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 Monday, September 08, 2008
Now Available: Special Issues for Digital Download
Monday, September 08, 2008 4:08:35 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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Video Shop Trick: Use Titebond Instant Bond to Fix Tenons
When cutting your tenons for mortise-and-tenon joints, invariably you will sometimes cut your tenons too thin. This week we got our hands on the new line of Titebond Instant Bond glues, and Senior Editor Glen D. Huey shows how to use these CA glues to fix this common problem. In this short video, you will see how using a CA glue and waste from your original cheek cuts you can quickly repair your joint. To view the whole line of Titebond Instant Bond Glues and see more of these CA glues in action, check out our IWF coverage video here.– Drew DePenning
Monday, September 08, 2008 3:25:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Sunday, September 07, 2008
Build the Holtzapffel Workbench Class Part 1: Sticks
Kelly Mehler and I both live in Kentucky, but his Kentucky is far different than mine. Tonight I packed up my truck in Ft. Mitchell – a suburb of Cincinnati – and made the 100-mile trek from the city to the Kelly Mehler's School of Woodworking in Berea, Ky.
Where I live, you can judge how close you are to the city’s center by how many Starbucks there are at each highway exit. As the city fell away tonight, their numbers diminished until I was confronted with soldiering on while sucking on an Excedrin or taking a chance on the coffee at Chester Fried Chicken.
By the time I reached Kelly’s school it was twilight. I unloaded my gear without incident, and as I write this blog entry the loudest noise is the crickets. And the brightest light is a toss-up between my laptop’s screen and the moon.
Tomorrow morning I start teaching a six-day class in building the Holtzapffel-style workbench I constructed last year for Woodworking Magazine. It’s a great workbench and is the one I have in my shop at home. But building eight workbenches in a week has turned out to be a logistical struggle for Kelly, who has been prepping stock for the class for too many days now.
You see, when Kelly and I decided to offer this class we really wanted to give the students a shot at actually completing the bench. Many people I’ve talked to who have taken bench-building classes have remarked that they only were able to work on the bench’s top.
So Kelly has been milling maple and gluing up blanks for legs and vise chops for days and days. When we start work tomorrow morning, we’ll have some chit-chat at first, but we’ll be gluing up the tops before lunch if all goes as planned.
The wood is waiting for them in four enormous piles on the ground floor of the shop. Each student’s top is dry-clamped and stacked on a cart. By the stairs is a large mound of leg blanks. Next to that mound is the stretchers and the vise chops. And over by the mortiser is a small army of wooden vise screws and all the other little bits of wood that will make the bench come together.
It’s going to be a week of physical exercise, but I expect the pace to be relaxed. It’s always that way when I teach at this school, and it is probably the result of the pastoral location and Kelly’s unflappable Zen-like vibe.
And the coffee helps, too.
Speaking of coffee, as I tooled through the rolling Bluegrass hills this evening I did spy one curious development on the landscape. At the Richmond exit – one exit away from Berea – they have a brand new Starbucks by the highway.
You could see it as sign of progress, or as something else.
— Christopher Schwarz Read "Build the Holtzapffel Workbench Part 2: Glue"
Read other entries by Christopher Schwarz
Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:59:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Tool Test: Final Cut Saw Blades
Combination tools are invading the woodworking area. Last year at AWFS, Jet Tools and Grizzly Industrial introduced jointer/planer machines. At the most recent IWF in Atlanta, Grizzly unleashed a machine that will plane a board and sand the piece as it passes through the machine – a helical-head planer and widebelt sander all in one. Sometimes, however, the most effective tool is a simple design change or adaptation. The tool that makes you slap your forehead and wonder why you didn’t think of that. The Final Cut saw blade could be just that tool.
Final Cut has designed and patented a 10", 40-tooth saw blade that’s fitted with a sanding disc (#100 grit is the only available grit) on both sides of the blade. The cost of the blade is $75. I have to admit I was skeptical and had questions when this blade landed in my in box. Gimmicky for sure, was my thought.
According to the company, the blade works because the sanding disc extends beyond the cut of the teeth, so the blade makes the cut and the sandpaper smooths the cut all in one motion. I installed the blade on our table saw and made a cut, fully expecting a less-than-spectacular result. To my surprise, the cut was clean and fully sanded. And I made that cut in 8/4 red oak. I was intrigued.
Then another set of questions came to mind.
- How long would the paper last? According to the company the sandpaper should last as long as the blade is sharp, or a single blade installed on a miter saw should make about 2,000 cuts through 2-1/4" pine casing.
- Can these discs be used on other manufactured saw blades? Yes you can, but this blade and this sanding were specifically designed to work together. The Final Cut blade is a 0.070" plate with a 0.104" kerf carbide tip. The relationship between a sanding disc and a saw blade manufactured by a different company may not yield the same results.
- If I cut to my layout line, how much additional material is removed by the sanding action? I was thinking I would have problems with hitting my mark, however blade sanding removes only an additional .004" after the cut. Working beyond those tolerances, for me, would be a little finicky.
- How costly are replacement discs? Sanding discs (pressure-sensitive and adhesive-backed) are available at the company store (click here) in packs of 10 priced at $60 and four-packs are $27.
- Besides a smooth cut, what are some other benefits? One issue with table saw cutting is the possibility of kickback. Not that this blade will eliminate kickback, but a Final Cut blade may reduce those possibilities by continuously sanding the workpiece even if it begins to pinch the blade, which is the major cause of kickback. Additionally, blade longevity is said to increase due to a reduction in friction, with the teeth no longer continuously rubbing against the cut surface.
I doubt I would use this blade on my saws full time (most of my ripping cuts are not the last step prior to assembly, and a lot of my miter saw cuts are to crosscut stock before milling), but I can see applications where the blade would be useful, such as mitered corners for frames or cabinet mouldings. The company's web site has additional information, click here. Also, I suggest a dust collector be used when cutting with this blade. The amount of generated dust is substantial. What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts or ways in which you could see a final cut saw blade being used. Or, if you think this is a gimmick, tell me why. —Glen D. HueyUpdate: I just got word from Final Cut that two 12" blades should be available late next week – a 32-tooth blade with #100-grit discs for $96.95 and a 72-tooth blade, also with #100-grit discs, for $124.95. Both 12" blades have a 1" arbor.
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey | Read other Tool Tests
Wednesday, September 03, 2008 11:42:02 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Grex: Our Favorite 23-gauge Pinners
The editors don't all agree on much here at Popular Woodworking,
so when we do, we think it's worth noting. When it comes to 23-gauge
pin nailers, we always reach for the unmistakable bright green nailer
from Grex. These nailers are extremely well made pieces of equipment,
almost never jam and fire pins that are an astonishing length (2").
Best of all, the pinner leaves little trace that it was there, so there
are no nail holes to fill. Above is a video (which was sponsored by Grex) that features the tool that was shot during the International Woodworking Fair. Plus below you will find two articles from past issues of Popular Woodworking that show why this is our favorite line of pinners. "Tool Test" – April 2007 (Issue #161)Twenty-three gauge headless pinners have come a long way in recent years, and we were glad to test the new Grex model P645L in the shop. The new edition is an upgrade from the P630 model in a number of ways. First, there’s the additional range of fastener lengths. Now you can use fasteners in 12 different lengths from 1/2" to 1-3/4" in size. This is a 3⁄8" increase in the total fastener length from the earlier tool’s top end. Is this something big? If you’re attaching face frames, it might just be great news because of the additional holding power. This was evident in plywood as well.  Next, while Grex has continued using the adjust-free magazine (no need to adjust for each change in fastener size), the double trigger safety and rubber hand grip, there is a new feature in the P645L that I found especially interesting – the lock-out mechanism (shown in the inset photo). If you have ever attached mouldings to your projects only to find that the pinner was emptied sometime during the task, you will appreciate this feature, too. Dry firing will not happen after the number of remaining fasteners drops below six or seven pins. Of course, this feature can be over-ridden if you are about to complete the task.  How does the pinner operate? I shot the 1-3/4" pins through 4/4 pine and 6/4 red oak without any problems. The pins did move slightly with the grain of the wood, however nothing more than you would expect. The P645L is a bit weightier than the previous model by almost a half-pound but it is still light enough to use for an eight-hour work day. Unlike many of those in the construction trades, I am not a fan of the belt hook. I cannot see dragging the air hose around the woodworking shop while attaching mouldings. Fear not, I am sure that the feature can be removed if need be. SPECIFICATIONS Grex 23-gauge Headless PinnerStreet price: $330 Fastener sizes: 1/2" to 1-3/4" Weight: 2.68 lbs. Performance: ●●●●● Price range: $$$$ Grex: 626-289-7618 or grexusa.com"Best New Tools of 2005" – December 2005 (Issue #152) In the interest of full disclosure, know this: We’re fools for 23-gauge headless pinners. There’s no better pneumatic tool for attaching delicate mouldings without worrying about splitting the work. The only limitation we’ve encountered with these fine air guns is that they generally only fire pins up to 1" in length. That does get you most of the way there, but more often than not, we want a 1-3⁄8" pin for attaching 3/4"- or 7⁄8"-thick moulding. Our prayers to the pneumatic goddess were answered this year with the Grex P635 headless pinner.This tool goes to 1-3⁄8" (1-1⁄8" and 1-3⁄8" pins are available from suppliers). If that’s all the tool did, we’d be happy. But the Grex goes a step further; it’s a well-designed gun. The fit and finish is excellent, for starters. It also exhausts out the rear and has a silencer. The safety on the gun is both safe and convenient. And the magazine for loading the pins is thoughtfully designed: A small metal clip keeps the pins from falling out of the magazine when you open it up, and the magazine automatically adjusts for different pin sizes (some pinners require you to reconfigure the magazine when you change to a different length). Plus, the tool’s shape and size allow you to get in tight spaces under mouldings. It’s pricey ($199) but we’re completely sold.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008 2:04:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Build a Boat in Less than a Week
 In February 2005, John Wilson (whom you likely know from his Shaker box articles) wrote a story for us on building a “Sailor Girl”– a 12'-long boat made in just three-and-a half days (including the sail!) with plywood and epoxy – materials readily available at most home centers. (We’ve posted a pdf of the article at the end of this entry.)
John is the founder of The Home Shop, a Charlotte, Mich.-based supplier of Shaker box materials, and woodworking school where he and others teach classes on a wide variety of topics, including (natch) Shaker box building, hand-cut dovetails, mortise-and-tenon joinery and how to make your own travisher plane. For many years, John has also taught a class on making a “Sailor Girl” boat.
Next year, however, John is expanding The Home Shop classes to include more Shaker box-building offerings, so May 14-17, 2009, will be the last opportunity to take “Sail Boat Building,” and demand will be strong. A $200 deposit secures you a spot in the class. For details and to sign up for the final Sailor Girl session, call John at 517-543-5325 EST.
SailorGirl.pdf (968.92 KB)— Megan Fitzpatrick
Read other entries by Megan Fitzpatrick
Thursday, August 28, 2008 12:31:56 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Bob's Bench: A Free Video, DVD and SketchUp Model
Our October issue is reaching subscribers, and should be on newsstands soon. The cover story is about my new workbench, a blend of historic designs that is an ideal work holding solution for hand and power tool woodworkers alike. I've written about it here on the blog as I designed it, and during construction. I'm happy with it-it's nice and solid and will hold just about any piece of work for any task.  I designed the bench using Google SketchUp, a 3-D modeling program that I've been using for the last year or so. The nice thing about using SketchUp is it's similarity to building something, without the dust and the noise. You can put things together, take them back apart, and quickly make changes or see what different variations will look like. My upcoming book features a lengthy section on using the program for designing cabinets and furniture, and I'll be teaching a course or two on using it effectively next year. The price is also right-it's available as a free download by clicking here.  These two images were taken from my SketchUp model of the bench. If you have SketchUp on your computer, you can download the Sketchup model of the workbench and take a closer look from any angle you want to. If you want to build a version of the bench that differs in size, you can start with my model and make whatever modifications you would like. The model is compressed as a .zip file, but it's easy to open it on almost any computer. Download the SketchUp model by clicking this link: WorkbenchModel.zip (332.76 KB)The model is also available on Google's 3Dwarehouse. You can download it in SketchUp (.skp) format by clicking here. We also had the video camera running during the building process, and we have an hour-long DVD available in our store. In addition to the video content, there is a printed set of construction drawings, an enhanced PDF version of the article, a PDF slide show of additional step photos, and the SketchUp model on the disk. Finally, there is a free five-minute video available showing some of the many ways to hold work on the bench. This video is available by clicking here. If you have any questions or comments, you can post them here on the blog by clicking "comment" in the lower right, or you can send me an e-mail by clicking on my name. --Bob Lang
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:58:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
What's That Mean? Find out in a New Encyclopedia
 What do a compass plane, a lap splice and a swaged hinge have in common? They’re all things that a woodworker has a pretty good chance of running into at some time in their woodworking career. They’re also three phrases that may be unfamilar. That’s why those phrases are three of the 1,070 entries in The Woodworker’s Illustrated Encyclopedia.
Woodworking has a language that is unique, and if you’re new to the craft (or honestly, even if you’ve been doing it for a number of years) there is terminology that will be new to you. We’ve seen only a few books that tackle the terminology of woodworking. Some have been British, and as such they had a different slant on many of the terms. And a couple cast too broad a net, covering tools and concepts well beyond woodworking. Author Graham McCulloch decided woodworkers needed an encyclopedia to help them through the language, and he also decided adding photos and illustrations to the definitions would make things even more clear. We agreed, and it’s been a fascinating process.
After compiling listings for five years, Graham started putting the definitions together and developed helpful illustrations for each. Some were easy; "hammer" has 24 illustrations. Others proved challenging; "crazing" ("a series or network of fine cracks in a varnish or lacquer finish due to age or excessive sunlight exposure. Humans wrinkle, furniture crazes") was the last definition to be illustrated. It seems crazed furniture is not a photo most woodworkers have in their portfolio.
Most of us would agree that a dictionary or encyclopedia isn’t on most people’s summer reading list (let’s face it – it’s a reference book, not literature). So Graham also worked to keep things entertaining throughout. I’m particularly fond of the "Duct Tape" entry. It traces the beginnings of this humble giant back to ancient Greece, including the autographed photo of the originator, Aristotle Duct.
If you’re new to woodworking, or if you’ve been working wood for decades, The Woodworker’s Illustrated Encyclopedia will prove invaluable, educational and entertaining. We'll announce it here when the book is available (late September) at the Popular Woodworking Shop, but in the meantime, take a look at some of our other offerings.
— David Thiel, editor, Popular Woodworking Books
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 8:40:01 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, August 25, 2008
September Seminar in San Diego with Bob Lang
The San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association has invited me to come out and give a three-day seminar September 12, 13 and 14. This is one of the oldest and best organized woodworking clubs in the country, well-known for their annual Design in Wood competition. These guys know how to put on an event, and I'm excited to be a part of this year's Fall Seminar. I'll be speaking and showing photos Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday I'll be building a piece of furniture.
 What's unique about this event is it's location and presentation. I'll be on stage in an auditorium, along with a complete shop set-up. The audience will be in comfy, theatre-style seats watching me on stage, as well as on two large screens that will show details of what I'm doing. I'll be bringing along hand tools and jigs and you'll be able to watch the complete process of making through mortise and tenons as well as other joints and details of this Arts & Crafts style buffet.  My talk on Friday night will include some history of the Arts & Crafts movement, as well as the design process, and how I arrived at the design of this piece. I'll preview the building process and will be answering questions about my work and what we do here at Popular Woodworking. On Saturday and Sunday, the club is going all out to make this an enjoyable experience. In addition to the cushy seats and big screen video, breakfast, lunch and beverages are all included in the modest price. The club is also providing each attendee with a copy of one of my books.  We had originally intended to give everyone a copy of my new book, Drafting and Design for Woodworkers, but that title won't be available until late in October. Instead, we've decided to let those who sign up before September 1 take their pick of any of my other books. If you're planning on attending, additional titles will be available at a discounted price, and without any fees for shipping. If you've already signed up, you'll be receiving an e-mail from me directly to choose your book. If you haven't signed up, seats are still available through the SDFWA website. Click on the link at the bottom of the page to reserve your spot. I'm looking forward to seeing you there. More information about the event is available from SDFWA, and more information about my books is available from my web site, craftsmanplans.com. --Bob Lang
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Monday, August 25, 2008 12:48:34 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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The New Powermatic 18" Band Saw: Totally Overbuilt
Every time I go to Atlanta or Las Vegas for one of the big woodworking shows, there's always one tool that makes me think about selling my plasma in order to get it into my shop. This year at the International Woodworking Fair, it was Powermatic's new 18" monster band saw.
Barry Schwaiger of Powermatic demonstrated the saw's features to us, though really the saw did all the talking.
The saw, available at the end of the year, reminds me of a lot of the old Crescent or Tannewitz band saws I've seen in professional workshops. The first thing I noticed is that everything on the saw is cast iron or steel.
"We almost had a no-plastic rule," Barry says. "Except for the switch, everywhere you touch is cold metal."
The saw has an 18" resaw capacity under its bearing-style guides, which all adjust independently (nice touch). As evidence of the stoutness of the saw, Barry dropped the blade guide al the way down to the table. Then he invited us to try to move the guides. No dice. The guides are rock solid.
The table itself is a big chunk of iron and is tilted with a rack-and-pinion mechanism (all metal, by the way). The table tilts to the left by 14° specifically to accommodate people who cut their dovetails on the band saw. And the machanism has a clever way to bypass the 0° stop for the table to make this change effortless.
The blade-tensioning system appears quite robust, with large acme-thread screws. And its quick-tensioning feature has three settings. You can release all the tension to remove the blade, keep a little tension on the blade between jobs, or fully tension the blade for work.
The saw is powered by a 5-horsepower motor (available with either a single-phase or three-phase motor), and the saw operates at two speeds. To stop the saw there is a fancy footbrake that looks like it should be on a stock car, not a band saw.
"I told my guys I wanted this to be the Harley-Davidson of band saws," Barry says. "They went a little over the top with that one."
The saw, built in Taiwan, weighs about 800 pounds. Barry says the price will be "tickling $4,000." That puts the Powermatic in the same price and specification range at Laguna's 18" Resaw Master Band Saw. And that, Barry says, is intentional.
"We're going straight after Laguna on this," Barry says.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. You might want to also check out the video at the top of this entry that David Thiel shot while at the show. In the interest of full disclosure, the video was sponsored by Powermatic, but it really does show off the features of the saw.
Read other entries by Christopher Schwarz
Monday, August 25, 2008 11:46:19 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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