Shop-Built Workbench .

Raised Panel Routing Jig

Illllp=--
ssue 7 January 1993
EDITOR Donald B. Pesehke
EDITOR Douglas L. Hicks
EXSCUTIVE
MANACINC EDITOR
ISSOCI~TE EDITOR

ASSISTANTEDITOR
c o N m l e u n n c EDITOR
Terry J. Strohman
Richard S. Peters
Tim Robertson
Phillip A. Totten
H ow many times have you
heard, "that's the way it has
always been done."
All to often woodworkers get "bogged
down" thinking about the way things
this page is taken up by a rather official
looking document. It's called a Publish-
er's Statement. Once a year the Post
Office requires us to print this. Basically
it lets everyone know how many issues
should be done, and we don't think about are printed, and how they're distributed.
CRUTEVE DIRECTOR Ted Kralieek the way things could be done. Now, I'll admit that I sometimes
ART DIRECTOR Gary Christensen WORKBENCH. A perfect example of loose track of time, but when Phyllis
SENIOR I L L U M T O R K~l'tS c h ~ l t 2 this is the Workbench featured in this Jessen (our Subscription Manager) re-
Iwusmrrons Will Niskanen issue. Paditionally the top of a work- minded me to included the Publisher's
Roger Reiland
Mark Higdon bench is glued up kom several pieces to Statement in this issue, I was shocked.
PHOTOGRAPHER Crayola England form a large, thick slab. Having to fill out the the Publisher's
This requires a large amount of wood Statement was like getting a birthday
DESICW DIRECTOR Ken Munkel
(which can be expensive). And a good card. It reminded me that one year had
SENIOR DESIGNER Jan Hale Svee deal of time and effort. passed since ShopNotes was '%om."
DESlCNEa Kent Welsh
What we wanted was the look of a The past year has been very exciting
SHOP YLN~CER Steve Curtis (and very husy) for all of us. The re-
traditional bench without the work.
omcuunow Kent Welsh (our Designer) came up sponse to ShopNotes has been better
with a different approach. The top of than we hoped. We now have over
.
Cimdatim h d a r : LizBredem-Su6srriptzOn
Mamger: PhyULF Jessen Cir&tim Analyst
Rod Cain- Newsstand Sales: Kent A BneMon
the bench starts with a plywood foun-
dation. Then thin hardwood strips are
165,000 paid subscribers.
I want to thank all of you for helping
WBLISHIm SUIVICES
glued on. Less wood, less effort. us through the first year. And to let you
Aasoeiola Edito?:Gordon C. G a p e . S7 Graphic
D e s i p : Robert H. Whitmer
PUBLISHER'S STATEMENT. You've know that we have lots of great pro-
COR-TEIERYICEI probably noticed that a good portion of

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Conhu1lw:Paul E. Gray. Aecm%biwLinda O'

. .
Rourke Bookkeeping: Julianne Spears -Z*fo.
Sewices Manager. Joy- Moore Netwnrk
Admi*: Douglas M. Lidster Administrative

.
As&.: Cheryl Scott, Jdja Fish Receptimist
Jeanne Johnson Bldg. M&t:Ken G a t h
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
(Requjred by 39 U.S.C. 3685)
-Em IUPPUL6
1. Title of Publication: ShapNotes. la. Publication No.: 10629696.2.Date of Filing: September

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Marketing Di7ector. Robert Muny .ArtD(rec- 24.1992.3.Freauencvafissue: Bimonthlv. 3a. No. ofissues~ublishedannuailv:6 (six). 3b.Annual
tor Cindy Jackon Customer Sewice MF: subscription pri&: $16.95.4.Complete mkingaddress af&own M e e ofpubkcatim: 2200 Grand
Laura MeNelly Prqled Supplies: Linda Jones Avenue, Des Moines, (Polk County), Iowa 50312~5306.5. Complete miling address of the
.Technical Supp&:JeffJanes .Systems apara-
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CUSTOYU IERVlCE
Managing Editor: Terry J. Stmhman, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312.7. owner;
S d e Supemisor Jennie Enos = Customer
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SWIPPlNG m P M Y E H T

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, Csrey to filing date
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ShopNotee (ImN162-9696> is pubbhed bimonthly B. Paid andio&eqiested c&&tion:
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iedrn
ShopNoteekatrademk of Woodsrmth Corporation. D. Free distribution by mail, carrier or other means. samples,
eopylight 1993 by WoodsmithCorporation. All
d%.h,.? ,".se",pd .:
complimentary, and other free copies.. ............ ........ 26
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ShopNotes No. 7
 ISSUE NUMBER SEVEN -- I

Contents
fbised enel Jig 4
Rout a perfect ra~sedpanel door or drawer usfng a
route< a strafght b~t,and this shop-madejig Raised Panel Jig
I
Block Plane 7ips 8
From planin; end and edge grain to trimming small
pieces, here's a few tips that will provide crisp, clean
cuts every time.

I
Sanding a 5urface Flat 10
2 it takes to produce a perfectly flat surface is a belt
sander and four simple steps.

Rust Removal 12
Practical solutions for removing rust and restoring tools
to a usable condition.

Keyless Chucks 14
B) Changing drill bits without a chuck key is quick and easy
wfth this handy accessory for your portable drill.

Workbench 16
This workbench features a solid base that knocks down
easily and a top that's built up of plywood and thin
hardwood strips.

Shop-Made Kse 23
A massive wood face, iron guide rods, and a manufac-
tured vise screw combine to provide even clamping
pressure that holds a workpiece tight.

I
Four shop-tested tips: Dowel Cutting Jig, Shop-Made
Bench Clamp, Rip Fence Alignment Gauge, anda Glue
Brush Tip.

Board Footage 30
Calculating board feet takes the guesswork out of de-
termining the cost of a project.

Sources 31
Hardware, project supplies, and mail order sources for
the projects in this issue. Shop-Made Vise Page 23
3
 All that's needed to m a k e a raised
panel is a router, a n o ~ d i n a r y
stmight bit, and this simplejig.
-.-

S ometimes a jig works out

even better than expected.
We originally designed this
simple modification allows you to panel is passed under the router.
rout curved raised panels as well. This creates an angled border
Regardless of the shape, the around the edges of the panel
. ,.
7
.
raised panel jig to rout square or principle of the jig is the same. that "raises" a field in the center. ..: .

rectangular pieces. But after The router is held at an angle BASE. I began work by making -
working on it, we found that a over the workpiece. Then the the plywood base (A), see Fig. I.
The base can be as big as you like.
It just needs to he large enough - ..
to support the workpiece. (In my :: ~
~5
,

case, the base is 24"square.)

FENCE.Once the base is cut to
size, a hardwood fence is in-
stalled.Thefence (B) is serewedin
a shallow dado in the base, see Fig.
la. When routing a curved panel,
e
the fence is replaced with a "pin."
(For more on making curved
raised panels, refer to page 7.)

The heart of the jig is the &age

assembly.This assembly suspends
the router at an angle over the
.a': -
workpieee. Since the router is
tilted, an ordinaxy straight bit can
he used to rout the angled border.
"-;. . .~

GUIDE RODS. The router is held ..-?*

at an angle by a pair of guide rods,
see Fig. 1. These rods are 16"
lengths of 1A"dia. steel rod that I
ROD BLOCK
hought at the hardware store.
(There's also a source on page 3 1.)
GUIDE ROD BLOCK The rods
are supported by a guiderod block
(GI.This is two 3A"-thickpieces of
hardwood glued together, see Fig.
2. Then two holes are drilled to
accept the ends of the guide rods.
The trick is to tilt the rods at a
slight angle. This angle eventu-
8
ally determines the angle of the
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, No.7
! @ border on the raised panel. To
create theangle, the bottomedge ROUTER ON MOUNTING
PLATE TO TRANSFER
of the block is beveled before glu- SCREW HOLES AND
ing and screwing it to the base,
see Fig. 2a. Then the rods are
epoxied in the holes.
s L m m G PLATFORM. With the
rods in place, the next step is to
add a sliding platform. The plat-

.
-r. .. -.-
. ...
.
fonn carries the router back and
forth on the guide rods to in-
. ..
.~..
-. crease the width of the border. It
& . . .~
consists of three parts: a mount-
--.~ ing plate, a pair of rails, and a
. finger guard, see Figs. 3 and 6. MASONITE)
1
MOUNTING PLATE. The moU%t-
-. ivqplate (D)is a piece of V4" Ma-
sonite that replaces the original
base of the router, see Fig. 3. (I
used the original base as a tem-
- plate to locate the mounting holes
and the opening for the bit.)
WS. After marking and drill-
. ing the holes, a pair of hardwood
rails (E) is added, see Fig. 3.
Holes at each end of the rails fit
over the guide rods and allow the Slip a thin piece of
platform to slide back and forth. wood in the kerf to
To keep the platformhm bind- prevent the drill bit
ing, the holes need to align with rail a d s as part of a clamping sys- the bolts, the kerfed ends of the
from binding.
the guide rods and with each other. tem that locks the platform in rail pinch against the guide rods
To do this, I taped the rails to- place. After cutting the kerfs, the and lock the platform in place.
gether with double-sided tape and rails are glued and screwed to the FINGER GUARD. The last step
thencentered the holes 71ht'apart, mounting plate, refer to Fig. 3. is to add a finger guard. The
- see Fig. 4. Note. Sand these holes
lightly so the rails slide easily.
CLAMP. NOWthe clamp can he guard is a piece of V4" plexiglas
completed. What makes the clamp that's screwed loosely to the h n t
Before attaching the rails, work is two carriage bolts that rail, see Fig. 6. Two slotsand abev-
there's one more thing to do. And pass through holes drilled in the eled bottomcornerallowthe guard Hardwan
that's to cut a kerf at each end of ends of the kerfed rail, see Fig. to "rideup"ontop of the workpiece
- om rail, see Fig. 5a. Later, this 3a. By tightening wing nuts on as it's passed under the muter.
15)#Bx2"Fb
RAISE BLADE TO W d s m
MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF ONE RAIL ONLY @l)#Bx PFh
wodecl73rrrs
( 2 ) % 6 * ~f%8
Carriage Bolte
12) Vts" FFIat
Washers
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Nurm
12) #Ox sl4"
rn Srrnvts
f2) Y&zUxVw'
k d e r Waeherr

No. 7 ShopNotes 5
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A&dd:
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 Raised Panels
Routing a n arqled bordel- around
the edges of a panel creates a
'%aised"field in the center

One way to turn an ordinary pro- RABBET Since most panels are rahhets fonn a tongue that fits
jeet into something specialis with surrounded by a frame, the first into a groove in the h e .
a raised panel door or drawer. step is to fit the panel to the h e . Before routing the angled bor-
Making these panels is simple us- This requires rabbeting the edges der of the panel, there are two
ing a router and the raised panel on both sides of the panel (I use a things to consider: grain direc-
jig shown on page 4. hand-held muter), see Step 1.The tion and feed direction.

Raised Panels Step-by-step

ROUT RABBET ON
BOTH SIDES OF PANEL
TO FORM TONGUE

TONGUE -\ FRAME I

A Step 1: Using a ?a8"rabbeting A Step 2: After mounting the depth of cut so the edge of the bit
bit, a rabbet is routed around the routeron theslidingplatform, po- is at the shoulder of the rabbet.
edges of the panel on both sides. sition the platform and adjust the Then clamp the platform in place.

A Step 3: Make the first pass by

sliding the panel from left to right
making a series of passes, mov- A Step 4: Now sand the border
ing the slidingplatformin V4"incre- smooth and square up the shoul-
e
Then complete the border by ments between each pass. der with a beveled sanding block.

6 ShopNotes NO.7
 GRAIN DIRECWN. To reduce
the amount of chi~out.the ends Curved Panels
(or end grain) of the panel are I RUB BLOCK (FX d
routed first. Then, any chipout
can be cleaned up by routing the SCREW DOWEL IN HOLE
sides (or edge grain).
F E DIRECTION.
~ Whether
you're muting ends or sides, each
pass is made by sliding the panel
Prom left to right. This way, the
REMOVE FENCE
clockwise rotation of the bit pulls
the panel against the fence.
SET-UP.Now you're ready to
"raise" the panel. After mounting
the muterto the slidingplatfonn, J/4-DIA. DOWEL

the shoulder of the rabbet is used

as a guide to set up the jig, see A Step 1: After remov~ngthe The dowel IS screwed in a
Step 2 on page 6. fence, ~nstalla short length of stopped hole that3 centered on
'Rmrra ox BORDER. When the %'-dla dowel as a rub block. the dado in the base.
first pass is completedaround the
'
entire vanel. the width of the bor- a
der can be increased. To do this,
slide the platform up the guide
rods, tightenthe clamp,andmake
another pass around each edge.
Then just repeat the process until
the border is the desired width,
see Step 3 on page 6.
GURNED RAISED PANELS
The beauty ofthisraisedpaneljig
is it can also be used to rout
noved panels.
RUB BLOCK. Qince the curved
edge doesn't conform t o the A Step 2: With the curved edge slightly. To ensure thatthe border
straight line of the fence, the of the panel r~dingagainst the is a conastent w~dth,make an
fence is replaced with a ''rub rub block, pivot the workpiece additional cleanup pass
block," see Step 1.(I used a short
piece of 3A"-dia. dowel.) The
dowel is screwed in a hole that's
centered on the dado in the base.
ROUT CURVED END. With the
rub block in place, the curved end
of the panel is routed in a series of
NOTE$
ROUT BORDERS OF EQUAL
WIDTH ON 6TRAIGHT
AND CURVED EDGES 1
passes. The idea is ta pivot the
panel slightly as you slide the edge
against the rub block, see Step 2.
Ideally, you should end up with
a consistent width across the en-
tire border. If the width varies,
just make additional passes until
the border is a uni£orm width.
lbcomplete theraisedpane1,re- A Step 3: Complete the panel by nal pass should create a border
place the rub block with the fence replac~ngthe fence and routlng the same width as the border on
and rout along the straight edges. along the straight edges. The fl- the curved end of the panel

No. 7 ShopNotes 7
 - -

Block Plane
Tips
Although small
in size, a block M any block planes spend
much of their life sitting
on a shelf. They're only called
they're designed to be used with
just one hand.
~CHNIQUE.AS with any hand
plane can upon occasionally to plane some plane, you'll get better results
tack le a large troublesome end grain. But I find with a block plane if you follow a
variety of wood- myself using a block plane all the few basic rules.
working tasks. time. 1 use it for planing both end First, always keep the blade
and edge grain, fitting joints, and razor sharp. And take a very shal-
trimming small pieces. low cut with a tight throat open-
SMALL SIZE. One reason why ing, see drawing at right.
I'm always reaching for my block Second, to produce a shearing
plane has to do withits size. Most cut that slices the wood cleanly, it
are small and light enough to slip helps to skew the plane at an an-
comfortably into a tool pouch or gle to the workpiece, see photo.
apron pocket. TIPS. In addition to these basic
ONEHAND. Their small size and rules, there are a number of sim- A To use a block plane, adjust
light weight also makes the block ple tips you can use to make a the throat for the narrowest open-
plane very easy to use. In fact, block plane do more for you. ing and take a very shallow cut.

Planing End Grain

H Planing end grain presents a end of the workpiece toward the ADD SUPPORT. The solution I
special problem. When a plane center, see Fig. 1.This avoids the prefer is to clamp a scrap piece of
blade passes over the end of a problem by not allowing the wood to the end of the workpiece,
workpiece, it can dig in and cause blade to catch on theunsupported see Fig. 2.
the end to break or chip off. ends of the workpiece. This way as you plane toward
There are however, a couple of The only problem with doing the scrap piece, the scrap piece
ways to prevent this. this is it can be difficult to plane a supports the end fibers of the
TOWAIIDCZWmR. One simple straight edge that's both smooth workpiece so they don't break or
method is to plane from either and flat. chip off.

PLANE TOWARD C E M E R
FROM EACH END

8 ShopNotes No. 7
 @ .
Squa* an Edge
Traditionally,block planes have
been used for planing end grain.
But they can also be used to
pull it toward you, see Fig. 1.This
allows your fingers to wrap
around the plane and form a
first need to make sure that the
side of the plane is 9Ootothe sole.
The only problem with using a
square up the edge of a board. The fence. Note: This method is quick, wood fence is the blade of the
idea is to stabilize the plane so it but it does take some practice. plane doesn't extend all the way
makes a cut that's 90' to the face WOOD FENCE. An almost fool- to the edge of the plane body.
of the workpiece. proof way to get a 90" edge is to So to plane the entire edge of
FINGER FENCE. An easy way make a wood fence and clamp it the workpiece, you'll need to cut
to do this is to wrap your fingers to the plane, see Fig. 2. a shallow rabbet in the face of the
around the front of the plane and Note: For this to work, you'll fence, see Fig. 2a.

RIDE AGAINST

ABlLlZE PLANE

WRAP HANDAKOUN
FLOW OP PLANE
AND W U TO CUT

Tdrnrning 5rnall Pieces

w Small workpieces (such as trim plane stationary and draw the draw it slowly over the blade.
for a picture frame) have always workpiece over the blade to take %INP JOINTER The other way
been a challenge to plane. Be- a the, controlled ''parin@ cut. to do this is to simply clamp the
sides being small, the trim is HOLD AGAINSTBODE One way plane upside down in a vise.
often routed with a decorative to do this is to hold the plane in This converts your block plane
edge. And this makes them dif6- one hand tight against your body into a "mini" jointer, see Fig. 2.
cult to clamp in a vise. with the blade pointing away Then just push the workpiece
Instead of trying to clamp the from you,see Fig. 1.Then holding slowly over the sole of the plane
workpiece in a vise, I hold the the workpiece in your other hand, to trim it to size.

NOrn
LADE POINT6
&WAYFROM
BODY

TOWARD BODY

1 No. 7
 Sandinga
Surface Flat
What's the quickest way to get a
surface flat? Use a belt sander and
this simple four-step process.

I t happens to every wood- leave ridges and hollows. So keep problem and allow you to concen-
worker. You're gluing up sev-
eral pieces to make a table top or
it moving at all times.
COMFORT. In order to do this,
trate on the job a t hand.
Belt sanders also create a lot of
panel. Then as you apply the you need to be as comfortable as dust. A dust mask allows you to
clamps, the pieces shift up and possible. There are two reasons sand for a longer period of time
down. And no matter how hard why this is important. First, lev- and still breathe without choking.
you try, you end up with a work- eling a surface takes time. If Also, a belt sander cord has a
piece that isn't flat, you're not comfortable, you may nasty habit of getting in the way.

*
One of the fastest and most ef- rush the job and ruin the surface. To avoid this, just drape the cord
fective ways I know to quickly And second, you won't he able over your shoulder, see Fig. 1.
flatten a glued-up top or panel is to concentrate on controlling the BOTH HANDS.AS YOU start to
to use a belt sander. sander. The trick to concentra- sand, use your hands and arms to
tionis to remove asmany distrac- guide the sander. Most belt sand-
LEVELING A SURFACE tions as possible. ers are heavy. They don't need
Leveling a surface is a simple DISTRACTIONS. The constant any more downward pressure
four step process. The first step whine of a belt sander can be very than the weight of the sander it-
is to mark the high spots with a distracting and even harmful. self. The idea is to hold back on
pencil and a straight edge, refer Hearing protectors solve the the sander, not push down.
to Step 1. Note: A light will help
highlight the highs and lows.
REMOVEHIGIt9. Now load an 80
grit belt on your sander and ' h o c k
off' the high spots, refer to Step 2.
But don't sand with the grain. In-
stead, sand m s s the grain.
The firsttime someone saw me
do this, they thought it was amis-
take. But then I explained why it
works so well.
Basically, the sander rides on
top of the high spots and quickly
grinds them down. If you sand
with the grain, the sander rides
on both the highs and lows. This
results in a smooth surface-but
it's not flat.
The secret is to keep the belt BELT SANDER
sander moving. If you don't, the
sander can gouge the surface and

10 ShopNotes No. 7
 . . ,:. ''+*-,*;:, ~,.
gik+&~?;,.-~*, ;:.-::;
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;=- ":s=;:>;c~ x<.;*-
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sAND~c~oss SURFACE. Now,
sand the entire surface across the
grain, refer to Step 3. Move the
sander up and back at a slight
angle -like a long, tall 'W."
In order to sand to the edge of
the workpiece, you11 need to ex-
tend the sander past the edge.
That's because theplaten(themet-
al plate the belt rides on) is only
four to five inches long -not the SANDING BELT
fulllength of the sander, see Fig 2.
The tricky part is knowing
where this platen starts and
stops. To give yourself a visual SAND WITHGRAIN. Now load When the scratches are gone,

I
,..- ,..
I -
,
.
reference, try putting strips of on a fresh 80 grit belt and sand
~..: . ~ tape on the top of the sander to the entire surface with the grain,
mark the location of the platen, refer to Step 4. The goal is to
switch to a 120 grit belt and keep
sanding. The idea is to leave finer
scratches that can be removed
! :~ see Figs. 2 and 2a. remove the cross grain scratches. with a finish sander or by hand.
1 :~.:; : . ;
I

I.'.~

MARK HIGH SPOTS WITH PENCIL

HELPS
LOCATE
HIGhS
AND
LOW5

Step 1: Mark High Spots. Hold a straightedge Step 2: Remove High Spots. Hold the sander 90"
across the workpiece. Then mark the high spots. to the gram and gently move the sander back and
Repeat every 2" for the length of the workpiece. forth over the marks. Don't stop m any one place

SAND WNH GRAIN TO

REMOVE CROSS
GRAIN SCRATCHES

Step 3: Sand Across the Grain. Working right to Step 4: Sand With the Grain. Switch to a finer grit
left in a long " W pattern, move sander forward (or sanding belt Then remove all of the cross grain
backward) and slightly sideways at the same time. scratches by sanding with the grain.
 4 Rust
wsty tools don't need to gather
st. A few rust removal products
restore them to a usable condition.

&.That's rust and dried to a paintable sur- ping pad, see Photo B. (Ibuy these
&end of mine face l i e the primer coat on a car. pads at the local hardware store.)
thought when he bought a rusted Others dissoived the rust. The reason the pads work is be
table saw at a local farm auction. R U ~ DISSOLVER.
T Not wanting cause they're made of fibers that
But after surveyingthe corroded to paint the top, we settled on a stick out like a shaggy beard. So in
top, I wasn't so sure. rust dissolver.Onecommonly avail- addition to hitting the high spots,
To get a better look at the con- able type is Naval Jelly. Although they also work the chemical into
dition of the table, we removed it looks like something you'd take the pitted areas tolathe rust out.
the dirt and loose rust with a wire for a queasy stomach, Naval Jelly The combination of the pads
brush, see photo A. This revealed is anything but medicinal. and the Naval Jelly removed
a coat of surface rust. And I sus- The key ingredient is phospho- most of the rust. But the Naval
pected some pitting underneath. rie acid which is &ed in a pink Jelly left behind a protective
Like many rusty tools, the ta- slime.This solutionis easy to apply. coating that's a battleship gray
ble looked worse than it actuaUy Just brush it on and let it sit for ten color. Not the polished look you
was. Still, restoring it to a usable minutes.Note.Be suretoweareye expect on a machined surface. To
condition would require a combi- protection and rubber gloves. return it to its "origina1~'polished
nation of chemical rust removers, Now comes the messy part - surface, I sanded the top.
abrasives, and some old-fash- wiping it off with wet rags. This SANDING THE TOP.The key is
ioned elbow grease. not only leaves a pile of dirty rags to avoid creating an uneven sur-
CHEMICALREMOVERS. We de- to dispose of, but the amount of face by applying too much pres-
cided to try the e w way Erst - rust removed is disappointing. sure in one place and not enough
a chemical remover. A trip to the STRIPPING PAD. To speed up in another.
hardware store turned up two the process, I spread on another One way to do this is to use a
types of removers for dealing coat of Naval Jelly and worked it shop-built surface sander, see
with rust. Some neutralized the in with a coarse furniture strip- photo C. The one I built is a piece

A. Remove Loose Rust. To get a better look at the

condition of the top, a wire brush is used to remove
B. Rub in Chemic~lwith Sttipping Pad. A combi- @
nation of a chem~cald~ssolverlike Naval Jelly and
most of the d ~ rand
i loose rust a furn~turestrlpp~ngpad removes the rest of the rust.

12 ShopNotes No. 7
 of particleboard with air away from the tool.
plastic laminate glued This can be done in a
to the top and bottom to couple ofways.
ensure a flat surface. A WAX.For years I've
piece of Wet-or-Dry sili- used ordinary floor
con carbide paper is wax. It's inexpensive
glued to the laminate. and easy to apply. Just
Note: To make the pa- wipe on a thin layer of
per easy to remove, I wax, let it dry, and buff
use a spray-on adhesive it to a hard film.
like 3M's Spray Mount. SPRAY-ON COATINGS.
To use the sander, Recently I tried a spray-
start with a piece of 220 on coating. (I used Top-
grit paper. Then sprayon Cote, but there are
a lubricant (like WD-40) several other products
and sand in even strokes available.) It works by
across the top. By using penetrating into the
progressively liner grits, C. Sand the Top. Use a simple shop-built surface pores ofthe metal to seal
you can polish the top to sander and a lubricant like WD-40 to restore the out moisture.
a mirror surface. table top to its 'briginal" polished surface. Although it costs
more th& wax, Top-
most overnight. Allit takes for a Cote is easier to av~lv.After
There's only one drawhack. A rusty haze t o develop is two spraying the surface, i f o k d that
shiny top is an openinvitation to things: moisture and air. it evaporates quickly and leaves
I rust. And with the humidity To protect the top from rust, a light gray film that's easy to
here in Iowa, it can appear al- you need to seal moisture and huff out.

There's nothing exciting abont re-

moving rust. But there are a couple
of new products that can make the
job a tittle easier.
WONDERBAR. One of them is the
Wonderbar. (I found it while I was
flipping through a tool catalog, see
page 31 for sources.) This is a small
block of rubber that you rub across
a rusty surface Iike you'd erase a
pencil mark.
What makes it work are small poll.-
tides of silicon carbide that are em-
bedded throughout the block. As the
rubber wears away, new particles are RIVET CLEANING DISC. Another The rivet cleaner consistsof a stack
exposed. So you're always workjng product a friend at an auto parts sup- of flexihle abrasive discs. The discs
with a fresh abrasive surface. ply house told me abont is a rivet are held together with a spindle that
GRITS. Wonderbars are available cleaning disc, see photo above right. threads onto an arbor. Note: The ar-
in fine, medium, and coarse grits. The It's manufaetared by the 3M Com- bor is sold separately.
fine grit can be used to polish tar- pany to remove rust fromaround riv- 'Ib use the rivet cleaner, just chuck
nished surfaces like the sole of a ets without grinding down the headof the arbor in a hand-held drill. Even
plane, see photo abwe left. For heav- the rivet. But this %oR"abrasivefea- with therelativelyslowspeedofaporb
ier rust, the coarser grits are handy ture makes it agood rust removal tool able drill,the cIisc removes heavy rust
as "spot removers." for the shop as well. and leaves a polished surface behind.

No. 7 ShopNotes 13
 - . -
. ,
~ ~

. ,..

I
i
- 'I- - -

-J---
L,,-1,,
3 9 ~
C >
How can you chunge a drill bit
without a key? Replace your old . ~-
chuck with a keyless chuck.
... .?-,'
-.,...
,~~%
~

.. .~.,. ,

L7
. < ~ ~ .

4 Jacobs: One of the

most common chucks W here's that chuck key? I
set it down here some-
on the market. It fea- where... Sound familiar? Well,
(See the box on page 15 for re- I:%;:,{.;
placement directions.) They're '::1 .!:?
not designed for hammer drills or : ..:
.. . ~",#
tures ball bearing con- there's finally a solution to this - for use on a chi11press.
struction, and offers keyless chucks. Now you can re- WORK THE SAME. A11 of the 5;. ::::

t one of the best grips place your old drill chuck with a
for changing bits. keyless chuck. And never have to
search for your key again.
chucks work basically the same &':'
way. You hold the base of the Tic.
chuck with one hand, and spin the ~'?>~.,
FOUR MODELS
outer body of the chuck with the ;

1a
'2

0
other, see photo above. This <':.:
4 Makita:Although this We shop-tested four commonly causes the jaws to move up or; : .L :-: :; . ~

chuck doesn't use ball availablereplacementchucks:Ja- down to grip or release a bit. The ;F,
bearing construction, it cobs, Makita, Panasonic, and amazing thing is a keyless chuck
has oneof the smoothest Sears, see photos at left. Prices actually holds the bit tighter than
opening and closing ac- ranged from a low of $11.98 a conventional chuck and key.
tions of any of the chucks (Sears) to $29.95 (Panasonic).
we tested. (See page 31 for sources.) TEETH PER INCH
The keyless chucks featured So how does a keyless chuck hold .
.. . . here will fit most 1A" or3Audrills a bit so tight? The secret has to : ; ~ . ' .
(both battery powered and elec- do with the threaded jaws inside 1%:

A 4 htEL90flic: Themost tric) with a 3h" - 10124 thread. the chuck, see Section View.
expensive of the chucks
we tested, it has a
+,.
3; . ~"~
.,
~. -
...
- ..~.
~. .~
. -
.~:-
~ ...

I
. /
unique ratchet system to ~.
-

L+~-.
.
...
.~.
help grip the bit. And it
fully opens or closes in BEARINGS ALLOW
..
+. I

.~. .
-A. .,
-
OUTER BODYTO SPIN ~ . ~ 3

just four revolutions. st:..*

=
&-.-.
.
-=.
ADJUSTMENT ..
a -
3'? u

P
4 Sears: The least ex-
pensive of the keyless
chucks we shop-tested,
this chuck offers ball
bearing construction,
and the best grip for
changing bits.

*
CHUCK BASE

A S OUTER BODY ROTATES.

THREADSOFADJUSTMENT
. . , :,. RING CAUSE THREADED
J A W S TO MOVE

14 ShopNotes No. 7
~~~ -~
 There are two sets of matching
threads: one on the jaws, and the
other set inside the adjustment
ring, see Section View. As the
chuck is turned, the threads on
the ring engage those on the jaws
causing them to open or close.
DOUBLE THE TEETH. The big
difference is most keyless chucks
have about twice as many teeth
per inch than their keyed coun-
terparts. Increasing the number
of teeth like this gives you a me- A One of the important differ- A On some models the jaws
chanical advantage. ences between the chucks we don't extend out enough to grip a
That is, a large movement testedis how far the jaws extend. short driver bit (or Vix bit).
(turning the chuck one full revo-
lution) results in a small move- pared with twenty). To do this JAW EXTENSION. Another dif-
ment (the jaws move about l/l6"). they cut fewer threads on the ference was how far the jaws ex-
In effect, you're mechanically in- jaws, not more. tend past the chuck. Three of the
creasing your own strength. Then to regain the mechanical chucks (Makita, Sears, and Pana-
advantage, they added a ratchet sonic) were almost identical.
DIFFERENCES system that clicks as you turn it. But the jaws on the Jacobs
All the chucks we tested were (But we found the ratchet did too chuck were different. They didn't
well made. But there were some good of a job of holding the hit - extend past the top of the chuck
differences in construction. we oRen had difficulty loosening even when fully closed. This
BALL BEARINGS. TWO of the the chuck to remove the bit.) makes it difficult to use a short
(0 chucks (Jacobs and Sears) fea- THE GRIP. One difference I no- stubby bit, see drawings above.
tured ball bearing construction. ticed right away was the grip RECOMMENDATION. AS I said,
These chucks have a nice, smooth each chuck offered. The large all the chucks are well made. But
action as they're opened or closed. outer bodies of the Jacobs and for the money, you can't beat the
RATCHET. The Panasonic how- Sears provided the best gn'p. The Sears keyless chuck. It has an ex-
ever, is notably different -it fully Makita and Panasonic have a cellent grip, good jaw extension,
opens or closes in fewer revolu- smaller base and outer body that ball bearing construction, and it's
tions than the others (four com- I found difficult to grip. the least expensive.

TURN CLOCKWISE
TO REMOVE SCREW

SHARP BLOW
TO CHUCK KEY
LOOSENSCHUCK

A To remove a chuck, unplug drM A The nextsfep is to insert the chuck A To remove a keyless chuck,
andopenlaws. Then remove reverse key. Rap it sharply with a hammer to tighten an allen wrench in the jaws.
thread screw by turning clockwise. loosen chuck. Thm remove by hand. Then rap the wrench w&h a hammer.
 Workbench
rn A traditional bench that's sturdu
and easy to m k e . This workbenih
features a knock-down base
and optional vises.

problem, I used a unique shop-made system that

lets you knock down the base into separate pieces,
see photo A.
THETOP. Just like the base, the tops on most
traditional benches are glued up from large pieces

1' A
of hardwood. Not only are these "slabs" a challenge
to glue up, they're also difEcult to get flat. So I took
traditional work- a different approach. I started with a double layer
)en&. Something of plywood for strendh. Then to get the same clas-
every woodworker wants, bui sicldok, I glued on hardwood strips to the plywood.
ieldom gets around to making -usu- To make the top even simpler, you can replace the
because they're a lot of work to wood strips with two layers of Masonite, see photo
uild, and buying one is expensive. B. This way when the bench shows signs of wear,
idea behind this workbench the top layer of Masonite can be easily replaced.
to make it sturdy, yet easy to OPTIONS. You can use the bench without vises as
d. The challenge was to take a sturdy assembly table or work surface. Or you can
the three basic parts -the base, top, and vises, and add vises and make it more versatile. There are two
come up with simple ways to build them. ways to do this.
THE BASE.On a traditional bench, the base is big You could buy a metal woodworking vise and bolt
and heavy. The weight is good. It helps create a it to the top. Or you can build one or two shop-made
stable foundation for the top. But the size can make vises, see photo C. They're solid, inexpensive, and
the bench difficult to move or store. To solve this easy to make. (For more on this, see page 23.)

A. Knock-Down System:A nut cap- B. Replaceable Top: The top layer of C. Optional ViserA sturdy vise cam- @
tured in a cross dowel makes a sim- Masonite is held In place wIth carpet bines with a simple round dog system
ple but effective knock-down system, tape so you can replace it. to make clamping a workpiece easy.

16 ShopNotes No. 7
 FEATURE PROJECT

D Streeohers ( 2 ) W4x 5 4 -
E Spacer Blocks (3 It" x 3/z -

H End AfXWl6 ( 2 ) 1y4 X 3!/2 221/2 - * (15) Na 8 x tY4" (4)Y6" Washers

I F r B k Aprons (21 174 x 3Vz 62v4 - Fh wood6crew~ * (4)Y8" Nuts
-
1/4 x 1 16 Lineal Feet (4178"x 5" (4)? " X ~ Y Z D
" QW~
Hex Head 6ofts * (4) 1/2" x l" Dowel

15/ " x 0"-86" 11 BD. F% lWx5"-60" 70D.H.

ALSO REQUIRED.
Y*"X 4w-BE"PLWOOO

No. 7 ShopNotes 17
 FEATURE PROJECT

7he Ba
I began work on
building the base. It consists of
two side assembliesconnected by
a pair of stretchers, see Fig. 1.
SIDE ASSEMBLIES
Each side assembly is made up of
an arm (A) that supports the -
bench top. And a foot (B) that x -
rests on the floor. Then these two .
7 .L

pieces are connected with two

legs (C), see Fig. 1.
ARMS &FEET. Both the arms +.
and the feet are made by gluing
up two pieces of 814 (13,"-thick)
stock. The length of both pieces is . -
25" -the only differenceis their
height (width), see Fig. 2. The
arm is 2" high and the foot is 3%"
high. To soften the corners of
these pieces, I cut ahevel on each
end, see Fig. 2a.
MORTISES.To make the side

*
assemblies as strong as possible,
the arms and feet are connected
to the legs with mortise and
tenon joints, see Fig. 1.The mor-
6
tises in the arms and feet are the
same size and same distance h m
each end, see Fig. 2a.
To make these mortises, I used
a 1"dia. Forstner hit in a drill
press to remove most of the
waste. Then I squared up the
sides of the mortise with a chisel.
RELIEF.After cutting the mor-
tises, a relief is cut in the bottom
of each foot (B). An easy way to
do this is to clamp the feet to-
gether and drill 1"-dia. holes for
the start and stop points, see Fig.
3. Then, unclamp the feet and cut
out the waste on the hand saw.
LEGS. Now that you've com-
pleted the feet, the next step is to
make the four legs (C). These
pieces are glued up from 814 stock
and are cut to a finished length of
26V4", see Fig. 4. (Note the loca- cut earlier in the arms and feet, later, see Figs. 4 and 4b. Second,
tion of the glue line.) see Figs. 4 and 4a. you'll need to drill counterbored
TENONS. After cutting the legs Before gluing the legs in place, holes for connecting the stretch-
to length, tenons are cut on both there are a couple more things to ers to the legs, see Fig. 4h.
ends. The tenons are 1Q" long do. The first is to cut mortises for SIDEASSEMBLY. Finally, sand
and sized to fit the mortises you the stretchers that are added all the sharp edges of the arms,
feet, and legs. Then glue up the
two side assemblies.
STRETCHERS
The two stretchers (D)that con-
nect the side assemblies are also
made of 814 stock, see Fig. 5.
Short tenons are cut on the ends
to fit the mortises in the legs, see
Fig. 5a.
ENOCI(-DOWN SYSPDZ The se-
cret to holding the stretchers in
place is a unique knock-down sys-
tem. It allows me to disassemble
the base when I need to move or
store it, refer to Figs. 1 and la.
Theu quickly assemble and tighten
it to form a solid base again.
CROSS DOWEL The heart of the
knock-down system is a cross
dowel that fits in the stretchers,
see Fig. 5. A notch in the dowel
"captures" a nut and prevents it
from spinning when the bolt is
tightened, refer to Photo A on
page 16 and Fig. 7.
NOTCH. To locate this notch,
dry clamp the base together and
insert a 5"-long dowel in the
stretcher, see Fig. 5a. Theu drill
a hole into the stretcher and
through the dowel, see Fig. 6 .
At the same time, make amark
on the dowel flush with the bot-
tom of the stretcher (so you can
cut it to length later), see Fig. 6.
CUT NOT&. NOW it's just a is made, cut the dowel to its fin- a screwdriver in the slot and turn
matter of cutting the notch, see ished length. Then, since it'll be the dowel.
Fig. 7a. To do this, I made two difficult to rotate the dowel (and MSEEWH. Finally, assemble
saw cuts, then cleaned out the position the nut) after it's cut to the base by first threading the
waste with a chisel. length, I cut a slot in the bottom, bolts into the cross dowels. Then
KERF DOWEL. Once the notch see Fig. 7a. This way I can insert tighten down the bolts.

No. 7 ShopNotes
A sturdv. stable
2 .

top is easy to
make when you
build it up from
several layers.
b -
7'he Tor;,
I

With the base complete, the next

step is to build the top. It's built
up by first gluing and screwing
two plywood top pieces (F) to-
gether, see Fig. 8. Then, hard-
wood strips are glued to the
plywood, see Fig. 9.
Note: Instead of hardwood
strips, you can use a double layer
of Masonite, see photo B on page
16. The first layer is serewedtothe CLAMP FIRST STRIP
plywood. The second (top)layer is -
(W x lYz" 5 9 LONG)
carpet-taped in place. This allows
it to be replaced as needed.
STRIPS.To cut the top strips
(G), start with a clear (no knots)
blank of 1%"-thick hardwood.
Then cut $9'-thick strips off the
edge, see Fig. 9a.
TEST FIT. To make sure all of
the strips fit tight together, it's a
good idea to test fit them before
gluing them in place. Note: The
strips are cut long so they hang
over the ends, see Fig. 9.
ADHESIVE.After you've fit all
the strips, the next step is to glue
them to the top. The only unusual STRIPS IN PLACE
thingis the glue I used -construe-
tionadhesive (such as PL400).
I did this for two reasons.
First, since the strips will move
with seasonal changes in humid-
ity, I needed an adhesivethat was
extremely strong, but still flex-
ible. Second, to glue and position
all the strips at once, I had to have
an adhesive that had plenty of
assembly time before it set up.
TRIM STRIPS. W e r letting the
strips dry overnight, mu a flush
trim bit in a hand-held router
around the top, see Fig. 11.

No. 7
 he Aprons

A Theaprons are attached to the

top with a spline andgroovejoint.
These splines also lock the cor- ALL APRON5 AR
FRONT APRON
-
ners of the aorons tooether.
FROM l3/4"-THICK
- 62V4")
( 1 % ' ~31W

All that's left to complete the top S~I,JNES.After the grooves shop-made vises shown on page
is to add the aprons, see Fig. 12. are routed, 1"-wide hardwood 23, the aprons need to be drilled
The aprons wrap around the top splims (J) are cut to fit in the before they're glued to the top.
and cover the plywood edges. grooves, see Figs. 14 and 15. Second, if you have a Masonite
They also form the back jaw of Before gluing the splines and top, liR off the top layer before
the shop-made vises on page 23. aprons to the top, there are a con- gluing on the aprons. If you don't,
CUTAPRONS. of the aprons ple of things to consider. F i t , if the top layer will be glued to the
are cut from 13A"-thickstock and you're adding one (or two) of the amons and won't be removable.
are 3%"wide. The end aprons (H)
are cut to match the width of the
top (22%"). The front and back
aprons (I) are cut to match the
length ofthe topplus the thickness
of the two end aprons (621A").
SPLINE &GROOVE. To join the
aprons to the top, and to "lock"
the corners of the aprons to-
gether, I used a spline and groove
joint, see Fig. 12.
ROUT GROOM ON ALL
GROOVES.T~~ first step to FOUR EDGE5 OF TOP
making this joint is to rout a
groove around the edge of the
top, see Figs. 13 and 13a.
Then a matching groove is
routed on the inside face of the
apron pieces (H,I). Note: To lock
the top corners of the aprons to-
gether, this groove "wraps
around" the top ends of the end
aprons (H), see Fig. 14.
To lock the bottom corner of
the aprons together, I muted an-
other groove across the lower
ends of the end aprons (H), see
Fig. 14. Thena matching stopped
groove is routed near the bottom
edge of the front and hack aprons ROUTGROOMSONENDS

(I), see Fig. 15.

No. 7 ShopNotes 21
With the top complete, there's one
more step before assembling the SPACER BLOCK a b
bench. That's to glue spacer hlocks
to the arms of the base, see Fig. 16.
SPACER BLOCKS. The spacer
blocks allow you to adjust the
working height of the bench. At
I NOIE
THIS BLOCK NOT REQUIRED
IF SHOP-MADE FRONTVISE 15ADDED
GLUE BLOCK FLUSH WITH

the same time, they provide clear-

ance for the vises shown on page
23. In my case, the blocks are 1%"-
high (thick).This makes the work-
ing height of the bench 34".
You'll need four spacer blocks
(E) (three if you've installed the
shopmade h n t vise), see Fig. 16.
ARer you've cut the blocks to size,
glue them to the top of the arms.
DOWEL PINS. The top is held to
the hase with four dowel pins.
These pins fit in holes drilled in
the front and back aprons (I) and
in the spacer blocks (E).
Locating the holes in the
aprons is easy. Start by flipping
the top upside down. Then drill
W-dia. holes, 9"in from each end
of the front and back aprons, see
Figs. 17 and 17a.
To locate the matching holes in
the spacer blocks, I used dowel
centers, see Fig. 17a. (These are
just round metal inserts with
sharp points. They're available at
most hardware stores.)
DOWELCENTER Insert a dowel
center in each apron hole. Then
flip the hase upside down and po-
sition it so it's centered from end-
to-end and from front-to-hack. To
transfer the hole locations, sim-
ply tap on the hase.
Then flip the hase right side up
and drill the holes. Next, insert
the dowel pins and set the top on
the base, see Fig. 18.
FINISH.The only thing left is to
apply a finish to the hench. I
wanted a finish that was durable
and easy to maintain. Polyure-
thane is durable, but it can crack
under heavy use. So I went with
an oil finish. Imbbed in two coats
of tung oil. Then huffed the bench
to a nice sheen.

22 ShopNotes
 0
(Y'I- - - -
L--- a-
, L----
- -'*
3
I

I Vise
This vise combines a massive wood
face and a double row of dog holes to
provide two separate clamping options.

I f there's one feature that chaltges a workbench

from a simple table intoa real woodmorkingtuul,
it's a vise. So when we set about building the bench
be clampcd on the benchtop.
~ , the bench more versatile, T
TWO V I S E S . ' ~make
added a second vise to the other end. (For informa-
in this issue, the question naturally came up about tion on building this vise, refer to page 27.) Al-
the kind of vise it should have. though both vises are designed to complement the
After looking a t several manufactured vises, it ShqnNotes bench, with a few modifications either
was obvious that an inexpensive vise with all the of them can be added to an existing workbench.
features we wanted just wasn't available. That's MATERIALS.All it takes is a vise screw and a few
when we decided to build our own shopmade ver- basic materials. The main component is a 211h"-
sion, see photo. long vise screw that I bought from a tool catalog.
CLAMPING OPTIONS.This vise provides two dif- (See page 31 for sources of hardware.)
ferent clamping options. A massive wood face The metal rods that guide the face of the vise are
clamps work against the front of the bench. And cut from sections of black iron pipe that I picked up
there are two rows of dog holes (with shop-made a t the hardware store. And the wood parts of the
dogs to go with them) that allow large projects to vise are made from 4' (13hr'-thick)hard maple.

(0) Y4*x 9't a g Screw4 (2) #6 x W Fh Wood-

(6)#12X lv2"Fh 5 ~ - 5 c m (Brass)

C Guide Block (1) -

W4"xS" iLP/z''
V Brace Blacks (2) -
1%''~ZYen[rgh.) lo&"
E Brace Plate (1) -
7 x lOYz" S/a"plywood
F Spacer Blocks (2) 1Y4"x3'"-2'/s''
G Guide Rails (2) 1%"x2"-22Yz'

1 No. 7 ShopNotes 23
 This shop-made vise is modeled the corners before gluing the come in. The vise swew provides
after a traditional woodworking pieces together, see Fig. le. the clamping pressure while the
vise. With this type of vise a large At this point, all that's needed rods keep the jaws aligned.
wood face forms the front jaw. is a way to clamp the face tightly The key is to get the holes in
And the apron of the bench acts
88 the back iaw. see Fie. 1.
If you plan on addin; vises to
against the apron. Tbat's where the face to align with the holes in
the vise screw and guide rods the apron. To do this, I made a a
the workbench shown on page 16,
A nail and a it's easier to work on the aprons
scrap block lets befwe thefre glued to the bench
you file an equal top. For an existing bench that
amount off both doesn't have aprons, you'll need
the edges of a to make an apron (For more on
spade bit this, refer to page 21.)
Note: To allow clearance for
the moving parts of the vise, the
apron should extend at least la"
below the benchtop, see Fig, la.
KJBPER STRIPTRIP Once the apron
is complete, a keeper strip (A) is
added to the bottom edge of the
front apron. The purpose of the
strip is to support twometal guide
rods that are added later. To make
it easy to install the vise, the
keeper strip is attached with six
lag screws (no glue), see Fig. Ib.
FACE.With the keeper strip in
place, the viseface (B) is built up
from two pieces of 814 (134"-thick)
stock, see Fig. lc. To give the vise
a traditional look, I cut the out-
sicle piece shorter and rounded

24 ShopNotes No. 7
 template that has %"-dia.holes to
mark the centerpoints of the vise
screw and guide rods, see Fig. 2.
By cutting the template the
same length as the face and add-
ing a Masonite lip to the bottom,
all you have to do is hold the ends
flush to mark the holes. (I used a
brad point bit, see Fig. 2a.)
DRILL HOLES. Drilling a 1 V4"-
dia. hole through the apron and
the face for the vise screw is easy.
The tricky part is drilling the
holes for the guide rods so they
slide smoothly without any "slop."
GUIDE RODS. The problem is
the guide rods are made from 34"
iron pipe and the outside diame-
ter of this pipe is slightly more
than lM6". The solution is to file keep the guiderods parallelto each vise nut is screwed in place, see
a 114" spade hit to the corned other as the vise is tightened. Fig. 3. Then the bottom edges of
size, see margin tip on page 24. Here again, I used the tem- the hrace blocks are trimmed off
CARRIAGE. After drilling the plate to locate the holes. The only to clear the base of the bench.
holes, the two-part carriage is difference is the block are ASSEMBLY. NOW it's just a mat-
added. A p h block (C) supports ter of cutting the guide rods to

*
shorter than the temphte. So
the guide rods and houses a nut you'll need to centw the template size (24")and slidingthem through
that's part of the vise screw, see on the length of the hlocks. the holes in the blocks, see Fig. 4.
Fig. 3. And two brace blocks (D), After drilling the holes, the Then a brace plate (E) with two
shallow rabbets is glued and
screwed to the hrace blocks.
PINS. To keep the rods h m slid-
ing out of the hrace blocks, they're
"pkned" in place, see Fig. 4a. (I
drilled pilot holes and then drove
SPACERBLOCKSTO in hardened steel concrete nails.)
GUIDE BLOCK
A~TACHVISE.Next, the keeper
strip is removed and two spacer
NOTE R E M D M blocks (F) are glued to the guide
KEEPER STRIP
TO AlTACH VISE block, see Fig. 5. Then, with the
spacers snug against the apron,
counterbored holes are drilled in
the guide block and lag screws are
used to fasten it to the benchtop.
INSTALL FACE. At this point,
the face can he installed by apply-
ing some construction adhesive
(PL 400) in the holes and slipping
them over the guide rods. & h&
fore, the rods are pinned after
drawing the face tight against
the bench with pipe clamps, see
Figs. 6 and 6a.
Finally, the vise screw is
threaded into the nut and the
mounting flange screwed in place.
 Front Vise (con%.) .
Before flipping the benchtop
6

over, the last step is to install a IN OPEN ANDCLOSED POSITION

pair of guide rails (G), see Fig. 7.
These rails solve a common
problem of most vises -the ten-
dency of one end of the vise to
rack or "toe in" when a workpiece
is tightened in the opposite end.
This uneven clamping pressure
can cause a workpiece to slip. And
it eventually enlarges the guide
rod holes in the face.
To solve the problem, the rails
'%arnessnthe rods so they can't
move from side to side. This
keeps the vise face parallel to the
edge of the bench.
INSTALL RAILS. TO make this
work, the rails are cut to fit be-
tween the front and back aprons.
Then, they're fastened to the
benchtop. An easy way to locate
the rails is to mark the path of the
FOR BENCH DOGS
brace plate (E) on the benchtop
with the vise in the open and
closed position, see Fig. 7. Then
screw the rails to the top using
the lines as a reference. 8. As the vise is tightened, work to length and gluing the pieces
is clamped between stops or together, the bottom flat creates
BENCH DOGS & HANDLE "dogs" that fit in the holes. a "spring" that holds the dog in
At this point, the vise can be used BENCH DOGS. The dogs can place. And the top flat forces
to clamp a workpiece against the either be made of metal or wood. work down onto the bench as the
edge of the bench. But to clamp (For sources of brass dogs, see vise is tightened.
work flat on the top, I added a page 31.) To make wood dogs, all HANDLE.To complete the vise,
bench dog system. it takes is a 3A"-dia. dowel. I added a handle (H) and two
This system has two basic com- The dowel is ripped offcenter caps (I).The handle is just apiece
ponents: holes and bench dogs. on the bandsaw, see Fig. 9a. Then, of 1"-dia.dowel, see Fig. 10. And
First, two rows of holes are atapered"fiat"is filedon bothends the caps are beveled wood blocks
drilled across the benchtop and of the thick piece. with holes drilled in the center,
A wooden hand- the top edge of the face, see Fig. After t r i d n g the thin piece see Fig. 10a.
screw supports
the sides of the
cap when drill-
ing the hole for
the handle,

OF THICK PIECE

WOODSCREW

ShopNotes No. 7
 t..A Vise
The end vise is built the same
way as the front vise. It's just
longer. As a result, you11 need to
change the size of a few parts, see
Materials List.
FACE. The most noticeable dif-
ference is the length of the face
(26" in my case). I t spans the
width of the benchtop which al-
lows you to clamp longer work.
IUXPER STRIP. Increasing the
length of the face also requires a
longer keeper strip. Like the
V+" x 3" LAO SCREW
front vise, it combines with the
apron to form the back jaw. But
because the side apron fits be-
tween the front and back aprons,
the keeper stn'p extends 13,"
(the thickness of the aprons) on
each end, see Fig. 11. SCREW
HOLE LOCATION. Another dif-
ference is the location of the holes
for the guide rods. To distribute
the clamping pressure evenly, the
guide rods arefarther away from
AA Kesperwpff)
00 Face(two pl-)
.
-I I *
(4) Y4"x4Yz"Lag Screm
(81W x Sa Lag Screws
(6)#72 x fYz" Fh Screws
($0) #8x fY4" Fh Screw5
(4)Y Concrete Nail6
I
the vise screw. CC &Me Bla;k(f) (4) 3" C o n c w NaNs
DD Bra# Blo~k6(2) (2) Y4"LD. x W Black
CARRIAGE. With the rods far-
EE Bra#Plate(l) Iran Pipe
ther apart, the guide block and
brace hlocksalsoneedtobe longer,
FF Spaosr Black6 {2) * (12) Y4" Flat Washem
.
&MGulde Rail6 (21 (2f #6 x 9'4" Fh Wmd-
see Fig. 12. And, to make the WH Handle (l) screws (Brass)
brace blocksmore rigid, the brace 11 Cap (2)

II
(0)#iDxZWFhScrew
plate is larger.
GUIDE RODS. But a large brace
Note,lgrte cut horn (I)I W x E%Z" - @6"pie~k (2) 1"-dis. 0-Rings

plate reduces the maximum

opening of the vise -ifthe guide the rods to length, the end vise is the end apron, see Fig. 13.
rods are the same length as the installed the same way as the DOGEOLES.Onefinalchangeis
rods on the front vise. To create h n t vise. But the guide rails the dogholes. They'restill7"apart.
the same size opening as the front that ''track" the brace blocks are But they run down the leugth of
vise, the guide rods are 30"long. longer. I cut them to fit between the bench to allow you to clamp
INSTALLATION. After Cutting the guide rail of the front vise and larger projects.

DRILL HOLE5
THEN TRIM TO
INAL WIDTH OF

No. 7 ShopNotes 27
I
Dowel Cuaing Jig
H e r e ' s a simple jig that makes length of the dowels, see Fig. 2.
cutting dowels easy. It's just a To cut dowels, k s t clamp the
block with grooves that are sized jig to your radial arm saw. Then
to accept V4", 3h", and %"-dia. set the stop strip to the dowel
dowels, see Fig. 1. length you want, see Fig.2. After
To keep the dowels from you've cut the dowel, slide the
bouncin~out of the moves, I strip out of the way and push the
used %'-thick ~ a s o n % fore the dowel through. -
top. And used another piece of Andrew R. Swaney Jr.
Masonite as a stop to set the Frederieksburg, Vzrginia

FIRST: s" MASONITE

CUT GROOMS TO
FIT DOWEL5
5 DETERMINE
LENGTH OF DOWELS

'TO CUT OFF DOWEL. ALIGN

GLUE ON TOP

Shop-Made Bench Clamp

.When you plane or sand a
board, it's a good idea to clamp it
down. The problem is the clamps
get in the way. My solution is to
use a pipe clamp and a few pieces
of hardware.
The idea is to mount the clamp PIPE CLAMP
to the side of the hench top. 'Ib do
this, I used eye bolts and threaded
inserts, see drawing. (The inserts
allow me to quickly remove the
clamp.)Then, allo&clearancefor
the jaws, I added two spacers.
Since I wanted to he able to
work the entire surface of a %"-
thick workpiece without hitting
the jaws, I positioned the clamp
so the jaws are no more than 3h"
above the hench top, see Fig. a.
Bob Easler
Des Moines, Iowa

ShopNotes No. 7
 TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Rip Fence Alignment Gauge _

I THIRD:
ADJUST FENCE IF
NECESSARY

W I've had a recurring problem support block to a runner that down the wing nut.
with my table saw. When ripping fits the miter gauge slot. Once the gauge is set up, you
a board, it often binds. The prob- SETW. To use the alignment can use it to make sure the fence
lem was my rip fence doesn't lock gauge, first set the distance you is parallel to the blade. To do this,
down parallel to the saw blade. So want between the fence and slide the nmner towards the
to solve this, I made an alignment blade. (Set and check this dis- front end of the fence, see Fig. 2.
gauge that allows me to quickly tance by measuring between the If the crossbar binds, tap the
check that the fence is parallel to blade and fence.) Then lock the fence away from the blade. But if
the blade before I make a cut. fence in place. you see daylight between the
CROSSBAR.The heart of the ADJUST CROSSBAR. Next, set fence and crossbar, then just tap
gauge is a sliding crossbar that t h e m e r i n themitergauge slot the fence towards the blade.
checks if the fence is parallel to and slide the gauge forward until After the front end of the rip
the blade, see Fig. 1. To make the sliding crossbar just touches fence is set, check the other end
sure the crossbar remains per- the blade, see Fig. 2. Now slide in the same manner, see Fig. 2.
pendicular to the blade and fence the crossbar over until it butts up Milton L. Stover
during alignment, I screwed a against the rip fence and tighten Samsota, Florida

Glue Brush 77p

Recently, I went to glue up a
project and realized I was out of
glue brushes. Instead of driving ti0pt.o problems you've fated, ~6x18.
to the hardware store, I decided themito: SkpiVotea, Attn: shrrf, So-
to try an old tooth brush. lutiana, 2280 .Grand Ave.,. Des ' .

I t worked great. The bristles Moines, IA 50312.

pushed the glue around well. And ' ' - W l l pay up b.&%00depending on-
the brush was wide enough to -the pu61ished length. Send an.qxpl;r-
nation ahng with a photo or sketch.
-@
I
cover the entire edge in one pass. Inclde a daytime phone number so
Ken Ross
I Gmve City, Ohio

No. 7
 Board
Footage
Some lumber stores tag thepnce at the full rough dimen-
of eachfneee ofwood. Others don't. sion. For example, 34"-
Whm they're wt labeled, hovmn thickorl3A6"-thickstock
I calculate the cost ofthe wood? is f i m e d as 1"-thick.
Mark Be& ~ f t e finding
r the dimensions, m C K LUMBER Also, be aware
Forest City, Iowa multiply the thickness of the piece that thick stockmay cost more per
times the width times the length board foot. It's best to calculate the
What's the dif- The price of hardwoods is usually Say you've got a 34"-thick board board feet of 34" stock separately
ference between calculated in dollars per board that's 51h" wide and 96" long. from the thicker stock.
foot. So in order to determine the To detehime the board feet, ~WLUMBERThin lumber can
a boardfoot cost of the wood, youll fist need start by multiplying 1"x 6" x 96". also get confusing. Remember
and a 'quare to calculate the number of board This gives you a total of 576 that any board less than 1"thick
foot? It has to feet in each piece. square inches. Now divide the to- is figured as if it was 1"thick.
do with the BOARD FEET. A board foot is a tal by 144 (the number of square This means that a V4"-thick
thickness. volume measurement that in- inches in a board foot). In the ex- board could be listed as having
cludes thickness and width as ample, this would be 4 board feet. the same number of board feet as
well as length, see drawing he- a 34"-thick board that's the same
low. This means two boards of the COSTS width and length -even though
same thickness can be different Once you know the number of the 1A" board actually has less
length and widths and still have board feet, multiply that number volume of lumber in it.
the same board footage. times the cost per board foot to To eliminate the confusion, the
CALCULATIONS. To determine get the cost of the board. To get standard practice is to list lumber
the board feet in a piece of lum- the total cost for a project, just that's @"-thick or less in square
ber, start by measuring the piece multiply the total board footage feet, not board feet.
in inches (not feet), and convert by the cost per board foot. Basically, this means you pay
the fractions to the next inch. For For example, the workbench more for less wood. The reasonis,
example, 5U" becomes 6", and 4 on page 16 uses about 50 board most lumber dealers have to start
feet 35h" (5154") becomes 52". feet of 814 (134"-thick) stock. We with thick stock. Then pay to
In figuring board feet, any- paid $2.50 per board foot for ma- have it surfaced or resawn to
thing less than 1"-thick is figured ple. So the hardwood costs $125. make thinner stock.
r -
TWO BOARDS THAT
EQUAL THE S A M E
BOARD FOOTAGE

NOTE:
.
ANYTHING LESS
THAN ("THICK IS
FIGURED A S 1 "

30 ShopNotes No. 7
 Sources
Im-
ShopNotes Project Supplies is of- manufacturer changed the color
fering some of the hardware and of the mounting flange and the
supplies needed for the projects vise nut &om blue to black.
in this issue. This vise screw is also available
We've also put together a list of from another mail order source
other mail order sources that listed below.
have the same or similar hard- 51303-1115 ShopNotes Vise
ware and supplies. Screw .......................... $34.95 ea.
RAISED PANEL JIG BRASS BENCH DOGS
We're offering a hardware kit for One way to improve the versatil-
the Raised Panel Jig shown on ity of any workbench is to add
page 4. The kit includes all hard- bench dogs. An easy way to do
ware (screws,bolts, and washers) this is to drill 3A"-dia. holes and
necessary to build this project. use round bench dogs. You can
(You'll need to supply the wood make your own bench dogs, refer
and the 1A"-thickMasonite.) to page 26. Or you can purchase
In addition to the hardware, metal bench dogs.
we're supplying two pre-cut 16"- ShnpNotes Project Supplies is
long steel rods. (This type of rod VISE SCREW offering bench dogs made from
is usually available a t local hard- ShopNotes Project Supplies is of- solid brass, so they're less likely
ware stores and building cen- fering the vise screw that we to nick your plane blades or ehis-
ters.) Also included are a finger used to make the shopmade els. The face of each dog is angled
guard and special wing nuts. vises in this issue, see photo to force the workpiece down on
The finger guard is manufac- above. (One vise screw is re- the bench and cross-hatched for a
tured to our specifications from quired for each vise.) better grip, see photo above.
optic orange Plexiglas. It comes This vise screw has an overall Note: To get the bench dogs to
pre-cut and ready to install. length of 21%". Each screw slide smoothly in the holes, I used
Finally, to provide a hetter grip comes with a matching vise nut. a dowel wrapped with sandpaper
(and more leverage), we've in- (You'll need to supply your own to enlarge the hole slightly.
cluded large plastic wing nuts in mounting screws, rubber 0- For other mail order sources of
the hardware kit. rings, and handle.) brass bench dogs, see list below.
56807-100 Raised Panel Jig Note: After we built the Work- S1301-618 Round Brass
Hardware ......................... $19.95 bench shown on page 16, the Bench Dogs (1pair) ........$19.95

MAIL ORDER SOURCES

Szmzlar hardware and supplzes may be found zn the
f o l l m n g catalogs. Please call each company for a catalog
1 ORDER I N F O R T O N
BY MAIL - BY PHONE
orfor ordering infmation. To order by mail, use the For fastest service use our
ridge City TOOIS Sears Woodcraft form enclosed with a current Toll Free order line. Open
800-2533332 8003665000 800-226-1153 issue. The order form in- Monday through Friday, 7:00
wondmk~ ~ e y l e chucks
~s KW1ess Chucks, B m s eludes information on han- AM to 700 PM Central Time.
Garrett Wade Trend-Lines B a c h Dogs dling and shipping charges, Before calling, have your
800-221-2942 800-767-9999 The Wmdworkers'
Wondwbar, Brass Keyless Chwks Store and sales tax. Send your mail VISA, Mastercard, or Dis-
~ - h&OS Tr..Ja-- 612a28-2199 order to: cover Card ready.
Highland Hardware 800-667-2986 Keyless Chwkn, h
800-241-6148 Vwe S W ~~ , m s ShopNotes 1-800-444-7527
~ e n c hDO^ Waodworker's supply Project Supplies
B m h Dogs 800-645-9292
Keyless Chucks, B m s P.0. BOX842 Note. Pnces subject to change
Bench Dqqs

No. 7 ShopNotes 31
 Scenes I )m the Sha
w o r e power tools. cabinetmakers reliqd on 1 olze shown above). - of the plane wa
*nes to raise the rportwn of apanel. They ojten to the alesired profile and the sole of the plam
&&d a panel raisir, ,.-ne, or a moldiwgplane (like the the bladefmm cutting as thefinal profile was