..
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Issue 71
r---w
September
2003
PUBLISHER Donald B. Peschke EDITOR Terry J. Strohman ASSOCIATE EDITORS Bryan Nelson
Vincent Ancona CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Phil Huber
ART DIRECTOR C a ~ y Christensen SR. GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kurt Schultz
SENIOR ILLUSTRATORS Roger Reiland Mark Higdon C R E A T M R E . w R G L I
CIwhva Dimctm: Ted KraBeek
.
Sc Pmje* Dssignm: KenM ~ , K ~ t W d ~ h , R y ~ ~ e k , C h n s F i t o h . S h ~ ~ ~ ~ :
Stevecuah, SteveJohnson. Sr Photqmphsr CrayolaSqlaad SPYOUL wsLlw.notaa
Carp. V P : Douglw L. Hieks -A?i Dimcfm Douglss A. F h t St G7aphIc Designer Chna Giowacld Graphic Desipa: Jonathan Eike
.
Sr Editm Craig Ruegsegger. Assoc EdUw: JoelA.HessCirc OF Dimdm Ssndy Bsum Cix. Ma~kstiwDiv.: Wayde J. Xlingbeil
.
Stmtagic Business Anolysfs KnF S e N m w , PaulakLDeMatteis. Cin. Ma?!&ingAnalyst.Patnck W&h. R m w a i M g r PaigeKogera. CircFdfi1lmntMgr:Stephanie Forinash.S7.GNghioDe8W*:M811kHay~~, Jr.,RobinFlilidCOWORATEWVICU
V.P. of -120- Msry a. Scheve
.
Cmzholler.Robh K. HaWlinmn Sr.Acei: L a u r a X l % m -Aoots.Pay061e:MsryJ. Schultz.
A u k R m h b i e : Margo Pet- Pmd Dii.: George Chmielar..
Elecho%* P u b Di?.: Dougk M. Lidnter- Systanc Adnun.: Ctis SehsehebRk-
P C Moint. T s e h . R o W D. Cook h~ha I m a p Spcs: Tmy Clark, m e t i e Job.
Aasoc. s w h D k : F @ b - ~ NemMdhMm: kdmC.Gaippe-
MdtimdiaA~Dii:EugenugenPedem. W a b . % - m ~ i i : C a m l Schoeppler .Web Content Mg-: David B a g s.
M%EtimcdiaKara Blessing .Ressonh Coonlinelox Nichols A. ~ a e g v
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h j ~ s v . mr: XCM B@-
a R, A* %temoeleOficeMgr: Natslie hnsdale
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Fadieim M r . : Kurt Johnson. A d m i n A s s U R P r s p t : J d b n . M d R w m C ~ L o u W e b b e rVOODUllTli STORE
OpmtionsDileefm BobBaker .CwtmnaS&Mgr:Jennie Enos W'orehauseSuyr: Nancy Johnson Bzlyer Linda Jones. Admin. h a t : Nmty Domney Sr. Cust. S m ~ e p s . : amm my TNckebrod,hnaCux,DeborahRieh,ApriIRe~eell. CustServ. Reps.: VaietieJoRliey, E i m H a r I ~ n ~ C h e ' y l J o r W ' Y ' Y ~ ~ : Sylvia Carey, Larry Morrison. Stom M a w e r Dave L m o n r Merchendisa Morkatiw M r . : John G i b e d
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Paii~t D q t . M g r : James Hoehins .AsstMgl: Tim Thelen-
Stme Sola Staff: Gmoiy Kauzla?ich, Mark Johnson, John W-, Dave Fremmi%, Stephen Duneah Brian Simmons, Mii MeCavley. OmeMgr: View EdwardsSha~Notns@OSSN10629696)i8p~bLishhdb'b'onthly ( J a n May,July, Sept., Nov.1 by August HomePubljshing, mOGmd, DesMoines, IA5OSlZ. $n.95.CandwTntemational add$lOperyem,U.S h d s .
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ShopNot~r@isaregisWedtrademsrkafA~gu9tH~m~P~bB~ WopmightZW3 byA~tHommPub~g.AUlightststststsed. Subacriplions:Sinpleeopy %4.95.0neyesrsubs~ptititi(6isisueis), Poliodie~Post~PaidatDeeMoi"iii1A~ddtaddltionalmd- 9 o f f i c e s . Pmmsster:SendehangeofaddresstoShopN(7fes,P.O.Box87108, Boaoe,IA6W37-2103.Subsoriplion Questions? Wtite to: ShopNotas Customer Service, P.O. Box 842, DesMoines, IA 5(1304-9961. Or call 1-80a3335851,
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Internet: http:ihmv.shopopott.mm
Cutoffs
I
enjoy a challenge. And, as youknow, woodworking is certainly
Wed with them. They pop up when we're w o r k on aproject and usnally deal with some aspect of joinery, assembly, or finishing.
But in this issue we started
with
a different kind of challenge: what can you build from just one sheet of ply-wood? It also had to he practical and stand up to everyday shop use.
If
you take alook at the front cover you11 see we ended up with not just one, but five great shop projects. There's a pair of folding sawhorses, an easy-to-build workbench, a roll- around cutoff storagehim,
somewall
cabinets and a couple of tooltotes.
It's hard to believe you can get a shopfnl of projectsfromjust
five sheets of ply- wood.I
guess sometimes you need a challenge just to see whats possible.New
Store. Speaking
of chal- lenges, quite afew of the people hereat
August Home
Publishing have been working on another h i i project.Tnis
snmmer the Woodsmith Store movedto a new location here in Des Moines, Iowa This new store has over 20,000 square feet of space, padred
with
tools, lumber, hardware, and supplies. Everything a woodworker could want,including three
f u k
display shops.If you're in the area, be sure and
stop by for a visit For more informa-
tion and directions on how to get
there, visit the website: g;:
*.
-?a ,.:q::z., 2www.WoodsmithStore.com ~2.. , .. .. :. 41 :-
-.?I
~c :. : -:.
We're looking for a couple of experi- enced people to join us here at August Home Publishing as an editor and a graphic designer/illustrator. If you're enthusiastic about woodworhg and home improvement and enjoy working as part of a
team,
then we would liketo
hear from you. Send acover
letter and a m ehighlighting your experience to: Human Resources, 2200 Grand Ave., Des Moines, 1.4 50312. Or you can send an email to: hr@augusthome.com.PRINTED IN U.S.A.
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Contents
Features
Stow-Away Router
Table
6
This space-saving shop essential has features some b~gger router tables only dream about It stows away when you don't need it and mounts to your Workbench In less than a mlnute
Super-Strong
Box
Joints
12
Cutting small box joints is one thing, but cutting them with fingers 2" long requires a little different technique. We show you how to do it with our step-by-step instructions.
Shop-Made
Benchtop Vise
14
Round stock, carvings, odd shapes - thls benchtop vlse
can handle it all We've designed it w~th a variety oflaw faces and updated a classic des~gn to meet todayk needs
Working
-with
Plywood
22
Do you dread the thought of moving, storing, or cutting a
large, heavy sheet ofplywood? Learn a few of the techniques
we use to make working with plywood hassle-free.
5
P b o o d
Shop
Projects
26
It won? take a lot of time, effort or material to outfit your shop with storage, worksurfaces, and several handy accessories Each project can be built from a single sheet of plywood.
Departments
Readers'
Tips
4
Shop-tested tips to solve common woodworking problems.
Too1 Chest
32
Block planes have been around for a long time But we've found one that incorporates some new features and accessories that are sure to make ~t one of your favorite tools
Shop
Talk
34
Glue doesn't keep forever. Herek what you need to know to determine if it's "too old to hold on your next project.
Sources
35
Mail-order sources and supplies to help you complete the
projects featured in this issue.
5 Plywood Prqjeds
page
26
Readers'
Tins
To save money,
I make my
own wing nuts for j i i and other shop projects. One of my favorite designs is fromShopNotes
No. 26. But afterfore making a few by hand,
I
came upwith
a jii to safely cut them on the table saw, as in the photo above.The jii rides on the rip fence and holds the blanks in
place while they're being cut
It's designed
to
cut wing nuts from ll1-thick blanks, as youcan
seem the photo at leftK PIECE TO HOLD
N mCUT BLANK GAINST FENCE
TO FIT SNUG INTO JIG
# 0 x W F h NUT WOODSCREW, (1"x 1"
-
3%") HARDWOOD SUPPORT (1" x 3w-
j.l) OF FENCEilZE W LONG FRONT TO HEIGHTOF RIP FENCE P L U S I"
Its made by gluing and screwing
two hardwood supports to a '/a1(
hardboard kont,
as
in the drawing. (Shop Note: Make sure the screws are located above where the saw blade will pass.) A hardboard arm isscrewed across the front to help hold
the wine nut blank in dace. Fmallv a BEVEL
I5 MADE
@i"xW-5%")
guide &d back piece &e attachedto and acounterbored hole through the the front to run on the rip fence, as center for aT-nut and bolt Then slip
shown in detail 'a' the blank in the jii to cut to size. To make a wing nut, start by Bob Satterlee
drilling
a circular opening at the top Madisonville,Louisiana
Wall-Mounted
Rags
There never seem to be enough rags in my shop
to
clean up spills, apply finish, or wipe off my hands. While oldT-shirtswill
do fine,I
h d it easierto
just buy a box ofrags. The problem is the box of rags is so light When I try to pull one rag out,
I
end up picking up the whole box. And if my hands are dirty,I
end up getting the box dirty as welltrying
to
get the rag outMy solution is to mount the box to a pegboard tool rack, as in the photo.
I
made two hardwood cleats to hold the box. They are connected to threaded rod at the ends. Each threaded rod is then screwed into athreaded insert mountedin
the pegboard, as in the inset photo.Now
the rag box is secure andI can
pull out one at a time.Brent Garbusehwki
L
A To keep router bits from bottoming out ~n the collet, Serge
Duclos of Delson, Quebec, Canada preve
puts a dab of silicone on the end. from I
Routing
Parallel
Miter
I
w
The box joint j i i from ShopNotesNo. 62 makes it easy to make box joints on the table saw. But I adapted
the design so that it works on my router table, as shown in the photo. The benefit of this is that since
a
router bits are a consistent diameter.r
it's even easier to set up.
However, the j i i has two runners to
fit
both miter gauge slots on the table saw. SoI
neededto
rout asecond miter gauge slot on my router table. And for the jig to work correctly, the new slot
has
to be per-fectly parallel
to
the original slot. To do this, I made a simple jig for a hand-held router, as illustrated in the drawing below. Its made from a piece of3h" plywood.
I
attached theL Donald Slabe of Swissvale, PA
eeps h ~ s cordless dr111 with~n easy /s reach by hanglng ~t from a hook s screwed to the ce111ng of his shop
I
using the existing ning parallel : slot I installed anonnting hole screws.
A
3h"-dia. straight bit and then routedrunner that rides in the the groove
in
two passes.gets screwed to the
zeps the router
rnn-
VU..U I.. ."U. Y..,
-
iIf
you have a unique shop tip, we3d&e1;
to consider featuring it in one or more of
r
i: our print or electronic publications.&
We'll pay up to
$200
for a tipwe
pub- lish. Justwrite
down the tipand
to SheNotes, Attn.: Readers'Tips, 2200
Grand Ave.,
Des
Moines, L4 50312. Or FAX it to 515-282-6741, or send us an email atshopnotes@shopnotes.com.
Please include your name, address,,et
stows awy
easil~
challenge
in most
shops iskding
room forall
A
your tools. 'Ihe router tabe shown above solvestheI"
To make set ul out the center ~ h o t oproblemof
always
having
aroutertable handy, yetit doesn'ttakeup valuable shop space
when
its not in use.The mmpad size of this tablemakes it easy to store just about anywhere. But when you need to use it, the table can
be pulled out and mounted easily to any workbench. If your bench has a face
vise,
clamping itin
placeis a snap,as in the photo above. Or you can simply mount it to the bench with clamps Oeft photo below).
J even below quickt to see :r, check how the
router is held
in
the table.set
of quick-release toggleclamps allows you to install (or remove) the router in
seconds. Unlike most router tables, you won't be wasting a lot of time getting your router in place or removing it once you're done.
Finally, the aluminum tracks dong the kont and sides of h e table make it easy to quickly and accurately posi- tion the
fence
or afeatherboard (lower right photo).1
I
A
Alternative Mount You can alsoA
Toggle Clamps. Qu~ck and easy,A
Accessories. An alum~num track@
mount the router fable usmg clamps on toggle clamps make ~t a snap to remove allows the use of a mfter gauge or theGUARD MOUNTS TO FENCE WlW STUDDEDKNOB AND WASHER TOGGLE CLAMPS
ALLOW QUICK AND EASY REMOVAL
(OR INSTALLATI OF ROUTER
Materials &
Hardware
A Table (1) 17% x 2 4
-
§/4 Ply.S Front
t i p
(f) I ~ / ~ x 21% ~ r y .C Rear Sslppon (1) Y/z x 2%
-
3/4 PIy.0 Side Support (1) H/z x 11%
-
% Ply.E Fence Face6 (2) Y/4 xZ1
-
9 4 Ply.F Fenoe Brackets (2) 1% x 3
-
4(I Dual Track I ?=Track 132" h a 1
{3) 2 1 3 4 D k - ~ t a - G ~ o g g ~ e cbamps (8) %@-I0 Brae6 Inserts
(0) %6" Washers (2) %@"x 1" Studded Knobs (2) 5 h e " ~ 1%" 5tudded Knobs
(41
5%6"-18 Through Knobs (4) 5b6"x 1%" Flange Bolts (4) # 8 x f/4" Fh Woodscrewa (2) #6 x 2" Fh Woodsmw6.
(2) # 8 x 2'/ar' Fh Woods~rews (6) #6 x */em Fh Woodscmws (0) # 6 x 5/e" Fh Woodsorews (M) # 8 x 5/s" Ph Woods~rews ) Ou6t Hood-
(f) Guard*
(1) Featherboard N o t e To order a c o m p t . . hardware kB,turn t o Souffies on page 35.
FENCE SLIDES ON T - T W K FOR EWY ADJUSAENT REAR S U M F'ROVlRffi FACE WSE MOUNTIW OPnON SWITCHED OUTLET SIDE SUPPORT PREEN* TOP FROM SAGGING
I
i
-
DUAL TRACK QUICK-RELEASE TOGGLE CLAMPTable
J I G S
&
A C C E S S O R I E S
A quick look at Figure 1 shows that the top of this router table is large
enough to do serious routing. But
what makes the table really versatile is the aluminum dual track and
T-
track installedin
the top.T-Track
-
I
wanted to make it easyto
secure thefence to the table
and easy to adjust after- ward. T-track is the answer. This is just an extruded alu- minum channel
that allows you to use a
flange bolt and knob to attach a
fence or accessories, like a feather- board. Iikewise, dual track uses the
7 mrlminum Track. same extruded channel. But
it's
Adding a dual track paired withan
L-shaped extrusion toand T-track to the create a groove for a miter gauge.
router table makes it
Size
the
Table
-
Before you caneasy to position the add either track, youll need to make
fence and the table. The table (R)
starts
with aaccessories. redangular piece of 3/4" plywood. (I
used Baltic birch.) Then to provide a
smooth worksurface and help stiffen
the plywood, I applied plastic lami-
nate to both sides.
It's best to apply an oversized
piece of plastic laminate to each side of the table and then
trim
them flush. Once that's complete, you can turnIW Fh
DE-STA-CO
TOGGLE CLAMP
your attention to the work uustrated in Figures 2 and 3.
Mounting
theRouter
-
To pro-vide a quick means of mounting the
router, yet make it easy to remove
when
I
needed to use it for a hand-held operation,
I
used toggle clamps. But the clamps won't prevent therouter from moving around under
the table. To solve this problem, I
created a "pocket" for the router on
NOTE: TABLE 15 MADE
FROM ONE PIECE OF
%" BALTIC BIRCH RECESS BASE OF MATCHES ROUTER
ON BOTH SIDES
BACK
' SUPPORT
SUPPORT
the bottom of the table.
To
see how I did this, take a look at the box on the opposite page.Cut
Grooves
for
Supports
-
a
With the recess complete, the next
step is to cut a series of shallow
grooves in the bottom of the table, as illustrated in F i e 2. These
grooves serve the purpose of locating the two plywood supports that help stiffen the top of the table.
CUTOUT FORMS
TAB AT BACK
OF
TABLE
You'll also notice a shallow ('/a1')
rabbet along the front edge of the table. This is for a plywood lip that's
added later. The lip supports the
front edge of the top and also pro-
vides
extra
material for screwing thedual track in place.
Add
Grooves for Tracks-
Now yoncan
flip the table over and work on the top side. The pair of grooves shown in Figure 3 run fromthe front to the back along each side
of the table. These grooves accept
the T-track used to attach the fence.
I
used a dado blade sized tomatch the width of the T-track and cut just deep enough so the T-track
was level with the top of the table, like you see in Figure lb. And like the bottom of the table, there's a rabbet along the front edge. You
can see in Figure 3b that this rabbet
is cut a little deeper to accommo- date the extra thickness of the dual
track (Figure la).
Now all that's left to do to com-
plete the top of the router table is to
make a cutout along each side of the
table. These cutouts leave tabs along the back edge allowing you to clamp
.,,,
\
SUPPORT (31h" x 11%")
E L -
the router table to a beuchtop with a pair of clamps.
Attach the Supports & Lip -
In
the bottom view shown in Figure 4 you can see how the table supports and front lip are attached. After cut-
ting the 3/4" plywoodfiont
lip
(B)
tosize and beveling the ends, it's simply glued in place.
Next, cut the table
supports
(C,D)
to size and knock off the outside cor- ners. Then these pieces can be glued and screwed in place. Note: Locate
the screws for the back support in the grooves for the T-track
-
WOODSCREWAdd
the
Hardware-
All that'sleft to do at
this
point is install the hardware. To locate the toggle clamps, it's best to a p the table overand set the router in place. This way,
you can position the clamps clear of
the router handles and controls. Next, cut the dual track to length and position it so your miter gauge
slides smoothly Finally, cut the
T-
track to length and screw it in place.The toggle
clamps
do agreat
job&r
d d h g a Vei'-dia. pipotof holding the router against the hole
in the
table, rout a l/4"deeptable.
&t theywon't
keep the eirde. Once that'scomplete, yourc&er
from
moving from side tocan
drilltheZ1'-dia.
clearance hole side.Asimple solutionto t h i s t o for the routerbit.
Then
all
that'screak
a pocket inthe
bottom of leftto
do isremove
the
rest
of thethe
table
to
housethe router.
waste fromthe
recess
so
the
Gi-Cutting
Jig
-
To cut router will slip& place, &Iout the
pocket,I
I ea simple seein the
photo at right.arcle-cuttkg
jig from
a piece ofhardboard. P;fter dding a hole
for a pivot pin (2 used a I/d1
machine
saw),
I
*bed the routerto
the jigwith
a couple pieces ofcape$tape,
as shown inthe
&axing
atright.
The
touteris
locatedso
thatAdd
a
Fence
a.
,
WOODSCREW #B x 2m' Fh---#
BACK FACE5
FX FRONT FACE . . . & m i t s t a s y @ c l i ~ ; l i d e * -pimalougthefme
a8yourduR
% & h - m w & e
M a t e
flush
on boih b
&ees,
Stou
catlm
y o w ~ ~ ~ t i o n
to
caag.Plem.tbewwkm
@badkfQ%
FlgCpe;
5.
skom
aI*&e;
dfalar
&oa
&ed
dmq
thebbttnm
edge
af-ttre
b&>he.
TI&
opening
& m & e d W k a *
*pit&
up
dust
aad
chim
as
&i$*ma%&
lvnaabigthtapeilge
dtbebtak
~ p f l / ~ f a y ~ u r b E
%e~mq+flefc)wkbesthusha@hfbits,
h f s
Be
ranks
GI@
and
h
.ysuto
t h e ~ m u I ~ r @ m ~ ( f ~ h ~ p m v l c l e s . b e ~ r ~ ~ a r a ~ c e ~ ~ ~ p ~ b i t S .
-hpBon*.
END C U D ON BAND SAW THIRD: cur BRACKETS TO LENGTH
&
W'-DIA. \ HOLESA
NOTE: 6RACKET STARTS OUT A S AN EXTRA-LONG PIECE OF 1%"-THICK HARDWOODMounting
the
Fence. Heavy-duty brackets keep the fence square to the table To reposition the fence, you justlwsen the knobs and then easfvshde the fence rght
where you need
it.
I
Because the brackets are some- After sanding the surfaces Once that's complete, you can g;,. what small to work with,
I
started smooth, you can drill the holes fortrim
eachbracket
(F) to
final size.$
with an exIra-long blankthat
Iplaned mouuikg the bracketsto
the
back Then screw them to the b a c k t r e a,. ,
to
final thickness and cut to final face as well as the hole for the knob, they're flush along the bottom edge,;'
width (F'lgure 6). ThenI
removed the washer, and flange bolt usedto
like yousee
in
Figure 5aI
waste at each end by making the attach the fence and bracketsto
theamled
cuts
on the band saw. T-track in the table.ELECTRICAL
SWITCH
Although the router table is ready to use at this point, there's one more thing you might want
to
consider.M
U
a
holeandthen
With the router plugged into aneed
to
turn the router off in a hurry.To see a complete hardware list
Don't
be
intimi-
dated
by
big
box
joints.
They're
so
simple
to
make,
you
don?
even
need
a
jig.
M
aking traditional box joints using aj
i
g
is really the only way to to be an easier way. WhatI
came upwith
a ji
g
is a job that typi- get consistentiy good results. with is a simple technique that cally requires a lot of fussing On the other hand, when it came doesn't require aj
i
g
.
Instead, you cut around with stops and index pins to to making a handful of extra-large the box joints "by eye" on the tableget a perfect fit But if you're box joints for the benchtopvise (see saw. It might sound difficult at first, making long rows of tiny box joints, page 14),
I
figured that there justhad but because these box joints are soI
MARK WASTEAREA5 WITH 'X'
1
Start by laying out the fingers on Using the mating workpiece as of the success depends on a careful your workpiece and marking a gauge, set the blade about layout I started by measuring and the waste areas with an "X "2
%2" higher than the workpiece. laying out the fingers of the box joint
3
To cut the fingers, start by cutting along the waste side of the layout A chisel is used to remove the lines. Then remove the material in between with additional passes. A4 .
rfdges left behind by the saw tall auxiliary fence helps to back up the workpiece and prevent tearout. blade at the ends of the slots.--a. -I.IL...~
I
!
!
few and so large, they are
fairly
for- giving. The truth is that you can haveall the
box joints cut and fitted in about half the time it would take youto
set up and adjust aj
i
g
.
The technique
I
usedto
makethese box joints is
to
simply lay out and cut the joints on one of theworkpieces. Then
I
used that pieceto
lay out the joints on theface
ofthe
mating
workpiece.Layout -As with any joint, much
5
Using the first piece as a tem- To sef the blade height for the Cut the fingers on the mating6
7
: .
plate, lay out the fingers on the fingers on the mating piece, the workp~ece usmg the same pro- mating workpiece with a pencil. first piece is used as a gauge. cedure as before.
on the 6rst workpiece, as shown in Step 1. Then
I
used the mating work-piece to set the height of my saw blade (Step 2). You actually want to raise the blade so it's just sliphtly higher (about %zl? than the thick- ness of the workpiece.
eUmN6
THE
FINGERS
with a sharp pencil or marking knife. If the second piece is a different thickness than the first (as is the case
with
the vise) you can use thefirst piece to set the height of the saw blade (Step 6). Then cut the fingers on the second piece just like you did
with
the first one (Step7).
M e r cleaning up the ends of the
some assembly. Because you cut the
box joints a hair long, the ends of the ftngers will stick out past the face of the mating piece.
This
makes itdiffi-
cult to clamp up the joint To get
around this,
I
made some s p e dclamping blocks
(see
photo below).Then after the glue is dry,
all
youhave to do is sand the ends of the h - Because these fingers are
so
long,I
notches, try fitting the two pieces gers &rsbwitb
the surface, as youcouldn't cut them
with
mv 6" dado together. What you're aiming for is a see in the inset ~ h o t o below.&
setSo
I
used a single saw blade fitthat's snug, but at the same timeinstead, as you see in Step 3. doesn't have to be pounded together.
I
started by cutting right along theIf
you need to he-tune the fit, you layout lines f i s t to d e h e the shoul-can
shave a little bit off the sides of ders of each finger. ThenI
came the h g e r s with a chisel.back and cut away the waste with
Assembly
-
Once you've got the additional passes. box joints fitted, you're ready forThere are a couple of things to
mention here. First,
I
added a tallauxiliary fence to my miter gauge. This helps supporttheworkpiece and
backs up the cuts to prevent tearout as the blade exits the workpiece.
Second,
I
added a piece of self-adhesive sandpaper
to
the front ofthe auxibry fence. This prevents
the workpiece from "creeping" while
you're making the cuts.
Clean-Up
-
After cutting
all the fingers,I
took a chisel and cleanedup the ridges left behind by the saw blade at the ends
of
the notches (Step 4). When this is done, you're ready to start cutting the ftngers on the second workpiece.Mating
Piece -To lay out the fin-gers on themating workpiece,
I
used the b t piece as a template (Step 5). Just set the b t piece on top of the second and trace around the h g e r sthings
that an
cdmyface
v k
LW'LTo
startwith,
the whdgvise
swkk
so
FWly,
un&eother
v i e thatare
you
m n t
it
atan
angle
to the
fmntof
the bench. ?hi
d
h
you
ta
Bnd
the
mount
this
vise
just
alnnit
anywhqre
on
mu&conwnient
d n g
positton.
bench
wherethere's
a dog hde.And
when
clamping
a worEcpke
in
the
you'rr done
with
it
you can
ercsily
m
and store
itout
afthem.
Amfifthesearentencugh-
.
try
&&ing
a look atthe
&@art-,
'mtofvi~cjawfncwmpsge20,
, .aaweIlaathe+nal*-rrb
. .m h i m
w
prge2l.
me
materials list M) page 15 and :igure 7 on page 18 show the rear jaw face as 8%"UmLODED
MEW
OVERALL DIMENSIONS:(0
41/4WxflYa/s"Hx189/s"L BRONZE SHOULDER BUSHING PREVENTSBINDING AND WEAR TO JAW
(10) #6 x s/4" Fh Woodscrews
(141 #0 x */4" Fh Woodemwd
(1) */4" Hex &It (length ta suit)
(1) 5 / 4 " ~ 15'/2" Threaded Rod
.
(1J '/a"% 'I2-
36" Alum. Strlp(1) 2" x 2" xlta"- 36" Alum. Angle
.
(1) 3/4"Nut(5) 5/4" Washer6
(2) 3U CoupIitrg N u t s
(1) 9/4" 1.
V.
Shoulder Bwhing*
(I)
Clamping Handle(2) Wdia, Steel Rods
(4W
long)(4) '/aa'-dl- Rare-Earth Magnet6
(4) *el Cups for Magnets (4-16) Seeel Washem for Magnets (0-20) #4 x '12" Fh Woods~rews
A Fmnt Jaw (l) B Base Runner6 (2)
C Filler Blook (1)
0 Top Plate
0)
E Rear Jaw Face (IJF Rear Jaw Sides (2)
G Rear Jew Cap (1)
H Nus Block (1)
I Nut Block Retainers (2)
J Handle (1) K Plain Jaw ,%3c06 (2)
NO.
71
ShopNotes
HANDLE QUICKLY SECURESVlSE TO BENCHFront
Jaw
&
Base
-,The
vise
is made
up
of
three
main
sections
-
a
kedfrontjaw,
abase,
and
a
rear
jaw.
The front
jaw
and
base
are
joined
together
with
box
jointsto
create
a
single
assembly,
just
like
you
see
inP i e
1.
So
I
built
these two
sec-
tions of the
vise
first.
Front
Jaw-
If
you
take
a
look
at
Figure
2,
voull
see
that
the
h n t
FRONT JAW BRONZE COMPOUND SHOULDER TO SECURE NUT AND CLAMPING HANDLE TO CLAMPING
jaw
(A)is
cut
from
a
piece
of
13/4"-thick
hard-
wood
stock.
(Iused
oak)
There's
not
much
to
making
the
front
jaw.
First,
a
counterbored hole
is drilled
in
the
jaw
blank
for
a
bronze
shoulder
CUT BOX AFTER BASE JOINTSbushing
that
will holdthe
vise
screw
IS ASSEMBLED( E i e
2).
Then
a
pair
of
smaller
holes
are drilled
in
the face
of
the
jaw
for
a couple
of
rare-earth
ma-
After
lavina
out
the
ogee
on
the
smooth.
Then
vou
can
set the iaw
k
Clamping
Handle.This
large,
comfortable
handle
allows you
to really
tfghten
down
the
jaws
of
the
vise
(See
page
35for
sources.)
hets
that d b e
used
to
bold
some
blank,
1-cu;it
to
shape
with a
band
aside
while
y&
work
on
the
h i e .
replaceable
jaw
faces.
saw.
An
oosciUating
drum sander
or
To complete
the
jaw,
all
that's
left
a
drum
sanding
atttachment
BkSli
is to
add
the
ogee
prose
to
the
top
mounted
in
your
drill
press makes
If you
take
a
look
at
Flgure
3on
of
the blank
as
you
see
in
F Y e
2.
quick
work
of
sanding
the
ogee
the
opposite
page,
youY
see
that
FRONT
I
.IAW"1
the
base
is
actually
made
up
of
four
separate
pieces.
At *t,
you
might
wonder
why
I
didn't
just
use
a
solid
block
of
wood.
The
reason
is
the T-
slot
in
the
bottom
of
the
base,
which
you
can
see
inthe
Cross
Section
on
page
15.This
T-slot
is sized to holdthe
head
of
a
bolt
that
fastens
the
vise
to
the
top
of
the
bench.
But
instead of
trying
to
cut
the
T-slot
out
of
a
solid
piece
of
wood,
I
found
it's
easier to
create it
by
gluing
up four
separate
pieces.
To
build the
base,
I
started
by
making
a
pair
of
bm0mnners
(B)as
shown
in
Figure
3.These
two
pieces
start
out
as
identical
blanks.The k t
step
after
cutling them to
sue
is to
cut
a
rabbet along
one edge.
Once
you've
rabbeted
both
pieces,
you
can
trim
off
part
of
the
shoulder
on
each
piece,
as
shown
in
Figure
3.But
be
careful
here.
You're
going
to
be
creating
a
left
and
right
runner,
so
pay
attention
to which end of the workpiece you are
trimming.
Jf you need to, takeanother look at Figure 3 to see
what I'm
talking about
FiUer
Block
&TopPlate
-Withthe runners complete, you can make the other two parts of the base. The filler block (C) is just a small block
of wood that gets sandwiched in
between the two runners. And the
top
plate(D)
is a 3h"-thick piece ofhardwood that is sized to fit on top of the other three pieces of the base.
After cutting the fiuer block and top plate to size, you
can
glue up allthe pieces. To help keep the runners
aligned during the glue up,
I
made aWITH THE AID
OF A SPACER
BLOCK.
GLUE UP ASSEMBLY
(SEE DETAIL 'a')
I
FILLER
BLOCK
SECOND: REMOM WASTE
FOR FILLER BLOCK
TOP PLATE -FU?STi CUT%" x 'Yte" RABBET Ih
I
@
I BA5E RUNNER (1W x 1W - IT') Rsmall, temporary spacer to fit in between them, as shown in Figure 3a. Just make sure that you don't
accidentally glue the block in place.
Box
Joints
-
Once the base isv
glued up, you can cut the large box
joints on the base and front jaw pieces. You can read all about how I
cut these in the article on page 12.
Before gluing the box joints
I )
together, there are acouple of thingsleft to do on the base. F i t , you'll need to create a couple of "tracks" in the sides of the base for the rear jaw
MD
MEW
to run along. To do this, just cut a groove along each side of the base,
as shown in F i e 4. Since these grooves are 3/16" wide, youll have to
cut each one in a couple of passes
using a single saw blade.
To prevent wear to the base from
the sliding action of the rear jaw, a
couple of aluminum wear strips will be added
to
the sides of the baselater. O e s e are shown in Figure 1.)
These strips are let in to the sides of the base so that they end up flush with the surface. In order to do this,
youll need
to
trim
back the edges of the base, as yousee
in Figure 5a Once this is done, you can glue the base and front jaw together. Tohelp reinforce the box joints,
I
drilled a couple holes through the sides of the front jaw and glued in a pair of steel pins (see F i e l a and
photo in margin at right).
The last step is to add the hardware
to the front jaw/base assembly
I
started by attach'ig the aluminumwear strips to the sides of the base.
A
Pinned Box Join The strips are cut to length with a To strengthen thehack saw and then simply box joint, 1 added a
7
drilled
and screwed in place, par of steel rods toas you see in
F i e
1. act as reinforcing pins.Next,
I
installed the magnet cups and magnets in the holes in the front jaw. F d l y ,I
added the bronze shouldera
bushing, the threaded rod andhandle, a pair of washers, and
a hex nut as shown in Fimve
YY
-
I
1. (See page 35 for sources.)> ,
Rear
Jaw
Assembly
Nowthat you've gotthe front jaw and
base finished, you
can start
workingon the rear jaw assembly The box- like rear jaw is built out of four
separate pieces F i r e 6).
Aluminum mils at-
tacbed
to
thesides of the rear jaw allow it
to
travel back andforth in the grooves
in
thes~des of the base.
And the thread- ed rod in the
front jaw threads
I,
.
into a large nut captured
in-
~ide the rear ,aw. So when
you turn the
I
large handleon the front of the vise, the rear
A
Rare-EaMMagnet. This rare- earth magnet is mounted in a steel
cup to increase its
strength. The
washer gets mounted to a
removable jaw face.
jaw opens or closes.
To build the rear jaw, start by cut- ting out blanks for the
rear
jaw
face(El and
the twojaw
sides(F).
I f you take alook at Figure7,
you'll see that the 6rst step isto
drill a large holethrough the jaw face for the vise screw. And just like on the front jaw, a couple of holes are drilled to hold a pair of rareearth magnets that will
be added later. Once this is done,
you can cut and sand the ogee profile
on the top of the blank to match the
profle of the front jaw.
If you
take a look at F i e s7
and 8, you'llsee
that the jaw face isnotched and the sides are rabbeted
on the ends so that the pieces lock
together when assembled. To do this,
I started
by cutting notches inthe edges of the jaw hce Frgure 7).
/'
/ I
I,
REAR
HEW
I
just used a dado blade to nibble away thismaterial.
Once this is done, you can cut a shallow rabbet at the end of each jaw
side piece. Youll want
to size
these rabbets so that the side pieces fit flushwith
the edgesof
the jaw face.Jaw
Cap-
With the face andsides of the rear jaw complete, you can set these pieces aside on your
bench while you start working on
the jaw cap. The purpose of the
jaw
cap
(G) is to simply protect the threads of the vise screw from dirt and debris. The cap is cut from 3/41" thick stock Then the edges are rab beted to fit over the jaw sides. When you've finishedmakiug
this piece,yon can go ahead and glue up the jaw face, sides, and cap.
Nut
Block
-It sounds like some- thing you might get as a holiday gift from your great aunt. But the nutd. Ordinary playing cards act as shin.-
during the installation of the rails to create the necessary
clearance between the base and the rear jaw
block
(Hi
is really just what the name says - it's a block of woodwith
a hole drilled in it to hold alargecoupling nut
I
glued the nut in placewith a twepart epoxy.
To prevent the rear jaw kom
biding, the nut block is only held
loosely in place by a pair of r e t a i w
s h p s (I). These are just a pair of
rlr
thin wood strips that are glued to the
sides of the jaw, just b e h i d the nut
block and washer, as in F i e
8.
This lets the nut block "float"inside the jaw a little to give the vise
screw some freedom of movement
when you reverse diiection.
Rails
-The lastthing
to add to the rear jaw are the rails.As
you can see in Figure 6,I
made the rails by cut- ting down a couple of pieces of alu-minum
angle stock. Then I drilled some countersunk holes in the alu-minum for the mounting screws.
To attach the rails,
I
set the rear jaw on the base of the visewith
acouple of playing cards in between to
N m ;
TO BUILD JAW FACES.act as spacers. Then I clamped the
rails to the rear jaw, drilled some pilot holes, and added the screws.
Assembly
-
To add the rear jaw to the vise, k t slip the washer andnut block into place behind the rear jaw face. Then slide the rear jaw onto
the base so the rails enter the
grooves in the base and the threaded rod enters the hole in the rearjaw. (It helps to turn the vise upside down while doing
this
to prevent the nutblock from falling out of the rear jaw.) Now
all
you have to do is turnthe handle on the front of the vise to
thread the vise screw into the nut
GE 20
J/4" HEX BOLT
(LENGTH TO SUIT)
block in the rear jaw.
HANDLE
Thevise can be attached to the top of
a workbench
with
a large hex bolt, a coupling nut, and a pair of washers. The onlything
left to make atthis
point is a wood handle for the nut@@re 9). This way you can tighten
or loosen the nut without having to
get out
a
wrench each time.The handle (J) is made from a
1"-thick hardwood blank. After
laying out the profle on the blank
and
drilliog
the hole for the nut (see drawing in margin), you can cut the handle to shape and roundover the edges. Finally, glue the
coupling nut into the hole in the handle with epoxy and tighten it
Jaw
Faces
The last thing to do to complete the
vise is
to
make a set of replaceablejaw faces.
In fact,
I
made four sets-
a set of plain ones and then three optional sets of special-purpose jaw
faces. The nice thing about all of
these jaw faces is that they are held in place with rare-earth magnets. So
it's easy to swap in another set Plain
-
The h t pair ofjaw faces(K)
I made are just plain hardwoodfaces as you see in the photo on page
14. If you're only going to make one pair of jaw faces, these are the ones to make. They are made from 1/2'1-
thick hardwood stock.
The magnetic system
I
used tohold the jaw faces in place consists of three parts. The rareearth mag-
nets fit into steel cups that are
mounted in holes in the vise jaws. Then a pair of washers are screwed
to
the back of each jaw face so thatit
w
i
l
l
"stick" to the magnets. But instead of countersinking the washers, I just screwed them in place on the surface of the jaw facesso they stand proud. Since the mag- nets are recessed into the jaws on
the vise, the washers will fit into the holes for the magnet cups and keep the jaw faces aligned.
JAW FACE)
-.
NOTE:
D I M E N S O N 5 FOR PLAIN J A W FACES ARE IDENTICALNOTE:
JAW FACES ARE CUT FROM W-THICK STOCKThe only tricky t h i i about doing
this is that you have
to
be carefulwhen it comes to laying out the posi- tion of the washers on the jaw faces. They need to match up exactly with
the position of the magnets.
Soft
Jaws -The
plain jaw facesare tine for most work. But when
you don't want to take a chance on
marring your workpiece, it's nice to
have a set of soft jaw faces (see left
photo below). These are identical to the plain hardwood faces, but
they are lined
with
leather for a soft, non-slip grip (Elgure 10).Prismatic
Jaws-
For holding round objects like pipe or dowels,I
made a set of "prismatic" jaws.If
you take a look at Figure 11, you
can see that these jaw faces are made from 3/4''-thkk stock They have V-grooves routed on the faces in two different directions so that you can hold round objects
()
vertically or horizontaliy (seecenter photo below).
Swiveling Jaw
-
Thek a l
jawface that
I
made is one that swivels to hold tapered workpieces(see
rightphoto below). You can see how this
aorr Jaws. For nolalng aelicare Prismatic Jaws. The V-grooves in a w r v e ~ ~ r r y ~ a w . A rirr~ye arruws this objects (like carvings), these this pair ofjaw faces allows you to jaw face to swivel, making it leather-linedjaws provide a firm but hold dowels or round stock either possible to clamp up tapered or
non-marring grip. horizontally or verticaily. non-parallel workpieces.
jaw face is put together by
taking
a look at F i e 12. The jaw face is actually made up of two halves that are joined together with a hinge.After cutting the two pieces of
the jaw face to size, you3 need to cut a couple of bevels on one side of each piece. Whis orovides clear-
ance so- the front
half
can swivel from side to side.)In
order to attach the hinge between the two pieces, you11 needto use a h i e
with
a removable oin.b
BEVELS
mi
This allows$ou to separate the hingeinto two halves so that each half can
be screwed in place. Once this is
done, all that's left is to line the face of the swiveling jaw with leather.
&
P_1" HINGE REMOVABLE
PIN)
Although the benchtop vise works great, it does have one drawback.
It
takes quite a few turns of the handle for the rear jaw to travel from one end of thethreaded rod to the other. To
speed up
this
process, we came up with a quick-release option.The secret behind the quick-
release mechanism is a "half nut"
to replace the nut block. (I made
this
by sawing a coupling nut down the middle.)A
spring- loaded cam mechanismis
used
to engage and disengage the halfU
he campresses
thehalf
nut
wainst
- the threaded rod. theI
vise operates as normal. But a simple flip of the lever on the side of the rear jaw releases the
cam
and allows the half nut to disen- gage from the threaded rod. Now youcan slide
the rear jawt
position along the base. nut with the threaded r<Shop
Secrets
m
for
Working
with
Plywood
7
Plywood has
its
challenges. It's heavy
and
cumbersome
to
work
with. And
the
edges
and
veneer
are
prone
to
being damaged. But with
a
few
of
our
shop
secrets,
you
can
meet
each and every
challenge.
H
The first step in dealing with ply wood is just getting itinto
yourvehicle - and then back out once you get it to your shop.
I
came up with a way to do thiswith an old appliance cart (see photo). With the cart resting on the *ate
(with
the wheels uo).I
lift
oneend if the sheet onto thet;heels. ThenI
pick the other end up off theground and "roll" the sheet into the bed of the pickup. To get the sheet
out simply reverse the process.
Move
it
Along
w
Once yougetthe sheet of plywood To ensure the plywood doesn'thome and out of the truck, youllneed slip off the top as you're moving the to move it into the shop. To avoid sheet around, there's a shallow
I
having to carry it around the shop, I groove cut down the center of the made a "skateboard" from a piece of top, as illustrated in the drawing scrap 2x6 and aset of casters, like you below. And to make it easy to steer, see in the photo at lefL the caster at the front swivels.IVdS-WIDE x %"-DEEP GROOVE PREVENTS SLIDING OFF PROVlDES
-
SOLID SUPPORT FOR PLWOOD ALLOWS EASY STEERINGNo.
71
W Rolling a sheet of plywood around
is quite easy. But sooner or later
you11 need to carry a plywood sheet to get it right where you need it. When thaes the case, I use the
"bandy" tote shown in the drawing
and photo at right.
The tote is designed to hookunder
the bottom edge of the plywood.
A
round handle that fits into the sides of the tote is easier on your hand thanthe sham edges of the olvwood. And
#8 x 3" Fh WOODSCREW
.
-
the extended sides on Zhe tote make
it possible for me to pick up a heavy 9 sheet by lifting with my legs - WOOD
rather
than
my back.w
Note: Whenusing the tote, be sure
to center the plywood sheet on the CHAMFER support for better balance. And to
prevent the plywood sheet from tip
ping, place your other band at the top
;;;,,
w;;;;
of the sheet to steadv it
I-'
&
Up
Against
the
Wall
I
like to cut up the plywood for my project right away. But there are timesI
can't always do that. SoI
came up with away to store plywood sheets
nice
and flat untilI
can.All
you need to do this is somefree wall space and the storage bracket shown in the photo and illus- trated in the drawing below.
The wall bracket consists of two parts: a hinged bracket attached to the wall that holds the plywood in place, and an index bar that adjusts
the opening of the bracket to allow for varying
amounts
of sheet goods.The hinged bracket is nothing
more than two 2x4s joined together
at one end with a 3" butthiige. You'll
also notice that there's a 1/2"-dia.
dowel glued into the top of each 2x4.
These dowels fit in holes drilled
into the index bar so you can adjust
the frontbracket piece.
The
plywood is held against the wall with another'/zl'dia.
dowel (8" long) thats glued into the bottom of the front bracket.I
ripped the index bar to widthfrom a short length of 2x4. Once you
have it cut to size, the holes can be drilled. Then, to soften the sharp
corners and allow the index bar to
clear the wall,
I
sanded a radius ateach end of the bar.
To
use the storage bracket, selecta hole in the index bar that takes the most slack out of the front bracket When you want to sort through the stack, just set the index bar so the' *,.,-.-..d.
A
Circular Saw Blade. To helpreduce chipout, the - , >
@
Build
a
2-in-1
Cutting
Guide
One of the biggest challenges
when working with plywood is cut- ting a large sheet down into pieces
that are alittle easier to handle. Even
with help,
it's a hassleto
cut plywood on a table saw. To avoid this,I
use mycircular saw and a cutting guide like you see
in
the photo at rightThe cutting guide not only solves
the problem of making a straight cut,
but it makes it easy
to
position thesaw so you know exactly where the cut is going
to
be.An
Accurate
Reference
Edge
-
The waythis
works is simple. Theedge of the guide acts as a reference that indicates the path of the blade (or router bit, but more about that in
mexpenslve, steel a minute). Ensuring an accurate cut saw blade shown is just a matter of aligning one of the
above has tiny, edges of the guide with the layout
razor
sharp teeth
line on the workpiece.that remove small
Build
theGuide
- There's
amountsofmaterial. nothing too complicated about
making the cutting guide. Start out with an extra-wide base made horn
l/4" hardboard (see drawing below).
The next step is
to
glue and screw a piywood fenceto
the base. Since the fence is going to establish thereference edge, it's important
to
attach it so it's perfectly straight
END
VIEW4
START WITH OMRSED BASE+ WASTE
HOLD SAW OR ROUTER TIGHT AGAINST FENCE WHEN CUTTING OR R O U ~ N G BASETO wimn
Once the fence is in place, you can create the reference edge by
trim-
ming off the waste with a circular saw. The nice thing about the &a width on the base is that by using a
hand-held router and a straight bit, you
can create
a second referenceedge on the other side
of
the guide.Although the guide will make a
straight cut
with
either a circular sawor a hand-held router, itwon't always
guarantee you a chipout-free cut
When I'm using my circular saw,
I
like to use asteel saw blade designedspecifically for plywood, like the one shown in the margin. But when using my table saw or router,
I
use a different blade or bit To learn a little more about these, check out the box below and Sources on page 35.f&
Breaking
Down
Big
Sheets
Before making any
cuts,
you'llneed to lay out the pieces on the ply-
wood first. Ifs a good idea to allow a minimum of l/4"
extra
all
the way aroundto
provide enough material to make the final clean-up passes later.Still, cutting plywood to rough size doesn't mean you want a ragged cut. The goal is to end up with clean,
straight edges that can ride against the rip fence (or be placed against a
miter gauge or an acudliary sled).
Foam Support
-
To accomplishthis, I use the cutting guide and saw
blade
I
mentioned ear- lier. In addition to theguide, you2 also need a way
to
support the ply-wood d u r k - the cut The best way I've found
to
do this is to lay the ply-=---
wood on a sheet of foam
insulation, as in the photo at right @ face of the ply- '''.i,&;,
,a,,& got mine at a local home center.) wood is likely to *
Keep the Good Side Down
-
splinter. So even with aOne thing to be aware of is the hlade specialty hlade that reduces chipout,
on a circular saw cuts on the ifs best to place the plywood
with
itsupstroke. This means the top sur- good face down on the foam.
1.2
Get
a
Pedect
Finish
Cut
I One of the reasons for allowing a little extra material is
to
remove the "factory edge." You can usuallycount on this edge
to be
straight andtrue. But its often dented or nicked. So ifs best
to
trim
it off.To do this, adjust the rip fence to make an &-wide cut, as in Flgure 1. Then, after readjusting the fence, run the 'Tust-cut" edge against it and
ril, the ~ i e c e to final width.
One problem area is crosscutting a wide piece. Trying
to
dothis often
resultsin the bar
of the miter gauge not being fully supported, resulting in a less than accurate cut.Sliding
Platform -The solutionis a large, slid'mg platform that p r o vides extra support for the work- piece, like you see in Figure 2.
The platform is just a plywood base that carries the workpiece through the blade. The base is guided by
a
hardwood runner thatslides in the miter slot. As you make a cut, a fence keeps the workpiece square to the blade.
Flush
Trim
It
- Sometimes
a workpiece is too wide even for the sliding platform. Thafs when a hand-held router comes in handy.
Wip
th: cutting guide and a com-presslon b ~ t (see oppos~te page), you
can
cut a clean, straight edge without any chipout Figure 3).&
FENCE