Search
Navigation
Blogroll
Archive
|
 Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Don’t Use Push Pads or Sticks: Part 2
 If you haven’t read the first part of this discussion (including the comments), please do so. Click here to jump to that entry.
As I wrote in one of my comments on the previous entry, I knew this would be a hot topic for the blog. And, I was right! Finally, the smoke has cleared a bit, so it’s time to stoke the fires again. If you please, I’d like to step up on my soapbox.
I’m amazed at the level of fear that woodworkers have for their power tools. I would never spend my well-earned money for a machine that frightened me each time I used it. How could one comfortably get anything accomplished? Most of you do woodworking as a hobby, not for business. As a hobby, woodworking is supposed to be relaxing and guide you to your "happy place." If you’re worried about using the tools, you’re not going to arrive at your intended destination. Spend the time to understand the tools and what they can do.
One comment suggested that all power tools are inherently dangerous. Does that mean we should forgo power tools in favor of hand tools? Wait – hand tools can be dangerous as well. So, should we pass on using them, too? I believe that we’re told so often how dangerous woodworking machines are that we’ve reached a state of panic instead of simply being informed. These tools are no more dangerous than driving a car, being hooked to the Internet via a computer or walking alone on a dark street at night (think about it). You have to pay attention and not become complacent.
No tool is safe in the hands of someone who is not paying attention to what they’re doing. Operator error is the number one cause of accidents in the shop. We have to be responsible for ourselves.
Everything has a level of risk associated with it. How we choose to face that risk speaks volumes about our personalities.
Here are a number of points about the blog entry and the comments.
• Gloves should fit snug on your hand. I once bought an under-sized pair and found the fit perfect for use at the jointer (shown in the photo).
• As I stated, I use gloves only at the jointer – not at the planer or table saw, as some of the early responders hinted toward.
• I never, as seen in the photo both here and in the previous entry, allow my gloves or fingers to extend over the edges of the lumber I’m jointing. This is why I set limits to the width of boards I run in this manner.
• I cannot remember a time when I ran ¼” material over the jointer knives (nor can any of our other editors). To mill to that thickness, start with a 4/4 piece of stock, joint one face surface then move to a planer, band saw or table saw. If you find movement or twist after you’ve ripped to the desired thickness, you should finish with hand tools – or start over with a new board.
• In reference to the above, I use kiln-dried (KD) lumber that has stabilized in my shop. In using air-dried lumber you should expect some problems in this area. I’ve run into it with KD stock too. I also never use boards with loose knots (a problem noted in a comment).
• I’ve never had a piece of stock blow apart or jump from the jointer bed or become air-born. Perhaps this is a reflection of the lumber I’ve selected or, knowing the methods of work at the jointer (and each tool in the shop).
• Replace worn gloves just as you would a dull saw blade or a dull blade in a utility knife. Do you check these other tools regularly or simply awake one day with the thought in mind? Don’t become complacent.
• When I teach woodworkers how to use a jointer, I explain how things can go wrong using the machine, and how to use the push pads that come with the tools as well as designs for better devices (shown in Marc Adams’ article in the February 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking). Then I show them how I operate at the jointer with gloves. My students choose their preferred method based on their comfort levels.
I don’t want people to get hurt using woodworking tools. I also don’t want us to be afraid of these power tools, or any tools. We need woodworkers to have fun, complete successful projects and get the next generation involved in the craft.
–Glen D. Huey
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 2:19:31 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
|
|
Saturday, January 19, 2008
New Podcast on ‘Workbenches’ at Woodworkers Resource
 If you aren’t yet completely saturated with information on workbenches, then get comfortable and read on. Craig Stevens at the Woodworkers Resource has just released an hour-long interview of me about my book, my work at the magazine and the craft in general.
The interview is in mp3 format (it’s about 55mb) and can be streamed from most internet browsers. You can even save it to your hard drive and load it on an iPod. You can read more about the interview and start streaming it here – but be sure to check out the rest of the excellent site, which includes video, Craig’s blog, a newsletter and an eBook of strategies for teaching woodworking to kids.
Craig conducted the interview on Jan. 13 while I was in my shop working some frustrating bookcases made from sub-standard plywood (that long national nightmare is almost at an end, by the way). During our chat we discussed:
• How I got interested (read: freakishly obsessed) with the topic of workbenches.
• What a typical workday is like at Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine.
• My favorite workbench (which doesn’t exist as of yet).
• The types of furniture and projects I build at home.
• A little bit about the future of my Lost Art Press web site.
Craig did a great job with the interview and kept it casual yet highly focused (I have a tendency to blather; just ask my kids). So thanks to Craig and I hope you like the interview.
— Christopher Schwarz
Read other entries by Christopher Schwarz
Saturday, January 19, 2008 10:21:46 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A Proper Bench for Bob-Answers and Revisions
Because my last post generated a lot of response, I'm posting some more pictures of the bench I'm planning to build, and I'll answer some of the questions raised. A lot of the changes in the drawing below were in my head, but hadn't appeared in the drawing. The original post was a spur of the moment thing, motivated by Christopher Schwarz's response to a question on WoodCentral. My original plan was to build a near copy of a Nicholson bench, but as I thought about it, and saw the version that Chris built, I started making some changes.  The dog holes and quick-release vise have been moved closer to the front edge. I still need to work out the hole locations for the face vise. I've added a shelf between both sets of rails-simply adding cleats along the inside bottom edges of the rails and running planks across them. I think they'll work for keeping parts, clamps and other stuff handy without hiding them away, or interfering with the holdfasts. The tool trays are simple boxes that rest on another set of cleats along the bottom edge of the two top slabs. I'm planning on some stubby dowels in the cleats-holes in the top and bottom edges of the boxes will fit over the dowels to keep the boxes in place.  The bench is designed to be disassembled. The top pieces bolt down to
two end assemblies, the upper rails with the half lap dovetails will
bolt to the legs, and the lower rails are a wedged dovetail that I saw
on a drawing of an older Nicholson bench. If (or when) the rail to leg connections loosen, I can reach down and smack the wedge in to tighten things up. I'm curious to see often this will need to be done. With the wedge removed, the end of the rail lifts up and out of the leg. The top rail's face is flush with the leg, an important part of the "clamp to the front" scheme.  This view from below shows the "round thing". It's actually a cam screwed into the leg and turning it will raise or lower the planing stop. This is another detail I lifted from an old drawing, and I'm curious to see if it works. I expect there will be some fiddling with it to get it to work the way I think it should. Thanks for all the comments and questions, it's nice to get feedback from readers before a project as well as after. --Bob Lang
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Thursday, January 17, 2008 2:39:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Don't Use Push Sticks or Pads
I hope you’ve had an opportunity to read the “Woodworking Essentials” column in the February 2008 issue of Popular Woodworking (#167). In it, Marc Adams discusses power jointers and a better way to work. I have to admit that I had a few issues with Marc’s article, but I’m not the safest guy in the shop. However, I did learn a number of ways to improve my time at the jointer.
One area in which I veer from Marc’s teachings is in the use of push sticks and push pads. Let me say that if you use these implements, he shows you exactly how they should be gripped and used. My statement is: I don’t use sticks and pads. I use gloves. There it is – deal with it.
OK, now that you’ve calmed down and the little hairs on the back of your neck have laid flat, let me explain what, why and how I use gloves. I only use them at the jointer and I remove them before moving to any other tools.
The gloves I use are gripping-style gloves that are used to grip lumber or other materials. I’ve used PVC dot-covered gloves, gloves that are palm coated with rubber and those with a honeycomb pattern.
To answer the "why," I feel I have more control when using gloves. Naturally, your hands read or feel the lumber as it moves over the jointer bed. You can feel where the board hits and skips the knives or if you need to speed or slow the travel to obtain a cleaner cut. When you add a push stick or pad to the process, you remove the ability to feel the board as well as access that information. Also, the gripping action of my gloves ensures that I’ll not slip while working. That’s not something I feel you can say when using the push pads (those always seem awkward to use). And imagine the ease of moving the board back for a second pass – no putting down the push stick or pad to then grab the board to move.
Next, let’s look at how I use gloves. Of course, you should never allow your hand to perch beyond the trailing edge of the board. So, don’t use your palm to push the lumber. The reason we’re tempted to hook our palm over the trailing edge of the board is to gain a hold and not allow the lumber to slip. But, if you’re using grip-type gloves, you can simply place your hands anywhere along the board – the gripping action holds firm and allows you to move the lumber with ease.
Even I have a limit to the glove scenario. I will not use gloves for jointing pieces that are less than 3" wide. Below that width I cannot position my hands or fingers properly to gain the added control. From 3" to 5" I use my glove-covered fingertips and the side of my hands for my hold. Above 5" in width I position my palms flat to the stock at go about my work.
Now before you send me a message or comment on how wrong I am because you’ve read “no gloves in the shop” all your woodworking life, buy a pair of gloves and give it a try. I’ll bet you’ll immediately notice the added control and the information gained from your work. But, if you try it and still think I’m wrong – fire away.
And if you happen to agree with my glove use, add your comment. We might start a new movement that will rock the foundation of safety in the woodshop.
–Glen D. Huey
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 11:34:23 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Tool Test: Combination Machines
 Combination machines that offer a jointer and planer in one unit are the talk on the Internet and most woodworking forums these days. We’ve written about the Grizzly and Jet machines in our AWFS coverage, listed the tool as a “Best New Tool of 2007” in our December issue (#166), and we continue to receive questions on a weekly, if not daily, basis. We've test-driven both, so, let’s take a look at the Grizzly G6033 and the Jet JJP-12 and do a little side-by-side comparison.
In my opinion, there are a number of areas to discuss such as the motor, the jointer's fence, the blade guard, the jointer's table and the complexity of the changeover operations (switching between the jointer and the planer).
In comparing the motors of the two machines, one glaring difference stands out – horsepower. A 5-horsepower, 220-volt motor powers the Grizzly tool while the Jet machine boasts a 3-horsepower, 220-volt motor. Each motor produces more than  5,000 rpm making the number of cuts per inch about equal; Grizzly has 15,102 cuts compared to Jets 16,500 cuts.
After the motors, the next most important feature is the fence. The best feature of the fence on the Jet machine is that it does not need to be removed in order to switch between the two operations. However, you do have to slide the fence fully to the rear of the tool in order to lift the jointer bed. The fence is aluminum and over-sized. Being attached in two locations made the fence difficult to adjust (see photo). We experienced racking as we slid the fence across the bed. Knobs and levers hold the fence in position and we felt there could have been more development based around the Jet fence.
The Grizzly fence is strong and easy to adjust. A simple flip of a lever allows you to rotate a knob and move the fence across the jointer bed. The bad news with the Grizzly design is having to remove the entire fence before converting the machine to planer mode. The fence slides off a dovetail way, which is easy enough, but storing the fence each time you use the planer is burdensome. Additionally, because the single tube holding the fence is long and sticks out the back of the machine, it isn’t possible to position the tool tight to a wall in the shop. In essence, the footprint of the tool grows. Overall, however, the Grizzly fence is much better than the Jet in our opinion.
The blades guards for these two machines come from different universes. The Grizzly has the more familiar (at least in the United States) pork-chop style guard. It swings out as the material, and your hand, moves past the cutterhead. The Jet features a design similar to European machines in which the rigid guard raises and lowers, allowing you to adjust to the thickness of your stock. This type guard helps keep your hands from ever passing over the blades. The staff prefers the Jet guard. It's an overall safer design.
When it comes to jointer tables, the Jet machine has a single, heavy table. The top is corrugated. And while that might be easier to keep flat during manufacturing, we felt it added a bit of drag to the workpiece. The jointer table is locked to the base with two catches, one at each end. Release the catches then lift the bed. After that, all you need to do is flip the dust-collection hood and you’re ready to plane your stock. Of course, that’s after you spin the hand wheel to raise the planer bed. (As with all combo machines, you have to lower the planer bed to convert back to the jointer and vice versa.)
The Grizzly has a split, smooth and polished jointer bed and that means an extra step in converting to planer mode. Unlock the catches and lift either the right- or left-side tables, then lift the other half. It doesn’t matter which half is lifted first, you still have to fiddle with the blade guard to finish the positioning of the jointer tables – the guard has to be maneuvered out of the way of the outfeed table.
Next, you’ll need to position the dust collection for the planer. The hood is flipped similar to the Jet but without any latch hook to keep it locked. Also, because this tool has a separate dust-collection port for the jointer, the attachment of the hose to the planer is tricky due to part of the jointer hood being in the way.
Both machines performed excellently in milling and regular operations (we have the G6034 spiral head Grizzly combination machine so a one-to-one comparison is not possible). And prices for the two competitors are relatively close. The Jet JJP-12 can be purchased for around $1,700 while the purchase price for the Grizzly G6033 is at $1,795 (the spiral cutterhead brings the price to $2,295).
Whether these types of machines are the answer to your shop needs is left up to you. I, for one, am quite fond of my dedicated jointer and planer tools. I’m not yet ready to experience changeover when switching operations. There are many times I appreciate leaving the setup on the tools in place. Returning to the jointer to mill another piece of stock is better if you don’t have to spend time carefully matching previous work.
– Glen D. Huey
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 12:50:18 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
A Proper Bench for Bob
In Christopher Schwarz's new book Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use, Chris talks about Thomas Stangeland's working on a makeshift bench. My story is quite similar. Although I've made my living (if you call that living) as a woodworker for more than 30 years, I've never worked on a nice bench on a regular basis. The closest I've come was a maple butcher-block slab on a 2 x 4 base with a quick-release vise. Most of the time, it's been something makeshift and I employ some novel ways of holding work – plane stops stuck down with narrow crown staples, clamps holding clamps holding the work, and I've even been known to sit on things to keep them in place. It's about time I had the bench I've always wanted, and I've been working off and on drawing one for about a year. I'm close to a final design and I'll be building it for an upcoming article in Popular Woodworking. 
Here is what I have in mind, a combination of features that appeal to me and fit the way I work. It has some similarities to the benches you've seen in Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine in the last couple years, with a few twists. Like the Roubo bench, the legs are flush with the front of the 3"-thick top. It also has some details lifted from the Nicholson bench. I've moved the apron that is prominent in the Nicholson down and left a gap between it and the top. This will allow me to clamp stuff to the front of the bench, and still reach in to clamp things down to the top.
In the center are four removable, reversible boxes. These will function as tool trays, but when they fill up with junk they can be removed for cleaning, or reversed to fill the area between the two long slabs of the top. I'm hoping this is a viable solution to my love/hate relationship with tool trays. The other advantage of taking them out at times is to provide yet another place to clamp to. I'll also be able to slide drawer boxes over an end of one of the outer sections to work on them before the bottoms go in.
So let me know what you think. Suggestions are welcome – you can leave a comment here or send me an e-mail. I'm still deciding some issues; I haven't yet settled on vises and I'm thinking of adding a shelf at both the bottom rails and at the bottom of the rails across the front. No cabinets though – that's a separate project I need to get back to. Everyone else in the shop is tired of working around the face frame I made last summer.
--Bob Lang
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 11:43:04 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Friday, January 11, 2008
Woodworking Magazine -- Now Available by Subscription
 Woodworking Magazine, a sister publication of Popular Woodworking, is now (finally!) available by subscription. Here's a little history, in case you're not familiar with Woodworking Magazine. In 2004, it was started by the Popular Woodworking staff – without the blessing of our parent corporation. The market, they thought, was too crowded for another woodworking magazine. But we knew in our gut that this wasn't just another magazine. So, we kept putting it out on the newsstands twice a year as an experiment to see if readers would embrace a magazine with black-and-white photos, techniques that frequently defied conventional wisdom – and no advertising. Now, thanks to our loyal base of readers, we will publish the magazine four times in 2008, and offer subscriptions by mail. You can find out more about the magazine, and download a free sample issue, at the Woodworking Magazine web site. You can also see what a bunch of unbiased readers have to say about Woodworking Magazine on the Woodnet forum, listen to a podcast about the magazine from The Wood Whisperer, and read just a sampling of unsolicited praise below. First, and most important, Woodworking Magazine is the most important contribution to woodworking since the invention of electricity. If I could give an Oscar, or some other widget, for achievements in woodworking publications you all would smack-dab snatch it away in fine style.
-- Bill Wiese, Melbourne, Florida
Your magazine is just what I am looking for to grow the skills that I have. I read every article and learn so much it is scary.
-- Anthony Kennedy
It’s a breath of fresh air to get technical woodworking tips for those woodworkers who still know how to use their hands to craft something.
-- Michael Morin
It's a great publication – too nice to be called a magazine.
Friday, January 11, 2008 2:58:45 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Won't the Shaker Firewood Box Explode?
Reader John Griffin-Wiesner writes: Just got the new Popular Woodworking issue yesterday (February 2008). Another fine issue!
I am confounded by the Shaker wood box. How are the front and back panels supposed to move being nailed to the sides which have the grain running vertically?
Answer: Great question. The answer is: nails.
Lots of earlier furniture appears to be nailed without regard for wood movement, yet it survives to this day intact. In fact, when I visited Pleasant Hill to find a good design for a wood box (I saw about 10 of them), all of them were:
1. Still in good shape without signs of repair or restoration. 2. Nailed together without regard to cross-grain.
Unlike screws, nails will bend a bit as the wood expands and contracts with the seasons. There are limits, of course. And I always prefer to create constructions that accommodate wood movement rather than rely on nails. (By the way, just about any kind of nail will do. I like cut nails, but the wire nails bend easily, too.)
But they work. I've seen it too many times in too many pieces of antique furniture to dismiss it. You can download the entire article on building the Shaker Firewood Box using the link below. You also can read more about my visit to Pleasant Hill on the Woodworking Magazine blog here. 030-31_FEB08PW_ICDT.pdf (280.35 KB) — Christopher Schwarz
Read other entries by Christopher Schwarz
Friday, January 11, 2008 10:45:44 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Thursday, January 10, 2008
And Where Do You Put Your Hand?
One of my favorite woodworking books is Cabinetmaking and Millwork by John L. Feirer. I listed it as one of my three choices for "Must Have Woodworking Bibles" in the Autumn 2006 issue of Woodworking Magazine. It was a high-school shop textbook; my well-worn copy carries a copyright date of 1967, and it is an incredible source of jigs, fixtures and techniques for using woodworking machines. I know I'm not the only one who values this book because many of the jigs described in its pages appear over and over again in other books and in magazines, published after this book.  Nearly all of the jigs and methods in the book are safe, efficient time savers. In my way of thinking, this is what a jig should do. If it takes longer to make the jig than to perform the process another way, what is the point of the jig? One of my gripes about most jig articles is that they give the impression that building the jig will replace the need to develop the skill needed to complete the task at hand. In my experience, you need at least as much skill (often more) to make a workable jig than to go jigless and just make the thing. The jig exists to make a repetitious task less of a chore, and a potentially dangerous task safer. A jig can't make you more capable than you are. Tapering legs is a case in point, and the illustration on the left, from Cabinetmaking and Millwork, is an excellent example of a jig gone horribly wrong. I googled "table saw tapering jig" and came up with 9,650 images. About half of them were variations on this jig, including several commercially made ones. The other half of the images were a collection of generally complicated ways to work around the problems inherent in this device. This subject came up the other day at lunch. Chris, Glen and I were out visiting a local reader's shop, and the reader mentioned that he had a method for tapering legs using a jig he made and his surface planer. His motivation? He didn't like the table saw jig shown here. None of us like the jig either, and we each have a quick, reliable method to taper legs. Glen uses the jointer, and there is a video of his technique on the " Videos" page of the web site. Chris (as you might guess) cuts them on the band saw and removes the saw marks with a handplane, and I use a simple sled on the table saw that takes about five minutes to make, is simple to set up and keeps my hands a safe distance away from the saw blade. So what don't we like about the ubiquitous jig shown above? As commonly illustrated, it is only good for short legs with large tapers. Make one long enough to put a 3/8" taper on a dining-table leg and you'll have an unwieldy mess dancing in the air a couple feet behind the saw. There isn't a good way to hold the work to the jig and the jig against the saw's fence at the same time. And, if you get far enough along to begin the cut, where will your pushing hand be at the end? Apparently, the model for the drawing wasn't quite sure on his first two or three attempts at using this thing. The four people at lunch the other day were each in possession of 10 fingers, many years of woodworking experience, and enough common sense not to order the fish. There are a couple things we've been doing here at Popular Woodworking to stop the repeated publication of dubious jigs and techniques. Just because something has been in print doesn't mean it's a good idea. We question these things, try them in our shop, and if they don't work we're willing to say "the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Our new column "Jig Journal", which premiered in our August 2007 issue, is dedicated to showing simple, effective jigs. In our November issue, Marc Adams began a seven-part series of articles on "A Better Way to Work." As the owner of the largest woodworking school in the country, Marc is especially concerned about safety, and this series is not a rehash of the same old rules. We're proud to publish this type of article and think that's what makes us a little different. We hope you do, too. -- Bob Lang
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:33:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Tool Review - You Make The Call
Occasionally, Popular Woodworking receives tools that we immediately recognize as good, if not great, ideas and designs. However, they do not seem to fit into a woodshop in the best way. I don’t want to simply pass on writing about these tools because I know they are beneficial to some of our readers and sometimes I think I might not see how the tools can be used in the shop. You know the saying, something about not seeing the forest because of all the trees. So, over the next few weeks, I’m offering up a few tools that fall into this category. I would like for you to evaluate these tools and let me know if I’m right (they are great tools, but are not totally useful in the woodshop) or if I clearly missed the boat and these tools would make terrific additions to your woodworking experience.  First up is the Starrett Prosite 5-N-1 Protractor. This protractor is available at Amazon.com for $85 ( link to tool). Popular Woodworking reviewed the earlier version of this tool December 2004. In his review, David Thiel wrote that the angle gauge was very easy to use for finding angles and miters. He also wrote that the szie made it a bit bulky to use to fine-tune machine setup in the shop (Click the link to read Thiel’s review Prosite Protractor.pdf (316.64 KB)). Today, even with the improvements to the markings – they’re laser engraved – and the addition of a couple charts that help find the appropriate settings for cutting crown mouldings and determining roof pitches, my take on this tool is that it’s a wonderful tool for the construction trade. If I were still in that field, I could find many uses for the Prosite Protractor. But in the woodshop, I just cannot find more than an occasional application. How about it? Am I missing a great use for the Starrett 5-N-1 tool? Or, is it a great tool for applications other than woodworking? Leave a comment for everyone to see or, if you choose, send a message directly to me. If I've missed the call on this tool, I go to the wall to get a review in the magazine. Next, we’ll take a look at a direct fit air hose system. It’s called APEGRIP and it’s by High Tech Air Connection. –Glen D. Huey
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Tuesday, January 08, 2008 9:40:45 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
|
|
|