THE WORKSHOP WINWIN OF YOUR DREAMS DECEMBER 2006 ISSUE #159 Learn How ■ Discover Why ■ Build Better BEST 16 NEW TOOLS of 2006 A Smarter Shop Place Your Tools To Work Faster The Classic SLIDING DOVETAIL Made Simple Traditional Lingerie Dresser PLUS ■ Build a Solar Kiln ■ US $5.99 Turn Perfect Platters CAN $7.99 ■ A BetterBetter ShootingShooting BoardBoard 12 popularwoodworking.com 0 74470 01355 6 Learn How ■ Discover Why ■ Build Better contentsIN EVERY ISSUE 18 Foosballs to the Rescue TRICKS OF THE TRADE This ingenious rack for storing modern handsaws borrows a ball from the game room. Plus, improve dust collection on your band saw, and make a clever bit-depth gauge for your router with scraps of wood and a $16 dial indicator. 32 FeatherBow Featherboard 1818 TOOL TEST 32 Find out if this manufactured featherboard is worth the price. Plus, a new bowsaw that glides through cuts, fl oats that make mortises and chamfers a breeze and more. 36 Mystery of the Marking Gauge ARTS & MYSTERIES Guest columnist Dean Jansa shares his plans for making an old-fashioned marking gauge – its clever features make it surpass most modern commercial models. by Dean Jansa 36 40 Whale Tail Shelves I CAN DO THAT Pocket-hole joints help to make this impressive-looking project deceptively simple to build. by Megan Fitzpatrick 80 In the Greene & Greene Style 40 GREAT WOODSHOPS An unfl agging drive to get the details exactly right has attracted worldwide attention to James Ipekjian, an expert maker and restorer of Greene and Greene furniture. by Robert W. Lang 90 Platter Up 80 AT THE LATHE Whether you’re a novice or experienced turner, you can create a platter worthy of serving the fanciest feast. by Judy Ditmer Number 159, December 2006. Popular Woodworking (ISSN 0884-8823,USPS 752-250) is published 7 times a year in Febru- ary, April, June, August, October, November and December by F+W Publications Inc. Editorial and advertising offices are 98 Thick & Thin of Finishing located at 4700 E. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236; FLEXNER ON FINISHING tel.: 513-531-2222. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and artwork should include ample postage on a self-addressed, Discover how to balance thickness with ease of stamped envelope (SASE); otherwise they will not be application to achieve the most effective, effi cient returned. Subscription rates: A year’s subscription (7 issues) is $19.96; outside of U.S. add $7/year ■ Canada Publications Mail and aesthetically pleasing fi nish for your work. Agreement No. 40025316. Canadian return address: 2835 by Bob Flexner Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7 ■ Copyright 2006 by Popular Woodworking. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Popular Woodworking, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235 Canada GST Reg. # R122594716 ■ 90 Produced and printed in the U.S.A. popularwoodworking.com 3 PROJECTS, TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES 42 Lingerie Chest This traditional tall dresser has a lot of 18th-century fl air – and a lot of drawers for all your wife’s bits and pieces. by Glen D. Huey ON THE COVER 49 Setting Up Shop: The shop-made mould- Machine Placement WOODWORKING ESSENTIALS ings and other special The right machines in the right positions details help make Glen will help make your precious woodshop Huey’s lingerie chest an time more effi cient and enjoyable. heirloom piece. by Scott Gibson Cover photo by Al Parrish 57 Housed Dovetails 49 This super-strong joint is easier to make – with this super-slick trick and a simple jig. by Geoffrey Ames 60 Best New Tools The outstanding class of 2006 DEPARTMENTS produced a record 16 tools for our annual roundup of those that impress – from an entire 10 Out on a Limb new line of machines from Steel Normites v. Luddites: 60 What gets lost in the City Tools to the tiny-but-powerful haze of battle Bosch lithium-ion driver. 12 Letters 66 Shooting Boards 66 Mail from readers These ingenious, effi cient and easy- and answers to your woodworking to-build foundations of any questions hand-tool shop help you achieve planed perfection, one shaving at a time. Endurance Test 30 by Paul Sellers DeWalt two-base router kit 72 Tiny but Useful 26 Power-tool No. 1 Plane Joinery This cute-as-a-button bench Attaching Tabletops by Bill Hylton plane sparks a lot of affection, 72 but it also had a number of practical applications. 104 Out of the by Clarence Blanchard Woodwork Name-brand Tools by Philip Leon 74 Solar Drying Kiln Harness the power of the sun for a cost- effective and effi cient way to take green boards to usable lumber – and avoid the inherent problems of kiln-dried lumber. by John Wilson 74 6 POPULAR WOODWORKING December 2006 popularwoodworking.com ® December 2006, Vol. 26, No. 7 popularwoodworking.com Editorial Offi ces 513-531-2690 Publisher & Group Editorial Director Steve Shanesy Editor Christopher Schwarz Online Tools ext. 1407 • [email protected] Art Director Linda Watts Join Our New Reader Panel ext. 1396 • [email protected] Senior Editor Robert W. Lang At Popular Woodworking, we want to know occasionally get special offers and exclusive ext. 1327 • [email protected] what you think about the magazine – that’s discounts. Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick why we publish our e-mail addresses and We hope you’ll take a few minutes to visit ext. 1348 • megan.fi [email protected] direct phone numbers in every issue (see the the web site and participate in this new and Associate Designer Susan L. Smith masthead at right). If you’ve ever called us, important customer service. It won’t take ext. 1058 • [email protected] you know that we always try to help. much of your time – the initial survey is quick Project Illustrator John Hutchinson Now, we’re stepping up to embrace a new and gathers information about you and your Photographer Al Parrish level of reader input, and we invite you to woodworking. We’ll be following up with Contributing Editors Adam Cherubini, Nick Engler, Bob Flexner, participate. It’s called the “Popular Wood- you for more information only every month Glen Huey, Don McConnell, Troy Sexton working Reader Panel” and it’s basically an or so. It will help make Popular Woodworking F+W PUBLICATIONS INC. easy online survey that lets us know what a better magazine. It can help tool manufac- David H. Steward, Chairman & CEO you like (and dislike) about the magazine, turers create better tools for woodworking. Barbara Schmitz, VP, Manufacturing and exactly what sort of woodworker you And, it can help you get the woodworking Eric Svenson, Group Publisher, Interactive Media are. This information will help us make sure information you want and need. Visit our F+W PUBLICATIONS INC. that Popular Woodworking continuescontinues toto bebe a home page to get started. PW MAGAZINE GROUP vital and exciting magazine. And in return Joel Toner, VP & Publishing Director for the help, Reader Panel members will Sara DeCarlo, VP, Consumer Marketing Susan Du Bois, VP, Circulation Operations Tom Wiandt, Business Planning Sara Dumford, Conference Director Deb Westmaas, Group Circulation Director Cristy Malcolm, Newsstand Sales Supervisor Inside Online PRODUCTION Vicki Whitford, Production Manager Katherine Seal, Production Coordinator Contact Customer Service ADVERTISING Have a question about your subscription, Don Schroder, Advertising Director a change of address or need to renew? 331 N. Arch St., Allentown, PA 18104 Contact customer service quickly and Tel. 610-821-4425; Fax 610-821-7884 easily using the online form. [email protected] Advertising Production Coordinator Free Project Plans Nancy Miller, Tel. 513-531-2690 ext. 1228 [email protected] Every month, we simply give away some Tool Reviews of our most popular project plans. From miter saws to metal-bodied spoke- SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: Subscription inquiries, orders and address changes can be made at popularwoodworking.com shaves, you’ll find a selection of tool Article Index (click on “Customer Service FAQs”). Or by mail: Popular Woodworking, reviews you need to outfi t your shop with P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Or call toll-free Looking for a specifi c technique or proj- 877-860-9140 or 386-246-3369. Include your address the machines and hand tools that best with all inquiries. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery. ect, or all the articles from your favorite fi t your needs and price range. NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION: Curtis Circulation Co., author? Look no further than the mag- 730 River Road, New Milford, NJ 07646 azine’s online article index! And when Writer’s Guidelines ATTENTION RETAILERS: To carry Popular Woodworking in your store, call 800-894-4656 you fi nd what you need, it’s a simple click Got a great idea for an article? 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