WS #110.pdf

Finger Joint Boxes ' il/lail Organizer ',,' End Table ,' Router Table Tips ' StackabNe Storage Raeks

Vol. 19 / No. 110

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No. 1i0

April, 1997

Sennnusr

Publisher

Editor

Associate Editor

Assistant Editor

Art Director

Senior Illustrators

Donald B. Peschke

IerryJ. Stronman

Jon Garbison

VincentAncona

Todd lambirth

uavld Kreyllng

DirkVer Steeg

Mike Mittermeier

A through some old boxes in the

basement of my parent's home.

Anyway, as Iworked my way dos'n to

the bottom of the last cardboard box.

I came across a real "feasure."

Now this treasure really wasn't

worth much (at least not in dollars).

In fact, most people would have

thrown it away a long time ago. So

what was this great find? Well, it was

my fust woodworking project

uniqur tr.i:trr:- il::: all can be built

in a .h,,il :ir- :::li rl titne. And tO

l-tc'lp r',,; :.::--: :ilr<c- projects, we'e

includ,--cl :i ::r-'--.*,r:. ->tep article on

ntirl'in* :-:::{'--: i' '::-.: it,,rr-s. For more

on this Src ,li:{,-- -:.

Graphic Designer

CREATTYE RESOIJRCES

Creatiue Dirutnr:Ted l\ralicek. Proi ecl Detelnler l]trjnMwff(el

. Prujed Dxigners Ted WongJr., Ktrin C. Bole . Sho! Man.:

Steve Curtis o .9rl Cr&nan: *etelolnsr:,n. Pttutogntht Ar

lzrk Smothermon . Seilior Prntograihst: Craficla England

WORKBEIICH

\\ e'r-c acldrd crnr rlhsl n(\\- iace to our

fantiir' .rf nrir{ivir)('> irvrc at August

Horrre Rrblishing - \\i ti'l;bench..

BOOKS

kecatite Mitor: Doug:las L Hicks . /4 rt DrectorbndaYerrrie

c Senior Grafhic Desgaer Chris Glowacki

CIRCUIATION

Ciradation Drector S:,,, t Du Bois . DireA Mail Xtmnger

Glenda K Battles . Subscri|tion ManagenSandy Baum t

Renewal Manager: Paige Rogers o Assistant Direct Mail

ilfgr: Jul]e Greenlee . Assistant Sabscriltion Mgr,: loy

Krause o,4.ssoclate Graphic Design Dirzcfor Susie Rider

. Sr Crafhic Designer: Cheryl L Simpson oPrornotion

Copyuiter: Dave Stone

- an

As vou probabll' alreadl- know,

' Ilils];itt trt'lr isn'1 lgally

a new magazine. It

has been around

fur some time. (Ifs

celebrating its 40

fear anniversary.)

But with the

change in owner-

ship there's been

solne changes to

the n.ragazine as rr'ell.

The idea is to malie \Yorkbench,

the rnagarine fur u'oodworking

around the hlrnre, from framing

decks. rl'alls. and dormers to built-in

cabinets and hrrniture. Along the

\ra\' \-ou'11 also iearn other skills

neecled to complete your projects,

like laving tile and installing drywall,

lor example.

It sort of gives us the best of both

\\'orlds. \Yoodstruitlt, will continue to

offer detailed, stepby-step instruc-

tions for a variety of woodworking

projects that you can build in your

home shop.

At the same time, Workbench

will explore a variety of ways for you

to imnrove vour home.

ordinary box.

As you can see, it

Sure wasn't anl.thing

fancy - just five

pieces of wood and a

hinged lid. And

since I was new to

woodworking (I was

about 12 years old),

the ioinerv was far from

being perfect.

Luckily, my joinery skiils have

improved somewhat over the years.

But I still get a kick out of building

boxes even though I ve moved au'a1'

front nails and butt joilts. Nou'ri'hen

I build a small box. I often use hnger

joints to hold it together.

tlNGtR J0ltlTS. Besides liliing the

clean. precise look of interlocking

"fingers". there's sonrethir)g rlse

about finger joints I enjo1. Ther''rr

quick and eas!'to make.

in l-act. cutting finger joints is so

quick and easl'I sometimes get car-

ried arval-. In this issue we have three

projet-ts (a sliding lid bor. a curved

bor. and a mail organizer) that use

finger joints. Each has rts oun

CORPORATE SERVICES

Vice President of Ptanning and, Finance: lon Macarthy .

Controller: Robin Hurchinson t Sr. Account.:latL"aThomas

o Accts. Patable: Mary J. Schultz . Produclion Di.r.: Georye

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Pzi: Douglas M. U dster . ProductinnArll$: Jon Snyder. .Pa

frxlmageSpec.:'froyA.C)atk c New Media Manager Gordon

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. WOODSMITII MAJLORDER

Operations DirectorBobBaker. Mdertak MgrMrkMafruvi

. Cu$tmer Senfue Mgt:Jsmie Enos r Nd. Salzs WIGrrtA"

Brt)*rn. WarehouySrfrNancyJohnso n . Buyer : I)nda! orres

.Technical Seruice Ref.: Matt TeRonde . Oper Ass^t.:

Tammy Aldini r Tearn Leader: Kafia Eslinger r Cust. Sens.

Reps.;ArmaCox, Margo Petrus,TammyTruckenbrod, Billy

Nelson, Nancy Downey, Jeffteylack. Warehtu.y:Chtsck

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Wmdsmith@ flSSN 016441l4) is published bimonthly (Feb.. Apr.

June, Aug., Oct.. Drc.) byAugust Home Pubtishing Company, 2200

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E-Mail: woodsmith@woodsmitlcon

Wor{d Wide Web: http://w.woodsmith.rt,n

Prirted in L'.S-L

ar,,\ '

\\', ',rd:nrith

No. i10

r I he other day I was rummaging

Coxrnxrs

Ieulures

Sliding Lid Boxes .......6

You'IL be surprised at how quick and" eosy it is to make these finger

joint boxes . And the sliding lid design makes them fwtcaonnl as

weLI as attractiue.

Curved Box .. . ... .,8

AII it takes are six smnll pieces of wood ald a couple afternoons to

construct this handsome box

SlidingLidBoxes pose6

- which makes it a perfect gift item.

Mail Organizer.. .....,.10

Finger joints aren't just for boxes. We also used them to join the

ends a;nl. construct the drawer of this mail orgariTer.

Finger Joint Technique . , ....14

A nble saw, a simple jig, utd ow step-by-step technique allows

Jou to trlrn out perfect-fitnngfinger joints euery time

- whether

you're making one box or a dozen.

End Table . . . ... ... 20

Here's a simple end nble with two wtique characteristics:

diamond-shnpedlegs and a shelf mad"e with slars.

RouterTableTips ......28

Ouer the ye&Ts, we'a)e rced a router table on nLanJ of our pro-

jects. And we'q.te come across dlot of router nble tips. ,\hhoughit

wasn't easJ, we managed n pick our fauorites.

Stacking Storage Racks ....32

The neat, interlocking design of these racks allow them to be

stacked in diff erent configuraaons. And when you need to move

them, just pick them up one-by-one, contents and all

EndTable Daee2)

Depurlmenlg

Tips &Techniques

.......18

Talking Shop

.....26

Sources

.....35

Stacking StotageRacfts

page 32

No.110

Woodsmith

Shop Notes

...,...4

Pidrup Plywood Rsrk

I haul a lot of plywood and

sheet goods in my small

pickup. Since the sheets

won't lie flat in the bed of

my truck, I made a rack.

The rack is made out of

common 2x4's. It's nothing

more than three runners

attached to a couple of

cross rails, see Fig. 1.

The rack is designed to

clear the wheel wells of the

truck. I positioned the rear

cross rail just inside the tail-

gate so the rack wouldn't

slide out of the truck.

To connect the runners

to the cross rails, I used hex

bolts, washers, and lock

nuts, see detail'a'.

The hex bolts

and lock nuts fit into

counteibored holes so they

don't protrude above the

surface of the rack. This

way, you don't have to

worry about damaging

your stock (or your truck).

And by placing a washer

between the runners and

cross rails and leaving the

lock nuts slighfly loose, I'm

able to fold up the rack

when I'm not using it.

Dauid Petersen

Autstin, Texas

seems like whenever I'm sides of the box are made box, I used ordinary butt bench, I have my basic

using the workbench on a out of %rlthick stock, see hinges. And I also added a tools right at hand.

project around the house, Fig. 1. The ends of the front catch to the front of the box. wonenweber

I'm constantly running and back are rabbetted to Finally, Iscrewedthebox CarvonCit^t,Colorado

back to my shop for a tool. hold the sides. Then I also

So to provide a conve-

nient place to store a few

tools, I built a small tool box

thafs mounted to the bench

itself, see photo.

The box is shallow

enough so the bench can

cut rabbets on the top and

bottom edges ofeach piece

to hold a top and a bottom

made out of %rr hardboard

(Masonite).

After cutting the top and

bottom panels to size, I

A shallow box

attached to the

bottom of a

portable w,ork-

hench prouides a

handl' place to

sto^te some of the

ir,rof,r 111H'll nsaf

irn rhejobsire.

)

tray to fit in

workbench

NOTE: Attach

box to tray with

woooscrews

Woodsmith

No. 110

Portoble Workbenrh Storoge

I use a portable workbench still be folded up without glued up the box. Then I to a hardboard tray that,s

because it's easy to fold up the box getting in the way. cut the box in two to create attached to the workbench.

and move around. But it The front, back, and alid.Tbfastenthelidtothe Now wherever I take the

NOTE: Size

Drill Pregs Accessory Bor

I like to keep a few small

clamps near my drill press

for attaching fences or stop

blocks. But the trouble is

finding a place to store

them where they are

handy, yet out of the way.

To solve this problem, I

made a storage rack that

atLaches to the column of

my drill press, see photo.

The rack is nothing more

than a piece of angle iron.

And to attach it to the col-

umn, I drilled a couple of

holes for a muJtler clamp,

see Fig. 1.

(I4ulfler clamps can be

purchased at auto parts

stores. You'll need one

that's large enough to fit

BOTTOM SECTION VIEW

1" x 1" angle iron

Bsnd Clonp (orner Prolection

Band clamps are a great

\\'av to glue up small

nritered boxes. But the

trouble I have is that the

netal corners that come

with the clamps often leave

dents in the wood.

Tb get around this prob-

lem, I make my own cor-

PAI}ITI}IG

ffntwiltADs

On occasion, I need to

paintthe screwheads of

a project before assem-

bling it. Tryrng to hold

the screws while paint-

ing them is messy and

difficult.

So instead, I stick all

the screws into a scrap

piece of foam insulation

(blue board).Then I can

easily paint the screw-

heads and let them dry

without touching them.

Jolm Pierce

Cmkbad, California

QUICK TIPS

APHI$IYX RTffIOUIR

I use pressure sensitive

adhesive (PSA) sanding

discs on mydisc sander.

But sometimes when I

peel offthe sandpaper,

adhesive sticks to the

metal disc.

Tb remove the adhe

sive, I use something I

always have around my

shop - WD-40. Just

spray the WD-40 on the

disc, let it soak in for a

minute, and wipe the

adhesive off.

TomMcnnson

Newmk, NewYork

I10D KeLnnn

Sr,Johns, I\IF,Canata

If you would like to share art original shoptested tip,

send it to: Woodsmith. Tips and Techniques; 2200

Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. Or if ifs eas-

ier, FAX it to us al:51t282-6741. Or use our E-Mail:

woodsmith @woodsmith.com

If published, you'll receive $30 to $150, depending

on the published length. lnclude abrief explanation

and sketch or photo. And don't worry, we'll rewrite

the tip and redraw the arf if necessary. Nso, trIease

include a daytime phone number.

Sondpaper Bog

During the summer, I find

sandpaper curls up in my

basement shop because of

the humidity. To prevent

this, I now store my sand-

paper in largesize reseal-

able plastic bags. And the

writeon label area provides

a handy place to identily the

grit of paper in the bag.

EnchI-axe

\X/est Des Moines , Iowa

around the support column

of your drill press.)

After attaching the

rack, I made affayoutof

r/zu-thick stock and %rl

hardboard, see Fig. 2.

Bybolting the trayto the

angle iron, I also have a

place to keep drill bits.

RonHale

J o shua Tiee, California

ner protector pads out of

corrugated cardboard, see

drawing. The cardboard is

heavy enough to protect

the corners. Yet it won't

leave any marks behind on

your project.

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