Woodworker's Journal September-October 2013

The Way to Woodwork MY PROJECT IS FINALLY DONE! OOPS ... NOW I HAVE TO PUT A FINISH ON IT. Woodworkers ask us more questions about finishing than any other topic, bar none. It’s clearly a subject that needs to be covered from start to, well ... finish. And the good news is that help is on the way —in the form of the latest offering in our The Way to Woodwork DVD series, which is called (appropriately enough) “Step-by-Step to a Perfect Finish.” This time out, we have teamed up with the nation’s foremost finishing expert, Michael Dresdner, and television’s favorite home-improvement expert, JoAnne Liebeler, to create a DVD that will ask and answer all of your most significant finishing questions —AND demonstrate how to get great results every…

Feathering and Centering Socket-assisted Speed Clamping Tightening clamps doesn’t have to cause hand strain anymore. Just drill and tap the ends of your wood-handled bar clamps for 5/16" machine bolts and nuts. By adding a nut beneath the bolt head, you can increase the surface area, giving you better purchase with a socket. Now, you can clamp or unclamp with the aid of a drill/driver, socket adapter and socket. I suggest using #5 hardened nuts and bolts for longer life and some thread locker to hold them in alignment. Epoxy the hardware into the tapped holes, and you’re all set for quicker clamping that’s easier on your hands. Lou Kern Oakland, California Plug Fits Tape Side Up Here’s an annoyance about polarized tool plugs: it seems like about half the…

THIS ISSUE’S EXPERTS Sandor Nagyszalanczy is a writer/photographer of several woodworking books and a frequent contributor to Woodworker’s Journal. Richard Schubert is a reader from Walnut Creek, Ohio. Ernie Conover is the woodturning columnist for Woodworker’s Journal and author of The Lathe Book. Q I have a benchtop table saw and have always cut on the right side of the fence (i.e., the opposite side of how I see other users depicted in photos, etc.). I am right-handed, so it seems natural to cut this way, and I theorize it is safer should the cutoff or the workpiece itself be thrown back at me as less of my body is “in the line of fire.” Am I missing something? David Long Lexington, Kentucky A Far be it from me to…

What’s This? Steve Hodge of Indiahoma, Oklahoma, found this 13"-long tool in a barn. The blade is “butter knife sharp.” Do you know what it is? Send your answer to stumpers@woodworkersjournal.com or write to “Stumpers,” Woodworker’s Journal, 4365 Willow Drive, Medina, MN 55340 for a chance to win a prize! Regarding the mystery tool submitted by Brian Humbel of Frederick, Maryland, for our June issue, several readers, including Richard Gaudreau of Sanford, Maine, noted that it “has a striking resemblance to a pizza cutter.” Dennis DiRienzo of East Liverpool, Ohio, however, took this reasoning further: “Since your magazine is the Woodworker’s Journal and not the Food Eater’s Journal, I doubt that it is a pizza cutter.” Indeed, Steve Montgomery of Puyallup, Washington, noted, “It looks like a spline tool to…

Milo, one of the woods often featured in the show, may be indigenous to Hawaii. It’s also called Pacific rosewood; the scientific name is Thespesia populnea. Island Woods Put on a Show Hawaii’s Woodshow™, sponsored by the Hawai’i Forest Industry Association, has as its goal showcasing Hawai’i-grown wood. Woods that may be featured in pieces submitted for the show include koa, mango, kamani, milo, Norfolk pine, macadamia nut, kiawe and more. Show rules prohibit using imported woods on a project —unless the application is traditional, such as spruce for a guitar top, or it’s used as accent or trim, in which case the imported wood must comprise no more than 10 percent of the piece. In the spirit of the show, the use of certain endangered Hawai’ igrown woods is…

A frequent series of questions at the end of any of my classes or lectures concerns setting up a turning shop. Turning is a special branch of the woodworking tree, which requires unique skills and equipment. With that in mind, here are some thoughts (and a quick outline) dealing with what a person needs in terms of the space and tools to become an effective turner. Space and Tools Needed Not a lot of space is needed for a turning shop. As little as 8’ by 8’ will do. Into this 64 square feet you need to fit the basic essentials of a lathe, grinder and buffer —the latter being to sharpen your tools. I do not want to get into what lathe you should buy, because that is a…