03. June 2001.pdf

Woodworking

Popular

June 2001 #122

$ 50 Router

Router

Table

Super-sized table stores

in super-small spaces

All You Need

to Know About

Biscuit Joints

• The best machines

• The best techniques

• The best biscuits

Plus

• Shaker Entertainment Center

• Heirloom Drop-Leaf Table

• Perfect Frame & Panel Doors

Classic Limbert Bookcase

Easy, traditional joinery

NICK ENGLER’S BEST FINGER-JOINT JIG

7 WAYS TO BANISH GLUE SPLOTCHES

Woodworking

Popular

$ 50

Table

Super-sized table stores

in super-small spaces

All You Need

to Know About

Biscuit Joints

• The best machines

• The best techniques

• The best biscuits

Plus

• Shaker Entertainment Center

• Heirloom Drop-Leaf Table

• Perfect Frame & Panel Doors

Classic Limbert Bookcase

Easy, traditional joinery

contents

Woodworking

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

12 Scott Phillips’ Single-Solution Finish

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Tricks in this issue include: what finish would you use if you could only use one? Also, build a

handy caddy to store the sandpaper for your random-orbit sander that helps you attach it in a

snap. And Scott Phillips gives you tips on touching up the cutting edges of your router bits.

By Scott Phillips

20 Hitachi’s 9.6-volt Drill

ENDURANCE TEST

Do the 24-volt cordless drills catch your eye? Then repeat after me: Most woodworkers don’t

need more than a 9.6-volt drill. Hitachi’s drill/driver kit offers good performance, lots of fea-

tures and a fantastic price tag.

16 Powermatic’s Beefy New Mortiser

TOOL TEST

If there are multiple Morris chairs in your future, then check out Powermatic’s redesigned

floor-model mortiser. It’s everything your benchtop mortiser should be. Also, Clifton’s new

Bailey-style planes are fresh off the boat from Great Britain, and we’ve got one.

24 Microadjustable Finger-Joint Jig

INGENIOUS JIGS

Most shop-made finger-joint jigs will wear out and become inaccurate after a few uses. Nick

Engler has designed a durable and amazingly simple jig that is microadjustable so your finger

joints will always be flawless.

By Nick Engler

28 Biscuit Joiner Shootout

We put 10 of these wonder tools through the wringer to find out what separates an $80 tool

from one that costs more than $600. If you’re in the market for a biscuit joiner, this article will

help you make up your mind — no matter how much or how little you have to spend.

34 Biscuit Joinery Basics

Biscuit joints might just be the easiest woodworking joint to execute. But there’s still lots to

learn if you want to use your tool to its fullest potential. Learn some advanced techniques,

build a super-handy clamping jig and find out the origin of the biscuit itself.

52 Cope-and-Stick Joinery

A cope-and-stick router bit set will fundamentally change your woodworking: Raised-panel

doors will become child’s play. Here’s how to choose the right bits, set them up properly (no

one else will show you this) and how to use the bits to get professional results.

74 Prevent, Remove and Disguise Glue Splotches

FLEXNER ON FINISHING

A little glue squeeze-out can ruin an entire project. Learn to design your joints to reduce glue

squeeze-out, find out how to get rid of any glue that does make it out of the joint, and (if you do

get some splotching) hide any splotches after staining.

By Bob Flexner

continued on page 4

www.popwood.com 3

Popular

On the Cover

Limbert furniture merged

European styling with

quality American

construction.When this

bookcase appeared in

Limbert’s 1905 catalog,

it sold for $18; surviving

examples now sell for

more than $2,500.Thanks

to Scott Phillips for the

use of his shop for the

cover photo.

Cover photo by Al Parrish

IN EVERY ISSUE

PROJECTS

40 Limbert Bookcase

You can’t have enough glass-front bookcases for your office, living room or den. Simple

details — a shiplapped back, mullioned doors and a gallery at the top

— make this reproduction stand out.

46 Router Table-Mate

With about $50 and some spare time in the shop, you can build a

huge router table that attaches to your Workmate or sawhorses.

Best of all, this table stores in a small space and has an outstand-

ing fence and dust collection.

56 Shaker Entertainment Center

This piece of handcraft will last a long time thanks to frame-

and-panel doors and traditional joints. Despite the rock-solid

joinery, the piece is surprisingly simple to build.

By Troy Sexton

68 Drop-Leaf Table

Get started in table-building with this traditional design. You’ll

learn the easy way to cut tapered legs and the best way to attach

the tabletop to the base.

62 European Telephone Console

How many times have you missed a call right as you walked in the door? Keep your phone,

phone books and small umbrellas in order with this clever and easy-to-build wall unit.

6 Out on a Limb

Getting it Right

8 Letters

Mail from readers

26 Caption the

Cartoon

Win a Freud

router bit set

80 Out of the

Woodwork

Under the Rope and

Into the Doghouse

By Walt Akers

Popular Woodworking (ISSN 0884-8823, USPS 752-250) is published six times a year in February, April, June, August, October and December by F&W Publications, Inc. Editorial and advertising

offices are located at 1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207; tel.: (513) 531-2222. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and artwork should include ample postage on a self-addressed,

stamped envelope (SASE); otherwise they will not be returned. Subscription rates: A year’s subscription (6 issues) is $24.96; outside of U.S add $7/year ■ Canada Publications Mail Agreement

offices. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Popular Woodworking, P.O. Box 5369, Harlan, IA 51593 Canada GST Reg. # R122594716 ■ Produced and printed in the U.S.A.

P OPULAR W OODWORKING June 2001

O UT ON A L IMB

Contact

Information

Steve Shanesy

Editor & Publisher

Specialties: Projects,

techniques, article and

project selection

513-531-2690 ext. 238

steves@fwpubs.com

Getting It Right

Weighing in once again on woodworking’s

little miracle joint-making machine.

views and techniques in this issue

to the oft-maligned biscuit joiner. Yes, you

can conclude that this magazine is on the

biscuit joiner bandwagon. There’s nothing

new about that. We’ve been an advocate of

these clever machines for years.

If you aren’t aware, there’s a vocal group

of woodworkers who trash this tool at the

drop of a chisel. Generally, these wood-

workers hold to more traditional tech-

niques. Their argument is like this: the

biscuit joint is a substitute for the mortise

and tenon, and the usually thinner biscuit

can’t be as strong as the thicker tenon. The

mortise and tenon has been used for cen-

turies, and fine antiques have survived hun-

dreds of years using the joint. (We won’t

get into how many pieces of old furniture

didn’t stand the test of time.)

Now, I’m not harping on traditional

joinery. Like Rodney Dangerfield, I’d sim-

ply like to see biscuits get a little respect.

They deserve it. They are fast, easy to use

and the joint produced is strong.

How strong? Six years ago a respected

woodworking magazine published an arti-

cle on just this subject. In the article, the

authors tested different types of joints used

in door-making on a hydraulic ram. One

tester builds custom doors; the other is a

structural engineer who wrote his doctor-

al dissertation on timber joint strength.

The test measured the deflection in each

joint before a gap appeared and at what

pressure the gap appeared. Then they mea-

sured how much pressure it took before the

joint failed. And the winner was? Well,

from my reading of the article all the joints

won, with the exception of the one using

two lag bolts. For all the other joints, the

wood failed before the joint failed. As to

how much pressure it took before the joint

failed, the statistics show the biscuit joint

outperformed the rival joints. Yet the ar-

ticle concluded the loose tenon was best,

closely followed by the traditional mortise

and tenon. Huh?

Why didn’t the biscuit joint get its due?

The article cites the ill-effect freeze/thaw,

wet/dry cycles would have on the joint and

that when it failed, it failed completely.

So let me get this straight — I should-

n’t use biscuit joints for cabinets and fur-

niture that go outdoors, on entry doors for

my house or if I’m timber framing a build-

ing? Otherwise they are stronger, deflect

less and gap only under considerably more

pressure than traditional joints? I can live

with that. Heck, I can continue using them

with confidence for the dozens of every-

day applications for which they were al-

ways intended in the first place.

This article has always stuck in my craw

because those involved appear to be pros-

ecutor, judge and jury. And what the arti-

cle really proved is what we’ve always

known, that modern adhesives and prop-

erly made joints will always be stronger

than the wood it’s holding together.

And so I say, once again, “Pass the bis-

cuits. And this time, with a little respect.”

David Thiel

Senior Editor

Specialties: Projects,

new products and tools,

tricks of the trade

513-531-2690 ext. 255

davidt@fwpubs.com

Christopher Schwarz

Senior Editor

Specialties: Author

liaison, website, projects,

photography

513-531-2690 ext. 407

chriss@fwpubs.com

Jim Stuard

Associate Editor

Specialties: Projects,

carving, turning, project

illustrations

513-531-2690 ext. 348

jims@fwpubs.com

Tricia Barlow

Art Director

Specialties: Magazine

and cover design, photo

direction

513-531-2690 ext. 599

triciab@fwpubs.com

Got Questions or Problems

With Your Subscription?

To report problems with your subscription

visit our website at popwood.com, call our

subscription offices at 515-280-1721, or

write to Popular Woodworking ,P.O.Box

5369, Harlan, IA 51593.

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Manager, F & W Publications, 1507 Dana

Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207

Joint Strength

Safety Note

Safety is your responsibility.

Manufacturers place safety devices on their

equipment for a reason. In many photos

you see in Popular Woodworking , 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 demon-

strated. Don’t copy us.Think about each

procedure you’re going to perform before-

hand. Safety First!

JOINT

SIZE OF JOINT

GAP PRESSURE

DEFLECTION*

FAILURE PRESSURE

3 biscuits

#20

1,700 lbs.

1 ⁄ 64 "+

3,000 lbs.

2 biscuits

#20

1,700

2,800

1 ⁄ 2 " x 3 x 5

7 ⁄ 16 "

Loose tenon

1,200

2,700

1 ⁄ 2 " x 2 1 ⁄ 2 " x 2 1 ⁄ 2 "

7 ⁄ 8 "

Mortise & tenon

1,200

2,700

1 ⁄ 2 " x 5 9 ⁄ 16 "

2 dowels

1,200

not given

1,800

1 ⁄ 2 " x 5 ⁄ 8 "

Tongue & groove

not given

1,300

1 ⁄ 4 " x 1 3 ⁄ 4 "

2 lag bolts

not given

300

* Deflection is the amount the rail and stile had moved as a gap appeared in the joint. Source: Fine Woodworking,April 1995

P OPULAR W OODWORKING June 2001

W e’ve devoted several pages of re-

1 ⁄ 64 "-

June 2001, Vol. 21, No. 3

www.popularwoodworking.com

Editor & Publisher Steve Shanesy

Art Director Tricia Barlow

Senior Editors David Thiel,

Christopher Schwarz

Associate Editor Jim Stuard

Photographer Al Parrish

Contributing Editors

Nick Engler

Bob Flexner

Glen Huey

Scott Phillips

Troy Sexton

Technical Advisers:

Bill Austin • Makita USA. Inc.

Scott Box • Delta International

Chris Carlson • S-B Power Tool

Dale Zimmerman • Franklin International

General Manager Jeffry M. Lapin

Editorial Director David Fryxell

CIRCULATION

David Lee, Director

Lynn Kruetzkamp, Group Manager

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PRODUCTION

Barbara Schmitz, Director of Manufacturing

Martha Wallace, Magazine Production Dir.

Heather Griffin, Production Coordinator

Ruth Preston, Studio Manager

Glue

Once.

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RR1 Box 1400, Stockton Springs, ME 04981

Tel. (207) 469-1981; Fax (207) 469-3050

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Advertising Sales

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Fax (513) 336-9761

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Classified Advertising Sales

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joanwright@ix.netcom.com

Advertising Production Coordinator

Debbie Thomas, Tel. (513) 531-2690, ext. 219

debbiet@fwpubs.com

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