PROBLEM-SOLVING PRODUCTS Drill-Press Wood Shaver than the diameter of THE PRODUCT: Drill-Press the planer, as shown Safety Planer below left. MAde BY: G & W Tool It’s best to feed boards from left to was ready for WHAT IT DOES: Mills wood to right to prevent grabbing. Again, finishing. thickness; cuts rabbets; makes spe- the manual claims that kickback is Cutting cialty cuts. impossible, but the cutter tends to rabbets proved AVAILABLE AT grab the workpiece if you feed it in easy. I used the WOODCRAFT: #03Q41 the wrong direction. same fence and lowered the cutter into the cutout, PRICE: $55.50 Don’t forget to plan for chip collection. I clamped a shop-made letting it project from the fence by Andy Rae TESTER: box directly behind the cutter, and the desired width of the rabbet. A then fitted a dust hose to the box to 1/4"-deep cut, as shown above, was This classic cutter mounts on to your collect most of the debris. no problem. However, rabbet depth drill press and shaves away wood For the smoothest cuts, select the is limited by the head of the tool. I as it’s slid underneath. In addition fastest speed on your drill press, as maxed out at 1/4". Still, that’s a useful to planing, the tool can cut rabbets long as it’s less than 6,000 rpm. The depth for fitting thin backboards or and tenons, and perform a bunch of top speed of my drill press—2,300 milling smaller drawer parts. other specialized cuts. But in this age rpm—worked fine for all cuts. In theory, you can use the of affordable lunchbox planers and rabbeting technique to cut tenons, but routers, does it still make the cut? And TRIAL RUN: I made a series of despite my best efforts, I could not cut how safe is it to operate? different cuts in a variety of species, them to fit as tightly as I’d like. including highly figured woods. To THE SETUP: The (somewhat thickness a piece of wood, I lowered BEST APPLICATIONS: dated) manual shows special the cutter 1/8" below the stock’s Luthiers and hobbyists working with applications, but doesn't offer much surface (heavier cuts will tax the small-scale stock might find this planer basic setup information. I suggest drill-press spindle) and locked it in quite handy for shaping moldings, mounting an oversize table to your place with the spindle lock. Next, I preparing neck blanks and fingerboards, drill-press table. The manual says set up the fence to use less than half and cutting rosettes. Although it can’t that you can use the accessory of the planer’s diameter, and fed the compete with a thickness planer in freehand, but a fence makes things workpiece evenly and slowly. As I speed, because it causes less tear-out much safer. To make one, cut a expected, surfacing wide boards was and does not snipe, it has the slight small rabbet in the edge of a piece tedious and significantly slower than edge when working with small pieces of of MDF, and then saw a cutout in using a thickness planer. (To mill highly-figured wood. the center of the fence slightly larger rough stock, you’ll need to flatten one face with a hand plane or a sander TESTER’S TAKE: With a fence first so it sits flat on the table.) setup, this is a very safe tool to use, Running a piece of highly-figured although you need to take light cuts to sapele under the cutter produced prevent overstressing your drill press. a slightly rough surface but with It won’t replace my thickness planer or zero tear-out—even when feeding routers, but for the price of a few good the workpiece against the grain. bits, you can With most of the tool surrounded The texture was similar to what you teach your drill by the fence, rabbeting the edge would get from a saw blade. After press a useful of a board is a snap. some minor sanding, the surface new trick. 3 out of 5 biscuits 66 WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE D EC 2 0 0 8 / J AN 2 0 0 9 PROBLEM-SOLVING PRODUCTS Two-In-One Turning Tool turning. Allan The Product: Beecham, a noted Skewchigouge turner and the MADE BY: Crown Tools tool’s designer, and scores of WHAT IT Does: Tackles all Skewchi-fans sorts of turning tasks. claim that this AvAilABle At inexpensive tool WoodcrAft: #140474 can plane, cut See a Skewchigouge beads, pummels, demo at Price: $36.50 balls, bird’s beaks, woodcraftmagazine.com/ onlineextras. Tester: Ken Kupsche and V-grooves, and is virtually catch-proof. Skewchigouge has a spoon-shaped As the strange-sounding name The secret, they say, lies in the grind. concavity, shown in the inset above. suggests, this high-speed steel hybrid The tip of the 71/2" -round bar-stock blends the cutting qualities of a skew blade has a spindle gouge fingernail THE SET-UP: Compared to chisel and a spindle gouge, the two profile, but instead of a standard other new tools, the factory grind most common chisels used in spindle gouge-like trough on the other side, the looked unusually good. I pulled the 68 WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE D EC 2 0 0 8 / J AN 2 0 0 9 edge over a stone twice to pull up a took me a few minutes to fi nd the catch the stock and ruin the cut burr, ran it against my buffi ng wheel, Skewchigouge’s “angle of roll,” but because with the Skewchigouge, and it was ready to go. before long I found it to be a simple there’s no protruding edge to catch. Diagramed instructions explain fl uid motion. how to make all of the cuts, but I was I tried running the Skewchigouge TESTER’S TAKE: If you’re confused by Beecham’s terminology along the length of the spindle to already profi cient with a spindle gouge until I realized that “chisel mode” make a smooth planing cut, but after or skew, then you may not need a meant “used with the concave edge a few attempts, I decided to stick with Skewchigouge, but if you’re a new face up and cutting only with the my standard skew. The advantage turner, or constantly switching between tip” and “gouge mode” meant to a regular skew is that the wider the two tools, then it’s worth a try. “turning the concave edge 90° and beveled edge can rest on the stock Eventually, you’ll need to regrind cutting with the side edge.” to get a smoother cut. The Skewchi’s the concave top surface. If you haven’t gouge-like grind isn’t large enough to yet mastered this trick, don’t worry; TRIAL RUN: For my test, provide the same support. it’ll take a few years of use before it’s I used spindle stock that I had time to regrind. Considering the price, prepared with a roughing BEST APPLICATIONS: you might want to make this your gouge. I fi rst tried turning the Spindle turners interested in cutting practice tool. Skewchigouge on edge, using it beads and shoulders will really in skew-mode to mark and start appreciate the two-in-one tool my cuts. Next, I tried cutting because of its ability to instantly a bead, as shown on page 68. transition from gouge to skew. And, Because I’m not accustomed unlike a regular spindle gouge, you to using a skew and plunging can make a V-cut between beads straight into the cut, it without the risk of having the edge 3 out of 5 biscuits *," --" Ê+1/9Ê/""- Pinnacle is defined by Webster’s asthe highest point of development or achievement. The latest offering of router accessories that bear the Pinnacle® name have certainly lived up to this definition. Every detail of these Pinnacle® tools was engineered with one thing in mind: Pinnacle® to provide woodworkers with tools that empower them. Premium Router Quick-Lift Pinnacle® tools are available exclusively at Woodcraft. 149078 Pinnacle® Premium Freehand Bit Guard PROFESSIONAL QUALITY TOOLS™ Available Exclusively At Woodcraft! 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