ROUTER TABLE | RAISED PANELS MADE EASY a— § | 3 Basic Bits Are All You Need Vol. 1B Issue 92 6 ° sy ——— The CTT Eis )) aS aa Foy Ur aad deli : PSS eerie] oS 7Dust-Free Blade Cover = page 36 2 Contents — ne seacrsian Gne-Wall Workshop Zara any vit ine a corn, easy denchiop hands-on technique Rabbeted ee Construction 28 ‘weekend workshop Cleanup Center 30 7 neal and toy wren: all your bestbuil jigs & fixtures Dust-Free Blade Cover 36 Departments Readers’ Tips 4 router workshop Raised Panels on the Router Table rmoterias& hardwart Heavy-Duty Tat Anchors 10 Fiywood E Edging Bits @ the egos of pln is 0a6y:20-u90 router bt system Shop Short Cuts fi ig erobIEmS. ‘ShopNotes No, #2Pre-Fab Shop Cabinets ‘needa, manutaeiurea shop cabinet can nate your shoo. breeze i? Must Have Table Saw eee Worle sales taster anct ave. these nana}, shop-bui Shug Fitting Tenons, Ades tiadde ano the (no0d But pertnct Miter Saw Accessories. 48 Get better results ana imannued securacy tri "your miter seu with those great urigcaces wn & on , Sources snmwcshinpNotes.com au featured anunabe Bho the past, Stop BB cittecont ways te help make your shop betler organized. Typically, this invalved some sart af shop-built cahinet aystem. The only downside 10 king a complete set of your oven cabinets is it can bea bit time-consuming Se this tinwe we took 2 different approach by starting with eany-toassemble, manufactured sturaye cabinets. Then-wedesignes a ew custom she tceabinets werkcevin bey, For starters, we ptians fn I easy -aovess; ander counter tel cubis, a space-aiving flip-up workbench, and overhead lighting: Pially, we applied » sharp ooking, tworlooe paaint finish far protection ‘The best thing, about this perjact ix you hay Tols of options. su yout an emsily make i fit your shop space and yoar needs, Hor morean creating, your awn ane-wall workshop. be sure to check ut the article beginning om page 16 ™ ™ www.ShopNotes.com ;Ghinganbeféping. singe rile Pin plecnoniceusethe eine int ait be a-challenge. I's atten, ‘from the top: Betore assembling, the han lo gel te pio Ine’ up and shaped Wicks have a longue at pL waves all surfaces fo paovent Qj then hold everything in place neti] the bottom that sides i a groove any ue fromsicking othe parts luc des, To make this tosk in the buse cleat to bud the piowss To use the clamping jig, apply teaser [built the clamping jig yom from the ide. Sancpupper attached gluetsthe mitered ends. Now you. sezin the phato abxve to one edge keeps the workpiece can lay the two pieces on the bose ‘Ae ahown i the drawing below, from slipping, A thind tiangular with the mitered adjges pointing the jig consists of a Jorge base of block tavels on a Tstrack so fea antl the button exe of the ji Be any tuty oe tae Pe anorares pieces on the Tetrack- “eTRRYEW 2, ee Nei de th woide carp . ts io tgp te eerie tal | a Kix tighten the fob, ‘Than ance th é & outside clamping blocks into posi= oe x prem ewe Naw just let the jig hold the de ppcoes in place until the glne driv, poe ajlen Ehrich 4 4 ast ShopNotes No. 92Nozzle Wedge ‘The pull-up mezete on same glue bottles helps dispense the glue and keeps it from hardening, when nof in use. But dlried gine usually accumulates inside the nozzle, making it hard-to open the ozale [offen resoet to using pliers to setit open. But that tends tear up the sozale, eventually makieg itumnsable, ‘To solve this problem, T built the simple tool shawn in the photo at right te help ft up the nozale. The tool has a slot at ane end thet's sized to fit the roils. It's long 0 you cen weit as a lever 10 easily lift the nozzle without doing any damage toit The nove lifting tool con be quickly built from a piece of f- thick hardwood. Start by drilling 2 hole at one end the sume si as the nozzle of the bottle a : eee | Then use your bind saw tocut away the waste to form the notch, Then euea bevel at the end with the notch, as shown in the drawing below. Finally; round over all edges of the wedge with sandpaper ean Travis Mentin, Oregan ik <8 Submit Your Tips if you have en original shop tip, we wauld like ta hear fram you and eonsider publishing your ip in one or rhore of our publications. Just write down your tip and mail it to: ShopNotes, Tips for Your Shop, 2200 Grand ‘Avenue, Des Moines, lowa 80312, Please include your name, address, and daytime phone number (in ease we have any questions). If you would lke, You can FAX it to us at 515-282-6741 or simply send us an email message at shopnoteswPshopnates.com, We will psy Up to §200 if we publish your tip. The Winner! Congratulations. to. Stephen Ehrich of Louisvii Kentucky. Hi tip on maka a miter clamping jig ‘ns selected a¢ urinner of the Porter-Cable router just like the one shovm et the right. The a makes Ieeasy to clamp up singla miter joint and ‘hold itt position until the lua dios. To find! out how you eould win a Porter: Cable router, check out the information above, Yourtip just might be s winner, ‘were ShopNotes.com tissue 92 Mar/Apr. 2007 man Te. sk CoRERBLTINGEDTON cart. arcons re Toate ASSET EDMORE He arial eae [ERECUTE AT OIRECIOR ce Lartinn ‘a IMECTOR Cary Cnt SEO GRAPHIC OESIGHER an Own Siaon LUSTRATOR ger in uusraanans 58 teary“ GB St Ir CERT DIRECTOR Ts sea S208 PROMET DESIGNERS «44 Hurke, ees, he ie FROME BESIGAEREIBUDERS Me 2eranan she Sem at $A. Proroanamens Cray) trated Dears Henne ‘ASSOCIATE STLE DIRECTOR Petia Crean ASCIRONC MAGE SPECT er fries VIDEOGRABHERS Sexe Reggae Mr Hes ‘rete naaP arn il Tn Ma Ma FRLLUE fyouheramnd hoe AMEE yy Walig eral abc REMAN eur tubcition| mere OF SEDAN aerehaprelascat Avsu STHOME‘Whenever Tune plywood to build» pmject it usnatly ‘means having to deal with eqposed plywood edges that reed fo be covered. But yow'l find a few challenges to sipplying cding and making it look great Since T want bbe sure the edpes arecompletely cov= ered, [like lo slart with the edging just a hair wider than the thickness af the plywood, Then ance the gine ches the edging can be fimmed flush, Like to use 2 Jruneheld suuter with a flush tim bit to do this. Bur the challenge isbalacing the router onthe ecge ofthe phono te makea clean. ‘To provide stability inthe panels while I muted the cxiges; Lute to lamp two panels on cxlge with 2x scraps between them. But arsamplishing, this alorays seemed to take more hands then 1 hail to get every ‘thing clamped in plsex. Io make the job ensiex | made the pand supports shown in the photo at right, “The supports ae easy tobuild and canbe made from scrap pieces of stock: Lmade mine ftom 4 plywood Bech support begins wath long base to provide an area toclamp the support to the workbench, Next, glue Up benlayers of plywood to create acenter divider and attach it upright on the hase. this separates the two" ‘panels tn be timmed and provides wide surface for clamping the panels scourely in position. Then, to hold the plywood panels in place wie attach the clamps. just add a shorlet oulside support on either sce, {The supports are easy to set up and sinple use All you need todo is align the tyra supports with one smother and then chimp them @ your waurkbench ‘After slipping, # panel between the center divider and. ach outside support clamp the panels te the divider at each end, as show in the drawinygbolow oth panels are now securely supported aking it easy to tin Hh dng, lash Juste gre to mut each panel in aclockwise direction to avoid kickback. Benjamin Ne'sor (est Des nes, free ShopNotes Nu. 92Easy Storage Bins I"ve always fiked the old pull-cut bins you used to find in hardware stores Ts duplicate this look, 1 built the storage bins shown in the photo at right. ‘Thebins have ample room fr atoring bulk hancivare items and keeping the paris in plain view: The pull on the front formsa hollow area underneath the tp. This makes it easy to get your Fingers under the pull whenever you need to slide the bin cout-to gut at the parts ‘The bins are simple to Build. And you can make them longer or wider to it your novels, They/re so easy to build you'll want to makea numberof ther once you stat. Begin by cutting the plywood pices 40 with. 1 used a stop block om my table saw te ervure the pieces were cut fo identical Tengts Next, you can cut cut the hard- bosid sides Since T wanted fo make several ‘bins | fretmadea pattem ofthe sides. Then it was just matter of using a pattern | trim the sides to shape at the rowter table, his way. all the sides areexacily the same ‘Assombling the bins is quick and easy ‘bo, Just apply glue ta the edges and clamp ‘he puuts in place unl the gine is dry GQ eve am thats itis to st the ins wh hardware, Thervyou can set them an ashelf for your workbench. Your bulk Iardware svill alweysbe easily accessible Gera, Renken Carisbua,Calfornia ie A Robert Moore of Simaha, NE, ubes an ears hep cornet cos 20 His euler whee ifs no im use. He simply Jogps the mbber band! over the cord and. thon places tho athor ene over the hana, vawwcShopNotes.com NOTE: ous enens AETLGte PEE er, A. A.used fle cabinet previoes Charles ‘Mai of Calgary Carack, with storage -s0ace for his Dower tows, The tools are Organirad and safely stored out of the bay unt he needs to use them, ‘ FREE TIPS aaa ceticeen Decree) Caister by Email” to sign up. You'llWith a simple auxiliary fence and afew common router bits, you can make great-looking raised panels. wnt 7 wnnce ADJUSTMENT ‘ieee nolan Taek SSE Solid-wened raised penile are ane uf theee wre working details thar always draves attention a thee sal appeal and hee 3 them. The routes table offers pose router bits needed for the jo to this problem is simple technique that uses ony commen, inexpensive bits along with an adjustable rncliay Fence ts make esa routed raised pols “Howe Nt Works, Ila unc look te phon above and you'll understand how this technique works, The acfustabe fence you see istekey Itcan be set“square to the tube or tilted up t 15°, This allows you to cot | a heveled (or square) border by feceling along straight. You follow up by routing cvaliveshnulder aronnd the bevel ot you can seen he drauring ati, the fence is easy te build, so Lyon'tge into the {youu wil needa Tille explanation of the basic setup of rd router table “The main phots above shoves how to set up the fora bevel cus, I strt by netalling dong straight bit (1s" to 1) in the rouse tale: You. can then adjust the height he bit to mnrch te with with "dia. shank will have les “chatter” and Yeavea cleaner surface The fence is clamped othe table Lend the bit Ard the ene faceted or sire oak the desires angle of the border cuts. To make the cuts, the panel is | jad Bercevtne ceed the rece Xu To get a smooth, accurate cut, 32s important ty Keep the pant smug fo the fenee. This is why you panel on ‘ShopNotes No, 92see 2 featherinard clamped to the table with the Fingers riding, lightly against the panel, Te featherboard i screwed to a spocer binck that raises il above theeutting height of the Dil. This allows you fo pasion the Featherboerd directly over the exposed bit to double as & guard Finally, brave clamp tothe tabke hols hold everthing in pase Routing Basies, That covers the router table setup. Next; Fl go through the hasie technique used to cut a raised panel profile. The Grawings at right show how to make a common style. ‘You'l find ‘couple af different profiles in the photrsiand drawings below First, to get the simvothest sur- feces you want to cut the bevel ‘with “multiple, shallawr passes, as shown in Figure 1. To start, position the fence so thal the bit will only cut along the nutside edie of the panel. Then between Passos, unclimp ome end of the fence and slide ie Title closer to fhe bit Initially, youcan cut about ‘ia! deep. As the bit starts to-eut full-length” lighten up tn take narmore than i’ ata time Left to Right. ne very impor- tant thing fo note is that the panel is fed fom left 10 right. This is ‘opposite the usual feed direction, ‘The reason is that you're cutting somthe “back side” ofthe bit, Don’t ‘worry — you'r not barkriting sand the cut will feel normal ‘Ends First. | start with a cut aneross one end of the panel, moving italily but steadily The featherooandt should be pushing the pane! Firmly againe! the fens, Wot not making the feed ditficuit, Now; rotate the panel counter- sfockarse tn cut the adjacent long, grain eslge, Follow with the oppo- site end and then finish up with, the final lone grain edge. Using this sequence, any teaeout at the lends of the erasgrain cuts will be remaved by the following cut. ‘Once all four edges have been ct, You can mowe the fence closer to the bit and repeat the process. You may need to neadjust. the wne-ShopNotes.com featherboand if He fees starts to set too difficult ‘ASnug Fit. The besl way toent up with. panel that fits snugly in the Fromme grooves is to best fit i 36 YoU go. So Tallways buwe a fin- ishesl frame piece close at hand Whan you petelase ta your reget, the cuts should be "whisker thin" ‘This will give you the cleanest cut and allow you to sneak up en a light fi T stup cutting when the panel is still 2 hair tight in the groove and then fine-turw the ft ‘with some light sanding, Now, the Shoulder. Making the wide bored cuts leaves you with “reverse” beveled shoulders. This in-eany to remedy and also allawa ‘you tn customize the profile, The process here involves. carefully caitting a square, chamfered or rounded! shoulder. To do this, the panel is passed over the sonter bit face down, flat against the table, ‘The goal is to seamlessly blend the two routed profiles. To du this, set the bit height carefully. anel then sneak up on the final shape bby achusting the fence benween passes, You may need to doa little soncling to smoeith the transition. AAs you can see, there's nothing slificult about this technique, I's aa great way to make prfessional- looking raised panels thatwilladd anestra measure of craftsmanship to your next project. After routing a oeep 10° fo tho shoulsee, ™ “Flat” Border. A fist border blending into a cove creates 6 more contamporary look. Devel, laddedte charnter border seaing square shouieior croate.a clasais raised paretheavy-dut re Wall Anchors Can't find a wall stud? These fasteners will solve the problem of hanging heavy loads. 7 After completing, a shop cabinet ‘went ty hung iton the wall nese my watkbench — no. prablem, sight? ‘Well there wasn't a stud in a sun a place to hang the cabinet right where { wanted it. 9 T made 8 trip to the antiwar store to Tooke for another saltion. Tovicled up mounting the cabinet using some hollow wall anchors. Thee fasten islbute the ‘weight ofa projec over ¢ wide anes 0 yout dao't need to hit sted But not ast any wall anchor wil Alo the job. Here's a loak at some heavy-duty anchors you can rely fen. Sou should have no trouble 10 nasiging cabinets, 3 toggle bat ois Wings snap opsre when“ pushed through pitot hole finding them at a‘hanlveore store home center, ot ou can refer to sources on page 61. (your shop fas suid masoney walls, youl ‘want in takea look attherhox on the ‘opps page for afew options) TORGLE BOLTS ‘One of the most famiar nd com man anchors you'll find at the hardware sfore is 2 logge bo shown in the photo above ane couple of reasons why toggle ‘alls ate so popular Tir, they te inexpensive. (The “is! bolts shown coat ebout 20 cents) The secon reason for flwir popularity is that ‘hey Thole 2 lot of weight (up to 7 bs. x each bo Downsides, Although # toggle bolt eomnels perfect i dors a few downsides. The first is hey can be frieky to use when, mounting csbiness. The wingsneed fo be attached te thi serew when i's insole inthe wal. So you'll Ihave to insert the serene through josdleaiwings of aver 2 wide arse. the cabinet back first. ‘Then you comm read the wingseom ard press them thresh the ike i he wall asin dhe phot abuse This leads me tthe other caw hack of toggle bulls. 17 you ever need to remove the cabinet, the ‘ings will all into the bottom vf the stud cavity SELF-DRILLING TO To addiess the problema with togele bolts, you can tam to 3 selfdeiling toggle This type of anchor has two advantayes oor toggle bolts. Hirst, the anchor can be driven infu drywall vith just a serewerver — without sailing. pills hole first Tae second adhartige i the anchor stays in place without the soneri This makes easy tomonnt ‘or mposition the cabinet ‘Yousansechow thetngglewneks in the photos Delon. As the screw isdriven intothe anchor it ipe thu tagele fee. The hreacls Toggle is tucked inside aneor e f Scraw tp pusties aut toggle then theeanis in center hole ShopNotes No. 82ofthe sere thon engage the logge and draw if thts the back othe a Se mote expensive than toggle hots {about 7S sen), Lut they have hesome a -goto anchor in ray shop. About the only downside to self-dslling ‘ogee: i that they aren'tas song, hos tes eben yom wen es hang heavy louds without slot of ose, eoneider using 2 as in the photo above Inmy book it combines the Best of 4 traditiunal ‘toggle bolt (high load limit — a Ths) with the once of se ofa sf biting ty vein place ‘he Uaree photos a right shows funw i installed Strength anal convenience like this come at & price, thnugh, The Su Tegel cells fora ttle more than a cll, Armed withanyst theses, you shuuld have no trouble hay ing heavy objects. And they give ‘you the freadamm tu muunt a cab Teiiehinheeyoeuatie & Solid Walls The anchome Shue above werk just fine in scuc walls: Put vehat if vom walls ae masociry? Davi't ‘omy, hen ane thnse gent options, Bepansion Botts, The sslotion Tipe mest atten to provide a sure np in asolid wal sori expansion Bolt It han 8 cone at ane end that forces thie metal fins w expand aghinse fh snside ofthe plat Woke, asin thetop phon Expansion. fnsexts. Along Ove samc ines as expartine bolts are spansson inserts (miele photon) dlefremscftmeraltocon form ty the shape oF He pilot hole, Theniare eotypes: coe is desig ind foe use with Gexebeaes, and the ober fsa troaded, opin insert sade lorinacilne sews. wore ShopNetes.com 4 SnapToggle, Hore ene archar that WORT fal ina the wall. The Fins spread——— when mut is tightened > Expansion Bott F fins wedge the bot Biot hote fora strong gnc in soi, masoney waits Tapcon Screws. The simplest Expansion Inserts roid wallanchor isa tse crew 6 (bottom, ANhough looks amilar Sete treads. tb a wroodacew, the coting are St0aNC nae to reeds are designed for holding in masonry. The advantage i that vow can dril one size hale right Threaded through the hack of your project insert ‘and into the wall al the same time, he Nomattorwehichofthece options ‘you chooses you'll need to dill a ~. ‘properly sized pine Hole (check toe ‘pavkage) To do this, you'l need a cubide masonry bit anda conked Tapoon Screw still (Ahamencrail works best} Collar holds toggle snugly 77 wal =-—Thick toggte is threaded! tor machine screw a Jnstaiiation Toe erives inserts without damaging thraads Hardtened threads are designed te bile into masonry- wallsget a finisnea lookewith Plywood Your router and a couple of bits are all you need to make perfect-fitting plywood edging every time a ee ee ee Pred re eel ee ero eahuatwsolelgag intent ofa provera § problern — the exposed edges dorsv’tsland out: ‘And the bit.on the right makes the aren't very allractive: Fortunately, ese challengesian makhing convex profile on the ‘The solution is fo glue a strip of be easily met-Allit takrs is a'set of haetavaod elging strip. hhaslwoad averthe exposed — special fouter bins These bits provide several adyanlages. Hist the edging: aligns. This makes iteasy to locate ‘he arip and clamp itn place. And @ there's a lot more surface area lor the glue fo make a strong bone Fach piloted bit comes with two as you damp them in (16 stecl shims already installed. ne, Ana you usualy pmblems, This system consis of This soup wars foe mest 8" ply- reel to trim them flish wo edging bits for ve with 44°» wond, But if yur plywood is swith Oh force the thick melefiaL Act ors" material slightly thinner ar thucker, ad (die dries I's ole alten isalsoavailablesoweespage 53). onal SIN" copper shims oome with edges. But youl tind there are a lew chal lenges when it exmes Moet af the difficulty in eppivi to applying ediing EDGING BITS papers Dy. ShopNotes No. 92 ”“ae ‘A Concave Plywood Bit. To leave ahi lyeracct verses spat the to0 ang bean of the clyi#dod, ads the bit by aiding oF removing shime as necessary the bts to ly you make sure the matching profiles line up eoneectly. ‘Thare are also 48" shins to ake ‘teasier to work with maturials like melamine and MF ‘The whole process ls pretty simple, Bat to get the best result ‘youll need to spend a lite time getting everything set up properly. Bit SETUP ‘When you look af the bits, sou'll see they came with bearings for handheld routing. But [ike to use them with @ router table and Fence fora more contralled cut. Tako found it's neccessary to begin by planing the hardwood used for the edging to the same thickneasas the piywraod, This way, ‘youn set up both in thesame ‘manner to encure the pices vil fit ogether perfecth: Which Bit First? You can begin with either bit But T find i easier to eut the eoo- cave profile on the ply wood edge first, That's because the keytsagood leon fit of the edging, sinp fe fo leave an equa thin tip of vere or the top and bottom iaces ofthe plvwoad (lett Sdravsing above}. This way, TT be sure to Jeave the right amu of veneer on both faces “Practice First. You'll want to make a few practioe cuts 30 you ww ShopNotes.com ‘in "Bie-fune" the bit height atthe rouler table, Then you can rout the wsdgecom the warkpiece Thenest step isto cut the conve profile on the hardwnad edging Since you've just completed. the setup Up for the plywood edging ‘profile, the setup for this biti easy Convex Bit. To cmate a perfect hhandieood profile match, you'll ‘want to use fhe same configuration you used with the concave bit. This ‘means if you added shims, youl acid the same number of shims ‘when you setup this bit Wath the setup complete, you can use an extra-wieke piece of Jharchvood to safely rout the convex pale (center drawing above), hitce BE JN / 4A Convex Hardwood Bit. Configure tek Edging Giueup. Therestering Dima tesame shim setup roassurean proties makes easy to conta eausicut atthe top and bettom suriace wine edging artecty every time af the hardwood caging, during a givens The eclging is now needy to be shied tothe pliweed, like you see in the far right ching abo. All you need to dais apply ghue, slip the pieces together, ane attach the camps. There’sna slippingatid the edging matches perfectly Trim the Edge. Once the jive vies, you can dexide how you ‘want the edging tolook As-shown in the drawing on the oppaste page, altering the teimine gives the ‘slging a ciferentappearance ‘You vam tim ita the gluse Foe 2 solid appearance ar leave a litle extratobeetitup, Youcan even oul a bulincsehy asingthebit shenin in the ba helo Any vay you do it ‘you'll havea fing, finished Looe Adding a Bullnose Adding a bulimsse profile to y-thick material canbe done ina single router pass wath the Burgess Rie Adjustable: Butivose ble shown at lef. Ihe Large ‘yearing can be usedton either the upper cr lower side of the cutters tn allow you ta Use your router fnschand. Ist mse the shims reid with the bit set the cutters tomate the plywood thickness: ‘Then clamp a straight ge cm the ghuntine to guise the beating, sinc you're ready ko reu-an ede lke Fou ste in the photo at rightRouting a Hinge Mortise When making the hinge mortises for the bench extension on page 16, the benchlop and the extension should fit tightly together with the top faces flush So, i's important to Tecate and itll the hingesin each piece correctly (inset photo). Aer locating and marking the mortises on thebenchtop igure), you can start removing the waste [used a trim router with a clear plastic base because fits sallsize vent chipout the edges with Accurate Dog Holes The ize and weight of the benchtop extension on page 16 makes it too unwieldy to drill bench dog holes with the deill press. So, | used my hand drill. To keep the hole spacing consistent, as well as to guide the drill bit square to the benchtop, I made a simple indoxing jig, as shown in the drawing on the right. Accleat registers the jig along the edge of the exten- sion. A %" dowel in one hole maintains the spacing, while the next hole is drilled. And finally, rout a ‘chamfer around each hole to soften the edges and pre vent chipout when removing the bench dogs. 4 andexcellent visibility (main photo above). To provide stability for the router its a good idea to attach @ support block while routing away the waste. The block also helps pre After routing away most of the waste, the next step is to dean up 2). The score marks you made to locate the mortises provide siarting notches to guide the chisel Extension Mortise. To lec the mortises on the extension, p out the supports, set the exte sion on them, and butt it up the benchtop. Then, transfer th location from the henchtop to the extension (Figure 3). Now, you ca make the matching mortises using 1 chisel (Figure theseme techniques as before ShopNotes No. 92Opt ‘The blade cover on page 36 is designed to attach © sinctiytc a cnicon ving or exireon table for sup poet But the stamped steel wings.on many table saws mnay flex. So, to provide adequate support a different [age MEE ‘mounting configuration may be required. The photo [\eaureeate eat aati ‘on the right shows a good solution to that problem. d spot to Installing a sturdy support beam between the fence m railsis the first step. Delail’b’ shows how the support bbeam attaches tothe rails forthe table saw fence. Now, you're ready to attach the support mast to the beam, The notch in the mast is sized to ft snugly overthe beam (detai‘a) It provides a solid, wiggle-free con- nection between the two parts, Finally, extending a metal brace from the lower part of the mast to the underside of the table saw climinates any flex in the lower partof the mast (inset drawing). Bin Hangers Bins that ang on pegboard area good storage option for the oneswall workshop on page 16. And these bins axe attached by using versatile L-hooks. Detail 2° show how the L-hooks ave installed in each bin. To hang the bin, titit so the L-hooks slip into the holes of the pegboard (Figure 1). Adding a chamfer helpe with this. Then tp it down so the weight ofthe bin “locks” the L-hooks in place as in Figure 2. “This makes it almost impossible forthe bin ofall off of tho pegboard, yet makes iteasy to move it around as your storage needs change. Bench Extension Modification ‘Adding «tail vse to the Benchtop extension on page 16 can be a lot of work If you'd rather not {install the vse, you can gain more work area by making the evensicn longer This isjust a matter of filing inthe space orginally use forthe vise Even without @ vise i's stil a good idea t0 dill bench dog, holes. You can dill the holes directly ino thebenchtop using the indexing fg highlighied on the previous page. That allows you 10 use bench dogs andl some other work= © res scoring 1 the Verte Wonde’ Pop | ‘The Pup isa clamping bench dog that acts ike a sal vise. (Refer to Sources on page 81). ‘www ShopNotes.comtstorage s ne-wall es vw " Turn a wall into the ultimate workcenter with these easy-to-build } cabinet add-ons. HI | The problem with most garage or ‘basement shops is that they end up ooking like the one you see in the inset photo on the opposite page. The challenges are finding enough storage, organization, and work surfaces to work on projects, ‘One-Wall Workspace. That's where the “one-wall workshop” you see in the main photo really fills the bill. It starts with standard garage shop cabinets you can purchase online or pick up from a local dealer. This way, you can con: centrate on organizing your shop ‘and working on projects instead of spending time building basic stor- age cabinets and doors If you look closely, youl see that I've “souped up” the cabinets with custom storage compartments, shelves, pegboard, and lighting Workbench. What I like best about this setup is the workbench. E ‘You can sec inthe photo this bench q has everything you need for build- ing projects, including vises end a row of bench dogholes. And when _you'teall dane for the day, the front ‘ofthe bench drops down out of the ‘way like the leaf ofa dining table. So, by using manufactured cabinets and adding some custom features, you can turna single wall intoa great shop area. | 16 ShopNotes No.ed eee ar ea Ce ey Cee esHOLLOW AREA Manse rr EASY 10 HOE WIRING Lowe meraueD ‘Salt exsners conventene Recerracies penewtor AND PORTABLE TOOLS Oren sr0RAse “copes mone PLENTY OF ROOM ROE STORAGE AREA ‘uxt 10 buts, {URN TO PASE 23 FOR MORE N-ORMATION: Re oaecenense we curren? ‘ShopNotes No.92reo sheves rRovoe Ox zewairen Sroesar orice wirraN WALL CABINET yr ‘uot penx surroer a Toes Sen non BENCH SUPPORT CABINET ae Fosrn eehoeebso wa xb ABIETS EDR Be | | n axe 1 t as = f Ratt RAS | | Complete cutting u diagrams for the ‘One-Well ; y Workshop, are : ; on our website : f womans @_—_shopNotes.com = = \ FOR GTORAGE CROSS SECTION x (END VIEW) eee: WwiwwShopNotes.com 8main workshop Section ©. Jo eee To get started on your own one- wall workshop, youl need. to choose and installa set of wall abi nets like you see on pages 18 and 18. Then youcan build the accesso- SSSA 2 pot tem. (You may have to modify a fevr dimensions to ft the END cabinets you use) The drawing in view the left macgin hows the heights | wl ec maceaiog my alec aes You canstart with the loversec: punta 7) t tion, as shown in the photo above. To save space in my shop, | used wall cabinets mounted as basecab- NOTE: Au rete ines. They are as deep as stan- SERCH dard base cabinets. Plus, mounted them off the floor to prevent dam- age from moisture and to make it eo easier to clean undemeath them. Open-Front Storage. ‘The chal Tenge with a small work area is finding a place to store tools like my bench grinder circular saw, and router. Tha’s where an oper front cabinet comes in handy. Ifits (on top of the three lower cabinets (photoabove) Building a Case. Figures 1 and 2 will show you everything you need to know to build the oper- front eabinet. Dadoes and rabbets are used forall the joinery After gluing up the case, add the filler strips on the bottom, They give the screws a place to grab ‘when you fasten the open-front cabinet to the cabinets below. ] Face Frame. The face frame serves two purposes — it both P me th “| a. Tor SECTION view 20 ‘ShopNates No. 92‘A Overhead Lighting. Lighting mounted in the valances light up the whole workspace. A Task Lighting. lights mounted unaier the upper wall cabinets are ideal for detailed tasks. protects and hides the edges of the case. You can simply cut each of the pieces fo fit and glue them in Place, as in Figure? rounded the outside edges of the two end stiles before attaching them to the case After the face frame is complete, i time to work on the benchtop. Laminated Top. The top of the cabinet consists of two pices of MDF that are glued together (Figure 2). This makes a solid and smooth worksurface. Then it’s just a matter of gluing hantwood edging on the front and left end. (The right end will butt up against the workbench section you'll build later) Now you can fasten the top to the cabinets with screws (Figure 2b). Before moving on to complete this section ofthe project, go ahead and install the three upper wall cabinets, as shown in Figure 3. You'll work on adding lighting are pegboard storage newt Plenty of Light. One thing most shops never have enough of is adequate lighting. To solve this problem, a valance is added to the top of the upper wall cabinets to ‘wor: ShopNotes.com hold fluorescent fixtures (Figure 2). They cast ¢ bright, broad light injo the work area. Then for those close-up tasks on the workbench, tunder-cabinet lighting is just the ticket (photos above), Building the Valance. Tf you Jook clesely at Figure 3e, youl see the valance is constructed like 2 hollow box. This creates a raceway for running the electrical wires for the fluorescont i I added the front rail before attaching; the valance to the cabi- rots Thon it’s just a matter of ‘mounting the lights and making the electrical connections, UnderCabinet Lights. Small, halogen fixtures provide task lighting under the wall cabinets * (Figure 3). You can wire thern to a switch or plug them into recep tacles above the workbench, Pegboard Storage, An easily accessible pegboard toot rack com- pletes this section of the project. 1 glued %(’-thick stock to the back Of the pegboard before mounting, it to the wall, as shown in Figure 3. They space the pegboard away from the wall to et hooks slip in place (margin photo) [Next you'll work on the center section with the workberich, a ‘A Talon Hooks. Reguler pegboard hooks tend io move around and fall out easily. But Talon hooks stay put for secure storage.er ee Blur bench brackets ET Cena! Ce ae The benchtop and storage on the job with its two pullout supports build and install the fold-up wor previous page is a great addition (inset photo above) bench, But fist, you neod to b to any shop. But the centerpiece You'll start by building the case the bench cabinet of this project isthe fold-up work- with its partitions. Then you'll add Building the Case. you looks ‘hench you see in themain photo. the sliding supports and top. And Figure 4 below, you'll sce the com To stand up to woodworking you'll need to install another cabi- struction and joinery ofthe case fe tasks, itneeds to have a stout sup-neton the rightend tohelp support this cabinet is similar to the opec port system. This cabinet does the the bench cabinet. Later, youl front cabinet on page 20. The on difference is the addition and loc a7 END tion of the vertical dividers for a" EEE es ie (9%x16) sliding supports (Figure 4a). ‘After you assemble the case wit glue and screws, just like you a before, you can build the two slid outbench suppors Sliding Supports. The benc supports are pretty simple, shown in Figure 4. They're pica @ive-our of MDF cut to ftin the slots creat PeerveEN by the partitions in the cabinet YERTICALPARTIONS andy finger hole makes it easy slide them in and out With the supports complete ¥ can finish out the case by addi the cabinet face frame next ] Face Frame. This face frame i litle different than the one on t FRONT VI seoate bu owoorie Sinesour, \eRTICAL FLAY i 22 ‘ShopNotes No. storage cabinet you built earl There are only three pieces to mal(Figure 5). Leut the two end pieces first. You'l need to cut these alittle shorter than before to allow for & wide filler strip under the bench- top. Round over the outside edge ‘ofeach before gluing them in place. Then it’s usta matter of cutting the bottom piece to fit between them Benchtop. You make the bench- top from two pieces of MDP. But ‘hore’ a filler strip that you'll need to add to the front (Figures 5 and 5a). This will help suppor.the front rail where the folding bench soction ss attached with a set of hinges. Front Rail. There's not much to attaching the frontal to the bench top. Itssimply giued tothe front of the laminated MOF and filler strip. But MDF tends to soak up glue, 60 [frst applied some glue to seal the eciges of the MDF, waited a few minutes, then applied more glue before clamping the rail in place. Attaching Hinges. YouTl be ‘working on the flip-up workbench section later, but now’s a good time to cut the mortises for the hinges ‘and aitach the hinges to the front rail. To see how to make the mor- tisesand get a nice. tight it turn to Shop Short Cuts on page 14. Anchoring the Cabinet These is a potential for a lot of weight and pounding on the bench, so you want to make sure the cabinet is anchored tight allaround. In Figure ‘6 below, you'll see how the cabinet fits between the storage cabinet ‘you built earlier and another man= ‘ufactured cabinet. (Now is the time to mount the end cabinet, if you haven't already) You'll want to be ‘sure to leave room to fit the work ‘bench cabinet snugly between the twoend cabinets. Go ahead and fasten the work bench cabinet to the two end cabinets with woodscrews. But for extra strength, | also screwed through the hack ofthe cabinet and into the wall studs, ‘Small Top Section. Before work ing on the bench extension, there's one final piece to compiete. I's the SIEVIEW Ly “a top for the cabinet at the end of the bench. There's nothing new here —just two pieces of MDF and hard- wood edging on the front (Figure 60). A fow serews are all you need toattachitto the cabinet. With the bench support cabinet securely fastened in place, you're ready to work on the ilip-up work- bench. It's a handy addition that really makes this project stand out.