-_I •

.__~_<or;~...__~ __..... -....,~_::~~~ __ 0

VVM.ILLSHELF........__.1iI~:HOW TOCUT

DOVETAILS

$3.95NOTES FROM THE SHOPNO. 66

No. 66

drawers, But it'salso ajoim that manywood­workers tend to shy away from. Too compli­cared. Requires 100much precision.

Okay, let's face it. ii a joint requires usinghand tools (like aback saw and asetofsharpchisels). more than likely we'lI find a differ­entjoinl, ... Oradifferent way to make iL

Iryou don'l want to U$<1hand toolsto makedovetails, your options are limited. Thereare several dovetail jigs on the market thatcut through doveradswith a router. But theylend 10beexpensive,Another way is to use a band saw.That's

the basis for the technique shown in Ihisissue. Aculally. it all started wilh a friend ofmine, Mark Duginske. For many yearsMark has been a representative of mCAmachinery, He works at many of the wood­working shows across the countryand givesseminars 00 worldngwith a band saw.

Periodically Mark stops by our shop totalk about a new technique he's developedfor the band saw. The one I found most in­triguing was his method for cuuingdovetails.

The basic technique involves using twojigs. one 10 cut the tails and one to CUi thepins (lhe two interlocking partsof a dovetailjoint).!n general. it'seasy 10gel rnyattentionwith .almost any jig, bUL Mark's techniqueand jigs are particularly interesting.When cutting dovetails. jigs make it easy

tomake repealed. accurate cutsat the angleneeded (or bOtllparis of the dovetail joint.However. that's not what got my attention

about Mark's technique. The jig he devisednoronlysets the angle. butalso sets thespac­ing ofe.eh cut. Ily spacing. I mean aligningthe cut to a precise point. And in the case ofdovetalls, spacing isequaily as criticalas theangle.

TIle spacing is usually determined bymaking a pencil line. BULpencil lines are notvery precise. So. how does Mark solve theproblem of precise alignment? With spacerblocks, Nothing new, but in combinationwith the angte jigs. they produce accuratecutsoverand over again. with no guesswork.

IVhalab()ulalllhe othertechniques Marktold us about? Il'eli. he decided 10 write.book. 1'116 Band Saw Handbook. II justcame out and Mark is pretty excited about it- a three-month project that took twO years10complete. 0 know how he feels.) lt'sfilledwilh bis experience of many years of workjng with band saws.

NE>.'TtS$u£.1l1enext.issue of 1¥ood8millt(No. 67) win be mailed during' the week ofFebruary 12. 1990.

W,xxlsmilh

One oflhe most popular projects we'veever shown in ~Vooc1s"tit" is the

European-style workbench featured aboutthreeyears ago (in 1I'0000»lilliNo. 50). Irsquite a bench. And probably exactly whatmost woodworkers have in mind as the cen­ter of their shop,But that bench is quite an undertaking to

build. Don't get me wrong, Ithink it's wellworth the effort. Rut it's certainly not aweekend project.We wanted 10 come up with another

bench. One U,at was easy to build. sturdy,and would serve you well over the years­even ifit isn'taclassic European-stylebench.

Every time we sat down 10 design thissimple bench. we ran into the problem ofdesign overload. It's a problem common Lamany projects. Once you gel started. youwant to add a feature, and add a feature, andadd a feature. Soon thesimple bench iscom­plicalcd. We finally decided to limit Ibe de­sign by Slitting three basic criterla.First.the base (legs) had 10be buill cut of

easy-to-obtaiu construclion lumber. (Webuilt the base out orlir 2x4·s).Second. Uwjoinery used for the base had

to be basic, not something like wedged mor­lise and tenens, 0A'e used very simple ver­sions oflap joints and butt jQints.)And third, the lOP had to be easy to con­

struct and nOI too expensive. (We chose asolid-core door. but you CQuiduse IWO layersof plywood)What we wound up with is a good solid

bench that can be builtin a weekend and willprobably lasta lifetime. Buti£you havea littletime left over. YOIlcan add afew features.

Firsf on our lisl was a set ofdrawers. Youcan add tile three simple drawers shown inthis Issue. Or.you canbuild a moreelaboratestorage unit like tile one on the European·style bench. In fact the base WlIS sized forthis storage unit if you want to add it later.(Refer to Woo(bnnjtit No. 50.)As for vises. we've Iisted a group of vises

that could be used on this bench, seeSources on page 24. 'These are basic wood­working vises that mountto the front of thebench. You could gel a Iiltle more functionout of the bench by adding a dog row and atail vise at the end of the bench.

OGVF;rAII.s. Just as a good workbench isthe cornerstone of a shop.there.are certainjoints thai are hallmarks of woodworking.The one that comes to mind first is thedovetailjoinLThis classic joint is great for all sorts of

cabinetwork, and particularly for making

2

SawdustCOLUMNEDITOR'S

WOODSMITH (ISSN 0164-4114) is pub­listled bimonthly (Februal)'. April, June,AuguSl, October. December) byWoodsmith Publishing Co., 2200 GlandAve.. Des Motnes,IAS0312.Woodsmith is a registered trademark 01Woodsrt.»h Publishing Co.'~,Copyright 1989 by Woodsmilh Publish·ing Co. AllRlghls Reserved.Subscriptions: One Ylflar (6 Issues)$15.95, Two Years (12 Issues) $27.95.Canada and Foreign: add $2peryear. U.S.luods only. Single copy price, $3:95.Second Class Postage Paid at DesMoines, Iowa aod at additional offICeS.Postmaster: Send Change 01 address 10Woodsmilh, Box 491. MI.Motris.llS1OS4.SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS? Call BOO-435·0715 tiL reSIdents: 800-892·0753).7:30 AMto 8;30 PM. CST,weekdays.SAMPLE COPY: We willsend a Iree sam­pie copy of Woodsmilh 10 anyone. Justsend VS his/her name and address.

GeneralManager Steve KrohmerMarl<eungManager Steve Dotier

Slote Managers:St.louiS. MO Jon BehrleBe<1<e!eY. CA Michael DeHaven

DOS Moines. IA Kent Welsh

WOODSMITH STORES

EdItor Donald B. PeschkeDeSlgO Director Ted KralicekMaoagingEdtlo' Douglas l.HicksAssiSlanlEdtlots Douglas M. Lidster

Kent A. BucktonTerry J. Sll'ohman

PrOJeCI Designer Ken MunkelTed\nOCaJ IlIuslratOfSDavid Kreyling

Cary ChristensenRodStoakesChris Glowacki

Cuslomerservee Linda Morrow, Mgr.Lisa Thompson

PtoJeCI SUWllos Leslie Ann GearhartController Paul E. Gray

Compu\erOperat""'S Ken MinerAdministrativeAssts. Cheryl Scott

SandyBaumSouroebool< Jean Carey

_ing ShOws Steve CurtisBuildingMaintenance Archie Krause

December 1989No. 66

3W (){xlsm i[hNo. 66

SIND IN YOURnpsIf you'd lil<~10~hare a tip

with others, 't'nd in your ideato \VOOdsll'ith, 'iii'" & Tech­niquCts,2200 Grand Ave .•Des~oiJl("'. Iowa ,>0:112.W~pay Sl5 ror acce","d

tips. !,Iea", >-cndan ~plana­lion and a ,kelch if nCt'C!ed(...e11draw il nt'" on<'),

edge, or Ih,' board with CUISabout 11.," ekep, see inset draw­ing. Then. to flnish resawingIhe board all tht' way through, Iswitch 10 the band saw. S<'('drawing. TIw scored cui lineson each t'CiR<'of the board act

r1t:~~*~r-n~~~;r=~.'guidl'S for the bandCUT '.- saw blade..... ON Try 10 nil down the1OTl4,(NOS side of the scored line

'- u<closely as possible,Since the kerfleft bytlu- table saw blade iswider Ihan the bandsaw blade, this gives

, youa-guide-tomake

l___:=~l_~~~~~~~Ih,' final ClIL\\,ilh this method, a

resawing guide on the band sawis not needed since the scoredlines help control blade d,ifl.Thisresults ill boardsof uniformthickness which means therewill be less final planing needed,

EdSiloff'erRfK'/,p"tl·r. J/innnotll

SHOP BRUSHI keep 3 brush in my shop com­mocly used by a draftsman, Thebristles on this bn,sh are longerand softer than most shopbrushes so il cleans up sawdustaround equipment and down incracks and <'On1C',!I(~aNily.

Drafting brushes are availableat art supply stores for aboutS5,

Sit"I'r FrenchH(~/'4·st4_·r••\~e,(· }'(lrk

8diwr'8 Nou» rr yo"r routerI<lble is no! lire' Wood.mith dr­.~;gJt.Y01( ('(j II unacn bf'~I(ltlOp1001. bi! ;'1.'011"'9 0 11(';'of T-1(/(/$ [rum 111#" 41"dt'nfide Of Ihl'labl' or tl, rt'a(l, (I insert» froll~the lop, TI" II bolt th« pi!I"'OOdbo8r in plat·f.

GLUE BRUSHIlt-rt"sa solution 10thc' problemof applying glue 10 'mall sur­faces such as gro()\'es, rabbetsand dadoes - without S(tllingglue on surfaces that are to bestained and finished.

I've found that a pcnti~;lyltIypc'\mler eraser (tile kind willIIlll' bristles on one end) make. apcri<~glue brush. TIll' bristk-scan)' an ample amount of glueyN are.til! enough 10~ ..."d lilt'glue t'Vt'niyinto tight spat.."-And'i_lh"boi~"",syntl,..tic,lh<:yal\' easily washed dean aIIer """.

Also Ihe eraser ea~ily rt­movc' ullwanled pt'ncll nonrkslen on surfaces to be finish,'Cl. It'smore abrasive than a regular er­aser so il removes line,; Clukklyand it'st'aSier than sanding.

RII8R~1IAbbottI'orl TOllmse'ld. 11'11811 ;nllime

10the tableu<ingthe"""" cania!tCbolts.washers, nnd wing mas thaibold IIw f"ll~"""'l'dmwing,

Jul/ll "mIO>1\ ·jry/lllioIJC<ltie. I'irginia

IvO'found yet another use for my1V000Is,mlh router table: I use il,'S 3 workbench 10 t~mlx>r(lrilyhold benchtoprools like I,'Tilld,'rsand scroll saws. (M y shop issmall. and I don't have ,----===;;;-;=;----,Ihe space to per­manemlv mount thesetoolsOnitbench.)

F'ir~l.mount eachtool onto its own

wood base.Imade~~~.rl?~~~~~;~~~~~_1ba",,~ for all LIte toolsone uniform size. Tomake each base, I cut~."·thkk plywoodIh.. '-3Jl1('width as thelOp of the router lable(On my table. this is30".) Then I drilledtwo \1.4" holes in theplywood. t;y~"in from '--''''''_ ....... ..L..u..ll._.Jeach edge. (11",,,", holea mustalillnwith the carriage bolts Ihalhold the router table rente.)Each bench lOP 1001 is Ihenbohed 10 its plywood base

To mounl the 100110 1i1c""'itTtable "workbench." reme",,' thefrl1!'c and Castenthe plywood base

ROUTER TABLE/WORKBENCH

handles in plnce, sec drawing,After securing lhe handles,

set a strip of sandpaper on lOP ofthe sticky surface of the tape.Trim the (~Il:("of the sandpaper10 the width oCthe duct tape.To use the sanding strap.

simply l(rnSp the dowel handlesand work the strap back andforth over th~object.

Jolin BiUe/St4I~" 1.10l/d.New York

SANDING STRAPWhen I'm sanding rounded ob­jccts or working on the lathe, Iuse a special sanding <trap ..ithdowel handles.To make the sanding strap.

start by laying down a 21" lengThofdUl'! tape-sticky side up.NowpUIa couple ofdowelhandles ontop of the tape alKlUl3" from earn,'OO.'11cn fold Ihc ends oflhc tapeover the dowels and Slick theI:IIIC down onto ilsclf to hold the

t~ 00WI"t..SI'2-lQHG

lXCl$S AlTtRST'(lONG

SANoP......fO lAPI

This technique works wellwithboards of almost any width. bUIrl'lIlIy irs useful when resawingboards that an' 100 wide 10 CUIall the way thrnugh on thetable saw.To use Ibis method, I first SCi

upth .. table saw 10<core the IWO

SIMPLER RESAWINGIn lVoodsllIith :>:0, 63 youshowed two techniques for re­sawing' thick boards into Ihinlumber: one for the labl,' sawand the other for the band "'w.1use a hybrid method that com­bines both of these techniques.

Tips & Techniquesr:I-- F_R_O.:..__M__ F___:.E_L=---=L_O.:..__W__ W ° ° D W ° R K E R S

No. 66Woodsmith4

Cora more versatile bench,JOIS£RY The end frames of the bench are as­

sembled with lap join IS, Rill. instead of cutting lapjoints in the traditional way. Ibuilt thern up by laminar­ing 2x4's together, The uprillhl~ are stacked (lami­nab-d) in a way 10create "notches" for the crosspieces(braces). refer to the Exploded Vi!'w,This brought up thequestion oftlle besrway 10 lami­

nair Ihe 2)(4's together. I( you have enough clamps.you can glue and claml) them together, Or. you canglue. and then nail them together. (Here I'd use finishnails.) Or. glue and screw them together,There was another question about how to join the

rails (horizontal pieces) to the leW', Ichose a draw-bolt'Y'tem that allows you to knock down the bench ifyouever need to move it in the Cuture,t' "SII.To protect the bench and keep glue from,ticking to it. I finished the bench with two coats ofGeneral Finishes Two-Step OiVu....thane finish.

An 1wanted was a simple workbench, A benchthat was sturdy, had a Iatgt>wock surface, and

didn't costa 101,And Iwanted 10build it in a weekend,So Salurday morning Iwem to the local lumberyard

and by Sunday night m)' basic bench was complete,The base of the bench is made out of fir 2x4's,The topisa solid-coredoor. Lumberyard. and building centersoflen have slighLly danlllltcd doors al a discount. Or,you could make the to!>out of two piecesof:\l4" Iltywood,The basic bench worked greal. but by the next

weekend I began thinking Some drawers sure wouldbe handy, $0 I added Ihree drawers that are [oiaedtogether with router-cut dov~tails, Ialso added a slid,ingtray in one drawer to keep things organized,Since I couldn't fit cV~I'}'hing into the drawers. I

added a ,bel( und"I'II<'ath, Then a woodworking visewas the linaltouch. The point is this project can besimple or involved, The basic bench can be pUI to'gether in aweekend. Oryou can add storage and avise

Construction lumbe1'and a weekend's work can produce themost used tool in the shop", a workbench, This one features a base made

of 2x4's and a solid,core door for a cop,

WorkbenchPROJECTSf-lOP

5No. 66

8ASICBENCHA Legs(4) 1'IIx 3"" - 32'i>8 Sidesrcces (4) 1......x 31-'.1• 23C Upper leg FIllers(4) I ~ x 3'i> - 21o Lowel LegFilltlJs(4) 1'h ~3'1) -A'i>E SideBroce Fillers(4) , ......x 3\-!1-16f FrnI{BockRo,~(8) l\-!Ix3y.,·48%G 6enchTop(l) 1:vax 3O,80H BotlomShe~(I) :v.Ply - IMtXA8I SideCleols(2) iII,Ply -l~x 16J Frnt.!BockCleots (2) 'lidPly - 1'i>x A2

DRAWERS'K Drower Guide, (6) '\I, x 2""6 - 22'12l Dlower Stops(3) % x l - 14~M Dlawer Frt./Bc~,.(6) "'. x41'. - 14y.,N Drawer $Ides(6) :V. x 4% - 2011.o Orower Bottoms(3) It.Ply. - 131,7x 20111P falSeFronts(3) '11•• 4'1'. 16Q Orower ilIJnners(6) v.. .-v.,22'i~R TraySpfir.es(2) It, Xy.,- 19'.'.1S Tr<lySldes(2) Y.lx 1'1'.-9'1.T TrayFrnl ./ Bocks(2) 'I)X 10/.,- 12~U TrayBottam(t) 'I4Ply.-9%x 12%'Material tor threedrowers and one Iray

:J;~'ACTUAL'x5'/~. 96" (3.1 80.

ALSO A'QUIRES~ONE PIECE0,. ~ .." PI.Y.~24" x 48'1, ONt PIKE OF Ii."PlY.~ 43" x 48:"ONI SOUD-COR.£ DOOR OR TWO SHIlTS Of ),',," PLYWOOD fOR TOP

fOR GUIDESAND RUNNfRS

" : p ~ PII '.1:';./1" 44 )114

c

1 x 6 • 96" {ONE80ARO,

I.

DRAWERS1 x 6 • 7~" {TWOBOARDSl

t)72 .,.~ ·"'7%: Zti:22~2?ttzJ. ~~I x 6 • 96- (ONE 80ARD,

E2 x q • 96" (FOUR BOARDS)

I F

2 x 4 • 96" (FOUIt, BOARDS)

fe

Woodsmitb

8BI e :

8ASIC 8ENCH• (9)2><4·S.96'-IOO9• (I) 1'1'.'x30' X 80' soli<;1-core

qo:>r(or laminate 2 sheetsof ¥t.' plywood 10gefher toget a I ......··1hlCktop)

• (l)piece%'plywood,24'X46' (i6%' x48' for shelf.U$E)scrap for cleQl$)

• (6)%'x~'hexbotts• (20) 'b!!'woshers• (6)%' rlUls• (4)%' x 4' logbolts• (16) ~8 x 1V.' flatheadwoodsctews

• (100)'!l x 2y.,· woodsctewsOf8d flnlshnolls

DRAWERS• (4) 1.6's, 96'~ong• rn '1'.')(S'l.f-96·{hordWlOOd

10<drower guide system)• 0) piece Yd'plywood,48 x

48' (tor drower and Iroybottoms)

• (18)18x l'llotheod wood­SCJ9WS

• (20) _8 x PI,' rtotheadwcooscrews

• (8).8 x A' flo1heod wood·screws

• (3)drewa<pullswI screwsOPTIONAL• (I) ,"oodworking liGe(seeseorees on page 24 formore Infomotlon on vises}

BASIC BENCH2 x 4 • 96" (ON! GOARD)

SUPPLIES

CUnlNG DIAGRAMMATERIALS

~... x 4'"aoLTANDWA.$HER

UPPER LEGFILLER

RAIL

I

"--®LOWERLEG

FILLER

®--SIDE

BRACE

LEG®

BOnOMSHELF

VISE(OPTIONAL)

BENCH TOP®

FRONT/BACKCLEAT

SIDE BRACE

OVERAll DIMENSIONS:341/4"H X 30" W x 80" Lr:

EXPLODED VIEW

No. 66Woodsmith6

,SCREW ItAIl$TQOmtO:

fltOM INSIDE'Act.8 x 2''11''

WOOOSCRfWS

FRONT IIIACKRAIL

•

I\.(ler thecnd framesarc built, Imade thefour rails (F) thatrun across the frontand back of thebench. Each rail ismade from two2x4'slaminated together .

BlOW TH£ RAIL.''­To mak(·each rail. start by cutting rwo2x4's10a roujlh I~nglh of 50". After the railpiecesareCUI10 rough length, glue them togetherto form a 3" x3~'rail blank, see Fig. 5.ShOI)NOle: Rathcrthan using clamps. and

then waitinR for thp Rlue to dry. 1 screwedthe rails lOANher with 2~"·longS('rews. Ill!sureto drill shank holes and countersink the

•...._

5

holes before scl'ewing the pieces together.see Fig. 5.

TNIM'ro U-:NG'TII.After gluing together allfour rails. I trimmed them to a finished

1 SIDE 2 SlotNAt.LEG lRACE /'® f ® ~.'

O. GWflMlN 2'" A')SCHW TOGmtD. /~...

NOTt:TOTAl Of fOUR1tAAS"(DlD

length (If 4s:l<.".sec Fig. 5. (Note; 1lle onlyreason (or thls particular length is so theTool Cabinet shown in W(}o<ismitil No. 50would fil between the end (rames.)

(NOFRAMfOUTS1D1_FACI

DRI111··IHA.COUNTIRaou., \_ .. 0("4

DRill AND COUHT£ASlNK ~ ••SHANK HOU IN

SlOE BRAClS ONLY

"..

Ailer I trimmed the filler pieces 10 fit. Iclamped the piec~ in position while Igluedand screwed UICmin place. see Fig, 3.BOLTlIo~.A11 that's leftl"complete!he

end frames is 10 drill and eoumerbore theboles for the bolls ulat connect the r311s.refer 10 FIR.7. 'These holes are 1¥~"downfrom the lop edRe of the side braces. andcentered on the width of the legs. see Fig. 4.OIlC~ lb,' holt' locations have been

mark("cl,l'ountt'rl)nn) 11!·clia.holes. :v,," deepon (he r)"t~i<il'(ace of'fhe end frames, Thendrill ?lm"<lia. holes centered in the counter­bores. sec Fig. 4".

SlOElRACEFIWR-®

~

",il~....

RAILS

@­LOWER

LEG FIIiER

@UPPER

LEG FtWR

3

CHICt((NO '1lA/I\lfO.SOU".,ItDllltActS 'lUSH

TO OUTSiDe OF UOS

long,l>('t'~iR.L l.aylWo legs (A) side-by-sideand pol>ilionone side brace (8) 4~· upfromthe bottom ends. Then place the other braceflush to UI('IOPof the 1"1(",see Fig. 1.

Once the pi(.'<.'e' are in place, lay oul theS('I'l'W locations. see ,,'!g. 2. Then. drill andcountersink ¥IS" shank holes in the sidebrae.... (R). set' Fill. 2a. Now glue and screwthe side braces to tJw legs using No. 8x 21,2"wood >'Crt'WS. see Pig. 2a.ill'rACU rus I'II,I.F.R PIEr-ES. To

strengthen the cnd frames Iadded upper(C) and lower It'I( fillers (0). and two sidebrace fiUe.... (E).!We Fig. 3.

The first step inbuilding the benchis 10 build the twoend frames. Tomake each frame.begin by culling IWo1e,!S (A) to a lengthof 321,2". (NoI.:Thisgives you an overall

bench helllht of abouI34\!,t" when the top ison.) TIle l~nJlth of the legs can be varied tofit your helllht.

UUIIJ)tNC:11lE FIIi\MF.~.Wilh the legseulto length, CUI the tW(I side braces (8) 23"

END FRAMES

7

9 1 CUT SKELFTO_r'ITBETWUN

k;;;::RAILS

®BOttOM SHELF-. ...~.~.

~f,'( •'\ Jl, I~ j 0--B _~ FRONT/BACKJ I CLEAT

StDECLEAT

a, ~.'UG PLYWOOD.ax 111)" SHtLF')WOOD·SCRtw -..::RAIL . ~..--' --~ .____

\. -:.._;. ;~:•. ~,1"DRILLAND- --,COUNTtRSINK ..=-I."j.:~~ •• SHANK °. I,HOl,EINTO .1.

CWT FRONT/BACKCLtAT

Woodsmirn

8EN(HTOP "

l'I.'PI.lOTHOUl

tAIL

,"·CIA.COUNTtIlBORf,1r--~-nJ.-_--..j

~ •• DEEP

aonOMOf

8ENCHTOP

RAILNOTE,FACt POCKET

HOW10WARDCINUIt OF arnCH

AND WASHER>,' .4'SOlfANDWASHER .._____\ ..___

lNDFRAME

97

OAA.

DOUIU.·$II)(OCARPfT1APf,

To help start the nu! (in the pork.l hoI.)on the end of the machine bolt. 1attachedtit. nut to a small scrap of wood with apiece of double-sided carpet tape.

-:-=-

SHOP TIP

a.

:1." X 4"LAG S(~rwANDWASHU--

4'.<;

8

CTHIRD:DRILL'II.·

HOLE, C£NTfR(DON (NDS OFRIJ~5

No. 66

After the base hasbeen boIled to­gether, all that's leftis to auach the top(G) and bottomshelf (H). I used aJ%".U,ick solid-coredoor as a top. BUIyou could 'laminate

two pieces oC +'4" plywood together instead.AttACH OlliE TOP. To attach the top (G).

turn the top and the base upside down andcenter the base on the top. Then mark anddrill the mounting holes on the bottom sideof the toprails, see Fig. 8. Nowattach thetopwith %"x 4" lag screws and washers.

WSTIIIJ.SHEt..F. Finally. cut a :v.l"plywoodshelf (H) to width to fit between the rails. (1used a 4$"·long piece 10 fit between the endCrameswhich are 4~" apan.) I,lse someleftover plywood to make 1t11"·wideshelf cleats(1)). Then altach the shelf cleats :\'4" downrrom the tQPinside edge of the bottom railsand side braces, see Fig. 9a. Note: Don'tcover the pocket holes when attaching thecleats so YOIIcan gel to the draw bolts.

TOP AND SHELF

SECOND:SQUARf UP

[OG£OF POCKETKOlIWITHCHlsn

the Oat side oC the pocket hole.BOLT TOGF.TRER. Now the roils can be

bolted to the end frames. JUSI insert" :VS" x~" hex head machine bolt with a washer.Push the bolt through the countersunk holeill the end frame and into the.hole in lhe endof the rail, see Fig. 7.Then slip a washer and nut in Inc pocket

hole and tightenlhe boltholding the nul withan open end wrench. (See the tip al right fora trick I used to start lhl:' nuts.) If the milswon't draw up light against the end frames,you may wanllO use the undercutting tech­nique shown in Shop NOles 011 page 11.Design Note: To keep Ihe pocket holes

from showing.I positioned the rails so theseholes (aced in toward the center oC thebench. see Exploded View on page 5.

a. 'i ,'1'.' t­r--l-------l

fiRST:DRILL.1··I)IA.

POCKET HOLE 1" DEEP

6 ItA'L

The rails are connected to the end frameswith a draw-bolt system. This system notonly allows the joint to be tightened if it be­comes loose. it's also easy to make and jluestogether quickly.

POCKETHOJ.-ES.The first step is \0 markthe location of the pocket holes On the rails.The hole. are centered On the face of therails and located 1:V4" in from each end. seeFig.6a. Now.drill a 1"-ilia. hole, 2"deep at Olemarked location. Then. to provide a flat sur­face for Olewasher and nut to draw against.square up the edge of the hole nearest theend of the rail, see Pig. 6.

END HOLES. Once the pocket holes havebeen squared up, 1 drilled 1/16"-dia.holescentered 00 the ends of the rails. see Fig. 6a.These holes are positioned in Ole center oC

RAIL CONNECTORS

No. 66Woodsm'th8

11 (~~ ,,-L-

14-Ca . ~ 1,-

i •.LADE

I

AUXIUAaY ftNCEON TAII.1 SAw

oaoow--y-...._...

IIHI'"NAlLS

~""J

,.ONT/ ....C«1

RAISE 8lADEUNTfL TONGUE,rrsOAOO

••• 11 ....WOOOSCIUWS

~'~.

TO' RAIl. ON BACkSIDI!0' e[NCM

DRAWERSTOP

A<an aIIl!mati\'~10u.mg a "'" Yl.1i1joint lorthe clrav.u-- (,;hov.n onoppositcpagr). youcoulduse adado/rabbet comerjoinl.lfyoudo. the drawer ll'Ont./backs (M) an' cut I"sborter (13Vi' lOll!!). and the ;;ides (1\~arecull" longer (2111.1" long).

This joint ismade bycutting a l·.,"x 1/,"dado on the drawer sides (N).I~ktl'1'1'in from each end. see fig. 2.Then. CUI themating II," x 114' longue on both "od, 01the drawer fronl> and backs. SCI·I·jg 2.Aftercuning Iht' joints. cut the grooves

tor the drawer bottoms. Also culllr6ove"in two drawer .i<l,·. ror the tray splin,·,Compil'lCtht.. d,..""",..,;by cullinll tht. bot·

toms (0) 10 fit 11\('1\ ghJc up Iill' drn....er s,taekiQgtht:co""""k>I.'cIher.l1ee fig. 1.

j

13 SCHIN DAAWU SlOP

ALTERNATE DRAWER JOINT

12 TOP IAII. - ,1)( ... ,"WOOOSCR!WS I

.h.: !ou,W(IS IlL

r1 DAAWUSHOULDMOvtFREEL

((Nfl. aNGlfl()(SOU'OI

lOP IUUl

LliGS,I _

DRAWERGUIDE®

IMOUNT OUIO(SFlUSH TO JiIIIONTOFTOf' RAIL

11

10Afterthc basic bench was built. Iadded n setofdrawers.The (""I.lep here is 10buikl andinstall the drawer jlUides (K). For durabil­ily. I used hard maple 10 make the llUid('$,bUIyou could make them out of pine (sameas the drawers).

Ctrr GLJIOJ;.~1'0 SIZE.There arc a total ofsix drawer ,!(tlides made from :V4"·thickstock. However. the two center guides arelaminated together. see Fig. 10. To makethings easier. 1 glut-d up the two centerllUides to a rough width of tv,". Then Itrimmed the center guides along wilh thetwo side guides 10a finished v.idth of2Wu;"and cut them 22Itl"·long. see Fig. 10.C~'TTHE GR()OVK~.Once the guides are

CUI10 size. grOOV('S are cut to accept thedrawer runners. see ~ig.10.I CUI these W·deep grooves with a :v." dado blade,To cut the groove -s, fir.;! position the table

saw fence 7-1<" from the blade. Then. 10gelthe t~I&"·wide groove centered on Iheguides. I made IwO passes. hll'ninl( thepieces end-for-end after each pass.

\101:;-',. THE GIIIlES. After the grooveshave been cut, drill and countersink shankholesallbelocation,.hownmFtg.IO. Thenposition the Sld~ llUides so they're nushagainst the top fronl rail (F) and screw them10 the legs (A) with NO.8 x lV4" nnUlcadwood screws. see I'ill. II.lVith the<id~ guidps in place. position the

center guides -;0 the three drawer openingsare equal. see Fig. 11.Once they're in place.screw the cenier !,'Uides10the lOPnUl,withNo. 8x 4" woodscrews. see Fig. 12.

DRAWER STOI'S. ~·inally. Icut drawer"lOPS (L) 10stol) lit,' back olthe drawer, seeFig. 13. After building the drawers. screwthe stops in position so the back of thedrawers hil the slops before the dra ..·(·r'sfalse front hils the "od of the drawer guides.

DRAWER GUIDES

9

-_--------- -

Woodsmith

PlWOOO TRAYaonOM

I 12'...•

T~Y ~<~....FRONT/BACK

®--"TRAY SIDE

, .'-~,,,.r­

r

o.17

fALSE •fRONT flUSHWJTHaOnOMO'DRAWlR

I_."X 4~"HARDWOOD

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18xl­WOOOSCctEWS

16lS FALSE fRONTCtNTtRIO ON

wroTH OFDRAWIR

J 141,..,- 20V."- _,i=' DRAWER FRONT /BACK ...

DRAWER 510£ @P @ 4~..•I> (SIX RlQUUlIOI , ($'X OECW'IIO)

FALSEFRONT

CENTEA:DRAwtRHANDLE ONFAUf;FRONT

DRAWERFRONT/BACK

114

No. 66

lt's always aggravating when small tools getlost in the bottom of a large drawer. 1i>keepOIlS from happening. I builta shallow slidingtray for OnC of uie drawers.111£ SJD£S. 11.e first step in buDding the

tray is to cut the "'i'·thick. l:v.."·v.ide traysides (S) to length. see Fig. 17.11lcn cut thefront and back m pieces \-Il" smaller thanthe inside ofthe drawer. On our lray this was12lfs".see fig. 17.Once the tray pieces are cut to length.

the ends can be dovetailed together. (Ifyou use the alternate jOiOl shown on theoppositepage. t.he length ofthe pieces willbe different.) Also cut grooves for the ply·wood bottom (see Fig. 17a.) and assemblethe tray.

TRAY

.-- When the drawerguides are in place,UICdrawers can bebuill to fit betweenthe guides. Sincethese drawers willbe subjected to a loto( weight, [ buillthem with dovetail

joints, USInga router and the dovetail jigshown in WOQIl.sw,itll No. 58. (For an alter­nate joint, see the box on the opposite page.)To build tbe drawers,start by cutting the

fronts/backs (M) to length, \1)" less thantbedistance between the drawer guides andto a width o( 4%". see Fig. 14.Then cut thesides (N) to the same width and 20V,"long.Afterthe pieces have beencuuo size. roul

the dovetail Joints on the ends oflhe pieces.BOTmM GROOVE. Before assembling the

drawer. cut it If.''-dccp groove for the ply·wood bottom (0). see Fig. IS. The width ofthe groove is determined bythe thickness ofthe plywood. Onour case this was '4".)

TRAY GROOVE. To provide additionalstorage. I added a tray to one Of the drawers.referto Fig. 17.To make. ledge for the trayto slide on. cuta groove 2"down (rOI11the topedge of the drawer sides. see Fig. 15.After the tray grOOveis cut. assemble the

drawers.Then cut the V4" x 1'2" tray splines(R) to fit in the grooves and glue them inplace, sec Pig. 14.

FAl.sE FRONTS.TI.e next step is to cut andattach the false fronts (P). Once the frontsare cut. drill and countersink four mountingholes. see Fig. 15. Then position the frontsflush to the bottom of the drawer andcentered on thewidtb, and screw them to thedrawers. see Fig; 16.

RllNN~. All that's left 10 complete thedrawers is to cut the 22W'·loog hardwooddrawer runners (Q) and mount them soO,ey slide in the drawer guides. see Fig. 16.

DRAWERS

No. 66Woodsmith10

.....,

eHD' OUTWAST'II1'WtlN fAILS

-....

<,DON'TUN.DlRCurIIYQNO I.A5T _TAJl. OR UNDt!RC~ 'fi'WIllSHOW -,.... -~

NUTANOWASHER

s;.'6" X 3"CARRlAGESOlT

1/."·OEtP ~

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, , . /"3-'4· I T-.,," l·_pIA. ~'''·DlA. FRONTcou_· HOU'

T STOP .8 x •',,,,"FHWOOOSCRtw-

2 PLA5nC KNOBORwtNGNUTGUIDE

FENCE

guide felice again. but tilt thehandle of the chisel toward youto undercut the shoulderslightly. see Pig. 5. (Undercut­ting helps the joint pull 10-gether.)

When you've undercut half­way through the stock. turn thepiece over and start choppingfrom the other side to finish.

To chop out the waste sec­tions. placethechlsel Ratagainstthe fence and chop straightdown. see Fig. 3. Next, hold thebevel side of the chisel upon thefront edge of the workpiece.Now gently tap out a layer of thewaste section, see Fig. 4.

\Ir\'l)SNCt]I". To make the nextcut. hold the chisel against the

fence hastotrimmed back so thefront edge is exactly in linewiththe base line.

t"ROl>T STOP. After the gui<lefence is trimmed back. add astop to the front ofthe base. seeFig. 2. 1extended this front stopbelowthc base so I'd havealiptoclamp in a vise. see photo.

60I:r ITTOGRTHeR.All thal'sleft is to attach two fY16"carriagebohs, nuts. washers. and acouple ofwing nuts. see "ig.2. (Iused large plastic wing nuts. secSources, page 24.)

USING 1ll£ JIG. Aner complet­ing the jig. I got down to the funpart: chopping out the dovetails.To use the jig. slide your work­

piece under the fence and pushil tit:hl against the front stop.Make sure the front edge of the.l,'llide fence is directly above thescribed base line. then tightendown the fence. see Fig. 3.

• When it came time 10 makethe dovetails for the Wall Shelf(shown on page 111).1buill 3jigto hold the stock so I could accu­ralely align my chisel tochop outthe waste sections.

UUlLf) "fH£ JIG. The jig COD'sists ofa base with.a guide fencebolted on top. see Fig.2.1 startedbycUlting the base and theguidefence the same size. see Fig. 1.(lip: I used double-sided carpeltape to hold the pieces logetherwhile CUlling.)

While thepieces are still tapedtogether. drill counierboredboles for the bolts that hold thepieces together. see Fig. 1.F£I>CE.When using this jig.

the workpiece issandwiched be­tween the base and the guidefence. see photo. Rut in order toalign the chisel to chop down onlbe base line of Ihe waste sec­lions (r~ferto Fig. 3). the guide

JIG FOR DOVETAILS

Shop NotesSHOPOURFRO MTIP SSOME

II

WOOD'-CHiPS

WORKI'rEaawEF- (HAMffR

,RcurtlfENcE

Woodsmith

Asyou're working, sawdust isbound to accumulate along theedgeof the fence or atthe end ofthe stop block. Unless you care­tully clean it.out, itwill graduallybuild up to the point that il willthrow offyourcuL

REU£F CI1AMFER. There's aneasy way to-prevent this. Imakeit a practice to cut a chamfer onthe bottom edge of fen~.esandStops. The chamfer gives thesawdust somewhere to go

No. 66

creates chips of wood inadditionto sawdust (like a router table ordrill press). Imake lite chamfereven larger. see Fig. 2.

DOVETAil. SPACERS. Reliefchamfersare useful on otherjigsas well. When Icut the dovetailson lite band saw (see pages 12 1017). il was important to keep tilespacer blocks tight against eachother. So I cut chamfers On thebottom edges of the blocks tokeep sawdust frombuilding up.

~......HIlC.IOLY

.Jigs and fences are great toraligning and guiding work­pieces. For example. em a tablesaw ifl need tocui several piecesto the same length. I attach asimple fence 10lite miter gauge.see llig. 1.Then r clamp a stopblock to the fence.Okay. it's an easy procedure

that's almost foo~proC)(Almost.There's one little problem thatcan really mess thingsup-s-saw­dust or wcodchips.

SAWDUST RELIEF

·--..,PlACE BEVIl.~,..-li:- OF CHlsn

AGAINSTWORKPI£ctTOI)RMNlGOUGING

a.

wilboulhaYing 10brush it out ofOleway all lite lime.On the.end of a slop block, fot

example. I CUt off tile bottomcomer. You can rut off as muchas li4"-as long as trs less thanOle thickness of the workpiecethat will be pushed up against it,I also chamfer off lite bottom

front edge of lite fence about ),;tl'high to leave space for sawdustto aocumulate.

On other equipment that

STARTFROMTRl )'jOur5ID! IDGlWORI<INGTOW"'D'_~"",CtHTlR

WASlII'It

1

end grain as you work towardthe centerofthe recess, see fig.2a. After the end of the rail basbeen undercut. attach lite rail tothe leg. As you lighten the draw­boll. the joint should pull to­gether without gaps.

2liO

hold lite chisel with lite bevelfacing against theend of lite rail.This kt.-ell" the chisel from dig­ging in too deeply. seeFig.2.1'0 keep the shoulder from

breaking off. start the chisel atthe borderline, paring away lite

the ends of lite rails. see Fog. 2.Then I chopped straighl downon this border line WiUIa chiselto score lite line lils".cJeep.

CHOP our WAS'l'1:. Once tileborder line is defined. the wastecan be chiseled away.To do this.

• Sometimes irs diffiCult to gel• lighl joint line when you but!one piece into another. (Like at­taching the rails to lite leg$ onthe Workbench shown on page4.) TIle problem is both surfacesneed 10be perfi,etly Ilat [or thejoiotto pull completely together,

tJNOl>RCUTI'TNG. To avoidproblems. r use a techniquecalled l<'I1ilerclttWrg. This issimply cutting 0111 a recess onthe end of the rails until a smallshoulder remains around theperimeter. Since only liteshoulder touches the adjoiningpiece. ifs much easier to pull thejoint tight, see Fig. J.

UNDERClrrIlNGTIIE ENOS.Toundercut the rails on the Work·bench. I laid OUI a l4"·wideborder around the perimeter of

UNDERCUnlNG

r:

-

cutting dovetails Onother projects in the fu­ture.I think the time it takes 10 build the jigsiswell spent.And. though this system is accurate and

tlexible, it's not the (astest way to cutdovetails. Even after building the jigs.there's some set-up time and handwork in­volved. The band saw doesn't do it all.

H...."DWOItK. But that's what I like mostabout this 5)'>1<'111. I find the handwori< thatcomes with chol>pinJt out a dovetail jointespecially satisfying. 'n,is syslem eliminates

".l<'T1ONOFsntlNOTH

1/\

12

PIN '"

00I1CT1ONOfWIIGHT

lhe hard part-cutting to aline- and allows Oleto COllcentralt'on the final fitofthejoinL

'lotI': Before going on. Ishould explain that what we'represennng bere is ~Iark's basic5ystem. V{e modified th e 'Y"rem and some of the jig'sli)l'hUy.TorcadMark·,oriJ(inalapproach. pick up a copy of hisnew book, "Band Saw lIand·book" published by SterlingPublishing.

TAILS AND PINSA through dovetail joint con­sislsof two halves: the tail. andthe pins.At first it can be a liul('confusing what is what.The tails look like a dove's

tail (hencethenameoflhejninl)wh ..n viewed from the side of a drawer (orthe "id~ of the \VaIIShclfshown onpage 18).The Jlillxlook like rectangles (sort of like abox joint) when viewed from the irolll orback of the drawer,To add to the confusion, when viewed

(rom the ends o( the boards. the tails looklike pins (u,ually tallones).and the pins looklike little tail" This all may sound confusingnow. but it "ill clear uponceyouve cut afew

dovetail joints.DIRECTION OF STRhSGTII.

Okay. which boardgetathe tail•.811dwhich board gels the pillS?And does it make any dlffer­encc? A dovetail joint i. 11111·c/t(ullcally strong in only OOl<'direction.

If the joint iscut on 8 drawer,the pms should be cut ,)II thedrawer fronL see the drawing.Then the mechanical strength ofthe joint holds the drawer II~getherasit'spuljed open. On theWall Shelf, the pins arc cut onthe top 10 hold up the weight IIf

the whol~ cabinet, and the bottom til Iwlpsupport the drawers,

LAYOUTL.1yingout a dove!ail joint - tbe site andplacement of the tails and pins - is worthsome time and thought. If the layout isn't onthe plan. it's best to draw the tallsand pinsonpaper. Th('II. once you get a layout you like.it can be trnnsf erred to the workpieces,wurm OF PIN \'S. TAIL It's a matter o( in·

dividual preference, but l prefer th .. pins to

band saw. the pieces can't be too wide. Onmy 12" band saw. I (ound that the work­pieces.couldn't bemuch wider than llY'.!".

Plt.F.PAAA1'10N'·IMt-:. Another disadvan­tage is the time it takes to build the neces­sary jigs. If you only want (0 CUI dovetailjointsforOlIP projc<:t.this system may not beworth it.You will have to spend a couple ofhours building jigs before you can getSlatted CUtlingjoint,. Uut i(you expect to be

The bn~isof the system is a series of spacerblocks, When culling 011 the band snw, thebhxk~~pac.:t'thetail 311(l pill (.;\Il:i~u the twopi.'<.'C,will interlock perfectly. Ttl vary thewidth otthe pinsor tails, all you have to do isvary the width of the block s. Using this <y".tern you can create an infinite varidy uf tailand pin panerns,ClJo..,\.'l'mAL CtTS. The sy s­

tem solves what I consider to beIlle most difficult part of cutlingthrough dovetails with handtools - the initial cuts. Theyhave to IK:straight, square. andto a consistent depth. (For moreon dovetail thcory and how to L'UIa dovetail joint by hand. see1I'"oo'"11th No. 19.)1,A\Ot"MT'1E. There'sanother

advantaRc to this system. Youdon't have to spend a lot of timeaccurately laying out each joint.I usually layout the fin;t joint soI don't get confused. But then all the otherjoillts (In a drawer (or example) can be cutu"illl( thesameprocedureand tlwy willnilbeexactly the same. This means the parts foo'thedrawers will be interchangeable (side (orside. front for back).

"lOnl U\lrTATlO:>.As...ith any dovetai~ing system. there are limitations to thismethod. The most obvious has to do with themaximum width of the workpieces, Sincesome of the cutting is done with thl' work­I>iec"bctlt'Crll the blade and the arm ufthe

About 8 year ago, MarkI)uginske. a woodworker

(rom \Vausau. Wiscon~in.dropped by our shop one fall al­tcmoon. He wanted to sharewith us one of his methods forcutting dovetail joints.

When I first saw :\,lark',"""pie dovetailjoint, Ithought ilwas CuI by hand - or maybewithanexpensiverouterjig suchas the I",igh jig. The joint was cutso both the pins and tails wereexposed (called a throughdovetail [oint) - and it fit to­gether perfectly.

:\'Iark', system uses a bandsa" and two jigs - ODeto holdthe board to cut the tails and oneto cut the pins. (These are thetwo interconnecting parts of adovemil, see drawing below.)

SPACER BLOCK SYSTIM

Bandsawn DovetailsTECHNIQUEWOO n W 0 R KIN G

13No. 66

TUAN4UCKLE

r:T1CtCKNES5Sl.IGim.Y LI$$THANBANOSAWTAIlf,..--~-:.._---.KNOBOil""," WING NUT

8ANDSAWTAII.£

of the plywood and glue in a \14" Masoniterunner. see Fi!,!. 2.The runner slides in theblade slot on the auxiliary table,111RNllt;CKLES:Jlleauxiliary tableis held

down to the band saw table with a coupl e ofturnbuckles, To make the turnbuckles, firstresaw spacer blocks just a hair thinner thanthe thlckne ss of the band saw table, see Fig,3. (These spacer blocks will be positioned SOthey just clear the outside edges of the bandsaw table. see Hg. 4.)

After resowing, drill a counterbored holein the spacer block to accept a 0/16" carriageboll. Now insert the boll into the hole. andthen screw the spacer block 10 the bottom ofthe plywood table. see Fig. 3. The carriageboll head should be captured in the counter­bore belwe.m the block and the plywood.Thelurnbucklesarerectnngularpiecesof

"¥." plywood with a !¥.$" hole <.101100 O{f-(;CII~ter, see Fig. LTo ughwn the turnbuckles.you can use a¥ul' wing nul ora plastic knob.(We're offering the knobs through~'oodsmi!b Proiect Supplies, see page 24.)

the layout is symmetrical, you can still varythe width of the individual tails by varyingthewidth of the spacer blocks.

REi\DYTOcur, After you've decided onthe layout. you can transfer it to one end ofthe board Lbatwin have the tails (see the nextpage). '(ben you're ready to start cuttingyour first dovetail join!. (WeU. almost. Youstill have 10 make the jigs. The first one isexplained below.)

3 s",.'" X 2\1,,­CARRIAGE

BOLT

~NoaOR--5JI." WING NUT

SECURE JIGTO EOGEOF8ANO SAW TAWW1TH TURt'<I&UCKl.£.S

POsmON RUNNERIN MITERGAUGE SLOT

4

2 _, 1'1")" r-1/._MASONITE V / 1.UNN••,l,· ~I 21n"lONG FrTS IN ' !.ISLADE SLot "

'\ [, " '1',._ ... t

STOP BLOCK

1 AUXIUARY BANDSAW TABLE _...-·m,p BLOCK

same size as the slot in my band saw table,Next. to hold and guide the pin jig. I cut a

second slot (groove) the same si2e and atrightangles to the first slot, see Fig. L

RLlliE sior, IVilh the slots cut, set theauxiliary table 011 the band saw and push itinto the blade until an I I"·Iong slot is CUI inthe plywood. see Fig. 1.

Both jigs require a stop block. To mountthis block. 1widened the blade slot to 14"wide. (Since the runner was already at·tached, I had to turn the plywood upsidedown to cut the wider slot on lhe table saw.)

Sl'OI' SUlCK.The stop block stops jigs andworkpieccs that ride on the auxiliary table.To make the stop. glue a 2W x 3"block of

lVi' stock to the top of a piece (,f plywood.see Pigs. I and 2. Glue the block alone endof the plywood. and then cut the ends of theblock and plywood of( flush. (I alsochamfered Ole bouom edge as a sawdust re­lief, For more on this, see page I J.)To keep the sliding SLOPblock square on

thetable.cuta 14"·widegroove In the bottom

Youcan cut dovetails on your band saw withonly two jigs - the [ail jig- (shown on pagel4) andthepinjig (shown on page 16). But Ifound it difficull to balance these jigs and along workpiece on my Sears band saw. Itonly has a 1211." x 14" table.To solve this problem. I built a 24" x 24"

auxiliary table (rom a piece of :V." plywood,see Pig. L lt sits directly On top of the bandsaw table. refer to Fig. 4.. (J found this biggertable useful for other projects as well)

,\l)1) llUN"'E!l. To hold the auxiliary tablein position on the band saw. J glued a 11.1"·thick hardwood runner 10 il1(' bottom of theplywood, see Fig.!. CUi the runner to widthto match the miter gauge slot on your bandsaw, Then position iLSOthe ed~eoftheallxil­iary lable will clear the arm on the band saw.NEWSlOTS.Aflerlherunnerwasauached,

I cut a slor In the auxiliary table directly overthe runner. see rig. La.This slot (dado) isused to guide a runner that's on the bottomof the tailjig. Since I wanted to use mymitergauge in this slot for other jobs. I cut it Ihe

AUXILIARY BAND SAW TABLE

band saw. Ifound it easiest to build the jigs3ta$0' angle (or 10' off90j:lbis worksoulto a ratio of about l:S:V•. les strong enoughfor most applications and looks nice.

SYMMIl'nUGALlAYOlJf.There's one morelhing 10 consider when laying out dovetailsthat will be cut using this band saw tech­nique. The layout has 10 be symmetrical.That is. one half of the layout has 10 be amirrored image of UIC other half. AsIQog as

be narrower than [he tails. Generally. Ilikethe widest part of the tails 10 be about fourtimes as wide as the narrowest pan. of thepins. (This can vary for appearance though.)

ANGLES.TIle anglesofthe dovetails is alsoa mailer of personal (visual) preferencewithin limits. The general rule is that theangle should be somewhere between 1:5(78~') and1:8(83').'When sel;ting up 10 CUi dovetails On the

r:

No. 66

3 AOJUSTABUSTOP FENCE f- 11,,- .. ,-

""-DIA. j 3"HOUFOI--_C-ClAMP HEAD f.! ~ >,"

rSGUMI .._ ....._J_

.; '" ~

PLYWOOO.-2 sn_GAUOI FOR 10·(1tIADS 10' ON50MfMITfAOAUOfSI

there's security in seeing thecuts beinz made where they'resupposed to be.)

SPACER RJ.oCKS. Next, cui"pacer blocks (rom ~" stock[hat match tile distances fromthe corner ofone tail to the samecorner on the next ~,iI.see Step3.This means there willalwaysbe one more tail than the num­ber ofspacer blocks,

STOP FENCE AND BLOCK. Thcn positiontheworkpiece on the tailjig and clampdownt1w stop fence. see Steps4 and 5.Next. pushthcjill into the blade llntil the blade touchesthe scribed base line and clamp down thestop block. see Slep 6.

Safety Note:On Step 4 we're showing theband saw's guide post high above the work­piece. That's okay when the saw is turnedoff.but always lo....erthe guard right over theworkpiece before turninz on the power.

crrmxs. Now irs a matter of adding thespa""r blocks one at a tiOIC (in alphabeticalorder) and making cut s. set' Cuttings...quence at far right. Then flip the boardovcrand make the second sequence ofruts.

Shop Note: Usually you will be joiningboth ends of a board with dovetails. Tosimplify the explanation of the ruttingsequence, we're showing only one end.Once you're familiarwith the sequence. youcan flip the board end-lor-end and edge-for­edge before adding each spacer block.

CUlM OUT WASTE. After both sides of thetail. are cut, chip out the waste areas be­tween the tails. see Steps 7 and 8.

14

I CUTTOm SlOT~XIUAlY 'JAiUIUNNtl

~". PlYWOOD U.lAS'

'RONTflNet~-4.lIC,It" 241.•10

I

TAtl JIGAOJUSJ..... USTOPftN(~­~."x , ..x: 15- )

1

1

1),\sE. Start by cullinII'a :v.' plywoodbaseIS"wide and 24" long. see ~ig. 1.

RUNNER. Next, cut a runner to fit in themiter gauge slot in tile plywood auxiliarytable. see Fig. Ia, Position tile runner in adado on the bottom of the base so the baseclears the band saw arm when the runner isin th~ miter gauge sloL

t'RO!'o'TFENCE. After the runner isglued in.I SCn:'WL-d a fence on top of the base to holdth.. workpiece at al0' angle to the blade. Toposition tile fence, I used my table saw'smiter gauge. see Fig. 2.S1~)PFENCF~TIle last pan to make is astop

f,·nce.lt's a pieceof~." stock with a squared­oO'holecutin it (ora c-clamp, see Fig. 3.

CUft1HG PIlOCIDUUThe procedure (or cutting the tails is shownin the drawings on the opposite page.Before you cutdovetallson a project. I'd rec­ommend working through the wholeprocess-e- tails and pins - on 'Orne scrap.

1,AYOUT. I S\3n by laying out all the tails,see Step 2. (This isn't really 11t'Ct'SS3J'Y sincethe spacer blocks position the cuts. But

Before you begin bandsaw­illl( dovetails, there are a

(,·w things to do.The workpieeeshave to be prepared. the band1'<1W tuned up, and a tail jill'built..TOCK PUPARATION

To begin, it's importantlhat anystock to be joined is nat andplaned to a uniform thickness.

SClt .\R£I-1' zses,After you'resure the boards are nal. ntXt square up theends o( the workpieces and cut them tofinished size. Then mark the base lines tocorrespond to the lhicknv,soflh. matchingboard, see Step 1on th~ opposite page.

BAND SAW TUNE UPAfter the stock is prepared. you should'pend a few minutes ch..,.;king that. yourband saw is tuned up ..., the cuts will bestraight and true. (For information on tuningup a band saw. see lVood3111itli No. 51.)

BtAl}F..To cut dovetails, I use a V." bladewith six teeth per inch. Be sure the blade issharp and tensioned correctly.

8lADE GUIDES. 'I11\: rnc.,sl Important thingto check is the location of the blade (side)guides - both above and below the table.These hold the blade in line (ora straight cutand should be a hair away from the blade.(Formore information. M'<' page 23.)

TAIL IIGOnce the saw is tuned up, you can beginbuilding the tail jig. This jig holds the work­piece at the COlTeCtposition while cutting.

Dovetails: The TailsTECHNIQUEWOODWORKING

l5Woodsmith

8 fi'inaUy. 1'O/(g" ctu area Olll.itie tlttlaslta il. JI/a' over;rize.Th"" scere tile

shoulderwith awille chisel (left) and pateont thewaste with a tta)"YJWcitisel (right).

,PA!t£-OUT

RlMAtNlNOWASTE

6 N ..~t.clamp tile 8107) block trottol, Wthe tU(xil;(ll'Y table will. u C·ctamp.

TlwnfolloUl the cltlting sequence in 00,. (1/Nght. Beuoeen cuts, add the~po.c.,·blocks.

4 Now mount the wiljig 011lite bandsaw. Next, 86/ workpiece Ott the jig

(wd alig" tne fir8t tui/with the blade (seeSieyJfi). Then. ch,t.mp troWII tlte stop j8'ICIJ.

2 For l-ej'cr(J11Ce1.1.lhettctttti'll{/, ·Jlla l'k thesizeQ"d $po.ci'~golt,ltil~"'I t""endol

the bo(n'll'I,ritl, a pencil and bevel gauge.Ttien.murk 100Si.e eeetions ,uiill a,l .4X. ff

No. 66

7 1'0eno»out wo,stehetweenfhetaU., Iu8etlwhase lirt,ejig sl1own01lpa{/B10.

IVOl'k/rombotltsUbis oltlUl boa''d nlW ">I,de'rC"t toward the cellw' (seepag810).

5 Forlhefirsicui, aHgnbl'rde witli line011the fi"st, tail. left drawing. Then

pI,sh Utejig( and,t,'()l'kpiece) ill/<) bwdeMWstop at sc,ibed base N"". "i{Jhid,·,uving.

WAST.STOP CUT

aA$l At BASI:UN.! <,

.r\- Utll --...... ,X T..,' X X TAl' X8AND$AW

-'CUTTO'-

aLAn!WASTE.S,OE

OF LAYOUT UNE

3 To dete,·min. the ,,,i,ttl! "I.(LcI,Sflltcer block. met"",)'e jt'()l)t upper

wit comerofon« tailloupper left conw"olt/U1""",UQil.Then Clttblock to Oi2e.

(OUALSWID'"OfON£SPACEIt

1 Make .ure bQ(llYl/&rwi/.,;s tru« and~I!dsare sqUa1·C.Tic"" set tI,e?l",rk­

fng!}n uge10 111i.cknes.•olb(HJ:rdlurt/l.pin«.Mark the bILs.line em /lothJlLCesand edges.

_ REPEAT PROC!£DUR£",OVE,. SIARl1NOwmiOUr ASPAcRBLOCK. THEN ADOSPACERS IN-SAMJ!

SIQUENC,

NOTE:FUPWO.I(PI(CE OVER

OON'TMOVESTOP flfilet:

SlOPmlCO

SECOND:cur lS MAJ)E WrrHSP,"ClR BLOCK ~A)IN PlACE.

FIRST:CUTIS-MADEW_SPACllIalOCKS

BEVELSQUARf

r:

/-

CUnlNG SEQUENCESTEPBYS T E P

the tails in the "d(', of all the pin" see Slep 7_(:-':olc:II',nes for the pins ('asy 10 take 100 big of " CUI.so jusl burdyep I on the 01>' move Ihejig.) Comlnue sneakingupand cut-'ping a smal! tinllllnul the fit i<perfect.

. line helps hold USIMBLYstraight Imark :\0" comes the fun pan. Tap the joint 10-where the tail> Rl'lhcr and check the final fiL see SI,·p s_

WI",,, the joint filSpr(merly, it can be glued

INS up 10finish the proj<'clyou're working on."":-'I)'IINGl P.Once the joint is together,

y()U can mount the end grain ofth(' pins and tails may stick't' Step2. Then above the face ofth" board s, orbe recessed,Is in the waste If Iht· end grain<'kk, abcvethe surtace. fik'rking thatarea, Ihe pins or tails flush. If it's recessed. UM' a

planvto shave the fac'eof the boards down 10I the slop block the end grain oflh(' pins and tails.

2 i I . Ift .

"I'

;I""H- c t--'_MUS1 I. ,.," COMI TO A POINf \._

Tannvo jlOIH1lCAI." ..WIOOU )0 •

,..,_.l =. ..-,./..

snMIJUGAUGlA! 10"

No.66Woodsmith

....10·

a,

_-PIN JIG

',.. '".,-'(Ne[

16

10-WfDG( <,

~/".. Pl YWOOO,12" a 12"

1

to keep Il,.. CUI(rom going 100deep. SCI' Step 4. (Note: '11<' plnjig doesn't move towards theblade like the tail jig. TI", workpieceslide, forward on the jill.)

'UKt:nIFCl""_ :\ow ir~ju'" amailer of making all of Ihc'angled CIIIS using the samespacer blocks as when cllllingthe tails, st·" Cutting SequencvBox.

'I'll!.'JIG AROII~II.Nleral! of the cuts iU\.nL"I" in one direction. tum the jig aroundand align the blade cl<-arlyin the "asle arca,SC'l' Step 5. Then "'Jwat the process ofadding spacer blockaand making cuts. Afterthe cut, are complete. chop out the w.~It'between the pin, as you did with th'lails.TRI" TO FIT. 111emost important SII'P is

the next one. Cht'Ck how the pins and tails fillogelhcr. see Step 6.Then. ifnec~.lapIhc' pin jig Over to trim aliltle more off Ihe

AS.~~"Ill.\. Once the weol!(" are CUI.gluethem between the IWO plywood squares tocreate thcang1edjig.s<'(" Fog. I.

LAYING OUT THI PINSNtcr Ihe pin jil( is built, you're finally ready10 start I II('I.slstep-Iayingout and cuttingthe pins,

Start by setting the markinz gauge to th..thicknc,,,ol the board for the tails and markbase lin(" on both.fares.'WO\ <:I'I' I.JNES.l\CXI,use

first board 10mark the cui Iion the second board, sec $1posite lX'gt·. (Shop Tip: Clanbacker board nlO!1gthe ba"the p;ett, in position.)Then, to keep E'I<-er)'lhing

the w",tr areas (the areaswill fit into) with an "X",

CUnlNGTHIPNler Ihr layout iscomplete,the pinjill on the band saw. «align the jig <0 the blade <'Uarea.righl ,,"..-110thelin" rnasee SICI13.

SET ''TO!' Hl.(lCK. Next.se

PIN JIGTo cut the pins. there's one lastjig 10 make -thr pin jig. Itholds the work­piece at an angle Ihal matches the tail angle.

CIJT1WO !<Ql ~Rt;S. The jig is madt· fromtwo square. of "," plywood wJlh anllledwedges between them. see Fig. L I startedby CUlling the two squares 12" x 12".

RUNNER. Next. cut a 20"-lon,ll runner Loauach to the bottom of the jig. seeFig. L.Thisrunner fits in th. groovecuLacros'th, auxil­iary table (po;rptondicularto the blade)To bold the runner, CUI a V,"-dt'<'P dado

centered on the bottom of one of the pi)·.wood squares. Nowglue the runner into thedado so ao 8"-10Ilg tongue stick s out one end.seeFig. 1.

t"f:NCF_ After tilt>runner is glued 011. theoexlSlep is to glue a fence along one ,'<Ige ofthe 'lop plywood square. see F'lg. la. This(ence keeps til(' workpicceand all the spacerblocks in position.WEOOJ;:S_In. lasl pieces to cut "I'(> the

12"-longwedges, <oe Fig. 1. I cut till''''' offthe ends of a piece of plywood, see Fi~.2.Shop Note: To cut a tighl-fitting dovetail

joint the pinangk" must be the sam, .>thetail angtes, The ""si<'51"'ay 10 make surethcy're the same is to SC'Ithe miter gauge offthe tail jig. refer back to Fig. 2 on 11Illle14.

A fteryou'vc fini'h<'d chop­ping nul the waste areas

between the tails, the next step is10 cutthe pins on the other boardto fit in those areas. The chat­IC!1geisgelling all of the pins tofit perfectly - nOI too tight or1(10 loose.

Dovetails: The PinsTECHNIQUEWOODWORKING

17

SfCOND:ADOSPACOt8lOCKSANOMAKICUTSINlHE SAME$(QU£NCEASAIO~

TURN JfGSOANGU'ACU0<>P0Sfl'tDIRlCTlON

WOJtKPUct WITH0UT$l0f'.leI snu u'

f

F-AelMOCHIora.cnoN •••<""""IftO

SECOND:AOD $PAC(lt(A) ANDMAKtCUT

......, ... w.......FIRST:MAKE r:JlSTcurwnUOU'T"'ACIlt

CUnlNG SEQUENCE

Wu<xhmithNo. 66

8 ).fln·1I1I' pi» .• fil into IIiR areas be­tU'('fU (I", /(1il1<i, tlu joint r(Ltl b«

t.tJ.PfIW (U[I('(""'" I:",,, IHI<ki7l9 board for{'{1{I)1 1'1"('IfNI("(' (t"d to prt'tJftllt SIH itti)lg.

GtNnYTAP- JOIHTTOOmu.

6 A./1I'" ('(""IJ/t'till{] rltlli'lg SCq?tCll(.(t,rll(III (JI,I umstc ""('(1. the» CIl£Ckuou:

pi'll .•• m/ 1«il .•.[it, (ff//I'!(""'OOli{/1it YOi'CRII11';»1(l 1'1' it mor« ,ifft Il/'1)i "~,l~l!e Step 7.

fAIL lOUD

.... IOUD

I'OSITIOHStOP'LOa(IoOCUfSfOPS

L.._""-'__ AT"'5I! UN. %

4 l\'Oltl/JItHlt If'O,,A'/Jiocl' into blad» andt(tcll' ItI (III' lH(b'(l line. Theu C/(tll11'

(U)111UIIii' ~/t)/) blfU'k (Iud mak« cut» HllUlC')li" CllfJ~"" XI"I'It' "('t' uI tel)}U/ bu.r (III riglll,

2 ,ll0lft,1 !Ji), ji{! and uorkpiece (Olt,t·.~;d,tIll» (JU IXlutl HIIUl•• 41ign jig 110

btatl« If'ill rill i " 11'(,slt;)1('.(1ttJfi,.~t ,)fIt (.I((!PS/(1) ,I), 1"'t'11 el« ", J) (J'lltl" ''''lfl'lli' 0/jig.

AUGN no W'rTHFIRSTPIN ANO -

CLAMP IN H.ACl

S T E rB Y

5 ,Vl'J,'I. IIII'll tht' pitt jig 4tOll1ld $0n1I(llefare. 0lil'".it.c (1i1'I'rlilm. Then

a/i(lll blml<' II/lilli/Hide 1/1(' layolll line, bittc:/e-(r rill i'lilltl' 1('tIH/('111"('(1.(~/(l t~tPd()UJ'l)'lg.

3 Noffllll' I'0silioll of/he blade i>l ,'1)/,,­I ion 10 1111' lallOl<l line. Ttie blade

.I"mld rill ill th» ".,Ale area so tne lUI/autliuf' ;.'tjlt~IIH,'·~IU"1t((1'~(L"

1 'l'u IflU /Jul/JillS,/i"Hi nuirk: IxUfe line»">I Imllt/a.','x. 7'111'/1holdlail board., ..the f'nd ('./'/1/'" /xHtl,1 (tlld "~(lt·~·cut lines,(1111,(I k II iff".• l/n rk 11:'fJ."tlp(lY'eas1(~ith ·4'('8....

NO110"""UNIk

PINIIOAID

8ACKIL.IOARD

,....-..0--- ....

7 To fn", oj! juxt (l },(I;r more, keep tileI"" jigr/« JJJIJ('d to ttir« luilill ryllJbl~

a",lto pOll'jig toith« "''' 11<'1.l' 011 'Mllld be(1.11/('to ",01,(' if n I illlt'lllitllouJ u.ncla)l11)i'1lg.

- S T E P

No. 6618

IIANGINGS\'STE.\t.Bcsldesdovetails. this shelf offersanother interesting challenge - hanging it on the wallonce it's done. Of cOUJ'S('. i(you U1'(' M"TeWsor any typeo( anchor devices. you11want to drivethem into wall'tuds. :-'otaneasytask. Even ifyou can locate the studs.Ih"re',onlya slim chaneethey'll be in the right locationlor hanging the shelf.

Instead. Imounted the sh~lfb)' hanging it Ona longcleat that is in tum mounted to Ole wall.The nice pariis thai the screws can IX' Ic)t'n"''' anywhere along theI""gtlt 01the cleat. Then the whole system is hiddenfrom view SO you don't seenny serewheadsor even thf'cleat, (Formore on the hanl(ing 'y,wm, see page 21.)

WOOD ANDFlNlSlt.The shell shown here is made(rom red oak and finished with IWO coals of\kCloskcy's Heirloom EJlRShdl Varnish, The combi­nation of oak and a matte finish enhances the contem­porary look of the shelf desillll.

This is the perfect opportunity LO try out bandsawn dovetails.Even if you don't build the shelf, check out the unique hidden hanging

system that holds the shelf on an)' walL.

Wall Shelfr- F__E_A__T_U__R_E P_R__O~J~E_C__T ~

ThiS wall ,heir is a ).'!"Catway to try out the tech­nique o( cutling dovetails on a band saw (see

page 12).The (our sldes or the shelf. as well as thedrawers. are all joined .. ith dovetails.

A ....ord about dovclail' OO\"tails arc an age-old joi"."ry technique. Yet. the)' "'-em rightat home on contem­porary furniture, \·spedally those pieces with verysimple lines tbat allow the-dovetails to be accented, Thewallshellisan ideal cnndidaie lordovetails, Thejoineryprovides a nice touch ordecoration - and it's a subtleway to show 0(( your crartsmanshil).rns DRAWERS. I alse used dovetails to make the

three drawers that fil in this wall shelf. However, wilhthe drawers closed. what you see on the front o( thrdrawer doesn't look lik. a devetail-e- it looks more likea box joint (see the photo above). You have to open tht·drawer to see the characteristic dovetail shape on thedrawer's sides,

19WoodsmirhNo. 66

\12.'1'4-34\12\12 x 1!.8-34'a

-l." x at." ·12. (4.1 ad.Ft.)

I 0 Lwu~ff.MffjJ~"x 8V..• -72 (4.1 Id.ft.) -K

I ,H, ! !:. I ,HI! IH, k/j6#}'~

'1'. x 8'11.· 16:VA x 2''\1,. - 36'1'4.8\,\. -36'1'. x 8'1,.· 35'!r.I x 2'I" - 34 'll

cI A I A :

DRAWERSH Dr.Frts/Bocks(6) ~)(2'~6-1 11".I Or.Sldas(6) ~x2''1',.-7%J Or.BottOfT\$(3) %pIy.x7'1a-Il:V,.k Drower Slop (1) *-.0/1., 34'~SUPPLIES• 8.2BoClfdll.-lr.·-fhlckook• 4 1Boo,d ft. ~"'hiok ook• 12' x 24' place Vo'plywood• McCloskey's EggshellVoml$h

WOOD PARTSSHELFA Srdas(2)8 TOp(1)C BottomO)D C~,,'arShelf(1)E Bock(l)HANGER SYSTEMF Wall Hongar(\)G Woll Claol 0)

~ .." IIC8'1." • 72 (4.1 ad. ft,1

'ORAWfRS REQUIRE121' )It 24" PIECEOF II.," PLYWOOD

CUnlNG DIAGRAMMATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

I:-::: 7/.:~ r • -.... '/ r ;:;v ,/.Y . //, ..1 /1 " '" . y

.".L,-_ ",.!--,o---j .." _'"_ "'.1--,"--1",.1--,0- ",.1.-,.- 'I' I ,/. '0- "'., , ..-..J'IA"

8\'__." 21~(I" •

DRAWER LAYOUTSIDE LAYOUT

DRAWERBOTTOM

H

DRAWERFRONTSBACKS

@ CENTER SHElfDRAWER STOP ..,'I--",

DRAWERSIDE

BACK E

@SIDE

r

WAll ClEAT ,~G:r---.'--/--,36"====--_--.1OVERAll DIMENSIONS:16'" H x 36" l x 81/16" D

EXPLODED VIEW

/-

No. 66

CUTBACKTONGUE TO FIT5lOPptO DADO

three ,"1I~t(.·areas on thr side pieces for thepins on the lOPpieee.)

ce--"ThR ~HU.J'.All<'r th" dovetail jointsare CUI.you can bellin work on the centershel(O). Slarl bycuttingth eshelfthe samewidth (81.tt6")as the sid,,,, (A). see Fig. 4.To determine the length of the center

shelf. dry·.,,,·,,,bl,· Ihe 101>.bouom andsides.Then me..sun- the inside distance be­tween thc,id(·s. (Inmycase.this wns34 \02".)Then add \02" for Ih~ V."·long tongues oneach end ofthe center shelf and cuuheshelf10Ienlltlt (:15"long).

em" TONGuss. To make thelonglll's:ltthe ends oruie center,Iwl(.(cut rabbetson the topandbouam faces of Ihe shelf wiUI.d3do blade. S<'e Fig. 5. Sneak upon the height ofthe blade lIOtiItit" 10nltU.. fils snugly into thedado in Ih(' ,id~ pieces W.TRIll TO~GlE. Since tbe

dadoes on the side pieces areslOPped. you hav(· 10 trim thelonllUf' back. ~ Fig. 6. To doII,;". score the fronl edge with achisel. nnd Ihen pare back thelonltU(' just tikI' you did whenculling lilt' dovttails (refer toStCl18 on page 15).

20

...r&:.-, CINTER

SHElf

-5

,Itt.'"

:.;:'I FINCE:.® ~ .L ,.

'-li . ,L L

-- ..,3_::__ '::>__- :r----___ an SKILF 1,,- lOHOO THAHTOP (!'}- ltC'SHOULDfR·TOoSHOUUKI

,..-OlMUtSlOH ON IOTrOM "IC'

4

DO\~T.\lI$. 'v ith the pieces cui to size.you ran lay out th,· dovetailjoints. I followedthe layout ,hown on pagE' 191a~;ng out thetails on the ,id~ pi,.."." (A) and lite pins Onlite lOP(8) and bonom (e) pieces.To cut the dovctaib. I used the band saw

technique ,hO"11 on pages 1210 17.There'sonly one 'I'I1II11problem. TI,e angle hasn'tbeen cui off the front <-.igeofth e sides piecesyet. refer to Fig. 1.Bill I found heaslestto layout and cut the lails all the way across theside pieces to pn'vent confusion. (Youdon'thave to chop them nilout, Just chop out the

After the dadoes arcrouted in the sidepieces (A). you canCUIthe lOP (B) and

~ :~l:~:f,s~~ize:.s.(e) 10C\T TO SIZE. Stu1

by ripping the top(8) to a width of

21'1'16", S('C Fig. ·1Then rip the bottom (C)to match Ihe width oi the side pieces (Sllt6"wide). A, for length, cut bOlh pieces to auniform h'nglh ,,(36".

TOP, BOnOM, AND SHELF

1 urr SIDE RIGHT SIDE 2 MAJtKClNtt. .....K 3 ( ..... K$TAIIlNQ""NT,- or 1fTON '(NC!,.---- stOPPOINT

'IIONT fIIONT ....IOGI lOG£ 'IIOM'.. '- ,F EDGf

~ @\,.-

~.~\ 16' ,$to....,

-'I •f".t ! 3'.·

f. '" • INSIDE

l7".!~ t'r 1 n.n.n.n.n 'ACI

~ 8'.')."-":DOWN

BOrrOM 0' DADO

push il through Ilw slraighl bit, SlOppingwhen the two Iderencc marks are aligned.see Fig. 2.

However. for lite piece on the left side. youhav .. 10 make • plunl:~ CUI. Tum on therouter and ,Iuwly lower Ilw workpiece omothe lumiJlg bil. You have to lower it so thereference marks allgu when the piece is Oalon the table. Then push the workpieceacross the router labl~ moving from right 10left.!;('e Fig. 3.

Shop NOll':Allhough you can accomplishlite same Ihi'l!! by roUlinllfrom len to right.Iwould" 'Irecommend doingitlhal way. Therotation of the bit can pull the workpiece3\\'3)' from the (Clh.·"_·.

about I" fmm th" trom edge of both sidepiecesso it doe...n't -,hew,To cut Ih~,toppt-.i dadoes. mourn a V4"

straight bil in the router tabte and SCI it tocut"10"-dl"'p. I'o,ilion the f~nce 3'"," from thebil. SC(' !-ill. 2Sincctlusis ablind cut (Ihe bitisunderthe

workpiece and YOII can't -ee where it is). Iput " r('f~I't'nce mark on the router tablefence allh. t(·nwrohhe bit. S~l·lg. 2.ThenIplltunullwr mark on the workpiece I" fromOw front edge III indicate the stopping pointforth« dado. ".,' Fig. 2.

ROtmNGTilE tl.\I)()P_'\.To rounhe dado inthe side piece f"r the righl side of the shell.lay the piec... down on the rourer table and

Istarted building the'" wlIU>hcllbymaking

the IWO sides (A)CUI these pieces

• 81.t";,,wid<.- (Ioaccour

Jmodale the dovetaillayout) and to alenglh of 16". secfig. I. (The angled

fronl "dll~ Ol(lhe.c side pieces will be CUIoff1"I~r.) If y')1! don't have Oal, wide board s.build UI) 1111' width by cdllL'lllliingsomc nar­rower pi('C(·s.

STOPI>~:1l o.vno. Before cutting thedovetail joints, Irouted a stopped dado forthe center .hell (D). This dado is stopped

SIDES

21Woodsmith

4 WALL 5 WALLHANGER CLEAT

J_ - '1'," 10-. f4-.'II....

b-r\.2" -r ®' ~/@-t I ~ t "

j \SET.lAOE \ SlT BLADEAT 30' AT 30'

3BACKR.£P£ATPA$SESTO CUTGROOVE

2

No. 66

BACK

1 NOTE:GLUEHANGERFLUSHWlTH 8ACK(00£ OFTO'PIECE ./10,.(8). :

CUTBACKTO ftNAl WIDTH

lockinlf strips - a hanger and awall cleat, To make tbe hanger(1-). cut a piece about 2" wideand the same length as theback (34W'). Then bevel-ripofia :¥.",wide strip, see Fig. 4.

('I..E.~T.Now follow the sameprocedure 10 make the ll1l"­wide wall cleat (G). see fig. 5_

i\$$&~r»t..Y.Next, glue thehanger (F) to tlte lOPback face

ot the back piece (E). Face thebevel toward the back piece,see fig.la.

Once lhe glue dries. gluethis unit under the top (B) Ofth!>wall shelf. see Iig. I.

WALL MOUNTING. Next,screw the cleat (G) LO the wallstugs. Then set the shelf overthe cleat so ti,e beveled stripsinterlock. see Fig. Ia.

1'0 aecomodate the hiddenstrips. first cut a 2Vz"·widegroove in the back face of theshelCback (1)).1CUI the groovebymaking repeat passes oversdado blade, see Fig. 2.

Then cutthis piece 2V."widelOproduce an Lshaped piece,see Fig. 3.

HANGER. The shelf actuallyhangs on two 1i2'lthick mter-

NOTE:CHICKCORNERSFORSQUAR,

tHETO l141 UNit/1

unCI.MIP,NG PADS~8

'To mountthe shelf to Olewall,I used a hidden hanging sys­tem. IIconsists of two beveledstrips that interlock. and per­mits the mounting screws 10belocated anywhere (so they canscrew into the wall studs).

U"cK.Slarl by cutting a shelfback (E) to a rough width of3"and to length to fit between the-shelf sides (A).seeFig.!.

INVISIBLE HANGER

9

POINTY

MAR.60TH SIDES

glued and clamped, see F;ig.9. (Don't over­tighten or the lOPpiece might bow.)

ct£.IN·!JP JOINTS.Aftcr Uleglue dries. re­move the clamps and cheek the joints. Ifthepins and (ails stick above UIC surface of theboards. plane or sand them off flush, Ifthey're slightly recessed, use a plane 10shave the boards down to !he pins and tails.

(D) meets the side pieces. Now. disas­semble the pieces and draw a tine betweenthe marks.crrr OFP ANGLE. Once Ihe angles are

marked, clIljustshyoflhe line with the bandsaw. see 1'111.8.Then plane to the line with •hand plane.

AS.~EAIllLY.Now the wall shelf can be

DRY ASSEMBU!UNIT, lHEN

MARKANGl£D- UHE fROM THE

BOnOMIDGEOF THE lOPPI,'c:£ TO ~EaNTtA. SHUI'

POtNIX

7

AI this point all the joinery is complete. Allthatremains is to mark and ("t,t the angles:ofrthe fronl edge of the side pieces (A).

MARK ENDS. To mark the angles. first dry­assemble all of'the pieces. Then rnarkapointXwhere the bouom edge of the lOppiece (8)mceisthe side pieces (A), see Fig. 7.Mark apoint Ywhere the lOPedge ofthl' center shelf

ASSEMBLY

No. 66Woodsmit:h

,, '

$TOP OftA,WlA_'......F~M - t:

FRONTEOGfCHAMFER

art

" '- .......

\,,(, I ICROSS SECTtON .

I

O.\ ,

22

"­APPlTGWfTOUJ.an\lOGE.

-NOTE:cl!AMu'INSIDE toG"

13 14

CHAM"'INSlor U)GEOf FINGfJl

HOlE111....

UlMUS

O..OUT CROSS""alIT I SECTION

11\."1l<AN

TMICKNESSOF

ROUT12O. CROSS SECTtON11

Nowcuuhe drawer bouoms from V.I'· ply'wood (it's usually a little less than 14" thick).and round the corners to fit in the rabbets.see Fig. 13.Then glue the bottoms in place.

CllAlI1I'£ll. Wlth the drawer bottoms inplace.I softened all the edges of the drawerswitll a illS" chamfer. see Fig. 14.

DAAWER SJ'Or. TIle last step is to add thedrawer stop (1<). see Fig. 15. II's simplya:V." x lho;" strip glued to (he sheltbouom (C)at the back of the opening. Position the strip$0 the drawers stop abOUI14;" back from thefront edge of the shelf. see Fig. ISa.

drawer front. see Fig. U, Then. 10make itsmooth torfingers, filedown the i".icleedgeof the hole. see Fig. 11a.

Now glue and assemble the drawers, andcheck for square.

IlRA\WR sorroa. The drawer bottom(J) fits in a rabbet routed in the bottom edgesOCUlI!drawer, seeFig.12a. To doUlis. mounta :V8" rabbetbit on the router table and movethe assembled drawer around the hit tn •clockwise direction. see Fig. 12. (Note: Thedepth of the rabbet should be<llighUydeeperthan the thickness ofthe plywood bcuom.)

J

BOTTOM(1t4. PLYWOOD)

10After building thebasic wall shelf, Ibuilt three drawersto fitth. opening be­tween the centershelf and the bot­tom. The threedrawers arc simplyopen boxes with

through dovetail corner joints.CUTTut PIECES. Start building the

drawers by cutting lhe ltz"·thick drawerfronts/backs(H) and drawersidesfl) to awiddl lIu;" less than the height of the open­ing. In my case. I cut these pieces 2':Y16"wide. see Fig. 10.As (or length. cut the sides (I) 7%" long.

To determine the length of the fronts/backs(H).measure theinsideopening on Ul" shelf(34 \.'2") and subtract :Vl$" (to allowspace be­tween (he drawers). Then, to determine thelength of uu. front/back piece. divide bythree (11'1\&").

1)0Vh'T,ULS. After cutting the drawerpieces to size. I cut the dovetails followingthe Drawer Layout shown on page 19.To usethe band sawmethod described on pages 12through 17, you only need one Iijlu;"-widespacer block. (Note.The \l'z" thicknessofthedrawer parts doesn't effect the basic proce­dure tor cutling the dovetails. just the loca­tion ofthe base lines.)

FL'IGER IIOU!. After cutting the dovetailjoints, layout and bandsaw an off-set 1114"radius finger hole on the top edge of each

~=~ -

i \1 -t~- .~

'-Ir':,<;

DRAWERS

23

quickly. So you need to readjustthem periodkally. (You can re­surfart' them with a fileor sand­paper.) To gel Ihc accuracy Iwanled (or Ihe dovetails, I ad­jU.led IhcltUidesaboul every 15IlliJlllt(·S of Ctllting tinlC.

For infomuuion on orderingCooII~I()cks.see page 24.

WCl<xhmich

phenolic plastic laminate mate­rialTo CUi down on lriction. theblocksareimprcgnalcd "ith drygraphite lubricanl'.The advanl3l!e of using Cool

Blocks is thai you can adjuslthem so they lightly louch tllCblade. 11wn, when you tum onIhe saw. the blade opens up •

No. 66

• \VIlen "'Itillj! up the band saw10cut dnVClail. (pax.", 1210 17),the 010,1 importanl step is get­ting the >ide ltUides adjusledjusta hair away (rol11the blade.

COOLIlIAX KS.Mark J)uginskerecommends replacing Ibestandard side g\lides wiU, "CoolBI(Jck~."1'wSl' art· made from a

hight'r .Locally. a :V,"-thicksheet(Sll x 511.) of Baltic Birch sellslor $57.60 ($2.30 a SQ. fl). A'hl'<'l (.I (I. x II (l) of AppIePlyseus lor $68.00 ($2.12 a SQ. ft.).11,i. compares to $1.09 a SQ. ft.ror standard birch plywood.

AVAILAllILiTY. Baltic Birchand Aplllcl'ly aren't available atevery lumber yard. But both arediSiribuled nationwide and canbe found 31 $OIlIP retail outlets.

For more on obtaining BalticBirch or ApplePly, see page 24.

~~.~'~""~lo.""

M.L*IW_ ~ Pi''''_ Ib"")l")l:il

APPlEPl YPLYWOOD

--,.,.,.-,,!~ ... ..(..;..,.r-_"'-d

BIRCHPLYWOOD

very Slight canal through theblocks, and the blade can 'I movevt'ry far Outof line. (Thecana! iscut since the blade is thicker atIhe weld. and the band saw'swheels might beoutolround.)ADJUSTht£NT.Onc problem

we've noliced with ule CoolBlocks is they telld to wear

ApplePly" (hence the name).ApplePly consists 01 ....In"·

thick core veneers 01 westernred alder (nol apple). For thelace veneers. States Industriesoffers jusl about any domestichardwood (most commonlymaple and birch) in typical ~ ..(or less) thickness.

DIMES$IOSS. Since BalticBirch is imported. its dimen­sions are metric. Thicknessesrange (rom 3mm (aboul ~') 10180101 (about :V.'). And thesheet siT.<'is unusual to Amcri­cans - 5 feet by 5 reel. All'piePly's dimensions arc familiar- v.,". ~g,It,¥lit. !¥g", and if .."thicknessesand 4x8footshccls.

PROS ANI) CONS.The advan­l'llre ofbolh products is the largenumber of thin laminations 01wli(l clear veneers. This makesthe edges clean and the panelsstrong and stiff (especially alterdadoes arc cut in them). Theyalso hold screws better thanstandard plywood..The large number of layers

also creates a few disadvan­taRes. \\'hen you get thai manylayers in a panel. you mighl getsome movement (warp) in thepanel. I've had problems withboth o( these prodUClSwarping,especially in thinner thick­nesses. (But nOI much morethan is typical of any thin stand­ard hardwood plywood.)

In the manufacluring processil lakes a long time to lay up allthose layers. so Ihe price is

BAND SAW SIDE GUIDES

wood - Baltic Birch {rom theSoviet Union. This iswhat I con­sider a "Cadillac' Jnat~rial 10"building jigs. (Belore going on,let me say that these jigs do nothave to be built (rom BalticBirch. Any plywood willwork.)Baltic Bin:h plywood" built

up of many thin (about ....16·thick), consistent layer, o(veneer The l&nm-thick (about¥4") Baltic Birch is made up 01thirteen lay"",versus seven L1Y'ers for ",."-thick Am~rican ply­wood. see photo. This makes I"~edges clean enough to use as afinished edge on some projects.The white birch (ace veneers

are slightly less than ....,,;', thick.butconsiderably thickerthan onAmerican hardwood plywood.This allows lor some additiennlsanding on the surface,

"Baltic Birch is a unique pro­duct consisting olone piece (aceand inner plies," explains MarkAquino. of AIlk-d lnternational,the sole importer of Baltic Birchsince 1967. "It's virtually void­free. You won't hit a se-a01 orknot, and the multi-ply edltegives it a decorative appeal"APPLEP~Y.Aboul four yea!'<

ago Stale'! Induslri e , of ~;ugt'ne,Oregon started manulacluringan American version of IlalticBirch called ApplePly.Bill Powell. Markel Develop­

ment Manager explains Ihatsince they were COnlllClingwithBailie Birch they would scu theirproduct to be "as Amt'rican as

• OI1~question Ihal comes upIrpqlwnlly is what material 10use tomake jillt'.Mo~1olthcjigsin our shop arc made out (If I>ly·wood. Plywood is lIat. consistentin thickness, and dimensionallystablc- ideal lor jigs-

SOt'IWOOO l'ln\'ooo. Almosteveryone has serne softwood (firor pine) plywood left over (rom abuilding proj~'C1.It's so readilyavailable and IIIc)(J)Cnsive.thatit's tcOlplinll to use it for jigs.

But solt\\ood 1.lywoodhas somany voids in the inner plies(layers) thai the edges aren'tvery smooth. On a jig you wantsmooth (>dgcslor workpieces to"In against Of to act as stops.A second problem is thai the

lace veneers art' onen coveredwith knots. defects, and raisedgrain. ft'~difficull to push aworkpiece over such a surface.

IO\ROWO()UPLYWOOO.The al­ternative i. It) use plywood witha harder ''ICeveneer, ~ost oflhejilt' I've built arc made (rom :v."birch or maple plywwd. Both ofthese art' clean and relalivelyVl)id·~. BUIthey can be expen­sive, t: "less you have somescrap lelt over from a project. it'sexpensive 10buy il just {orjigs.Currenuy, alot'al homeeemer

sells ¥4" birch plywood {or$34.99 (I sheet as opposed 10$18.99 {orso(twood plywood.

IIAI.Tll· KIRCII. You mighthave noticed that the jigs shownIn this issue arc made from aspecial kind of hardwood ply·

PLYWOOD FOR JIGSSOflWOOD PLYWOOD

Talking Shop

i

QUE S T I 0 N_S ---lANDCOMMENTS

No. 66Woodsmith24

\VoodcraftSupplyP.O. Box 1686Parkersburg, WV26102

Vise8Woodworkers' Store21801lnduslrial BoulevardRogers. MN 55374Vises,AJ,piePlli

Grl:aly Imports, Inc,P.O•Box 2069Bellingham, WA98227

VwesShopsmith393) lrnage DriveDayton, OH 45414Vises

Simi/Ill' harduare and "I!pplies »lay bejomldi.1t {hejollmb'ng cataiO(ls. However 81yll1-~(1"ulsif£e$ m,.y "Ul7!-

f>1.e4lie''Cj'tY 1.0elIcll ra/Q~oujoro1'lkril!g j,lj()rlll.(tti.o'LGarrett WadeTools Woodworker's Supplyt61 Ave.of the Americas 5004Alameda Place N.I>.New York. NY 10013 Albuquerque. NM 87J 13

Vi~6I!.Cool Block. \'islJJI

ALTERNATE CATALOG SOURCES

COOL BLOCKSIn Talking Shop. page 23. wetalked aboutrcplacing the guideblocks on your band saw withCool Blocks,These graphite impregnated.

phenolic laminated blocks areavailable to fit a number of differ­enl band saws. They arc sold insets of four: two for till.' upperand two (or me lower guides.

Cool Blocks are availablefrom the Garrett Wade catalog.see the address below.

WING NUTS'Ving nuta are great for makingany sort oijig that bas a rnovea­ble section or fence you have toadjust and re-tighten.We found some large plastic

wing nuts with brass threads.These nuts are almost 3" indiameter. which makesworkingwith them ajOy. (They're shownon the base line holding jig onr)agc 10.)

WinllNutsYou can order large wing nutsfromWoodsmith Project Sup­plies. TIle brass threaded insertin each nut is sized fora !Y\~"·dia.boh. Packaged in a $<)t of four.·766-210 Large Wing Nuts,Package of Four ..........". $5.95

If you're looking for morethan jU"t a basic vise, I'd chooseone that has a quick-releasemechanism. like the Oneshownon the left in the phOLO. Toloosen me frorujaw .jusrgivemehandle a halflum counter-clock­wise and you can slide the frontjaw all uie way in or out.

The jaws on this vise are 7" x3" and open to 7Y4" (between thehard maple jaw faces included).It also has a solid brass pop-updog in the top ofthc Ironrjaw,

Instructions for mounting areprovided byCambridge. Mount­ing hardware is not included.(Allyou need is four bolts.)

Quick-Release Vise.766- t01 Large VisewithQuick-Release $79.95

BALTIC BIRCHAND APPLIPLY

In Talking Shop. page 23. weia Iked about two unique ply­wood products, Baltic Bin;h andApplePly.1'0 find a local dislriblilor or

dealer for Baltic Birch. you cancall Allied International toll freeat (800)343-9074.To find a local distributor or

dealer for ApplePly, you can callStales Industries toll free at(800)537-0419.

Allolf)4 IQ6 "",,;k.[ordelit'ltr'l/.,\'(J/e: Pnr.,'.J$ ~l(bjetJt.(J rhaf~!Jt'

(lfii"t Sir/Jhflfll;qr. JhfH>.

BY PHONEFor faster service use our TollFree order line. Phone orderscan be placed Monday througbFriday. 8:00 AM to 5:00 PMCentral Standard TIme.

Before calling. have yow'VISA-orMasterCard ready.1·800·444·7002

BY MAILTo order by mall, usc the formon theprotectivccover ola cur­renl issue or write YOllrorderon a piece of paper. and send itwilh your check or moneyorder. (Please include $1.50shipping charge with eachorder.) lA residems add 4%sales (ax. Send order to:WoodsmithProjectSupplies

P.O. Box 10350DesMoine.,lA 50306

ORDER INFORMATION

A good basic vise for theWorkb~nch is the one shown atright in photo above. It has castiron jaw~ that are 7" wide by 3"high and open to 314" (betweenUte two hard maple jaw faces in­chided with the vise).

Basic Vise·766-103 Basic Vise .... $64.95

as two Cambridge vises. (Seebox below for catalog sources ofthese and other vises.)Basically you want a vise that

has fairly large jaws (7" wide orlarger) 10 hold lumber eithervertically 01' hori1.ontally.Some models come with a

quick-release feature that addsonly a small amount to the costbutsuremakesworkingwitb thevise a 101easier.Although there ar... number

of vises that are Well suited forthe Workbench. we chose twovises to make available fromWoodsmith ProjectSupplies,Both vises are made by Cam­bridge Tool of Canada.

WORKBENCH VISE'Vhon \\'0 finished the Work­bench (shown on page 4), westarted looking for a good castironwoodworking vise to mountIAl the front afthe bench.One of the best-known names

in vises is Record. These visesare made in England and have asound reputation for quality.

In addition to Record vises,two other manufacturers haveentered the market in the U.S.One is Cambridge Tool Com­pany ofCanada which also offersa fuU line o£ vises (similar tothose made by Record). And re­cently Iorgensea (tamousforhsline of clamps) has in­troduced a wood­workingvisc.

''Ie looked at thevises available fromthese three cornpa­nics, 8S well as some"generic" vises (prob­ably from Taiwan orChina) that areoffered by some cata­log companies-We narrowed our choices

down 10vises that faUinto a mid­size and price range.

We would suggest a vise likethe Record #520 which hasheavy-duly cast jaws and steelguide rods. 111e Jorgensen visealso falls in this category as well

SourcesSUPPLIESPROJECT