Woodsmith #122.pdf

Harvest Table * Wall-Mounted Organizer * Tool Tote • Breadboard * Combination Squares

MUM Vol. 21/No. 122

Harvest Tabl

IS*

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

• Build an Elegant Bread-

d This Weekend

ver Way to Take Your

and Tools to the Worksite

Cut the Clutter With Our

Wall-Mounted Organizer

• Learn the When and Why

of Using Breadboard Ends

www.woodsmith.com

Country _,

Wxxlsmilh

EDITOR'S

No. 122

April, 1999 '*

SAWDUST

Publisher Donald B. Peschke

Editor Terry J. Strohman

Associate Editors Jon Garbison

Vincent Ancona

Art Director Todd Lambirth

Senior Illustrators David Kreyling

Dirk Ver Steeg

Mike Mittermeier

favorite room in the house has been

the kitchen. In some ways, if s a lot like

my woodworking shop.

There are some big pieces of equip-

ment to work on, a variety of hand tools

to use, and everyone in the family gets

to enjoy what's "built" there.

Of course, you need a place to put

these "projects" — mountains of

mashed potatoes, platters of meat, and

fresh baked pies. Nothing fancy, just a

large table with four sturdy legs—the

kitchen equivalent of a workbench.

Here in the Midwest, if s often called

a harvest table. Thaf s because at har-

vest time, extra hands were around to

work the fields. Naturally, feeding all

those people required a big table.

Thaf s just the kind of project I want-

ed to build for this issue. But before

getting started, there were a few design

considerations to take care of.

SIZE. First of all, most of us don't have

to feed a large crowd of farmhands

today. So we scaled down the size of

the table a bit Still, if s big enough to

seat six people comfortably and have

plenty of room left over for serving

plates full of food.

LEGS. Another modification we made

was to the legs. They're strong and

sturdy like you'd expect on a country

table. But instead of using a tradition-

al turned leg, we've come up with a

unique double-tapered leg that features

a special routed profile.

TOP. Although the table is smaller

and the legs are different, there's one

thing I didn't want to change — the

top. In keeping with its traditional her-

itage, it's made of solid wood and

capped with breadboard ends.

Of course, any time you glue up a

large panel, like a table top, you can

count on having a certain amount of

shrinkage (or expansion) depending

on the time of year and type of wood

(we used pine.) But we ran into a sur-

prise with the top on this table.

As always, whenever we buy lumber,

we assume that a few boards will warp

or shrink. So we let them sit in the shop

for several days. And then we picked

the best pieces to glue up for the top.

Before adding the breadboard ends,

we decided to set the top aside for a

few days. I'm glad we did. The top had

shrunk V&" across the width of the

panel. Even though we purchased the

wood from an indoor lumberyard, it

was a long way from being dry.

Finally, we attached the breadboard

end caps. While they started off flush

with the edge of the panel, I know they

won't be flush for long. As the humid-

ity changes, the top panel will contin-

ue to shrink and swell.

Since you can't keep wood from mov-

ing, the trick is to come up with a way

to keep the end caps in place. Our solu-

tion is to use adjustable, shop-built fas-

teners. For more on all this, check out

the article beginning on page 6.

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Woodsmith

No. 122

COLUMN

F or as long as I can remember, my

A LOOK

CONTENTS

Features

Country Harvest Table................... 6

Breadboard ends, tapered legs, and solid pine construction give

this harvest table a "country" look. But a handy storage drawer

at each end makes it practical as well.

Country Harvest Table page 6

Breadboard .............................. 18

Instead of "loafing" around this weekend, how about building this

breadboard? It doesn't require much in the way of time or materi-

als. And maybe you'll even get a warm loaf of fresh-baked bread

out of the deal.

Breadboard Ends........................ 20

Here's a closer look at a traditional woodworking technique.

Although they've been used for generations, breadboard ends are

still one of the best ways to keep a wide panel flat.

Tool Tote.................................. 22

A removable bin on each end makes this tool tote "expandable" so

you'll have plenty of space for tools and hardware. And when you

get back to your shop, the bins come off for use on your bench.

Wall-Mounted Organizer............... 28

Gracefully-curved sides and a coved drawer front make this orga-

nizer attractive as well as practical. And while it doesn't take up

much space, it can hold a lot of "clutter."

Combination Square.................... 32

A combination square is like a trusted old friend, just when you

think you know all its secrets, you leam something new that

makes it even more useful and valued.

Departments

Tips & Techniques......................... 4

Shop Notes ............................... 16

Sources ...................................35

Organizer page 28

No. 122

Woodsmith

INSIDE

WOODWORKERS

TIPS & TECHNI QUES

Locking Stave Joints

Mitered stave construe- a better alternative.

tion is great for making

multi-sided "cylinders" or

turning blanks. But I have

problems when it conies to

gluing up the staves. Once

you've got glue on the

joints, the pieces become

very slippery, and it's diffi-

cult to clamp them up.

I've tried using splines

in the miter joints, but

aligning the slots for the

splines can also be tricky.

So recently, I came up with

Instead of simply miter-

ing the individual stave

pieces, I created a shoulder

or "notch" on one edge of

each piece to hold the

square edge of the piece

next to it. The shoulders

prevent the pieces from

shifting during assembly.

The shoulders are cut by

tilting a stacked dado head

cutter. By varying the

degree of tilt and the

height of the dado blade,

you can create shoulders

for six, eight, or twelve-

sided "cylinders."

For eight-sided cylinders,

the dado blade is tilted 45°,

see Fig. 1. You'll have to

"sneak up" on the final

height of the blade by mak-

ing test cuts until the pieces

fit together evenly.

The dado set is tilted 30°

for both six and twelve-sided

cylinders. But the height of

the blade is different for

each. For a hexagon, the

blade is raised so if s level

with the thickness of the

workpiece, see Fig. 2.

For a twelve-sided cylin-

der, the dado blade is raised

a bit higher, see Fig. 3.

(Again, you'll have to "sneak

up" on the final height by

making test pieces.)

Edward Lesny

Camp Hi/1, Pennsylvania

Thickness END VIEW

of stock

Hardwood

block

Rip Fence Gauge

Since I don't trust the rip-

ping gauge on the rail of my

table saw, I used to check

the distance between my

rip fence and my saw blade

with a tape measure.

But trying to hold the

end of the tape against the

rip fence and adjust it at

the same time took

more coordi-

nation than

I could muster. So instead

I made a simple set-up

gauge for my rip fence.

My set-up gauge consists

of nothing more than a

block of hardwood and a

12"-long steel rule, see

drawing at left.

I simply cut a shallow

dado across the bottom

edge of the block to hold

the rule. Then I epoxied the

rule into the dado so that it

was flush with the edge

(face) of the block.

To use the gauge, I just

clamp it to the rip fence,

see photo. This way, the

gauge moves along with

the fence as I adjust it, leav-

ing me with both hands

free to align the fence.

Glenn Shiels

NeuviUe, Quebec

I: p

Editor's Note: If you have

a steel rip fence, you could

use small magnets to hold

the gauge to your fence.

Cut dado

in block

to hold rule

12" Rule

Woodsmith

No. 122

FROM FELLOW

Clogged Forstner

I have a number of

Forstner bits in my shop

made by various manufac-

turers. I've noticed that

some of the bits tend to

clog up with wood chips

more than others, espe-

Bits

daily in the larger sizes.

This is annoying because

I have to stop the drill and

clean out the bit.

When I started compar-

ing the bits, I discovered

that the "mouth" of the bits

weren't all the

same. On the bits

that clogged, the

sides of the

mouth were near-

ly parallel. On the

other bits, the

mouth tapered

out toward the

top to eject the

chips cleanly.

In order to cre-

ate more room for the chips,

I modified the bits that

clogged by "opening" up the

mouth. To do this, file or

grind back the top edges of

the opening, see drawing.

Widen

opening of

bit with file

SIDE VIEW

There's just one thing to

watch out for. Be careful not

to file or grind any of the cut-

ting edges of the bit.

Don Lancaster

Norfolk, Virginia

Table Saw Slot Cover

To help control the dust in the dust collector. To block

my small basement shop, I

hooked up a dust collector

to my table saw.

The only problem with

this was that the opening

in the front of my saw for

the blade tilt wheel cut

down on the efficiency of

off this opening and

increase the airflow around

the saw blade, I made a

simple cover.

The cover is just a piece

of ½"-thick stock with a

notch cut out to fit over the

arbor of the blade tilting

mechanism, see drawing.

To hold the cover in

place, I added a wood knob

and a hardboard "flipper"

that can be turned to lock

over the lip of the opening,

see detail 'a.' To allow the

flipper to fit over the metal

lip in the opening of the

saw, a hardboard spacer is

sandwiched between the

flipper and the cover.

The cover can be quick-

ly removed when I want

to tilt the blade to make

a bevel cut

Reggie Brown

Crittenden, Kentucky

Machine-

screw-. Flipper Spacer

Finger saver.

To hold brads and

small nails while

hammering,

Richard Baker

of Brooksville,

Florida, uses an

alligator clip.

SUBMIT YOUR TIPS

QUICK TIPS

If you would like to share an original shop-tested

tip, send it to: Woodsmith, Tips and Techniques,

2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. Or

if it's easier, FAX it to us at: 515-282-6741. Or use

our E-Mail address: woodsmith@woodsmith.com.

Include a brief explanation and sketch or photo.

If your tip is published, you'll receive $30 to $150,

depending on the published length. And don't

worry, we'll rewrite the tip and redraw the art, if

necessary. Also, please include a daytime phone

number so we can contact you if we have any

questions regarding your tip.

To clean up glue

squeeze-out when glu-

ing up a project, I imme-

diately sprinkle sawdust

on the excess glue. The

sawdust absorbs some

of the moisture, making

it easy to scrape off the

glue/sawdust mixture

with a putty knife.

Robert Rottmann, Jr.

Polos Heights, Illinois

To make iteasiertofinish

large projects, I use an

old mechanic's creeper.

By setting the project on

the creeper, I can easily

rotate it in order to finish

all sides. And when I'm

done, I roll the project

out of the way while the

finish dries.

Daniel Egan

Renton, Washington

No. 122

Woodsmith

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