NO. 38
NOTES FROM THE SHOP
$2.50
DEO CABINET· DOLL CRADLE
BU K BEDS
:rALE PREP••• FIRST IN A SERIESON FINISHING
•
Sawdust Number 38
Mar/Apr, 1985
ABOUTTHIS '!iSUE. There'$ a good side and
pieces? Cut the dadoes before cutting the
bad side U> everything, including working
Editor Donald B. Peschke Design DjrOOlor
Ted Kralicek Assistant
Editors
Steve Krohmer Douglas L. HickS
Art Director Kay Mulder TechnicailUOslrators David Kreyllng Mike Hanry
SubscrfptionMaJj8ger Sandy J. Baum SubscriptiOOAsslstanlS Christel Miner Vicky Robinson Jackie Stroud Shirley Eeltman Diana Sterr
Computer Ope(t1liofl~ Ken Miner
Circ;ulat'ion Manager Jeff Farris
Administrative AsSistant Cheryl Scal1 Building Maintenance Archie Krause
ViQODSMITH (ISSN 0164-4,114) Is publ,~hlMl bimonthly (January, March. May, July. Sep· tember. NOVIJmbar) by WOOdsml1ll Publishing Co .. 2200 Gfand Ave., Des MoJnes, Iowa 50312WOODSMITH Is a leglsterlMl .""emark oltha WoocIsmllh Publishing Co.
Change
(If
Address: Please be sure 1.0 indu«4)
both your okS and neW address.
Second cl.ass postago paid at, Des Moines. Iowa.
Postmaster: Send change ot addfess notIce, FOfm 3579. 10WoocIsml1h Publlslling Go" 2200 Grand Ave.. Des Moines, Iowa 50312. BACK ISSUES
two pieces. That is, cut the dadoes in a double-wide piece first, then rip tne piece down to form the two pieces with the dathis issue, a number oflittle preblems kept does perfectly aligned. We did this to make popping up. the uprights for the bunk bed ladder. See Over and over again, I found myselC Figure 3 on "age 19. beating my head against the wall trying U> FINISHING. This issue begins a series or come up with solutions (techniques) t,o articles on finishing. This is • subject 1 solve some of these problems. Well, so have mixed feelings about. Most of the much fol' the, good sicle. lime 1 jllSt want to get. it over with - get The bad side is that OJ1Ce solutions are SOme finish on the project and be done found, we, have a difficult time getting all with it. this information in the issue. In the past, 6u~ that has led to disappointment more we solved Wi. problem by showing proj- than once, and I've found myself re-finishects that involved a similar technique, and ing ajll"oject to get the look I wanted (and presented a full article on that technique. the project deserved). For the last couple of issues we've been ff I've learned one thing about finishing, trying something different. Most of the it's that 1 can'~ put oil' thinking about it techniques we've used arc smaller until the end of the project. Pinishing lias really more like tips. And as much as we to start when you're. buying the wood. and can, "'e've tried to include these tips right continues with each step in construction. in the article fer each projceb. That's Ihe short version of the article I guess what.l'm getting at here is thaUL that begins on page 20 - preparing the may be worth reading through these artisUI.f.ce. \Ve will be following up with articles even ifyou're not. all Ih"t interested in cles in the eoming issues on each step oflhe actually building the project. There are finish)ng process: filling, sealing, staiJ)ing. severalgood tips tucked away in this issue, plus full articles on the characteristics of Ol>ay,I'll make i~ easier; AOL .. 's a list of varnish, shellac, polyurethane, and lacsome of-the tips: quer finishes and how to apply them. Stay J. 11Ola do 1101. to make a through tuned. ,""rige.'"mortise and tenon Wok picnn .. TI(E sell €I)UI.&. During the past few 'f!6ltect? Cheat" little. I used a filler plug months we've added quite a few new subon the ends of the mortise and tenon joints seribers. \Vith each new subscriber; it. on th" bunk bed. This is a whole lot easier doesn't take long before we heal' two Camilthan h''Ying to cut ,\ perfect mortise, and iar questiens: ,,\Vhere'snlY issue? "!fly is it then fitling it with, a perfect tenon. See so late?" Figure 25 on page 15. Those who have been with us for awhile ll. Okay, 1l0W Iltat tlte/ilkr pluJJi".;)
on an issue of WOOd.sJ"illt.. As we were working on th e designs fm' the I'rojecls in
S. How do 1/ou cut a. note in plywood
wi/ltout cltippj"U a>ldsplint.ring til.edge to 1ii~ces?Use a router instead of a sabre S,I\\' r had to cut an access hole «(or \Vh.. s and cables) in the plywood back of the TV/VGRStand. The best way to make this type of eut ·is with a router - I used the router table. See Figure 16 on page Ll,
a umole.blt".h of mortis(l4 '.'tllou.( ac({(ally hav'>lg to cu: a ~. I:1(11V
cio yo"
CII(.
An back lssues ot WOOdsmith are still av~lable. Sand lor a booktet desc,ibing the contents and wlmte punch of m
ea.."
2
since. After ,,",YO years of working seven days a week! we're still behind. What we've found ourselves doing is putt.ing more effol't into the quality of each issue. As a result, the qualitx has improved but the schedule has
not. 1'9sol"e this problem, we've outlined a new schedule that will (hopefully) allow us to catch up one week with each issue. But we ",;11 not saerifiee quality for time. You expect gOO(l issues, on time. We will
continue- to produce the 'best we can, and try U> gradually-catch up so we'reback on a
more normal schedule. NEXT ISSUE. The May/JuJle
issue of
IVoad.mUI< will be mailed
of June 17, 1985. WOODSMITH
T_i{!s & Technigu_e_s __
__
PLANING THIN STOCK
To use the fixture, mark the limit.ofthe cut on one end or the workpiece. "'ithout
I enjoyed building the toy truck (Woodsmith No. 3<;) for m)' son. It proved to be
tUI11ing OD-the sa\v, place the \vorkpieee
an in:~restinge~er(!isein resawing and hand planing thin stock. 1 found it helpful to build" bench hook to do the planing. I ~tarf.ed with al), S" x IS" piece or 0/.0" plywood to use as a base. Theil I drilled. row of holes l' from one end to ~ec.pt #8 x 0/./' flathead wood screws. Finally I cut a 0/..' rabbet on tbe opposite side and end to attach a 2" wide by .f!!' long cleat, 'Jlhe bench hook rests-over the edge of a
bench or
fits. into a vise. The. screws
can 'be.
backed oub as little as necessary to dog the thin stock. The real advantage in this bench hook is that it can hold extreinely thin stock for planing without rear of the plane iron being nicked by tbe dogl'.
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Since the serewheads tend to dig into the en(l grain ofthe stock. I always allow extra length and cut orr the waste.
Gene (;a,';)\/J()1Ie.8C)li SeverlllLPark, MarY/Q..d STOP THAT SAW
Since radial arm saws cut on the top of the wood, the blade has a tendency to grab the wood and walk light through a cut. This
t'l' EOAM wrAlHERS-fIUP
tAPE
on the auxiliary fence and clamp the stop block at this point. The WOrkpiece is turned end-for-end and fit into the space between the auxiliary fence and the stop block. The block allows me to hold the workpiece tight and keep it from creeping toward the blade. Then the remaining pieces that are to be the same length are brought in against the block and cut.
Al Ferllald Brevard, North Carolina,
i ~Ol2.! 1 CARRIAGE
tight against the fence and bring the arm forward until it has r eaehed .the marl" l10ck the saw a~tllis point, place the fixture OV&·the arm in front of the S8\\\ and tighten it down. Ilelease the Saw lock and it'R ready to use. As i~'. pulled forward, the fixture will prevent the sa,,' from gOing bexond the indicated point. 1'he fixture can also be plaeed behind !.he saw, In this position and with a dtill chuck attached to the SRw arbor, I use it as a depth .stop for horizonta! boring,
SANDING ON THE ROUTER TABLE
Need a steady mount for a drum sander and don't have a d.rill press? That was my problem and here's how my Wqod$inilh router table proved its worth again. I mounted. Portalign with my electric drill and sanding drum under the table. There are bwo holes in the base of Ihe Pcrtalign that accept 14' x 1!I," Oathead macl!ine screws and wing nuts. I used the NOTE:
PORTAUGN HELDUP
wITH lWO COUNTERSUNK
MACHINE SCREWS
SANDING ORUM
Jo« Coughlin Doog"e Citell, Tf!'xas MITER STOP BLOCK
One problem I've had when cutling miter joints for a frame is g~tting the opposing side pieces eo be the exact same length. If they're nOLthe same. there will bea gap in one or more ofthe joints. The t~;C:kis to use • stop block. Istart by fasLening an .uxiUal'y fenee to the mite.' gauge and cut. miter on one end
causes a problem if ~'OUwant to make a stopped cuttsuch as a blind dado). It'.hard
base of the Portalign as a template to mark the screwholes in the top of the router table and then drilled and countersunk holes for the screws. The depth coDar on the side rod has to be removed and placed below the yoke to hold the drill up under the table. The collar location can be periodically adjusted if the drum wears down in one spot.
To use it, chuck the correct sanding drum in the drill, plug it in, and push the
constant-on button. I find it's a comfort-
to stop the saw at the correct point. I made. 6xturethat fils over the arm of
able height for drum sanding.
a radial arm saw and stops the saw at a
Bob {,{qr"
predetermined point. It's made out of two pieces of 4/4 scrap that are 2f' wide and cut
Lenoir; :VOrlJi Carolma:
to length to accommodate the individual radial arm saw J cut. a section OUII or the top piece. to match the shape of the arm. Then I attached foam weatherstrip tape (~") to the cut-out, to keep the stop from stipping and to protect the arm. The fixture is 'held t.ogether with two long carriage bolts, washers, an~ \\ling nuts. A couple spins of the wing nuts and it's off or moved into position. WOODSMITH
SEND tN YOUR IDEAS
Ifyou'd iiJ(eto shale .,wood_klng of all the frame pieces. Then I make a stop
block with the same miter angle cut on one end. (If one of the scrap pieces Irom the initial cuts is long enough, L use it as the stop block.) I also cur a rabbet on the mitered end to act. as a sawdust ,·.lief. Next, I mark the linallength of the piece
tlpwitholher readers 01 WOOdsmith. sen-d yOU( idea 10: Woodsmllh, Tips & Techniques, 2200 'Grand
Ave.. f.)es Moines, Iowa 508t2. We poy a minimum01$10 lor Ifps. ~hd $15 or mor& (or special techniques (U~alare accapted ror publfcal1on), Please give a complete expjanatkll1 of your i(j•• , II • skeich [s need"". send 11along: We'll draw 8 new on9.
3
DoH Cradle Usually the Ohristmas season ends in Deeember, But this year, it seems to be linger-
ing on a while longer. The most recent post-Christmas project has been a doll cradle for all the Cabbage Patch Kids
"adopted" this year, I designed the doll cradle to be a fairly simple piece. using basic joinery techniques, and requiring only a few hours to complete. r also used ponderosa pine to keep the cradle light enough that even a two-year-old can can')" it around the house. The cradle c..onsists of five pieces; t' .... 9 sides and a bottom that are joined to the headboard and footboard. The first step in building the cradle is to make a template for the headboard and footboard. THE TEMPLATE
11> make
the template, Istarted by cutting a piece of v..·"thick Masonite 16' by 181'>', see Fig. I. Then I laid outlhe profile of the headhoarcllfootboard. C£~"'Elt~JN». The key to laying out the profile is tbe vertical centerline, See· Fig. 1. Once this line is drawn, the rest of the profile ls centered around it. IllACONAI,S. Fil'$t. the sides of the template are formC'<1b~' drawing two 15'diag· onals, see ~'ig. 1. lbdo this, connect a point on the bottom edge, 3',,' from the centerline to a point on the side of the template, 1514' from the bottom edge, see Flg. 1. TOP J\RC. After the sides are drawn, [ marked the top are. 11> do this, first locate center point. A on the centerline, 8¥.:AI from the bottom edge. Then dra\v1l10V,··radius are, see Fig. 2. Shop Note: I used the simple beam compass shown in Detail A to draw this are, This compass is just a thin ship of wood with a notch at one end to hold. pencil, and a v.." hole at the pivot point for a brad. BOTTO:\tAI{C. The bottom are is drawn the same way: Locate center point 'B on the centerline 18' from the bottom edge and draw an l8'-radius arc, see Fig. 2. RADIUSCORNERS. Once, these two arcs are drawn, locate th~ center points for the four radios c.. met'S at the top of the template. These radii form the tOI) of the handle and the shoulders, see Fig. 3. Alter the center points are located, use. compass to draw the radius corners on the template. Then to complete the shoulder, draw a tangent line connecting the two
radii on each side. Next, follow the same procedure for the four radii near the bottom of the template toform the endson the rocker -locate the center points and draw the radii.
4
lIANULB. At this point the template is almost complete. All that ..emains is the handle. To layout the handle, first find the
centerline by drawing a 9~" radius arc from cenfer point A, see fig. 4. Then draw the :y.,··dia.end holes on this arc, 1%' from the centerline. r'inntly connect the to) and bottom edges on the two end holes with
using pivot point A. scnew nOLES. The template is complete ab this point, except for six holes that are ~CSJ
used later to locate tile screw holes for attaching tbe headboard ••rd footboard to the cradle sides. To locate, these holes on lhe template, draw • line parallel to both sides of the template, %" £tom the edge, see Ftg. 4. Then mark the posiuon of the
from the bottom edge. Alter these points are located, drill y;." pilot holes in the template so the location of the holes can be transferred onto. the headboard and footboard. Ctn'TINC. The last step before cutting out the pr:onJeis to bore the ....dius corners and handle holes with a drill bit 01' hole saw. Although this step is optional- depending 011 whether you have the right sized bit.sit.'$ an excellent way to produce perfect
radius -corners, see Detail B. Once the corners are drilled out, use either a band U\V or sabre saw to cut out
the remaining profile. (To cut out the handle, 1 used a sabre saw and hand filed the edges smooth.) Then sand the edges of holes along this line, 4*", 8o/.c", and lOY-." the template smooth with. drum sander. DETAIL a
ORllL SMAU RADII WITH HOlE SAW OR ORlllllT IF AVAlLA6U Yor~---6MASONITE'
US£ SMAll BRAO ,IVOI POINT
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OSE IA~OSAW OR SMRE SAW ro cvr OUT PROFILE
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MEA.SUIlEMENrS SHOWN fOR DIAGONALS PlOD!JCE
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USE w- MASONITE FO" T£MPlAJ'E
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CENTER POINT A IS 31h" FItOM.BOnOM EDGE
0,center li"eo'>I. 'Piece 'h' Masonire. 1'/!61I dl"OWthe Locate cellICl'l'oi)!ts A and B on.th« centerli" e. Then 1,81119 a 1Dnuu 15° diego1wls. sutrlfing tne edge .'11/i' /1-0'" C;41lf-er, 2 beanl CO"lpaSS, d.?'CllOtllA i()J/1/' radius lop ~rc 1f.Sing ceniC1' eluJ.illgon the o..tside edge 15'/,'[rom. th. bouom. poillt A, and 111$18" radius bottom arc "#119 C.eI'(e>' point n, Qf bott.fml
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WOODSMITH
all
~nOlt'llti1lUholes.
Nezt, locate the center pointsforthe small radiitVlltd)'O:lv the. 4 eight radii 1iSi,zg a.s~IUlJl..cOntpass.Then connect:UietangenUJ of the radii. at the lop of the template 10!ID.,,, the ./u}uldcrs.
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on the footboard so the centertines Hneup, and the bottom edges are flush, sec Fig. 7. Then trace the boUom halfofthe template, onlY up to the shoulders ncar the handle. \Vith the template still in this posiucn, mark the location of the lower two screw holes with an 8-penny finish nail. 'lb complete the patten, for the footbeard, lift up the template and ma"k (1 point on the centerline of the l);lnel 12W' from the bottom edge, see ~·ig. 8. Then reposltion the template so the top of the handle is flush with this mark, and the eenterllnes on both piece. are aligned. Now trace the lop half of the pI'ofile (including the handle) down to where it intersects the profile of the lowe,' h.lf al shoulder. Since the template has been shifted down lYt"t the 1" radius lit the shoulders won't tine up properly where the upper and lower profiles meet. To produce a smooth corner between the
two profiles. use. a compass to draw a new
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the footboard because it's 1 shorter than the headboard. The first step is to position we template
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TRACEHANW. AND urnl ptonu ro SHOULDERS
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When the template is eompleted, the next step is to USe it to build the headboard (A) and footboard (B). Start by gluing up two panels of '1\" pine, IS" wide by 1'7"long. After these panels are planed and sanded smooth. draw. vertical centerline on both panels to align the template. HEADBOARD. To trace the profile on the headboard. position the template so the centerlines on both pieces tine up. Then tracetheouttineoithetemplate, see Fig. 6. With the template $tiUin position. mark the location of the top and bottom .,,, ..ew hole. 'Withan ~penny finish nail. see Fig. 6. fOOTBO.o\RD. A $Iightly different proeedure is "",uired to trace the profile on
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I"radius corner between the shoulder lin. and the side of the footboard. sec Fig. 9. DRILLCORNERS. After the profiles have been laid out, drill all the radius comers, just like on the template. see Fig. 10. (Again, this step is optional.) Shop Note: To prevent ehipout on the back side of the workpiece, stop drilling as soon as the centerpoint of the bit break! through the back side. Then flip the workpieccover, and finish drilling from the back side, see Steps 1 and 2 in Fig. 10. After the comers are drilled, the remaining profile is cut out on a band""w (or • sabre saw). and sanded smooth using a drum sander, see Fig. 11. Then use. sabre saw to cut out the handle, and smooth the edges with a file. sec Fig. 12. CRADtE SIDES Once the headboard and footboard nrc completed, the next step is to cut tbe cradle sides and the bottom. Glue up enough "'" pine for the LWO side. (e), and WOOOSMITH
the bottom (D). Then plane Or sand the panels smooth and trim the side. 8" wide by IS" long. ""Gl.EO GROOVf..The sides of the cradle are joined to lhe bottom with a groove angled at 10'. see Fig. 15. (This groove is cut at an angle 1lOthe cradle sides \\;11be parallel with lhe sides of the headboard and footboard, see Fig. 18.) 'Io eut the groove, r used adadobJudc on the table saw and made several trial cuts until the width of the groove matched Ihe thickness of the bouorn, Then I 8«juSled the angle of the blade to 15·. and set the depth of cut 10 ¥o.' deep, see Fig. 14. "'hen the blade is set, atliust the renee to cut a groove y.- from the bottom edge of the cradle sides, After the grooves are cut, layout the profile on the cradle sides as shown in Fig. 13. Then cut out the profile. drilling the radius ccrners fi"'I, and sand Ihe ,)rofile smooth with a drum sande ... DRILL Plun' uoi.es, To join the sides to the headboard and footboard, (irRt counterbore and drill pilot hole. In the headboard and footboard [01' #8 X l!«( woodserews and IV buttons. see t'ig, 16, Th d.rill the pilot holes on the ends of the cradle sides. draw a line centered on the ends and mark the 1003,ion of the bouem holes, see Fig, 13, Measure up to the tOI) holes using exactly the same spacing as the pilot holes on tho headboard and lootboard, FinalJ,y,drill %>" pilot holes Y( deep in the ends of the cradle sides, CUTBOTnDll. \Vhen the pilot hoi.. are drilled, dry- ass emble the side. to the headboard and footboard to determine the linal width of the bottom, With these pieces screwed together, trace the outline of the angled grooves on the headboard and footboard, 'rhen disassemble the pieces and measure between the grooves todetenninc the final width of the bottom, ROL'SDiSGBDGES.The last step i. to round over all the edges of the headboard, footboard, and lhe 1.Opedges on the sides, (I used a y,' round over bit set to a depth of to produce a softened bullnose proflle, see Fijr, 17.) Shop Note: A. I was routing the headbeard and footboard, every time I eame te oneofthe "points" 011 the profile where the
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grain direction made an abrupt change, the wood tended to chip out, see Fig, 18, Th prevent this, )1011mllYwant to stOI)I'outing just short orthc /'points," and round over this area by hand with" file and sandpaper, ASSElIBLY. Finally. all the pieces are ready to assemble. Insert the bouem in the sides, but don't glue it in place, Only apply glue to tho ends of the cradle sldes, then attach the headboard and footboard with #8 xlv.. .. woodscrews. Finally. I Iinished the cradle with three roots ofThng Oil Varnish, and covered the screw holes with ~" buttons.
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MATERIALS LIST
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OVHOUDI"'en..Jo.ns.: 16"WlI. 14"H.. 19')J"l A Hoodboo'" (1)
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(S p~e ,llJ.o.up pan.l) 6 Footboo'" (1) (S pi.ce glued.up ponel) G, Sid" (2) (2 pl.(o glued.up pan.1) 0 Bo"om(l) (2 pi.(. glued-up pan.l)
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TVNCR Stand A STAND FOR VIDEO RECORDERAND TAPES It used to be that everyone wanted a cabinet for stereo equipment. Now it's video equipment. In just the past year. the number ofreque.18 we've had for this type or stand hag been staggering. The stand we came up with is dl)$ignedto hold a portable television. and hag a compartment with glass doers for a "ideo recorder. Wealsoadded a drawer to store video cas..seues.
~ESIDES 10 build this stand. I started by edge gluing enough 514 stock
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thick) to get two side panels (A) with • rough siee of 22" x 22". When the gille Is dry. plane these panels smooth. and trim them to filial dimension" of 21%' x 21'1'., see Fig. J. THE GROO"~S. To f.,·m the basic cabinet; three pIY\\'oo(i shelves arc mounted to the aide. uSillg tongue and groove Joints. "hi. meRnA three v.,·.widegroove. are routed in each side piece. Shop Note: Nunnally, the grain on the sides of the cabinet would run ve,·llcally. But I had to run it ho,i~ollt.lly 011 this cabinet because the plywood shelves huve to be glued in grooves that run the /."glh of the solid-wood side s. (Solid wood expands/contracts in width. but not much in length. Plywood does not expand/ contract at aU. So, the plywood shelves have to run the [trigO, of the .. lid-wood (1
-===,ides to a"old probtems.) In addition, the grooves for the shelves are double-stopped - stopped short. of both the f,'Onland back edges. Before routillg the grooves, I marked the stop lines on the eabinet sides, see Fig. J. Not.: The grooves stop at different points because of the alignment of the shelves, the edging "trips, and the 1l1y· wood back. To get an idea of what's going on, refer to Figure 2. TO" GROOI'F.. 'I'he groove for the top .helf is positioned ¥o" down from the top edge of the side panel, and stops II'<' from
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both the front edge and lhe back edge. see Fig. I. )tIOOL£ GROO"E. The middle groove is positioned 8'''" from the bottom edge. This groove also stops I Y.· from the fronl edge (to align with the top groove). But it extends a little closer to the back edge (stopping 11." from the back edge) to align with the cabinet', plywood back• see Fig. 2. 801'1'0>1 CROOVE. The bottom greove is positioned 1 V....from the bottom edge. This groove stop» W~~~_.the~me as the middle groove. However. since the bottom shelf doesn't have a tongue or an edging "trip. this groove stops Y' farther back than the top two grooves. see Fig. 2. HOCTGRQOVi: As an opuon, ,. gla"" shelf can also be added above the video recorder. To do this drill three V(·din. boles ¥,o" deep in the cabinet eldes for pin. style shelf supports, see fig. !. ROIISD EDGES. To complete the sides, I rounded the comers to u ¥,o" radius. and the edges with a W' round.. ver bit.
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THE SHELVES
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to \"Ougb size out of 3/4' oak-veneer plywood. (In order to get all tHree shelves out of a 4' x 4! piece of plywood, I had to cut the bottom shelf wilh the gl -a in running from fl'ont to back, see Fig. $.) CV"J' SHEiNP,s TOsrzs. Alter cutting lhe shelves to rough size, cut them to a final width of 281'.". Then cut each shelf to the same length as the corresponding groove in the cabinet sides, see ~'ig. 3.
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from the top edge, see Fig. 4. Shop Note: I routed these grooves on the router table so they would match the groovesin the cabinet sides. This way the tongues can be cut exactly the same on aU edges of the shelves, VEINING. Next, rout two =ti"-: wide decorative veining grooves- on the two strips that go on she front edges of the top-and middle shelves, see Fig. 5. ROUNDEDGES. Then to complete the two front strips, round the top and bottom edges, sec Fig. 6. As for the strip that goeson the back edge of the top shelf, cut a W' x rabbet for the plywood back, and
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Y.··lONG tONGUES TO 8t GROOVU_.II" IN SIDES ANO,EOGI~ mlf~ ~Q(
Before mounting the shelves tothe cabinet
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joints, see Fig. 3. To do bhis, rout, a ;4"'...wide. groove in each strip, y,.H down
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EDGING STRIPS sides, 1 cut three edging strips (E) for the lOPand middle shelve. from &/4stock, 1v... wide and to rough length of 29". GROOvES. These strips ru-e joined to the plywood shelves with tongue and groove
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round over the top edge, see Fig. 3.
TONGUES GROOVES
TONGUES ON SHELVES When the edging strips were complete, I went back to work on'the shelves. All three shelves have tongues on the two edges that join to the cabinet sides, 'refer to Fig. 3. The top and middle shelves also have tongues for the edging strips. cIJ1I'1'O:>ICUES.1 cut the se tongues on the router table, see Fig. 7. Se~the fence and cut two Y..IJ-y.·iderabbets, leaving a tongue that fits snugly in the grooves. Shop Note: As the cuts fer the tongues are s:et Ill', make sure the tongues are positioned so the top edge of the edging st.rip is just slightly above the surface of the plywood. Then the soiid-wood edging can be sanded down flush with the plywood.
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ASSEMBLE THE CABINET
After the tongues are cut, dry-assemble the cabinet to make sure the shelves line up as shown in Fig. 2. If all fits well, glue and clamp the shelves to the cabinet sides. When the glue is dry on this assembly, cut the edging strips to final size (to fit tight between the cabinet sides), and then glue and clamp them to the tongues on the shelves, sec Fig. 8.
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THE DRAWER
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After the cabinet i~assembled, the drawer can be added. Here lshoutd mention" few things about the size of the drawee When designing this project, I actulllly .tarted
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with the dimensions of the drawer - mak· ing it "ide enough to hold three row. of video tapes, Then I built.the cabinet so the i>18iJk width accommodated a drawer with
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CIT PIECES TO SIZE. This drawer is eonstrueted using' ~. stock for aU four sides. Then later a false front is added. To start. rip the pieees for the front. back and sides to • eommon width of 4~·.... rig. 9. Then rut the sides (G) to a length of 1&'. 'Ihe- critical measurement is the length of the front and back pieces (F), Measure the distance between the cabinet sid.. and subtract I' for the drawer slide s,
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between the cabinet sides, less.
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THE GLASS DOORS
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If you have a ''ideo reoorder with a less remote control. only gI.... doors allow the remote control to operate while the doors are closed. To determine tne size of the glass for the dO~)I'8,first order and mount the hinges (see Sources, page 24) to
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verify the. clearances. Mount the binges to the cabinet side $0 they're set back Yo- from the CaceoC the edging strip and Y'( above the sheli, see Detail in Fig. 14. Then bave tbe glass cut to Si7.c. TOt;CII LATCH. To complete the doors, I mounted a double mafll1ctic touch latch. 'rhiA iij a clever piece Ofhlll"(i\\tUI'C that let's you open and close the doors without a handle, see Source s, pg. 2-1. In order to mount the latch, glue •• pacer block to the underside of the top shelt, see Fig. 17. Then screw the tAluch latch to this block.
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Normally when building n cabinet, one of the lust steps is cutting the back to size.
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ting an access hole to feed wires and cables
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f."..dia. holes at each corner; To complete
1 also mounted four 2" swivel cas-
ters to the bottom shelf. PINISI.(.xC. To finish the cabinet, J gave all surfaces a final sanding with lSQ..grit ..andpaper and then applied two coats of tung oil varnish. WOODSMITH
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AGUII£ 17
"'ith the back of the video recorder, To cut this hole. I $tal'!ed by (billing
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the hole, a sabre saw could be used, but the edge. would come out pretty splintered and chewed up. Instead. I cot it out on the router table. (A router with ¥,' straight bit produces • .",ooih, clean cut on plywood.) Adjust the felice on the router table so the bit just barely skims the edge of the 'Y,'·dia.corner hole, see Detail ill Fig. 16. \Vben the fence is set, lin. up the ply. wood back, turn on the router, and slowly plunge the plywood back onto the bit and rout to the other comer hoIe. Repeat this procedure for all four sides to get an access hole with perfectly smooth edg es, \Vb,n the access hole i. complete, screw the back in place with No.6 x 'Y.t wood-
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Although that's true with this cabinet, there's one other step fOl' this back - cut. to the video recorder. CL'T TO SIZE. Start by cutting the y,pl~~"ood back (K) to lit the hack oC the cabinet, see Fig. IS. Then the aeeess hole is cut Cor the wires. To do this, mark the
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THIS ONE IS A REAL SLEEPER As soon as I finished building the bunk bed shown on the cover; we II"thered t~elher some of the IVood.""ith kid. and asked
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opened with de--
light at the sight of what looked like. jungle gym rather than • place to sleep. In fact, Katie (Ted's three-year-old) WIIS having so much fun exploring the height« of the top bunk, that when it was time to go she exclaimed, "No. I want to stay - ru take a nap on
this bed, okay?" Ted's
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dropped, and he decided the bed was worth an)' amount of lime and money to build. The single bed shown at right i~ designed so it can be used alone, or two of them can be stacked to form. bunk bed. Whether you're building one bed or two, the eon-
struction procedure SUl.rts out the same, THE UPRIGHTS
I started by cutting tho uprights fOI' the headb ca ,,1 and roolboa"d out of 61'1 oak (lY,,' thick actual), The IWO uprights (A) for the headboard are 4" wide by 31" long,
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and the uprights (8) for the footboard nrc 4" wide by 28" high. see F'ig. 1. MO"TIS>:S. AIle,' the uprights nrc cut to
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size, through mortises arc cut tor the cross rails. These mortises arc made by drilling.
series or ¥""·dia. holes, centered on the width or the uprights. 1«.'<) fig. 2. To form the bottom mortises on all four uprights. mark a ll."-dla. hole centered lOY... up from the bottom end of the upright, see Fig. 1. Then mark a second hole centered 3ll!" up from the fil'l!t. Drill these two hoi es and continue with a series of overlapping hole.' to rorm the mortise. see Fig. 2. (I used a Fo rstner bit here because it will drill o"erlapping hole. without gliding off eeurse.) For the top mortises, measure up 28V.'on the headboard upright (A). and 22%"on the footboard upright (8) ror the first holes. Then drill the second hoi es centered 3ll!" up from the first holes. see ~-ig. I. CL&AS UP MORTISE. To clean up the cheeks of the mortises, I clamped a guide board along the edge of the hoi•• to l.",ide Ibe chisel. sec Fig. 4. To get the cleanest edge on both sides, I chopped only half. way down. and then flipped the piece over to clean out the morti se from t he back .id e. ORII.L 1l0LF.s FOR SIIJE 1I0A"I). Tho last step on all four uprights i. to drill two Yo"·dio.hoies next to the bottom morti ses ,
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see Fig. 3. Although tbese holes aren't I I""u" >
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Next. the uprights are joined lOl(ether IhinJ!ll: I) the width of the mattress, and 2) the length of the tenon s, It', best to get a measurement from the mattress you're going to use. (The Sears mall ress I used is 37~· wide.) Measure the width of the mattress and add 3" to get th •• I,o"ld.r·to-shoulder length of the rails, see ~·ig. 6. (The additional 3' allows for the two side boards plus a little clearance for the mattress.) Now .del the length of the two tenon s, Since the mortises go all the way thl'Ollgh the uprights. the tenons would normally be cut lonl( enough to also go all the way through. But I decided to cut the tenons v.' short - to leave room Cor. filler plug. ""fer to Fig. 25. (This is an easy way to get • perfect fit on the end of the tenon lhat shcwa through the mortise.) Cll"TII£ RAIL.Now the rail can be cut to fiMllength. see Fig. 5. Then cut tenons on both ends to fit .nugly in the morti .... see l'lll. 7. (Refer to lVood$mitJ, No. 26 for" step·by·step article on culling a mortis. nnel tonon.)
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The slats would normally be mounted to the rails by cutting a whole series of indi-
Fig. 21. This, in effect. produees a serieA of mortises - the easy way, C~'T CE~'TERRD GROOVE. To mount thi.
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USE s... (1 VI" STOCIC) MrASOHMENTS SHOWN ARE fOil 37'h~MAmlfS5
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THE SLAT5
Before jOining the cress rails to the uprights. the slats have to be cut. To make the 10 slats (D) for the headboard. start \\ith five pieces of 514 stock 2" "'ide by 16' long. see Fig. 8. The 10 slats (E) for the footboard can be
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THE RAIL5
"~lith L\vOcross rails CCl. These rails arc 6" wide uncitheir length is determined by two
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used until later (to join the bed's side boards between the headboard and foot· board. refer to Fig. 29). I drilled them now while it's easy ee ge~ to this area.
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NOTE,
RUN caoss JtAl\ THROUGH SAW TO CUAN UP fDGE
To complete the headboard and footboard. the notched spacer strips (F) have to beeut to hold the slats. MARK OAOOIlS. To make these notehed strips, start with a piece of 414810Ck2~· wide and trimmed to length to match the shoulder-to-shoulder length of the c~ rails (C), see 21 Now mark the boundaries of the 2"-wide dadoes along this piece. starting at the center and working toward. the ends, see Fig. 15, (\\'ork [rom th. renter out 10 get even spacing at the ends. no matter hew wide the mattress is.) CL' OAOOES.Aft.". marking th. JlO"ition of all the dadoes, [ started 10 cut them. Unfortunately, 1 found that the workpiece haa a tendency to slide as the cut was being made. To prevent this, [attached a fcn.olO the miter gauge. Then clamped a slop to one end and used the rip fenee at the ether end 10 define the limits of '.he dado. see Fig. 16. Shop Now: Since the dadoes are spaced equally from the center out, eUI one of the center dadoes first, then Oip the bo.. -d around to cut the dado on the other sid. of the center line, CUTSPACERSTRlPS. When all the dadoes are cut, rip this piece to fonll the four spacer ships, sec Fig. 17. Rip ea eh strip III widlh to fit snugly ill the greoves ill the CI'OSS rails. Theil resaw then' ,0 Sil.()(.'Ig. 18) so the top edge of the strip is nuoh with the edge or the rail. When the strips iiI the grooves, glue them ill place. (Avoid USing100 much glue -it might s ee p into the "mortises,") Whe .. the glue is dry, run the rail through the saw to trim the tops of the spacer llU5hwith the mil, see Fig. 20.
.'g.
ROUND EDGES AND ASSEMBLE
The last step before assembling the headboard and footboard is 10 round the corners
Tor IAli
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OONOf
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and edges of the uprights and rails. ROL'NOEDGES. First, round the corners of tho uprights to a radius. ( used • qaarter-to mark the radius, sec o.tail A in Fig. 21.. Next, all the edges are rounded with a V,· reund-over bit on the router table. see Detail B in Fig. 21. Before assembly. finish· sand .11 the pieces - especially the slats, Also, SCTC" threaded inserts in the top holes near the bottom rail. ref.". to Fig. 29. (Sec Wood· sm#.h No. 30 for a good technique for Installing inserts using a drill p ress, ) ASS&~I8LY.Now dry-assemble lhe uprights and rails 10 get the final length ror the slats. Afier the slats arc cut to length. mount them between the "mortises" on the edges of tbe ralls. (Don't usc any glueherc, just let the slats "float" in the moruses.) Then glue and damp the mortis. and tenon joints (the uprights and rails) together,
'I.
\¥OODSMITII
\
MORTISE PLUGS
1!l00mSE PlUG
41\51menbioned earlier, I cut the>tellons on the cross rails Y4'" short. to allow for (leC01"3live fillerplugs at. the ends of the mortises. (Ills a lot easier to cut these plugs to fib the mortise perfectly than itis to cut the OOl10n to fit.) To make these plugs, rip a piece of oak into three strips, see fig. 22. Theil I c,ut t.\VO strips otwalnut to simulate the ends of wedges (to make the joint. look like a wedged mortise and tenon joint). Laminate these five pieces together. and when the glue ,is dry, reS3\V this piece to match the width of the mortise (W·). Then I;P ie to size I() match the height of the mortise, refer to Fig. 23. Now here's where all t,ruswork pays off. Round the e.dges of Ihis tiller plug on the router table with a ~" round-over bit. See ·Fig. ;24. This will make a perfect fit. with the drilled end holes of the mortise. ~I01JNTPLUG. Cut off 'Yo"·longslices of the laminated stril) and glue them into the mortises. Than there's one more trick, 1b smooth the plug flush with the face of the upright, cut a ~I.sonite bas. for tbe router and glue two y..··lhick Masonite spacer pads to the base, see F'ig. 26. Mo.unt. y,' straight bit in the router and set t.h. depth to cut flush with the spacer pads. Now the endsotthe plug» ~Ileasily be routed flush with the.face of the upright s,
ffRST CUT !!tEa fRYO THREE STRIPS
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ASSEMBLED MORnSE PLUG AQUIIE 24
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THE SIDE BOARDS
At this point tbe headboard and footboard ar e,complete. Alilhat's needed ore the side boards (0) thatrun the length of the bed. The side boards are 5' wide and cut to length so they're l'longer than the length of the mattress, see ~'ig. 27. ORIJ,LHOI.ES. After the side boards-are cut to size. holes are
WOODSMlTH
NOTE; 0"' 'IO.OOAllO I" LONGERTHANfM.m~S5 ,/to" HOLI
1
i-
2
'DIt11i. ntltotJGH fACE SIDE W1TR -'(I. In'
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~8r
DO NOT ROUND OVER THIS EDGE-,
3
4
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FIG 11129
UPRIGHT
NOTE:lT,..Y BE NECESSARY TO TRIM END
to AUgw HOW; TO ON. UP
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SECTION OF ClEAT
li~.2fi CUAI..J.
THE CLEATS
GLUE AND SGRiW TOGUHER
Thel as t step on the side board. is 10mount a cleat (H) to the bottom edge 10 support the mattressboard and mattress. TRECLEAT. This cleat is made by lipping "piece of5l4 stock IW' wide and to length to match the side board. Then mounllh. cleats by eounterboring a "'··dio. hole, followed by a 0/,,' -dia. shank hole (all the waythrough), see Cross Section in Fig. 30. Now clamp tbe cleat to the side board 00 it's flush wdth the bottom edge and dlill pilot holes in the side board. Finally. unclamp tbe clear, apply glue 10 we edge. and screw it in plate. ASSIDI8LY. AI this point, the bed 13 eomplete. I gave it a final sanding and finished it with two coats of tung oil "ami3h. Wben thefinish is dry, it'ojusta matter of bolting the side boards to the uplights and putling the mattressboard and maures in place.
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THE DRAWER RONT,
!Q_P VIEW
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reurer table with a ~. dovetail bit
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centered I' from the fence, see f'ig. 31. Then rout V• -deep dovetail grooves 8t both ends of we drawer fron~, stopping these grooves sv.' from the bottom edge,
see Fig. 34•
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With the router table still set up Ihi.
also rout dovetail grooves on the in.. side faees of the drawer side. for the drawer back, ... Detail B in .'11(. 83. IlOVE1l\l~T()NGIl>:S.Aner the groove. are cut. _<\iust the fence on the router table (but don't change the height of the bit) to rout dovetail tongues on Ihe side pieces, see Fig. 32. Then trim the top end of the \\'<8y,
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After the bed was done, Illloughl it would be handy W add two large roU-out 8l<>MljIC drawers. These drawers are designed 00 they can be built and added whenever you have time. Note: The dimensions given here are for a drawer (with 2" casters) th"l fits an opening 10" high - the space between t·he bottom edge of the side board and the 0001', see Fig. 41. 1lJt,\WER f'RO~TS. Stnrt by cutlln~ the drawer ironts to size. The width (height) of the drawer fron~ is 7W·. 'l'he length i~ figured by measuring between the headboard and footboard \lpl'ight~ and eubtracting a total of :y.". ('rhis allows y..... between the two drawers, and 14' at each end.) Then divide this difference by 2 to get the length of each drawer fronl. 1'1IF.SIDES.Next, cut the drawer ~ides to a width of T', see Fig. 33. (They're Vo" shorter than the top of the drawer fronl.) The length of the drawer sides is optional - I cut them 20" long. JOISeRY. I assembled these drawers with dovetail tongue and groove join ... (These joints are easier to cuI than they sound. See the step-by-step article in IVood$mitll No. 31.) 1lO\"ETAlL CKOO\·E$. first, set up the
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1
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WOOOSMITH
1
tongues to fiL the stopped grooves in the drawer front. AJmr the tongues are cut, dry-assemble the sides to the front and measure to get the final length for the drawer back. Cub the back to length and then cut dovetail tongues on both ends to fit the grooves fn
fiGtJRE 38
Flout! 40
DRJll \i" HOLES fOR
aotrs
the drawer sides. Finally, switch to a ;.'4" straight- bit to rout grooves o/.a" from the bottom edge of the drawer front and sides for the \14" .lJlasOllite bottom. RANDLE ON FRO:-lT. Before final assembly; complete the drawer (rollt by e',.ting out the handle pull on the.top edge. see Fig:34. Then round the four comers ,,[the fronf to a \4' radius and round the edges with a v...... round-over bit. CASTERS. Now the drawers can be glued and clamped together, they're asGl,lOOVR ROR BQITO>1.
FIGURE 41
-
Aft_,·
sembled, 1 mounted fOtll" casters to each drawer, see Fig. 37. Since- the drawer bottom is only y,,' thick, Iadded y.-' spacer pads and lhen mounted' the casters with 0/.1" machine screws, see Fig. 37.
~
SIDE80ASlO
DRAWER GUIDE RAILS
MIDDlE: ORAWER GUIDE
1$ CENttREO ON SIOEI}OARO
The guide system for these drawers is fairly simple: since the drawers are on
castera, the guide rails j,us·t act as "bumpers" to guide the drawer as jt'$ puUotdin and O~L I cut the guide rail .. out of5l4 stock l'l(,' wide and mounted them to the bottom of the cleata on the side boards, see Fig. 39. «(nstead of mounting them permanently, 1 used threaded inserts so' they could be easily removed iflhe bed was taken apart ..) Position the middle guide. rail so it's centered on tbe le"glh of the bed. Then position t~letwo outside rails so they allow for the width of the drawer plus v." ele.. ·anee, see F'ig. 41.
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DRAWER~!lIQE !iR2S~ ~~!;TlON
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~DTH Of PRAWq PlUS ',S" fOR ClEARANCE
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DIAGRAM
SING"! BEb (FOR BUNK 8ED~ OOUBLE MATERIAL)
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MAT£RIALS LIST Overoll Oimen.ions~ 42V."W'X 80"L· 34"'H For Singl. 8ed: A Headboard Upright. {2l 8 Footboard Upright' {2J C Crot., Roils (4) 0 Ho~dboord Slots (10) E Foo,bootd Slo.n (1 0) F Spacer Strips (~) G Sid. Boords i2) H Cleats (2) For Drawo".: Df'CIw~tFrOnt (2) ~ Drawer Side. (4) K Drawer P.a.ck(2) l Draw~t Bottom M Drawer GuideJ; (3) For Ladder and Guard: N todd., Upri9~"(2) 0 !.odder Run9~ (4~ P Guard Roil (1) Q Guard Upright. (2)
,
WOODSMITH
1111 •• 4.34 11/1•• 4.28 11/1•• 5.42 0/•• 2· 13'At ¥.x~·7% 0/. I( Vi:. 40~ lV..xS·75 1 Yr,,,x
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GUARD RAIL P
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I!@Jl 17
Bunk Bed STACK 'EM UP FOR lWlCE AS MUCH SLEEP If you want to make a bunk bed, it'sJuSI a matter of building IWO ~ingle bed. and stacking them. But that's not the whole story. The single bed is designed "ith a headboard that's 6' higher than the footboard. If you want to make two bed. to form 0 bunk bed, the lower bed i. built with two headboards (34' high) and the tOP bed has two footboards (28" high). l\ormally bunk bed. are stacked and held in place with a steel pin in the uprights. This pin keeps the uprights from sliding oft - but it. doesn's strtlN) the upper bed to the lower bed. If the guy in the lower bed Irie. to kick his brother out of the upper bunk. the whole bed can come loose - much to the chagrin of the one in the lower bunk.
I
KNOCK.OOWN FITTING
We thought it would be nice to add a little safety feature here by joining the upright
into a plastie tnsert o» one end nn
'··dla. hole. Again, I used. Portalign to drill ihls hole centered
'Ii" in Irom the inside face, see Fig. J.
from the instruc.tions thnt. came with it~ ~IOUNT CA_)lCOI.I.J\f', To mount this fit-
IIOI ••~ ron INsefrr. Jo'in.all~f, drill another %"·clin. hole in the bottom upright for the pla.~tici.. sort. This hole i. also centered on the width orthe upright and V,. in from the inside face. (It must line up exactly with the hole in the bottom of the upper upright.) At\er this hole is drilled, tap the plastic insert in place.
ting, ClTStdrill n '··dia. hole on the inside face of the upper upright, see Fig. 1. (I used a Portalign and Forstner bit here.) This hole is centered on the width of the upright and 1y." up from the bottom edge, see Fig. 2. It'~ also stopped 'If" deep. HOI.& .-OR STE.:L PIN. Next. drill a '!1o.-dia. hole for the 81ee 1 pin in the bottom end of the upright so it intersects with the """U 1
i
~IOUNT F''M''I.!'iC.
screw
r:
fitting.
fIG'
lOOtlOAJO UNtOHT
.
Th mount the
the steel pin in the plastic insert.
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low,er the hole in the top upright, OVOI' the steel pin (see Fig. 2). and push the cam collarin the }"-dia. hole. Use" screwdriver to twist the cam collar so it catches the head of the steel pin. (As the collar Is turned, the cam action pull. the steel pin tight inside tbe collar.) Finally. cover the holes with the 1)I... tic cap that comes with the fitting. sec Fig. 2. THE LADOlR No bunk bed is complete (or any fun) without a ladder. The ladder r made hoo~ on the. side rails of both beds. LADDER CPRIGlrTS. The uprigh .... (N) for the.ladder are eut from a piece ofS'4 stock. 49" long. see Fig. 3. in order to have the dadoes for the rungs tine up .x.ctly. Icut !his piece double-wide to begin with. (Wide enough for two 2".wide uprigh~ pi.. Vo' for the kerf bet ween them and • little for trimming it up.) CIT DADOES.Tb mount the rungl!, cut
[our Yc--deep dadoes. across this piece..
.. 18
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KOllS
H(AOIOAIIO UP.IOHT
CENTUlD
ON WlDlH 0'
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HEAO&OAJD UptiGHT
(Note: When setting up these cuts, check the width of the dado with the actual.lock to be used for the rungs, The rungl! should fit tight in the dado.) The first dado (at the bottom of Ihe ladder) starts l' from the end. The next three are spaced 12" apart, sec Pig, 8. CO,J('L&1'.: UPRJGHTS. At\er the dadoes
WOOOSMITH
are cut, ril) the workpiece down the middle
and trim it to produce two uprights 2" "Tide. Then round the corners to a Y:" radius and round over t.heedll"'l u1th a Yo" round -cver bit on the router table. THE RUS(:~. Next, the four rungs (0) are cut to aiee out of 414 stock. 2y"" wide by 12Y.'long. Since the top rung I. positioned right in front of the side bo.. -d on the top bunk. 1 notched out the baek edge to allow room for a hand-hold. Drill two l"-dl •. holes S" apart, and centered y," from ~he back edge, see fig. 6. Then cut out the shape of the hand· hold, rounding the back corners of this notch to • Y,," radius. ROUXD EI)(;P.s. Finally. round the fronl and back edges or all four rungs with a Yo" round-over blt, (Do not round the endsleave them square) ,1SSF.'"ILV. Before final assembly, drill two %"-dia. counterbores followed by 0/,. shank holes on the outside face of the uprights. centered over the dado, and 11." from the Irom and back edges, see Fig. 5. Then place the rungs in (he dadoes and clampthe laddertogether 80 pilotholescan be drilled through the upright~ and into the ends of the rungs, After the pUot hoies are drilled. apply glue to the dad oes and screw the rungo in place with No. 8 x 1Y:~'twoodserews, and cover the counterbores with o/~.plugs. IIWKS. '1'0 attach the ladd.. ·to the bed, I made four hooks that hook over the side boards. first, rip four spacer blocks to width to match the thlekness of the side board. and to a length of 3". see Fig. 7. Th mount the blocks to th~ ladder, mark the position of the bottom blocks so they're 5' up from the bottom ends of'the uprights. Then to get the position of the top block, measure the distance from the top edge of the bottom sid. board to t.hetop edge ofthe top side board. Mark offlhi!
flOURE 3
LADDER UPRIGI;I!S
CUToouau WID£ "teE Of' fH.cae).r lONG
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All DADOlS
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SIDE VIEW 4
FIGURe 5
SIDE VIEW
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ASSEMBLED LADDER
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GUARD RAIL
for smaller children it's also a goodidea to adda guard rail. The one Ibuilt is a pieceof 514 stock, 5" wide by 36" long, see fig. S. It's mounted to the bed \\'th two uplights an" two hooks (as on the ladd .. ·). Cut the uprights 2" wide by l3l'l'long and glue and screw them to the guard rail. Then mount hooks the same ~'8y as on the ladder: cut the spacer blocks. pre-drill the pilotholes, and then glue and screw the SI»lCCrblocks and .:v." x 6" mending plates to the edge of the uprights. And that complet es the bunk beds.
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rl 19
Finishing: Surface Preparation BEFOREYOU FINISH, THIS IS WHERE TO START I'm really talking about three different things here: dents, where the wood cells are crushed; chips where the wood cells a re actually missing; and gouges and scratches where the wood cells are severed. DENTS. If a blunt object (like a hammer) strikes a piece of wood, the wood cells are crushed and collapse into their hollow centers. All the cell walls are still there, but they're compressed. Tha!!. a-dent, Sometimes a dent can be raised back to it!s original level by simply applying a drop of water to it. The
I have to admit that there are certain parts of woodworking that I e)1joy more than others. Getting a tenon to fit so it slides into. mortise perfectly is definitely on the positive side. So is putting on and rubbing' down the final coat of fin-
ish. It's somewhere in bet\y(ten these peaks that 1get bogged down in som_e of the more mundane chores of woedworking. Spocifically, it's the process of making sure the surface is ready to take the finish. It's at this point that all the little problems and mistakes that have been building up from the beginning of the project are now staling me tight in the face ... and I have the challenge of fixing them. Itls also at this stage of the project that every weodworker'sfavorr ite activity, begins ..• sanding.
water flows into the ,\109d and swells the walls back to their original shape. If the water needs a little help in order to penetrate the cell walls, Imay prick the spot with a pin.
Or I use an-iron.T take a piece of damp cloth or paper towel, Pitt it
(As I said, there are parts of
ever-the
woodworkingthat I enjoy more than others.) I find it easiest to approach finishing like anything else in woodworking. It's a series of steps to obtain ~he desired result. But it's also a series of decisions. Once you make a certain decision, to 'itain the project for example, that decision affects many of the steps that lead up to it. I try to develop a plan for finishing at the start of a project and carry it through to the end. UNDER CONSTRUCTION
While Pm building a project a little. voice somewhere in the back of my head keeps asking me, "How will what you're doing now affec~ the appearance of the final finish?" The voice gets louder at certain points in the oonstl11ction process. EOGE.()I,UINC. One of-the first times this happons is when I'm edge-gluing several boards to form a wide panel. Two things are important here; color and grain structure. '1'0 play down ajoint line, I try to select the pteces so tl,e colors and grain blend into each otlte,. It's a matter of ""ing eareful now instead o[trying to selectively stain 0,· bleach later to get a uniform appearance. Excess GLUE. Another time [ hear t~a. voice is when it eemes.time to-glue. Excess glue in a joint will cause "squeeze-out." [r these beads and globs aren't removed, the finish, eSl>eeiaUy stain, won't penetrate into the wood. It ends up looking like the piece has chicken pox. The problem is lhat some of these glue
20
it until the cloth-dries out. The iron
•
causes steam to penetrate the wood cells and swell them back to their original shape, After it has dried thoroughly, it call be sanded.
In addition to major dents, the spots ar·e difficult to see boCore you start finishing. I usuany see the globs at the joints, but always manage to miss a light fingerprint smear-In tha middle of a board. It seems as though every woodworker I know has a theory about when this glue should be removed. These theories run all the way from immediately wiping the exCI1.1)S glue away with a "let rag to waiting' until it gets completely hard and then chip)ing at it with a chisel or scraper, 1 agree with John Moser, president, of Wood Finishing Supply Company, when he explains: "The typical white and yellow glues go tllroug~ certain stages as they
minor ones thancollect on the surface of the workpiece can be aggravating. It seems like somewhere during. project I \\;11 set dO\\TU a piece of wood on top of a chip or dried glue glob oil my bench. This usually causes. minor dent that has to be raised. Ken Burtch, 3 professional refinisher
and owner of The Hardwood Connection in DeK.11b,Illinois, tells an interesting story about some minor dents he once had on a project, "When I first got started 1 took some boards to a local cabinet shop to have them resawn and run through their thickness planer, The dust cclleeticn system on the planer wasn't operating correctly and the reed rollers smashed all the chips down making dents allover my nice cherty. ''1 thought 1 could easily repair it by using a belt sander to erase all the wood surrounding the-dents until the surface gob down to, their leveJ. When everything was level, I put a glass-smooth finish on it, "It wasn't until a coupleyears later th~t disaster struck, The seasonal changes allowed mositure in the air to slowly enter the wood. The St'''5S in bhe dents was relieved and some of the dents are now raised spots. If Icould do it again, I would have raised the dents first." CHIPS. A chip or a splinter is different from a dent. In this ease the wood is actu-
WOOE>SMI'Ill
,
ally missing and moisture won't help. The first thing I do when a splinter mes off my work (this seems to h"ppen a lot when u$ing' a router) is get. down on my hands 'lOci knees and start looking through the sawdust. Somehow it al'vnys seems to find a resting spot under the very back of the bench. \Vhen Irescue it, I putaUttle glue on it and clamp it back in place (usually masking tape works be
transferring a scratch into what looks like a large dent). On an edge J feather a gouge or chip until it blends In with the edge. I(thc~e methods don't work.uhe subject alway. turns to fllling. At Wood.lllith, we try to keep our use ofput lies and fillers to a minimum, (I'm talking here l\bout wood fillers, not poste icoodfill .... that are used to fill pores in open-grained woods.) PuttiOll and fillers always look to me like a band-aid solution to a mllior problem. For example, we might use putt)t to fil1in along ajointlinc where.it isn't so obvious. But.we don't use it in the middle of" tabletep to repair a gouge, I"UTTIES.There are a wkle variety of pl... tic putties, water putties, puttystieks. cabinetmaker's waxes, and burn-in sticks on the market. They're advertl..ecl as being available in "an assortment of colors to makh Rny wood," That's always bothered me, Even thouifh a common brand plaslic Ilutty is available in both "Light Oak" and "Dark
Oak," I cnn't remember ever seeing aetual oak woo
ers nrc incompatible with vruious finishes 01' are designed
for other usc s. Wawr putty (8 powder material) won't accept any REPAIRS st-ain:tor oils when it's dry, (It's used when With a shallow gouge Or scratch. I'm often the surfaee will be painted). Cabinetable to plane. scrape, or sand the sur- makers wax never ge~ completely hard. rounding wood. On a flat 1tTYto Putty sticks aL"O don'l get hard and are even it. out by feathering out the sur- best used for filling nail holes after finrounding area to create a shallow de-- ishing. Burn-in sticks (also called shellac pression (This depression has to cover an sticks and lacquer sticks) are usually used area S to4 inches in diameter or you'rejusr to repair damage on £ini!Shc(1furniture.
.urf_
FINISHING TIPS ••• • 8L'CK BL01'CII&S. BhICkmarks often appear at joint lines (partleularly on oak) anywhere glue comes in contact. with pipe clamps. These marks are the result of a chemical reaction between the water inthe ~Iue. the iron in the pil)e clamps, and the tannin in the wood. 1'1> prevent this. pia,.. strips of waxed paper between tbe clamps and the wood at the glue line. • COLORED GLL·E. Add a drop or two of food 00101' to glue 50 it .hows up better. Thi. i. particularly helpful for finding ",mears in places where you don't expect. or ,"ant them. • l'A1Nl' sen,'PER. When edge gluing boa"I •• the glue squoczc·out at the joint lineJl can be easily rcmovect ,\ri(h a p.ainl 8cnlper - tbe kind Uil<:d to """111><' paint off hou&'•• I bought one that has. removable blade so I c:otild sharpen it - a duD blade ":lkales" over the sur(a~, WOOOSM1TH
Bt:R.'
~'IXIN('; YOUR O\\!N,
'{'he
mHln
problem
with all ertbese manufactured products is that they're not 100.... wood. You're introdueing a foreign substance that works differently tban the wood iUlelf. for this reason sometimes I'll mi."( my 0\\-" filler with line sawdust and a few drops of the finish I'm geing to use on the project. I use the mixture most often on lhe end grain of a joint, such n~a boxjoint. where it can turn dark (and i~will) and won't be noticeable. One other thing. Many people reeommend mixing glue with sawdust filler. I have round that when glue is used. it erreelively Ileal. out any finish altogethercreating white blotches. l"SI:
a."
The most common probJem Irun intoinjust abouteveryprojectismillrnarks. These are uniformly spaced ridges thatrun across the width of planed lumber. They're eau se d by the l'Ot,ation of a planer or joint0r's knives
from our shop
U.ing sandpaper to remove burn marks is a 101.of work. A hand scraper (8 3 x 5 piece or steet sharpened with a burr edge) does the job easily - 081)0.ially on end grain. If for no other reaso», I~'. worth learning how to .h""""n a scl'ul>er to remove burns. • W()fIKINGON ~"'S10E tOIlNERS. \Vhen gluing up a cabinet, don't use IIdamp cloth to remO\'e glue from an inside comer -it jU:il smear'::) and ereates a bigger mess. Instead, wait until tbe glue h.., reaehed a paste stage (about 20 minutes). and remove it by running the COrner of a hand semper along the Inside cornel' of thejoint. • ANGI.&D 1..16111'. To check for mlll marks and sanding .scratches, hold a mechanic's light at a10w lillgle over the wood. The low-angle light will create a .hadow on ."en light seratehes. 1 use II clear (not frosted) light bulb to create more glare. • RE'10,'L'
PI.ASTle I'UTTI£S. Plastic putties (of which there are many brands) have one big advantage over these other fillers: They're made from actual wood fibers and u plastic binder. The wood fibers allow. them to accept stain and gives them some of the quail tie. of wood and the plastic binder hastens the set-Up time. (Out of aU the fillers we've tried. the one Ilike the best is called FIX Wood Patch. I use it mostly for fiDingjoinl lines that aren't a. tighl as tbey might be. It also accepts stain better than most of the others.)
• CIlf.C~ FOR SltE.>RS.One of the mo.'!
difficult problems to cateh i. a lijtht glue smear. To cheek for these. wipe or "pray a fine mist, of naphtha over the surface, (Naphtha i. aclearnon-stainlng liquid that
won't rHise ~hegrain.) • TACK RAGS, To
rag. use
11 piece
make youl' own tack
of cheeseelcth, n clean
handkcrt:hief. or a well-washed diaper. Saturate the doth with turpentine and wring it out thoroughly. Apply .t"",""" or \·ami.h across the cloth. roll it UP. and wring out completely. Continue adding \'ami,h until it's evenly distributed in the rag and the rag feels sticky. not gummy. Stor" in a sealed jar Qr Zip-lock bag so {.he rag stays tacky. \Vben using a tack rag. fig/lily wipe the entire surf_ or all dust. Don't rub hard or the vam;'h \\ill be deposited on tb. workpieee and interfere with finishing.
21
taking shallew ..bit es" out of the wood. If the knives are dull or the feed rate too fast. the ridges really stand out. The Ii",t problem with mill marks is finding them. Sometimes they're diftieuJt to see. But it I get m~!eyes down at a very low angle to the wood, J can usually see some raint ridges, Onee I lind them, the next problem is removing them. (If they're not removed, the second the finish goes on they'll stick out like furrows in " freshly plowed field.) A couple IighL passes with a sharp plane usualiy does it, J find it's easiest 10 do this on ali the wood b%re assembly; O<,\,•• ionally I'll use a pad 01' belt sander (with 100 f(rit paper) to remove min marks, BuU lind itoilen takes a lot ofwork with a pad •• nder, and I always get a tittle nervous about gouging and rounding edge. with. beit sander, Somerlmes after the project is assembled I'll discover some mill marks J missed, In this ease Iuse a scraper. (This is a3 x 5 pieee of steel with a c:utting burr on the edge, seelI'ood.",ill. No, H, Ascraper al.. works quicker than sandingfor removing machine b,(rJla caused blot planers. routers und M",".)A scraper works best if it's held at an angle to the ridge. so it's not riding up and down with them - but it's cut ling off their lops. ",I)C~S, SNII'F.~, AND TP.Ak.QOT. In additlon to mill marks, planers and jointers have (I way of doing other undesirable things to your wood. A small chip in the knives can leave nlittle ridge the length of the board, This can usunlly be scraped ofI with. hand scraper, It the planer or jointer isn't :uljusted ecrreetly, a snipe (gouge) can be taken out at the belrtnningor end ef theboards. Once again, this has to be removed (Qrbette yet
When PI'~I)"ring this artide it seem. aa though questions about sanding came up the most. Jerry ~'()I'Hnl'kon Ihe staff of the wood fini~hing prol.'1'"m.t Dakota County Area Vocational Technical Institute in Minnesota explained, "Without the proper
sanding many things sho'" up once you put your stain and finish on. A good sanding job will either make or break the pi""":' When do you start sanding? If at all pas. .ible, btlo~assembly, .. but aIler plan.
ing .• '\·c aJ"'R~round it easiest to use a hand plane or .. raper to get out all the min marks and generally flatten the surfacoe.
But
it'!
difficult to get a consistent sur-
fa.. all the way .. ross • tabletop with a hand plane or cabinet scraper. That's when
22
sandpaper cernes in. It provides consistency. Consistent little scratches. It helps to know a little about the differ· ent types of sandpaper and grits, (See the artieleonl!llndpuper in lVood8milh No. 33.) SAIIt>Il
.w..
IVilil get "dif/frtllilookillgfi"ish based on houlfiirt I landl1b some extent this is true, but il abo depends on the wood you're using. Tom explains, "IC I have nice straight grain oak and the re aren't any knots in it, I've stopped as low as 120 grit and stained it. Because th. coarse grain marks in oak are working with the grain and the sanding marks are perfectly aligned, But eloKed grain woods, like
On these joints I wam the rwo pteces to be level across their fares, Sal\(ting."""", the joint doesjust' that, In this ease it's almost a necessit)· to sand across the grain on one of the pieces since it's difficult to come to a halt right at the joint line. Tom Eckstein explains his method for sanding miters, "1 sand the corners a couple grits finer than I would normally. What happens is that I still sand aero." the
grain on one or the frAme pieces but I'm sanding with such n fine grit that it doesn't make much ctiITercncc."
ShOlu,11 ",1M 1M {lmill by wettin!J th« it ofT! Wetting the fibers allows !lny cell walls that have been I.»od and the.t rand
pressed down or d.maged from sanding to swell and stand up. Then you can let it dJ'), and remove the whiskel'$ by •• nding at a slight an((le to the grain with 180 grit sandpaper; To be honest, I don't find it necessary; The only exception to thtl; would be when I plan on Using a water-based stain or dye.
Then it's nece~I")' or the stain or dye ,\;U mi.. the grain when it's applied, M."OI"G JJI~-n;.A couple final thoughts on sanding, When u,ing a pad (or palm) sander be sure that the sandpaper can't move on the bottom of the pad, Tom Eckstein explains, "You onl~'generate so much power in the 111Ql()rand if you let it slip between the pad nnd the sandpaper you're generating h<:.nl- not sawdust. It's just rubbing the back of the •• ndpaper,' As Lhelast stop in gnnding, I go ovei the enLi>:cproject and soften Ihe shar] edge. (technically, the !I'Tises ), I don't really rollnd them, but just make one P;ISS to break them with 120 l.'1'itpaper. It removes the knife-sharp edges, hell>' prevent spllntars, and gives a comfortable feel to the
piece. In addition. surface finishes usually will rub right off a .harp edge. FtNAL tNSPECTION The last bit of advice can be summed up in one \\'01'(1: patience. Don't rush into, applying the lini.h, I ..uk. one last inspec·
maple or clear pillet. a.re .&;"oingto sho\v tion for any )'t'lunining problem areas. I ever)' scrntchlunrk, So you're going to start by brushing off the mf\jority of the \"Rul to !"nuve UI) Lo the 220 grit. range. oJ). sanding dusL and Lhen lightly wipe the \..'hole piece cto\vn \vith n tack l'llg, these \\'oods." Is there «t,y tifu(" it's okay to8u.nd (lcroS8 II,. {fIYlinl All Lhe books .ay miller sand
across the g....in. But I think there's two times it's okay. In Lheinilialstagesof.and· ing \\Ihen I \Vnnl t~remove a lot oC\\'ood, [ us;! a belL.anderto go across the grain. I'm just trying to quickly !let lh. surrare level Then i follow it up by ""nding or hand-
planingy,ith
the grain to remo\'e thecros.s-
grain scratche., and I proceed 10 sand with finer f(rits. The: other t'it.uRlion \..'hen )'ou'-re almost foreed to Mnd across the grain is at a joint where two pieces of wood come together at
an angle, ~uchas 8 miter or rail and stile.
With .lIlhe dust off, any final mistakes e,' pt",blemij become the grain in a
couple day~.Not to mention e\'el')'one who has just .ome back from lunch at )Ie· Donald's, It never fails. , . I ju" finish sanding and they come in with their oily fingers to check out my """ding job. And then it'~ back to that ef\ioyable task
of sanding. Somttimeli l'OUjust can't "riD. WOODSMITH
1'1'-••
Ta_dn_gl Shop
___
_
AN OPEN FORUM FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS I C07lfacted a local cabi".! .hop, and lhey erplai".d I/ral the dry air ill.ide our 111Wood.mith No. 96. yall ",,,"tiolled that I Itave a q'W$[io1l abaul " pal€1ItiaL safety hOltSf WG3"'( able to C;rcl~lat~iJISide the YOlthad bcM,/ookillg [or « carbide·lipped. probleni it' "'ll./IO/}. lVltt1!mJeTI'm sa'ld· chest. Thi8 call8cd a lnoistttr6 '1'10014,1C6 bat! bearillll'~rbbcli"g bjt to .ut Ii 'h-·wide i1lg a project i" 11111 ba.em6?,t 81t0P, tit. bet'IUCe-l'l)lO ''tlside Ulld out8ide faces of rabbet. I ,..." Info th_ Sallie p/'obl6?14but basclIlcllt IIccllme. Jilled with very fine 1Ir.e lid. I'll(! C01'lC ItP fuii/( (I .!fOI1«'iO)l. SU'l'tdi'1tg (l1tltt. IJeC(l1t8t! 111il/ gas water On Ih. outside ttop) lace, Ihe lid i8 ex· IVlral I did It'a8 pllw:ila.t Ie Sear» 'i/ /l .. ter and [urnae« lire balll completely posed to tllcdry i1rl.eriorai); altttsh?iltkSQS carbidc·tipped rl.f,bel bit (#9GT!lij5~, c:qJ08l'd, 1")1 coucm"llcd thc,t tht Sandi)lg it dries out. On tlte ~'tlsidc face, IQhel'e $12..$9catalog price). I also purchasedthe d ..sl may b1 tltt ill.id. fou oJ lhe tatted three experts: our local fire mersbal, lid u»help hold ilflot. IVhal 0011011thillk. our state OSHA offioo, and the National i$ Ihio tlu! a'13l\".1 a room. purchased a fI" out.;ide diameter bearing A dust explosion, on the other hand, (Fll/llir IiSI KDO) 01 a boor/llg supply results from u lat'gc nllSh fire that occurs in house Utat fil. or'er Ihe Sears bushing a tightly enclosed area. However, for an .upplied wilh the lI,.-dia. bearing. This explosion to occur, il takes just the right "'-t.....,-t'jII '" co",bitlalion prodtlf~S a yo,.~aTbidt.-tipped set or conditionfiland sequence of events. It USi OVlft$lUD ~l ~I SHAHX' ttOU IN . .. boll ""or/liD rob""li>l9 bil. should be of some 10 AllOW all but Impesslble to preduee a dust exEarl Clark plosion in a home workshop. Holla",l, Even a Rash ("" in • home ,hap is only theoretically poR.iblc, aecording to Bob We've tried to I'ureha.-;e bearings for rab- Benndeeti of the NFPA. It would almost beting bits scvcl'al times in the past. The have to be inlentional _ like throwing a ~, problem we kept rllnning inl<>was finding bucket of ""wdust in the air in front of an • bearing lhat had the correct i""ide dia· open flame - to achieve ihe concentration As ~fOllmentioned, one \\1(1)' 1.0 help pre· meter to fit the arbor on a rabbet bit. of airbol11c dust needcd to keep the chain vcnt the top from cUPl,ing is to attach fi'in(ling u bealing \vith a 0/,('" oUt$i a brand they do brollghl it illfrolll my 901'Og. shop in 101. some of the cul'ping, this i$n't a cure-all. carI')'. December, til< II1p CliPped (frolll 10 back) Under severe conditions, the wp may still A1\_er\,'C purchased the bearing, e'·el')'· after ollly a coupl. of day •. I 11'0, de.. "s· cup to a paint. (AIIA!rall. part oCthe joy of thing went together perfectly. And we've faled "'1"", I 8aW tlti. a/ler all my /Ulrd working ";lh I!Olidwood is that it's still been cUlting Y,· rnbbets ever since. 'I1Ork ha7ld clllli7lg lilt dOt",loil•. alive enough to move.) THl UUSIVI
'I,"
RABBlT BIT
e
SMOKING SANDERS?
0/,.
J
r__
-
-~~ _--
\VOODSMITII
23
Sources DOLL CRADLE
SURFACE PREPARATION
You ean order the screw hole buttons for the doll cradle (rom; Tilt! wO()OWonK~"S' STOR~, 21801 In· dustrial Boulevard. Rogers, ~IN 55374; (612) ,128-1101(Note; $7.50 minimum cash 0,,101;Catalog: $2.00). Screw Hole B'ulto>ls (8), Bireh, V,", Order No. BIOll, $1.25 per 50,
We mentioned in the article that we like fiX Wood Patch. We buy it locally since
TYIVCR STAND
You can ord~r all of the h••-dwsre needed for the TV/vCR st.nd from tl>e following seurees: TilE II'OOVWOI
Order No. D75.JI. SI3.25 per set, r: Plate Caster«, Order No. C1143 (black), $1.6.40 per set of (our. CO~'S1l\'\"I'INE'S.2050 Eastchester Road, Bronx. NY 11).161;800·223-8087 (Note; $7.50 minimum order. Catalog; 81.00). Gla.. Door fJ juyr (2 pair). Order No, GH7030 (Black), :5<1.45 per pair. Slip·O" Handle.' for GIll,' Doo..., (4). Order No. GP7011 (Black), $.75 each, M(.yu.Uc TOllelt Lalclt, double unit, Order No. ML772, $3.45 each, We had a loelll gl.5. supplier cut two pice es of Vo" smoked glass to the correct size 1'0.' the doors, The total biU; $10.74. BED/BUNK BEDS
You can ordcr the hardware for the bed. and bunk beds from: Tnt: II'OOI)WORK&KS' STORE. (address
. above). for .ingle bed: Threaded I..ants (4), "'•• x # 18, Order No. D-39E>I,$.32 each, for bunk bed s, Four more Threaded Insert. (same M specified above). Elite (kltock·doll"') Filliug. (4), 04170. $.50 each. For drawers nud drawer guides: Six more 7'h"caded iI'8~rl8(same 8$ specified above). i!" Plate Ca,te,.. (2 sets), Order No. Cl143 (black), $16.40 per set of four. We I)u.-.:hnsed the mllci.;lIebolts (<;,,,' x IY.·) and washe,.. fo.· the threaded inserts and ~he .ix '"omli'.g .trllp. ('1',' x 6") needed ror the bw,k bed ladder and railat. I_I hardware store. Wedlseo"cred in designing the beds that there i~ some \lsrianee in the dimensions of t.win !li~mattresse~ and springs. llost $tate that they "ill·fit a 39" x 75*bed'but the 80tUal measuremenl$ are smaller. \Ve U$ed • mattress and Z' thick mattressboard (rom Sears (catalog no. I A 70109N. $27.99) that act"ally "'eo.,""" 37W x 74-. But the bed i. designed to hold any matt"'•• 30~ to 39' wide.
24
there aren't llny mail order sources. Find
the location of lhe nca rest dealer by calling the Darworth Co. at 800-624-7767. We talked to a number of helpful people to get the inrOI'nu,tiUIl (or this article. Speeial thanks go to Ken BUI1.ch,professional refinisher and owner ()f The Hardwood Connection, n fine tool and wood store in DeKalb, Illinois; Rick Stohr. branch manager of 3l\1'to ~ul'fac(!preparation products;
'Ibm Eckstein, :IM product devclopmen~ engineer: Jerry ThrHark, on the .taff of the wood finishing program at Dakota County Area Vocational Technical Insti· tute in ~linnesot4 and owner o( a refinishing shop; and John )I"""", president of \Vood finishing Supply CompaD.)' Jerry TerHark explained that the DCAVTI wood fini~hing program is the only program orit. kind In the country. It's • ten-month, accredited program that trains studcnl3 of nil ages to become accomplished tlnishe,-sfrefinishe.'1l. For more information about the program contact JelTyat I)CAVT I, 1300 145th St '-eet East, Rosemount, MN 55068 (612) 423-8862. John Moscl' hilS offered to help any lVoe surface and use a variety 0( flnishing material$. Then th.""s a description explaining when, where, and how to use eocit of the product. they carry. The tatalog i. available (or $2.60 from Wood Finishing Supply Co" 1267 Mary Drive, Macedon, NY 14502: (315) 986-4517. BOOK ON FINISHING
In researching the ar tiole on preparing the surfaee we found on excellent bOok about p,-el)aring the sUI'fMO,refinishing, and finishing. 1V.0tl f<'illi.Idl1Oand Refjui8/tillU by S. W. Gibbia hilS step,by·step insb"c· tions on all phases of finishing. It's available in hardcover (01' $14.95 ppd. (Order No. IOL04·CY) from \Voodcraft Supply Corp .. 41 Atlantic A,'eDue. Box 4000, \Voburn, MA 01888: 800·226-1103. Now: S10 minimum order. Catalog: $3.00 (credited on first order). WOODWORKING
CLUBS
\Ve keep hearing (rom woodworking clubs all o\'er the rounlr)': WOODWORKERS' ASSOCIATION Of TO· PF.KA. A
year and hair ago Cleo Me Donald
I~ got a group or woodworkers together to she"v them his ccntinulng shop project. a one-quarter tiO\leeolleetlon of early American tools. Thiti assoeiatlon sprang from his presentation and has grown to over 30 members. (f you are interested. contact. Cleo Me Donald, President, 9421 NW 42n
coast meets once (!\ICI'Y two months. J"'Ol' more information. contact Chuck Mee· chum, P,·•• ident, P.O. Dox 99656. San Diego, CA 92109. Tilt) WOOI)WORK':R;;'Gt:'LV OF CEQRGIA, INC. Charles Boelkin3. se
group. ~ntly called to get the names of other woodworking organizations in the SOIIthea..tern United Stales. He explained they are planning a major "'gioru" juried show and would like to ecntaci interested club>. (If your club wants to ger involved, contact him at the addrct'S below.) The Guild has been in oxistenee for five years and has over 100 members. They meet every month in Atlanta. Their project to donate to.yl\ to n children's hospital was recently fentu,'cd on the! television • show"PM ~t;lgft.zine,"~'in(lout.more about ~),
them by contacting Ch"I'1.8 Boelkins, P.O. Box 1113. Conyel ..., Georgia 30207. THE WOO)\\'OllKJo;RS' cun,u or THE LEX· I:-\GTOS (ttl") AUTS ASI) CRAI'''T'S SOCIJo;:Tf.
This guild has 50 men and women whose skill. range from beginner to master craftsman. They provide a well-equipped shop tor the U8e or their members, New members are welcome. 'Th learn more about the Guild. contact the Membership Secretary, 130 Waltham Street. Lexington, MA 0'2173, TERC WooOWORKING CLU8. This group has about 250 membera and a very eomplete wocdwerktng ghop supported by the Tennessee Eas tman Company. They are involved in community projcets such a. Toys for ''01. and building an outdoor fltness trail. Get more information by contacting Jack Bracy, President. TERC Woodworking Club, P.O. Box 1972, Kingsport, TN 87662. SORTII TF.X.~ II'OOI)WO"K'~RS' GllIl.O. (An updaw). In 11'00«111 il/, No. au we listed this group in the Dallas area. The contact person we printed at that lime "'" moved. The new contact is Gloria Jacobus. 9500 Inwood Road. Dallas. TX 75220. SOldh~r" 11I;"oi•. A group o( wood· "'orkers is organizing in southern lllinois , this spring. They are looking for help. suggestions, and membc~. J r interested, contact Tom Hanley, Rt. #1, Box 128, Creal Springs, IL 62922. WOODSMlTH
l ,