ShopNotes_065.pdf

Issue 65 1 - .

Our nest Bench ket

( ~oa, fi Easy-to-Build Features

'* *

PUBLISHER Donald B. P~schke

EDITOR Terry J. Strohman

OCIATE EDITORS Bryan Nelson

Vincent Aneona

ART DIRECTOR Gary Christensen

iR. ORAPHlC DESIGNER K& SehlJl'GZ

SENIOR ILLUSTRATOR^ Roger Reiland

Mark Higdon

when you think of a tradi- there's no tricky joinery involved. All

tional-style workbench. For me ifs you need to do is drill afewholes and

beefy mortise and tenon construe- install some draw bolts.

tion, a thick glued-up hardwood top, Besides being easy to install, this

and large, heavy-dutyvises. draw-bolt system has a couple of

Now there's no doubt that these other benefits. Fist, you can "snug-

featuresmake for a great workbench. up" the joint when the wood shrinks

After all, they've proven themselves with changes in humidity. And you

in woodworking shops for hundreds can take the base apart if you want to

of years. The only problem is this movethe bench.

type of bench usually requires As for the top of our bench, again

invesibg a substantial amount of we tookadiierentapproach. Instead

time, effort, and materials to build. of traditional hardwood we chose

So what if you want to build a tradi- MDE Ifs fiat, durable, and inexpen-

tional style workbench - without sive. Plus it goes together quickly -

spending weeks or even months in all you have to do is cut it to size and

the process?That was the goal as we glue three pieces together.

began working on the feature project Of course a woodworking bench

in this issue- a new-style, traditional wouldn't be complete without vises.

woodworking bench. We chose two different stylesfor our

The htstep was to tackle the bench: a simple bolt-on frontvise and

base construction.It had to he sturdy a unique twinscrew end vise.

Way& J. *beil . CIIN1otion Mavk* Adst glis

sehle~ner.&~.Ch.Ma~k~vAnoly~trPaolaM.

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Elamit Pub. Dk: Douglas K Lidem Syatam Admi%: Cris

and easy to build. We started with About the only thiithatwedidn't e

two end assemblies that couldn't be addresswith this bench was storage.

simpler - just two thick posts con- But don't worry, we're working on a

nected by a plywood panel. But the storage system for the next issue.

resultsare impressive - a rock-solid

assembly that won't rack or twist.

To complete the base, we tied the

end assemblies together with a

Lonrdale . Fad4tian Mgr: Kurt Johnson .Rwpthiq Jem

John. MdRaazCISrkLouWebber

&in As* Naney Downey . Tech.Rq:John Audette . Sr.

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ShopNotes

No. 65

Q uick - what comes to mind couple of stretchers. Here again,

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ISSUE SIXTY-FIVE

Contents

Features

Adjustable %Block System 6

You've neverseen ajig that looksor works-like this one.

_ -

This is more thanjust a V-block It's a whole drillpresssystem.

Adjustable V-Block

Page 6

With it, you'll be able to drill accurate holes in anything from

simole dowels to irreaular-shaoed obiects.

Shooting Board 12

Need to ?weak" a mitered joint or plane the end of a workpiece

perfectly square? With this shop-made shooting board, you

can slice razor-thinshavings for a perfect fit.

Using a Shooting Board 16

Using the shooting board starts with setting it up for your

hand plane. Then get the most out of it with a few handy tips

and techniques that will work with any shooting board.

Heavy-Duty Workbench 18

This heavy-duty workbench incorporates easy-to-buildfeatures

with up-to-date materials and hardware. With its rock-solid

construction and two handy vises, this bench can handlejust

about anything you can throw at it.

Shooting Board

page 1.9

Edge-Sanding Block 30

There's no doubt sanding is a hassle - especially when it

comes to plywood edging. Our adjustable, edge-sanding

block makes sanding less of a chore and more accurate.

Readers' Tips

Workbmh

Shop-tested t~ps

to solve common woodwork~ngproblems

Shop Talk

When it comes to handplanes,itk hard to know exactly what

you need. In this issue, learn about some basic planes and

what they are used for:

Tool Chest 34

Here's a look at a coupleproducts that are designed to make

your woodworking safer and more enjoyable.

Sources 35

Maail-order sources and supplies to help you complete the

projects featured in this issue.

Edge-Sanding Block

No. 65

ShopNotes

TIPS & TEGHNIOUt

m---r

' Tips

Box Fan Filter

FACES JOISTS /

SCR

W Like alot ofwoodworkers, I made

a cheap air cleaner for dust in my

shopby attach'iafnrnace filter to a

box fan. Ijust set the fan on my work-

bench whenever I'm sanding. It

works so well that I decided to make

a more permanent air cleaner.

I mounted the fan overhead,

attaching it to the floor joists in my

shop,seedrawing. (You could mount

HARDBOAKC

it to the rafters if you have a garage

shop.) I made a couple of brackets

that bolt to the sides of the fan.

A hardboard strip attached to the

bottom of each bracket creates a When itsturned on, the fan pnlls when the filter gets clogged up with -

ledge for supporting the furnace the dusty air up and through the dust, I just slide it out and blow it off, ,:

filter, see detail in drawing at right. filter. The filtered air is then expelled or replace it altogether.

The brackets then set screwed into the cavitv between the ioists.

a free shop tip by

email every week

. .

where it can r&n to the shop. And

Kevin MeLawhlZn

directly to the joists.

. .

Knock-Down Sawhorse Cutting Grid

. .

... .. ..

. W Cutting down fnJl sheets of ply up with a solution that makes the The strips are all 4" wide. I cut two 8

. . . wood with a circular saw bas always process a lot easier.

. ~

been a bit awkward. I usually lay the I made a simple cutting grid that five 4foot long strips for the cross

. plywood sheet on supports on the fits over a pair of sawhorses, see rails. Then all the strips are notched

floor and then have to crawl around drawing below. The grid is made up so that they interlock to create a

to make the cut But recently. I came of interlock striDs of 3/4" plywood. mid. I also notched the bottom e&e

foot long stripsfor the main rails and

:- '

-. -.

CROSS RAIL

if the long strips and the top edg&f

the sawhorses to hold the grid in

place and keep it from moving.

The grid is assembled on top of

the sawhorses by simply sliding the

/ I

pieces toneb.Then I put the sheet

of plywood Iwant to cut on top ofthe

I-

grid. I set the blade on my saw so

that it cuts throueh the nlvwood and

- . ,

just barely starts to cut into the top

(4' x 96" -

chewed up through use, its a simple .

edges of the grid. (If the rails get

NME: -

NOTCHES ALLOW

RAILS AND CROSS

RAILS TO INTERLOCK

matter to make some new ones,)

The nice thing about this cutting

mid is that when I'm done usina it I

it out of the way "C

Jay Reiehwein

La Verne, Cal~mia

cznr,, 8-

GRID F

- -

can simply disassemble it and s

Cla rnping Tapered Pieces

job, I had to build several tapered,

square columns for a living room.

Each column was over six feet high

QUARES

.. IAROUND

corners Making the columns was

COLUMN AT

DIFFERENT

hding a way to clamp them

together. Because these pieces were

OPENING AND

DRILL HOLE IN

tapered, none of the clamps I had in

my shop would work

So I made some special "clamps"

out of 3h"-thick plywood. I cut sev-

eral squares and drilled a hole near

each corner. Then I cut a square

opening out of the middle with a jig

saw, see drawings at hr right. I

made each opening progressively

larger so that the squareswould rest

at different points on the column.

Finally, I rounded over the sharp

edgeson the inside of each opening

with a router and a round-over bit tightly while the glue set up. And the

After gluing up a column, I simply holes in the corners of the squares

slide the squaresover the end of the provided space for any glue

ecolumnone at a time, pressing each squeezeout, see detail %.'

\ q

CUT OUT OPENING.

MEN SAND AND ROUND

OVER EDGES

I \-COLUMN

one down firmly, see detail 'a' The

Rzehard Beazer

squares held the column together

Rigby, Idaho

Router Crank

The knob on my plunge router is I cut a slit in the edge of the ply- bolt, washer, and jam nut secure the

small and hard to turn. To make it wood crank and then used a screw to handle to the crank.

easier to use, I came up with a simple pinch the crank around the knob on With this crank installed on my

hand crank. The crank is nothii the router, see detail. router, its now a lot easier to make

more than a piece of plywood with a To make a handle for the crank, I adjustments to the height of the bit

large hole to match the size of the drilled a hole lengthwise through a

Brian Km

knob, see drawing below.

shortwood dowel.

acarriage

Kokomo, Indiana

%gml in Tws $hop Tips

If you have a unique shop tip, we'd like

to consider featuringit in one or more of

our print or electronicpublications.

Well pay up to $200 for a tip we pub-

lish. Just write down the tip and mail it

to ShopNotes, Attn.: Readers' Tips, 2200

Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312. Or

FAX it to 515-282-6741,or send us an

e-mail at shopnotes@shopnotes.com.

Please include your name, address

and daytime phone number in case we

ShopNotes

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IPENINGS

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