Woodworking Magazine Autumn_2005.pdf

Contents

“Well, my standard formula was the better work you do, the

more chance that you’ll starve.”

— James Krenov in a 2004 interview conducted by Oscar Fitzgerald

1 On the Level

Strive to be a blended woodworker.

30 Workbench

Finish Strategies

Unlike furniture, workbench ﬁ nishes must stand

up to a great deal of abuse. We compare our

favorite brews, including no ﬁ nish at all.

2 Letters

Questions, comments and wisdom from

readers, experts and our staff.

31 Glossary

Woodworking’s terminology can be over-

whelming. Learn the terms from this issue.

4 Shortcuts

Tricks and tips that will make your

woodworking simpler and more accurate.

32 End Grain: The

Question is the Answer

When you ask yourself which path you should

take in a project, you have unconsciously

pointed out the correct choice.

6 Choose the

Right Plywood

Your frustration is well-founded. We test 11

samples from around the world, unveil their

inconsistencies and offer solutions.

10 The Shop Box System

Based on clever ergonomic formulas, two

simple boxes and a set of I-beams will make

your woodshop a better place to work.

12 Drawboring

Resurrected

THE SHOP BOX SYSTEM: PAGE 10

Learn an age-old technique for strong, gap-free

joints that require little clamping. The secret is

a simple tool that we show you how to make.

16 Roubo’s 18th-century

Workbench

Many modern benches are more complex than

necessary. We revive a 230-year-old design and

discover that our ancestors had it right.

CHOOSING A 6" COMBINATION SQUARE: PAGE 27

24 The Mystery

Of Holdfasts

Real holdfasts grab your work faster than any

clamp. The problem is that many modern

versions are fragile or faulty. We investigate.

27 Choosing a 6"

Combination Square

The combination square is one of the most

important layout tools. We review the three

best brands and ﬁ nd that two come up short.

SHORTCUTS: PAGE 4

28 Using a 6"

Combination Square

This simple tool has dozens of workshop uses.

Here are some of our favorites.

WORKBENCH FINISH STRATEGIES: PAGE 30

Autumn 2005

woodworking-magazine.com

Editorial Ofﬁ ces 513-531-2690

EDITOR & PUBLISHER ■ Steve Shanesy

ext. 1238, steve.shanesy@fwpubs.com

ART DIRECTOR ■ Linda Watts

ext. 1396, linda.watts@fwpubs.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR ■ Christopher Schwarz

ext. 1407, chris.schwarz@fwpubs.com

SENIOR EDITOR ■ David Thiel

ext. 1255, david.thiel@fwpubs.com

SENIOR EDITOR ■ Robert W. Lang

ext. 1327, robert.lang@fwpubs.com

MANAGING EDITOR ■ Kara Gebhart Uhl

ext. 1348, kara.uhl@fwpubs.com

ASSISTANT DESIGNER ■ Susan L. Smith

ext. 1058, susan.l.smith@fwpubs.com

ILLUSTRATOR ■ Matt Bantly

PHOTOGRAPHER ■ Al Parrish

F+W PUBLICATIONS INC.

William F. Reilly ■ Chairman

Stephen J. Kent ■ President

Mark F. Arnett ■ Executive Vice President & CFO

On the Level

Blended Woodworking

I n the coming months and years I predict you’ll

run up against the term “blended woodworking”

more and more frequently. It’s a ﬁ ne new term

for something that’s been around for years and

practiced by those who didn’t realize a name was

needed for something they took for granted. For

this group, it was just woodworking.

“Blended” refers to combining the use of hand

tools with power tools in the practice of wood-

working. It recognizes the advantages of power

tools and hand tools, putting each to work at the

appropriate time to derive the greatest beneﬁ t.

The obvious example would be using a power

jointer and planer for preparing rough lumber

as opposed to preparing

it using hand planes. But

once the stock is ﬂ attened

and squared up, you might

switch to a smoothing

plane to prepare the stock

for ﬁ nishing rather than

use a power sander.

In another example,

you might cut a tenon using a table saw or router

mounted in a table, but achieve the perfect ﬁ t for

each mortise by ﬁ ne-tuning the tenon using a

shoulder plane or paring it with a chisel. Or, use a

block plane to remove saw marks from the edges

of a board instead of tediously sanding them out

(and misshaping the edge in the process).

For those not in the habit of reaching for a

hand tool, don’t make the common mistake of

assuming that the hand-tool method is neces-

sarily the slower and/or more difﬁ cult way. In

many cases, it’s actually faster and easier, and

produces a superior result – and sometimes, with

less associated risk. Consider that stock removal

with hand tools happens at a highly controlled

rate. Routers and belt sanders, by comparison,

can create serious problems in the blink of an eye

and with no warning at all.

Admittedly, some hand-tool operations

do require more time to complete. Additional

time is required to both learn how to use edge

tools and keep them in good, sharp condition.

Virtually all woodworkers I’ve met who have

walked far enough down the hand-tool road to

become even moderately proﬁ cient in their use

have found the time and effort to learn proper

hand-tool use rewarding. They have seen that

both their woodworking and their enjoyment of

the craft improves. And you might ask yourself:

If woodworking is a hobby and not a means to

putting food on your table, what should it matter

if some hand-tool processes take a bit longer? If

your result is a better-crafted project and you have

derived more pleasure in the making of it, then

any extra time making it was time well spent.

Blended woodworking is really just a next log-

ical step in the evolving home craft of woodwork-

ing. With a growing understanding, acceptance

and appreciation of the beneﬁ ts of hand tools,

their use will become more commonplace in the

average home woodworker’s shop. The clear fact

that emerging makers of quality hand tools are

ﬂ ourishing is compelling

evidence of their growing

acceptance and use.

To practice blended

woodworking is really

just to be a broader skilled

woodworker. It’s what a

really good woodworker

has always been.

I once worked with a young Swiss wood-

worker who had recently completed a seven-year

apprentice program in his homeland. His skills

and knowledge were amazing. He was not only

skilled in the use of hand and power tools, but

could produce CAD drawings, rewire a switch

or motor, program and operate CNC machines,

produce veneer faces and hammer or press them,

grind custom proﬁ les for shaper knives and do

many other things. As part of his training, he even

spent six months in a plant that produced particle-

board. And to amuse himself during lunch breaks

he’d carve lengths of interlocked wooden chain

links or a ball in an enclosed box. His traditional

apprenticeship had grounded him in just about

every facet of woodworking, from harvesting

trees to applying ﬁ nishes.

It will take a few years for hand-tool use to be

fully “blended” so as to become commonplace.

I can’t help but wonder what will come next – a

renaissance in the skills of veneering? W M

F+W PUBLICATIONS INC.

MAGAZINE DIVISION

William R. Reed ■ President

Colleen Cannon ■ Senior Vice President

“The two most powerful warriors

are patience and time.”

CIRCULATION

Group Circulation Manager ■ Lynn Kruetzkamp

Group Newsstand Manager ■ Mark Fleetwood

PRODUCTION

Vice President ■ Barbara Schmitz

Production Supervisor ■ Vicki Whitford

Production Coordinator ■ Debbie Thomas

Production Assistant ■ Katie Seal

Leo Tolstoy

novelist and philosopher

Newsstand Distribution: Curtis Circulation Co.,

730 River Road, New Milford, NJ 07646

Back issues are available. For pricing information or to order, call

800-258-0929, visit our web site at woodworking-magazine.com, or

send check or money order to: Woodworking Magazine Back Issues,

F+W Publications Products, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990. Please

specify Woodworking Magazine and month.

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE

Safety is your responsibility. Manufacturers place safety

devices on their equipment for a reason. In many photos you

see in Woodworking Magazine, these have been removed to

provide clarity. In some cases we’ll use an awkward body

position so you can better see what’s being demonstrated.

Don’t copy us. Think about each procedure you’re going to

perform beforehand. Safety First!

Highly Recommended

The book that’s most changed my woodwork-

ing isn’t a woodworking book. “The Old Way

of Seeing” (Houghton Mifﬂ in) by Jonathan

Hale contends that architecture has declined

in the last 160 years as designers have lost

the ability to make patterns of

light and shade. Hale unveils

history, explores magic for-

mulas and compares old and

history, explores magic for-

mulas and compares old and

new designs. His lessons apply

directly to furniture and are

Steve Shanesy

Editor & Publisher

essential reading.

— Christopher Schwarz

woodworking-magazine.com ■ 1

essential reading.

Letters

How Did You Stretch Wood?

When things look nearly flat, switch to the

jointer plane, which should have a slightly curved

blade that’s set for a ﬁ ner cut. Work diagonally

across the face, then diagonally the other way.

Don’t worry about tear-out yet. When the face

of the board is ﬂ at, come back with the jointer

plane and smooth the board with strokes follow-

ing the grain. Clean up all the marks left from the

diagonal passes.

One face is now ﬂ at. Using a marking gauge,

scribe the ﬁ nished thickness of the board on the

long edges and ends – the face of the marking

gauge should ride on the board’s ﬁ nished face.

Repeat the ﬂ attening process on the other face

of the board and work down to the scribed line

on all four edges.

This sounds a bit arduous – it is harder than

working with a power jointer and thickness planer.

But if you have your planes set to cut aggressively,

you’ll be surprised how quickly the work can go

and how accurate your results can be.

– Christopher Schwarz, executive editor

I just picked up the Spring 2005 issue of Wood-

working Magazine . I have enjoyed reading it. I

would like to know if you have developed a new

“wood stretcher?” On page 2 (“Letters”) you have

made 7/4 lumber out of 6/4. What a deal!

Lyman “Smokey” Bennett

Pine Grove, California

Smokey,

It’s a special wood that only grows ... in my mind.

Good catch. Yes, the illustration should either

read 1 1 ⁄

1 ⁄

1 4

⁄ 4

⁄ " and 6/4, or 1 3 ⁄

3 ⁄

3 4

⁄ 4

⁄ " and 8/4. Thanks for

Modifying a Bookcase Design

the sharp eye.

Nice article in the Spring 2005 issue on the Stick-

ley magazine stand. I really like the open back

design with the shelf supports. My wife likes it,

too. I’d like to try this in a bookcase size (wider

and shorter – maybe 28" wide and 42" tall).

I have three questions. Are there limits to the

shelf support design – that is, will a wider book-

case wrack with the shelf supports? Also, part of

the beauty of the magazine rack is its gracefulness

– will I lose that with a shorter and wider book-

case? And ﬁ nally, are there any rules of thumb for

height and width ratios for a bookcase?

Joel Casto

Juneau, Alaska

– David Thiel, senior editor

Truing Rough Stock by Hand

I am a beginning woodworker who has gravitated

toward using hand tools. The only power tools I

have are a table saw and a miter saw. Before my

current project, I purchased poplar from a local

home center where it was already pretty ﬂ at on the

faces and edges. This time I purchased my wood

rough from a hardwood store. I need to glue three

pieces together to form the legs of a harvest-style

table, but I just can’t seem to be able to get the faces

ﬂ at enough. By ﬂ at enough I mean that I can’t seem

to get the wind out of the pieces. I am using a No.

7 jointer plane. I just had a brand new scrub plane

delivered yesterday, but have not had a chance to

use it yet. What advice or steps can you give to

take a rough piece of wood and make it ready to

use for furniture using hand tools?

Timothy Renick

Glen Carbon, Illinois

Use winding sticks and sight

down edge of board to ﬁ nd high spots

Use chalk to mark high

spots and level with a jack plane

Use a jointer plane

diagonally to level board

Joel,

Modifying designs is always tricky business,

especially with Arts & Crafts pieces. Because

they’re so plain, their appeal has a lot to do with

the proportions established by the designer. This

magazine stand was produced in a variety of forms

by Gustav Stickley, but most of the variations

were in the number of shelves and joinery that

attached the shelves to the sides.

He did produce a D-handled bookcase that is

in the same vein of what you propose – the No.

74. It is 31" high x 30" wide x 10" deep. The major

differences are that there are only two shelves and

the top shelf is actually designed to hold books at

a 45° angle so you can read the spine.

However, if I were going to modify the design

as you propose, here is what I would do. First,

purchase some inexpensive foam insulation board

at a home center and mock up the project at your

dimensions. Use a utility knife to cut the pieces to

size and join them with clear packing tape. Though

the color of the foam board (baby blue or pink) is

all wrong, you’ll be able to see the form in three

dimensions and determine if it retains its grace.

You’ll also be able to make quick modiﬁ cations

until you’re satisﬁ ed.

Timothy,

Truing rough stock with hand tools is a bit of a

challenge, but it’s do-able once you develop a

few skills and have the right tools.

Here is how I go about it: For typical furniture-

scale projects, I use a jointer plane, jack plane and

two winding sticks – my winding sticks are alumi-

num angle purchased from the home center.

Use the winding sticks to ﬁ nd out where the high

spots are and if the board is twisted. By putting

one stick at the front of the board, one at the back

and sighting down across them, you’ll quickly see

any problem areas. Mark the high spots in chalk

and knock them down with your jack plane. The

cutting edge of the jack plane should be curved

and set to remove thick shavings. Check your

progress with your winding sticks.

Even out entire surface

of board using a jointer plane

with the direction of the grain

Flattened side of board; scribe

the ﬁ nished thickness on the edges

and plane the opposite face to

the line

2 ■ woodworking magazine Autumn 2005

Even out entire surface

Second, I would increase the width of the shelf

supports to 3". A larger bookcase will have more

weight put upon it and will be subject to more

serious wracking forces.

– Christopher Schwarz, executive editor

irons are the easiest) and work your way to the

narrow tools ( 1 ⁄

Help with Cutting Mortises

1 ⁄

1 8 ⁄ 8 ⁄ " chisels are difﬁ cult).

If this approach doesn’t seem to help, examine

your honing guide and make sure that the guide is

clamping the tool squarely and that there aren’t

little globs of paint or ﬂ ashing that interfere with

the guide’s jaws closing properly on the tool.

– Christopher Schwarz, executive editor

I had a question regarding cutting mortises with

a chisel, and the references to the face and bevel

of a chisel in your Autumn 2004 issue.

On page 12 (“Sharpen a Chisel”), the inset box

talks about preparing the “face,” or what I call the

back of a chisel – the totally ﬂ at part.

On page 8 (“Mortises & Tenons for Tables”),

the inset box talks about cutting a mortise with a

chisel and it says, “Work from the center out with

the face of the tool pointed toward the center of

the mortise.” I can’t tell for sure from the photo,

but it looks like the face is toward the center of

the mortise. This sounds backwards to me, but I

am a total novice.

On page 18 (“Simple Shaker End Table”), how-

ever, column one, the ﬁ fth full paragraph says

“Work from the center to the ends of the mortise

with the bevel facing the center of the hole.” Which

mortising method is correct?

Stickley’s Original Joinery

While I enjoy your magazine from a professional

woodworker’s view, I have to take note that your

article on building the Stickley No. 79 bookcase

(“Stickley Magazine Stand,” Spring 2005) did

not seem to mention Gus’s answer to the wrack

problem with a backless bookcase. The original

was of mortise-and-tenon construction with the

top and bottom shelf using through-tenons. One

may wish to mention this to your readers.

Thom Houser

Coos Bay, Oregon

Another Way to Glue Up Panels

While your tip for achieving a perfect glue joint

using the jointer is ﬁ ne (“Gluing up Flat Panels,”

Autumn 2004), the same result can be achieved by

clamping boards face to face in a vise and planing

the two glue edges simultaneously. This yields

complementary angles and a surface without the

tool marks from the jointer. A couple of extra

passes in the middle also produces a “sprung”

joint should you desire one.

A neater way than wiping to remove glue

squeeze-out is to just let it dry for about 45 min-

utes, then remove the beads with a cheap 1" paint

scraper. It’s neat, quick and doesn’t leave any glue

residue on the surfaces as wiping with a damp

cloth might. But don’t let the glue dry completely;

it will then be difﬁ cult to remove.

Bruce D. Wedlock

North Reading, Massachusetts

Thom,

Thanks for the letter. You’re right that we should

have mentioned the through-tenon construction

on some originals. However, I’ll hasten to add

that I’ve actually seen a fair number of originals

that were not built in that manner.

Also, the through-tenon construction alone

does not prevent wracking. It’s better than a dado

(of course) but it’s no cure-all. I’ve seen original

examples at auction houses such as Rago and

Treadway that wobbled.

– Christopher Schwarz, executive editor

Rod Johnson

Austin, Texas

Rod,

You have every right to be confused. The trouble

is that there are a wide variety of ways to chop a

mortise, and they all got crammed into one issue

without enough explanation. My apologies.

The technique shown on page 8, sometimes

called the “central V” method, is one that I have

been experimenting with for about a year and

have been well-satisﬁ ed with. It works especially

well with mortises that are longer, such as the one

shown in the photo.

The more traditional method is discussed on

page 18. It works better for me when it comes to

small mortises like the one for rail of the table.

This is a technique we’re going to address in

a future issue at great length. But until then, I’d

do two things. First, visit Jeff Gorman’s web site

and his discussions of the various methods. Jeff

is a knowledgeable British craftsman and good

guy, too. Here’s the link to his page on mortising:

www.amgron.clara.net/mortise/mortisingindex.

htm. The rest of his site is excellent, too.

The second recommendation I have is to try

both mortising methods on scrap. Try them a few

times each to really see the different dynamics

involved. Both methods work; they’re just differ-

ent perspectives. W M

– Christopher Schwarz, executive editor

Maintaining a Square Bevel

Clamp edges to be joined

in a vise and plane

at the same time

I read with interest Christopher Schwarz’s arti-

cle on sharpening chisels in your second issue

(“Sharpen a Chisel,” Autumn 2004). This tech-

nique has helped me to quickly restore a large

batch of older chisels I picked up for a song. My

only question is that in the article Mr. Schwarz

reminds us to ensure we grind the bevel square

without referencing how to do so. When deﬁ ning

the bevel on the coarse diamond stone I always

seem to be just slightly out of square. Any sug-

gestions on how to combat this recurring problem

would be greatly appreciated.

Joel McCarty

Edmond, Oklahoma

Joel,

Maintaining (or achieving) a square bevel on a

tool is mostly a matter of where you apply pressure

on the tool as you rub it on the stone. When work-

ing on a diamond stone to establish my primary

(or even secondary) bevel, I’ll take just a few

strokes and then observe where I’m taking away

metal. Then I’ll adjust my hands and take a few

more strokes. The change in pressure is subtle.

Small adjustments make a big difference.

After a little practice you’ll get the hang of it and

your muscle memory will take over. I recommend

you start practicing with your wider tools (plane

HOW TO CONTACT US

Send your comments and questions via

e-mail t o letters@fwpubs.com, or by

regular mail to Woodworking Magazine ,

Edges to be joined

Letters, 4700 E. Galbraith Road,

Cincinnati, OH 45236. Please include your

complete mailing address and daytime

phone number. All letters become

property of Woodworking Magazine .

woodworking-magazine.com ■ 3

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