NO.19 NOTES FROM THE SHOP ~~~----------~~
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$2.50
Sawdust Number Nineteen
January, 1982
EdiIO< Donald B. Peschke Art Otrector Ted Kralicek
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Ed.,or
Steve Krohmer
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Subscr.ption Manager Sandy J. !!
Conna Prins AdminiStratlV8 Assistants Connje L. Lowe
Cheryl Scott Conlribulitlg Edi'O< Adolph E. Peschke
ABOrT THIS ISSUE. Two yea,,» ago we de-
voted an entire issue of \\'uodS)lith to mor.. lise and tenon joinery. At the time I was somewhat hesitant to have only one sub-
ject in an issue, BUL now we're 8L iL again. This time with dovetails. Irealize that a lot of woodworkers tend LOavoid this joint. I think that's because dovetail joinery also has that im"g~ of being reserved for only an elite g.·oup or master craftsmen, I understand thaI f&eling. But I also know the feelinj( of being in the shop, all alone, \\ orking quietly with hand tools.
and euuing " joint that'. a bit of a chalk;nge. True. it takes concentration. but it must be relaxed concentration. Being thoroughlv involved in your work, yet calm and rel ..,,,,1 ... and having' a bundle of run rioin$!il. rt."$,,,,warding work.
COFFEe TABLE.M)' faverite project in this issue is the Contemporary Coffee Table. It looks so simple. Just a top, two sides, and thrw drawers. But simple? No. In fact. it requires a certain measure of COU...age to undertake this projCCL
I "ish I could Lake credit for designing and building it. but I can't. Ted Kralicek (our An Director) is the one who had the patience and the guts required LOCUt aU those dovetails. Ted might get mad at me for what I'm about to say. but ... before building this table, Ted made only three practice runss a t CUlling dovetails, The Ii",t two were complete disasters. By the third try he was gelting prett)· good so be decided to go for broke on this table, The best part of lhi$ sory is the tool~ he used. We were down at a local store that sells woodworking tools. The store man-
agel' handed us. mangled Japanese dovetail saw (half the teeth were missing). The saw had been purchased and mangled by an irate customer who proclaimed. "The darn Lhing doesn't work. " Ted used the saw on his third pra Ni ce run, and produced 8 set of perfectly matched dovetails, lf'there's a lesson here. Iguess it's thaL if you want to do something all you have to do is do it 'll16LlSJt~R'S~"T;\Tt~)'r.;~,. Ever~fyear in the January issue we're required b)' the Post Offi"" to run the statement shown below. Although IL'J'nOt to think ofll'ml(/· sl1Iith in terms of the number of people subscribing. it', fun to see the growth. \\Tc'v. almost tripled our circulation in the past year. But more important. we've doubled the number of pages in each iss ue. And I'd Uketo think that we've made some friends along the way. SEW .·A(t:S. Part of the growth at u~. 8'Jl
itA includes a few new faces,
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Prins has joined Ill! to help with openi the mail and gelLing everyone's subscriptions entered in our computer. ChelJ'l Scott has taken on the challenge of keeping the computer in line. Cheryl will • also be helping out \\ith a IOLof the administrative functions She's also volunteered to correct my .peUing. L\,I)EX OF CO;O."T£Xl'S I'd like to thank Chris Kozakiewicz for making possible the Index of Contents in this issue. Chris (one of our subscribers in New Jersey) took it upon herself to get this project started. 8IXI).~R.\\re've had numerous requesu s for 8 three-ring binder to hold all the back issues of lVood"",ilil. It's finaUy here! See the special offer on tho bad page. ~&XT)tAILISC, March. 19l!2.
STATE~I£NT OF OWz.I£RSBlP. MAKAGE~lENT AND CIRCULATION l~~
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T_i~s & Technig_ue_s__
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CUSTOM MADE DOWElS
During the process of making reproductions 0( turn-of-the-century fretworks, I discovered I needed several 14' white oak dowel" for spindles, After trying several methods to make my own 'custom made' dowels (without much SUCt'E!SS), I finally eame up with the following set-up using my router and electric drill. As shown in the diagram, the basic setup consists 0( three blocks auached to a fence, which in turn is bolted to the base of a portable router. Before gluing the blocks to the fence. I drilled a iiI, hole in one block. IIIId V," holel
it foorkft. w.found liral 1M tighler the do,,,e! fits j"to the (lutllUid!toles ~flht'ICUlttwo b/
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/w/f of Ihe JiTilI block. /I doesn'! fit. Theil II.. fried ill$erlillg I},~blank into tnc
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FMllk J. Rome« tliallapa<. New J'ork
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.lirst block Illld ad,,,st the fence so the b,t Ii"es up ,rill, th. edlle 01 th« 1101
bottom of the table tOil for the trammel point to pivot. Nextl adjusted the distance between the trammel point and the router bit "" that it would cut a 36" diameter circle. The table topi~ then cut b~' lowering the hit in V.u'" increments for each im...s,
W(JS rttllnillg Although Ute1'CIrus- saTIre ,·csw'laltCf'. u. «orked. TI,e four Nln,.,. ,...,.• lI'(In! down as tht bla Ilk
ELLIPSE LAYOUT
When I cut an ellipse. I use a steel square to determine how to draw the ellipse to lit the Ilni~h dimensions I need. The width of Ihe ellipse I need, mnrked All, is laid out on on~ leg of a steel square, IlC
Il-aS PI(8ltcd into Ill" Itole. ~Vt'alSt, ",(Ifd Hard Maple lor lhe j.g to help eliminafe 1(0001'
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DRIH PRESS TABLE SUPPORT OOU1..
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• The infeed block (with the 'Is." hole) is glued 1W' from the end of the fence. The outfeed block (14" hole) is glued v,,' from the first block. These two blocks support the square blanks as they pass by the I'r straight router bit. The third block (also with '. Vo" hole) supports the end of the dowel to prevent whipping. To auach the fence to the base of the I'OUt4>l', I drilled one hole in the Ceneethe exact size of a No. 1().32, 114' pan head bolt. The other hole was drilled twice, forming a slot 10 allow for fine adjusunents, To make the dowels, I cut a "blank" ",.' square. The end of the blank is pointed to help guide it into tbe outfeed hole. The blank is then chucked in 8 portable drill and o/m.ly advanced past the router bit. I usually make the dowels a little oversized and sand them to their finish size.
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Llogd R. Dickil,soll Glellda/e. Cali/o.,../lia
Atfirst, I
'('03 a little
s/o:l'ptical aoolLt Mr. Dicki,(Soll's dou,<,l-",.ki>lg jig, b,,1 w~d~rided 10 build it lI"d try it mil ill Ult shop. After-tryillg tll.jig,1 WQsamazed Itaw ,,,,II WOODSMITH
I n our cabinet shop, we usc a counterweight 0" our 'hill I)''''_' to take the strain olf ,,.isinj( and lowering the table. An old window weight (II cylindrical chunk oftead) acts as 8 counter-weight to SUPI)()rt. the table when we adjll>1.the height. And it doesn'r cost $75 like some models do. \\.e attach " wire 10 an old window weilthtlmd slip it down the hollow support shaft art he drill press. The wire i. then run through a window weight pulley and connected 10 the table. The puUc~'is mounted to a small piece of wood which rests on the 101' of the hollow column and is positioned so the weight hangs free in the column. The wire runs down the front of the support column and is bolted to the table near the column. Different si,.e weights arc available SO you can size them to the weight "f the table. lVith the proper amount of weight, Iheheighlofthetablecanbeadjusted\\~th a touch of lh~ fingers. Rqy St1ll)l'i
Ray'. Cabiue: Shop A IIk''''II. I ott'" CUTTING CIRCULAR TABLE TOPS
Isolved the problem of CUlling a circular t"ble top out of a square blank of glued-up lumber by u>
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LlNGfH Of STlING
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and the length or the ellipse (BC) i. then laid out as shown. The distance between the two focal points is found by measuring the distance between points A and C. To find the length orthe sl,ing. add the distance between AC and Be. O. C CaylsolL
Scottsdale, .4>1zo>lO
1----,------------1 SENO IN YOUR 10EAS
Wo In",lo you to share you, woodwor1
K your idoa invofves • drawing 0' pl\Qto 10 8l-
mitted cannol be ,olumed.) Send YOU'Ideas 10:Woodsmllh. Tips & Tect>o;quos. 2200 Grand Ave .. Oes Moines. Iowa 60312
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Dovetails: The Tools THE RIGHT TOOLS MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE You reaUy can't talk about dovetaila (or comfortable environment make all the even begin 10 eui them) without getting' difference in the world. over tWO obstacles: fear and joy. The first A PLACf10 WORK obstacle (f"ar) raises its ugly head jusl when you've taken saw and chisel in hand. Although dovetails can be CUI almost It's the moment of truth. And now you anywhere. it's nice to '01 up a litlle work actually have to cut this joint that's been a area - a place where the work goes hallmarkofexcellence for centuries ... no smoothly. In our shop r tend to work bes; small undertaking. on the corner of our large workbench. The Then after cutting one. or two. or 0 bench is hea\'y and solid so I don't have to dozen dovetails, it gets in your blood. worry about things jiggling around. There's the thrill of feeling the ,-----------------------., joint go together, of seeing the A B I near perfection of every joint • line. of knowing every saw cut = r I was made right on the money, and knowing that. at last. you = » have joined the ranks of the r'T"TT'-r-:::';:;:;:;;:;;;;:;::;::;;---', master craftsmen. ():If'' t Don't let it get to your head. I cl, : :: : : : : : : : : : ' : : : : : : : I "" [:J think the real satisfaction in cutting dovetails is the actual E~.J V ~ doing- not the result. Yes,it's /1/1 /, true iharadovetail ts abeaunful H~: _. '~:;~~~G~ joint. a mark of craftsmanship. =" ,/l.J And indeed, it is a strong Joint - nice for drawers and special applications of case work. But the thing I like most about dovetails is tbe actual cutting. So many things in our lives are done at breakneck ... .... " speed. Do it. Get it done. And L ~. then move on to the next task. ,-,;;;;i!lIl!~ Not so with dovetails. This is handwork, done the old-fashionedway. It On this workbench I have set up three takes concentration. Yet you must be calm aids that help when cutting dovetails. and relaxed to get the job done. It's not a First there's a woodworker'. vice (ours task 10 be undertaken after a hectic day at happens to be a Rectn'd vice, purchased work. It should be done when there's lime. from Woodcraft Supply catalog, address HopefuUya quiet time when you can get below). Any vice will work as long as it absorbed in your work. That's wood- holds the board in a vertical position. working at its tinest. Second. I attached an adjustable light to Granted there are ways to speed up the the bench. The one I use Will! purchased at process. Many of the initial cuts can be an art supply store. but any kind of lamp made on a table saw or band saw. But that moves where you want it will work. why? Dovetails, when done with eoneen- (Oneofthose mechanic'slights with" hook tration and thought, produce more than a on the end would be nice.) woodworkingjoinl. The result is personal One other thing that helps is to clamp a satisfaction. small piece ofA(~(J"ileto the workbench. I almost forgot the third obstacle: the T clamped it on with the rough (back)side tendency to become long-winded. up to protect the bench during the romantic, and almost. poetic about chiseling phase and also to provide some dovetails. So. maybe I ought to comeback friction to keep the boards in place. downto earth and get on with the details or LAYINGOUT AND MARKINGTOOLS cutting a dovetail joint. Since I've embraced this rather roman- Next. come the tools. There are acWall)' tic (translated, that means slow)approach two sets ortools used in makingdovetails. to cutting dovetails. I'd like to mention The first group is used to layout and mark some of the tools used to undertake Ihis the cuts. Thesccond group is used to do the task. Indeed, the proper tools and a actual culting and fitting.
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1b layout the cuts for 3 dO\'etail you'lI need fivetools: an adjustable bevel gauge, a small t,·y square. a steel ruler. a marking gauge. and a scribe or a sharp pencil. $l.lUtNGBEVEL. Sliding bevels (Xin Fig. I.)are available at almost every hardware store. The 'ann' can be adjusted to any angle and tightened in place with a thumb screw. The sliding bevel is used to make the initial marks for the dovelail . TRY SQl.'ARE. Most of us have a 6' or 8" try square in the shop, (F in I) Fig. 1.). It's also nit. (but not '" necessarv) to have a smaller 3" D try square to mark the straightline cuts on the end and face of D the boards. STEEl. RUI.ER. A good 12" '10 steel ruler is a lmo s t indispensablein any woodworkF ingshop. (C in Fig. 1). It's milch easier (and uguaHymilch more accurate) to work with a steel ruler than fumbUngwith a tape or a wooden folding rule. • 0 ~I.ARKL"C CAI.!CE. On page 12 in this issue we've shown the plans for a marking gauge, (0 in rig. 1). We used this one to mark aUof the base lines for the dovetails in this issue. If you • ~Uya marking gauge. the point . should be reshaped as men, tioned on page 12. SCRJJI£ vs, P£l'CIL. The last item you need is up to some debate. The traditional toolused to mark the cut lines is a sbarp-pointed scribe. which is just a lightweight version ofan awl. (J in rig. I). I prefer a sharp No.3 pencil. Thd uses a fine-point felt-tip pen. Among traditional woodworkers the mere mention of using a pencil or a pen is enough to make them shiver with disgust. A scribe, they would say, is the only acceptable tool for marking. If you use a scribe. it should be sharpened to a long slender point to mark (scratch) a fine, accurate line. or course, this line is almost impossible to see. so it may help to sprinkle some pencil-leaddust. (for light-colored woods) or white chaulk (for dark woods)in the scratch line. But when you get down to it, the line is only there as a guide for cutting. If T can't see it. it doesn't do muchgood. So. I prefer to use a .Iwrp No. 3-1.ad pencil Most pencils have a rather soft No.2 lead that'S nice for writing. 'rhe No.8 (or even a No.4) leadpencil marks a line. crisp line that's much easier to see than the
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serateb line of a scribe. Infact these harder pencil leads almost scratch the wood jmt as a scribe does. yelthe hard lead leaves a visible Une. The key thing is that the pencil is sharp. Most pencil sharpener. go only so far. After sharpening to get the point. I hone the point on a piece of sena teh paper (rubbing and twirling to sharpen the point). 'ted prefers to use a line-point felt.-tip pen. (Here's where tbe traditionalists scream. "nla.. better than mine. he must be doing something right. ('fed also use' a Japanese saw and chisel to cut dovetails, and likens the felt-tip pen to the traditional Japanese practice of using A quiU and ink to mark their cuts.) DOVETAIL SAWS
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After you've layed out and marked the dovetail, you need onl~' two tools to cut them: a saw and a chisel, The choice of the type of saw and chisel is, once again, fraught with debate. But what it boils down to is a matter of personal preference. DOVETAIl. SAwS. There areseveral types of saws designed for cutting dovetails. Although they differ in appearance, they do (or should) have a few things in
common, t'irst, a high number of teeth per inehusually these saws have 16 to 21 teeth per ineh ( the more the better). Second. a fine or narrow set to the teeth. The finer the set. the less chance of skipping or hopping as the Initial cut is made. Third, the saw blade itself is made of lilin-puge steel. This allows for a narrow kerf (if the weth are set properly). And fourth. since the blade is thin, these saws have a 'back' of thicker metal to keep the blade rigid (hence the name, back saw). With these things in common. the only real dill'erence between one dovetail saw and another is the handJe. A Tyz(1ck dovetail ..aw, for example. has a normal saw handle grip. The Gent's saw (presumably for gentlemen) has a turned handle (much like a chisel) that extends straight back from the saw's 'back,' And finally, there's the Japanese dovetail saw with a long handle extending at a slight downward angle from the saw's back (surprisingly similar to the Cent's ssw.) T\'ZoACK DO\·ETAII. SAW. So, what saw d~ you use? My favorite saw for cutting dovetails is the 'llI:ad< dovetail sa w, (A ill Fig. I). The blade of this saw is only about O.21"lhick, it comes with a very fine seton the teeth (the way it's supposed to be). there are 21 teeth per inch, and [ust plain does a nice job. Besides the fact that it cuts with ease, makes an super-fine kerf. and has an easy sure grip ... besides all that, it's quite a WOOOSMITH
handsome saw. The solid brass back and nicely proportioned handle make it a treasured addition to any tool collection. (Available from LekhluOlU. Pine Tool Shop, and \VoodCI'IJjlOatalogs.) JAPANESI:: 1)()"f,'TAlL SAW. 'led has a yen for the Japanese dovetail saw (called a dozuki), (L in Fig. I). The one we. have was purchased at a local store, but several catalogs are now carrying Japanese saw" (the best is the WOQdli1lt Catalog.) These Japanese saws are made of "cry thin steel (ours is 0.12" thick. Orabout the thickness of 2 pages of IVoodsmith!). The teeth are long and narrow (about 24 teeth per inch). The major difference is that all Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke (the teetb point toward the handlel, as opposed to the push stroke on all Wpstern saws. This actually makes a lot of sense. M the saw is making the CUt, pressure on the blade pulls it taught. This allows the steel for the blade to be very thin (for a very narrow kerf),
other factor that may influenee the decision of which chisel to use. Most bench chisels (including paring chisels and butt chisels) have beveled edges. (This refers to the bevel aIongthe length of the 'back: not the beveled cutting edge.) This beveled edge makes it much easier to chop out the waste in the angled corners of Lbo. dovetail.
WESTE.", liNCH (Mist'
JAPAHm DOVETAil CHISEL
Also, seme chisels are thinner than
others, so it's easier to gel the chisel where you "rant it. For example, we have a set of Ulmia paring chisels which are somewhat thin and nice for cutting dovetails. 'tedlikestow;ethespeciaiJapanesedo" .. tail chisels. These have steeply beveled backs specifically designed for cutting dovetails. Also, the steel used for these chisels JAPANlSE DOVETAil SAW (PlIll) is excellent (see \Voodline Catalog). One last point: 1 tend to like shert ehisels (like butt chisels) because 1 hold the chisel by the blade (not the handle) to position it to chop out the waste. Short chisels don't 'wag' around .. s much, making them easier to put them ..xaetly where I wall! them. When it get.s down to it, it'. not what the If you want to Lry out tbe Japanese, [ chisel looks like, it'. the ,·er.l· tip, the might oll'er one note of caution. This is a cutting edge, that does the work. Above very delicate saw to be used with a very all, the chisels must be sharp. All of the light touch. Let the saw do the work. don't chisel work on dovetails is done with the foree it. Many Japanese saws wind up with chisel SCt across the grain and chopping straight down. The (mill way to do this is bent and mangled teeth because they're \\~th a sharp chisel. man-handled beyond their limits. Ct:J,TS SAW.M for the Cent's saw: I'm llAl'~l€1:tOJt ~'AI..I••:T. For a long time I not particularly fond of these saws used a wooden mallet to drive the chisel (although they're probably the cheapest into the wood. It seemed only proper. But and most available of the bunch), (E in Fig. the turned type of mallet (the kind wood carvers use) hag 3 tendency to roll oll'the I). However. after trying out the Japnnese bench and find its way to one of my toes. saw. Idid SOmeexperimenting on a Gent'. Recently, I've come to use the SIIlIlicy saw. I removed the blade from the 'back', flipped it around (so the teeth pointed No-Mar hammer, (H in Fig. 1). This is a toward the handle). Then I pressed the light-weight hammer (14 oz.), yet has teeth together in " machinist~ vice to enough heft to drive the chisel as far as 1 1'OO10Ve most of the set. There was. in my want it to go. It's made of some kind of opinion, a dramalic improvement in the black plastic material and the head is filled with lead pellets and oil. Plastic or not, it's saw's action. a nice hammer and quite nice for pounding SELECTION OF CHISELS thcjoint together during the final lilting (it The only other tools you need is a good set won't dent or mar the wood). of sharp chisels, and the mallet or hammer SOL'RCP..s: If you can't find some of the to go with them. And here the selection tools listed above at a local store, you may process is much easier. Any chisel that can want to send for the following catalogs: Til.• Fine Tool Shop (Catalog $6), 20 be struck with a hammer or mallet will get the job done. (Gorretl Wade.Fin~ Tool Backus Ave., Danbury CT 06810. GaM'eti Slwp, and Woodcrojl Supply all have a Wade (Catalog S3), 161 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY lOOI3_I--eichtlfl19 good selection of chisels.) \Ve hay. six or seven sets of chisels (Catalog SI), 4944 Commerce Parkway. around the shop. I generally choose the Cleveland OH 44128. Wood<'I'OjlSupply (Cat.;llog $2.50), 313 Montvale Ave., WIr ones that are closest to me at the time burn MA 0lS88. Woodline (Catalog $1.50), provided, that is, they are sharp. However, in fairness, there is one 1713 Clement Ave .. Alameda CA 94501.
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Dovetail JoinerY __ AN OVERVIEW OF HOW TO LAY OUT THE CUTS Once you've collected the tools to do the job, it's time to start laying OUIthe cuts. There are three basic variations on the dov~tailjoint: througb dovetail. half-blind, and mitered (or full·blind). Although much of the process is very similar fur all three variauons, we're limit... in)! thi~ article to Ihrough dovetails. Half blind dovet.ails (which are used mainly in drawer construction) will be covered in the next issue. And mitered dovetailfl WOIl'tbe covered at 1111 becausetbey bave extremely limited application (and they're really kind of a waste of time). THROUGH UOVETAU.s. The method des... eribed here for cutting through dovetails may not be the best. It's certainly not the fastest. But it is satisfying' work .. done ,,~th hand tools. A through don "tail joint consists of two halves: the pin> and the tails. The worst parlabout laying out a dovetait is gcttinl!" clear picture in your mind of what these two halves look like and how they fit together. This just takes a little getting used to. When viewed from the faee sides of Ihe boards, the pius Ofthe dovetail (t he board on the right in the photo) look jusllike the rectangular pins of. box joint. The toils (the board on the left in the photo) look like a dove's tail (hence the name of the joint). Just to keep you on your toes. when viewed from the ends of the boards the pins look like tails. and the tails look like pins. But this confusion will clear up aner you've cut one or two dovetail joints. DIRECTION OF STRENGTH
Now the question arises: Which board get. the pins, and which board gets lhe t.aiL.? And does it make any difference? Althougb 8 dovetail is eommonly considered 3. very <("rongjoint. it is only strong in one direction. (Here I mean the mechanical or interlocking strength oflhe joint. Once it', glued up it's nearly impossible to gel apart in any direction.) The direction of strength 1$ toward the pins. To illustrate, refer to the drawing at right, Dovetails are normally used to join four boards a\ right angle. to form a box. If this joinl were on a drawer, for example, the pins would be cut on the drawer front where the mechanical strength of the joint holds the drawer together tIS it's pulled open. If the joint were on a wall· hung cabinet t.he pins would be cut on the bottom which is the direction of the weight of the contents. However, tbe direction of mechanical
6
THE FIRST THREE STEPS
strength of the joint may n(lt be the primary consideration. If the box is meant to support weight from the outside (as with the Shaker Step Stool in this issue). the direction of pressure (or weight) is more important. This has to do with the size and placement of the tails. The tails. in this ease must be "ide enough to support the "eight (downward pressure) on the face of the board, and positioned so they take the brunt of the weight..
DflilECnOf\l
Qf VlEtGMT I
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In some ca.se s both direction of strength and direction of pressure must be considered - as with tbe eoffee table in this issue. The pins are on the legs to keep them from splaying out, which works out nicely because the tails must be on the top to "UPPO'1 the weight.
\~'hat's the first step in laying OUta dovetail? At this point I'm supposed to launch into a discussion about pins and tails, and angles, and such. But the firsl step (indeed, the first lhre<>steps) have nothing to do with pins. roils, or angles. t. TRl'I~G THB BOARD$.The first (and often neglectedl step L, to true up the boards you'll be working with. I rip the boards to width, makinll sure both edges are ripped square, (The edges can be smoothed on ajoint.,r or with a hand plane, but 1usually wait until after the dovetails are cut for the 6nal smoothing.) Next, both faces of the boards should be planed or sanded to remove any defects (such as "ripples' leit b~' a surface planer). or to remove any 'cup' or twist in the boards. Also, make sure the thickne. ...s (particularly at the ends of lhe boards) is equal from one ooge to the other. In other words. the boards should be flat and smooth - to the point that all they need is • little finish sanding. This will ensure things don't get goofed up durin!!: the layout phase. 2.('I.IT1'OLeNGTIf. Now the boards can be cut to length. However, the final length of each board depends in part on step three (which deals with marking the base line. or shoulders of the joint). But (or noll', let's assume the boards are CUtto length tor a box. The key thing here is to make sure the ends of the board. are cuI square with the edges. If neither the inside or outside dimensions of the box is absolutely critical. then the boards can be cut to length without much concern if the actual final dimensions vary a little.
•
However, in drawer work, especially when the drawer mU,,1 fit in R specific opening, the procedure followed in Step 3 must be taken into consideration first. Ifall of this is too much, lhe real point of Step 2 is to make sure the end$ofaIJ boards are square with the edges. 3. MARK TH!: SIIOt'WERS.The boards art true, the end, are cut olf square. Now all that remains is marking the base line (the shoulders) of the pins and tails. This base line is actually the bottom of the cut on both pieces, and in effect dictates the final dimensions of the box. The base Unealso dictates the amount of work you must do during the final cleaning up stage. Without getting boggoo down in too much detail, you have three choices. The base lines can be marked exactly at \VOOOSMITH
•
•
the thid",~< of th, board" hr a tiny smidg~n ""'''' than the thic:kne"., or a tiny ~midgxn less. Huw the has~ are msrked is important for t wo reasso O'. The base Iirlr.<
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boanI to .' Old canfu"lOn. I simply wme .n Ialye teuers ., and "01T near tIM.> end of eaeh board "here the dovetail bof _h
to be CUI Most of Ih,' lime youll be cutting do\'.... d~t~..mul\t.' the final measurements (the tail< on ~"I'ral board, to (orm a box or final IcnRthl of the board. you're joining dra\\ or, Since th .. is all handwork, the size togeth,·r. If you're building 3 drawer, for of the pm.•• 011 tail. \\ III undoubtedlyvary from board to board. It'. best to clearly exam pi,' • thi. ml'""un:ment becomes eritical because lh,' distance between the base mark the two board. tth. corners) that will line. ActUAllydN~rmme tho final width of go toj(\'th(·r. tht." drawer, " IIrrll Of I'IN T'" .. One \\'ay 10 lay The seeond re_n has to do with the out th,'cut.for adovctaili. to U,.. 8 ruler to amount clf.. ark you ha"e to go thl'ough 10 divide th~ board for the pms into equal clean up the finL-hed joinl. Let', say, for spaces. Then th. pin, ,UllI the spaces beexample, that you're goinlt to build a tween Ih"llins (which will be the tails) are drawer, All (our CUTnCl'l' are joined with laid out at <' are cut on lhe very boring :-;int't'the p.n. and tails are dra"cr'. (runt and back. and the taib are nearly th.· aame .w-.Ih~ dovetails look a.' .f they are machuK'mad e, as shewn at th.. cut on the 8iolt$. The ba.5 I' to use tIM.> thickness of tIM.> II', a mauer o( Ind"1dual preference, board for th. tail, (In thi. <:ale. the ""'~) to but I pn:f"r th,' P"'8 to be quite narrow ... t the marking gauge. Thus, wben the compared to the lads. A. a Kl'neral rule I ~ hne IA marked on the drawer's from, use a minimum 1- t ratio (or the relationthe distance between the base line and the ship betw ... n the pins t l l and tails (4). For end o( the board i. equal to tbe lhickness o(
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th~drawer's~i(lt'~. Mn~t boo"" .a~' to &>1the marking
•
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a little more (ju.t a hair more) than the thickness of the ~ccond b·,ard (the drnwcr·. 'ide). The re<-$;01... a tittl .. bIt, lhe plant" get. down to th(>(>ndgnun on the pin.-;. making it niee and .mouth. AI80 you'lI be remo\'ing the .houlder (.crntch) line at the same time.
m,'II
GENERAL LAYOUT
•
By Ihi. time you'r(>probHblygelting titt!tail•. But I would Uke to make a fe\\ more lIeneral comment. coneerning layout. Laymlf OUI the jowt - the ~ize and p!_ment of the pin" and tails - is "dl worth lIOml'lune and thoultht. (f you ru"b mto the (<eJy, but loob dum..~)·.or "f)~ ••• borin..r. ",.. be,l prucetlure ;. to
MAl'It UNlS ro
OUtslOl Of CHISB
A:;(;I.•:"" The 1".1 consideration is lh~ angle un''fl for layout. The general rule is that a 1:5.ngl,'I. used on .on woods, and a 1:7 or 1:1l" u>\'(1 on hardwood s, The dill'1.'''' enee h.s .om(·thing to clo with the strength o( the WUI)t!. I p""r.r a 1.5 anlli. on an~' wood ju.t because I think It Iuok,. me.. , Once again Ihi., a mal"'r 1)( I"'N'n..J (\,-",all preferenee, A IS angl<'lran,1:11c>I" 7slS·. "bile a I ,angl~ is about t-3 • That may seem hke rut·"ickml!'. bul the", I, a definne visual dill'.",n, -e An)1h.ng I~ than I:.'>make, the 'n,,,,k' of th~ tails look di'turbingly weak, while mere than I"~ look,. like a box jmnt.
To .H th,· .Ii.llnl\ bevel at Ihe proper anl(l., I u!Oiti"nIh,' bod)l of the $Uding bevel along th. edge o( Ihe ply\\ood and then adju,t Ihe arm 10lhl' mark that,l!'ives .)'00 lhl"
e'amp .... tf Ih,' 1W1'O\\'(·.t part o( the pin> (the OIIu"l.. (a<'\') '" .. \\ ,de, then the tailF ,hould be 3t 1.""1 I" "1de. \\1Ien 'I ..... m. a"I''''pnate. I think it's nit\' 10k",'p all th" pin. the ""me ,U4<. but ''8.1')' the ..inth of the bib. The tail, near· e,t tilt· edit., of the b"ani art! Ihe .maII ....t. "hil. th""" on th" m.ddle of the board are "id ..r. (Th,' layuut of the joints on the Coffee Thbl.. art' done lhi. \\3Y.) A. you layout the po.oition of the pins, there .hould be" hair pin on the two OUler .-dgc•. (Half riM an' not ne<:cssarily onehalf the \\,.dth of any other pin, il's just that Ihey'1"<'cuI on only one side). The ",,>Ilion and "pacing o( aU Ihe other pin, ..Cugse
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SUOING lEVEL I>"~ 011TAII~~ ...... hich d. YOIl.ulli"'t, the pin. or thc' lail.? In lhe ease of through do\'e"'il •. It', lIen(>ra]ly accepted that it dO\~]ojn·lInak(1 much diff(.'-n·n~ "·hich is cut fir.;t. How,·\·('r. I mark and CUIlbe pins
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Fi...t. I Ihlnk the I"n. .... ea.;;lI.'r to cut and I like ttl j!\!t .UU'led \\.th the easy part. Sec-ond. \\h,ch~'er half is mar'"ed fi!'>t (the I"n., in my c-_) '" u....ed to mark the hn. for Ih. "'C01lI1cut., (the taib). 1 think it'. much I., •• \\ k\\ard It, position and hold th.· boards ,(the pin!' are cut tir.'t and u-ro to mark tho>line. (or the tails, The third ",a."'n b that I rmd it eagier to check the '~'CUMlC~' of th~ linished cuts on lhe pin.. fand do any correcting) Ihan it is with the wil•. Now you're ,'Cltdy to cut the pins.
7
Dovetails: The Pins THE FIRST STEP BEGINS WITH THE PINS Most of the preliminary work (or laying out • dovetail joint has been covered in the article on the previous tWOpages. Once all of these details have been worked out on paper, it's now just a matwroflransferrmg the~e measurements to the end of the board. and start cutting the pins. Before you start marking. however. the first three steps rernam th", same. That is, I) rrue the boards yc,ur working with, 2) CUtthem to length (making sure the ends are square to the edges), and 3), mark the base lines. Por the pins, the base lines need only be marked on the two faees of the board, see Fig. I.
or
LAYING OUT THE PINS
To mark the position of the pins. Iclamp the board in a "ice \\;th the -orr- SIde of the board facing me. Since I've already worked out lhe size and position oflh. pins on paper, it's now just a matter oftransfering the marks with the aid of. 12" steel ruler, Fig. 2. (This is where it's helpful to use a chisel to gauge the width of'the pins.) MAf; from getting confused (whicb often happens) J mark an "X" on the waste seetions between the pins. SAWING THE PINS
Now you're ready lo take saw In hand. Slop everything. Relax your hand, your arm, your shoulders and especially your mind. The way to get the best results is to relax, yet concentrate on what you're doing. Place lbe saw on one of the lines. The placement o( the saw and the first two gentle strokes will detennine the success of the rest of the cut. Look closely at the teeth of the saw. Because the teeth have 'set' (that is, alternate teeth are bent to the right and lelt.), you'll only see half of the teeth. Place one tooth right up against, tbe waste side of the pencil line. That is, so the kerf will be on the waste side (the "X" side) of the line, see Fig. S.
8
down on the base tine. But there's a pro~ lem. The natural tendency of the chisel is nut to go straight down, but rather to undercut the shoulder. No matter how careful you are, Or how gentle the fihlt CUt,the beveled rront edge orlhe chisel will act as a wedge to force the cut back. away from the base line. One solution to this is to carve out a small V-shnped section along the base line. This removes the wood on the bevel side the chiset, and prevents the wedge action. An even beuer way (for me) is to damp a backing (ence along the base line, Fig. 7. Although this is time-eonsuming. it provides • sure rest for the chisel and prevents undercutting on the fi...l few strok es. Now, chop straight down at the base line. Don't get earned away. One or two medium size taps are all that's needed at first. Do this along the base line of each waste sectien. CLEAN Ot;T WASTE. To clean OUI the waste, hold the chisel (bevel up) on the end of the board and make a small tap, Fig. II. Thil; should cleanly remove H little chip of • waste (about Yi, thick). liNDE RCUT. A fter chopping $traight down for about \I)'. you can start undercutting. Hold the chisel at a slight angle (lilt the handle toward you). This forms a slight V-cut on the bottom of the shoulder, ~'ig. 9. OTHER SIDE. After chopping down about 'Y.,'s of the way through the board, Dip it over. POSition the backing (ence once again, and proceed as before, Fig. 10. However. be very gentle with the hammer - too hard a whack may slice through to the "OLT' face. CI.EAS Ot'TCOR.'1ERS. Since the saw kerf may not have gone all the way to the base line, and because the V-cut of the chisel i. actually below the base line, there will be little splinters of waste in the corners. These "dirty" corners can cause a lot of problems, SOit's important to clean them out with a sharp chisel, Fig, I J. CHECKING 'THE Pt!>'!;.AfWr all the cuts have been made, hold a try square along each CUt line (both front and back) and make sure the edges of Ihe pins are perpendicular to the end of the board. I( the pins are not straight, I mark a slightly heavier line (as ill Fig. 4) and correet them by paring down with a fairly "ide sharp chisel, Fig. 12. • Youcan also cheek the pins by eye, sighting down the lengtb the board to see if the pins are all straight and parallel. Next comes the tails.
The saw should be angled (about-lS'l so your rll'llt cuts will be on both the face and end of the board. Now. relax your hand and make the first two strokes. The kerf should be skimming along the pencil line. Since the teeth o( a dovetail saw have very narrow set, these beginning tWOstrokes will hold the saw in position for the rest of the cut. I(you're not on the line to begin with. any attempts to force the cut or make adjustments in mid- stream will cause the saw to bind and ,,;U lead to all sons of problems. After a few strokes the saw should be about "/s of the way down the face and o/.'s across the end. see Fig. 6. Now you can level out the saw so it starts cutting through to the back of the board. Continue sawing until the '8W just barely touche. the ba.se Iines, (All the time your hand should be very relaxed.just barely holding the saw. Relaxed. yet eoncemraring.) If you're 9;oingto !:oof on these cuts, it's best to goof 011 the waste side of the line. That is, the saw should leave a little extra wood between the kerf and the pencil nne. (If there is a problem, let it go for now. It can be corrected Iatez) CHOPPING OUT TH( WAST(
After making aU of the saw euts, you can start chopping otltthe waste. One way to do this is to hold the chisel absolutely perpendicular to the board. and chop straight
or
WOODSMITH
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It'Ilut(/ "ii' J 5J.llfflrl,)(,)I,tlt" ,,'IIr!', 8/1J, an, to llOt'll (1 pencil , o ..J " orf.: th~a"9',. I,n tl,,. nul tJj #J.I1tJnI.
pillN o,'V" tl" "fn(Jlrgl('~"poi-t,li'lg 000,,' ',,"O·(hi"18 T" ""I plll~."•• a fillr.I<>olh dtnxtai! 4 Tilt t(j'!''trm ,\fark th» rertica! tine» 5 toot), against tile 6 thr furr u"ll lin«, then mark. TX" ('it I,,,, Sri," ~'1(J'41(1IJf al,gEed ~n i~
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f'I,p b<.. rd (JI'(J''.0 "I,\'" rid. is up). 0,1<(, agaill posilio" bocking fence alld chop 31/'(Jlg'" dOIl?1 011 bo$t line. Tlte" tllld.· ......1 10 ",'>1101'('lilt ""JJI of tht u:osw.
10
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9
Dovetails: The Tails
•
COMPLETING THE JOINT WITH THE TAILS It may seem like you've completed a monumental eft"on.ju..
enough room to get the chisel between the corners of the tails. fig, 6, After chipping out the waste about ""s of Lhe way down, flip the board over and continue on the other side. Fijt.7.
ting dovetails (or a whole set of drawers, But now it's time to move on to the tails, All of the waste you just removed from the board with the pin. mw;t be filled with something . , , the tails, Before marking the cuts, however, the base line (or shoulders) must be marked, ~'ig, I, Sinee there's a half-pin on the ou(,;ide edges of the firs; board, there must be a complementary I'
THE CUTS
The pins on the forst board are used to mark the cut lines for the tails on lhe second board. Fig, 2. AB you hold the boards in position for marking, make sure the pins (on the "IN" race of the board) are right on the base line. In order to mark the cu; lines for the tails, you should work from the inside CO'~ ner formed by the two boards. a.' shown in F'ig. 3, If you were to mark the line frum the outside, the point of the pencil would naturally want to fall into the grain pattern and 'straighten out.' By going to the inside corner, the grain Iorees the point against the l!dge of the pin - exactly where ~'ou want it to be, No matter what kind of marking instrument you use (pencil. scribe, or a rusty old nail), the marked tine will always be On the 'good' side of the cut, Look at Figure 3 again, What you're marking is the \\·8.te section where the pin.. will reside as the joint goes togetber, Notice that the marked line is on the 'good' side, In other words, you11 want to leave this line. There's another dilemma here, \Vhen marking the cut lines for the tails, you're marking on the "IN" side of the board. However, the pin "ill aCLually go all the way through LO the other side (to the "OUT" side), and that's where the two corners must actually touch, This is why it's so important for the pins to be absolutely straight - (rom tip to shoulder, MAItKlNG THE ENUS. Once all the angled lines are marked on the "IN" face of the board. use a try square to carry them across the top (end grain) of the board, Once again, it's best to dearly mark lite
waste sections. SAWING DOWN THE LINES
Now we gel 10 the hard part, You have to
10
", ...; ENDS. Notice the waste sections for the two half pins on the outside edges of the board. t'ig, 7, Here 1'\,. chopped strnight down on lite base tine, however, no undercutting was done, The shoulder that', formed will be visible, and you wont it to be ~traight across. After the waste sections in the middle of the board are chipped away, the waste for the half pins call be removed. Thrn the board on edge and chop straight down on the should .. · line (it was marked in Fig, I), Then pare out a small v-eut. Fig, 8, Finally, saw dO"~1this shoulder line to remove the waste, Fig. 9, Since lhe sa" cut may not be "cry clean, pare off the roughness with a sharp chisel. And while you're al it. go ahead and dean up the corners in all the waste sections. ASSEMBLY AND FINISHING
No'v cernes t.he moment of truth, Po~ilion make an angled CULlhaLjUSI barely skims off part of the pencil line, This cut is diffi. c:uJtfor two reasons, first, you're cutting along the "IN"side oithe board- the side that won't show in the final assembly. The other side of the board (the "ouT" side) is what "ill show, Second, the 58W must be tilted to the same angl~ of the cut, "'hat usually happens to me during these cuts is that r tend to SaW straight down, Fortunately, this means the kerf stays on the 'waste' side of the cut. But it 01<0means it's not where It's supposed to be, 10 help with this problem, Iangle the board in the vice so the cut line i~ almost vertical, Now, place one tooth of the saw up against the marked line. This placement "ill actually be taking the tiniest smidgen too much (remember tbe line is on the 'good' side), That'. okay, because you need a litlle (but not too much) clearance for the joint to go together, REMOVING
THE WASTE
Aiter you 've sawn down all the cut lines, the waste can be chopped out. Here the same preeedure is followed a. it was for the pins: clamp the backing fence along the base tine. chop (gently) straight down, and chip out the waste, This is where using the chisel to mark the "idlh ofthe pins comes into play. Wben the waste is chipped out, there must be
the tails over the recesses between the pins, 10 get even pressure across the board, place. suiking board on LOp, Fig, 10 and tap the joint together, You sec, every joint line lit$ perfectly, Oh, there may be a fc\\ little places where the kerf is too wide, but these voids can be filled during the finishing stage, The one problem you wanl \0 be careful of is the joint being too tight in some places. This will cause the wood to split. So, tap the joint together gently, checking for overly tight joint lines, If there are light SPOIS, knock the joint apart and pare off some of the excess from the tails, \Vhen the joint fits properly it can be admired as it is, or glued up to finish the project you're working on, Only a small amount of glue is needed (I usually apply it to the pins.) (,1.I'.A~IN(;I'P' Once the joint is together, the end grain of the pins and tails will either stick up above tlte race of the boards, or be somewhat recessed, If it', recessed, you can use a plane to shave the face of the boards down, eventually getting lo the end grain of the pins and taus, making them smooth, Fig, 11. H the end grain is above the surface of the boards, it can be leveled with a fiI., To protect the surface of the boards, place some beavy paper (from a !(I"OCerybag) in the path of the file, fig, 12, That's it, a perfect do\tetail! WOOOSM1TH
•
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Allgl. board ill "ise 0" lillts a'''' ol(,I,,,"p Ixrckilill J'"« a/ollg b(l,<, Ii". o"d ellol,,,t n'tl,,'" Then rhill (Jut 5 ,"",, P"'7I"IIdrrll/ar. Ploce toolh 6 'a,r noM ''1ll1ga ""'(}'f P' IIdllin,'so kerf wast», SM' Ihnt "".t. ,1","ld IJ< stightly l'lllgllt
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f'I,/1 b""nl on'" and align backlllg To drOll 0,,1"".1. Jor half-pi,'s, (Iwp P/ar., .a"'aVII,,I.t 7 8 ,Itaight Oli s/~o"ld('r Ii", 9 frnc« to (})", ''V'Jnai"i,tg .r0.8tt brIII,d 'iff tll'tl'lI tlli/•. ()ltllf .'raigllt dOli.. rut« a,,. ImQl·"ldiIFig./J.1'h,,"pn~OIl(Q8moll ,t'ill bf' clOUI"
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1[ ba~r IIlIro ."or.. marked , es tha» If th' P"" (lIId tail, .tick up alxrl" .411" "'n"·... tails a~ cleaned "p 10 II..JU'''' lot tapped. logether. Use 11 Ih~ thirklln. of ",colld board, tI.. 12 tI" ""rfare "I tlu: boords, use afile 10 a barki"g board[nr pressure. A.joillt alld tail. will lot rcce•• rd. Us. a plone teve! thrIll "[f. Hro,w I"'per proUd. Ihe Qf
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11
Shop Notes
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SOME TIPS FROM OUR SHOP As \\TC were "·orkillg on the Pl'ojects for tbiJ; issue, a few thingl' came up that we thought would be nice to include. Since there never seems to be enough room in the articles for lh~ projects, we gathered toguth"r .. 'me of these tips for this
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STARTING OUT WITH DOV£TAILS
When you ""t out to cut dov~taib (01' the first, lime, the wood you choose can mean the difference bet wcen nerve-racking u"U:
face it.
the fi~ltime out LI.lnot gning to be
easy.) There are a couple of wood species that can make the job a linle easier, Poplar would be my fil'llt choiee. It'. relaLively inexpensive (so your" allet doesn't hurt so much if you blow a cut). Also. it', light in eolor so the marked lines arc easier LO "1'(.'. The key thing, however, is that Poplar-is ju;:t hard (dense) enough to orrer " good (ccl with hand tools. YN, not so hard Lhat you have to slrUgglcjUl'tto make the cuts and chisel out the waste. Some other good choices would be So(t Maple and Alder (on Lh. \"e.t Coast), I( none of these woods are available, you might be able to find some Philippine )fa· hogan~'(usually called Luan) at almost nny good lumber yard, The only drawback i~ the dark colnr makes it a lillie more diffi· cult to see the CUtlines. SUt if your choice is between Luan nnd pine, I'd cboose Luan to cut dovetails, B1o'all means. stay away from Hard Maple. My first attempt to cULdovetails was in ~!aplc - an event I'll always remember, SHOP·MADE
BULLET CATCH
the end of 3 !l" long dowel. (It's easier to work with this length to start.J Then I switcheel to n ¥..,. bit for the pilot hole. Next, the dowel W'-'" chucked in the drill press and I used a file to round off the end, finally, 1eut the V,lonlfbuUetoffthe end of the dowel. JUlla
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The bullet is mounted by drilling a ~.. hole In the project. \\'hen dl'illing the mounting hole, be sure to allow enough room (or the compressed
catch were mounted in a duo)', you'd have to drill a shallow dish-shaped hole to trap the bullet ..' the door i,closed, Oil FINISH FOR DOVETAILS
I'm always amazed at what )·ou tan learn by reading the labels on can. - especially on <1UIl; of finbhing products. 1 1(\1•• ' t never expect to see anything but Lhe usual "Stir well before using:' A. you'v~ probably noticed in the P"-,t i..'6UCS
of lVuodS-tl,ilh, one of m~'fa,'orite
fini.he. is 1I'{lifO Danish Oil ~'inisb. \\lith· out going into all the advantage. and dj,;· As we were building lhe Contemporary Coffe!' Table .howll inthi.'! i""ue, one ofthe adv8ntall"s ofthi. pl"oduct, I'd lik~ to men· bigJ!'e.~ problem. we had was coming up tion all" oflhe fUlishingtechniques we "RI' to finish PI'ojects joined \\;th dovetails \\'ilh a dr8\\-·cl··~tol.) .s~lem. 4-\S mentioned in the anicle, we finally came up with a and why IVolfO oil is >10 helprul. :1)'st~n'l u~il\g bullet C8lche:;.. Very (ew woodworkers can cut !,
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Not only did Ihey manage to mention the name lV(II("(} three times in four sentences. but they offered a nice finishing tip. After reading this, lcouldn't resist experimenting a little bit. \\'hat I
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This su\\'dust/ojl mixture will drv verv hard, and il almost perf~ctly malches th~ end I!'t'ainof the pins and tail •. It take s a keen eye to Be<' that the joint was fille
When l3~;nJ.!atlt. dovetails, there are several way" to mark the b..se line for the pin, and lalls. Bu; the best way is with a marking !(auge. !t makes a nice crisp tine right where
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want it.
~'e havefow' or five marking gauges in the shop. One is a nice new $.10 rosewood and bra ss 'store-bought' model. I'm also Yery fortunate to have the marking l.'tIug~ my grandfather used during his life as " cabinetmaker. This hand-me-down is not very janey, but it l:lugbt me a lesson \\ orth more than the 10 buck. I spent on the ',tore·bought' one. The pin on the $.10 mode! is sh"l'JI"ned ju.,t like the point o( a pencil. \\'hen you mark " line with iL. the poinl tea,.,; th~ wood producing a rat he,' jaMed line, t'lll sure my j(randfather's !(auge was shaped thE' 58.Dll" M \\'hen it \\'a:; l'le\\'. But. he l-eshllJl<.od the point of the I>into form a
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l a(FORE ('ENCll POINT)
AnE"lt {~JfE (00£]
knife edge (in fact, you can ;till see the file mar"" on the arm). This shape slices th~ fibers o( the wood, producing a .mooth
cr~ptill£". I may be prejudiood, but I reshaped my SIO !(auge the
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Marking
Gaug_e
A REAL PENNY PINCHER One of the nicest things about woodworking is having the chance to make your own tools. Granted, it's a wee bit difficult to build something like a table saw out of scrap> laying around the shop, but every once in a while thert> is a U>'efullit1legadget you ean make. One of the things I've always wanted to make was my own marking gauge. 1 kept LOyingwith the idea, but there were two problems r couldn't find a solution for. I knew J could make the arm and th~ body out of wood - that' < common practice and relatively easy to do. Rut r couldn't figure out a cheap and easy way to hold the arm securely in place after it was set, This is usually done with n fancy brass thumb S<:1'eW that goes through a threaded hole in the wooden body. (There are tools for lhreadingwood. but they're not cheap.) When I discovered rosan inserts 'sometimes called threaded insse rtsl, it solved the problem, All [ had LOdo was screw the rosan in.o;ert into the body and use a regular old thumb screw to hold the arm in "lace. Rut the thumb screw dented the wood, leaving little holes along the arm that C3Used problems. So. next I needed a fancy brass shoe like on the 'stcre-beughi' marking !(auges. Since Ididn't have one of these either. I had LOimprovise. IdUjr deep in m)' pocket and came out with. penny. And that was the answer for my pennypinching marking' gauge. (On Lhe deluxe model I use a dime.) Getting this all put together is shown in the drawings at right. Since r had to eounterbore a hole for the shoe tpenny), I made the body by cutting a dado in some 'Y.stock (the one shown is made of cherry). Arter getting the two halves (Fil!'. I), I drilled a hole ~.' deep (for the penny), and followed "ith a "." hole for the rosan insert. Then 1 glued the two halves together so the dadoes formed a mortise. Next Iripped a piece for the arm so it fit snugly in the mortise, f'ig. 2. Since I didn't have a fancy steel pin for the marking point. [ used an X-a£to blade. To mount iL r had to mortise a hole near the end of the arm. I just drilled a 'V' hole and squared it up ";th a chisel. Pinally, I carved out a small wedge LOlit the mortise. It', a little hassle getting the X -
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13
Three Drawer Coffee Table • DRAWERS WITH NO VISIBLE MEANS OF SUPPORT
I think lhi. b • projecl mighlappeal to a lot of woodworkers. I'll admil Ih" design is quite simple, But simpk- d...,.illl1' often require quite a bit of ingenui; \" Ln Ih. shop, That W8.' d~liniu>ly true" itb lhi~ c"rree Table. Th. enure table (lncludinp: the drawersl i:. ..,*,mbl.d "ith only one basic joint: through dovetails E"ery one of these joint. mu,t be cut by hand, and they're elearly \ "ible once the table is assembled. If you blo.. a cut, it's going to show. Anel then th"re', the drawers. If you were to crawl under this coffee table (a favorit. pastime of woodworkers), you'd .cc nOlhing bUI tho boltoms of the dray, ers, No ruillil, no drawer guides. no visible means of suppert. Just three draw.", hnn!!ing in rnid-ai r. But before We gN to the draWN" the bask table must be ~"'mbled
The rough dim('n.iono for the legs are 21' ... • 201, and for th'> top: 21'w x 5...", Fig. l. To glue UI> the .lal>.,. I started with the leg. because the pin, of the dovetails would "" CUtrn IIK·mIi.... t. After an-ancring the section- in the same order for each slsb, I applied Il'lue to the edge. and clamped them tog\
14
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eovrrsus
The top and 1"1:"are JOIIk',and tho cut lines for the tails are marked. Then it's just a matter of cutting' Rnd
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TH[ TOP AND l£GS
The table cono.. u of three slabs of wood for the top and t .. o leg:> .. ides). Each slab is I1lulodup from ~, oak (~, bsrdwoed is I~..• thIck actual], A, shown in the CUI' ting Diagram. I started out ,,;th four boards 5.",' "ide and 11' 10nR. Befort' CUllingthe board, into the three section. fur the three .lab.l. I marked each section 80 1 could keep them in order. Then I cut off each se-ction to rough length, and ripped. clean edge on both edges (trimming the wldlh down to aboul5V( wide).
SHOV 1'II)Tt;. To get • good clean edge, J used a ci..cular 0 ... (Ski! saw) with a hoUow.pound plaJwr blade to make the CUt.Abo. Ielamped 8 fence to the slab to guide the shoe of the circular saw.
I No'" all thret' .Iahtl can be ripped to a final ..,dlh of 20~". Oneend of each slab for the leI(\!i. cut off square -leaving the other end rollgh and ~ little long for now, Both ~nds of lhe ~Iabfor the lop are cut orr square, to a finllll('ngth IIf 51'.
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uons as " th AnJ 00' euW. IIITI".. Tbe three slab,
c\ ent), ,\ the 1&iI' Ill'
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THE DRAWERS
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If I m.~ be permitted a lillie pat on lilt' back, I think the mounumr sy"lcm for th,' rlrawe ... l- kind of clever. Actually. the
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,) -tem we came up \\ ilh \\'lL, mo,l!) Ih. "".ull of one problem I.odlnl' to anolher. ",._. finsl llrobl"m we f=od \\a. 00"- to
,ul'l'on th" d.. ".n (romthe lOp (instead of from th,' bottom. or Ihe middle of lb• ..a-It". a.~L~tl pu:aJ). The-:-vlunon was to cut tho dra" ers' BkJ\,'S extra-wide
tended ~. above what would normally be Ihe lOp edg." Thi- allowed room fur a tllonl:Ihl' t .." edge so we could hang th,' dn,w,'" !'rom overhead guide bars. Tilt: UKAIH:R~RO''TS, Aile.' coming up wuh this mounting "yslem, the first step
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was to cut lhl' ~'lc(''Cii for till! drawer f-ront~ HIla baek>. The thn-e drawer fronts should bt-lairl
out OZl P11(' board
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eonunuous gnun pattern across the three flUllt., Fig. 3. (The l'8IUe goes for the drawer bac~ beeause they're visible from tlw oth~r SIdeo( tbe u.ble.) Th, drawer fronl' and backs are 3 .",de The final le".,h or \h<-"" piece.... ' taken from Ih, assembled tabl e. fin,1 measure Ill" ,1.. lance bet w een lite k-g>- (it sheuld be 19') and .ubtracl 1", (Th" I "lIu", fur til<> 1100 ~" ~'lll'"between the 0111,,,1., dra\\ ",." anti Ih" legs. see Fig. 3). ;';ow divide the remainder by 3 to get the final IcnKth of each drawer. (I cam.. up with n length of 16' fur each pieee.) Tilt:~lIIt:~, Th,' rlruwer sides are cut .,' wid .. (I, wid." than the fronts and backs), The fillllll,'ngth of the .,de. L' 191.' O·Ies.. than Ih,' w,dth of Ill,· table). This mean. th~ draw"", will t.,. rece-sed lI:' from both Ihe fmnt .. Ig,· an<] back edp:e of Ihe tab!.... TIlt: 1>(1\ t.T'II." :\0\\ the drawers eanbe """mbll~1",th through dovetails. U you manaJ:ed 10 ("Utillcd(l\'ctail" on those.labb for th .. ""bl.... the dra"" .. are no ".....eat. all Ibre<.' dra ..·.... Ill'
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Th,'n I m,...k••1and cut lh. pm" on th.. drawer fn,"," and back.!. Fig. 4. \\'hen markinl( th,· tail. (f'i~.5) he.ore to lea\'e Ih,' ".\lra .. \lulth on the top lodge of the
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ORAwa (ENJERtO ON toTTOM
After the dovetails are cut. dry-assemble each drawer. Now the position of • the groove for the guide bars can be marked. \Ve wanted to mount the drawers side by side with no gap between them. To accomplish this we had to mount the drawer guides on the I".idt face of the drawer's sides, Which. in tum. meant th\! grooves for the drawer guide. also had to be CUI on the inside of lhe drawer. To mark the positioll ofthe groove, mark the front edge as shown in Fig. 7. Then disassemble the drawer and use this mark to cut the Y'·wide gt'OO\·c. r'inaUy. roundover the corner 011 both ends, Fig. S. Now the four pieces for the drawers can be glued up. but they must be square. Icut n piece of plywood to the inside dimensions of the drawers and placed it inside the drawers as they were clamped together to hold them square. Normally. the drawer bottom would be cut and mounted at this point. But. in order to mount the drawer guide bars you have to have access through the drawer .s 0 the drawer bottom. are i ns,1.IIl1edlater. DRAWER GUIDE SYSTEM The drawers are mounted to lhe table with rabbeted guide bars. Fig. 9. ~faking these bars is pretty easy. Mounling them takes some patience. I cut the six bars from Maple stock. A rabbet i, cut on one edll" . leaving a tongue that mates with the groove in the drawer sides. Thitl tongue should be just a hair smaller (both in thickness and length) than the grooves in the drawers. Since the bars are mounted across the grain of the top. there will be problems as the top expand. anr! contracts with seasonal changes in humidity. To allow for this movement. counterbore a pilot hole on one side oi the bars LOaccept the screws. Then. anothercounterboreis drilled on the other side to allow the screw to move (bend) as the LOpmoves. (See Pig. 9.) To mark the position of the bars, it's easier to work upside down (the table. not you). Flip the table over lind mark both center lines on the bottom ofthe table, f'ig. 10. Also mark the four center points on the middle drawer. Now slide one of the guide bars into the groove. and mark its position, f·ig. II. Remove the drawer and hold tho guide bar illpositlcn to drill pilot hole. into the table. rlg. 12. Go ahead and screw this bar ill place (screw only. no glue). Reposition the drawer on this guide bar and insert the second bar. Once again, mark its position. remove the drawer, and screw this bar in place (allowing a tittle bit of clearance .0 the drawer slides easily), \Vlth the middle drawer in position. place the Other two drawers tight against it. (They should be tight for now. clearance will be taken care of laier.) Mark the posiWOODSMITH
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ticn of thl' l.'lIidebars {or these two drawers, and screw them in place, ~'ig. 13. Eacll drnwer should move easily along the f(Uidebars, but they will probably rub again>l each other. [( the drawers bind on the f(Uid" bars, plane or sand down the tongue a little bit. If they still bind, you may have to realign the guide bars. 'fo allow clearance between the middle drawer and the two outside drawe rs, plane or sand a slight hollow on the sides of each drawer. As shown in Fig. 14. The hollow allows the drawers to move freely as they're opened. but leaves the front and back fairly tight when they're closed. DRAWERS,
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ffGVIl 13
CROSS SlenOH
Now the drawer bottoms can be installed. To mount the bottom s, a rabbet is routed en the bottom four edges of the drawer, This rabbet is deep to allow for the plywood bottom. plus Vi' as a lip to pull the drawer open, (Drawer pulls on the drawer fronts would look kind of clumsy. and would destroy the niee flow of the grain pattern from drawer to drawer.) 1 CUtthis rabbet on a router table with a rabbet bit and pilot, Fig. 15. After routing the rabbet, the corners must be chopped square \lith a chisel. The drawer bottom is cut from y,. oak plywood and glued into the rabbet. (Triangular glue blocks can be added for more support.) THES1'OI'S. We thought it would bea nice touch if the drawers opened from the front or the back of the coffee table. Getting them to open from either direction was no problem. But as they were closed. getting them to stop so tbey lined up (without a lot of fumbling around each time) meant there had to be stops of some soot. This was a problem. \Ve finally figured out a way to use bullet catches. Asshown in Fig. 16,these catches look just like buDets with a hollow 'shell' and a spring-loaded 'bullet', These catches usually come with a one-way striker plate (3 dish-like plate with a channel for the bullet). Since the striker plates only work one way (and we needed two-way action), we had to improvise. A small hole was drilled on the top center o(ane side of each drawer. This was done with a 0/,." twist bit to get a slight inverse-cone shape. Then, the bullet catches were mounted in holes drilled along the center line of the bottom of the table, Fig. 17. As the drawer is opened. 8 slight tug is required to gel the spring-loaded bullet OUtof the hole. Then the bullet ride. along the top edge of the drawer side. Wben Lhedrawer ts closed. the bullet pops into the hole. Thi· is DOta sure catch (you hear it more than reel itl. but it works ,·!tty niccl~1. Bullet catches should be available at betWOODSMtTH
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BOTTOMS AND CATCHES
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stores. One mail-order source for bullet catches is: Th. Woodu'Orker's SIoI'I' Catalog, 21801 Industrial Blvd.. Rogers MN 55374. FINISHING
This table was lini.
MATERIALS LIST ()yeraU Dimensionl': 11"h x 20t),·w. 51". A Top (4 pn)
1 VIA" 5V•• 52 1'.1.... 51/ •• 16 8 ~. (8 p
CUTTING DIAGRAM
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Dovetail Drawers
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SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS III limes past craftsmen demonstrated their skill by conceaJinl(all signs ofjoinery. Drawer Jrcnts, for example, were joined wuh half-blind dovetails $0 the joint could not be seen (when the drawer W8:< closed). Tnrougll dovetails were only \1I'Cd u> join the drawer back to the sides. But times have changed .. )oinel·Y has come out in th~ open. Today. through dovetails are used on drawer fronts to show off this handsome joint. llnd add a SPOl of subtle decoration. However, "hen through dovetails arc used on drawer. there arc some spectal coru;ideration~ ... and some problems. LAYOrT. The layout (size and spacing of the pin. and tails) should be done with care. If the pins and tails are equal width. the dovptail joint "ill look just Uke a box joint (from the front of the drawer), see Fig. I. HOWever, if the joint is laid out $0 the relationship between the pins and tail. i. about 1:4 Or 1:5. lhejoint takes on much more of a custom look.
SIDE
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DRAWER BOTTOM
So now the joint is nicely proportioned, but you still have to get the drawer bottom in there some way. There are twe basic options for mounting the drawer bottom. see Fig. 2. The easiest way is to go ahead and cut the dovetails on all four pieces and assemble them. 'I'hen to insert, the bottom. a rabbet is cut around the perimeter of the bottom r,dge of the drawer and the bottom is glued inlo the rabbet, (A plywood bot10m must be used with this method.) On large drawers that \\1Uhave to bear 8 lot of weight, it' helpful to CUtthe rabbet about 1'<- deeper than th~ thickness of tile bottom. Then triangular glue blocks can be cut and glued to the plywood bottom and the drawer sid es. STOPPEl) GROOVt~~.Another option is to cut groo\'es in the front and the two sides for a I>lywoodbottom. The groove on the drawer front can be cut from one end to the 01 her providing it doesn't slice Ihrough the half-pin. Fig. 3. The groo'·. on the sides must be stopped. Ifthe groove were cut all the way through, it would slice off part of the tail and there would be an unsightly gap showing right on the front of the drawer. The easiest way 10 cut a stopped groove is on a router table (see Il'wdsmilh No.5). Although cutting a SIOP~ groove is kind of a hassle, there is an advantage to this method. The plywood bottom can be inserted as the drawer is glued together to help pull the drawer square.
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GWIN,G 'lOCI(
THROUGH GROOVE
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ON S10fS
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ON FRONT
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GUSH PARALLELwnH FRONT AND tACK
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<, lAC)( 'l_IMMEO TO Itl$1 ON 80"OM G4Uf 1I0"OM lNIO HlONl ONLY DO NOT aWE
INTO SLOES
SOLID WOOD BOTTOM
Since dovetails are usually reserved for drawer. (and fumitu re) of ra ther high quality, you may Want to make a solid wood bottom (instead of USing plywood). The problem with solid wood is that it's going to move (expand/contract with seasonal changes in humidity). If a solid wood bottom were glued into a rabbet, it wouldn't be free to move. and sooner or later it would split. So, it must be mounted with the stopped groove method. The solid wood bottom can be !!,lued"I' of slightly thicker wood lhan the groove.
ItAllln sono,,", fOR GIOOVES
Then the edges are chamfered (jUSt like a raised-panel in a door), or rabbeted to form a tongue to lit the groove. The primary considerution, however, is lhe direeucn oflhe grain, Fig. 4. TIle grain must run across the width of the drawer. That is. so the end grain it; mounted in the drawer sides. The front edge of the bottom can be glued into tbe groove in the drawer front to hold it in place. However. the edges in the drawer sides must be free to move (no glue is used). Also, the back sbould be trimmed SO it rests on top of the solid wood boUom. This allows the wood to move freely.
WOODSMITH
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S_e_rv_in_g Tray __
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IT'S REALLYA DRAWER WITHOUT A HOME
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This project was designed to incorporate all I hr problems of building a drawer joined with through dovetails. But instead of ha\i~ 3 drawer with nowhere to put it, you have a h.mdy little serving tra~'. IAnother option is to leave off th~ handles for an in/oul box.) The fOUT sides of the tray are made of II, solid oak. and the bonum is 11,- oak ply. wood. The nice thing about this tray is thlll it doesn't have to be any particular size. (Translated, that means if )'011 blow a cut. you can alWR)'Strim it off and .tart again.) To make the tray. rip the Iwo pieces for th(' ends to a width of 311. ... and the two long sides arc ripped to a width of 2·V,. Then leave the saw at the z.y," setting and make a partial rip cut (about I" long) into the top edge of the end pieces. set' Fig. 1Clip off this littIc piece of waste so the end. of the boarUTe the half-pin on the bottom is frurly small so the groove for the bottom clears this half-pin. To cut the dovetails. I started with the pin!' on the lunl( sideJ;. Once th...... were cut. I used them as a template to layout Ihe cuts for the tails, CRooVES FOR BO'TTO)I.AfWl' the dovetails were cut. I cut the grooves for the 11." plywood bottom. The groove~ on the lonll sidescan goalliheway from one end to the other. However. lh. grooves on lhe end pieces must.be stopped. ~·ill.2.1 cut these groo\·t'S on a router table. After the grooV'lS are cut, dry-assemble the four sides and get the measurements for the plywood bouom, Cut the bottom to size and check its fit in the tray. UANIlLES. To cut out too handles. 1used a ~'orstner bit to "rill two I" holes, and clean"" out the waste between the holes with a sabre saw. The edges h1>ide the handle are rounded over with a y,. corner round bit on a router. (If YOU want to mak... an iniout box instead of a tray, leave offthe handles and cut S-curve recesses 8S on the Inng "ide s. ) The Scurve recesses on the long sides arc made by first drilling 0/, holes, centered on the lOPedge. Then the waste betwe('n the h,)]es is removed \\~th a sabre saw and the top comer> nrc rounded over to 6n;"h out the S-curve. rl"I~IIISC;. l glued and clamped the tray tog~ther and ~ed the corners smooth. Then I finished it \lith 1I'(I(cooil. as described in Shop NCIteS.page 12.
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Shaker Step- Stand GETIING TWO STEPSAHEAD WITH DOVETAILS 'TIfF. CV'M'L'IG DIAGRA~1. The Culling Diagram shows how to layout the cut. on 5~·-wide boards. Basically, I cut two pieces for each leg: one piece 5" wide and another 2Y, wide. These two piece. are edge-glued together (no dowels or splines) to get the 71'.· rough width, Fig. 1. ~r the glue was dry, I planed these boards smooth. The hard part is making sure the boards 3l't! planed to an even thickness, especially at the ends of the boards (where the dovetails "ill be eut.) AfLer the boards are planed to final thickness.J cutoffonecnd square with the edges (lea\ing the other end rough. and a little long for now), Then I ripped them down to the final width of 7",
THE LEGS
The next step is to layout the cuts (or the dovetails in the legs and steps, To determine which piece gets the tails and which gets the pins, two thin!!S must be taken into consideration, The joint should be laid out so the tails are on the steps. Since the tails can be made fairly wide, the)' will be strong enough to support the weight of anyone stepping (In the Stand, This means, of course, the pins must be on the legs, which works out just fine because the locking characteristics of the pius will prevent the Step Stand from
•
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Shaker furniture is famous for il~ I basic, uncluttered style, as well as its unquestioned utility, The Step Stand shown here is a classic example of Shaker design at its best, It's simple furniture that works. The only decoratien (if it can be eaIIed that) is the beauty of the \<6od and the dovetail joints, If I werejustlearning to Quidovetails. I think this is a project I'd want to tackle. However, there's a lot of preparatory work involved before you get to the fun part. One ofthe biggest headaches b thinking through the sequence of work, GETTING STARTED
This first step is to select the wood to be used, Although this sounds trivial, the grain patterns of the wood play an importam role in both the ease of gettinl! the work done, and the final appearance of the Step Stand, I chose cherry for this project mostly because it'. an excellent wood to
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work with hand tools. If you can get nice straight boards that srel" wide (and nor cupped), thejob will be somewhat easier. However, we're showing narrower board. in the Cutling Diagram to give an idea of how to layout the cuts if you must glue-up boards to get the 7" width necessary. Since cherry can vary so much in color (from dark blood red to a very light pink), matching the pieces to be glued up should be done with care. (As you can see in the phOLo,my ability to match boards leaves something to be desired.) THI ,CUTTING DIAGRAM
I started by laying out the euts to make two steps and four legs. For the lime being, I considered the legs four separate pieces (two short tegs for the front and two long legs for the back). Late." one short. and One long leg would be joined together later to form the fmal 'Stair-step' legs,
•
The layout I finally settled on fw' the size and placement of the pins and tails is shown inF~. 2. There are enough tails and pins to make a fairly sturdy joint, Also the tails are about 5 times wider than the pin. to provide the strength needed on the steps. However, there is one more thing to allow for. Even though the total width of each board isl" to start, the dovetails are laid out across a width only 6V.... The extra :y.. on the front edge of each board allows for the thickness of the brace (which is added later). Till> "L''S. The pins are laid out $0 the narrow esst part of each pin is on the OUT side ofeach leg. Then the bevel gnuge is set to a 1:5 angle to mark the angles Onthe end of the board. We've shown the width of each pin as exactly \4", and the spaces between the pins as exactly 1Y" (see Fig, 2), When you add up these figures you get the 6Y.· needed. However, slight alteration. should be made. If the narrowest part of the pins is just a smidgen over it's much easier to get a v... chisel in Ihere to
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cIean out th,· waste on the tails. This, of eourse. n-duC<.>i! lh~ width of the spaces between Ih" pinAlojust under IV.". This is no bill deal, il JUSI helps when the actual euuing twgirL'" Ait~r marking lhe eut lines. the pins are cut and
was done in two stages. First I trimmed them to a 'i" width to match the width ofthe legs. But r waited for final trimming until the notches Cor the braces were CUl. so I could gel an exact fit. The cut lines Cor th~ tails can now be marked on the steps using the pins on the legs, Fig. 4. When marking. make sure the steps are linedup whh the back edge oflhe leg!'(anyextra width should hang over the front edgt!where it's eMYto trim off). r~"A1."I1TING. Once the pins and tails are cut. go ahead and tap the joints together (the momentof truth). The joints should be tight. and the assembled Step Stand should be square. If there are massive problems. dean up the pins as best youcan and you'llprobably have to cut new board. for the steps. Once e\'~'1.hlng fits. the bottom of the legs can be cut 01Tsquare (l did this on a table saw with the panel cutting jig shown in IVood/fmilhNo. is.) Finally. the 4'1!" radius halr-clt-clecan be cut on the bottom of each leg. "GUlE 2
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Aller the legs are glued up. the boards for the steps can be cut 10 the 10" final length, making sure the ends are square with the edges. The final width of the steps is GV.... However, Lgluedthem up to width of71'"" to start. Then. trimming them down to size
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Before gluing the legs and steps together the braces must be cut. There are three braces: one on the back to help keep the Stand sturdy (prevent l'lIcking), and two braces on the front to reinforce the strength of the steps themselves (to take the brunt of the weight when tlQmoone steps on them), All three braces are joined to the legs with. half-dovetail joint. This amounts to a large half·pin notch in the lellb. and a matching half-tail on the end, of the braces. I found it essiest to cut the half-tail on the brace fu"t. and US(!(! it to mark the cut line. fQr the notch"s. JIAU'.TAlL. To cut the half-tail. use a sliding bevel to mark a 1:5 angle on only one end of each brace. This line starts Yo" up the bottom edge (see Detail in Fig. 10.). Then mark a shoulder line equal to the thickness of the leg. Saw down the shoulder line "ith a dovetail ssw. and pare out the \' -shaped noteb with a wide chisel. Before marking the shoulder line on the other end of each brace. make sure the .houlder to shoulder distance i" equal to the measurement between the Ie!!", Fig. 5. Then mark the angle and pare out the V-noteh. TilE IUI.r·I'ISs. Once the half-tail, are cut on the braces, hold the end of the brace on the front legs to mark the cut line for the half-pin notches. Fig. 6. I used a dovetail saw to saw down both cut line•. Then I cleaned up the saw marks "ith a paring chisel (u.ingitjust like a hand-held plane). The half-pin notch on the back is more of a problem. After marking the cut lines (>0 they're even with the front brace. ~'16'8). I mad. the two shoulder CII\.' to the depth of the notch. Then I removed most of the waste \\~th • coping saw. and cleaned up the CUl with a chisel. Fig. 9.
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The front edges of the step. can be trimmed to final width. ~'ig. 7. Then dryassemble the Stand to make sure everything fits. Clamping these pieces together is kind of a hassle because of the half-circle at the bottom of the legs. I applied some glue to the joint. and tapped them together. Then I pulled the lai'" in place with pipe clamps. (Use a piece of strap under the legs to support the clamps across the half-ci...,le CUI-OUt.) No" it'~ just a matter of filing the ends of the dovetails flush with the surface. (Although it was nice to use hand tools for mOSI of this project. I cheated and US(!(! a belt sander to smooth OUItbe end grain.) nStSHtNC. I wanted to go with an oil finish mostly because scuff marks would present a real problem on this kind of projCCI. I finished the Step Stand with IVatco oil. as described in Shop Notes. pags 12.
WOODS~nTH
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TalkingSho~__ AN OPEN FORUM SCOTCH GLUE
I've hoard people mention IImng Scotch glue. but 1 haven't used it ami really don't even know what It is. Do :\,OU know what Scotch glue is and where it can be
purchased? R, C. Skid,l/qre flaltie.burg, .If;s,.i,•• ippi Srold, glue is al/otller name for /tide glut Or a"imal gille, //'8 mad, from al/imell parn, IlIllUllly lite hides and bemts, Althol
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Bull, liquid IIml solid hidr gl", call be purrhasedfrolll' Ga"..,u \Vade. 161 .·1,,,,. of lite AlIll'rira$, Neu' Y(n'k, .\'1'11' l'ork 1()()IJ, (Calal"'): ~'/.(IO.) STORING HARDWOODS
J've recentl" started working \\~th bard· woods ami have built up a 6upply of about 100 board feet, My question is whelber or nOI I'm storing it properly. The boards are kept in my basement work>!hop laid on LOpof three concrete blocks with sLitks bet ween each layer of board~, J've been careful to as.
William D. r"""er Brookfitld, ~Vi.con..ill Stirl.;lIg I"",bm' (plad"lJ ,.tick. bell''eell lagers) it a comnum prudice l
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callSr.most ofll~.(m"tr!! Ita.mul'( humidity than 1·9%(lit. mai8lu""cemlcllt afkil" dritd lumber), thcL •."lbtor will be tryiug 10 absorb 1Itoi$ture. If YOllr lumber II kiln dried, I would "lack il in a /IOlid b:",dl~ with a piece ~( plywood under fll~ bott,ml layer a>ld a"o/hn piece 011lop of tne b.wdlf. The Illywood 'fill helll prevent maisture fmm entering the lop alld balta", layers. Sine<- ttie ('''fL. (){ lite boards tcillabsorb
with than short leaf yelloff' p;'le. it 81i(/ pre..rnl, problelll$ ;11 fillilll.III!1 lesprC'ially staiuitlgJ
1~'lIt'it(,(J)tlpared 10 horduood«.
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(.'Omc(i""$ called ca$t~I ,chilt'/,ille) IlIa( It'(l~llltcd ;" Early i1'I!t'MClr,,/urlliturt 1$
""ly o('oilablt ;)! /imittd supply Once rOllsistiltg of .I,utd. <41«11tv severnl hundrrd billiolt board [t~/."'()$/ uf tht tree« that (lytt tdntldi)'g "'nil' (1ft $t'cm~dgrou'/il
Ii-"tbn' "'Id eqll.ol (~'lly (I fraction (If Iht' and: releQsr Ute IIIMI (,foist" rt, thaJl~/Wti,ld origillal board foo/(lge. WI,ell il ro" be be protecttd with u product l/rat .",,(aills 0 oblai,u,I, il'. IIIt"aUy hlll/t// Gild s",all, high solid cOllle"t, lik« polYltretha"., LOCATING SHEET ROCK SCREWS IVI"", 1/<111 lire ready to «se tiu! lumber, I'd suggest YOilset it out 0/1 blocks like yolt In your Is..-t issue, Roger Uree "TOte a 8f1ggtJlled.forall<'08t (>lIe It'uk. Titi. "'ill letter in the tips and techniques p.~ge allow the lumber to btoco",,' somewital ad· recommending lh~ use of sheet rock justed to th« 1111 midil?! of 'he room will,(Jul screws, I'd sure like to know where he rfll.Bi.ltg tlt(' nioisittTf" content (0 tJr,. po'J,t buy. them because they seem IJI be un11·1, .....' tllt .Iability i8 ,'t'd"r.I'd. obtainable in our area. BALL BEARING SHAP£R GUIDES
Ttd Fr"lk
BI,,, RIdge, Georgia
\\'hen cutting lh!c·hand with tho shaper, I have the problem of the wood bunting on the guide. Do you know of any place they sell bearings to replace J,lUidcs?
We a"sullled fha' most IU1Itbfr varcia IIlal BtlX'krd $I1,el rodI (dry mil) ~"'tlld0180 CIImJ shee: t'OCk lk'mC•. Bitt oft.....c«lIb/11 J(lh'J DItr1)'Il(·II.~ IMtreral 'Ianis i" (JIlt «rea. tI..'e jOtl.}td Ulat
StocktvlI, Jllinoi. f'reud U,S.A. offel'3 ball beanllg gllide. for .1tOJN"f bil8. I" Iheir catal"') Ihey IUtt tll~ ball bearing gllidts as ball bearillg rub colla1'S. They come i1l .'OrioIl8 $iz~ for both the illsid. ,/lui thl! o"tsUk dia",· ,Wnl. Unfo,tullaJely, tJ,cy are 1I0t cJICap, costing froTII $iI•. ()() to S~o.()() eaclt Fur m(n'ei,!(ormali<1h, coulact· Freud U.S.A .. 218 reid AL'e.. llig/r Poillt. .VC J711i4. Tallfree pllone: 1-8()()-3$$·2.50.;. EARLY AMERICAN PIN£
I am in coml,lete .gl'~ment with you that the pine you used (l1'"oosmifh .'V". I>igl'. feen), short leuf yellow, is not. ""bin,,! wood, It hru; IlIIlhe f'aulu. you mentioned plus the fuct that no matter how much you work on finishing it, you still end up with a wild pine grain. About the only thing you can do with it is to paint it Howe\'er, most Early American fur· niture \\--as made of eastel-n \\·hite pine or "punkin pine". It is easy to work with, has little grain, and is easily finished. .'loYlle Itriflrludd by requesl
For Ih('projrcts that 1(', build lI'il/, pint. It", rI,'C pl)lIdljJ'()8Q piJw fi'Om tI,e weaterl' U.S. Although pl)ndel'()sa pine;s OO8i",. to work
011111a flnt' Uard$ .tocked tllC sr""'"8. lI'. 1''''''< told lltOt 1Iu: disfributors o[shert NXk art· 1I$I
hJtk S('1"t'1t'S. III O,er OTtO, tlw di.~lriblltor,'f
of alreet rock wert li>und by lOOking ill tJ.~ Yellow Pa1!e, oflhe pho". boak ,,~d~r Dry \\'aU Contr.etor$·
Equipment
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SUpplies. NON·TOXIC
FINISH
I'm hanOI(" hard time finding an appropri· at£' finish for beer steins turned on lhe lathe. Do you know of any non·toxic finish •• that are safe to w;e on turned .tein~ that at'<' going to a~ruaJly be used?
Jolm P. Schalltz Allell(olulI, P",,,,sylvl1,,;a Salad Bowl Finish. ",ad.by H. Behlen &
that ,eill be;" cOlltact wilh/ooti ordrink. /I conlai"s only material., tI,o,t hal" beet! appro.'cdfor COil' lad It'il/'food by I/re 1./, S, Food and Drug Bra .. rem be used
011 projects
CO)/11)li88io,t.
Se.',mty·tlOO holtrs drying time is re· quired before theji>liIlh is safefortlse with food. Salad Bowl Finish call be padded 011 ",hich 111W<6$ it'specially useful fOT lallte projecls It call be pllrt/lased throllgh \\'oodcraft Supply Corp" 313 Montvale A\'e .. 'Voburn MA 01888,
23
Tissue Box
•
NOTHING TO SNEEZEAT It looks pretty easy. There are only a few dovetails on each comer and they're cut in stock that's only ~" thick. But this tissue box is nothing (0 sneeze at. Jr you want to te~t out your skill at cutting dovetails, this project might be a good place to .tart. The thing that makes Ihig little box difficult is that there's no room for error. Every dovetail is in plain .ight and mILStbe cut right on the money. AIlSO,the basie box must be CUI to a specific size. THt; BASIC eox, To build the box. Ii.... t cut the four sides to width and length as shown in t'ig. 1. These pieces must be cut SO the inside dimensions of the completed box accept the tissue box. (I buill W. box around a small box of KUl!1!er brand tissues. If you choose another brand. check the box size before making the cuts.) I chose \Ii" hard maple for the four sides of the box. (Hard maple makes CUttingthe dovetails a bit more of a ehallenge.) The dovetails are laid out as shown in Fig. I. When marking the base lines for the pin. and tails, the key thing is to make sure the distance between the base lines is large enough to accept the dimensions of the tissue box. THE BASJ-:. Once the basie box is glued up, I cut four pieces of cherry 1Y' "ide for the mitered base frame. (Note: the base must be a frame as shown. One piece of solid wood cannot be used because of expansion/contraeticn problems.) To mnke the base frame, 1 cut an Ogee molding edge on the four pieces first. Then each piece is mitered and glued up to form the frame. OPTlON. This project could be Q jewelry box b)' adding a plywood bottom. Rabbet the inside edge of each of the four pieces for the base (before they're glued up). and glue in a Baltic birch plywood bottom. TIlE LID.Alter gluing the dovetailed box to the frame. I made the lid. The lid is a solid piece of cherry cut Yz' smaller (in both dimensions) than the base. Once 8~in I used an Ogee bit on the edge. To mount the lid. I drilled two Y' holes centered on the top edge oflhc short sides. and corresponding holes in the lid. Then Y' dowels are cut to fit the holes. If the box is to be used for jewelry, out mortises on one of the long sides tor small hinges. The onl~' problem here is that we couldn't come up with a good way to mount • clasp on the lid. I'INISHJNC. The box was finished with three coats of Ilb.-(:ut white shellac, (Vou eaagec Llb-eu; sheUaebythinning3Ib.·cut 1:3 with denatured aleohol.)
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