some of Stretcher joinery. Use the drawing to The other good thing to know off the important lines to the other face precisely locate joinery, in this case the loose the bat is that you will not need to cut of the plywood for the elevation view. tenons that join the stretchers and legs. tenon s at a compound angle. The t hree Pull the locations of the two front legs hexagonal legs offer joinery surfaces to the edge of the plywood and wrap to establish the tabletop, which is 5⁄8" that are parallel to each other (very them around the edge. Flip the ply- thick, in elevation view. (The extra 1" clever, Mr. Baillie Scott). wood over. Working from the edge that of space gives you room for drawing Begin by drawing the top as a 22" x has your marks, measure 1" off that reference lines.) 22" square on one face of the plywood. edge and strike two horizontal lines Draw centerlines for the two front

popularwoodworking.com ■ 37

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 37 1/20/16 3:13 PM INDEXED TAPERING JIG

o solve the puzzle of how to cut tapered, hexagonal cartridge is screwed to the bottom of each leg. To lock Tlegs, I designed a taper-cutting jig that cuts the facets in an angle of rotation, you’ll pass a bolt through the jig’s in six passes on my table saw. It works a lot like the index- indexing hole and into one of the holes in the cartridge. ing head on a lathe. The jig holds the leg on its axis so it The jig’s frame is attached to a second fence with a can be turned at pre-set angles and adjusted to different door hinge at the end that allows you to adjust the taper tapers and leg lengths. It also holds the leg in place for angle. A particular taper is locked in by wedging a dowel mortising and sanding. between the frame and the fence and locking it in place The jig is a simple frame. At one end is a movable car- with a bolt that grabs some T-track in the second fence. riage that has a hole and a threaded insert for a mounting To cut the tapers, screw the cartridge to the foot of bolt that goes into the top of the leg. At the other end is the leg. Bolt the top and bottom of the leg to the jig, lock mounting hole plus a 1⁄4" indexing hole that will lock in a the carriage then insert a 1⁄4" bolt into one of the six holes particular angle of rotation. in the cartridge. Make the cut and loosen the carriage The rotation of the leg is controlled by a “cartridge” bolt. Pull out the 1⁄4" bolt part way, then turn the leg while made of 3⁄4"-thick plywood. The cartridge has a threaded putting pressure on the bolt. When the next hole lines up, insert in its center that’s surrounded by six equidistant push the 1⁄4" bolt in and tighten the jig to make the next holes (one hole for each face of the six-sided leg). The cut. — MR

Recessed area on frame Dowel is 1⁄2" x 3" with horizontal accommodates dowel so jig can have hole to accept 1⁄4" bolt zero taper if necessary

3⁄4" T-track 1⁄2" hole to accept threaded insert

1⁄4" groove for Two holes for knob shaft T-track knobs

3⁄4" T-track Door hinge between side & fence Centers of 1⁄2" hole in carriage & 5⁄16" hole in frame in line with each other; holes 11⁄2" from bottom 30° angle

1⁄4" hole positioned 5⁄8" from center of 5⁄16" hole 5 ⁄16" hole at 30° angle

Three radii for six sides. Use a compass to draw a hexagon the old fashioned way – by For the mounting bolt. Drill a 1⁄2"-diam- JIG CARTRIDGE drawing intersecting circles. eter hole for a brass threaded insert.

38 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 38 1/20/16 3:13 PM legs at a 4.5° splay. Then draw t he inner of the tabletop. The top line establishes line from the edge of the plywood to faces of the legs. The legs taper from the angles at which the stretchers meet where the leg’s centerline meets the 1" thick at the top and end up at 13⁄4" x the legs. line representing the underside of the 2" at the fl oor. In the elevation view on You also should draw in the bot- top on your plywood drawing. Transfer your plywood, the 2" width is facing tom line of the 31⁄4"-wide stretcher and this line to the drawing of the top on you. So the inner face of the leg should its serpentine edges. Use the gridded the other side of the plywood. taper from 1⁄2" off your centerline at the drawing on page 37 to lay out the subtle top of the leg to 1" off the centerline at curves on the stretchers. Make the Tapered Legs the fl oor. One tricky thing is that the mortises With the leg blanks milled to the sizes Draw the top line of the stretcher for the legs are drilled into the under- in the cutting list, draw a 3⁄4"-diameter blanks pitched at 45° from parallel and side of the top, so you need to account circle on the tops to defi ne the tenons. intersecting the inside face of the right for the splay of the legs on your full-size Using a crosscut sled at the table saw, front leg 3" down from the underside drawing by scribing a perpendicular cut the shoulders for the tenons because it’s easier w it h t he blank s st ill squared. Cut the shoulders 11⁄2" from the top of each leg. Drill a 5⁄16" x 3⁄8"-deep hole in the top end of each leg to mount it to the indexed tapering jig (see page 38). On the foot of the leg, attach the cartridge you made for the tapering jig with two #6 x 1" screws. Fasten a test leg to the jig. Rotate the leg and insert the 1⁄4" indexing bolt through the jig and into the cartridge to lock the leg at the correct angle in relation to the table saw blade. Tighten the mounting bolt for 271⁄4"

The foot in the jig. The leg is attached by a bolt that goes through the jig and into the threaded insert on the cartridge, which is screwed to the leg.

171⁄8"

ELEVATION

Arts & Crafts Occasional Table NO. ITEM DIMENSIONS (INCHES) MATERIAL COMMENTS T W L

❏ 3 Legs 13⁄4 2 30 Maple overlong ❏ 3 Stretchers 1⁄2 31⁄4 221⁄2 Maple ❏ 1 Top 5⁄8 201⁄4 dia. Maple ❏ 6 Wedges 1⁄8 3⁄4 3⁄4 At the top of the jig. The carriage can be adjusted for legs of different lengths.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 39

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 39 1/20/16 3:14 PM you’re just making one table, a miter gauge or chop saw will sufﬁ ce. On the drawing, mark the centers of the mortises so you avoid short grain in the stretchers. Cut these mortises with a router on the ends of the stretchers, using your drawing as a guide. The mortises should be 3⁄16" wide, Screwed on. Attach the 15⁄8" long and 3⁄4" deep. cartridge to the leg and Cut the curves on the stretcher using it’s ready to bolt into a router table, a plywood pattern and a the tapering jig. ﬂ ush-cutting bit.

the cartridge. can easily be broken off. More Leg Work To get the proper taper, the best After tapering all three legs, put Make a story stick to transfer the mor- method is to lay out the taper on your them aside without cutting them to tise locations from your drawing to the test leg then sneak up on the correct length. You’ll be putting them back into three legs. pitch, using the layout lines as a guide. the jig later for mortising and sanding. Put a leg back into the tapering jig With the jig ﬁ rmly against the table and turn the facet accepting the mortise saw’s fence, cut one facet of the leg. Make the Stretchers upward. It’s easy to confuse the upper Loosen the mounting bolt, turn the Clamp straightedges along the lines and lower mortises, so I marked them leg to the next position and tighten the for the legs’ inner faces on the drawing with blue tape. bolt again. I stopped the cut just before and use a digital protractor to measure To cut these mortises, I made a sim- the blade reached the cartridge, then I the angles where the stretchers meet ple plywood box that encases the leg to pulled the jig back. The waste will still the legs. I made a dedicated sled for give a larger bearing surface for the base be attached near the cartridge, but it my table saw to cut these angles, but if of the router. Using your plywood pattern to determine the locations, mark the centers of the mortises on the jig. Cut the mortises for the legs using the same depth setting and lateral stops

“The serene and earnest beauty of the old house is everywhere being replaced by a superﬁ cial smartness Go time. With the leg posing as art.” blank installed in the — Mackay Hugh Baille Scott, jig, cut the tapers in six from “Houses and Gardens,” 1906 passes.

Tighten, then cut. Between passes, loosen the mounting bolt and remove the 1⁄4" indexing bolt before advancing to the next position.

Sand as you go. The jig holds the legs in the perfect position for sanding and mortising.

40 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 40 1/20/16 3:14 PM Double duty. This sled allows me to cut each Drawing, meet stretcher. With the angles angle on the stretchers without any adjust- cut, place the stretcher on the drawing to ﬁ nd ments. The stops are simply screwed in place. the location for the mortise.

you used with the stretcher mortises. Time for the Top wood drawing for a test run for drilling As to the locations of the mortises: For Glue up a 5⁄8"-thick panel and cut it the holes for the legs. right front leg, the center of the mortise into a 22" x 22" square, establish the To drill the mortises, I used a jig is 51⁄2" down from the underside of the center and draw lines at 120° angles to similar to a circle-cutting jig that is top on the inside face. The center of the mark the locations for the legs. Get the crossed with a doweling jig. Cut a piece mortise on left front leg is 167⁄8" down locations for the legs from the drawing, of 1⁄2"-thick scrap plywood to 3" wide from underside of the top on the inside remembering to mark the locations and 20" long. Mark a line across the face. Sand the legs while they’re still in on the underside of the top. I used a face and edge at 10" and drill a hole to the tapering jig. circle-cutting jig with a router to cut accommodate the center pin used with Create the 3⁄4"-diameter round tenon the round top at a diameter of 201⁄4". a circle cutting jig. on the legs. Dry-fi t the legs and stretch- Draw a centerline along the length of ers together with the fl oating tenons to Put it all Together make sure everything fi ts well, then cut Use a scrap piece of plywood with ref- the legs to length. erence lines transferred from the ply-

Simple but effective. A circle-cutting jig Mortising. Because the mortises doesn’t have to be fancy to produce accurate are 90° to the face of the leg there results. are a variety of ways to cut them. I put the leg back in the jig to hold it in perfect position to cut mortises with a plunge router.

Test run. With mortises cut on the stretchers No lathe? Use a handsaw and fi les to make and the legs, dry-fi t the table together with its Drilling jig. Here, I’m testing my drilling jig round tenons. fl oating tenons. setup on a mock-up of the tabletop.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 41

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 41 1/22/16 11:46 AM a hand drill on your dummy piece of plywood. Dry-fi t the legs and stretchers into the dummy top. If the dry-fi t has gaps, unscrew the block of wood, move it and reattach it. Drill holes on new lines on plywood until you achieve a perfect fi t. When everything fi ts, bore the mortises in the real top. Patience will pay Seven not-so-easy pieces. When the going off here. Repeat this until you have an gets tough, it’s good exact fi t. Cut slots in the tops of the leg to remember there are tenons to accept wedges. just seven parts (not The glue-up for this table can be a counting the loose challenge because of the angles, so I tenons and wedges). made cauls to give the clamps somewhat parallel surfaces to work with. the plywood and carry this line around a bushing or guide for the drill bit. Mark Wedge the tenons during glue-up and edges. a line at 63⁄4" away from the center hole trim the tenons fl ush to the top when On the scrap top, drill a stopped hole on the jig. Attach the block of wood to t he glue is dr y. I used cr isscross wedge s on the underside to accept the pin. Now the plywood with screws (not glue) so in homage to the original. bore a hole angled at 4.5° in a block of that the centerline of the hole lines up I fi nished this table with a simple hardwood that measures 2" thick, 3" with the centerline on the jig. wiping varnish, sanding between coats wide and 7" long. This block will act as Put the jig on the underside of the until I achieved a nice build and sheen. tabletop with the pin in the hole. Pivot PWM the jig until it lines up with one of the

three lines on the tabletop. Clamp the Mitch lives in Nashville, Tenn. See more of his work at jig in place and bore the 3⁄4" hole with humanhandswoodworking.com.

Crisscross wedges. This table’s reﬁ ned design tames the maple’s wild ﬁ gure.

ONLINE EXTRAS For links to all online extras, go to: ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16

WEBSITE: See more from the author on his website, Human Hands Woodworking.

ARTICLE: Read about loose-tenon joinery.

IN OUR STORE: “Building Classic Arts & Crafts Furniture: Shop Drawings for 33 Traditional Charles Limbert Projects,” by Michael Crow.

Clamp to clamp. Their shape may be funny, TO BUY: “Popular Woodworking’s Arts & but these cauls make the glue-up a lot easier Crafts Furniture: 42 Designs for Every Room by giving the clamps parallel surfaces. The in Your Home.” cauls are clamped to the stretchers with Our products are available online at: spring clamps. Then you can clamp the joint Clamp, then wedge. Apply clamps to the leg ■ ShopWoodworking.com tight with an F-style clamp. joints before tapping in the wedges.

42 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

36_1604_PWM_AC_Table_Final.indd 42 1/20/16 3:15 PM BY DENEB PUCHALSKI The Core For the cost of one quality piece of large machinery, you can set Hand Tools up a complete shop.

etting up a hand-tool-oriented chines, a bunch of small powered skills to be profi cient with hand tools, shop is a fraction of the invest- hand tools, plus good dust collection but it is actually easier to get started Sment of setting up a power-tool to deal with all the small particles. On with them than it is with machines. shop. For the price of one large qual- top of that, you need the space to put As long as your tools are sharp they ity piece of power machinery, you can everything. will give you results, and the more you buy all of the hand tools you need to And for the home woodworker, use them the better you will become at build things – from rough lumber all hand tools can be just as fast as power controlling them. the way to assembly and fi nal surface tools. Woodworking as a craft was fully One reason people have turned so fi nishing. And t hat is if you are buy ing formed long before the advent of ma- readily to power tools is that they’ve the best-quality new tools available. chinery and electricity, and people did been conv inced it’s much easier to lear n To do the same work with power not work slowly or ineffi ciently. how to set up a machine to do a task tools, you’d need three to four ma- It may take some time to develop the that it can then repeat over and over

PHOTOS BY JOSHUA MASSE popularwoodworking.com ■ 43

43_1604_PWM_CoreTools.indd 43 1/20/16 3:18 PM Fasten(ating). If you plan to use any mechanical fasteners, you’ll need a brace or hand drill (and bits), a drill, a hammer and a couple of screwdrivers (or a driver with changeable tips).

multiple dimensions without needing The jack plane is between 14"-15" Layout tools. For marking and measuring, to measure. With a folding rule and long, making it ideal for rough surfac- core tools include combination squares (12", tape measure, you can take specifi c ing. As a medium-size tool, it is large 6" and 2" are shown here, upper left), a tape measurements. The blade from your enough to get things reasonably fl at measure and folding rule, a marking gauge (or 12" combo square can be a straightedge and short enough to get there quickly. two), a bevel gauge, protractor and dividers/ when needed. A roughing cut is the thickest, heavi- compasses – and a pencil, of course. And unless you only use all-wood est shaving, and is typically between joinery such as mortise and tenons or .004"-.010" thick, depending on how than it is to learn the hand skills to be dovetails, you’ll also need a drill (egg- cooperative the piece of wood is. (As profi cient at that same task. Nothing beater style or a brace) and a hammer, a reference, a piece of printer paper is could be further from the truth – even as well as some screwdrivers. typically about .004" thick.) To use this your earlie st attempt s w it h a hand tool The basic tools for stock prepara- plane for heavy roughing, sharpen the will give you better results than the tion, shaping and joinery can be broken blade with an 8"-10" radius; this will fi rst attempts to do the same thing with into fi ve groups: bench planes, detail make it perform more like a scrub plane. machines. And it comes at a much lower and joinery tools, saws, tools for curved A jointer plane has the large bearing initial cost. work and sharpening tools. surface (22"-24") required for fl atten- The list of hand tools you need for ing. It does not matter if the board you effi cient work is nowhere near as daunt- Bench Planes are working on is large or small; if you ing as you might think. As you build Bench planes – the jack, jointer and want it fl at, grab your jointer. your kit, it is import ant to underst and smoother – allow you to handle dimen- A fl attening cut is a medium thick- that the individual tools do not matter sioning and fi nishing of stock. ness, between .002"-.004". as much – the key is that you have the right group of tools. Remove, fl atten, The tools you get to fill out this smooth. These three group are completely dependent on tools – the jack, jointer and smooth planes – which ones work best for you, and there allow you tackle just may be specialty tools such as scrapers, about any stock-prep rasps or moulding planes that you’ll job, start to fi nish. want to acquire as the need arises. Plus, you’ll need some measuring and marking tools for layout. I recommend a couple of combination squares – at least a 12" and 6" (it’s also nice to have a 2" or 4" one), and an awl. A bevel gauge and protractor will let you work with angles. Two sets of dividers, and a compass allow for curves, and also let you lay out proportions and transfer points onto your stock. Two marking gauges allow you to transfer

44 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

43_1604_PWM_CoreTools.indd 44 1/20/16 3:18 PM Scrap test. Run a small block of wood over the blade as you set up a plane. That will tell Joinery planes. These tools are for cutting various joints and ﬁ tting. Clockwise from the top are a you how far the blade extends, and its posi- plow plane, low-angle block plane, shoulder plane, router plane, skewed rabbet plane, skewed tion relative to the mouth. block plane and wooden rabbet plane.

A smoothing plane is 10" or less in cut will be the thickest shaving, the Detail & Joinery Tools length. It doesn’t cut more smoothly fl attening cut w ill be about half of t hat These are tools for putting things to- than the other planes; it’s simply a much and the fi nishing cut will be about half gether, trimming and fi tting. A block shorter plane than a jack or jointer, so it that again. plane, shoulder plane, rabbet plane, allows you to take a thin fi nishing pass I like to set my planes up for the cut router plane, plow plane and some more quickly than the larger planes. before I go to work, so I take test cuts chisels make up this group. Though Finishing cuts should be as thin as on a small piece of scrap to get them set t here is le ss choice in t he more special- you can get, usually less than .002". to what I want them to be. The type of ized joinery and detail tools, the same None of these numbers are set in cut you need to take will tell you which principles apply as to the bench planes: stone, just know that your roughing planes to use for which task. Let the work dictate the tool you reach PLANE SELECTION

hile the section on bench planes explains which bevel-up or low-angle plane by sharpening at different Wtype of plane to use for each type of cut, it doesn’t angles. explain which plane is best in each category. This is On a low-angle plane that bedding angle is typically where personal preference starts to come into play. about 12°, while the effective cutting angle can range I reach for the heaviest plane in any category, from 37° all the way to a 102° scraping angle, depending because I fi nd the heavier a plane is, the easier it is to use. on the bevel angle. I would grab a No. 51⁄2 jack, a No. 8 jointer and a No. 41⁄2 With high-angle frogs in traditional style (bevel-down) smoother – but you must also consider low-angle planes planes, you can get higher angles by changing the frog and high-angle frogs. or adding a back bevel to the blade, which changes the In very hard or highly fi gured woods, higher effective blade’s bedding angle. The higher angle of presentation cutting angles (the combination of the bedding angle of means more resistance. Therefore, the more mass the the tool to the sharpened bevel on the blade) work better tool has, the easier it is to use. These high-angle cuts are than lower angles. You can manipulate that angle on a important, because you get much more control over tear- out in diffi cult-to-plane woods with a higher-angle cut. As a general rule, it is far more important that you have a jack, jointer and smoother than to have specifi c tools such as a No. 62, No. 8 and a No. 41⁄2 with a high- angle frog. Your preference might be a No. 5, No. 7 and a No. 4, or any other combination of tools. You might also need task-specifi c tools, such as the smaller No. 3 smoother to handle surfaces that need to be smooth but not perfectly fl at. Or, the versatility of the low-angle or bevel-up planes means that you might choose one (or more) of them over High or low. If you’re looking for versatility, consider a low-angle traditional-style bench planes. Let the type of work you bevel-up plane (front). do determine the exact tools that you get. —DP

popularwoodworking.com ■ 45

43_1604_PWM_CoreTools.indd 45 1/20/16 3:18 PM “A tool knows exactly how it is meant to be handled, while the user of the tool can only have an approximate idea.” —Milan Kundera (1929-), Czech-French writer

for. (Again, if there are options, I reach for the larger tool.) A low-angle block plane, about 6" long (or shorter), allows you to trim and fi t effi ciently. It can even be used as a small smoothing plane if needed. A large shoulder plane is about 10" long and has a blade that goes out to Five saws. While you can get away with fewer, these fi ve saws will make your life easier. From each edge of the plane’s body to allow left is shown a 12 ppi crosscut panel saw, 7 cuts into corners – a necessity when ppi rip panel saw, tenon saw, carcase saw and you are creating or cleaning up rabbets, dovetail saw. At left is a close-up of a crosscut or cutting tenon shoulders. The mass saw (left), with teeth optimized for cutting and size of a large plane, such as the across grain. The ripsaw (right) has teeth shaped for cutting with the grain. No. 073, gives you more control than you get with its smaller cousins. Like the shoulder plane, the rabbet tion planes can serve, but a dedicated hand – and while you might want to try plane’s blade extends to the edges of the plow plane is a better choice for this to get by with just one or two, having sole; it is an essential tool for casework application. three types of backsaws and at least because you’ll often cut rabbets for join- Chisels are relatively easy to fi gure one panel saw will make your work ery. Frequently, these run across the out: Get the sizes and types that you easier when you need to size panels or grain, so a skewed blade is preferable. need. cut boards down. The best vintage option for a skewed Bevel-edge chisels are very versatile; Here are the three backsaws I rec- rabbet is the No. 289 – but because you can use them for striking or paring. ommend: it’s not easy to fi nd, a skewed wooden Get a range of sizes so you can handle ■ Dovetail saw. 9"-11" long, 15-18 rabbet plane or a No. 140 skewed block a range of tasks (3⁄4", 1⁄2" and 1⁄4" tools points per inch (ppi). This is a fine- plane would be good options. would be a good start). If you plan to toothed small saw, typically fi led with A large router plane (such as the No. chop mortises, get appropriately sized a rip tooth, for dovetailing and other 71) can be fi tted with a variety of sizes mortise chisels. small joinery. of blades to handle different tasks. It Skewed or fi shtail chisels are useful ■ Carcase saw. 11"-14" long, 14-16 is ideal for creating an even depth for a if you need to get inside angled areas, ppi. This fine-toothed crosscut saw dado, or trimming the cheek of a tenon. such as a half-blind dovetail socket, is useful for cutting miters and small A plow plane allows you to set a but are not strictly necessary. board s to lengt h, and such work a s cut- groove in the face or edge of a piece ting the shoulders on a dado or tenon. (for a drawer bottom or a panel, for Saws ■ Tenon saw. 14"-16" long, 10-12 ppi. example). You’ll want several widths Perhaps obviously, you need saws to This large coarse-toothed rip-fi led saw of blades for a variety of grooves. Tools cut boards to size and to cut joinery. is useful for cutting the cheeks of tenons such as the No. 45 and No. 55 combina- A saw should be comfortable in your and for cutting large dovetails. Panel saws are available in both rip Chisel array. You’ll and crosscut fi lings, and are about 20" need various chisels long, toothed from 7-12 ppi depend- based on the work you ing on the application. If you can only wish to do, such as a have one panel saw, make it a ripsaw; a 1⁄2" and 1⁄4" mortising chisel, a fi shtail chisel rip-tooth saw will crosscut better than for cleaning out half- a crosscut saw will rip. blind dovetail corners, If you plan on cutting any curves, 1 1 3 and ⁄4", ⁄2" and ⁄4" you’ll also want a coping saw or bowsaw; bevel-edge (bench) chisels. for detail work, a fretsaw or jeweler’s saw is nice to have.

46 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

43_1604_PWM_CoreTools.indd 46 1/20/16 3:19 PM a sharpening process that is system- based rather than skill-based. If you follow a system, you get consistent, repeatable results as you build your sharpening skills. If you count on the skill of freehand sharpening (that is, sharpening without a jig), you may become frustrated with less-than-ac- ceptable results and give up long before you develop that skill.

Meaningful Connection With some practice and the right group of tools, you can build amazing things. Cutting curves. If you plan on working with other than straight lines, you’ll need a way to cut You may choose a blended approach to arcs. In saws, that’s a bowsaw, coping saw and fret saw. You might also want a drawknife and a woodworking, using power tools in spokeshave or two, and one or more rasps. some cases and hand tools in others. Or you may choose to work with only Curved Work tion of two evenly polished surfaces. hand tools. In eit her case, you w ill fi nd The tools for curved work are more The bevel should be sharpened on your that you get more accurate results, your specialized. Not only do you need the roughing stone to the point where a fi nished surfaces are cleaner and you saws I just mentioned, you’ll also fi nd bur r is raised on the back of the blade, are able to work faster than you ever use for a combination of spokeshaves, then honed on both the bevel and the thought possible. drawknives, scrapers and rasps. back on your fi nishing stone. There are I think one of the most valuable Rasps and drawknives allow you to many ways to do this. What is impor- things in all of this is that for a rela- create rough curves (when a bowsaw tant is that you go to as high a polish tively minimal kit, you can get started or coping saw is unsuitable). And for as you can, and that both the back and and be building things in whatever the best finish results, I would turn the bevel have the same level of polish. space you have available to you, and to a spokeshave or scrapers whenever If you achieve this, then you will have you are connected to your work in a possible. a sharp edge. more meaningful way. Keep your system simple. I recom- Power tools allow you to bend wood Sharpening mend using a honing guide (more on to your will, even though it will only Good sharpening equipment – and the that in a minute) with a #1,000-grit stay there if it wants to. ability to use it to create a good edge roughing stone and either an #8,000- or Hand tools help you learn what the – is essential to hand-tool woodwork- #10,000-grit fi nishing stone. wood wants to be, and enable you to ing. It doe s not m atter what medium or I prefer waterstones, but you can use help it become that. PWM method you use; what is important is any medium or method; simply remem- that your tools are as sharp as possible. ber that you need to keep your stones Deneb is the hand-tool expert at Lie-Nielsen Tool- To get the most out of your tools, fl at and bring both the back and the works, and has been demonstrating and teaching you must know what sharp actually is. bevel to the same level of fi nal polish. hand-tool use for almost two decades. He lives in A sharp edge is simply the intersec- So why a honing guide? It makes for Waldoboro, Maine.

Simple system. Two ONLINE EXTRAS waterstones and a honing guide (or some For links to all online extras, go to: sharpening system) ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 should be the most- VIDEO: Watch the author demonstrate how used tools in your shop. to sharpen plane irons.

BLOG: Learn how to make a jig that helps you set the perfect sharpening angle, every time.

IN OUR STORE: “The Last Word on Sharpen- ing,” a video by Christopher Schwarz.

TO BUY: “Mastering Hand Tools: Basic Skills for Balanced Woodworking.” Our products are available online at: ■ ShopWoodworking.com

popularwoodworking.com ■ 47

43_1604_PWM_CoreTools.indd 47 1/20/16 3:19 PM ‘Melencolia’ Try Square BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ

This nearly lost layout tool is surprisingly accurate and useful.

surprising number of wood- fastener called the “clasp nail” and a same potential accuracy as a Starrett working tools and furniture fantastic try square. combination square. The 15"-long blade A forms have been lost to time. After spotting the square in “Melen- makes it ideal for working on casework. Some for the better (the motorized cop- colia I,” Burks and I turned up similar And the wooden construction makes it ing saw?) and others for no apparent images of it in dozens of paintings, lightweight and easy to true up. reason. drawings and sculptures all over Eu- The stock, or handle, is moulded. A lot of my research into early rope, from Sweden to Romania. The Perhaps craftsmen made these squares woodworking consists of examining form appears quite a lot in the 16th from offcuts of moulding, chair rails or old texts, paintings and drawings. Be- century and disappears in favor of other bannisters. We don’t know. The blade is fore the Industrial Revolution, almost forms, including the right-angle try usually tapered with decorative shapes. everything was made out of wood, and square we use today. Perhaps these shapes aided layout on almost everyone’s job had something to the job, perhaps they looked pretty or do with the material. So paintings are The Square Details perhaps they helped keep the square a rich source of information. I had to build a Melencolia square. true by exposing end grain to the at- Several years ago, a fellow researcher After scaling its dimensions from a mosphere. named Jeff Burks told me to take a close variety of sources, I ended up with a Here’s how I made mine (and I’ve look at Albrecht Dürer’s famous 1514 square with a 15"-long blade and a stock made about 20 in the last two years). engraving “Melencolia I,” and my life with a bearing surface of about 4". That has never been the same. This Ger- might seem like an odd combination Stick Some Moulding man engraving has a lot of interesting of dimensions, but I assure you that it I have made the moulded handles two woodworking stuff in it, including an is just what you want. different ways. I have grooved and early straightedge, a now-disappeared The 4" bearing surface gives it the moulded a solid piece of stock, and I

48 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAN PESSELL FROM THE AUTHOR’S MODEL

48_1604_PWM_MelencoliaSquare.indd 48 1/20/16 3:21 PM For this (or any moulding), reduce wear on hollow & round planes by cutting a series of rabbets for rough waste removal ‘Melencolia’ Try Square 4" NO. ITEM DIMENSIONS (INCHES) MATERIAL T W L 11⁄4" ❏ 2 Handle pieces 3⁄4 4 4 Maple ❏ 1 Blade 3⁄8 41⁄4 15 Maple 1" 3 ⁄4"

1⁄8" RABBET LAYOUT 3⁄16" 5"6" 4"

4" 41⁄4" 3" 13⁄4"

15"

ELEVATION

Any profi le. The exact profi le isn’t important. Use scrap moulding or something from the easy to true up the square (this was a nish, mineral spirits and boiled linseed home center. It’s just a place your hand grabs feature we found in Romanian squares). oil – my favorite fi nish for shop projects. the tool. The exact shape of the blade is This square has traveled all over immaterial, though the coved steps the world with me – and I’ve used it have made the handle from two pieces are common. The hole at the end is a on every project since I’ve built it, from of wood that are rabbeted and moulded. convenient hang hole, and it gives an knocking down rough stock to laying I prefer the second method, though it animistic touch to the square. out dados to confi rming the squareness might not be authentic. I glued the blade into the stock. After of a glue-up. It is more nimble than a The moulding profile I used is the glue dried, I trued up the square like framing square, and it lies fl at on the adapted from several sources, including any square in the shop. I prefer to true work so you can focus on striking a “Melencolia I.” It is a double cove with the blade instead of truing the handle. perfect line with a pencil or knife. a fi llet and bead. I made the moulding If you true the handle, you have to true Our ancestors were whip-smart using hollow and round planes on a up two surfaces instead of one. That when it came to working wood, and long stick of maple. Then I cut a 3⁄16"- leads to error. the Melencolia square is more evidence deep x 1"-wide rabbet in the underside Finally, I fi nished the square with a that staring at old paintings can reward of the moulding. homemade mixture of equal parts var- your work in the shop. PWM I crosscut the moulding into 4" lengths and glued two of them together Christopher is the editor at Lost Art Press (LAP) and to produce a handle with a 3⁄8"-wide x author of the “The Anarchist’s Design Book,” due out from LAP in March 2016. 1"-deep groove for the blade.

The Blade ONLINE EXTRAS The blade is 3⁄8"-thick quartersawn For links to all online extras, go to: maple with straight grain. The blade ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 1 is slightly wider (4 ⁄4") than the stock BLOG: Read more about early try squares.

is long (4"). The extra width makes it WEB: Read about the crazy theories associ- ated with “Melencolia I.” “As I grew older, I realized that it PLAN: Download a SketchUp model of this was much better to insist on the project from our 3D Warehouse. genuine forms of nature, for sim- TO BUY: Plans for a Roubo try square. plicity is the greatest adornment IN OUR STORE: “Build a Sawbench with Chris- of art.” topher Schwarz.“ —Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Plane to ﬁ t. Make the blade so it’s a wee bit Our products are available online at: Renaissance painter & printmaker over-thick. Then plane it to ﬁ t the groove in ■ ShopWoodworking.com the completed stock.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 49

48_1604_PWM_MelencoliaSquare.indd 49 1/20/16 3:21 PM King of Windsors BY MEGAN FITZPATRICK After decades of teaching, Dunbar is closing the doors to his castle.

t all started in 1971 with a black started out as a journalist before going So Mike delved into the little infor- chair Mike Dunbar spotted at a yard to college to study French (he’s read mation he could fi nd, teaching himself Isale in Sutton, Mass. He was looking Roubo in the original), and planned a woodworking through a combination of for things to furnish his student apart- life of academia. reading and trial and error in the shop. ment at Worcester State University in But t hat chair? He couldn’t stop look- “I made my fi rst chair in 1972, but Worcester, Mass. “It was one of those ing at it and examining it. So Dunbar it was a real labor,” he says, because times when your life turns on a dime,” did some research and discovered he’d of the lack of information available at Mike says. “That chair so engaged me lucked upon an antique Windsor rod the time. “There was nobody around to that I had to buy it. It was a quarter of back side chair. He started visiting an- teach me this; I thought I was alone in my monthly rent.” tique stores to fi nd more of t hem. “They the world, and went down a lot of dead If you’d suggested to a 24-year-old were beyond anything I could afford,” ends.” Wallace Nutting, for example, Dunbar that he was going to become he says. “I fi gured if I bought broken was full of misinformation, Dunbar a woodworker, he’d have scoffed. He ones, I could fi x them up.” says. “I may not be smart, but I’m stub- born,” he says. “I just kept working at these chairs until I could produce something reasonably well.” He still has that fi rst chair, which “causes me no short amount of embar- rassment.” But after someone offered Dunbar money for one of his chairs, he thought he might be able to make a living out of it. “I got my B.A., but I didn’t go to graduation because I was in my shop, making chairs that weekend,” he says. He been making Windsor chairs ever since, and teaching others to do the same through his books, articles and classes. “I’m the guy who started the whole Windsor chair thing,” he says. “If you’re making Windsor chairs today, you may not be aware of it, but you link back to me somewhere.” In 1976, he wrote “Windsor Chair- making” (Hastings House), upon the publication of which he expected to hear from academics and antique dealers who wanted to discover more about these chairs. “I got bags full of letters from woodworkers who wanted to learn how to make one,” says Dunbar. “This was the fi rst realization I had that there were a lot of other woodworkers out there.”

ALL PHOTOS BY MIKE DUNBAR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED; 50 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 OPENING PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ

50_1604_PWM_Dunbar.indd 50 1/20/16 3:22 PM Woodworker West. Here, Dunbar is Level check. In a 1989 picture from “Restoring, shown demonstrating saddling a seat, Tuning & Using Classic Woodworking Tools,” at the Woodworker West conference in Dunbar shows how to use winding sticks to check a 1980 at Brigham Young University. wooden plane’s sole for twist.

time, Dunbar was too busy teaching slow down a little and change his focus workshops around the country to make (he’ll be 69 in March when the school chairs to sell any more, and focused his offers its last class). Dunbar plans to do efforts solely on education. more writing (he has a series of young In 1990, Dunbar married his wife, adult novels already, and has begun Sue; in 1992, their son, Mike, was born. writing an adult novel), and to build a $15 fi nd. This yard-sale fi nd – a circa 1815 “I remember fl ying to Detroit to teach one-man shop on at home, where he’ll rod-back Windsor side chair – completely at a Woodcraft, then home for a few once again make chairs to sell. And he changed the trajectory of Mike Dunbar’s life. days, then to Halifax to speak to the plans to write more books and articles guild there,” Dunbar says. “I called (of which he’s written many over the In 1980, Dunbar was invited to up my wife and said ‘I just want to be years) about woodworking. speak on Windsor chairs at the Wood- home with you guys.’” She suggested “I don’t have any desire to not work working West/State of the Art Confer- starting their own school. So they did. wood anymore; it’s as much a part of ence at Brigham Young University, then The Windsor Institute opened its me as the air that I breathe,” he says. to stay a week – then two – afterward doors in 1994, in rented space in Ports- But standing on his feet teaching for to teach classes in making the chairs. mouth, N.H. “We were there for two eight or more hours a day is now too That conference (which also includ- years and grew so fast that we realized demanding, he says (though he remains ed Tage Frid, Garry Knox Bennett, Art we had to move,” Dunbar says. in good health). Carpenter and Wendell Castle, among They bought the Hampton, N.H. The timing accords with his son’s other luminaries) planted the seeds land in 1995, and started construction recent college graduation and burgeon- for two things that have endured in on the shop. “I taught my fi rst class ing career in music; the Dunbars plan Dunbar’s life for more than three de- there in January 1996,” he says. They to help however they can to build the cades: teaching Windsor chairmaking soon added a building, then another to younger Mike Dunbar’s career. and making quality tools available to accommodate the fast-growing needs Dunbar estimates he’s taught 6,000 chairmakers (they weren’t at the time, of the successful venture. or so students at The Windsor Institute as Dunbar discovered during those He announced his “retirement” fi rst classes). almost two decades to the day of the AUCTION DETAILS Just after that historic conference, school’s opening. But perhaps it is bet- Dunbar formed a partnership with Er- ter called an abdication – Dunbar has artin Donnelly reports nie Conover to teach Windsor chair- been variously known as the Prince of Mthat the school’s work- making (at Hiram College in Hiram Windsors and the King of Windsors. benches, vises, hand tools Ohio), and to offer chairmaking tools To play on that, he and Sue created the and shop accessories will be that were based on Dunbar’s restored Knights of Windsor – a series of titles included in the summer auction antique versions. for those who progressed through all in Avoca, N.Y., July 21-23. Some By 1987, Conover was focusing on the classes at the school. of Dunbar’s personal tools may developing what would become the The closing was almost as much of a carry over to the fall auction in Conover Lathe (with a user-supplied surprise to the Dunbars as it is for the Nashua, N.H. wooden bed), and Dunbar was busy rest of us; they got an offer on the land For more information, keep writing books and articles; that part- they couldn’t refuse, and the timing an eye on mjdtools.com. nership came to close. At the same coincided nicely with Dunbar’s wish to

CHAIR PHOTO FROM ”MAKE A WINDSOR CHAIR”; WOODWORKER WEST CONFERENCE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WINDSOR INSTITUTE popularwoodworking.com ■ 51

50_1604_PWM_Dunbar.indd 51 1/20/16 3:22 PM WOODWORKING BOOKS BY DUNBAR

■ “Windsor Chairmaking” (Hastings House, 1976) ■ “Antique Wooden Tools” (Hasting House, 1977) ■ “Make a Windsor Chair” (Taunton, 1984; revised ed., Popular Wood- working, 2013) ■ “Federal Furniture” (Taunton, 1986) ■ “Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic Woodworking Tools” (Sterling, 1990; revised ed., Popular Woodworking, 2014) ■ “Woodturning for Cabinetmakers” (Sterling, 1990) ■ “The American Country Woodworker” (Rodale, 1993) Handscrews. Dunbar wrote “Understanding Handscrews” for the February 2007 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Here, he demonstrates how to open and close the jaws. belief that early makers worked with sold t he busine ss in 1999 to Jim White the single-minded goal of production, and his son, Jim White Jr. – they were noting that they turned out prodigious introduced by Dunbar). “We helped numbers of chairs. to bring back the tools in addition to “I’ve always maintained that speed the chairs,” Dunbar says. “In our hey- is an essential component of skill,” he day, we were support ing a lot of people says. “You can’t just do things and do through the toolmaking.” them so they look good; you have to And while Dunbar is selling off the do them quickly. We use things that bulk of his tools he’s keeping the ma- speed us up.” chinery and a solid set of chairmaking Dunbar has been seminal not only tools. He’s also keeping the school’s in bringing back the craft of making URL, thewindsorinstitute.com (so Pull it. In a February 2010 article on using Windsors, but in helping several stu- check there for updates if you’re in- milk paint, Dunbar shows how to pull this dents start tool companies to further terested in buying a chair). traditional coating with a brush. the aim he undertook with Conover For now, what Dunbar decides to to make good-quality tools available. keep will be stored in the garage. He over the years (they came to the school David Wachnicki, wooden spoke- hopes to build a new shop later this from all over the world), as well as many shave maker at Dave’s Shaves (ncwork year, and get back to making the chairs others at various conferences, guild shops.com), Glenn Livingston at Wood he’s spent a lifetime teaching to others. meetings and the like. “I hope they’re joy Tools (woodjoytools.com) and Leon “I’m kind of looking forward to being still out there making chairs and retain- Robbins at Crown Plane (crownplane. able to work without interruption… ing the craft,” he says. “All my efforts com) are just three of them (Robbins to working by myself,” he says. PWM have been, for 40 something years, to advance the craft and establish it on a Megan is the editor of this magazine. She can be fi rm footing.” reached at megan.fi [email protected]. But he’s never romanticized chairmaking; a practical approach (in- ONLINE EXTRAS cluding business advice from Sue for For links to all online extras, go to: those who wanted to make a living as ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 chairmakers) was refl ected in every ARTICLE: Read Mike Dunbar’s article on using class he taught. While Dunbar admires milk paint (a classic Windsor fi nish). traditional approaches (and doubts WEBSITE: Visit thewindsorinstitute.com to stay anyone can improve much on tradi- up-to-date on Dunbar’s “retirement” plans. tional Windsor joinery), he is fi rm in his WEBSITE: Hear some of the younger Mike Dunbar’s music at mikedunbar.com.

“I don’t have a lot of patience for IN OUR STORE: “Make a Windsor Chair,” by guys who want to sit on shavehors- Mike Dunbar.

es. That comes out of the Appala- TO BUY: “Restoring, Tuning & Using Classic chian ladderback chair tradition; it Woodworking Tools,” by Michael Dunbar. has nothing to do with Windsors.” Father & son. Shown here are Dunbar and his Our products are available online at: —Michael Dunbar (1947-) son, Mike, with a chair the younger Dunbar ■ ShopWoodworking.com built in 2015.

52 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 FATHER & SON PHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE DUNBAR

50_1604_PWM_Dunbar.indd 52 1/20/16 3:23 PM Learn woodworking techniques online with Popular Woodworking’s expert instructors. Classes include: ■ Intro to Hand Tools ■ Router Fundamentals ■ Woodturning A-Z ■ Build a Benchtop Lathe ■ Build a CNC Router ■ SketchUp ■ & More! All classes feature: ■ Videos ■ Interactive lessons ■ 24/7 access Visit us online today! classes.popularwoodworking.com

Spoon Carving, From Tree to Table... Basket Spoon carving is an ancient and functional art Weaving form that requires little wood and just a few tools – plus it offers great freedom for personal Basics expression. Jarrod Stone Dahl teaches you: Weaving thin strips of wood into an ■ What to look for in a piece of wood that will attractive and useful item is a great hobby make a ﬁ ne wooden spoon – and it’s among the oldest woodworking ■ About the few tools required, and the basic “grips” to get the best use from each traditions. In this video from April Stone ■ How to judge the ergonomics Dahl you’ll learn: of a spoon (how it feels in your ■ How to select and harvest an appropriate tree hand and mouth) ■ The process for stripping the bark from the log ■ How to add simple ■ Simple steps to prepare the strips carved details that will ■ The weaving techniques to create a personalize your spoons beautiful basket – techniques that can be and set them apart used to make a variety of different shapes ■ And much more! ■ And much more! Available now only at Available now only at ShopWoodworking.com ShopWoodworking.com

50_1604_PWM_Dunbar.indd 53 1/20/16 3:23 PM JIG JOURNAL BY JERRY C. FORSHEE Custom Push Pads This handle design is a safety improvement over commercial versions.

et’s face it: Many of us all too often see safety as…well, just plain Lboring. We always seem to be an xious to use that little bit of free time to get to the shop and work on that next pressing project for our spouse, kids or grand- kids, and safety takes a back seat. But you can’t do woodworking from a hospital bed; every bit of safety exer- cised actually lets you maximize your precious free t ime to do woodworking. Push pads are one common safety aid. There are good push pads and there are better push pads. Closed for safety. The closed handle of this shop-made push pad design is safer than the typical D-handle commercial version – your hand can’t get caught inside this handle. Commercial push pads (the good), which are readily available and eco- nomically priced, are often used when The push pad shown here (the bet- as you’re making t he se. Use push st ick s face jointing on the jointer. The angled ter) is a shop project you can make in and featherboards as necessary to work handle helps the operator keep the a few hours from scraps; it’s fun and with these small parts, and keep your stock against the fence as the stock will improve your safety practices. This fi ngers far from any spinning blades. is fed across the jointer knives. The design is an improvement over popular Start by cutting a 3⁄4" x 23⁄4" x 57⁄8" through “D” handle is much like a commercial push pads. I call it the “Safe handle blank from a piece of scrap hard- suitcase handle, with fi nger grooves ‘T’ Push Pad.” wood of your choice. providing a comfortable and fi rm grip It has a stopped fl ute on both sides The 3⁄4" x 3 x 57⁄8" base can be of of the push pad. of the handle, which provides a com- hardwood or plywood – the length But some safety experts assert that fortable and secure grip without the should match the length of the han- no jig should have a handle that en- possibility of trapping your hand in dle; if you adjust one, adjust the other. closes your fi ngers. The reasoning is the event of some machining mishap. Now follow the steps below to make that should there ever be a mishap of My dimensions for a handle angled the push pads shown above, plus two some kind (kickback, trapped blade, at 20° are noted in the following text variations. PWM a knot coming loose, etc.) your hand – but adjust the size to best fit your

could become trapped and a serious particular situation as needed. Jerry is a woodworker in Bloomington, Ind., who es- injury could result. (If you do use these And of course, keep safety in mind pecially enjoys designing and producing custom jigs. commercial push pads, I recommend holding them with your hand cupped over the top, rather than putting your ﬁ ngers around and through the handle – but that is at best an unnatural grip, and the ergonomics of the thing beg you to use it in a less-than-safe manner.) With a careful operator, the chances of such an accident might be remote, but why chance even a small risk of injury

if a simple and economical alternative Get your groove on. Set up your router table with a ﬂ uting bit and set the fence 11⁄8" from the is available? 1inside edge of the bit. Set the depth of cut to 3⁄16".

54 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

54_1604_PWM_JJ_PushPads.indd 54 1/20/16 3:27 PM Set stops. Set stop blocks on the fence to 2register the cut 1" from each end. Then place the top edge of the handle against the fence and the back end on the router table against the infeed stop. Slowly lower the handle onto the spinning bit until the workpiece Add curves. Draw a 1"-radius curve on Add comfort. Make your grip on the is ﬂ at to the table, then feed it forward to cut 3both top ends, then cut close to the lines 4handle more comfortable by cutting a the stopped ﬂ ute. Flip the handle end for end, with a miter saw or handsaw. Sand to the lines 3⁄16" roundover on the ends and top of both then lower the handle to cut the second face. with a belt sander to smooth the curves. sides at the router table.

Route the edges. Cut a 3⁄16" roundover 7on the top edges. Then spread glue in 20° groove. Set up a dado stack on the the groove and on the bottom of the handle; 5table saw to cut the groove in the base clamp the assembly to dry. that holds the handle (and make a few test cuts to ensure it will ﬁ t snugly).Tilt the stack to 20°, and set the height to 9⁄16" on the deep In position. Set the saw’s rip fence to posi- side of the cut. 6tion the cut at 13⁄8".

Well-heeled. A heel at the back of a 19 push pad is often useful. Assemble as above, then glue on a 3⁄8" x 3⁄4" x as-long-as- the-base-is-wide hardwood piece). Don’t use metal fasteners – it might come in contact with a sawblade or jointer knife. Then glue on your sandpaper or rubber.

ONLINE EXTRAS For links to all online extras, go to: Add some grab. Using a spray adhesive ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 8(I like 3M’s 77 Multipurpose Adhesive), WEBSITE: Search on ”jigs“ on our site for free apply an oversized piece of #100- or #120-grit Variations. Versions of the Safe “T” Push jigs, ﬁ xtures and appliances. heavy-duty sandpaper, or rubber (from an 9Pad can be made to accommodate other inner tube or tool drawer liner. Use a “J” roller situations and operations. If a vertical handle TO BUY: “Jigs & Fixtures for the Hand Tool to secure a ﬁ rm bond between the push pad is desired, only a couple of changes are neces- Woodworker,” by Graham Blackburn. 5 bottom and the friction material. With a safety sary. Shorten the handle width to 2 ⁄8"and Our products are available online at: 3 knife trim off the overhang of the friction cut a ⁄8"-deep centered groove in the base ■ ShopWoodworking.com material. at 90°.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 55

54_1604_PWM_JJ_PushPads.indd 55 1/20/16 3:27 PM WOODWORKER’S MARKETPLACE

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9 Winning work will be featured in the November Enter up to five pieces total 2016 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. in the following categories The Grand-Prize Winner (as chosen by the editors and ■ Casework, Cabinets & contributing editors to Popular Woodworking Magazine) ■ ■ Bookcases Seating Tables wins US$1,000. Each of the ﬁve category Editors’ Choice ■ ■ Boxes & Smalls Turnings, winners and the Readers’ Choice entry with the highest Carvings & Objets d’Art number of votes overall, wins a US$100 gift certiﬁcate to ShopWoodworking.com.

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56 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016

56_1604_PWM_Marketplace.indd 56 1/20/16 3:29 PM WOODWORKER’S MARKETPLACE

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ADVERTISER’S INDEX

PAGE # CARD # WEB ADDRESSADVERTISER’ S INDEX PAGE # CARD # WEB ADDRESS American Fabric Filter 19 66 americanfabricfi lter.com Next Wave Innovations 5 127 nextwaveautomation.com Beall Tool Company 56 2 bealltool.com Oneida Air Systems 15 35 oneida-air.com Bloxygen 57 3 bloxygen.com Osborne Wood Products 17, 19, 56 36 osbornewood.com Connecticut Valley 56 64 schoolofwoodworking.com Popular Woodturing 19 – popularwoodturning.com School of Woodworking Royalwood Ltd. 57 – royalwoodltd.com Craftsman Gallery 9 – craftsmangallery.com Rust-Oleum Cvr 4 – rustoleum.com Custom Branding Irons 19 93 branding-irons.biz Saburrtooth 13 79 saburrtooth.com DMT 17 92 dmtsharp.com Shellac.net 57 – shellac.net DR Power Equipment 13 – drpower.com Tools for Working Wood 15 – toolsforworkingwood.com Forrest Mfg. 15 13 forrestblades.com Wagner Meters 17 123 wagnermeters.com Furniture Institute 56, 57 16 furnituremakingclasses.com Wall Lumber 9 47 walllumber.com of Massachusetts West Penn Hardwoods 13 126 westpennhardwoods.com Gorilla Glue 13 18 gorillaglue.com Whitechapel Ltd. 56 48 whitechapel-ltd.com Grex USA 9 20 grexusa.com Woodcraft Cvr 2 49 woodcraft.com Harbor Freight 61 76 harborfreight.com Highland Woodworking 13 22 highlandwoodworking.com Woodfi nder 56 – woodfi nder.com I Can Do That 7 – popularwoodworking.com/icdt Woodline 7 50 woodline.com Jim Bode Tools 57 24 jimbodetools.com Woodpeckers Cvr 3 52 woodpeck.com John Campbell Folk 57 – folkschool.org Woodstock International 3 114 woodstockinternational.com School Woodturning with 19 – popularwoodturning.com Knew Concepts 13 60 knewconcepts.com Tim Yoder Lee Valley 17 28 leevalley.com Woodworker’s Source 56 – woodworkerssource.com Leigh Industries 5 – leighjigs.com Woodworking In 20 – woodworkinginamerica.com Lignomat USA 9 124 lignomat.com America Show

54 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE Month 2015 popularwoodworking.com ■■ 57

56_1604_PWM_Marketplace.indd 57 1/20/16 3:30 PM ARTS & MYSTERIES BY PETER FOLLANSBEE Give Me a Brake Get some splitting leverage with this simple contraption.

each for a froe, and you should immediately think, “Give me a R brake.” The brake can be a con- structed workholding device, or just a couple of logs. Its function is to trap your workpiece in such a way that you can exert leverage on a section of a log as it’s splitting. The froe – used to split a piece when it’s in a brake – is a tool that requires some nuance to really get the most from it; the brake helps make that happen. There are many kinds and confi gu- rations of brakes. The fi rst one I learned is just a forked section of a tree, propped up with crossed timbers underneath. Jam your billet into the fork with its other end on the ground, and drive the froe into the top end. As you twist Sophisticated. The tripod riving brake shown here is the sophisticated version of a contraption to help hold logs and billets as they’re split with a froe. the froe handle, you’re pulling against the thicker part of the split. Depending on many factors, you might need to In a pinch, I have improvised a brake points at which to pinch a workpiece. fl ip your workpiece this way and that with a log and a section of split oak; it’s I often add another rail running from to get the thick side of the split on the a bit awkward, but it works. In both of the left-hand front leg to the back leg, as bottom, or near, side. these cases, the workpiece is pretty shown above. I use this one to grab long close to vertical. whippy pieces between the front lower Many years ago, I learned of a dif- rail and the back end of this side rail. ferent brake: a large tripod with two I prefer this contraption to a forked- cross bars fi xed to its two front legs. tree riving brake because it puts the My latest version is about 61⁄2' tall, and workpiece you’re r iv ing parallel to t he bolted together at the top. The legs are ground. This way, the pressure you’re softwood 4x4s; the crossbars are oak exerting to control the split is directly 2x6s. The rear leg swings out between downward, not up in the air like on the the two front legs. fi rst brake I used (or on the log version). Across the front legs I have variously nailed or lag-bolted two crosspieces. One is horizontal, about waist high. The other is above this rail, angled upward toward the left-hand end of things. The idea is that these two rails create a tapered fork into which you can jam your riving stock. Another feature is that this upper rail is attached to the front face of my In a pinch. A log and a split section of wood right-hand piece, and behind the other Forked. Here, a student is using a forked-tree can serve as a brake if need be. leg. This provides a broader range of brake as he rives oak with a froe.

58 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

58_1604_PWM_A&M.indd 58 1/20/16 3:32 PM Watch as you go, if the split “runs out” toward a thinner side, flip the stock over so the thick half of the split is down, and lean on the top as you push the now-thicker side down. Lever the handle – “tic-tic-tic” – and you’re back on track. Easy does it. The hurdles are simple: three uprights, several rails and a couple braces. Bore holes in the uprights, and use a chisel to chop between them to make the mortises. Hew or use a drawknife to fi t the rails. All the joints and the braces are nailed or pegged in place. Keep your hurdles light; these origi- Oak hurdle. Here’s my a hurdle – a traditional portable fence – based on an English regional style nally served as portable enclosures for (you’ve likely also seen woven willow hurdles). No matter the style, the use is the same: to keep sheep. I have no sheep here in my in- things in or out. town yard, so I use a couple of hurdles to keep our kid s from careening into t he The riving I do for joiner’s work is rests on the lower bar near you, but is river when sledding in the winter. PWM pretty simple, all that stock is fairly pinched under the upper bar now about thick; 1"-11⁄2"at least. 4"-6" farther back. Peter has been involved in traditional craft since This is helpful when you’re directing 1980. Read his blog at pfollansbee.wordpress.com. Oak ‘Hurdles’ the froe’s action by leaning on the heavi- Recently I was making some garden er side of the split. You can bend the hurdles, and for those the stuff I want stock and force the split back on track to rive is often quite thin, sometimes if it wanders. Longer stock achieves the only 1⁄2" thick. It takes fi nesse to get a same by being trapped on top of the split like that, but with good stock, a front lower rail and under the side rail. sturdy riving brake and some practice, When r iv ing long stock, t he act ion is you can split lengths up to 6' with ease. not a quick jerk of the froe, but a gentle Having the front rails in different and slight levering of the handle. The planes helps when coercing a split sound is not the tearing of fi bers like Rails. Use a hatchet or drawknife to shape that threatens to go astray. The offset splitting with wedges, but a “tic-tic-tic” the rails and fi t the through-tenons (which between the rails means the pressure as each push on the handle advances needn’t be tight), then peg or nail the braces in place. points are now spread out; the stock the split a ways.

Bore & chop. Lay out your ONLINE EXTRAS mortise locations, bore a For links to all online extras, go to: hole at either end, then ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 chop the waste between. BLOG: Read Peter Follansbee’s blog.

ARTICLE: “The Best Oak Money Can’t Buy.” About this Column “Arts & Mysteries” refers to the contract between an apprentice and master – the 18th-century master was contractually obligated to teach appren- tices trade secrets of a given craft (and the apprentice was expected to preserve those “mysteries”). Our products are available online at: ■ ShopWoodworking.com

popularwoodworking.com ■ 59

58_1604_PWM_A&M.indd 59 1/20/16 3:32 PM FLEXNER ON FINISHING BY BOB FLEXNER Water-based Finish isn’t Lacquer The two products – both useful – are quite different.

ating back at least 100 years, the term “lacquer” has referred to Da non-crosslinking fi nish that thins with lacquer thinner. The most common t y pe is nit rocellulose lacquer. In the late 1980s water-based (or waterborne) fi nishes became available and some were labeled “lacquer.” The reason, as one manufacturer confi ded at the time, was to make woodworkers Straining. Though it’s think they were using a familiar fi n- always good practice ish, one that would apply and perform to strain a fi nish before like the traditional lacquer they were applying it, straining is used to. This might make them more doubly necessary with water-based fi nishes likely to try it. because there are usu- To justify the name, manufacturers ally coalesced particles claimed that their water-based fi nish in them that can mess “burned in” like traditional lacquer. up your fi nish. That That is, each freshly applied coat dis- isn’t the case with true lacquer. solved into the previous coat, creating in effect one thicker coat. So the example of equivalency was burning in. ■ Water-based fi nish is much more seen as negatives, water contributes To some degree this is true. Water- sensitive to temperature and humidity one very important positive quality: based fi nishe s do bond fairly well to pre- than lacquer. There’s not much you lower odor. Water-based fi nishes are vious coats, but the similarities pretty can do to control the drying rate of far less smelly and irritating to apply well end there. In virtually every other water-based fi nish other than control than lacquer. important quality, the two fi nishes are the temperature and humidity in your very different and should have different shop, which can be expensive. In con- Resin names to avoid confusion. Manufactur- trast, the drying rate of lacquer can be A second important difference is the ers, writers and teachers should stop controlled by adding lacquer retarder resin used. referring to water-based finishes as in hot or humid conditions and acetone L acquer is composed of long st r ing y lacquer, or water-based lacquer. in cold conditions. molecules of nitrocellulose that entan- ■ Even in moderate temperatures gle in liquid form (like stirred spaghetti Water and low humidity, water evaporates in a pot of water) and form a hard fi lm The biggest difference, of course, is more slowly than lacquer thinner, after all the solvent evaporates. This that water-based fi nishes contain a lot increasing the risk of runs and sags. fi lm can easily be returned to liquid of water and lacquer doesn’t. Consider Moreover, most lacquer thinners con- form by bringing it into contact with these consequences of water. t ain si x or more solvent s t hat evaporate lacquer thinner. ■ Water raises the grain of wood. To at different rates, further reducing the In contrast, water-based fi nishes get a smooth fi nal result you have to likelihood of runs and sags. are composed of emulsifi ed droplets of sand the raised grain level and do so ■ Water-based fi nishes often contain acrylic or polyurethane resin that come without sanding through to the wood coalesced particles that can mess up together and stick to each other when or a st ain. Though you should also sand your fi nish; that isn’t the case with lac- the water (which evaporates fi rst), then the fi rst coat of lacquer or lacquer sand- quer. So it’s doubly important to strain a solvent evaporate. Inside the droplets, ing sealer, it is much easier t han sand- water-based fi nishes before using. the resin molecules crosslink – that is, ing the raised grain caused by water. While these characteristics can be form chemical bonds – but with few CONTINUED ON PAGE 63

60 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

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c2_1604_PWM_FPAds.indd 62 1/20/16 10:46 AM FLEXNER ON FINISHING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 60

exceptions the droplets themselves ■ Also because of the crosslinking, just stick to each other. They can be water-based fi nishes are more diffi - separated with several solvents, but cult to strip. Lacquer can simply be with more diffi culty than with lacquer. dissolved and wiped off with lacquer The different resins and the way thinner or paint stripper. ■ they cure account for signifi cant dif- Water-based fi nishes are also more No color. Most water-based fi nishes add no ferences in the way the two fi nishes diffi cult to clean from a spray gun. You color to the wood. I fi nd this quality to be very can be manipulated. usually have to disassemble it to remove attractive on “white” woods such as maple, ■ Lacquer can be repaired invisibly all the fi nish. In contrast, lacquer can be birch and ash, and on this pine fl oor. Lacquer by melting (with heat) or dissolving left in a spray gun for a week or longer adds an orange coloring to the wood. (with solvent) more lacquer into the and still be totally cleaned when more damage. Because of the crosslinking lacquer, or lacquer thinner, is sprayed within the water-based droplets, how- through it. ever, there’s usually a visible boundary Though the crosslinking within the with water-based fi nishes. This bound- droplets can be seen as a problem for ary has to be disguised with color, often manipulating water-based finishes, a diffi cult task. it’s an advantage for better abrasion Different colors. Not all water-based fi nishes ■ L acquer is easier to r ub to an even resistance and even some solvent and are completely colorless. As you can see on sheen because the spaghetti-like mol- heat resistance. This is due to the en- this oak, while the General Finishes acrylic ecules are easily separated with an abra- tire surface area being composed of water-based fi nish (right) adds no color, the sive, while the crosslinked molecules crosslinked molecules except where two oil-modifi ed examples, Zar (center) and within the water-based droplets resist the droplets stick together. Minwax, do add some color. If color is important to you, test fi rst on scrap wood. separat ion. They have to be tor n apart, creating a more uneven sheen. Decoration Coloring and fi lling steps are more dif- The orange coloring warms darker fi cult with water-based fi nishes than woods such as walnut, cherry and with lacquer. For example, lacquer can mahogany in contrast to water-based be thinned infi nitely with lacquer thin- fi nishes, which deaden the color (unless ner to make toners while water-based you apply a stain). On the other hand, fi nish cannot. Adding too much high- most water-based fi nishes maintain Different resins. Lacquer (left) is composed surface-tension water causes water- the white coloring of woods such as of long stringy nitrocellulose molecules that based fi nishes to bead up. maple, birch, ash and pine, which I pack together when the solvent evaporates. Also, because of lacquer’s ability fi nd attractive. Water-based fi nish is composed of emulsifi ed droplets of crosslinked acrylic and polyure- (due to the lacquer thinner) to pen- I hope I’ve made t he case t hat water- thane resins that stick to each other when the etrate through layers of color (stain, based fi nish is very different from lac- water, then the solvent, evaporates. glaze, pore fi ller) and bond to washcoats quer and shouldn’t be called lacquer. or full coats of fi nish underneath, it’s PWM possible to build a multi-color-step fi nish that has considerably more fi lm Bob is a contributing editor to this magazine, and integrity (resistance to separation at author of “Flexner on Finishing,” “Wood Finishing 101” and “Understanding Wood Finishing.” the color layers) than can be achieved with water-based fi nish. As a result, factories often do their ONLINE EXTRAS decorative steps with a solvent fi nish, then topcoat with water-based fi nish For links to all online extras, go to: ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16 to comply with VOC laws. ARTICLES: You’ll fi nd many free fi nishing Cleaning spray guns. Cleaning is more dif- articles on our web site. fi cult with water-based fi nishes than with Color lacquer. Usually you have to disassemble Finally, one of the most signifi cant dif- IN OUR STORE: “Flexner on Finishing,”“Wood Finishing 101” and “Understanding Wood the gun and scrub the parts with a brush. To ference s is color, or lack of it, t he fi nish show this, I ran hot soapy water through the Finishing.” adds to the wood. Lacquer adds a warm gun for several minutes, but white clumps Our products are available online at: of fi nish remain that will dry and disrupt the orange color ing while most water-based ■ ShopWoodworking.com spray pattern. fi nishes add no color.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 63

60_1604_PWM_Flexner.indd 63 1/20/16 3:36 PM END GRAIN BY JIM BAKER Humble Job Endures 1,000 Years

The Tower of London provides inspiration to make an impact.

few years ago I visited England into the box and I could with my wife, daughter and a see that it was perhaps 8' A few friends. It is a fascinating deep, buried in the stones country – some parts of it seem right that compose the wall. More out of a mid-20th-century television impressive, but I just didn’t show, while other places are so mod- understand his point, as ern that they should be in California. he could obviously tell. “It My favorite places, however, were the was built into the wall.” My ancient ones – castles, Roman walls, blank expression led him on cobblestone streets. “…in the year 1070.” While visiting the Tower of London, Here was a utilitarian I was astonished by the amazing size piece of woodwork that of the posts and beams supporting the was likely quickly made by fl oor and walls. I was most intrigued by a journeyman nearly a mil- the huge oak pillar at the center of the lennium ago. Who was he? base of the tower itself. While everyone What would he say if you else was admiring tapestries, I asked were to whisper in his ear as one of the docents if that particular he worked that this simple piece of wood was original to the build- piece would still exist in a ing. “Oh no!” he said. “That’s new…It thousand years? Would he was replaced in the 1800s.” disbelieve it? Or would he As I was coming to grips with the think about the castle as a 1800s being “new,” he leaned toward whole and expect it to still me and asked if I’d like to see an “old be there? I would bet on the fi rst. accomplish my new resolution. piece of wood.” How could I resist? Then I thought about my life’s work. I ret ire t his summer and w ill be con- We walked the length of the exhibit I’ve been a soldier, a restaurateur, the centrating on “boxes, books, boats and hall and stopped at a window nook. owner of a software company, a teacher butterfl ies.” (I row a single shell and On the sidewall was a shelf built into and am now a public servant encourag- raise monarch butterfl ies.) the stone. “This was added during a ing the adoption of technology in local I’ve already built a Nicholson bench remodel in the 1300s.” He smiled as governments and small businesses. and collected a load of hand tools. A my jaw dropped. I properly admired How much of my work w ill exist in any tool chest is next – “Anarchist’s Tool the shelf – very thick, not wide, long recogni zable for m in a t housand years? Chest,” Dutch, traveling or two-day but still unbowed after 700 years, then None. In a hundred years? None. In ATC, I don’t know…but as I build it, he said quietly, “Come with me.” just 20 years? None. Most depressing. and everything else from here on, I We walked to the other side of the I resolved to do something that hope that I’ll be hearing a whisper in hall, stepped over the velvet rope and would last a hundred years and would my ear. PWM into a short passageway. At the end, be intentionally retained by someone he said, “This used to be the door into for that length of time. Jim is a Pennsylvania-based writer and woodworker. a public area. In times of danger, they I have been working with wood for would prevent the door from opening many years – mostly rough carpentry ONLINE EXTRAS inward by pulling a thick bar out of a with power tools, remodeling my own For links to all online extras, go to: deep socket on one side and seating houses, but I’ve also built furniture ■ popularwoodworking.com/apr16

it in a short socket at the other side.” from kits as well a few original pieces. TWITTER: Follow us on Twitter @pweditors. On one side I saw an 8" x 8" box When I returned to the U.S., I found Our products are available online at: made of very rough 1x lumber. Un- “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” in my ■ ShopWoodworking.com impressive. He shined his ﬂ ashlight mailbox, and I began to see how I might

64 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE April 2016 PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR

64_1604_PWM_EndGrain.indd 64 1/20/16 3:43 PM Assemble Projects THE EASY WAY

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