FROM THE EDITORS OF POPULAR MAGAZINE Joinery BASICS Learn 6 Classic Joints

Dovetails

PLUS: Text to come Includes Finger Joints -Storage

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Mortise-&-Tenon Jointsts

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c1_1406_RA_Cover.indd c1 3/20/14 10:31 AM Helping you make great connections Accurate joinery begins with precision layout. Cumulative that repeatedly score good marks among woodworking errors in marking or measuring can quickly add up to enthusiasts. And to help you complete all your cuts ill-fi tting joints. For good measure, Veritas makes a wide with equal precision, Veritas offers a fi tting selection of variety of precision marking and measuring instruments high-quality and handsaws.

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c2_1406_RA_FPAds.indd c2 3/20/14 10:32 AM CONTENTS

2 Mortise & Tenon Basics Learn how to cut this workhorse joint and have it last for centuries. BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ

9 Shop-made Mortise 9 An inexpensive shop-made jig makes quick and accurate work of -cut mortises. BY GLEN D. HUEY 18 Mitered 11 Half-lap Joinery Better Finger With a router, straight bit and a scrap of Joints , learn how to turn a weak joint into This nifty shop-made jig helps you a solid and strong mitered corner. 25 cut accurate machine-age fi nger joints. BY GLEN D. HUEY BY ROBERT W. LANG 20 Cut Accurate & 25 Dovetailed Clean Plane Cabinet Discover three good ways to cut this joint: by Learn to cut dovetails by hand as you make 11 router, by table saw and by hand. this handy and handsome storage cabinet. BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ EDITOR’S NOTE Solid Joinery for Several Lifetimes ure, you can use metal power- techniques – approaches working Magazine – the two publications (nails, etc.) and build nice- that can be achieved with the tools and that combined to make Popular - Slooking projects. But if you want machinery found in most woodwork- working Magazine (PW M). In ever y issue your work to outlast its maker, you ing shops – from some of our best-loved of PW M, you’ ll fi nd skill-building tech- need to learn how to cut solid joinery and most experienced writers: Glen D. niques for hand tools and power tools, – it makes your projects stronger, more Huey, Robert W. Lang and Christopher shop tricks you can put to use right away, attractive and more durable. Schwarz. great-looking projects with step-by-step In “Joinery Basics,” you get a intro- Plus, the fi nal article, Christopher’s instruction and more. duction to some of the most useful and dovetailed plane cabinet, not only teach- I invite you to visit us online to fi nd common joints in woodworking: rabbets, es you hand-cut dovetails, but grooves out more about the magazine, read the fi nger joints, mortise-and-tenons, dove- and dados, too. And of course, when Editors’ Blog and Christopher Schwarz’s tails and more. With these must-know you’re done w ith that project, you’ ll have hand-tool blog, free project and tech- joints in your tool kit, you’ll be well on improved your skills and have a nice- nique articles and more. You’ll fi nd us your way to making most any project – looking storage piece for your planes. at popularwoodworking.com. and making it to last. These articles fi rst appeared in older You’ll fi nd a combination of hand- and issues of Popular Woodworking and Wood-

PHOTOS BY AL PARRISH popularwoodworking.com ■ 1

01_1406_RA_TOC.indd 1 3/18/14 9:14 AM Mortise & Tenon Basics BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ Discover a superior way to cut this superlative joint.

A lot of woodworkers spend a will use it in every project. Why? Well, the biscuits held on tightly to the wood, lot of time, effort and money to avoid it is remarkably strong. A few years ago but t hey pulled away chunk s from t he making mortise-and-tenon joints. Bis- we decided to pit this venerable and mating piece as the joint failed. cuits, , commercial loose-tenon traditional joint against the high-tech The second cube survived the fi rst jigs and expensive router bits are just a super-simple biscuit. So we built two hit with the anvil – the joints held to- few of the “work-arounds” developed cubes, one using biscuits and one with gether even though the wood split at the this century so you don’t have to learn mortises and tenons. Then we dropped points of impact. A second hit with the to make a mortise and its perfectly a 50-pound anvil on each cube. The anvil ruined the cube entirely, though matched tenon. results were eye-opening. most of the tenons stuck tenaciously But once you learn how straightfor- Both cubes were destroyed. The bis- to their mortises. ward and simple this joint can be, you cuit cube ex ploded on impact. Some of The lesson here is that biscuits are indeed tough, but when t hey fail, t hey THE ’ANVIL’ TEST fail catastrophically. The mortise-and- tenon joints fail, too, but they take their time, becoming loose at fi rst rather than an immediate pile of splinters. So when you’re building for future generations and you know how to make this stout joint with minimal fuss, you won’t say “Why bother?” You’ll say “Why not?”

Choosing the Right Tools There are so many ways to cut this joint that one big obstacle to mastering it is The anvil is about to hit the cube made The cube made out of biscuits is de- choosing a technique. I’ve tried many using #20 biscuits. stroyed on impact. ways to cut this joint – , com- mercial table-saw tenon jigs and even the sweet $1,000 Leigh Pro Frame Mor- tise and Tenon Jig. Each technique or jig has advan- tages in economy, speed or accuracy. The technique I’m outlining here is the one I keep coming back to year after year. It uses three tools: a hollow-chisel for the mortises, a stack to cut the tenons and a The mortise-and-tenon cube held to- The mortise-and-tenon cube collapsed to fi ne-tune your joints. Yes, this is a gether after the fi rst hit. after the second hit. little bit of an investment, but once you start using this technique, these tools

2 ■ JOINERY BASICS LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 2 3/18/14 9:23 AM popularwoodworking.com ■ 3

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 3 3/18/14 9:24 AM will become the foundation for much Lever Hollow-chisel mortisers excel at of your joint-making. boring square holes. Here you (For a simple and inexpensive jig to can see the hold-down (which is usually inadequate with other cut mortises with a router, see “Shop- machines), the table (which must made Mortise Jig” on page 9.) be squared to the chisel before ■ Hollow-chisel mortisers: These use) and the lever (which makes machines are nothing new, but the the machine plow through benchtop ones are now cheaper, more almost any job). powerful and more accurate than ever. For about $240, you’ll get a good ma- chine. cost $50 or less – I haven’t Essentially, a mortiser is a marriage found t hem to be ver y shar p between a press and an arbor press and the teeth aren’t well- that’s designed for metalworking. The Hold-down ground. The expensive sets drill press part has a spinning chuck ($200 and more) are nice, that holds an auger bit that chews up the but they’re probably more waste wood. The auger bit is encased in than you need unless you a hollow four-sided chisel that cleans are making your living at up the walls of your mortise, making Table woodworking. My favorite the auger’s round hole a square one. mid-priced set is the Freud The arbor press part of the machine SD208. It’s about $100 and is the gear-and-lever system that push- Tape squares does a fi ne job. es the tooling into your wood. This table ■ Shoulder plane: No mechanism gives you an enormous matter how accurately you mechanical advantage compared to set up your machine s to cut outfi tting your drill press with a mortis- calling 855-840-5118 or online at shop mortises and tenons, some will need a ing attachment – an accessory I don’t woodworking.com). The fast machines little tuning up before assembly. And recommend for all but the most oc- were almost impossible to stall. How- nothing trims a tenon as well as a shoul- casional mortising jobs. ever, the marketplace seems to prefer der plane. These hand tools really are Shopping for the proper mortiser the slow machines. While none of the secret weapons when it comes to joints is tough. I don’t consider all the ma- machines is perfect, I prefer the fast- that fi t together fi rmly and are airtight. chines equal. Some are weak and stall speed Bridgewood and Shop Fox and Why is that? Well, shoulder planes in diffi cult wood s such as , ash and the slow-speed Jet and Fisch machines. are designed to take a controlled shav- . Many have problems holding ■ Dado st ack: A good dado st ack w ill ing that can be as thin as .001". I can your work down against the machine’s serve you in many ways, but I use mine tweak a tenon to a perfect fi t with just table. In a review of the machines on mostly for cutting tenons and rabbets. a few passes. Trying to tweak a tenon the market in our August 2001 issue, When it comes to choosing one, buy a with a chisel or is more we preferred the fast machines (3,450 set with 8" blades instead of 6" blades, diffi cult. You are more likely to gouge rpm) instead of the 1,750-rpm slow unless you own a benchtop table saw. or round over the surface of your ten- machines (back issues are available by Stay away from the bargain sets that on and compromise its mechanical strength. A shoulder plane Buying a shoulder plane gets easier tweaks tenons to fi t every year because there are now many perfectly. Avoid the quality tools on the market. Unless you modern Stanley shoul- der planes (not shown). build only small projects, you are going Spending a few dollars to want a plane that is at least 1" wide. more will get you a Most casework tenons are 1" long, so much better tool. a 1"-wide plane is perfect for trimming up the face cheeks and shoulders of the tenon. My advice is to stay away from the newly made Stanley shoulder planes. I’ve had some sloppily made Stanleys go though my hands (vintage Stanley shoulder planes can be good, however). Lie-Nielsen makes several shoulder-

4 ■ JOINERY BASICS

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 4 3/18/14 9:24 AM trimming planes worth saving your money for. The large version is a tool of great mass and presence and does the job admirably – it’s a $250 invest- ment. Lie-Nielsen also makes a - ing that can be easily used as a shoulder plane; it costs $175. It’s the tool I recommend to most people because it does double-duty as a low- These sample mortises angle block plane. are useful for sizing Veritas, the tool line made by Lee your tenons. I usually Valley Tools, has a smaller shoulder make a new one every plane that’s almost 3⁄4" wide, quite com- season or two, because fortable to use and reasonably priced they can get worn from use. at $189. The company also has a larger plane that’s 11⁄4" wide; it costs $229. Other new and vintage brand names piece. So a tenon on a piece of 3⁄4" mate- weak mortise wall, ruining everything. worth checking out include Shepherd rial should be 3⁄8" thick. It is because of this that I recommend Tool (made in Canada) and the British- As for length, that depends on your edge shoulders that are 3⁄8" wide in made Clifton, Record, Preston, Spiers project. Typical casework tenons that most case s. Note t hat your edge shoul- and Norris. are 1" long will be plenty strong. For ders can be too big. Once they start Of course, you’ll need to sharpen large glass doors, make them 11⁄4" long. getting larger than 1⁄2", you run the the tool. And that’s why we offer a free For small lightweight frames and doors, risk of allowing the work to twist or tutorial on sharpening on our web site stick with 3⁄4"- or 5⁄8"-long tenons. warp in time, ruining the alignment – to fi nd it, visit popularwoodworking. What beginners often don’t ask of the parts. com/magazineextras and scroll down about is the size of the edge shoul- Of course, if your tenoned piece is to the April 2004 header. ders on their tenons. This is a critical not on the edge of a frame, you can measurement. If you make these edge have narrow edge shoulders without Designing a Joint shoulders too small, say 3⁄16" wide or any worries. Once you have the tools you need, so, you could run into huge problems Designing the mortise is a bit sim- you can learn about the mechanics of at assembly t ime when building frame s pler. It should be the same dimensions the joint. Study the illustration below and doors. as your tenon with one exception: to learn what each part of the joint is Here’s why: If your tenoned piece Make the mortise 1⁄16" deeper than called. forms one of the outside members of your tenon is long. This extra depth The fi rst question beginners always a frame, your mortise wall is going to does two things: It gives your excess ask is: How thick and how long should be only 3⁄16" wide and it’s going to be glue a place to go and it ensures your my tenons be? As far as thickness goes, weak. The hydraulic pressure from the tenon won’t bottom out in the mortise, the rule of thumb is that they should be glue or t he smalle st amount of racking which would prevent you from getting one-half the thickness of your work- will cause the tenon to blow out this a gap-free joint. Beware of other tune-ups that some books and magazines suggest. One bit of common advice is to Mortise all the sharp edges of your tenons to Edge cheek improve the fi t. Another bit of advice is to chamfer the entry hole of the mortise. 3 Edge shoulder should be at least /8" These are unnecessary if you design to avoid blowing out the mortise your joint properly. One thing that is important, how- Stile ever, is to mark the outside faces on all your parts. It’s important to keep these straight during machining and Face cheek Face shoulder assembly.

Tenon thickness Tenons First should be one-half Some traditional woodworkers tell you of your stock’s Rail thickness to make all your mort ise s fi rst and then

popularwoodworking.com ■ 5

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 5 3/18/14 9:24 AM in the photo at left. Get your slot miter gauge out and square the or head of the gauge to the bar that travels in the table saw’s slot. Attach a wooden fence to the face of the gauge (usually this involves screws through holes already drilled in the A 6" rule will help you set the length of your gauge). This wooden fence stabilizes tenon. Once you do your workpiece and controls tear-out this a couple of times as the dado stack blades exit the cut. you’ll hit this measure- Set the height of the blades to just a ment right away every little shy of the shoulder cut you’re after. time. You want to sneak up on the perfect setting by raising the arbor of the saw make your tenon s fi t that. This is good width mortise, you can merely size instead of lowering it. This does two advice if you cut the joint by hand with all your tenons to one of these sample things: One, it produces fewer waste a and a mortising chisel be- mort ise s as you cut t hem on your t able pieces that result from overshooting cause there is more opportunity for the saw. This will save you time down the your mark. And two, because of the mortise to be irregular in size. But you road, as you’ll see. mechanical backlash inherent in all will work much faster and with much Wit h your sample mort ise in hand, geared systems such as your table saw, less measuring if you try it my way. set up your table saw to cut your tenons. raising the arbor eliminates any poten- Before you cut your first tenon, Install the dado stack blades and chip- tial for it to slip downward because of you should fi re up the hollow-chisel pers on the saw’s arbor. The rule here is backlash. mortiser and make a sample mortise to install enough blades to almost cut You are now ready to make a test with each size of bit you use. The three the length of the tenon in one pass. For cut. First put a scrap piece up against most common sizes are 1⁄4", 3⁄8" and example, to cut a 1"-long tenon, set up your miter gauge, turn on the saw and 1⁄2". These mortises should have per- enough blades and chippers to make make a cut on the end of the board. Use fectly square walls and be 11⁄16" deep a 3⁄4"-wide cut. fi r m dow nward pre ssure on t he piece. and 2" long. Write the month and year Next, position your saw’s rip fence. Don’t let the end of the board touch the on each mortise and make a new set Measure from the left-most tooth of saw’s rip fence. Then bring the scrap next season. your dado stack to the fence and shoot piece and miter gauge back and make Why make these sample mortises? for the exact length of your tenon. A 1"- a second pass, this time with the scrap Well, because the tooling to make your long tenon should measure 1" from the touching the rip fence as shown below. mortises will always produce the same left-most tooth to the fence, as shown Flip the scrap over and repeat the

Backing board

No wood trapped between blades and fence

When making tenons with a dado stack in The second pass has the work against the Cut the edge shoulders the same way you cut your table saw, the fi rst pass should remove fence and defi nes the face shoulder. Note the face shoulders and cheeks. the bulk of the material. Keep fi rm downward there isn’t any wood between the fence and pressure on your work, which will give you blades, so the chance of kickback is minimal. more accurate cuts. The backing board reduces the chance of tear-out at the shoulders.

6 ■ JOINERY BASICS

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 6 3/18/14 9:24 AM cheeks on all your tenoned pieces. A Finicky Machine When that’s complete, raise the arbor I’ve used a lot of hollow-chisel mortis- to 3⁄8" and use the same routine to cut ers and fi nd them fussy to adjust. In a the edge shoulders on all your boards. nutshell, here are some of the impor- Your tenons are now complete. tant adjustments not covered by some manuals: Use Your Tenons Like a Ruler ■ Make sure t he chisel is at a per fect One of the major pains in laying out the 90° angle to the machine’s table. I’ve set Stile mortise is fi guring out exactly where up a dozen of these machines and only you should bore your hole. You end one has ever been perfect. The solution up adding weirdo measurements and is to use masking t ape to shim bet ween subtracting the measurements of edge the table and the machine’s base. shoulders. If you lay out mortise loca- ■ Set the proper clearance between Rail tions using math only, you will make the auger bit and the hollow chisel a mistake someday. that surrounds it. Some people use Mortise Troy Sexton, one of our contribu- the thickness of a dime to set the dis- ends here tors, showed me this trick one day tance between the tooling. Some people and I’ve never done it any other way measure. Eit her way is fi ne. If the clear- since. Say you are joining a door rail ance is too little, the machine will jam Mortise begins here to a stile – quite a common operation. and the tooling can burn. Too much Simply lay the tenoned rail onto the distance makes a sloppy-bottomed To locate the mortise, put the tenon across edge of the stile and line up the edges mortise. the edge of the stile where you want your of both pieces so they’re fl ush. Take a ■ Square t he chisel to t he fence. The mortise to go. Use a sharp pencil to mark the sharp pencil and – using the tenon like square holes made by the chisel should tenon’s location on the edge. Bingo. You’ve a ruler – mark where the tenon begins line up perfectly. If the edges aren’t per- just laid out the mortise’s location. and ends on the stile. That’s it; you’ve fectly straight, your chisel isn’t square just marked everything you need to to the fence. Rotate the chisel in its process on the other face. Usually you know to make your mortise. bushing and make sample cuts until aren’t supposed to use your rip fence If you are placing a rail in the middle everything is perfect. and miter gauge in tandem, but this is of a stile, there is one more step. You’ll ■ Center the chisel so it’s cutting in an exception. This cut is safe because need to mark on the stile where the the middle of your workpiece. There there isn’t any waste that could get edges of the rail should go. Then line might be a clever trick to do this, but trapped between the blades and the up the edge of the rail with that mark I’ve found that the most reliable method fence, producing a kickback. and fi re away. There’s still no addition is to make a test cut and measure the Check your work w it h your dial cali- or subt ract ion. Wit h all your mort ise s thickness of the mortise’s two walls pers and see if the tenon will fi t your laid out, you can then get your hollow- with a dial caliper. When they’re the sample mortise. The tenon is likely chisel mortiser going. same, your mortise is centered. going to be too thick. Raise the blades just a bit and take passes on both faces By cutting over your of the scrap until the tenon fi ts fi rmly line slightly, you give and snugly into the sample mortise yourself just enough forgiveness at assembly with only hand pressure. Mortise is cut time. A little wiggle can If you can shake the sample mortise slightly past mean a lot when you that line and the tenon falls out, you’ve overshot are trying to close up your mark and need to lower t he arbor the gaps as you clamp and try again. If the fi t is just a wee bit up your work. tight, you can always tune that up with a shoulder plane. Let your dial calipers be your guide. Sometimes you haven’t Line used enough downward pressure dur- marked ing the cut to make a consistent tenon. on stile If something doesn’t fi t when you know it’s supposed to, try making a second pass over the dado stack and push down a little harder during the cut. Using this setup, mill all the face

popularwoodworking.com ■ 7

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 7 3/18/14 9:25 AM Assembly You really don’t want any glue squeeze- out when you assemble your mortise- and-tenon joints. The trick to this is learning where to put the glue and how much to use. I run a thick of glue at the top of each mortise wall and then the inside of the mortise wall with glue using a little scrap piece. I try to leave the glue a little thick at the top of the mortise wall. Then, when the tenon is inserted, this the tenon with glue but drives the excess to the bottom of the mortise. When clamping any frame – re- Shoulder planes are capable of extraordinarily precise work. Just try to set your table saw to gardless of the joinery you used – you remove .001". It’s not possible. For a shoulder plane, it’s simple. don’t want to use too much pressure or you will distort the frame. Tighten Simplify Your Mortising plane shines. Make a couple of passes the clamps until the joints close and no As you make your mortises, here are on both face cheeks and tr y fi tting the more. You also want to alternate your a few tips for making things a whole joint again. Be sure to make the same clamps over and under the assembly lot easier. number of passe s on each cheek to keep to keep the frame fl at – no matter how ■ I like to cut a little wide of the the tenon centered on the rail. If your fancy your clamps are. pencil lines that defi ne my mortise. parts aren’t in the same plane when as- Once you do this a couple of times, Not much; just 1⁄32" or so. This extra sembled (and they’re supposed to be), I think you’ll fi nd a whole new level of wiggle room allows you to square up you can take passes on only one cheek woodworking open to you. Web frames your assembly easier. It doesn’t weaken to try to make corrections. for dressers (or Chippendale secretar- the joint much – most of its strength is If the joint closes up on one face but ies) will seem like no problem. Morris in the tenon’s face cheeks. not the other, you might have a sloppy chairs with 112 mortises will be within ■ As you bore your mortises, don’t shoulder. The shoulder plane can trim your reach. And your is more make your holes simply line up one the fat shoulder to bring it in line with likely to stand the test of time – and after the other. Make a hole, skip a its twin on the other side of the tenon. maybe even the occasional anvil. PWM distance and then make another hole If the tenon still won’t seat tightly, try (see the photo below). Then come back chiseling out some meat at the corner Christopher is a regular contributor to Popular Wood- and clean up the waste between the where the edge shoulder meets the face working Magazine and the publisher at Lost Art Press two holes. This will greatly reduce cheek – but don’t trim the outside edge (lostartpress.com). the chance of your chisel bending or of the edge shoulder itself. breaking. Finally, get a sharp chisel and clean ■ Keep your chisel and auger lu- out any gunk at the bottom of the mor- bricated as they heat up. Listen to the tise. Keep at it – a tight joint is worth sounds your machine makes. As the the extra effort. auger heats up, it can start to rub the inside of the chisel wall and start to A thick bead of glue screech. Some dry lubricant or a little at the top of the canning wax squirted or rubbed on mortise wall makes the joint strong without the tooling will keep things working squeezing out a lot of during long mortising sessions. glue. Use a small piece ■ Finally, make all your mortises of scrap to paint the with the outside face of the work against mortise wall before inserting the tenon. the fence. This ensures your parts will Scrap line up perfectly during assembly.

Final Tweaks No matter how careful you have been, some of your tenons might fi t a little too tightly. This is where the shoulder

8 ■ JOINERY BASICS

02_1406_RA_M&TBasics.indd 8 3/18/14 9:25 AM Shop-made Mortise Jig BY GLEN D. HUEY You don’t need fancy tools or a special machine to create a traditional joint.

Reproduction furniture is my main focus in woodworking, so I think one of the most important construction joints is a mortise-and-tenon joint – and not simply the use of a stub tenon, but a full-blown tenon that ranges between 1" and 11⁄4" in length depending on the project and if there’s adequate depth in the material. Due to the number of these joints I make, I have a dedicated mortising ma- chine. But if you need to create a and you don’t have a dedicat- ed machine to use, whip up t his simple jig from a few scraps of wood and use a plunge router, a properly sized guide bushing and an upcut-spiral router bit. (You can use a straight router bit, but an upcut bit lifts waste material out of the mortise, so it makes a cleaner cut.)

Make a Guide Bushing Slot The fi rst step in building this jig is to A mortise-and-tenon joint is one of the strongest, most useful joints in woodworking. With scraps create a slot in a piece of 1⁄2" plywood from the waste bin, you can create a jig that does the job and is simple to use. to guide the bit’s location as you plunge into the workpiece – plywood’s stability makes it a better choice. Don’t create a 3⁄4"-outside-diameter bushing and a Next, lay out the fi nal measurements a slot that matches the router bit size; 1⁄4" router bit, add 1⁄2" to the fi nished on the centerline of the plywood. Posi- you need to match the slot to the guide length of your required mortise. The tion a fence so the center point of the bushing’s outside diameter. additional opening allows for the dif- aligns with the centerline on Select a bushing with a diameter ferences between the router bit and the your plywood. Drill the two end holes that’s larger than the router bit. For guide bushing. fi rst, making sure to position the out- standard 3⁄4" material, I use a 3⁄4"-out- side-diameter bushing for two reasons; 12" t his diameter is a st andard dr ill bit si ze and the slot matches the thickness of

the stock with which I’m working. 3⁄4" guide bushing 1⁄4" router bit When working with 3⁄4" material, select 3 a plywood scrap that’s about 33⁄4" wide 3 ⁄4" and at least 12" long, then establish a X centerline. Chuck a 3⁄4" drill bit into a X+1⁄2" drill press. To determine the length needed for your specifi c mortise when using MORTISE JIG

LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR popularwoodworking.com ■ 9

09_1406_RA_MortiseJig.indd 9 3/18/14 9:27 AM side diameter of the bit’s cut with the stability. To create the mortise, release outside location of the layout. the locked plunge mechanism and pull Once the ends are established, re- the router setup tight to one of the ends. move the additional waste with your With the bit standing above the work- drill bit while keeping the workpiece piece, start the router and hold tightly tight to the fence. When fi nished, the slot against the slot’s end as you plunge to has smooth sides. (You can touch up the full depth. sides with a or fi le if you need to.) Allow the router bit to retract from the hole, slide the router to the oppo- Two Side Pieces site end and plunge a second hole. To Complete the Jig The overall length of your mortise is deter- remove the material for the balance of For step two, position two additional mined by the slot cut into the jig’s top. Make the mortise, repeat the plunge action, scrap pieces on either face of the mate- sure to compensate for differences between each time positioning the router setup the bushing and router bit. rial to be mortised while holding one over an unexcavated area. end of each piece fl ush with the end of assembly from your and remove Once most of the waste is removed the workpiece. Next, clamp the three the workpiece. The fi t should be snug and no section remains that bridges the pieces into a bench vise. These scraps so it will take some muscle to remove two sides of your mortise, return to one or side pieces should be nearly as long the workpiece from the jig. end of the slot, plunge to the bottom of as the slotted top piece of the jig. the mortise and make a pass along the The key to building this jig straight Plunge a Mortise entire length to clean and straighten and centered is in the fi nal step. Lay out Set up your router w it h t he g uide bush- the sides. Make it a point to travel the the mortise on your workpiece; I fi nd ing and a 21⁄2"-long router bit. You’re length while holding the bushing fi rm it best to do the layout work using the now ready to work. A bit this long allows to one side, then make a return pass overall length of the slot, keeping in you to plunge a mortise just over 11⁄4" in holding tight to the opposite side. The mind that my fi nished mortise will be depth into the workpiece after passing result might be slightly wider than the 1⁄2" shorter. Position the plywood piece the jig’s 1⁄2"-plywood top. 1⁄4" router bit, but because you make the on the three pieces in your vise, align Match the jig’s opening to the layout mortise section of the joint fi rst then the slot with the layout lines at the top lines on your workpiece and clamp match the tenon, this won’t be an issue. and bottom, and with the edges of the the two together in a vise or with oth- This jig is easy to build and can be workpiece looking side to side. Once er clamps. Zero out the router bit by used repeatedly with consistent results. you’ve got the slotted piece properly plunging down (with the power off The only decision you’ll need to make is positioned, add a couple clamps to hold and the router unplugged) until the bit should you round your tenons to match everything in place. touches the workpiece, then lock the the mortise, square the mortise ends Attach the slotted top to the two plunge mechanism. Use the router’s to match the tenons or create tenons side pieces with #8 x 11⁄4" screws – two depth stop to set the plunge depth. with wiggle room – not snug to the screws per side. Counterbore the holes The base of the router sits securely mortise’s rounded ends. I always opt for the screws. This is not the time to on top of the jig and the bushing, which for wiggle room. PWM split or crack the side pieces. Pull the fi ts snugly in the slot, adds to the overall

Glen is the former managing editor of Popular Wood- working Magazine; he is now the editor at American Woodworker.

Once the parts of the jig are positioned around the piece to be mortised, add screws through the top to complete the jig.

Once the plunging cuts are completed, fi nish the mortise with a pass along both faces of the slot. This last step smooths and cleans the slot.

10 ■ JOINERY BASICS

09_1406_RA_MortiseJig.indd 10 3/18/14 9:27 AM Better Finger Joints BY ROBERT W. LANG The dovetail’s machine-age cousin is fussy to cut and assemble; we’ve fi xed both those faults.

M ost can be t raced back in t ime for centur ie s. Ancient Egyptians excelled at dovetails and the Romans relied on mortises and tenons. Joinery was all handwork until the Industrial Revolution mechanized most processes in the middle of the 19th century. Mortisers, table , tenoners and dovetailing machines were all in common use well before 1900. In addition to new ways to make old joints, machinery and tooling were developed to create joint s t hat weren’t common at the time, but became popu- lar because they could be made quickly. The fi nger joint, also called a , is an example of this development. Before the machine era, this joint was used only to for m a wooden hinge. When first developed, and until re- cently, it was strictly utilitarian, used mainly to make st rong shipping boxe s and crates. With our current infatua- tion for visible and decorative joinery, the fi nger joint has moved from utility to visibility. The effort to cut a fi nger joint en- tirely with hand tools is at least equal to the effort to hand cut dovetails. In

A shop-built router jig can make large, accurate fi nger joints. The solution for mak- ing a better jig proved to be fi nding a better duct tape.

LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATION BY MATT BANTLY popularwoodworking.com ■ 11

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 11 3/18/14 9:30 AM A good fi t on a fi nger joint can be assembled with hand pressure only. If you need to beat on it or clamp it to get it to close, it is too tight.

many ways it takes more effort, and the return for the effort is dubious. It is a more demanding joint to make, and it lacks the inherent mechanical An attachment to the miter gauge shows the exact location of the cut, allowing you to make ir- regularly spaced joints. advantage and aesthetic appeal of the dovetail. But it is signifi cantly easier and faster to make fi nger joint s by ma- chine, if one is willing to work precisely to set up the tools. For example, a jig we used to build a blanket chest (you’ll fi nd that proj- ect free online at bit.ly/1k7vvnN) was intended to have slots and fi ngers 5⁄8" wide. When completed, the overall width of the jig was 1⁄16" bigger than planned. That translates to an error in each component of .0025", about half the thickness of the average human hair. Because the parts are all the same size, the joints produced fi t together Clamp the work securely to the miter gauge nicely, and if I hadn’t told you about and make certain the cut is within the waste Confi dence in cutting is the key to a success- area. ful joint, whether it is cut by eye or by jig. the variation, you wouldn’t notice it in the fi nished piece. If you’re trying to cut fi nger joints abandon fi nger joints after one or two grain to long-grain glue surface and with a fi xed-width cutter such as a dado tries, the exercise will expand your good mechanical strength. The only stack or router bit, that half-a-hair is woodworking vocabulary. You may weak area is the way the joint resembles about the outer limit of tolerance. If decide to move on to more attractive a hinge. A sharp impact directly on the you can’t set up, measure and adjust joinery, or you may decide that this corner can cause the joint to unfold or in those teeny increments, you’ll be is a worthy method for much of your come apart. Except for that disastrous dependent on luck alone to make a nice work. In either case, the effort will scenario it’s as strong as a joint can be, fi nger joint. But working to that degree make you a better woodworker. The and a good choice for small boxes and isn’t as hard as you might think. lessons learned in finger joints will drawers. serve well in other areas. The type of wood used will make a A Rout of Passage Finger joints are very strong. The difference in how forgiving the joint Making fi nger joints is a good oppor- amount of interlocking surface area is to put together. Softer , such tunity to develop skills. Even if you makes a corner with a large area of long- as or poplar, will compress when

12 ■ JOINERY BASICS

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 12 3/18/14 9:30 AM assembled. White oak or maple aren’t TABLE SAW FINGER JOINTS as cooperative, and may require more force to assemble, and more fi nesse to make the joint. This is a place where the science of the machinist and the art of the woodworker converge. The tolerances are close, but the joint should be made so that it can be assembled without resorting to clamps or ham- mer persuasion. The location of the sweet spot for fi tting will also vary with the width of the joint or the number of fi ngers. It’s a matter of compounding errors, and like compounding interest, a number that seems insignifi cant can grow large enough to defeat you. A handful of fi n- Jig construction for the table saw method The guide block must match the ger joints for a drawer is fairly easy. starts with cutting a notch in the plywood width of the slot exactly. It’s right when you A fi nger joint the size of those used backer that attaches to the miter gauge. can feel some resistance as you press it into the slot by hand. on the blanket chest (especially in a hard, unforgiving wood) is pushing the limits, but not beyond possibility for the careful craftsman. Consistency and repeatability is the key to fi nger joints. If you can cut accurately (and stay on the right side of the line) you can line up each cut individually. Attaching an L-shaped backer to the table saw’s miter gauge shows the exact location of the cut, and this can be used quite effectively to make precise cuts on the table saw. If the spacing of the fi ngers varies as shown, and you’re only making a few joints, this is a faster method than mak- ing a dedicated jig. An extra piece of hardwood is used to set the Regularly sized and spaced fi ngers distance between the blade and the other One half of the joint is cut against the guide shout for a jig. It’s fussy work, but repeti- block. Make it long enough to be held against block, forming a notch. The other half is held the blade front and back. away by the spacer, cutting out the corner. tious. The secret is to use a method that builds consistency into the process. If the work is small enough to safely travel vertically over the saw blade, the jig pictured at right is an old standby that works well.

Time-tested Method This is the classic method of producing a fi nger joint with a jig that attaches to the table saw miter gauge, and it works very well for small pieces. It’s reason- able to r un a drawer side vert ically over the table saw, but longer or wider work becomes unwieldy. If you’re uneasy about holding the work on the table Both pieces are cut at the same time. After As the cuts continue, each cut registers the saw, try the router jig on the next page. the fi rst cut, the pieces are placed with the next cut, and if the setup is correct, the work Because the table saw jig requires the notches over the guide block. proceeds quickly.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 13

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 13 3/18/14 9:30 AM saw to be set up with a dado head, cut A NEW WAY TO ROUT FINGER JOINTS all the parts you need before changing

over to the stack . You should 3⁄4"-thick backing strip prepare the parts for the jig, the parts 51⁄2"-long fi ngers you intend to join, and several extra pieces of stock for making test cuts. You’ll need a piece of plywood, at 23⁄4"-long spacers least 1⁄2" thick and about 6" x 12". In addition, you’ll need a piece of hard- wood the exact thickness of the width of the cut and about 12" long. I rip the hardwood a little thicker than neces- sary, then use a handplane to sneak up on a good fi t in the slot. It doesn’t hurt to have an extra piece on hand in case you go too far with the plane.

Simple Concept – Precise Execution After installing the stack dado head (we used 1⁄4", but the fingers can be any width) make certain the head of Stop the miter gauge is square to the blade and adjust the height of the blade to Backing board reduces tear-out the thickness of the parts to be joined. JIG Hold the plywood vertically against the miter gauge and make a cut near the end. The exact location isn’t critical, Fingers and spacers are all the same width, ensuring con- sistency. After the jig is assembled, the joints are cut with a 3 but leave at least ⁄4" to 1" beyond the router using a top-mounted bearing bit. cut. From here on, you need to be as precise as you can be. Reduce the thickness of the hard- hen we began to plan this together a jig that would perform wood guide block until you can press it Warticle, the emphasis on fi nger as well as anything available on the into the slot in the plywood. You need joints was a given, but the specifi c market. In less than an hour I had a only worry about the thickness, not techniques weren’t. We knew we working prototype of the jig we used. the width, as long as the width is less would feature the table saw and than the height of the slot. A set of cali- dado method for small parts, but we Rip the Strips pers will help in letting you know how weren’t comfortable larger We were after joints with 5⁄8"-wide close you are. If you measure your plane pieces that way. Our fi rst thought fi ngers and slots, so I began by rip- shaving, you will be able to predict the for large case pieces was to use a ping 1⁄2"-thick Baltic- plywood to size as you work, and you should check commercially made router jig. That that dimension. The reason for using the fit of the actual piece in the slot is indeed a workable solution, and the plywood was to eliminate wood frequently. many well-made jigs are on the movement from the equation. I made When the piece fits, cut a couple market. a couple test cuts and measured the inches off one end and glue it in the But it didn’t seem right to offer no results with calipers to get as close as slot. I use cyanoacrylate (CA) so I don’t other alternative than sending read- possible to the proper size. have to wait too long for the glue to dry, ers out to make an expensive pur- Ripping carefully from a wide but any will work. chase for a joint they will likely make piece of plywood stock yielded After letting the glue dry, place the only on an occasional basis. enough material to cut the 51⁄2"-long longer piece of hardwood against the Being of frugal stock, I decided fi ngers and the 23⁄4"-long spacers. edge of the dado stack. Slide the miter there must be another way. The key After cutting these parts to length, I gauge into position, then move the ply- to fi nger joints is equal sizes, and I attached the parts to a 23⁄4"-wide, 3⁄4"- wood laterally until the two hardwood realized that by making fi ngers and thick plywood backing strip with yel- sticks are touching along their lengths. spacers from stock ripped at the low glue and 23-gauge pins. I laid a Don’t throw the longer piece away; same time, I should be able to put few beads of glue on the strip, started you’ll need it again in a few minutes.

14 ■ JOINERY BASICS

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 14 3/18/14 9:30 AM with a long piece, and made sure the Or so I thought. The pieces from My instincts were good, but the bear- fi rst piece was squarely placed then my fi rst test cut went together too ing on the router bit destroyed the tape butted the parts against one another easily, leaving visible gaps at each while cutting the fi rst test joint. one at a time and nailed them down. joint. My quest for perfection was I headed down the street to the A longer 23⁄4"-wide piece was added almost foiled by router and router-bit local hardware store in search of below to stiffen the jig and provide a behavior. My measurements showed something thin, sticky and durable. place for clamping the jig to the bench. the bit and bearing to be the same The solution proved to be aluminum A larger piece of plywood was diameter, and the width of the fi ngers duct-sealing tape. This is not to be glued and screwed at a right angle to and spacers to be equal. But the act of confused with common duct tape. the backing strip. I placed the screws making the cuts produced slots a few Duct-sealing tape is much better. below the fi ngers so that I wouldn’t thousandths of an inch wider than the This tape is a thin metal foil with a cut into them with the router later on. fi ngers. very sticky back. I cut small pieces off This piece prevents the wood from This wasn’t entirely unexpected. the roll with an X-Acto knife, peeled tearing out on the back of the cuts, and To get a bit with a 1⁄2"-diameter cutter off the backing paper and placed provides a way to attach the work to and bearing, I had to use one with a a piece on the side of each fi nger. I the jig. One edge of the backer piece is 1⁄4"-diameter shank. Even with a pretty pressed the handle of the knife over aligned with the edge of the fi rst fi nger, good router and a quality bit, enough the tape to press it fi rmly in place. It and a small piece of scrap is attached runout existed to increase the width held up well during routing, and the to the edge to act as a stop. of the slots by a few thousandths of an $9 roll of tape is likely a lifetime supply Both panels of the joint are cut at inch. This error was consistent, and of an excellent shim material. once. The edge of one piece is placed rather than seek perfection where it Using a router bit with a smaller against the stop with the show side didn’t exist, I looked for an easy way to diameter than the fi ngers is an advan- out. The edge of the other is aligned make an adjustment to the jig. tage. As we experimented with differ- with the opposite side of the fi rst The fi ngers of the joints were ent techniques, we found we achieved fi nger, offsetting the joint one fi nger’s undersized, so either the long fi ngers the best results by pushing the spin- width. of the jig needed to be wider, or the ning bit straight in between the fi ngers Making the fi ngers of the jig the spacers in between narrower. Either to start each cut. This removed most of same size as the fi nished parts simpli- solution would mean taking the jig the waste without putting pressure on fi ed construction and reduced the apart and starting over. The fi rst step the fi ngers of the jig. chances of making an error in cal- was to see how much change was We then made two more passes, culating the difference between the needed, and answering that question holding the bearing against each fi nger diameter of a router bit and a template led to a fast and simple solution. to make a light, clean cut. Both sides guide. A 1⁄2"-diameter fl ush-trimming bit I put blue masking tape on the were cut by pushing the router into with a bearing mounted above the cut- sides of each fi nger. My guess was the the jig instead of coming in on the left ter would trim the work exactly to the thickness of the tape would move the side and out on the right. This reduces edges of the jig. router bit enough to obtain a good fi t. tear-out that otherwise might occur as

Second workpiece fl ush to the edge of the jig

Stop

The fi rst workpiece is placed with the end The second piece is placed over the fi rst, with Dial calipers will help you zero in on the exact tight against the bottom of the fi ngers, and the the left side fl ush against the outer edge of the measurement you need. left end against the stop. fi rst fi nger on the jig.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 15

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 15 3/18/14 9:31 AM A NEW WAY TO ROUT FINGER JOINTS (CONTINUED) the router bit exits the work on the This was far easier than trying to the width of a fi nger. right-hand side of the slot. This may hold the workpieces upright while I considered buying some alumi- seem like extra work, but the fi nal aligning and clamping them to the jig. num bar stock to make a permanent two cleanup passes take little time Fitting the end of the workpieces tight version of this jig – one that would and produce cleaner edges. against the bottom of the fi ngers is last forever and be incredibly adjust- With the large pieces of the critical to obtaining a good joint. able for any size of box or fi nger blanket chest, it was easier to place Ideally, the width of the work confi guration. Luckily, I was talked the backing piece of the jig fl at on should be some multiple of the fi nger out of that notion by a co-worker the bench, clamp the work to the width. This leaves the joint with a who pointed out that it was so fast jig, then turn the jig and the work whole fi nger or whole space at either and simple to put together this jig together to a vertical position before side. The stop can be positioned to that it made more sense just to build clamping the jig to the bench and leave a partial fi nger at each end, as a new iteration whenever the need routing the joints. long as the second piece is offset by occurred. — RL

Assembly is simply a matter of gluing and nailing the fi ngers and spac- ers to a plywood strip. After making sure the fi rst fi nger is square, butt Aluminum duct-sealing tape closes the gap caused by router and bit one piece against another and in place. runout, and holds up well in use.

Clamp the plywood to the miter gauge and to the plywood attached to the I prefer to cut the entire width of the and secure it with a couple pan head miter gauge, allows you to make the joint before making a test fi t. screws. If all went well, you’ll be in the fi rst cut safely. You won’t have to worry There are three possible outcomes. right position. If not, the fl at areas un- about the pieces slipping, and you can In the best case, the two parts of the der the heads will let you move concentrate on moving the miter gauge joint will come together with hand the plywood side to side for a fi ne ad- smoothly forward with your hands pre ssure only and have no v isible gaps. justment. away from the dado stack. If the joint won’t go together at all, the After making the fi rst cut, set the fi ngers are wider than the slots. To cor- First Cut – Testing, Testing spacer aside. Each succeeding cut is rect this, loosen the screws holding Both halves of a joint are cut at the made by placing the notch just made the plywood to the miter gauge, and same time. One piece is held against over the hardwood, as seen in the pho- move the plywood so that the hard- the hardwood protruding from the tos on the facing page. The spacer will wood guide is closer to the blade. plywood, and the other piece is offset keep the work from slipping sideways, If the fi t is sloppy, the fi ngers are by the width of the slot. The extra piece so you don’t need to use a clamp after too small, and the plywood needs to of hardwood is used as a spacer to align the fi rst cut. You can pause after the fi rst be moved in the opposite direction. the parts for the fi rst cut. few passes to see if the fi ngers and slots When adjusting either way, use the Clamping the two pieces together, fi t together, but it goes fast enough that extra hardwood spacer as an aid. It’s

16 ■ JOINERY BASICS

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 16 3/18/14 9:31 AM the fi ngers and that can keep the joint from going together. Or the glue can begin to dry on one end before you have fi nished spreading the glue. One solution is to partially assem- ble the joint, and apply the glue with a brush. If it’s a large assembly, use a slow-setting glue such as liquid hide glue or polyurethane glue, and clamp the corners one at a time. An alternative we found is to as- semble and clamp the joint without glue. Thin CA glue is then applied along the outer intersections of the joint and allowed to wick into the joints. Set one side of the joint horizontally, apply the glue and wait about fi ve minutes before turning the work and gluing the op- posite side. With this technique the glue won’t dry instantly, but if left for a few hours it This may look crazy, but it works. Thin cyanoacrylate glue will wick into the joint after it is w ill become as st rong as a convent ion- clamped together and hold as well as any other method of gluing. ally glued joint. We tried this method with some easy for something to slip a little as you test isn’t quite where I want it, I trim other glues, including thin PVAs in- hold things in position and tighten the a couple inches or so off the ends and tended for fi xing loose joints in chairs. screws. When you’re happy with the fi t, try again. This leaves enough to have The “Chair Doctor” produced a strong making the joints goes quickly, and as assembled joints to see if I’m really joint, but sealed the end grain enough long as the parts are the same width, making progress, but doesn’t waste that it showed when the joint was fi n- there aren’t many things that can go material unnecessarily. ished. The C A glue left no v isible t race s wrong. A similar jig can also be used after the completed joint was trimmed on a router table. A Crazy (Glue) Solution with a block plane. PWM The downside to the fi nger joint is that

Better Way for Bigger Boxes it t ake s some t ime to apply glue dur ing Robert is executive editor of Popular Woodworking On larger work, a better approach is to assembly. Water-based glues will swell Magazine. build a jig for moving the tool across the work. The fi rst choice for this is the router instead of the table saw. Our solution is the shop-made jig on the two previous pages. Equal-width material for the fi ngers and spacers is the key element to this jig. It is quick to assemble, adaptable to any practical width, and with a bit of tweaking is incredibly accurate. Though fi nger joints look complex, the idea is that the cuts be made effi - ciently. With many joints, the bulk of your time will be in tweaking the fi t after machining. The opposite is true of fi nger joints; take your time getting set up to make the cuts so they will fi t nicely directly from the machine. Make extra pieces to test your jig, your setup and your technique. I start with two pieces of stock, and if the fi rst The fi nal step is to trim the surfaces of the joint fl ush. Close cutting will mean little trimming.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 17

11_1406_RA_FingerJoints.indd 17 3/18/14 9:31 AM Mitered Half-lap Joinery BY GLEN D. HUEY With a router, straight bit and plywood scrap, turn a weak joint into a superhero of strength.

One of the strongest joints in woodworking is a properly fi t mortise- and-tenon and the opposite in strength is a simple . For years I built base frames with mortise-and-tenon joints at the rear and mitered corners at the front. The miters were joined with biscuits. The rear joints were much stronger, so I wanted to add strength to those mitered front corners, but how? Not with mechanical fasteners; screws were out. I needed something quick to create and when assembled, I wanted the joint to retain a mitered look. The answer was a mitered half-. With a half-lap, there is plenty of fl at- grain glue surface, and that increases the holding power, big time.

Tools for the Task Quick means simple in my book, so if a bunch of tools are needed, forget it. Goodbye, handtools. The process I came up with works with a router, a straight bit and a piece of plywood that’s a couple inches wider than your work- piece and long enough so it’s easy to add clamps. Trim one end of the plywood Mitered joints are a common woodworking joint. Most are splined to a 45º angle to make things easier. or joined with biscuits and lack real With this technique, the router strength. With a quick setup that sits on top of the workpiece and uses your router, you can master the kisses the fence on the fi nal pass. It’s mitered half-lap. When assembled, best to have a straight edge on your this joint rivals a tightly fi t mortise- and-tenon. router’s base plate, or make sure you have accurately adjusted a round base plate so the bit is centered. An off- even a top-mount bearing-guided bit ished length. For a base frame, miter center base plate, depending on how you works. A smaller-diameter bit is a bit the ends of the front rail at 45º – the hold t he router each t ime it’s picked up, easier to use, but because the cut is most adjoining returns are left square. allows the possibility that you’ll miss the often 3⁄8" in depth (half the thickness), Chuck a straight bit into the router layout line as you plow out the waste. a larger diameter bit is no problem. and set the depth of cut very shallow. The straight bit can be any straight Grab a couple pieces of scrap and bit t hat you have in your arsenal. You’re Keep the Players Straight position one on top of the other leaving only going to use the end of the bit, so To begin, cut your pieces to their fi n- a few inches to the right of the top piece,

18 ■ JOINERY BASICS LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

18_1406_RA_MiteredHalfLaps.indd 18 3/18/14 9:34 AM The key to this technique is accuracy. Find the precise offset measure- Whether it’s an angled line on a square end or a square line on an ment through a sample cut to ensure you’ll have a perfect fi t. angled end, the offset line is king. Plus it’s where to position your fence.

If you’re comfortable with your router abilities, remove waste using a With accurate layout and routing, the completed portion is perfectly climb-cut, as well as in the traditional left-to-right manner. cut to accept its half-lap mate.

Layout is key. Form the half-lap on base tight to the plywood. At the end the wrong face of the pieces and you’ll of the cut, the router base plate hangs lose the mitered look, so mark the faces mostly off the edge of the workpiece, to remove t he bottom half of t he miter- so maintain pressure to keep the plate cut end and the upper half of the square- tight on the workpiece. cut ends. To clean the bottom waste from the Draw an angled line (45º) on the miter-cut piece, align your fence with squared ends beginning at the corner the square offset line, hold the bottom then square a line across the mitered edge fl ush with the workpiece then nib- ends beginning at the edge of the cut. ble away the waste. Work slowly from Draw a second line, offset by the ear- the point to the fence. lier measurement (the one I told you to With the waste material removed remember), that’s parallel to the fi rst from both workpieces, your joint will It’s easy to allow the router to tip into the cut lines. slip together with both shoulders portion as you work. Keep downward pres- Position your plywood fence at the tight. The increased glue surface adds sure on the base plate with one hand while second layout line with the angled end strength to the joint and when viewed steering the router with other. toward the mitered end of your work- from the top, the joint appears to be piece. Hold the fence fl ush with the bot- mitered. This is a great technique for as shown above right. This makeshift tom edge of the workpiece then clamp base frames, picture frames or any- fence allows you to fi nd the exact offset the fence in place. where else your woodworking calls from the edge of your base plate to the After you adjust the bit to remove for a mitered corner. PWM edge of the straight bit. Make one pass half the thickness of your workpiece, with the base riding along the fence then nibble away the waste beginning at Glen is the former managing editor of Popular Wood- measure the distance from the fence to the end of the workpiece and working working Magazine, and now the editor of American Woodworker. the dado. This is the offset measure- toward the plywood fence. ment. Remember it. On your last pass, hold the router

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18_1406_RA_MiteredHalfLaps.indd 19 3/18/14 9:34 AM Cut Accurate & Clean Rabbets BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ Discover three methods: by router, by table saw and with hand tools.

When I was taught to cut rab- bet s in my fi rst woodworking class, we made them with two cuts on the table saw. You’ve probably seen this tech- nique in books and magazines before. For the fi rst cut, the work is fl at on the table. For the second cut, you stand the work on edge and press it against the fence as you move the work over the blade. The waste falls away and your joint is complete. I’ve always struggled with this tech- nique. It never seemed to produce a perfect rabbet every time. The tech- nique does have its strengths: Most woodworkers have a table saw and a rip blade to make t he cut; when it work s, it does produce a nice smooth joint. But after years of doing it this way, I con- cluded that this technique has several serious weaknesses: ■ St anding t he work on edge require s a tall rip fence, perfect balance on your part and a zero-clearance insert in your saw’s throat plate. ■ The joint is time-consuming be- cause it almost always requires two saw setups and several test pieces to get it just right. ■ You have to move the saw’s guard out of the way for the second cut, no matter which brand of guard you have on your saw. So we decided to look for a better way to make rabbets. We found two good methods. The fi rst uses two scraps and a dado st ack. The second is an improved two-step process that’s virtually fool- proof. But before we get to that, a quick

20 ■ JOINERY BASICS LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

20_1406_RA_Rabbets.indd 20 3/18/14 9:37 AM Depth

Accessory fence

Width Rabbets can be cut with the grain or across it.

explanation on why other methods aren’t as great.

Rabbets by Hand Take Great Aluminum T-track Skill Rabbets are one of the fi rst joints wood- An accessory fence on your table saw’s rip fence allows you to make perfect rabbets with one workers learn. Try building any sort of machine setup and almost always in one pass. Put enough chippers on the arbor to make your 5 cabinet or shelf without it and you’ll cut and add one more. So if you’re making ⁄8"-wide rabbets, install enough chippers to make a 3⁄4"-wide cut. Bury the last 1⁄8" in the accessory fence. know immediately how essential this simple open trench is. The perfect rabbet should have I consider this a technique that’s best pass and it w ill bog dow n or even stall square shoulders and a flat bottom. for the hand-tool enthusiast; it does in the cut. And the cut should be smooth. You take some skill. Most woodworkers A router also is noisier than a table shouldn’t see marks from the tooling on are going to opt for an electron-eating saw, and large cabinet pieces become the joint except on close inspection. If solut ion w it h an easier lear ning cur ve, unwieldy when you try to maneuver any of these elements of the joint are off, such as with the router or table saw. them on the router table. You could you can be in trouble at assembly time. cut smaller rabbets on small pieces on If the joint’s shoulders aren’t square, Routers Aren’t for Everything the router table (drawers are about the you likely are going to have an ugly The router table was my fi rst choice right scale for most router tables). But gap between the rabbeted piece and for a couple of reason s: Router cut s are here’s how I feel about that: Learn the its mate. Or worse, you will close the exceptionally clean and maintaining rabbeting process on one machine and joint but the case will not be square. the squareness of the joint’s shoulders then do it over and over the same way so If the cut is rough, has burn marks is no problem. you become an expert at that process. or is inconsistent, it will be diffi cult to But after cutting a lot of rabbets Jumping around from technique to completely close the joint with clamps. on my router table, I concluded that technique w ill only slow your progre ss Plus, a rough rabbet isn’t going to be routers are not the best choice for all- as you learn the subtleties of each. as good a glue joint as a smooth one. around casework rabbet ing. It sound s Some people use their and Before power tools, woodworkers like blasphemy, but here’s what I con- its rabbeting ledge to cut this joint. The made rabbet s w it h hand tools, such as cluded: Most routers actually are quite jointer is a powerful machine, and this a rabbet ing plane. I’ve done it t his way, underpowered for the job, so you end technique actually works pretty well and it works great – once you master a up cutting your projects’ joints in small, for narrow stock such as face frames couple of skills. Before you can cut this time-consuming nibbles. and door parts. But try to rabbet the end joint with a rabbeting plane, you need A 11⁄2-horsepower router does not of a 30" x 20" cabinet side and you’ll to learn to tune the tool and sharpen deliver the same sustainable torque that see why this isn’t the way most people the iron. This is no small feat for a be- a 11⁄2-hp contractor saw does (no mat- prefer to cut rabbets. ginning woodworker. Then, once you ter what the tool’s label or packaging So I went back to the table saw, have a tool that works, there are two says). Part of the problem is marketing which has guts galore and a big table, settings that are paramount: the depth hype among the router manufacturers, to see if I could fi nd a different way to stop, which limits how deep the rabbet and part of the problem is in the way skin this wily animal. is, and the fence on the side, which a universal router motor is built com- controls the joint’s width. With these pared to a traditional induction motor Single Setup with Dado Stack two set, you then make passes until on a contractor saw. The bottom line One nice thing about making a rab- the tool stops cutting – then your joint is this: Ask a typical router to hog out bet on the router table is that you can is complete. a 3⁄4"-wide x 3⁄8"-deep rabbet in one (within reason) do it with a single

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20_1406_RA_Rabbets.indd 21 3/18/14 9:37 AM the depth of cut with a rule or dial calipers all along the joint to make sure your featherboard is pressing down hard enough to prevent the work from rising during the cut. If the joint is in- consistent, increase the tension on your feather- board or push the work a little harder against the saw’s table. Sometimes taking a second pass will fi x your problem. While that’s not ideal, it’s worth a try if The height of the dado stack determines the The distance from the top of the left tooth to the fence deter- you are stuck and out of depth of the fi nished rabbet. This is 1⁄2". mines the width. This is 3⁄4". options. Remember: Any cup tool setup. You can control the width featherboard’s position. That’s mighty or warp in your workpiece can ruin and depth of the joint simultaneously, handy when dealing with project parts the accuracy. And plywood is not al- tweaking the height of the bit and the that are of different thicknesses. ways as fl at as we would like it to be. fence (which exposes the tooling) until Now you’re ready to make rabbets. If you’re having trouble getting a con- the joint is just right. Using a 6" rule, set the height of the sistent joint, check the work to see if To do this same thing on the table dado stack to equal the depth of the it’s cupped or warped. saw you need two things: a stack dado rabbet you want to cut. (Tip: Spend When crosscutting rabbets across set and a long length of plywood you some time fi nding the point where your the grain, you have two choices: Use a can clamp over the working surface of blade’s teeth are at their highest. When miter gauge if the stock is narrow or, your rip fence. The wood allows you to you’ve found that sweet spot, mark it for pieces wider than 8", use the rip “bury” the dado stack in the fence so on your table saw’s throat insert; I use fence and a backing block behind the it will work like the fence on a router a scratch awl. In the future, you can work. A backing block will stabilize table. just set your ruler on that mark and the part during the cut. You don’t want This accessory fence should be measure. You’ll be amazed how much to use a backing block to cut narrow straight, at least 1⁄2" thick and as long time this saves you.) pieces because the work could slide as the table saw’s rip fence. Plywood is Next, set the saw’s rip fence to ex- right into the cavity in the accessory a logical choice of material because it pose enough of t he dado st ack to make fence. And that’s when you’ll fi nd out doesn’t tend to warp. the width of your rabbet. With practice, how tough the anti-kickback fi ngers The fi rst time you use this acces- you can almost always hit that measure- on your featherboard are. sory fence, lower the dado stack below ment exactly on the fi rst try. To rabbet t he end s of large case side s the surface of your saw’s table. Next, Lock the height of the arbor on your you’ll defi nitely have to forego t he miter clamp the accessory fence to your . This is e specially import ant if you gauge. Using a backing block here will fence and then position it so that about own a benchtop or contractor saw. In reduce the chance that you’ll tear out 1⁄8" of it covers t he blade s below. Then, smaller saws, the mere force of the cut the grain when your work exits the turn on the saw and slowly raise the can cause the arbor to creep downward. dado stack. As with ripping operations, blades into the fence until you’ve cut If it creeps just a bit, that’s the worst. making a second pass sometimes helps away about 1⁄4". You might not fi nd out about the prob- ensure your cuts are more consistent. Another necessity to ensure an accu- lem until assembly. As a bonus, you can cut rabbets this rate and safe cut is to use a featherboard Turn on the saw. Follow the same way with an overarm guard in place. that presses the work against the table. rules you do when ripping or crosscut- Because the guard obscures the blades, There are lots of commercial feather- ting. If it’s a ripping operation, you can we’ve removed it for these photos, but it boards available, or you can certainly simply press the work against the fence is an important part of the setup. make your own. As you can see from and push it through the blades. The As much as I like this technique, it the photo at right, I also added an alu- same goes for work that is square or isn’t perfect. When crosscutting against minum T-track (in a rabbet, no less) nearly square (such as the side of a base the grain, the cut is a bit rougher than if that allows me to quickly adjust the cabinet). After your fi rst pass, check you used a router, though I can’t report

22 ■ JOINERY BASICS

20_1406_RA_Rabbets.indd 22 3/18/14 9:38 AM any gluing problems with the joints cut one pass without taxing the machine to cleanly remove the wood fi bers; this using a dado stack. Cuts with the grain, or the tooling. will produce “V”-shaped channels in on the other hand, are quite smooth. your work. Other blades, such as those Another cause for concern is your Fixing the Two-step Process with a triple-chip grind, will create saw’s motor. Benchtop saws don’t really There also is a way to modify the two- even more problems, so stick with a have t he g ut s to make casework rabbet s step method on the table saw to make rip blade. (plus many don’t have a mechanism to it work well for beginners or people To set the rip fence, measure from lock the height of the arbor – a major uncomfortable with balancing pieces the outside or left edge of the teeth to problem). In fact, the fences of benchtop on edge. The trick is a featherboard. the rip fence until you get the desired saws usually are too inaccurate to cut (The word “featherboard” doesn’t really width of your rabbet. Lock the fence the joint using the two-step process do it justice. In our shop, we call it the down. Then use your 6" rule to set the mentioned earlier. If you own a bench- “motherboard.”) blade height so it equals the depth of top saw, you should consider cutting The “motherboard,” shown in the the rabbet. Again, marking the highest your joints on a router table. photos below, needs to press the work projection of your saw blade’s teeth on However, larger saws, such as con- against the rip fence right over the your saw’s throat plate will save you tractor- and cabinet-style saws, usually blade, so it looks a little different than hundreds of test cuts per year. breeze through these joints in one easy the one used with the dado stack. This Make a test cut with the work fl at on pass over the dado stack. “motherboard” is used only on the sec- the saw’s table, as shown in the photo All things considered, I found that ond pass. below left. If you like, you can use a maneuvering workpieces on the larger The fi rst pass defi nes the width and featherboard to hold the work fl at on table of the table saw is easier than cut- the depth of the rabbet. Use a saw blade the table, similar to the way I did it with ting the same size pieces on the router with teeth that are fl at on top, such as the dado stack setup shown on page 10. table. Plus, the power of the table saw a ripping blade. A crosscut blade has With your first cut complete, set made the cuts easy to accomplish in teeth that score the work like a knife up your saw to remove the rest of the

For crosscutting across the grain, use the miter gauge for narrow pieces The same rules for ripping and crosscutting apply to rabbeting. For rip- or use the rip fence and a backing block (to prevent tear-out) for larger ping cuts with the grain, use the fence to guide your cut. pieces.

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20_1406_RA_Rabbets.indd 23 3/18/14 9:38 AM When making the cut in two stages, the fi rst This featherboard, which holds the work The “motherboard” keeps everything in place cut defi nes both the width and depth of your steady and against the fence, is the key to rab- during the second pass. The result is a clean joint. Keep your work tight against the fence. beting on the table saw in two steps. and accurate rabbet.

waste from the rabbet. The critical di- want them to ride on as much table two-step method is a sound alternative. mension is the distance between the surface as possible. The stock throat We decided to find out which of fence and the blade. In essence, this insert that comes with most saws is these techniques some beginning distance is the amount of wood you too wide for this job. woodworkers preferred – sometimes want to remain on your piece when Set up your feat herboard so it pre ss- people who are new to the craft are more the joint is complete. For example: You es the work against the fence but above intimidated by a certain technique than want to cut a rabbet that’s 1⁄4" deep in a the blade. It should allow the work to veterans. After a day of cutting rabbets 3⁄4"-thick piece of wood. To make the pass through the blade but keep it both ways, the two beginning wood- second pass, you should set your fence fi rmly against the fence. workers in our workshop were able to so there’s exactly 1⁄2" between the blade With the featherboard set, the cut make amazingly accurate rabbets using and the fence. When you set the blade’s is reasonably safe: The board will not both techniques. height, adjust it until it trims away the tend to tip and the blade is buried safely The only notable difference was that waste but no higher. Your fi rst cut al- in the work. the dado-stack method required a little ready defi ned the corner of the rabbet. more upper body strength to keep the It’s important that the waste falls to And the Winner is ... work to the table – though the begin- the outside of the blade. If the waste gets I’ve cut hundreds of rabbets using both ners were enamored w it h t he simplicit y trapped between the blade and fence of these setups and I generally prefer of using just one pass. The two-step it w ill shoot back at you when it is cut. using the dado stack method because it method required a bit more fi nesse, This can be less than ideal, depending has one saw setup and the cut is made one more setup and a little math. I tend on where you’re standing. in a single pass. to avoid math when possible, so my The other important point here is I also like being able to use our over- preference was no real surprise. PWM that you should either make or invest arm guard during the cut, as well as in a zero-clearance throat insert for work with the parts fl at on the table at Christopher is a regular contributor to Popular Wood- your table saw. When you balance your all times. But if you don’t have a dado working Magazine and the publisher at Lost Art Press parts on edge for this second pass, you stack (good ones start at about $90), the (lostartpress.com).

24 ■ JOINERY BASICS

20_1406_RA_Rabbets.indd 24 3/18/14 9:38 AM Dovetailed Plane Cabinet BY CHRISTOPHER SCHWARZ Practice your joinery with this handsome storage piece.

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25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 25 3/18/14 9:40 AM O n certain holidays, such as The lid is a fl at-panel door assembled Lay out the joints using the illustra- New Year’s Day, craftsmen in Japan using mortise-and-tenon construction. tion at right, a marking gauge, a square clean their tools, put them on a shrine And the dividers inside the cabinet are and a sliding bevel square set for 7°. I and offer them gifts such as sake and screwed together so the confi guration strike the lines with a and rice cakes. It is their way of thanking can be rearranged easily as my collec- color them in a bit with a mechanical the tools for the service they have pro- tion (or needs) change. pencil. The pencil marks help me see the vided and will provide in future days. As you design your own version of line and the knife lines keep me accu- A s my ow n collect ion of handplane s this cabinet, you should measure your rate. In fact, once you get some practice grew from a few rusty specimens hand- planes to ensure there’s enough space sawing, you should be able to easily ed down from my great-grandfather for everything you own, or plan to own. remove the pencil marks from only one to a small arsenal of new high-quality This cabinet should provide plenty of side of your knife line s. It sound s cra z y, instruments, this Japanese tradition room for all but the largest collections. but it’s actually not that hard. began to weigh heavily on my mind. There are many ways to remove the My planes generally squatted on my Dovetails with the Pins First waste from between your saw’s kerf when not in use, and I had to Because of all the cast iron and steel in lines. Some just chop it away directly con st ant ly move t hem around to avoid handplanes, the cabinet’s carcase needs with a chisel and a sharp blow from a knocking them to the fl oor as I worked. to be as stout as possible to resist the mallet. I fi nd that I’m sharpening my After some thought, I decided that st re ss t hat all t his weight w ill put on t he chisels less if I saw out most of the waste a cabinet dedicated to my planes was corners. In my opinion, the through- and chop out the little bit that’s left. the best way to protect them from dings dovetail is the only joint for this job. A saw with a fi ne-tooth blade and to thank them for the service they Whether you choose to cut pins or works well, as does a jeweler’s fret saw. provide almost every day of the year. tails fi rst (or use a dovetail jig and a When you chop out the waste, be This piece is designed to be used router) is up to you. Usually I cut the sure to stand so you can see the profi le either as a traditional tool chest that sits tails fi rst, but I try to keep an open mind of your chisel – it must be per pendicu- on a bench or as a cabinet that hangs about different techniques. So for a lar to the work. I use a standard bevel- on the wall on a tough French cleat. year I built as many things as I could edge chisel for t his operat ion. Just make Because planes are heavy tools, the by cutting the pins fi rst – this is one of sure that if you do the same that your case is joined using through-dovetails. those projects. chisel can be st r uck by a mallet w it hout splitting the handle. Next you need to mark out t he mat- ing part of the joint by using the fi rst half of the joint as a template. Here’s the main diffi culty you’ll encounter by cutting the pins fi rst: You have to balance the pin board on edge to mark out the tail portion of the joint. With a small case it’s manageable. But with a dresser it can be tricky. Mark the joints with a sharp knife followed by a pencil. Then cut the tails. For this project I tried a technique you might want to take for a spin: As you can see from the photo on the top right of page 29, I skewed the tail board in my v ise so I was saw ing st raight dow n instead of at a 7° angle. I think this is a good trick for beginners as it makes it easier to track your lines. However, you have to shift the board 7° the other way for the other half of your cuts, so it’s a bit more work. At this point you have to pay close attention to your lines or your joint will have a sloppy fi t. Saw on the waste

26 ■ JOINERY BASICS LEAD PHOTOS BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 26 3/18/14 9:40 AM Mark the length of your pins and tails. There’s a debate as to whether you should mark exactly how long you want Once the cut is started, hold the saw like you them, a little less or a little would hold a small bird that you’re trying to more. I prefer to mark them prevent from fl ying away. Don’t clench the 1⁄32" longer so the ends are handle; just keep enough pressure to avoid proud when assembled. losing control. And never apply much down- Then I plane them fl ush after ward pressure as you saw – this will cause gluing. your blade to drift.

With the pins defi ned, get out a with a fi ne-tooth blade and Clamp your pin board to a piece of scrap and remove the rest of the remove as much waste as you can. The closer you get to the scribed waste using a sharp chisel and a mallet. I sneak up on the line on one line at the bottom of the joint, the less cleanup you’ll have with a chisel. side, then on the other, then clean up any junk in the middle. Clean out But if you overshoot your line, you’re cooked. the corners of the pins using a sharp knife.

side of the line, leaving the pencil line intact. This makes the joint just a little 1⁄4" 1 7° typ. tight – something you can tweak by ⁄8" 1" 1 ⁄8" 1" paring with a chisel. 1 ∕2" 1" Use a coping saw to remove most of 1 ⁄8" 1" the waste between the tails and chop 1⁄8" 1 1" the rest of the waste away with a chisel. ⁄4" 1" Now you’re ready for a dry run. Ease the inside edges of the tails just a bit with a knife. If the joint is too tight, try shaving off a bit on the inside faces of the pins – parts that won’t show in the completed joint. 71∕2" Bottom & Assembly Cut the remainder of your dovetails and mill the 1⁄4"-deep x 1⁄2" for the plywood back/bottom. I milled this groove using a plunge router, a DOVETAIL LAYOUT

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25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 27 3/18/14 9:40 AM 237∕8" SOLE FOR SMOOTHING 1 14 ∕8" 91∕4" hen using a to prepare 1 7 9 ∕2" 13 ∕8" Wwood for fi nishing, you’ll get better results if the plane’s sole is waxed. The wax lubricates 1 F 3 ∕8" G H G the sole and allows the plane to skim over the work. You’ll use less effort and the end result 21∕2" H L looks better because you’re less likely to stall during the cut. I use inexpensive canning wax 151∕2" 21∕2" H L found at any grocery store that costs a few dollars for a box. Apply the wax in the pattern shown M K 21∕4" 3" J below (keep it off the iron; that will change how the plane cuts). Then start working until you feel 3 F 21∕8" 1 ∕8" the plane becoming harder to move. Just reapply the wax and get back to work. — CS 103∕8" 13" ELEVATION – INTERNAL DIVIDERS

263∕8"

71∕2" A

1"

271∕8" 3 PLAN – DOOR REMOVED ∕8"x 1" door edging - top and two sides only See cleat 1" detail 3 1" 71∕2" 26 ∕8" 3∕8"

3"

3 B 17" 17 ∕8" 17" 11" 17"

C

3"

1 3" N PROFILE – 2 ∕2" DOOR REMOVED SECTION

3∕4"stiles and rails Q SUPPLIES 11" 3∕8"panel Lee Valley Tools P P leevalley.com or 800-871-8158 2 ■ Forged fl ush rings, 11⁄2" x 2", #00L02.02, $28.30 ea. 2 ■ Chest handles, #06W03.01, $14.50/pair 3" N 2 ■ 2 1⁄2" non-mortise hinges, #00H51.13, $2.30 ea. Local home-supply store 3∕8" 2" 223∕8" 2" 2 ■ Magnetic catches Prices correct at time of publication ELEVATION

28 ■ JOINERY BASICS

25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 28 3/18/14 9:41 AM Pin board

Tail board Transfer the lines on your tail board across the end using a square. Put your tail board on the bench with its inside face pointing up. Posi- Clamp the tail board in a vise. You can see how I skewed the board tion its mate on top of it and mark the locations of the tails using a knife, in my vise so I’m actually cutting straight down. Angle the board one followed by a mechanical pencil. Be careful not to shift either board direction and make half of the tail cuts, then reverse the angle for the during this step. If you do, erase your lines and start anew. other cuts. Remember to cut ever-so-slightly outside of the lines.

Outside face

Backing block

Remove the waste from the outside face of the board fi rst, then remove Now it’s time for a test fi t. Assemble the joint using a deadblow mallet the rest from the inside face. This will result in a neater joint if the grain and a backing block to distribute your blows across the entire joint. buckles while you are chopping it. Again, clean up your corners with a You should be able to push the mating pieces together most of the way knife. using only hand pressure, plus a few taps to seat it in place.

straight bit and an edge guide. Make Dovetailed Plane Cabinet sure you put the groove 1⁄2" in from the NO. LET. ITEM DIMENSIONS (INCHES) MATERIAL COMMENTS T W L bottom edge of t he side s to make room for the French cleat that attaches the CARCASE cabinet to the wall (if you’re hanging ❏ 2 A Top, bottom 3⁄4 71⁄2 263⁄8 Cherry Cut 1⁄16" long this cabinet on a wall). ❏ 2 B Sides 3⁄4 71⁄2 17 Cherry Cut 1⁄16" long Before you assemble the case with ❏ 1 C Back/bottom 1⁄2 16 253⁄8 Plywood In 1⁄4"-deep groove glue, use a smoothing plane to prepare ❏ 1 D French cleat for case 1⁄2 21⁄2 247⁄8 Maple 45° bevel on one edge all the inside surfaces of the carcase for fi nishing – including the bottom ❏ 1 E French cleat for wall 1⁄2 21⁄2 227⁄8 Maple 45° bevel on one edge piece. I sharpen a gentle camber on the DIVIDERS cutting edge of the blade (about .002") ❏ 2 F Top, bottom 1⁄2 21⁄2 237⁄8 Maple and set the plane to take a very fi ne ❏ 2 G Sides 1⁄2 21⁄2 151⁄2 Maple shaving, about .001" thick. This creates ❏ 3 H Horizontal dividers 1⁄2 21⁄2 237⁄8 Maple a surface that generally needs little or ❏ 1 J Horizontal divider 1⁄2 21⁄2 103⁄8 Maple no sanding, especially with wood that ❏ 1 K Horizontal divider 1⁄2 21⁄2 13 Maple has mild, easy-to-plane grain. Once you glue up the case, trim the ❏ 2 L Vertical dividers 1⁄2 21⁄2 21⁄2 Maple dovetail joints fl ush to the outside and ❏ 1 M Vertical divider 1⁄2 21⁄2 47⁄8 Maple use a smoothing plane to prepare the DOOR exterior of the case for fi nishing. ❏ 2 N Rails 3⁄4 3 243⁄8 Cherry Cut long to fi t cabinet ❏ 2 P Stiles 3⁄4 2 17 Cherry Cut long to fi t cabinet Build the Door ❏ 1 Q Panel 3⁄8 12 233⁄8 Poplar In 3⁄8" x 1⁄2" groove With the glue dry and the case com- ❏ Moulding 3⁄8 1 65 Cherry 1⁄4" roundover on one edge plete, measure its width and length to determine exactly how big your door

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25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 29 3/18/14 9:41 AM should be. You want the door to over- The rule of thumb is that your ten- hang the case by 1⁄16" on either end and ons’ thickness should be one-half the 1⁄16" on the front, so size your door’s thickness of your stock. The doors are rails and stiles accordingly. 3⁄4" thick, so the tenons are 3⁄8" thick As much as I enjoy handwork, I with 3⁄16" shoulders on the face cheeks. decided to cut the mortise-and-tenon Now install a dado stack in your joints for the frame-and-panel door table saw. These tenons are 1" long, using my “tailed apprentices” (my so I like to put in enough chippers to power tools). I begin making this clas- make a 5⁄8"-wide cut in one pass. Set the You can see the pencil lines on the tails and sic housed joint by cutting a sample height of the dado stack to 3⁄16" and set how the ends of the pins and tails stick up a bit on the completed joint. This makes it mortise with my mortising machine. the fence so it’s 1" away from the left- easier to trim them fl ush, but more diffi cult to Then I cut all the tenons using a dado most tooth of your dado stack. Make clamp during glue-up. stack installed in my table saw. several passes over the blade to remove

Cut the groove for the 1⁄2"-thick bottom in two passes using a plunge On the tail boards, you need to stop the groove in one of the tails as router outfi tted with a straight bit and an edge guide. On the pin boards, shown. The dovetail layout shown in the illustration allows you to put you can cut the groove through the ends because it won’t show. the groove solidly into a tail. PLANES AT REST: ON THEIR SOLES OR ON THEIR SIDES?

ne of the big debates among ting dinged by another tool on the Oplane users is whether to place bench. What about the iron getting the tools on their soles or their sides pushed up into the plane’s body? If when they are not in use. Traditional you think about this statement for carpenters place the tools on their a moment, you’ll see how ridicu- sides to protect the iron from get- lous it is. The plane’s iron is secured ting dinged. Many woodworkers tightly enough in the plane’s body to have picked up this tradition and it’s withstand enormous pressure as the frequently passed on from teacher to plane is pushed through the work. student (as it was to me). It should be child’s play for the iron But it might not be necessary. grit and gravel that could cover any to stay in one place with only the A couple of years ago I was con- fl at surface in a newly built home. weight of the plane pushing it down. vinced by a fellow craftsman that Also, carpenters say that putting Other woodworkers have come it’s better to place planes on their planes on their sides prevents the up with other solutions that work, soles when you are working at your iron from being pushed back into too, including placing the planes bench. Here’s the rationale. The old the plane’s body, which is what sole-down over the tool well of carpenter’s rule applied to work on could happen when a plane is rested their bench. Or they rest the sole on the job site, where you could never on its sole. a thin wooden strip that holds the be certain about where you were Woodworkers, however, work iron slightly above the bench. But I setting your plane (this was back on a wooden bench – far away from don’t mess with that. After unlearn- when you might actually see planes mortar dust and gravel. So they say ing years of training, I now put my on a job site). So placing the plane it’s best to place an unused plane on planes sole-down on the bench. on its side protected the iron from its sole to prevent the iron from get- — CS

30 ■ JOINERY BASICS

25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 30 3/18/14 9:41 AM I use simple clamping blocks to clamp the tail boards fi rmly against I don’t like to clamp carcase pieces between dogs unless I have to – the the pin boards. These are easy to make using a or band saw. clamp pressure can bow the pieces as I’m working them. I prefer a stop Apply a consistent but thin layer of glue to the tails and knock the case on my bench, as shown. After the case pieces, I’ll hit them with together with the bottom in its groove. Clamp up the case using the some #220-grit sandpaper to remove any ridges left by the plane. clamping blocks and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.

the waste from the face cheeks, then never see it because that is where the changed. The fi rst step when building remove the waste from the edge cheeks hinges go. If the hole offends you, by the dividers is to screw the four outer- and test the fi t in your sample mortise. all means patch it with a scrap. most pieces together and plane them Raise the dado stack to 3⁄8" and re- Assemble the door and make sure it dow n so t hey fi t snugly inside the case. move the remainder of the waste on the fi ts on the case. When all is well, plane Then div ide up t he re st of your space edge cheeks. The bigger edge shoulders or sand the panel for the door and glue and screw everything in place. Secure ensure that you won’t blow out the ends up the door – making sure not to put the assembled divider in the case with of your mortises at glue-up. glue in the panel’s groove. a couple of 1"-long screws. As this is Mark the location of your mortises With the door complete, mill the shop furniture, I didn’t choose a fancy using your tenons as a guide, as shown moulding that surrounds the door on fi nish. A few coats of clear is in the photo above right. Cut the 3⁄8"- three edges. Miter, glue and nail it in enough protection. wide x 11⁄16"-deep mortises in the stiles place. Then install the hardware: the I hung my cabinet on the wall using using a hollow-chisel mortiser. butt hinges, catches, pulls and handles. a French cleat system, shown on the Next cut the 3⁄8"-wide x 1⁄2"-deep fi nal page. When installing the cleats, groove on the door parts that will hold Divide & Organize be sure to use 3"-long screws to fasten the panel. I use a rip blade in my table Finally it’s time to make the dividers the cleat to the studs in the wall. This saw. Don’t worry about stopping the for the planes. This is the easy part. I cabinet, when full, is quite weighty. groove in the stiles; the hole won’t show fastened the dividers using screws to on the front because it will be covered make sure I could change the confi gu- by moulding. On the back you’ll almost rat ion in case my plane collect ion ever

A dado stack makes quick work of tenons for Test the fi t of your tenon in a test mortise. Use the tenons to mark where the mortises the door. The table saw’s miter gauge guides When you’re satisfi ed with the fi t, cut the should go on the stiles. I like this method the rails over the dado blades to cut the face tenons on all the rails this way, being sure to because there is less measuring and therefore and edge cheeks. check the fi t after cutting each one. less room for error.

popularwoodworking.com ■ 31

25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 31 3/18/14 9:41 AM With this project complete and hung THE GENIUS OF FRENCH CLEATS on my shop wall, I loaded the tools into their slots and thought for a moment hen you hang a cabinet that will be loaded with heavy objects, I about offer ing my plane s some sake in Wrecommend a French cleat to fasten it to the wall. These cleats take the Japanese tradition. But then, com- a little more work than metal cabinet hangers, but they are well worth it ing to my senses, I offered myself a cold because the cabinet will be more secure and it will be easy to put on the beer instead. PWM wall and remove. To make a French cleat, take some of the Christopher is a regular contributor to Popular Wood- 1⁄2" stock left over from building the dividers working Magazine and the publisher at Lost Art Press for the interior of your cabinet. You’ll need (lostartpress.com). A one piece that’s 247⁄8" long, which you’ll attach to the backside of the cabinet. And you’ll need a second piece that’s a couple of D inches shorter than the fi rst. Set your table Wall studs Drywall saw to cut a 45° bevel and rip one long edge of each piece at 45°. C Glue and screw the long cleat to the top edge of the backside of the cabinet with the E bevel facing in. Now screw the second cleat to the wall where your cabinet will go – with the bevel facing the wall. Be sure to use big screws (I used #12 x 3") and anchor the screws in the studs in your wall. — CS Screws go through cleat and into studs

As you install the interior dividers, it’s a good idea to double-check your initial measurements against the real thing. I When cutting the mortise, cut one hole, skip had a rude shock when a space, then cut the next one. Then come my No. 4 plane was back and clean up the area in between. If wider than I had antici- you cut all your holes in a row, the mortiser’s pated. When everything chisel can bend or snap because it wants to looks good, screw all the follow the path of least resistance. parts together using #8 x 1" screws. Then screw the whole thing into the cabinet. I ran the screws in from the backside of the cabinet.

The 3⁄8" x 1" moulding creates a dust seal around the edge of your cabinet and gives the piece a nice fi nished look. I cut a 1⁄4" roundo- ver on the inside edge of the moulding. Miter the ends, then glue and nail the moulding to the door’s edges.

32 ■ JOINERY BASICS

25_1406_RA_DTs Plane Cabinet.indd 32 3/18/14 9:41 AM Helping you obtain a perfect fi t Accurate joinery is also dependent on fi nal trimming and fi tting. 1. 05K33.01 Veritas® Scraper Holder $39.50 ® Our ever-growing family of Veritas® hand planes helps you 2. 05P41.51 Veritas Medium Shoulder Plane $189.00 3. 05K30.10 Super-Hard Milled Scrapers, set of 4 $19.95 complete basic joinery tasks with confi dence and precision. 4. 05K32.01 Veritas® Tri- $32.50 From rabbets to dadoes to grooves, our planes can stand up 5. 05P29.50 Veritas® Small Scraping Plane $129.00 to real shop-time use by amateur and professional woodworkers 6. 05P75.06 Veritas® Detail Rabbet Plane, 5/16” (8mm) $69.00 ® to ensure wood surfaces are square to another. Every plane 7. 05P76.01 Veritas Skew Block Plane, RH $215.00 8. 05P74.01 Veritas® Cabinetmaker’s Trimming Plane $129.00 is well designed, built to last, comfortable to handle, and 9. 05P51.01 Veritas® Small Plow Plane, RH $229.00 made in Canada. Shipping and N.Y. sales tax extra.

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