Innehållsförteckning för October 2022 från Woodworker's Journal

Headboard — A Three-headed Collaboration This headboard was a collaborative family effort influenced by decades of reading Woodworkers Journal. My brother-in-law harvested the white oak for it. His son welded the framework and I did the rest of the woodworking. We fumed the white oak (something I learned from your magazine). This project has an interesting aspect: If one wanted to change the look in their bedroom, its panels could easily be swapped out for ones of another wood species, which could dramatically change the look of this piece. We really like how the project turned out! Charles Minell Maple Grove, Minnesota Folding Cedar Adirondacks Last year, I made two folding Adirondack chairs, based on your plans featured in the April 2019 issue. They turned out great! We had been…

I personally don’t like inch-wide (tape measure) blades. The blade of my favorite steel tape is 3/4" wide and 20 ft. long. There’s no mystery about this. The longest lumber I use with any frequency is 16 ft long. For the bulk of my work, I handle boards and sheets that range from 6 to 12 ft long and a few inches to 4 ft wide. If you could examine a 20-ft tape I used for a year or two, you would see unmistakable signs of wear over the first 12 feet of the blade; the remainder would be almost new. Earlier this year I tried using an inexpensive metal tape. Within two weeks the blade split. Save yourself some grief and buy well-made tapes … A tape should last…

Considering the abundance of dovetailed furniture through the centuries, the sheer number of articles and YouTube videos produced about making dovetails, and the bounty of different products you can buy to saw or machine them, this handsome interlocking connection may be the most agreed-upon symbol of fine craftsmanship. The layout of the joint’s basic components — angled pins that mate with bird-like tails — can add a stylish decorative element to many projects. As strong as they are beautiful, dovetails are also popular because of how useful they are for building a wide range of carcass, drawer and frame projects from solid wood. They’re held together with just glue and wedging action, yet dovetails stand the test of time and abuse. Types of Dovetails Dovetails take two principle styles. Through…

According to our survey results, over 94 percent of woodworkers own a table saw. But the type, size and configuration of those saws varies significantly. Whether it be full-sized cabinet saws, hybrid saws, contractor’s saws or jobsite saws, woodworkers have a wide range of options that allow them to consider all sorts of details — price, room in the shop, woodworking tasks … the list goes on. Adding to that list is saw safety. After the introduction of SawStop’s remarkable blade brake technology to the marketplace, their products have changed the game for injury prevention. SawStop 10" CTS Compact Table Saw Which leads us to preview the company’s latest offering: the CTS 10" small footprint jobsite saw. It has their blade brake technology (the patented AIM system) as you would…

Avoiding Glue and Pipe Problems is a Snap! I’ve always had issues with pipe clamps sticking to wood, staining the wood black or rusting when coming into contact with wet glue. But recently when I bought the wrong size plastic snap clamps for gardening, I put them on my black pipes instead, and they work great! The snap clamps form an effective barrier between the pipes and the wood, and they’ve ended most of my glue-up issues. Sold for attaching netting or plastic sheeting to tubing, you can find these inexpensive clamps in various sizes online or at some farm supply stores. Carl D. Ptak Ripley, New York Wine Cork Becomes Air Hose Stopper Unused air hoses can gather debris — in my case, two spiders, a spider nest and…

Tops are ageless toys that fascinate young and old alike. While natural objects, such as acorns and hard-boiled eggs will spin vertically, turning a wooden version produces a much better example that spins longer. Making tops ranges in difficulty from very easy to mildly complicated. Plans and videos for simple finger tops abound on the Internet. They are very easy to turn and are great projects for youngsters. In this article, however, I will bypass simple finger tops and cover two more complicated designs. Mechanics of a Top A top consists of a flywheel that comes to a point on the bottom and has an axle protruding from the upper end. In the simplest of tops, the axle is gripped between the thumb and forefinger, given a hearty spin and…

For perfect crosscuts, it’s hard to beat a miter saw. But when workpieces are too wide for a miter saw — or worse, you don’t have the funds or room for one — a table saw and miter gauge are your best friends. But you can do even better with a dedicated crosscut sled. It’s constructed from the start with a dead-on right angle, so you’ll never adjust a finicky miter gauge again. Plus, stock is supported on both the bottom and rear edge, meaning no table friction on the workpiece for easier control and splinter-free cuts. Because of this support, augmented with adjustable hold-downs, crosscutting is safer, especially for workpieces too small for a miter gauge. If you add a T-track flip stop on the rear fence, effortless repeatability…

Butt hinges are ubiquitous in woodworking. Here we will teach the step-by-step process for mounting a butt hinge with hand tools. You can always form hinge mortises with a handheld router and a jig of one sort or another. But if you just have one or two doors, mounting them by hand is a viable option. It’s also a worthwhile skill to have at your disposal. Getting Started The top photo shows the collection of tools used to mount a butt hinge. It might seem like a lot of stuff, but they make this process go quickly and help ensure accuracy as you work through the steps. You can certainly get by without all of them, but that can make the job harder. The first step after selecting your hinges…

Great Buffing Video Thanks for the video on buffing turning gouges [“More on the Web” for “Setting Up a Wolverine Grinding Jig,” June 2022]. I have good luck sharpening and polishing spindle roughing gouges but have not done so well on spindle gouges. It seems that spindle gouges take a fair amount of practice before one masters these tools. Thanks also for providing a list by part number of what to purchase for the necessary buffing equipment. Joe Rose Via the Internet Which Wax for Tool Table Care? The manual of every benchtop power tool I have recommends cleaning the tabletop with kerosene and then applying a good hand-rubbed coat of paste wax. That keeps the metal from rusting, and it helps prevent the wood from dragging due to friction.…

I called Ian Kirby out of the blue in late 1999 after reading parts of his book The Accurate Router (Cambium Press). I found his direct language and instruction refreshing amid so much romanticized writing about the craft of woodworking. We chatted for a bit, and by the end of the conversation, Ian had agreed to try working with the Journal and me. Twenty-plus years later, he is still putting up with me. (In fact, I may have found a kindred spirit.) But by the time Ian and I started working together, he was a well-established author, teacher and designer. Having worked in the earliest of days with Fine Woodworking and American Woodworker magazines, his reputation was well-established. But what most periodical readers know of Ian’s work is the proverbial…

Murphy beds have always sparked my interest as a very cool idea. A bed that folds up maximizes a small space, which is super practical. And as a woodworker, building one myself makes the idea even more affordable and enticing. In the old days, the hardware that people used or invented themselves left much to be desired. It basically was just some hinges that allowed the bed box to be lowered down without regard to the weight of the box and mattress or the danger that such a large and heavy unit might pose as it swung down with force. The good news is that hardware specifically designed for Murphy beds is now available. This quality Create-A-bed product from Rockler has heavy-duty stud plates and gas springs that not only…

A custom-turned bottle stopper is one way to transform a fine bottle of wine or spirits into an even more sentimental gift that will be remembered long after the libation is gone. Better still, turning these attractive doodads doesn’t take much time and offers a great way to use up some small, attractive offcuts you may have been stockpiling in your scrap bin from other projects. Rockler’s solid stainless steel bottle stopper hardware, made in the U.S.A., comes in cone (item 60834) or teardrop (item 61285) shapes as well as a self-standing style (item 62303) and sells for around $7 apiece. They’re even more affordable if you buy a 10-pack of the cone-shaped style, as I did for this article. So while these little gems don’t cost a great deal…