Fine Woodworking - 243Nov-Dec2014

TAUNTON’S

Greene and Greene

blanket chest

Tricks for tough glue-ups Make custom moldings by hand TOOL TEST

Midsize routers Build a desk into any dresser MASTER CLASS

An easier, stronger chair joint

Dec. 2014

No. 243

www.finewoodworking.com

Side table from a single board, p. 58

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

3


■

ISSUE 243

contents features 30 COVER STORY

It’s all about the details. Our expert shows how to get them right

14 MITER-GAUGE SQUARING JIG

up front

BY DARRELL PEART

38

Tame Tricky Glue-Ups Custom cauls can handle every angle and curve BY MICHAEL FORTUNE

6 On the Web 8 Contributors

Build a Greene and Greene Blanket Chest

46

Desk in a Drawer Add a pull-out desk to any chest of drawers

10 Letters 14 Methods of Work ■

■

Easy jig for squaring tablesaw miter gauge Rubber-band brush wiper

18 Tools & Materials ■

■

■

Stout contractor’s saw with smart features Self-cleaning vacuum is quiet and efficient Tenon saws are a great value

BY CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORT

52

Midsize, Fixed-Base Routers

TOOL TEST

Great combination of power and control BY MARC ADAMS

58

Make a Table from a Board Stylish side table is a great lesson in getting the most out of your lumber BY MICHAEL PEKOVICH

66

The Why of the Windsor

24 Handwork

A veteran maker explains the roots, the rationale, and the powerful appeal of America’s classic chair

Custom moldings with hand tools

BY CURTIS BUCHANAN

18

NEW TABLESAW FROM RIKON

Cover photo: Steve Scott

38

CAULS FOR TRICKY GLUE-UPS

46

58

PULL-OUT DESK IN A DRAWER

ONE-BOARD TABLE PROJECT

in the back 74 Readers Gallery 78 Q & A ■ ■ ■

Fix for a wandering handsaw Router table is better for small shops Seal your project with dewaxed shellac

82 Master Class Powerful new joint: Housed double tenons are strong and simple to make

90 How They Did It The back cover explained

Back Cover Chair Story

LIKE THIS APP? Your feedback is valuable to us

52

MIDSIZE ROUTERS

on the web THIS MONTH ON

FineWoodworking.com/extras

Visit our website to access free online extras, available October 1. While you’re there, don’t miss our collection of free content, including tool reviews, an extensive project gallery, and must-read blogs.

Flawless Finish for Greene and Greene Unlock the secrets of Darrell Peart’s simple finish for Greene and Greene furniture (p. 30).

Editor

Thomas McKenna

Executive Art Director

Michael Pekovich

Special Projects Editor Senior Editors

Asa Christiana Matthew Kenney Jonathan Binzen

Associate Editor

Ben Blackmar

Free eLetter

Assistant Editor

Dillon Ryan

Get free plans, videos, and articles by signing up for our FREE eLetter at FineWoodworking.com/ newsletter.

Senior Copy/ Production Editor

Elizabeth Healy

Deputy Art Directors

Kelly J. Dunton John Tetreault

Administrative Assistant Shop Manager Contributing Editors

Methods of Work

Betsy Engel William Peck Christian Becksvoort Garrett Hack Roland Johnson Steve Latta Michael Fortune Jim Richey

FineWoodworking.com Senior Web Producer Web Producer

Rethinking the Cabriole Leg

Chisel Tricks from a Master

Learn how Michael Pekovich (p. 58) reimagined the classic cabriole leg, transforming it into a modern masterpiece with simple lines.

Your chisels are a lot more versatile than you might think. Period furniture pro Philip Lowe demonstrates a variety of tips and tricks for this humble benchtop tool.

Become an online member Access more than 1,000 exclusive project and technique videos by subscribing to FineWoodworking .com. You’ll also get nearly 40 years of magazine archives at your fingertips, including 1,400-plus articles and project plans.

VIDEO WORKSHOP

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Design and create your own geometric and mosaic veneer patterns

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6

FINE WOODWORKING

Ed Pirnik Lisa Raleigh

Fine Woodworking: (ISSN: 0361-3453) is published bimonthly, with a special seventh issue in the winter, by The Taunton Press, Inc., Newtown, CT 06470-5506. Telephone 203-426-8171. Periodicals postage paid at Newtown, CT 06470 and at additional mailing offices. GST paid registration #123210981. Subscription Rates: U.S., $34.95 for one year, $59.95 for two years, $83.95 for three years. Canada, $36.95 for one year, $63.95 for two years, $89.95 for three years (GST included, payable in U.S. funds). Outside the U.S./Canada: $41.95 for one year, $73.95 for two years, $104.95 for three years (payable in U.S. funds). Single copy U.S., $7.99. Single copy Canada, $8.99. Postmaster: Send address changes to Fine Woodworking, The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 S. Main St., PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506. Canada Post: Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Fine Woodworking, c/o Worldwide Mailers, Inc., 2835 Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7, or email to [email protected]. Printed in the USA

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contributors Curtis Buchanan (“The Why of the Windsor,” How They Did It, and the back cover) makes chairs full time in the small shop he built behind his house in the heart of Tennessee’s oldest town, Jonesborough. He also tends a robust vegetable garden and occasionally sells some of his produce at the thriving weekly Jonesborough farmer’s market, which he co-founded. He and his wife, Marilyn, have two daughters: Summer, a key employee at the Jonesborough library, and Maria, a singer and actor in Asheville. What advice do you give to aspiring chairmakers? “You can do it! Find yourself a small town and settle down right in the middle of it; they’ll be happy to adopt you.”

Group Publisher VP, Advertising Sales

Anatole Burkin [email protected] Rick Straface [email protected]

Digital Ad Sales Manager

Noelle Kennedy 203-304-3530 [email protected]

Custom Solutions Manager

Brenden Delaney 203-304-3590 [email protected]

Senior National Account Manager

Linda Abbett 203-304-3538 [email protected]

Advertising Sales Assistant

Diana Mackey

Director of Advertising Sales Marketing

Karen Lutjen

Advertising Marketing Associate

Laura Holt

Member Audit Bureau of Circulation

His earliest memories were of sawing and hammering, so it’s natural that Garrett Hack (Handwork: “Custom moldings with hand tools”) became a furniture maker. But first he studied civil engineering and architecture at Princeton University, and later attended Boston University’s Program in Artisanry. He is a contributing editor to FWW, former chairman of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters, and teaches throughout the United States as well as in Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Australia, Austria, and Japan.

Those who work with executive art director Michael Pekovich (“Make a Table from a Board”) at FWW know him as a talented furniture maker and graphic designer who is committed to bringing complicated subjects to our readers in the clearest way possible. He’s also the go-to guy for solutions to our own furniture-making snafus. But on his own time, Mike is building quite a resumé as a teacher. This year he’s taught a long list of classes, from weekend workshops on hand-tool skills to weeklong classes at Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking and the Marc Adams school.

Digital Marketing Director Senior Director, Interactive

Michael Stoltz

Web Design Director

Jodie Delohery

Independent publishers since 1975 Founders, Paul & Jan Roman

President Chief Digital Oficer

For more information on our contributors, go to FineWoodworking.com/authors.

8

FINE WOODWORKING

We are a reader-written magazine. To learn how to propose an article, go to FineWoodworking.com/submissions.

Timothy Rahr John Brown

Group Publisher

Anatole Burkin

Group Publisher

Maria Taylor

SVP, Creative & Editorial SVP, Operations

Susan Edelman Thomas Luxeder

VP, Single Copy Sales

Jay Annis

VP, Advertising Sales

Rick Straface

VP & Controller VP, Human Resources

Our editors love visiting the expansive shop of contributing editor Michael Fortune (“Tame Tricky Glue-Ups”), which sits on a quiet log-cabin homestead 100 miles outside Toronto. And everyone learns the rules. There are mandatory coffee breaks in the morning and afternoon, which include excellent cookies made by Michael’s wife, Janice. Coffee cups must be left by the shop door so they make it back to the house each night. And after all that coffee, if you need to head out the back door to the woods, you are not allowed back in without three pieces of firewood.

Sara Ezrin Larsen

VP, Fulillment VP, Product Engineering

Wayne Reynolds Carol Marotti Patricia Williamson Nancy Kopfensteiner

Publishers of magazines, books, videos, and online Fine Woodworking • Fine Homebuilding Threads • Fine Gardening • Fine Cooking taunton.com

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9

letters Spotlight Anatole Burkin, Fine Woodworking’s publisher, has decided to leave the company and head back home, to the West Coast. Some people here speculate that he wanted to leave Connecticut before the next harsh winter hit, but the truth is he wanted a change and to be closer to family. Anatole has strong roots at the magazine, starting as an associate editor and quickly moving up the ranks to the chief editor position. As the lead editor, he noticed my interest in woodworking and encouraged me to take a chance and jump from copy editor to associate editor, a move that I’ve never regretted. He was a great mentor, and a strong leader and advocate for our franchise. Most of all, though, he is a friend who will be missed. —T O M M C KE N N A , e d i to r

Festool coverage: Fair or foul? I was pleased to see your recognition of the Festool Domino (“Domino Changes the Game,” FWW #242). In the past three years, I have seen many articles in many woodworking publications addressing methods of joinery. I couldn’t believe the Domino wasn’t mentioned again and again. The Festool Domino has all the makings of a fantastic product when compared with other mortise-and-tenon techniques. It saves time. It delivers a more uniform, accurate result. It is quite easy to understand. And it enables joinery of large and small pieces. Kudos for finally delivering a much overdue article on the Domino. —J AC K V I T E L L I , Me n d o ta H e i g h ts, Mi n n .

FOND FAREWELL When I was hired by The Taunton Press in 1996, I immediately hit the road, documenting the work of the folks who put the “fine” in Fine Woodworking. Oh, it wasn’t all gossamer shavings and dust-free finishes, mind you. There were times when just getting to the author’s shop was a trial, be it from delayed flights, broken light kits, or poor directions (or sense of direction)—at least before we all

A six-page ad for Festool? Really? Geez, you should have put them on the cover, too. Next time put an “advertisement” bug on each page. —G E O R G E D E N N IS , D e nve r, Co l o .

had GPS in our pockets. Capturing the detail of a woodworker’s progress required countless requests to make yet another spare part and one more awkward slow-motion movement to get just the right photo. Fair to say, on photo shoots patience was a virtue tested to the limit. Imagine then coming back from the shoot and anxiously waiting for the film to be developed (in the old days when we used film) only to realize that the author was wearing orange and green plaid. My first art director thought I was color blind. Paring the author’s precious words into an article that fit the constraints of a magazine wasn’t always a picnic, either. I still remember receiving a chilling fax message from an author with a drawing of Dirty Harry, revolver in hand, and the scrawled words: “Go ahead, make one more change!” Well, it is time for one more change. I am leaving The Taunton Press and moving back to the West Coast, where I’ll put to good use all the tips and techniques provided by woodworkers patient enough to work with editors like myself. Thanks for the memories. —A N AT O L E B U R KI N , p u b l i sh e r

Nail drawbore offset with a punch I look forward to every opportunity to learn from Steve Latta, and his method for drawboring tenons was no exception (“Drawbore Your Tenons,” FWW #241), but I might suggest one modest refinement. Rather than marking the offset hole in the tenon with the drill bit, and then having to eyeball a second mark with an awl, I make a single mark with a suitable size transfer punch. So, for example, if the dowel hole is 3⁄8 in. dia., I use a 19⁄64-in.-dia. punch, making sure it’s firmly pressed against the shoulder side of the hole. I then have a single mark that’s offset the “fat 32nd” Steve recommends. And I certainly agree that drawboring tenons makes glue-ups less stressful. I would be confident in the long-term integrity of those joints, even if I wasn’t sure I had remembered to glue them. —H OWA R D SKI L L I N G T O N, W i n s t o n -S a l e m , N .C.

10

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To contact us: Fine Woodworking The Taunton Press 63 South Main Street PO Box 5506 Newtown, CT 06470-5506 Tel: 203-426-8171 Send an email: [email protected] Visit: inewoodworking.com To submit an article proposal: Write to Fine Woodworking at the address above or Call: 800-309-8955 Fax: 203-270-6753 Email: [email protected]

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To contact Fine Woodworking customer service: Email us at [email protected] To speak directly to a customer service professional: Call 800-477-8727 9am-5pm ET Mon-Fri To sell Fine Woodworking in your store: Call us toll-free at 866-452-5179, or email us at [email protected] To advertise in Fine Woodworking: Call 800-309-8954, or email us at [email protected] Mailing list: We make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable irms. If you would prefer that we not include your name, please visit: inewoodworking.com/privacy or call: 800-477-8727 9am-5pm ET Mon-Fri For employment information: Visit careers.taunton.com The Taunton guarantee: If at any time you’re not completely satisied with Fine Woodworking, you can cancel your subscription and receive a full and immediate refund of the entire subscription price. No questions asked. Copyright 2014 by The Taunton Press, Inc. No reproduction without permission of The Taunton Press, Inc.

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letters

continued

Waterproofing Fortune’s chair Michael Fortune’s garden chair (“Comfortable Outdoor Chair,” FWW #241) is outstanding, quite beautiful, and undoubtedly sturdy. One minor improvement I’d suggest is to coat the bottom of each leg and the chamfers with epoxy resin, such as West Systems or one of the many others. It makes the exposed end grain in contact with the ground waterproof and will prevent water migrating up the legs and deteriorating the wood.

The tools have never rusted in my garage workshop prior to placing in the cabinet. Your advice is urgently appreciated. —J O H N SC H E E SSE L E , P i ttsb u rg h , Pa .

Editor replies: It sounds like you’re locking the moisture inside the cabinet, where it can attack your tools. There are a few things you can try. First, you can treat your tools with a rust-proofer, such as CRC Industrial 3-36 or Moovit, which performed best in a test of a variety of products (“Got Rust?,” FWW #227). I’d also recommend using a volatile corrosion

Router bit for relieved rabbet How did Gerald Curry make the “curved rabbet” on the drawer bottoms (“Build Perfect Drawers,” FWW #242, p. 43)? I assume that was a router bit, but I am not sure which type and size was used. By the way, that was an excellent article. I plan to study it thoroughly and put those techniques into practice. —T I MO T H Y C A L D E RWO O D, Cr o ft o n , Md.

Asa Christiana replies: Curry forms these curve-cornered rabbets with an old shaper bit that he custom-ground. But he says a router bit would also work, like one designed for dish-carving (Item No. 91144 from Rockler), or a panel-raising bit with a rounded profile.

—JAMES S . WALD RO N, S t . J ohns R iver, F la.

Keep wood out of the oven, or else I have been having troubling thoughts concerning a recent Q&A item (“Dry small parts in your oven,” FWW #243). Just wondered if Fine Woodworking is now offering marriage counseling and discount divorce lawyers as part of its customer service? Use the oven for woodworking? For a few days? I shudder to contemplate the consequences.

inhibitor (VCI) or desiccant inside the cabinet to fight moisture. With both VCIs and desiccants, you need to keep the cabinet closed; otherwise they lose their effectiveness fairly quickly. For more information on both, see “Other ways to manage moisture,” FWW #227, p. 34.

Two rust fighters. VCIs (left) emit molecules that settle on metal surfaces and form a protective barrier against moisture. Desiccants (right) remove moisture from the air. VCIs have a shelf life and need to be replaced periodically while some desiccants can be recharged and reused.

Wrong price in sprayer article The price listed for Apollo’s ECO-3 spray system with the E7000 gun was incorrect (“Spray for Less,” FWW #242). The price is $649.

—ALLEN N EFF, Br unner, Ont ., C anad a

Rust attacks tools inside cabinet I built the hanging tool cabinet in Tools & Shops Winter 2014 (“A Cabinet for Hand Tools,” FWW #237). The cabinet is beautiful and improved my woodworking skills in many areas. I did experience one problem. After finishing and hanging the cabinet, I placed my planes on the plane till. They all rusted. Fortunately, I was able to remove the light rust by sanding. I finished the cabinet with boiled linseed oil and two topcoats of shellac. The cabinet hangs on a concrete block wall with the back contacting the blocks.

Revisions to robust table In the illustration on p. 71 of “Robust Kitchen Table” (FWW #241), the bit diameter should be 1⁄2 in., not 11⁄2 in. Also, on the same page, the slot in the template for the stretcher mortise should be 31⁄4 in. long to yield a flat that is 23⁄4 in. long. The corrected drawing is shown here.

31⁄4 in. Guide bushing, 1 in. dia.

Straight router bit, 1 ⁄2 in. dia.

23⁄4 in.

About your safety Working wood is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or ignoring standard safety practices can lead to permanent injury or even death. Don’t perform operations you learn about here

12

FINE WOODWORKING

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methods of work

E D I T E D A N D D R AW N B Y J I M R I C H E Y

Runner snug in slot.

Cut off one side to create reference edge.

1

⁄2-in. MDF, attached to runner Use reference edge to square miter gauge with triangle. Plastic drafting triangle

2. ALIGN MITER GAUGE 1. CREATE ALIGNMENT JIG

Best Tip Easy jig for

Rotate jig so reference edge is on right.

squaring tablesaw miter gauge Larry Schaller has been a woodworker for 40 years. Selftaught, he loves making furniture for his family, including cradles for his grandchildren. His favorite tool in the shop? His tablesaw—a gift from his wife.

I used to use a framing square against the blade to set my tablesaw’s miter gauge to 90°, but I found this method awkward because you have to rotate the blade or raise its height to make sure the square isn’t touching the teeth. This jig makes it easier. Rip a snug-fitting runner for the right-side miter-gauge slot and attach it to a piece of 1⁄2-in. MDF that extends past the blade. Push the MDF through the saw to cut off the excess, and you have a perfect reference surface for setting the miter gauge. Now I use a large plastic drafting triangle, which is easier, lighter, and more accurate than a framing square. You can use the same jig to adjust the rip fence parallel to the blade. Flip the jig around, bring the rip fence up against it, and adjust the fence until it is flush with the edge of the jig. — L A R R Y S C HA L LE R , E d g e r to n , W i s.

14

FINE WOODWORKING

Align fence with edge of jig.

3. ALIGN RIP FENCE

A Reward for the Best Tip Send your original tips to fwmow@ taunton.com or to Methods of Work, Fine Woodworking, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470. We pay $100 for a published tip with illustration; $50 for one without. The prize for this issue’s best tip was a 48-tooth Forrest Woodworker II sawblade.

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Motor: 3 HP, 220V, single-phase, 12.8A Blade tilt: Left • Table height from floor: 34" Table size with extension: 27" x 743⁄4" Arbor speed: 4300 RPM • Arbor size: 5⁄8" Maximum dado width: 13⁄16" Maximum depth of cut @ 90°: 31⁄8" Maximum depth of cut @ 45°: 23⁄16" Maximum rip capacity: 50" Distance from front of table to center of blade: 171⁄4" • Overall dimensions: 40" H x 41" W x 82" L • Approximate shipping weight: 557 lbs.

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methods of work

continued

Rubber-band brush wiper When applying finish from a can, most of us dip the brush into the finish and then wipe off the excess on the edge of the can. This invariably leaves some finish in the rim. Not only does this waste finish, but the finish also hardens in the rim and prevents the lid from getting a good seal, which speeds up the deterioration of the remaining finish. Here’s a better way. Stretch a hefty rubber band around the open can so that it is taut and centered over the opening. Now you can wipe the brush on the rubber band, and the surplus finish will drip back into the can, keeping the rim clean. — ELIS A D E CHECA, Barcelona, S pain

Stretch rubber band over mouth of can.

Extra finish falls back into can, not into the rim.

Rare-earth magnets hold pads in place.

Plywood pad keeps metal jaws from damaging woodworking.

Magnetic vise-jaw pads prevent bite marks I use a cast-iron machinist’s vise for a lot of woodworking projects. To keep the steel jaws from damaging my workpiece, I always used a couple of pieces of scrapwood between the jaws. But I often fumbled to keep them in place while I secured the work. To solve the problem, I cut two pieces of plywood, drilled two shallow 1⁄2-in. holes into each one, and glued in rare-earth magnets. Now the protective pads are held securely in place on the jaws while I’m working with wood, and can be quickly removed when I’m working with metal. —B I L L WE LLS , O l ym pi a , Wa s h .

White address label

Address labels highlight layout marks on dark woods Precise and clear layout lines are essential for crisp joinery. But layout lines are notoriously hard to see on walnut and other dark woods. To help, I attach an address label to the wood and lay out the joinery on that. The white label gives me a nice contrasting background to lay out my joinery, making it easy to read later on. Address labels are cheap, come in a variety of sizes, don’t leave a residue on the wood, and can be found at any office-supply store. — J AC QUES B R E A U , O tta w a , O n t. , C a n a d a

16

FINE WOODWORKING

Black walnut makes it hard to see pencil lines.

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17

tools & materials ■MACHINES

Stout contractor’s saw with smart features

Tablesaw by Rikon 10-201 $1,000

T

HERE IS A LOT TO LIKE about

Rikon’s left-tilt contractor’s tablesaw. It has a big castiron table, a powerful motor, stout trunnions, a smooth belt-drive system, and a welldesigned riving knife. The three-piece tabletop is 27 in. deep by 40 in. wide with a rigid understructure that’s easy to adjust if you need to level the top (the saw I tested did not need to be adjusted after assembly). Under the table is a beefy arbor assembly and trunnions. A short flat-belt drive, much like you’d find in a cabinet saw, provides smooth, accurate power transfer from the 11⁄2-hp motor to the arbor. The motor has ample power, letting me rip a bunch of thick hardwood with a fairly brisk feed rate. The riving-knife mount is easy to access and switching from the knife to the guard is painless. The T-fence moves easily,

Big table. With 40 in. of cast iron, the saw’s table is wide enough to support just about every cut a furniture maker normally makes.

18

FINE WOODWORKING

locks securely, and has an easy-to-read cursor. Dust collection was exemplary for a small contractor’s saw, with a dust port centered in the bottom of the enclosed cabinet. There also are a bunch of convenient features such as storage for the T-square rip fence and blade wrenches on the base, a paddle switch that can be located anywhere along the rip fence rail, a built-in mobile base, and an easy-to-remove throat plate. With its robust construction and smartly designed features, this saw is a great value. —Roland Johnson is a contributing editor.

No-hassle throat plate. Held in place by Quick-change riving knife. Accessing the magnets, the insert pulls up easily. And it’s 1⁄2 in. mounting hardware is easy, and it’s a snap to thick, so making shopmade inserts is no problem. switch to the guard assembly.

Photos, this page: Roland Johnson

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tools & materials

continued

■ACCESSORIES

Self-cleaning vacuum is quiet and efficient

T

HE NEW BOSCH VACUUM is a compact, efficient unit with airflow as good as the top-rated Bosch Airsweep from our most recent review (“Shop Vacuums,” FWW #223). We repeated the test used in the review, adding the optional HEPA filter ($106) and seasoning it before testing. The Auto Filter Clean feature activates automatically every 15 seconds and was very effective at keeping the airflow through the seasoned filter to about 70 cfm. This feature can be deactivated if the thumping noise bothers you, but don’t leave it off too long. In Power Tool Activation mode, the vacuum runs for 7 seconds to clear the dust from the hose after the tool is turned off. The power draw was only 9.5 amps, leaving almost 5.5 amps for the onboard tool outlet, more than other units we have tested. A “power broker” feature allows you to dial back the vacuum power to 7.5 amps for use with a larger tool or if you don’t want to suck a sander down too tight. The vacuum is quiet, too (77 db.), comparing favorably with

Shop vacuum by Bosch VAC090A

other units we $600 tested. Convenient features include a cord wrap, onboard storage for optional tools, and an effective hose wrap. The unit comes with a 15-ft., 11⁄4-in. inside-diameter hose but will also accept 21⁄2-in. and 11⁄2-in. hoses. —Bill Peck is FWW’s shop manager.

■HAND TOOLS

Tenon saws are a great value

Tenon saws by Veritas $119 for crosscut $119 for rip

VERITAS IS NOW SELLING TWO

large tenon saws (16-in. blades), a 12-tpi crosscut saw and a 9-tpi ripsaw. To test them, I used both to cut joints for a chest of drawers from white oak and yellow pine. With both saws, the height of the saw plate helped me keep cuts plumb. The teeth have minimal set, which is a benefit when sawing accurately to a line, a crucial component of joinery work. I also successfully used the crosscut saw for general bench tasks such as cutting off excess stock length and

20

FINE WOODWORKING

mitering with my shopmade miter box. Both saws, especially the crosscut, benefit from a light touch. Fortunately, the saws made quick progress through the work with minimal downward pressure. Overall, I was pleased with their performance. They are a great value. —Zach Dillinger, a furniture maker in Charlotte, Mich., works exclusively with hand tools. Photos, this page and p. 22: staff

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21

tools & materials

continued

■ACCESSORIES

Simple setup jigs for lock-miter joints Lock-miter jigs by Infinity $30 each

Magnets hold fast. They’re strong enough to keep the jig on the bit, but not so strong that you can’t adjust it perfectly.

Match the centers. With the workpiece flat on the table, set the bit’s height by aligning the centerlines on the jig and workpiece.

I HAVE USED LOCK-MITER ROUTER BITS for years. But setting up the

cuts for this exacting joint requires precision. The workpieces must be perfectly flat and have perfect edges, and the router table must have very good hold-downs and perfect infeed and outfeed faces. Finally, the bit’s height and protrusion from the fence must be exact, and dialing it in requires a lot of trial and error, which eats up test pieces. Infinity’s Lock Miter Master Jig greatly simplifies the setup job. The jig, which attaches to the bit with magnets, has engraved lines that help align the centerline of the bit with the workpiece’s centerline for both horizontal and vertical cuts (a video on infinitytools.com shows clearly how to do this). You still need test cuts to dial in the setup to perfection, but Infinity’s jig gets you closer from the start. The jig comes in two sizes. The smaller one (LMM-002) works with stock between 3⁄8 in. and 3⁄4 in. thick, while the larger jig (LMM-003) is for stock 5⁄8 in. to 13⁄16 in. thick. —Peter Breu is a woodworker in Manchester, N.H.

Our experts, your topics! Tune in to our Shop Talk Live podcasts to hear our editors interview experts and answer reader questions.

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© 2014 The Taunton Press

22

FINE WOODWORKING

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23

handwork

A

Make custom moldings WITH JUST A FEW PLANES, YOU CAN CREATE BEAUTIFUL PROFILES NOT FOUND IN THE ROUTER-BIT RACK B Y

ELLIPSE

COVE AND BEAD

OGEE AND A HALF-ROUND

5

15⁄8 in.

1 ⁄16 in.

3

G A R R E T T H A C K

⁄4 in. 1

⁄4 in.

5

⁄16 in.

11⁄8 in.

23⁄16 in.

3

⁄16 in.

23⁄16 in.

3

⁄16 in. 5

⁄8 in.

1

⁄2 in.

24

FINE WOODWORKING

7

⁄16 in.

pplied moldings have a long history in furniture making, and for good reason. A molding can be the aesthetic crown that tops a piece of furniture. Moldings create a play between light and shadow, adding visual interest. They also can serve as a visual grounding, or provide a sense of termination. Head over to your local home center and you’ll find a big selection of moldings, but those are all sized for architectural work. To get moldings proportioned for furniture, you need to make them. Perhaps the most common approach is to rout them, but then you’re stuck using the profiles and proportions of the bits. A better solution is to forgo the router altogether and create moldings with hand tools. It’s not as hard as you might think. With a few planes, you can easily create graceful

and beautiful custom profiles for your furniture that would be difficult or impossible with router bits. And there is no size limit, which allows you to dial in the proportions to complement the piece of furniture perfectly. For a piece of furniture, you probably won’t need more than several feet of molding. I’ve been making moldings this way for most of my career. Here, I’ll show you how I do it. Photos: Matt Kenney; drawings: John Tetreault

Elegant ellipse with everyday tools A block plane works great on convex curves. It’s the only tool you need to transform the common quarter-round into a graceful quarter-ellipse.

Lay out the profile. Hack does this on the molding blank’s leading edge, so he can gauge his progress as he removes waste at the tablesaw.

Power up. Angle the tablesaw blade to remove as much waste as possible in a single pass.

Use hand tools where it counts The majority (if not all) of the moldings you’ll make will require you to remove a fair amount of waste material before you get to the task of shaping the profile. You could do that by hand, with a shoulder or rabbet plane, but I don’t recommend it. Instead, use your tablesaw. This will let you get to the important job—creating the graceful lines of the molding—much faster. Begin with a blank wider than the molding (you’ll cut

Plane away the facets. Start with thick shavings along the grain, and finish up with light shavings, which create smaller facets, resulting in a smoother curve.

Check the profile. To ensure consistency, Hack relies on a template made from a thin piece of wood.


25

handwork

continued

Cove and bead are a refined pair All it takes is a scratch stock to give the common cove a bit of panache. Size the bead to complement the cove’s proportions.

the molding free after it’s made). After the tablesaw has eaten the waste, it’s time for the handplanes to turn the roughed-out shape into a beautiful molding. The easiest profiles to handle are fillets and convex curves. Fillets are really just rabbets, and you can clean them up with a rabbet or shoulder plane. The right tool for convex curves is a block plane. (I rarely use hollow planes. They’re troublesome to sharpen and set up.) Use a coarse setting to quickly remove material and get close to the final profile, and then switch to a fine cut, which leaves a smaller facet, making it easier to get a smooth curve from a tool that cuts flat surfaces. Concave curves are no more difficult than convex ones, except that you need

Refine the cove with a round plane. Match the plane’s radius to the cove’s as closely as you can. If the cove’s radius changes across the profile, switch out planes accordingly.

Begin the bead with a block plane. Roughing out the outside edge this way greatly speeds up the process of cutting the bead. Hack works to a layout line to rough in the bead.

26

FINE WOODWORKING

More cuts remove more waste. Speed up the work by taking several cuts with a tablesaw. To keep the molding stable throughout the process, remove the large chunk of waste on the bottom last.

Complete it with a scratch stock. This is the most accurate way to form a small bead. The cove needs to end in a narrow flat, as wide as the cutter.

Clean up with a scraper. To remove any ridges or tracks left by the round plane, use a gooseneck (shown). Rotate and angle the scraper to match the cove’s curve.

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handwork

continued

Beauty built from an ogee and a half-round Step away from the standard ogee by varying the curve’s radius, and create greater depth by adding a half-round at the bottom. Clean fillet. A rabbet plane removes machining marks left by the tablesaw blade and creates a crisp line where the fillet transitions to the ogee.

a specialty plane to create them efficiently. Ideally, you’d use a round plane with a radius that closely matches the molding’s profile, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Get as close as you can, and then use a gooseneck scraper to get the rest of the way. The trick with the scraper is to find the section that matches the profile most closely, and then rotate it on its vertical axis until the scraper’s edge is a perfect match. Or, if you’re up for it, file a scraper to match the molding. Finally, hand-sand the molding to remove any facets or bumps that are left. □ Garrett Hack, a longtime contributing editor, is a professional furniture maker in Vermont.

Prop up the molding. Resting the molding on a piece of scrap brings the cove section of the ogee closer to vertical, making it easier to plane.

Back to the block plane. Fair the convex curve, and create a smooth transition into the concave section.

28

FINE WOODWORKING

Make the half-round on a separate piece. This allows you to create the entire curve with a block plane, rather then needing a specialized plane or a very large scratch stock.

Glue on the half-round. Yellow glue and a few clamps are all you need. Hack glues the part together on a piece of plywood, making it easier to keep the two parts flat and properly aligned.

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30

D A R R E L L

FINE WOODWORKING

P E A R T

I

’ve long been drawn to the work of the brothers Henry Mather Greene and Charles Sumner Greene, the early 20th-century architects who designed and furnished some of the country’s most important Arts and Crafts bungalows. Their furniture stands apart for its elegant fusion of Japanese-inspired detail with solid, practical Craftsman design. The brothers designed blanket chests for two California homes—the Pratt House in Ojai and the Thorsen House in Berkeley. When I designed my chest, I used details from each of these two pieces, including the proud, pegged finger joints and the lid with raised breadboard ends, along with one from a smaller piece by the Greenes—the Ford House letter case. On that piece, two leather straps wrap the bottom so it won’t scratch the table it sits on. I thought a similar detail, rendered in wood, could lend visual weight to my chest’s base. Taken together, these details make for a fun and beautiful project. Photos: Steve Scott; drawings: Christopher Mills

Router jigs nail the finger joints MAKE TWO TEMPLATES

Fence

Peart glues up a pair of router templates, one for each half of the finger joint, from plywood strips. To ensure a precise friction fit, he carefully mills the strips for the finger sockets slightly wider than those for the fingers. Each template captures the workpiece between a pair of registration blocks that are screwed in place and provide a platform for toggle clamps. Use clamps to hold workpiece for routing.

1 in. 51⁄2 in.

119⁄64 in. 19

1 ⁄64 in. 15⁄16 in. 15⁄16 in.

FOR CASE FRONT AND BACK

Use spacer blocks to align strips.

FOR CASE SIDES

Edge-glue the strips. To assemble each template, clamp two straight cauls to the glue-up surface at a right angle to create a square reference corner (above). Spacer blocks help ensure that the finger sockets are uniformly deep. Apply clamping pressure on top of the glue-up (left) so the surfaces are flush for smooth router travel.

31

Cut the joints Workpiece

Rout the fingers. After removing the bulk of the waste with a jigsaw, clamp the workpiece into the template jig and use a 1⁄4-in.-dia. flush-trimming bit to complete the finger pattern on the end of each piece.

The case comes together with finger joints To create the large finger joints on the case, make a pair of routing templates by edge-gluing strips of 3⁄4-in. Baltic-birch plywood or MDF. For a snug fit, cut the strips for the template fingers about 1⁄64 in. narrower than the strips for the gaps. After the glue dries, the templates may need flattening with coarse-grit sandpaper. I use a wide-belt sander here, but a belt sander would also work. Then attach the registration blocks and toggle clamps that lock in the workpiece. Be sure to cut some test joints before using the templates on your project. To start the joinery, mark the finger locations on the blanks and jigsaw away the bulk of the waste between them. Clamp each blank to the template and rout, using a 1⁄4-in.-dia. spiral flush-trimming bit with a bottom bearing. This leaves the inside corners on each finger with a 1⁄8-in. radius. To create a matching 1⁄8-in. roundover on the mating fingers, remove the workpiece from the template and rout the finger edges with a miniature bearing, 1⁄8-in.-radius roundover bit (Amana MR0112). The joints should close on dry-fit with medium clamping pressure. If not, carefully clean up the inside corners with a rat-tail file. The finger joints are reinforced with screws hidden by square ebony plugs. To cut the square holes, I use a hollow punch from Lee Valley. To help align the holes, I clamp a straightedge to the workpiece. After laying out the peg locations, register the punch against the straightedge and strike it with a steel hammer to set it in place. Then use a twist bit inside the punch and drill about 3⁄8 in. deep. Remove the bit and punch the tool to the depth of the drilled hole. You can re-insert the bit to remove debris, but don't make the hole any deeper. Now sand the case parts to P220-grit. I bring the case together in stages, first assembling the two opposing

32

FINE WOODWORKING

Flushtrimming bit

Template

Soften the edges. Peart uses a bearing-guided roundover bit to ease the edges on each finger.

1

⁄8-in. radius roundover bit

Punch the peg holes. To create the square mortises for the decorative ebony plugs, Peart uses a hollow punch, which he aligns with a clamped-on straightedge. After seating the punch with a single strike, drill through it to the desired depth. Afterward, strike the punch again to drive it to the full depth of the mortise.

Assemble the chest

One corner at a time. After finish-sanding the fingers and applying a dab of glue on each one, Peart secures the joints with corner clamps, top and bottom (right). With this done, he drills a pilot hole in each finger and drives screws to lock the assembly together.

corners with corner clamps and then bringing the halves together. Because I’ll be screwing these joints, I don’t fully glue them. I put just a dab of glue on the inside of each finger where it will meet end grain in the gap. Pre-drill into the fingers for a #6 by 11⁄4-in. panhead screw. Make sure the screw head is smaller than the 5⁄16-in.-dia. plug hole. Do not run screws into the top and bottom finger of the front and back panels—these fingers tend to split. Check for square, but don’t fret if it’s a bit out. Final squaring will be done when the bottom is attached.

The base fingers are tablesawn The chest sits on a decorative base. The corners of the base are also finger-jointed, and these larger joints are quick and easy to make using a dado set. I make the cuts with the workpiece clamped vertically in a crosscut sled and registered against a stop block. I position the stop block to let me complete the joint with a pair of mirrored cuts, flipping the workpiece between them. This approach works well only if all the pieces are exactly the same width, so take care when milling, and test the setup on scrap. Start by cutting the centered notch on the ends of the long sides. I do each one in two passes, flipping the board and leaving the stop block at the same setting. To cut the mating finger on the ends of the short sides, leave the dado set’s height unchanged and reposition the stop block. Use the cut notch as a reference. It may take multiple adjustments to position the stop precisely. The joint should fit snugly with minimal friction.

Assemble and attach the base Cut peg holes in the base pieces, and round the fingers with a 1⁄8-in. radius roundover bit. To visually suggest that the base fingers bear the chest’s weight, I pillow their shape slightly by sanding with a folded piece of P80-grit paper. Use a shoe-shine motion until the roundovers are blended to a gentle arc. Finish-sand www.f inewoodworking.com

Build the base. Cut the large finger joints at the tablesaw with a dado set, then assemble the base like the case itself: Glue and screw the opposing corners, then bring the two halves together.

Add the bottom, then the base. With the case upside down, glue and screw the bottom to the case sides. Then set the base in position and screw it to the bottom using the screw blocks.


33

ARTS AND CRAFTS TREASURE CHEST Peart’s design for this blanket chest incorporates a number of Greene and Greene details, including the interlocking finger joinery at the case corners, the offset breadboard ends with ebony splines, and the faux leather straps that decorate the base. Edge trim, 5⁄16 in. thick by 15⁄16 in. wide, with 1 ⁄8-in.-dia. roundover on bottom

All pegs centered on thickness of lid panel. 21⁄8 in.

55⁄8 in.

111⁄4 in.

Notch trim for hinge.

3

⁄8 in.

3

⁄8 in.

3

⁄4 in.

3 in. #6 by 11⁄4-in. pan-head screws

LID DETAIL 1 in. 119⁄64 in. 15⁄16 in.

Ebony plugs, ⁄16 in. by ⁄16 in.

5

Ebony plug centered in width of finger

5

FINGER DETAIL 7

⁄8 in.

Ebony plug centered on width of finger

11

⁄16 in.

21⁄16 in.

51⁄2 in.

SIDES 7

11⁄4 in.

⁄8 in. 15

⁄16 in.

35⁄16 in.

15⁄8 in.

Bottom, mahogany plywood, ⁄4 in. thick by 173⁄4 in. wide by 393⁄4 in. long, glued and screwed to case Base sides, 1 in. thick by 3 in. wide by 431⁄4 in. long

3

ENDS 11⁄4 in.

STRAP

13⁄8 in.

BASE DETAIL 451⁄8 in.

221⁄2 in.

163⁄16 in.

34

FINE WOODWORKING

Lid panel, 7⁄8 in. thick by 221⁄8 in. wide by 401⁄8 in. long

Breadboard ends, 1 in. thick by 21⁄2 in. wide by 221⁄2 in. long Ebony decorative spline

Lid-stay torsion hinges from Rockler (part no. depends on lid weight)

Splines strengthen breadboard attachment. #8 by 3-in. pan-head screws affix breadboard ends to top. Sides, 3⁄4 in. thick by 113⁄4 in. wide by 41 in. long

Make the breadboard ends

Screw through blocks to bottom. Ends, 19 in. long

Roundover, 3 ⁄16 in. dia. Mitered edging, sides, ⁄4 in. thick by 1 in. wide by 413⁄4 in. long 3

Mitered edging, ends, 193⁄4 in. long

Base ends, 211⁄4 in. long

Ebony plugs, 1 ⁄4 in. by 1⁄4 in.

Screw blocks, 3⁄4 in. thick by 1 in. wide by 5 in. long Ebony plugs, 1 ⁄4 in. by 7⁄16 in.

www.f inewoodworking.com

the base parts to P220-grit, taking the end grain to P320-grit. The base comes together much like the chest itself; apply a dab of glue inside each finger, then clamp. Pre-drill for a screw into the center finger only. Afterward, attach 10 screw blocks around the inner perimeter, setting them about 1⁄32 in. below the top edge. The bottom of the chest is plywood with a solid-wood edging. It is screwed from below to the case, and then the base is screwed to the bottom. To do this, start with the assembled case upside down on the bench. Make sure the case is square, then set the bottom in place and add the base, making sure the overhang is even all around. Trace the position of the screw blocks onto the bottom, and remove the base. Secure the bottom temporarily by driving screws through it into two opposing corners of the case. Now predrill for the remaining screws. When this is done, back out the first two screws, and remove the bottom. Now run a bead of glue along the bottom edge of the case. To reseat the bottom, drive the two screws again until they protrude about 1⁄4 in. through the panel. With a helper, reposition the bottom using the points of the screws to find their corresponding holes. Drive the first two screws home, then the remaining screws. Now set the base back on the bottom, clamp it in place, and attach it with screws through the blocks.

Straps, 15⁄16 in. thick by 21⁄16 in. wide by 35⁄16 in. long

Mill the lid parts to final size, making sure that the breadboard ends are 1⁄8 in. thicker than the panel and about 3⁄8 in. longer than the panel is wide. Use a three-wing slot-cutter to run a groove for the splines in the panel and breadboard ends. Cut the holes for the square and rectangular ebony plugs on the outer edge of the breadboard end, centering the holes on the thickness of the panel, not the breadboard end itself. Next, predrill for the screws in the center of the holes. I use multiple splines, leaving gaps between them for the screws. Make sure the spline material is cut so its grain runs in the same direction as that of the panel. Before assembly, rout all the roundovers and sand the panel and breadboard ends. The splines are glued to the panel all the way across, but are only glued in the center 4 in. of the breadboard end. Now drive the screws. I rout the mortise for the decorative ebony spline with a slot-cutter, referencing off the lid’s bottom with the cutter centered on the panel. Square up the inside corners with a chisel. Mill and machine a piece of ebony to fit the cavity snugly and with enough excess width so it protrudes at least 1⁄8 in. from the mortise. Relieve NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

35

Build the lid BREADBOARD ENDS

Slots first. To hold the splines that align the breadboard ends, Peart routs slots in the end grain of the lid panel and in the mating edges of the breadboard ends.

Multiple splines make room for screws. Peart leaves 1⁄2-in. gaps between the splines to provide clearance for the long screws that will help hold the breadboard end in place.

the back of the spline on the breadboard end side so the panel can expand and contract without causing the ebony to bottom out. Glue the ebony in on the panel side only. Trim the spline with a 1⁄2-in. spiral straight bit. Make one pass with a 3⁄4-in. bearing, then switch to a 5⁄8-in. bearing and repeat. This will leave the ebony 1⁄16 in. proud. Finally, tape around the ebony to protect the surface, ease the edges with a chisel, and sand with P220-, P320-, and P600-grit.

Fasten the straps The final touch is a series of L-brackets that fit over the base and resemble leather straps stretched taut. Each bracket is shaped with a tablesawn cove on the front face and other curves created by spindle- and handsanding. I start with long mahogany blanks for the cove cut. I set the tablesaw blade about 3⁄16 in. high and guide the stock between a shopmade pair of parallel

On go the ends. One clamp provides the pressure to secure both breadboard ends. To avoid problems with wood movement, apply glue along the whole length of the slot in the lid panel, but only the center few inches of the slot in the breadboard ends.

SEAT THE DECORATIVE SPLINE

More mortises. When the breadboard ends come out of clamps, rout the mortise for the ebony splines that visually connect the ends to the panel. Peart uses a bearing-guided slot-cutter.

36

FINE WOODWORKING

Fit the spline. Bandsaw the inner edge of the spline to roughly fit the stepped contour of the mortise bottom. With the spline pressed into place, pencil a line for bandsawing the outer edge to shape. Trim the excess, but leave it proud. A spiral bit with an extralarge bearing follows the irregular surface where the panel meets the breadboard end, trimming the spline uniformly proud.

Make the straps Cut the cove. Using a push pad and push stick for safety, Peart guides the stock over the blade. Taking incremental cuts, he ends with the blade high enough to span most of the stock’s width, leaving a narrow flat on each edge.

Cut the short leg of the L. The first step in creating the strap’s L-shaped back is removing material at the top. Peart makes passes with a core-box router bit.

Finish the L. Peart makes a bandsaw cut along the strap’s length to meet the opening created by the router.

Glue the straps in place. No screws are used to secure the L-shaped brackets.

Install the plugs. After shaping and fitting the plugs, dab with glue and tap home with a small plasticheaded mallet.

fences that straddle the blade at 45° (see top left photo, above). adhesive-back sandpaper over a scrap with a 1⁄8-in. radiused edge. Once the cove is done, crosscut the individual pieces to length. Run the back of the strap over the paper until the transition is I cut the L-shape into the back in two steps. First, at the router smooth. To make sure each strap fits perfectly on the base, I use table, I define the short leg of the L using a 3⁄8-in.-dia. core-box another sandpaper trick. On the edge of the case bottom, where bit. This creates a 3⁄16-in. radius on the inside corner of the L that the strap will be applied, I stick a narrow strip of P80-grit adhesive will mate snugly with the rounded top edge of the base. Make sandpaper. In the same location, on the face of the base, I tape sure to back up the cut and take it in several light passes. Next, a piece of nonadhesive sandpaper, with its back side facing out. mark out for the curves in the sides and Run the strap back and forth across the top of the strap, and shape them at the sandpaper until the paper stops cutting. spindle sander. Cut the long leg of the The strap can now be glued in place. □ Learn more about Peart's finishing L at the bandsaw. To clean up the inmethod for Greene and Greene furniture. side corner, stretch a piece of 80-grit Darrell Peart makes furniture in Seattle.

Article Extra



37

Tame Tricky Glue-Ups Custom cauls can handle every angle and curve B Y

M I C H A E L

F O R T U N E

Nonslip cauls for tight case miters The miter joint gives a clean, seamless look on contemporary cabinets, but only if clamped up tight and true. These simple cauls are the ticket.

P100-grit sandpaper, attached with yellow glue, stops cauls from slipping.

DIRECT THE FORCE

90°

The clamps must direct the force through the joint at 90° and should be placed on the centerline of the glue surfaces. The principles are the same for any caul.

1

⁄4-in.-thick plywood Centerline of glue joint

Hardwood blocks Clamp force

Cauls go on first. Clamp on the cauls (above), aligning them carefully. Then assemble one pair of sides at a time before marrying the two assemblies to form a box. Fortune alternates the direction of the clamp handles to avoid conflicts (right).

M

any woodworkers stop at rectangular work, preferring to stick with flat surfaces and rightangled joints. This is a shame because curves and angles make furniture stand out, and they aren’t as hard as you think. Most importantly, they are fun. A few factors keep people in the box. Even if they know how to cut smooth curves and precise angles, there still is the problem of gluing and clamping these awkward pieces together. There is a lot of time and material invested at that point, and an open or misaligned joint can be devastating. This is a follow-up to my two articles on basic glue-ups in FWW #234, which covered 90° joints and basic miters (“Great Glue-Ups Guaranteed,” and Fundamentals: “Gear up for glue-ups”). As I pointed out then, while a dry run is always important for a glue-up, it doesn’t tell the whole www.f inewoodworking.com

TIP

CURVED PANELS, TOO

1

⁄8-in.-thick luan plywood or bending ply

Hardwood blocks

1 ⁄4-in.-thick plywood

On a cabinet with a curved top and straight sides, Fortune attaches the normal type of miter cauls to the sides, and uses a flexible version of the caul on top.


39

Cauls for curved work Each L-shaped assembly on this table base is joined with a miter. Fortune uses two different types of clamp-on cauls to ensure perfect results.

SANDWICH STYLE Two-part caul made from offcuts sandwiches part to allow firm clamping. Clamping block is parallel to joint, and centered on it.

Trace and saw the foot. The offcuts from the foot become the clamping cauls.

Block-and-tail caul is solid wood with its tail curved to match workpiece.

P100-grit sandpaper on contact surfaces

BLOCK-AND-TAIL STYLE

End is angled slightly to direct force at 90° through centerline of joint.

story. That is especially the case with curved and angled parts. Once the glue is applied, parts want to slide on the slippery film, freezing in the wrong location a few minutes later when the glue begins to set. That’s why the key to all glue-ups— especially those on irregular parts—is that the clamping pressure be at an exact right angle to the glueline, and centered on the joint. On angled and curved work, the only reliable way to direct clamping pressure Lay out the clamping angles. Fortune first uses the curved table post to trace parallel lines for a long tail (far left). Then he draws the actual joint on the stock, and uses a bevel gauge to transfer that angle to the clamp block (left). Sandpaper adds grip. Using the offcut as a clamping caul, he attaches P100-grit sandpaper to the underside of the caul using white or yellow glue. Don’t use pressuresensitive-adhesive paper or spray adhesive—it will creep.

40

FINE WOODWORKING

Photos: Asa Christiana; drawings: Vince Babak

ALL TOGETHER NOW

Align the cauls carefully. Make sure their clamping surfaces are aligned to center pressure on the miter joint.

precisely is with specialized cauls. Designing and making these helpers may seem like a hassle at first, but not after you experience the benefits. Sometimes I glue these custom cauls directly onto the workpieces, chipping them off later with a chisel or gouge. But most often I clamp the cauls to the workpieces, and then clamp across them to close the joint and complete the job. That’s the case with the first one on my list.

Carefree clamping. With the help of a slip tenon and these custom cauls, Fortune knows the joint will come together perfectly, with firm pressure on the entire glueline.

By the way, I recommend using traditional F-style bar clamps whenever possible. These let you locate the clamping force precisely where it is needed.

Clamp-on cauls for clean miters I like the seamless look of continuous grain, so I design and make many cabinets with miters at the corners. Whether the panels are ply-

wood or solid, I always reinforce the joints with biscuits or slip tenons; this also helps to keep the miters aligned during assembly. But that doesn’t take care of clamping. My simple cauls send the pressure through the center of the miter joint. And they let me deal with the joints one at a time, a bonus when using yellow glue,

Shaped blocks tame curves, too To glue the legs to this sinuous table base, Fortune used a caul arrangement similar to one he used above. This time he added a shaped block to hug the sculpted surface of the leg. In both cases, he placed the part on the caul stock and traced around it.

Sandwich-style caul must be long enough that its end is centered on the joint.

Shaped block

Clamp with confidence. Using the right cauls, and a slip tenon for strength and alignment, one bar clamp brings the joint together perfectly.

Sandpaper on inner surfaces


41

Glued cauls for crown molding Sometimes it is easier to glue on cauls, rather than clamping them. Yellow glue works fine. These blocks are simply chiseled off later, and a scraper removes the remnants. The key is a precise fit. Blocks are shaped and located to direct the force squarely through the centerline of the glue joint.

Lay out the profile. Chop off a section of the molding at 90° and trace the profile onto your caul stock.

which sets up pretty quickly. The results are invariably good—and stress-free. To give the cauls grip, I add cheap P80- or P100-grit sandpaper to the contact face with yellow glue, so it won’t creep. Pay attention to the lines of force. You’ll need to set the angled blocks back from the tip of the miter so that the pressure passes through the centerline of the joint. This position will also allow you to see the joint come together, which is important.

Cauls for curved work

Careful bandsaw work. Stand the stock on its end, with the grain running parallel to the curve so the caul will be easy to chip off later. Saw as close as possible to the line.

Trick for mitering curved cauls. Use the offcut as a cradle when bandsawing 45° angles on the caul.

Fine-tune the fit. Tape 80-grit sandpaper faceup on the molding, and then rub the caul on it to match one curve to the other.

I also use long case miters to assemble curved veneered panels, made with a core of bending plywood. Clamping cauls work well here, too. These are typically the same size as the aforementioned miter cauls, but I make them from flexible 1⁄8-in.-thick luan plywood or bending ply. I often make the base of these cauls long enough to reach to the far end of the workpiece, so I can either attach a block that hooks over the end, or another 45° block on the topside for clamping that miter joint at the same time (see example on p. 40). Clamped-on cauls work just as well on solid-wood parts as they do on big panels. You just need to saw the caul to fit the shape, and design it so the clamping pressure ends up at the right spot and the right angle. On a favorite table of mine (see p. 40), each side of the base is created by a pair of L-shapes, each made up of a curvy foot joined by a miter to a tall curved upright. Once those tricky miters are assembled, joining the L-shapes to each other is easy. To clamp the miter joints effectively, I use two very helpful types of shaped cauls. The one that goes on the upright is a narrower version of my cauls for case miters, with a long base and an angled clamping block. In this case, I cut the whole thing out of a single piece of hardwood. Again, I glued P100-grit sandpaper to the contact

face to stop it from sliding. The other is a two-piece caul that sandwiches the workpiece. The far end of the outside caul is angled to create a clamping surface that directs the pressure across the joint. You simply chop off the end at the angle you need. In this case I reinforced the miters with a slip tenon, which helps keep things aligned. A layer of leather is best on rounded surfaces—For chair designs that I build repeatedly, I go one step further and apply a thick layer of leather to the inside face of the cauls. It is more durable than sandpaper, better at conforming to rounded parts without damaging them, and resists slipping out of place almost as well. Like the sandpaper, the leather has to be attached with yellow glue.

Try a rub joint. Apply glue and rub the caul firmly against the molding until it grips. Hold it there for a minute or so, and then leave it one hour before clamping.

Glued-on cauls tame cove moldings I use large cove moldings in a number of places in my work, from the tops of cases to the underside of tabletops. In this situation, it is often easier to glue on shaped cauls than to find a way to clamp them on. To get a good glue bond, you need a perfect fit between caul and cove. I first cut the caul close to the right profile, usually on the bandsaw, and then use the part itself to fine-tune the shape of the caul. I tape a piece of P80-grit sandpaper against the part, and then rub the softwood caul

HOT GLUE IS A THIRD HAND Some of these cauls are hard to hold in position while you align and tighten a clamp. A hot-melt glue gun solves the problem. A mallet blow removes the cauls afterward, and the glue peels off.

Gap-free glue-up. Apply clamps and watch the miter come together perfectly. Hold down the far ends of the molding if necessary.

TIP

Glue and go. Hold the caul in place and lay a bead of glue at the edges (above). Wait a few seconds and you can let go, leaving your hands free to grab a clamp (right).



43

Cauls for edge-banding curved panels WHEN TO BREAK THE RULES Unlike the previous examples, the clamp pressure here is not at 90° to the joint. That’s OK because it is balanced out along both sides of the apex. Glued-on sandpaper keeps the wedges from slipping sideways.

Use steeper wedges toward edge of curve.

No caul needed at center.

Use shallower wedges toward apex of curve.

against it. This makes such a great fit that I can actually use a rub joint with yellow glue to attach the caul (see photo, p. 43). Make sure the blocks are designed with the long grain in contact with the frame. This way they can be quickly pared off with a chisel or gouge, and any residue is easily removed with a card scraper.

Use wedges for curved edge-banding

WE DGES ARE VERSATILE Fortune keeps a bucket of wedges on hand in 5° increments up to 30°. These come in handy for a wide range of angled and curved work. 5° 10° 15° 20° 25° 30°

Single jig cranks them out. A bandsaw jig makes all six sizes that Fortune needs. To keep the grain as straight as possible, flip the stock between cuts.

For edging along a shallow curve, like the edge of a plywood bookcase shelf, I use small, simple wedges to keep the clamps aligned. Because I do so much angled and curved work, I have a whole bucket of these wedges, sorted by angle from 5° to 30°, in 5° increments. They come in handy for all sorts of glue-ups. Each is faced on one side with P80- or P100-grit sandpaper. Some have a rare-earth magnet inset in their outer face, held in place with epoxy. The magnet is another type of third hand, holding the wedge in place against any type of clamp with metal jaws. Edge a whole tabletop at once—Band clamps are designed to go around the perimeter of an object, but I use them more frequently across assemblies where conventional pipe or bar clamps would add too much weight or get in the way of each other. Tightening a strap across something

WEDGE-CUTTING JIG Apply as needed. Fortune used wedges from 5° to 25° to align the clamps along this curved edge. Start in the center and work outward to balance the pressure.

SAWTOOTH CAULS TAME A WHOLE TABLETOP To wrap edge-banding around an entire half of an elliptical tabletop, Fortune used a number of curved cauls, with steps cut into them to direct clamping pressure. He laminated a stack of thin banding strips and attached them to the edge in one shot. Here he is performing a dry run, a critical step before applying glue.

applies much more pressure than tightening it all the way around, and directs the pressure more precisely. A good example is applying steam-bent or laminated edging to an oval or circular table. To make sure the straps don’t slide, I use a series of sawtooth cauls. There are enough notches around the outside that I can apply direct pressure anywhere I choose. We are talking about a veneered tabletop here, so the edging is applied to a substrate like MDF. Afterward I veneer over the top of everything for a seamless look all the way to the edge. The thick laminated edging can also be molded with a router. □ Michael Fortune has built custom furniture for more than 30 years, and teaches around the world.

Sandpaper on all inner edges

Curved cauls

Lay out the offset. The cauls must accommodate the thickness of the banding. So Fortune lays the table pattern on his caul stock, and uses a shopmade MDF washer to lay out the inner edge of the cauls.

Lay out the steps. Using a block of wood for alignment, he slides a big ruler back and forth, using its ends to mark opposing notches.

Steps, roughly 6 in. apart, give plenty of options for clamping.

Straight caul

STRATEGIC STEPS Using an array of four cauls, three curved and one straight, Fortune is able to keep all of the clamps at 90° to the banding. www.f inewoodworking.com

Band clamps to the rescue. Band clamps fit under bar clamps to apply pressure where needed. Fortune clamped at the center first, and then used most of the steps. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

45

Desk in a Drawer

Add a pull-out desk to any chest of drawers B Y C H R I S T I A N B E C K S V O O R T

46

FINE WOODWORKING

O

f all the desks the Shakers built, perhaps the rarest is the butler’s desk, a bureau whose top drawer is actually a fall front that pulls out and opens to reveal a gallery with smaller drawers. The idea of discreetly fitting a writing desk into a chest of drawers did not originate with the Shakers—butler’s desks have been made in many styles over the years, notably in campaign furniture and for shipboard use—and the desk drawer I’m making here could be fitted to a traditionally built bureau of virtually any design.

The bureau’s case and its lower three drawers are constructed just like a standard Shaker chest of drawers (for details of such a chest, see “Cherry Chest of Drawers,” FWW #170). The desk drawer, however, is a departure. Like the other drawers, the desk is a dovetailed box, but it’s beefier and has been turned so that its “bottom” is at the back. Because the desk drawer is built this way, it can be sized to fit snugly into the drawer opening—no allowance is necessary for expansion and contraction in the height or width of the drawer Photos: Jonathan Binzen; drawings: John Hartman

Back is a floating panel in solid cherry, 1⁄4 in. thick, set in a groove and inset 1⁄4 in.

Top, 1⁄2 in. thick by 111⁄4 in. wide by 341⁄2 in. long

Leave 1⁄2-in. space between drawer and back of carcase for seasonal movement.

Upper vertical dividers, ⁄4 in. thick by 41⁄2 in. tall by 103⁄4 in. wide

1

All dividers are set into 1⁄8-in.deep dadoes. Button catch Bottom, 3 ⁄4 in. thick by 171⁄8 in. wide by 341⁄2 in. long

Horizontal divider, 1⁄4 in. thick by 103⁄4 in. wide by 331⁄4 in. long

Brass keeper Because the grain runs around the drawer box, there is no seasonal change in its height or width, so it can be fitted tight to its drawer pocket.

Fall front, 3⁄4 in. thick by 83⁄8 in. wide by 341⁄2 in. long

Lower vertical dividers, 1⁄4 in. thick by 3 in. tall by 103⁄4 in. wide

Side, 3⁄4 in. thick by 81⁄2 in. tall by 171⁄8 in. wide

Brass quadrant stay

Back flap hinge Strike plate for button catch

Half-mortise lock

QUADRANT STAY Radius of quadrant stay is 41⁄2 in.

BUTLER’S DESK Built to a Shaker design, this bureau contains a butler’s desk—a drawer that pulls halfway out and has a fall front that serves as a writing surface. Rabbets interlock when fall front is open.

SOURCES O F S U P P LY FALL-FRONT HARDWARE Ball & Ball Hardware Reproductions ballandball-us.com Hinges: H15-052

Groove for stay, 1⁄4 in. deep by 1⁄2 in. wide

81⁄2 in.

61⁄4 in. 40 in. 71⁄4 in. 30 in.

Quadrant stays: J38-566

81⁄4 in.

Button catches: J39-567

36 in.

A stout, dovetailed box holds the desk. Throughdovetails join the four corners of the desk drawer box. The top of the box, half the width of the sides and bottom, affords access to the desk. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

47

Add the fall front

box. The desk drawer’s fall front, however, with its grain running side-to-side like the other drawer fronts, must be sized with wood movement in mind.

A beefy drawer box

Matched rabbets. After dry-assembling the desk drawer box, Becksvoort cuts rabbets in the fall front and drawer box on the tablesaw.

HINGE AND RABBET DETAIL

Drawer box bottom

On to the hinging hardware

Back flap hinge

Fall front, 3 ⁄4 in. thick

7

⁄16 in.

5

⁄16 in.

3

⁄4 in.

Shallower rabbet on drawer bottom permits more purchase for inside hinge screws.

Hinge layout. With a couple of business cards as spacers between the fall front and the drawer box, mark the perimeter of the hinges with a knife. A trim router used freehand (right) does most of the mortising. Follow up with a chisel.

48

FINE WOODWORKING

Build the case first so that you’ll be able to size the desk drawer precisely to its pocket. The desk drawer, made with 3⁄4-in.-thick stock for the sides and bottom, and 1⁄2-in. stock for the top, is throughdovetailed on all four corners. The back panel floats in a groove. With the dovetails cut, dry-fit the four sides of the drawer box, and machine the rabbet for the fall front. The bottom of the fall front and the front edge of the drawer box have mating rabbets that allow the fall front, when lying flat, to meet the bottom of the drawer box without a gap, yet still fill the whole drawer opening when upright. I cut both rabbets on the tablesaw. Together, the depth of the two rabbets must equal 3⁄4 in. I made the rabbet in the drawer box the shallower of the two to leave more purchase for the hinge screws located above it.

Installing the desk drawer hardware is the most challenging part of this project, and I could find no information on layout or installation. Not interested in taking any chances with the real desk drawer, I built several partial mockups in pine and worked by

Install the stay Pine scrap provides location for pivot pin and support for router.

Drawer box side

Scrap cut to shape and clamped to workpiece

Hole for pivot pin, aligned with center of fall-front hinge barrel

Use a brad through the sub-base to serve as a pivot pin.

Sub-base for trim Drawer router box bottom

trial and error until I was sure that the hinges, quadrant stays, and catches would all function flawlessly together. If you’re changing the dimensions, I’d recommend you do the same. Back flap hinges—To lay out the mortises for the back flap hinges, dry-fit the drawer box and set it on a flat surface. Now push the fall front into place in open position with the two rabbets interlocked. I located the hinges about 3 in. from each end of the fall front, perfectly square to the front, with the barrel centered over the gap. To leave a small gap for clearance be-

Mark for the flange. After installing the hinges, place the quadrant stay in its curved groove and mark out the flange mortise. www.f inewoodworking.com

tween the drawer box and the fall front, insert a few business cards as a spacer near each hinge. Scribe around both hinges with a knife, then separate the fall front from the box for mortising. Hog out the mortises with a trim router, clean up the corners with a chisel, and insert the screws. The fall front should operate smoothly, without binding at the rabbets. Quadrant stays—Cutting the quarter-circle grooves for the quadrant stays can be tricky, and in addition to my pine mock-ups, I also made a full-scale drawing that helped me determine the exact location of the

Install the keeper. The C-shaped keeper is the stop for the stay. It can be installed on the end of the desk side (shown) or on the outside face.

Scrap for support. A pine scrap cut to fit and clamped to the desk drawer provides support and a place for the pivot pin as you rout the curved grooves for the stays. Strips of tape help keep the scrap flush and tight to the drawer box.

Strike plate for a button. The button catches that keep the fall front closed mate with brass strike plates.


49

Add dividers REVERSIBLE DADO JIG Router jig can be used with bits of two different diameters.

1

⁄2 in.

Second crosspiece attached on opposite face so rails lie flat on workpiece.

Width of router base 1

⁄4 in. 1

⁄2-in. plywood

Align router cut in jig with layout lines on workpiece.

Hidden dadoes for dividers. Using a simple jig to guide his router, Becksvoort cuts 1 ⁄8-in.-deep stopped dadoes for the dividers inside the desk drawer.

1

3 2

Fitting the dividers. The dividers must be notched to fit their dadoes. With the divider pushed into the dado, Becksvoort marks for the notch with a razor blade (1). Then he removes the divider, notches it with a knife (2), and tests the fit until it’s perfect (3).

arc and its centerpoint. I decided to cut the curved grooves with my trim router, swinging it like a compass around a pin at the centerpoint of the arc. I made a rectangular sub-base for the trim router and drilled a hole for the pivot pin 41⁄2 in. from the center of the collet. Because the centerpoint of the arc was just off the edge of the drawer side, I cut a piece of scrap pine to an L-shape and clamped it to the edge of the drawer. The scrap provided both a place to drive in the brad I used as a pivot pin and additional support for the router. I routed the groove 1⁄4 in. deep and 1⁄2 in. wide.

50

FINE WOODWORKING

To install the stays, first remount the flap hinges. With the fall front closed, place the stay in its groove and scribe around the flange into the end grain of the fall front. Rout to the same depth as the arc groove, clean up with a chisel, and insert the screws. With both stays installed, fold the fall front flat to determine the location for the keepers that serve as stops for the quadrant stays. The keepers are only about 1⁄32 in. thick, and I surface-mounted them. Button catches—With the quadrant stays working to my satisfaction, I next located and routed out for the button catches. The plates of these catches are thin enough that they can be surface-

Fit the drawer mounted, so I simply routed a rough mortise big enough to fit the mechanism. Once the catches were screwed in place, I closed the fall front until it hit the tongue of the catch. That determined the location of the mating strike plates. Before disassembling the drawer box, I put the whole thing in my shoulder vise, with the back end up, and used a 1⁄4-in. slot-cutter in my trim router to run the groove for the back panel.

Interior affairs Now it’s on to the interior. You could build a removable case of drawers and cubbies and slide it in, but I wanted to conserve space and material, so I made the unit integral, routing the divider dadoes directly into the desk drawer. I started with the horizontal divider, and stopped the dadoes for it just shy of full length. Then I dry-assembled the case, and slid the divider in. With a razor blade, I marked the divider’s leading edge, removed A tight fit is fine. Build the desk drawer to fill its drawer pocket, then plane (or belt-sand) where it, and cut a small notch with a knife at the necessary to get a snug fit. Because of the grain orientation of the drawer box, no allowance for wood movement is needed. razor line. Once notched, the horizontal divider would slide all the way home. I then marked the locations of the upper and lower vertical dividers, using a square to align the top and bottom dadoes. After disassembling the case, I routed all the dadoes, then reassembled the case and notched and fitted the vertical dividers.

Assembly and fitting With interior dividers to deal with in addition to the dovetails, gluing up the desk drawer is a bit of a challenge. I had my clamps, cauls, mallet, and glue at the ready. First I glued the sides of the drawer box to the bottom. Next I carefully slid the dividers into their dadoes and the pre-finished back panel into position. Then I glued the top of the drawer box to the sides, making sure that the back and the upper vertical dividers fit into their dadoes as the top was positioned. Clamp the drawer as needed, and measure the diagonals front and back to make sure the drawer is perfectly square. Once the glue is dry, fit the drawer to the case. If the fit is too tight, check where it’s rubbing and use handplanes and a belt sander to remove material. It usually takes a few attempts to get the correct fit. Once the drawer is fitted, you can install the stop blocks. Pull the desk drawer halfway out, so the fronts of the small drawers are aligned with the front of the bureau. Then screw two stop blocks to the underside of the desk drawer. Locate them just inside the web frame, which will serve as the stop. □

Arrest the desk. With the desk drawer pulled partway out and clamped in position, Becksvoort makes a mark for a stop block on the bottom just behind the web frame. Then he screws in the block (left). He uses a pair of press-in silicone bumpers from Lee Valley on the stop block for a soft stop.

Contributing editor Christian Becksvoort has been building furniture in New Gloucester, Maine, for four decades. www.f inewoodworking.com


51

TOOL TEST

Midsize

Fixed-Base Routers Great combination of power and control B Y

M A R C

A D A M S

A

fixed-base router is an invaluable tool for woodworkers of every skill level. On its own or teamed up with shopmade jigs, this elegantly simple tool can drill, shape, size, plane, and cut wood similar to the way big stationary equipment can. If you don’t already have a fixed-base router, you should get one. Go for a midsize model—larger than a trim router, which can be held in one hand, but smaller and lighter than a heavy, industrial 31⁄4-hp router. Rated between 11 and 15 amps, midsize models are plenty powerful for common tasks yet are still relatively compact. At $120 to $220, these routers are an excellent value. Together with the three permanent instructors at my woodworking school, I tested eight midsize fixed-base routers, rated between 13⁄4 and 23⁄10 hp, with electronic speed control and including both 1⁄4and 1⁄2-in.-dia. collets, so you can use the full range of router bits. The speed ranges are similar, from 8,000 to 10,000 rpm up to 23,000 to 25,000 rpm. Electronic motor control is a somewhat recent innovation, which helps the router maintain its rpm under load. It also allows soft start, which is a must-have in my book. Without it a router goes instantly from 0 to 20,000-plus rpm when you flip the switch,

52

FINE WOODWORKING

Photos: Asa Christiana

Performance tests Adams’s staff used three tests to evaluate smoothness of cut. They also evaluated control and handling during two of them.

TEMPLATE TEST After roughing eight workpieces to the same shape, the testers loaded them all into this fixture, designed to remove about 3⁄16 in. of material along a series of curves and straight lines. The Bosch MRF23EVS stood out again.

RUNOUT RESULTS With a dial indicator touching the shank of a good router bit, the testers turned the collet by hand to check for wobble, or runout. The Bosch MRF23EVS had the least, just 0.001 in., but most of the others had less than 0.003 in., an acceptable amount.

jumping in your hands. With soft start, the router comes up to speed gradually and smoothly. And if by accident you start the router while the bit is in contact with a board, it won’t kick as hard. All of the routers will work in a router table, but the Bosch, Ridgid, Porter-Cable, and Milwaukee routers offer through-thebase depth adjustment for that purpose. All of the models offer edge guides as accessories, but we didn’t test them. We evaluated the routers in 30 different ways, but boiled it all down to five ratings: cut quality, router accuracy, control and handling, bit changing, and visibility of cut.

BIG BITES Adams and company used a new, high-quality router bit to make deep molding cuts along both long grain and end grain.

Tough tests for cut quality We started with the most important question: Can the router make smooth cuts in the toughest situations? Our first test was for runout (wobble), which could come from either the motor or collet and create chatter and a bumpy cut. We put a good-quality, new 1⁄2-in. router bit into the collet, placed a dial indicator against it, and rotated the bit by hand. To check for real-world runout, we did two cutting tests in hard maple. In both cases, we made cuts on long grain and end grain, using 1⁄2-in.-shank bits. We looked closely at the routed surfaces under a

Harsh light. A raking light showed how smooth the cuts were. The Milwaukee (top) cut the smoothest, while the Hitachi’s sample (bottom) was one of the bumpier ones.


53

Critical features ACCURATE DEPTH ADJUSTMENT There are two ways to adjust the depth of cut: Twist the base or use a rack-and-pinion mechanism. Both systems work well and include a scale, accurate on all but the Milwaukee.

Twist to change. On routers like the Hitachi, you unlock a cam lever and twist the motor to change its depth setting.

Rack and pinion. This type includes a micro-adjust dial. The Ridgid’s scale was the most accurate.

Accuracy test. Adams’s staff used this digital-caliper jig to see if a test pin, chucked in the collet, moved as much as each depth scale said it did.

CENTERED BASE IS BEST If the baseplate is concentric with the bit, you can run the router against a fence in any position and get an accurate cut.

Most can be adjusted. The easiest method is to use a centering cone. The Ridgid comes with this handy accessory, but it’s not a pricey item for the others.

54

FINE WOODWORKING

One can’t. The Hitachi’s baseplate was significantly off center, and its countersunk screws make adjustment impossible.

CO NTROL MATTERS, TOO To control these powerful handheld tools, you need grips that fit your hand, and an on-off switch you can reach easily.

Slick grips. While you can reach the switch on the Bosch 1617EVS without letting go of the handles, their round, slippery shape makes the router harder to keep level.

raking light, and also paid attention to the feel and control of the router when cutting. In the first test, we ran an up-spiral, bearing-guided, flush-trimming bit against a pattern, trimming 3⁄16 in. off the edge of a workpiece. All of the routers made smooth enough cuts in this test, but the Milwaukee’s super-smooth cut was a standout. The second test was tougher. We made a full-depth molding cut along the edges of a hard-maple workpiece, using a large, bearing-guided ogee bit. Even with this heavy cut, most of the routers were able to deliver a smooth cut without struggling. We blended all of these tests into a single rating for cut quality.

This Bosch is better. The Bosch MRF23EVS is heavy but has good balance and control, with grips that fit the hand and its trigger in one of the handles.

CLEAR VIEW OF THE WORK For best control, you need to see the bit. Big windows and work lights help. With big ports and a bright light, the Bosch MRF23EVS also offered the best visibility, very helpful for stopped cuts like this big chamfer.

BIT CHANGING SHOULD BE EASY

Accuracy is important, too A fixed-base router has only a couple of adjustments, the most important and frequent being the depth setting. Some routers employ a rack-and-pinion; on others you twist the base to move it up and down. Both systems work well, allowing fine, precise movements. All of the routers then lock the base with a cam device. All of them also have some sort of scale to keep track of the depth, though not all woodworkers use these. Most of the scales were very accurate, but the Milwaukee was 0.025 in. off (almost 1⁄32 in.). Of course, many woodworkers will disregard the depth scale and simply set the bit to a mark on a workpiece or combination square. So we wanted to know if the depth setting changes when the cam lock www.f inewoodworking.com

Adams says the older, two-wrench systems are easier to use than the newer ones, which employ a spindle lock and a single wrench.

Quick and simple. The Milwaukee’s base comes off quickly, and its two beefy wrenches are easy to handle.

A bit more trouble. On the Ridgid router, it can be a struggle to hold the motor and spindle lock tightly enough to resist the torque of the wrench. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

55

How they stacked up

BO SCH MRF23EVS

MILWAUKEE 5616-20

D E WA LT 618

BOSCH 1617EVS

Power: 15 amps Street price: $220




This is the heaviest and most powerful router in the test. With rack-and-pinion adjustment, it has good balance and control, with shaped handles that fit the hand. It was one of the smoothest cutters. A built-in work light is always on when the tool is plugged in, which helps with setups. On the downside, the base was a little tricky to remove for bit changes and the on/off trigger in the handle was awkward to use for those with large hands.

This rack-and-pinion model made the smoothest cuts in our tests, and uses two hefty wrenches and collet nuts for the easiest bit changes. It is well-balanced and comes with a unique hand strap and rubber grip on the motor, which offers better control for some tasks. The control score was hurt a little by the Milwaukee’s soft start, which was jumpier than some. The depth scale was inaccurate, but not all woodworkers use these.

This simple, twist-to-adjust router has a lot going for it. Its depth scale is accurate. It has a gentle soft start, made smooth cuts, and is a very well-balanced machine with a low center of gravity. The grips give excellent control and the switch can be set up for left- and right-handers. The singlewrench/spindle-lock system makes bit changing more cumbersome, and you may need to drill out the 13 ⁄16-in. base opening to accommodate larger bits.

This router has a great soft start, is very well balanced, made very smooth cuts, and has an accurate micro-adjust scale on its rack-andpinion depth system. It has two wrenches, and the base comes off easily for bit changes. On the other hand, the ball-shaped grips are slippery and the baseplate is black, which can hamper visibility.

is engaged. All of the cam locks shifted the bases the tiniest bit, but not enough to worry about. We factored those tiny amounts into the accuracy rating, too. When you run the baseplate of the router against a fence, the precision of the cut can be affected by how concentric the base is with the collet. While none turned out to be perfectly accurate, all but the Hitachi are easily adjustable. Of course, you can always ensure a straight cut by keeping the same area of the base against the fence.

Control affects safety and accuracy We evaluated how easy it was to control the router in a variety of situations: when picking it up and turning it on, when turning it off and setting it down, and most importantly, while making cuts. One of my pet peeves is ball-shaped grips on a router; I prefer palm-shaped grips because they don’t rotate in my hand. It’s also better for the grips to be low and close to the center of gravity.

56

FINE WOODWORKING

We also factored in the switch locations, and whether they can be reached without removing one hand from the handles. The Bosch MRF23EVS is the only model with its trigger in the handle, though it was slightly awkward for big hands. But we could also reach the switches easily on the other Bosch (1617EVS), as well as the DeWalt, Porter-Cable, and Milwaukee routers.

Creature comforts One thing you’ll do often is change router bits, and the easiest way is with two wrenches, set slightly apart from each other and squeezed with one or two hands. Unfortunately, some tool designers have adopted single-wrench systems, which force you to hold down the router and a spindle-lock button with one hand while pulling hard with a single wrench. I favor routers that still use two wrenches: the two Bosches, the Hitachi, the Makita, and the Milwaukee. Although you can keep some of the bases on the router while changing the bit,

it is much easier to do it with the bases off and out of the way. So we gave extra points to bases that are easy to remove. The tool designers have made it easier to see what you are doing. Most of these routers come with transparent baseplates, an improvement over the old-school black ones. Large openings in the base also help. We factored all that into a visibility rating, and gave a bump to the routers with an effective work light built in.

Most were solid performers In the end there was no one perfect router, and seven out of the eight are certainly usable tools. We would be quickest to buy the Bosch MRF23EVS or Milwaukee 561620, so those are our Best Overall choices. The DeWalt was our pick for Best Value, edging out the Ridgid solely on price. □ Marc Adams School of Woodworking staffers Doug Dale, Mark Hedin, and Zane Powell contributed to this article.

HITACHI M12VC

MAKITA RF1101

PORTER-CABLE 892

RIDGID R22002





This twist-to-adjust router was the quietest in the test, and is the lowest priced. Other than that it had the most pitfalls of the lot. The soft start was jerky, the motor had a lot of vibration, and the grips were slippery. We also struggled to remove the router base and to get the bit to release from the collet. Last, the baseplate was significantly off center, and its countersunk screw holes made it impossible to adjust. We can’t recommend this router.

The Makita had very little runout and produced very smooth cuts. The twist-style base is very easy to attach and detach for bit changes, and the collet is tightened with two wrenches. However, the 11 ⁄ 8-in. hole in the baseplate will need to be enlarged for bigger bits. Also, the router felt slightly top heavy, the grips were on the slippery side, and we had to let go of one handle to reach the on/off switch.

The Porter-Cable’s soft start works well, and the scale on its rack-and-pinion micro-adjuster is very accurate. Its variable-speed dial is the only one to list actual rpm, making it the most accurate. The base is easy to remove for bit changing, but the single-wrench system makes bit changes a little awkward. Also, this router had the most bit runout.

The rack-and-pinion-type base on the Ridgid was easy to remove, the micro-adjustment scale was the most accurate, and the grips offer good control. Also, it has a work light, its variablespeed dial lists actual rpm, and it comes with a handy cone for centering the base. However, with one wrench and a spindle lock, removing the bit was a little awkward. And while it made good cuts, the motor had more vibration than we would like.

MODEL

CUT QUALITY

ROUTER ACCURACY

CONTROL AND HANDLING

CUT VISIBILITY

EASE OF BIT CHANGES

Bosch 1617EVS

Excellent

Very good

Good

Good

Good

Bosch MRF23EVS

Excellent

Excellent

Very good

Excellent

Good

DeWalt 618

Very good

Very good

Very good

Very good

Fair

Hitachi M12VC

Good

Fair

Fair

Good

Fair

Makita RF1101

Excellent

Good

Fair

Good

Good

Milwaukee 5616-20

Excellent

Good*

Very good

Very good

Excellent

Porter-Cable 892

Good

Excellent

Very good

Very good

Very good

Ridgid R22002

Very good

Very good

Very good

Very good

Fair

*Excellent if you don’t rely on scale for depth adjustment



57

Table from a Board Make a

Stylish side table is a great lesson in getting the most out of your lumber B Y

M I C H A E L

P E K O V I C H

Y

ou put a lot of effort into building a project—from creating gap-free joints to meticulously prepping surfaces and spending hours finishing. But all that work is compromised if the piece ends up with mismatched boards and chaotic grain. To avoid these hazards, you need to put as much effort into choosing and milling your lumber as you do into designing the piece. The two go hand in hand. This small table is a simple project that lets you focus on using wood successfully and efficiently. All of the parts can be had from a single board.

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FINE WOODWORKING

The focus, though, is not just on economy. By getting all of the parts from one board, you’ll ensure a great color match throughout the piece. And by cutting parts from strategic locations in the board, you’ll end up with the pleasing grain patterns in all the right places. Along the way, you’ll get great lessons in resawing and rough-milling stock. These concepts will work with any piece you make, from chests of drawers to cabinets.

Pick the right board For this table, you’ll need a flatsawn board that’s 2 in. thick by 8 in. wide Photo, left: Michael Pekovich

by 8 ft. long. This will yield more than enough stock, giving you the flexibility to work around knots or defects. The thickness is necessary to get the stock for the legs without having to glue up thinner boards. It also gives you plenty of material to resaw boards for the tabletop and aprons. Find a board that’s as clear as possible with little to no sapwood. You’ll see the importance of this later as you break down the board. The grain also should be as straight as possible along its length. The longest part in the table is only 26 in., so a little bow along the length is not a problem.

Plan out the parts before you cut By carefully choosing where each component comes from, Pekovich not only gets the best grain flow and match from the pieces, but he also mills the board with minimal waste. Start with a flatsawn board 2 in. thick by 8 in. wide by 8 ft. long. Look for straight grain, minimal sapwood and defects, and rings that are centered across the width (right).

END VIEW OF BOARD

The TOP is resawn from one full-width section.

The APRONS and DRAWER FRONT are resawn from the flatsawn stock between the legs.

Lay out parts before milling Before you do any cutting, consider where the parts will come out of the board and mark it accordingly. Start by locating the leg blanks. On a typical flatsawn board, where the growth rings arch through the stock along the end grain, the rings will arch down at each edge. This creates areas of riftsawn grain, in which the rings are diagonal to the face and edges of the board. Those riftsawn areas are ideal for table legs because they have straight grain on all sides that will accentuate the lines of the slender legs for a pleasing and ordered look. By picking a board with the arch centered,

The LEGS are taken from the outside edges of the board.

The remaining material allows you to work around knots or checks in the board, and can be used for other components, like drawer RUNNERS and KICKERS.

GET FLAWLESS GRAIN AND COLOR MATCHES

Book-matched top. By resawing and bookmatching the top, Pekovich gives the top a mirrored grain pattern.

Continuous grain around the table. Resawing one section of the board for all four aprons and then using the boards in sequence allows the grain to flow across each side, giving the piece continuity from every angle.

Photos, except where noted: Dillon Ryan; drawings: Bob La Pointe

Straight-grained legs. Choosing riftsawn stock for the legs results in straight, tight grain on each face and helps ensure stability.


59

BREAK DOWN THE BOARD Crosscut first. With the sections for the top, aprons, and legs marked out, Pekovich uses a circular saw to cut the board into rough lengths, usually 1 in. longer than the finished length of each piece. He uses 1⁄2-in. stickers to raise the board off his outfeed table to prevent cutting into it.

Template for riftsawn stock. Pekovich uses a window cut into a piece of cardboard to lay out the legs so that the grain runs diagonally across the ends. This is the key to tight grain lines on all four sides.

Lay out legs parallel to the grain.

Straight grain along the face. Use a square to transfer a line from the inside point of the leg to the board’s top. Then orient a straightedge along the grain to mark for a ripcut.

60

FINE WOODWORKING

you’ll have plenty of riftsawn material on the edges to use for the legs. The flatsawn section between the legs is perfect for the aprons. By keeping track of the orientation of the apron parts, you can also ensure a great grain match from apron to apron. The top of the table is taken from the full-width end of the board, which is resawn to create the tabletop halves. The riftsawn grain at the edges works in your favor here as well, giving you straight grain along the edges for a seamless glue-up.

Separate the parts With all the parts laid out, you can break down the board. Make a crosscut between the end of the leg/ apron section and the top section. Then make two ripcuts to separate the legs from the aprons, and crosscut each section to rough size. I do all of the crosscutting with a circular saw and the rough ripping and resawing at the bandsaw. The boards are not yet flat enough to run safely through the tablesaw. In addition, there’s a good chance the boards will warp as they are ripped. This isn’t a problem using the circular saw or bandsaw, but at the tablesaw the kerf can close up and pinch the back of the blade, causing a dangerous kickback.

Work out the leg grain The leg/apron sections are now ready to be cut apart, but first the grain along the leg must be corrected

SQ UARE UP THE LEGS

Cut to the line. After ripping the blank from the board, Pekovich angles the bandsaw table to match one face of the leg.

Complete the square. Using the first face as a reference, level the bandsaw table and make the remaining cuts.

to get riftsawn stock. A good tip for this is to cut a square “window” out of a piece of cardboard slightly larger than the final leg blank. Place this window on the end grain of the blank and rotate it until the grain is as close to diagonal as possible. Trace the square onto the blank and use that as a guide to strike a line following the grain on the board’s face. Depending on the stock’s width and the final dimension of the part, you should be able to straighten the grain. This is a great tip for any furniture part and it’s a good reason to buy a little more lumber than you need when starting a project. The legs are shaped at the bandsaw. First cut out the rough blanks and then angle

Arrow straight. The results of correcting for grain runout are impressive: a perfectly riftsawn leg with tight, straight grain along each face.

the table to follow the lines placed on the end grain. The result should be a perfectly riftsawn leg. Orient each leg on the table with the grain running from the inside corner to the outside corner. If you taper or curve the legs, the grain will flow along the profile of the leg.

Resaw the aprons and top Resawing not only lets you get all of the parts from a single board, but it also has additional benefits. For the aprons, resawing allows a continuous grain match around the table. It’s a technique I use on mitered boxes where I want the grain to flow seamlessly from face to face, and it works just as well for aprons. Resawing the

CUT APART THE TOP AND APRONS

Resawing reveals the grain. Flatten the board first with a few light passes on the jointer (above). Then resaw the stock right down the middle (right). Leave the parts thick and let them settle before final milling.

top boards yields perfectly matched halves for an attractive glue-up. If the board is bowed or cupped, start by flattening the concave face on the jointer. Remove only enough material to provide a good bearing surface against the bandsaw fence. The stock is still oversize and will be dimensioned later, so there’s no need to fully joint it yet. I use a 1⁄2-in.-wide, 3-tpi blade for resawing, and I cut right down the middle. If sapwood is an issue with your top pieces, the extra stock from the board can be used to make another set and the best pieces from both can be used. Once the parts are resawn, sticker them and let them rest for a day or two. After that, flatten one face and plane the

Top, 5⁄8 in. thick by 13 in. square

7

⁄16 in.

Drawer kicker, 1⁄2 in. thick by 7⁄8 in. wide

5

⁄16 in.

Tenon, ⁄4 in. thick by 21⁄2 in. wide by 3⁄4 in. long

Drawer guide, 1⁄4 in. thick by 5⁄8 in. wide Aprons inset 1 ⁄16 in.

1

Rear apron tenons have a 45° miter.

Drawer runner, 3⁄8 in. thick by 7⁄8 in. wide

REAR LEG DETAIL 1 in.

Double tenon, ⁄4 in. thick by ⁄2 in. long

1

31⁄4 in.

1

13⁄16 in.

Stretchers, 1 ⁄2 in. thick by 15 ⁄16 in. wide by 103⁄4 in. long Aprons, 5⁄8 in. thick by 31⁄4 in. wide by 111⁄4 in. long, inset 1 ⁄16 in. from leg post

Drawer front, ⁄8 in. thick

5

Drawer bottom, 1⁄4 in. thick, rabbeted to fit 3 ⁄16-in.-wide groove

Leg starts as 11⁄4-in.-square by 253⁄8-in.long blank.

Drawer sides and back, 3⁄8 in. thick Leg, 253⁄8 in. long

CHERRY SIDE TABLE

To purchase expanded plans and a complete cutlist for this table and other projects, go to FineWoodworking.com/PlanStore.

Delicate legs, a perfect color match, and consistent, flowing grain give this side table a refined and stately appearance that belies its basic joinery and construction.

1

⁄4 in.

13 in.

13 in.

1

⁄8 in.

Dovetails, ⁄2 in. long

1 3

3

9 ⁄4 in.

9 ⁄4 in. 21⁄4 in.

31⁄4 in. 31⁄8 in.

UPPER STRETCHER DETAIL Apron has slight arch. 1

⁄8 in.

26 in.

1

⁄4 in.

LOWER STRETCHER DETAIL

62

FINE WOODWORKING

5

⁄8 in.

MILL IT FLAT AND LET IT REST Joint one side, then plane. After resawing, Pekovich joints one side of the aprons and the top pieces. He then planes until both sides are flat and parallel, leaving as much thickness as possible.

opposite side smooth and square, keeping them as thick as possible. Sticker them again for a few days and they’re ready for final dimensioning. Before cutting the aprons to final length, mark the top edges of the boards to maintain the correct orientation for a continuous grain match. For this table, the front apron will become the drawer front. Use another piece of flatsawn stock for the drawer stretchers as well. There’s plenty of scrap left over between the legs. The exposed edges of the stretchers on the front of the table will be quartersawn. The tight, straight grain will frame the drawer front nicely, and will match the front edge of the tabletop. There are two ways to arrange the halves of the top for glue-up. A book-matched joint, which I used on this table, is visually striking but can make handplaning difficult because the grain will go in opposite directions along the glueline. The alternative is to slide the halves apart while maintaining the same orientation of the faces. This creates a slipmatched joint, which makes surfacing easier because the grain of each board is running in the same direction. It doesn’t offer the striking mirrored look of the book-match, but it does a better job of hiding the glueline. The method you use will depend on the individual board and what gives you the most pleasing-looking top. The payoff for all of the time and effort spent selecting lumber and using it thoughtfully is pretty big. You’ll have a beautifully matched tabletop, grain that runs seamlessly from apron to apron, and legs defined by tight, straight grain on every face. This technique is a great way to elevate even a simple project. In addition, the perfect color match is already built into your project. Give it a try and you’ll never look at wood the same way again. Michael Pekovich is a furniture maker, instructor, and Fine Woodworking’s executive art director. www.f inewoodworking.com

Article Extra Learn how Pekovich transformed a classic cabriole leg into his modern version.

Stickered thicker. Pekovich stickers everything for even airflow and lets the pieces sit for a few days. While the riftsawn legs are relatively stable, the aprons and top tend to shift heavily due to the amount of stress released when they are resawn. Leaving them oversize means they can be lightly re-milled later until they are dead flat.


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Contemporary take on a classic leg The legs on this table are tapered with a little twist. To lighten the look, I trimmed the upper portion where the legs meet the apron, creating a narrow post. For a little extra flair, I added a gentle curve to the tapers and rounded the outside faces of the legs. The inspiration came from the classic cabriole leg (right), which also combines a square post at the top with a serpentine profile below. I started by making a full-size template from 1⁄4-in. MDF. Once the joinery was cut, I traced the profile onto the leg. Then I defined the angled shoulder at the tablesaw and used the bandsaw to cut the curves. The curves are so subtle that I didn’t need to tape the waste from the first cuts back onto the legs to make the second cuts more stable, a common practice for traditional cabriole legs. To create a seamless transition from the legs to the aprons, I rounded the outside faces of the legs so the shoulder would end where the legs meet the aprons. —M.P.

CUT THE PROFILE

Define the leg post, then cut the taper. After tracing the profile on the leg, cut the angled shoulder on the tablesaw (top). Finish the post at the bandsaw, then cut the serpentine curve on one face (right).

Smooth and profile the second face. Use a block plane to remove the bandsaw marks along the curved faces. Then lay out the profile on the uncut face of the leg (right) and repeat the same steps to achieve smooth curves on all four sides.

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Photos, this page (left and top right): Michael Pekovich

SHAPE THE FACES Pencil line guides the way. Lay out the profile on the shoulder by drawing a subtle curve from the intersection of the post and shoulder to the outside corner of the leg.

13⁄16 in.

1 in.

Continue the profile down the leg. With your fingertips as a guide, draw a line from each corner of the leg post down to the bottom. These lines will define the inside corner of the leg.

Flat to round. Use a block plane to establish the shape of the leg. Make a series of chamfers to define the curve using the layout line on the shoulder as a guide. Smooth the face with sandpaper but keep a crisp edge on the inside corner.

The main chamfer. After marking the leg, Pekovich uses a spokeshave set for a heavy cut to establish a primary chamfer. This chamfer should be centered on the apex of the curve and end just shy of the final depth, laid out on the shoulder.

Smooth the post. Use a block plane and scraper to remove the bandsaw marks. Take care to keep a sharp transition from the post to the shoulder.


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The Why of the Windsor A veteran maker explains the roots, the rationale, and the powerful appeal of America’s classic chair B Y

C U R T I S

W

indsor chairs are enduring. Three centuries after they first emerged, in England, Windsors and their offspring account for about half the wooden chairs on the planet. Post-and-rung chairs and their descendants account for the other half. The Windsor got its robust DNA from the 17th-century Welsh stick chair. With a thick seat made of elm, and legs, stretchers, and arms hewn from hefty pieces of white oak, the Welsh stick chair was a tank with style. Instead of being made cabinetmaker-fashion with a skeletal structure and rectangular mortise-and-tenon joints, it had “sticks” socketed into the top and bottom of its seat to make its back and its undercarriage. English makers adopted this method of construction for the Windsor, and by the 1730s some of their new chairs—probably comb-backs—crossed the Atlantic and landed in Philadelphia, where the Windsor style promptly caught fire. Soon woodworkers in other colonies responded with their own versions, some based on English designs like the sack-back, and others, like the continuous arm, proudly American. Here the once-beefy Welsh chair was transformed into a slender and resilient chair without an ounce of extra weight. Unconstrained by the guilds that strictly regulated English chairmaking, colonial makers experimented and innovated. By the time the Constitution was written, Windsors were the most popular pieces of furniture in the country. Ships that entered northern harbors with loads of cotton from the south filled their holds with Windsors for the return. Up and down the eastern seaboard, Windsors graced farmhouses and statehouses, mansions and barrooms. They were used by the wealthy for seating in the kitchen, on the porch, and in the garden, and by the common man as his one chair, moved to wherever he wished to sit. What made Windsors so popular and enduring? The answer starts with their structure.

The seat is the anchor The seat of a Windsor is the keystone of the chair, anchoring the undercarriage and the upper structure. Without the seat, all you Photos, except where noted: Jonathan Binzen; this page: Doug Thompson

B U C H A N A N

have is a handful of sticks on the floor. In a post-and-rung chair, by contrast, the seat is added after the structure is complete. In a Windsor, the seat not only ties the whole chair together structurally, but it also trestles the chair together visually. As the largest mass of solid wood on the Windsor—the rest being mostly air— the seat draws your eye first. Windsor seats need to be thick to allow for long mortises and for deep sculpting of the saddle, but they’re usually carved from soft, light wood, and the whole chair can come in at less than 8 lb. That’s incredible for a chair that can hold a 200-lb. person comfortably, day in and day out, for many years. The Windsor’s strength and durability result from the fact that its parts are triangulated. Its outward splaying legs create opposing forces, for a very firm foundation. And on armchairs the forward-leaning arm supports help constrain the force of the sitter’s weight against the back. Conversely, a traditional post-and-rung chair, with its parts perpendicular, has to rely on its small joints to resist racking forces—a losing proposition. Windsors, with triangles everywhere, naturally resist racking. Windsors are also made to flex, which reduces strain on their joints. And because they are traditionally made from split stock, their continuous-grain parts have maximum resilience—the ability to bend under load without breaking—which is a boon for comfort as well as durability.

Which wood for Windsors? The craftsmen in the New World were stunned with the forests they found, brimful of workable woods. In the Appalachian mountain chain they came into the most diverse temperate forest in the world. While the tropics had rosewood, mahogany, and hundreds of other species, they had nothing to rival ring-porous hardwoods. Colonists could split these woods to very close tolerances and work them green with hand tools very efficiently. These attributes, coupled with superb tensile strength, flexibility, and suitability for steam-bending, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014

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Crest rail, steam-bent oak or ash Spindles riven from oak for resilience

Pretty and powerful

INGENIOUS ANATOMY

Combining lightness with strength and utility with visual punch, the Windsor became America’s chair soon after arriving from England in the 1730s.

Spindles and posts socket in from above

Arm rail, steam-bent oak or ash

Arm support, or post

Pommel

Gutter

Solid wood seat is the foundation

Seat carved from 2-in.-thick white pine

Tapered joint is self-tightening. Legs socket in from below

Side stretcher Medial stretcher

Legs, stretchers, and arm posts turned from maple for its strength and ability to hold detail.

Gallery of Windsors Makers applied the principles of the Windsor style to a wide range of forms throughout the colonies. All these chairs, adapted from traditional designs, were made by Buchanan.

SACK-BACK (ABOVE) With their looping steam-bent crest rail, sack-back Windsors were made in great quantities in Philadelphia and grew hugely popular in the late 18th century.

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COMB-BACK Among the earliest Windsor designs brought across from England, the comb-back has spindles that pass through a steam-bent arm rail.

CONTINUOUS-ARM

FAN-BACK A variation on the comb-back, the fan-back dispensed with the arm rail and added turned posts on either side of its spray of back spindles.

An American invention, the continuous arm chair used a single steam-bent strip to form the crest rail and both arms. It was made in great numbers in New York City.

Photos on these two pages, except where noted: Doug Thompson

made them perfect for producing a superior Windsor engineering Windsor chair. Parts could be small yet strong, Despite their light weight, Windsors are incredibly strong, thanks to clever engineering. opening up a door to graceful design. Below the seat, triangulation provides resistance to racking; above the seat, it Like my 18th-century predecessors, who had counteracts backward momentum. Rake, splay, slouch, and cant angles differ by style the forests and the know-how to mate the of chair and by use. Dining and desk chairs are more upright, living room chairs less so. best wood to any function, I choose differFor a detailed look at these angles, go to FineWoodworking.com/extras. ent species of wood for different parts of the Long, thin spindles flex for comfort. Windsor chair. Softwood for the seats—White pine and Triangulation tulip poplar were the main choices for 18thabove the seat century Windsor seats. I prefer pine, but the soft green heartwood of tulip poplar (as opposed to the hard white sapwood) is also fine. And I’ve had success carving seats from butSlouch Cant angle ternut, basswood, buckeye, and others. angle You need a 2-in.-thick plank so it can be carved 1 in. deep for comfort. Carving a seat that deep with hand tools can be tough, but Triangulation Splay using a wood like Eastern white pine enables below the seat angle Rake angle you to carve it fast and have fun doing it. White pine also makes for a light chair, a real benefit since chairs are the only pieces of furniture that are moved regularly. Strong stock for the turnings—Very different qualities are required for the turned parts of a Windsor—the stretchers, legs, and arm supports. Here and beech. For simpler designs, such as bamboo or double-bobbin you need strength, but you also need close grain so you can turnings, you could even use one of the ring-porous hardwoods, achieve sharp, crisp turnings. A ring-porous hardwood like oak like oak. would suffice in the first category but would fail in the second. Bendable woods for spindles and crest rails—The spindles Maple reigns supreme here, especially my favorite species, sugand bent parts of the Windsor demand a species that rives excelar (or hard) maple. It is enormously strong, holds a very crisp lently. A rive is a controlled split, and the Windsor’s spindles and edge, and can be found in logs big enough to cleave, making it backs must be split from straight stock down to very accurate unsurpassed for Windsor turnings. If you are unfortunate enough dimensions. to live outside the range of hard maple, there are alternatives that This wood must also rank high in tensile strength, and it must be will squeak by. I would try red maple, followed by cherry, birch, flexible and steam-bendable. Any of the ring-porous hardwoods

CONTINUOUS-ARM SETTEE

COMB-BACK ROCKER

RODBACK, OR BIRDCAGE

BIRDCAGE BARSTOOL

A wide variety of Windsor styles were traditionally made in settee versions.

18th-century Windsors were not made as rocking chairs, but in the late 19th century, as the popularity of Windsors faded, some were retrofitted with rockers.

By about 1800, new flat-topped Windsors appeared. On these chairs the baluster turnings were often replaced with far simpler bamboo-style turnings.

Bright paint colors and contrasting accents flourished along with the birdcage at the start of the 19th century.

Photo of settee: Dan Robinson; drawings: John Tetreault


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Crafting a chair IT S TA R T S AT T H E S E AT

Drilling into the foundation. The hefty seat blank is the backbone of the chair, anchoring deeply socketed legs from below and spindles from above. Buchanan hand-drills each hole with help from a bevel gauge.

Fine work at first. Before beginning the heavy work of excavating the seat blank, Buchanan uses a light touch with a small gouge to create the decorative rain gutter that will define the edge of the seat.

Dig deep with an adze. A short-handled adze makes quick work of coarse stock removal (left). Buchanan uses a scorp (above) to refine the surfaces left by the adze. For a light, strong seat blank that’s also soft enough to carve easily, pine is the perfect choice.

will do well here—oak, hickory, or ash. My favorite wood for long spindles and bends is white oak. A good piece of white oak properly prepared and steamed will give close to 100% successful bends, no strap needed. For gentle bends, and for shorter spindles, which need less resilience, I won’t hesitate to substitute red oak.

Why paint? Putting all these different woods together created stark contrasts in color, texture, and grain pattern, so colonial makers painted their Windsors to unify them. But nothing shows up a poor design like paint; with no fancy burl to distract the eye, the pressure was on to get the lines and balance right. The same holds true today. In the 18th century, most Windsors were finished with a mixture of verdigris (copper acetate), lead white, and oil or varnish. Such paint was durable and weather resistant, but it wasn’t colorfast,

Is noise necessary? The bandsaw is one of only two stationary machines in Buchanan’s chair shop. He relies on it for cutting out seat blanks, but regrets that it put his bowsaw into retirement.

so it turned very dark. Like most contemporary makers, I use milk paint on my chairs. It’s typically made from natural pigment, clay, lime, and nonfat milk. Its thin appearance and pleasant colors work well with the chair.

LEGS AN D STRETCHERS A very large hand tool. In a shop nearly devoid of power tools, Buchanan does much of his best work at the lathe—“which is kind of a hand tool,” he says, “since you hold and control the cutter by hand.”

A library of Windsor designs In fan-backs, loop-backs, sack-backs, comb-backs, balloon-backs, continuous-arms, rod-backs, triple-backs, and more, chairmakers from region to region competed in creating their own styles. And the Oriental influence in design at the turn of the 18th century— seen in Chippendale’s furniture—stirred things further, bringing the advent of the double rod back, or bird cage, with simulated bamboo turnings and paint for highlights, to replace the voluptuous baluster turnings, knuckles, ears, and pommels of previous chairs. Some view these chairs as a degradation of the style; I view them as simply another evolution of it, and a graceful one at that. Colonial-era Windsors were wonderful chairs, but contemporary makers shouldn’t assume they can’t be improved upon. Makers in the 18th century borrowed constantly from other makers, adapting more graceful lines or more pleasing seats to their own use. Their chairs continued to evolve as they mimicked and improved on each other’s designs. As makers 200 years later, we have the distinct advantage of looking at hundreds of versions of, say, loop-backs. Why make a replica of a chair that can be improved?

Windsors gone and back again With the advent of factories such as Hitchcock Chair in the early 19th century, Windsors faded. Sturdy, indestructible low-back versions persisted in bars, but the fine, delicate chairs of the late 18th century disappeared into back rooms and barns to be used as stepladders. Then in the early 20th century, a minister with a penchant for furniture, Wallace Nutting, helped repopularize the chair, publishing an influential book on the topic and making Windsor www.f inewoodworking.com

Hard maple is hard to beat. For strong parts that hold crisp turned edges, hard maple is perhaps the best wood available.

Tapered sockets are self-tightening. Buchanan twists a reamer into a pre-drilled hole to create the deep angled mortises for the tapered leg tenons.

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Crafting a chair continued S P IN D L E S , A R M R A I L S , A N D C R E ST RAILS Whack! White oak logs split green are Buchanan’s choice for the riven parts of the chair—the spindles, arm rails, and crest rails— which require resilience and bendability.

A rive is a controlled split. Buchanan uses a froe to coax a billet of green wood into splitting just the way he wants. The spindles and rails need the continuous grain produced by riving for strength under bending stress.

reproductions. Stripped of their paint and varnished, Windsors once again graced American homes. With the rise in popularity of early American furniture in the 1950s, thousands of bland factory versions of fan-back Windsors were made in hard rock maple. My parents bought a set in 1952, the year I was born, and still use them as their dining chairs. About the same time my parents were buying their reproduction Windsors, antique collectors were starting to pay attention to the real thing. And when I started making Windsors in the early 1980s, you couldn’t open a home magazine without seeing antique Windsors. The increased demand, coupled with the fact that surviving 18th-century chairs were limited in number, fueled the market for well-made contemporary Windsors. Everything has a beginning and an end, but the demand for handmade Windsors remains strong. This is good for me and other makers, for Windsors offer a wonderful way to earn a living. □ Curtis Buchanan’s shop is behind the house he built in downtown Jonesborough, Tenn. He sells full plans for some of his chairs and posts videos explaining how to build them on his website, curtisbuchananchairmaker.com.

Inside, outside, up, and down. Building a Windsor involves a delightful variety of tasks and skills. One of the most enduringly pleasurable, Buchanan says, is shaping spindles and rails on a shaving horse.

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Steam power for continuous curves. Straightgrained white oak, riven green and fresh out of the steambox, can be bent to compound curves without a bending strap.

Pop in the spindles. With the undercarriage already glued up, Buchanan dry-fits the arm supports and side spindles before drilling the arm rail for the long spindles.

Unifying colors. Applying a coat of paint unifies a chair made of dissimilar woods— pine, oak, and maple—chosen for their various physical properties.

A Windsor workshop

I

t was the tools and techniques that brought me to greenwood chairmaking, not the finished product, and it’s the tools and techniques that keep me there. After 30 years building chairs, I still look forward to getting down to the shop in the morning. My goal is to enjoy every part of the day. I want to savor shop time just as I do breakfast with my wife, Marilyn, or my nap after lunch. A greenwood chair shop lends itself to this lifestyle. No loud machinery, no dust, no sheet goods. Splitting logs and shaping parts with a drawknife dictate the pace. I’ve whittled thousands of spindles, yet I still enjoy sitting on the shaving horse listening to a sharp drawknife cutting through freshly cleaved oak. Instead of battening the windows and doors to keep in the racket, then strapping on eye, ear, and breathing protection, I sit with the doors and windows open and listen while I work. I can hear my town in the background: the courthouse clock, the train whistle, kids playing, a serenading wren. The pungent smell of green white oak fills the shop—or white pine if I’m carving a seat. It’s a visitor-friendly shop. Work can always stop for a chat. Time is more than money, and as long as I make “enough” that’s all that counts. Working from the log provides a never-ending source of wonder and surprise. From selection at the log yard to splitting open the log with hammers, wedges, and gluts, it’s an enjoyable, rich, and always rewarding experience. There are times when I open a log and find I’ve bought expensive


The shop is open. The small chair shop Buchanan built behind his house in Jonesborough, Tenn., attracts a steady stream of friends, former students, and neighbors (like Mara), who stop by to watch and talk.

firewood, and other times when I think I must have just purchased the most perfect log nature made. The lathe and bandsaw are my only concessions to stationary power tools. In the lathe’s defense, it does have roots that go back 4,000 years—the only new wrinkle is the power source. And it is the only stationary power tool where you hold and control the cutter, making it in essence a hand tool. The bandsaw is another story. I worked without one for 10 years and got along just fine. When I bought a ’60s vintage 14-in. Delta it was to cut maple and oak billets to length. But it quickly replaced my bowsaw for cutting out seats, something I’ve never forgiven it for. The lesson I learned was this: Watch what you introduce to your sacred workspace. We’ve made peace now, me and the bandsaw. It helps me with the grunt work and I let it saw a little pine now and then. Making one chair at a time, I go from shaving horse to lathe to carving to assembly to finishing, all in a few days. And then I get to start over again. —C.B.


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readers gallery ■BRUCE

LEONARD

■ Alexandria, Va.

Making a serpentine bombé chest was on Leonard’s bucket list. This chest (201⁄4 in. deep by 37 in. wide by 331⁄2 in. tall) is a reproduction of a Boston Museum of Fine Arts original. To help with the project, Leonard recruited cabinetmaker George Slack. Leonard, a member of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, met with Slack one weekend a month for five months to discuss design details and techniques such as shaping the solid mahogany case sides and drawer fronts. The finish is aniline dye, sealed with amber shellac.

■ A A RO N

WELLS

■ Cookeville, Tenn.

Wells’s cherry and tiger maple table (16 in. deep by 24 in. wide by 28 in. tall) was inspired by the work of James Krenov. Following Krenov’s design tenets, Wells kept the design simple and subtle, avoiding anything overwhelming. For the finish, he used an oil-based varnish. PHOTO: BEN CORDA

Submissions Readers Gallery provides design inspiration by showcasing the work of our readers. For submission instructions and an entry form, go to FineWoodworking.com/rg.

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2014 NORTHERN WOODS SHOW Sponsored by the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild and held in Eden Prairie, Minn., the Northern Woods Show also attracts artisans and craftspeople from as far as New York and Wisconsin. Here’s a peek at some of the great work. To see other pieces and get more information, go to mnwwg.org (click on the Northern Woods tab).

■ED

NEU

■ Buffalo, Minn. This reproduction of an 1876 No. 7 Mt. Lebanon Shaker rocker (32 in. deep by 26 in. wide by 43 in. tall) won Best Traditional Piece. It is one of three in a set made by Neu, all reproduced from drawings by 20th-century cabinetmaker Ejner Handberg. The chair is curly maple with a woven cotton Shaker tape seat. The finish is aniline dye and shellac.

C R AIG AIG ■ CR

JO J O HNSON H N SO N

■ St. Paul, Minn.

The yellow birch used in Johnson’s sliding-lid box (7 in. deep by 11 in. wide by 4 in. tall) was reclaimed after years spent underwater, having been lost by loggers more than 150 years ago in a local lake. The box features hand-cut dovetails and a hand-carved recessed pull, and is finished with shellac and beeswax.

■TIMOTHY

G ORM A N

■ Minneapolis, Minn. ■ DAL E

JO H N S O N

■ St. Francis, Minn.

The winner of the Best Finish and Peer awards, Johnson’s pantry cabinet (16 in. deep by 28 in. wide by 72 in. tall) is built from lumber harvested from a massive birch his neighbor had taken down. The panels on the doors use sapwood to provide a subtle contrast within the piece. The finish is oil and varnish over shellac. Photos, this page, except where noted: Ramon Moreno

Gorman’s turning (8 in. dia. by 9 in. tall), affectionately titled “The Chubby One,” is one in a series of turnings from a single piece of spalted maple. The other materials are Honduran mahogany, ebony, and makore. Gorman installed a segmented lining, leaving the spalted maple’s natural character on the outside. PHOTO: SARAH WHITING


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readers gallery

continued

■ E DWA R D

D OL A N

■ Glen Ellyn, Ill.

This media cabinet (24 in. deep by 96 in. wide by 34 in. tall) was the culminating project of Dolan’s time studying under the Michael Fortune Fellowship. The top is a torsion box with tiger maple veneer, the case sides and doors are tiger maple over MDF, the frame is cherry, and the pulls are ebony. The finish is Danish oil, followed by sprayed lacquer. PHOTO: ELIZABETH CARTER

■ G ER EM Y

C OY

■ Alexandria, Va.

Coy’s walnut box (61⁄4 in. deep by 10 in. wide by 2 in. tall) was designed to display the delicate Japanese kumiko latticework on the lid, which is made of more than 70 hand-fitted pieces of Alaskan yellow cedar. The grain-matched box is joined with mitered dovetails and finished with shellac and wax.

■JULIEN

LECOMTE

■ San Jose, Calif.

Lecomte’s card table (18 in. deep by 36 in. wide by 30 in. tall) was inspired by Steve Latta’s Federal Card Table that appeared in FWW #180. The top is African mahogany, the legs are Honduran mahogany, and the apron is mahogany crotch veneer over poplar. Lecomte chose to forego the traditional bell flower inlay in the legs and instead inlaid a diamond of curly maple. The finish is oil and shellac.

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CHAIRS BY THE ROADSIDE Gary Rogowoski and graduates of his Northwest Woodworking Studio Mastery Program held a fundraising chair auction to benefit the Sisters of the Road Café (sistersoftheroad.org), a restaurant for the homeless of Portland, Ore. The goal was to create a unique chair from a common premise: Imagine you found a chair on the side of the road and fixed it up. Rogowski and his assistant milled the beech frames and the laminated back rests, cut the slip tenons, and shipped sets of four legs, six rails, and a back rest to his students across the country. “Chairs by the Roadside” featured 18 chairs, half of which were sold during the event, raising more than $10,000.

■

G A RY RO G OW SK I

■ “Bird of Paradise”

“I designed this chair to be fun and wanted it to be bright like the Bird of Paradise plant with the feeling of movement like the bird. Most of all, I wanted to leave my normal realm of serious design and make a functional piece that makes you smile.”

■

B R E N DA N A LV I S T U R

■ “If and When”

■

“I cut wedge shapes from the legs and posts and glued them to the opposite face before shaping. This increased the rake and splay of the legs, and offered a varied seat position.”

MARTY DOUGLAS

■ “Cafe au Lait”

“I chose to pursue function over whimsy with my chair. I carved the solid sapele seat to mimic upholstery and the carving on the back rest and front rail provides subtle texture.”

■ ■

P E T ER S T E VE N S

■ “This is the Place”

“The Sisters of the Road’s logo, three X’s in a circle, is adapted from the symbol used by the homeless to mark a place for good food and hospitality. I carved the symbol meaning ‘this is the place’ into the back rest of my chair, as in the place to sit comfortably.”

Photos, this page: Gary Rogowski

B R U C E P E T E R SE N

■ “Rustic Modern” “I wanted to create a chair that had clean, straight lines, but was friendly and approachable. The woven rush seat adds warmth to an otherwise angular chair.”


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Q&A Fix for a wandering handsaw Q: My handsaw leaves a wide kerf and tends to wander. How can I get it to track straighter and make a finer cut? — S I D M O R TO N , M o o r h e a d , M i n n .

A: TOO MUCH SET IN THE TEETH can cause this, so you’ll need to remove some of it. First, wrap the blade in one thickness of brown kraft paper (about 0.003 in. thick), and press the teeth between the jaws of a machinist’s vise to flatten out some of the set. The jaws of my vise aren’t very long, so it takes several overlapping pressings along the length of the saw plate to remove the set on the whole blade. The points of the teeth will cut through the paper and retain some angle, and the paper acts as a spacer between the saw plate and the vise, giving the teeth a very fine and even amount of set. Now try it out. It should have a smaller kerf now, but still slide easily. If you find that it cuts slightly to one side, hone that side one time on a fine sharpening stone and try it again, repeating until you get a perfectly straight kerf (for more on this and on sharpening your dovetail saw, check out Master Class: “Resharpen, restore a dovetail saw,” FWW #183). —Chris Gochnour is a woodworker and hand-tool expert near Salt Lake City.

Squeeze the teeth. Wrap kraft paper around the saw’s teeth and plate, and press the teeth in a vise.

Test, then finetune by honing. After pressing, make some test cuts. If the saw cuts toward one side, hone that side one stroke at a time. Keep testing and honing until the cut is dead straight.

The proof. This saw went from producing a jagged and curved kerf to smooth and straight in a matter of minutes.

Ask a question Do you have a question you’d like us to consider for the column? Send it to Q&A, Fine Woodworking, 63 S. Main St., Newtown, CT 06470, or email [email protected].

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Photos: staff

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© 2013 The Taunton Press


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Q&A

continued

Router table is better for small shops Q: I added up the costs of a bigger router, a lift, and a nice router table, and it would basically cost the same as a shaper. Am I better off just buying a shaper that can handle router bits too? —JASON S K AGEN, S t. Paul, M inn.

Router bits are a lot less expensive. For the price of two or three shaper cutters, you can buy a whole collection of router bits.

A: FOR THE HOME SHOP, a router table is the better value. To get a high-end router table, lift, and a powerful 2-hp router, you’ll spend about $1,500 total. For that money, you’ll really get only an entry-level shaper. And when you stack those next to each other, I don’t think it’s worth it to get a shaper. Also, because shaper cutters are designed for production work, they command higher prices, and aren’t very economical for a shop that makes one-off pieces of furniture and smallerscale projects. Stick to the router table, and you won’t be disappointed (for a complete guide to router tables and lifts, check out FWW #237). —Roland Johnson is a contributing editor.

Two reasons a router table is a no-brainer. Router tables spin bits much faster than shapers do, leaving a smoother surface. Also, you would have to spend a lot more on a shaper to match the features you get with a top-end router table.

Seal your project with dewaxed shellac Q: Is there any difference in the

A: BOTH OF THESE PRODUCTS

sealing properties of Zinsser’s SealCoat and regular Bulls Eye shellac? I have had trouble finding SealCoat. Can I use regular shellac as a sealer instead?

seal the wood equally well, but some finishes won’t stick to regular shellac. Both amber and clear Bulls Eye shellac have a natural waxy substance that interferes with

—MIK E S MITH, S enec a, S .C .

Wax in, wax out. SealCoat (left) has no wax, so it works with most finishes. Regular shellac (right) contains wax that causes adhesion problems with certain finishes. It’s more cloudy in appearance, too.

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FINE WOODWORKING

the adhesion of oil-based polyurethane and waterbased finishes. To address that problem, Zinsser created SealCoat, which has the wax removed. That’s why you see SealCoat advertised as a “Universal Sanding Sealer” on the can. A representative at Zinsser told me that although they are still producing SealCoat, a poor shellac crop has driven the prices up, and many customers have turned to cheaper alternatives. As a result, some stores have stopped stocking it. But SealCoat is

still available at specialty woodworking stores and through online retailers. If you are using nitrocellulose lacquer or oil-based varnishes other than polyurethane, such as Waterlox or any alkyd varnish, you can safely use the waxy amber or clear 3-lb. cut. If you’re using oil-based poly or any water-based finish, stick with SealCoat. If you’re up for it, you can also mix your own shellac using dewaxed shellac flakes. Just make sure to use blond or super-blond to avoid darkening the color of the wood. —Jeff Jewitt is the owner of Homestead Finishing Products in Cleveland, Ohio.

Season 2 coming this fall to public television!

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Go to FineCooking.TV/Feast to watch past episodes and get the recipes from the show

Series funding provided by:

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Winner of the:

master class

Powerful new joint HOUSED DOUBLE TENONS ARE STRONG AND SIMPLE TO MAKE B Y

B R I A N

B O G G S

W

hen I began building outdoor chairs 10 years ago, I searched for a strong, weather-tight joint. The traditional mortise-and-tenon works well for interior pieces, but outdoors, moisture can wick into the end grain of the tenon shoulders, undermining the joint. I designed this U-joint, with its only shoulder hidden between twin tenons and set below the surface of the mortise, to solve the moisture issue. But I soon realized that the joint delivered a bundle of other benefits. With four wide tenon cheeks instead of the standard two, it had far greater glue surface, and so greater strength. The joint also made for a stronger rail, since there were no exterior shoulders to reduce the width and thickness of the rail at either end. And it was very well adapted to joining rails to shaped legs, since there were no external shoulders that had to

BETTER JOINT FOR CHAIRS Boggs developed the U-joint (a double tenon without shoulders) as a weather-tight connection for use on outdoor furniture like his settee (left). But because of its strength and the way it simplifies joining curved and shaped parts, he favors it for many indoor chairs as well (right).

82

Bottom photos: Tim Barnwell (left), Michael Traister (right)

Router template for mortises Flatten template with a handplane after glue-up.

Center strips cut to desired width of guide slot

Spacer determines length of guide slot.

An accurate, durable guide slot. Boggs makes the template by ripping a piece of plywood and reassembling it. He coats the edges of the guide slot with cyanoacrylate glue and sands them.

Baltic-birch plywood, 3 ⁄4 in. thick

TWO WAYS TO LOCATE THE TEMPLATE Screwed to the workpiece. The mortising template can be affixed to the workpiece with screws driven into a waste area. Boggs uses centerlines on the template and the workpiece to locate the mortise.

Clamped with a fence. When there are multiple mortises to cut, or when it’s not practical to screw the template to the workpiece, you can attach a fence to the template and clamp it to the workpiece.

ROUT THE MORTISE IN TWO STEPS Make a seat. With the bit set to cut 1⁄8 in. into the workpiece, rout the whole area of the mortise. This first cut creates the seat for the tenon shoulder.

Router bit

Guide bushing

Then go deep. Set the bit deeper for the twin mortises. Run the guide bushing along one side of the slot, then the other, making the cuts in several passes.

Seat, ⁄8 in. deep

Mortises

1


83

master class

continued

be coped to fit. And while the shoulders of traditional tenons can pull away when they shrink in dry weather, reducing the joint’s rack-resistance, the U-joint’s shoulder remains locked between two tenons. The joint succeeded so well that I also use it on indoor chairs and tables.

Twin tenons A precisely milled spacer is the key to cutting the two tenons perfectly. The thickness of the spacer must equal the gap between the tenons minus one bandsaw kerf. Space between tenons is cut on bandsaw.

Cutting second cheek requires a spacer.

Center seat of mortise is recessed 1⁄8 in.

Measure a kerf. To find the width of the bandsaw kerf, use a micrometer to measure a scrap before and after it’s been sawn down the middle.

First cheek. Cut the cheek of the far tenon with the workpiece riding against the bandsaw fence. A stop controls the depth of cut.

Stop and slide. After removing most of the waste with angled cuts, Boggs slides the workpiece back and forth against the stop to create a smooth shoulder between the tenons.

84

Routing twin mortises Using a plunge router with a guide bushing and a simple plywood template, cutting the double mortise is not difficult. The U-joint mortise has three sections— the twin deep mortises and the seat between them that receives the tenon’s shoulder—but the cuts for all three are guided by the single slot in the template. Switch on the router—With the leg blank still square, I start the mortise by milling the entire area within the guide slot to about 1⁄8 in. deep. This creates the

Second cheek. With the bandsaw fence in the same position, insert the spacer and cut the cheek of the near tenon.

seat for the shoulder between the tenons. I want the seat deep enough that it won’t be exposed when I shape the leg. Then I reset the plunge depth and cut the twin mortises. One side of the slot guides the router bushing for the first mortise, then I slide the router to the other side and change the feed direction for the second. Cut to full depth in a series of passes, and use compressed air to clear the mortises periodically.

Tenons on the bandsaw I cut the tenons at the bandsaw, making two stopped cuts for the cheeks, a series of angled cuts to remove the waste, and Photos, except where noted: Jonathan Binzen

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85

master class

continued

a scraping, side-to-side cut to establish the shoulder. Because I will shave the outsides of the tenon to a very slight angle to aid assembly, the rail should be a hair thicker (maybe 0.010 in.) than the overall width of the U-joint mortise. I reference both cheek cuts off one face of the workpiece and use a stop block to limit the depth of the cut. First, I set the fence to cut the cheek of the far tenon. For the cheek of the near tenon, I leave the fence at the same setting and insert a spacer between the fence and the workpiece. The spacer must be very precise. Its thickness should equal the space between the tenons minus one bandsaw kerf. To determine the width of your bandsaw kerf, first mill a scrap about 1⁄2 in. thick and measure its exact thickness with a micrometer. Then resaw the scrap, stack the halves back together, and check their combined thickness with the micrometer. The difference in the measurements is the width of your kerf. Keep good pressure against the fence and feed slowly and steadily for an accurate, smooth glue surface on both cheeks. I use a 1⁄2-in., 4-tpi, skip-tooth blade, which gives the smoothest cut of all the non-carbide blades I’ve used.

Fitting the joint I taper the tenons just a couple of thousandths of an inch so they enter the mortise easily and pinch the opening tightly closed when assembled. A few block plane strokes on each side tapers the tenons to an easy fit. Alternately, you could do the tapering with sandpaper. Adhere a sheet of 120-grit paper to a piece of MDF and take a few strokes against it. To generate the slight taper, tape a card scraper to the workpiece 10 in. or so from the end to be sanded. For tenons 3⁄8 in. and thinner, the corners can be chamfered with a chisel. Press the joint together and let the mortises squeeze the tenon corners round. Larger tenons will need more rounding. You can use a combination of routing and chiseling, or use heavy sandpaper with a shoe-shine stroke to create rounded corners. □

FITTING THE U-JOINT

Tiny taper. A few fine shavings with a block plane create a subtle taper on the ever-soslightly oversize rail. The taper makes insertion easier and ensures a seamless glueline.

Round the tenons. Sandpaper used with a shoeshine stroke makes quick work of knocking the corners off the tenons so they fit the rounded corners of the routed mortises.

Expando-sander. If he needs to widen the gap a trifle, Boggs makes a special sander with a strip of foam sandwiched between two strips of wood. He makes it a tight fit between the tenons so the foam will exert outward pressure as he sands.

Fit, then shape. After dry-fitting the joint, Boggs will disassemble it and shape the parts before final glue-up.

Brian Boggs makes chairs in Asheville, N.C.

86

FINE WOODWORKING

Drawings: Kelly J. Dunton

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FINE WOODWORKING

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INDEX TO ADVERTISERS ADVERTISER

WEB ADDRESS

PAGE

ADVERTISER

WEB ADDRESS

PAGE

Alderfer Lumber Co.

www.alderferlumber.com

p. 87

Hearne Hardwoods

www.hearnehardwoods.com

p. 13

Allred & Associates, Inc.

www.wood-carver.com

p. 88

Highland Woodworking

highlandwoodworking.com

p. 17

American Fabric Filter Co.

www.americanfabricfilter.com

p. 11

Infinity Tools

infinitytools.com

p. 7

Anderson Ranch Arts Center

andersonranch.org

p. 19

Inside Passage School

insidepassage.ca

p. 17

Arbortech Tools

www.arbortechusa.com

p. 87

JET Machinery

jettools.com/17

p. 2

The Beall Tool Co.

www.bealltool.com

p. 88

Kay Industries

www.kayind.com

p. 85

Berea Hardwoods Co.

www.bereahardwoods.com

p. 21

Keller & Company

www.bestdovetails.com

p. 87

Berkshire Products

berkshireproducts.com

p. 87

Knew Concepts

www.knewconcepts.com

p. 87

Cabinetparts

cabinetparts.com

p. 87

Leigh Industries

leighjigs.com

p. 3

Cabinets Quick

www.cabinetsquick.com

p. 87

Leigh Industries

leighjigs.com

p. 13

Cadex Tools

cadextools.com

p. 13

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks

www.lie-nielsen.com

p. 17

Lignomat Moisture Meters

www.lignomat.com

p. 22

www.lonniebird.com

p. 13

Center for Furniture Craftsmanship

www.woodschool.org

p. 7

Clapham’s Beeswax Products, Ltd. College of the Redwoods

of Fine Woodworking www.claphams.com

p. 85

Newport Nautical Timbers

newportnauticaltimbers.com

p. 88

www.crfinefurniture.com

p. 88

Oneida Air Systems

www.oneida-air.com

p. 9

p. 85

Oneida Air Systems

www.oneida-air.com

p. 19

Osborne Wood Products

www.osborneturnings.com

p. 3

Colonial Williamsburg Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking

Lonnie Bird’s School

Philadelphia Furniture

www.schoolofwoodworking.com

p. 11

Contempo Living

www.contempolivinginc.com

p. 87

Workshop

Corob Cutters

corobcutters.com

p. 87

Pygmy Boats

www.pygmyboats.com

p. 88

Craftsman Studio

craftsmanstudio.com

p. 87

Quality Vakuum Products

www.qualityvak.com

p. 19

Chips Fly

chipsfly.com

p. 87

Radarcarve

www.radarcarve.net

p. 7

Custom Branding Irons

www.branding-irons.biz

p. 22

Rockler Woodworking

DR Power

drleafvac.com

p. 21

rockler.com

p. 11

Rosewood Studio

www.rosewoodstudio.com

p. 21

Diamond Machining

& Hardware

philadelphiafurnitureworkshop.com p. 87

www.dmtsharp.com

p. 19

SawStop

sawstop.com/10

p. 29

Earlex SprayPort

www.earlex.com

p. 9

Shop Smith

www.shopsmithabrasives.com

p. 85

Epilog Laser

epiloglaser.com/fww

p. 17

SuperMax Tools

supermaxtools.com

p. 17

Felder-Group, USA

www.feldergroupusa.com

p. 21

Taunton Store

www.tauntonstore.com/shopfw

p. 23

Forrest Manufacturing

www.forrestblades.com

p. 19

The Woodworking Shows

thewoodworkingshows.com

p. 91

Technology

The Furniture Institute of Massachusetts

Vacuum Pressing Systems, Inc. vacupress.com

p. 7

www.furnituremakingclasses.com

p. 87

West Penn Hardwoods

www.westpennhardwoods.com

p. 88

G&G Trade Corp.

www.tablemechanism.com

p. 87

Whitechapel Ltd.

www.whitechapel-ltd.com

p. 21

Goby Walnut Products

www.gobywalnut.com

p. 87

Whiteside Machine Co.

whitesiderouterbits.com

p. 9

Grex Tools

www.grextools.com

p. 3

Woodcraft

woodcraft.com

p. 7

Grizzly Industrial

grizzly.com

p. 15

Woodworkers Source

www.101woods.com

p. 87

Woodworker’s Supply

woodworker.com/honemate-fa

p. 13

Woodworker’s Supply

pro.woodworker.com

p. 21

GrnGate Automatic Dust Collection System Groff & Groff Lumber


www.grngate.com

p. 7

www.groffslumber.com

p. 87


89

how they did it Making a classic contemporary B Y

C

J O N A T H A N

urtis Buchanan had built more than 1,000 traditional Windsors, all of them painted, when his friend Velda Foxx asked him to design a contemporary version that would be clear finished. Buchanan used one of his traditional fan-back armchairs as a starting point, importing

B I N Z E N

the principle joinery and angles to his new design. Then he set about altering the shaping, turning, and other details to express a fresh spirit. He eliminated all of the fan-back’s carving and voluptuous turning, choosing to focus attention on the wood and a simpler set of lines.

TRADITIONAL FAN-BACK ARMCHAIR

UPDATED VERSION

The double-curved crest rail with its carved volutes is the crown of the fan-back. On the contemporary chair, Buchanan traded it for a simpler arch-topped rail, which he tucked inside the back posts. Removing the short spindles between the fan-back’s arm support and back post lightens the look of the new chair. Buchanan shaped the arm of his new chair to reflect the chamfers and sharp edges of the seat, abandoning the curves and carving of the fan-back.

A clear oil finish highlights the color and contrast of walnut and hickory in the contemporary chair, while paint unifies the appearance of the traditional fan-back, with its maple turnings, pine seat, and white oak spindles and crest rail.

On the seat of the new chair, heavy chamfers and sharp arrises supplant the pillowy cyma curves of the fan-back’s traditional shield seat. Buchanan replaced the fan-back’s baluster-turned H-stretcher with a box stretcher, which is better suited to slender cigar turnings. In the H-stretcher, the heavy center bulbs on each side accommodate long tenons from the medial stretcher.

90

FINE WOODWORKING

Photos: Doug Thompson; drawings: John Tetreault

Come see

Fine Woodworking at The Woodworking Shows! ®

Roland Johnson, Fine Woodworking contributing editor, will teach three seminars: • Buying, rebuilding and using Stanley Bailey Bench Planes • Biscuit or Domino, which is right for you? • Glue: 10 Sticky Solutions

We’ll see you there! 2014-2015 Show Schedule Houston, TX, Oct. 24 - 26 Southern CA, Oct. 31 - Nov. 2 Northern CA, Nov. 7 - 9 Portland, OR, Nov. 14 - 16 Denver, CO, Nov. 21 - 23 Baltimore, MD, Jan. 2 - 4, 2015 New England, Jan. 9 - 11 Indianapolis, IN, Jan. 16 - 18 Columbus, OH, Jan. 23 - 25

David Heim,

Kansas City, MO, Jan. 30 - Feb. 1

former associate editor at Fine Woodworking, will demonstrate how to make the most of the SketchUp® 3D design program. Woodworkers of all skill levels can learn how to use this popular tool in their shop or for their business.

St. Louis, MO, Feb. 6 - 8 Detroit, MI, Feb. 13 - 15 Somerset, NJ, Feb. 20 - 22 Atlanta, GA, Mar. 6 - 8 Milwaukee, WI, Mar. 13 - 15 Tampa, FL, Mar. 20 - 22

W Check schedule online for details – Roland and David will each have his own booth throughout the show, so drop by to learn something new.

ORDER YOUR TICKETS ONLINE TODAY! Visit us at TheWoodworkingShow.com © 2014 The Taunton Press

Chair Story

C

urtis Buchanan is as deft with a story as he is with a drawknife. That’s no surprise, since his small town of Jonesborough, Tenn., hosts a storytelling festival each October with performers from around the world, and it seems everyone in town can spin a yarn. Sometimes even his chairs have tales to tell. This one was commissioned by three siblings as a surprise for their parents, Harold and Emily Childress, on their 50th wedding anniversary. Buchanan built it with wood from a walnut tree harvested from Emily’s family farm and a hickory from Harold’s family farm. With just nine months from felling to delivery, Buchanan had to hustle to dry the seat blank and get the chair built. The siblings, their spouses, and six grandchildren had a hand in the project. They helped with (or watched) the felling, splitting, spokeshaving, steam-bending, drilling, and oiling, and their names joined Buchanan’s on the underside of the seat. When the anniversary arrived, the family took Harold and Emily to Buchanan’s shop, where the finished chair was waiting on his workbench. Buchanan joined them and found a scene unprecedented in Jonesborough: “They were speechless,” he said. “It was a lot of fun to see.” —Jonathan Binzen How They Did It Turn to p. 90 to see how Buchanan designed the first version of this contemporar y Windsor chair.

Chair photo: Doug Thompson; other photos courtesy of Karen Childress

Slide Show See a range of Buchanan’s chairs and hear him discuss them in an exclusive audio slide show.

Fine Woodworking - 243Nov-Dec2014

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