Exclusive: n I I

- - Issue 64 -

PUBLISHER

EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

ART DIRECTOR

SR. GRAPHIC DESIGNER

SENIOR ILLUSTRATORS

July 2002

Donald B. Peschke Terry J. Strohman Bryan Nelson Vincent Ancona Cary Christensen Kurt Schnltz Roger Reiland Mark Higdon

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ShopN&~(ISSNlO6%9696~rp~btishedbrm~nUliy~Jan.,~, &lax July, Sept., Nov) byAumtEomePubWmz, 2mGrand, Des Mdnes, IASMlh Sho~Noton@llareuistered trademarkafAueust HhmePubbhine

~ntemtemt:http:lh.&pnote~~mrn PRINTED MU.S.A

Cutoffs 0 ne thing I enjoy about wood- repeat this process over and over

working is being able to use again on several workpieces. tools. Hand tools or power tools - it This new jig makes it easy to do all doesn't really matter. But the thing I of these t h i i and more. For like the most is being able to spend starters, it prevents any sidebside some time down in the shop building movement of the router. This means somethii that takes a hard-working your mortises will be perfectly tool and makes it perform even better straight and parallel with the sides of than it did before. the workpiece.

I guess that's why I'm so excited A slidingplatform makes it easy to about the feature project in this issue center the router bit exactly on the -it's a shopbuilt jig for making mor- thickness of the workpiece. And a tises with a plunge router. couple of easy-toadjust stops are all

Now I know making mortises with it takes to make sure your mortises a plunge router isn't a new idea. will be precisely the light length, Woodworkers have been doing it for each and every time. years - for good reason. A plunge The other thing1 like about this jig router can be used to cut a perfect, is how simple and inexpensive it is to smooth-sided mortise in seconds. build. All it takes is a few pieces of But there's more to maldne mortises ulvwood. three small c l m s . some - . " than getting a quick, clean cut. !mobs, and a handful of screws.

Typically, you want the mortise If you have a plunge router, you11 centered m t l y on the thickness of be amazed at how quickly and accu- the workpiece. Then you want to be rately you can make mortises. And if able to start and stop the mortisepre- you've been thinking about buying a

@ cisely in the correct locations. And to new router, this jig might be the per- top it all off, you need to be able to fect reason for taking the "plunge."

A'

ShopNotes No. 64

-1-1-*

il, contents -I Features

Wall-Mounted Drill Press Shelf Open up space on your workbench by moving your drillpress I to this hand% wall-mountedshelf. Then addan optionalstorage rack that keeps all your drilling accessories close at hand.

hinting a H a m m e d Finish 12 One of the best ways to finish MDFIs with paint. Learn how to spray or roll on a 'barnmered" finish in an afternoon and give your shop projects a professional-quality look.

1 Plunge Router Mortising Jig 14

This shop-made mortising table lets you rout perfect mortises with a hand-heldplunge route,: You can set up the table and make identical mortises time after time in less than a minute.

Hardware 5torage Cabinet 22 All your hardware stored and organized in one spot? With this hardware storaae cabinet and a set ofolastic storaae bins. - - you'll never have to hunt for hardware again

9 Shop-Built Drawer Dividers 29 Eliminate cluttered drawers forever with a set of custom dividers you can make in your own shop.

Cabinet Clamping Tips 30 n D n n

Clamping large cabinet projects can be a daunting task - especially if you don't have a lot of clamps. We show you how to clamp a large assembly with just a few clamps.

Departments Readers' Tips 4

Shop-tested tips to solve common woodworking problems.

Shop Talk 32 When it comes to joining pieces of MDF together; a few tips and techniques will ensure quality results andsolid assemblies.

Tool Chest 34 There's an old saying that good things come in small packages And our featured tool rs a perfect example.

5ources 35 Mail-order sources and supplies to help you complete the projects featured in th~s Issue

No. 64 ShopNotes

14"-DIA. DQWEL 1" LONG

Readers' Tips Cutting Multiple Pieces k.1

I've made and sold the same - wood items for Mteeu years. In order to speed up the production process, I came up with this method for creatitg duplicate parts without having to re-measure every time I need to make a run of a cer- tain part My tick is to use stop blocks that automatically set up the workp'~ece for the cut I need.

I started by making a simple crosscut sled for my table saw. Itls nothing more than a piece of ply- wood with a fence p d a runner. TneqI drilled a row of evenly-spaced ho le in the sled, fist in front of the fence, as you see in the drawing.

Each stop block is just a block of I make a custom-sized stop block a certain part, Isimply grab the par- wood with a couple of dowel pins for each part that I create. Then I ticularstop block and mountit to the glued into holes drilled in the block label the stop block so that I know sled.This way Idwaysknowthat th (see drawing in margin). The what part it is for and which holes piecesdbethe same size. holess are spaced to match the it fits into on the sled

g ShMq W&mnn

hole spacing in the sled. Whenever Ineed to make more of Rolling Meadowsz Ilitn&

Router Circle-Cutting Jig 1 My router didn't come with a

circle-cuttingjii, so Ideddedtomake PIVOT

my own out of a few pieces of hard- ware. I started by making a pivot block &om a small oiece of wood A

to serve as a pivot point Ahole drilled through thecenter of

theblock allows it to sip over alength of 3/8"dia. threaded rod. A couple of nuts and washers secure the block to the threaded rod (see detaX). The end of the rod fits into a hole in the base of the router and is held in place a with a machine saew.

To use the jig, first mark out the threaded rod to match the hedius of router bit into the hole and rout the center of the drcle you want to cut the circle and lock it in place with ~ircleinmultiplepassm~ lowetingthe and drill a shallow, lh'cdia hole for the nuts and washem. bit l/n" between each pass. the p ~ o t pin of the jii. Then slide To rout the circle, drill a starter

"(A Jon T &th the block of the jig dong the hole onthe edge&&, then lower the Wherlzng, IZlimi2

4 ShopNotes No. 64

A Michael Mata, of Plymouth, MA, A To avoid tripping over power cords, A To make a quick rack forsmall tools or countersinks a magnet into the end of his EmeryAranda, of El Cajon, CA, uses eye router bits, Thomas Heyob, of Cornelius. hammer handle so he doesn't have to bolts and spring-loaded snaps to route OR, uses small sections of bgg crate" stick his hand into a pocket full of nails. the cords overhead. light diffusers for flourescent light fixtures.

I've always had a problem with tape measures falling off my belt when I move around. The clip on the back of the tape measure just isn't strong enough. So I came up with a solution that works much better.

I replaced the standard clip with a clip from a cell phone. (You can pur- chase these at office supply stores.)

1 This clip locks the tape securely in ? place on my belt but dl allows me to

--~@ remove it quickly and easily Attilw Liuechese

Cartice, Ontario

Thread-Sizing Gau Over the years, I've managed to USE THREAD BOLTS TO SIZE DETERMINE OF NUTS

accumulate quite an assortment of nuts, bolts, and fasteners of all sizes. Unfortunately, they all seem to wind up in one big glass jar, making it almost impossible to h d the size that I need. So I hally decided to sort them out

To identify all the hardware, I THREAD SIZES HOLDS SMALL PIECES made this conve~ent thread gauge.

It's just a block of wood with var- ious sizes of holts. The bolts range I also cut a couple of piecesfrom a on the wall. Nowwhen I run across a in size from #4-40 to 'h"-13. I yardstick and screwed them tothe lone bolt, machine screw, oornut, I no marked the thread size right next sides of the gauge. A small magnet longer have to try and guess the to each bolt And in front of each on the end of the jii holdsloose nuts, length or thread size. bolt, I drilled a hole that matches washers, etc. And an eye bolt on the Dana Cmig the diameter of the fastener. end allows me to hang the gauge up o:;.

Your t p e is Ringing

If y w have a unique shop tip, we'd like to consider featuring it in one or more of our print or electronic publications.

Welt pay up to $ 2 0 for a tip we pub- lish. Just write down the lip and mail it to SbopNobes, &.: Readers' Tips, ZLOO Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312. Or FAX it to 515282-6741, or send us an e-mail at shopnotes@shopnotes.com. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number in case we '--ve any questions.

---<---..-

No. 64 ShopNotes

Shelf

9 S H O P P R O J E C T

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No. 64 ShopNotes 7

Shelf w

There are two main components to this project - the shelf and an optional storage rack Since the storage rack will sit on top of the shelf, Idecidedtobuildtheshelfiirst

AsyoucanseeinPie1,thesbelf starts out as little more than an open frame. When its complete, it will pro- vide a support base forthe top of the shelf and also hold a drawer. But for now, you can start by cutting the pieces for this base to sjze from 3/411 /'- MDF (mediumdensity fiberboard). z;zig;:DEEP You'll need a pair of sides (a, a sub IN SIDES FOR BACK

AND SUB-TOP top (B), and a back (C).

Rabbets -The subtop and back are held in place by rabbets cut on the sides of the base. There's nothing unusual about how these rabbets are made - I simply cut them on the table saw using a dado blade. But when laying them out on your workpieces, keep in mind that you will be making a right-hand side and a left-band side.

Mer cutting the rabbets, you can more on using screws with MDF, see read the article on page 1 2 k s t lay out the proae on the side pieces, the article on page 32.) as shown in Figure 1. Then the prw Note: If you are painting this making the 'top of the shelf. Xt's just '

ble can be cut and sanded smooth. project, you might want to paint the an MDF fop pamZ (D) with some As you can see in Fies l a and pieces before assembling them. And hardwood eddgiqp glued around the

lb, the base is assembled with glue, if you are using a hammered-finish front and sizes (Figure 2). Before adding the edging, how-

ever, I set the top panel on my work- ' bench and positioned my drill press .

on the panel to ma& out the location I oythe mounting bolts. The drill press

should be centeredfrom side to side. And the front of the ddl press base should be about an inch away from the front edge of the top panel.

Once you've hished marking out all the bole locations, you can go ahead and add the top edgieg (E). The edging is mitered and glued in place around the top panet Then the corners are radiused, and the front and side edges arerounded over.

As you can see in Figure 2, the top is screwed to the base from below.

NOTE: TOP PANEL Once this is done, the boles you laid TOP EDGING IS %*'-THICK HARDWOOD out earlier can be drilled through -

both the top panel and the subtop. T - l i nuts are mounted to the bottom of the subtop for the mounting bolts.

SbopNotes No. 64

Youll also need to drill a large hole for the cord near the back of the ' shelf, which is shown in P i e 2a. To prevent the edge of this hole from fraying the cord, I rounded over the inside edge of the hole on both the top and the bottom F i e 2a).

At tbis point, the shelf can be mounted to the wall studs of your shop with 3"-long lag screws and washers (Flgnres 1 and la).

WIAWER To hold drill bits and other small items, a drawer is mounted below the top of the shelf. The drawer isn't complicated. Its constructed with rabbetjoints and screws. I decided to use 3h"-thick hardwood for the drawwfroni and back (F) and the drawer szdes (GI. Later, a f a k front made out of MDFwiU be added.

After cutting the drawer pieces to size, the ends ofthe drawer sides can be rabbeted to hold the drawer front and back. Then a groove can be cut along the inside face of each drawer piece to hold a hardboard drawer bottom. F i , I routed a small roundover on the top, outer edge of each drawer side.

After cutting the drawer bottmn (II) to size, the drawer can be assem- bled. I drilled countersank pilot holes in the drawer sides, and then glued alld screwed them to the drawer front and back

Drawer Slides - The drawer travels on fullextension. metal

DRAWER 51D

4" DRAWER PU 16" FULL-ENENSION DRAWER SLIDE wISCREW5 <-.* .. .- ." ,

NOTE: FRONT. BACK. AND SIDE4 OF DRAWEX FRONT DRAWER ARE>."-TH CK rlARDW00D FALSE (34'x1BL) FRONT IS 6t. MDF, BOTTOM IS :A' HARDBOARD

drawer slides (see photo below). This allows you to easily reach items at the back of the drawer. And no matter how weighted down the drawer gets with drill bits, it will always open smoothly on the ball-bearing slides.

If you've never installed this type of drawer hardware before, don't worm. It's not di%cult. The drawer

slides wme apart into two pieces. One piece is mewed to the side of the base. The other half is screwed to the side of the drawer, as you can see in Figures 3a and 3b. The slides are positioned flush with the bottom edge of the drawer.

'False Front - After the drawer is mounted in the base, you can add the hkc~sefront (11. This is iust a niece of I&F &at has been roundedover on the front edges. (It also gets painted with the same hammered- m s h paintthat1 used on the base of the shelf) 'Ihe false front is simply screwed to the front of the drawer. Just make sure that it's centered sid6toside in the drawer opening.

Drawer Pull - The last slep to complete the drawer is to add a drawer pull. I just centered this on the front of the drawer and screwed it in place (Figures 3 and 3a).

4 4 Drawer. The drawerndes on full- extensfon drawer slides, mak~ng it. easy to reach /terns at the back

9

Storage Rack- The storage rack is really an optional part of this project - you don't have to build it at all. But I find it to be a handy place to organize all those odd-size acces- sories right next to the drill press.

Like the shelf and drawer, the storage rack is built out of MDF and hardwood. I started by making the two sides (J). These are cut to size from 3/a1'-thick MDF. Then dadoes are cut on the inside face of each side piece to bold the shelves, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. And a rabbet is cut along the back edge for the hack.

In addition to the dadoes for the shelves, youll need to drill a shallow hole above each dado, as shown in the margin drawing at left. These holes will hold dowels that serve as rails for the shelves.

After all the joinery is complete, the upper, front corner of each side is rounded (radiused), and the outer edges are rounded over. Shop Note: The back and inside edges are not rounded over.

S H O P P R O J E C T ..: I -;

Shelves - There's not much to making the shelves. Each shelf (K) is cut to size from 3/4''- thick hardwood. Then the front edges are rounded over.

Youll also need to make three shelf rails (L). These rails help to keep small items from vibrating off the shelf when the drill press is running. I simply cut A GuardRail. Like the guard rail on a highway, these rails to length the shelf rails on this storage rack prevent items from some 3/8'1-dia. hard- from falling off the edges of the shelves. wood dowel stock.

Hanger Strip -The last piece to will be added to the rack later. make before assembling the rack is Then in F i r e 7, tongues are the hanger strip. This is a narrow being cut on the ends of the hanger piece of wood that runs across the strip to fit in the rabbets that you top of the rack and provides a means cut earlier on the sides of the rack. of attaching it to the wall. The two front edges of the strip are

The lmnger ship (MI is cut from rounded over, and then a couple of 3/a"-thi~k hardwood stock In F i e holes are drilled in the hanger strip 6, a rabbet is being cut along one for the screws that will be used to edge to bold a hardboard back that mount the storage rack.

HANGER STRIP

OMR

#6 FINISH WASHER

I

FRONT VIEW

ShopNotes NO. 64

Assembly - The rack is assem- bled with glue and screws. Fit, I assembled the sides, shelves, and rails. The rails are simply glued in place. But the shelves are glued and also screwed in place, using wood- screws and h i sh washers @ I I 4b). The hanger strip is glued and screwed to the sides from the back.

Back - The last piece to add to complete the storage rack is the baelc (N). This is just a piece of '/a1' hardboard that is cut to fit in the rab- beted opening in back of the rack. It gets mewed in place to the back edges of the shelves.

Mounting the Rack -The rack just sits on top of the shelf. But to keep it from moving around, it is also fastened to the wall through the hanger strip, using woodscrews and b i s h washers. Once it is screwed in place, you can set your drill press on the shelf and fasten it down with a couple of hex-head bolts and washers. Fish the cord through the large hole in the to^ of the shelf and

Now you are all set for your next dn'lling task &

@3 DRAWER BOtrOM

& Tongue DetaiL Tongues cut on the ends of the hanger strip fit into the rabbets in the sides of the storage rack,

No. 64 ShopNotes 11

Painting a

"Hammered" Finish

m're probably -

page 6. This meant that dready familiar with ham- we had to take afew extra stem

mered-finish paints. For years, they have been used on everything from toolboxes to appliances. They give the surface of an object the look of metal that has been lightly ham mered all over (see inset photo).

Typically, hammered-iinish paints are used on objects made out of metal. But we wanted to achieve that same "hammered" look on the MDF used to build the drill press shelf on

in preparing the project for paint, as you'll see shortly.

Hammered-finish paints come in several colors. And you'll rjnd these in both spray cans and quart cans at hardware stores and home centers. (locally, I paid about $6 for a spray can and $8 for a quart of paint.)

Hammered-hish paints provide a tough, durable surface - perfect for a shnn environment And unlike

L Sand Edget :e sure the edges of the

MDF are smooth by sanding them w~th surfaces, mask off all the dadoes, 2)-grit sandpaper and a sanding block. grooves, and rabbets with masking tape.

some specialty finish paints, they are pretty easy to apply. Tbafs because the hammered look is "built-in." Within seconds of applying the paint, you'll start to see the "hammered" appearance taking affect.

Preparation - The key to any successful paint job is in the initial preparation of the surface. Although MoF takes paint quite well because it is so smooth, it pays to take a few minutes to sand all the edges to remove any saw blade marks. Sand i i also removes any "fuzz" or fibers that may be present on the edges of the MDF.

Masking Off - The other thing you'll want to do is mask off the areas that you don't want painted. This includes any gluing surfaces, like rabbets, grooves, and dadoes. I prefer to use alow-tackmasking tape so that the tape is easy to remove after the painting is finished.

12 ShopNotes

spray For the most consistent-looking hammered finish, spray paint is the way to go. It's easy to use and mini- mizes clean up. Before applying the paint, however, I primed all the sur- faces. The primer helps to seal the surface of the MDF so it doesn't absorb all the paint This is espe cially important on the edges, which are more porous than the faces.

As you can see in Steps 1 and 2, I primed the edges first and then the

Step I. &mg a gray pr~mer, spray the edges of the MDFOrst Apply at least three coats to seal the edqes

Step 2. Because the faces don't absorb the primer as much as the edges, a sin.qle coat is fine here.

faces. ~ecause the edges tend to - - -

soak up a lot of primer, I applied three coats to these areas, sanding lightly with 400grit sandpaper between each coat.

Paint - Once the primer is dry, you can auplvthe uaint Here amin. I started with the edges and-then painted the faces (Steps 3 and 4).

In order for the hammered effect to work, you have to put on a fairly "wef' mat of paint This is the only trick to using this paint. Yon have to Step 3. Once the primer is dry, you Step 4. In order for the "hammered a spray on ahealthy coat, hutyoudon9 can spray on the hammered finish finish to work, you have to apply a want to spray it on so thick that it paint, starting with the edges. generous coat of paint. runs. It's a good idea to practice on a piece of scrap &st. thing to be aware of when using directions on the spray can, if you

Second Coat - Once the h t hammered-6nish paint is that you don't apply the second coat within coat is dry (10 to 15 minutes), you have a limited "window" of opportu- an hour of the first, you should wait can spray on a second coat One nity to r e a a t According to the 10 days before recoating.

Hammeredanis

method is a little more economical, particularly if you have a large sw- face to cover. The steps involved are the same as in spraying the paint

To begin with I primed all the sw- faces, rolling on additional coats of primer on the edges.

Next, the paint can be applied. To spread the paint out smoothly, I I e to use either a foam roller or a roller with a short nap. Make sure you load the roller up before you start rolling on the paint Just like with the spray pmt, you want to put down a sub # stanhal ' . mat And again, start with the edges and then move on to the faces of the workpiece (Steps 1 and

Step I. After priming the workpiece, roll the paint onto the edges first, us~ng a short-nap rolle,:

2). Once the fist wat is dry, you can apply a second coat

Safety Note: As with any paint con- tainii potentially harmful vapors, you should always wear a respirator

Step 2. After covering the edges, roll the paint on the faces, making sure to lay down a good, "wet" coat.

when workingwith hammered-finish paints. And make sure you have plenty of ventilation, regardless of whether you are spraying or rolling on the paint. hh

No. 64 ShopNotes 13

Plunge Router

Ihawm yuur m ~ t e r into a precision

J hng to ~ d . Bat thn amhg jig wili tmnsfmorm an ordi- nary plunge router into a mortising machine that is capable of turning out per&-6aing mortises in a matter of mm&.

The way it works is &pie. The m ~ i s & m p e d r o t h e & o u t o f ,I the jig, &redly below an opening in the top of the jig. The router sits on top of the jig and slides skleto-dde in a aWow rn A pair of adjustable Btqps corral ttre mta and amtmI the length of the mortise. An you have to do is p l m e fhe bit into the wot&iw and siide tlEe router over unta it hits ttre sbpa ifstbat simple.

-Not only doff this jig mrk its &O alsoversatike, YOV rn use it to make dl Ws of mw ,!ism- open mortises, mitered mop kbs, even offset mortises Far more inform&on on se&g u ~ , and udng thejig, r&r@page B.

No. 64

EXPLODE0 VlEW OVERALL DIMEN5IONS: lbWxZO"Dx2l"H

STAR KNOBS ALLOWYOU TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS

BY HAND - NO WRENCH OR SCREWDRIER REQUIRED

ROUTER PLATE SLIDES ISE BACK AND FORM ED

TO POSITION MORTISE OPS ON THICKNESS OF WORKPIECE

BASE OFJlG CLAMPS TO TOP OF

WORKBENCH

NOTCH ALLOWSYOU TO CLAMP A STOP BLOCK

TO FRONT OF JIG (REFER TO PAGE 20)

NOTE: I FOR STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUrnONS ON

USINGTHE JIG, ~ I

TURN TO PAGE 20 I

RECESS IN PLATE GUIDES ROUTER IN

STRAIGHT LINE

LARGE OPENING OFFERS CLEAR VlEW OF

WORKPIECE AND MORTISE

GUIDE STRIP KEEPS SLIDING PLATE IN

PERFECT ALIGNMENT WITH FIXED PLATE

TOGGLE CLAMP HOLD5 WORK- PIECE IN PLACE WHILE ROUTING

MORTISE

TO OR HOLD YERllCAL MITERED

WORKPIECEB (REFER TO PAGE 20)

12 x 12 - 3/4 Plywood

No. 64 ShopNotes

(2 ) Star Knobs (with %"x 3/4" threaded stud) (3) Star Knobs (with %'x l%"threaded stud) (5) '/+*' was he^

Base Despite its versatility, this mor- tising jig isn't really all that compli- cated to build. It's built almost entirely out of 3h'1 plywood.

At the heart of the jig is a box-like base that gets clamped down to the top of your workbench. A plate is attached to the top of the base. This plate has a wide, shallow recess to hold your router. It can be adjusted forward and back to accommodate workpieces of varying thicknesses or to create an offset mortise.

Also attached to the plate are a pair of adjustable stops that allow you to automatically control the length of each mortise. Take a look at F i e 1 to get a better idea of what I'm t a l h g about.

Base -To build the base of the jig, I started by cutting a bottmn (A), a top (B), and two sides (Cl CIom 3h" plywood. The dimensions for these parts are shown in Figure 2.

To avoid scraping your knuckles on any sharp corners, the front cor- ners of the base are mitered. Youcan see this in F i e 2 below. And F i e 2a shows the short, rounded notch that is cut at the front of each side piece. m e s e notches allow you to clamp a stop block to the front of the jig for multiple pieces, seep. 20.)

The base top is just a square piece of plywood. But it has a shallow groove routed down the center, just

TOP

- -

STAR KNOB

as you see in Figures 3 and 3a. This groove will be used to guide the router plate that is added later. Once the groove is routed, a hole is drilled right in the center and a T-nut is installed in the side opposite the groove, see F i e s 2 and 2b.

Assembly - The base of the jig

is simply screwed and glued together. To do this, I clamped all the pieces together h c without any glue. Then I drilled counter- sunk pilot holes for all the screws.

# 8 x l W F h WOODSCREW

- E - 1Yd' DIA.

a.

Once this was done, I disassembled the base, applied the glue, and installed the screws.

Router Plate - Making the router plate (D) involves a few more steps than the base. The plate starts out as a redangular piece of plywood, as shown in F i e 4. Then a llhl'-wide by 7lht1-long slot is cut near the front edge of the plate for the router bit This opening is centered from' side to side on the router plate. I made

ShopNoM No. 64

this opening by drilling a couple / of holes with a Forstner bit and then cutting out the waste in

l 6 < A Y 1 T

between with a jig saw. Figure 4a shows the location of this opening.

The next step is to create a I -1

shallow recess on the top of the plate to hold your router. This recess guides the base of the router in a PLATE straight line, giving you nice, ("'pLwOOD) ye" % 1" GROOVE FOR straight mortises. 1 LGUIDE STRIP

In order for the router to slide freely, the recess needs to be smooth and flat. So I decided to make the recess on the router table, routing it in several passes with a flil'-dia. straight bit

As you can see in Figure 4b, the trick here is to sue the recess to just fit your router base. And make sure the' recess is centered over the router bit opening.

Guide Strip - Once the recess for the router is tinisbed, you can rout a groove on the opposite face of the router plate for a guide strip ( F i e 5). Thisgroove is identical to II) the ,one you made on the base top earher (Figure 3), and it runs right down the center of the router plate.

The guide s tep (E) is just a piece of 1/4" hardboard. It's glued into the groove, flush with the baek edge of cutting out the waste on a band saw, recess you cut for the router base, as the router plate. Note: The guide as shown in Figure 6. But you could yon see in F i e 7. A slot is cut in strip will stop short of the opening in also rout the slot on a router table. each stopto allowitto beadjusted. the plate for the router bit Stops-Thelastpiecestobeadded Each stop is held in place with a

After gluing the guide strip in to the base are a pair of stops. knob with a threaded stud.Theknob place, you'll need to cut a slot in the Adjustingthestopsinoroutwillallow threads into aT-nut that is mounted router plate to allow it to be adjusted you to set the length of the mortise. in the bottom of the router plate, just back and forth. I did this by drilling a These stops (Fi are made from 'h" as you see in F i e 7. In order to hole at the end of the slot and then hardboard and are sized to fit in the keep theT-nut flush with the surface

of the router plate, you'll need to drill a shallow counterbore before drilling the hole for the T-nut You can see what I'm talking about by taking a look at F i e 7a.

The router plate simply sits on top of the base with the guide strip in the groove on the base top. Then another knob with a threaded stud is used to hold the router plate in posi- tion, as shown in Figure la.

At this point, the base of the jig is complete. All that is left now is to make the front section of the jig that holds the workpiie.

Front

Now that the base is complete, you can start making the front section of the jig that holds the workpiece. As you can see in Figure 8, this sedion is made up of two plywood plates. A fixed plate is screwed directly to the front of the j i i base. And a sliding plate travels up and down (or side to side) in grooves in the fixed plate.

The sliding plate allows you to accommodate different sizes of workpieces. To cut a mortise on the end of a mitered workpiece, the

slidiig plate can be turned around (SO the pointed end is up). Or you can rotate the sliding plate 90" in order to cut a mortise on the end of a workpiece. Toggle clamps attached to the slidiig plate are used to hold the workpiece in place whiie the mortise is being routed (seep. 21).

Fied Plate - I made the fixed plate 6rst As shown in F i e 9, the &ad plate (GI is just a square piece of plywood with a couple of shallow grooves that cross in the center of

the piece. These grooves will be used to help guide the sliding plate that is added later.

Like the grooves in the base, I made these grooves on the router table @"we 10). The fvst one is centered on the length of the work- piece. Then a second groove is cen- tered on the width of the piece. To center these grooves, I routed them in multiple passes, flipping the work- piece between each pass. F i r e 10a shows a detail of the grooves.

The sliding plate will be held in E

C place with a couple of knobs that lh

thread into T-nuts in the 6xed plate. - \ But in order to provide a range of adjustments for different sizes of I workpieces, I installed four pairs of T-nuts in the fixed plate. You can see the locations for these in F i r e 9. After drilling a hole for each T-nut, simply hammer the T- SLIDING " 1 PLATE nuts in dace from the back of the CSh" PLWOOD)

fixed pke. m e back of the plate is I

the side without the grooves.) At this point, the 6xed plate can be

attached to the base of the jig. It is simply screwed in place with eight woodscrews. as vou see in F i r e 8. . . . . , -. .

Sliding plate - Like the face plate, the sliding plate (H) also starts out as a square piece of ply- wood F i e 11). But the s l id i i - plate is a littJe more involved.

To start with, a pair of slots are cut on each end of the plate to allow it to slide up and down (see the photo in the margin). The loca- tion of these slots is shown in F i : 11. ,The, important thing to keep m nund IS that the spacing between each pair of slots is the same as the spacing between the two rows of T-nuts in the 6xed plate.

To cut the slots, I drilled a hole at the end of each slot The I cut away the waste with a band saw.

After cutling the slots, a shallow groove is routed down the center of the sliding plate. This groove is identical to the ones you routed on the fixed plate. It will hold a guide strip that will also fit into the grooves in the k e d plate.

To hold mitered workpieces, two of the corners of the sliding plate are mitered at a 45" angle. This is done on a table saw, using the miter gauge and an auxiliary fence, as you see in Figure 12. Clamping a stop block to the auxiliary fence allows you to simply flip the workpiece over to miter the opposite corner.

Guide Strip -The guide strip (I) is nothing more than a piece of '/a1' hardboard. It's cut to size and glued into the recess on the sliding plate. Then after the glue is dry, you can

sand or trim the end of the strip flus1 with the mitered edges of the plate, as shown in Figure 13a.

Toggle Clamps -The last step tc complete the sliding plate is to ad1 the toggle clamps, see photo in margin. These clamps are used to hold aworkpiece down to the top of a workbench or other flat snrhce. (For more on toggle clamps, see Sources on page 35.)

There are three toggle clamps used on this jig. These are simply screwed to the sliding plate. If you

GUIDE STRIP p a (1" x 12" - IW HARDBOARD)

take a look at F i e 8, you can see where the clamps are posi- tioned on the plate.

After the toggle clamps are installed, the sliding plate can be added to the fixed plate. It is held in place with a pair of star knobs with

I threaded studs and a couple of washers, as you can see in F i e 8.

Once the clamp plate is in place, the jig is ready to be put to work. All

GLUE GUIDE STRIP INTO GROOVE A N D TRlM FLUSH TRIM FLUSH you need to do is clamp it down to WlTH MITERED EDGES OF SLIDING PLAE. S E E DETAIL 'a,' EDGES your workbench. For more informa

tion on using the jig, see page 20.

k Adjustable. Slots in the sliding plate allow you to adjust the jig for different size workpieces. And a toggle clamp holds the workpiece securely m place.

Using the Jig - Once you try this jig, I t h i i you'll be amazed not only with the results, but at how easy it is to set up and use. There are just a few simple steps.

Iayout -The first step is to lay out the mortise on yow workpiece. If you are m a h g identical mortises on identical workpieces, you only need to lay out one mortise -once the stops on the jig are adjusted for the h t mortise, the rest will fall into place automatically.

Jig Setup -With the jig clamped to your bench, loosen the two knobs

1 ?b see if the muter bbn is centered on the thtck- ness of &e s@ck, m e a mortise tn a testpiece

of the s m fh~ckness as yrxv wrkpieces,

on the front face of the jig and bring the 1 slidingplateuptotrap 1

theworkpieceagainst the router as you see in Step 1. Tighten the knobs - and clamp the work- piece to the j i i with thetoggle clamp.

Now loosen the knob at the back of _ _ghtning-Fast Mortises. To rout a mortise, aii the jig and adjust the you have to do is plunge the bit into the workpiece router plate so the and move the router over until it hits the stop. opening is centered over the mortiee (see Step 2 and the plunge it into the workpiece about box shown at left). l/q'l. Move the router to the right

In Step 3, the stops are being until it contacts the opposite stop. adjusted to control the length of the Now increase the depth of cut and mortise. To do this, place the router repeat the process until you reach in the recess of the jig so the bit is the full depth of the mortise. directly over one end of the mortise. Stop Block - Before removing Then slide the stop up against the the workpiece £rom the jig, you may router base and tighten the knob. want to clamp a stop block to the Now repeat this procedwe for the front of the jig (see Step 4). If you're stop at the other end ofthe mortise. making multiple mortises on t h e

Routing - At this point, you're ends of identical workpieces, this readyto startmortising.The mortise will allow you to slide the next work- is made in a series of passes, piece rightinto place. removing about I/q" of material at a When you're finished routing all time. Startwith the router against the the mortises, you might want to left-hand stop, turn the router on and come back with a chisel and square

SANDWICH WORKPI--- BETWEEN SLIDING N m : CENTER PLATE A N D TOP OF MARKED MORTISE ROUTER PLATE

4 Sandwich the workpiece tighten down the kn 1 between the sliding plate and sliding plate and use the toggle the router plate of the jig. Then clamp to secure the workpiece.

ShopNotes No. 64

up the ends ofeach mortise to match your tenons. Or 'the shoulders of the feinons can be rounded over later with a rasp or &.

One last suggestion. Although you can use an ordinary straight bit for routing mortises, I find that I get better results u@ng aspiral upcut bit (see photo in matgin). With a straight bit, the wood chips tend to pile up inside the mortise, ma& thebit (and the router) work harder. A,spiral upcut bit pulls the chips up pulls the chips out

and out of the mortise as it cuts, leaving you with a cleaner mortise.

B STOPBLOCK P051TION6

A

AdjusP the stops 1n or out to workpiece and rout the morbse fn A stop block clamped to the establish the length of the mor- multiplepasses, removrngnomore jig makes the setup for dupli-

e Then plunge the bit into the than %"ofmaterralat a time. 4 cafe workpieces automatic

. &her Features One of the features of this jig is that it can be used tomake mortises on the end of a workpiece as well as on the edge. All you have to do is remove the two knobs holding the sliding platein place and rotate it 90: as shown in the fimt photo at right.

Rout@ a mortise in the end of a work- piece allows you to create a 'loose" tenon joint In this type of joint, the mating pieces both end up with a mortise. Then a small block of wood (the "tenon? is cut to fit in the mortises and is glued into place.

You can also make a mortise on the end of a mitered workpiece, which is great for strengthening mitered frames. All you have to do is t a n the sliding plate mund so the pointed end is up. Then set your warkpiece against one of the two mitered A Vertical Workpieces. To routa mortlse A Mitered Workpleces. For mortfsing edges ofthe plate and clampit in place, see on the end of a workpiece, simply rotate mitered workpieces, the sliding plate can the second photo at right. & the sliding plate 90" to the base. be turned upside down.

No. 64 ShopNotes 21

hard to beat the stic bins. But the - w w problem then becomes, how do you

organize the organizers? This project solves that dilemma.

Drawers & Storage Bins - As you can see in the photo above, the cabinet is loaded with storage space. Four upper drawers accept a total of 64 small plastic storage bins. And the two bottom drawers hold a total of 12 larger bins.

. . -

@g&af? . , %ese:'modern conveni~nces -a?e

the cabinet) to fit the Akro-Mils '%napped" in a cabinet with an old- storage bins I used (refer to Sources fashioned look that showcases the on page 35). Whether you use these solid woodworking that goes into bins or another type, its best to have building it - stub tenon and groove them on hand before you start to joinery for the frame and panel sides, size the drawers and cabinet to fit. and lap joints for the kce frame.

Drawer Slides - Plastic storage Option -And if you're looking for bins aren't the only modern conven- a little more woodworking, you can iences in this cabinet. The drawers build shopmade dividers for organ- ride on fullextension slides that izing the contents of each drawer allow you to access the entire con- (instead of using the storage bins). tents of each bin easily. Details for this begin on page 29.

22 ShopNotes No. 64

EX1X)DE.OMEW OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 229MW x 24%-D x 42WH TOP

SMALL DRAWER HOLDS 16 PLASTIC

RGE DRAWER DS 6 PLASTIC

,.

LEVELERS PROVIDE SOLID FOOTING ON

UNEVEN FLOORS

ON LINE '5 EXTRA:

I SIDES ARE STUB

TENON AND GROOVE FRAMES WITH A PLYWOOD PANEL Materials I

/ Hardware (24) #B x 1" Fh Woodscrews (4) #B xl'/2 Fh Woodscrsws

* (12) #0 xll/z" Fh Woodscrews (4) 5hs"-15 %Nuts (4) 5/s"-10 x 1%" Leveler Glides (10) #6 x 1" Fh Woodscrews (6 f%) 2 2 Drawer Slides w/screws (6 ) 4" D m w r Polk w/screws (12) Knobs w/screws (Optional) ( 6 ) Label Holders w/wrewr

(Optional)

Cab/& Drawdrs A Side Stiles (4) 91q x 3% - 41% L Small Fmnt~ /Bsrks (8 ) % x 3% - 17% B 51de Rails (4) 3/4 x 3% - 17 M Small Sldss (6) % x 3% - 2 3 C Side Panels (2) 17x 34'/4 - '/4 Ply. N Large Fmnts/Baoks (4) % x 5l/z - 17% D Narrow Fmnt Rails ( 6 ) x 1% - 20% 0 Large Sides (4) '/ex 5% - 2 3 E Wide Front Rail (1) x 3% - 20% P Bottoms (6 ) 17% x 22% - 'I2 Ply. F Fmnt Stiles (2) 3/4 x 1'14 - 41% Q Small False Frts. (4) 3/4 x 4% - 1S1/4 G Vertical Supports (4) l x 3% - 9S1/4 R Large False Frts. (2) a% x 6% - 1S1f4 H Top Supports (2) 3/4 x 3% - 209/4 5 Small Side-to-Side Dvdrs. ((20) '/4 x 3 - 16% I Bottom (I) 20% x 2 3 - % Ply. T SmaN Frt.-to-Baok Dvdrs. (20) l/4x 3 - 22 J TOP (1) 1 x 24'/+ - 22% U Lrg. Side-to-Side Dvdrs. (10) '/4 x 5 - 163k K Back (1) 20% x 4@/4 - '14 Q. V Lrg. Frt.-to-Back Dvdrs. (TO) '/+ x 5 - 22 NOW: For th is project, you.11 need 1 sheet of 5/4"plywwd, 1 sheet of '/z"plywood, 20 eq. ft. of %"-thick stock, 2 0 bd, ft. of 3/4''-thi~k hardwood. 14 bd. ft. of I 'thick harzlwood, and 90 sq. ft. of1/4"-thick stock or hardboard (for the optional dividers).

. .. . . - . No. 64

Sides & Front Forming the shell of the cabinet begins with making a pair of frame and panel sides that join to a face frame, as you can see m Flgure 1

These pieces provide the support for adding the top, bottom, and back that are bullt later Stiles & Rails - I started

on the sides by cutting the , 3/41'-thi~k hardwood srde 1 stiles (R) and rails (B) to , final size F~gure 1). Then to

ensure that the cabinet would rest lirmly on an

A To form the "feet uneven floor once it was

assembled, I created a "foor at each at the end Of the vde corner at the bottom of the cabinet

stfles, slide them together and use a

To do this, Iclamped the two stiles

scrap piece across together and then used a li/z"dia Forstner bit to create circular

the ends for support cutouts on the inside corner of each yLgE$$,\L stile (see upper margin photo and Figure la).

Grooves - After shaping the foot of each stile, you're ready to cut the stub tenon and groove joinery that holds the shles and rails

I together. As you can see in Fist, the groove needs to match the cult as you might think. Instead of Figure 2, the groove for this actual thickness of the l/4" plywood. using a dado blade set to match the joint needs to be sized to (It's usually a little undersized.) And thickness of the plywood, I simply

3r the "feet" on ' accept the l/4" plywood szde second, you'll want to make sure the use my regular saw blade. Then to

the wide rail, a scrap 1 (C) So you'll want to be sure groove is centered on the edge ofthe create a centered groove, I start by

plece again provides to cut the groove first. rails and stiles. This makes it easier roughly centering the blade on the

There are two things to keep in to cut the tenons to fit workpiece and making a single pass, for the drii' mind here as you cut the groove Centering the groove isn't as d i i - as illustrated in Figure 2a bit durinq the cut

)/I' RAD. 4 WOE

ShopNotes No. 64

To complete the groove, just Bp * the workpiece end for end and make a second pass 2b). A quick tsial fit of the panelwill let you know if the groove is wide enough. If it's not, just nudge the fence a bit closer to the blade and make two more passes. Once you have a good fit you can cut the remaininggrooves.

Stub Tenon - With the grooves complete, you can cut the tenons on the ends of the rails to match (Figure 5TRnrGnr (5EE ,b.

Zc). Once wain, this is just a matter 1 1 of sneakingup on the fit

Assembly - Now that the tenons are complete, you can glue the stiles, rails, and panelstogether to form the sides. Just be sure to align the lower edge of the bottom rail with the top

F i r e la). Fortips on ass bling a frame and panel, refer to page 30.

point, you can let the side

c a b i i Like the sides, the face *frame is made up of stiles and rails, narrow rails aside and complete a waste (Figure 4a) and then cleaning m i i c - . i +&:>:.?q

as shown in Figure 1. But they're little shaping work on the wide rail up the edge with a straight bit on the +, . . held together by lap joints that O at the bottom of the cabinet. router table F m e s 4 and 4b).

< ; 9 3 ~- , ~ , ,: .~.~, .- .. . - . create openings for the drawers. Foot - Like the sides of the Stiles - With all the rails com- . - .'<F'A . ~ .

Rails - I started by cutting the cabinet, the front frame has a plete, you're ready to work on the rails (D, E) to h a l sue from 3/4"- "foot" on each side. But this time, stiles (F). I found it easiest to start thick hardwood. Once that's com the foot is cut in the bottom rail. out with an extra-wide (4") work-

. 1 plete, you can cut rabbets on the To form the circular part of the piece 5). Cutting the lap ends of each rail to form half of the cutout, I used a technique similar joints in a single piece ensures lap joint (Fi i re 3). Whafs important to the one I used for the sides. You they11 be aligned perfectly across here is that the shoulder--toshoulder can see this in the lower margin each stile. I used the rails to verify distance be identical (183/4") on each photo on the opposite page. the width and depth of each lap rail so the size of the drawer open- Shape Wide Rail - Completing joint as I cut them to sue (Figures ings is consistent ( F i i e 1). the foot is just a matter of using a 5, 5a and 5b). Then I cut the stiles

At this point you can set the band saw to remove most of the to rinalwidth (13/4"). Assembly - Now that the lap

joints are complete, you're ready to assemble the front frame (Figure 6). (For a few tips and techniques on assembling the frame with just a few clamps, refer to page 30.)

As you assemble the frame, you'll notice that the rails don't extend all the way to the edges of

..-.-. , . . .. . . . the stiles. Don't worry. After the FOR FRONT FRAME

A55EMBLY TIPS. frame is assembled (and the glue is

REFERTO PAGE 30 dry), you'll be cutting rabbets that are even with the ends of the rails to accept the sides.

No. 64 ShopNotes 25

Top, Bottom & Back , Now that the sides and front frame are complete, you're ready to start assembling the cabinet, as shown in the Overview in F i e 7.

Attach Sides - However, before you can attach the sides, you11 need to cut a rabbet along the back edge of the front frame v i e 8).

There's nothing tricky about cut- ting the rabbet. I used a dado blade and "buried" it in an auxiliary fence attached to the face of my rip fence ( F i i e 8a). Then it's just a matter of sneaking up on the width of the rabbet so the sides are flush with the outside of the frame.

Assemble Sides & Frame - With the rabbet cut in the front frame, you're ready to attach the sides. To make this easy to do with a limited number of clamps, refer to the article on page 30.

Rout Roundover - Once the fi

sides are attached, carefully rest the assembly on its "back" and rout a I/? roundover along the front edge, as shown in Figure 9. Besides soft- ening the corner, this also makes the jointline along the side less visible.

Vertical Supports - Because the cabiet will be very heavy with all the drawers loaded with hard- ware, it needs to be solid. To ensure this, I added some "backbone" by installing a set of four vertical sup ports, like the ones you see illus trated in Figure 10.

These supports will be used later to attach the slides for the drawers. But they also provide a convenient

w BACK I

T-NUT

LEVELER GLIDE

,'

way to attach the top, bottom, and back of the cabinet as well.

To ensure the drawer slides line up flush with the inside edge of the drawer openings, the vertical sup- ports (G) are made from 1"-thick stock. And they're cut to length to provide clearance for attaching the top supports and bottom of the

'-4 TOP

FROM FRAME

7 VERTICAL SUPPORT

cabinet (Figures 10,10a, and 11). Gluing the front vertical sup

ports in place is just a matter of butting them into the corners, as you can see in Figure lob. And the vertical supports at the back of the cabinet are set in to create a "rabbet" for the back of the cabinet, as shown in Figure 10b.

While I was at it, I added a pair of top supports (H) made from 3/4'C

thick hardwood (Figure 10). Before screwingthem in place @gure lOa), I drilled a pair of holes in each sup port for attaching the top.

Bottom - With the top supports in place, you can tnm your attention

to the bottom of the cabinet. Besides enclosing the base of the cab'iet, the bottom provides a mounting point for a set of levelers.

After cutting the bottom (1) to size from '/2" plywood, I drilled two sets of holes, as you can see in F i r e s 7, 11, and lla. One set of

holes is used to attach the bottom to the supports installed earlier.

The other set of holes is part of a shopmade leveling system. S i c e I wasn't able to find a set of low-profile levelers that were inexpensive and adjustable, I decided to make my own using a set of T-nuts and glides.

That took care of the inexpensive and low profile criteria To make them easily adjustable from im'& the cabinet, I cut a slot in the top of each glide (see margin). Once that's complete, drill the holes for the T- nut; tap them in place and then thread in the levelers.

Top - There are only a couple things left to complete the cab'iet - adding the top and back I concen- trated on the top first since it's easier to install without the back attached

I I tothecab'iet. The top Q) is just a 1"-thick panel I

glued up from several narrower boards (Figure 12). After the glue dries, you can trim the top to final , A~ustable size. Then rout a small roundover Levelers. CuMng a (?/a") on all the top and bottom slot in the top of a edges except the back, as in F i r e glide with a hacksaw 12a. Finally, screw the top in place so creates an it's centered side to side and flush at adjustable leveler the back (Figure 12a).

Back - All that's left to do is add the back. The back (K) is a piece of l/4" piywood that's sized in width to fit between the sides of the cabinet. And it's cut to length so it'sflush with the lower edge of the bottom. Once the back is cut to size, you can screw it in place Figures 12 and 12a).

Drawers

vliith the basic cab inet complete, you can move

on to building the drawers that hold the bis used to organize the hardware (see photo and Figure 13).

As I mentioned before, I sized the drawers to accept plastic storage b'is (refer to page 35 for Sources). But if you'd rather make your own organ- izing system, check out the shop made dividers on the opposite page.

Drawers - The drawers are built from '/zl'-thick stock. After planing -- your stock down to size, you can cut mm the drawer fiuntshacks (L, N) and

- 7 sides (M, 0) to the dimensions Shown in F m e 13 and the margin.

I 4%" Wbafs important here is to end up

I with a '/2" space on each side of the drawer forinsWng the hll-extension metal drawer slides @gure 13c). F a extension slides make it easy to reach the entire contents of the drawer.

single kerf cut in the ends of each side accept tongues a t on the ends of the fronts and backs F i 13 and 13a).

Before assembling the drawer, you11 need to cut a l/4"-wide groove along the bottom edge of all the drawer pieces to hold the bottom @gure 13b). And since itwill be dif- ficult to do once the drawer is

RABBET ON ALL FOUR EDGES assembled, its best to drill a set of

countersunk screw holes in the front for attacb'mg the false fronts.

Now you can cut the drawer b o t h (P, to size b n '/z" &c€d. C/z" pb- woodmakes abeavydulybottomfor sup portingadrawerfddhardware,)AUer cutling a '/dl t o w e m d the edge of thebottomtotittheegroove 13b), you can glue up each drawer.

Install Drawers - At this point you're ready to add the slides and install the drawers in the cab'iet Just keep in mind that the goal is to posi- tion each drawer '/811 above each Illil F m e 13.3. This orovides the clear-

ha-bullnose is routed around the out- side to ease the edges @ m e 13d).

Finish - After screwing the false fronts in place, I stained the cabinet with a mix of three table- spoons of Van Dyke brown artist's colors and a quart of linseed oil. Then I topped it off with a few coats of a wipe-on varnish.

F d y , I added a pull to each drawer ( E w e 13). But you might also want to consider the brass hard- ware shown below. & . -

ance above the drawer for the b'is and hardware. False Fronls - A1

thats lefi at this point is to make the false mts (8, R) shown in F i e 13 and the margin. A rabbet is cut around the edges of the false fronts to create a lip that overlaps the drawer opening Figure

I 13e and margin). Then a

Drawer Dividers You don't need to build an entire cab- inet to get organized. Shopbuilt drawer dividers are a great way to organize the contents of any drawer.

Divider System - The dividers consist of an interlocking system * v i e 1) that can be made from '/a"-thick stock or '/4" hardboard. Regardless of the material, what's important is that all the dividers must be the same Wickness to ensure they lock together securely.

Size Dividers -To start, cut the dividers to width (height) to match the distance from the drawer bottom to the top edge of the drawer sides (Rlgure 1). Then for each drawer, cut

fivesidetde (S, U) andfrontdo4mk (T, V dividers to length to match the inside dimensions of the drawers.

Auxiliary Fences - Before cut- ting the joints, I added an auxiliary fence to my miter gauge. Besides providing solid support for the dividers, it prevents chipout on the back side as you make the cut. A second auxiliary fence prevents the blade from "shaving" the rip fence.

Then to ensure the joints were cut identically, I stacked all the same length pieces for each drawer together. After clamping them to the auxiliary fence, you can make the cuts as shown in F i e 2.

Cut Joints - After installing a dado blade in your table saw to match the thickness of the dividers, you can cut a notch at each end of the dividers ( E w e 2a). Then after cutting a centered notch in each piece, you can cut a pair of notches on each side of the center notch. Note: I only cut centered notches for the large drawers.

Once all the notches are cut, it's just a matter of sliding the dividers together and slipping the assembly into the drawer. Then all that's left to do is gather up all your boxes of hardware and organize each drawer to suit your needs. &

hen it comes time to techniques that follow any time you your assembly flat and square. w assemble a large carcase need to assemble a large project I like to use my workbench, as you (like the Hardware Cabinet on page Preparation - Before you start can see in Figure 1. It's a natural 22), I never seem to have enough rounding up your clamps, one of the assembly area But that's not always clamps. But the truth is, you don't f is t things you'll need is a large, flat best for large or tall projects. In that always need a lot With just a few surface to work on. If its not, you'll case, I lay down a piece of plywood clamps, YOU can use the t i ~ s and have to workthat much harder t w e t on mv s h o ~ floor. (I use s b s to

ilEW WD. A TOP WEtr

even out any low spots in the floor.) Frame & Panel Assembly -

Typi*, a frame and panel doesn't require alot of clamps. As a matter of fact, two will usually do the trick. And even though clamping it is a simple task, ifs still a good idea to spend a little time dry assembling everything to check for problems.

One problem you might notice is that the stiles and rails "pop up" a bit as you apply clamping pressure. To avoid this problem, you'll want to make sure the pressure is centered on the thickness of the workpiece ( F i r e 1). To do this, I use rounded clamping blocks the same thickness as the workpieces ( F i e la).

Another area of concern with a frame and panel assembly is ensuring that it ends up square. Checking for this is easy - just measure diagonally kom corner to corner 1).

If these dimensions are the s a m e , a the assemblv is sauare. But its not unusual to be a litfle o£t Sf that's the

No. 64

case, don'tworry. All it takes to square things up is to shift the clamping

e p r e s s u r e slightly (Figure lb). Face Frames - Another large

assembly that's similar to a frame and panel is a face frame. But instead of apanel, there's usually a few more rails (and therefore joints) making up the assembly.

Trying to glue the entire assembly at once often results in running out of both clamps and time. To take the "pressure" off, I only glue one rail at atime.

To see howto do this, take alookat F i e 2. The key is dry assembling the frame. Besides keeping every- tb i i aligned and square, it allows you to remove one rail at a time.

This makes it easy to apply glue to the ends of the rail and then slip it back in place. Once you've done that, place apipe clamp across the rail and pull the joint tight. Finally, add a clamp across each lap joint to lock the rail in place.

At this point, it's a simple matter to remove the pipe clamp and repeat this process, 'leapfrogging" your way down the frame. And don't wony if

you've already done. Then simply start up right where you left OE

Bringing It AU Together - The last challenge in assembling a project is bringing all the parts together.

As I mentioned before, I dnd it easier to assemble large (or tall) proj- ects on the floor. Besides not having to reach so high above my work- bench, I don't have to worry about moving it off my workbench later.

Another challenge is trying to

CLAMP SQUARE INSIDE CORNER TO HOLD PIECES

HANDSCREW

%''PLYWOOD WORK SURFACE

hold a number of pieces in position while you work. To give myself a "tbird hand," I used a handscrew as a wide base to bold one (or more) of the pieces in position, as in F i e 3.

When you're only assembling a couple parts (like the single side and frame in F i e 31, it's not unusua for the assembly to "pinch togetha

To solve this problem, I use a littlt trick that involves making a "framing square from a suap of plywood F w r e 3). Once it's clamped in place, it squares up the side and front frame and holds them in position.

With all the problems worked out, all that's left is to start gluing up the assembly. The idea here is to apply glue to the joint (see margin for a handy tip) and thenget the joint tight with as few clamps as possible.

Here again, I 'leapfrog" from the bottom of the assembly to the top. Starting with a pipe clamp, I bring the two parts together. Then I use a bar clamp across the two pieces to pull them tightly together.

Clamping the rest of the assembly is just a matter of moving the pipe clamp up a bit and repeating the process. (You can do this for the other side once the glue dries.)

As you can see, you don't need a shop filled with clamps to assemble a large project. With the tips and tech- niques shown here, success is often just a handful of clamps away &

A Cleaner Glue-ups. You'll have less glue squeeze out on the inside of the cabinet if you only spread the glue to the corner of the rabbet.

a When it comes to assembling MDF

projects, the secret to success is choosing and using the right fastenel:

e of the U r n a t e r i a i s

.re use around the shop a is mediumdensity fiberboard

F). It's flat, stable, and a consis- tent thickness. MDF also machines well for clean, crisp edges and joints. All these great qualities make it sound like the perfect material. But unfortunately, its not quite "perfect"

Unlike other materials, MDF doesn't have grain or plies, which tend to help the screws "grab." Thats not to say you can't use screws with MDF. I use them all the time. But I've learned afew tricks wben it comes to using them successfuIly.

Screw Type - For years, I assem- bled projects with traditional wood-

yb

? I

.,, ,ecnor KADITIONAL {OODSCREW]

A Y

Tapered woodscrew splits MDF near edges and causes bulging on the face of the workpiece.

Shallow countersinks and over- driving screw "lifts" edge of hole.

Wood fibers 'pull" away from bottom workpiece and prevent them from joining together

screws with straight shanks and tapered threads, like the one shown in the left drawing below. Whether I was using them in solid wood or ply- wood, they worked great.

But I had problems using them with MDF. Sometimes the tapered threads on the woodscrew would split the MDF like a piece of 6re- wood. And even if the MDF didn't split, I often had trouble just drawing the two pieces together tightly without stripping out the threads.

To solve these problems, I made a couple changes. First, I switched the type of fastener I use. And second, I spend a litkle more time on the technique of drilling and assem- bling the workpieces.

Sheet metal screws andproperly- sized shank and pilot holes prevent splitting and bulging of workpiece.

Longer screws provide extra holding power in MDF.

Countersinks at both ends of shank hole allow screw to pull joint together tightly .

Sheet Metal Screw - Instead of a traditional woodscrew, I switched to a sheet metal screw (see right drawing below). Although it doesn't look a lot different, I've had more success using them with MDF.

The nice thiig about sheet metal screws is they're not tapered. Since the whole shank is straight, it isn't as likely to split the workpiece. And the threads are a little sharper, so they tend to cut into the MDF better.

Technique - As you may have guessed, there's more to the process of joining two pieces of MDF than just switching to a different screw. It's also important to drill two holes -a shank hole and a pilot hole. a The shank hole is drilled in the top piece, and the pilot hole is drilled in the bottom piece, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3.

Drilling the Shank Hole - The key to ddling the shank hole is to size it so the top piece pulls tightly down to the bottom workpiece. For this to work vou don't want the screw . , threads to qdb the lop picxr a1 dl.

1l1c k t thing I do is find a drill bit that matches the outside diameter of the threads, like you see in the detail in F i e 1. This way, the screw will just slip through the hole without any play F i e 1).

Countersink - Once you have the shank hole drilled, you can go ahead and countersink it for the head of the screw Fire 2). Just like the shank hole, it's important to properly size the countersink.

To determine the correct depth to drill the countersink, turn the screw upside down and fit the head into the countersink. The screw will be flus* with the surface when the head just fits into the countersink.

32 ShopNotes No. 64

'While pm at it, I flip the work- piece over and drill a smaller COUn-

tersjnk where the shank hole exits the top piece. So why countersink somethii you don't see? The main reasan is ifs easy for the hem in the bottom workpiece to "lift? u p This keeps the top and bottom work- pieces from pulling together tightl~5 as you can see in the far left drawing on the opposite page. Drilling a small countemink provides a clear- ance area for the fibers.

Sometimes Pm looking for a tittle

IEAD OP SCREW

? E E ? ? L L E ~ COUNTE~~SINK ON BoTrOM OF SHANK HOLE TO PROVIDE CLEARANCE

v

plst a plain coun@t&k 'Ihe box below shows a couple optiom I use.

DriWag the Pilot Hole - %th the wuntemhks complete, all thats lettto do is drillthe pilothole (Figure 3). This anchors the threads of the screw and prevents spJjtting.

There are two important things to remember here. Fwt, the pilot hole needs to be the @ht diameter. .And secon4itneedsto bethe right depth.

Diameter of Pilot Hole - The pilot hole should be about the same size (or a hair smaller) than the root

Herc again. an easy way to dctcr- mine the right size bit is to hold it up 1 I in front of the screw until you find one that allowe the root to just b a t e show on bothsides of the bit (Figme 3a). Note: %ce its hard to find a b rd point bit theright size, I like to use a regulartwist bit forpilot holes.

With the bit sized, you're ready to drill the pilot hole. To ensure the pilot hole is centered properly, I mark the location using the same brad point bit I used for the shank hole. All you need to do is hold the

differentappeamnceou a&jectthan diameter of the screw. two piecesin position (Ilike to clamp them time I can) and give the bit a little tap or twist to. mark the pre- cise centerpoint for the pilot hole, as shown in.Egure 3b.

Depth of Pilot Hole - With the , pieces stdl held together, YOU qn

drillthe pilot hole. How deep should it be? In MDF, I drill thepilot hole iust pa& where the tip ofthe screw will end up @?me 3).

This way, I don't have m worry about the end of the screw spliaing the MDF deep in the hole and '%bulging" out the side of the wowotk- piece. Note: For extra holding power, 2like to use screws that are l/il' - 3/4" longer than I would mi- d y use for solid wood or plywood.

F i Assembly - All thats left at this pint is to screw the pipieces

together. But there's one last thing. A power drill can easily strip the threads in MDF, ruining all the work that went into Sjzing everything properly. So in9tead of d r k a the screwallthew~homeunderpower, I switch to a wewdriver and "snug up" the screwfosaperfectfit hh

No. 64 ShopNotes 33

A V O R I T E T O O L S I '

T c ~ * Bridge City Tools

Universal a Chest D oes a woodworker really need

another square? Since I've been using the Uniuenal Sqrrere from

Square A

Bridge City Tools, the answer is yes. Universal is a great

P V ~ used a similar-looking tool for description for the a lot of wnstrudiou projects. But A capabilities built unlike that tool, this aluminum square is flawlessly machined and L into this square. has just the right features that make it a great tool for woodworking. the square you'll find

The Basics - For starters, the the saw divisions in single square is machined flat with a cove blade (or a route degree increments. down the center to form a solid base. bit) because the outsi Centering Rule -The So I can rest it light next to the saw edge has a %ties don't stop there. blade and verify it's set to SOo. And ments (Photo A). So setting the The Univenal Square also makes the matte black finish and white let- right height for something like a finding and laying out the center of a tering make it very easy to read. (A dado blade on the fint attempt is a workpiece W e the mortise shown great feature for my aging eyes.) piece of cake. in photo C ) a simple task.

Height Gauge - But there's Probractor - And when laying Thickness Gauge - Finally, more to the Uniuenal Square than out an angle, I don't have to track photo D shows one of the uses I just checking a saw blade for 90' down my old plastic protractor make most frequently - checking (or 459. I can also set the height of (Photo B). Along the angled side of the thickness of stock when it

a comes out of the planer. The wide base makes it easy to butt against the workpiece so I can easily read the thickness along the rule next -

the open slot. Availability - The Uniuenal

Square comes in 3", 4", and 6" sizes. So choosing just one might be the biggest problem. m e 6" size is great for guiding a circular saw or jig saw when making a crosscut.) And if you'd like, you can also buy the squares with metric graduations. (See margin for sources). a 1 chose the 3It Univenal Square. It has all the features of the two larger squares, but its small size makes it

I the ~erfect tool to carrv around in the pocket of your apron.

Cost - Depending on the size of the Uniumal Square, the cost will range from $33 (3'9 to $56 (6"). At kt, this may seem a bit extrava- gant. But considering the ~ n i u e n a e I Squan takes the place of three or four tools, I think it's worth it.&

34 ShopNotes No. 64

Drawer Slides One of the best ways to increase the so youll get smooth, silent operabon. useable space in a drawer is to install And don't worry about sagging. The themwith fdexknsion drawer slides, slides carry loads ranging from 75 to MIba like the one shown at right. 150 pounds - strong enough for a finshes (white and bright metal) e m

The secret is a system of tele drawer full of tools or hardware. available in lengths ranging from 10" scoping steel "channe1s" that can- Brands - We used Accuride to 28" at home centers, through tilever the drawer as you open it. slides with a black finish for our proj- woodworking catalogs, as well as the &o-Mils, IUC. These channels ride on ball bearings, ects. But youll find other brands and sources listed in the margin. 800-253-2467

wwaaluo-rrnls.com Storaoe Bins

Storage Cabinet Hardware & Bins Besides the drawer slides, there are a few other things youll need for the Hardware Storage Cabinet on page 22.

Levelers - For starters, I used leveler glides (Part No. 24257) from Rockler (see margin) to make it easy to level the cabinet.

Hardware - For the drawers, I used 4" brass sash puUs (upper left) from a local home center. But if you'd like something different, Van Dyke's bas brass label holders (Part No. CH-02005501) for identi- fying the contents of each drawer, along with ll'dia. brass knobs (Part No. CH-02002542).

Plastic Storage Bins - When I designed the cabinet drawers, I sized

them specifically for the small (Part No. 3@210) and large (Part No. 3 0 230) Akro-Mils storage bins shown below. Other brands may not fit the drawers exactly These bins (or sim- ilar ones) are available from home centers and the sources at right

Mortising Jig Hard ware- Considering the capabities of woodworking catalogs, and the theP1unge Router MortisingJig sources listed in the margin. (page 14) in this issue, it's sur- Knobs - Locking the sliding prising how little hardware it platforms in place on the actually takes to build i t Mortising Jig requires knobs

Clamps - The key to with two different length threaded studs.

three DeSta-Co Both of the knobs are available from the Woodsmith store (see

margin for number). The part numbers you'll need for ordering them are 1065202 (V") and

home centers, 1065203 (11/2").

ShopNotes

McFeeley's 800-443-7937 mvw.mlrler.com Drawer Slides, Storage Bins

Roekler 800-279-4441 w..mekler..eom

De-Sta-Co Clamps, Drawer Slides, Leveler Glides, Storage Bins

MeMaster-Carr 630-833-0300

wwa.mcmasteceom Drawer Slides, Storage Bim, Toggle Clamps

Van Dyke's Restorem 800-558-1234

wwa.uandykee.com Cabinet Hardware

Woodsmith Store 800-835-5084 Mortising Jig

Hardware, De-Sta-Co Clamps, Drawer

Slides

A B

C C

D

G

H

E F I

#/4" PLYWOOD - 48" x 48"#/4"

NOTE: A SMALL PIECEOF -HARDBOARD WILL BENEEDED FOR ITEMS

!/4"

Page 1 of 1 ShopNotes No. 64 ©2002 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved.

Cutting Diagram ®

MaterialsA Bottom (1) 16 x 12 -3/4 PlywoodB Top (1) 12 x 12 -3/4 PlywoodC Sides (2) 3 x 12 - 3/4 PlywoodD Router Plate (1) 16 x 17 - 3/4 PlywoodE Router Plate Guide Strip (1) 1 x 9 - 1/4 HardboardF Stops (2) 41/4 x 41/2 - 1/4 HardboardG Fixed Plate (1) 12 x 12 - 3/4 PlywoodH Sliding Plate (1) 12 x 12 - 3/4 PlywoodI Sliding Plate Guide Strip (1) 1 x 12 - 1/4 Hardboard

Plunge Router

Mortising Jig

Page 1 of 2 ShopNotes No. 64 ©2002 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved.

Hardware Cutting Diagram

Materials

Cabinet A Side Stiles (4) 3/4 x 31/2 - 411/2B Side Rails (4) 3/4 x 31/2 - 17C Side Panels (2) 17 x 341/4 - 1/4 PlywoodD Narrow Front Rails (6) 3/4 x 11/2 - 20 3/4E Wide Front Rail (1) 3/4 x 31/2 - 203/4F Front Stiles (2) 3/4 x 13/4 - 411/2G Vertical Supports (4) 1 x 31/4 - 391/4H Top Supports (2) 3/4 x 31/4 - 203/4I Bottom (1) 203/4 x 23 - 1/2 PlywoodJ Top (1) 1 x 241/4 - 223/4K Back (1) 203/4 x 403/4 - 1/4 Plywood

DrawersL Small Fronts/Backs (8) 1/2 x 31/2 - 171/4MSmall Sides (8) 1/2 x 31/2 - 23N Large Fronts/Backs (4) 1/2 x 51/2 - 171/4O Large Sides (4) 1/2 x 51/2 - 23P Bottoms (6) 171/4 x 221/2 - 1/2 PlywoodQ Small False Fronts (4) 3/4 x 43/4 - 191/4R Large False Fronts (2) 3/4 x 61/2 - 191/4S Small Side-to-Side Dividers (20) 1/4 x 31/2 - 171/4T Small Front-to-Back Dividers (20) 1/4 x 3 - 22U Large Side-to-Side Dividers (10) 1/4 x 5 - 163/4V Large Front-to-Back Dividers (10) 1/4 x 5 - 22

NOTE: Cutting Diagram For Optional Dividers Not Shown

®

Storage Cabinet

Page 2 of 2 ShopNotes No. 64 ©2002 August Home Publishing. All rights reserved.

E

F

RR

D

D

#/4" 8" - 96"x

#/4" 8" - 96"x

#/4" 8" - 96"x

#/4" 6" - 96"x

%/4" 8" - 96"x

#/4" 8" - 96"x

!/2" x 8" - 96"

!/2" x 6" - 96"

!/2" x 8" - 96"

!/2" x 6" - 96"

C

K

C

A AA A

B BB B

N N N N

P P P

P P P

MM M M

O O O O

48" 96" - PLYWOODx !/4"

48" 96" - PLYWOODx !/2"

L L LL

J JJ J

I

Q Q Q Q

HH

G G