ShopNotes Issue 63

7/28/2019 ShopNotes Issue 63

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nOUTER

ChoosingTable Sau


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ill-Issue 63 a7- -----"ay2002PUBLlsnER Donald B. Peschke

Eonon TerryJ. StrohmanASSOCIATE EDITORS BryanNelson

Vincent AneouaARTDIRECTOR CaIy Chri~tellSen

SR. GRAPHIC DESIGN~R Kurt SchultzSENIOR ILLUSTRATORS Roger Reiland

Mark Higdon

I C7Batiu~Emctm:TedWcek.Pmj~tDevelopor:KenMunkel- Sx P m j e t Dagignsrs:Kurt Wehh, Ryanmck. PmI~e tDes*: Chris Fitch . hop CrqRamoz: Steve C m tewJ o h n s o n . S h z i m P ~ ~ C r a y o I s E n ~SPEClALWBLtCI1IONS

Cap. EDouglaJL.Hiela.A?tDindo7:Douglas &Flint-StGmphic Designer Chris Clauracln . 7aphic DBm&x VuNgeyen. Asa& Editm: cra* Ruegseggu.. sat E d h :JwIAHem,JceephE.ElRCUUTMN~

Subarriber S W imdm Sandy Bsum .New Bmhx . ~Qr:Wa@e J. Wbeil . i r cu l o l h Mark- Analysli., KdsSehlemmer-Rssoc C(rc.Ma~katiqAd~t:PaulaM,DeM+iiR ~ o l M a ~ s r P a i g e R ~ ~ ~ ~ S %r a p h i c D S ~ : M a r kHv,es , Robin Friend . liw 8: Go l l&m Mgr:RebeccaCunningham . ultLmedia Pmn?obm.Mgz: Rick Jmkh .m t i m n A ~ l ~ P ? & k kW * h-..~~.

V2ofFinanas-MqR.Schchve. Cw.tmU~~-RobinKutcbhOn. S I A T C L : ~ * T ~ ~ ~ & E . A O E ~ S _ P ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ . A O E ~ S _W d k P e m . md m: eorge c h i e h .Eiedmnidmni Pzl6.k.ouglaJ M. Lidster-SystsmAdmii:Sehwanebeek.PC Men t Tmh:Robert D. Oaok .Re-RM$I Spealisis:loy Clark,M e t @ ohnson N n u M e d bMn.: GGndonC.Gsippe.Mullimsdia&Dir:Eug~ePedm.Wsb S-Aden: ~ ~ l S e h o e ~ p l ~ * ' W ~ bontantMgrs.:DavidB~%gp,SueM.Mw.WebD+XsraBksSmgssmgPmf DmDir:.hlichalSi@. E, Rsd: zmwn K.Me.R"aptwniat JeanneJohnnohnn. M s d h lark la"Webher

. -Ma"yer Dave Lm o n AaaiMp n m Thelen . olas StaffWendeilStone,JmBmett,L~nyM~msmsn,-egoryKaualmeh,M J o h m o n . O f f . .Mn.Vi&EdwwdsShop&~@(lSSNl0624696)mpub~edbbmmthly(J~Mar&,May,Juiy,Sept, ov 1by Augest Home Pub- rn rand,

ingomces.PmhnmWSendehangeoladdnssbShapNotea,PPD,B88S71O3,Eoone,IA6W37-2103,SuborriptionQueatianr?Wrtteto:S~NotaCustanstanService,P.O.Box 842, Des Moines, IA 60((04-9961. Or ca l l 1-800-3336564,SaO am o 60 3pm,Central ime, weekdays. AXSlbZ?&0447E-MAL h~pNotA~&hopnotes.tesomInternee ht tpJ~.shshpnntes . ssmPRINTED IN U.S.A.

Cutoffs0 e afternoon a few weeks the chisel or plane iron back andback, SteveJohnson (our shop forth to hone the edge. After Stevec d m a n ) stopped me on the way explained the process, I couldn'tdown to the shop. He mentioned wait to give it airy.he'd been working on something When I did, therewere acouple ofnew andwanted me to take a look. surprises.First, I foundwith the dimWhen Iwalked over to his bench, I mond paste I was able towas a bit surprised. It looked more polish the steel to a flaw-like a science experiment than a less, mirror-likefinish.woodworking project. There The other snlprise waswere a number of small how quicklyIwasable to getsyringes f led with a razor-sharp edge that slicedsome sort of colored effortlessly though a workpiece. Ifpaste and several thick this soundslike the sharpeningsolu-blocks coveredwith a dark grayfilm. tion you've been looking for, checkThe only thimg I recognized was a out the complete story on page 9.honing guide, so I assumed it had Once you have your chiselssomething o dowith sharpening. honed to perfection, youll probablyBut before I could ask the 6rst find yourself using them more oftenquestion, Steve handed me a chisel. (InowIdo).Sowe have plans foraAn it took was one look at the pol- chisel rack that mounts near yourished edge, and he had my attention workbench. This puts your chisels-I wanted to know more. rightwhereyou need them. AndtheWhat I found out was that the unique design of the rack holdssmall syringes were filled with a them securely in place and protectspaste madefrom finely ground,man- those newly sharpened edges. Formade industrial diamonds. And the more onhowwedid this, see page 6.blocks were "stones" made frompieces of MDF. To use this system,the idea is to dab a small amount ofpaste on a MDF stone and then rub


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ContentsFeatures

Chisel Rack 6Ournewchisel rackmakesuseofauniquedesign(andasecretmethod) tokeep chiselseasily accessibleand on display

Sharpening with Diamond Paste 9-Put a razor-sharp cutting edge on any plane iron or chiselin minutes with this new sharpening method.

TableSaw Accessory Shelf 12Keeping tablesaw accessoriesorganizedandcloseathandhas always been a problem- ntil now

Crosscut Sled 16A lightweightcrosscutsled that'sdead-onaccurate?Youbet.Plus,a coupleoptionalaccessoriestomakeit evenmoreuseful.

Crosscutting Tips 21Getbelter crosscuts in minutes. Weoffer a few ttps from ourown shop for smooth, accuratecrosscuts time after time.

Router Storage System 24Besides keepingyour router bits organized andaccessible,this storage system expands asyour needs grow

Spade Bit Tote 30Keepyour spadebits storedandready to go with this handytote thatyou can make in anafternoon.

DepartmentsReaders' Tips 4

Shop-tested tips tosolve common woodworkingproblems.

Shop Talk 32Wanttoknow the "inkandout's"oftab1esaws? Wecover thebasics from benchtops to cabinetsaws.Tool Chest 34

This ssue's tool is theperfect exampleofgeitingwhatyoupayfor: Whenit comes to the "details, this tool has it all.

Sources 35Mail-order sources and supplies to help you complete theprojects featured in this issue.

D i a d Paste Page 9

No. 63 ShopNotes


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Five-Minute Spray Booth

BOLT STRIP5

PLASl lC SHEETS

SPRAY BOOTH

W I recently purchased some spray spray booth that I can set up in fiveequipment to use for finishing my minutes and then store out of theprojects. Unforhmately, I don't have wayjust aboutas quickly. UPANDSECUREOLL ~HEETSroom in my garage shop for a dedi- I pwchased a roU of 4mil plastic WITH STRINGWHEN NOT IN USE. . . , ~ ,. cated spraybooth forlarge projects. from a home center and used some:;~;t. .~.~ ...~ So instead,Icreateda'14ockdown" of it to line the inside of my garage -oor by attachine it with duct taw.

If you have a uniqne shop tip, we'd i i kto consider featuring it in one ormoreour print or ek ko ni cpublicatiaWeTlpayupto$200foratip~ bMI.Justwtite dawn the tip and mkl itto ShopNotds,Attn.: W e n 'Tips, 2200Grand Ave., Des Mobs , IA 50FAX it to 515-287-6741, ore-mail at [email protected] l e a include your name, addre:and davtime ohone number in casen

Then I cut sheets of plastic for thesides and back of the spraybooth.To hang the plastic sheets, I sta-

pled each one to a ll/z"-wide strip ofwood and then bolted the strips tothe tracks of the garage door. Thestrip holding up the '?Jack'' wall ofthe spray booth rests across bothtracks,as shownin drawingabove.The bottom edge of each sheet issandwiched between two strips ofwood.Thishelps to weigh down theplastic sheets andmakes it easier toroll the "walls"upwhen you're done.

To use the spray booth, I simplroU down the plastic sheets. mcorners can be folded over to seathe booth.) Then I raise the garagdoor to create a "ceiling" for thbooth. The booth helps to contaithe ~ s hnd prevents oversprafrom getting all over everythinelse in the garage. When I'm fiished spraying, I just roU the walup and tiethem up with somesbiogsee detail drawingabove.

Chuck StegBossisr Ctty,L02~zsm

4 ShopNotes No. 6


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I T I P S & T E G H B I O U E S

x I- Steve Wargo, of North Olmsted, OH, - ./hen drilling holes by hand, Dana , ge r Lynne, of Bloomington, MI,,uses an inexpensive, 14-in-1measuring Craig,of Norwood,MA, uses this handy uses golf tees and pegboard todevice purchased at a fabric store as a shop-made drillingguidetokeep the drill constructadrying rack for finishingsmallthickness gauge when planing stock. bit square to the workpiece. projects and pieces.

5~r0115awBlade HolderI use my scroll saw a lot, and I gothrough a lot of blades. So I came upwith this convenient way of storingmy blades while still keeping themcloseathand so I don't have to get upeverytime I need a newblade.My solution is to make a bladestorage tube out of PVC pipe, see

length of '/z" pipe and then cementan end cap on one end. A secondend cap can be slipped over theother end of the tube for use as a lid(don't cement this one in place). the side of yom scroll saw stand with marker to color the lid of the storageTo hold the blade storage tube, I a couple of sheet metal screws, see tube so that Iwould knowwhich enduse a couple of spring clips (the kind drawing. Then pop the blade storage capto pull off.used to hangbrooms or mops on the tube into the spring clips. Herb Matthumwall). Just mount the spring clips to One other thing. I used a red felt Fort Wayne,Indmna

Drain Valve Extension Get more woworktng t ~ p sI h o w that you're supposed todrain the air tank on a compressorregularly But the drain valve on my

a free shop tipair compressor is located on the emailvelyweebottom of the tank,where ifs difhcult to reach. So I added an exten-

I '

North creek,Nau pork

sion to the drain valve. I simplyremoved the existing drain valvefrom the tank.Then I added someVALVE

WITH TEFLON TAPE

galvanized pipe fittings o bring thevabe out where I could reach itmore conveniently, see drawing.Jaw L. VanEms


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END VlEW(CR055 SECTION)

t ic

El XPLODED V I E W BACK PLAE(4" x Ilk" %"-THICKHARDWOOD)RARE-EARTH-MAGNET HOLDSCHISEL IN PLACE

FRONT PLATE

flPOF CHISELFITS IN GAPCREATED BYCHIGELREST6 TRIM ENDS

AFlER ASSEMBLYShopNotes

CHISEL REST@"x 11" -'/a"-THICKHARDWOOD)No.


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There are only &fee pieces to thischiselrack Infa& its agreatprojedto use up someof those scrapwoodpiecesthatyouhavestasheda m.I started by making the frcPnt

(A).n eM ength of thispiecewill dependonthenurnberandwidths of your chisels,as shown inF I ~ .b. But ISMith ane&a-long blank. Then I cut thedadoes that will hold the chisels~ i g u r e 2 ) .Ea c h d a d o i s~~0 i c i s1/# widerthan thechisel twillhold.And the dadoes ate positioned twoincheson center so that an thehan-

Withalltheholesdrilled, thenexts u s to chamfer the edges of thefxontplate on a router tablcYoucanseethisbeingdoneinF i e s and4a Becauselofthedadoescut n theplate, you d t ely on the bearingalone to guide thebit when rQaldngthe chamfer. Soyou31-to use afenceon your routertablea8we11ChiseLRest AIthWh themag-netswillhold thechiselsin*rack,Iaddedanarrowstripofwood to thefrontplate to serve as astop or restfor the cbisels. When you place achisel in the rack therest contads

thebevel of the chiseland pins it toule rontplateof therack.The chisel rest (B) is just anarrow strip of stock. It fits into anangled saw kerf cut into the frontplate. To make thiskerf, simply tiltyourswblade 45" w e ).After making the kerf, the restcan be glued in place. Before youmove on to ma& the back plate,however, there is just one moredetail to take care of Using a sharpchisel, trim the ends of the restflushwith the chamfer on the endsof the front alate, refer to Flgute 1.

dleswillbe evenly spacedwhen thechiselsareplaced in themckAftercuttingthe dadoes, lsandeda smallchamferon the insideedgesof each opening, just like you see inF i e s 1and laThen the ends ofthe front plate can be trimmed offll/g" from the edge of the nearestdado, as showninFigureZb.

The mee& magnets will behoused in &&ow ounterbores onthe back of the front plate. Theserecessesarecreatedwith aF o d rbit on the ddl press. Just drill ashallowhole centeredover thebackof eachdado,asyou seein F i e .The diameterand depth oftheholesshould match the diameter andthicknessofthemagnets.

No. 63 ShopNotc


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A Rare-EarfhMagnets. Roughlysfze of a n~ckel,these rare-earthmagnets have~ncredible oldfngSee page 35fof sources

Back & AssembbAt this point, you've got the mostdicult part of making the chiselrack out of the way. All that's left FRONTnow is to add a back and the mar- CpLAE-nets and hang the rack up.

The back plate (C) ismadefromapiece of3/41'-thickstock as shown inFigure 6. (Ised a differentspeciesof wood to contrast with the frontplate.) After cutting theback platetosize, a chamfer is routed all aroundthe front. This chamfer is the samesizeas he oneyourouted earlier onthe frontplate (l/sl').Assembly - Before gluing thetwo plates together, insert a rare-earthmagnet into eachrecessontheback of the front plate. 7hemagnetsdl be trapped between the twoplates, so you don't have to worryaboutgluingthem inplace.

Gluingthetwo plates togethercanbe tricky If you try to clamp themtogether, the glue will make themslip around like they are on ice. Sobefore I applied the glue, I drove

BACK PLATE(4' x 11%" -V4''-THICKHARDWOOD)some brads into the front plate, Mounting the Rack -The e mleaving about 1/4'1 of each brad iest way to mount the chisel racksticking out Then I snipped off the to screw it directly to the wall Juheads of the brads 6).When drill a mounting bole at each end,ayou clamp the plates together, the shown in F m e s la md 6a Oncbradswillbite intothe back plate and the rack is attached to the wall, yopreventthe twopiecesfromslipping. cansetyour chisels inplace. &


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Sharpeningwith

S w n h chisels, plane irons$sad other wood. What isDkimondP~EWDiatnondpaste i8 madeworldnstooisuextdtabeachorethatI~ouldputff UPof Welygroundpartidea of industddb n d s . T h efar as lang& possible. But recentl~ve discovered a particleare sortedby sizeandthen mixedwith apa&fairynewwayof sharpeningthatgivesyou-anamhg, Wre substime (referred to as the ~ ~ ' ) .ecauserazor--sbarpe&ewithlessmessandlessfussandinbar theyaresosmall,he fhemond@Bes ammeasuredinthe time ofw&rstones or other f l &m~ .A single hmm hair istra@anal shmenh~methods. am . ~ t 1 0 0 m i Q . o n ( ~ ~ ) T h e h ~ r?he "sea& b a d his new he particle%the flie. he diasystem is a marerial mend mste. ALUlowh diamond* - -you maynot be &miliarwith-

II wtei8-&leina&+angeo~

&amandpaste. glts,I use only four- @micron,Why does dfamond paste i5micronnBmiaon,and Pmiaon,work sowell?Itallhas to dowith I Youll alsD need a lubrbnt Thethe k t hat cbtnonds are the 1 lubricant helps keep the diamondhardestS~bstancehl~WiXoman. particles evedydirpemedwhileyouSa they can eut and polish the aredwpnhg.You can purchase atoughest stele fastet and with speolal lnbrfcant for use with dial e s s w o r k t l m ~ ~lse*And mod paste, or yo* canusea Ma-the edge &atyou getwith dia- RmShaF f lhR e d 7me.Diamond w&ht oil. The onbofbamaterialsmaad paste mms Mce as paste will give you an unbelievably you'll need are some m p s of MDFsharp as anything you can get $harp,mirror-I1keedge n haff the the. (mediumdensityWehoard) forthewithmtemtoneaor oWnes. e k w%lo&.&So t onlydoes diamond paste work better andfa&& You can buyapre-packagedkit that contains thebearit hikes a lot of t h ~ mdgery out of: sharpening. grits of diamond paste, lubricana,and MDFblocks. OrThee's no momendless rubhll back andforth aver you can save same moneyby p u r t h i i he diamondmessy sh& stonesesusta few minutes us.w the paste aod lub-t separately and m W our o mdiamond paste, and you%edme. MDFblaeks. (Seem e 5 forsoured


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UsingDiamond Paste

the back of the tool

a , . tool have to be perfectly flat andsmooth in order to get a razor-likeedge. So I start by flattening theback.Thisis somethingyouwillonlyLubricant.Before have to do one time (the 6rst timeapplyng the you sharpen the tool). For subse-

d~amondpasteor quent sharpenings,you'll only havee hrst time, worka toworryaboutsharpeningthe bevel.few drops of the Sandpaper - Although the dia-lubricant into the mondpaste cutsq u i c w t s real pur-

MDF block pose is in the h a l polishing of thesteel. To quickly flatten the back, Iuse sandpaperinstead. I startwith a

2 arefully squeeze out a few Start rubbing the back of tsmall dabs of the diamond 3 ool back and forth on tpaste onto the surface of the block, working thed~amondpablock You don't need much into a black slurrypiece of 15@& siliconcarbidesandpaperand a piece of plate glass.The plate glass is an importantpart of the process. It provides anearly-perfectflat surface o back upthe sandpaper. Spray adhesive canbe used to stickthe sandpaperto theglass. Then just start rnbb'mg theback of the tool back and forth overthe sandpaper,pressing downkmlythe wholetime, seeStep1.Aspritz ofwater froma spraybottlewi l lhelp tokeep the sandpaper from cloggingupwith metalshavings.Youmayhave tomend abitoftime

on the 15@gritpaper to grind dowallthe high spotson the back of thtool. (Be sure to switch to a frepiece of sandpaper as soon as thoneyou're using starts to wear outAs you examine the tool, you w

start to see a pattern of scratchemerging. Once these scratchevenly cover the entire width of thback, you can move on to 22@gpaper and repeat the process. (Yshouldn't have to spend nearlymuch time on the 22Ogrit paperyou did onthe 15@grit)After the 22@it ,switch to 40

V Honing Guide. The wide In order to get a flat, smooth bevel, theroller on this honing guide tool has to be held at a consistent anglemakes !t stable, even when throughout the sharpening process.

sharpening While it's possible to do this by hand, Inarrow find it a lot less frustrating to use an

tools adjustable hunzng guzde.Ahoningguideholdsthe toolata fixedangle. For mostchisels and plane irons, Iuse a 30"bevel angle (unlessI1mcreatinga microbevel see boxat right)The Veritashoning guide and anglej i i (shown here) are a da b le fromLea Valley (1-800-871-8158) for justover $30.The guide has an adjust-

you toposition the ent feature that allows you to create aoneof five pre-set ang

10 ShopNotes

appemce. Now you're readystartusing the diamondpaste.Diamond Paste -Just like thsandpaper, you will be using pgressively finer grits of diamopaste to gradually polish the backthe tool (see margin at right). Binstead of plate glass, the diamopaste is used on MDF. I glue up twlayers of 3/4"-thick MDF into blocabout 21/2" wide and 8" long. (Yoneed to make a semrate block f

rac.hgrit of lliarno~~daste.) I likelal~rlhe .;hie oi the block with tgrit so that I don't get them mixup. And chamferingthe edges of thblock will help to prevent the toyou are sharpening from catchiNo. 6


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After you'vepohshed the back To sharpen the bevel of the- with all four grits of the dia- 5 ool, start w~thhe sandpapermond paste, you should have an again I use a hon~ngguide toeven, mirror-likesurface hold the tool at a fixed anglethe edge and digginginto the block.Touse the diamondpaste, start byapplying a few drops of lubricant tothe MDF block and gently smear itaround,as shown in the photo in themargin atleft. Then applyfour or fiveBEsized dabsof the 3@micronpasteo the block. As you can see in Step2, you don't need to use much.Now start rubbing the tool backandforthoverthe block, likeyou seein Step 3. As you do this, the dia-mond paste will mix with the lubri-cant and turn into a black slurryDon't wipe this off - his iswhat con-

For the same reason, I use a freshtowel each time Iwipe off the tool.By the time you finishwith the Smicron paste, you'll really start tonotice the shine. And the final pol-ishing with the Srnicron paste willleavethe back of the tool lookinglikea mirror,see Step4.Bevel - The process for sharpening the bevel of the tool is thesame as for the back. The only dif-ference is that I like to use a honingguide to hold the tool at a consistentangle (seebox on oppositepage).Shape the bevel using the sand-

6 After the sandpaper, the bevelcan be polished with diamondpaste, working through all fourgrits like you did with the back. 6-..-.--

paper and plate glass, as you seein Step 5. Then yon canpolish theentirebevelusingthe diamondpaste,as in Step 6. Or you can change theangle of the honing guide to createjust a small "micro-bevey using thediamondpaste. (See the box belowfor more information onthis.)Results -Apart from the mirror-like shine,you'll really be amazed athow easily your chisels and planeirons cut when sharpened with dia-mond paste. Once you give it a try, Ithink you'll agree it's a quick, cleanway to a razor-sharpedge. &

Color-Coded.Diamond pasteoften suppliedplastic syringehelp distinguisbetween the vagrits, thepastecolor-coded.

AS with the sandpaper,checkyourprogress by examining the patternof scratcheson the back of the tool.The diamond paste cuts quickly, soyou won't have to spend a lot of timeon each grit When the back looksevenly polished (a dull, matte-looldng surface), wipe off the tooland move on to the 15micronpaste.Then proceed to the 6 andfinallythe3,using a newMDFblock for each.Note: It's important to wipe offany remaining diamond paste fromthe tool befwe moving onto the nextgrit If you don't, the diamond parti-cles from the coarser paste will con-taminate the finer paste, leavingscratcheson the surface of the tool.

Whenyou think aboutit,there's really noneed to polish the entire bevel of a toolwhen only the edge is doingthe cutting.Tbatswhy I liketo createaUmicro-bevel"on most of my edgetools.The process is pretty simple. F i t , I. .at a 25" angle.) Then I use the diamondpaste to hone a very small, secondarybevel onthe edge ofthe tool, this time at30".This micro-bevel doesn't have to beverywide. I usuallyshootforabout %6".Thenicething aboutthe micro-hevelisthat when the tool gets dull, you onlyhave to touch up the edge, rather than

the entire bevel. This speeds up thesharpeningprocess quite a bitAfter repeated sharpenings,the micro-bevel will get wider andwider. When themicrobevelgets to the point where it isabouthalf the width of the entire bevel, Ijust grind a new primary bevel (at 25")and startallover again.


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accessories inreach witha handy

drawer andmiter gauge shelf.

Fence Storage.,n open wingconvenient

storage for therip fence when it3

not in use.

DustCollection.wAn optional hood

to the shelftomake dust

coiiection a snap.

Make your table saw workharder- n an afternoon.All ittakes is this handy accessory she8etting more out of the tools you already own is one way tG akethem work harder. It's oneof ourmain goalswhen wdesign a project And the accessoryshelf added to the contractostyle table saw shown above is a perfect example. It's a practical

easy-to-build project you cancompleteinanafternoonthatprovideplenty of storage- omethingoften lacking around a table saw.To accomplish this, the accessory shelf consists of a rectangular piece of plywood sandwiched between the cabinet of thtable saw and its stand. The plywood sticks out past the sides othe cabinet to provide a convenient spot for storing your mitegauge, ripfence, and othercommonlv used accessories.

~ i t e r - ~ a u g eAccessory s t o k e - As you cansee in thImer ~hotot hft there's a covered slot for the miter n u ~. A - -slide into onthe leftside of the shelf,keepingit closeat hand.Ana drawer right underneath provides storage for wrenches, pusblocks, featherboards, and otheraccessories.Rip Fence Wing - F m d i place to store the ripfencewheyou don't need it canbe a hassle. But not anymore. On the righside of the shelf there's an openwing for storingthe rip fenceouof the way (centerphoto at left).

Dust Collection - And finally, if you're tired of all the duspilingupbelowyour table saw (whereif sapain to sweepup),therare a couple options foradding dust collection. Our shopbuiltversion is shown in the lower photo at left. But you can also addstore-boughtdust hookup. For more onthis, refer to page 15.)ShopNotes No. 6


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THE S E L Fi g he shelf to fityour table sawis the key to this project. To do this,the first stepis to measure the widthand depth of your table sawstand.But don't remove your table saw

fromthe stand to dothis.You'll ueedthe table sawto build the shelf. Likemost projects, I assembled the shelfon my bench and then attached itlater once itwas complete.Size Shelf - The shelf is cut tolength to match the depth of thestand (Figure 1). But determiningthe width takes a little more work.To accountforthe wingsoneitherside of the shelf (plus ll/z" clearancefor stands with splayed legs), you11ueed to add 141/2" to the width of

your stand. (For my shelf, the inddimensionswere 34"x 22".)MiterGaugeSlot-After cuttingthe shelf (4 o ?inal size from 3/4'1plywood,you can turn your attentionto the ton of the shelf.AU that needsto be done here is to cut a groove tomatch the width and depth of your.te r gauge bar, as shown in Figure

la. (Minewas3/4t'wideand3/s"deep?Note: For miter gauge bars withwashers on the ends,see themargin.Finally, to ease the sharp edge atthe front of the shelf, I routed a '/411chamfer alongthe upper edge.

NOTE: ALL PARTSAR E %" PLYWOOD

DrawerOpening- At thispoint,you're ready to build the drawer.Butfirst to create its openingyou11needto add four pieces. After cutting thesides (B),back (C),andbottom (D)osize from 3/4" plywood,you canglueand screw them together and to thebottom face of the shelf to create anopeningforthe drawer F i e a).

N m : RAWER FRONTIBACK.51DE5 AR E PLYWOOD,FALSE FRONT IS PLYWOOD

No. 63 ShopNotes

Drawer - Now you'll need todetermine the size of the drawerparts. To allow the drawer to slidefreely, I allowed a %6" gap sideto-side and '/St' topto-bottom. Thenafter allowingforthe rabbetjoinery, Icut the fronthack (E l and sides (F )to size from plywood (Figure 2).Tohold the '/4" hardboard drawerbottom (G ) in place, you'll need tocut a '/a1' x 1/411 groove near thebottom edge of each piece. Thenbeforeassembling he drawer, drillacouple shank holes in the front forthe screwsthat attach the false front.The false front (HI is cut to sizefrom V4' ' plywood. It fits flush withthe sides and bottom of the case, butit rests just below the groove cut inthe shelf (Side View in Figure 2).After attaching a handle, you canscrewthe false front inplace.Rip FenceWing - After slidingthe drawer in place, you can addthe

wing for the rip fence. The wing (I )is a piece of3/4" plywood that3 heldinplace bya pair ofsupport blocks(I)andasupport &$ (K ) @ I r e s1 ndlb).And a keeper strip (L ) keeps therip fencefromslidingoff @gure lb).

isher GrThewashersattached to smiter bars kesecure in theslot But to stomiter gauge,need to cut agroove in you


14/37

Mount the ShelfWith the shelf complete, you'reready to remove the table saw cabinet from the stand and "slip" thcshelf inbetween.But first you11 need to make :cutout in the center of the shelf.Thisprovides away for the sawdust andchips to fall through. Or if you want,you can addadust collection system.Butmore aboutthat in a bit.Dust Opening - Determiningthe size of the opening is an easytask. Startby placing the shelf onthetable sawstand.makine sureit's cen-tered evenly sideto-sideandflush at I 1the front and back (Figure 3).Now, reach under the stand anatrace the outline of the opening in CENTER SHELF ON SAWBASE AN D MARK OPENINAN D MOUNVNG HOLESthe stand onto the bottom of-theshelf. Note: It's best to limit the sizeof this opening to 10" x 10". Thiskeeps the "frame" of the shelf solid.Also,whileyou're "undei' the stand,it's a good idea to locate themountingholes forthe table saw.After tracing the opening, drill acouple starter holes and then cut outthe opening F i r e a).Finally,drillthemountingholesthroughthe sheKDust Collection - At this point,you need to decide ifyou're goingtoinstall a dust collection system.Thereare a coupleoptionshere.Youcan simply purchase a plastic dusthood. Oryou can build a shopmade

version. For more infor n oneither option for collecting dust, takea look at the oppositepage.Mount Shelf - Mounting theshelf is just a matter of lining up themounting holes in both the standand shelf and then bolting the sawinplace V~gures and 4a). Note: Youmay need longer bolts due to theadded thickness of the shelf.Miter Gauge Cover - There's

one last thing to do to complete theshelf.And that's to addamiter gaugecover to the left side. Besides actingas a stop to keep the miter gauge inplace, it also makes a convenient

storage area for larger table sawaccessories (like a dado set) thawon't fit inside the drawer.The cover (M ) isjust a rectangulapiece of 3/4" plywood that's screwedtothe left sideof the shelf F i r e )It's sizedso ifsflushwith the outsideedge of the shelf and butts againsthe side of the sawcabmet.To determine the length, I placedmymiter gauge in the groove so thebar was evenwith the front edge othe shelf.Then aftermeasuringfromthe face of the miter gauge to theback of the sheE I cut the cover tosize and screwedit inplace.

No. 63


15/37

Optional Dus t Collectort h k h you ran let the dust anichips from the table saw fall to thefloor (and settle on everything in theshop),ifsmuchbettertocollectthem6rst- ot sweep them up later. So

you might want to think aboutadding a dust collectorto the shelf.There are a couple ways to goaboutthis. First, you can purchase adusthood thatfitsthe openingintheshelf (see the box below). Or youcan use up some of the plywoodscraps left over from the accessoryshelf and build a shopmade versionlike the one shown in the photo atright (shelfghostedforclarity).FronVBack - As you can see inFigure 6, the dust collector startsout as afront/back (N) made from

10" x 11" pieces of 3/4" plywood.CIhey're cut to width to fit theopening in the shelf.) The next stepis to lay outa 'V shape on eachone.This 'Yunnels" the dust and chips tothe bottom of the dust collector.Once you've laid out the shape,you'll need to cut a hole in the backfor hooking up the dust hose. I usedaband saw (you could use ajig saw)to shape the opening as I cut boththe front andback to final shape.Add Panel - To create the dustcollector, I wrapped the front andbackwith a sheetmetalpanel, asyoucan seeinFigure 7.Tosizethe panel,measure from the top corner of thefront, around the V-shape to theopposite corner. (My sheet metal

CUTTO SIZE FRONT ANDCOLLECTOR BACK AREHOSE s/4" PLYWOOD

panel was 10"wide and 231/z1'long.)Now it's just a matter of wrappingthe frontandbackwith thepanel andtacking it in place with a few brads.(It's a good idea to predrill the sheetmetal panel for the brads.)At this point, you can slip the dustcollector in place and screw it to theshelf, as shown in the photo above.Note: You many need to sand theedges ofthe shelfopening slightly oallowthe dust collectortofitCollar - Finally, to provide asmooth transition into the dust col-lector, I used a 3/4" plywood collar

(0)o attach an adjustable, 4"dia.metalelbow,as illustratedinFigure8.Here again, I used a band saw tocut the opening. Tbis created a kerfat the top that allowed me to "pinch"the elbowfor a tight fit After tackingthe elbow in place, the collar issinlply screwed to the back of thedustcolledor (Figure 8a).&

If you don't want to build the dustcollector, you can use a plastic dusthood designed for a table saw, likethe one shownin the photo at rightThe hose from the dust collectorattaches easily to the hood, which isthen screwedto the table saw sheKThe hoodscomeindifferentsizes,so be sure to order one that will fityour opening. (My 10"-squareopening required a 12" x 12" dusthood.) Refer to page 35 for sourcesofdust collection components.

No. 63 15


16/37

Y u can see from th e photoabove that this isn't a typicalcrosscut sled. For starters, mostig Y ~ S U ~n a crosscut sleds ar e heavy- o theysmall package. tend not to ge t used as much as they~~~~h i r this should.Butwith th e aluminumfenceand the cutouts n the base, this sled'led is smaller and l i g h t , o you11and make want to use it all the h e .crosscuts But don"t let the size of this sledevey, time, fool you. If s deaden accurate andworks "big." s a matter of fad, youcan make perfectly square cuts onworkpieces much wider and longerthanyou canon a typical miter gauge.

Stop Block - Perfect cuts aregreat But irs just as important to beable to cu t a number of workpiecesperfect& square and identical inlength. Sothere's a handy stop blockthat slips onto th e fence quicMy andlocks secureb. inplace (seeleilphoto).mterBar -As I mentioned, thissled is lightweight But one area Isanificed lightness in return foraccuracy was the m iter bar. Now you

could ust use a hardwood strip. Butoften it becomes too loose (or tootight) as the strip changes sizedepending on th e humidity level.

Instead, I bought a steel bar similar to the oneyou'dfind on the mitegauge that comes with most tablsaws. Th e main difference is in thefit- t's perfect That'sbecause thebar bas a se t of spring-loaded balbearings along th e edge (see righphoto). You can adjust them to prc-vide a snug fit in any miter slot Fomore information, refer to page 35.If th e accuracy and ease of usearen't enough to sell you on thicrosscut sled, you may want tocheck out th e optional accessoriedetailed on page 20. Fist,here's a

Stbp Block Easy ta adjustand rocksolid, this stop block makes cuttingworkp~eceso identicallengtheasK

MiterBar. Adlustable ball bearingskeep thrs miter bar (and the sled)running firm and true in them~terslot

simple platform for supporting cutoffs.And then for cutting long workpieces (like table legs) to identicalengths, there's a longer fence.Alignment Check- t s no goodbuilding a precision crosscut sled ith e table saw itself isn't aligned accurateb. So th e first thing to do ischeck that th e saw blade i3 perfectlyparallel to th e miter slotTh e owner's manual for your sawshould explain how to check for thisand adjust it if necessary. For a littlmore information on the processuse to make this check, you canrefer to th e article on page 21.16 ShopNotes No. 63


17/37

Sled Accuracy - With the tableaw aligned, you're ready to buildthe sled (Figure 1).The accuracyofthe sled depends on cutting the basewith a perfect 90" corner, as shownin Figure 2. Once that's complete,the accuracyis built right in.But if you're building this sled, it'sprobably because you don't trustyour current miter gauge to make acrosscutthataccurate.So how doyougo aboutcreatingthe 90" comer?The answer is one you've probably heard before -trial and error.You simply make a test cut, andthen check the corner to see howsquare it is. Note: You may have toadjust the miter gauge a few timesto end up with a perfectcorner.Base - startedbyrippingthebase

(N tosnalwidth (121/a1').But I cutitextra-long. (My base was 26" long.)This way, there was a little extramaterialfor making the test cuts.Then to provide solid support forthe test cuts, I attached an auxiliaryfence to my miter gauge Figure 2).Note: A strip of sandpaper attachedto the fence prevents the workpiecefromslipping duringthe cutNow you're ready to make a testcut and check the corner with asquare.(Ised a framing square.) If

(12/0" 24")

RADIU

SUE TO FITMITER BAR NOTE: OPENINGSREDUCE WEIGHTOF SLEDNOTE:BASE ISW PLYWOOD

OF ALUMINUM ANGLE b.it's not right on, simply ''tweak'' thesettingonyourmitergaugea bit andmake another test cut.Just continuethis until you're satisfied that thecorner is square.Once thats complete, you don'twant to forget which comer is the"square" one. So it's a good idea tomakeamark in thatcorner for refer-ence. Now just flip the base end forend and trim it to final length (24").Completing the rest of the workon the base will go fairly quicMy at

thispoint.It's just amatter ofcuttinga dado to fit the miter bar and thencutting a groove for the fence(Figures la and lb).Butbeforeyou installa dadobladeto dothis, its important to measurethe distance from the edge of yoursaw blade to the edge of the miterslot, as illustrated in Figwe 3a. Thismeasurement is where the dado forthe miterbarwill startThiswillposi-tion the sled right next to the sawblade tohelp supportthe workpiece.

EASURE DISTANCE 6

Cut Dado - Now you're ready tocut the dado. But don't try to get anexact fit on the k s t hy. t's best toinstall a narrower dado blade (/zl)and then sneak up on the fit bymakingmultiplepasses (Figure 3b).Just remember to keep the "short"leg of the 90" corner against the ripfencefor this cutCut Groove - The next step is tocut the groove in the top of the basefor the fence F i e b). Here

again, I made sure the "long" leg ofthe 90" corner was against the ripfence for this cut. And sneaking uponthe width of the grooveensures aperfect fit for the fence.Shape Base - AU that's left tocompletethe base is todosomefinalshaping.Asyou can see in Figure 1,this is just a matter of trimming oneof the corners and cutting a fewopeningsin the base.


18/37

Hardware & Stop BlockAt thispoint,the sled base is ready toacceptthe miterbar, fence,andhard-ware that make it functional. Oncethat's complete, you can add a stopblock to allow you to cut multipleworkpieces to identicallength.MITER BAR & HAUDLEAs I mentioned before, I used anafter-market miter bar to accuratelyguide the sled on the table saw. Inaddition, to provide a convenientgrip during use, I added a tall,tapered handle. You can find outmore about both of these productsby turning to Sources on page 35.Mounting Holes - The miterbar rests in the dado cut earlier inthe bottom of the base. But to hold itin place, youll need to drill a coupleholes through the base.The center of the miter bar issecured by a screw that passesthrough a countersunk hole in thebase of the sled (Figures 4 and 4a).And the end of the miterbarnear thefence is held in place by a studdedhandle @gure 4b).Both holes are centered on thewidth of the dado and located tomatch the spacing on the miter bar,asyou can ee in Figures4 and4aAttachMiterBar - Afteryou'vedrilled the holes, you can counter-sink the one in the "center" of thesled and attach the miter bar with aflatheadmachine screw.

%e"x 1%' THREADED

I FFR_~ 1 1 WT-NUT ~ 5 / l e " T H R E A D E DODAttaching the end of the miter barwith the handlerequires alittlemorework. That's because the handle Iused didn't have a threaded stud oni t Instead there was a brass insert inthe bottom of the handle.Tocreate a "stud,"I cut offa short(11/4") lengthof threaded"rod"fromthe end of a long bolt. Note: To"clean" up the threads on the end ofthe studyou just cut, simply thread anut on the good end and then turnthe nut offthe cut end.

Now you can thread the "stud"into the handle (with a little epoxytosecureit) and then attachthe handleto the sled andmiterbar F i e b)

FENCEWith the miter bar and handleinstalled, the next step is to cut thefenceto size andattach it tothe baseThe fenceprovides solid supportfothe workpieceasyou make a cutCut to Size - The fence iuothiig more than a piece of2" alu

NOTE: ~ m c HMALLPLATE LOOSELY#6 j/,' MDEVIEW

BODY

ShopNotes No. 63


19/37

ends smooth. Regardless of whichmethod you use, it's a good idea to"hock off' th e two outside cornersto ease the sharp points Figure 5).T-Nuts & Counterbores - Thefence is heldin place with a couple ofstudded knobs. These knobs fit intoT-nuts that rest in counterboresdrilled in the bottom of the base, asillustrated in F i m e 4b.TO orovide cikarance for the knob Mon the stop block (added later), themounting holes (and counterbores)are located near the back edge( F i m e 4b). After d d l h he couu-

terboredholes, you can i&all theT-nuts and then drill matching over-sized holes in the fence F i e ).Attach'mg the fence is just amatter of tightening the studdedknobs into the T-nuts.To ensure theknobs don't project through thebottom of the base, you may need tocut off some of the threaded portion.STOPMOGR

Adding a stop block to the crosscutsled is a great way to ensure you cancu t a number of workpieces to iden-tical length - ike when you'remaking table legs Youcaninstall (orremove) it quicklywith the turn of aknob. And once it's locked in place,ifs sosol So it won't shiftduriDg use.To accomplish tbis, he stop blockis designed so that asyou tighten the

knob, the fence is "clamped"between two aluminum plates, asshown in Figures 6 and 6%Oversized Blank - I fs prettyobvious that the stop block is small.So I started with an extra-long 3/P-thick hardwood blank to make thebody (B)of the stop block (13gure 7).Thisway,Icould do as much work aspossible on a larger workpiece.After attaching an auxiJiaq fenceto my miter gaugeto prevent chipout,I cu t a pair of dadoes in the blankFigure 7a). These dadoes accept asmaller aluminum plate that wrapsaround the block keeping it alignedas the stop block is locked in place.To attach the knob to the stopblock, there's aT-nut in8talled in thebody The T-nut fits into a counter-

bore drilled in the backside of thebody F i e s and 8a).Once the T-nut is installed, youcan cut the body to iinal length andthen turn your attention to the twoaluminum "clamping" plates.Plates - Although I cu t the fenceto size on the table saw, I wasrreally comfortable cutting tl...clamping plates the same way. Tneywere just too small. Instead, I used a

hacksaw to make the cuts.But like the body of the stopblock, I started with&-long work-pieces. This made it easy to clampthem in a vise and cut them to thesizes shown in F i e s and 10.The hacksaw left the edges a M erough and uneven. But they wereeasy enough to smooth with a tile.While I was at it, I filed a chamfer onth e outside corner of the small plate(Figure 10a). This allows the stopblock to slide easily over the top ofth e fence when it's installed.After drilling a few mountingholes, you can screw the plates tothe body and add the knob Ptgure6a).Note:The smallplate is attachedIooselyso it can lide freely.At this point, the sled is ready tomake dead-on accurate crosscuts.But you may want to take a look atth e next page for a couple of optionsthat add even more capability.

A StopBlock.th~n aterials,stop block canreversed, allowyou to butt theworkpieceagathe clampingp

No. 63


20/37

Optional AcceseorieeAfter completing the stop block onthe previous page, you're ready tostartcutting.Butifyou're l o o h ora couple accessories to make the Irosscut sled even more versatile. 1take alook at the two optionsatright.

LONG FENCEAlthough the short fence (and stopblock) will handle most crosscuts,there are times when I need to cutlongerpieces to identical length (seeupper photo at right).

If you purchased a 6'-longpiece ofaluminum angle like I did, there'smore than enough extra to make alonger fence (43"). Other than thelength, the only difference is theback corner of the far edge of thefence is "knocked off' just like theupper corners.

The crosscutsled is great forcuttingwide panels. But the portion of thepanel to the right of the blade isn'tsupported.So it tendstob i d againsttheblade or cause chipout.Cutoff Table - To solve these wood, as you can see in Rgure 11. a '/z" plywood r u n n e r (Dl, s illuproblems, I added afixedtable to the It's sized to cover the entire surface trated inFigures11and llaright side of the table sawto support of the table saw to the right of the Then to prevent the table fromthe cutoff, as you can see in the sawblade. (Mytable was 20"x 27'l.) shifting as you make a cut, there's alower photo at right To make it easy to position the largewasher screwedto each end oThe cutoff table (C) is nothing table, I cut a '/dldeep groove in the the rnnner (Figure llb). This waymore than a large piece of l/z" ply- bottom of the table and thenglued in the table is 'locked" in place.&

Hardware(1) 10"-Long Adjustable MItar Bar(1) 5/re" x%i''h Machine 5 c w w(1) 5 ~ 6 " x1/4"Threaded Rod (For Handle)(7) 4 'WTa l l Handle wP/rs"-15 Brass Insert( 3 ) % " 5 h o r t Barrel %Nuts(3) 1" Round Knobs wr/4"-20 x 1" 5 t u d(2 ) '/+" Washers(1) '/anx2" x 2"Alumlnum Angle (24" Long)(1 ) %"x 2 " x 2"Alumlnum Angle (2" Long)(1) '/a" x 2 " x 2" Aluminum Angle (1" Long)(3 ) #6 3/+" Rh Woodscrews(2 ) #6 x '12" Fh Woodscrews(1) ' /a 'x 2 " x 2"Aluminum Angle (43" Long)

* (2 ) 3 / 6 " ~" Fender W a s h r eN o t e You'll need a half sheet of %" Balt ic Birchvlvwood, a s t r i p o f '/4''-thick hardwood, an d a 6o f 2 "x2 "a lumlnum angle (aw th ick) tubuild t h e crosscut sled an d ac~e6sor les .

ShopNotes No. 63


21/37

Secrets of GreatCrosscutsHere's what I d a to make accuratecrosscuts- ime at2er time.W odworking doesn't get did before, th e slotmuch more basic than a and bladekealigned.crosscut So why is it that cutting a If not, youU need toperfectly square edge without burn adjust the table sawmarks or cbipout is sodif6cult? trunnhus. This is theMaking a crosscut sled (page 16) assembly that holdsis one way to ge t better crosscuts. the saw arbor to theBut you don't have to build a sled to bottom of the table.ge t good results. Most crosscut (It's best to checkproblems can be solved by startingwith the rightsetup.Soregardlessofwhether you use a sled or not, youUwant to take some time to check th esetup of your table saw.Blade Alignment - The mostoften overlooked problem is that th esaw blade may not be parallel to th emiter slot- n absolute must foraccurate crosscuts.To check this, I like to raise th eblade as high as possible and thenmark a single tooth. Next, place acombination square in th e miter slotand adjust the rule on the square soitjwttouches th e side of th e markedtooth (left photo below).Next, lide th e square to the hackand rotate the blade backward untilthe marked tooth aligns with th esquare.If t touches the rule just as it

your ownefs manual for more onadjustingthe trunnions).Checking th e Blade - Besidesaligning th e saw blade to th e miterslot, it's important to make sure it'ssquare to the table.What you want to do is verify thatth e tiltangle of th e blade is se t at 909And you can't necessarilyrely on th etable saw's indicatorforammqhere.A better way to check this is toremove the insert plate to expose the

sawblade (centerphoto below).Thenusing the combiition square, extendthe rule below the surface of thetable. I've found that using the entiresurface of the saw blade provides amore accurate reading than justchecking he top partof the blade.Miter Gauge - Even a perfectlyaligned saw blade isn't going to

make an accurate cut if the head ofthe miter gauge isn't 90" to the slotHere aga i ~~he miter gauge settingsar e only good for rough positioning.For a more accurate setting,use asquare to se t the miter gauge (rightphoto below). Just make sure theblade isn't resting against th e teethof th e saw blade.Zero Clearance Inser t - Th elastpart of the setup you might wantto consider is adding a zero clear-ance insert As the name implies, azero clearance insert provides a'@hY' fit around th e blade, virtuallyeliminating chipout on the bottomside of a workgiece. (A plywood ver-sion is shown in the photos below.)With th e setup complete, you canturn the page to learn a few moretips onmakingbetter crosscuts.

' l, Allqnment. Verm/that thesawbladeis oarailel to A Square the Blade. Usina a ,. ,them>er slot by ciecking theposition d ia single combination square, cheek thaithe the head ofthe miter gauge so it'stoothat both the frontand rear of the table saw. saw blade is square to the table. square to the blade.No. 63 ShopNotes 21


22/37

- - - --E C H N I Q U EBetter Crosscuts (Cont'd)At this point, you're almost ready totest the setup. But before you do that(and if you're not building thecrosscutsledonpage 16),there's onelast thing Id recommend- dd anarudliaryfence o yourmiter gauge.AUXILIARY FENCEAn auxiliary fence is nothing morethan a straight, flat piece of wood (astrip of 3/4" hardwood or plywood)attached to the fm of th e mitergauge,as shown in Figure1.An aux-iliary fence improves the quality ofthe crosscut in three ways.Support-Fit,t providesextrasupport for the workpiece, preventing it from pivoting during the

cut. This is particularly helpful onlong, wide pieces that tend to dragon the table sawsurface.Wander - Second, an auxiliaryfence can prevent the tendency of aspinning sawblade to shift the work-piece, causing a bad cut. m s ssometimescalledwander, or creep.)The most commonwayto preventwander is to attach a strip of sand-paper to the face of the auxiliaryfence.The sandpaperprovides extra

"grip" andkeeps theworkpiecefromslippingalongthe fence.Tearout - Finally, an auxiliaryfence works like a zero clearance

H Rh WOODSCREWSAUXIUARY FENCE

insert- t helps reduce tearout onthe back edge of the workpiece. Allyou need todoisextend the fencesoit's in the path of the blade. Thisway,the fence supports both the work-piece and the waste piece, reducingthe chanceof the grain tearing out.

DYNAMIC TESTWith an auxiliary fence installed,you're finallyready to test the setupof the miter gauge and saw bladewith a couple dynamic tests. I know.This sounds fancy, but it's reallynothing more than urning the sawon and making a cut.The fist check I do is to make acrosscut on a piece of wide scrapthat's had the edges jointed andripped parallel to each other,as illus-trated in Figure 2. (Iike to use ascrap at least 6" wide since it helps

"magnify"any error.)Once you've made the cut, stanthe pieces on edge.Then fiip the cuoff piece over and butt the endtogether, asyou cansee inF i eIf there's any gap where the twends meet, the saw blade isn't quisquare yet and needs to be radjusted.Note: The "diierence"yosee is twice the actual error.After readjusting the saw blad(or miter gauge), you're ready tmake another check to verify thsawblade is at 90" to the table. Heragain, you1need a scrappiece.Only this time, I use a scrap o"two-by" material that bas had thfaces jointed and planed parallel. Ithis case, a thicker workpiece help"magniff' any error.As before,you're going tomaketest cut like the one shown in Figur

)Notes No. 6


23/37

3.But this time, all you need to do isflip the cutoff piece over beforeb u m the ends together (Figure.3a). And just like before, any gap atthe top (or bottom) indicates a needto adjust the tilt of the saw blade.Once you're sure the table saw andmiter gauge are set up accurately,there are a couple simple proce-dures you can use to help ensureclean, accurate crosscuts.Fist , always crosscut th e work-piece with the good h c e up. Thisway, any chipoutwill be on th e sidethat usually isn't seen. But some-times it's important that both sidesbe cu t cleanly. That's where a zeroclearance insert comes in handy. Ithelps prevent chipout on the bottomside of theworkpiece.Second,you can often ruin a per-fect crosscut by pulling the work-piece back along the side of th e sawteeth after mabing a c u t Instead,slide the workpiece away from theblade afterth e cu t Then you can pullth e miter gauge and workpiece back. cuts are accurate is nearly imp04 ensuresthatboth ends of each work-Repetitive Cuts - Finally, being sible. Instead, I make repetitive cuts piece will end up perfectly square.)able to make a perfect crosscut isn't by using a two-step procedure, as Then, all you need to do is resetof much use if you can't repeat it on a you can see in Fgures 4 and 4a the stop block, nip each piece end-number of workpieces so they're all Th e &st cut is made with a stop forend, and cu t them all to hnalcu t to the the same length. block po$itioned so th e piece is cu t length, as in F i e . By using theMarking each piece with a ~enc i l , slightly (about ll/z") longer than the same setup (and pushing the work-and then hoping all the marks and fmished length you want (Ibis piece againstthestopblock),you canbe sure they're all exactly the samelengthwith berfedly square ends.

Short Pieces - I'm no t quite ascomfortable using this procedure tocut short pieces all th e same length.So instead, 1 clamp a scrap piece othe rip fenceand use itaa areference,,lock p i e s and CJa).It's okay to use the rip fence along

. with th e miter gauge aa long as theblock provides enough clearance soeteeth on the saw blade. the cutoff can't b ' id between theA crosscut blade has more page35. L? blade and fence. It also helps if theanxiliaryfence extends o support henrtoff piece and pushes itall th e waythrough and beyond th e saw blade.Crosscut Blade - Finally, if youreally want a glasesmooth cut, youcan install a crosscutblade. For moreDn this, see th e box at left &


24/37

Wall-Mounted

T is project grewoutof a simpleneed - o provide a conven-ient place to store router bits. Themost common solution might be tojust drill a few rows of holes in aboard. But there's a problem withthis arrangement. It seems like thebit you need is always at the back,forcing you to reach over all theotherbits (hopefullywithoutgettingcutor scratchedin the process).

Carousel - The answer t~ -a-problem was re& pretty simple.Instead of just a board, the routerbits fit into holes drilled in a round,doubledecker tray, or "carousel."This carousel rotates on a lazy-Susan,making it easy to 6nd the bityou are looking for. And althoughthe carousel doesn't take up muchspace,itcanhold 37 individualbits.

But after comingup with the ideaforthe carousel,westarted tbinkingabout how nice it would be to haveroom to keep other router acces-sories.Pretty soon,whathad started

. as a project just fostoring bits expandeintb ,., ;torage system shownhere

But the nice thrng is that thproject can still be as simple or aelaborate as you wish to make iThat's because we designed it to bmodular. Each section stacks otop of the one below it. So you cabuild just the router bit carousand a drawer, like you see in thinset photo above. Or you can builthe whole thing, which includes.three drawers and a storage compartment for your router.

24 ShopNotes No. 6


25/37

1 EXPLOPEDYIEWOVERALL DIMENSION6: NYLON B U S H I N G15"Wx 15%"Dx 2&"H 9 H O L W & S H A N KI/'\ LAZY-SU5ANCAROUSEL H O L D 5 PROVIDES E A S YOVER THREE BIT ACCESSDOZEN BIT5

' Materials & HardwareCaroubbl :~.


26/37

R026Wr girt:Carouselm -(I

NOTE:SMALL DISK16 CUT FROM .8"xB"BLANK.This storage center is made up of L ~ R G E lSKSAREthree main sections- carousel, a '&''~~~M'3"x'3"se t of drawers, and an open routerstorage compartment.The carouselis really the heart of the project Itcan store over three dozen routerbits. And the top of the carouselrevolves to make it easier to find thebit you're l o o w for. Smce thisproject is expandable, you can start SEE DETAIL a.offby making just th e carouselifyouI want. Then build the other compor ting three square, oversized blanks the copy, again at 200%.nents as your storage needs grow. for the two large disks (A) and one The holes on the outer trackof thAs you can see by looking at th e small disk (Bj that make up the pattern are for the large bla& aniverview drawing in Figure 1,there tray; Now draw diagonallines across the holes on the inner track are foNylon Bushing. In aren't a whole lot of parts to the each blank to locate the center. Then the small blank I used an awl torder to accom- carousel. The round, revolving tray us e a compass to draw an 8"dia. mark the hole locations through thmodate %"shank is a ^sandwich" made up of three circle on the small blank and a 12"- pattern, as shownin Figure2. (Note

bits, a nylon layers of 1/2" plywood. (lsed Baltic dia. circle on one of the large blanks. Only one of the large blanks will bbush~ng an be birch.) The square base of the You can lay out the holes Sor the drilledwith holes. The other one cato reduce the carousel is just a single layer of ply- router bits using the pattern shown be se t aside for now.)sfzeof the hole wood. And in between the two sec- in Figure 2. This pattern is one- I have a mix of '/z" and L/4" routetions is the l&usan hardware that fourth of the actual size. So you11 bits. But instead of drilling two daallowsthe top to rotate. need to make a photocopy of it at ferent sizes of holes, I made all thTo buildthecarousel, start by cut- 200%. Then make a photocopy of holes I/$. Then 1used nylon bushings to hold my l/4" bits, as seen ithe photo in margin at left. Thiswayyou'll be able to accommodate ansize bit you might add later.T he holes are drilled all th e wathrough the plywood F i eThis way, when the disks are gluetogether, th e router bits will ressolidly on th e layer below.After I drilled the holes, I noticethat some of my l/2" shank routebits fit rather snug in the '/z'Cdia.holes. So before going any further,wm slEPhrmrN(PHOTO CWT lW I E E M( 2m-4 wrapped some sandpaper arounddowel and quickly sanded each holto enlarge the opening slightly.

26 ShopNotes No. 6


27/37

NOTE: USEDIAGONAL LAYOUTLINES TO C E N E RS M A L L DISKON LARGE DISK

The disks can be cut from theblanks on a band saw Vlgure 4).Before cutting out the two largedisks, I glued the blanks together.Just make sure that when yon dothis, the diagonal linesyou drewonboth blanks are facing out (Youwjllneed these layout lines later whenmounting the lazySusanhardware.)You alsowant to keep the glue awayfromthe holes in the top blank.Theband sawleft the edgesof thedisksalittlerough, so I sandedthemsmooth.Thenthe smalldisk isglueddown to the top of the other twodisks, as showninFigure 5.Base - The base (C) of thecarouselisjust a squarepiece of l/z"

plywood, as shown in Figure 1.Asmallrabbet is cutalongeach sideofthe base to allowittostackon topofthe other components of thestoragecabinet @gure la). Note: Ifyou areonly bdding the carousel, you canskipcuttingtheserabbets.Lszy-Susm-Theuppersectionofthe carousel swivelson a lazy-Susan

(seepage 35forsources)-Asyoucansee in F i e , this hardware isnothing more thanacoupleof metalplatesthatrideonballbearings.Tomount the lazySusan, start bycentering it on the bottom of theupper section of the carousel, justlikeyou see inP i e .You canusethe diagonal lines drawn earlier onthe bottom disk to help center themechanism. Then mark out thescrew hole locations and drill pilotholes forthemounting screws.The next step is to flip the lazy-Susan over and layout the holes onthe base of the carousel, as shownin F i e . Again, you can use thediagonal lines to help center thelazySusan hardware.

FIRST: DRILL ACCESSHOLE IN BASE 4

F

7$$$!?&. HOLESUSAN TOmP OF BASE

USE LAZY-SUSANHOLE

Access Hole -A s you cansee inFigwe 7a,you11also need to lay outand drill an access hole in the base.This 1/2"-diaole vd l allow you toinsert a screwdriver through thebase to attach the lazySusan to thetop.Oncethis isdone, thelazySusancanbe attached to the base.Fmally, the upper section of thecarouselis attached, ustlikeyou seein Figures 8 and &. For a tip oninserting the screws into the pilotholes,seephotointhernarginatright.

NOTE:ASSEMBLY15UPSIDE DOWN

ATTACH TOPI TO BASE I

your screwdfivwh~lenstallinlazy-Susan, tryusrng a dab ofromaglue sti

No. 63 ShopNotes 27


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Drawer Uni tsThe carousel provides plenty ofstorage for router bits. But it won'thold your other router accessories- hings like wrenches, bushings,collets, and router base plates. For ME1these items,the drawerunits shownhere arejust the ticketIf you take a look at Figure 9,you

cansee hat each drawer andcase isa separateunit.Soyoucan hoosetobuild just one or two of the drawerunits fornow and add more later asyou need them. Youll also noticethat the drawersare each a differentsize (height).But asidefromthis dii-ference, the construction of thedrawersis the same.The interestingfhing about thesedrawer units is the fact that they

Tstack on top of one another. The vsides of the drawer case extend !%&sRE IDENTICALEXCEPT FOR Tpast the top, creating a lip on each HEIGHTside. These lips help to lock the . WtT.. r -. .. . -.next drawer unit above in place, as _ . iyou can see in F i e a. pieces are cut from l /z" plywood. F i e 10a, youn & that thCases - I started building the Each case is joined with tongue tongues and dadoes are slightldrawer units by making the cases. and groove (or dado) joints. offset This is what creates the 'lipEach one has an identical top and Tongues cut on the ends of the top on the sides of the case that I menVIEW bottom(D),pair of sides (E, f l GI, and bottom fit into dadoes cut in tioned earlier. And the sides of eacSECTION) and a back (H , I, a.All of these the sides. But if you take a look at case also stop short of the bottom

creating a notch that runs alongthside of each case. This allows thbottom of the case to lock into thtop of the case beneath i tI foundit easiestto cutthe dadoe&t and then cut the tongues to fiThe dadoes are only '/a" wide, syou canmakethem bycuttingaker

with an ordinary saw Made. You'need to cut two dadoeson each sid- ne to hold the top and one thold the bottom. But the location o. J O ~ . E ~ these dadoes is slightly differen~ $ P , " ~ ~ ~ ~ ~akeagoodlookatFigure10atosewhat Im hWngabout.Tongues are then cut on botthe top and bottom pieces to fit ithe dadoes on the side piecesThe tongues are identical on botthe bottom and the top pieces, s

PIECES ARE you only need to make one setuM" PLWOOD on your table saw.Thebackof the caseis alsoheld iplace with tongue and groovejointsShopNotes No. 6


29/37

Agroove iscutnear theback edge ofboth the top and the bottom of thecase. Then tongues are cut on theback of the case to fit thesegrooves.For a closer look, see F i e ob.m e ends of the back simply buttagainstthe sidesof the case.)

After cutting all the tongue and -groove joints, you canassemble thecases. They are simply gluedtogether and clamped up along thesides and back. The tongue andgroove joints should help to squareup the openingsin the cases.Drawers - Once all the cases

are completed, you can start&g the drawers to fit insidethem. I sized each drawer slightlysmaller than its opening, in order toleave a '/16" gap on the sides and atthe top of the drawer.

From loolung at F i e 11, youcan see that the drawers couldn'tbe much simpler. They are madeup of a pos t and back (K, L, Miand two s z d a (N, 0, Pi. The endsof the front and back are rabbetedo old the sides ( F i e llb). Anda groove1s cut on the lnside face of

DRAWERBACK SIDESEEFIG.9

11%

4" DRAWER

SMALLDRAWERFRONT

all four pieces to hold a '/a1' hard-board bottom (@. You can see thisgroove in Figure lla.P d s - After the drawers are

assembled, a pull can be added tothe front of each one. These shouldbe centered on the drawer frontsfromtopbbottom andsidebside.

One note on attaching thedrawer pulls. I found that thescrews that came with the pulls Iused were a hair too long. So I badto 6le a little bit off the end of eachscrew (about 1/8") so that theywouldn't break through the insideof the drawer fronts.

Router Co m par tm entINME:ALLThe last component of the storage wIECESLWOODRE

cabinet is the router compartment.Ifs just an open box that holds therouter. Like the drawer cases, it'smade up of a top and bottom (R i , acouple of sides (Si , and a hack (Ti.The onlydifferenceis the locationofthe dadoes in the sidesthat hold the IPbottom @gnre 12c).

Before assembling the compart-ment. I cut a slot in the bottom.Thisslot &om you to leave a router bitchucked up in the router when you I Istoreit in the compartment.To make the slot, just driU a holeinthe center of the bottompanel and '4then cut out the rest of the waste f-with a sabresawor band saw.

After the compartment is assem-bled, it can be screwed through theback directly to the wall. Then thedrawer units and carousel can be SIDE BOTTOM(12%"x 12%")stacked ontopof it. 6 -No. 63 ShopNotes 29


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anydrillbit sets comewith acheap plastic case that oftenThis handy tote Ms apart. So when I saw the pic-will keep your tures for a spade bit tote sent bysjade bits safe Gerrit De Boer from Grandville,Michigan,I wanted to pass it on.accessibze- what makes this spade bit totewhereveryou nnique is that the bits are stored in CASEto take them. tilt-out, removable holders, as you I started on the tote by making thecansee in the photo. case that the holdersslip into. Note:Besideskeepingthe spadebits in The tote is sized for a 12-piecesetorder (and separated to avoid dam- with bits up to 61/at1 ong.aginganyof the edges),you cantote The '/z" plywood tophottom (XJthe entire set (or a single holder) andsides (B ) arecutto theheal sizesright whereyou need it.

TOP. BO~TOM,AND DOORE M" PLYWOOD:15HARDBOARD;IS %"-THICK

fit all three holders (and bits) insidthe case with a little "wiggle" roomand to allow for the joinery thaholds the case together.Joinery - There isn't much tthejoinery. First, there's a rabbet cuat each end of the top/bottom. Anshallow P/4l1) groovesnear the bacedgeof eachpieceholdthe /4" hardboard back (C) in place @gure la)HolderSlots- Beforegluingthcase together, you'll need to creathe slotsthat allowthe holdersto ti

forward and slideoutof the case.Creatingthe slots is a three-steprocess. I started by cutting a dadin the two sides. Then to form thbottom of the slots that the holderdrop into, drill three shallow ('/4")counterbores in each side jusbelow the dado, as illustrated iFigure la. Finally, complete thslot by removing the waste withchisel and then chamfering thcorners slightly.H i e Notches - There's onlast thing to do before gluing thcase together. And thafs to cut twnotches in one side to accept thdoorhinges ( F i e 1).After gluing the case togetheyou'll need to add a small * /z "squarestop (Dl flushwith the fronedge of the bottom, as you cansein Figure 1. This stop keeps thholdersfromtippingtoofarforwarwhen you want to removea bi t

No. 6


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Finally, all thath left to completethe caseis to cuta door (E ) to sizetotch the outside dimensionsof thecase. After sanding a small chamferaround the outside edge, attach thedoor to the case. Then add a handleand catch ( F i e 1).110m

With the case complete, you'reready to make the holders for thespadehits. Otherthanthe number ofholes in each holder, they're iden-tical. Each one consists of a top (F)and bottom (GI conneded by a pairof dowels, as in Figure 4.The problem is the parts arerather small to work with. So Istarted with a 25/s"-wide blank cutextra-long @ l i e 2). This makes iteasier to work with.DriU Holes - The 6rst step is tolay out and drill the holes for eachhit. The holes start 1" n from each"end." And then they're spacedevenly inbetween @gure 2).Groove -To Dreventthe hitsromspinning inp1ac;and nicking anedge,the "head" of each hit fits into agroovecutalongthe topedge (seeBitCrossSedion in F i e ). Fm* toallowthe holders to tipforward, rout

(or sand) a small roundover alongthe lower edge ( F i i e 2).

THREEMIRILL %"-DIA. -HOLE*HOLES. 2%" DEEP kROUTROUNDOVAWNG BOTTFRONT ED

FGURT\ IP BLANK INTO TOP ABOTTOM PIECES. THCUT TO FINAL LENG( SEE FIGUREGROOVE. DEEP

P /

BLANK FORHOLDERS IS%"-THICK HARDWOODCut to Size - Now you're readyto cut the holdersto h a l size.To dothis, first rip the blank to form a topand bottom half Then crosscut thepieces to final ength ( F i e 2).To connectthe top and bottom ofeach holder,you'll need to add a pairof dowels.Theyfit intocounterboresdrilled in the mating facesof the topand bottom (Figure 3 and DowelCrossSectioninFlgure4).Butbeforegluingthe dowels inplace,the bottompiece needs a little more work.First, to make it easy to guide theshank of the hit into the bottompiece, I chamfered the holes, asshown inFigure 3.And then to allow

each holder to pivot, I added a pin ateach end of the bottom piece, as

CHAMFERBIT HOLESIN BOTTOMPIECES

showninFigure4aThe pins arejustsmall dowels sized to provide '/I$'clearance between the end of thedowelandthe dado in the case.Assembly- Oncethafscompleteyou can glue the top and bottompieces ofeach holder together. Afterthe glue dries,you can slip your hitsinto the holders and then slide theholders safely inside the case.&

HOLDEI---

DOWEL EHTCROSS cmmSECRON SECTION


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Shop Talkhich table sawshould which type is best foryac.W I ~ U Y ? I ~ S P ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ YhoosingtheRight v o u m s t a r t b y aone of the most frequently- yourself what kind of wooasked questions among Table Saw working you plan on doing.woodworkers. This isn't sur- you're going to be makinprising,given the fad hat thetable saw is the heart of most woodworkingshops. (Andits also probably one of the more expensive tool pur-chasesyouwillmakeforyour shop.)Whether you're just starting out or are looking toupgrade fromthe saw you already own, shoppingfor atable sawcanbe almostas intimidatingas shoppingforaused car. There's a dizzyingarrayof brandsand modelson the market, not to mention options and accessories.But before you start comparing specific models, youneed to knowthe type of sawyou're lookingfor.

Essentially, there are three basic types of saws -benchtop, contractor's, and cabinet saws. And despitewhatyoumightthink,thereisalotmoretoconsiderthanprice alone. While all of these sawswill cut wood, eachone serves a slightly differentpurpose and has its ownstrengths and weaknesses. The trick is to determine

birdhouses and small boxexclusively,shelling out the money on a cabinet sawprobably overkill. On the other hand, if you plan obuilding a lot of projects using sheet goods,youll proablyfindyourself quicklyfrustratedwith abenchtopsaBeyond this, however, there are some key featurthat separatethe three types of saws, andwe've outlinthese below. Armed with this information, you will bable to make a better-informeddecisionbeforeplunkindownyourhardearned cash.Finally, keep in mind that the table saw doesnmake the woodworker. There are plenty of very taented woodworkers who turn out large, beautiful proects with small, modestly-priced table saws. By thsame token, even the best saw available won't do yomuch good unless you take the time to learn andevelop the skills to use it properly.

Benchtop SawWhenbenchtopsawsfvstarrivedonthe scene, they seemed to be mar-keted primarily to the constructionand building trades. But I've met alarge number of woodworkers whoturn out some pretty amazing proj-ectson bencbtopsaws.The two main thines that

is their portab'ity and their price.Many benchtop saws are smallenough and light enough to toss inthe trnnk of a car and takewith youanywhere. And you can purchase abenchtop saw for as little as $100(althoughfanciermodels with morefeaturessellforuowards of $500).. ~~ , ,benchtop saws have goingfor them Motor - A common trait of"-inmn benchtop saws is they operate on

CPPC I% Unly.mlM.&?{DiartDrisp) universal motors (the same kind ofmotorthatyou'llfindonyourrouter).;


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Contractor'sSawd be willing to bet that you'll findmore contractor's saws in homewoodworking shops than any other. type of saw That's probably becausethey stsike a good balance between

performance and price.Costing anywhere from $350 to$800 (depending on options), con-tractor's sawsfall n between bench-tops and cabmet saws. But in ermsof performance, they are a dramaticstep up from benchtop saws.Power -The most noticeable dii-ference is in the power of the saw.Contractor's saws us e an inductionmotor (typicallyrated at ll/zhp) .Thisprovides a lot more power than theuniversalmotors onbenchtopsaws.

Another difference is the way inwhich th e motor is mounted. Onmost contractor's saws, the motorhangs off the back of the saw, andpower is transfemed to the bladethrough pulleys and a V-belt. So ifthe motor ever fails, replacing it is

Cabinet SawCabinet saws get their name fromthe fact that the saw and motor ar eenclosed within a cabinet-type base.Smooth-running and loaded withpower, once you've tried a cabinetsaw, i t s djflicnlt to go back to usinganything less.There are several fac-tors that go into making a cabinetsaw such a joy to use.For one thing, most cabinet sawshave large (3 hp or more), heavy-duty motors.This givesyou plenty ofpower for cutting through thickhardwoods without having to worryabout bogging down the motor.Enclosed Motor -Just as irnpor-tant as the size of the motor is theway in which it is mounted. Insteadof hanging off the back of the saw,th e motor on this saw hangs under-neath the table top, entirelyenclosedwithin the cabinet A se t of two orV-belts are used to transferpower smoothly and efficiently tothe blade arbor. And the enclosed

Size - The con- @tractor's saw also has alamer table. which is areal plussheet go when worldngods.Bu t it alsothe saw will take up more space.Contractor's saws are usually sold -ith an open metal stand. Thesestands tend to flex and vibrate,which can ause the saw to shift ou tof ahgnient over time. And sinceth e back and bottom of the saw areopen, dust collection can e difticultRip Fence -One of th e big benefits f a contractor's saw is that therear e awide assortmentof aftermarketaccessories available, such as ripfences, table extensions, and bladeguards. Adding an aftermarket ripfence (some saws now come withone from the fadory) will greatlyimprove th e accuracy (and yourenjoyment) of the saw.Durability - If you take a lookunder the top of a contractor's saw,you'll notice more differences. Most

contractor's saws have a cast irontrunnion assembly (the part thatsupports the saw arbor and allowsthe blade to tilt).Unlike aluminum orzinc,castironwilllast~rdecades.For a home shop, a contractor'ssaw will do just about anything youcould ask of it. And as an addedplus, contractor's saws usually holdtheir value fairly well, making iteasier if you decide to upgrade to acabmet saw later on.

cabmet makes it easier to hook thesaw up to a dust collector.Cabinet sawshavebeefier trunnionsand internal parts. *Because of theirheavier, more r o b u ~ .components, cab'met sawsrun smoother and require l~,,frequent adjusting than eithercontrador'ssaws orbenchtops.While there may no t be manydownsides to owning a cabinetsaw, there are a few. For one thing,they are heavy. Tbis makes it diffi-cult to move the saw around, whichmay be an issue if you have a smallshop or you share shop space withthe family car (although a mobilebase can solve this problem).Voltage -Addition&, most cab-inet saws require 220Yolt power. Ifyou don? already have a 220voltline in your shop, you will have tohire an electrician to install one.

Anc ly, there is the cost t.,consider. &bmet saws range from$900 to $1900, depending on thebrand and options such as th e fencecapacity. Fo r that money, though,you will be getting a saw thatwill lastalifetime, if no t longer. &

No. 63 ShopNotes


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S ndig is a chore. Especially widemietyof detailed sandingtasks.when you need to work in tight Unlike other detail sanders I'veareas, like between the chair spin- used, the MultiMaster is a solidlydles above, or sand into a corner, built, dependable machine. Foras you can see in the photo starters, a quick turn of thebelow. To solve this dial allowsyou to adjust theproblem, I took a chance speedof the sandingheadon a purchase that (photo at left) fromseemed a bit extrava 12,000 odlations pergant at the time- he minute to 21,000.MultiMaster detail At these speeds,sanderromFein. you'd probably expectBut that purchase has paid for some hand-numbiig vibration withitself many times over since then. any extended use. But that isn't theThe MultiMaster offers precision case. The Fein MultiMastw runs socontrol and smooth overation for a smoothlv. it's not at all unusual tohave to doublwheck the settingjustto knowwhere if s a tAnd the quality literally extendsall the way to the power cord. Its al4foot long rubber cord that makes

it easy to reachjust aboutanywhere.Accessories - But as you canI uessby the name,youcandomorethan just sandwith the MultiMaster.With the accessoriesthat come withit (or the wide variety you can pur-chase separately), it's hard to comeupwith a task it can't handle.A I ne 1wu1r1;wasrersmoorn operanon A rigid scraper blade and flushcutmakes it easy tosand into tightplaces ike blade come as standard accessories.the corner of this frame and panel dooi. And changing to either one is just a

matter of loosening a single AUscrewwith the provided wrench.Trigid scraper excels at removing opaint andwallpaper. And the flushcters (likeundercuthg a doorjamblademakesquickwork in closequ

If you're goingto be doing a lotsanding, there's even a dust extration kit you can use to attach tMultiMaster to a shop vacuum fextremelyclean sanding.And for really heavy-duty worconsider a ProfessionalKit. This kincludes a smoothcutting knblade aswell as carbide-tipped groand rasp blades (about$60.00).Cost - As you may haguessed, this kind of capability (aquality) comes at a price. The bas

MultiMaster kit will cost you $180$200. And adding in a few accesories might add a another $100so. Is itworth it?Definitely.The smooth operation andqualresults speak for themselves. MMultiMaster works as well todayit did when I bought it a few yeaago (and itgetsmoreuse than eveIt's a purchase I've never regretteAs a matter of fact, one of the guhere askedtoborrowitjust the othday- sure sign of a great tool.&

34 ShopNotes No. 6


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Crosscut Sled HardwareThe quality of the hardware can bar (see photo at right). So Vmakeorbreaka shopmade i i or6x- it's easy to "snug up" theture.And the CrosscutSled onpage fit of the bar just by comeswith abrass insert (5/&16isn't any diierent.To ensure the sled was accurate(and stayed that way), I used a fewpieces of hardware available fromRockler (seemargin).Miter Bar - One of the keys tothe accuracyof the sled is the miterbar. The one I used (PartNo. 36786,$11.99) has spring-loadedball bear-ings installed along the edge of the

turningafew set screws.Handle & Knobs -Accuracyisimportant,but if thecrosscutsled isn'tcomfortable or easy to use, its likeiyto gather sawdust under a benchsomewhere.So I wasparticnlarwhenchoosingthe handle andknobs.The handle ($1.99) is tall (41/a1'),and the tapered design makes itcomfortable to use. The handle only

la), so dependingon your use, youmayneed togluea threadedrod intothe insert to createa stud.But that's not the case with theknobs. The ones I used (Part No.34238, $1.29 each) came with a 1"-longstud C/4I1-20).All I neededto dowas cut off a bit of the threadedpor-tion. Note: Similarhardware is avail-able fromothersources,see margin.

MAILORDERSOURCEBeta DiamonProducts, In800-975-900m.betadiamondDiamond PasLee Valley To800-871-815waw.leevalley.c(/ Diamond Paste RareEarthnobs &Ha&,agSharpeninga chisel or plane iron isn't a task I Woodcraft(see margin) offers a completekit hsscutBlad,e

6. -. particularly looked forward t o It canhe a long, to getyou started.It includesfoursyringeswith Rocklermessy process. But after trying out the dia- 1gram of each grit (30,15,6, and 3 microns) of 800-279-444mond paste sharpening technique detailed on diamondpaste and a bottle of lubricant (shown wxmHexeompage 9, its almostenjoyable. at left), as well as the MDF blocks youll need. Miter Bar, KnoD21stHThat's because diamond paste makes the This is a completekit that sellsfor$70. Cmsscut Bladwholeprocessgofasterwith less mess.And the We also located a company called Betanice thing is there isn't much to setting up a Diamond Products (see margin) that sells dia- Woodaaft800-225-115completesharpeningsystem. mond paste and lubricant separately. vou will will,woaderm.eomneed tomake your own MDFblocks though.) Diamond PasteThe samefour grits are availablefor$30,but Dust Hoodeach syringe contains 2 grams of paste ~~~~~i~ st(otherquantitiesare available).The bottle 800-835-508

I of lubricant (402.) sells for$3. Crosscut BladDust Hood

Rare-Earth MagnetsThe "secret" to making the Chisel Sizes - As I mentioned,we usedRack on page 6 work is a set of mag- 3/d1'-dia.magnets for the chisel rack. ..ets. But notjust anymagnets. But depending on your needs, rare- ,Rare-Earth Magnets - The earth magnets are available in sizesonesweused are rareearth magnets rangingfrom '/a1' up to1"indiameter.(see photo). They're incredibly Although we "trapped" the m-strongfor their size.As a matter nets in counterbores, theyof fact, the 3/4"-dia m w e t s we can also be glued in place.mpoxy provides the best '*Lhks to 0 t h ~ordered only come in a "clump" "grip.")Siicethese magnetsf five ($5.75) - ith instruc-ons ona couple simplemethods canbe used onawidevariety

separating them once of projectsaround the shop,yon receive them (see you might want to order a setmargin forsource). (ortwo) just tohavesomeonhand.

No. 63 ShopNotes 35


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37/37

E

E

F

F

D

D

D R

R

S

S

T

D

D

D

48" 96" - PLYWOODx !/2"

C

A A

B

N

N

P

PM

MO

O

24" 48" - HARDBOARDx !/4"

L

L

K

K

J

I

Q Q Q

H

G

G

Cutting Diagram

Materials

CarouselA Large Disks (2) 12 x 12 -1/2Ply.

B Small Disk (1) 8 x 8 -1/2Ply.

C Base (1) 12 1/4x 121/4- 1/2Ply.

Drawer UnitsD Case Tops/Bottoms (6) 12 1/4x 121/4- 1/2Ply.

E Small Case Sides (2) 3 x 12 1/4- 1/2Ply.

F Medium Case Sides (2) 4 x 12 1/4- 1/2Ply.

G Large Case Sides (2) 5 x 12 1/4- 1/2Ply.

H Small Case Back (1) 2 3/8x 12 - 1/2Ply.

I Medium Case Back (1) 3 3/8x 12 - 1/2Ply.

J Large Case Back (1) 4 3/8x 12 - 1/2Ply.

K Small Drawer Frt./Back (2) 2 1/16x 1115/16- 1/2Ply.

L Medium Drawer Frt./Back (2) 3 1/16x 1115/16- 1/2Ply.

M Large Drawer Frt./Back (2) 4 1/16x 1115/16- 1/2Ply.N Small Drawer Sides (2) 2 1/16x 111/2- 1/2Ply.

O Medium Drawer Sides (2) 3 1/16x 111/2- 1/2Ply.

P Large Drawer Sides (2) 4 1/16x 111/2- 1/2Ply.

Q Drawer Bottoms (3) 11 1/4x 113/8- 1/4Hdbd.

Router CompartmentR Top/Bottoms (2) 12 1/4x 121/4- 1/2Ply.

S Sides (2) 12 1/4x 121/4- 1/2Ply.

T Back (1) 12 x 11 1/4- 1/2Hdbd.

Wall-MountedRouter Storage System

ShopNotes Issue 63

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Transcript of ShopNotes Issue 63