April 2012 #196

Our cover story for the April 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine is a “James Krenov-style Cherry Wall Cabinet” from Matthew Teague, editor, that is constructed with tapered sliding dovetails. Plus, you’ll discover how to easily (and properly) install knife hinges. Steve Shanesy, senior editor, shares his plans for a durable no-fuss “Drill Press Table” that costs little in time or materials. Christopher Schwarz, contributing editor, builds a “Charleston Table” that straddles the 17th and 18th centuries in its form and joinery details. You’ll discover “The How & Why of Cutlists” from Robert W. Lang, executive editor, as he shares his thoughts on how learning to read measured drawings and making your own cutlists will make you a better woodworker. Plus, uncover the mysteries of Roy Underhill’s “Puzzle Mallet” and build one to confound and amaze your friends.

In this month’s Tool Test, we take a look at “Liogier Hand-cut Rasps,” “Bessey Auto-adjust Toggle Clamps,” a “Moxon-style Vise from Philadelphia Furniture Workshops” and the “Kreg Shelf-pin Jig.”

In Design Matters, George R. Walker delves into ornamentation in “Over the Top.” Adam Cherubini presents “Boarded Furniture Essentials” in Arts & Mysteries. Our I Can Do That column is a set of period “Hanging Shelves” from Megan Fitzpatrick, managing editor. Bob Flexner shares his thoughts on “Alternative Paint Strippers” in Flexner on Finishing. In his first article for the magazine, Erick T. Gatcomb writes about “Tradition Embraced” for End Grain. And of course, you’ll find Letters and Tricks of the Trade.

Below, you’ll find capsule descriptions of every article, with links to the free Online Extras.

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Cherry Wall Cabinet

An angular front and glass doors lend visual interest to this classic Krenov design.

by Matthew Teague
pages 24-30

From the April 2012 issue, #196

Through the early stages of my woodworking, when I was sweating away evenings in a Mississippi basement trying to learn the craft using a $99 table saw and an $18 block plane, I devoured the books of James Krenov. They represented an artistic, if idealized, approach to a hands-on craft that appealed to an angst-filled editor and writer in his 20s. Even if I wasn’t up to the tasks, I knew my aim. Then life took over. After editing, writing and running a furniture business for a number of years, I still looked at the Krenov books from time to time, but my tastes and styles slowly became my own. When I started this job, however, I was inspired to revisit Krenov and the designs that kept me wide-eyed in earlier days. I’m glad I did.

Blog: Read about some clever doormaking assembly jigs.
Slideshow: See additional step photos on tapered sliding dovetails.
In our store: “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook,” by James Krenov.
Download the free SketchUp Model of this project. Read more »

I Can Do That: Hanging Shelves

Get a period look with big box materials. by Megan Fitzpatrick pages 23-23 From the April 2012 issue, #196 The inspiration for this small hanging set of shelves is a late 18th- to early 19th-century (circa 1775-1825) English dovetailed version in oak with a dark finish. I wanted to replicate the look as much as … Read more »

Charleston Table

A versatile and durable form from the early South.

by Christopher Schwarz
Pages 38-43

From the April 2012 issue, #196

Early tables such as this one were hardworking. Finished on all sides, they could be placed anywhere in a room in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They could be used for writing, getting dressed or for any other task required of the household.

This particular table, which is in the collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (commonly called MESDA), straddles the 17th and 18th centuries in its form and its joinery. It looks somewhat like a “joint stool,” a typical form of heavy joined furniture in the 16th- and 17th-century household. Yet it has thinner vase-like turnings that are more delicate than an early joint stool, and its drawer has features of both early and later dovetailed drawers.

The original table was painted, yet the surviving example has lost almost all of its paint to time. When I decided to build this piece (approximately 3.2 seconds after seeing it at MESDA), I decided to build it like it was when originally constructed and not distress the wood or the finish. The crisp and new look is a bit arresting to modern eyes, but I think it’s like getting a glimpse of the past that few ever get to experience.

Video: See the author peg the top to the base.
Blog: Visit the Chris Schwarz blog at popularwoodworking.com.
PDF: Download a chart of common moulding profiles: VignolaMouldings
In our store:“Furniture in the Southern Style” by Robert W. Lang and Glen D. Huey.
To buy: “The Essential Woodworker” by Robert Wearing.
Web site: Learn about drawboring, an oft-overlooked technique.
Museum: Visit the web site of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem village in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Download the free SketchUp Model of this project. Read more »

Drill Press Table

It’s accurate, easy to use and built to last.

by Steve Shanesy
pages 30-32

From the April 2012 issue, #196

There are all manner of drill press tables and fences, from a simple 2×4 clamped to the machine’s cast iron table to ones with gadgets and gizmos galore. The latter is not my style, so when the time came to replace my drill press table the list of requirements was short:

• Accuracy. The table must be flat and stay flat, and the fence must be square to the table.
• Ease of use. My prior table had a fence fixed to the table itself, so every fence adjustment required loosening and tightening F-style clamps to the irregular bottom of the cast iron table.
• Longevity. Though I tried not to, I eventually fouled my old table by drilling into it too many times.
• Workholding. There are times when I need to clamp down my work but normal clamps won’t reach.

With these issues in mind, I developed the drill press table seen here.

Video: See innovative Forstner bits from Festool.
In our store: Get our new CD, “55 Best Shop-made Jigs.”
Video: See how to easily drill repetitive hole spacings accurately.
Model: Download the free SketchUp model for this article. Read more »

The How & Why of Cutlists

Why you’re better off to look this gift horse in the mouth.

by Robert W. Lang
Pages 34-37

From the April 2012 issue, #196

There is a trap lurking within the pages of this magazine. It is also in most woodworking magazines, and many books. It is called the cutlist, and while it poses as your helpful friend, you’re better off to ignore it and make your own. A published cutlist can keep you from learning some of the most important skills in woodworking – and if you’re convinced that you can’t make your own, you can and you should.

Making a cutlist may not be the most enjoyable part of building, but it is a critical step and a fundamental skill. The good news is, it isn’t difficult. The bad news is, it can be tedious and it involves arithmetic.

In theory, a cutlist speeds the building process. You cut all the parts for your project to size in one step and put them together in the next. What could be more straightforward than that? For that theory to work, you must cut all the parts exactly. That means right on the money for every dimension, each piece perfectly straight and absolutely square.

In our store: Robert W. Lang’s book, “Drafting & Design for Woodworkers.”
Editors’ blog: Read our blog posts about the process of building and other woodworking topics.
Video: Find out more about buying lumber and lumber terminology.
Video: Find out more about choosing lumber. Read more »

It’s a Mystery

This puzzle mallet is seemingly made by magic.

by Roy Underhill
pages 44-49

From the April 2012 Issue, #196

It can’t come apart, but, problem is, it can’t go together!

Legend has it that Abraham Lincoln invented this mysterious mallet. The trouble with ordinary mallets, in his time as now, was that they kept “flying off the handle.” President Lincoln, having the same problem with his fractious Congress, created this presentation mallet with a head that could never come loose. The handle joins to the head with a central tenon and two shallow dovetails passing up the sides. The taper of the dovetails makes it clear that they can’t be retracted. Obviously then, they must have been sprung in from the sides – yet a quick look at their ends shows them dovetailed against that possibility as well! Not only can the head never come off – far worse, it can never go on! So proud of it was Lincoln, that he mentioned it in his second inaugural address, uttering his famous phrase: “With mallets towards none.”

Article: Read Roy Underhill’s article on cutting a single rising dovetail.
Web site: Take a class with Roy Underhill at The Woodwright’s School.
Article: Read woodworking historian Stephen Shepherd’s 2001 article on making a puzzle mallet.
Videos: The 2011-2012 season of “The Woodwright’s Shop” is now available for online viewing.
In our store: “The Woodwright’s Guide: Working Wood with Wedge and Edge.” Read more »

Arts & Mysteries: Boarded Furniture Essentials

You needn’t be a dovetail master to build handsome 18th-century furniture.

by Adam Cherubini
Pages 18-21

From the April 2012 issue, #196

In my last article, I discussed the history of boarded (nailed) furniture and tried to get you as excited about it as I am. In this article, I’ll explore one sort of boarded carcase. Though the finished project won’t look like a country hutch or cupboard, the construction will be close or identical. This sort of furniture is fun to build and can be easily completed in a weekend with nothing but a few hand tools. The skills you hone building this sort of furniture will directly translate to building finer pieces.

Blog: Read Adam’s Arts & Mysteries blog.
To buy: “Building a Philadelphia Chippendale Chair” – a PDF collection of Adam’s eight-part series on the topic.
In our store: “The Arts & Mysteries of Hand Tools” on CD. Read more »