$2.50NOTES FROM THE SHOPNO. 39

WOODSMITH2

WOO[)SMITH (ISSN 016'4-4114) is publishedbimonlhly (~anu.ry. Malch. May, July.Saptember, Novelnbe,) by Wood,mlth Publlsl\lng Co..2200 Grand Ave., De, Moin.es. Jowa50312.WOOOSMITH 1$ rogl$1ere:Then file conversation turned to tech-

nlque. How do you hold the file' 'to makesure you're filing 811 edge that's perfectlysquare to the face of the 5erap'e,'?I've always relied on "touch." Some wayIjust kind of know when I'm filing a square'edge, At least, I just kind o( know about75%ot the time. There are plenty of dayswhen my "touch" is off a degree or. two.That's when Doug suggested switching

things around. "Why not hold the filesteady and move the scraper back andforih? Itmight be more accurate. A1Iyou'dhave to do is build a little jig .. ."My eye$lit up at the mention ofbuilding

yet another jig. A few minutes later we

Number 39

Sawdust

3WOODSMITH

It you'd like to share awoodwo4'king lip wltholherr~aders 'of Woodsm;th, send your Idea to;Woodsmith, Tips & Technique., ~200Gran

WOODSMITH

18"

S~T SIIPeQRITHREE PIECES

UElUSE 5/4 C1'Ii,"J..STOC""...

fence. Now line up the pencil mark withthe left side of the dado bead, and clamp astop block to the fence at the ,igltt end ofthlJpasses over the dado head moving tbeworkpiece 00 the left until the hall-lapextends to the end. Cut the same half-lapon one end of all six $UppOI'\ pieces.

CUTT'O .. ENGTI!. With the angled half-laps complete, the supports can be cub toJinal length. The important distance isfrom the heel of t.he half-lap to the farand.'l'Mmt~e back supports (A) to final lengthso thi~ distance is 1'1", and the seat sup-ports (8) to length so this distance is 18",.eeFig. 1.SEAT SUPI'ORT TEMPL,\,rr.. Next, J cut

the top edge of the seat supports (ll) so tlleslats would form a comfortable curved

--'i

shape. To get this curved shape, Imade a tJcardboard template, see Detail in Fig. 3.Tape a 12"'x 24" piece of cardboard to tbe

top oflhe workbench. Then the template;"laill out SO the bottom edge of the sealsupport is on the long (24> edge.1b fo('DIthe curved top edge of the pat-

tern, strike two larl1\' arcs ($'and 12"radii)using thefOC

pETAI18

PILOT HOLELOCATIONS

ALLMOllS ON lACKSU~1tt t~APART

o.;lU.. ~ "to,HOl$ DEl'

RGutE.

FIGURE 'f

DRIU HOLES THlOUGH toTH 'II!CES

s.'t~..,.....

-OlAw INSHOULDUUN"

5

z

ftGU:tE 3

I.... I

GHTlCU...

CUT AWAYWASTI

llM. v.SUppoRT ~ IIMPLAT~ ,

(OGf OfW_WIa"r. AfUlr determining the size of I

thadowel stock cut a trial piece and push it.Iinto the infeed hole. It should fittighton aU r four corners. (l~'s better to be a tittle too ") TO :: ) .~~t:fighb than too Joose.} W' 1'/.~FI" (p ./"" '

WOOOSMITH

28"" SlOUGli27-,"ANAt

r "ONT/8ACK

NOlf~ 1~ItN,FAAMEPIEcESON EDGE;!EJORE MIllAtHO

SIDE

~

IVIDtRSMA)"Ctto.HIElTN Of~ltC.ES

DIVIDERSC

.

\. CUT DTOOI~S HEEl,.T"NG-.. SlD'.

,I

rRONT/8ACK A~ls~======~j~C=~============2~1~=~FIGURE1

the bottom edges, see Fig. 5.ROIJNQ ENOS OP D,I\T)I)ERS. Since the in-

side edges of the t"ay frame are rounded,there's an awkward transition between theends-of the dividers and the rounded edgesof the fronVbaok pieces. To smooth tfiistransition, 1 eounded the ends' of th.dividers.'frying to round lhe ends of such small

piece. is a tricky operaticn. '~he techniquer used to do this was to clamp the dividerstogether along with. piece of scrap, seeFig. 6. This assembly is then wide enoughto safely rout the ends on the router table.With. the pieces clamped together, rout the

on cf thedlvlders, ~ Pig.4. these are located 2" from the endof the divider; and centered W down 6"

IFENCE0/0'

ROUND-OVEtt.n

RGUttS 11"_ fflllCE

T ,,,I I..c::l...'1" . ./ ;b!;

'JjpiI

$'

fIGURE 4

19

'ENe!:

nNe.E

, VISE

y""L

SIDE@:

,.'

",ONTI8ACI(,..._ .

'OP'OG,/

flM\f"'ONT

ZGUR.'r~ (~~SUOf OIVIO,. ~ /AtOKGm 'h I \'.$QUAJlE __ - y_.OOWlL t:?' ./

~~ _ e:>~ V'RYSOUA.'

'S' 7' ~ 1 >MA'KUH'~ ~ \)/LONG 'Of~"ci:~~ -,

PO....UOH-

ROURE 1

vUS~~~.' OfVISE TOAllGN

olvloER V(iI,lICAUY

WOODSMITH

F~URr

THE POUCH BASES

After Ihe carrier frame W.IS assembled, Tmade the LwO bases (E) thaLform the bottoms of ,he side "pouches". These basesar.made (rom ~thicl< stock, see Fig. a.Shop Note; If~thick stock is not avail-

able, you can make the base by resawing41~stock. Pirsl, eur three pieces of 414steek 1%" wide by 16" long, The" turnthese picces 011 edge and resew them to athickness ofjust over y,'. E

THEDRILLINGTlMPLATE ". CUT NOM HAROWOOD I~H~~ .......l- S' "II ~The bases (E) are joined to the carrier I 7'frame with 3 whole bunch or dowels (56 in r ++ Po'-ali). In order Loposition the holes for these tdowels, r made a drilling template, .. ~."'" r.:l

Cut a piece of 414 hardwood (I used eak) .. f-, ~~. "ltD..~. the sam. size OJ! the base, sec Fig,=:i112. Then drill ~-dia. beles centered I~ C,~,1Vapart and ~. rrom the outside edge, sec Fig. 10. (It's best to drill th ... hol.s on a

-*-_SIDE" lAS' . I I Ibase and push the dowels inLo (he holes. , 1',Then dab glue in the hoies in the carrier $/,.frame. and press the frame over the other iI"", fjends of the dowel s, , IFL~ISHING.After the dowel" are ~Iucd in

place, I applied two C

21

InWood.milk No. 38webegan ourfinishing 8Cri~8 with an article on"Surface Preparation." About thotime I was wrlUng thaI arncle Ireceived" lotto.' (loom.reader ask-ing why \\'0

WOODSMITH22

brown), buml umber (dark brown) sod"an Dyke (dark chocolate brown). By ad-ding these colors a tittle bit at a time, youcan obtain just about any shad e.

II', best to be a little con.'U;IItd woods.This works to a point. Out paste wood

filler doesn't always fill lip 100% of everyPOrE'. This leaves minute crevices on thesurface of the wood that need topping off- with a sealer.

Also, when I'm working with cl08e~omitted woods - such :lIJ pine. maple,birch, and cherry - where filler isn'tneeded, ( sometimes usc t~sealer to fill inthe minute pores and level the surface.

If you want to use 8.81er as a liquidfiller, there arc several products available.Tho,", labelledjust.plain "sealer" pro, ide aclear impenetrable base coat (or steins andtop coats. "Filler-sealers" USUallycontainoilie. and are thinned down, but clearer.vo ... ion~ of paste wood fillc1' Perhaps them~l commonover-the-counter product. iscalled "sanding' seale.',"

!

23WOODSMITH

11l clamp the dowel in this hoie. cut an-other kerf that goes through the center ofthe hole. Now, slide the dowel in the hole,elamp the sides of the jig tight around thedowel, and use a back saw to cut. kerf inthe end for a wedge.

~DEYIEWoown

CUT$KONOKlltF ON.....s.w

stick with a notch on the end to push theworkpiece tight against the fence as thejigpush .. it througb the blade.

WEDGEDDOWns

If )'OU remember Tinker Toys, you knowthe whole theory behind the wedged dowels we used for the "breakfast in bed" trayand earrter (see pages. 14.and 18).Thi. project involved what ohould be a

very simple operation: putting the end of.y....-dia, dowel in a ~-dia. hole. But thisnever seems to work the ".~. it should.The dowel is always" tad too big or asmidgen tOOsmall U) fit just right.To solve this problem, 1 used an en-

haneed version of the Tinker To)' method- jUgt cut. kerf in the end of the doweland add" wedge.Tomake sure the kerns centered on the

dowel. 1 u~ed a small holding jig. sec Fig..1. Start by cutting a guide kerf with theback saw about I' from the end and Y....deep. Then drill a hole the sam. size as thedowel. centered on this kerf.

An.er this notch is cut. cut H piece of y.-Ma.onit~ long enough to fit th. notch. and"ide enough to extend to the surface of thetabl e. Note: Cut this hold-down wilh"heels" on both edges. A. one edge getsworn just Rip the piece over 10 use theoth er edge. b'or very narrow piece I alSocut n hold-down out of W' Masonite.Then to mount this piece In the nOleh,

drill. pilot hole centered in the nteh,andsere w a hex-bead bolt in th. hole. (AIthough this may not seem proper, thethread. will "screw" intc the wood.)Screw in the bolt far enough 80 about 11..

of the threads ",'0 len. sticking out. Thencut off the shank (unthreaded PRlt) and t,hehead of the bolt.Shop Note: \Vhenever you cut a

threaded piece to length. the end gets allgoofed up so it's difficult to thread on a nut.To801,.this problem. thread on a nut first.thon cut t h. piece to length and unscrewthe nut. As the nut comes off it will"clean"the threaded end.Now, in order to mount t.h liding hold-

down, drill a series of an" holes LO form aslot that tits over the th,..,nds of the bolt.Mount the hold-down over the bolt andhold it in plaee with a washer and wing nut.Then screw and glue another piece ofM... nite to the right side of the block to

"OLD $11111AO/JN5TFENce WITH NOfCtilO

GUloe '''(I(

WING{HurANDWASH'.

SUOINGHOlD-OOWN

hold it sgoinst the renee.To cut narrow pieces. ~lide the bold-

down over the stock and tighten the wingnUL.see Fig. 3. I aL", use a .mall guide

'\SCflEW

ANDGlUE toetOCK

.. fH.fADID fIORfION- 01'/4' lOll-~

exactly the same size. 1 needed a bettermethod than the "waste edge" approach.The scluticn was a special push jig ror

small pieees, see Fig. 2. Thisjig rides overthe fenee and guides picees as amall as \I." x\10" securely through the blnde with nodange. of kickback.Tomake lhejig, cut. blo

WOOI)SMITH24

half.pints, quarts, and gallons. Sherwin-Williams carries SII,e1Wood Natura!FiUe,. in gallons only.Order Behlen's Pore-O'Pae from:WOODF'NlsmN(,: SUPPLYCO.. INC" (see

address above). Behle,,'. Po,'eOPacPast. Wood Filler, Natural, Order No,B74404FI6 (quart), $9.30; Order No.B744-04F17 (gallon), $26,70, They alsocarry seven colored paste wood fillers.Naphtha or VM & P (varnish makers'

and 'Painters') naphtha is recommended tothin most paste wood fillers. If it isn'tavailable locally, you can order it Iroml\'ood Finishing Supply. Beh,,,,,'s Naph.Iha, Order No, B650-OO56(quart), ~.50:Order No, B650..()()57(gallon), $1,2.00.Japan Colors can be used to tint natural

paste wood filler (seebox at bottom o[page22). WoodFinishingSupply offel-s19JapanColors (sec catalog~, We mentioned Bel".1111'."B"r"t Umber Japa" Color, OrderNo, Bif60..14334 (. pt.), $6.88.Artists' oil colors also can be used to tint

paste wood filler. 'rhey're available int~thpastestyle tubes (usually 1.25 fl. oz.)from '''~ supply stores. Common brandnames are Liquitex, Bellini, Grumbachel;and Windsor & Newton's. Prices rangefrom $2 to $7, hut earth colors (the siennasand umbel'S) are the least expensive.

SANDING SEALER

The problem in selecting the correct sand-ingsealer is compatibility - it must be.compatible with the top coat. Those I.belled "lacqu .. sanding sealer" should onlybe used under a lacquer top coat, Sherwin-Williams, for example, makes Sh.t,Woodu.~){e;- Sa>