Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

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] 

Announcing the 'Hand Tool Olympics' at Woodworking in America

In sports, you need to compete against a superior player to improve your own game.
 
So to make you a more skilled tool user, we're holding a "Hand Tool Olympics" at our Woodworking in America conference in St. Charles, Ill., this August. During these friendly competitions, you'll get to show off your skills in a variety of hand-tool basics. And you could win prizes just for competing.

(Need a coach? Competition staff will be on hand to provide training, tips and strategies.)

Here are the details:

The Olympics will be held on Friday, Aug. 14 and Saturday, Aug. 15 (with recreational and fun events on Sunday, Aug. 16) in the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) booth. Three events will be held each day with the winners announced and awards bestowed during the Saturday dinner. The Grand-prize winner will receive Free Admission to a Future Woodworking in America Conference.  The "medalists" in each event will win one of the tools used for that event. Plus, randomly selected participants will also be awarded prizes. (Prizes are limited to one per attendee.)

Plus we'll be giving away DVDs, CDs, books and magazines to participants throughout the two days of competition.

The Minnesota chapter of SAPFM, headed by Mike Siemsen, will conduct the Olympics. Plus, SAPFM will hold workshops and provide tutorials for those who would like to participate but need a little last-minute coaching on proper use of a given hand tool. (And who knows – a prodigy might be discovered!) Participants must use the tools provided (don’t worry – we’ll have the necessary tools – and they’re good ones!).

The events are as follows:

1. One Meter Dash – Step away from your table saw and venture back into the 1800s. Each contestant is required to accurately rip a 36" piece of 2 x 12 stock using a handsaw.  We hope you practiced the pointers doled out in Popular Woodworking magazine’s "Arts & Mysteries" column. This event is judged mainly on time, with points deducted for going way off the line. (A kinked saw will result in immediate disqualification.)

2. Shooting Sports – Use a jointer plane to straighten and square the edge created during the One Meter Dash. That’s right – you have to do it completely by hand. Crazy. Judging, with a test bar of aluminum, a feeler gauge and an engineer’s square is for straightness and accuracy.

3. Crosscut Extravaganza – Hold your finger straight to sight down the saw (or simply channel your inner square) to accurately crosscut a piece of 2 x 12 lumber. This event is judged mainly for time with points deducted for going way off the line. (A kinked saw will result in immediate disqualification.)

4. Brace Yourself For a Hole in One – Before the advent of electric and battery-powered drill/drivers, carpenters and woodworkers used a brace and auger bits to bore holes. The challenge: Bore a 3/4" hole in a plank, straight and square to surface of plank (no squares or other aids allowed). It’s not as boring as you might think! Judged for speed. Points off for major blowouts on the backside and any degrees out of square.

5. Pins First or Tails First – You make the call on which method you prefer; we’ll track the numbers to see which is more popular. Either way, you have to complete a well-fit three-pin dovetail joint on a 1x4, using hand tools. Goodbye jig. Judging is subjective – but we know it when we see it. If the competition gets close, we may call in a jury.

6. Greco-Roman Tenons – Produce a 3"-long, 3/4"-thick tenon on the end of a piece of 2x4 stock. Your attempt has to fit into a provided test mortise. This event is judged for time and quality – with some latitude allowed if the tenon is a bit tight, as most are hand planed to final fit.

Prize Tools

* Rip Saws –Donated by Mike Siemsen’s School of Woodworking (vintage saws sharpened by Mark Harrell at Technoprimitives.com).
*Crosscut Saws – Donated by Mike Siemsen’s School of Woodworking (vintage saws sharpened by Mark Harrell).
*Back Saws – Donated by Bad Axe Tool Works – Mark Harrell
*Jointer Planes – Donated by Lee Valley & Veritas
*Dovetail Mallets – Donated by Blue Spruce Toolworks
*Brace and Bit – Donated by Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:24:06 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] 

SketchUp is a great free program for planning your work. But there is a tremendous amount of value to it even if you never draw a line. Printing out full size patterns is but one example. We've assembled a collection of models on Google's 3D Warehouse, and have the same collection categorized on our SketchUp Page. Anyone can download and use any of these models absolutely free. Here's an example of how I made a pattern for an ogee bracket foot from one of the latest additions to our collection.



This is a blanket chest made by Glen Huey that graces the cover of our August 2009 issue (on its way to subscribers as I write this). After downloading the model, I went to the Window menu in SketchUp and opened the window named Components. I scrolled down the list until I found the foot I wanted, and dragged it into an empty space in the model window. Sometimes dragging your feet can be a good thing. Then I zoomed in until the foot filled the screen.



I wanted a dead on view from the front, and there are a couple of ways to get it. I added the Standard Views toolbar to my installation, so I simply clicked on the front facing little house. You can also get this view from the Camera menu in SketchUp under Standard Views/Front. Then I went back to the Camera menu and checked Parallel Projection instead of Perspective. Then I picked a style from the Styles window to make the model simply black lines with no background colors.

The next settings I needed are under the File Menu/Document Setup window. Uncheck Fit View to Page and type in the number 1 in both windows under Print Scale. My machine can be a little fussy on this, and I need to highlight both windows before I hit the OK button.



You might need to fiddle with the Print Setup and Printer settings on your computer. Different computers and printers do this a little differently, but the idea is you want the printer to print at 100% and not scale the image to fit the page. If you're trying to print something that won't fit a single page, SketchUp will tile the images on as many pages as it takes. I snapped in a dimension within the model to make checking the scale easier. With the full size pattern in hand I can stick the pattern to a piece of wood with some spray adhesive and start cutting.

This is an incredible time saver and a simple way to transfer outlines from the pages of our magazine to your hunk of wood. If you haven't looked at SketchUp because you don't do your own design work, I urge you to check it out. This is only one of the many things you can do in addition to drawing. If you have a favorite "after the drawing is done" task for SketchUp, share  it by leaving a comment below.

– Robert W. Lang

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 5:39:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5] 

The August 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking (which is at the printer now) features a Rob Millard article on Federal period inlay.

Rob walks through the steps to cut, sand shade and inlay one-piece bellflowers, dots and stringing to transform an ordinary tapered leg into a stunning work of art that has New York-style design characteristics.

Within the article, Rob explains how he sets the groove for his 3/64" curved stringing. He uses a double-bladed knife that he’s found so helpful that he has decided to produce and sell the tool ($21) through his web site at americanfederalperiod.com. He also describes a set up to create your own twin-blade knife using a couple hobby knives, a very small C-clamp and a few pieces of scrap as shown in the photo below.

And, if you’re a typical woodworker who’s interested in Federal-period work, you’re looking for as much information as possible. To that end, Rob has provided us a portion of his hand-drafted drawings – also available through his web site – of a New York-style leg. Click below to open a PDF of the drawing.

This is a technique you can develop for use on similar legs and other Federal furniture, or apply the technique to any of your work to further pump-up the design.

Check out Rob's video on cuffbanding here.

Millard Leg Drawing.pdf (480.83 KB)

— Glen D. Huey

Tuesday, June 09, 2009 2:27:44 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

Long-time subscribers are familiar with Steve Shanesy’s work. While he was editor of Popular Woodworking, Steve built everything from a George Nakashima-inspired table to a steel-stringed guitar, not to mention the saw blade box and outfeed tables we still use on our table saw.

Steve had always done turning for furniture work. He’s been working wood since 1980, and was a professional woodworker for 15 years, running high-end furniture shops. He’s turned legs for countless tables, chair spindles, knobs and much more. “Turning allows you to work with a wider range of forms,” says Steve. “I think a turned Sheraton leg is more sophisticated than a square tapered leg, and we see in a finer furniture that split turnings and finials are often incorporated.”

But as Steve began to take on other duties for our parent company and had less time to spend on furniture building, his lathe work took an artistic turn. “I’ve always felt there was a more artistic side that rarely got to be expressed in flat woodworking,” he says. And “turning is something you can do in an evening – you can actually make something from start to finish and feel like you’ve really accomplished something.”

Of course, you have to practice, first. Steve began his journey with Keith Rowley’s book, “Woodturning: A Foundation Course,” and while he recommends the book for all beginning turners, Steve says the best way to learn is to watch an accomplished turner, either on video or in person. So he joined his local turning club, an active group that brings in accomplished turners to teach and demonstrate (and Steve has since become one of those teachers). Plus, the club is a great source for turning stock, which can be difficult to find if you don’t know a guy who knows a guy, he says. The key to good turning, says Steve, is to “practice the basic techniques until you get to the point where you don’t think much about what you’re doing with the tool; instead, you think about the shape you’re trying to create.


“A lot of times, the piece of wood you have will suggest a certain shape because you start with that limitation; then you have to sketch out or imagine the form and focus on that, not on the physical cutting,” he says.

After learning the basics, Steve began making bowls and hollow forms (also called face plate work), which he says “really focuses your eye on finding the perfect curve or shape. While hollowing can be boring at time, it also shows your skill when you can create a vessel wall that somewhere between 1/8" and 1/16" thick.

Since he got started with artistic turning, Steve has made a couple hundred showpieces, from miniature hollow forms the size of a hen’s egg to 16" platters to wooden jewelry, as well as sculptural forms that are simply fun, which Steve likes because they provide the opportunity to stretch his skills and imagination.

And last year, he was approached by a Cincinnati art gallery owner who offered him a show, at which Steve displayed and sold many of his best pieces. His “flat” skills came in handy, too. “The gallery owner didn’t have the right kind of shelving to display the pieces properly, so I designed a shelving system out of old kitchen doors,” says Steve. It sold, too.

Steve (who is now publisher and editorial director of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine) still can’t get to the shop as much as he’d like, but he manages a healthy turning session at least every couple of weeks. While most of his work remains artistic, he also finds satisfaction in workaday projects such as tool handles and the oak handle he turned for his garden watering can. “Silly as it is, I really enjoy the wooden knob I turned for my lawnmower shift lever,” he says. You can see more of Steve’s work in the slide show below.

Steve’s new DVD, "Turning Basics for Furniture Makers with Steve Shanesy," will be available later this month.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009 1:21:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0]