Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

Pssst. Over here. Have you read, “It’s a Secret”, the article by Chuck Bender in the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine? Many woodworkers have, and they have asked us for more information. (You can read the article here.) So we went straight to the source to see if we could finagle a few more details about secret drawers.

Mr. Bender has agreed to give us more information. He just posted the first of a series of blog entries that will build over the coming months. He plans to post photos and information about a number of the secret drawers and compartments that he’s discovered as he’s worked on antiques. He says, “Not all the secrets will be unique. In fact, some will be rather common, but they will all be interesting.”

I’ve read the first entry (click here to take a look) and I can say the piece is too cool – I have never seen a secret drawer such as this.

— Glen D. Huey

Thursday, November 05, 2009 3:24:04 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [1] 

Opinions are like noses, almost everyone has one (OK. I cleaned up the saying a little). Is that bad, or is that good? It’s sometimes bad because people hide behind the anonymity that the Internet provides when they voice their opinions, and say whatever they like without any recourse. It’s good because it allows us to share our thoughts and expertise to better understand any given topic. Let’s exercise the latter and discuss period finishes.

In his Popular Woodworking November 2009 “Arts & Mysteries” column, Adam Cherubini discusses what constitutes an “authentic” look using the finish on his 18th-century Philadelphia Chippendale chair as an example. During discussions with a few woodworkers at the Woodworking in America conference – at which Cherubini had the chair on display – I listened to a couple good points made by Chuck Bender (owner of Acanthus Workshops and Popular Woodworking  author) that differed from the thoughts put forth in the column.

In the column, and a big point of contention with Bender, Cherubini wrote, “A film finish couldn’t practically be rubbed out when laid over intricately carved surfaces.” Bender contends, “ If that’s the case, all the ornate silver must have been left dull and rough since they had no way to “rub out” or polish highly carved surfaces. I realize that the silver trade was separate from the furniture trade but do we really think none of the processes carried over?”

And while Cherubini does question the lack of use of film finishes in the article, and says we should be doubtful, Bender is a bit more resolved in his thought. He says, “ From all the research I’ve done over the years, I truly believe that original finishes were shiny. There are practical reasons why the finishes would be shiny. First off, if you try to wander through your house at night while dark using only a single candle to provide light, you’d probably want as many reflective surfaces as possible in every room in order to stop killing yourself on the divan," he said. "Second, if you were purchasing pieces of the level that Adam’s chair represents, you were wealthy and educated. This means you hired a professional to make the pieces for you and that professional most likely had a finish shop to which they jobbed out the work, or had an in-house finisher. A cabinet maker working at that level would not have settled for a finish that looked like a farmer’s finish from out in the country,” said Bender.

Cherubini also wrote, “The baroque sensibility (some believe rococo is a form of baroque both aesthetically and linguistically) of light and dark, near and far, would also be harmed by a film finish. Philadelphia furniture makers seemed to intentionally use surface texture to enhance the contrast between carved areas and 'bright' smooth areas made reflective with wax. Oil and wax offered period craftsmen the artistic control that a film finish over a carving would not.”

Bender’s opinion: “The whole concept of making the surfaces shiny accentuates the play of light and shadow in the carving. That’s what they were trying to accomplish. Even in the wealthiest homes, light was not abundant. In order to 'see' the carving, the surfaces would have been shiny so that the recesses of the carving absorbed the light thus creating light and shadow. It’s the only way to make the carving 'pop!' In the end, there are far more arguments for thicker, shinier finishes.”

Here’s an interesting tidbit for the discussion: This past weekend, I was watching an episode of The Woodwright’s Shop (watch the episode here). The focus of the show was period carvings with Mack Headley Jr. (Colonial Williamsburg's master cabinetmaker) as a guest. One of the samples presented was a carving of a shell. The piece was mahogany and it was coated with several layers of shellac. My wife happened to be watching with me and her comment was, “Is that plastic? It’s so shiny.”

Could that be why some of us see a dull finish as an authentic finish, because we are so opposed to a plastic-like look? I’ve used a dull-rubbed effect finish on my furniture since the beginning. Why? I look at antique pieces today and they are dull to my eye. But when that antique piece was delivered to the customer some 250 years back, was it dull? Or was it shiny? What do you think? The comment section is open and waiting. Chime in!

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 9:56:58 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [6] 

There’s not much better than to give something with little value only to receive something useful in return. You have to admit that old, worn-out and non-working drills hanging around the shop are of little value – except maybe as paperweights. But if you stop in to your local Home Depot, you can turn those deadbeats into a nice little discount on a new Lithium-ion drill.

The "Home Depot Power Drill Trade In, Trade Up" event began on October 25th and runs through Sunday, November 8th. The event offers customers the chance to bring in their used or broken power drills and get 15 percent off a new Lithium-ion powered drill.

So gather up those old nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride powered drills, regardless of make or manufacturer, and get a discount off a new drill. You’ll be cleaning your shop and greening up the environment by doing something that’s eco-friendly.

And if you’re so lucky as to not having any deadbeat drills ripe for the recycle bins, give me a call. I’ll bet we can rustle up a trade-in or two.

— Glen D. Huey

Thursday, October 29, 2009 9:06:42 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [2] 

When I last wrote about this discovery of mahogany (read it here), I wrote that the price was not going to be $10 per board foot. I now have that information, sort of. But let me tell you about what has developed during the drying process.

The material was in a large conventional steam kiln for just over three weeks and the moisture content continued to be in the 30 percent+ range. The threat of surface checks on the material was so great that after one week in the kiln, with only unheated air being blown through the stacks, checks could be seen. The kiln was too large for the small charge of lumber and the ability to keep the ambient humidity just below the material’s surface humidity was impossible.
 
The remedy for this was to remove the charge, load about a 3/4 charge of wet oak and put the Belize lumber back in front of that. This seems to have done the trick and is now keeping the material "happy." The only issue is that the amount of time necessary to dry the lumber is lengthy.
 
It was decided that the right kiln to use for drying submerged timber is a vacuum kiln, and that would kick the costs upward. After a number of phone calls, a kiln was found Muscatine, Iowa. River City Hardwoods (read about the company here) has three Vacutherm, Inc. kilns, of which one has a capacity of 4,000 board feet. The owner has experience with drying materials such as this. According to him, the mahogany will take around 10 to 14 days to dry down to 8 percent, and a couple days to stabilize.

About pricing: The company responsible for this endeavor – Greener Lumber, LLC (click here for additional information) – expects to have about 1,400 board feet available from this first load. Prices are expected to range from $25/bf for 4/4 common-grained lumber, to $45/bf for highly figured stock. Given the lumber, the path the lumber takes to get to the States and the drying process involved, those figures seem reasonable.

In my next entry on this lumber cache, I should have photos of the dried lumber and a brief description of how the lumber works – Popular Woodworking has the honor of being the first shop to examine and work with this material. Additionally, I’ll let you know why these early container loads might be the most inexpensive board footage of this old-growth material coming to market. You’ll be amazed why!

Monday, October 26, 2009 12:38:08 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0] 

If you’re a "dado-holic", or if you occasionally set up and cut dados while woodworking, Infinity Cutting Tools has just made your life easier with its Dado Measuring Gauge. This gauge is an 8" round, saw-blade-like piece of high-quality steel (what else would a saw-blade maker use for a gauge?) that has notches cut out around the circumference that range from 1/4" to 29/32".

Match your piece to the notch then you’ll know exactly what size to set up your dado stack. Yes, you could use a good set of fractional dial calipers to determine the thickness, but this gauge does more. Right next to each notch is the size of the dado as well as the formula needed to accurately set up your stack.

In the photo, my workpiece is 7/16" thick. And the symbols on the gauge read, “LHS + C1 + C3+ RHS.” Using the chart printed right on the gauge, I need to use the left blade of my dado stack (that’s a good place to start), one 1/16" chipper, one 1/8" chipper and the right blade of my stack. Sure you could figure that in your head or use the handy-dandy cardboard sheet that came with your dado stack (if you still have it), but with this gauge, everything is right there. And being steel, a couple rare earth magnets could hold the gauge right to your saw’s cabinet.

And while Infinity would like you to use this gauge with its award-winning stack (The Dadonator), the company is a bit more forward thinking than that. The formulas provided on the gauge work with any dado stacks that use two outside blades.

You can pick a Dado Measuring Gauge at Infinity’s web site (infinitytools.com) for $29.90. On the site, there are a couple reviews and a video that explains how to use the gauge.

– Glen D. Huey

Friday, October 23, 2009 3:15:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

I helped Megan Fitzpatrick install the crown moulding on the case-on-case bookshelf that's featured in the December issue of Popular Woodworking. Here's how I do it:

When I have a large enough flat surface available, the first thing I do is turn the carcase over so that I have two flat surfaces against to reference – the carcase and the workbench top (or floor) .

Now, begin with the front run of moulding. With it inverted at your miter saw, cut one end. Take a piece of the cutoff and reverse the just-cut angle to create a mating piece. Position your front moulding at the case and align the two mitered ends to form your corner. Use a couple spring clamps to hold the front in place, tight to the carcase.

Slide down to the opposite end and mark the cutline flush with your case side (also mark the cut angle so you don’t get confused at the miter saw).

Swing the saw to the correct 45º angle and cut at the line. It’s best to sneak up on the line if you can. Your front moulding should be ready to install.

Back at the piece, position the front piece with the scrap to again set the corner, add spring clamps, then check the fit of the second corner – a  second scrap needs to be cut to make the fit. If everything checks out, use brads to attach your front piece. Nail into both the case and the top.

Cut two pieces for the return moulding (on for each side) and cut opposing 45º angles on each piece. Fit those to the front piece and mark the cutline at the back of the case. These cuts are at 90º. With the return moulding fit and sized, add a small amount of glue to the 45º cuts and install the pieces to complete your mouldings.

— Glen D. Huey

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 8:41:43 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

In antique period furniture, mahogany is king. Sure there are areas where walnut was a popular choice among wealthy patrons of the day, but for the most part, prior to the Chippendale period work in and around Philadelphia, mahogany was the wood that woodworkers wanted to work and the “well-to-do” desired. And swietenia macrophylla (Honduran mahogany) was, and is, the best mahogany.

Yes, we can get swietenia macrophylla today, but it’s not the same lumber used back in the day. In fact, any lumber used in the 1700s is different from what we have available today. Unless, that is, you get your hands on some of the original old-growth stock. Then you’ll experience the exorbitant number of growth rings per inch – I’m told the rings per inch in old-growth mahogany lumber can be around 40 – 60 (as high as 100) whereas the rings in mahogany harvested today, lumber that is considered very dense, stands near 25.

So how can you, as a reproduction furniture maker (or someone who wants to work with fantastic mahogany), get your hands on old-growth lumber? That’s what this entry is all about.

In 2007, a group of scuba divers, wood experts and businessmen formed a company in Belize to salvage exotic tropical logs from the country’s waterways. That company is Greener Logs Limited.

The logs being salvaged have been on the bottom of the waterways for up to 200 years and the supply is quite large. How large? In the day, trees were felled and held in the bends of the waterway to wait until a shipper, at the river’s end, was ready for a load. Then, the chains used to hold back the logs would be released and the logs traveled down the river to the shippers.

The owners of Greener Logs Limited came across Forest Service studies done in 1997 that compared original logger records to the shipper’s records to determine the number of trees lost along the journey. It's suspected that as much as 50 percent of the logs harvested never made it down the rivers to the coast. It's almost as if Mother Nature knew what was about to happen to the rain forests and created a stash for us to find centuries later.

Around August 8, 2009 the first 20' container of logs was imported by Greener Lumber, LLC and made its way into port in Alabama. On the next leg of the journey, the logs were trucked to Cardwell Lumber, a mill in Central Missouri, where eight mahogany logs (along with some sapodilla, santa maria and bullet tree logs) were sawn for lumber. The logs produced 1,400 board feet of mahogany and 3,700 board feet of lumber total. A single piece of fiddleback mahogany came in around 19" wide.

The lumber was actually steaming as it was sawn. That indicates that the logs shipped in at much higher moisture content than was expected, even after sitting out of the water since March. According to the sawyer, the drying process will be “low and slow” and it looks like mid to late October before the first load is coming out of the kiln.

Check back for more information. I’m getting regular weekly updates on this lumber. One of the questions I have, and I know you have, is about the cost of this lumber. I posed this question to my contact and am awaiting a response. I can tell you that you’ll have to get your hands deep into your pockets. I don’t expect this mahogany “gold” to be over-priced, just reasonably priced. And that’s not going to be $10 per board foot.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 8:34:54 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [11] 

Late yesterday afternoon a group of guys from Porter-Cable and Delta stopped by the Popular Woodworking shop. After meeting the early arrivals and while standing in the F+W Media lobby waiting for others to show up, someone mentioned that they wanted to see the “Gluebo,” Megan’s LVL workbench that graces the cover of the November issue.

What’s funny about her bench is that folks don’t just want to see and study the bench, they have a penchant to stand – or should I say jump – on the bench to find out if it is as strong as Popular Woodworking makes it out to be.

In Valley Forge at the Woodworking in America conference, I can’t tell you the number of woodworkers that mentioned Megan’s video and her jumping on the bench (click here to watch the dance). In fact, one attendee was caught atop the bench with camera phone in hand asking that I take his picture.

The guys from PC and Delta, here on a fact-finding mission and on their way to visit a couple different shops and woodworkers, took their turn on the now-famous Gluebo bench. As you can see in the photo, the bench took their best shot and prevailed, but a couple of the guys felt a bit of swaggering.

LVL Bench - 3 (or is that 6?), woodworkers - 0

(For all the management-type folks at Porter-Cable and Delta, we really had to coax the guys to jump up on the bench.)

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, October 09, 2009 1:30:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

The big buzz in my mailbox this past week has been the “Finishes That Pop” DVD (click here to see more on the DVD and click here if you would like to purchase a copy). Overall, the comments have been positive, but a couple newbie woodworkers think the dye, oil and shellac process is too involved. (And forget about tossing glaze into the mix.) They are looking for a finish that’s dead simple. Maybe this is why so many woodworkers finish the first few projects with a couple coats of oil.

Included on the DVD is the oil/varnish method that I use for some of my pieces. To me, this is a dead-simple method that anyone can use. It’s a mixture of varnish, boiled linseed oil and turpentine or mineral spirits. But what about woodworkers who work in small shops or even in apartments, and those that are simply smelly-finish averse? Even if the oil/varnish mixture I use isn’t as involved, there’s still a nasty smell (although some do like it) due to the turpentine or mineral spirits in the recipe.

But if you grab most cans marked “_____ oil” (fill in whatever name) off the shelf of your woodworking or home-center store, you might as well use the oil/varnish mixture I concoct and show using on the DVD. I’m willing to bet that most of those oil products purchased are much more than simply oil. To get an oil finish that’s not manufactured with a solvent of some sort, reach for pure oil, 100-percent tung oil or boiled linseed oil.

With any oil, most woodworkers apply three or four coats and call it done. But with such a small number of layers of finish, the surface is flat and dull – if not as the piece is complete, certainly in a year or so. And there’s little surface protection.

But there is a group out there that doesn’t stop with such a small number of coats when oiling a project. I have heard rumors these woodworkers exist. If you’re a member of the group, please raise your hand.

From what I hear, many from this group work on gun stocks. It seems gun-stock refinishers know the secret about tung oil and boiled linseed oil finishes – furniture makers, not so much. The secret appears to be multiple layers, as many as 25 – 30 coats. With that amount of build, the finish has a nice sheen, is water resistant and durable.

One person I talked with has had this finish on his gun stock since 1982. He admits to the amount of work – he says the process is just as therapeutic as planing a surface with hand tools (boring!). And he admits his stock has dents, but there are no cracks or crazing. Best of all, he doesn’t agree with the often-reported application process described in articles and on the Internet: One coat of oil a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year then once a year after that. In fact, he hasn’t added to, touched up or re-coated his gun stock at all and it looks great.

If you are one of these multi-layer oil finishers, please take a minute to comment on your process. And if you’re near the Cincinnati area, drop me a photo of your piece. I need a good shot for an upcoming article – I doubt I have enough time to properly oil-finish a piece before my deadline.

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, October 09, 2009 1:23:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [3] 

Spoken in my best radio voice: “You can win fabulous prizes selected especially for you!” Yeah! I know. Keep the day job. But the words couldn’t be any truer.

The Woodworking in America – Hand Tools and Techniques Conference is just around the corner and one of the major portions of the conference is the Hand Tool Olympics. If you were in St. Charles, I hope you participated. I know you’ve read about the events (get more information here). And I hope you all plan to compete while in Valley Forge.

Just as in St. Charles, the top-ranked individuals in each event win a prize and the second of the two donated prizes is awarded randomly by drawing – all you need to do to be eligible to win is compete. It cannot be any easier than that.

What we won’t do this time during the banquet is cut into any primo chow time or chew up any of St. Roy’s keynote address time calling a zillion names. We’ll announce the prize awardees and they are welcome to come up and receive their prizes. (Random-drawing winners are welcome to pick up their prizes at the Olympic's booth during the Sunday portion of the show.)

Special thanks for donations go to:
•    Lee Valley and Veritas for the low-angle jointer planes for the Shooting Sports event.
•    Mike Siemsen School of Woodworking for the rip saws (sharpened by Mark Harrell at Technoprimitives) for the One-Meter Dash and for the crosscut saws (also sharpened by Mr. Harrell) for the Crosscut Extravaganza event.
•    Mid-West Tool Collectors Association for the 10"-sweep braces for the Brace Yourself For a Hole in One event.
•    Bad Axe Tool Works for the backsaws used for Greco-Roman Tenons event.
•    Di legno Woodshop Supply for the marking knives and mallets for the Pins First or Tails First event.

Practice. Practice. Practice. The events begin this week.

Additionally, this conference has Hands-on Bench Rooms where you can spend time with the seminar presenters. Stop in to get more in-depth information, get help to improve your techniques or simply to rub elbows. And we encourage you to bring your hand tools along – there’s nothing better than to get guidance using your own tools. But if that’s just not possible, we’ll have some hand tools available for you to work with.

Thank you again Lee Valley and Veritas. The company has graciously supplied the conference with a number of hand planes of all types with which to work and supplied dovetail saws for use during the conference. And to the Robert Larson Company for supplying the bench rooms with chisels used to practice dovetailing with Roy Underhill. (Anyone know a bandage supplier I can contact?).

And thanks also to Ron Herman who is not only a presenter at the conference, but who is supplying many saw vises so you can set up and sharpen your saws while attending his bench-room session. And of course, our thanks go out to Geoffery and Suzette Noden for supplying the conference with a number of the Noden Adjust-A-Bench benches.

— Glen D. Huey

Monday, September 28, 2009 1:56:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

You can tell from the above photo that our Unisaw has gone mobile. The base came in last week and I finally found the time to put the base together.

It’s super-easy to assemble. A couple bolts hold the stationary wheels in place, add the two clips to the end of the base in which the extension table legs sit, then attach the swivel caster to the foot apparatus and the entire assembly to the frame, then you’re ready to rock. That’s when you’ll need help.

With the joke, “How many editors does it take to …” knocking about in my head, it took three editors to get the table saw situated into the mobile base. After positioning the base under the extension table and tight to the saw bottom, we tilted the saw up, lifting at the table legs. With enough clearance, Megan Fitzpatrick slid the base under one edge of the saw and Bob Lang and I slowly allowed the unit to settle down onto the mobile base.

All that was left was to wrestle the saw into its base location. Megan held the mobile base from moving as we jockeyed the unit in place. With a bit of a thump, the table saw nestled into the mobile base.

The final step to secure the two units together is to add the J-hooks at the extension legs (see the photo). This is a bang-up method to hold the legs to the unit – fast, cheap and easy. Someone at Delta was thinking. Nice job.

The mobile base works great. If you have the new Unisaw and need to move it around your shop – if only to sweep up the dust every now and again – I would get the mobile base. Units are shipping at this time. The base to work with the 36" extension (what we have in the shop) is $160 and the longer 52" base is priced at $240.

By the way, the variation you see on the base near the extension legs is nothing more than plastic that I removed as I finished.

— Glen D. Huey

Monday, September 28, 2009 1:38:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [3] 

Last year at a class I taught at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking (MASW), I was amazed at the different mallets class participants brought with them. I couldn’t believe the choices were so varied, so I posted a photo and blog entry (click here to read that entry). What surprises me even more is that a few of those same mallets were in this year’s class – I’m not sure if those woodworkers were repeat offenders paying their debt to society or simply crazy enough to take another class under my tutelage.
 
This year at MASW what caught my eye, mallets aside, were the different dovetail saws being used. The samples shown above are just a few of the different saws woodworkers dragged into the class. It’s not all the examples; I just gathered up the different tools within reach.
 
If you’re a dovetail saw aficionado, you should be able to name the saws from right to left or left to right. But I’m willing to bet that the one with the big blue handle gives some of you fits. If you blow up the photo to get a closer look, you’ll see the name Marples (manufactured by Irwin Industrial Tool Company) printed on the saw. Most of us know that name for chisels, but this saw proves there’s more to Marple’s than plastic-handled chisels.
 
If you do an Internet search for a Marple’s Pull Saw (in shopping mode with Google), you’ll find dozens of listings with as many prices to match. In fact, would you be surprised to find that saw priced at $79? I was. Especially because you can find it priced elsewhere at below $20. (But then I saw that the higher price was a four-pack of saws!).
 
I couldn’t resist giving the saw a turn, so I laid out a couple dovetails and took it for a spin. It worked fine. As a former dozuki user who appreciates a pull-stroke cut, I enjoyed having a more-stout handle to work with. I doubt you'll find the Marple's saw at the Woodworking in America: Hand Tools and Techniques Conference, but you will find a number of the other saws available at the free Marketplace.

— Glen D. Huey

Monday, September 14, 2009 12:30:39 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [4] 

It is my opinion that a cut list is one of the most useless additions to woodworking project articles. Yes, these charts, or pages in some cases, do contain beneficial information, but many woodworkers rely solely on the lengths, widths and thicknesses of the cut list when they mill project parts. And they shouldn’t.

There are sizes given that are correct, but a small adjustment at the start of a project changes the figures as you move further into the build. And sometimes these figures are completely wrong (take a look at the published cut list below and see if it’s possible to build the project. We continue to get calls asking if this list is correct.) My favorite cut list question deals with the secretary in “The Illustrated Guide to Building Period Furniture” (Popular Woodworking books). The case bottom is listed at 3-5/8" thick (oops). I get a few messages per year asking me to confirm or deny! (Just so you know, the thickness should read 5/8".)
 
This past week I taught a class at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking just outside Indianapolis. As I began the class, I handed out a simple line drawing of the front and side elevations. I suggested to those in the class that the cut list (sent out as they registered for the class) and the plan differ and everyone would need to work through the project as they proceeded. (Real life is a great teaching method!)
 
The variation between the drawing figures and the cut list numbers was the major difference. If you followed the plan, you cut the case side rails at one length, but the cut sheet had a different set of figures. Almost everyone in the class used the cut sheet to begin the chest of drawers, which was fine. However, most class attendees also used the cut sheet to move two or three steps ahead while waiting to get to one of five mortise machines set up for the class (there are many, many mortise-and-tenon joints in this chest).
 
Herein is the problem. The cut sheet dimension for the raised panel of the bottom unit was incorrect if you chose to use the cut sheet for the rails on the sides. But it was correct if you followed the plan. All but a few class participants came to me when their bottom units did not fit the case sides after the backboard rabbet was in place. When asked if they worked through the plan or simply relied on the cut sheet, most confessed to using the cut sheet. At that point, they had to work through the plan to come up with a solution.
 
So how do you use a cut sheet effectively? The best use of a cut list is to find the board footage of the project and to line up the parts as you select lumber. Also, use the cut list to determine the size of the case. Once that assembly is finalized, all the measurements are taken from that case. Use the cut sheet only where you know you can gain accurate information because the size is not dependent on earlier work. There’s no problem if you use the cut sheet to get the width of your drawer dividers, but if you vary that width from the cut list, make sure you check the lengths of the drawer runners before blindly cutting to the cut list length.
 
So how do you use the cut list on projects? I’ve known woodworkers who cut every part to the cut list before they begin to assemble the project. (I cannot see how they complete a piece.) Do you follow the list religiously? Use part of the information? Or do you find cut list totally void of useful information? Leave a comment to let us know.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, September 08, 2009 10:36:32 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [40] 

“Finishes that Pop,” the Popular Woodworking DVD that walks through the finish process I use on my fine furniture, is shipping and available from  Woodworker’s BookShop (Click here to make your purchase). In the DVD I describe the steps used to apply aniline dye, boiled linseed oil (when advantageous) and topcoat my projects. Additionally, I talk about my topcoat of choice, shellac. I suggest you spray the finish with an HVLP (high volume, low pressure) setup – good units are available at reasonable prices – but I also discuss how to apply shellac with a brush.

I use flake and mix the shellac in the shop (of course that process is explained), but I’m not opposed to traipsing into my hardware store to purchase and use pre-mixed shellac. As long as the date is good, it’s a fine product to use.

But one area in which I don’t take shortcuts involves my brushes. I don’t use chip brushes. I don’t use foam brushes. I like a good quality brush. I say, “A 25-cent brush is going to deliver a 25-cent job.” I’m going to spend $80 for a real badger-hair paintbrush; you don’t need to go that far. But I would pick up a brush that sells in the $10 - $20 range. Then clean it properly after every use.

Does a brush really make a difference in the finish? I say yes. Your better-quality brushes hold more finish as you move to from your source to the project and that keeps you from loading the brush constantly and allows the material – shellac in this case – to spread more smoothly.

I’ve discussed this with finishing expert, Bob Flexner. In his book “Understanding Wood Finishing” (Reader’s Digest), Flexner says, “A good-quality brush is important if you expect good results.” In fact, Zinsser, the manufacturer of Bulls Eye shellac, recommends using a 2" or 3" china-bristle brush or a high-quality synthetic-bristle brush.

A brush for your finish is no place to skimp.

A great tip I picked up from Flexner is to clean your shellac brushes in a 50-50 mixture of water and household ammonia for the best results.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, September 08, 2009 10:28:31 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

A tip of the Popular Woodworking hat goes to Mike Siemsen and the guys who worked the Woodworking in America: Furniture Construction & Design Conference Olympics.  The crew that manned the Olympics booth – Mike Siemsen and Jim Van Hoven, (of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers) and John Griffen-Wiesner and Jeff Hand (from the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild) – made the event fun, exciting and an all-around great time. Siemsen took on the persona of a circus barker to bring folks into the competition as he and his cohorts walked the participants through each event.

If you attended the conference and didn’t participate in the Olympics, shame on you. You missed a tremendously exciting event. But fear not, the Woodworking in America Olympics is just getting started. The event at St. Charles was just a warm-up for the Woodworking in America: Hand Tools & Techniques Conference in Valley Forge, Pa., during the first weekend in October. We expect bigger crowds and a larger turn-out for the next session. (To see what you missed at the show and what to expect at Valley Forge, check out the video below.)

The six individual events (accuracy and speed counts in each):

• One Meter Dash – rip a 36" piece of 1 x 12 stock using a handsaw

• Shooting Sports – use a jointer plane to straighten and square the edge created during the One Meter Dash

• Crosscut Extravaganza – crosscut a piece of 1 x 12 lumber

• Brace Yourself For a Hole in One – bore a 3/4" hole in a plank using a brace and bit setup

• Pins First or Tails First – complete a three-pin dovetail joint on a 1x4 using hand tools

• Greco-Roman Tenons – produce a 3"-long, 3/4"-thick tenon on the end of a piece of 2x4 stock

In St. Charles, the events attracted many competitors and provided huge laughs – and a few serious competitions – throughout both days.

In fact, the most noteworthy face-off was the Puchalski/Siemsen bout. These two guys went at the One Meter Dash individually, but when they compared the results (both guys were under the 15-second mark), a heated discussion evolved. Each vowed to prepare for the upcoming Olympics and promised to leave the competition curled up in the corner. Not only do we expect this competition to flare up in Valley Forge, we plan to promote this event to the fullest. Register for the conference now! The Early-bird registration deadline is September 9, 2009. And get in as much practice as you can. It can’t hurt.

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, August 28, 2009 2:09:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

My “go-to” stain for furniture finish is not a stain at all. It’s a dye. What’s the difference? A store-bought stain has pigment – and usually a binder to glue that pigment to your furniture – that’s suspended in a solvent. Stains sit on the surface of your work and obscure the wood’s grain (which creates what is otherwise known as a "muddy appearance.") 

Dye is quite different. Dye is made up of microscopic crystals that dissolve in a solvent. As a result, dye travels wherever the solvent travels, and that’s deeper into the wood than stains. That adds depth to your finish. Aniline dye is the best method I’ve found to add color to my furniture without camouflaging the surface.

But what solvent (alcohol, oil or water) should you use in conjunction with the dye? That’s an easy call – water. Yes, water is a solvent and water-based aniline dye is what I’ve used for my entire woodworking career.

Here’s why. Water is easy to find for most of us. You don’t have to drive to the store to make a purchase. You simply walk into your kitchen – or use an outside hose bib if the spouse isn’t fond of sawdust on the kitchen floor (I know of what I speak!). Water-based aniline dye is the least likely aniline dye to fade in sunlight. It does fade, but it fades at a much slower rate than either the alcohol- or oil-based dyes. You do know by now that anything placed in direct sunlight is going to fade.

Additionally, water-based dye is easy to use. It’s almost error proof. Compared to alcohol-based dye that dries so quickly, the water-based mixture precludes lap marks, especially if you apply the dyes as I do. And oil-based dye has such an extended drying time that you may lose a couple days in the shop watching oil dry. Comparatively, water-based dyes can dry in about four hours. (I’ve forced more than one piece to dry more quickly with a hand-held hairdryer.) And who wants to worry with oily rags when the process is complete? Yes, water on wood does cause the grain to rise, but it’s so easy to knock the raised grain down with #320-grit sandpaper, it’s a non-issue.

And the biggest reason, especially if you’re brushing your finish, is topcoat compatibility. If you use an oil-based dye then brush on a coat of oil or oil-based finish, there’s a chance, a good chance, that your dye will run or move as the brush strikes the surface. Ditto if you’re using alcohol-based dye and applying a coat of shellac. But when water-based dye is used, no oil or alcohol product is going to affect the dye job. That’s another mark in the easy-to-use column.

For more information about finishing your project with aniline dye and how to make your furniture’s finish stand out, pick up the newest DVD “Finishes That Pop” from the WoodWorker’s Bookshop (woodworkersbookshop.com). You’ll be able to pre-order the DVD beginning sometime after September first.

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, August 28, 2009 1:50:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

At the 2008 Woodworking in America – Hand Tools & Techniques conference in Berea, Ky., one of the first areas to sell out was the hands-on sessions. These sessions were very popular for a couple reasons. First, most attended the sessions to gain the valuable insight from the speakers – and well you should. But in addition, those in the hands-on sessions had a chance to bring tools from their shops to get guidance on techniques from saw sharpening to bench grinding to plane use. And suggestions from these speakers dealing with tool setup proved invaluable to attendees.

Something we often hear about the upcoming WIA – Hand Tools & Techniques conference in Valley Forge, Pa., is how there are no hands-on sessions. Well hold on – there are hands-on sessions at the 2009 Woodworking in America; you just don’t need to register for individual sessions to make use of them. All you need to do is attend the conference.

Each speaker has scheduled sessions in our Hands-on Bench Room in which you bring in your tools (and we’ll have some tools there, provided by exhibitors) to discuss techniques and/or how best to setup your tools. You can get your questions answered by the speaker and you’ll have the opportunity for expert guidance to fine-tune your woodworking skills. Does this sound familiar?

We’ve taken the best of both worlds – a full line of hands-on sessions with no chance of getting closed out during registration – and packaged it so all you have to do to take advantage of these sessions is be registered for and attend the conference. You can walk into one of the two equipped Hands-on Bench Rooms and soak in the speaker’s years of experience and expertise (plus we’ll have additional experts on hand). And it’s entirely guided by questions from you and other attendees. We can’t make it any easier than that.

Now here’s the interesting part of a setup such as this: While at the WIA – Furniture Design & Construction conference, some of these sessions were attended by two or three people only. Most attendees were running from session to session without taking advantage of these clinics. I personally sat in a session with Jerry Grant, the curator of the Shaker Museum and Library, and talked about Shaker furniture – from paint mixtures and colors to Shaker furniture collectors – with one other attendee. For more than 40 minutes, I had the opportunity to ask anything I wanted about Shaker craftsmanship. The information I picked up was incredible.   

With the same arrangement at the Hand Tools & Techniques conference at Valley Forge (plus Benches for hands-on demonstrations), you can listen as Toshio Odate explains the correct technique to accurately use Japanese planes and gain insight to other Japanese tools. You can have Peter Follansbee show you how to properly hold your carving chisels as you learn about 17th-century methods of work. Or how about standing shoulder to shoulder with Don McConnell and Larry Williams as you discover how to sharpen hollows and rounds, and discover what you might be doing to sabotage your sharpening efforts?

This kind of personal attention cannot be bought – at least not for the cost of a conference admission that, by itself, provides invaluable information about hand tools and woodworking craftsmanship. If you haven’t registered and made plans to attend this conference, why not? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 7:18:18 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

When I’m finishing a project, as in sanding the shellac, I’ll like a sanding sponge instead of straight sandpaper. A sponge provides less potential for those nasty ridges left by your fingertips and the entire sanding process stays cooler and the sanding surface is less apt to clog due to friction. It also allows me to work right into corners without nicking an area or stubbing my fingers. The only concern I have had with a sponge is its inability to cut for a prolong period, the grit wears quickly.

Ali Industries – the makers of the Zip line of products, including the Zip Sander and the Zip Sponge Holder – is at it again. This time the company has introduced a Zip Sand-Block. The Zip Sand-Block is completely new technology in that Ali Industries has put sandpaper on a block of high-quality foam instead of adding grit to the sponge. This is more like with sanding with sandpaper, so the additional performance of faster sanding and longer life are there.

Additionally, Zip Sand-Block features the popular Gator Finishing System number- and color-coded identification setup. With this, anyone can use the right grit as they work through their project. Green means heavy-duty sanding with #80-grit product (step 1). Step 2 is orange in color and is #120 grit, while Gold translates to fine finish sanding with grit corresponding to #220 and #320 (step 3).

The new Sand-Block is available at many retail stores (or can be found at zipsander.com) for around $7.00 for a package of two.

To get a look inside Ali Industries to see how sandpaper is made, check out our video (click here), and pick up the October 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking (issue #178) to read an article by Editor Christopher Schwarz.

—Glen D. Huey

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 9:58:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

As told by Dave Jeske, owner of Blue Spruce Toolworks.

I have a Blum Bench Horse that I was planning to bring to the show so people could actually try out my tools rather than just look at them. The Bench Horse is designed to use pipe clamps for clamping as well as some other specialty hold-downs. I wanted to make a decent looking vise that was lightweight so I could take it on the airplane with me.

After thinking about it and looking through Christopher Schwarz’s Workbenches book, I came to the conclusion that I could make a leg vise and turn it sideways. (I guess it would be called an arm vise.) Also, I wanted to be able to use all of the holes in the bench so I could move the vise around to different locations. What I came up just eight hours before the show was a sliding dowel for a guide that plugged into one of the holes and then a long dowel in an adjacent hole that reached to the other side of the bench.

This dowel has a series of holes that allows for rough adjustments for the width of stock by inserting a pin (similar to a parallel guide in a leg vise). The part of the vise that grabs the workpiece swivels so it is self-aligning to the board being clamped. The vise is clamped by turning the large knob in the center.

I carved up the vise jaw from a piece of lightweight western curly maple using a band saw then gave it a very fast cleanup with a belt sander. I tossed together the rest of the parts, put on a coat of oil varnish then went in to pack up the Bench Horse and my tools for the show.

Around midnight, my wife called the airlines to double check the extra weight of the bench and parts only to discover it was going to cost too much to ship – about $150 each way. I needed a plan B, and quick. I threw the vise parts and a cordless drill/driver into my suitcase, finished packing. I got into bed at 2:00 am. I had a 4:00 am flight.

On the airplane, I decided that I could make a bench from off-the-borg-shelf materials for under $50, so I sketched something up that would be quick to build, sturdy and would make use of my vise.

My plan was to buy the materials and an inexpensive saw then build the bench at the show. Near St Charles I found a Menard's (like a Home Depot) and started shopping. It was already 6:00 pm on Thursday night, so I had to move quickly. I gathered up the supplies then found a poor unsuspecting employee in the lumberyard who agreed to make a few cuts for me. Great!

 A short while later I had a shopping cart full of much shorter pieces of wood cut approximately to the dimensions I requested with almost square cuts. When I went to check out, the cashier looked at the pile in the cart and was a bit dumbfounded. I convinced her to just ring up what I had before any cuts were made and gave her the list. She was very nice about it, but then immediately afterward went on a break.

All of the stuff was tossed into the back of the rental car and I arrived at the convention center about 6:30. Because the area was to close at 8:00, I was a bit anxious about setting up. I dumped out all the wood, my drill/driver and the vise parts then got started. Some assembly was required! In about 30 minutes I had the bench standing proud. It’s a real beauty and was very sturdy. Next up, I assembled the vise for the very first time and tried it out. It almost worked – the bench aprons flexed too much under the pressure and did not hold the workpiece quite hard enough. Oh well, good enough.

If you’re interested to make this bench, here is the materials list. I overpaid for much of the stuff but I did not have time to shop around.

(1) 4x4x12' premium Douglas fir for the Bench Legs - $18.88
(3) 1x8x8' #2 pine for the aprons and center support
(I had an extra 4' piece I used for my display shelf) - $15.27
(2) 1x4x8' #2 pine for stretchers - $3.04
(1) 3/4x24x48 precut and sanded piece of plywood for my top - $11.15

TOTAL Spent - $48.34

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 8:48:19 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6] 

Your design is superb and your joinery is first class, but you want more from your woodworking projects. Building a project is only half the work. There’s finishing the piece, too. And for many woodworkers the finishing portion of the job constitutes much more than 50 percent of the job (maybe as high as 75 or 80 percent). And this is why there are so many projects finished with wipe-on polyurethane or a simple oil/varnish mixture applied.

Those are not terrible finishes. There are projects and pieces of furniture that require a clear or semi-clear finish – think inlay, contemporary design or mixed hardwoods. I’ve used an oil/varnish blend on many pieces throughout the years. But when these finishes are used simply because they’re easy, so much of the potential finish of the project is lost. Sure you see the wood grain. And you may even highlight some of the interesting figure in your wood. But if your desire is to have your projects blend well with antiques or with other stained furniture in your home, you’re not often going to make that happen with wipe-on finishes.

What I hear most of the time is that finishing methods other than wipe-on finishes are difficult. I disagree. Since the day I hung out my shingle to earn a living while working with wood, I’ve used the same finishing method and the results speak for themselves. In fact, Popular Woodworking first approached me, so many years ago, due to my finish on tiger maple.

You can read about my favorite methods free on our web site, in “Finishing Formulas,” a story I wrote for the April 2007 issue (click here).

And right now, we’re putting the finishing touches (ha ha) on “Finishes that Pop,” a show-and-tell DVD on exactly the same finishing method that I use on my furniture – pieces you’ve seen in the pages of Popular Woodworking and in my books. On it, I discuss project preparation, shellac, glaze and more. So for now, enjoy the story. And look for the DVD in early September 2009.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 8:54:41 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

Saturday we ended the Baltimore Card Table class at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking in Berea, Ky. Much to my disappointment, no one finished the table completely. That’s not an indictment against the guys in the class, but more of an indication of my expectations, lofty as they might have been. I guess I should have gotten a clue when one of the participants asked me Tuesday afternoon if I worked at this pace in my shop.
 
In my first blog from Berea (click here), we had assembled the brick-laid table bases and had the legs tapered. By the second entry on Wednesday (read it here), we were into the veneer of the base fronts and working toward the string inlay. As you may remember from that entry, I expected there would no problem completing the work on the table by the end of class. Oops!

So on Thursday we began the string work on the legs and aprons, and created the double-knuckle jointed, swing-leg assembly. Things were moving along. I expected we could complete the stringing in a half-day on Friday, then begin the edge banding and string-inlay work on the top, then wrap up the work on Saturday before departing for home.

By noon on Friday, without the apron and leg stringing completed (that could easily be finished up at home), we moved on to the top. It took longer than I thought it would to create the veneer edge band, get it glued to the top and trimmed so we could begin routing for the string. By this point we were into Saturday. Bummer. My hopes of completion were quickly fading.

Before the guys began departing at around 2:30 in the afternoon, most everyone had the string areas cut and a majority of the base and leg stringing complete. No one had assembled his table (that’s the photo I planned to open this entry with), but everything was cut and ready to install except the tabletop string material. And nobody had routed the swing legs to wrap around the back edge of the apron. Unfortunately, that will have to be finished at home, too.

A class observation (besides my distorted sense of what could be accomplished in a six-day class): Woodworkers who are not regularly in the shop 40–60 hours per week are likely to fade as the week progresses (I resemble that remark these days). Everyone came into the class psyched and ready to bust out a table. But I noticed the pace slowing at an earlier time with each passing day. In fact, there were a couple guys who returned to the hotel to nap before dinner on Thursday. And on Saturday, before leaving for home, a few guys asked that I rout the string channel for the top’s edge – they were too tired and had information overload.

I don’t want it to sound like I drove the guys to the brink. It wasn’t a military boot camp. These are a great group of woodworkers and we had tons of banter during the week. We discussed issues surrounding the table and looked for better methods to resolve those issues. We made decisions based on a consensus of opinion and I’ll bet everyone discovered a few new techniques and different methods of work to take back to his shop and use on future projects. And as always, I learned a few things from the class that I’ll take back to my shop and use.

It has been decided that this class will run again at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking in 2010. So if you’re looking for a challenging class and a fun week where you’ll get scads of woodworking information, check out the school’s 2010 schedule. Or contact the school at Kelly@kellymehler.com. We will adjust the work and strive to complete the tables during the six days allotted.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, August 04, 2009 9:14:41 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

With a six-day class at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking, Wednesday means we’ve just ended the third day – the hump day. Photos may not adequately show the progress, but it is huge. And everyone is on track to wrap things up on Saturday.

Since we began the class, the guys have tapered the table legs, built up the brick front apron and separated the apron from the bricked assembly (shown in the photo at left) are the remains of the first day's efforts. Afterward they attached the back apron to the bricking. That connection is no small feat. Due to the fragility of the bricks, the dovetails that join the back apron to the front are most difficult. More than one brick-laid apron developed an issue as the dovetail sockets were cut. One thing the guys have learned is how to overcome problems – and that is a great lesson to learn.

After the apron was complete and the medial stretcher installed, it was on to routing a wide dado as part of the bridle-joint-joined front legs. A couple guys wondered why we took the time to create this joint until after the leg slid in position and the added strength was discovered. These nine card tables will not show signs of racking in the future.

We ended the day by installing the front veneer. Most everyone had the veneer trimmed before Kelly and his wife Teri arrived back at the shop with trays of sandwiches and other goodies. What else would 10 woodworkers do but sit around talking shop and enjoying the good eats?

And what’s an instructor to do while all the handwork is being done? It’s no hammock, but life is good.

— Glen D. Huey

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:52:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

If you’ve been playing along at home, you’ll know that this is week number three – of the last four – that I’ve been on the road. Four weeks ago was the infamous “hammock” debacle, then two days after returning to the Popular Woodworking offices, I found myself on the way to Las Vegas to cover the AWFS show (I have two more entries to write about from the show, but those will probably have to wait until next week). And this week, after a full five days in the office, I’m in Berea, Ky., (where the first Woodworking in America conference was held), teaching at Kelly Mehler’s School of Woodworking.

My better half is not sure I reside at the same address any more. And if I didn’t continue to send in blogs, the PW office might forget I'm still on staff (I am still of staff aren’t I, Chris?)

So to make sure my co-workers are aware I'm still kicking, and to provide you with an inside view of a woodworking class at Kelly Mehler’s, here goes:

The project this week is the Baltimore Card Table published in Popular Woodworking’s June 2005 issue. We began Monday morning at 8:30 and in less than an hour, we were making dust. (That’s the way a class should be, get busy and have fun.)

The task for the class today was to "brick" the table apron and to taper the legs. The bricking portion of the table is slow going because each brick must be buttered with hide glue and positioned on a template. Then, as each row is finished, a router is used to shape the front.

Everyone did a great job because by 5 p.m. all the class participants had the legs tapered and the bricking complete – except for one straggler. If you can’t quite make out the fellow in the back of the bench room still working on his table after hours, it’s Kelly Mehler himself. He doesn’t work on his class projects until all his school duties are complete – then he has the chance to catch up with the rest of the class. (Actually, he was cleaning up his bench and his table apron is complete.)

On Tuesday, we’ll wrap up building the table base and hopefully have the veneer in place. And if everything goes as planned, we should be routing in the leg stringing.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 8:59:09 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

The cover on the August 2009 issue shows two walnut blanket chests stacked one on top of the other. I built the two chests at the same time, but to different dimensions. I kept notes on each and, of course, did my scratch-pad drawings on both as the building progressed.

As I worked, I struggled with which size chest I would write about in the accompanying article. Should it be the larger of the two? Or would it be better to run through the building of the smaller blanket chest? I selected the smaller chest due to its unique size, because that smaller size might fit better in more of our readers' homes. I had a 50 percent shot at getting the choice right. And I think I did OK because I haven’t been overwhelmed with woodworkers asking for plans for the larger chest – but I have received a few requests.

I posted a blog entry on how to scale furniture from drawings and other plans, or how to bypass the entire process by taking a drawing to a copy shop and having the piece enlarged. (That, however, should be a last resort due to the board thicknesses becoming enlarged as well.)

Because I was looking for a reason to use SketchUp and improve my skills with the free program (you better believe that I’ll be in the SketchUp seminar at Woodworking in America next month in St. Charles, Ill.) I thought I’d prepare a front and end elevation for those of you who want to have something more to work with. You can download a pdf of the file below (or access the SketchUp file here). Enjoy, but do take the time to learn how to scale from photos and drawings. And by all means, get a firm grip on Google SketchUp so you can use our entire library of SketchUp projects.

— Glen D. Huey

Monday, July 27, 2009 1:04:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6] 

A tool that I noticed in more than one booth at AWFS (Association of Woodworking and Furnishing Suppliers) this year is a benchtop lathe. Manufacturers are hopeful that woodworkers plan to turn more in the coming year. And these lathes aren’t just ordinary machines with set speed controls; these lathes feature electronic variable speeds.

It’s called a mini-lathe if you’re talking with General International or Rikon, but if you’re looking at new lathe from Delta, you better say midi-lathe (a company-derived title it promotes and has registered). With either name, it still sits on a bench – unless you purchase a stand to go with the lathe. So, how do the different lathes stack up?

General’s lathe is the 25-114 M1. This machine has three variable-speed ranges (as do the other two lathes) set by adjusting a drive belt on successive size pulleys. The General lathe is powered by a 3/4-horsepower (hp) motor that spins the drive spur at 300 – 800 rpm, 640 – 1,750 rpm and 1,300 – 3,600 rpm, depending on the pulley. General has boosted the available turning diameter of this lathe so it’s possible to shape a 14"-diameter piece. The 25-114 M1 is 93 pounds of solid weight to hold the lathe steady when turning. The company says you can turn a full 17" between centers. Additionally, General’s variable-speed lathe has 24 indexing positions (every 15º). Look for this machine to be priced around $699 with a delivery date yet to be set.

Rikon also introduced a benchtop lathe, model 70-200EVS. With this lathe you can set speed controls at 400–950, 650–1,700 and 1,500–3,850 rpm. The swing over the bed is 12"(the smallest of the three lathes discussed) and the working area between centers is 16". A nice feature on Rikon’s variable-speed lathe is a self-ejecting tailstock that allows the removal of the tail center without the use of a knockout bar. Included with a 70-200EVS is an 8" tool rest, a spur center and live center and a 3" face plate. Rikon’s benchtop lathe has a weight of 86 pounds. The 70-200EVS is available in Fall 2009 and is priced at $699.

Delta actually introduced its variable-speed lathe last year at the major tool show in Atlanta, but the company re-introduced the lathe at AWFS and brought in a craftsman to demonstrate the machine. Model 46-460 (the variable-speed model) is available now and is priced at $599. This lathe has many features that look appealing. The foremost, in my mind, is the reversing switch that potentially reduces your sanding time, and with the spin reversed, the dust is easily thrown away from the operator and toward dust collection. Also, a feature of interest on this lathe is the belt tensioning system. The adjustment process is quick and secure, and the belts are wide with five grooves, versus the three grooves found on most other benchtop lathes.

Speed changes with a 1-hp motor are again in three steps with the range from 250 (the lowest available rpm for slow roughing of stock) - 700, 600–1,800 and 1,350-4,000 rpm. Work between centers is a maximum 16-1/2" with the largest possible diameter for bowl turning at 12-1/2".

If you’re looking for a lathe, don’t look past these benchtop models, unless you want to turn lengthy legs. Of course, bed extensions are available for these machines.

— Glen D. Huey

Monday, July 20, 2009 3:00:58 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

Thursday was my day at AWFS 2009 to stop by SawStop and catch up with Mark Pennington, marketing director. He shared a few things about SawStop’s new Professional Cabinet Saw (PCS) and provided some insight on SawStop table saws in general. (Did you know that a single turn of a SawStop handle moves the blade exactly 1/8" in height?)

The PCS has the same blade-stopping technology as other SawStop saws but the PCS is different from the Industrial Cabinet Saw in a few ways. First, the trunnion on the PCS is lighter than that on the Industrial saw and the dust shroud around the blade is also a molded plastic instead of cast iron. Those changes, along with a couple other things, add up to the Professional Cabinet saw being nearly 180 pounds lighter than its bigger brother.

Why did SawStop change from a cast iron dust shroud? That has to do with the increased dust collection levels achieved in the newer saw. By molding the shroud differently (something not easily accomplished in cast iron) and adjusting the blade guard (which SawStop is calling its "V-stream blade guard") the company has pushed dust collection to 99-percent efficient (there may be some difference when using a thin-kerf blade, but the drop would be minuscule).

To demonstrate just how effective the dust collection is due to the way the turbulent air around the blade is re-directed toward the rear of the guard, SawStop manufactured a dust collector that captured the dust from the cabinet in one section and the dust from the guard in another, and they are using a simple shop vacuum with 120 CFM to do the job. As cuts were made, you didn’t notice the flow going into the guard section of the collector until the wood covered the openings in the throat plate. Then you began to notice the increased efficiency.

Take a look at the new blade-guard design. The rods you see extending to the front are there as a limiter. If the stock you’re working doesn’t fit under the front piece attached to those rods, it won’t fit under the pawls either. And take a closer look at the pawls. You see two distinct sets. The smaller pawls are there for light cuts in thin stock while the larger pawls, the size we’re used to seeing, are for typical operations. When not needed, the larger pawls hook into the guard setup to stay out of the way.

Another creative innovation on the PCS is the quick-release function on the throat insert. SawStop has a bail-type handle that swings to engage a lock to hold the insert in place. Posts on the insert, at the rear, slide under catches affixed to the saw and the front is held by the bail lock.

If you want a Professional Cabinet saw from SawStop, there are two things to decide: Do you want a table saw with a 36" extension table ($2,899) or a 52" extension table ($2,999), and do you want a mobile base for your saw. That’s it. You can pre-order your saw now for delivery in August – just around the corner.

Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:39:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5] 

There are always new products introduced at AWFS and this year is no different. Because I ran into so many items, I’m going to give you a quick-hit review of a number of them rather than focus on one company right now – but there is a tool company here that brought 22 new tools to the show.

First up, let’s begin with the small items that are the tools that make you slap your forehead and say, “Doh!” Festool, having introduced its T-12+3 and T15+3 drills (more on them in another entry), is working diligently on a new vacuum system that is way cool – look for it in Q1 or early Q2 in 2010. But at this AWFS, Festool is showing hand sanding pads (shown above). Big deal, right? Well, these are clever. The pads are shaped to ergonomically fit your hand and there is hook-and-loop material that wraps up both sides of the pad. That allows you to use round sanding discs without having to grip the disc as you work. The pads are due out this September. Pricing and packaging are yet to be determined.

Here’s another product that’s small and looks very interesting. I can’t say the product is slick because it’s just the opposite. Bench Cookies (you gotta love that name) are small discs made with high-friction rubber pads fixed to both faces. One pad grabs the workpiece while the second grabs the bench, table or saw top, wherever you’re working. The cookies are superb for holding small pieces as you route or sand (I’m sure you’ll have more ideas) and they work even if there’s light sawdust in the mix. The Rockler guys told me they test the cookies by dumping them in the dust in their table saw then pull them out, simply knock off the excess sawdust, then put the Bench Cookies to work. There’s no slippage. Rockler’s Bench Cookies come four to a pack and should be out in early August for $11.99 per pack.

How about a woodworking machine? Rikon has joined the 12" jointer/planer market with its model 25-200. The company states that this machine is the industry's fastest changeover jointer/planer. What adds to the speed of converting from one tool to the other is that to get from the jointer to a planer operation, you need only to lift the outfeed table; the infeed table stays put and that should maintain accuracy in the machine. Another thing I hear woodworkers discuss on these machines is the amount of time that’s lost in moving the planer bed from a workable height to the lowest position to convert back to the jointer. Rikon has designed the threads that raise and lower the bed to speed up the movement. Additionally, the 25-200 has three knives, a three-horsepower (hp) motor and European scallop grind on the table surfaces. You can add this machine to your shop for $1,999.

Another new machine is a 1-1/2 hp, 866 CFM cyclone dust collector from Grizzly. This setup stands only 65-1/2" and has a footprint of 38-1/4" x 23-1/4" – a great size for smaller shops. The unit includes a 30-gallon drum that rolls on swivel casters and the entire unit is also on wheels. A simple quarter-turn of the handle moves the internal shaker paddles to clean the dual-pleated filter to allow maximum air flow and efficiency. This cyclone comes with a remote-control switch that allows you to activate it from across the shop. Ready to go when plugged into a standard 110-volt outlet, the G0703 sells for $825 and should be ready to ship this September.

Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:24:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

The big news at the AWFS show came from a Canadian company. General International announced plans to restructure and expand into the United States to improve its operations in the lower 48. The company wants to reinforce and increase its U.S. sales presence and market share. General International wants its U.S. customers to easily find General Manufacturing, General International and Excalibur products.

To accomplish that objective, the company brought in a big gun. You may recognize the guy on the left in the above photo standing over a granite-top General table saw, alongside Norm Frampton. Two years back, at AWFS 2007, Scott Box rocked the woodworking world with a granite-top table saw. As you can see in the photo, Mr. Box – formally a major player at Steel City Tool Works – is wearing a General International shirt; he has assumed the role of Operations Manager for the newly expanded U.S. division of General International.

The company says a U.S. warehouse and distribution center will be centrally located in the states. With Box’s base in Tennessee, I wonder where that location might be – Murfreesboro, maybe?

At the same time, General International has added several new Territory Sales Managers including Craig Walls, Curt Thomas and Tom Guertin.

I’d keep an eye on General International in the next few years. Things should change, and change for the better.

What did General show at AWFS this year?
• A new 17" drill press with a redesigned casting to accommodate a full 6" stroke, and a variable speed 1-horsepower motor, all priced at $877.50 (model # 75-260 M1)

• An 8" parallelogram jointer (80-225HC M1) for $3,780 that features a "Magnum Helical Cutter Head" (check out the collapsing handles)

• A mini-lathe duplicator (25-024) that fits most lathes with throws from 6" to 14". The duplicator hits the market in September at $315 and handles lengths up to 19-7/8" and diameters to 7", and can work from an original turning or off a template.

Availability dates for the jointer and drill press are to be determined.

— Glen Huey

Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:45:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

I'm in Las Vegas right now at the AWFS show (Association of Woodworking and Furnishing Suppliers). As a furniture guy, I gravitate toward the Fresh Wood competition held every other year at AWFS. Students of woodworking from colleges, universities and high schools transport pieces to the show for display and judging. As always, I'm impressed with the talent.

The piece that really caught my eye was built by Timothy Keating, from Cedar Ridge High School. Keating’s entry is called “Wandering Roses.” The table is made up of more than 700 pieces of inlay and has six roses intertwined with vines, all set in a tiger maple edge banding on a round table top. (The table has its leaf installed while on display at the show.) Each rose is made up of 75 sand-shaded pieces and the base of the table simulates roots (you can just see the table base in the photo).

Another piece that I found myself staring at was built by Jonathan Cox, a student at Brigham Young University. His low table design is titles “Split Personality”; the piece has a granadillo top with a carved natural edge. The tabletop is cantilevered and attached to the pedestal with a pinned double bridle joint.

I’m especially impressed with high schools that maintain woodworking programs – thank you for allowing America’s youth to continue a craft that we all want to see flourish. This year’s competition had, if I counted correctly, 20 high school entries and 30 entries from colleges and universities. The majority of the entries would be considered contemporary, but there were a couple antique reproductions.

— Glen D. Huey

Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:33:26 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve stood on my soapbox to urge woodworkers to use a toothbrush to spread glue when edge joining two pieces of lumber. A toothbrush is plenty wide enough to completely cover the edge of the board and the glue, once spread, is an even film that’s perfect for job. If you want more information about glues, check out “All About Glue: Part Two” by Marc Adams in our October 2009 issue. (Part One ran in issue #177, August 2009. Click here to get a copy of the magazine for $5.99)

I gave up finger painting in the third grade and I shy away from acid brushes – except when I add glue inside a mortise – because the brushes are narrow and I feel as though I am reproducing a Monet with all the strokes needed. So when I noticed Chuck Bender pulling out the glue and a couple acid brushes during my week-long teaching gig at Acanthus Workshops, I was chomping at the bit to challenge his technique.

Chuck isn’t one to take a challenge lightly, so he offered up a race. I thought I had this one in the bag, but I noticed that his setup – glue poured into a disposable cup with a loaded acid brush – looked peculiar. The handle of the brush was larger than those I had worked with.

He grabbed up a dollop of glue and proceeded to wipe along the edge of his board. One swipe covered the edge completely; he didn’t even waste time squeezing the glue from the bottle.

I guess he saw the amazement in my eyes because he kind of laughed. Then he showed me a box of brushes and pointed out that his brushes are 1/2" wide, not the petite 1/4"-wide size I was used to buying at my local hardware store.

Once again, I learned something new. In fact, I learned a couple things. First, don’t challenge Chuck about his woodworking techniques – he’s had many years to perfect them. And second, it’s OK to use acid brushes for spreading glue, just make sure the brushes are large. I found a good deal at Harbor Freight, click here.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 8:15:48 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6] 

Being in the right place at the right time has its rewards. I’ve worked at woodworking for two decades and I’ve never used anything with the name Yates or Colladay on it – until this week.

I walked up to the Acanthus Workshop’s Colladay 16" jointer (a genuine piece of “Old Arn”) and flipped to the on switch. The machine began to purr. The cut made as I passed the board over the three-knife head was dead-flat and as true as can be. The board slid over the machine like the puck on an air hockey table. Nice.

Acanthus Workshop owner, Chuck Bender, was also in the right place at the right time when he purchased the Philadelphia-made jointer. He had spread the word amongst fellow woodworkers that he was interested in a upgrading his jointer; extra width works best for Bender because he often uses wide boards in the reproduction pieces he builds. He received a phone call from another woodworker who said he needed to part with his Colladay jointer; he needed to get it out of his dining room – that’s right, his dining room. (I can’t believe it, but I’m having fun trying to imagine.)

The jointer was in great working condition and immediately found a new home. It has been part of Acanthus ever since. This machine is great to use, but what really put a smile on my face was the three minutes and forty seconds of run-down time after the jointer is shut off. That’s long enough to joint another short board.

A second piece of “arn” at Acanthus is a Yates 156, 30"-wide thickness planer. Bender has had this machine for almost 10 years and as with the jointer, nothing had to be done to the machine to bring it into working condition. Think about this: Four knives at 30" each is a total of 120" of knives to sharpen. Around these parts, that will set you back about $100.

How’s the class doing? Wednesday was field trip day. We drove to Philip H. Bradley Company Antiques in Downingtown, Pa., to take in some original tea tables and other great pieces. Inside the door there is a stunning secretary and the front room is full of pieces that any woodworker would admire. Then it was off to Ball & Ball to study reproduction hardware. Some of the students picked up knobs for the candle slides of their tables.

Construction is going great. Wednesday morning everyone wrapped up the legs and Thursday morning the bases of the tables go together. By the end of the day Thursday, we should have the tops fit. Also, Thursday is ice cream day. On a challenge, I had 12 pints of Graeter’s ice cream sent out from Cincinnati. If you’re in the area, grab a spoon and stop by.
 
— Glen D. Huey, senior editor

Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:03:10 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

I’m near Philadelphia this week teaching at Acanthus Workshops. This is Chuck Bender’s woodworking school. (You know Chuck, he wrote the “Carving Spanish Feet” article in our April 2009 issue.)

Chuck and I go way back to the days when he and I traveled around the country to sell furniture. He still does a show now and then, but has focused his attention on teaching and writing about woodworking.

The thing that keeps Chuck and me connected (besides our passion for building reproduction furniture) is that we both have a basic approach to woodworking. Neither of us looks to complicate what we do – we prefer to keep things straightforward and simple. So when I arrived at his shop, I did what most woodworkers do when they enter new woodworking territory. I scouted around to see his tools, then we discussed woodworking. (I’ll share information about his woodworking machines later in the week – you simply have to see the old iron in his shop.)

During our talk, we got onto the topic of inlay (Chuck will have plenty to say about inlay at our Hand Tools & Techniques Conference in October). I asked how he cuts the grooves for inlay on his spice boxes and his basic, simple approach was immediately evident. He handed me a compass and said, “They call it compass inlay, you know!”

Look closely at the compass shown in the photo. Chuck has one end ground to the exact size he needs for stringing. All that’s left is to use the customized tool to scratch in the groove. That’s a new one on me. And you better believe that I’ll try that on my next Chester County inlaid spice box.

Stay tuned. I’m not sure how many other ideas I’ll get while I’m here, but I’ll pass along anything worthwhile (please don’t tell Chuck I'm stealing his tricks!).

— Glen Huey, senior editor

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Monday, July 06, 2009 9:12:31 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

If you have come to this post looking for an easy, no-hard-work method to scale furniture, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. There is no magic bullet. No simple number that can be used as a multiplier to arrive at the final sizes needed to enlarge or scale down a plan. However, there are a couple ways that work if you put in the time and effort.

The easiest, most simplistic method to scale furniture is to take a scaled drawing to your local copy shop and have them enlarge the piece to the size you are after. The drawings on the blanket chest in our August 2009 issue are to scale, so you would need to take the drawings to your copy shop and have them enlarge the plans by a certain percentage. To adjust the plan from a box size of 32” to the larger box size of 42”, you should ask that the plan be enlarged by 31.25 percent (32” x 1.3125 percent = 42”). In turn, the other measurements would also adjust accordingly. The overall height adjusts from 20” to 26-1/4” and the feet go to 5” from 3-3/4”.

While this option allows you to work from a drawing, I find it much more helpful to learn how to scale from photos – photos that are shown with full, mostly front-on views and not necessarily shown from angles. To do this, I use ratios of measurements taken off the photo.

As an example, the blanket chest photo I’m using measures 6-3/4” wide and in the description of the chest the actual width is 53”. To find other measurements along the width of the chest such as the width of one drawer, I’ll set up a ratio of 6.75/53. I can use this ratio to find the width of any other part of the chest so long as I take all my measurements from the same photo.

If the width of one of the long drawers in my photo equals 2-1/4”, then I would set up the following where X is the actual width of the drawer front:

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:06:20 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6] 

SawStop has done it again. First, the company developed and integrated a safety system to keep woodworkers from being maimed by a spinning saw blade. Now the group at SawStop has tackled the second most crucial safety issue of table saws – sawdust.

New shroud designs under the table and above the table (the blade guard) have improved dust collection on the yet-to-be-released SawStop Professional Cabinet Saw. According to the company, dust collection on the newest member of the SawStop fleet is 99 percent. And to accomplish that you need only a 120CFM dust collector.

How did they do it? In laymen’s terms, engineers found a way to transform the normally turbulent air surrounding the saw blade into laminar air that travels like a jet stream. In other words, SawStop molded the blade guard and manipulated the lower dust shroud to move the air – and the corresponding wood dust – directly toward and into a hose connection in rear of the blade guard (shown above).

Information is just beginning to trickle out about the blade guard design and the fact that it increases the overall dust collection on the saw by four additional percentage points. (As this entry posted, SawStop had yet to update it's website with the new information.) You can bet everyone will be all over SawStop’s new Professional Cabinet Saw and the new dust-collection designs in Las Vegas at the AWFS (Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers) show come mid-July.

Thursday, June 18, 2009 1:20:51 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

Milwaukee Tools invited magazine and newspaper editors to its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis., on June 10 to unveil a number of new tools – 48 during the next 18 months – and a complete new line for the company. The buzzwords around Milwaukee Tools are "Disruptive Innovation." The company is not looking to embellish a product with a unique switch or a larger over-molded grip; it’s looking to introduce products with such new innovation that we re-think how we use those tools. And Milwaukee is OK if it cannibalizes it’s own product in the process.

Also, Milwaukee Tools reinforced the company focus. Milwaukee made no bones about where the company plans to focus its attention in the coming years. It plans to return to its core customers – the trades. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC and other similar groups are in the headlights of the 85-year-old company. And the headlights are set to high beam.

A big part of the new focus is a new line of "Test and Measure" equipment. Seven new products from this area are released or about to be released. Most of these tools are for electricians, HVAC and the building trades – clamp meters, open-jaw testers and laser temperature guns – and not so much for woodworkers. Noticeably absent were distance-measuring tools. When asked about those, the response was to be patient; those are in the pipeline.

Of the corded tools introduced at the event, angle grinders stood out the most. Milwaukee is releasing many new grinders. There are large angle grinders (7" and 9" examples), small grinders (4-1/2" to 6" 12-amp tools) and a couple cordless designs, too. And, the company has a cut-off grinder coming out. Again, for woodworking, even though some woodworkers sculpt with grinders, this doesn’t knock our socks off.

With the discussion turning to cordless tools, the event shifted closer to the interest of woodworkers. Milwaukee has three tool platforms – M12, M18 and V28. Tool introductions were made in each platform with the majority of the releases coming in the M12 and M18 platform.

The majority of the new cordless introductions from Milwaukee are hammer and/or impact tools. The largest tool is a 3/4" High-torque Impact Wrench (0764-22) from the V28 lineup and the smallest introduction is a M12 3/8" impact wrench (2451-22). While the range in tool size is huge, the choices are even larger.

Also in the mix of cordless tools is the M12, 3/8" drill/driver. The two-speed 2410-22 drill/driver, according to the company, is the only tool in its class with a metal locking chuck and it can deliver 25 percent more torque and drill 35 percent faster than the competition. For me, it’s small and feels great in the hand. It’s a great choice for all-day-long work or maneuvering in tight spaces. In the hands-on portion of the event, I compared the 3/8" drill/driver to Milwaukee’s 1/4"-Hex Compact Impact Driver (2650-21) while driving a handful of screws into 2" material. Both tools did the job.

Because both small drivers did the job, I wonder if woodworkers need impact tools. More than a few companies have introduced impact drivers – a couple companies are set to introduce a full line of accessories developed just for impact drivers – and I’ve found impact drivers mentioned on a couple woodworking forums. But I want to hear from you. Do woodworkers need this tool?

It’s time for a poll. Please take a minute to register your response, then click comment to see more detailed information.

If you are planning to purchase or if you use an impact driver consistently, please leave a comment explaining how you use the driver.

— Glen D. Huey

Monday, June 15, 2009 12:01:20 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5] 

Back on December 23rd, I posted an entry (read it here) about Porter-Cable’s handling of a battery issue with the new line of “Tradesman” tools. PC took the bull by the horns to make sure  word got out and consumers weren't left in the dark if they had battery issues.

At this time, Porter-Cable has cleared up any problems with the 18-volt Lithium-ion batteries and has the drill/drivers and batteries back out in the stores and available to consumers – look for PCL180DRK-2 to make sure you have the corrected-battery tool.

In addition, PC has delivered two new battery designs for use with the Tradesman tools. The PC18BLX ($69.97) is a 1.3 amp hour Lithium-ion battery and the PC18BLEX ($89.97) is a second Lithium-ion battery, but with a double amp-hour rating of 2.6. Use the LX battery on your tool when you’re after a lighter feel and smaller profile. And turn to an EX battery if you’re looking for extended run times.

Tradesman Drill/Drivers are not the only tools these batteries work in. Porter-Cable has pushed out the second phase of the Tradesman line. At this time, Porter-Cable has a three-tool combo kit and a four-tool combo kit – complete with batteries and chargers (the four-tool kit includes the EX and LX batteries). Also available are "expansion tools" – tools sold without batteries – including an impact driver, 6-1/2" circular saw, a jigsaw, a reciprocating saw, a rotary saw, a detail sander, a hand vacuum and an area light; all of them use  the 18-volt Lithium-ion batteries.

Oh. If you hooked up with the Ni-cad line of Tradesman tools, no worries. The expansion tools work equally as well with your battery design.

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, June 12, 2009 2:07:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

The Classic Huntboard article in Popular Woodworking June 2009  (issue #176) includes traditional and non-traditional construction methods. The traditional methods involve mortise-and-tenon construction where the case back and sides meet the legs. That’s cross-grain construction.

The photo on page 45 (shown above) shows how the joint is divided and the caption explains why. In the text, when the time comes to assemble the case, I write, “First, add glue to the leg mortises for the back, then spread glue on the tenons and slip the back into the mortises.” If you read this to assume that I add glue to all the mortises and tenons before I slip the joint together, you read it correctly. However, there are many woodworkers who don’t agree with that method. A synopsis of friendly e-mail exchange is posted below.

A reader wrote: "It's entirely possible that I missed it, but I didn't see any comments by Glen as to whether a reader should glue all three mortises on the case sides, or glue the bottom and let the top two float, or glue the top mortise, pin the bottom one (and elongate the hole in the tenon for the pin), and let the middle one float (this last option would be my choice). Obviously, this affects how the piece will age - if all three mortises are glued, it's likely that the case sides will crack.  While historically accurate, that result might greatly disturb some readers, especially newbies."

My response was: "I’ve built many pieces of furniture (from huntboards to highboys and lowboys) that have case sides mortised into the legs. As a novice woodworker, I glued the sides securely into the legs without any thought of wood movement. You would think the case sides would or could crack given that arrangement. However, I have yet to see this happen to any of the pieces. Today I practice the same method – I fully glue the tenons and do not worry about wood movement issues and the possibility of cracks.

If you calculate the total movement of the sides of the huntboard, you’ll arrive at a maximum potential movement of around a 1/8". It is my contention that the glues we use and the "give" of the woods are forgiving enough to counteract any movement. Add in the idea that most homes do not experience extreme changes in humidity and I don’t see this as an issue."

OK, here are my thoughts on this issue. A board moves from the center outward when affected by seasonal changes. The middle mortise-and-tenon joint on the huntboard will not lose its hold. The top and bottom joints are the ones under stress as the wood expands and contracts. In accordance, the wood movement of 1/8" overall is reduced to half – 1/16" from the center of the board to the top and a 1/16" from the center to the bottom. I believe the wood is resilient enough to handle this movement.

On a 36" or wider tabletop that has breadboard ends, I work differently. I know the top is going to move. I’ve seen it happen over the course of a day or two, let alone during seasonal changes. In this scenario, I glue the center tenon joint and peg the remaining mortise and tenons after I enlarge the holes to allow for movement.

I asked Chuck Bender – a fellow woodworker with 30 years of furniture construction behind him – for his take on this issue. His answer was "In all these years, having made plenty of sideboards and huntboards, I can't recall any that seriously cracked." He glues the mortise-and-tenon joint fully and has experienced no major problems.

Chuck did correct me on one item though. His wrote, "During the 'period' the humidity levels ranged pretty widely but the change from the low to the high was rather gradual. In today's homes, we can go from open windows and doors on an early October day with a reasonably high humidity to the next morning having the forced hot air system making the house 90° Fahrenheit with virtually no humidity. It's that kind of nonsense that kills furniture."

I have to agree.

Additionally, I think a bigger problem – and possibly the cause of case side cracks over and above the glue question – is how tenons are fit. If tenons are fit too tightly from top to bottom and, as a result, there isn't enough room for expansion and contraction, your work is much more prone to issues such as cracks. As the wood moves and the glues creep, stresses build and something has to give.

Do you agree? Disagree? Let’s hear your take on this issue. Leave a comment. Also, if you a photo of a project you’ve built that has developed a crack, send me the photo and I’ll post it. There’s no better way to learn than from experience.

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, June 12, 2009 7:55:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [10] 

As a result of studying furniture as much as I did, I developed an eye for what does and doesn’t look right.

This learned skill came in handy while I was building a Shaker cupboard. I found a Watervliet cupboard pictured in Maine Antiques Digest and immediately decided to reproduce the piece (my cupboard is shown at the left). But As I began to create and install the mouldings, I found myself questioning the design of the smallish crown. It didn’t look right to me. (The original design is shown below.)

All in all, the change in the crown moulding made the piece more pleasing to my eye and evidently to the eyes of my customers.

And you think furniture design is not important? I’ll see you at the Woodworking in America Furniture Construction and Design Conference. I’ll be doing my best impression of a baby boomer returning to college. You know, sitting in the front row, gathering all the information I can and screwing up the grading curve. Flash back.

 — Glen D. Huey



Click Here For Conference Information

Tuesday, June 09, 2009 11:14:48 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [6] 

I built a customer-ordered Shaker chest of drawers that I planned to deliver over the holiday weekend. Because this project is a future Popular Woodworking article, I had to get an "opener" shot before I left (that's what we call the pretty picture at the start of an article).

Once again I relied on my "Just in time" inventory system. Two days before the shoot I came into the shop to dye the chest. I mixed the dye and was ready to pour the mixture into my spray gun...but I could not find my gun. I seem to have lost my HVLP gun while moving between Marc Adams School of Woodworking (where I taught a class on finishing) and my shop.

I rooted around my shop like a pig hunting for truffles (probably not the best self-description to use). I found nothing. The Apollo Atomizer (A7500QT) spray gun I ordinarily use is on the injured reserve list and is out of the lineup until it's repaired. The older back-up gun I have is missing a few crucial parts that were scavenged to rehab the gun I misplaced. It turns out that I left the gun at the school in Franklin, Ind.

With my back to the wall, I purchased a new Earlex 5000 system for my shop. Popular Woodworking Editor Chris Schwarz has used the Earlex 5000 system and told me it did the job, but it's not the same as the more expensive HVLP units we’ve used. It was my turn to experience any differences.

Here's my take. The Earlex 5000 Spray Station is a two-stage turbine with a bleeder-type gun. I generally use an Apollo 1025 turbine (four-stage unit) with a non-bleeder spray gun. The Earlex is priced just below $300; the Apollo just tops $1,000.

The more stages in your system, the better the power coming from your turbine. The increased power allows the materials (aniline dye, shellac and lacquer, in my case) to be better atomized thus laying down a smoother coat of finish; to offset the lower power you simply thin the materials, but not too much.

A bigger difference is the bleeder gun vs. the non-bleeder gun. A bleeder gun blows air through the gun continuously. Whenever the turbine is turned on, the air blows. A non-bleeder gun allows the air to start and stop with the trigger action. Pull the trigger a little and the air flows.  Pull the trigger a lot to get the material to flow with the air. When you let go of the trigger, it all stops. All my guns are or have been non-bleeder types, so the idea of constant airflow always makes me wonder – I worry about blowing dust into the air and into my finish.

In using the Earlex unit, no junk found its way into my finish. The two-stage turbine worked fine after I thinned my lacquer (the viscosity of the water-based dye and the shellac thinned to a 1-1/2 pound cut was plenty to spray). I did have to work the spray pattern a bit differently than when I use the more expensive HVLP setup. I noticed the fan spray pattern on the Earlex gun was a little "dry" at the center of the fan, or more fluid was being pushed to the outside of the pattern. I had to keep the spray of the fan at a tighter overlap to get even coverage. If I moved as aggressively, as I do with the Apollo setup, a distinct streak would appear. (This is also why I change the fan-spray direction with each coat – spray one coat moving horizontally then the next coat with a vertical movement.)

I’m impressed with the Earlex 5000 system. It is a perfect starter unit and certainly a candidate for the woodworker who desires to spray finish, but doesn’t want the cost of the unit to equal that of a new 8" jointer. I would have no issues working with this system. However, due to the number of projects I finish each year, I think I’ll dedicate my Earlex HVLP unit to aniline dye and I’ll stick with my Apollo unit for my topcoat finishes.

I have to get that gun fixed!

— Glen D. Huey

Friday, May 29, 2009 1:17:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

For an upcoming article, I was researching turpentine when I followed a trail to a Valdosta State University web site. The web site is titled  “Faces” in the Piney Woods: Traditions of Turpentine in South Georgia. It is an oral history project of the South Georgia Folklife Project at the University. The term faces originated from the process that “turpentiners” went through to get the gum (tar) from the Slash Pine and Longleaf Pine trees. Cuts and scrapes in the bark resulted in a simplified “cat face” appearing on the trunk.

At one time, Georgia was the leader in extracting turpentine and rosin from the collected gum. It was a large industry that was especially important from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. In 2001 on August 9th, Major Phillips collected the last commercial bucket of gum in Georgia – it marked the end of domestic turpentining in the United States.

If the process of making turpentine is not something you’ve seen or studied – it’s new to me – then here’s a short lesson. (Sorry for the fuzzy photos. They were taken from video on the Valdosta State University web site.)
 
Turpentine (and rosin) is distilled from gum that’s collected from trees. To collect the gum, workers would begin by “pushing down” the bark of the tree. The work began in late winter, sometime in February or March. Pushing down involved a worker using a bush axe to clean the bark off a tree and provide an area to set up and collect the gum.

After the trunk was clean, a set of tins was nailed to the trunk. The tins were made up of an apron and a gutter. The apron was positioned level and the gutter angled into the apron. Five nails held everything in place. A cup – a collector that looked more like a pan for baking bread than a cup – was held just under the apron, again with nails. (Ever wonder why you find odd pieces of metal in some of your lumber!)

Next the tree would be “Streaked.” Done in late March or early April, a cut was made just above the tins. A little farther up the trunk, workers would use a hack to form a v-shaped notch across the cleaned area. The scraped cut is where the gum would ooze out of the tree. Each week a new scrape was added to the tree. Each scrape moved up the trunk. At the start of each year, the tins were placed higher up the tree, marking the trunk year by year. Each tree produced gum for five years.



“Dipping” a tree was when the cup was emptied into a bucket. The gum was scraped into a bucket with a paddle. The cleaned cup would then be re-positioned for the next amount of gum.The amount of gum from the tree would vary depending on the season, but once the cup was filled, the setup would have to be dipped. Two streaks would produce about a 1/2 gallon of gum in the summertime.

Buckets (recycled nail kegs) held about 20 cups (not a liquid measurement) of gum. The buckets were then dumped into barrels. The barrels, at least those shown in the video, were painted a specific color for identification purposes and held eight buckets of gum, or 435 pounds of crude tar. (Before the advent of steel barrels, oak barrels were used. The wooden barrels were stored in a waterhole to keep the staves tight.)

The gum was then heated in a still (remember Granny Clampet’s still). The heat would produce steam. As the steam moved through a length of coil, it would condensate and fill barrels with a water/turpentine mixture. Because turpentine is lighter than water, the solvent would reside at the top of a barrel and be drained off the water. We have turpentine.

I’ll bet you think differently the next time you pour turpentine.

Thursday, May 14, 2009 1:23:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [3] 

The keynote speaker for the Woodworking in American Design conference is Thomas Moser of Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers. Most of us were first introduced to Moser as we read his books. In fact, I remember in my early teens thumbing through my Dad’s copy of Moser's “How to Build Shaker Furniture”. Throughout the years I’ve returned to that book many times.

Like most of us who dabble in woodworking, Moser is good with his hands. He learned the skill by watching and working with his father. As a hobbyist, Moser decided to supplement his income by rehabbing old furniture – a great way to learn and understand furniture design, and to recognize what methods of construction work and what methods don’t. He purchased pieces, then cleaned, repaired and refinished those pieces in his home shop before selling them for profit.

Later, Moser returned to school where he earned a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York and began a high school teaching career in Michigan. After that, it was on to universities and colleges to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in Speech Communications. (You know he’ll be an excellent speaker!) All the while, he kept a home workshop up and running to enjoy woodworking.

In the early 1970s, while teaching at Bates College in Maine, Thomas decided it was time to walk away from teaching and begin a new career. In 1973, the Mosers (Thomas and his wife, Mary) opened Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers. The idea was to build one-of-a-kind furniture in Maine. He transformed his hobby into a business. A big business.

At the beginning, his furniture looked similar to the many designs and styles he had worked with and studied throughout the years: Shaker, Queen Anne and others. But that wasn’t the only work Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers did. The company's motto was, "If it's made of wood, we can do it."

During the past 35 years, some of Moser’s designs veered from those early influences and he began to develop a distinct style with a more contemporary look.  Also, the company has grown from a one-man enterprise to employ nearly 100 people. In and amongst that family of employees are three of his four sons – the one son who has moved on is also involved in a woodworking-related business. Today, Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers operates seven showrooms located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago and Freeport, Maine.

He’ll be joining us at Woodworking in America to talk about his journey. Not only will he share experiences found while building his business, but also his path along the design spectrum. For more information and to get a look at his company’s designs, visit thosmoser.com.

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:39:49 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

Conversation in the Popular Woodworking office this week centered on dust collection, or the lack thereof. It seems that I might be the odd man out due to my reluctance to attach a dust collector to my table saw. Whether I operated in a two-car garage shop or in a fully functioning woodshop that partially filled 4,000 square feet, I never hooked my table saw to a collector.

Why? There are a few reasons. First, I was (and am) leery of stumbling over the dust hose that is always stretched across what seems to be the best pathway to anything on which I am working. Second, if I position a dust collector near the table saw, there would be a time when whatever I am about to cut – or am in the middle of cutting – would have its path impeded by the collector. And third, the 4" dust port on my saw does not allow the dust to fully evacuate the saw’s cabinet, so I am constantly opening the door to dig out the waste.

My solution is to occasionally use a flat stick or cutoff and push the dust out of the base of the cabinet, then sweep up and pitch the dust.

Now I’m asking you: Do you collect the dust from your table saw with a broom or a machine? Please take a few seconds to respond to our survey.

 — Glen D. Huey

Friday, May 08, 2009 1:36:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [10]