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 Monday, November 24, 2008
Roy Underhill Contemplates The Ax
Read other entries by Christopher Schwarz
Monday, November 24, 2008 1:57:21 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Going Back to My Old School
When you hear about high school wood shop programs these days, the news is generally sad. Many schools have given up entirely, selling off the equipment and sending the message that there isn't any value in learning to make things out of wood. So it was refreshing to be invited to speak to the wood shop classes at my alma mater, Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio. My topic was Arts & Crafts furniture, and I was pleased to see that the program is not only alive and well, but it is thriving and heading in an interesting direction.  Troy Spear answers student's questions about their current project.
The program at Kent Roosevelt is a part of Wood Links, a partnership between the woodworking industry and educators to provide meaningful training in woodworking. The goal is to equip the students with the means to get jobs in the industry by certifying their skill levels. The program is led at Kent by Troy Spear, shown in the photo above, who was recently named the Wood Links teacher of the year. Classes cover a wide range of relevant topics including AutoCAD, CNC programming, furniture design and hands-on woodworking.  The shop is nicely equipped with a mix of old and new equipment. In my day it was full of vintage Delta Unisaws and Band Saws. Those machines are still there, along with the most recent addition, the Altendorf sliding table saw seen in the photo above. Next on the wish list is a CNC router to ensure that these kids are learning on the same type of equipment that is used in the real world. As I set out to return to Cincinnati, I got one more reminder of life in my old home town, a nice dose of Lake Effect Snow. A local radio station let me know that the interstate west of Akron was experiencing a white out and was closed due to the number of wrecks. I decided to head south instead of west to get around the storm and was beginning to grumble about losing time when I looked to the left and saw a comforting sight.  My detour just happened to go by Hartville Tool, and they just happened to be having a sale. When life throws you a snowball . . . — Bob LangLooking for More Free Woodworking Information?• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE. • Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE. • Learn a new woodworking technique today. Click HERE. • Get 8 years of Popular Woodworking on one CD. Click HERE.
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Monday, November 24, 2008 1:53:39 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A Return to Power (And it's not Politics)
Having recently returned from our “Woodworking in America” conference, I immediately went to my shop and turned on a couple power tools. Whew! I needed to do that.
The weekend was great. I met so many woodworkers and I picked up so much hand-tool information that it will take me a week or two to record and arrange the vast amount of knowledge. I learned secrets to sharpening. I learned about handsaw blade setting. I learned the intricacies of how handplanes work, and how to correctly set the blade given the job the tool is asked to do. But after eight classes, I yearned for a three-pronged plug. I can also say that I stood up to St. Roy and refused when he cheered us to come together and “Just Say No To Power Tools.”
So that's why I scurried into the shop for a quick dose of motor hum.
More About Power Tools
It’s been three months since the mega-power-tool show in Atlanta. That would be the International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair-USA (IWF). And we’re beginning to see some of the tools shown there come to market. (Click here to see our coverage of IWF including videos.)
A case in point is Steel City Tool Works. The granite specialists in the woodworking machinery area introduced us to a number of tools that feature the igneous rock. A jointer that features a full granite fence – a feature that we saw from Steel City last year – along with a full granite table is now available. A 6" granite-bed jointer with quick-change knives is priced at $949; with a helical head it will be $1149. An 8" jointer with the quick-change knives is $1349. That machine with a helical head will set you back $1,649.
Also displayed at IWF in the SCTW booth was a 14" band saw with a granite table and lower wheel. The newly designed solid granite lower wheel makes sense because it’s perfectly balanced as it’s machined. The heavy mass of that wheel gives it more inertia when spinning, and the granite absorbs the vibrations from the motor, belt and shaft. “The result,” says Scott Box, Steel City president, “is a smoother running machine.” You can pick up a granite-wheeled band saw for around $750 right now. And you know you can expect more “rock” from Steel City.
In fact, granite is about to show up in another tool that’s not from Steel City’s stable. SCTW has worked with the manufacturers of and will supply the granite tops for a new Ridgid table saw that’s about to hit the market. We have one of those saws in house and should have some basic information for you shortly. Stay tuned.
Have you purchased or used a piece of machinery that has granite in the mix? Would you do so?
—Glen D. Huey
Looking for More Free Woodworking Information?• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE. • Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE. • Looking for free project plans? We have hundreds. Click HERE. • Learn a new woodworking technique today. Click HERE. • Want more videos? See all our free videos HERE. • Get 8 years of Popular Woodworking on one CD. Click HERE.
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Monday, November 24, 2008 1:16:25 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 21, 2008
"Cool Tools" Contest Winners
Last week we ran a contest asking for your submission of your favorite " Cool Tools." The responses were overwhelming, and after a random selection I am proud to announce the winners. Each winner will receive a DIY Network Komelon SS Gripper tape measure. So without further ado, here are the winners along with their votes for favorite "Cool Tool."
Thomas KathanI have been woodworking for a few years and would class myself as an intermediate - good with the yard items but not expert enough to make real intricate home furnishings - yet My son bought me a biscuit joiner and boy I love that - sure is a simple and secure way to join wood as compared to some of the more complicated techniques - e.g., mortise and tenons and secondly is my router and router table - once I tried it I fell in love with it - so many wonderful things can be done with a router
Josh BrownMy taiwanese wood-bodied jack plane from Lee Valley is my favorite "cool tool." It's simple to adjust and use, as well as nice to look at too. Mmmmm...rosewooooood... Ken AlcottMy favorite tool is my Ridgid TS3650. I have been able to learn so much as a newbie and this saw has been a lot of fun to work with. Thanks again to everyone for their submissions, and don't forget to catch the DIY Network's Holiday Blitz of "Cool Tools" starting Thanksgiving Day through November 30th. – Drew DePenning
Friday, November 21, 2008 10:22:51 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Woodworking in America Slideshow
We're editing our photos and video today from our Woodworking in America conference. In the meantime, please visit the excellent slideshow from Narayan Nayar. Narayan is a tremendous photographer – I think he took the best photo of Roy Underhill that I've seen so far.
Warning: There are a few photos here that will either make you drool or your wallet to twitch.
After you visit his Woodworking in America slideshow on flickr, I'd also check out Narayan's slideshow from the Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.
— Christopher Schwarz
Looking for More Free Woodworking Information?
• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE.
• Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE.
• Looking for free project plans? We have hundreds. Click HERE.
• Learn a new woodworking technique today. Click HERE.
• Want more videos? See all our free videos HERE.
• Check out our selection of half-price woodworking books HERE.
• Get 8 years of Popular Woodworking on one CD. Click HERE.
Read other entries by Christopher Schwarz
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:25:05 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Puzzle House: Built With One Tool and No Fasteners
Above, the Shopbot shed from the Maker Faire in Austin, Texas.
OK, you have a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. Your challenge is to design a house or structure using 4x8 sheets of plywood without driving a nail or screw. Oh, yeah, did I mention no glue either?
A recently closed exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York showed just how to do it, thanks to the efforts of the architecture and engineering colleges at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). You can watch a short video of the New Orleans House being assembled (click on the arrow in the lower right corner of the video player to advance to "Housing for New Orleans"). It took three MIT students just a few days to assemble the 20' x 40' one-story house that's part of the Museum's exhibit "Modern Dwellings: 5 Contemporary Pre-Fab Houses."
How does it work? Instead of stud walls, lengths of plywood strips lock together in an "egg crate" fashion. The exterior plywood edges have "tabs" milled into them so exterior sheets of plywood with corresponding "slots" are applied as a "skin" which, in effect, produces a torsion box. Where plywood sheets butted together, a series of joints not unlike an interlocking puzzle pieces were used.
All this precision cutting of a few hundred sheets of plywood was done using a Shopbot Buddy 48 CNC system. All the parts, according to Ted Hall, president of Shopbot, were then tapped together using a rubber mallet. He added that New York officials insisted all the parts be glued, although that wasn’t necessary to create an extremely rigid structure. In fact, he said, after testing MIT engineers and architects concluded the amount of plywood used could have been reduced by half or more and still provide sufficient strength. The New Orleans House was rated to carry a load of up to 250 people and used more than 500 sheets of plywood.
Why so much plywood? Hall said the MIT plan called for parts to be cut and delivered to the MOMA site in the sequential order of assembly. The material was not cut for optimized yield, which led to more waste, Hall explained.
Another example of the construction method was employed in a shed structure Shopbot produced for Austin, Texas "Maker Faire," where the company was awarded two blue ribbons from the editors of Make magazine – one ribbon for the shed and one for Shopbot Buddy 48 CNC machine. This kind of shed is today a more practical application of the building method because local building officials usually don't require permits for smaller structures and getting them to approve a new construction method is often problematic, Hall explained.
For MIT, the objectives of the design were to use locally available materials to produce a structure that could be erected quickly using parts either made on-site or near-by and require a minimum amount of labor and minimal construction skills. Using good design and engineering "digital cutting techniques put the smarts in the parts,” Hall said. Then, just about anyone could knock together a shed using only a rubber mallet.
Will such building methods catch on? Hall said he hopes to introduce the technique to backyards all over the United States with simple shed designs. And farther into the future? Hall said he dreams one day a customer could walk into a "Kinko's" type business, browse some catalogs, choose a design for not only a shed but kitchen cabinets or coffee tables, then have the parts cut out in the back room on a CNC machine for home assembly.
— Steve Shanesy, Publisher
• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE. • Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE. • Looking for free project plans? We have hundreds. Click HERE. • Learn a new woodworking technique today. Click HERE. • Want more videos? See all our free videos HERE. • Check out our selection of half-price woodworking books HERE. • Get 8 years of Popular Woodworking on one CD. Click HERE.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:13:47 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A Stampede For Colt's MaxiCut Bits
We’ve received a number of inquiries asking about the MaxiCut bits that were first seen at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta and were included in our coverage of the show. (Click here to read the entry by editor Chris Schwarz.)
Originally, we reported that Colt would have MaxiCut bits available in the States sometime in October. These bits are selected as one of our “Best New Tools for 2008.” (Click here to see the list.) Well, October has come and gone and with the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, these bits cannot be found.
The good news for Horst Miebach (maker of MaxiCut) — but bad news for woodworkers in the U.S. — is this new Forstner bit is so hot and demand so strong in Europe that the company is unable to ship Imperial sizes until later this month. This translates into the bits being in stores by mid-December.
If you’re wondering why the demand is strong in Europe and why U.S. woodworkers are patiently awaiting its arrival, see the video of these bits in action.
So where will MaxiCut bits be available? In December you’ll find it at The Best Things (thebestthings.com), Infinity Tools (infinitytools.com) and Packard Woodworks (packardwoodworks.com). After the first of the year, MaxiCut bits will be available at Lee Valley Tools (leevalley.com).
I’m in line for a set of these bits, for sure.
—Glen D. Huey
• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE. • Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE. • Want more videos? See all our free videos HERE. • Get 8 years of Popular Woodworking on one CD. Click HERE.
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:03:59 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Prizes and Cash for Your Best Tricks
 Tricks of the trade is one of our most popular regular columns. In each issue, we print the best ideas submitted by our readers for making life in the shop easier. Every trick we publish is rewarded with a cash payment of $50-$100, and the reader who submits the best one for each issue receives a $250 gift certificate from Lee Valley. The easiest way to get in on this is to submit your trick by E-mail. We recently made a major overhaul to our corporate E-mail system, and in the process our "Tricks of the Trade" address was out of commission for a few weeks. It's now up and running, but if you submitted a trick in the last couple weeks, we don't have it and we need you to send it again. If have an idea, now is a great time to send us your trick. In addition to our usual prizes, we have some extra incentives for the best tricks submitted between now and December 15, 2008. The best trick submitted will earn its author a Ryobi router table and a Ridgid Router.  Second prize will be a Porter Cable Model 390 low profile random-orbit sander and third prize will be a Popular Woodworking 2000-2007 CD containing every issue from those years in PDF format. To submit your trick, simply send an e-mail to popwoodtricks@fwmedia.com. If you can attach a picture that's a plus. Don't worry about the quality of your writing or the quality of your photo. We have a team of professional writers and artists standing by to fix that stuff, all you need to do is come up with a good idea. Click here to submit your "Trick of the Trade" --Bob LangLooking for More Free Woodworking Information?• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE.• Looking for free project plans? We have hundreds. Click HERE. • Learn a new woodworking technique today. Click HERE. • Check out our selection of half-price woodworking books HERE.
Read other entries by Robert W. Lang
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:13:20 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Contest: Show Us Your "Cool Tools"
With Thanksgiving just around the bend, the pressure is looming for one of the hardest jobs of the year – holiday shopping. I’m not sure which is more difficult –choosing what to purchase for your loved ones, or convincing them how much you need that new Lie-Nielsen plane. Although I can’t offer much help with the first problem (I can only recommend against pink bunny costumes) here’s hope for the latter. Starting Thanksgiving Day through November 30th, DIY Network will be airing a “Holiday Blitz” of their show Cool Tools. For four days host Chris Grundy will show you nothing but the coolest and most innovative tools on the market. This is a great chance to do some heavy hint-dropping to your loved ones – or at least to find out which “presents” you want to gift yourself. If you can’t wait for the Holiday Blitz, head on over to the show’s web site ( diynetwork.com/cooltools) and take a look at the videos. I got a chance to poke around the “Woodworking Tools” category of videos, and although I was expecting to see only power tools featured, I was shocked and impressed to see an awesome video tour of Lie-Nielsen Toolworks. This is definitely a show to watch. So what are your favorite “cool” tools? DIY Network wants to know and so do we. They’ve given us three brand new Komelon SS Gripper tape measures to give to our readers who submit their votes for coolest tool. So click on the “Comments” link at the bottom and tell us your favorite tool for a chance to win. The winners will be randomly selected and contacted via their provided e-mail addresses – so make sure you fill in that line if you want to win. –Drew DePenningLooking for More Free Woodworking Information?• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE. • Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE.
Read other Entries by Drew DePenning
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 11:22:34 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 10, 2008
Tool Test: Sand Finish with a Zip
A couple weeks back we were up to our armpits in finishing work. Two projects were in the finishing area awaiting completion for photo shoots this past Wednesday. (I'm happy to report that both projects made the deadline and everything went as planned.)
It just so happened that I had a couple Zip sanding products, a Zip Sander and a Zip Sponge Holder, in need of testing. These two products are part of the Gator Finishing Products brand from Ali Industries in nearby Dayton, Ohio. Both of these products are designed to lessen the stress on your arm, wrist and hand while sanding.
The Zip Sander makes sense. Using your fingers as a backer to sandpaper, unless you sand perpendicular to your finger length, results in small troughs in your finish. So a backer made of high-density foam eliminates the potential for troughs and reduces friction buildup from your hand on the sandpaper. If you reduce friction, you lessen the potential to clog the paper and you extend its usefulness. Also, the hook-and-loop design makes the change between grits easy and efficient. Sander kits (which include a sander and six pieces of sandpaper in various grits) are available for around $7 each; replacement sanding sheets are available for around $5 for a package of six.
The Sponge Holder (available with three sanding sponges and the holder for $9.99) had me puzzled. Holding a sponge while sanding isn’t that much of an issue. I like to use sponges while sanding between coats of finish. My issue with the holder, however, it that its hard plastic surface might nick or ding a surface if I'm less than careful. A regular sanding sponge isn’t prone to leave nick or dings.
Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick and I used the Zip products while sanding the two projects. Megan commented that the grip felt a bit high and somewhat off balance in her hand as she sanded, but she noticed there was little, if any, fatigue in her hand or wrist after excessive sanding on a rather large project. I found the sander to be very comfortable and useful. (Maybe my larger hand size fit the sanders better?) The design of the sander – it has pointed ends – allows you to get tight into the corners with ease. I’ll use the Zip Sander while sanding the finish on future projects.
The Sponge Holder is fine on large panels. I watched closely as the edge of the tool-held sponge came into contact with the inside edges of the doorframe. The surface on the inner edge of the rails and stiles was below the reaches of the hard plastic of the holder, so sanding went well. However, I think I’ll relegate the Sponge Holder for wide-open flat surfaces only.
While I like these products for finishing work, the grits included are, for the most part, for everyday sanding. Additional purchases will get you a #400-grit product for sanding finish. And if sanding to #400 grit is not a smooth enough surface, you’ll want to look into Ali Industries automotive sanding products – AutoZip – under the Finish 1st name. Sanding grit for automotive products, currently available at Pep Boys stores, are up to #2,000 grit.
— Glen D. Huey
• Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE. • Like tools? We do! Read our latest tool coverage HERE. • Get 8 years of Popular Woodworking on one CD. Click HERE.
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey | Read other Tool Tests
Monday, November 10, 2008 3:03:09 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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