Popular Woodworking Editors' Blog

A couple weeks ago, I bought a skirt and some, er, ladies undergarments. But they’ve been sitting in their bags, tags attached, since I brought them home. I guess I’ve just been too busy to put them away.

Recently, I’ve had to replace a washing machine, have my box gutters relined and have the house painted. But these somewhat-expected expenditures are not what’s undermining my clothes-purchasing habits. Last weekend, I crossed the woodworking Rubicon.  

With just enough discretionary funds to order the apron plane I’ve been wanting from Veritas, I packed up my car and drove to the Woodworking in America conference last weekend. At the first free moment I had, I hustled over to Wally Wilson in the Lee Valley booth and placed my order. Then, I walked back toward the Popular Woodworking booth to check in with Linda Watts, our art director, who was running the bookstore for the weekend. I stopped along the way to say hello and chat with other toolmakers and sellers, and struggled mightily to avoid looking too closely or covetously at the tables full of seductive wares.

Then I got to Dave Jeske’s Blue Spruce Toolworks booth. He had a lovely olive-green lignum vitae-handled fishtail chisel that I simply couldn’t resist. So I pulled out the credit card and scrawled my signature, and said I’d be back on Sunday morning to collect my new tool. So the skirt will have to be returned (it’s olive green, too, so that’s a even trade, right?). Dave also had a couple chisels with blue polymer-infused maple handles that would look great with the mallet I bought from him a few months back. But I already have chisels in both the sizes he had on hand, so I resisted that Siren’s song.

On Sunday, I went back to pick up my purchase. As Dave was wrapping up the fishtail chisel, I picked up the 1/2" blue dovetail chisel again. Then I pulled out the credit card.

So I guess it’s fair to say that last weekend, Dave Jeske talked me out of my skirt, bra and panties.

— Megan Fitzpatrick

Monday, August 17, 2009 5:47:15 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [14] 

Last week Megan Fitzpatrick and I put the finishing touches on her new workbench, which was built using an ancient French design, 19th-century fasteners and modern materials (laminated veneer lumber).

We are pleased with the result.

The bench base and top are made of LVL and can be knocked down in minutes thanks to its nuts-and-bolts fasteners (the leg vise and sliding board jack are maple). The overall workholding and structure of the bench is ideal for anyone who uses hand tools, power tools or both in their work – thanks to Andre Roubo's 18th-century drawings of workbenches.

Lately as I've been sketching workbenches (and I do sketch a good number of them) I've been incorporating more dramatic curves into the details. These curves are still based on traditional proportions (arcs, ogees etc.), but I've decided I like a good swoop or two on a rectilinear bench. This design is the first one of my curvy benches to see the light of wood.

The complete plans for this workbench will be featured in the November 2009 issue of Popular Woodworking magazine, which will go on sale in early October. We held a little contest for naming the bench, and Megan liked "Gluebo" the best (which was submitted by Joel Moskowitz, who is one clever monkey). And while its name won't make it on the cover of the magazine (we try not to use made-up words) it's what we call the bench when we accidentally run into it.

— Christopher Schwarz

Monday, August 17, 2009 1:33:06 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [7] 

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

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

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

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

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

— Glen D. Huey

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

Last week, we posted a blog poll to see what you thought about adding a benchtop table saw to the “I Can Do That” arsenal of tools (a basic but good set that allows the beginning woodworker to make solid and handsome pieces). As of the time I wrote this, we had 616 votes; more than 86 percent responded “yes” – we should add a benchtop table saw. So we decided to ignore your democratic vote (for now) and add a router (we’re still deciding on the make and model).

I realize this reeks of election tampering, but allow me to explain. Many of the comments against adding the table saw were convincing. And, our initial thoughts were that a table saw would allow rip cuts, so stock could easily be made into smaller sticks. But we do already have a circular saw and jigsaw in the kit, both of which can be used for ripping. And with a guide, an edge off a circ saw needs the same amount of cleanup for joinery and panel glue-ups as does one off a table saw. And for tenons, there’s the added cost of a dado stack – but how to cut the mortises?

Several readers suggested a band saw – and we agree it’s a useful machine (not to mention the powered saw of choice for many British woodworkers). And others suggested the router. When we met to discuss the poll results, we agreed with the router camp.

A router allows us to add decorative moulding to projects (beyond what the big box store has in stock – and at a lower price), cut dados, rabbets and grooves, and cut both mortises and tenons. Plus, it’s a hand-held tool (unless we add a simple router table, of course), which is more in line with the “I Can Do That” philosophy.

We’ll start out with a few basic bits – a 3/4" pattern bit with a top-mount bearing (Senior Editor Glen D. Huey’s go-to bit). A rabbeting set (editor Christopher Schwarz’s selection…though he almost went with a 1/4" spiral upcut) and a 1/2" pattern bit (Senior Editor Robert W. Lang’s choice – he doesn’t like to be locked in to a 3/4" groove). I chose a 1/4" roundover bit…a holdover from my home renovation (I ran the shoe moulding about a year ago – it’s still stacked neatly in the dining room).

— Megan Fitzpatrick

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 8:35:38 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [11] 

In early Gustav Stickley pieces, doors with divided lights were joined with mitered mullions. It's an intriguing look, but was used only for a few years. My next project for the magazine has a divided door, and even though I haven't been able to find an original example of the piece I'm building with mitered joints, I decided to build mine with that detail. I like the way it looks, so I took the challenge of figuring out how it goes together, and how to make the parts.

There is a lot going on in a small space. The interior parts are only 1-1/4" wide and there is a rabbet on the back for the glass and glass stops. The openings are small, but the joints need to be strong to support the weight of the assembled door and the glass. Merely mitering the pieces and depending on glue didn't seem practical; the parts would slide around during assembly, and the photos I've seen of original pieces indicate that the central mullion is continuous from top to bottom. I decided on mortises and tenons on the outer joints, and half-lap joints in the middle.

It goes together quite nicely in SketchUp, but I decided to get some practice in before building the cabinet. I enjoy the rhythm of building, and I can't get that going if there is a part of the process on the horizon that I haven't figured out. In this case I was concerned about the joints in the middle of the door, where four mitered corners all come together. I figured out a really clever router jig that would cut the openings except for the rounded corner in the center, which I would need to remove with a chisel. I'm better at chiseling than sawing so it seemed like a good approach.

One of the reasons that I'm good at chiseling is that I'm not so good at sawing. I don't get enough practice to be able to walk into the shop, pick up a saw and cut a perfect joint. I need to warm up with some practice cuts first. Because of this, my inclination is to think of the saw last. I should have thought of it first because my router jig didn't quite work. I could have made it work, but that would have involved several hours of fiddling with it to overcome the small variations between the bit and bearing and the size of the parts. The jig wasn't a total failure; it came close but left either a small flat between the points, or a small opening. I was aiming for something finer.

So I spent a couple hours working out with the saw instead of refining the jig. I added to the fence to keep it a little farther away from the corner, and it works nicely to remove the waste and leave a flat surface, after the saw cuts are made. To really make this joint look good, I need an X exactly on the center of the board. The kerf of the saw needs to fall on opposite sides of the line on each side to leave a nice point in the middle.

I almost have it. I took a few extra steps to locate my cuts and get the saw started, and with a few more practice joints I'll have it. As for the router jig, maybe I'll submit it under an assumed name as a trick to some other magazine.

— Robert W. Lang

Monday, August 10, 2009 2:38:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [3] 

Editor Christopher Schwarz and I have been busy building a Roubo-style bench for an upcoming issue of Popular Woodworking. The twist on this one is, it’s made from Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), an engineered product usually used in construction. You can read more about the build in a number of posts over on the Woodworking Magazine blog.

Chris is out of the office for a few days, and in the meantime, I was tasked with breaking down the bench (it’s bolted together for easy breakdown transport) and painting the base with milk paint (Real Milk Paint in “Red”), then adding a topcoat of wax. On Tuesday afternoon, I put on the first coat of paint, and because I made it fairly thick, I almost got away with one coat…and almost ran out of paint. On Wednesday morning, I thinned the remaining paint with water, let it slake for a half-hour or so, then added a second coat that was closer to a wash coat.

Milk paint dries quickly, so by early afternoon, I was ready to wax. And that’s where I ran into trouble…

First, I used butcher’s wax, which flashed off white. When I tried to rub it out, the not-very-smooth surface of the LVL (I should have sanded more, I suppose) made it tough to get into the troughs…and I was left with a mottled white atop the brick red beneath. Not pretty. And we’re shooting the cover shot next week. Panic ensued.

I popped out to the hardware store for a medium-hard natural-bristle brush, thinking maybe I could rub out the wax that way while getting into all the crannies. Nope; that was a waste of $5. Glen Huey and Bob Lang suggested I try floor wax instead, and told me that “wax cleans wax” thus a coat of the amber-colored floor wax would lift off the white. With trepidation, I added a coat of the floor wax, waited for it to flash, then wiped it off. Whew! They were right. The floor wax lifted the butcher’s wax, and rubbed out fairly easily. Floor wax – better than Valium for calming panic.

But the wax-on, futile-attemp-at-wax-off, panic, trip to hardware store, panic, and new coat of wax put me behind. Way behind. I was supposed to bolt the base back together yesterday afternoon, so that Chris could show it off to his father (he’s visiting from Charleston, S.C.) this morning. And I was supposed to start and finish the “I Can Do That” project for November before lunch (we're shooting that tomorrow morning). But when Chris and his dad showed up, I was still frantically wiping off a final coat of wax.

So they helped me bolt the base together (OK – I pretty much watched, while picking out the waxy paint from under my nails, while Chris and Dr. Schwarz put it together). And in the meantime, I managed to get the ICDT project done too…by talking Glen into doing it. Thank you, Glen!

— Megan Fitzpatrick

Thursday, August 06, 2009 11:42:53 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [5] 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— Glen D. Huey

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