Innehållsförteckning för August 2021 från Woodworker's Journal

There’s more online at woodworkersjournal.com Check online for more content covering the articles below: Shop Talk (page 16): In-depth report discusses current lumber shortage (PDF) Woodturning (page 18): Ernie Conover turns a tray from board lumber (video) Cloud Lift Chair (page 24): Chris Marshall builds a chair from start to finish (video) Turned Lamp (page 38): Rob Johnstone demonstrates turning a box elder lamp body and wiring it (video) Steam Bent Coat Hooks (page 46): Steam bending primer (video); downloadable coat hook drawing (PDF) What’s in Store (page 62): Featured tools in action (videos) Machining wood creates copious dust, and there’s no way around that fact. How woodworkers deal with wood dust varies significantly. How important do you think dust control is in a woodworking shop? Very important 75.51% Somewhat important 21.47% Not too important…

https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-cloud-lift-dining-table/ Woodworkers often hesitate to build chairs, either because the construction is complicated or they’re concerned the final product won’t be comfortable to sit on. But let me assure you, this chair’s straightforward design isn’t hard to build if you have moderate woodworking experience, and its Beadlock floating tenon joinery couldn’t be simpler to master. The tilted backrest, curved back rails and amply padded seat make this chair easy on your backside, too. If you liked the look of our “Cloud Lift Table” project in the June issue (see facing page), you’re in luck: these chairs are designed to complement it. I built this pair from rift- and quartersawn white oak and used the same finishing process as that table. While I prepared my own MDF templates for making the…

This six-paneled, maple and rice paper lampshade project will test your precision and patience. After experimenting with many different angle combinations for cutting the wooden parts, I was able to put together a list of measurements and a couple of assembly jigs to help improve your success in making a framed shade like mine. Note that the overall height of my shade is intended to complement the size of the box elder lamp Rob made on page 38. Cutting Panel Sides, Bottoms and Tops I started by ripping a piece of 1/2"-thick maple stock, measuring 5" x 24", into six long strips that would become the 12 side pieces for the shade’s six panels. To do that, I tilted my table saw blade carefully to 29 degrees using a Wixey…

“You can never have enough clamps!” No woodworker in their right mind would argue with that statement, and with good reason. Clamps don’t measure, cut, drill, carve, rout, smooth, plane or process wood in any way them-selves, and yet they’re among the most essential tools for virtually every project involving two or more components. In fact, most joinery would be impossible without clamps. From basic panel glue-ups to the most intricate dovetailed corners, clamps keep everything tight, align angles, force out excess glue and turn a collection of loose components into a single unified construction. Is there a greater truism than never having enough clamps? If so, it’s probably, “You can’t do woodworking without them.” Considering the dozens of types and myriad sizes, there are probably hundreds of clamps useful…

BUILDING ON SATISFACTION On occasion, I am reminded that to some folks, the projects we create are objects of wonder. There are people for whom cutting a piece of wood and gluing it together to make something is as out of reach as me dancing in a ballet. (Me in tights is just not going to happen, and everyone is better for it.) Recently I was considering how best to advise someone to get started in woodworking. My goal was to make a project that required a few pieces of dimension lumber from Rockler, a handsaw, a drill/driver and a couple of clamps. The simple little tray project I devised was practical, attractive and super easy to make. I am convinced that almost anyone could build it. But the knowledge…

Perhaps Sanjay Savla is pulling our leg when he guesses that Gary Sima’s April mystery tool is an early “rotary hammer drill.” But for 166 others of you, however, the purpose of this tool is crystal clear, and Elmer W. Palmer of Lolo, Montana, sums it up: It’s a valve seat lapping tool for early automobile valve seats that were built into the engine block or head.” Art Thell, hailing from St. Paul, Minnesota, adds that the angled valve seats became deformed or “burned” through hours of running an engine, “after which they would not seat properly, resulting in blow-by. One would then have to go in for a valve job.” Jeffrey W. Gehm, a retired technical education teacher in Syracuse, New York, says the old flathead or L-head straight…

Have you bought lumber lately? Then you’ve likely encountered some sticker shock. This past spring, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) cited a 300 percent increase in lumber prices since April 2020. These days, woodworkers and builders are posting memes offering to trade 2x4s for late-model Corvettes or, as Clint Miller, a sales representative for Automated Building Components in Chetek, Wisconsin, said, “I could take my wife out for a steak dinner with four 2x4s, 8 feet long … that’s 50 bucks. A year ago, they would have been $10 or $15.” So, what’s up? Well, you may recall a worldwide pandemic that began in 2020. Lockdowns that spring meant people stayed home, and businesses — including those in the building and lumber industry — shut down for a…

Steam bending wood is not an exact science, despite it being a time-honored process. Wood in most cases just wants to retain its current shape. That’s what lignum and those other wood fibers are designed to do. Here’s a truism you need to know: if you are going to attempt to steam bend wood, you are going to break some pieces. It’s inevitable. But with that said, it is a way to make some beautiful woodworking projects, like these coat hooks. They’re a great starter project for getting your feet wet in steam bending, because you’ll learn about springback, creating two different-shaped curves on a single piece of wood and how to make a two-piece form. Make while you learn — it’s a win-win! On the opposite page are a…

“Weekly” Readers Share Their Latest Projects To help celebrate “National Woodworking Month” last April, Rob Johnstone asked Woodworker’s Journal’s Weekly online newsletter readers to share photos of their recent projects. Nearly 70 of them did. In case you missed the fun, pages 9 through 11 of this issue showcase a sampling of our favorites from that contest. Space doesn’t allow for use to share every entry in print, unfortunately, but you can see them by visiting woodworkersjournal.com and doing a search for “National Woodworking Month projects.” You’ll find a wide range of furniture, cabinetry, miniatures, knickknacks, turned offerings and much more. Thanks to all who shared their fine projects and descriptions! We enjoyed seeing them all.…

A wooden tray is an attractive, useful item. Coffee or tea service can be carried to the table with minimal spillage, and when not in use, it can be propped up on a shelf for all to admire. A tray is a fine gift for a special occasion such as a wedding or anniversary, and it can be adorned with an inscription, carving, drawing or pyrography. Trays ranging from 6" to 24" in diameter are useful — larger for a tea service and smaller as a cheese board. Although it takes a big lathe to turn a 24" platter, a mini lathe will handle 6" to 10" diameters easily — and if this is your first tray, make it no bigger than 10" so you can get the hang of…

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. I first heard that from a football coach, but it has proven to be true many times in my life. With these turned lamps, I’ll admit that I started out very lucky. I had known that I would be creating a turned lamp for this August issue for quite a while. Many different options were swirling around in my mind: multispecies glue-ups, recycled things like a fence post or barn beam, combining materials like epoxy and punky, rotten wood — they all had some interest to me. Then one day while driving by a municipal lawn waste site, I saw some big sections of tree trunks laying around. I often look for possible turning stock opportunities at this site and mostly I…

I have to admit that, previous to building the chest project shown here — it graced our pages back in 2008 — my most intimate experience with mesquite was pulling its nasty little spikes out of various and sundry sections of my anatomy while bird hunting in Texas. Beyond that, it was most familiar to me as a complement to the barbecue briquettes over which I prepared the fruits of my outdoor labor. But mesquite, as I was to learn, can be quite impressive lumber! When finished with a clear topcoat, it has a warm brown-orange and red hue with amber flecking. The figure can be downright stunning, too. Mesquite commonly has many black knot and limb-wood incursions. To some degree, these incursion flaws and waney edges are impossible to…