ANNES SSO MOUSE EG Ue SOUS Issue 29 lV oe NS eae ‘Tool Chest | Bio) bbe ster k@luiiice = Revolving Hardware Bin = Locking Rabbet Joints =Belt Sanders =PlanerTips Coloring FinishesIssue 29 September 1996 sven Donald B, Pesehke ron Thm Robertson astocure miro Psi Totten assistaereprron Eryn Nelson arromeoror Cery Christensen ston uiusrarons Kurt Sehiliz Roger Reiland ‘Mark Higdon ‘Can lane olen © Pago Dirt Tink nar» Sonor Patngrpt Gre Eagar awaieHtr Dangle LH «dt Detar nts Vere Srp gar Cha eae ir Dio Sb ip Saya Mechelen Set Diet i Mya ‘Dieters Glace Ca Sas ie Prien of Penn ont Fnac “Conte a Raine = lett Poh Drags asi Pot Aris Savarese Bact Con nertims Di Reb Bake ir isan 1 aera psu nd Cut See de Fame Boe» Se ye A Bun © "peopel Als Pon ater age Tek Spt Dave Stine» Cut Sov eg dee Mak, en Cs, Ks ao, Mars la Cares, Lary Prine, et ills, Cy Stat ian ay ia Se Nor ‘tn ‘Shpiates ba resteed tema fugue Home ae Saree ‘Sahsritons Sc 849, On sear eearn ee Sater Qc? Wie Shp Nata Cnt Seaecmacmin se ae "REDE oe Ear ‘hearer ato eae EDITOR'S NOTE Cutoffs not much of an auto mechanic. But I always enjoy watching a good ‘mechanie work (especially when he working on my car). Even though I don't always know exactly what's going on under the hood, there's one thing T do appreciate —the big rolling tool cabinet that’s usually parked right next to him, With its large banks of drawers crammed with wrenches, screw- drivers, and gauges, these metal tool ‘boxes are like having a shop on wheels. And every single tool is just an arm’s Teach away. T guess it’s this easy acess that appeals to me the most. In fact, I've even considered buying a rolling tool cabinet for my shop. But there's one thing that always holds me back — they're made of metal. That’s fine for a purely functional tool cabinet. But it just doesn't have the same comfortable “feel” of one that's made from wooed. ROLLING TOOL CABINET. To get the best of both worlds, the rolling tool cabinet featured on page 16 in this issue combines both function avd solid wood construction, It rolls right up next to your work- beneh (or wherever you happen to be working). So your tools are right at hand when you need them, No more ‘wearing a path across the shop to get a tool you've overlooked. Or cluttering up the bench with tools that inevitably «get knocked off or damaged. ‘TIME MACHINE. Yet as much as I like these practical things, it's the tradi- ShopNotes tional appearance of this tool eabinet that makes me think I've taken a step back in time, Wood panels made from quartersawn red oak. Felt-ined drawers, And solid brass drawer pulls. We even colored our own finish to give it an old-time look. (Ror more on this, refer to the article on page 31.) HEIRLOOM. All this adds up to ‘making this tool cabinet one of the nicest projects we've ever featured in ShopNotes. Perhaps even an heirloom that will get passed down from one generation to the next. But a project doesn't ‘become an heirloom just because it’s old, Tt also needs some kind of an emotional “tie.” cust. Take the tool chest shown on the back cover of this issue for, instance. Tt might be nothing more than an old box to some people. But around here, it has a special meaning: That's because the tool chest was built by Adolf C. Peschke, a carpenter who worked at the St. Louis Fixture Co. around the turn of the century. (Ifthe last name sounds familiar; that’s bbeeause it's the same as the one on the top of the list at the left. And Don is Adolf’s grandson.) ‘Don started ShopNotes about five ‘years ago to provide basie information for woodworkers like yourself. But ['d say that the kernel of the ‘dea to start this magazine might be traced back a long time ago. Back when Adolf decided he needed to build a simple box to keep his tools in order. No. 29Pee eee e Contents Projects and Techniques Revolving Parts Bin 4 ~—Revolwing Parts Bin page 4 Besides storing and organizing small parts and pieces of hardware, this shop-buit bin revolves on a lazy Susan. To find the part you need, just give it a spin. Locking Rabbet Joints ____14 Looking for a strong, simple drawer joint? We show you how to make two types of lacking rabbet joints. Rolling Tool Cabinet_________ 16 Park this rolling tool cabinet right next to your bench. Then enjoy the easy access to your tools provided by the three drawers and targe storage area underneath, Craftsman Tool Chest_________23 _ Belt Sanders page 8 Whether you build this craftsrnan tool chest to put on top of the roling too! cabinet, or as @ stand-alone project, it provides a special home for your hand tools 2 Departments Selecting Tools ee cance eee Our thes-man team tests sevan popular belt sanders to see which one is best. Also, practical suggestions on what to look for when buying a belt sander. Great Tips Planer Tips —_____________12 A collection of our best tips to get the most from your planer. Everything from thicknessing short pieces, to trimming pieces to width by planing an edge. Readers’ Tips Shop Solutions ___________28 ShopNotes' readers offer their own solutions to some of the most common woodworking problems. At the Store New Froducte 8 Here's a quick look at three new products that have earned @ well-deserved place in our shoo Finish Room @ Coloring Finishes. 31 it's easy fo color a finish to get just the shade you want Rollin, Use our special recipes. Or mix your own, Tool Cabinet No. 29 ‘ShopNotes 3“TEE This compact bin has thirty-two Z, compartments for storing and organizing aie 6 all your small parts and hardware. things that =e a fascinated me as a °°" iid was the eireular nail bin at the local hardware store. I couldn't resist spinning the metal shelves and watching the piles of nails go by like a merry-go round. ‘That same basie idea is what's behind this revolving parts bin, Four separate tiers (with eight compartments each) help orge- nize small parts and pieces of hardware. To find the parts you need quickly and easily, the bin rotates on a lazy Susan bearing, Although a bin with this many compartments might seem a bit complicated to build, that’s not the ease. A ¥e"-thiek plywood frame (I used Baltie birch) serves as a “backbone” that runs all the way through the parts bin, see Fig. 1. Then hardboard bottom pieces are added to = note: of eUTING BIGRAM ON NENT ACE CENTER DIVIDER, —® Sipe PANEL ean establish the individual compart- ments, see Fig. 3. RAME. The frame is basieally an H-shaped assembly with two wings sticking out on each side, see Fig. 1a. To accept the bottom pieces, there's a groove in each side of the frame pieces. ‘To get these grooves to align, it’s best to eut them before eut- ting the individual frame pieces to size, Start with a piece of ply- wood that's cut to the same width (eight) as the fram) (16%"), see Cutting Diagram on next page. And to allow “extra” for the saw kerfs when cutting the frame pieces to size, I ent it toa rough length of 43". Now it’s simply a matter of cutting the grooves on both sides of the plywood, see detail in Fig. 1, Just be sure to use the same fence setup for each pair of grooves. Then cut the two side panels (A), a center divider (B), and the four wings (C) to final length, see Fig. 1. ‘supe race — NCOMON WING ‘ShopNotes No. 29@ 8211s. At this point, the Frame is ready to be assembled. To make it easy to fit wood fronts on the bin later, the idea is to make one side of the frame a mirror image of the other. To do this, T started by gluing and nailing ‘two wings to each side panel, Note: Clamping a spacer to the side panels helps ‘position each wing the same dis- ‘tance in from the edge, see Fig. 2. Then gine and nail these two assemblies to the center divider. BOTTOM PIECES. With the frame complete, you're ready to add the bottom pieces, see Figs. Band 3a, Each tier has three dif- ferent size bottoms made from thick hardboard: two large center bottom (D), two smaller side bottom (B), and four corner bottom pieces (F), see Fig. 3. Catting the rectangular bot- tom pieces (D and E) is fairly straightforward, see Fig. 3a, rresire cut to ‘st the grooves and allow an %" overhang for the wood facing strips that are added later. ANGLED CUTS. But making the angled cats on the small corner pieces (F) is a bit trickier: To do this safely, I used a simple sled that carries the pieces through the saw blade at a 45° angle. Tt's just a wide (6") piece of hard- hhoard with two narrow strips attached to form a 90° corner (I used carpet tape). Setting the corner pieces in the sled automatically positions them so they're 45° to the saw blade. But you still need to adjust the rip fence to end up with two 1'-wide “ears.” What works well here is to start by taking an extra-wide cut. Then reposition the fence closer to the blade and sneak up ‘on the final width of cut. ‘After cutting all the bottom ieces, it's simply a matter of giving them tightly into the ‘grooves eut earlier in the frame, No. 29Hardware () 12a. tary ‘Susan Bearing (62) 2%" Brave Label Holder (64) 10 Base Take (etext Fh Woodocrene AoW eH ‘Sheet Meta Screws (40) " Wee Brad Peas Pract isi aftrng ete harovare the racg 20847-5108 (0228-100. $27.98 Se Facing Strips ‘To keep hardware from spilling out of the compartments, each ‘er is “wrapped” with wood facing strips, see Fig. 5. These strips are 'M'-thiek pieces of hard maple that are mitered on the ends where they come together. To fit over the bbottom pieces, there's a groove on the inside face of each strip. ‘Here again, it's easiest to cut these grooves before making the individual strips. So start by rip- ping about 18 linear feet of Y'- thiels stock to width. This pro- ‘vides enough material for all the facing strips and a bit extra for ‘making a couple of test pieces. ‘Now just cut the grooves to fit the bottoms, see Figs. 5a and 5e, Before cutting the strips to length, I softened the sharp cor- ners on the outside by routing 2 roundover on the top and bottom edges, see Fig, 5b. MITERS. At this point, you're ready to cut the miters on the ends of the facing strips. There are two things that affect the fit of these miters: the angle of the blade and the length of the strips. ANGLE, Since there are eight strips on each tier, you'll need to adjust the saw blade to make a 224° cut, see Fig. 6a, An easy ‘way to check this angle is to cut SHORT FAGNG STRIP oe ee ih ars || pate one FROM Te-THICK, FACING STRIP I pi G. fee ‘miters on the ends of two test pieces. If they fit together tight ly when held against the frame, ‘you cant concentrate on cutting the facing strips to length. LENGTH. Each tier has four long facing strips (G) and four short strips (HD, see Fig, 5. Determining the length of these pieces to get a good fit all the way around each tier is a trial and error process, But its not a) difieult as it sounds. Rather than fitting them one by one, the idea here isto get al eight strips to fit together at the same time, To make this work, cach long (or short) piece needs tobe the exact same length. ‘To sneak up on the final length, T started by cutting all the strips an %' longer than No.29SHOP PROJECT weeded, see Fig, 5. Clamping a Fstop block to an auxiliary fence attached to the miter gauge ensures accuracy, see Fig. 6. And a peneil makes a handy hold- down, see Fig, 6b. After test fitting the strips (I used a band clamp) you may need to trim off just a bit. Just be sure you cut all the long (or short) pieces to the same length. Once you're satisfied with the fit, it’s a good idea to mark the location of each strip, see Fig. 7. ‘This makes it easy to reposition them during giue-up. EDGING. With the facing strips in place, I covered the exposed plywood edges of the frame with thin strips of hardwood edging (maple), see Fig. 8, But cutting these strips safely on the table saw can be a chal- lenge. So I started by planing a wide workpiece to the same es as the plywood. Then iter rounding over the edges (Fig. 9a), I ripped an 'e"-wide strip so it falls to the waste side of the blade, see Figs. 9 and 9b. (You'll need about 10 linear feet.) Now it’s just a matter of eut- ting short pieces of edging (1) to fit and giuing it in place. Hardware There are just two things left to do to complete the parts bin, Add a lazy Susan bearing 80 you an spin it around. And attach label holders to see what's inside each compartment. LAZY SUSAN. To provide a ‘mounting platform for the lazy Susan, a circular plywood base (J) is screwed to the bottom of the frame, see Fig. 10. Then the bearing is serewed in place. LABEL HOLDERS. Finally, label holders are tacked to the front of each compartment. But because you're going into hardwood, be sure to drill pilot holes first. & No. 29 == arevone Berens aoe FoGING ee =e roeeD EoGES OF ew000 FRAME ShopNotes To provide more working time wher gluing up the facing strips, | used hide glue.SEL Belt Sanders Seven belt sanders that perform as differently as they look. Which one is best for you? We: you think about a belt sander, one ‘thing that often comes to mind is abig, heavy tool that's hard to control, Or accidentally pottleage, tipping the sander and gouging the workpiece, Rearend But if the belt sanders we tested are any indica soeonooar9 vin, things are changing. Even though they don't $189.85 guarantee perfect results, they make it considerably easier to sand a panel flat or smooth a rough surface. SELECTION. When selecting these belt sanders, the biggest ques- tion was size. We felt that a saniler that uses a 8'-wide belt is a good, “all-around” tool. So wwe decided to test 3" belt sanders, Ryobi BE-321 see margin at left and on page 9. 600-525-2579 ‘TEAM. After buying the sanders, we $196.93 rounded up our usual team of three woodworkers to test them: Ken (a professional), Steve (advanced), and Cary (a beginning woodworker). Why do some of these sanders look more streanilined than others? Ken: The shape depends on whether the motor is in line with the body of the sander Bosch 3270Dvs 312-286-7330 $164.98 Insline. Mounting > the motor in-ine with the body of the sander creates a streamiined look and a low center of gravity. So Sy - VAS Bed or across (transverse) it. (See drawings below.) With the in-line sanders (Chicago Pneumatic, Bosch, and Ryobi), the weight of the motor is down: low. This gives me a good, stable feel as I'm sanding, But with the transverse sanders (Porter Cable, Makita, Hitachi, and DeWald, the weight of ‘the motor is located higher up. So I had to be a bit more careful to avoid tipping them an Twas sanding. Cary: One thing Tliked about the ine sanders is the flat top on the motor housing. That makes it easy to lip them upside down and sand small, parts, (See photo A at center) The Chicago Pneumatic even comes with its own supports that attach to the top. (See photo B.) ‘The transverse models aren't as convenient when it comes 10. con- verting them into a stationary sander, Something always gets in the way — a power cord, handle, or dust bag. I could buy a stand to mount on the bench to get around that, But it just adds to the costo the sander. Ken: Another thing about the in-line sanders is the plastie motor housing is flat on the sides too. So Y Transverse. But with the motor mounted across the body of Sand located higher SB, ee, you have to AS | be careful not to lip the sander.Flush Sanding. Since the sides are lat onthe in-ine sanders, you can sand right up into a corner (lef). Tracking the sanding belt to the edge of the platen accomplishes the same thing with the Hitachi (ight). if I'm sanding the edges around a floor, I ean get right up next to the wall. (See photos above.) At first I didn’t think I'd be able to do that with the Makita and Hitachi. That's because the motor housing sticks out on the sides. But the platen that the sanding belt runs across is extra wide. So I just track the belt to the edge of the platen, ‘Were there any other differences in the platens on these sanders? Cary: The biggest one is that the platen on the Chicago Pneumatic is a piece of flexible, canvas-like cloth vith bits of graphite embedded in it Quite a bit different than the metal platens on the other belt sanders. (See photos above right.) Ken: The graphite platen looks odd at first. But it makes sense. Infact, Td say it was beeause of the platen that the sanding belts we used on the Chieago Pneumatic didn’t clog up as fast as the belts on the other sanders, ‘What's happening is the platen works like a dry lubricant on the back of the sanding belt. Since the belt runs more smoothly (with less friction), not as ‘much heat builds up. So pitch and resin don't bond to the belt like they normally would. @ branctes. the hancios on tha DeWat (et) are so close together, its awkward to hold. But the handles are set farther apart on sanders lke the N Sd stays cleaner with a graphite platen, << Metal. But a fot of heat builds up with a metal platen, regardless of the platen, the sanding belt has to a track accurately across the rollers. Any problems aw, with belts working their way to one si 2 ae th belts working their way to one side or the other Bora oes Ken: All the sanders needled a bit of adjustment $189.95 when I put on a new belt — but thats pretty typical, ‘The thing that impressed me was how quickly I ‘was able to adjust the tracking on the Ryobi, Hitachi, and DeWalt. With the other sanders, I had to play with the adjustment knob a bit. Especially the Chicago Pneu- ‘matie—ithas.a “dead zone” where I ‘turn the knob, but nothing happens. & Hitachi $B-75 800-546-1666 $15.00 Steve: As far as I’m concerned, heavy is better: (See chart.) I'm usually sanding a workpicee that's clamped down on the beneh anyway. Tmight as well let the weight of the sander do the work — not my arms. Cary: The location of the handles also affects the overall feel of the sanders. The handles on the DeWalt are so close together, it feels ike I'm handeuffed. (See photos below) With the han- dles farther apart, I get a more comfortable grip. Makita 99008 800-462-5482 $179.09, Forter Cable Hitachi (center) and in-line models like the Bosch (tight). This provides a much more comfortable 352VS rio and makes these sanders easier to control. Bee 9 ShopNotes 9ICP E OMIT eAPIG Ge sitnetssvcsvsnsvceutn tn aPaetsnH PR RPESIPTEE 4 Panels. To test whether the motors Edging. Sanding wood edging fish witha plywood surface shonedhow is to “freehand” these sanders, would bog down on a tough job, we sanded glued-up panels fat. We've talked about the different parts of these sanders. Now let's talk about their performance. What exactly are you looking for here? Ken: Basically, we wanted to see if these sanders had enough power to handle the big jobs. Yet still provide os the control that’s needed for more precise work. Since I use a belt sander mainly to flatten solid wood panels, I want one that won't bog down. That's why I liked the Hitachi. It has one of the biggest (highest amp) motors. (See chart on top of next page.) And it’s the \der of the bunch, Steve: When it comes to removing most aggressive s stock in a hurry, I ean get just as much sanding done with the Chicago Pneumatic, And even though the Ryobi, Makita, and Porter Cable don’t run quite as strong, they're definitely better than the DeWalt and Bosch, =|} ‘much control the sanders provided. Curves. And fo see how easy it we shaped large, gentle curves. all. On top of that, they have a fairly slow sanding speed. (See the chart on next page.) When you combine these two things, they just don't have the guts to do heavy-duty work, And sanding (which isn’t my favorite job anyway) gets to be areal chore. So to speed things up, I end up bearing down a little more, And that Just about stalls the sander, Cary: If the motors have enough power to begin with, I like the sanders with variable speed. Being able to slow down the sanding belt ives me a lot more control. That comes in handy when Fm working with plywood and solid wood edging. If I'm sanding the edging flush, T don’t have to worry as much about cutting through the thin veneer. So which sanders have variable speed control? Steve: All of them except the Makita have some ‘These two sanders have the smallest motors of type of speed control. It's pretty basic on the SENOS One way to avoid gouging a work- piece or creating a low spot is to ‘use a sanding frame, see photo. With the sander clipped into the frame like a ski boot, the sanding belt extends just below the frame, This way, as the frame slides across the workpiece, the sanding belt removes only the high spots and levels the surface, ‘PHENOLIC. The frames on the DeWalt and Ryobi have a phe- nolie base, see bottom left photo. This makes them slide smoothly. But they occasionally “catch” on the edge of the workpiece, BRISTLES. That's not a problem with the Chieago Pneumatic and Bosch, These frames have bristles like a toothbrush that slide over the edge, see bottom right photo, cost. ‘The frames range in price from $49.25 for the Ryobi to $99.95 for the Chicago Pneumatic. ‘The DeWalt ($69.95) and Bosch ($79.95) fall in the middle, Note: No frames are available for the Makita, Hitachi, and Porter Cable, 10 ‘ShopNotes No. 29Hitachi, You just get two speeds — fast and faster. But on most of the sanders, I ean dial in a range of speeds, (See the chart below.) Cary: One of the easiest to adjust is the variable speed control on the Ryobi. That's beeause the dial that controls the speed is on the front handle right next to my thumb. (See photo A on opposite page.) So I ean change the speed right while I'm sanding instead of having to stop and adjust it Steve: The Bosch is alittle bit different. Tt has a trigger that controls the speed. (See photo B.) ‘Squeezing the trigger inereases the speed. And ceasing off slows the belt down. To limit the speed I get at “full trigger,” I just dial in the right setting. Ken: Changing the speed of the sanding belt isn't the only way to control a belt sander. ‘The sanding frames we bought. also ‘worked well when it came to sanding a surface level. (See box on page 10.) Dust Collection. The dust bag on the DeWalt (lett) is small and out of the way. But it doesn't collect as much dust as the side-mounted bag on the Bosch (center) and the Porter Cable's rear-mounted bag (right). PS ee Tr eae ine DeWalt ee Wend ey yy SLE, Liar on vee (See photos above.) But there's a plastie support inside the bag that rubs against my hand. And that gets uncomfortable after just a few minutes. ‘The side-mounted bags on the Bosch, Ryobi, and Chieago Pneumatic, and the rear-mounted bags on the Makita, Porter Cable, and Hitaehi also get in the ‘way to some extent. But that's something I ean live ‘with compared to filling the shop with clouds of dust. Ken: I didn't think about the bags much until I emptied them, The Makita and Bosch have a slide- onelip. (See margin at right.) It comes offin asnap, Dut the bags buneh up when I slide the elip back on Cary: All the other bags have 2 zipper that's easier to use. But the DeWalt has a plastie support right under the zipper that makes ita pain to empty. Yr ro Dust Bags. Slicing a cip on and off Bosch : when emptying @ GB Belt sanders gonerate lots of dust. : Bait tat tags at Chicago Preumatic eee Cary: I didn't expect the bags to pick DeWalt___| Zipper (center). But upall the dust. But they did a good job Hitaphil wane the zioper on the — especially the Chieago Pneumatic. . fl) | Dewait (oottom) ‘There's a “Scoop” above the hack roller Malta suse els| 1 has a plastic that pies up the dust right as ft comes support below it offthe belt and directs it into the bax. Porter Cable | that makes the bag Steve Before T started sanding, 1 Ryghj | hard to empty. liked the location of the dust bag on the DeWalt — up front and out of the way. Recommendations Cary: What's the best belt sander? Steve: _T_ chose T picked the Ryobi because it ives me the most-for my money. This sander removes stock quickly. And with the variable peed control at my fingertip, T always have plenty of control Also, being able to mount it to the bench is a big plus for me. “hog” off, that No.29 Pneumatic. It’s expensive. But I think it’s worth it. With its strong-running motor and good, solid feel, I'm able to work fast and comfortably. And no matter how much material T system is sure to handle it. ShopNotes the Chicago Ken:’The only reason I use a belt sander is to to remove stock fast. So I picked the sander that does that the best — the Hitachi 1 like the overall heft of this sander: It feels like a big, rugged tool. Yet it's easy to guide across the workpiece. And its two speeds are all [need for the work I do. u dust collectionGa Planer Tips ° Here's a collection of our best tips that will help you get the most ‘from your thickness planer. Grain Direction Getting a smooth, chip-free surface with a thickness planer takes more than just a set of sharp knives. You also have to feed the workpiece through the planer so the knives eut with the grain, see drawing. ‘To do this, check the grain direction on the edge of the “<< FEED DIRECTION une (Ee board. The idea is to pass the crmerwonynce, workpiece through the thickness ‘wooo nBer> planer so the knives “smooth” the wood fibers instead of tearing them out. Planing an Edge sainee ean eeaeree nese Even though a planer is used Now, depending on the size passes through the planer primarily for thicknessing stock, and number of workpieces, I use ‘The solution is to carpet tape a it can also be used to plane a several different approaches. support to each side of the work- smooth, square edge that’s par- SQUARE STOCK. If the work- piece, see Fig. 2. Just be sure allel to the opposite edge. This piece is thick (roughly square- that the supports are flush with comes in handy when Ihave sey- shaped), planing an edge is like the bottom of the workpiece. eral workpicees that need to be planing the surface of a board, MULTIPLE PIRCES. If you're trimmed to the same width, see Fig. 1. The extra thickness planing the edges on a number of To make this work, the edge providesastable platformas you pieces that are the same width (a that rides on the bed of the runthe piece through the pliner, set ofstiles and rails for example), planer needs to be straight and NARROW STOCK. But when the the workpieces act as their own square to the face of the work- edge ofa piece is narrow, there's supports. Simply gang them piece. So start by jointing (or not as much support. So the together with earpet tape to form hhand planing) this edge first. workpiece may tip over as it an oversized blank, see Fig. 3. ‘ShopNotesES Se eee Thin Stock @ Most planers are designed to veduee stock to a thiekness of an Ws. To plane thinner stock, T “raise” the bed of the planer with an auxiliary bed, see drawing. This bed is just a piece of S'- thick plywood covered with plastic laminate. A pair of cleats serewed to the bottom of the platform keep it from being pulled through the planer. Note: ‘This auxiliary hed isn't intended to be used with planers that have feed rollers on the bottom, Short Pieces WWhen planing a workpiece, piece, see drawing. any snipe, it's on the ends of the you often end up with a dished ‘This way, the feed rollers scraps—not your workpiece. ‘cut (snipe) at one or both ends. apply pressure on the workpiece Once the workpiece is planed, ‘That's because when only one before and after it passes under simply remove the scrap pieces feed roller is applying pressure the eutterhead. And if there's and serape off any glue. to the workpieee (at the begin- ning and end of a cut), the end Wipe wv into ene knives. "That's okay on a long work- piece, Just start with a board that’s longer than needed and cut off the dished ends. But with 1 short pieee, the usable length of the board may not be long | enough for what you need. Fortunately, there's an easy fix. Just use hot melt giue to | attach long seraps to the work- Quick Tips Sometimes a board will eap or warp after it's planed. That’s beeause the newly exposed wood is readjusting to the level of moisture in the shop. One way to keep boards as flat as possible, is to remove an equal amount of material from each side. When removing a lot of material, plane the board to partial thiekness Chalk. Scribbling a chalk mark Indicator. Tomake the scale easy | andletit “rest” aday or two. Then if ‘on a board and planing until it to read, replace a pointer (left) | it moves, you can joint a flat surface disappears ensures that the with a hairline indicator made of | before planing it to final thickness. entire surface is fat. wood and Plexiglas (right). No. 29 ShopNotes Bae ‘A. Upped Joint. To hide the metal side, this locking rabbet has a lip on the drawer front that extends past the side. A trong, simple joint. sThat's’ what we wanted when building the drawers for the rolling tool cabinet. And that’s why we decided to use locking rabbet joints. Depending on the type of guide system that sup- ports the drawers, we used two. different types of locking rabbet Joints: lipped and flush. UPPED, The large drawers on the rolling part of the cabinet use a lipped joint, see photo A. That's because they ride on full- extension drawer slides that ‘mount on the surface of the sides and cabinet. To cover the slides, there's a lip on the drawer front that sticks out past the side, B. Flush Joint. Grooves in the sides of the drawer recess the guides that it uns on. So the front is flush with the sic. FLUSH. With the small dravvers in the tool chest, you don't have to wony QD about hiding anything. ‘That's because the guides ‘that support them are recessed into the sides of ‘the eabinet and the draw- cers, So the drawer front is flush with the sides, see photo B, ‘TONGUE & DADO. Regardless of the type of locking rabbet, the idea is the same. There's a tongue on the drawer front that fits in a dado in the side, see drawings. Gor tence: ‘rceheSs OF TONGUE ae i cr ShopNotes No.29Note: Both parts are cut with a 'yy-wide dado blade. TONGUE. To form the tongue, the first step is to eut a groove in the end of the drawer front, see Fig. 1. This requires standing the pieee on end. To do this safely, I use a simple setup, see box below. ‘When cutting the groove, the goal is to end up with a 44"-thick tongue. This way, you won't have to adjust the width of the blade when you cut the dado later. So start by positioning the fence '' from the inside of the blade. ‘Then raise the blade to the correct height (for either a lipped or flush joint) and eut the groove, see Figs. la and 1b. Note: Place the inside of the drawer front against the fence, ‘The second part of making the tongue is to cut it to length, see Fig. 2. This is just a matter of using the fence as a stop to jestablish the final length of the tongue, see Figs. 2a and 2b. When cutting the tongue, there's one thing to be aware of. If you remove the waste in a single pass, the cutoff can get pinched between the blade and the fence and come flying back. we IrsEn Mae ‘To prevent this, I make several passes until the workpiece “bot- toms out” against the fence. DADO. When you're done with the tongue, the next step is to eut the dado in the side of the drawer You're after two things here. ‘The tongue on the drawer front needs to fit the dado in the side, And the narrow stub (the part that’s left on the end after you ccut the dado) has to slip into the groove in the drawer front. In theory, this should be easy. Just adjust the blade height and set the fence. But in practice, I've Tound this ean produce such a ‘ight fit that the stub breaks off. Setup & Safety Tins Standing a workpiece on end to make a cut on the table saw ean bea challenge. FENCE.To provide extra support for Jong workpieces, the first thing I do is attach a tall auxiliary fence (ply- ‘wood) to the rip fence, see Fig. 1. ‘ZERO-CLEARANCE BASE. Also, 2 22r0- learance base (hardboard) keeps the workpiece from dropping into the opening between the blade and the insert. To make the base, earpet-tape ‘To prevent this, I use a simple two-pass method. The goal is to make the dado a hair wider and the stub just a bit narrower. Start by setting the fence and blade height “oy the numbers,” seo Figs. 3 and 3a. But don't eut the dado just yet. Instead, add a couple of strips of masking tape to the fence, see Fig. 3, (You may need to experiment with the number of layers). This nudges the workpiece away from the fence when you make the first pass, see Fig. 8b. Removing the tape and making a second pass produces a perfect fit, see Fig. Se. ecear ida, ted AROBOARD it to the saw table and raise the blade. SUPPORT BLOCK. Finally, to hold the workpiece tight against the fence (and avoid tipping it forward), 1 lamp it to a support block, see Fig. 2 It's just a serap with above and Fig. 1 on page 1. hardboard that extends out in iront so you can apply pressue to the side of the workpiece, Cutting a noteh in the block ereates a clamping surface, And glaing on a strip of sandpaper keeps the workpiece from slipping, a piece of No. 29 ShopNotes 1BRoll this traditional-looking cabinet up next to your bench, and put all your tools in easy reach. ‘Tleuppose 1 could have bought a rolling tool eab- Kinet. The kind with big banks of drawers and lots of storage underneath that auto mechanies use. But something just didn’t seem right about storing ‘my woodworking tools in a metal eabinet. What really wanted was a tool cabinet that was made from wood — one with a traditional appearance that I could roll right up to the bench while I'm working. So I decided to build a rolling tool eabinet of my own, see photo above. Tes designed with two separate storage units: a lange base cabinet that rolls on casters, and a small tool chest that sits on top. ROLLING TOOT, CABINET. To provide storage for large hand tools and materials of different sizes, the rolling tool cabinet has a set of three progres- sively deeper drawers, see photo A. When you open the doors below, there's starage for portable power tools as well, see photo B. ‘CRAFTSMAN TOOL CHEST. But small hand tools can get knocked around or “lost” in these big storage areas. So to protect and organize pre- cision hand tools, they're stored in a bank of shallow drawers in the craftsman tool chest, see photo C. (Por more infor- mation on building just the tool chest, refer to the artiele on page 23.) WOOD & FINISH. To produce a consistent look between the rolling tool cabinet and the tool chest (and to keep wood movement to a mininoum), 1 used quartersawn red oak and riftsawn (straight grained) oak plywood. Finally, coloring a special finish contributes to an old-time look. (For more information on ¢ol- ring a finish, see page 31.) C. Tool Chest. Felt-lined Grawers in ® B. Shelf & Tray. Portable power tools are stored underneath on a lage bottom sheif and a slicing tray. A, Drawers. To provide easy access, the three orawers in the rolling cabinet fe mounted on full-extension slides. Crafisman too! chest provide a special place for your precision hand tools. 16 ShopNotes No. 29FEATURE PROJECT a eS @ EXPLODED VIEW OVERALL DIMENSIONS: as AUP x BZA 22" RAFTEMAN TOOL CHEST (WITHOUT TOOL CHEST) REFER, Materials Case Die Stes) Sax 3he-58 ¥ Beep Draer Sides (2) Yen B/4-20/2 5 Back Sls 2) Eres W Top Drawer Back (9). Yen Dik 20% € Site alsa) Bue 1B Ye X Male raver Buck (Sex -205% D Back at (2) Sax Bie 20% Y Dovp Drawer Bact (I) Yen 074-267 © Side rancs (2) (Bie x3¥ie ey Z Draner Bottoms (3) 2B%x 20-1 Py F backrel() Beat Pe Dore G Fed Cleats (2) 5x2 -19e ‘AA Door Stiles (4) ax Se 19%le Heat ce as. os tea BB Door Rails (4) “Axles Ble omer ces) ax 25-20% Door Fane Bini mommy) Zieh ee eatin) Skee re K timrecee @) Sant 30 1 Siding Tey) 10 201-1 Py Mipe) Site 25% Napon Bena 0h Hardware © Daserleces (2) x P20, 4 (Spare) 20" Ful. Drawer Ses Port Sanaa ole ie raro act aa Drawere 2) tira "Bree hae #10) #05" Pr Moocecreme Q top Drawer Fron (1) ux!e-20 ©) 3¢ Looting ounat Coters R Middle Drawer Front (1) 84x Plo - 30 © (18) Yarn f Lag Screws For a sompleve hacanars Ws, cal Shop @] | 2 vepivertroreg)” 5ixBH-30 fe) erias toners Aecs Pc Spee 800 247508. T Top DranrSideo(@) Yeni 20% SERA Ph Woodson REN €629-200.rnennen $109.95, 1 dade Drawer Sides (2) ‘axl 20%e J No.29 ‘ShopNotes WwTC Case 1 started on the rolling tool cab- inet by making the case, Basically, it's a large open box that's divided into separate storage compartments, see drawing. SIDES & BACK. To add rigidity to the ease, the sides and back are made of solid wood frames and plywood panels. Bach frame ‘and panel is held together with simple (yet. strong) stub tenon and groove joints. ‘The pieces of these frames are {identical in width (342). And so is the length of the side (A) and back stiles (B), see Fig. 1. But since the sides are narrower than the back, the side rails (C) are shorter than the back rails (D). To accept the plywood panels Couye sgyenee eae and rails, there's a groove cut in Tater) adjustable, T drilled a ‘This leaves a slight “flat,” but all each piece, see Fig. 1a, And stub series of holes in the side stiles it takes is a little sanding to tenons are euton theendsofeach (A), see Fig. 1. And there's a smooth it out. rail to fit the grooves, see Fig. 1b. rabbet that’s routed in the back surrenrs PANELS. With the joinery com- edge of each side to accept the plete, you can add the side (H) back, see Fig. 1¢. and back paels (F), These are BULLNOSB. To soften the front easiest to add supports for a Just "thick pieces of plywood edges of the sides, I routed a divider, siding tray, and shelf, ‘that are glued into the frames, bullnose. But rather than buy a FINED CLEATS, The divider is ‘At this point, there's still some special bit, I used a \p" round- supported by a pair of fixed ‘work left to do on the sides. To over bit instead and made a pass cleats (G) made from thick make the sliding tray (added on each side, see detail in Fig. 1. hardwood, see Fig. Before assembling the case, its @) “After posi- ACRES NOTE: armas eAce 2) Nore amma a. acx e06e OF Pee \ Bole “reco ene ™ sox my sows Tax oto 18 ShopNotes No. 29TzEC Te oning each cleat flush with the inside edge ofthe rabbet, they're simply screwed to the sie stiles. ADIUSTABLE CLEATS. The sliding tray is also supported by ‘two cleats, But to move the tray up or down, these adjustable cleats (H) have pins (dowels) that fit into the holes drilled ear- lier in the sides, seo Fig. 2a ‘Toholdthe cleats tight against, | ©, thesides of the case, the tray sits | gett ina rabbot ent in the edge of the cleats, see Fig. 2a, This way, the edge of the tray presses against bottom of exch side, of thick plywood with holes ‘the cleats and holds them in plac. drilled in it to attach it to the ‘CORNER BLOCKS. One last set DIVIDER, TRAY, & SHELF xed cleats, see Fig. 3. Gluing on of supports is a pair of comer With all the supports in place, a hardwood trim piece (K) blocks. Besides supporting the you can tum your attention to covers the front edge of the bottom shelf, these corner blocks the divider, tray, and shelf divider, see Fig. 3a A thick corner direct the weight ofthe tool cab- DIVIDER. The divider sepa- SLIDING TRAY. To provide easy black directs the inet onto theeasters, seemargin. rates the cabinet into an upper accessto tors, the sliding imay (L) weight ofthe ‘To help carry this weight, the and lower compartment. The top is a narrow piece of 3W-thiek ply- cabinet and tools comer blocks (1) are made by compartment houses three wood that pills to the front of the onto the casters. gluing up four pieces of '-thick drawers, And the lower one pro- cabinet. A hardwood lip (M1) ghued tock, see Fig. 2. These blocks vides storage underneath, to the front and back eriges keeps @ ire simply sited nash with the "The divider (J) is just a piece tools from falling of, see Fig. 2a. SHELE For storage at the bottom ofthe case, there's a shelf (2) that's identical in size to the divider. Again, a trim piece (K) creates a finished looking edge. ASSEMBLY. At this point, you can glue up the case, To keep things square, I slipped the divider and shelf into the ease. When the glue dries, just serew them in place and install the sliding tray. | To lay outa large APRON. Next, T added a hant- | curve, bend a wood apron (N),see Fig. 4. After | thin ship of cutting a gentle earve on the | hardboardin an bottom edge, this apron is glued | arc. Then have to the trim piece (K) and comer | a helpermark blocks (1), see margin and Pig. da. | the curve on the CASTERS. All that’s left is to | workpiece. orelee nares see ad four locking swivel casters. 4 To provide a sturdy mounting BASE PIECE DETAL J) platrm for the casters, two x dase pieces (0) are attached to the bottom ofthe ease, see Fig. 5. After routing a bullnose on the seisoonef, | sides and front of the bave pieces, einai caerer” | | they're screwed to the comer Ue Efen| blocks and sides. Then just attach the casters with serews, vere ice Eee ser e x ole be alae 0x14 FrNOODSCREW No.29 ShopNotes 19Ga Top With the case complete, I started on the top of the cabinet, To provide a sturdy platform for the tool chest, the top (P) is a solid wood panel that’s made by gluing up pieces of %"-thielk hardwood (oak), soe Fig. WOOD MOVEMENT, But a solid ‘wood top ereates an interesting problem when attaching it to the case. It has to be held tightly in place, But to keep the top from splitting, it still has to expand and contract with changes in humidity. FIGURE, To secure the top and allow for wood movement, I used metal figure-8_ fasteners ‘The small end of these fasteners attaches to the sides (or back) of the case, see details in Fig. 6. The lange end fastens to the top. This way, when the wood expands or contracts, the fastener pivots and keeps the top from splitting. POCKETS. The figure-S fasteners are recessed into shallow (!- deep) “pockets.” After laying out ‘heir location, I drilled the pockets with a e'-dia, Porstner bit, see Figs. 7 and 7a, But you ean also drill overlapping holes with a smaller bit, see photos below. Before attaching the top, there’s one more thing to do. ‘That's to rout a bullnose on the front and sides only. (The back A Pockets. To create crisp, clean pockets for the figure-8 fasteners, its best to use a Forsiner bit. This can be a large (112'-dia.) bit (lef). Or use a sail (1"-dia.) bit and drill overlapping hotes (right). 20 FASTENER NOTE: oP 6 wave Sraluine ur rece ortinace rock @ fx ¥ 9B x woovscrew | O. edge is left square.) INSTALL FASTENERS. At this point, you're ready to install the fasteners. Installation is just a simple three-step process, see ‘box below. Note: To provide easy access to the ease when working on the drawers, it's best to wait until the drawer slides are installed to attach the top. aE SGU ‘To install a figure-8 fastener, start by serewing the small end of the fastener to the sides and back of the ease, see Step L. Then, after positioning, the top and marking the loea- tion of the hole in the big end (Step), drill pilot holes in the top and serew the top in place, see Step 3, (Note: These fasteners are available from a variety of ‘woodworking eatalogs.) STEP2 STEPT | ( ® | yj t Fe ShopNotesGa Drawers ‘To provide storage for different sizes of tools and materials, T built three progressively deeper drawers for the upper part of the tool cabinet, see Fig. 8 Strong locking rabbet joints hold the drawers together. And full-extension drawer slides pro- vide easy access to what's inside, ‘There’s nothing complicated about building the drawers. The drawer fronts (Q, R, S)are made from #'-thick hardwood (oak), see Fig. 8 And I used ¥'-thick stock (maple) for the drawer sides (T, U, V) and backs (W, X, YY). Note: These pieces are sized to allow ¥ clearance for the drawer slides and an ¥" gap all the way around each drawer front. LOCKING RABBETS. With the pieces cut to size, you can con- centrate on the locking rabbet Joints. (See Figs. 8a and 8b and the article on page 14.) Then just cut grooves for the plywood bot- toms (2), see Fig. 8¢. DRAWER PULLS. Before gluing up the drawers, it's easiest to install the brass pulls on the drawer fronts. (For a step-by- step procedure, refer to page 22.) DRAWER SLIDES. Now it’s just ‘a matter of adding the drawer slides. These slides have two bbasie parts. ‘One is centered on the width of the drawer sides, see Fig. 9. It lets you adjust the drawer up and down, so you'll be able to “fine ‘ume” the drawers for a consis- tent 44" gap ll the way around, ‘The other part attaches to the side of the cabinet, see Figs. 9 and 9a. By adjusting this part, you ean position the drawer fronts farther in or out of the cabinet, Note: Since T wanted to recess the drawer fronts about 14" back, I located the slide 54" in from the top of the bullnose. AMTACHETOP. Now all that’s left is to attach the top (see opposite page) and slide in the drawers. N . 29 9) oro onSlpr mar arincees Nororsuulncoe 20) FULLETENGION ‘ShopNotes 21FEATURE PROJECT Doors ‘To keep dust and chips out of the lower part of the tool eabinet, T added two doors. Like the sides and back, the doors are simple ‘wood frames and plywood panels that are held together with stub tenons and grooves APPEARANCE. In addition to the joinery, T also wanted to maintain a’ consistent. appear- ance between the different parts of the cabinet. So the stiles (AA) and rails (BB) are the same width (3) as the stiles and railson the sides and back, see Fig. 10, And to mateh the spacing of the drawers, these frame pieces are cut to length to allow an %" gap all the way around, see Figs. 10a and 10b. Now you're ready to cut the stub tenon and groove joints, refer to Figs. La and 1b on page 18. Then, ent the door panels (CC) to size and gine up the doors, Before installing the doors, I added a stop (DD) that keeps ‘them flush with the front edge of [10] BH DOOR STILE (otal ‘This is a strip of hardwood that’s glued under the divider, see Figs. 10 and 10a, INSTALL DOORS. After adding bbrass pulls (see box below), you ‘can install the doors. They're 25° European-style hinges, see Figs. 10a and 10b. This requires driling 2 Ve-Q dia. hole in the door stile to accept the hinge clip, see Fig. 10b, Then attach the’ mounting the divider when they're closed, held in place with Installing Brass Pulls plate to the side ee Fig 102.68 It's easy to install a brass pull flush ‘with the surface of a door (or drawer). Al it takes is to cut a two-tiered mortise — a deep, oblong-shaped pocket for the part that sticks out in back, and a shallow, rectangular recess for the mounting plate. TEMPLATE, To lay out the deep pocket, I use a hardboard template with a horseshoe shaped opening to match the back of the pull, see Step 1. Ty allow for some adjustment when positioning the mounting plate, the opening is Yao! larger than tthe back of the pull. Note: I draw centerlines on the template to make it easy to align, ‘To form the deep pocket, it's eas- jest to use a straight bit and rout up to the line, see Step 2 Then, after setting the pull into the opening and marking around the mounting plate (Step 8), rout the shallow recess up clase to (but not touching) the line (Step 4). Now chisel up to the edges, check- ing the fit of the pull as you work. OUTS DEEP Ber foie 22, ShopNotes No. 29TEC e Craftsman Tool Chest Place this chest on top of the rolling tool cabinet. Or set it on a workbench. Either way, it protects and organizes your precision hand tools. Se tools deserve a special place. At least, hats how [ feel about my hand tools, ‘Whether it’s the bevel gauge that belonged to my grandfather, a brand new precision square, or my best set of ehisels, it's reassuring to know they ‘won't get. knocked around or damaged. And that they're within easy reach when I need to use them. ‘TOOL CHEST. That's why I built this evaftsman tool chest, see photo. It protects and organizes my best hand tools. But what I like just as much is its traditional appearance — a8 comfortable as the BULLNOSED eoGe~ FlouRe-6. FASTENER e-DIA. Re 10NG look and feel of a tool that’s polished with use. SOLID WOOD. One thing, that adds to this look is its solid wood panels made from quartersawn oak. Along with soft bullnosed edges, this makes the chest a perfect companion piece to place on top of the rolling tool cabinet. Or build it to stand by tse. DRAWERS, Either way, a bank of four shallow drawers that run smoothly on wood guides pro- vides plenty of storage and easy access to your tools. And lining these drawers with felt adds that final touch of eraftsmanship. EXPLODED VIEW ‘OVERALL DIMENSIONS: OFie"H x 214 x 1614°D mse eNoP - Hardware * (0) "6x Bravo Kobo A *(@) rguneo Fastnore Materials © (18) 28:55" Fh Woadscrews $i) 283" Fo oodecrn Case Drawers (2) #8 x2)" Rh Woodscrews: A back See(2) ax tle-he 1 pera Frota (2) Sax 12, $19) 98x 1 Pr Moodecrone B backRale(s) — *Axtie-ae J Lae De Frontela) "ha zio-20% (es) 80x th Ph Wonsecrs © Back Panel Shox 2PM. K Upe Drm Sueo(4) Yen Pl Hla 2 : D Sides (2) 2Axt8- The. Lin Drwn Sides (4) Yax2"ls- '8e ‘Shopnotes Project Supplies is E Vertical Divider Yext4- Plo, (M Upr. Drwr. Backs (2) Yax Pia 12 Se pean yaiee amen ety Qe recite oy Taciectay, Nut om Backe(2) fee 20% forthe Catena To Chet G Horizontal Divider ‘fox - 26% 0 Upr Drwr. Btms (2) 14 x 12g - fs Hdd. Reiter H Topartom (2) hui6n-20% —P Lar Den Bime@) ‘4x a0%6 Yatant | | wena 6020:500.....91098 No. 29 ShopNotes 2BERT es Case The case for the craftsman tool chest starts out simply enough — just two sides and a back that form an open, U-shaped frame, see Fig. 1, BACK. Like the sides and back of the rolling tool cabinet, the ‘back is just a wood frame that surrounds a plywood panel. The frame consists of two short stiles (A) and two long rails (B), see Fig. 2. After cutting stub tenon and groove joints on these pieces (see page 18), a plywood back panel (C) is glued in the frame. sipes. With the back com- plete, the next step is to add the two sides, see drawing below. Besides enclosing the ease, the sides support the wood guides for the drawers. VERTICAL DIVIDER, In addi- tion to the drawer guides on the sides, the vertical divider that separates the top two drawers also supports a pair of drawer guides, see drawing on page 25. So it's easiest to work on it at the same time as you make the sides. SOLID WOOD PANELS. Both the sides (D) and the vertical divider (B) axe made by gluing up solid ‘wood panels, see drawings below ee SECOND curore —_/ Frowt epee THe ——~ ‘THIRD: owe Cur THROUGH DADOES Gere ro rrowe Eoce ano rev NOTE: serex 0 mace oe PORDEALSONGTUBTENON RAIL AND GROOVE JONTS ate and on opposite page. (Note: The runs vertically. This way, as the sides are made from 4j'-thick wood expands and contracts with stock; the vertical divider is changes in humidity, the panels made from ''-thiek stock.) will move with the top and bottom ‘The thing to be aware of is the of the case — not against them. grain direction of these panels When the glue dries, the SIDE DETAILFEATURE PROJECT nels can be eat to final length BLOCK, (neight). But to make it easier Tater when cutting stopped dadoes for the drawer guides, they're oversized in width, RABBET. Before cutting these dadoes, there's one more thing to do, That's to rabbet the back edge of each side (not the ver- tical divider) to accept the back of the chest, see Fig. 1a. STOPPED DADOES. Now you can turn your attention to the stopped dadoes. One dado (the second one from the top on each side) accepts a horizontal divider that’s added later. The others hold the drawer guides in place. This way, after eutting through To keep the drawers from dadoes, you can glue the cutoff binding, it's important for these back in place to form the stopped dadoes to align. At first, this dadoes, see margin. sounds simple — just cut the GLUE JOINT. You'd think this dadoes in pairs using the same would create an obvious giue fence setting (and the same ref- line, But because the grain of the erence edge) on the table saw. panels is oriented up and down, But there's @ problem. youre gluing two pieces ‘After cutting one dado, the together with matching edge only way to cut the matching grain, This creates a giue joint dado is to flip the side (or the that’s nearly invisible. vertical divider) ond for end, — CUT'T0 WIDTH. After the glue This means you'd be cutting dries, you ean cut the sides (D) through the front. edge of the and vertical divider (BE) to final panel. To get around this, Tused width. To match the profile on aslightly unorthodox technique. the edges of the rolling tool eab- ‘The basic idea is simple. To inet, T routed a bullnose on the start with, cut the front edge off front edges of each side, refer to each panel (and save the cutoff). detail in Fig, 1 on page 18. > VERTICAL DIVIDER DETAIL as (ore or teh) aa we OO vei. ower 2 ; vet | ov os ( aor rst in mes mesneut air ( Surah seomonon @ FES wo eee sioersee Oo minneusere OO? Cue ae wore mere Ee ee aes Se fhe FE Stctote ——Norsoraeraaewesuamronsoroee Seung No. 29 ShopNotes 25 enbee Ace AA “aris artacreD HORIZONTAL DIMER orx26%) DRAWER GUIDES. Now it’s just a matter of cutting the drawer guides (P) to fit the dadoes. These are strips of hardwood that are screwed (not giued) in place. HORIZONTAL DIVIDER. With the guides in place, 1 added a hori zontal divider (G) to separate the top and bottom drawers, see Fig. 3. Tes a thin strip of hardwood with a noteh at each end that fits {n the open dado in the sides. ASSEMBLY. All that’s left is to assemble the case. This is just a matter of slipping in the hori- zontal divider, then gluing and clamping the sides and back. To hold the horizontal divider securely in place, I glued short blocks into the dadoes behind it, see Fig. 3. Cutting stopped! dadoes is easy. Just cut the front edge off the panel Then cuta series of through dadoes, and glue the front edge back in place.TUTE Top/Bottom ‘The case of the tool chest is sand- wiched between two solid wood panels — one for the top and the other for the bottom. Both the top and bottom (H) are made by gluing up pieces of Su'-thiek stock, see Fig. 4. The idea here is to orient the pieces so there's edge grain in front and back of the panels. This way, the ‘top and bottom will move together with the sides (across. their width) as they expand and con- ‘tract with changes in humidity. BULLNOSE. After gluing up the panels, there's one more thing to do. To mateh the look of the rolling tool cabinet, a bull- nose is routed on the front and sides of each panel, refer to detail on page 18, ATTACH Tor. Now you're ready to attach the top. Here again, I used figure-8 fasteners to hold it in place. Not because of ‘wood movement. (Remember, the panels will all move together:) But because it's an easy way to attach the top without any hard- ‘ware showing on the surface. ‘As before, the figure-8 fas- toners are recessed by drilling 2 series of pockets in the top, see Fig. 5. And here again, the fas- teners are screwed! to the sides and back of the case, see Fig. 4. ‘To attach the top, it's easiest NOTE: ror BULNOSE ow FONT [AND 81085 OF TOP AND BOTTOM to lay it upside down on a work- surface, see Fig. 6. Then, after positioning the ease so the top ‘extends an equal amount on each side (and it’s flush at the back), simply serew itn place. VERTICAL DIVIDER. At this point, you can attach the vertical Aivider to the top. It’sheld in place with three serews, A long flathead NOTE: 0° ayo sorrow Ate ul Ur reou Sectrce S1Ce le myoooeceew “FIGURES FASTENER Ho 5 Woosecey en wroopecken NoTEs10r ano woodscrew passes through holes drilled through each divider and into the top, see Fig. 4a and 6. And shorter roundhead wood- serews are installed in the center and back, see Figs. 4b and de. ATTACH BOTTOM. All that's left to complete the assembly is to serew the bottom to the sides and back of the ease, see Fig. 4 e sare veencal DMBERFLUSH nt Rant EDGE GF HORSEONTAL DMBES AND CENTERED IN OPENING ShopNotes No. 29Drawers e@, hold different size hand tools, this tool chest has two narrow drawers on top and two wide drawers at the bottom, see Fig. 7, They slide in and out of the tool chest on the wood drawer ‘guides installed earlier, LOCKINGRABBEL Like the ‘drawers on the rlling toa eabinet, ‘they're held together with locking rabbet joints, But before eutting the joints, there are a couple of things worth mentioning. First, the drawer pieces are sized to create a Yis' gap all the way around, see Fig. Ta. And second, there's no lip on the front of the drawer, Instead, its flush with the side of the drawer. ‘The reason for this is simple. When the drawers are installed, the wood guides are recessed into grooves in the sides of the drawers. So they're hidden by the drawer front. As a result, Wye done ced's tp to cover them like you do with the metal slides on the rolling tool eabinet. ‘Other than that, building the drawers is fairly straightfor- ward. After cutting the drawer fronts (I, 2), sides (K, L), and to size, its just a matter of cutting the locking rabbet joints, see Figs. 8b and 8e. GROVES. Before assembling the drawers, you'll need to ext the grooves in the side pieces for the drawer guides. To create a consistent Yis' gap, the grooves are located " down from the top of each side, see Figs. Ta and 82. In addition to the grooves for the drawer guides, you'll also need to cut grooves for the ¥i'- thick hardboard drawer bottoves (0, P), see Figs. 8 and 8a, Then just glue up the drawers, FINAL DETAILS, To complete the chest, T added a set of brass ow ‘These just serew into the drawer fronts, see Fig. 8. As a final touch, Hined the drawer bot- toms with felt, see box at right.& No. 29 FEATURE PROJECT ‘AND BACK ARE swenack st0st (OA), 808 IHiOR 100k APE) FRONT WAH LONG eas Nothing shows off'a set of fine hand tools better than a drawer lined with felt, see photo, And it’s easy to install. Using spray adhesive, attach an oversized piece of felt to a piece of posterboard that's eut to fit the drawer bottom, Then simply trim the felt to size and press it into the bottom of the drawer. ShopNotes 27TIPS & TECHNIQUES Shop Solutions Dado Blade Gauge mSince my new stacked dado blade has a Ye" chipper (in addi- tion to the standard Ys’ chip- pers), is ideal when cutting dadoes to accept “off-size” thick- nesses of plywood. But it can take awhile to find the exact combination of chip- pers I need to produce a good fit. So I use this handy gauge to tell me at a glance which chippers to use, see photo, ‘The gauge is nothing more Quick-Mount mI don’t use my machinists’ vise all that much, So it's usually stored under my bench. But when Tneed to work with metal parts, I still want a quick way to secure the vise. ‘The solution is to bolt the vise to a Tshaped platform that BB ‘SECOND: ‘MER DARDS. FIRST abet SHOWS ] uve Ue Two) cosrress Ream | Pees ors FO CUT EACH DADO | Sex porwo9 7 | OF EuIrERS ‘aMBINATON than two giued-up pieces of a! By test fitting the workpiece thick plywood with a series of in each dado, it’s easy to find the dadoes cut in it — one for each one that produces the best fit. different width of dado that Lean ‘Then read the label to get the cut with my blade, see drawing. right combination of chippers. ‘The chippers required to cut each Doug Hicks dado are labeled underneath. Urbandale, Iowa Vise a wooo tightens in the front vise of the long, vertical workpieces, posi- workbench, see photo. It’s just ation the machinists’ vise so the 'ye-thick piece of plywood glued back jaw sticks out past the and screwed to a short scrap of front edge of the plywood. “two-by” material, see drawing. Joseph Ponessa Note: To provide clearance for Moorestown, New Jersey ShopNotes No. 29Quick Tips HS A To remove caked-on sawoust & When sanding by hand, Sonny & To keep the jaws of a hand: trom his band saw, R.B. Himes Rains of Carbondale, Colorado screw parallel, Amold Sax of of Vienna, Ohio scrapes it out protects his fingers with rubber Hubbell, Michigan adjusts the with a simple kitchen spatula, _padshe buysatoffcesupplysiores. back handle first, then the front. Sawhorse Outfeed m The adjustable sawhorse fea- | yore, tured in ShopNotes No. 17 works | MgtNaias to aouusy great as an outfeed support for rate long pieces when I'm working at Conaren ‘my stationary power tools. awe, ‘To quickly adjust it for the dif- eee ferent heights of table tops, I ragprancor ~“Steroxt marked each tool on the adjustable eee support. And a line on the fixed part of the sawhorse serves as an indieator, Aligning the two marks automatically sets the sawhorse at the right height. Also, to keop the workpiece from accidentally “catching” the edge of the sawhorse, T routed a chamfer on each side. Marty Harrison Bend, Oregon Leg Fad Send in Your Solutions m Most pieces of outdoor funi- | Jf youd like to share your original ture have one weak link — the | golutions to problems you've faced), bottom of the legs. That's | send themto:ShopNotes, Atin: Shop because if the finish (or paint) | Solutions, 2900 Grand Avenue, Des cracks, the exposed end grain | Moines, IA 50312. (Or if it’s easier, can soak up moisture. PAX them tons at: 515.282 6741.) ‘To prevent this, I serew a wood ‘Well pay up to $200 depending on pad (with face grain down) to the | the published length, Please include a Joottom of each leg, see drawing. | daytime phone number so re can call Kenneth D. Mady | youitwe bave any question Waltham, Massachusetts. & ener No.29 ShopNotes 29m Lately, T get a big grin every time T take a tool off my peg- Doar storage rack. That's because the Talon Perfboard Hooks Pm using to hold them in place don’t fall off ike my old metal hangers. Sources | | taoerertewttcote | “These nylon tool hangers have Eagle Amarea two parts that work together to c0-872-261 Jock them in place: a hook and an ee expandable anchor. The hook fits + CeanStraam Flere om nett oe ; * nteee” | Quick Tite Gel esas ne Seome-ores Like many woodworkers, I ceeasionally use “super giue” (eyanoaerylate) to giue up small ‘wood! parts. To keep the mess to a minimum, T use the gine that comes in a gel instead of the thin, runny Tiquid, But even with a gel, I still have problems applying just the right amount of glue, And there's always a little bit left in the tube that I can't seem to squeeze out This Quick Tite Gel ‘Matic dispenser solves both problems. Just press the plungers on \ the side of the \ dispenser to 30 Talon Ferfboard Hooks Loe in a hole in the peghoard Just like a metal tool hanger. But the anchor is different. When you push a plastic serew into the anchor from the front, two wings spread out and grip the back of the pegboard, see inset photo. ‘Tp reposition a hook, simply back out the serew with a serew- Matic apply the exaet amount of glue ‘youneed, see photo. The tube seals tight after every use, And the dispenser ensures that every last bit of driver, move the hook, and push the serew back in. ‘There are seven styles of hooks to choose from. They cost about 65¢ each, see Sourees, sue is squeezed out of the tube. Note: We bought a tube of sue with the plastic (throw away) dispenser at a loeal hard- ware store for $3.29. CleanStream Filter m The first time I emptied my shop vacuum after installing CleanStream Filter, 1 eouldn't believe the bin was full of dust, With the old filter, I was lucky to collect a few inches of dust before needing to clean the filter What makes these filters so well? The same water- proof, non-stick material that’ uused in some types of high- quality rain gear — Gore-Ter Becanse dust particles ean't stick to this material, they fall off the filter when the vacuum is turned off. As a result, the filter doesn’t clog, ‘These filters are designed for wet/dry shop vaewams. And they can be rinsed clean with water, ShopNotes s0 you can use them over and over again, They're available for ‘most: major brands of shop vac- uums. Prices range from $21 to $30, see Sources, No. 29rane Py e Coloring eB Finish Ix tried a number of different finishes that combine both a stain and a topeoat in one step. ‘Although these finishes are easy to apply, some- times it's hard to find just the right color, So | often start with a clear finish and color it to get the shade I want. This provides a whole range of colors that I can’t get out of a can, ARTISTS O11, COLORS. While there are several different types of coloring agents, one of the most readily available is artist’ oil colors, eee photo above, These are pigments that are ground in lin- seed cil. (They're sald in toothpaste-style tubes at most art supply stores.) There's a wide range of artist's ofl colors avs able. But you can ereate most wood tones with just a few basie colors. Infact, the warm eolor we used on the oak tool eabinet shown on page 16 is pro- duced with just one color — Van Dyke brown, But sometimes you'll need to mix several colors @ the shade you want. For example, combine mt umber (brown), raw sienna (reddish brown), and eadmium yellow light to produce country pine, Or create a rich cherry color with burnt sienna (maroon), eadmium yellow light, and perma- “recipe MEATLOAF. But just as someone else's meatloat is never quite as good as the home-cooked version, these colors might not be what you're looking for So you may want to mix: your own. HOME BREW. To avoid wasting material, start by mixing up a small batch, keeping track of the amount of each color you use, see Step 1 below. After blending the eolors together, stir the shurry To ko9p track of the number of parts of each color you use, squeeze out equal amounts ona “measuring” sick. Jar containing No. 29 After blending the colors together, stir the slurry into a of the finish you plan to use. ShopNotes ysneet {nto two tablespoons of the finish you plan to use, see Step 2. FINISH. Because it ereates a nice, soft sheen, I often use 100% pure tung ofl, But for a glossier (and more durable) finish, a thinned- down varnish works well too, covor Test. Now you ean test, the color on a serap piece. If the color isn’t what you're after, don’t be affraid to experiment a bit, Add some Van Dyke brown or burnt umber to darken a color: Ora touch of red or yellow as an accent. Just be sure to keep track of which colors (and the amount) you use. BIG BATCH. Once you're satisfied with the eolor, you're ready to mix up a big bateh of finish. Sinee it Antique Oak may be hard to duplicate the exact color, start. with Fort Quart ris enough to easily finish the entire project. (Tused a Aespcons ‘quart of tung oil for the oak tool cabinet.) Bowe! al You'll also need to figure out the fofal amount (not just the number of parts) of artist’s oil eolors to use. Too much and the ealor gets muddy. Not enough and it looks washed out. About 3 table- spoons per quart of finish is just about right. Now convert: the number of “parts” of ealor you used on the measuring stick into some convenient measurement (like tablespoons), Then add these Country Pine larger amounts to the finish, see Step 3. A plastic Fert van Fine medicine container like the kind you find at a drug store makes a handy measuring eup. Seb snine Ob Brie © bxaritin Feros a ‘Aged Cherry Fert Ou Fn be UES Bune Sins OO Ceariitoson us Oe When mixing up a big batch of finish, use the same number of parts of artists olf colors — just larger amounts. to tablespoons 31Scenes from the Shop