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Sierra
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
264 views32 pagesCircular Saw Miter Station-1
Sierra
Uploaded by
Javier AlbujaCopyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
/ 32
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this easy-to-bunld pp)
www.ShopNotes.com Issue 56 MARCH 2001
ususe Doral B. Peschke
‘eorron Terry J. Strohian
assooureeorrons. Bryan Nelson
‘Vincent Ancora
‘commmmurina eotron Craig Regions
‘arromecror Cary Christensen
‘sn onapvie pesiewen Kort Schultz
‘sewonitiuermirons Roger Rellnd
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PIR ne
Cutoffs
‘ow much willa deep drawer hold?
Sometimes too much, Unfortun-
ately [learned this the hard way.
A few years back, I was building some
shop cabinets. At the time I thought that
Dig, deep drawers would be just the
ticket for storing plenty of tools and sup-
plies. Besides, it would be quicker to
build a few deep drawers rather than
several shallow ones.
Since then Tve realized that bigger
isn't always better, Sure the drawers
hold a lot of stuf. The only problems, I
have to sort through all that stuff to find
what I'm looking for.
Asfaras saving time, any time I might
have saved in building has long been
spent taking things out and patting them
‘back to find what need. You know how
it is, the one item you're looking for
always seems to be buried atthe back of
the drawer.
Well I finally decided it was time to
‘make a change. But dida’t want to build
anew setof cabinets, [just wanted a way
tomake the ones I have more useful
‘That's the idea behind the dropin
drawer organizers featured on page 26.
They're just wood boxes with lots of
‘Woody 10
Visit other ShopNotes subseribers’
‘workshops, and see photos of the shop
projects they've built, It’s all online at
‘Woodworking: Shop Toms on the
‘ShopNotes web site:
wwwShopNotes.com
‘We want-you to be part of onr
shop tours! To submit photos of
‘your favorite ShopNotea projects or
views of your shop, just fallow the
instructions you'l find on our web site,
‘ShopNotes
‘compartments that can be rearranged
dozens of dtferent ways
Other Changes - Speaking of
changes, there have been a few other
changes around here. First we have two
new project designers. Chris Fitch and
Craig Iseke, Chris has been designing
and building projects for a living for
‘many years. And Craig set up and ran a
‘woodworking school in Canada.
Second, Vince Ancona will be helping
‘out as an Associate Editor. Vince isn't
really new, he has been working on our
companion publication Woodsonith for
several years.
And finally, my iend, Tim Robertson
‘who has been Editor of ShopNotes has,
become the Editor of Workbench, our
home improvement magazine. So I've
picked up responsibilities as Editor here
at ShopNotes. Ifyou've been a fongtime
subscriber my name might ring a bell. I
‘was the managing editor for ShopNotes
when it started back in 1992, so I cer-
tainly feel right at home.
As always, well continue to provide
‘you with practical tips and techniques,
‘and unique project ideas that help you
get the most out of your shop. = Contents
Features
Top Five Router Jigs __________8
Trim edging perfectly flush, cut smooth mortises, rout
custom dadoes, and more — these five great jigs will tum
‘your hand-held router into a shop workhorse.
Cordless Tool Batteries___._.___14
Prevent a power outage — lea how cordless too!
batteries work along with some quick and simple steps you
can follow to keep your cordless tools running at full power.
Circular Saw Miter Station ___ 16
Lock in perfect miters and crosscuts from your circular saw
with this miter station. A foolproof indexing sysiom and a
custom saw guide guarantoe a precise angle every tine
Drilling Large Holes ________22 Miter Station page 16
Need to cil @ large hole? Here are some options and a
e few handy techniques you may want fo consider
Drop-In Drawer Organizere_______ 26
What's the best way to deal with the jumbled mess inside
8 drawer? Divide and conquer, with an adjustable drawer
Insert and a pair of ramovable totes.
Departments
Readere Tips es
‘Shop ese fps io solve common woodworking problems.
Tool Talk
Tited of kneeling on the floor to adjust the bit in your
router tablo? Here are two innovative products that got
you back on your feet.
New Products 30
Two problems, two solutions. The Woodworker's Guide
‘makes locating a past article in your old woodworking
magazines a snap. Plus, the Blade-Loc tums the job of
table saw blade removal into a simpler and safer task
1. Courcesss 5
Mail-order sources and supplies to help you build the
projects featured in this issue.
No. 56 ‘ShopNotes 3 TIPS & TECHNIQUES
Readers’ Tips =e
Drying Easel
1m When we had our house built, I decided to make all
the trim myself. I had several hundred feet of trim to
finish and instal. The finishing was easy. The challenge
‘was finding a place to set al the pieces of trim while they
were drying. My workbench wasn't long enough and,
cevenifit was, [could only place five or siclengths of rim
on the bench at one time. So instead, I came up with a
simple solution. I made a pai of drying “easels” to hold
the trim pieces, see drawing at let.
‘These easels work like a pair of ladders. Horizontal
FRONTLEG “rungs? support the ends ofthe trim pieces, The open
aay design of the easels and the multiple rungs allow you to
| dry several pieces of trim at once.
‘The base of each easel is constructed out of a few
scrap pieces of 2 stock. The two front leys are mitered
‘on the ends so they form an inverted “V" shape. Then a
pivoting back les sandwiched in between the two front
legs to provide supportto the “V". Ahex bot, alock mut,
and a couple of washers hold all three legs together
etl ‘2). (You need to drill an angled hole near the @
end ofeach frontleg forthe hardware.) shortlength of
chain isused to connect the back leg with one ofthe front
legs, in order to prevent the easel from collapsing. The
“rungs” are just some pieces of 3A"thick stock that are
seremed to the front les
<4
Sieve. arene
Seg ooh
‘Mark Voget
Aun Arbor, Michigan
Stick-On Rules —_|
1m I make a lot of igs to use in my shop. And I
find it handy to add a stick-on rule or measuring
tape to many of these jigs. Although you can
buy stick-on measuring tapes, they can get to be
Free us expensive. So I make my own.
start by using @ CAD program on my per-
Get more wood- sonal computer to crete a set of rules with numbered
workIng fips free, inch marks and graduations. You can make the graduia-
tions in ay increment you want
ShopNotws.com rin the rules out ona sheet of glosey adhesive:
backed paper, see photo at right. (Adhesive bacced
Sppwinie Goer mao tele Supt a Stoney
eee stores) Then simply out them out ane stick them on my
figs or tools wherever they are needed. Forlongerrles,
Tat to or three together, sce inset photo
Ralph Bagnall
Goshen, New Hampshire
4 ShopNotes No. 56 Roll-Around Base.
= 7
Cord Wrap
I really liked Randy Hoy’s portable
‘workbench (see Readers’ Tips, issue
No. 53). The power strip mounted on
the side of the workbench is espe
<éally handy. But Imade astight mad-
ification to improveit.
I simply mounted the power strip
to a wood block that was beveled on
‘one face to match the angle of the
splayed legs of the workbench (15°).
Quick Tips
A Whenever he needs an extra
@ (1272 Aer Fecckson oF Novey,
OH uses a small bar clamp t0
support a workpiece on edge.
No. 56
1 L recently built the rolk
around fool base you fea-
tured in issue No, 22 for
iy table saw. This base
has two casters mounted
to the back. To roll it
around, a long handle is
used to lft the front of the
base until the casters at
‘the back contact the floor. But found
it dificult to maneuever the base this
way. So instead, I added a “third
wheel,” see photo.
just an additional caster that's cen
tered on the front of the base. The
caster is mounted to a 54"'plywood
‘mounting pad that slides in between
a pair of 2xt support blocks, see
‘drawing. A dado is cut in each sup-
port block to receive the mounting
pad. Then the support blocks are
‘Thea [took a piece of "hardboard,
ccuta notch at each end, and screwed
itto the top edge of the beveled block.
‘The hardboard prevents sawdust
from falling into the holes in the
power strip. And the notches provide
a convenient place to wrap an exten
sion cord for the power strip,
Ryan Grimm
Arlington, Masachusetts
‘A For a quick, inexpensive tool
rack, Ryan Vogt of Urich, MO
fastens electrical conduit straps
10 a narrow board,
ShopNotes
attached tothe frontofthe tool FJ
base with lag bolts.
‘When I want to move my
savy, I simply use a pry bar to lift the
‘base enough to slide the caster and
‘mounting pad into the dadoes. Then
when I want to set the base back
dow, I remove the caster, turn it
upside down, and store it back
‘between the support blocis, see inset
photo above.
Doug Tapper
Marietta, Georgia
Send in Your Shop Tips
‘Ifyou have a unique shop tip, we'd like
to consider fenturingitin one or more of
our print or electronic publications.
‘We'll pay up to $200 for a tip we pub-
lish. Just write down the tip and mail it
to ShopNotes, Attn.: Readers’ Tips, 2200
Grand Ave., Des Moines, 1A 50312. Or
FAX it to 515-282-6741, or send us an
email at [email protected],
Please include your name, address
and daytime phone number in case we
‘have any questions. Bushing
Rell Pin
A Fine Tuning.
When hand routing,
2 fop dive knob
allows you to make
fine height
agjustments.
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Adjusting the height of a router
bit in a router table can be 2 real
pain in the neck (literally). You
have to reach under the router
table top for the router controls
while straining your neck trying to
‘keep one eye on the bit so you can
see how much you're moving it up
or down, Well thankfully, now
there's a better way. In fac,
there are tio ways.
ROUTER RAIZER
Remember when it was the craze to
“Tit” a vehicle off its axle? Well, the
Router Raizer is kind of like a “lit
kit’ for your router. Itreplaces
the “stock” height control
‘on your plunge
router and
A
Note:
ropacce,
exh
siete
vec and crow
Drive Nut —~
Lead Seren -
ROUTER
RAIZER:
allows you to raise or
lower the router from
the top of your router
table, as you ean see
in the drawing below.
Crank it Up ~ When you first
open the box containing the Router
Raizer, you might be surprised to see
that ts litle more than a bag of hard-
‘ware. (See Sources, p. 31) The key
components of the Router Raizer are
aprecision-machined lead serew and
rmuinshaft which work together to
aise or lower the router. A remov-
able speed wrench fits through
small access hole in the top of the
router table and engages the end of
the mainshaft, see photo above.
Bach full turn of the wrench
raises or lowers the bit
exactly fs", so you
NOTE: .
lnsore Pate
not included ‘Rubber
Spacer
é
Ray ji
peat J
ShopNotes
‘can gauge your adjustments,
‘The Router Raizer will work with
over a dozen different popular
models of plunge routers on the
‘market today. (Bosch is one notable
exception), However,
with fxed-base routers
One of the nice things about the
Router Raizeris that you don't have
to sacrifice the plunge capability
‘when using your router out of the
router table, And as shown in the
margin photo tothe left a drive knob
at the end of the mainshaft allows to
aglust the height of the router just as
you would normally.
Installation — Installing a Router
Raizer isn't too dificult, but it does
require you to slightly modify your
router. (had to enlarge a couple of
hholes in the router base) Don't
‘worry — there are separate instruc-
tions for each model of router.
Tt took me about an hour and a
half to install the Router Raizer on
my router. (Note: Depending upon
‘your router, you may have some
unused parts eft over)
‘Access Hole — Because the
Router Raizer installs direetly on
‘your router, you don't need to make
any major changes to your router
fable. All you have to do is drill a
small access hole inthe insert pate
for the crank. To prevent dust fom
clogging ths hole tiny dust cover
is provided. A magnet on the erank
allows you to quickly fit the cover
ot of the access hoe, a shown in
the inset photo above.
Price ~ So what does all his con-
venience cost? The Router Reizer
sells for about $90. That may seem
Tike alot ora router “accessory.” But
1 was impressed with how smoothly
the Router Raizer works. The parts
are wellmachined and ifs apparent
loesn't work,
No. 56 that a lot of thought went into the
design. If you do a lot of work on a
cuter table, i's worth the money.
ROUT-R-LIFT
Like the Router Raizer, the Rout
Lift (see photo at righ!) also
allows you to adjust the height of
your router bit without having to
reach under the top of the router
fable. But as you can see in the
Grawing below, the RoutRLitt is
completely different. Instead of
moving just the bit and motor
housing, the Rout Rit raises and
lowers the entire router.
Essentially, the RoutRLit is a
heavy aluminum earriage that ides
‘up and down on a couple of Ya,
steel rods. The router is mounted
ect to this carriage and is raised
and lowered by turning a removable
crank on top of the router table.
‘Thanks to a bet and pulley system,
the carriage travels smoothly and
clforlesly. The entre assembiy is
‘mounted to the underside of ais
@ reciente
doubles a a router table insert pate.
Installation ~ fnsaling the Rout
Lift is really no more dificult than
installing a router table insert plate.
You simply cut an opening in your
router table top and then rout a
rabbet around the opening to hold
the Rout R-Lif. (Some basic instala-
tion instructions are included with
the Rout Rift)
Note: fyou plan to add the Rout
RLLitt to your existing router table,
‘you may have to enlarge the opening
in your router table.
To attach the router, you simply
remove the base plate from your
router base and transfer the screw
hole locations to the aluminum car-
riage plate on the Rout Rift. After
dling the holes, the plate is simply
screwed to the base of your router
Indexing ~ Index marks etched
into the top of the Rout RLittet you
now how much you're raising or
lowering the bit, see inset photo
@ shove. Bech complete turn of the
crank moves the router.050)
One of the main advantages of the
No. 56
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Rout-RLitt is that it works
with both fixed-base and
plungetype routers. So it's
compatible with just about
any router you may have.
Insert Rings ~ To accommodate
different diameter router bits, the
aluminum plate on the Rout Lit is
fitted with a removable, phenolic
insert ring, see margin photo at
right, ‘Tabs are machined on the
edge of the ring to allow it to lock
into the plate. A set of four additional
insert rings of different sizes can be
purchased separately (see Sources)
Bit Changes ~ One drawback I
noticed with the RoutRLift is that
the carriage and steel rods getin the
way when you want to change router
bits. One way around this is to com
pletely lft the router and RoueR Lift
out of the table for bit changes,
‘There's a large gy fingerhole
©)
Nore:
Vio io From
| andorside oF
router sable
Carriage travels
‘on in
ShopNotes
in
iteasiertliftthe assembly out, butit
doesn't do much to help with the
‘weight —its quite heavy.
Price ~ At $200, the RoutRLitt
might seem a bit pricey (see page
31 for sources). But if youre
building a router table from
scratch, the cost isa litle bit easier
to justity when you consider the
money you will save by not having
to purchase a separate insert plate
‘And I was impressed by the quality
construction of this product. Nearly
all the parts are either machined
Fete Rub Pea
Removable Crank
ROUT-R-LIFT
‘Amina
iors
4 Insert Ring. A
spanner wrench is
included with the
Rout-PeLitt io
remove the
phenolic ring.
ate
cae
NOTE: Router
not included A Straight Bit. A
straight bits a
great choice for the
heavy-duty work of
routing a circle
from a workpiece.
Top &
Router Jigs
Have you unlocked the hidden potential of your
router? You can with these five top-notch router jigs.
O- ofthe first power tools I bought was a handheld
outer, Along with a frandful of bits, I was able to
rout decorative profiles along the edges of may workpieces,
Butitdidn' take long to realize there was more toa router.
‘The trick to unlocking its potential is afew shop made jigs.
Five Jigs - Now, Im not talking abouta couple throw-
vay jigs that you only use once or twice. As a matter of
fact, oul want to keep the five jigs shown on the next
[4. Circle-Cutting Jig
‘Thisis the ast circle-cutting jig you'l
ever need to make. (See photo at
right) Its easy to build, inexpensive,
and can be set just as quickly as the
rip fence on a table saw. The secret
the arm — i's an aluminum ruler
that I picked up ata hardware store.
‘As you can see in the Exploded
‘View on the opposite page, this jig
consists of three main parts: a base
for the router, an aluminum ruler
that acts as a pivot arm, and an
adjustable pivot block that deter-
mines the size ofthe circle.
Base — I started on the jig by
making the paddleshaped base
shown in the Base Lavout drawing on
the opposite page. When mounting,
the router, the idea is to center it
about 6" from the end of the base.
‘And this isn't hard to do. The router's
base is a readymade template for
laying out the shape of the base and
then marking and drilling the holes.
Blocks ~ After cutting the base to
final shape, you can turn your atten-
tion t0 a pair of hardwood blocks.
(One block attaches to the base and
allows you to mount the ruler. The
fother one will become the pivot
block that’s used to determine the
size ofthe circle you cut
Since both blocks are the same
size (and small), cutting a groove
hairline inl
8 ShopNotes.
down the center to accept the ruler
could be a challenge. To do this
safely, i's best to start with an extra
long workpiece. Just make sure the
depth of the groove is slightly less
C4") than the thickness ofthe ruler.
Once the groove is complete, you
can cut two blocks from the blank.
‘Then glue one block tothe base fish
with the back edge. (See Side View
‘on opposite page)
Pivot Block - To create the pivot
block, the second blocks glue! toa
Ye" hardboard spacer. The spacer
raises the pivot block to match the
height of the block on the ase,
‘The next stepis to drill three holes
down the center of the pivot block.
‘The outside holes are used to attach
tor (added later.
‘The center hole is for the pivot
pin. This pin isjusta cutoff bolt that’s
selued in place with epoxy.
{ew pages around fora longtime.
‘That's because with these jigs, you can rout lange ci
les, cut perfect dadoes and mortises, or easily tr
‘edging flush with plywood. But the really nice thing
about these jigs is they're simple to make and they don't
require Jot of expensive materials or hardware. Tn fact,
you can probably build most of these jigs from scrap
‘materials you already have in your shop.
Indicator ~ The key to this jie is,
‘the hairline indicator that’s added to
‘the pivot block. ‘This indicator
accomplishes two things.
First, it allows you to lock the
ruler securely to the pivot block.
(Gee End View.) And second, you
‘can accurately set the radius of the
circle by aligning the hairline over
the ruler. (ee Top View)
After cutting the indicator to size,
Aril a pair of holes to match the out-
side holes in the pivot block. Then
scribe a hairline on the indicator so it
Tines up directly over the pivot pin
‘Assembly - Now you're ready to
attach the ruler o the mounting block
fon the base, But first, youl need (0
install the router bit you're going to
use for euting the circles Tlike to use
alWdia straight bit (see margin) but
‘the important thing is that you
always use the same diameter bit.
No. 56 PER
EXPLODED
VIEW
26..24°8h
webct
Pwr BLOCK:
SPACER,
whey
wile
<4
HEATED Bor —
EEC ae,
BASE LAYOUT
|
Now tofind outwhereoattach the the radius, position it so that dimen-
ruler, measure from the cutting edge sion AV aligns with the back edge of
ofthe bit to the back edge of the base the mounting block. Then screw the
(Dimension A" in Side View.) (In my ruler in place. Note: The part of the
case, with a 4" bit, this was 5%4".) ruler that sticks past the edge of the
‘Toallowyouto use theruler to set _ mounting block needs to be cut off
No. 56 ShopNotes
eel GS | INDICATOR
viEW 3S ~
Using the Jig ~ Now that you
have the jig complete, you're ready
to start routing circles. But you'll
‘want to keep one thing in mind.
Since you need a shallow 14dia.
hole for the pivot pin, its important
to dril this hole in the back side of
the workpiece (Figure 1a).
‘The next step is to slide the pivot
block along the ruler and set it to
match the desired radius of the
circle you want to cut. Then lock the
pivot block in place.
At this point you could set the
‘router bit fora full depth cut. ButTve
found it's best to make a shallow
(@,) pass and work my way through
the workpiece in multiple passes.
‘Now, slip the pivot pin in the hole
inthe workpiece and raise the router
off the workpiece. Then turn the
router on and slowly lower it to the
‘workpiece (Figure 1b). Finally, rout
ina counterclockwise direction. [2. Mortising Jig
Drilling out a mortise on the drill
press and cleaning it up with a chisel
isn'ta problem — except when you
have a lt of them to do. Then the
cleanup can be a real hassle. That’s
‘what makes the mortising jig
shown at right so handy.
Once the jg is set, you can
use yout router to knock out
a fot of mortises in a matter of min-
utes — with no cleanup required,
Note: This jig can be used with bits
upto "in diameter (see margin) to
cut mortises up to 3%" lon.
‘The Jig ~ The jig is basically a
“corral” for your router, The router
rides on a platform with guide strips
screwed to the top. Gee drawing
below) As the routerslides back and
forth, the strips keep the router cen-
tered on the jg.
‘To define the ends of the mort
there are two stops. A fired stop
screwed to one end of the platform,
4 Spiral Upout Bit,
Cutting a smaotn,
clean mortise is
easy with a spiral
pout bit Plus, it
pulls the chips out
of the mortise as
‘you work
ADJUSTABLE
‘STOP
ery
4 Shining a small
flashlight down GuIpE
through the router ae LOT
and platform Seyies quot ono
ioe beer
makes it easy to
align the router bit
tho layout fines
for tha mortise,
while an adjustable
siop is used to set the
length of the mortise.
AN pair of adjustable
Jences make it easy to
center the jig over the
‘mortise. Then all you
have to do isclamp the
jig in place and rout.
Platform ~To start
on the jig, cut the plat-
form 16" wider than
the base of your
router. (My platform is
sized for a 5%/dia
‘base) Then to provide
away toattach the adjustable fences,
cut a pair of slots at each end of the
platform. To do this, drill a series of
‘overlapping holes and then clean up
the edges with a chisel
‘At this point, you can turn your
attention to the guide strips on the
top of the platform. The important
@ EXPLODED VIEW
SiePyEauate won OF
sagisihee
i
ROOUETABLE ae
(se ae -
C omege
ShopNotes
thing here is to position the strips so
the base of the router will slide
between them without any ply.
So don't serew the guides down
Fight away. Clamp them first and
check the fit ofthe router by sliding
it back and forth between the
ides. Once you have a good ft,
screw the guides strips in place.
Rout Slot ~ The next step is to
create a slot down the center ofthe
platform for the router bit. This is
easy to do with the guide strips in
place. simply used my router and a
YP bit to cuta nice, clean slot. After
completing the ot, the fixed stop can
be screwed in place
Recess — Before aking the
adjustable sop, youl need to cut a
recess in the bottom ofthe platform.
‘This recess provides clearance for the
machine screw and washer that hold
the adjustable stop in pace. Gee detail
‘u) Here agin, simply cuta series of
shallow overlapping holes and then
‘leaned up the exes with a chisel.
To complete the jig, cut the
adjustable fences to size and dri a
pair ofmounting holes at each end to
line up with the slots in the patform.
Now youire ready to rout a mor
tise. Aer laying out the mortise on
the workpiece, using the jig is a
simple three-tep process.
Set Fences - The frst step isto
set the jig in place and then positio
theadjustablefencesto center the jg
over the mortise using the center-
No. 56 line mark shown in detail ‘a at right.
Once that’s complete, you can lock.
the fences in place.
Position Stops - Now set the
router on the platform against the
fixed stop. Then slide the jig along
the workpiece until the outside edge
of the router bit is aligned with the
end of the mortise. (See margin on
‘opposite page, and position A in
detail 'b’ and Side View) Then clamp
the jig to the workpiece.
To set the adjustable sop, slide the
router along the platform and align
the bit with the opposite end of the
‘mortise, shown as position B in detail
‘b’and Side View: Then lock the stop
against the base of the router.
Rout Mortise At this point,
you're ready to rout the mortise. To
do this, adjust the bit for a shallow
G4") cut. Here again, you'll need to
tilt the router as you Tower the bit
into the workpiece,
‘Then slide the router along the fiz
until it contacts the adjustable stop.
Completing the mortise is just a
matter ofreseting the bit fora slightly
deeper cut and repeating the process.
[3. Edge Guide
‘When using a hand-held router, an
edge guide is great for routing
dadoes, grooves, or decorative pro-
files near the edge of a piece.
‘Although most router manufacturers
offer an edge guide as an accessory,
it'sno trouble atal to build your own,
‘As you can see in the photo and
drawing below, the edge guide con-
sists of two parts: an auxiliary base
with an adjustable fence.
my
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‘SIDE VIEW
Base ~The base is nothing more slots are cut to hold the fence and
than apiece of 4" hardboard, andits allow it to be adjusted easily.
size isn't all that important. Tmade Fence ~ When making the
mine big enough to give me “solid” fence, what you want is a straight,
‘support, but not so big as to be cum- smooth edge to slide against the A Decorative Bits.
bersome to use easly workpiece. (1 used hard maple.) Like the core box bit
In the center of the base, you'll Here again, to provide clearance for above, a decorative
need clearance for the router bit. the bit, cut a centered notch in the bit can be used
‘And the larger the hole, the easier fence. Finally, attach the fence to with an edge guide
be to see what you're routing. (( the base with a pair of carriage 0 increase 2
drilled a 1/4" They are probably also
about the simplest bit you can find.
Justa rd ofsteel that’s been fattened
at one end. Along centerpoint and a
couple ofspurs on each sie guide the
through or blind hole, and the type of work you're
doing all factor into the equation. What works for one
hole may not work for the next. And ifyou have to drill
a lot of holes, you might want to choose a different
‘method than you would for driling just one or two.
So how do you decide? Here's a look at several dit
ferent types of commonly available bits and tools for
‘making large holes, along with an examination of some
of the strengths and weaknesses of each. Plus there's
also a couple of methods for creating large holes that
you may not have seen before.
bitand score the perimeter ofthe hole.
Size - Spade bits range in size
from 1%" to 1!4" in diameter, They
ccan be used in a hand-held drill or in
a drill press (at slow speed). And
when they become dull, they can be
thrown out and replaced or simply
touched up with a file
Rough Work — Despite these
advantages, spade bits are really
designed for construction work or
where the appearance of the fin
ished hole doesn't make a bit of
difference, The sides of the hole
are left looking rough and jagged.
And they tend to splinter. the
wood when exiting the hole. (You
can often minimize this by placing
a backer board behind or under
neath your workpiece.)
Sill I ke to keep a couple sets
of spade bits on hand in the shop
for those times when I don't want
to take a chance on damaging
some of my more expensive bts
Spade bits have one other
advantage over many other types
of bits. If you ever need an
oddsized hole, its a pretty
simple procedure to modify an
existing bit to match the exact
size you need, as you can see in
the drawings at left.
‘A. Modifving a Spade Bit. Using a nailas.a stop, clamo
the bit io a scrap block so the side of the bit stands
slightly proud. File down the side of the bit, then fp it
over and repeat the process on the ather side,
2 ShopNotes No. 56 Forstner Bit.
Although spade bits work fine for
for rough holes, they're not very
accurate, When it comes to drilling
clean, precise holes, nothing excels
like a Forsiner bit.
Solid Rim ~ The secret of a
Forstner bit is the rim. Instead of a
couple of little spurs, the rim of a
Forstner bitis solid. Its sharp edges
A closely-related cousin to the
Forsiner itis the sawtooth bit. This,
bit gets its name from the jagged
teeth that line the rim ofthe bit. The
teeth help to dissipate the heat better
than the solid rim of a standard
Forsiner, preventing the bit from
overheating and burning the work
piece, AS a result, sawtooth bits drill
holes a little faster than Forstner
bits, which is a plus if you're in a
No. 56
cleanly score the outside ofthe hole
as the bit plunges into the wood. The
result is a hole with clean, smooth
sides and hardly any tearout
The rim also guides the bit,
keeping it from wandering. This is
what really sets Forstner bits apart
from just about every other bit.
Because the bit is guided by the rim
hurry or have a lot of
holes to make.
Savitooth its. work
best when used perpen
dicular to the work:
piece. They don't drill
angled holes as well 5
Forsiner bits. because
the teeth on the rim of
the bit tend to catch and
‘ear the wood as you try
to start the hole.
Like Forsiner bits,
sawtooth bits can be
used to dill a hole with
a fat bottom. So theyre a good
choive for drilling a counterbore to
hhouse a clock movement (see photo)
or any other large recess. Sawtooth
bits range from 1 all the way up to
4" diameter.
Shank Size ~ One thing to con-
sider when selecting a sawtooth or
Forstner bits the sizeof the shank.
A thicker shank prevents the bit
from chattering. Anda longer shank
ShopNotes
instead of the
center, you can
deill_ overlapping
holes and angled
holes with ease
As important as the rim 4 Forstner Bit
is, it doesnt actualy create the hole. This bits great
The bulk ofthe waste is removed by for diling fat
a pair of knifelike cutting edges on _bottornad holes.
‘each side of the center point of the
bit. These slice away the wood in
large shavings, creating a perfectly
flat bottomed hole— one of the main
benefits of a Forsiner bit.
Cost ~ Forsiner bits vary con-
siderably in price, according to
their size and, more importantly,
their quality. The lessexpensive
bits will do the job, but the edges
of the bit don't seem to hold up as
well as on the more expensive
bits. And the edge of the hole
tends to be a litle bit rougher
than with the higher-priced bits.
will allow you to
dill deeper holes.
Gomething to keep
in mind when com:
paring priceson these
types of drillbits)
Cost — Sawtooth bits
tend to be a litle Jess expensive
than traditional Forstner bits, and I
find that they work almost as well.
Forsiners leave a slightly cleaner
edge on the hole) A Forstner or
sawtooth bit is usually my frst
choice when I need to drill a large
hole for a furniture project. But
‘because these bits are fairly pricey
in the large sizes, I buy them only
a8 the need arises,
Slow it Down ~ Whether you use
a sawtooth bit ora Forsiner bit, the
tick to driling large holes isto take
it slowly. Set your dil press at slow
speed and back the bit out frequently
to clear it of chips. This will help pre
vent the bit from overheating and
burning your workpiece
‘A Sawtooth Bit.
A sawtooth bit is
basically a Forstner
bit with teeth
23. A
Im,
4 Wing Cutter. With a
wing cutter, you can
mmeke holes from 2" 8
in diameter.
Wing Cutter Bit.
Although Forstner and
sawtooth ils work.
great, they're typically
available only up
» to 4" in dia
2) meter. What if
you need to
‘make a larger hole than this? One
solution is to use a wing cutter.
‘Awing cutter (sometimes called a
“ly cutter”) works quite differently
than most bits. Instead of dling owt
a hole, the wing cutter simply cuts
around the hole, leaving 2 cookie.
size waste piece in
the center: To do this,
wing cutter uses a
sharpened cutter that
is attached to an
adjustable arm. AS
the bit rotates, the
ceutter scores the
perimeter of the hole,
‘A center pilot bit
helps to guide the cutter
Adjustable - The biggest advan-
tage to a wing cutter is that the arm
that holds the cutter ean be moved in
ME
Wouldn't it be great if you could buy just
‘one bit that would cut almost any size
hole? That's the idea behind an expansive
bit, Designed to be used in a hand brace
(Gee photo at right), expansive bits have
been around for over a hundred years.
or out. A scale on the arm helps in
ing the it. So with this one bit,
you can cut an infinite variety of hole
sizes (from about 2" to 8.
Because they don't remove the
waste from the center of the hole,
wing cutters can only be used (0
ccut through holes, And they also
won't work on stock thicker than
an inch, Because of this, I typically
use a wing cutter for cutting out
large holes in sheet goods (for
speakers light fixtures, etc)
Using a wing cutter for the first
time can be a litle bit unnerving.
‘The expansive bit is something of a
hhybrid. The end of the bit resembles a trax
ditional auger bit. But it holds an adjustable
cutter that works more like the wing cutter
shown above. A row of teeth along the edge
of the cutter allows you to adjust the diam.
eter of the bit By using different sizes of
cutters, you can make holes ranging from
TA" t0 31, see photo at left. All you do is
chuck the bitup in a brace and start boring,
Like most “one size fits all”
items, expansive bits don't work
nearly as well as their individual
counterparts. Although you can
deill holes with this bit, i's a real
chore, especially when you start
getting above 1:4". On top ofthis,
the quality of the hole is pretty
rough, especially for making fur-
niture, Sil, it works ina pinch,
ShopNotes
‘That's because you've got this
rather heavy cutter swinging
around on the end of the arm.
Combine this with the fact that
wing cutters tend to chatter and
vibrate while in use, and it may
seem like an accident waiting to
happen, But there are a few tips
that can take away some of the amc
lety associated with wing cutters
First, the drill press speed should
be set to 250 rpm or less. (Never use
a wing cutter in a hand-held drill)
Next, make sure your workpiece is
securely clamped in place. And
finally, check to see that the set
screws which hold the cutter, pilot
bit, and adjustable arm in place are
all firmly tightened. Hole Saw
Hole saws aren't really “bits” in the
traditional sense, AS the name
‘mplis, a hole saw is really a small,
cylindrical saw thatis mounted on an
arbor. The saw cuts a round “plug”
‘out of a workpiece, leaving behind a
hole. The arbor also holds a twist bit
that serves as pilot for the saw.
Hole saws typically range in diam-
‘ter from 114" to 6". With the higher
ualty holes saws, you can purchase
NCTE
different diameter saws
that will all ft on the
same arbor. (These are
often packaged in sets.)
Like spade bits, holes
saws are really more
useful in construction
than they are in furni-
turemaking. They're
great for creating a hole
for a lockset or drilling
holes through wall studs
for pipes or electrical
wiring. Butas you might
expect, the hole is fairly
rough. And they gen-
erate a lot heat as they
cut, sometimes burning
the wood around the hole.
Like the wing cutter, hole saws are
only useful for making through
holes. And the depth of the hole is
limited by the length of the hole saw.
One of the problems Ive had with
hole saws in the pastis that the saw
gets jammed onto the arbor threads
so tightly that it becomes almost
impossible to remove when you
‘want to change saw sizes. But then T
found a neat hole
saw from Starrett
that solves. this
problem, as you
can see below,
Quick Change —
‘The arbor on this hole
saw has a couple of lock
pins that snap down and
engage a couple of holes in the saw,
preventing it from becoming,
jammed onto the threads too tightly.
To remove the sav, all you have to
do is pull back on the collar of the
arbor to retract the pins. Then the
saw easily spins off the threads. &&
saws are great for
installing focksets.
FIRST: run sace
Conant nerenct
LENE Re
SECOND: mean saw
oe
\OTE:noucn cur
Ne
You probably wouldn't think of using a router for
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