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 HOME REPAIR
AND IMPROVEMENT

ADVANCED
WOODWORKING
BY THE EDITORS OF
TIME-LIFE BOOKS

TIME-LIFE BOOKS
ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA
 Time-Life Books is a division of THE CONSULTANTS: Roswell W. Ard is a consulting
Time Life Inc , a wholly owned subsidiary of structural engineer and a professional home inspec-
THE TIME INC BOOK COMPANY tor northern Michigan. He has written profes-
in
sionally on the structural uses of wood and on wood-
frame construction techniques, and is experienced in
TIME LIFE BOOKS finish carpentry.

President Mary N. Davis Peter Danko, a designer-craftsman in Alexandria, Vir-

ginia, specializes in commissioned woodworking. A
Managing Editor Thomas H. Flaherty chair of his design received a Daphne Award from the
Director of Editorial Resources Elise D. Ritter-Clough American Hardwood Institute and is included in the De-
Executive Art Director Ellen Robling sign Study Collection of the Museum of Modern Art in
Director of Photography and Research John Conrad Weiser New York City.
Editorial Board Dale M. Brown, Roberta Conlan, Laura Foreman,
Lee Hassig, Jim Hicks, Blaine Marshall, Rita Thievon Lawrence England Jr. works in L. R. England and Sons,
R.
Mullin, Henry Woodhead the family cabinetmakingand woodworking business es-
Assistant Director ol Editorial Norma E. Shaw tablished by his grandfather in Boston in 1 900. The firm
Resources/Training Manager specializes in the design and construction of custom-

Publisher Robert H, Smith

made furniture.

Associate Publisher Trevor Lunn Harris Mitchell, special consultant for Canada, has
Editorial Director Donia Steele worked in the field of home repair and improvement
Marketing Director Regina Hall for more than two decades. He is Homes editor of
Director of Production Services Robert N. Carr Today magazine and author of a syndicated newspa-
Production Manager Marlene Zack per column, "You Wanted to Know," as well as a num-
Supervisor ol Quality Control James King ber of books on home improvement.

Editorial Operations Stanley N. Wellborn, the Washington, DC, correspond-

Production Celia Beattie
ent for Fine Woodworking magazine, has written many
Library Louise D. Forstall
articles on woodworking and woodworkers. An avid
hobbyist, Wellborn specializes in wood-turning and
Computer Composition Deborah C. Tail (Manager), Monika D. Thayer,
lathe work, particularly faceplate turning.
Janet Barnes Syring, Lillian Daniels
Interactive Media Specialist Patti H. Cass

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

Time-Life Books.
HOME REPAIR AND IMPROVEMENT
Advanced woodworking.
Editorial Staff for Advanced Woodworking (Home repair and improvement; 27)
Includes index.
Editor Robert M. Jones
1. Woodwork. I. Time-Life Books. II. Series.
Assistant Editors Betsy Frankel, Brooke Stoddard
TT180.A2 684'08 81-1310
Designer Edward Frank ISBN 0-8094-3480-6 AACR2
Picture Editor Adrian Allen
ISBN 0-8094-3479-2 (lib. bdg.l
Text Editors Robert A, Doyle (senior), Lynn R. Addison,
ISBN 0-8094-3478-4 (retail ed.)
Peter Pocock
Staff W. iters Patricia C. Bangs, Jan Leslie Cook, Carol J. Corner,
1981 Time-Life Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rachel Cox, Steven J. Forbis, Kathleen M. Kiely,
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
Victoria W. Monks,
Young Saunders,
Kirk
electronic or mechanical means, including information stor-
Ania Savage, Mary-Sherman Willis
age and retrieval devices or systems, without prior written
Researcher Kimberly K. Lewis
permission from the publisher, except that brief passages may
Art Associates George Bell, Fred Holz, Lorraine D Rivard,
be quoted for reviews.
Peter C. Simmons Third printing 1992. Printed in USA.
Picture Coordinator Betsy Donahue Published simultaneously in Canada.
Editorial Assistant Susan Larson
School and library distribution by Silver Burden Company,
Correspondents: Elisabeth Kraemer-Singh (Bonn); Mornstown, New Jersey 07960.
Margot Hapgood, Dorothy Bacon (London); Miriam
Hsia, Susan Jonas, Lucy T. Voulgaris (New York); TIME-LIFE is a trademark of Time Warner Inc. U.S.A.

Maria Vincenza Aloisi, Josephine du Brusle (Paris);

Ann Natanson (Rome). Valuable assistance was also
provided by; Carolyn Montserrat (Barcelona); Judy
Aspinall, Lesley Coleman, Karin B. Pearce (London);
Christina Lieberman (New York); Mimi Murphy
(Rome).
 Contents

Rough Wood to Smooth Boards 7

Understanding Wood 8

i The Significance of Seasoning 12

Cutting Wood to Rough Length and Width 14

Thin Boards from Thick Ones 17

Mirror-Smooth Surfaces Cut with Hand Planes 20

Smoothing with a Power Planer 24
Jointing by Hand to Produce Wide Panels 28

A Multiple Choice of Connections 35

2 The Tongue-and-Groove
Two Rigid Corner Joints

A Hand-cut
Joint

Joint with Interlocking Tails

and Its Variations 36

41

46
Dovetails Made by the Dozen 52
The Box Joint: A Fast Dovetail 56
Mortise and Tenon: Components of a Strong Joint 58
Using Dowels to Lock Joints 64
Miter Joints Reinforced from Inside 66
Clamping Work of Varied Shapes and Sizes 72

Shaping by Hand or Machine 77

3 Cutting Curves Wood within

Contouring Wood with Hand

Wood-Turning with a Lathe

Power Tools
Tools
78

86

92
Turning Wood on a Faceplate 104
High-speed Sanders That Smooth Many Shapes 106

Skin-deep Beauty with Veneers m

4 Gluing a Thin Coat of Wood
Highlighting a Surface with Inlaid Designs
over a Solid Base 112

120

Picture Credits and Acknowledgments 126

Index/Glossary 127
y.
 Rough Wood to Smooth Boards
1
Getting off to a good start. With bench dogs For the woodworker who gazes and envisions a table within
at a tree
holding a rough-cut board steady and in place, a
jack plane shaves thick curls of wood from the
its trunk, or who examines
rough boards and sees a paneled wall,
high spots, gradually bringing the board down to design must temporarily take second place to the preparation of the
the flat, mirror-smooth finish needed for fine stock. Nature does not provide for tables and panels to spring full-
woodworking. The power-tool equivalent of the
hand plane, useful for smoothing quantities blown from the trunks of trees or the surfaces of boards. Much work
of long boards, is the jointer-planer shown in the must be done on the raw material before it is suitable for woodwork-
background. Its circular cutting head makes short
ing. The lumber must be cut to the needed size, smoothed to a silky
work of planing surfaces and squaring edges.
finish and then dimensioned to fit the project at hand.
Lumberyards take care of some of these tasks, cutting lumber to
stock sizes and custom-cutting it to various specifications. But the
scarcity and high cost of the hardwoods used in fine woodworking
make a search for alternative sources appealing. In fact, some of the
best wood used by professional woodworkers is not purchased at

lumberyards at all. It is discovered by reading ads in specialty maga-

zines, which may offer a cache of seasoned cherry or a barnful of old
oak siding. Or it is found by checking notices of estate sales of
country properties, which often advertise stores of wood along with
the furnishing ofhomes and farms. Farmers themselves, in the course
of clearing land, may fill their sheds with good maple or hickory
logs and then offer them for sale. And it sometimes is possible to
salvage beautiful cabinetry wood from storm-felled trees found in a

nearby park or in a neighbor's yard— free for the asking if you will

arrange to carry it away.

Transforming this raw wood into boards with straight, parallel
faces is the first step in the process of acquiring workable stock.
Taking time to do this step carefully not only will result in a precisely
dimensioned board that will ensure smooth joints and easy assembly,
but will also disclose valuable information on the nature of the
wood— how it grew, how it will respond to shaping, how it can be
manipulated. Learning to anticipate how growth patterns and grain
figurings will react to milling is in fact one of the keys to fine
craftsmanship. In Scandinavian countries, woodworkers serving their
apprenticeships spend up to five years learning to prepare stock and
to understand the character of wood before they are allowed to
participate in the actual fabrication of a piece.
Just as it is possible for the connoisseur of fine furniture or joinery
to appreciate superior workmanship without ever picking up a tool,
so it is possible, of course, for a woodworker to love a piece of wood
without ever having laid eyes on the original tree. But the process of
preparing the wood from scratch, of converting a bark-covered log
intosmooth boards, can only deepen the woodworker's knowledge
and understanding of this unpredictable material— and his pleasure
in creating the ultimate design.
Understanding Wood
Wood, one of the world's most common- The characteristics of wood are also affect the behavior of wood when it

place natural resources, is also one of the determined by the structure of the tree; reaches the woodworker's hands. Im-
most mysterious. Beautiful to look at and certain qualities are associated with cer- proper drying can result in warping (page
satisfying to work, wood often seems to tain parts. Heartwood, the older wood at 13), checking (page 10) or case harden-
have a life ofown. For one thing, it has
its the center of the trunk, is often valued ing. In case hardening, the outside of the
a disconcerting tendency to continue to for its moisture resistance, for example, wood dries more rapidly than the inside,
react to the atmosphere long after it has while the younger sapwood is more re- and honeycomb-
interior splitting called

been cut, surfaced and finished. sponsive to moisture variations. ing occurs. There are two good ways to
Fortunately, it is well within the power How the tree grows also determines avoid these potential problems: Buy kiln-
of the woodworker and ma-
to control the figuring of the wood— the natural dried lumber, or air-dry green lumber at
nipulate this tendency, and doing so is coloring patterns and texture of the grain. home under carefully controlled condi-
one of the charms of the craft. By under- Grain coarseness or fineness, usually as- tions (page 12).
standing how wood grows and what hap- sociated with appearance, to some extent When you buy wood, whether green
pens to it as it woodworker can
dries, the also affects the way the wood will finish. or kiln-dried,remember that lumber is
anticipate and influence its behavior. He Coarse-grained woods, such as oak and graded according to clarity, or freedom
can, for example, preshrink the wood by walnut, have large, open cells, which from blemishes. Where appearance does
seasoning it, modify the design of the when cut produce a slightly pitted sur- not count, you can often save money by
piece to allow for potential shrinking and face. Fine-grained woods, such as maple using lower grades if you know what to
swelling, or finish the piece to control its and birch, have small, thick-walled cells, expect of them. Boards in the top grades,
response to the environment. which produce a smooth surface. First and Second, are required to be 80 to

The most commonly used terms in de- The pattern of the grain on a milled 90 per cent clear of knots and blemishes
scribing wood probably are "hardwood" board is largely a reflection of the annual on both faces and are never less than 6
and "softwood." Although technically growth rings, but it can be emphasized or inches wide and 8 feet long. In the next
they describe the strength of wood, in softened by the manner in which the log grade, Select, the boards must be 80 per
practice they are simply the lumber in- is cut. When wood is sliced across the cent clear on one face and are never less
dustry's handy labels for distinguishing rings at a sharp angle, as in quartersawing than 4 inches wide and 6 feet long. The
between wood from deciduous trees and (page 10), its graining, or figure, will be grade most frequently used, No. 1 Com-
that from conifers, or evergreens. Hard- linear. On the other hand, plain-sawing mon, contains about 65 per cent of clear
woods, the kind most often used for fine (page 10), in which the cuts are roughly wood on one face and isconsidered the
woodworking, come from deciduous parallel to the concentric rings, tends to best all-purpose wood in terms of both

trees, and are indeed generally hard, provide an arced grain. yield and price.
while softwoods are generally soft. But After the primary conversion from log In grading, the percentages refer to the
the wood of some deciduous trees, such to rough-cut board, the wood must be maximum number of allowable blem-
as basswood, is actually soft, while the seasoned, or dried, until its moisture con- ishes. Hardwood grades are based on the
wood of some conifers, such as southern tent is in the correct range (page 12). At poorer of the two faces; softwood grades
yellow pine, is hard. this stage many problems can occur that are based on the better of the two faces.
 '

Safety Rules for Power Tools

Power tools have greatly

extended the Keep the tool clean and lubricated, after the motor has been started.
ability of the woodworker
to shape the blade sharp; check the electrical Feed wood carefully into the blade;
wood accurately, but they must be cord and plug frequently for fraying, never force it to move at a faster rate
treated with the respect due any poten- nicks or other damage. Make sure the than the tool can easily accommodate.
tially dangerous piece of machinery. In outlet and plug are properly grounded. Whenever possible, use the safety
addition to following the specific safety OAlways unplug the tool before mak- aids, such as blade guards, provided
rules for individual power tools, ob- ing any adjustments. with the tool. Be especially cautious op-
serve these general precautions: Do not wear clothing or jewelry that erating the tool when safety devices
D Never operate a power tool when could catch in moving parts. Keep shirt must be removed.
you are tired or ill or have been drinking sleeves buttoned or rolled up. Keep children and pets away from
alcoholic beverages or taking medicine. Wear safety glasses and, if the oper- the work area.
Keep the work area and tool surface ation is dusty, a dust mask. Do not let your mind wander; con-
uncluttered and well lighted. Never mark the wood for a saw cut centrate on what you are doing.

Flaws in the Log That Affect the Lumber

OUTER BARK
CAMBIUM CHECK
HEARTSHAKE
INNER BARK SAPWOOD

HEARTWOOD
MEDULLARY RAYS GROWTH RINGS
REACTION WOOD
Anatomy of an average tree. The usable
wood in the trunk of a tree lies beneath a pro- KNOT
tective layer of outer bark and two thin layers
of life-supporting tissue One of these thin layers,
the inner bark, carries food from the leaves to
the rest of the tree. The other, the cell-producing
cambium, is where the cell growth for both the

wood and the bark takes place.

The first layer of usable wood, nearest the cam-

bium, is the light-colored sapwood, which car-
ries sap from the roots to the leaves— a function
that accounts for sapwood's receptiveness to
moisture The heartwood, beneath the sapwood,
is denser and darker and generally more dura-
ble; it contains resins, for instance, that make it

more resistant to rot. Each of the concentric

growth rings represents one year of life, and each

is composed of a layer of light sprmgwood and A record of assaults. Most wood is sub|ected caused by separation of the wood fibers along

one of darker summerwood. reflecting the two atsome point in its life to conditions that alter the grain and across the annual growth rings as a
seasons of growth A high proportion of sum- its normal development and leave behind defects result of uneven shrinking. Knots are the ends
merwood to sprmgwood results in a richer, darker- and injuries. Heartshake, a result of decay of broken limbs that have become encased by
colored wood. Radiating from the center are or stress, forces the tree to crack at the center new growth. Reaction wood, identifiable by

the medullary rays, which carry food laterally and and to split along the medullary rays. Checks, its off-center pattern of growth rings, is found in

in some kinds of wood produce a pronounced which generally are less severe, appear as trees that lean sideways because of high winds
pattern in the milled lumber. splits or cracks after the tree is felled; they are or a one-directional light source.

9
Characteristics Created
during the Milling Process

Variations in milling techniques. In plain-

sawing (near right), the simplest and most com-

mon method, the log is sliced lengthwise, or

tangentially, into parallel slabs of uniform thick-

ness. This method leaves very little waste, but

the boards warp as they dry. In quartersawing (far
right), the log is cut into quarters, then into
slabs. Shown clockwise from lower left are four
cutting patterns: a true radial; a modified ra-
dial, in which only the center board runs to the

heart; alternating tangential cuts; and a com-

bination of radial and tangential cuts. The true ra-

dial is the most desirable. It produces more

waste, but it exposes a more attractive grain and
yields boards less likely to warp.

STRAIGHT

INTERLOCKED
SPIRAL
A Guide to the Classic Hardwoods
Material Characteristics Rating woodworking properties. When logs are
converted into lumber, the wood acquires
Ash Coarse to medium-fine texture; good strength, excellent bending qualities; fair characteristics that affect its use and handling.
workability (prone to distortion); fair with nails, screws, glue; excellent finishing The chart at left lists 13 hardwoods commonly
qualities; commonly used for furniture, interior joinery. turning- chosen for woodworking projects and describes
how they look and behave. Also included is a
Beech Fine, even texture; excellent strength and bending qualities: fair workability (tends
sampling of their traditional uses. Softwoods are
to bind when sawed and drilled); fair with nails, screws, good with glue; good
not included in the list, since they are used
finishing qualities;commonly used for furniture, interior joinery, turning.
less frequently in woodworking than hardwoods
are The term "texture" here applies to the
Birch Fine to medium texture; good strength and bending qualities; good workability;
appearance of the grain, not to its tactile qualities.
good with nails, screws, glue; excellent finishing qualities; commonly used for
"Strength" and "bending qualities" refer to
furniture, veneer, interior joinery, turning.
ability to withstand impact and to bend without
splitting. "Workability" describes how the
Cherry Fine, even texture; good strength and bending qualities; very good workability;
wood responds to tooling. Each wood is also rated
good with nails, screws, glue; excellent finishing qualities; commonly used for
for its ability to hold fasteners and glue and to
furniture, veneer, cabinetry, interior joinery, turning.
take finishes, such as stain or paint.

Chestnut Coarse texture; fair strength, good bending qualities; good workability (tends to
bindwhen sawed); good with nails, screws, glue; excellent finishing qualities,
commonly used for furniture, turning

Hickory Coarse texture; very good strength, good bending qualities; fair workability (tends
to dull blades); difficult with nails, screws, good with glue; fair finishing qualities;

commonly used for tool handles, sports equipment.

Mahogany Mainly fine, even texture; good strength and bending qualities; good workability

(tends to scuff during planing); fair with nails, good with screws and glue; excellent
finishing qualities; commonly used for interior joinery, paneling, veneer, cabinetry,

turning.

Maple Fine texture; very good strength, good bending qualities; good workability; good
with nails and screws, fair with glue; good finishing qualities; commonly used for

furniture, veneer, turning.

Oak Coarse but even texture; excellent strength, good bending qualities; good
workability; good with nails, screws, glue; good finishing qualities; commonly used
for furniture, veneer, interior joinery.

Rosewood From coarse to very fine, even texture; very good strength, good bending qualities;

difficult to work (tends to dull blades); poor with nails, good with screws, fair with

glue; excellent finishing qualities; commonly used for furniture, veneer, interior

joinery, carving.

Sycamore Smooth texture; very good strength, good bending qualities; fair workability; fair

with nails and screws, good with glue; excellent finishing qualities; commonly used
for furniture, interior joinery, veneer, turning.

Teak Coarse texture; good strength and bending qualities; fair workability (tends to dull
tools; power tools tend to burn the surface); fair with nails, screws, glue; fair

finishing qualities; commonly used for furniture, veneer, interior and exterior

joinery, turning.

Walnut Fine texture; excellent strength, good bending qualities; good workability; good
with nails, screws, glue; excellent finishing qualities; commonly used for furniture,

veneer, interior joinery, carving, turning

11
The Significance of Seasoning
When a living tree is cut, more than half fungus; if fungus appears, increase air cir-

its weight may be water. This water is culation by loosening or removing the
contained in the cell cavities and cell plastic and restacking the lumber.)
walls as free water and bound water. Keep the boards off the ground, and
When the tree dies, the free water is separate the layers with sticker strips-
the first to drain away or evaporate, at lengths of 1-by-2 wood placed 18 inches
which stage the wood is said to be at the apart along the length of the stack and
fiber-saturation point. In most woods aligned vertically from layer to layer.

the fiber-saturation point occurs when Place boards of uniform length in each
approximately 30 percent of the wood's stack; overhanging boards will dry too
weight is water— that is, when its mois- rapidly and warp.
ture content is 30 per cent. Because end grain dries almost 12

It is not until the moisture content falls times as fast as side grain, coat the ends
below this fiber-saturation point that the of the boards generously with paraffin,
wood begins to shrink. When the mois- white glue, aluminum paint or polyure-
ture content has dropped to 15 per cent, thane varnish to prevent them from split-
the wood will have shrunk to half its total ting. If the wood is wet, give the ends a

potential shrinkage. This not enough to

is preliminary coat of latex paint
prevent the wood from shrinking after it During drying, monitor the moisture
has been worked, so it must continue to content by selecting a board from inside
dry until the moisture content of the the stack and weighing it periodically. A
wood balance with the moisture
is in large piece can be weighed on a bath-
content of the atmosphere. It is then said room scale; a small piece can be weighed
to have reached an equilibrium moisture on a food scale. Mark the weight and the
content, and it is considered seasoned date on the board after each weighing.
and ready to be worked. When the wood stops losing weight it
The fastest way to season wood is to has reached its equilibrium moisture con-
kiln-dry it. In kiln-drying, the lumber is tent with the outside air; it should then
placed in huge ovens, where steam is be brought indoors, where it should be
used to keep the humidity high while the further dried to an equilibrium moisture
temperature is kept low. Gradually the content consistent with the environment
temperature is raised and the humidity is in which it will be used.
lowered until the moisture content of the A more precise, though more expen-
wood has been brought down to the de- sive, method of monitoring moisture
sired level. Air-drying, a slower process, is content is to use a moisture meter. Usu-
usually started outdoors and completed ally calibrated to cover a range from 6 to
indoors. It takes patience and vigilance. 30 per cent, such a meter determines
Temperature, humidity and air circula- moisture content by measuring the elec-
tion must be controlled so that the wood trical resistance between two pin-type
dries fast enough to prevent decay but electrodes that are driven into the wood.
slowly enough to prevent checking. Lumber is customarily dried to a mois-
To air-dry wood, begin by marking ture content of 12 to 16 per cent; but for
each board with a number and the date furniture-making and joinery, a moisture
on which the drying is begun. Then stack content of 6 to 8 per cent is recommend-
the wood outdoors, out of the sun and ed, depending on local climate and hu-
protected from direct rainfall. (If you midity. To minimize the problems caused
must dry it indoors, cover it with plastic by moisture variation, coat the finished
sheeting to prevent it from drying too piece with a moisture-impervious sealer
rapidly, and check it frequently for to prevent dimensional changes.

12
How Wood Responds to the Drying Process

A predictable pattern of shrinkage. Cuts of

lumber, superimposed in their original positions
on a log, show how wood tends to shrink un-
evenly as it dries, causing variations in shape. The Changes in shape. When wood dries too rap- bowing and twisting. In cupping, the board curves
greatest change occurs in a tangential cut, idly, the normal pattern of shrinkage is exaggerat- into a hollow across the grain; in springing,
which closely parallels the direction of the annual ed and the board warps. Although considered the board lies flat but bends along the edges like
rings. A radial cut, perpendicular to the rings, defective to some degree, warped boards can of- a hockey stick; in bowing, the board arches
shrinks half as much. Uneven shrinkage across ten be salvaged by planing or, in more extreme from one end to the other; in twisting (also called
and along the gram of the rings causes circu- cases, by steaming and redrying. The most com- winding), the board lies flat at one end but cups
lar cuts to dry to ovals, square cuts to diamonds. mon kinds of warping are cupping, springing, or springs at the other end

RADIAL CUT

CUPPING SPRINGING BOWING TWISTING

TANGENTIAL CUT

Changes in dimension. As wood dries below

the fiber-saturation point, it responds to variations
in moisture content much as a sponge does,
shrinking and swelling. In the top drawing, a
board has been air-dried to 14 per cent mois-
ture content, a standard amount for stock lumber.
In the middle drawing, the same board has
been dried to 6 per cent moisture content for
20%
cabinetry and woodworking, and has shrunk in

width; it has also begun to cup slightly. At the bot-

tom, exposed to a humid environment, the board
has reabsorbed enough water to bring its

moisture content to 20 per cent; it has swollen

and has begun to cup in the opposite direction.

A Probe for Measuring Moisture Content

Using a moisture meter. Plug the probe cord
into the resistance meter, switch on the battery,
and rest the pin electrodes against the board,
parallel to the gram. Push down to insert the pins
in the board to a depth equal to a quarter of
the board's thickness. If testing a board thicker
than 3 inches, insert the pins on both face sur-
faces and along the edges to a depth of 1 inch.

Probe at several points along the board at

roughly 12-inch intervals, avoiding the ends of the

board and the areas around knots, which give
up moisture quickly. Then average the readings,
which may vary 2 to 3 per cent.

13
Cutting Wood tcTRough Length and Width
I he first step in any woodworking proj- Use a similar technique to align the rip the other, you will get the most from it

ect is to cut the roughly to thewood fence before each ripping job. Position by cutting it to rough lengths before rip-
dimensions required tor surfacing, shap- the fence so that the distance from the ping off the edges; you can then cut
ing or joining. The initial cuts will also fence to both the front and the back wider boards from the broader parts of
produce boards with straight edges and edges of the saw blade is exactly the the piece. Also plan your cuts to elimi-
eliminate many defects that could cause width of the planned cut (Measure to nate knots, cracks or other defects in the
problems later. the inner point of a saw tooth closest to wood. When
sawing around problem
Whether you are working with milled the fence.) Lock the fence in place. areas, use extreme caution. Knock out

boards from a lumberyard, old barn sid- Careful selection and careful cutting loose knots before sawing, to prevent
ing or chunks cut from logs, a table saw, will enable you to use wood economical- their beingthrown by the blade. Sawing
the basic large machine in a woodwork- ly. For example, if you are sawing an ir- through cracks can cause a wedge of
ing shop, is the best tool for cutting regular piece that tapers from one end to wood to pop out with great force.
boards to width (by ripping) and length
(by (Tosscutting). A typical home model, Aligning the Saw for Precision Cuts
with a blade 10 inches in diameter, can
cut through boards up to 3'j inches thick.
Two saw accessories, the rip fence and
the miter gauge, enable you to cut milled
lumber to precise widths and angles, and
easily made plywood jigs (opposite) will
hold irregularly shaped pieces of wood in
position for cutting straight edges.
You can get the best results with a
table saw you use the correct blade for
if

the job hand. A table saw commonly

at

has a combination blade, which can be

used for either ripping or crosscutting.
However, a blade ground specifically for
one job will give a smoother cut on that
job. You can improve the performance of
any blade by cleaning it periodically with
a resin solvent such as turpentine, to
prevent binding.
Vibrations from normal use can cause
small alignment errors in the adjustable
parts of a table saw. The tilt of the blade
and the angle of the miter gauge should
be reset before each project (right).
You should also periodically check the
alignment of the saw table with the
blade. To do this, unplug the saw, raise
the blade fully and mark one tooth with a
crayon. Then rotate the blade by hand so
that the marked tooth is even with the
table surface at the front of the blade
slot.Measure from that tooth to each
miter-gauge channel. Then rotate the
blade until the marked tooth is at the
back of the slot, and measure again. If the
Adjusting the blade and miter gauge. To check is perpendicular to the table, adjust the pointer to
front and back measurements are not
the vertical alignment of the blade (top), un- 0° on the tilt mechanism's indicator scale.
identical, adjust the tabletop according
plug the saw, extend the blade fully and set a try
to the manufacturer's instructions— usu- tongue vertical against For a 90° angle on the miter gauge (bottom),
square on the table, its

ally by loosening the bolts connecting the blade. Use the saw's tilt mechanism to bring hold a try square's tongue against the miter gauge
the table to the base, tapping the table- the blade flush against the square. If the blade and its handle against the saw blade. Pivot the
top with a rubber mallet until the align- does not move easily, check the track of the tilt gauge to bring the square's handle flush against
ment is perfect, then tightening the bolts. mechanism for obstructions. When the blade the blade, then tighten the locking knob

14
Jigs to Help Make
irregular Pieces Regular

A crosscut jig. A boxlike jig holds an irregular

piece of wood in position for crosscutting on a ta-

ble saw (page The base of the |ig is made

16).
of '/2-inch plywood, about 20 by 30 inches. It

slides across the saw table on hardwood run-

ners cut to fit into the miter-gauge channels. The
runners are attached to the base of the jig

with countersunk wood screws. Four-inch-high

hardwood fences are glued and screwed to

the top of the base, perpendicular to the runners

To cut a saw slot into the base and the fences,
put the runners into the miter-gauge channels and
slide the |ig across the moving blade.

A ripping jig. A long, narrow jig is used to rip-

cut a straight edge on one side of an irregularly

shaped piece of wood; this straight edge can
then be held against the rip fence as the opposite
edge of the board is cut (page 16). The 6-foot-
long plywood base of the jig is guided by a single
hardwood runner that fits Into the miter-gauge
channel to the left of the saw blade. The runner is

positioned so that the right-hand edge of the

jig's base is 1 inch from the blade; the runner is

attached with countersunk wood screws. A 2-

inch-high plywood cleat, used to hold the rough
lumber in place on the jig, is screwed to the

back end of the base, perpendicular to the runner.

Two pieces of coarse sandpaper glued to the

top of the base also help keep the rough board
from shifting as it is sawed.
 Straight Edges for a Rough Board

Ripping the first rough edge. Place the rip- Ripping the second edge. Position the rip

I ping |ig (page 15) on the saw table and lay the i fence to guide the cut, then put the board on
board on the |ig with one end butted against the saw table with the newly cut edge against the
the cleat, the other end just in front of the blade. fence and one end just in front of the blade. Turn
Then turn on the saw and carefully push the on the saw and slowly push the board into the
jig across the table, using one hand to press the blade with your right hand, initially pressing the
board down against the jig's base. board against the fence with your left. When
your hands approach the blade guard, push the
board with a piece of scrap wood or a push
stick held between the saw blade and the fence.

Cutting Square Ends

on a Rough Board

Crosscutting with a jig. Position the crosscut

jig(page 15) on the saw table, then lay the rough
board on the jig with one side against the
fence near you and the marked cutting line over
the saw slot. Switch on the saw and push the
jig across the table with one hand, using the other
one to hold thewood against the base and the
fence. Keep both hands well away from the blade.

To crosscut several short pieces of identical

length from one board, clamp a block of wood
to the nearer fence of the jig; position the block so
that the distance between the saw slot and the
end near the slot is the same as the length of
the boards to be cut (inset). Hold the wood
against the fence and the stopblock, turn on the
saw and push the jig across the table. Turn off
the saw, remove the cut piece, and return the jig

to the front of the table. Reposition the board

against the stopblock and repeat.

16
 Thin Boards Safety Rules for Band-Saw Use

from Thick Ones The band saw is one of the safest shop Va inch above thewood you are cutting,
tools when properly used. But in
it is to protectyour fingers and provide
Rough stock often is thicker than you addition to the general safety rules that maximum support for the blade.
want. You can get the largest number of apply to power
all tools (page 9), users Avoid backing up in a cut. This could
usable boards from such wood by resaw- of band saws should be sure to observe pull the blade off the wheels.
ing it-cutting it into thinner boards. Re- these precautions: Hold the stock firmly against the ta-
sawing also allows you to make two D Mount the blade properly, so that the ble and against any fence or jig you are
pieces that have mirror-image grain pat- teeth are pointing down, in the direc- using. you have a helper supporting a
If
terns or to cut very thin slices of wood tion the blade moves. cut piece, you still must control the cut
for use in veneers or inlays.
Set the blade guides no more than by pushing and guiding the stock.
Although it is possible to resaw wood
with a table saw or even a handsaw, the
best tool for this job is the band saw.
Most band saws designed for home use
will cut wood up to 6 inches thick; be-
cause the blade is thin, a minimum of
wood is sawdust. Most home band
lost as
saws have a high blade speed-about
3,000 feet per minute— which is excellent TENSION KNOB
for resawing. A skip-tooth blade, so
called because it has widely spaced
teeth, is best for this fast cutting. Select
the widest blade the saw will accommo-
date; a blade at least Vi inch wide will
facilitate straight sawing.
After installing a new blade— and peri-
odically while you are using the saw-
check the blade's tension; a loose blade
willnot cut smoothly. To check the ten-
sion, run the saw briefly to seat the blade
on the wheels, then unplug the motor
and open the upper-wheel door. With a
finger, push the blade to the right. If
there is a deflection of more than Va inch,

use the tension knob to adjust the upper

wheel so that the blade is tightened.
Because the flexible blade tends to
track along the wood's
grain, you will
need to guide the wood carefully as you
cut. The L-shaped jig illustrated on page
18 provides a guide that allows precise The versatile band saw. Because it makes a
wide range of cuts, from resawing thick stock to
manipulation of the wood for a straight
cutting delicate curvesin thin strips, the band
cut The vertical arm of the jig should be
saw is a valuable woodworking asset. A typical
as high as the wood being cut; the lead-
home-shop band saw is 5 to 6 feet tall with a
ing edge of the arm should be
vertical
throat— the space between the blade and the
beveled to provide a pivot point. arm— 10 to 14 inches wide. The maximum
Before you begin to cut, make sure that amount of blade that can be exposed is usually
one edge and one face of the stock are just over 6 inches.
square and straight (page 16), so that they
bear accurately against the saw table and The blade is a flexible steel loop that passes
around two large wheels, the lower wheel con-
the jig. The faces that are cut will be left
nected to an electric motor, the upper wheel
rough by the saw blade, so they must be
turning freely to guide the blade and keep it taut.
planed smooth. Because most resawed
The table can be tilted 45° to the right, and
boards warp slightly as they dry, wait two most models have channels for such accessories
or three days before you plane them to as a miter gauge and a fence. A tension knob
their final dimensions. raises or lowers the upper wheel.
17
Setting Up a Band Saw
for Precision Cuts

Adjusting the table and the blade. To check

that the blade is properly aligned with the table,
hold the handle of a try square against the side
of the blade so that Its tongue is flush against the

table. Adjust the table if necessary, then reset

the table-tilt gauge at 0°.

Turn the adjusting screws on the upper and lower

blade guides to bring the guides into position
against the sides of the blade, then loosen these
guides until you can slip a piece of paper
between each guide and the blade. Inspect the
blade from its side to be sure that the blade
teeth, pointing downward, are visible in front of

the guides and that the back of the blade does

not touch the blade-support bearing (inset,).

TABLE-TILT GAUGE

How to Resaw a Board

Setting up for the cut. Scribe a pencil line on

the top edge of the stock to mark the thickness
desired. Set the stock on edge on the table,
with the end of the mark linedup with the teeth of

the blade; align the jig (inset) to form a right

angle with the stock, so that the jig's beveled nose
is even with the teeth of the blade and with the
edge of the stock. Clamp the jig securely in this

position. Set the blade guides '/« inch higher

than the top edge of the stock

CUTTING'
LINE
 Starting the cut. With the stock clear of the
blade, switch on the saw. Then begin pushing the
stock forward with your right hand so that the
blade enters it on the cutting line. Use your left

hand to press on the left side of the stock, op-

posite the beveled nose of the jig. If the blade
twists away from the cutting line, use your
right hand to pivot the stock against the nose of
the jig, thus realigning the blade with the line.

Finishing the cut. As you near the end of the

1

cut, use a notched push stick to guide the stock

through. Maintain pressure against the side of
the stock with your left hand, but move the hand
forward with the stock to avoid any danger of
touching the blade at the end of the cut. Have a
helper catch the far end of any piece too un-
wieldy for you to support as it comes off the table.
Mirror-Smooth Surfaces Cut with Hand Planes
Once wood has been sawed roughly to to use for smoothing the ends of boards. the plane throughout each stroke. As you
size, more precise tools and techniques Any board being planed must be firmly begin a stroke, press down on the front
are required to achieve a smooth finish secured to your work surface. When you of the plane; press evenly as you plane
and exact dimensions. Any errors you plane edges and ends, a vise and clamps down the length of the board; finish by
make at this second stage can give the are sufficient. For wider work surfaces, pressing down on the rear.

finished work a poor appearance or ill- good workbenches often have holes to As you work, check and adjust the
fitting joints. You can attain precision hold bench dogs-wood or metal pins plane blade frequently to make sure it is
surfacing using nothing more than hand that project slightly above the work sur- removing a minimum amount of wood.
planes; with good tools and practice, you face and provide stops you can push the And as you adjust the blade, sight down
can achieve mirror-smooth, perfectly flat work against. Or you can improvise stops the length of the plane's sole to check
surfaces on almost any piece of rough by nailing pieces of plywood, thinner the angle of the blade as well as its
wood. The same tools also make it possi- than the board you are planing, to the depth; use the lateral adjusting lever on
ble to salvage seemingly useless pieces work surface at each end of the board. top of the tool to keep the blade edge
by making straight, true boards out of A perfectly flat work surface is essen- exactly parallel with the mouth of the
twisted or warped wood. tial, to let you check the flatness of the plane. Clean the sole with kerosene and
Modern bench planes, each designed boards to be planed. If your bench is lubricate it with candle wax; always set
for a specific job, are the precision tools uneven, cover with VHnch or %-inch
it down or store the plane on its side to
needed. A 14-inch-long jack plane is ade- particleboard, using thin wood shims be- protect the blade.
quate for smoothing most lumber. If you low it as needed to make it flat. Using a hand plane to smooth lumber
have many rough boards to work on, The techniques of hand planing can be to exact dimensions requires careful con-
however, you should consider starting perfected only with practice. To avoid trol. Begin by sawing or planing the
with what is called a scrub plane, a tool the problems that develop if you plane board to within !4 inch of its final dimen-
that has a wood or steel body and a against the grain of a surface or an edge, sions. Use a combination square and a
slightly convex blade designed to remove begin with a test. Set the plane blade for pencil to mark reference lines; the
more wood with each stroke. The 20- to a shallow cut and take a few strokes in scribed line of a needle-pointed instru-
24-inch body of a jointer plane suits it each direction. The direction that gives ment or a marking gauge is virtually in-
especially for surfacing boards longer the smoother cut is the one to use when visible on rough wood. As you follow the
than 2 feet, since ensures a flatter sur-
it planing. When you plane a long surface, penciled reference lines, keep in mind

face by preventing the plane from fol- stand beside the workbench with your that the first edge and end can be
face,
lowing the original surface contours of outer foot braced in front of you and planed until they are straight and perpen-
the board. The small block plane, a your shoulders and hips parallel to the dicular to each other, but the second
one-handed tool only 6 inches long that plane. To avoid rounding off the corners, face, edge and end must be planed exact-
has a shallow blade angle, is the best tool be aware of the pressure you apply to ly to the marked lines and no farther.

Making the Faces

Flat and Parallel

Establishing a reference line. Place a rough

board on a flat work surface, and use a locking
compass to mark a reference line as a planing
guide on all edges of the board. If the rough board
is cupped, place it concave side down; if it is

twisted, keep it from rocking by placing thin wood

shims under any corner that does not touch
the work surface Hold the compass with the
pointed scribe touching the work surface and
the pencil directly above the scribe, touching
the board. Open the compass as wide as the
gap where the least amount of wood must be re-

moved, and lock it at this setting. Holding the

pointed scribe against the work surface, slide the
compass along the table to draw a pencil line
around all four edges of the board. Keep the com-
pass perpendicular to the work surface.

20
 Planing to the line. Turn the rough board
i
over, and secure it work surface with bench
to the

dogs or planing stops. Adjust a jack plane or a

scrub plane for the first cuts, and begin planing
off the high points— the parts of the board that
have the greatest thickness above the reference
line. Plane diagonally across the grain (inset,

(eft). Then plane at a right angle to the first cuts,

to eliminate any remaining ridges (inset, cen-

ter). Sight down the board frequently, to locate
any other high spots.

As the surface of the board nears the refer-

ence line, adjust the plane for shallower cuts. For
final smoothing, hold the plane at a very slight
angle to the grain and move it in a direction paral-
lel with the grain (inset, right).

Marking for planing to thickness. When one

face is smooth and flat, clamp the board on edge

in a vise and use a combination square to

mark the desired thickness on the edge of the

board. Hold the head of the square flat against
the planed side of the board, so that the ruler is

crossing a long edge and is perpendicular to

Checking for flatness. Set a straightedge rule it. Mark that edge with pencil dots at the desired
' on edge diagonally across the surface of the thickness, as measured by the ruler. Do the
planed board. With your eyes nearly at the lev- same with the other edge and the ends. Then con-
el of the board, slide the straightedge toward you. nect the dots with a straight pencil line around
At low spots, light will show through between all four edges of the board. Plane the second face

the straightedge and the board. Slide the rule at to this line, starting at the high points as in

different angles across the surface to check Step 2. Check frequently for flatness, and be
for twisting. Plane down any remaining high spots. careful not to cut below the pencil lines.
21
 Squaring Edges and Ends

I Planing a long edge. Draw matching refer-

I ence lines on opposite faces of the board and

around the ends, as guides for planing the first

long edge. Use a pencil and a straightedge to

mark these lines about Vi6 to Vb inch in from

the edge, then clamp the board in a vise with the
marked edge up. Adjust the plane blade for
the initial cuts and plane the edge, keeping the
plane centered and square with the edge by
placing your thumb on the plane's toe and using
your knuckles as a guide along the smooth
face of the board Hold the plane so that its sole
is parallel to the workbench and the plane is at

a slight angle to the board's edge.

Checking for squareness. When you have planed

to within several strokes of the pencil lines,

use a combination square to check the edge for

squareness. Hold the board up to the light

and. with the head of the square flat against the

side, slide thesquare down the length of the
edge, looking for any gaps. Mark any areas that
are not square. Return the board to the vise
and continue planing to the line, always using
the shallowest possible blade setting and being
especially careful to keep the plane level at
the areas that are marked.

22
 Marking the width. With the board flat on
•
the workbench, extend the ruler of a combination
square to match the desired final width of the
board. Place the head of the square against the
planed long edge. Hold a pencil vertically at

the end of the ruler, and slide the combination

square and the pencil down the length of the
board in one motion, marking a line that is parallel

with the planed long edge. Repeat on the oth-

er side of the board. Using these reference lines,
plane the second edge as you did the first.

Planing the end grain. Use a combination

square to mark one end of the board with refer-

ence lines perpendicular to the long edges.

Clamp the board flat on the workbench, allowing
one end to overhang the bench edge by sev-
eral inches. Set a block plane for a shallow cut;

plane at a slight angle across the grain, using

short, even strokes. To prevent chipping, plane
from one edge to the middle; then turn the
board over in the clamps, and plane from the oth-
er edge to the middle. Check for squareness
as in Step 2, opposite.

Once the end is square, make very shallow cuts

across the entire end to smooth and finish.

Mark the opposite end of the board with reference

lines at the final length of the board, and then
plane it in the same manner.
Smoothing with a Power Planer Safety Precautions for
Operating a Jointer
For smoothing and trimming wood, a can also be done on thickness planers,
motor-driven plane— called a jointer- special machines that cut parallel sur- In addition to the general power-tool
planer or just a jointer-requires much faces. Both types cost several times as precautions on page 9, there are the
less time and arm-wearying work than much as a home-shop jointer; most following rules to be observed when
hand planes. The jointer is a precision craftsmen take such kinds of planing to you operate a jointer:
machine designed to accurately shave a millwork shop. D Unplug the machine when you are
small amounts of wood from faces, edges The blades on a home-shop jointer going to adjust its fence and tables or
and ends of boards. The name derives need sharpening when the shavings are sharpen its blades.
from a common use of the tool for limp, uneven and burnished-looking. Operate the jointer only when the
smoothing board edges so flat that when Hone the blades with a few light strokes blade guard is in place.
two are put together to form an edge of a flat oilstone. Remove as little steel Do not plane pieces of wood less
joint, they match perfectly. as possible— oversharpening can shorten than 12 inches long; they may be
This precision results from the ma- the blade arc enough to put the blades pulled from your hands. If short pieces
chine's design. Its cutter head, a revolv- out of alignment with the top of the back are needed, plane a long board, then
ing cylinder with two or three barely pro- table. In time, you will need to have the cut it to the needed lengths.
truding blades, divides the jointer into blades ground professionally, then reset D Do not plane the face of a piece
two tables; the table closer to the opera- to a precise alignment with the tabletop. thinner than the height of the blade
tor is lower than the far one. The
slightly But you should periodically clean the guard or 3A inch, whichever is greater.
highest reach of each blade edge match- blades— rub them with a cloth damp- Use push blocks with any piece of
es the level of the far table. Thus, when a ened in turpentine or lacquer thinner. wood less than 3 inches thick.
board is fed from the lower, near table
into the cutter head, it is trimmed by the A Tool Designed for Perfect Edge-Joinery
blades, then supported in its lessened
thickness by the far table (right, far inset).

To ensure the most precise planing, the

jointer blades should cut with the grain-
although the board is fed toward the cut-

ter head against the grain because the

blades spin toward the operator. Also,
the rate of board movement should be
slow, and the depth of cut should be
small— it is better to make several shal-
FENCE-TILTING KNOB
low cuts than a single deep one
In addition to planing faces, edges and

ends of boards— the three basic jobs de-

scribed on the following pages— a jointer DEPTH-OF-CUT
can be used to cut slanting bevels or KNOB
chamfers along the edge of a board, step-
like rabbets or projecting tenons at the

end of a board. Bevels and chamfers can

be cut when the tool's fence, mounted
slightly above the tables, istilted; rabbets
and tenons are fashioned when the fence
is moved partway across the cutter head,

to a special rabbeting ledge that lets you

guide pieces of wood partway on and
partway off the cutter head.
Most home-shop jointers, though ver- A high-speed plane. The jointer, mounted here on Three knobs adjust the jointer. The fence-locking
satile and accurate, are not equipped to a stationary base, has a work surface 3 feet knob can be loosened to allow the fence to be

plane boards wider than 4 to 6 inches; long. Its cutter head divides the table nearer the moved laterally, almost all the way to the near side
operator at the right from the far table at the of the table for use with the rabbeting ledge.
never remove the blade guard in order to
left; the fence spans both. A spring-activated The fence-tilting knob turns and locks the fence at
attempt planing wider boards, because
blade guard, removed in the left inset to expose angles from 45° to 135°, to serve as a guide in
such a procedure is very hazardous.
the cutter head, is designed so that it will be making chamfer and bevel cuts. The depth-of-cut
There are jointers that will smooth 12- nudged aside by boards passing along the fence knob is used for raising or lowering the table
inch boards, but these are used mainly in and over the spinning blades but will still cover near the operator, to determine how much wood
professional shops. Heavy-duty planing any unused portion of the cutters. is planed from a board (right inset).

24
Accouterments for Safety

Push blocks and a high fence. Two home-

made push blocks are essential accessories for
the safe use of a jointer. The smaller block is

3 inches square; the larger one is 6 by 12 inches

and has a '/2-inch-thick lip at one end. Both
blocks are fitted with handles on top and pieces
of rubber glued on the bottom; the rubber
keeps the blocks from slipping as they are pushed
against the wood.

Attached to the jointer here, but easily removed

when it is not needed, is a 9-inch-high auxiliary
3
fence made of 4-inch plywood, sanded smooth
and coated with paste wax to reduce friction.

It is fastened to the machine's fence with screws

driven from the far side through prednlled holes.

Three Machine-made Cuts

Planing the face of a board. Stand to the left

of the lower table, with your body angled about

45° toward the machine. Hold the lipped push
block in your right hand at the back end of the
board, the small push block in your left hand
near the front of the board. Apply pressure down
and toward the fence. Turn on the motor and
feed the board forward at a slow, steady pace to
deflect the blade guard and meet the cutter
head. As the board progresses, maintain down-
ward pressure on the portion over the higher
table— if you inadvertently permit the board to tilt

upward at the front end, you will get an un-

wanted taper. Maintain pressure down and toward
the fence until the whole board has passed
over the cutter head.

If the board is so long that the back end is beyond

the reach of your right hand at the beginning
of the cut, feed the board forward with your right
hand while you use the small push block with
your left. Pick up and use the lipped push block
as soon as the back board end comes within
reach, and finish the cut using both push blocks.
Planing an edge. Rest your left hand on the
upper edge of the board and your right hand over
the back end. if it is in reach. Push the board
forward. Use your left hand to hold the board
against the fence and down on the far table,
your right hand to feed the board forward; keep
both hands well away from the cutter head. Do
not relax your pressure or change the slow, steady
rate of feed until the cut is finished and your
right hand is well beyond the cutter head.

Trimming an end. With the 9-inch-high auxil-

iary fence in place, steady the upright board being
end-trimmed with your left hand and push it

forward with your right. After cutting about l'/2

inches into the board (inset), stop the forward

motion and pull the board slowly back onto the
lower table. Reverse the board so that the cut
portion is away from the cutter head, and push
it all the way over the cutter head. This dual
cut eliminates splintering at the end of the cut.

26
Planing Defective Boards

Removing a cup warp. Place the board con-

cave side down on the table nearer you, and feed
it over the cutter head as for regular surface
planing. Repeat this procedure on the same face
as many times as it takes to make the face flat

(right, top). With the motor off, turn the board

over, press it tight against the fence, hold a

piece of scrapwood against the near edge, and

mark the scrap where it touches the smoothed
top of the board (right, bottom). Using the pencil
line as a guide, nail the scrap to the board
edge so that it will keep the cupped board from
rocking on its convex side. Feed both board
and scrap across the cutter head repeatedly until

the second face is flat and parallel with the

first. (In both pictures, the blade guard has been
omitted only for the sake of clarity.)

Planing a twisted board. Lay the twisted board on

the table nearer you and then, checking with a
small level, work triangular shims over and under
the low corners of both faces (inset). Trim the
shims even with the edges of the board and glue
them in place. After the glue has dried, run
the board over the cutter head, but apply more
pressure downward than against the fence.
Plane one side until the shims on that side have
been completely cut away, then repeat the
same planing on the other side. (Note: In this

picture, the blade guard has been omitted

for clarity.)

Use this method only on boards considerably

thicker than the deflection of the twist and,
because the process is time-consuming, only
on boards that are of value to you.

27
Jointing by Hand to Produce Wide Panels
Before plywood came into common use ranging them so that the annual rings shorter than that of the jointer plane.
in the 1430s, large wood
panels were fab visible at the ends of adjoining boards Whichever planing method you use, be
ricated of several narrow boards Listened c urve in opposite directions. If your sup- sure that the adjoining edges fit precisely.

edge to edge. The simplest and most ply is limited to slightly warped boards, Any gap wide enough to allow light to

commonly used technique for such edge you can align them more easily by using pass through will greatly reduce the
jointing, used in fine cabinetwork, is
still thin slices of wood, called splines, set holding power of the glue.
to plane the edges of adjoining boards into slots in the board edges (page 32). White liquid glue, also known as poly-
until they match exactly, then glue them The key to making perfect joints is vinyl acetate, is commonly used for edge
together. If the boards are of equal thick- careful edge planing. The technique of jointing. It is strong, fills small gaps, and
ness, the resulting panel will be smooth freehand planing with a jointer plane, 22 dries slowly enough to allow time for

on both sides, with nearly invisible joints to 24 inches long, is similar to that used making fine adjustments. If greater mois-
that are as strong as the wood itself. for planing any board edge, but the extra- ture resistance is important, use yellow
By carefully selecting and matching the long bed of the jointer plane helps en- glue (aliphatic resin) instead; but note
boards to be jointed, you can make a sure a straight edge without bumps or that this glue dries more quickly, so joints

seemingly solid piece with a uniform dips. This freehand planing requires prac- must be swiftly aligned and clamped.
grain pattern or a panel with alternating tice to yield perfect results; but it allows Metal bar clamps, each with a pair of
bands of wood color and grain. Or you you to change the planing direction to ad|ustable jaws mounted on an l-shaped
can use boards cut from a single thick deal with reversal of grain direction, and bar, are best for clamping edge-jointed

block of wood (page 79, Step 2), to make to make small variations in the depth of panels; they flex less than similar clamps,
a matched pattern in which adjacent cut to match adjoining pieces. thus ensuring flat a wide
clamping of
boards seem to reflect each other. Until you master freehand planing, panel. Place thin wood
between scraps
In selecting the boards, choose well- you may want to use a guide called a the edges of the panel and the clamp
seasoned wood to avoid shrinking, which shooting board (opposite). It guaran- jaws to avoid denting the wood. And to
could cause warping or opened joints. tees a planed edge that is perpendicular prevent stains that can be caused by a
You can minimize the danger of warping to the surface of the board, and it pro- chemical reaction between wood and
in the finished panel by using narrow vides an automatic depth stop. It also steel, lay paper on the metal bars wherev-

boards, only 4 to 6 inches wide, and ar- allows you to use a plane with a bed er they might touch before clamping.

Matching and Planing

the Panel Boards

Laying out the panel. Position selected boards on

a flat surface and align them to achieve the

best possible grain pattern. Use a pencil and a

straightedge to mark a three-line crow's-foot
pattern from one side of the panel to the other, as
a guide for maintaining the established pat-
tern Mark the ends of the boards at a point about
3 inches beyond the planned length of the
finished panel, and cut off protruding boards at
these marks to make them easier to handle.

28
 .

Freehand edge planing. Clamp a board from Testing matched edges. With one board clamped
one side of the panel in a vise so that its inside • in the vise, planed edge up, set the planed

edge faces up. Using a jointer plane, test the edge of the matching board on top of it with the
edge (page 20) for the best planing direction, crow's-foot marks Check the joint for
aligned.
then begin at one end and plane the entire nicks, gouges, and any gaps where light is visible.
length. Gripping the nose of the plane with one Use a pencil to mark the areas that need more
hand will help ensure that the edge and the work, then use a jointer plane to shave wood away
face of the board form a 90° angle. When the until the edges match perfectly. Use the same
edge is straight and square, plane the match- techniques to plane and match the remaining
ing edge of the next board in the same manner. pairs of edges in the panel.

A Simple Jig for Cutting

a Straight Edge

Planing with a shooting board. Position the

panel board to be edge-planed next to a shooting-
board jig; clamp both in a vise, with the edge
to be planed slightly higher than the depth stop of
the shooting board. Plane from one end of the
panel board to the other, keeping the side of the
plane flush against the shooting board. Put
wax on the side and bottom of the plane if there
is a need to reduce friction.

To make a shooting board, cut a depth stop of

'/s-inch tempered hardboard, 3 inches wide and
as long as the panel board, with one perfectly
straight edge. Glue and screw this depth stop to
the face of a straight l-by-6 as long as the
panel board, positioning the straight edge of the
depth stop on top and keeping the bottom
edges of the two pieces aligned

29
 Gluing and Clamping
for Smooth Beauty

Gluing the panel. Apply a thin coat of glue to

1 the planed edges of the boards to be joined. Lay

the boards side by side on paper-covered met-
al bar clamps on a flat work surface- Fit each joint

by sliding the glued edges back and forth, creat-

ing suction between the edges and working
glue into the pores of the wood. Note the align-
ment of crow's-foot marks, but also attempt to

match grain patterns on adjacent boards.

Adjusting the glued boards. Tighten each of

the bar clamps lightly against the assembly of
glued boards. If any board is too high, tap it

gently with a wooden mallet until the entire sur-

face of the assembled panel is flush

30
Clamping the panel. Using a hand-screw
clamp with wood jaws, fasten each end of the
glued panel to the middle of the bar clamp at
that end. This will keep the panel from buckling
when the bar clamps are tightened. On large
panels, you can achieve the same result by us-
ing one or more bar clamps across the top
of the panel, positioned between the bottom
clamps. Tighten the bar clamps until a bead
of glue is squeezed out of each joint. Clean this
excess glue from the panel with a damp rag.

Store the glued and clamped panel flat, to

keep it from twisting as the glue dries. If you
lean the assembly against a wall (inset),
make sure all clamp ends rest against both the
wall and the floor. Allow the glue to set com-
pletely. Release the bar clamps first, then the
hand screws, to avoid buckling the panel.

Final planing. Use a straightedge to check

the flatness of the assembled panel (page 21,
Step 3); plane down the high spots, if there
are any. Then mark the thickness desired
around the edges, and plane the panel to
that line (page 21, Step 4).

31
A Technique
for Handling Warps

Inserting splines. After planing the board

edges (Step 2, page 29), you can save time and
trouble aligning slightly warped pieces by lock-
ing them with slices of wood called splines (page
74), fixed in slots cut in the board edges. Ob-
serving all the cautions for working with a router
(page 44), attach and adjust a router spline bit

(page 45) so that the blade of the bit will cut a slot
that bisects the middle of an edge. Keeping
the marked face of the board up (page 45), rout
l'/2-inch-long slots near the board ends and
every 12 Inches along the edge. Repeat for all the
other boards, positioning the grooves on each
in exactly the same place. Cut splines from hard-
wood or plywood to fit snugly into the deepest
parts of the slots, and push them in place.

Trying the fit. Test matched edges as in Step 3,

page 29, by placing a board— splines in place

—in a vise and fitting the adjoining piece with its

aligned slots on top of the first. Test the third

over the second with hand-screw clamps to hold
the first and second boards. With each test,

begin by fitting the spline at one end first— it is

not necessary to press the top edge all the way

down to the one below— then horizontally shift the
top board as needed to make the succeeding
slots fit over the splines below. After making any
necessary adjustments with a plane, glue and
fit the boards back together in the same fashion
as the tests, in groups of two or, if you have
hand screws, in groups of three. Glue and fit the
groups together as page 30. Finish
in Step 1,

making the panel as with unwarped boards.

32
A Reverence for Tools and Joinery

In lapan, one of the most industrialized shape. The saws most used in wood- wood in place. This is possible because
nations in the world, a sense of rever- working shops are the ryoba, for rough lapanese tools require so little force.

ence still surrounds traditional wood- cutting, and the dozuki, for more accu- But it is the joints these tools fashion
working tools— saws such as the ryoba, rate work. The ryoba has two edges: that make lapanese woodworking so
dozuki and azebiki— and the elaborate one for crosscutting, with 15 to 20 teeth extraordinary. Of the 400 joints still in
joints these delicate but precise instru- per inch, the other for rip cutting, with use, many evolved from secret joints
ments can fashion. Unlike its Western 6 to 8 teeth per inch. The dozuki resem- designed by competing guilds of car-
counterpart, lapanese joinery evolved bles the backsaw or the dovetail saw penters, which no one outside the guild
not from furniture-making but from the and has 25 to 30 teeth per inch. could reproduce. In japan joints are
construction of Shinto shrines and Bud- Saws range in length from 8Vi inches called either splicing joints, in which
dhist temples. Consequently, the lapa- to 16'/2 inches for the ryoba, and from pieces are joined end to end, or con-
nese carpenter was once as much an 8'j inches to 12% inches for the dozuki. necting joints, in which pieces are
architect as a woodworker. The used for carpentry
larger sizes are joined at an angle. Two of the joints
For these craftsmen, respect for the rather than cabinetmaking. The more below are splicing joints; the third, the
tools comes above all else and is the specialized azebiki is shaped to cut jigoku-kusabi, is a connecting joint

key to fine woodworking. It was once openings in the center of panels; it has The mechigai-koshikake-kama-tsugi,
considered a grave offense for an ap- 10 teeth per inch on one edge and 15 roughly translated as "lapped goose-
prentice to step over a saw at a work teeth per inch on the other. neck mortise-and-tenon joint with stub
site, he would be soundly slapped for Other tools include a version of the tenons," was once used to splice beams
his disrespect. As a part of his show of keyhole saw, planes that-like the together. The kaneori-mechigai-tsugi,
reverence for a tool, the woodworker saws— are pulled rather than pushed, or"half-blind L-shaped stub tenon," isa
must learn to use it with exquisite skill. and chisels. The blades of these planes complex blind mortise-and-tenon joint

This is not always easy. Japanese saws, and chisels are made of a laminated that skilled craftsmen use to join sec-

for example, cut on the pull stroke, composition of high-carbon and low- tions of wood without using nails.

rather than the push stroke-the teeth carbon steel, not solid steel. This com- And the jigoku-kusabi— which literally
face back, toward the woodworker, and position allows them to absorb more means "hell's wedge"— is aptly named:
this allows the blades to be thinner and shock and makes the blades easier to The wedges in the tenon, when forced
lighter. The cut is more accurate since sharpen. One of the commonest West- against the bottom of the mortise, are
there is much less of a kerf, but using ern tools, the vise, is often absent: lapa- pushed back into the tenon, making the
the saw requires more skill. nese woodworkers usually sit at low two pieces impossible to take apart. It is
A good Japanese saw is both flexible workbenches, only 1 or 2 feet above the often used to join legs to tabletops and
and hard— some will bend into a half ground, and for accuracy use hands, el- may be considered a Japanese alterna-
circle and still return to their original bows, even legs and feet to hold the tive to the dovetail
 A Choice
2
A tried-and-true connection. The stalwart
of Connections
The quality of a piece of furniture is judged by the beauty of its form
mortise-and-tenon joint possesses two character-
and the strength of its parts-and joinery plays a major role in both.
istics that make a joint strong: ample gluing
surface and resistance to stress. Both the slotted More than just a means of locking together two pieces of wood, a
mortise and the protruding tenon were once
joint can merge component parts with grace or set them off in fine
cut by hand, but the mortise of a modern joint is

typically made with a drill press (background),

contrast to each other. It can guide the eye along the lines of a piece,
which reams out a series of overlapping holes; the as in a miter joint,which allows the grain to flow unbroken around
rounded edges are then squared with a chisel.
the corner; or it can delineate the change of direction, as in a lap
joint. It can combine in itself both function and esthetics, arresting

the eye with such intricate details as the winglike wedges of the
dovetail joint or the contrasting wood of exposed dowel joints.
Conversely, a joint may exert no visual effect, being completely
hidden— as the invisible mortise-and-tenon joint is.
Faced with a multitude of choices, most woodworkers elect to use
the simplest, strongest joint appropriate to the job. All joints, regard-
less of how they are cut, derive some of their strength from the
amount The strongest joints are those
of gluing surface they provide.
that connect two pieces of wood in a way that bonds the greatest
possible surface of lengthwise grain on each piece. The long grain,
running with the wood fibers, holds glue in suspension, ensuring a
strong bond; the end grain, cutting across the fibers, is so porous that
it simply absorbs the glue and offers practically no gripping surface.
Some joints do not expose as much long grain as others. A miter
joint, for example, cuts diagonally across the end grain and usually
has to be reinforced with a spline to increase its holding power.
In fact, because most joints can be given the requisite strength, the
choice of joint usually boils down to how much time and skill it
takes to cut and Hand-cut dovetails take considerably longer to
fit it.

make than machine-cut dovetails, and machine-cut mortise-and-

tenon joints are simpler and speedier still— which is why most crafts-
men choose the latter. Even simple joints demand precision cutting.
No woodworker should cheat on the time spent marking and in

measuring the cut. Sharp hand tools and well-honed power-tool

blades and bits are also essential to the clean cuts of good joinery.
Finally, for a joint to be both smooth and serviceable, its parts must

fit together as precisely as possible. In a good joint, no light shows

between the pieces— proof that the gluing surfaces mate. The snug-
ness of fit should be such that some hand pressure needed to bring
is

the pieces together, or a light tap with a mallet or a hammer and

block. But the fit should not be so tight that wood fibers are forced
out of place. In earlier days the strength of a joint depended primar-
ily upon the tight fit of its interlocking parts. Today wood screws and
sophisticated glues can supplement fit, not only strengthening the
joint but increasing its life expectancy.
35
The Tongue-and-Groove Joint and Its Variations
Cutting a groove in one board and fitting cutting dadoes and rabbets in wide after careful measuring, every new blade
a projecting tongue from another into it boards, plywood sheets, oddly shaped setting should be tested on scrap wood.
is one of the oldest and still one of the pieces or warped wood, the router is a This extra effort pays dividends, especial-
best ways to make a strong wood joint. better choice, since the remains wood ly if you are making intricate cuts like

Two types of cut are used to make such a stationary while the tool follows its con- those in a lock joint (page 41). To prevent
|omt. One is the rectangular channel, tours. In these circumstances a table saw plywood from splintering when cut with
called a dado, cut in either the edge or may fail to cut consistently deep, espe- a table saw, you can either score the
the face of a board. The other is a step- cially if the wood is warped. Moreover, it wood beforehand with a blade set very
like cut, called a rabbet, made in the takes time to assemble the collection of low or cover the location of the cut with
edge of a board. In a variation of the saw blades and wood chippers, called a a strip of masking tape.
basicrabbet, two shallow rabbet cuts dado head, that is needed to cut wide If your project calls for a large amount

may be made, one along each side of a dadoes and rabbets with a saw. Never- of edge-to-edge joinery, there is an alter-
board edge, leaving a projecting center theless, once a dado head is installed and native to the tongue-and-groove joint:
remnant, the tongue. Dadoes and rabbets adjusted, the table saw will be faster than the glue joint. To make it with a table
can be combined in several ways to join a router for making identical cuts in a saw, you will need to install a special
boards, either at right angles or flush with number of boards. molding head. It shapes, in
cutter called a
each other (below). No matter which tool you choose, pre- a single pairs of tongues and
pass,
The tools most commonly used for cise measurements are imperative. A grooves in the edge of a board. Further-
making these cuts are the router and the keen eye and a perfectly straight rule are more, without changing the adjustment
table saw. Each has advantages in certain needed to make certain the cutting you can shape the edge of the board that
circumstances. For example, if you are blades are exactly positioned. But even will be joined to the first one.

Five Rabbet and Dado Cuts

Safety Rules
forRouters

The high speed of the router's rotating

bit demands that this portable tool be
treated with the same respect as larg-
er, stationary power tools. In addition

to the general safety rules for all pow-

er tools (page 9), observe these specif-
ic precautions for the router:
DUnplug the tool before installing or
removing a bit, and tighten the chuck
securely after installation.
Anchor your work securely with
clamps or nails, leaving both hands
tree to guide the tool.
DLet the bit reach full speed before
beginning a cut, and lift the bit from
the work before switching the router
off. But keep in mind that the cutter
will continue to spin for several sec-
A catalogue of joints. The basic dado joint, appears as it is used in a stair tread and in the
onds after the router is switched off.
shown in the drawing as it is used to hold shelves, back of a drawer.
DWhenever possible, move the rout- is formed when the square end of one board is

eraway from you and direct it so that fitted into a channel-like dado in a second board. The tongue-and-groove joint, common in flooring
the leading edge of the bit, which A simple rabbet joint, here used at the top cor- and paneling, joins edges; a dado in the edge
spins clockwise, is biting into new ner of a box, is made by fitting the unshaped end of one board holds the tongue left by cutting two

wood; position any guides or jigs so of one board into the rabbeted end of the oth- shallow rabbets in the other. A fifth joint, the

that they will counteract the resulting er. A rabbet and a dado may also be combined, glue joint, is made with a special table-saw cutter;
with the rabbeted end of one board fitting pairs of dadoes and rabbets with slanted sides
counterclockwise torque.
snugly into the dado of another; this assembly provide interlocking gluing surfaces.

36
Routing Out Grooves
and Recessed Edges

Routing a dado. A T-shaped jig makes a use-

ful guide when you rout a dado across the face of

a board. First mark the position and depth of

the dado, then hook the jig's crosspiece on the far
edge of the board. To position the jig, raise the

cutting bit above the router base, move the jig

against the left side of the router, then move

jig and router together until the bit lines up with
the dado position. Clamp the jig and the wood
in place; tack down the long end of the jig if
clamping it is difficult. Lower the bit to the de-
sired depth at the edge of the wood, turn on the
router and move it into the wood. Lift it out when
a notch has been cut into the jig's crosspiece.

Make the jig of smooth-edged wood about

3 inches wide and as thick as the board being
dadoed Use a square to position the jig pieces at
right angles, then fasten them with screws.

A bit for routing edge grooves. A special Routing rabbets and tongues. A rabbet cutter
dado cutter, called a panel-grooving bit or a spline equipped with apilot guide (inset) is used in the

bit, is fitted with a noncutting pilot guide at its same way as the panel-grooving bit (above,

tip. This cylinder rolls along a board edge to en- left). Select a cutter-pilot combination that will

sure that the groove will be of uniform depth. produce a rabbet of the desired depth and
To use this bit, mark the position of the groove, width. Cut from left to right, but in this operation

clamp the wood to a worktable edge, and low- lower the bit gradually so that each pass re-

er the cutter until it lines up with the marks. Guide moves no more than % inch of wood.

the bit into thewood from left to right. If you

are cutting wood that may chip or splinter, such For a tongue of wood on the edge of a board,

as plywood, begin the cut about 1 inch from mark and cut two rabbets, one in each opposing
the left end, and finish the remnant by cutting face, so that the projection remaining is cen-

from right to left. tered and has the desired thickness. Use a cutter-

pilot combination that cuts a rabbet Vi6 Inch

The groove's width will be determined by the narrower than the depth of the groove.

size of the cutter; its depth depends on the diame-

ter of the pilot (inset). Choose a small pilot for

a deep cut, a large one for a shallow cut. Replace

any pilot that feels rough or gritty.
37
Adjusting a Table Saw for Cutting Dadoes

Installing a dado head. Remove the standard blade If the blades have teeth of two sizes,
table-saw blade from its arbor, and install the align the smaller teeth of one blade with the larger

blades and chippers of a dado head- If the first teeth of the other If the second blade has

dado blade has cocked teeth, angle them toward cocked teeth, they should angle away from the
the arbor base- Add chippers and paper wash- first blade Lock the dado head in place with
ers, aligning the chippers with the gullets of this the arbor washer and nut.
blade (below, left). Add the second blade to
make the combination of blades, chippers and Check the width of the dado head with the metal
washers as wide as the desired dado. extension of a folding rule (below, right), mea-
suring from the outside tips of the teeth. Make ad-
Align the gullets of the outside blade with the justments if necessary, then install a dado in-

chippers. matching the position of the inside sert in the table- saw opening.

Setting up the cut. Using a combination Set the fence so that the distance between
square to check the height of the dado head the fence and the inner dado blade equals the dis-
(above, left), set the blades a fraction of an tance desired between the edge of the wood
inch lower than the desired depth of the dado. Ad and the edge of the dado (above, right). If the tips
just the setting by making test cuts as needed of the teeth on the blade are cocked, measure
(Step 3). Be sure to lock the blade-height crank from the fence to the side of a tooth that angles
after each adjustment you make. toward it. Lock the fence in place.

38
 Cutting the dado. Make a test cut on scrap
' lumber, to verify that the dado has the correct
width, depth and clearance from the board
edge To do the saw reach full speed,
this, let

then run thewood smoothly over the dado

head: Feeding the wood too rapidly results in
rough cuts and may cause a kickback; feeding
it too slowly burns the wood Stand to the left of

the blade for safety in case of a kickback,

pressing the wood against the fence with your

left hand, down on the table with your right. Use
a push stick if the board is narrow.

When the test dado is cut, check its dimensions

and position with a ruler or with the piece of
wood that will fit into it. Make further adjustments
if necessary, until the saw is perfectly set. Then
make the final cut in the work.

A Rabbet Made
on a Table Saw

Using an auxiliary fence with a dado blade. To

make a smooth rabbet cut, assemble a dado
head slightly wider than the desired width of
the rabbet, set the blade height for the appropri-
ate depth of cut, and pass the wood over the
blade as for a dado cut. Before making the cut,
fasten an auxiliary wooden fence to the metal
fence, turn on the saw, and slowly raise the dado
head Notch the auxiliary fence to provide
clearance for the small part of the dado head
that extends beyond the work

Make the auxiliary fence from smooth %-inch

wood that is square at all edges. Hardwood ply-

wood, particularly birch plywood, is a good

choice because it is very smooth. Trim the wood
to the dimensions of the metal fence, and fas-

ten it with screws driven from the far side through

the prednlled holes.

To make a tongue, follow the same proce-

dures, but cut shallow rabbets in opposite faces of
the board so that the tongue of wood remain-
ing in the middle is of the desired width (page 37).
 Setting Up a Table Saw for a Glue Joint I
Setting the fence. With the saw turned off,

i use a piece of scrap lumber— the same thick-

ness as the boards you will join— to set the

Installing a molding head. Slide the special With the saw unplugged, sight along the top fence position. Holding the piece of scrap wood
glue-joint cutters completely into the molding- of the table while you turn the molding head with against the fence, move the fence so that,
head slots, and lock each one securely in your left hand and adjust the height of the as best your eye can judge, the center of the
place by tightening its setscrew with a hex blade with your right The blades are at the cor- board's edge lines up with the center of
wrench. Remove the standard saw-table insert rect height when the bottoms of their recesses one of the cutters. (The board will be positioned
and blade; replace them with the molding head, are on a level with the tabletop. Before you begin more precisely later.) The center of a cutter

any washer or bushing that goes with it, and to cut, make marks on the boards to indicate is at a point halfway along the sloping line be-

a molding-head insert. Add an auxiliary wooden which of the edges are to be pined and which tween the bottom of the middle groove and the
fence, and notch it with the cutters (page 39). surfaces are to be exposed. top of the middle tongue (inset).

CENTER

Bracing for the cut with a featherboard. Use

' a featherboard to hold the work against the fence
while you push it over the cutters. To make a
featherboard, miter the end of a 16-inch-long 2-
by-4 at a 45° angle, then cut saw kerfs % inch
apart and roughly 5 inches deep in that end. Be-
fore you cut the glue joint, sandwich a scrap of

wood— the same thickness as the work— between

the featherboard and the fence. Clamp the
featherboard to the table, and brace it with a 2-by-
4 clamped at a right angle. Adjust the feather-
board and the brace so that the scrap moves
smoothly forward but will not move backward.

Turn on the saw, run two test scraps over the

blades and fit the pieces together. If the faces
of the board are not flush, measure the deviation
and move the fence half that distance in the

direction that will make the boards fit perfectly.

In order to edge two boards that you will actually

join, cut the first marked top
board with its

face against the fence, then run the matching

board over the cutters with its unmarked bot-
tom face against the fence. Be sure to begin both
cuts at matching ends of the boards.
40
 Plotting the Cuts tor a Halt-Blind Lock Joint
Two Rigid
Corner Joints Mapping the joint. On a piece of paper or
scrap wood, make a full-scale drawing of the
front of the joint should
the tongue that fits in
match the width of
the inside dado. You can
joint; number the cuts (inset). This will help vary dimensions, however, to suit the thick-
A strategic combination of dado and rab- you to visualize how the joint is going to work in ness and kind of wood you are using; the dimen-
bet cuts gives strength to a corner joint the finished product. sions given below are for two pieces of

by increasing its glue area while locking %-inch plywood. For solid wood, the tongues

the joint in every direction but one. A Mark the width and the depth of the two da- should be one fourth to one third the total

does. The width of the tongue that covers the thickness of the board.
half-blind lock joint (right) and a mitered
lock joint (page 43) have the added ad-
vantage of hiding the end grain of the ~ZL
boards they join: The half-blind joint is
invisible from the front, and the mitered
lock joint masks the end grain from both
the front and the side.
The half-blind joint is a favorite for
attaching drawer fronts, since the joint is

hidden from view and

being resists
pulled apart as is opened. The
the drawer
mitered lock joint is better than the half-
blind joint for corners visible from two
sides, and it may be used where a dove-
tail's strength (page 46) is not needed.

Either kind of lock joint demands pre-

cision craftsmanship, but the half-blind
joint is the easier of the two. Make sure
the boards to be joined are straight,
smooth, and squarely cut. Mark each face
and edge so that you can keep track of
the final positions.
Both joints a.re started with a wide-
edge dado becomes the reference
that
point for all subsequent cuts. Mark the
position of each cut as the work pro-
gresses and adjust the saw carefully, al-
ways testing with scrap pieces the same
thickness as the work. Check a finished
dado with a rule and with the piece that
will fit into it; it may take more than one
pass to reach the full depth needed.

Cutting the wide edge dado. Install a dado

head on the table saw, setting it to cut the wide
edge dado. The height of the blade should be
set to match the thickness of a side piece (right,
top). Set the saw fence the same distance

from the inside blade as the tongue is wide. To

check the setting, mark the position of the

edge dado on the front piece, and make sure po-

sitions of the blade and the fence match

the marks you have made. To make the cut, use a

tenoning jig— a purchased metal one that runs
in the miter-gauge groove (right) or a wooden one
you make to run along the saw fence (inset).
To make the wooden jig, screw two pieces of Vt-
inch plywood to a spacer the same thickness
as the fence. Add a thin strip of wood along one
edge of the jig; it will help hold the piece in

place while it is being cut.

 3
Cutting the second dado. Stand the front /4-incn plywood, use a standard blade, which
'
piece on edge and butt the side piece against it, makes a '/e-mch kerf; in thicker plywood or in

aligning the inside surface of the front tongue solid wood, use two dado blades without chippers
with the end of the side piece Mark where the Set the blade height to equal the planned
rear tongue meets the side piece (below, left); depth of the dado (in this example, Vs inch),

this is the location for the second dado cut. and use the penciled dado marks to set the
fence position. Run a test piece of wood, adjust
Adjust the saw blade to the correct width and the blade as needed and, in the side piece, make
height for the second dado cut. For a joint in the second dado cut (below, right.).
A Mitered Joint
with a Hidden Lock

Plotting the joint. Diagram the cuts tor the

mitered lock joint as for the half-blind lock joint
(page 41, Step 1). The two joints use similar
cuts, but the mitered lock joint has an additional

rabbet cut (No. 3, inset) and two bevel cuts

(No. 5 and No. 6). Note the depth and the width
of thewide dado cut and the rabbet cut (No. 1

and No. 3) on the diagram, as well as the

depth and width of the narrow dado cut (No.
2). The dimensions shown at right are for

two pieces of %-inch plywood.

Make the wide dado cut (No. 1) with the dado

head of the table saw set as for the similar
cut in the half-blind lock joint (page 41, Step 2).

Cutting the second dado. Mark the position of

the narrow dado in the side piece (No. 2) by but-

ting together the edges of the two pieces as
for the half-blind lock joint (opposite, Step 3), but
position the end of the side piece flush with

the outside face of the front piece. Set the blade

to the correct width and height, then use the

front piece to position the fence: Hold the piece

against the fence, and move both fence and
board until the outer tips of the blade are flush
with the face of the front piece. Remove the
front piece, make a test cut, then cut the dado in

the side piece (opposite, Step 3).

 Cutting the rabbet. To mark the position of down the edge of the side piece. Add an auxiliary Set the blade for the depth of cut on the dia-
' the rabbet cut on the edge of the side piece, butt fence Cpage 42, Step 4), leaving a '/2-inch gram. Make a test cut and, when the saw is set

the edge of the front piece against the inside space between its lower edge and the table. Ad- precisely, cut the rabbet (below, right). If the
face of the side piece (below, left), and extend just the fence so that the outer tips of the saw rabbet is more than Vfe inch wide, snap off the
the line of the inside edge of the front tongue blade align with the outer edge of the pencil line. waste wood after the cut is completed.

Trimming the rear tongue. Rest the side

1
piece on edge and hold the front piece above it,

aligning the inside face of the front piece with

the narrow dado in the side piece. Mark a line
where the bottom of the dado meets the face
of the front piece. Place the front piece against

the auxiliary fence, and move both fence and

front piece toward the blade until the outer tips
of the blade are aligned with the outer edge of
the pencil mark. Make a test cut and then, when
the setting is perfect, trim down the rear
tongue (page 42, Step 4).

44
 Making the first bevel cut. If the saw blade Rest the front piece, outside face down, on the far edge of the front tongue (inset). Make a test
' ordinarily tilts toward the fence when it is set for a side of the blade, with the rear tongue against cut In scrap wood, to be certain that only the tri-

bevel cut. move the rip fence to the other side the auxiliary fence. Sighting along the tabletop, angular tip of the tongue is removed, and that
of the blade. Set the blade for a 45° bevel, and adjust the fence so that the angle formed by it is removed cleanly to form a 45° bevel. When
adjust its height to V4 inch above the tabletop the blade and the tabletop lines up with the outer the setting is perfect, cut the bevel

Cutting the second bevel. Readjust the fence, just the side piece and fence in tandem until the Cut a second joint at the opposite end of the front

'but not the blade, for the second bevel cut. Rest blade is aligned to cut a 45° angle in the small piece; this joint should be the mirror image of
the side piece, outside face down, on the far tongue at the end Make a test
of the rabbet. cut the first one. Then glue and clamp the two joints,
side of the blade; move the fence until it butts in a piece of scrap wood and then, when the using the same procedure as for the half-blind

against the rabbeted end of the side piece Ad- setting is perfect, cut the bevel. lock joint (page 42, Step A).
45
A Hand-cut Joint with Interlocking Tails
The interlocking parts of a dovetail joint the smooth, accurate cuts required. You can always shave away a bit of wood to
are a triumph of the woodworker's art should also have several chisels of differ- make a tight joint fit better, but there is

Often used for decorative effect at the ent widths, to allow you to cut with the no good way of adding wood to a loose
corners of boxes or cabinets, dovetails widest chisel that will fit into a tight joint. If your saw wanders off a line when

are equally useful hidden away on the space without breaking the corners of you are cutting a tail, finish the cut in a
sides of drawers, since they are among the delicate tails and sockets. Chisels straight line. Absolute accuracy is not es-
the strongest of corner joints. Although with beveled sides allow cutting into the sential in cutting tails. In cutting the
uniform dovetails can be made quickly corners of angled sockets. sockets to fit the tails, however, there is

with a router (page 52), the more time- Clean, well-fitting joints begin with ac- no margin for error.
consuming handwork permits you to curate measuring and marking. If your Since most dovetail joints are part of a
make a wider variety of sizes and shapes marking gauge has a rounded scribing rectangular assembly, you will cut and fit

demonstrate your skill with

as well as to a point, it may scrape rather than cut a line. four joints before gluing and clamping
number of tools and techniques. File its scriber to a knifelike point, thus any of them. Mark the matching pieces of
A fine-toothed, straight-cutting saw ensuring a thin, straight mark unaffected each joint before you begin cutting, for
and sharp wood chisels are the main by any surface irregularities of the wood. easy identification at later stages. If your
tools needed for cutting dovetails. A Use a sharp pencil to mark other lines, plan calls for a bottom or a back that will
dovetail saw, equipped with tiny teeth and further ensure accuracy by always be set in a groove, cut the groove after
that have very little set— deflection from cutting along the side of a line toward cutting the joints, and add the bottom or
the line of the blade— is best for making the waste wood you are removing. You back when you glue the unit together.

Two Versions of
a Classic Connection
SHOULDER

Through and lap dovetail joints. The simplest

and strongest dovetail joint is the through dovetail
(top right), which exposes end grain on both
sides of the joint. Here the interlocking of the an-
gled tails with the narrower pins on the socket
piece (inset) gives the joint great holding power.
The angle of these tails is 80° in softwoods,
83° in hardwoods. The pins are cut at least
Vi inch wide on their narrow sides and are spaced
no more than 3 inches apart center to center.

In the lap dovetail (bottom right), the end grain of

the tail piece is hidden by closed sockets. The
tails, cut at least V* inch shorter than the thick-
ness of the socket piece, are otherwise identical
with those in the through dovetail.

46
 Cutting a
Through Dovetail

Marking thickness for tails and pins. Set a

l marking gauge to match the thickness of the

socket piece, and use it to scribe a line on all

sides of the end of the tail piece. Then set the
marking gauge to the thickness of the tail

piece,and scribe a line on both sides of the

matching end of the socket piece.

Laying out the tails. Lay out the positions of

the tails with squared lines across the end of the
tail piece; then use a T bevel, set to the de- ;
sired angle, to extend the lines along the side of
the tail

ing out the

piece to the marking-gauge

piece; position
tails, first

by marking two lines across the end of the

each line so that its
line. In lay-

establish the outer corners

tail

distance from
\ \
the corners is equal to half the thickness of
the socket piece. Divide the space between these
two lines into equal sections for the tails, leav-

ing at least V* inch for pins between adjacent tails.

 Cutting the and shoulders. Clamp the
tails
'
tail piece in one side of
a vise so that the lines on
each tail are exactly vertical (top right), and
use a dovetail saw to cut along each vertical line
down to the marking-gauge line. Then change
the position o* the tail piece in the vise so that the
remaining lines are vertical, and cut along each of
these lines in the same way.

Reposition the tail piece in the vise so that the

marking-gauge line is vertical (bottom right),

and use the saw to cut along the marking-

dovetail

gauge line from the edge of the piece to the

cut at the base of the first tail. Reclamp the piece
with the opposite edge up, and cut the other
shoulder in the same way.

Cutting out the waste. Clamp the tail piece

1

vertically in the vise and use a coping saw to cut

out as much of the waste wood between the

tails as possible. Begin each cut in a saw kerf be-

side one tail, and cut to the kerf beside the ad-
jacent tail, using extreme caution to avoid sawing
below the marking-gauge line.
 Chiseling out the waste. Clamp the tail piece
'
on top of scrap wood on a flat work surface, and
use a sharp chisel to cut away the remaining
waste between the tails Begin chiseling across
the gram, positioning the chisel edge on the
marking-gauge line, bevel facing out, and tapping
it lightly with a mallet. Then use the chisel to
cut along the grain from the end of the tail piece,
removing a thin shaving down to the chisel cut
at the marking-gauge line. Cut across and along
the grain about half the width of the board,
then chisel out waste between the other tails in

the same way. Turn the tail piece over and re-

clamp it, then chisel out the waste from that side
until all the spaces between the tails are clear.

Marking the socket piece. Clamp the socket

'
piece in a vise so that the amount exposed above
the work surface is equal to the thickness of a
support block of scrap wood Position the tail

piece so that the tails are aligned with the end

of the socket piece and the other end is resting

on the scrap block. Hold the tail piece firmly

against the socket piece, and use a sharp pencil
to trace the outline of the tails on the end of

the socket piece. Then use a try square to contin-

ue the lines down each side of the socket piece
to the marking-gauge line.

Use a dovetail saw to cut along the marked lines

down to the marking-gauge line, then use a
coping saw to cut away as much of the waste as
possible. Use a chisel and a mallet to cut out
the remaining waste from each of the sockets.
Fitting the joint. Clamp the socket piece verti-

cally m the vise, position the tails in the sockets,

and tap the tail piece lightly with a mallet to

test the fit o* the joint; use scrap wood on top of

the tail piece to distribute the pressure evenly.
There should be some friction in the joint, but if it

is too tight to be seated with light tapping, dis-

assemble it and use a chisel to slice thin shavings
from the sides of the tails.

After cutting and fitting all the joints of a unit,

cover the contacting surfaces of each joint with a
thin coat of yellow glue. Then put the unit to-

gether and use bar clamps to apply light tension

across the tail pieces (inset).

Cutting a Lap Dovetail

Cutting the sockets. After cutting a tail piece

with tails shorter than the thickness of the socket
piece (pages 47-49, Steps 1-5), mark the out-

line of the tails on the end of the socket piece

(page 49, Step 6). Then use a try square to
continue the lines down the inside of the socket
piece to the marking-gauge line. With a dove-
tail saw, cut the sides of each socket, holding the
saw at an angle so that it follows the angled
line on the end of the socket piece as well as the
straight line on the side (top right).

Use the dovetail saw to cut some of the waste

from the socket by cutting at an angle from the
center of the socket to each of the previous
cuts (bottom right). Be certain that you avoid cut-
ting into the marking-gauge line.

50
Chiseling out the sockets. Position a sharp
chisel, flat side down, on the marking-gauge line

and tap it lightly with a mallet (below, top).

Then position the chisel inside the socket and tap
it lightly so that you remove a thin shaving (be- Clearing out the corners. Use a narrow chisel
low, bottom) Continue removing shavings, alter- '

with beveled sides to undercut the waste in the

nately cutting across and along the grain, until corners of each socket. Cut with hand pres-
you have cleared the waste from the center of the sure only, if possible; otherwise, tap the chisel
socket. Avoid chiseling into the angled corners lightly with the mallet. Cut alternately across
of the socket, to keep from breaking the edges of and along the grain until you have cleared all the
the pins. Chisel out the centers of the remain- waste out of the sockets. Then assemble the
ing sockets in the same way. joint as in Step 7, page 50.
Dovetails Made by the Dozen
For projects that require large numbers of of the same dimensions later, you can
dovetail joints, a time-saving alternative use the test joint to reset the bitdepth
to hand cutting (page 46) is the use of a on the router.
router guided by a special device called a By changing the size of the router bit
dovetail template. The template makes it and the template, you can make dovetails Flush and rabbeted dovetail joints. When as-

possible to shape both sides of a simple of several sizes. The most common dove- sembled, the tail and socket pieces of a router-cut

dovetail joint simultaneously, carving out tails are '2 inch or Va inch wide across the dovetail joint look much like those of a hand-

and pins of uniform you use cut dovetail except that the and pins are iden-
tails
tails size. If widest part of the tail The broader ones
tical in size The hidden ends of
(below, top).
machine-made dovetails, the joints will are generally used for drawers and cabi-
the tails and sockets are rounded, however, and
be less decorative but only slightly less nets, the narrower for small boxes.
the tail cuts in the socket piece usually do not
strong than the alternating thick and thin Whatever the size of the dovetails, the extend through the wood's full thickness Onset).
tails and pins of hand-cut joints. cutting positions for making the joint are
With its many-tongued template and always the same. The tail piece is always When the joint includes a lip, as on a drawer
numerous adjustments, the dovetailing vertical against the front of the base, the front (below, bottom), the socket piece can be
device looks complicated to use, but in socket piece horizontal against the top of cut first and rabbeted after cutting. But it is

fact it is not. The adjustments clamp two the base. If the finished joint will be ex- simpler to rabbet it beforehand and slip a grooved

boards at right angles to each other posed, you can sometimes improve its gauge block (inset) over the rabbeted lip to po-

against the top and side of the metal sition the socket piece properly against the tem-
appearance by making slight adjustments
plate base. The preliminary setup for a rabbet-
base; the template
lowered against
is in the total width of the joint so that it
ed dovetail is identical with that of a flush dovetail
them to guide the router. Moving in and begins and ends on a half pin To achieve except for the position of the socket piece on
out between the tongues, the router cuts this effect, make the final tail half aswide top of the base. Also, when the drawer lip is rab-
tails in one board and matching sockets as the distance between the tips of the beted first, the two pieces must be cut sepa-
in the other. Once the device and the template tongues. rately rather than simultaneously.
router are aligned, the work goes quickly
and easily on corner after corner.
The best way to set up the device is to
cut a test joint on scrap lumber the same
thickness and width as the two pieces to
be joined. The test joint should fit snugly,
the two pieces meeting flush at the cor-
ners and the tails completely seated in
the sockets. If the joint is too loose, you
can correct it by slightly increasing the
depth setting of the router. If the joint is
too tight to fit together when tapped
lightly with a mallet, decrease the rout-
er's depth setting. If the tails fall above or
below the surface of the sockets, adjust
the position of the template: For sockets
that are too shallow, move the template
backward by turning the adjusting nuts
clockwise; for overly deep sockets, turn
the ad|usting nuts counterclockwise,
bringing the template forward.
The orientation of the router during
the cut can also affect the depth and
snugness of the joint. While you are cut-
ting test joints, note the position of the
router handles with relation to the work;
when you achieve a good fit, make all

subsequent cuts with the router handles

in this position. When the test joint is

perfect, do not change the adjustments

until you have finished cutting all the
dovetails. But do not discard the test GAUGE BLOCK
joint, for if you plan to repeat joints RABBETED LIP

52
Assembling the Template and Router

Setting up a template and router. A dovetail bracket, adjust the template's height, and two models, the clamps can be adjusted so that they
template device (below, left) and a specially fitted nuts behind the brackets (inset) move the tem- will fit boards up to 13'/4 inches wide and 1V4
router (below, right) together make short work plate forward or backward for fine tuning; on inches thick. The boards are butted against stop
of cutting the two parts of an interlocking dovetail some models, the spacers for this horizontal ad- screws on the top and front of the base; the

joint The template device is shown here mount- justment can be relocated on the outside of screws are offset to the precise distance required
ed on a 2-by-8 clamped to the top of a work- the bracket and used in lieu of a gauge block (op- to bring the finished joint into alignment. The
table, but it could be mounted directly on the posite, bottom inset) to cut rabbeted dovetails. router base is fitted with a guide bushing that fol-

work surface. The device consists of a channel- lows the exact contours of the template. And

shaped base, above which lies the actual The two boards being cut are held by bar clamps the special dovetail bit is tapered to cut precisely

template. Two knobs, one on each template against the top and front of the base; on most angled tails and sockets

GUIDE BUSHING

Routing to Make a Flush Dovetail

aS
 Setting up the second piece. Slide the front
' piece, marked A, under the top bar clamp at the
right side of the template base, bottom edge
against the stop screw and end butted squarely
against the side of piece D. Tighten the top bar
clamp. Then loosen the front bar clamp slight-

ly, and slide piece D up until its end is flush with

the top surface of piece A. Lower the template

over the two pieces, and fasten it in position with

the locking knobs on the base (inset).

Routing the outer edge. Beginning at the right

1
side of the template base, position the guide
bushing of the router against the slotted template;

switch on the router, and begin moving it from

right to left. Move the router straight across the
edge of the piece held by the front clamp,
touching each tongue of the slotted template with
the guide bushing as the router passes it.

54
Completing the joint. Starting at the left side of
the two pieces, move the router slowly to the
right, using the guide bushing to follow the con-
tours of the template tongues. When the cut
is complete, switch off the router and allow it to
come to a stop; then withdraw the router from
the template, pulling it directly toward you. Re-
move the two pieces from the fixture, and
clean away any splinters around the tails and
sockets with a utility knife.

Cut the other side of the front piece, marked

A, in the same way, matching it with the side
piece marked B, but for this cut clamp the
assembly against the left side of the template
base. Repeat the same procedures with the
back piece, marked C, and the uncut ends of

the two side pieces. Assemble the joints as

you would hand-cut dovetails (page 50, Step 7).

Adjusting the Template

for a Rabbeted Lip

Cutting the sockets. Use a grooved gauge

block to position a lipped drawer front atop the
dovetail base. Clamp the block against the
front of the base, lining up the bottom of the

groove with the top of the base; then slide the

lipped drawer front into the groove until the offset

edge meets the side of the block. Tighten the

top clamp, then remove the gauge block. Lower

the dovetail template against the drawer front
(inset) and use the router to cut sockets in the off-
set edge, following the tongues of the template
with the guide bushing as in Step 5.
 A box joint and its jig. Square-cut fingers and and equal in length to the distance from the miter

The Box Joint: slots

form a box
on the ends of matching boards interlock
joint (below, left). The width of the
to gauge to about 8 inches past the dado head. A
hardwood guide pin, the same thickness as a fin-

A Fast Dovetail fingers

usually
and slots— which are
is about
identical in

14 to Vz inch less than the

size- ger of the
jig, slightly off
joint, is attached to the front of the
center. It is held in a slot on the

thickness of the wood being joined. The slots are bottom of the jig by a countersunk screw driv-

Before plastics and cardboard became cut with the aid of a special jig (below, right) en through the bottom of the pin into the plywood.
preferred for packaging, many prod- attached to the miter gauge of a table saw. The jig The slot is cut with the dado head, set for the

ucts—ranging from dried figs to dried is a piece of %-inch plywood, 4 inches high dimensions of the slots of the joint.

codfish— were sold in inexpensive pine

boxes. The popularity of the quickly
made, machine-cut box joint dates from FINGERS
GUIDE PIN
that period. Its straight-sided fingers and
slots may lack the holding power of the
dovetail joint, with its splayed pins and
tails, but the box joint still is surprisingly
strong. The many fingers along each side
of the joint add up to a gluing surface as
much as three times as long as the joint.
Box joints are cut on a table saw in a

series of simple, purely mechanical ac-

tions. But the jig used to guide the cut
must be constructed and positioned with
care, and then checked in operation on
scrap wood, to be sure the joint pieces
meet and loca-
precisely. Also, the size
SLOTS
tion of the fingers should be determined
in advance. For symmetry, a complete

finger should fall at each end of the joint.

The cutting is done with a dado head Cutting Serrated Ends with a Dado Head
fittedwith enough chippers between the
blades to bring the head to the desired
finger width. The head should be set to
cut about Vi6 inch higher than the thick-
ness of the wood. A cut of this depth will
produce a |oint whose fingers extend
slightly above the surface of the adjoin-
ing piece, but the unevenness is sanded
away after completing the joint.
When you have cut all four corners of
the box, glue and clamp each corner in
both directions, using small bar clamps. If
you use blocks of scrap wood to protect
the wood surface from clamp mars, cut a
rabbet in the part of each block that laps
over the slightly protruding fingers.

DADO HEAD
Z.

SPACER BLOCK

GUIDE PIN

Attaching the jig. Hold the jig, with its guide same thickness as the guide pin, against the side
I pin in place, against the face of the miter gauge, of the dado head, and move the jig sideways
and move the miter gauge forward until the until the guide pin presses the block snug against
front of the jig nearly touches the teeth of the the dado head Holding the jig m this position,
dado head. Put a wooden spacer block, the attach it to the miter gauge with wood screws.
56
Mortise and Tenon: Elements of a Strong Joint
Mortise-and-tenon joinery is based on a Although in the planning stage the size sides and a hole that needs less chiseling
simple premise: Hollow out a space in of the tenon is considered first, in execu- than drill-press holes.
one piece, and shape a projection on a tion it is the mortise that leads; for if any If neither a drill press nor a router is

second piece to fit into it. The connec- mistake is made in fashioning the mor- available, a portable electric drill will suf-
tion, as well as being simple, is strong— tise, the tenon can still be shaped to fit. fice. Its only drawback is a lack of built-in
especially for joints where pressure will Mortises can be scooped out with a hand accuracy; fitted with a special drill-guide
be applied perpendicular to the narrow drill and a chisel, but power tools make attachment, however, it will produce tol-
edge of the second piece. It is often neater 'holes with less effort. Similarly, erably straight holes perpendicular to a
found in furniture parts that have cross tenons can be fashioned with a dovetail board edge. Like the router, the portable
braces, such as table or chair legs-the saw; but a table saw (or even a band saw) drillleaves a rounded mortise that must
legs have the hollowed-out spaces, called makes faster, cleaner cuts be squared with a chisel. Although squar-
mortises, and the cross braces have the An excellent power tool for hollowing ing the mortise is standard practice, some
projections, called tenons. Variations of mortises is the drill press. It can be fitted woodworkers find it easier and faster to
this joint bind the frames of many cabi- with a special accessory, called a mor- round the ends of the tenon instead.
net doors and window sashes. tiser, that has a regular drill bit sheathed A joint similar to the mortise-and-
The general rule in planning a mortise- in a square cutter. The bit drills a round tenon joint and one also used for the
and-tenon joint is to make the tenon be- hole; the cutter trims it to make it square. frames of furniture, windows and cabi-
tween one third and one half the thick- But even without the mortiser, a drill nets is the lap joint. Both adjoining
ness of the piece from which it projects. press can cut a series of holes that are pieces have pro|ecting ends, like tenons,
A tenon thinner than one third the thick- easy to square later with a chisel. but the cutaway portions are formed in
ness is likely to be weak, while a tenon Boards too long for a drill-press table the course of shaping the projections.
wider than half the thickness of the piece can be mortised with a router. The tool's Lap-joint pieces are cut with the tech-
may leave the mortise sides too thin. high-speed cutting action leaves clean niques used for tenons.

MORTISE-
SHOULDERS

PIN

5 CHEEK

PINNED TWO-
FOUR-SHOULDERED SHOULDERED THROUGH
BUND JOINT JOINT MORTISE SUP JOINT LAP JOINT

Joinery with mortises and tenons. Mortise- tenon is larger, offering a greater gluing surface.

and-tenon joints can take several forms, varying in The one shown here is additionally strength-

appearance and strength. When the mortise ened by a dowel and is called a pinned joint. Any
does not extend through the piece from one side mortise-and-tenon joint can be pinned for add-
to the other, the joint is called blind. The blind ed strength The through mortise has a mortise
joint shown is called four-shouldered because the that penetrates to the far side of the mortise
tenon is recessed at the top and bottom and piece and exposes the end gram of the tenon;
on the two sides, or cheeks, so that four shoulders the joint is decorative when done in tables or
are formed. This joint is useful when one or chairs and is particularly useful in narrow wood,
both pieces are to be carved, since the shoulders where a mortise cut only partway through
can be whittled without exposing the mortise does not provide for a deep enough tenon. The

or the tenon. Uncarved. the broad shoulders are slip joint, often known as an open mortise
useful for covering any scratches or mistakes joint, is found in many chairs and tables; it is fast-

made in cutting the mortise. er to make than a true mortise joint. The lap
joint is quicker still; it consists of two lapped ten-
The two-shouldered mortise is slightly stronger ons and no mortise at all. It is commonly used
than its four-shouldered cousin because its for joining the pieces of cabinet-frame fronts.
58
Using a Router
to Make a Mortise

Setting up the router guides. Install a straight

bit with a diameter at least half the planned mor-
tise width, and slide an edge guide onto one
side of the router Make the distance between the
guide and the bit equal to the width of the
planned tenon shoulder; lock the guide in place.

To position the second edge guide, use a piece of

scrap wood— the same thickness as the mor-

tise board— as a template. Outline the mortise on
the edge of the template, and clamp it in a
vise. Slide the second guide onto the router, and
place the router over the edge of the template.
Butt the first guide against one face of the tem-
plate,and bring the second guide tight against
the opposite face; lock the second guide in place
(inset). Adjust the router bit to the desired
depth of cut, and make a test cut on the edge of
the template to check the width of the shoul-
der. Adjust as necessary. When the width is cor-

rect, put the actual mortise board in place.

Making the cuts. Hold the router so that the

edge guide— the one offset from the bit the
first

same distance as the shoulder width— is on

the side near you. Tilt the router against the mor-
tise board so that the bit is slightly inside one
end of the mortise marks, then turn on the router
and slowly lower the bit into the board. Move
the router down to the other end of the mortise

and back, cutting a groove that barely touches

both ends of the mortise. Turn off the router, and
wait until the bit stops before lifting it-

Turn the board around and rout the other side

of the mortise. Square the ends of the mortise
with a chisel as shown in Step 2, page 59.

60
 Shaping the Shoulders
of a Matching Tenon

Marking the cutting lines. With a try square,

draw a continuous line around all four sides of the
TENON WIDTH
tenon piece, marking the tenon shoulders.
Make the tenon Vs inch shorter than the depth of
the mortise. Using a marking gauge, scribe
lines on the end of mark the
the tenon piece to
width of the tenon, making same width
it the
as the mortise. Continue these lines down the
edge of the board until they meet the shoulder
lines (top inset, left). If the tenon is to have four
shoulders, mark its height by scribing two ad-
ditional lines, and extend them down to meet the
shoulder lines (bottom inset, left).

Adjusting the saw-blade height. Install a dado

head on the table saw, and raise the head to a
height roughly equal to the width of the tenon
shoulder Then lower it by a half turn of the blade-
height crank. Using the miter gauge as a guide,
cut a '/2-inch rabbet in one side of the tenon;

then turn the board over and do the same on the

other side. Test the tenon against the mortise.
If they do not fit, raise the blade height very slight-

ly and repeat the two cuts until tenon and mor-

tise size match. Keep the blade at this height for

the remainder of the tenon cuts.

Completing the tenon cut. Clamp a wooden tenon board against the block and, pushing with For a four-shouldered tenon, use the same tech-
'
block to the rip fence, to use as a depth guide in the miter gauge, cut the shoulder. Bring the nique, but cut shoulders on all four sides of
cutting the tenon shoulder Make the block board back to the starting point and move it away the tenon board. If you have left the ends of the
just long enough to extend from the near end from the block, so that the next pass will mortise curved rather than squaring them off,

of the fence to a point just short of where the remove an uncut section of wood between the round off the corners of the tenon as well. To do
tips of the dado blades will start to cut. Move the shoulder and the end of the tenon. Continue this, clamp the tenon board in a woodworking
fence and the wooden block toward the blades until the entire tenon side is exposed. Then turn vise, and chip off the corners with a chisel held
until the distance between the block and the the board over, and repeat these cuts to re- flat side down (inset). Then hold the chisel in a
blade edge farthest from the fence is equal to move the wood from the other side of the mortise. vertical position, bevel side out. and pare down
the distance from the shoulder line to the end of The fit should be snug but not so tight as to the sharp corners. Smooth and round the
the tenon. Lock the fence. Butt the end of the compress grain on the tenon cheeks. corners with a rasp and a piece of sandpaper.

61
 Pinning a Mortise and Tenon with a Dowel

Drilling the dowel hole. Fit a piece of scrap mortise and has penetrated at least halfway Discard the scrap wood, and insert the tenon in

l wood, roughly the same thickness as the tenon, into the other side. Position the bit above the mid- the mortise. Lay both on a worktable, and
into the empty mortise. Install a bit of the de- point of the mortise, slightly closer to the front push a drill bit— the one just used or one of iden-
sired dowel diameter in the drill press, and set the edge; then drill the hole for the dowel The piece tical size— through the dowel hole until its

depth gauge so that it will stop the tip of the of scrap wood will prevent the mortise wall tip has marked the tenon (inset) Remove the bit

bit when it has passed through one side of the from splintering as you drill. from the hole, and the tenon from the mortise.

Shifting the hole mark. To draw the shoulders

tight, make a pencil mark on the tenon about a
thumbnail's thickness away from the impres-
sion made by the drill-bit tip, in toward the shoul-
der. Drill a hole in the tenon, identical in size
to the one in the mortise, using the second mark
as the center Cut a dowel the same diameter
as the hole and V* inch longer; chamfer its end.

Spread glue in the mortise and on both the end

and the shoulders of the tenon, and fit the
pieces together. Spread glue in the dowel hole
and on the chamfered end of the dowel, and
tap the dowel into the hole. Let the glue set for a
day, then trim the dowel flush with the face of
the mortise board, using a dovetail saw; finally,

sand the dowel end smooth

62
 TwoJoints Based on
Machine-made Dadoes

Slicing a slip joint. For the mortise of this

joint, which is simply a slot cut in the end of a
board, mark the end of the board for mortise
depth and width. Fit the saw with a dado head of
the same width as the mortise, and set the
blade height to the mortise depth by holding the
mortise board against it. Test the setting on a
piece of scrap wood and make necessary adjust-
ments; then, with the mortise board clamped
to a tenoning jig (a jig that holds the tenon board
upright on one end), make the cut in a single
pass. Cut the tenon piece as shown on page 61. If

desired, pin the joint for added strength, as

shown opposite.

When using this method, keep in mind that mor-

tise depth is limited by the diameter of the

dado head. An 8-inch head, for example, can cut

no higher than 1% inches.

Spliced ends for lap joints. Lap the ends of Raise the dado head so that its height is equal deeper the cut needs to be in order to make
the pieces to be joined over each other at a right to the width of the shoulder— half the thickness of the pieces flush with each other. Raise the dado
angle, and mark shoulder lines on the adjoining the piece of wood— and then lower it by a half head by small degrees, continuing to make
faces (above, left). Use a try square to continue turn of the blade-height crank. Make a test cut at test cutsand to test the fit after each pair of cuts.

the lines around each board, then add a line the end of each piece, removing approximately When the two pieces fit together perfectly, cut
along the middle of each edge to extend from V2 inch of wood, and then fit the two ends togeth- away the rest of the wood, back as far as the
the shoulder line to the end. er (above, right); make note of how much shoulder lines, as on page 61, Step 3.
63
Using Dowels to Lock Joints
A blind dowel joint is a kind of lazy clamping may force the dowels down,
man's mortise-and-tenon joint. Hidden but in the process it may also crack one
wooden pins, projecting finger-like into of the joint pieces.
the two parts, connect them without re- To prevent and glue from interfer-
air

quiring that the parts be shaped. Most ing with the placement of the dowels,
woodworkers can make a blind dowel escape routes should be provided. You
joint faster than they can cut a mortise can buy precut dowels, with straight or
and tenon. Unfortunately, the joint does spiral ing grooves, at hardware or lumber

not bear up under great stress as well as stores; or you can cut grooves yourself,
a mortise and tenon. Still, dowel joints using a rasp or a fine-toothed saw. If you
are sturdy enough to be used in many are in a hurry, you can even provide an
tables, chairs and cabinet frames. escape route for glue and air by pulling
To make a proper joint, the diameter of the serrated jaws of pliers down the
the dowel should be one third to one length of the dowel, impressing it with
half the thickness of the wood it enters, furrows. Finally, to ease the entry of dow-
and should be 's inch shorter than the
it els, you can chamfer their ends with a

combined depth of the two holes into rasp or sandpaper.

which it fits. In addition, a blind dowel
joint should consist of at least two dow-
els: Paired dowels have much the same Drilling Holes for a Blind Dowel Joint
ability to resist twisting as does a
tenon in a mortise.
The holes must be exactly perpendicu-
lar to the board edges into which they

are drilled, and matching holes must be

perfectly aligned. Such precision is best
achieved on a drill press, but not all drill-
press tables can be tilted to the true verti-
cal position needed for boring into the
ends of boards. Doweling jigs, used in
conjunction with a portable drill, offer a
suitable alternative. The function of such
jigs, which differ in design depending on
the manufacturer, is to center a bit guide
over the edge of a board and hold the
guide at a true right angle. The bit of a
portable drill is then inserted in the guide

to bore the hole.

Another hole-alignment method uses
dowel centers, metal cylinders with
raised points in their centers. After a pair
of holes has been drilled in one board, a
dowel center is inserted, point out, into
each hole The joining piece is then
pressed in place against them, and the
points mark where the matching holes
are to be drilled.
After the holes are made, glue is spread
on the ends of the dowels and the sides
of the holes; then the dowels are insert-
ed. The dowels, which should be the
same diameter as the holes, fit so snugly
Marking the dowel locations. Take the two
that they tend to trap air and excess glue
pieces to be joined and place them face up on a
in the bottom of the hole. If this hap-
worktable. aligned in their finished position.
pens, the dowels will not penetrate the Then, using a try square, mark a line for each
proper distance. Pressure applied during dowel across both boards.
64
Boring the holes. Fit a bit guide of the proper cal scales and a thumbscrew to make the adjust-
size to a doweling |ig, and clamp the |ig to one ment.) Fit the drill with the proper size bit,

board edge, aligning the jig center line with and add a depth gauge to stop the bit when it has
one of the pencil lines made in Step 1 (below, reached the proper depth. Then drill the hole
left). Then align the center of the bit guide (below, right). Reposition the doweling jig to drill

with the exact center of the board edge- (In the jig additional holes in the board edge. Then drill

shown here, this is achieved by using numeri- matching holes in the edge of the adjoining board.

Preparing and
Installing the Dowels

Grooving the dowels. Rout a Vi-mch V groove

in a length of scrap wood, and lay a dowel in the

groove. Clamp both to a worktable and then,

with the edge of a rasp or with a fine-toothed saw
such as a dovetail saw or a backsaw, cut at
least two grooves in the dowel, one down each
side. Trim the dowels to size, chamfer the
ends, and then spread glue in the holes and on
the dowel ends. Insert the dowels into one of
the pieces (inset), join the pieces, clamp the
joint and wipe away excess glue.

65
Miter Joints Reinforced from Inside
A miter joint, precisely cut, will give any flat joints and edge joints. Flat miters, cut are commonly made from Vi-inch ply-
corner a clean, finished appearance In across the face of the wood, are used wood. If you use plywood of this thick-
fact, it is the neatness and not the mostly for decoration— to join the verti- ness, the spline grooves can be quickly
strength of this angled joint that keeps cal and horizontal strips that cover the and accurately cut with the regular Vs-
the miter a favorite in the woodworker's front edges of many cabinets, for exam- inch blade of a table saw. For a stronger
repertoire, for the miter is weak com- ple, especially those built of plywood. joint in thickerwood, use a Vi-inch dado
pared with other corner bonds. However, Picture frames, too, are almost always blade to cut the grooves and VHnch ply-
if strengthened with plywood splines made with flat miter joints. Edge miters wood to make the spline. Test-fit a spline
(below), most miter joints have more are made by cutting a bevel along each of joint before gluing it together.
than enough muscle to hold their own the two edges to be joined and are used Although almost any hand or power
against everyday use and abuse. in case construction— to join the four saw can be used to cut the miters, the
Common miter joints are made by cut- sides of a basic box-shaped cabinet. table saw is the tool most woodworkers
ting 45° angles on two pieces of wood Splines, thin slivers of wood that slip prefer. It makes angled cuts easily and
and joining the pieces to form a right- into grooves cut along the adjoining precisely, especially when used with the
angled corner. There are two categories: faces of both flat and edge miter joints, simple jig described on page 68.

Three miter joints and splines. The three

miter joints shown here, all reinforced with ply-
wood splines, are appropriate— each in its own
way— in many different woodworking situations.
The diagonal-spline miter is used for edge
joints; the spline, set diagonal to the faces of
the wood, runs the entire length of the joint. A
triangular-spline miter is used for the flat miter

joints found in frame construction; such a spline

is set into the outside corner of the joint. A blmd-
spline miter, used either in edge construction, as
shown, or in frame construction, has a spline
that is invisible on the outer edge of the joint; it

combines strength with neat appearance.

66
Setting a Diagonal Spline
into a Mitered Edge

Making the bevel cuts. To bevel the ends of

the boards, remove the blade guard from a table
saw and set the blade at a 45° angle; set the
miter gauge at a 90° angle. Turn on the saw. With
one hand holding the board flat against the ta-
ble and firmly against the miter gauge, push the
miter gauge forward with the other hand, di-
recting the end of the board through the blade.
Then cut the second board; the top faces of

the two boards will be on the outside of the joint

To set up the saw for cutting the spline groove,

lower the blade to a height of % inch, but

leave it tilted at a 45° angle Remove the miter

gauge from its channel, and install the rip
fence so that the blade tilts away from it. Lay one
cut board on the table, beveled end against
the fence and bevel facing down, and bring the
fence toward the blade until the lower edge of
the bevel is lined up with the edge of the saw slot;

lock the fence in this position.

Cutting grooves for the spline. Hold the

board firmly against the table with one hand and
against the rip fence with the other while you
push the board past the blade, cutting a groove
into the beveled surface Vi6 inch above its
lower edge Cut the second board in the same
way. Return the blade to a vertical position
and attach the blade guard. Then move the rip

fence to the other side of the blade.

Cutting the spline. With the blade guard in

place, cut the spline from '/s-mch plywood. First

butt a piece of plywood against the fence,
and push it past the blade to obtain a strip % inch
wide, use a push stick to protect your fingers
as you approach the end of the cut. Then, using
a miter gauge instead of the fence, cut off a

section of the plywood strip the same length as

the beveled edges of the joint.

67
 Assembling the joint. Place the two boards on
1
edge, bevel to bevel, on a flat surface. Coat

both beveled ends and both faces of the spline

with yellow glue. Slip one spline edge into a

groove, and then push the groove of the sec-

ond board over the other edge of the spline. Press
firmly, check the joint for alignment, then wipe

away any excess glue and clamp the joint (page

74) until the glue has dried.

An Angled Jig for Cutting Flat Miter Joints

MITER GUIDES

SANDPAPER -

CENTER SLOT -

-RUNNER

Cutting multiple miters. A miter jig lets you The base of the jig, which slides across the wood, are screwed to the base to form a right an-
cut a series of identical rmter joints on the table table on runners that fit in the miter-gauge chan- gle and trimmed even at the far edges. The in-

saw with a minimum of adjusting. Boards nels, is a 20-by-30-mch rectangle of '/2-inch ner ends are mitered at 45° angles and meet at
already cut to length are held against the inner plywood. A Ve-mch center slot, cut two thirds of the center slot, about 6 inches from the edge
faces of the two angled miter guides as the jig the way across the base, provides passage for of the base. A strip of sandpaper is glued to the
is pushed past the blade; longer boards are held the blade as the jig is pushed across the table. inner and outer faces of each guide to keep the
against the outer faces of the guides. The miter guides, made of l-by-2-inch hard- boards from slipping as they are cut.

68
A Triangular Spline
for a Mitered Corner

Cutting and assembling the miter joint. Mark

the location of the miters on the edges of the
boards to be joined, and position the mitering jig

(opposite, bottom) on the saw table. Then set

a board on the jig, against a miter guide, lining
up the mark on the board with the center slot.

Turn on the saw and, holding the board firmly

against the miter guide, push the jig across the
blade until the board is cut. Return the jig to

its starting position, and cut the second board in

the same way, holding it against the opposite

miter guide. Apply glue to the joint and clamp it,

using a corner clamp (page 72).

Making a jig for the triangular groove. Cut a

triangular notch in one edge of a 2-by-4, making
the base of the triangle at the edge of the
board 5'/2 inches long. To outline the notch, first

mark oft a 5'/2-inch length on one edge of the

2-by-4; then use a T bevel to draw lines from the

ends of the base on the face of the board,

meeting to form a right angle % inch short of

the opposite edge. Cut out the triangle with a
handsaw. Then trim away the ends of the 2-by-4,

leaving a jig 8 inches long.

 Cutting a triangular groove. Set the corner of place (below, left), and clamp one leg of the miter and, holding the joint-and-jig assembly steady
'
the glued miter joint In the triangular |tg, and posi- joint to the tenoning jig. with one hand, push the tenoning jig forward with
tion the jig on the saw table so that the center the other hand until the blade has cut through
of the joint is aligned with the blade. Then adjust a Raise the blade until the height is just short of the triangular jig and all the way across the corner
tenoning jig (page 63.) to hold the assembly in the center of the miter joint; then turn on the saw of the miter joint (below, right).
Cutting a Hidden Slot
for a Blind Spline

Measuring for the spline groove. After mi-

tenng the ends of the adjoining boards (page 69,
Step 1), measure the length of the miter. With
two strips of masking tape, mark off three quar-
ters of this length on the left side of the blade
slot (inset). Place the first strip of tape perpen-
dicular to the slot, aligning one edge of the
tape with the point where the saw teeth protrude
from the slot; then measure along the slot a

distance equal to three quarters of the miter

length, and mark the point with a second strip
of tape, also perpendicular to the slot.

Cutting grooves for the spline. Clamp one

mitered board to a tenoning jig, mitered end flat

against the table, board slanting away from

you. Adjust the height of the blade and the jig as-
sembly to cut a groove % inch deep into the

center of the mitered end. Then turn on the saw,

and push the jig forward until the far edge of
the board meets the edge of the masking tape
that marks three quarters of the length of the

miter. Stop the saw and pull the board back, away
from the blade. Cut a matching groove in the
mitered end of the second board in the same way.

Cut a rectangular spline from a ^-inch-wide strip

of H-inch plywood, as long as the exposed

edge of the grooves. Use a coping saw to trim one
end of the spline into a tongue shape, match-
ing the curve of the grooves. Test-fit the shape of
the spl'ne by assembling the joint without glue
(inset); when the spline fits, spread glue on the
spline and the mitered ends, and clamp the
joint together. After the glue is dry, use a coping
saw to trim the end of the spline that pro-
trudes from the inside corner of the joint.

71
 — —

Clamping Work of Varied Shapes and Sizes

Good glue joints require pressure during the following pages solve the most com- tus Then, after the glue is applied and
the final phase of assembly, for without it mon clamping problems. Some of the de- the joint is reassembled, pressure from

the glue will not penetrate the wood. But vices eliminate the need for clamps or the clamping should be applied evenly so
applying pressure is often more than a reduce the number needed for the job. that the pieces are not shifted out of
matter of turning a screw. The pressure Some of the techniques call for specially alignment or out of square.
must conform to the anatomy of the joint shaped cauls-pieces of wood that fit be- When the clamping involves several
and to the contours of the surfaces being tween the clamps and the work being points of pressure, it usually is best to
joined. You must choose the right clamp joined— to adapt odd shapes to the flat tighten center clamps first, then work to-
for the job or, lacking the proper clamp, clamp jaws.
surfaces of standard ward the ends, checking the alignment
you must improvise one. For some joints, The same basic principles apply to all with a try square or a T bevel. And the
especially those involving irregular sur- these methods of clamping, whether pressure should be firm but not severe:
faces,you may have to fashion clamp straightforward or inventive. First, the Excess force will squeeze so much glue
accouterments from wood scraps. jointshould be assembled without glue into thewood pores that not enough will
The devices and techniques shown on and tested for fit in the clamping appara- remain on the surfaces to act as a bond.

Choosing the Right Clamp tor the Job

-\ m
——— ——
m \|
\i m m vr

BAR CLAMP

PIPE CLAMP #"

FAST-ACTION BAR CLAMP

C CLAMP

A catalogue of clamps. Quick and easy to use, activated lever locks and unlocks the clamp in joints of large irregular structures, such as chairs.
the clothespin-like spring clamp is the best choice one quick motion. The E-shaped edging clamp and the arced
for thin, delicate pieces of wood. Where great- corner clamp are designed to fit specific joints.
er pressure is required, C clamps suffice if the Although a bar clamp is the best choice for large The threaded spindles on the arms of an edg-
joint pieces can fit within the jaws; some open assemblies because of its strength, its close ing clamp will grip two faces of a board; the mid-
to 12 inches. The wooden jaws of a hand screw cousin, the pipe clamp, has advantages of adapt- dle spindle presses molding against the board
open as much as 17 inches and can be adjust- ability and economy: The two fittings slip over edge The jaws of a corner clamp fit against per-
ed to fit nonparallel surfaces. The fast-action bar ordinary steel plumbing pipe of any length. A band pendicular boards and apply pressure from
clamp spans even wider distances; a sprmg- clamp, with its long flexible tape, can hug the two directions to clamp a right-angled joint.
72
Homemade Substitutes
tor Store-bought Clamps

An edging caul. The slightly concave edge of

this long, narrow caul, clamped near the middle of
two joined pieces— here a shelf and its edge
molding— evenly distributes the pressure of |ust
two clamps out to the ends of the pieces. The
caul works equally well on pieces shorter than
its own length.

To make an edging caul, scribe a gentle arc

on a 2-mch-wide length of oak, maple or birch,
making the arc Vt inch higher at its midpoint
than at its ends; the wood for the caul should be
as thick as the width of the piece it will press.
Cut the curve on a band saw, or use hand shaping
tools (page 89), and sand it smooth. Then
place the concave edge Onset) against the work
being glued, and apply the clamps. For cauls
shorter than 2 feet, only one clamp is necessary.

Homemade bar clamps. If you do not own bar the ends of hardwood battens. Then place al- caul,and clamp the second batten firmly to
clamps, you can duplicate their effect with two ternate battens on opposite faces of the joined the worktable.Then drive wedges as needed be-
techniques, both of which use hardwood strips boards, and gently drive wedges between the tween the second batten and the caul.
and wedges. In one method, you fabricate imita- blocks and the board edges. For the second meth-
tion bar clamps (above, left); in the other, you od, first screw or clamp a batten to the work- When you are using either one of these substi-
force the far side of a joint against a wooden stop table. Butt the far side of the joined pieces, here tute bar clamps, it is necessary to cut the wedges

(above, r/ght). forming a cabinetry frame, against To the

it. long and thin. A 4-inch wedge should not be
near side, add a hardwood caul, trimmed at the any more than % inch wide at its large end and
For the first method, shown here clamping ends so that it will accommodate wedges. Butt Va inch at its small end. Make the wedges of

board edges, begin by screwing square blocks to a second batten against the trimmed edge of the hardwood if you are intending to use them often.
73
One-of-a-kind Cauls
for Unique Situations (( ((( 1
1 1 \ __—-
\ ^-EDGING

Cauls for curves. Held by two C clamps, these

two semicircular cauls distribute pressure around
new tabletop edging. The cauls are made of

Vi-inch lath, with 1-by-l blocks glued to the ends.

Equally useful on any continuous curve, this type

of caul is always made specifically to fit the
individual proiect. Each lath piece is cut V* inch
shorter than half the circumference of the
piece being clamped, leaving a '/4-mch gap be-
tween blocks before clamping. The block
length may vary from Vt inch to 2 inches, de-
pending on the curve: for a shallow curve, use a
long block; for a tight curve, a short block.

A contoured caul for rounded edging. Curved

on one side to conform to the half-round edging
that is being glued to a tabletop, this shaped
caul provides a flat surface on the other side for
the jaw of a pipe clamp. A lip on the caul
hooks under the bottom of the edging, to hold it

vertically as well as horizontally when the pipe

clamp is tightened ("inset).
A wooden jig for mitered frames. Clamped by
one hand screw, the two identical halves of this
ad|ustable jig pull together the tour mitered
corners of a frame. The corner blocks can be
positioned at 1-inch intervals along the length
of the arms to grip frames of varying size.

To make the jig, cut four hardwood arms that are

A
3
inch thick, 2 inches wide and as long as needed
for the frames you intend to glue. Drill holes
down their center lines every inch for Vi6-inch

bolts. Join each arms with hardwood

pair of

connectors, cut to span the last two holes and

held in place with bolts, washers and wing

nuts (inset). Cut the four angled corner blocks
from hardwood also, and hollow out a shallow
groove along their inside corners to provide an es-
cape route for excess glue squeezed from the
miter joint. Drill holes in the blocks to match
the holes in the arms, and secure them to
the arms with wing nuts, bolts and washers.

Applying pressure with a tourniquet. A strong

cord encircling four corner blocks and twisted
by a dowel makes a simple clamp that can solve
difficult problems. The blocks that clasp the
pieces being joined have horizontal grooves for
the cord and shallow vertical grooves along
their inside corners to serve as escape routes for
excess glue. To tighten the clamp, twist the
cord with the dowel, then fix the dowel in place by
bracing it between the work and the tabletop.
The blocks can be cut to fit any shape— penta-
gons, hexagons, even asymmetrical joinings that
defy the grip of conventional clamps.

75
 Shaping by Hand or Machine
3
Taking the curves in high. A rasp and file In years past, the shaping of wood was done primarily with hand
smooth and refine the reverse curves of a chair
tools, and the inexperience were overcome during long
pitfalls of
back whose mandolin shape was roughed out
with the band saw in the background. The band years of apprenticeship. Under the tutelage of a master craftsman,
saw speeds a task that once had to be done the aspiring woodworker learned about wood by holding it in his
withhand saws. But the rasp and the file, with
their myriad tiny teeth, continue to be the
hands, sensing in his fingers its resistance or pliancy under every
preferred tools for finishing intricate shapes— just stroke of the drawknife and every probe of the gouge. He learned
as they have been for centuries.
that when a spokeshave began
buck or chatter in the middle of a
to
cut, it was fighting against the grain— that it was time to shift his tool
and cut in the opposite direction. And he knew that if he tried to
carve soft wood into a spindle, his chisel would pull on the soft grain
and produce a ragged, uneven contour.
Today power tools do in minutes the tedious shaping jobs that
once took hours of work-a boon to home craftsmen, for whom
woodworking is likely to be a part-time hobby. A band saw, for
instance, can be used to trim away surrounding waste wood, quickly
defining an intricate shape even in very thick stock. Used with care—
and a little imagination— the saw's continuous blade will make fast
work of difficult jobs such as roughing out a cabriole leg or rounding
a broad tabletop. Equally effective are the power sanding tools that
can grind out complex shapes, either gentle or severe.
But the speed and almost instantaneous facility that power tools
provide can be a mixed blessing to the novice. To a degree, power
toolsmay preclude knowledge that can be acquired only through the
intimacy of touch. Indeed, some expert woodcraft instructors dis-
courage any use of power tools until the woodworker has mastered
hand tools. This approach is rigorous but not without merit. The
principal advantage of working with a hand tool is that each stroke
of the tool can be adapted to the specific piece of wood. If a surface
is knotted, tool pressure is lessened to avoid tearing out the knot. If

the wood grain swirls, its pattern can be followed for the smoothest
possible cut. Thus, working with hand tools forces the woodworker
to learn as much about the material as about the tools.
The truth that both hand and power tools have a place in
is

shaping wood. Past craftsmen learned how to minimize their ef-

forts—they knew when to switch from a heavy tool, such as a
drawknife, to a delicate one, such as a thumb plane. Modern wood-
workers develop the same instincts. They learn to let their power
tools bear the brunt of the work, then finish the job with hand tools.
If a band saw, jig saw or power sander
speed up a job, they are will

put to use. But when the shortcuts are over and the final contours are
to be cut, only hand-tool precision will do. At this point, wood
shaping is the same demanding craft it has always been. It requires
patience, methodical care and a certain reverence for wood.
77
Cutting Curves in Wood with Power Tools
Curved wood that ultimately appears in you can draw guidelines on both sides of work too fine to be managed on a band
graceful furniture and architectural trim the wood so that you can turn the board saw, the smaller, less powerful jig saw is

begins to take shape, nine times out of over when necessary. In some cases, as in the alternative. It can be fitted with a

ten, on a band saw. This large power tool cutting the circular tabletop on pages 81- variety of delicate blades, some of them
(page 17) saves the modern woodworker 83, you can make a jig that allows you to as narrow as .03 inch.
hours of time in cutting rough curves, cut a large shape in spite of the restric- The blade on a jig saw moves up and
which can later be refined with hand tions imposed by the throat width. down rapidly rather than spinning in a
tools (page 86). You can cut almost any Smaller curves present fewer difficul- continuous band and, since both ends of
curved design on a band saw if you know ties unless they are so small that the the blade can be detached, the saw can
the tricks that enable you to cope with blade cannot follow them without bind- cut out curved sections inside a pattern,
the saw's limitations. ing. Strategically placed pilot holes and where no waste area leads to the cut. A
Because the saw blade is a continuous tangential or radial cuts through waste pilot hole drilled through the pattern

steel band that moves in an elongated wood (pages 80-81) provide the solutions provides the starting point; the blade is

oval, the most rigid of the tool's limita- to many of these problems. inserted through the hole (page 85).
tions is the distance between the cutting Using the right blade for the job will Cutting curves on a band saw or a jig
edge of the blade and the housing for the also help you overcome the tool's limita- saw requires extra care: Note the special
return side of the blade. In home-shop tions. The most commonly used blade is safety rules on page 9. A push stick is
models, only 10 to 14 inches
this throat is Vi inch wide; it will cut a curve with a impractical for guiding wood through a
wide, so the width of wood that can pass radius as small as 5
/e inch in wood up to curved cut, so your hands will be close to
through is very limited. V/i inches thick. There are narrower the blade as you guide the wood. Try to
To keep the throat width from block- blades for ever tighter curves— a Vs-inch keep your fingers at least 3 inches from
ing your progress when you cut large blade will cut a curve with a VHnch radi- the blade at all times.
shapes, you may have to stop in the mid- us, but only in wood no thicker than % Never force the wood forward when
dle of a cut and saw through
waste area a inch. Wider blades will cut thicker wood, you cut curves— the blade may snap.
to the edge of the board, then begin the but as the width increases, the possibility Before making any cut, be sure all parts
cut again in another direction. You can of cutting tight curves decreases. Blades of the tool are properly adjusted. For set-
also turn off the saw and backtrack cut % inch and wider will cut shallow curves ting blade guides and adjusting blade
through the cut already made, in order to in lumber up to 6 inches thick. tension on a band saw, see page 18. Jig-

change direction. If nothing else works, When curves are too tight and the saw instructions are on page 85.

Guiding a Band Saw

along a Simple Curve

Cutting a curve. Lay out the curve on the

stock, place the wood on the saw table, adjust

the blade guide and turn on the saw. Push the

board forward with one hand, guiding it with the
other so that the cut is slightly on the waste
side of the guideline. Apply steady, constant pres-
sure, pushing as fast as the blade will easily
cut. The correct amount of pressure is important:
If you push too slowly or stop in the middle of a
cut, the spinning blade will burn the wood; if you
push too hard, you may break the blade or make
an uneven cut.

For a long cut, or if your progress is blocked by

the saw's throat, take the blade out of the wood
through the waste area; then reposition the
board, and cut back in from another point

78
Cutting parallel curves. To draw a curve par-
allel to one already cut, set the legs of a carpen-
ter's compass to the planned width of the fin-

ished piece, then move the compass point along

the cut curve so that the pencil point scribes a
corresponding second guideline on the wood. Be
sure that you are holding the compass perpen-
dicular to the two points of contact. Set the blade

guide and cut the second curve

Cutting Stacked Boards

tor Identical Curves

Cutting several pieces at once. Cut a stack

of thin boards in one operation to obtain a set of

identical curved shapes. Draw the pattern on

one piece of wood or plywood, then stack similar

pieces under the pattern piece to form a pile

no higher than 6 inches. Drive finishing nails

through the waste corners of the stack so that

the points protrude through the piece on which
you have drawn the pattern. Then put the
stack of pieces on the saw table, turn on the saw
and cut along the guideline.
Adapting the Saw
to Scrolls and Circles

A turning hole for a tight inside curve. Use a

hand drill or a drill press Cpage 59) to cut turning
holes that will give you room to maneuver the
saw blade inside a tight curve. Drill each hole so
that a section of its circumference touches the
curved guideline. To cut around the curve, follow
the guideline until you reach the hole, then
take the blade through the hole without stopping
the saw and continue following the guideline
on the other side.

To make a square inside corner, first drill a round

pilot hole in the corner, then use a chisel and
a mallet (page 59) to square off the corner (in-
set). Run the saw blade along the guideline
into the hole; then turn the wood 90° and contin-
ue cutting along the guideline.

Tangential cuts for a sharp outside curve. Use

tangential cuts to maneuver around the out-
side of a sharp curve if the saw blade binds. Start
the cut on as straight a section of the guide-
line as possible, and cut toward the curve. When
the blade begins to bind, veer off the guideline
and off the edge of the board, cutting away a sec-
tion of the waste area (inset). Stop the saw, re-

move the waste section from the saw table, and

resume the cut on the guideline, moving the
wood along until the blade starts to bind again
Then make another tangential cut. Repeat as
necessary to round the curve.

80
 Radial cuts for a tight, continuous curve. To
ease the saw blade around the outside of a tight,

continuous curve— in this example a small

disk— first make a series of radial cuts from the
edges of the board through the waste area to-
ward the circle. Space the cuts V2 to 1 inch apart,
arranged like the spokes of a wheel. Stop each
cut slightly short of the guideline. Later, as you
are cutting around the outside of the circle, the
pieces of waste wood will fall oft.

SettingUp a Jig to Saw

a Large Circular Shape

Enlarging the saw table. Cut two 2-by-4s to

1 equal the length of the saw table plus the radius

of the planned disk. Tilt the throat end of the

saw and fasten the 2-by-4s to the table's

table up,
sides with screws driven through the prednlled
holes in the table edges. Be sure that the top edge
of each 2-by-4 is flush with the tabletop and
that one end of each is flush with the edge of the

table nearest the throat.

From '/2-inch plywood, cut a rectangle 2 inches

wider than the distance between the outside
faces of the 2-by-4s and 12 inches longer than the
radius of the planned disk.
 Cutting the jig. Place the plywood rectangle
(page 81, Step 1) on the saw table, so that about
6 inches of it is to the left of the blade. Turn on
the saw, and cut until the far edge of the board
overhangs the far 2-by-4 by 1 inch; stop the

saw but leave the board in place.

Marking the radius and installing a pivot. Place

'
a framing square on top of the plywood, with
the short arm toward you. the corner just touching
the cutting edge of the blade, and the long
arm to the right of and perpendicular to the side

of the blade. Measuring on the long arm, draw a

line out from the blade, equal in length to the
radius of the disk you are going to cut. Mark
the end of the line, indicating the center of the
disk. Remove the plywood from the table with-
out turning on the saw.

Drill a pilot hole through the plywood at the disk's

center point and, from the underside of the
board, drive a 2-inch screw through the hole un-
til its tip protrudes Y> inch (inset. Step 4). The
tip will serve as a pivot while the disk is cut.

82
Fastening the jig to the saw table. Reposition Marking the stock for cutting. Square off the

the plywood on the saw table by sliding the kerf stock from which you plan to cut the large disk

past the stationary blade, and clamp the ply- (pages 14-26), then draw a guideline for an

wood in place. Then drill two pilot holes through entrance cut. To do this, first draw two corner-to-
the jig edges into each 2-by-4, countersinking corner diagonal lines on the underside of the

the holes for the screwheads. Fasten the |ig to the stock; the point where they intersect will be the
2-by-4s with l'/?-inch flat-head screws. center of the disk Measuring with a framing
square, draw a line the length of the planned radi-
us, extending out from the center point. From
the end of this radius line, draw a perpendicular
entrance-cut guideline extending to the edge
of the stock. Transfer this final line to the top side.

At the center point on the underside, make a

dimple '/s inch deep by tapping a center punch or
a nail set into the wood with a mallet.

ENTRANCE-CUT
GUIDELINE

Cutting the disk. Retract the pivot screw at

'
the center of the |ig so that its tip no longer pro-
trudes. Place the stock right side up on the jig,

cut to the end of the entrance-cut guideline, and

stop the saw Reach under the |ig, screw the
pivot screw back up to protrude Vi inch and, look-
ing between the jig and the stock, gently ma-
neuver the stock until the dimple at the center
rests on the tip of the pivot screw. Turn the
saw on again and feed the stock into the blade,
rotating the wood on the pivot screw until the
disk has been completely cut.
 Outlining the Protile
of a Compound Curve

Drawing the guidelines. Make a paper tem-

1 plate of the curvedshape to be rough-cut— in this

example, a cabriole chair leg— and square off

a piece of wood to encompass the widest dimen-
sions of the shape (pages 14-16). Trace the
template on one face of the stock, turn the tem-
plate over, and trace it on an ad|oinmg face so
that identical parts meet at the same points along
one edge of the stock (inset).

Making the first pair of cuts. Set the stock on

i the saw table with one outlined profile facing up,
cut along both sides of the profile. Then tack
the waste wood back in place temporarily (inset),
taking care not to drive a nail into any area that
will be part of the finished shape.

84
 Making the second pair of cuts. Set the stock
'on the saw table so that the second pair of guide-
lines are facing up; cut the one on the left

first, as shown, then the one on the right- Dis-

card all sections of waste wood.

To smooth and finish the roughed-out shape,

use the hand tools and the techniques that are
described on pages 86-91.

Making an Inside Cut with a Jig Saw

Setting the blade for the cut. Drill a pilot hole ( Making the cut. Turn on the saw, and feed
through the wood within the guidelines for the thewood into the blade until you reach the guide-
curved section to be cut out; then place the line. If all the curves in the cutout are gradual,
wood on the saw table, with the pilot hole directly make the cut in one continuous pass, feeding the
beneath the empty upper chuck. Slip the saw wood so that the blade follows the guideline all

blade through the pilot hole, the teeth pointing the way around the cutout to the starting position.
downward, and tighten the upper and lower Turn off the saw and disassemble the saw
chucks around the ends of the blade (inset). Ad- blade; remove the work from the saw table.
just the spring mechanism so that the hold-
down is barely touching the top of the wood If, as shown, there is a point in the curve where
the blade will be unable to turn, follow the
guideline around the gradual curves until the
blade can go no farther. Stop the saw, and
backtrack along the kerf into the pilot hole; then
cut along the guideline in a different direction,
to the point where you stopped before (inset).

85
Contouring Wood with Hand Tools
Wood grain, with its flowing lines and is through wood, leaving a
that they slice when they are following the direction of
interesting irregularities, has attracted the slick, smooth surface and a discernible the wood grain, which makes them par-
imagination of craftsmen since time be- grain. And because there are so many ticularly difficult to use in tight spots and
gan, lendingitself to a seemingly endless kinds of tools, you can find one to fit on woods with irregular grains, such as
variety of shapes. Today the preliminary almost any situation. Drawknives, which bird's-eye maple.
steps in crafting wood are often per- are pulled toward the worker, and spoke- Rasps, files and rifflers have tiny teeth
formed with power tools such as the shaves, which generally are pushed, can that tear wood rather than cut it— this
band saw (page 78). But hand tools, as be used to curve edges, to shear the faces makes them convenient to use in any
always, are indispensable for the finish- of narrow curved surfaces, even to direction, regardless of grain. They are
ing touches that give shaped wood its smooth the inside of curved channels. excellent tools for smoothing shaped sur-
special beauty. The tools on these pages Planes, which are pushed, come in an faces and are invaluable in final finishing
have been used for centuries, many of astonishing array of shapes and sizes. The of intricately carved wood. However,
them essentially unchanged in design. diminutive thumb plane fits easily into they too have one disadvantage. In tear-
Hand tools for shaping wood fall into areas where planes with wider blades ing the wood fibers, these tools— espe-
two general categories: cutting tools and cannot go; the compass plane, with its cially when they are coarse-surfaced—
scraping tools. In the first category are flexible steel sole plate, molds itself to leave myriad tiny scratches that can ob-
the drawknife, the forming tool, and the contours of broad curved surfaces, scure the grain pattern and dull the fin-
many types of spokeshaves and planes; both convex and concave. The forming ished surface. This effect can be dimin-
scraping tools include files, rasps and rif- tool, its cutting face covered with hun- ished by using a finer-toothed tool.
flers.Both types have advantages and dis- dreds of tiny blades, is good for rounding Caring for these cutting and scraping
advantages, and every woodworker even- off square corners. tools is simple but necessary. The blades
tually develops a battery of favorites. But The greatest disadvantage of the cut- of planes must be kept razor sharp; hone
a few general guidelines will help you ting tools is that they have a tendency to them with whetstone. The teeth of
a
choose the right tool for the job. lift and break exposed grain ends as they rasps and files should be cleaned with a
The greatest advantage of cutting tools cut. These tools cut most successfully file card-a brush with soft wire bristles.

Rough Shaping
with a Drawknife

Making a concave cut with a drawknife. After

outlining the cut on the wood and cutting away
as much waste as possible with a band saw,
clamp the stock in a vise, angling it slightly toward
you. Lay the drawknife blade across the far
end of the proposed cut, the cutting edge held
bevel down. Tilt the blade slightly down and
pull it toward you, making a shallow cut to the
lowest point of the outline. As you pull, lift the
tool handles to pry away wood chips. Repeat this

initial cut, following the path of the outline

and cutting more deeply into the wood each time.

Keep cutting toward the low point until the
wood chips no longer break
resulting off easily.

Then reverse the wood in the vise

Cut the other side in the same way, working

from the end toward the low point (inset). As you
near the low point, make shallow, slicing cuts,
removing the wood in thin shavings to avoid
breaking the grain on the first side of the cut.

86
 Making a convex cut with a drawknife. For a
convex cut, begin at the high point of the curve
and cut down and away from when both it;

gradual and sharp curves are included in the de-

sign, as on the chair-back stile shown here,

cut the sharper curve first. Hold the drawknife

blade across the wood, bevel up and at ap-
proximately a 30° angle to the wood. Pull the
blade toward you with shallow, shearing cuts
that produce thin shavings. Continue cutting until

the curve is the desired shape.

For the more gradual section of the curve, set

the blade perpendicular to the wood and, again
beginning at the high point of the curve, pull the
knife toward you with shallow strokes
you until

have formed an even, continuous curve that

meets the cut section. Then reverse the wood
in the vise and cut the opposite end, starting as
before at the high point of the curve.

Rounding a Corner
witha Forming Tool

Curving a right-angle joint. Clamp the joint in

a vise, pointed corner facing up. Hold the form-

ing tool in both hands— one hand grasping the
rear handle to push the tool, the other hand rest-
ing on the front of the tool to guide it. To
round one side of the joint, hold the cutting face
atan angle of about 5° to the wood surface
facing you. Set the tool on the joint and, applying
gentle steady pressure, push the cutting face
halfway over the corner, ending the movement
with the tool in a horizontal position. Make as
many cuts as necessary to round half of the cor-
ner, then reverse the joint in the vise and re-

peat the cuts to shape the other side.

On a joint such as the finger joint shown here,

where the gram direction changes abruptly,
work slowly. The forming tool's teeth are arranged
for a diagonal slicing cut (inset), designed to
deal with varying grain directions, but sudden
changes require deft and careful control.

87
Versatile Spokeshaves
for Smoothing Curves

Making a rounded bevel on a curved edge. After

shaping the face of a curve with a drawknife

(page 86), round its edges with a straight-bladed
spokeshave. Grasp the spokeshave handles by
resting your thumbs in the indented thumb rests

on top of the handles and your index fingers

on either side of the front, or nose, of the tool.

With gentle pressure and repeated strokes,

push the spokeshave along the edge of the curve,

lifting thin shavings. Change the tilt of the tool

with each stroke, to round the edge completely.

For a concave curve, like the one illustrated, work

from the outer ends of the curve down toward
its low point, to avoid lifting and breaking exposed
grain ends. For a convex curve, work from
the high point of the curve down toward its ends

To adjust the spokeshave blade for these edge-

smoothing cuts, set it to make as shallow a cut
as possible. Loosen the thumbscrew on the cover-
ing cap, and turn the adjustment screws until

the blade barely protrudes beyond the opening in

the sole plate (inset). Tighten the thumbscrew

Smoothing a wide, shallow channel. Using a

half-round spokeshave with a curved blade, grasp
the handles by pressing your thumbs against the
rear faces and wrapping your fingers around
the front. Tilt the back of the spokeshave slightly
toward you, set the edge of the blade in the

channel and push the tool away from you with

gentle, steady strokes If the grain direction
changes, reverse the tool, tilt the top away from
you and pull the spokeshave toward you with
the same stroking motion.

As with the straight-bladed spokeshave (above),

adjust the half-round tool to make as shallow
a cut as possible. Simply loosen the thumbscrew
cap, releasing the blade and the covering cap,
and move the blade into position by hand.

88
 A Flexible Plane That
Follows Curved Surfaces

Adjusting the flexible sole plate. First, es-

tablish the proposed curve by cutting a strip

of 3/i-mch lath to the desired length of the

curve and setting it on edge between two nails

driven into the face of the wood where the
curve will begin and end. Wedge the lath be-
tween the nails, allowing it to form a smooth
curve, then anchor the lath with supporting nails
driven against the waste side of the curve at
5-inch intervals.

Use the curved lath as a guide for ad|ustmg the

compass plane. For a concave
sole plate of a
curve, as here, lay the plane on its side against
the inside curve of the lath; turn the adjust-
ing nut until the sole-plate curve is slightly

sharper than the lath curve. For a convex

curve, lay the plane on its side against the out-
side curve of the lath; adjust the sole plate to
a curve slightly flatter than that of the lath. Then
trace the outline of the lath on the wood, remove
the lath and, using a band saw, rough-cut the
curve to within '/s inch of the outline.

Smoothing the rough-cut curve. Set the rough-

cutwood in a vise. Grasp the back of the
compass plane with one hand, guide the front
with the other, and push the plane along the
wood, following the penciled outline with long,
smooth strokes. Work parallel with the direc-

tion of the grain, never across it or at an angle

to it. For a concave cut, as here, start at the
ends of the curve and move toward its low point;
as you approach the low point, shorten your
strokes to avoid tearing the exposed grain ends.
For a convex curve, start at the high point
of the curve and work down toward the ends.

A Tiny Plane
BLADE for Tight Places
THUMBSCREW

Using a thumb plane. Hold the thumb plane

between your thumb and your index and middle
fingers, with the index finger on the finger
rest at the nose. Push down and forward with
short, light strokes, guiding the tool with the

index finger so that you are always working par-

COVERING CAP allel with the grain.
FINGER REST

Most of the smoothing done with a thumb

plane requires a shallow cut. To adjust the
blade, loosen the thumbscrew on the cover-
ingcap and set the blade to barely protrude be-
yond the opening in the sole plate (inset).

89
Tools That Shape Wood by Scraping It

A battery of rasps, files and rifflers. Rasps used for a smoother, finer finish. Both rasps in only one direction, and the more abrasive
and files have toothed scraping surfaces that are and files come in varying degrees of coarseness, double-cut file, with crisscrossing grooves, are
6 to 12 inches long, with a tang at one end which is determined by the number of teeth available in the same variety of coarseness desig-
that fits snugly into a wooden handle. The scrap- per inch of scraping surface. The bastard-cut rasp nations as rasps are.
ing surface may take one of three forms: flat shown here (below, left) has approximately
on both sides (as in these examples), round on 26 teeth per inch and is used for rough shaping Rifflers (below, right) are double-ended tools
one face and flat on the other, or completely of hard woods; for rough shaping of soft woods, with spatulate, curved or pointed heads; they are
round. The difference between them is that rasps, a medium-cut rasp, which has about 36 teeth useful for cleaning intricately carved details
which have tiny individual teeth arranged in per inch, is used. A smooth-cut rasp has approxi- and for shaping hard-to-reach spots. Their scrap-
staggered rows, are generally used for rougher mately 60 teeth per inch, set in an apparently ing surfaces are miniature versions of rasps
work; files, whose teeth are formed by long random pattern; it produces more finished results. and files, and they come in the same range of

grooves cut at an angle across the tool face, are The single-cut file, which has grooves running coarseness as rasps and files.

aaaaa
AA£AAA
AAAAAAA
AAAAAA
AAAAAAA

AAAAAAA
AAM&AA
A A A A A A A
BASTARD-CUT RASP SMOOTH-CUT RASP

TANG SINGLE-CUT FILE DOUBLE-CUT FILE

Techniques for Using

Scraping Tools

Working with a rasp or a file. Rasps and files

are held in the same way— diagonally, with one

hand on the handle to push the tool and the
heel of the other hand resting on the front of the
tool to guide it. Use a gentle forward stroke
to scrape the wood; then lift the tool and move it

backward to repeat the stroke, to avoid dulling

the teeth. Depending on the results desired, rasps
and files can be pushed in any direction along
or across the grain. To finish and smooth a con-
cave cut, as in this example, push the curved
face of a half-round rasp down toward the low
point of the curve, working diagonally across
the grain with a gentle, upward stroke. For a con-
vex shape, start at the high point of the curve
and work down, using the flat side of the same
tool and an up-and-over rocking motion diag-
onally across the grain of the wood.
90
 Getting into tight confines with a riffler. Pick a
riffler to fit cut— in this example a curved
the
riffler is used to smooth a narrow, routed channel

outlining the edge of a table apron. Hold the

riffler in one hand, using the index finger of that

hand and the thumb of the other hand to guide

the tool as you push it. Never pull the riffler

back along its path; lift it up from the work and

reposition it to repeat the smoothing cut.

A Chair Shaped Completely with Hand Tools

From the top of its curving backrest to

the bottoms of its mock-claw feet, the
contours of the chair shown here were
smoothed and refined with hand-held
shaping tools. The concave and convex
profile of the backrest (top inset) was cut
first on band saw (page 78); then the
a
gentle curves were shaped with a spoke-
shave, the sharper curves with a file. The
broad shallow curves of the front and
back faces of the backrest were shaped
with the flexible sole plate of a compass
plane. A jig saw was used to rough-cut
the harp-shaped splat (page 85); then
the edges were smoothed with a spoke-
shave and a riffler, the latter taking care
of the tight spots.
On the gently contoured seat of the
chair (middle inset), a forming tool estab-
lished the shape; athumb plane was then
used to refine The curved edges of the
it.

seat were smoothed with a smooth-cut

rasp. The long curves of the stiles and
legs were rough-cut first on a band saw
and then were shaped with a drawknife.
The final smoothing was accomplished
with a spokeshave. The smaller, deeply
incised curves of the mock-claw feet
(bottom inset) were carved out first with
a drawknife, then smoothed with rifflers.

91
Wood-Turning with a Lathe
Although electricity has replaced the waste wood layer by layer, is the more the resulting chips and breaks can ruin
woodworker's apprentice as the power traditional method. This technique is a piece ofwork.
that drives a woodworking lathe, the more difficult to master than scraping— it The size of the piece of wood you can
combination of whirling wood and hand- takes time to develop a feel for holding turn is determined by the size of your
held carving tools continues to be the the tool at the proper angle-but cutting lathe. A typical home-shop lathe will
preferred method for creating certain produces results that are smoother and hold a narrow piece of wood, called a
kinds of elaborate symmetrical shapes- more professional. spindle, up to 32 inches in length, or a
stair balusters, drawer pulls, newel-post In scraping, the tool is pushed straight block of wood
that has a diagonal mea-
caps and other architectural trim, not to into the wood as it spins; the tool edge, surement of up to 10 inches.
mention furniture legs and wooden instead of shearing away thin shavings, Keeping a lathe in good working order
bowls. The idea of turning wood to shape scrapes away small particles of wood. requires little time and effort. Oil the
it, known to artisans of the earliest civil- Scraping leaves a rougher finish on the moving parts according to the manufac-
izations, has never outlived its usefulness wood than cutting does. turer's instructions, and be sure to keep
and has appealed to craftsmen ever since. wood for turning is
Selecting the right the tool free of waste wood that could
To a woodturner, strength is not nearly as important as developing proper tech- clog the machinery.
as important as finesse. Developing a re- niques. Hardwoods generally are better Wood-turning hand tools require more
laxed stance and a proper tool grip are than softwoods, and close-grained hard- care. Keep the cutting edges sharp by
the first steps to accomplish in using a woods such as maple, birch, ash and honing them on a fine oilstone. Set the
lathe. Once these are mastered and you cherry allproduce smooth, crisp-looking bevel of the tool flat on the stone and,
begin to feel the interplay between the results. An open-grained hardwood such with gentle pressure, push the blade
spinning wood and the cutting edges of as oak is less satisfactory, since it tends to around in a figure-8 pattern. For a curved
the tools, learning the techniques of splinter. A softwood such as pine is diffi- bevel such as the one on a gouge (center,
turning becomes easier. cult to turn in intricate shapes, but it is opposite page), rock the bevel from side
There are only two basic methods of inexpensive and useful for practicing. No to side as you push it through the fig-
shaping wood mounted on a lathe— cut- matter what wood you
choose, be sure ure 8. A few strokes with a slipstone
ting and scraping. Cutting, with the hand that it is and knots. Tool
free of splits will finish off the inside of a gouge's
tool held at various angles to shave away edges catch on such imperfections, and curved cutting edge.

The anatomy of a wood lathe. Wood that is

spun on a lathe is supported between two end

parts called the headstock and the tailstock.
The headstock is permanently mounted at the left

end of the lathe base, called its bed; the tail-

HEADSTOCK
stock slides along this bed so that the tool can ac-
HANDWHEEL / HEADSTOCK
commodate wood

The headstock
of various lengths.

which turns the wood,

spindle,
SPINDLE
SPUR
CENTER
™™
SRN
P LE
holds a part called the center, which has spurs or
TOOL REST CUP xm ^^^/^VHANDWHEEL
screws that penetrate the wood; this driving CENTER -^Y^TAILSTOCK^ / \
spindle is powered by a motor. Pulleys on the mo-

tor and on the lathe, connected by a belt, pro-

vide several speeds. On the model shown, the way
to control the speed is to move the belt from
one level to another on two stepped pulleys, one
on the motor and the other inside the head-
stock.The large exposed wheel on the headstock
makes it possible to turn the work by hand
The spindle of the tailstock holds the cup center;
it does not rotate the wood, but it can be
moved in

and out with a second handwheel, to ensure

MOTOR
that the wood is tightly mounted on the lathe.

Between the headstock and the tailstock is a tool

rest; can be moved along the bed and ad-
it

justed to various heights and angles. It supports

the various cutting and scraping tools (oppo-
site) that are used to shape the wood.

92
 Locking the wood in a lathe. Five basic spin-

dle centers for holding wood in a lathe are de-

tailed here. The spur center, which spins the
wood as well as holding it, has four sharp spurs
that are embedded in the headstock end of
the wood. The cup center remains stationary in
SPUR! the tailstock spindle; it has a concave end, so
SCREW CENTER
only the thin rim and the point penetrate the spin-
ning wood. An alternative center for use with
the tailstock spindle is a cup center with ball bear-
ings that permit it to spin freely as the wood
turns, thus reducing friction.

Some lathe work, such as that involved in shaping

a wooden bowl, requires that the wood be at-

CUP CENTER tached only to the headstock. This work is done

with the faceplate— a metal disc that screws
onto the headstock spindle. The wood is attached
to the faceplate with screws; such faceplates
range from 3 to 10 inches in diameter, the size
determined by the size of the wood block be-
ing shaped. The screw center is used for smaller
BEARING
faceplate turnings, such as drawer pulls.
CUP CENTER
FACEPLATE

BEVEL

Safety Rules
GOUGE PARTING TOOL SKEW CHISEL for Lathe Use

In addition to applying the safety rules

listed for all power tools (page 9), take
the following precautions when you
operate a lathe:
Before starting the lathe, be sure
ROUNDNOSE CHISEL DIAMOND-POINT CHISEL SOUARENOSE CHISEL that the wood is well anchored at

both ends and that all surfaces will

Lathe tools for cutting and scraping. The depth A skew chisel has a cutting edge that is
clear the tool rest as the wood spins.
gouge, the parting tool and the skew chisel are ground at an angle to the side of the blade.
As you turn and shape the wood,
cutting tools. The gouge has a curved blade This kind of chisel is used for cutting beads,
stop the lathe periodically and re-
with a rounded cutting edge that is beveled on the V grooves and tapers.
adjust the tool rest to keep it about V*
convex side. Gouges range in width from V*

Round nose, diamond-point and squarenose inch from the wood you are working.
inch to 1 inch or even more. They are used for re-
ducing rectangular stock to a cylindrical shape chisels are scraping tools rather than cutting Use a speed chart (page 94) to de-
and for cutting grooves and coves. The parting tools.They have flat blades of various shapes termine a safe turning speed for each
tool has two flat sides; its two bevels are an- and are beveled on one side. Although scraping project; never operate the lathe faster
gled toward each other to form a narrow cutting tools are not positioned in the same way as than the speed recommended. If you

edge at the end of the blade. When it is held cutting tools, they can be used to create some of have difficulty controlling the hand
so that the bevels are vertical, the parting tool is the same shapes. They are also used exten- tool you are using, reduce the speed.
used for making narrow grooves of any desired sively for faceplate turning (page 104).
93
Hand Positions for Holding Lathe Tools

Holding the tool as the wood turns. Although

the lathe tools used for cutting and for scraping
perform different functions, they are all held Setting Turning Speeds to Suit the Job
in the same way- Grip the end of the tool handle
firmly but not tightly with one hand, keeping
your forearm close to your body- This arm directs
the action of the tool. Hold the tool's blade Diameter of work
lightly against the tool rest with the other hand.
This hand may be positioned with four fingers
on top of the blade and the thumb below it, with
the little finger touching the tool rest (above,
left). Or you may prefer to put the thumb on top
and four fingers below, with the index finger
against the tool rest (above, right).

With a cutting tool, such as a skew chisel (above,

(eft), hold the bevel against the stock and the
blade, angled for the desired cut, atop the tool
rest. As the wood spins, raise the handle
gradually in the direction of the cut, driving
the cutting edge into the wood. Here the skew
chisel is being used to cut a V groove.

With a scraping tool, such as a roundnose chisel

(above, right), hold the blade horizontal across
the tool rest, with the bevel down, and feed the
cuttingedge straight into the wood. Here the
roundnose chisel is being used to cut a groove.
94
Mounting the Wood
in the Machine

Finding the centers. After you cut the stock

to the desired length on a table saw and carefully
square the sides, draw diagonal lines from cor-
ner to corner on both ends to locate their centers
precisely. On what will become the headstock
end, use a handsaw to cut a kerf '/a inch deep
along each diagonal line

If the stock is more than 2 inches square,

use a compass to scribe the largest possible circle
on one end of the stock. Then set a table-saw
blade at a 45° angle, and bevel the edges of the
stock, starting each of the four cuts just out-
side the scribed circle (inset).

Embedding the spur center. With the spur

center removed from the headstock spindle, set
its point at the intersection of the diagonal saw
kerfs, with the spurs positioned over the kerfs.
Use a wooden mallet to tap the shank of the
spur center lightly, until the spurs are firmly em-
bedded in the wood.

Push the cup-center shank onto the tailstock

spindle and lubricate its center point with soap or
wax. Turn the tailstock handwheel to retract
the spindle as far as possible into the tailstock.

Fastening the wood in the lathe. Loosen the

tailstock lock so that you can slide the tailstock

assembly along the bed away from the head-

stock. Push the spur-center shank into the head-
stock spindle and, as you support the wood
with one hand, push the tailstock toward the wood
until the point of the cup center nearly touches
the wood. Fasten the tailstock in this position with
the tailstock lock.

Turn the tailstock handwheel to drive the cup-

center point into the wood at the intersection of

the diagonal pencil lines, until the rim of the

cup center penetrates the wood. Finally, use the
tailstock-spmdle lock to fix the cup center in
this position. Give the stock a spin by hand; if it

wobbles or does not turn freely, readjust the

tailstock spindle.

If the wood has not been beveled with a table

saw, shave off its edges with a small plane before
you begin rounding them with lathe tools.

95
 From Square Stock to
Perfectly Round Cylinder

Rough cutting with a lathe gouge. Slide the

1 tool rest all the way to the right and set it level

with the midpoint of the wood being turned,

V4 to V» inch from touching it. Turn on the lathe
and place a gouge on the tool rest. 2 inches
large
in from the right end of the wood, keeping the

handle angled slightly downward and the con-

cave face of the gouge blade turned toward the
right but not vertical. Push the gouge forward

until the bevel touches the wood. Then, holding

the gouge firmly, raise the tool handle slightly
until the cutting edge shears the wood Making
light cuts, slide the blade in a straight line to
until it passes off the end of the spinning
the right
wood. Repeat the shearing motion until you
have rounded the section.

Until the wood becomes cylindrical, it will tend to

splinter and vibrate. If splintering is excessive,

reduce the lathe speed and make shallower cuts.

When the first section of the stock has been

rounded, cut successive 2-mch sections the same
way, progressing from right to left along the
stock but always cutting from left to right Turn
off the lathe and adjust the position of the tool
rest when necessary, to keep it close to the work
Leave the last 2-inch section at the left uncut.

Rounding the last section. To shape the last

2-inch section of the cylinder at the left end. turn

the gouge over so that the concave face of the
blade faces left. Round off the cylinder as before,

but this time cut from right to left until the blade
passes off the end of the wood.

To be sure the cylinder is evenly rounded, make a

continuous cut from left to right along its en-
tire length. Stop the lathe to move or adjust the
tool rest whenever necessary.
96
 Final smoothing with skew chisel. Set the directing the lower half of the cutting
hool rest V* inch
a
from the wood at the left end of
left,

edge so that you feel very little resistance and so

A Shapely Leg That Sums Up
the cylinder, turn on the lathe, and place a that the cut produces very thin shavings. Push the Repertoire of a Lathe
skew chisel on the tool rest 2 inches in from the the blade off the end of the stock.
end of the wood (below, top). Angle the han-
Four basic shapes cut with a lathe. One un-
dle downward and hold the blade at a 25° to 30° Reverse the blade position (below, bottom) and
usual furniture leg displays the four commonest
angle to the cylinder. Push forward so that the cut in the same manner from left to right along shapes that can be produced on a lathe.
bevel touches the wood, but keep the skew point the entire length of the cylinder, moving the tool
These shapes can be cut in any number and in
clear of the wood to avoid gashes. Hold the rest when necessary. Repeat the cuts until the any order to produce a variety of patterns. A
blade lightly against the cylinder and slide it to the cylinder is perfectly smooth.
bead is a rounded shape cut with a skew chisel. A
taper is wider at one end than at the other and
usually is an elongated shape; it is cut with a part-
ing tool, a gouge and a skew chisel. Rectangu-
lar sections can be left uncut, except for shoul-
ders, which are rounded with a skew chisel. A
cove is a concave section, with equal diameters at
the ends and a smaller diameter in the middle;
this shape is cut with a parting tool and a gouge.

BEAD

COVE

SHOULDER

RECTANGLE -

BEAD

-TAPER

97
 Raising a Bead

I Making end grooves with a skew. Set the tool

I rest slightly above the center of the cylindrical

stock and about Vi inch from it. Switch on the

lathe, and mark the sides of the bead by holding a
pencil lightly in two places against the spin- V GROOVE
ning cylinder. If the bead will be wider than
'/z inch, add a third guideline midway between GUIDELINES
the first two lines drawn.

Place a skew chisel on the tool rest, with the blade

on edge and the skew point down. Tilt the tool
handle very slightly downward, to make certain

the cut will be made just above the midpoint of

the stock. Push the skew point straight into the

stock at a side guideline, scraping a V-shaped
groove % inch deep. Cut a groove at the other
side guideline in the same way, but do not cut
into the center guideline.

CUTTING EDGE

I
Shaping the bead. With the stock spinning, the right groove, raising the handle and push-
i place the blade of the skew chisel almost flat on ing the blade forward into the wood as the chisel
the tool rest at the center of the bead. Position turns. End with the skew's cutting edge verti-

the heel of the cutting edge to the right of and cal in the groove, the heel down (above, right). To
lower than the point, with the tool handle an- make the groove deeper for a rounder bead,
gled slightly downward. Push the blade forward push the heel of the cutting edge farther into the
until the skew's bevel, but not its cutting edge, groove before withdrawing the blade.
touches the wood at the center guideline (above,
left). To begin the cut, raise and twist the Cut the other side of the bead in the same way,
handle slightly until the bottom half of the cutting but start with the heel of the cutting edge
edge just shears the wood. Then, in one con- pointing to the left. Alternate right and left cuts
tinuous motion, roll the heel of the blade toward until the bead is the desired shape.
98
Incising a Cove

Cutting the V grooves. Set the tool rest even

with the center of the stock and '/« inch from it;

turn on the lathe, and mark the sides and cen-

cove on the spinning stock with a pencil
ter of the

Then place a skew chisel almost on its edge

on the tool rest, point up, in line with a side guide-

line. Hold the blade so that you angle the heel

of the cutting edge slightly toward the center of
the planned cove. Keeping the tool handle an-
gled slightly downward, push the skew's heel into
the wood to form an angled V groove '/s inch
deep. For a similar V groove at the other side of
the cove, angle the blade in the opposite direc-
tion so that the heel again points toward the cen-
ter of the cove; make the second cut (inset).
Creating a Taper

Sizing the taper ends. Smooth the stock to

make a cylinder (page 96) H inch greater in

diameter than the wide end of the planned

taper. Then set the tool rest just above the center
of the stock and 'A inch from it, turn on the
lathe, and mark the ends of the taper with a pen-
cil. If the taper will be longer than 8 inches.
mark its center as well. Starting at the wide end
of the taper, place a parting tool on edge on
the tool rest, the lower bevel of the cutting edge
against the stock, the tool handle angled
slightly downward. Raise the handle to drive

the cutting edge into the stock.

Stop the lathe frequently so that you can check

the depth of the narrow cut, using calipers set
to the desired diameter (inset). The cut is com-
pleted when both points of the calipers slide
easily onto the wood inside the groove. Then cut
and measure a groove at the narrow end of the

taper in the same manner.

To establish the diameter needed for a middle

groove in a taper longer than 8 inches, add the di-

ameters of the end grooves and divide by two.

Cutting the taper. Starting at the groove that

marks the wide end of the taper, cut along the en-

tire length of the taper with a large gouge. Use

the technique described for rough-cutting a cylin-

der (page 96), but gradually apply greater for-

ward pressure along the length of the cut so that

you remove more wood as you approach the

narrow end. Repeat the same cutting motion until

you have reached the desired diameter at both

ends of the taper. Stop the lathe periodically
and hold a straightedge against the wood, to

be sure there are no unwanted bulges.

Use a skew chisel in one continuous cut to

smooth the surface of the taper (page 97).

100
A Rectangular Section
with Rounded Shoulders

Marking off the rectangle. After you have Cutting a groove. Set the tool rest at the cen-
squared an entire length of stock with a table saw ter of the stock, making sure that the edges of
and have planed or sanded the surfaces the spinning stock will clear the tool rest by
smooth, use a pencil and a combination square to V* inch. Turn on the lathe and set a skew chisel,
mark the ends of any section that will remain point down, on the tool rest, with the handle
square after the turning is completed- Mark both angled slightly downward. Push the skew point
ends of the section on all four faces of the straight into the wood Then
at the guideline.
stock. In the example shown in the drawing be- roll the tool handle alternately to the left and the

low, the rectangle is at the end of the piece of right, opening up the cut to form a V groove

stock, so only one set of pencil lines is necessary. about '/2 inch wide. Apply forward pressure until
Mount the stock on the lathe as described on the point starts to cut all around the stock.
page 95, but do not bevel the edges with a plane. Make the same cut at any other guidelines.

Cj
 Using a Template to
Plan and Turn a Spindle

Making the template. Draw an outline of the

1 proposed design parallel to and about 2 inch-

es from the edge of a sheet of heavy paper.

Use a ruler to measure the diameters of the
breaks— the high and low points of every
shape in the design. As you measure each break,
draw a line from it to the edge of the paper; on
each line, note the diameter of the shape at that
point. Note the diameter at the midpoint of

any taper longer than 8 inches. When you are

duplicating the shape of an existing piece of
turned wood, use calipers to measure the break
diameters and the spacing between breaks.
Then transfer the measurements to the paper.

Glue the paper pattern to a piece of H-inch hard-

board, lining up the paper edge with the hard-
board edge. To make the template— actually a re-

verse pattern of the design— cut along the

pattern edge nearest the edge of the hardboard
(inset), using a band saw. Then smooth the
curves and grooves of the template with a file.

Mount your stock in the lathe and turn it to a cylin-

der, except in the sections that are projected

to remain rectangular (page 101).

Marking guidelines on the wood. With the

lathe at rest, hold the straight edge of the tem-
plate against the stock and, at the end of each

break line, make a pencil mark on the cylinder.

Then remove the template, place the pencil on
the tool rest with the point against a mark and
rotate the wood by hand to draw a guideline
completely around the cylinder Repeat this proce-
dure at every break point.

Making the parting cuts. With a parting tool

(page 100, Step 1), cut a groove at every guide-
line that indicates the high or low point of a
cove or a taper, or the high point of a bead; do
not use the parting tool at the low point of a bead
or at the shoulder of a rectangular section. At
each groove, match the diameter to the nota-
tion above the break line on the template. Stop oc-
\l
casionally to check the diameter of the groove
with the calipers.

When all the grooves have been cut to the correct

depth, begin to shape the cylinder, using the
tools and cutting techniques on pages 95-97.

102
 Using the template to check your work. As
you shape the cylinder, stop the lathe periodically
and hold the cut edge of the template against
your work, noting which sections need additional
cutting The shaping is complete when the
template fits snugly against the spindle, with no
gaps between the template and the wood.

Smoothing Shaped Wood on a Spinning Lathe

Sanding the spinning stock. To smooth an and forth along the shape to avoid sanding piece of sandpaper around a dowel or a wedge
elongated shape like the taper at left above, fold away too much wood in one spot. Repeat the that fits the shape, and hold the paper below the
a piece of 120- to 180-gnt sandpaper in thirds, procedure with 220- to 280-gnt paper. stock as it spins on the lathe. Press the sand-
to a width of about 2 inches. Turn on the lathe paper lightly against the wood, taking care not
and hold the paper underneath the spinning To smooth a narrower shape, such as a V groove to rub away the definition of the shape. Progress
stock, pressing lightly and moving steadily back or a small cove (right, above), just wrap the to a finer grade of sandpaper, as above.
103
 Turning Wood on a Faceplate
Wood-turning on a faceplate-that is, to the faceplate should be as long as
with the wood anchored at only one end possible— up to 2 inches. But be sure
of the lathe-is popular among wood- they will not extend into a part of the
workers who have an eye for exotic wood that will be cut away.
grains and a penchant for designing Although cutting tools may be used to
bowls, doorknobs and newel-post caps in round the sides of the wood as it is being
unusual shapes. turned on a faceplate, the shaping is gen-
Some lathes have special features for erallydone with scraping tools. Scraping
faceplate turning. On a gap-bed lathe, fpage 94, right) allows more control
part of the bed next to the headstock is over the tool and the spinning stock than
cut away to leave extra room for a large cutting allows. The extra control is neces-
piece of wood. On some other lathes, the sary because the pieces of wood are
headstock is outboard turn-
equipped for wider. Scraping is also the preferred
ing, which allows the wood to be fas- method for the shaping of end grain, an
tened to either the outer or the inner face integral part of faceplate turning.
of the headstock. But an ordinary lathe Wood prepared for faceplate turning
is

will shape the face of a piece of wood up much as is for spindle turning (page
it

to about 8 inches in diameter— wide 95, Step 1). First square the piece on a
enough to accommodate a doorknob table saw, then plane the surface that will
or the newel-post cap that is shown be fastened to the faceplate. Draw diag-
on these pages. onal lines from corner to corner on the
Faceplates that screw onto the head- planed surface, to locate the center point
stock spindle and anchor the spinning of the wood. Then use a compass to
wood (page 93, top) are available in sev- swing a from the center point,
circle
eral choose one about Yi inch
sizes; Vi inch larger than the largest diameter of

smaller diameter than the base of the

in the finished piece. Use a band saw to
piece that you are planning to turn. The trim away excess wood around the out-
screws that are used to fasten the wood side of the circle.

Mounting and Turning

a Newel-Post Cap

Fastening the stock to the faceplate. Position the

1 faceplate on the planed surface of the stock,
aligning the threaded center hole of the faceplate
with the center point on the wood. With a pen-
cil, mark the faceplate screw-hole locations on
the wood Drill pilot holes, and screw the face-
plate to the stock. Then screw the faceplate to the
headstock spindle on the lathe.

104
Shaping the sides of the cap. Smooth the
wood to a cylinder (page 96, Steps 1 and 2), and
use a roundnose chisel to shape the sides of
the cap. For a cove shape, set the chisel on the
tool rest at the planned center of the cap, hold
the tool in the scraping position (page 94, right),
bevel edge down, and press the cutting edge
straight Into the spinning wood to make a prelimi-
nary groove. Widen the groove to the desired
cove shape by repeating the same scraping proce-
dure on both sides of the first groove, sliding

the chisel toward the center of the cove and in-

creasing the forward pressure as you go.

To form a bead shape, use a squarenose chisel

in the same pivoting motion described in Step 3,

below, forming first one side, then the other.

Rounding the end of the cap. To shape end

grain into a convex dome, set the tool rest at

about a 45° angle to the center line of the

stock and Vt inch from the wood. Rest a square-
nose chisel on the tool rest in the scraping po-
sition, bevel down, and push the left corner of the
cutting edge into the spinning wood to scrape
a shallow groove. Then gradually slide the blade

along the tool rest, pivoting the cutting edge

in a gentle arc toward the center of the stock. Do
not move the tool past the center of the stock.
Repeat the scraping motion until the wood is the
desired shape, stopping to readjust the tool
rest whenever necessary.

Form a groove or a dishlike depression in the end

grain with a roundnose chisel, using the scrap-
ing technique in Step 2, above.

105
High-speed Sanders That Smooth Many Shapes
Many woodworking projects are simpler to construct deep drawers. By removing keep the abrasive surface from clogging.
to finish if the parts are sanded before some of the guard plates on the belt Routine care for the sander includes
they are assembled. Two kinds of pow- sander, changing the belt tension or add- inspecting the abrasive surface frequently
er sanders make quick work of this ing specially made forms, you can adapt and, with the machine turned off, brush-
Acombination belt-and-disk sander
step. it for working on a variety of curved and ing clogged areas clean. Replace a frayed
smooths flat surfaces and most curved elongated surfaces. belt; it could cause injury if it breaks
and irregular surfaces; an inflatable tubu- The disk sander, the other component while in use. Check the abrasive disk for
lar sander, used with a portable power of this combination tool, is best suited to fraying and for loose adhesive, which
drill, handles inside curves and com- sanding end grain on smaller pieces of might cause the disk to fly off the spin-
pound curves with dispatch. wood; it is also useful for smoothing ning metal base.
The continuous abrasive belt of the miter cuts, bevels and outside curves, Check the tension and tracking of the
combination sander stretches across two such as the edge of a wooden disk. belt periodically. For most jobs the cor-
rotating drums and can be oriented for Except when sanding with a template rect tension is one that keeps the belt
the job at hand. Set horizontally, it is (page 709), it is essential to keep the stiff when it is pressed; to adjust the ten-
especially useful for sanding parallel to work moving continuously over a belt sion, change the distance between the
the grain and for sanding long boards; if sander. Power sanding removes a great two drums. A correctly tracking belt re-
the boards are wider than the belt, they deal of wood so quickly that holding the mains centered on both drums; to adjust
are sanded repeated passes. Set verti-
in work in one place for more than a mo- tracking, tilt the axis of the idler drum
cally, is useful for sanding the
the belt ment can flatten a curve or put a dimple slightly. The way to tilt the idler drum
ends of wide boards, such as those used into a flat surface. Movement also helps varies on different brands of sanders.

A combination belt-and-disk sander. This shop

tool is essentially two machines in one, sharing
IDLER-DRUM KNOB
a motor. The belt sander has a continuous strip of
abrasive-coated fabric, usually 4 to 6 inches IDLER-DRUM GUARD
wide. The belt rotates over two drums— the drive
drum, turned by the motor, and the idler TRACKING ADJUSTMENT
BELT SANDER
drum, which turns freely. Handles and knobs on
SIDE GUARD TENSION ADJUSTMENT
the sides of the unit are used to change the
position of the idler drum for adjusting the track- CHANNEL
TABLE-TILTING HANDLE
ing and tension of the belt. The unit tilts from
vertical to horizontal locking at any point on a 90°
DISK SANDER
arc, by means of nuts located on the side of
BELT TABLE
the drive drum. Normally the belt is covered by a CHANNEL
back plate, a side guard and an idler-drum guard,
DRIVE DRUM
all three can be removed for special sanding
jobs, by means of either locking nuts or knobs. DISK TABLE
VACUUM CONNECTOR

The disk sander, attached to the motor shaft, is a STAND

metal plate to which an abrasive-coated disk is

glued. Worktables for the belt and the disk can be

tilted and locked at any angle from 90° to
45°, and they usually have channels for miter

gauges. A vacuum connector allows the ma-

chine to be connected to a shop vacuum, to re-

duce the wood dust in the air during sanding.

106
Safety Precautions for Power Sanders

In addition to the safety rules for all object, to use as a gripping block. ing metal objects; metal sanding throws
power tools (page 9), observe these pre- D Feed the work against the rotation of sparks that might ignite thewood dust.
cautions for power sanders: a belt sander, to prevent the work from Wear goggles and a respirator while
Hold the work with your fingers on being pulled off the belt. sanding, and use a vacuum attachment
the top edge or the upper face of the Hold the work against the downward when doing a great deal of sanding.
stock, to avoid sanding your fingertips. rotation of a disk sander, to prevent the Keep a tubular sander away from
When sanding a small object, tack a piece from being lifted oft the disk. clothing; fabric can be lifted by the
piece of scrap wood to the back of the Remove all wood dust before sand- abrasive and wrapped around the tube.

Using a Belt and Disk

to Sand Flat Surfaces

Sanding a lengthwise surface. Remove the

idler-drum guard and the belt table, and lock the
belt unit in a horizontal position. With the mo-

tor on, grip the board with your left hand and feed

it onto the belt with your right hand, against

the rotation of the belt. Keep the gram parallel to

the belt, and move the board along the length

of the belt in a continuous motion, maintaining a
light, even pressure Make repeated passes over
the belt until the surface is smooth.

Sanding ends. For a square end, position the

disk table horizontally, using a try square to set it

perpendicular to the sanding disk. With the

motor on, hold the end of the board against the
left side of the disk, on the downward side of
the rotation, and move it back and forth between
the left edge and the center of the disk while
maintaining light, continuous pressure. Use a
miter gauge if necessary, to keep the wood
flush against the disk.

To sand a beveled end , set the disk table at the

desired angle, using a T bevel to match the
angles of disk and board. Sand the bevel as you
would a square end, moving between the left it

edge and the center of the disk.

107
Adapting the Belt Sander to Curved Surfaces
Sanding an inside curve. Remove the idler- Sanding an outside curve. With the belt unit
drum guard, and tilt the sander until the idler locked in a vertical position, remove the idler-
drum is at a convenient working height. With drum guard, the side guard and the back
the unit locked in place, turn on the motor and plate; then reduce the tension until the belt yields
gently pass the inside of the curved piece over slightly when pressed. Turn on the motor and
the belt at the idler drum, against the rotation of move the curved piece against the back of the
the belt Maintain a light, even pressure and belt, pressing against it slightly so that the belt

a continuous motion. At the completion of each follows the curve of the piece. Pay close attention
pass, return to the starting point; repeat until to the way the loosened belt tracks over the

you are satisfied with the finish. drums, and adjust it as necessary.

A Template for Sanding

Identical Concave Curves

Installing the template. With the sanding

belt removed from the drums, fasten a wooden
template of the desired shape to the metal
base plate of the belt assembly, which runs be-
tween the drums. To remove the belt, take off
the idler-drum guard and the side guard and re-
duce the tension until the belt slips easily from
the unit. Use a band saw to cut out the template,
making it the width of the belt and no longer
than the distance between the drums, matching
the profile of the template to the inside curve
of the piece being sanded.

Screw a block of scrap wood to the side of the

template; then bolt the wood block to the
flanged edge of the base plate, drilling holes
through the wood block to match the bolt
holes in the flange. Work the sanding belt back
onto the drums and over the template, adjust-
ing the tension and the tracking as necessary.
108
 Sanding with the template. Hold the curved
piece lightly against the shaped belt, but do not
move it along the belt. Lift the work frequently
to check for scorching and uneven sanding. To
stop scorching, reduce the pressure on the
wood. If one end of the curve is being sanded too
quickly, reduce pressure at that end.

A Tubular Sander That Follows Tight Curves

Using a tubular sander. Clamp the curved tube and return to the starting point; make repeat- flate the cylinder with a bicycle pump. Insert
piece in a vise and hold the sander against its con- ed passes until the surface is smooth. If you the sander shank in the power drill and tighten the

toured surface, one hand on the power drill, are working in a very tight radius, roll the tube chuck. On simple curves, use enough air pres-
the other on the handle of the sanding tube. Turn back and forth, in both directions sure in the tube to hold the abrasive surface taut;
on the drill, then press the tube against the for compound curves, use less air pressure, so
work, rolling it lightly along the curve in the direc- To prepare the tubular sander (inset), slide the that the abrasive surface will conform to subtle

tion of rotation. At the end of the curve, lift the abrasive sleeve over the rubber cylinder and in- changes in the shape of the work.
109
*te
4
A fretwork border for a tabletop. Strips of
Skin-deep Beauty with Veneers
To a poet, veneer is a symbol of shallow deceit, a false front of
border inlay set into a mahogany tabletop create
beauty that inevitably falls away to reveal some kind of evil. To a
In a short time a decorative effect that once
took hours of deft and painstaking craftsmanship. craftsman, veneer is a thin layer of wood that turns a plain board into
The inlays, which come in dozens of styles- a beautiful one. But it also does much more. is wood that does
It
ranging from Classical Greek to American Indi-
things no other kind of wood can do. Veneer makes plain boards
an—are cut with a craft knife and a straight-

edge, then set into a router-cut groove. stronger and more resistant to warping. It hides joints and makes
them stronger, too. More important, veneer frees the craftsman to
display the grain of wood in ways that are economically, structurally
or physically impossible with solid lumber.
Though veneer is almost as fragile as an eggshell and is produced
from wood that is soaked in boiling water to soften it before it is cut,

the rotary or reciprocating machinery that makes it is anything but

delicate. Rotary equipment can take the form of a giant lathe that has
a single blade as wide as the log is long. The motor that spins the log
is powerful enough to send the veneer, in the form of one immense

shaving, pouring forth from the surface of the log at the rate of up to
400 feet per minute. A second type of rotary machine holds a half-
round log against a rotating shaft. With each rotation the log is
brought a little closer to the blade, and a slice of veneer is peeled off
in an arc gentler than the arcs of the growth rings. Because the wood

is cut on a curve, rotary equipment gives grain effects that would be

impossible to achieve with flat boards. The method creates a grain

pattern that magnifies the width of the rings-more so when the
veneer is cut from the full log than in half-round cutting.
Reciprocating machines work something like the cold-cuts slicer in

a butcher shop. The wood stock-a squared-off log called a flitch-is

attached to a moving plate and driven sideways past a fixed blade
that peels off a slice at a time. As the sheets come off the machine,
they are numbered and stacked in order so that woodworkers can
make use of the mirror-image grain patterns that once-adjacent
surfaces present. Sometimes the flitch is first cut in quarters length-
wise, to yield grain patterns like those of quartersawed boards. Re-
ciprocating machines can slice up otherwise useless parts of a tree-
and with spectacular results. For instance, injured areas, too unstable
for most woodworking, give an exquisite, rolling pattern called burl.
single log flitch 8 feet long and 2 feet square can produce 30,720
A
square feet of veneer surface. Because the veneer-making process
uses wood so efficiently, consuming virtually every part of the tree,
the expensive pursuit of exotic woods becomes worthwhile. More
than 200 varieties of wood are available, each one sliced up with
something of the diamond cutter's sensibility, for a bountiful harvest

of beauty that is at the most V:s inch deep. To the woodworker,

that is deep enough.
m
Gluing a Thin Coat of Wood over a Solid Base
The art of veneering— layering a thin skin patterned veneers can produce designs On
curved surfaces, such as those on
of decorative wood over a common that seem almost three-dimensional rounded cabinet fronts, it is almost im-
wood— was once practiced only by mas- Applying veneer can be done in several possible to achieve uniform pressure by
ter craftsmen. But modern glues and im- ways, but the process always begins with clamping. For such jobs the preferred
proved techniques for cutting veneers a flattening procedure. With highly pat- method of pressing the veneer against
from raw logs have changed all that. Now terned woods, which tend to be brittle the base is a technique called hammer
a home craftsman, working with a small and wavy, this step is essential. To flatten veneering, which uses no clamps at all.
kit of specialized tools, can make delight- such veneer, each sheet is dampened Instead, the veneer is systematically
ful transformations in the surfaces of fur- with sponge until it is saturated but not
a pressed smooth against the glued surface
niture, doors, even architectural trim. sodden. Then the sheet is pressed be- with a spade-shaped tool called a veneer
Many of the necessary tools, as well as tween two pieces of plywood; clamps are hammer. Traditionally, hammer veneer-
the other materials used in veneering, used to increase the pressure gradually ing reliedon hide glue, which had to be
can be found at local lumberyards and as the veneer dries. When the wood is heated, and hard-earned skill; but today
hardware stores, although for some items only slightly clammy to the touch, it is yellow glue simplifies the job and pro-
you may have to use mail-order compa- ready to use Flexible veneer rolls can duces good results.
nies that sell woodworking supplies. be pressed flat without having to be A third veneering method uses contact
Most of the veneers produced today dampened first. cement, which bonds instantly and also
are sliced from half-round sections of For large surfaces, such as doors and requires no clamping. But instant bond-
tree trunk or from squared-off logs called tabletops, the best way to apply veneer is ing creates problems because it allows no
flitches. High-precision blades slice the to glue and clamp it to the base. Usually corrections. Contact cement is best re-
wood into sheets '/« to Va inch thick— the the veneer is applied in sections, and ad- served for veneering small areas, such as
thickness of 10 to 20 pages of notepaper. jacent sections must be perfectly spliced, the edges of tables and shelves. It also is
The sheets are stacked flat in the same so that the gap between them is almost easiest to use with flexible veneers,
sequence in which they are sliced, their indiscernible. To make such a joint, the which flatten with light pressure and can
edges are generally left untrimmed and joining edges are trimmed either with a be cut with utility scissors.

they are priced by the square foot. In utility knife or with a special veneer saw, Regardless of the method used, to be
another form, the veneer is sliced much which makes a thin, straight cut successful, veneering must be carefully
thinner, only Vm inch thick, and glued to a Veneer pins are used to hold the sec- planned. The base should be a stable
paper backing. This flexible veneer is sold tions veneer in place temporarily;
of wood, such as pine, mahogany or poplar.
in 8-foot rolls, 18 to 36 inches wide, and these pins have needle-like points that Splinters should be smoothed away and
in narrow strips for edging leave nearly invisible holes. Later, when holes filled with wood putty.
In addition to taking veneers from the the sections are glued down, gummed If you are working with stock less than
tree trunk, manufacturers also make use paper tape holds the spliced edges to- Yi inch thick, prepare to veneer both sur-
of parts of the tree normally considered gether until the glue dries. This tape, faces—otherwise the piece will warp.
waste wood— the roots, burls, stumps which has a water-soluble backing, is And keep in mind that the grain of ve-
and crotches that are too unstable for preferable to masking tape, which might neer should run parallel to the grain of
construction. These waste woods yield veneer slivers when it is removed.
lift solid wood but perpendicular to the
veneers with exotic grain patterns and Clamping, which ensures a tight bond grain ofplywood.
colorings, from the whirling spirals of between the veneer and the base, is also As you work, keep your tools close at
burls to the V-shaped grain of crotch an important step in veneering. The pres- hand so that you do not have to hunt for
wood— taken from a section where a ma- sure exerted by clamping should bear them just as the glue is freshly spread.
jor limb branches from the trunk. down and evenly on the surface
directly And be prepared for repairs-but do not
So distinctive are some of these grain beneath. This kind of clamping is best attempt to make them until the glue
patterns that the tree species is instantly done with a caul-a piece of particle- dries Highly figured veneers may need
recognizable. Walnut, elm and maple, for board or plywood with 2-by-4 cross patching, cracks may develop along the
example, are notable for their flamboyant braces clamped over it to distribute the grain, and sections of veneer may even
burl and stump-wood patterns, rosewood pressure. For a surface less than 2 feet lift and need to be reglued and re-
and zebrawood for their varicolored across, use heavy weights instead of cross clamped. When the job is complete, fin-
stripes, oak and mahogany for their rip- braces and clamps, and distribute the ish the veneer just as you would solid
pling grain Matched sections of these weights evenly. wood, with penetrating oil or varnish.

112
Pair-bonded Veneers
IP h. 1 i!
'

Combining veneers for effect. Consecutive

sheets of veneer cut from a flitch are nearly
identical in pattern but can be arranged to create
completely dissimilar designs. Two sheets,
'
opened as if they were pages of a book, present 1
a mirror image and are called book-matched
veneer; you can extend book-matching over large
h
surfaces by flipping over every second sheet
Sheets laid just as they come from the stack, in a
repeating pattern, are called slip-matched; this
pattern is most effective with long narrow sheets
cut from narrow flitches.
ll i !il J t. Vitk i!
BOOK-MATCHED SLIP-MATCHED
Veneers with very straight grain lend them-
selves well to a diamond arrangement, or to a vari-
ation in which the diamond shape is reversed -?'//.?#&
so that the grain of the wood radiates from a cen-
tral point. For either of these patterns, start by
cutting four identical rectangles of veneer, with
the grain running diagonally across each of the
rectangles. Then position the rectangles edge
to edge, forming either a pattern of concentric
diamonds or a pattern of radiating lines

>^/y//W/.y w\v3
DIAMOND REVERSE DIAMOND

Virtues and Failings of Veneering Glues

WHITE CLUE is an inexpensive, water- glues for hammer veneering. Use a the classic glue for veneering for centu-
soluble adhesive that takes 4 to 6 hours paint roller to spread the glue on both ries It is sold as a powder to be mixed
to harden. This slow set-up time is an the base and the back of the veneer. Let with water. The advantage of hide glue
advantage in veneering large areas, be- the glue rest for five minutes, until it is is that it dries at room temperature to

cause it allows alignments to be per- tacky, before pressing the veneer to the make a durable bond but softens under
fected before the new surface is locked base. Yellow glue takes overnight to dry heat, minor adjustments
simplifying
in place. White glue does require exten- completely, but tools should be cleaned and repairs. But must be heated dur-
it

sive clamping, however, and once the immediately in water. ing use and kept within the narrow
job done, the veneer must be protect-
is CONTACT CEMENT is sometimes la- range of 130° to 150° F. Today most
ed from moisture or it will lift from its beled "veneer glue." It bonds instantly woodworkers avoid the inconvenience
base. Apply white glue with a paint roll- and thus needs no clamping, but it does of a heated gluepot and heated metal
er, a brush or a comb-type glue spread- not allow corrections once the veneer is tools, and opt for a more modern glue.
er. When using white glue with highly positioned.Use a paintbrush to spread IRON-ON CLUE SHEETS are paper coat-
figured veneers, which warp when ex- the cement on both the veneer and the ed on both sides with hot-melt glue.
posed to water, spread glue only on the base. Let it dry 5 to 15 minutes, or until The sheets are placed between the base
base. Clean tools in warm water. it no longer sticky. Then carefully
is and the veneer, then pressed with a
YELLOW GLUE, also known as aliphat- press the veneer in place with your fin- household iron set at low. They can be
ic resin or carpenter's glue, is more gers and a roller. Use lacquer thinner to cut to shape with scissors. They are
water-resistant than white glue. It sets remove drips and to clean your tools. quick and convenient for small areas,
up 30 minutes and requires swifter
in HIDE CLUE, which is made from the but they produce a less durable bond
clamping. It is the best of the modern hide and hooves of animals, has been than the more conventional glues.

113
 Splicing and Clamping
Large Veneer Surfaces

Splicing adjoining sheets. Arrange sheets of

1 veneer in the desired grain pattern, with their join-

ing edges overlapped by V2 inch and their out-

side edges protruding V4 inch beyond the edges of

the base. Clamp a straightedge along the line

to be spliced and. using a utility knife, cut through

both sheets at once. Slice in short strokes along
the guide, to prevent the thin blade from fol-

lowing the curve of the grain.

To make a splicing cut with a veneer saw (inset),

place the tapered edge of the blade against

the straightedge, and pull the blade along the
seam line, again cutting with short, smooth
strokes in one direction only. For very thick ve-

neer, place the flat edge of the blade against

the straightedge, and saw back and forth; pro-

ceed carefully, to avoid splintering the surface.

Spreading the glue. To coat both veneer Rolling the veneer. Use a wallpaper-seam roll-

and base with glue, lay the veneer face down on ' and excess glue from
er to press out air pockets

a work surface covered with newspaper; use a between the veneer and the base. Push the
small paint spread glue thickly and evenly
roller to roller from the center of the base toward its

to the edges.To prevent the veneer from shift- edges, wiping off the extruded glue as you go.
ing and excess glue from smearing its face, hold Roll along the seam to press it flat.

the sheets steady with an awl or an old screw-

driver. Roll glue onto the base in the same man- Secure the spliced edges by covering the seam
ner, wiping any drips with a rag. with paper tape. Cut a piece of tape the same
length as the seam and dampen it with a sponge,

Lay the veneer on the base, matching the then smooth it in place along the seam. At
grain patterns along the seam line and maintain- 12-inch intervals, fasten additional 4-inch strips of
ing an even Winch overlap at the edges of tape across the seam Remove the pins.
the base. Press and smooth the surface with your
hands, shifting the veneer sections slightly

to close any gaps in the seam. Then secure

the sheets with veneer pins spaced 6 inches apart
and about 3 inches from the seam line.

114
 Clamping the work. To apply uniform pres-
sure to the veneered surface, cover it with a caul
held in place by clamped cross braces. Cut
the caul from plywood or particleboard. making it

large enough to protrude Vi inch beyond the

edges of the veneered surface To prevent the
caul from becoming glued to the veneer when
pressure is applied, cover the veneer with wax pa-
per. Then lift the caul gently onto the veneer; CROSS BRACES
take care not to shift the veneer, because the glue
will still be soft.

Position 2-by-4 cross braces on edge across the

caul at 16-inch intervals, slipping a scrap
piece of veneer beneath the center of each 2-by-4
to increase the pressure at the center of the
caul. Tighten clamps on the center cross brace
first, so that glue will be forced from the cen-
ter of the caul toward its edges. Wipe off any ex-
cess glue, and continue tightening the cross
brace until no more glue appears. Then tighten
clamps on the end cross braces.

Let the glue dry 12 hours. Remove the clamps,

lift off the caul and peel off the wax paper.

Trimming the edges. Using the caul to pro-

'
tect your worktable, turn the veneered surface up-
side down and trim off the protruding veneer
with a veneer saw. Start at a corner and cut along
the edge to within a few inches of the next cor-
ner. Then turn the blade and cut in the opposite
direction, to keep from tearing off the fragile
corners of the veneer.

When all of the edges have been trimmed, set the

veneered surface right side up; dampen the
paper tape with a sponge, then remove it. Sand
away any residual glue or tape.
115
 1

A Time-honored Method for Veneering over Curves

Two veneer hammers. Both the professional's a squeegee. The handle is a ^-inch dowel, 1 smooth and its corners are rounded, to keep
veneer hammer (left) and the homemade veneer inches long, filed down at one end; it fits into a them from gouging or scratching the veneer.
hammer (right) have smooth metal blades de- socket drilled at the center of the hardwood head. Matching holes are drilled through the plate
signed to press veneer against a curved base. The The two parts are secured with glue and a 1- and the head, and the two are fastened together
store-bought version has a hardwood handle mch screw. The head, which is cut from VS-inch with bolts and wing nuts, making the plate de-
with a spade-shaped metal head, 3>/2 inches wide; stock, is 3'/2 inches long by 2V2 inches wide. tachable for cleaning. Caution: Do not use iron or
the upper end of the head is used as a grip, for The blade is made of Vi-inch-thick brass or alumi- steel for the plate. Either could react with the
bearing down on the veneer. The simple and inex- num plate, set to protrude 'A inch beyond the tannic acid present in most woods and leave
pensive homemade veneer hammer works like bottom edge of the head. Its working edge is filed stains on the veneer surface.
Deflating an Air Pocket

Piercing the veneer. If an air pocket develops

after the glue has hardened, determine its dimen-
sions by tapping on the surface with a finger-
nail; it will make a dry, hollow sound Make an X-
shaped incision at the center of the pocket
with a craft knife and a metal rule, cutting diag-
onally across the gram. Lift the flaps of veneer Pressing the repair. To shorten the glue's
with a palette knife, then use the craft knife to drying time and keep flaps of veneer from lifting,

gently scrape away the old glue from the ve- press the repaired area with a household iron
neer and the base beneath; blow out the dried set at low (150° to 170° F). First cover the re-
glue particles. If the flaps are too stiff to bend paired area with a piece of wax paper, to pre-
easily, dampen them with a sponge. vent sticking, and a folded dish towel, to protect
the veneer from scorching. Then press the
Insert fresh yellow glue underneath the flaps, us-
iron against the area for 30 seconds; check to see
ing either a glue injector or a small artist's if the glue is holding down the flaps, and re-
brush. Then roll the veneer flat and wipe away peat as necessary until the glue is hard. Sand the
the excess glue as in Step 3, page 114. repair lightly, following the grain of the veneer

Grafting a Matching Patch

Shaping the patch. Cut away the splintered

edges of a veneer split, leaving a clean outline;
then make a pattern of the damaged area by
placing a piece of paper over the outline and rub-
bing it with a blunt pencil. Use the pattern to
cut a patch from veneer that matches as closely
as possible the grain and color of the veneer
surrounding the split Spread the patch with yel-

low glue, insert it in the split, and roll it flat.

Wipe away the excess glue, and press the patch

with a warm iron as in Step 2, above.

117
 Splicinga Decorative Band
onto a Veneered Surface

Slicing the banding seams. Lap the banding

veneer over one edge of the veneered surface,
allowing it to overhang that surface slightly

Clamp a straightedge along what will be the seam

line between the two pieces of veneer, and
slice through both layers at once. Repeat along
the other edges of the veneered surface, num-
bering and marking each banding piece to record
its position and seam line. Position the band-
ing along each edge in such a way that its grain
runs either parallel or perpendicular to the
edge of the veneered surface.

I
Removing the existing veneer. Clamp the
p straightedge along the seam line of the veneered
surface, and pry off the edge of the veneer
with a chisel, held bevel down. Press down on the
straightedge as you work, to avoid damaging
the veneer inside the seam line. If the edge of the
veneer does crack, repair it before proceed-
ing. Remove the veneer from the other edges in
the same way, and scrape the dried glue from
the cleared areas.

Using paper tape that has water-soluble gum, fas-

ten the pieces of banding in place, matching

the seam lines and overlapping the ends of the

banding at each corner. Trim the overlapping
ends into neatly spliced miters, using either a

chisel (inset) or a craft knife and a straight-

edge. When all the pieces have been cut to fit,

dampen the paper tape and remove it.

With an inexpensive paintbrush, spread an

even coating of contact cement on the back of
a banding piece and on the cleared edges.
When the contact cement has cured, lay overlap-

ping strips of wax paper, about 6 inches wide,

over the cement-covered edge.

118
i Setting the banding. Lay the banding over the
'wax paper and, starting at a corner, slowly pull Trimming the banding. Using a block plane
away the strips of wax paper one at a time, 1
with its blade set for a very shallow cut, shave
each time pressing the veneer against the ex- away the overlapping edges of banding. Hold
posed edge. Then flatten the banding with a the plane with its sole flush to the edge and slide it

roller. Install the other banding sections in the forward with short strokes, to avoid pulling
same way, being especially careful to fit the away chips of veneer. Plane until the veneer is

mitered ends together precisely. flush with the edge of the veneered surface.

Applying Veneer Edging

Rolling the edgings on. To veneer a vertical

edge, cut strips of flexible veneer to size or buy
edging tape in the appropriate width, and ap-
ply it with contact cement and a roller. If you cut
your own edging, align the grain to run length-

wise along the side. Lay on the cement in a thin

coat, so that the line where the edging veneer
meets the surface veneer will be less noticeable.

When the cement spread on the two adjoining

surfaces has cured, start at one corner and posi-
tion the edging with one hand as you press it

smooth with the roller. If necessary, trim the edg-

ing at the next corner for a precise fit, before
attaching edging to the adjoining side.

119
Highlighting a Surface with Inlaid Designs
Usually applied over the entire surface of tent depth and must match the outline of Vth inch to 1
1 /4 inches. Because supposedly
a less attractive base, veneer can also be the insert exactly.When you are working identical border designs may vary slightly
set into a recess cut into the surface. This on solid wood, a power router is an ex- from lot to lot, it is best to order a few
technique, called inlaying, is used to cellent tool for thefirst part of this job- extra strips for each project so that if you
highlight a beautifully grained piece of removing the bulk of the waste from the need to patch or correct previous work,
wood or to make an ordinary one more recess. You will also need a chisel for you can match it exactly.

interesting. And though natural or col- squaring corners and, on designs with in- If youdecide to make your own inlays,
ored wood veneers are the most com- tricate outlines, a craft knife for cutting you can add variety by coloring or shad-
mon material for inlays, leather, ivory and around the perimeter and some chisels ing the veneer you use. Colorfast fabric
mother-of-pearl are often used as well. and gouges for clearing the waste from dyes, mixed with one quarter the water
Inlays take many forms. The most crevices. When you cut a recess into a called for in the instructions, are good for

elaborate probably is marquetry, which is veneered surface, you first cut the perim- tinting veneers of such light-colored, ab-
made up of small chips, often of different eter with a craft knife, then remove the sorbent woods as poplar or holly. By dip-
colors and irregular shapes, assembled waste with a chisel (page 118). ping only the edge of the veneer into the
like a mosaic to form a symbol or a pic- Although you can make inlay inserts dye, you can obtain a color gradation
ture.Another form, parquetry, uses small, yourself, a variety of ready-made patterns with the darkest tone at the edge, where
straight-edged chips to form geometric of many sizes and shapes are available the veneer touches the dye. You can also
patterns. Border strips are a form that from woodworking suppliers. These in- use ink to color veneer, either by soaking
combines long straight pieces with tiny serts are usually shipped with a piece of or by applying it with a pen or a brush.
chips to make narrow ribbon-like pat- brown paper glued to the finish face and To shade the natural wood on the edge
terns. All of these intricate designs are with the insert set into a piece of scrap of any kind of veneer— to get a three-
usually assembled then inlaid as a
first, veneer to protect its edges. Carefully cut dimensional effect— dip the edge into a
unit into a recess cut exactly to fit. De- away this excess veneer before inlaying tray of fine sand, heated over a stove or a
signs made of larger pieces of veneer may the insert, but leave the brown paper in burner. The scorching of the veneer will
be assembled directly in the recess, how- place until after the insert is glued down; be darkest at the point dipped deepest
ever, using the same technique as that sand the paper off during the finishing. into the sand. In using coloring or shad-
used to cut and fit adjoining veneer Most inserts are supplied in thick- ing techniques, always make the veneer a
sheets (page 778) nesses ranging from 1/28 inch to 1/1 4 inch. little darker than the final color or shade

The crucial first step in inlaying is mak- Border strips are available in 3-foot desired, since finish sanding will remove
ing the recess, which must have a consis- lengths and in widths ranging from about the darkest surface layer.

Using Strips of Inlay

to Form a Border

Routing a straight groove. Outline the groove

needed for the inlay, and fit a router with a bit ap-
propriate to the groove's width. Measure the
distance from the perimeter of the bit to the edge
of the router base, and then clamp a straight-
edged board this distance from the inner edge of
the groove outline Set the bit to a cutting
depth just less than the thickness of the inlay.

Butt the router base against the board, turn on

the router, and lower it to the surface of the work.

Rout from left to right. Take care not to rout

beyond the ends of the outline. When you finish

the cut, turn the router off and wait for the bit

to stop spinning before you lift it

If the groove outline is wider than the router bit,

reposition the straight-edged board as often as

needed until all unrouted stock between the groove
outlines is removed. When such a groove turns
a corner, finish all passes on one side before pro-
ceeding to the adiacent side.
120
Squaring corners of a routed groove. Position a
sharp, wide wood chisel over the uncut area
at the outer corner of the groove, aligning the flat

side of the blade with the edge of the groove.

Tap the chisel lightly with a mallet. Make an iden-
tical cut on the other side of the outer corner.
Then use the chisel to undercut the waste in the
corner Clean any splinters from the edge of
the groove with a craft knife.

Fitting the inlay in the groove. Lay the inlay

border strips in the grooves so that the patterns
match where the strips overlap at the corners.

Secure each strip, about 2 inches from each cor-

ner, with paper tape that has water-soluble
gum. Then lay a metal straightedge diagonally
across the corner; use a craft knife to cut a
45° miter through both pieces of inlay, starting

at the outside corner and working in.

If the grooves are too long for a single inlay

strip, lay as many strips in each groove as neces-
sary. Allow about an inch of overlap between
strips, matching the patterns at the overlap; try to

arrange the overlaps so that they occur at reg-

ular intervals. Match the corner patterns as well,

securing and mitering them as above. Then

use the straightedge and the craft knife to cut
through the overlaps along the groove, cutting
across the strips at a 90° angle

Gluing the border strips. Spread a thin coat

of yellow glue on the back of each inlay strip, and

then return the strips to their grooves. Use the

smooth face of a hammer to press the strips firmly

into the grooves, making sure that each one

is properly aligned before pressing it into place.

Wipe away any excess glue with a damp cloth.

Cover all of the glued inlay with wax paper; then

lay apiece of hardboard, plywood or particle-
board over the entire surface, and weight it down
with bricks or other heavy objects.

121
 /
Cutting a Recess
tor a Small Medallion y
Laying out the area. Place the inlay in the de-

sired positionon the surface of the work. With a

straightedge and a pencil, draw perpendicular
lines across the inlay and the surrounding surface.
Keeping the marks aligned, trace the outline
of the inlay onto the work, using a scratch awl

Freehand cutting with a router. Put a straight

the router, and adjust the bit depth to slight-
bit in

ly less than the thickness of the inlay. Start the

router, and lower the bit onto the surface of the
work, near the center of the area to be re-

cessed Move the router clockwise over the area

in a circular motion, taking out the waste to
within Vi6 inch of the scribed outline.
Cleaning the recess. Use a craft knife and a

chisel to clean away the waste from the edge of

the recess. First deepen the scribed outline

with the craft knife; then use the chisel to under-

cut and remove the waste. Hold the chisel,
bevel edge down, in such a way that the bottom
of the recess will be level

Attaching the inlay. Spread a thin coat of yel-

low glue over the recessed area, and carefully low-

er the inlay into the recess,brown paper fac-
ing up. Match up the alignment marks, then rub
the face of a hammer over the inlay, working
from the center outward in a circular motion, to
force out the excess glue. Secure the inlay
edges temporarily with small pieces of paper tape.
123
 Clamping the insert. Cover the inlay with a

' sheet of wax paper, to prevent excess glue from

sticking to the clamp assembly; then cover the
inlaid area with a piece of Winch plywood or hard-
board slightly larger than the area of the inlay.

Place a 2-by-4 on edge across the center of the

plywood, and clamp the ends of the 2-by-4 to
the edge of the work surface
Completing the router cuts. Again starting
Vi6 inch in from the edge of the recessed area,
cut a second series of l'/2-mch-wide parallel
grooves, perpendicular to the first. Then gradually
widen these grooves by making repeated
passes with the router until the projections re-
maining are only V* inch to % inch wide; they
will support the base of the router.

Removing the remaining scrap. Using a

sharp chisel held bevel edge down, knock away
the small projections left by routing. Then
remove the waste from the edge of the recessed
area as shown in Step 3, page 123. Glue and
set the inlay as described in Steps 2 and 3, page
114. Clamp the inlay, using the method shown
in Step 4, page 115, for clamping large areas.

125
Picture Credits

The sources tor the illustrations that ap- Cover: Fil Hunter. 6: Fil Hunter. 9-13: sey. 66-71: Walter Hilmers )r. from
pear volume are shown below.
in this Terry Atkinson from Arts & Words. 14- H| Commercial Art. 72-75: Snowden
The drawings were created by lack Ar- 19: lohn Massey. 20-23: Frederic F. Bigio Associates, Inc. 76: Fil Hunter. 78-85:

thur, Roger Essley, Charles Forsythe, from B-C Graphics. 24-27: Walter Hil- Eduino |. from Arts & Words.
Pereira
William I. Hennessy \r., John lones, Dick mers Jr. from H) Commercial Art. 28- 86-91: Elsie Hennig. 92-101: Fred-
|.

Lee, John Martinez and loan McGurren. 31: William Hennessy )r. 32: John
). eric F. Bigio from B-C Graphics. 102-

Credits tor the illustrations from left Massey. 33: Fred Holz. 34: Fil Hunter. 105: lohn Massey. 106-109: Elsie Hen- ).

to right are separated by semicolons; 36-45: Frederic F. Bigio from B-C Graph- nig. 110: Fil Hunter. 113-119: Frederic F.

from top to bottom they are sepa- ics. 46-51: Gerry Gallagher. 52-57: Wil- Bigio from B-C Graphics. 120-125: Wil-
rated by dashes. liam ). Hennessy |r. 58-65: lohn Mas- liam |. Hennessy )r.

Acknowledgments

The index/glossary for this book was pre- Va.; Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC; dria, Va.; loanne Polster, American Craft
pared by Louise Hedberg The editors Allan Fitchett, Albert Constantine & Son, Library, The
American Craft Council,
also wish to thank the following: Henry Inc., New York, N.Y.; Full Circle, Alexan- New York, N.Y.; Patricia Ridgeway, Ser-
Barrow, The Woodworks, Glen Echo, Douglas N. Heyman, Fries Beall
dria, Va.; aph, Washington, DC; Giuseppe Riva-
Md.; ]uan Bassegoda, President, Amigos & Sharp Co., Springfield, Va.; )ohn Kelsey, dossi, Brescia, Italy; )erry Siegel, lenks and
deGaudi, Barcelona, Spain; Bob Blanken- Editor, fine Woodworking magazine, Sons, Inc., Washington, DC; Ole Thrane,
ship, Moisture Register Company, North Newtown, Conn.; Peter Kramer, Wash- L.C.S. Inc., New York, N.Y.; Todd M.
Hollywood, Calif.; Emmett Bright, Rome, ington, Va.; Johannes Krogull, Melle, Volpe, (ordan-VoIpe Gallery, New York,
Italy; Mario Ceroli, Rome, Italy; Francoise West Germany; Andrejs Legzdins, Stock- NY.; Bill Welcome, Wendell Castle Inc.,
Charpentier, Curator, Musee de L'Ecole holm, Sweden; Mike Mangan, Ken Page, Scottsdale, NY. The editors would also
de Nancy, Nancy, France; Ted Chase, Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago, III.; John like to express their appreciation to Edgar
Concord, Calif.; Raylene Decatur, Ren- Ott, )une Sprigg, Hancock Shaker Village Henry and Wendy Murphy, writers, for
wick Gallery, Washington, DC; Clyde Museum, Pittsfield, Mass.; Robert Peter- their assistance with the preparation
Dorsett, The Pond Gallery, Alexandria, sen, Robert Petersen Associates, Alexan- of this volume.

126
 1

Index/Glossary

Included in this index are definitions of joints, 41-45; routing, 37 Hardwoods: about, 8; defects in, 9; guide
some of the woodworking terms used Dado head: attaching to table saw, 36, to, 11; source of, 7; turning on a lathe,
in this book. Page references in italics 38; cutting dadoes and rabbets, 38- 92
indicate an illustration of the sub- 39,41 Hickory: grain, 10; properties, 11

ject mentioned. Disk sander. 5ee Belt-and-disk sander

Dovetails: cutting with a router and Inlays (veneer): applying to large area,
Ash: grain, 10; properties, 11 template, 52-55; hand-cut, 46-57; lap 124-125; border, 120-121; fitting, 727,
dovetail, 46, 50-57; rabbeted, 55; 723; freehand routing, 122-123; gluing,
Band saw: blades for, 17, 78; cutting a routing a flush joint, 53-55; through 727, 123-124; routing a recess, 120-121;
cabriole chair leg, 84-85; cutting a dovetail, 46, 47-50 tinting, 120
circular tabletop, 87-83; cutting curves, Dowel joint, 64-65; cutting grooves in the
78-87; jigs, 17, 78, 87-83, and large dowel, 64, 65; drilling dowels, 64-65 Jig: device to hold and guide wood for
shapes, 78; resawing thick boards, 77- Drawknife: making a concave cut, 86; cutting or planing. With a band saw,
79; safety, 17 making a convex cut, 87 17, 78, 87-83, for cutting a box joint, 56-
Beech, properties, 1 Drill press: cutting mortises, 58, 59; safety, 57; doweling, 64, 65; miter, 68, 69, 70;
Belt-and-disk sander: care of, 106; safety, 59 with a router, 37; shooting board, 28,
107;template with, 708, 709; using, 706, Drying lumber: air-drying, 12; kiln-drying, 29; with a table saw, 14, 75, 76;
707-709 12; using a moisture meter, 12, 73 tenoning, 47, 63, 70, 71
Bench dogs: wood or metal pins that act )igsaw, cutting curves, 58, 85
as stops for wood being planed. Using, Edge jointing of boards, 28-32; choosing jointer-planer: for bevels and chamfers,
6, 20, 21 boards, 28; gluing and clamping, 30- 24; cleaning and sharpening blades, 24;
Birch, properties, 11 31; laying out a panel, 28; planing correcting defects in stock, 27; planing
Box joint: cutting and gluing, 56-57; jig edges, 28, 29; with slightly warped boards, 25-26; push block, 25; rabbets
for, 56 boards, 32 and tenons, 24; safety, 24
Joints: blind dowel, 64-65; box, 56-57;
Cabriole leg: curved furniture leg. Cut Faceplate turning: shaping using only the clamping techniques, 72-75; cutting
and shaped with a band saw, 84-85 headstock spindle of a lathe. Turning a dadoes and rabbets, 36-39; dovetails
Case hardening: honeycomb effect newel-post cap, 704-705 cut with a router and a template, 52-55;
caused by lumber drying faster outside Featherboard: slotted board used with functions, 35; glue joint, 36, 40; half-
than in. Preventing, 8 table saw to hold work. Making, 40 blind lock joint, 41-42; hand-cut
Caul: pieces of wood cut to fit between File card: Brush with soft wire bristles. dovetails, 46, 47-51; Japanese
clamps and the work being glued. Cleaning rasps and files, 86 woodworking techniques, 33; lap, 58,

Around curves, 74; improvising, 72, 73; Files: scraping wood, 86, 90 63; lap dovetail, 46, 50-57; mitered, 66-
and veneered surface, 112, 775 Forming tool, 87 77;mitered lock joint, 41, 43-45;
Checking: splits or cracks in wood as a Furniture-making: cabriole leg, 84-85; mortise-and-tenon, 34, 58-63; tongue-
result of improper drying, 8, 9, 70 cutting a circular tabletop, 81-83; and-groove, 36-39; through dovetail,
Cherry, properties, 11 shaping a chair by hand, 97; turning a 46, 47-50
Chestnut: grain, 10; properties, 11 furniture leg on a lathe, 96-707

Clamps: adding blocks, 74, 75; band, 72; Knots, 9, 70

bar, 28, 30, 31, 42, 50, 72, 73; C clamps, Glue: clamping glued joints, 72-75;
72, 74; with cauls, 72, 73, 74, 7/5; contact cement, 112, 113, 118, 119; Lap joint, 58, 63
corner, 72; edging, 72; fast-action bar, hide, 112, 113; iron-on glue sheets, 113; Lathe: choosing wood for turning, 92;

72; hand screw, 37, 72, 75; improvising, and veneer, 112, 113, 114-115; white, 28, faceplate turning, 104-105; hand tools,
73; for miter joints, 74-75; pipe, 72, 74 113; yellow, 28, 112, 113, 121,123 93, 94; maintenance, 92; operating, 92,

Contact cement: and veneer, 112, 113, Clue joint, 36, 40 93-703; rough cutting, 96; safety, 93;
118,119 Grain: and cutting tools, 86; in sanding wood while turning, 703;
Corner joints. See Dovetails, Lock joints hardwoods, 8, 70 shaping a cylinder into a furniture leg,

Crosscutting, 76; jig, 75, 76 96-101; splintering, 96; using a

Curves, cutting with power tools: with Hand tools: chisels, 93, 94; cleaning, 86; template, 102-103
band saw, 78-85; in cabriole leg, 84-85; compass plane, 86, 89; drawknife, 86- Lock joints: half-blind, 47-42; mitered, 43-

in circular tabletop, 87-83; finishing 87; files, 86, 90; forming tool, 86, 87; on scrap wood, 36
45; testing

with hand tools, 86-97; with jig saw, 78, gouge, 93, 96, 99, 700; parting tool, 93, Lumber: characteristics of hardwoods, 8
85; parallel, 79; on a stack of boards, 79 700, 702; rasps, 86, 90; riff lers, 86, 90, 97; 11; drying, 8, 12, 73; grades of, 8; grain,

skew chisel, 93. 94, 97, 98, 99, 100, 707; 8, 70; and growth of tree, 8, 9; knots in
Dado: rectangular channel cut into spokeshaves, 86, 88; thumb plane, 86, 9, 70; milling of logs, 70; moisture in,
board. Cutting on table saw, 36, 38-39, 89; for turning wood on a lathe, 92, 93, 12, 73; reaction wood, 9, 70; shrinkage

41-45; jig for, 37; joints, 36; in lock 94. See also Planes of boards, 12, 73; for woodworking, 7
127
 1

Mahogany: grain, 10; properties, 11 Rabbet: steplike cut in the edge of a 39; and featherboard, 40;and glue
Maple, properties, 1 board. Cutting with a router, 37; joint, 36, 40; installing a molding head,
Milling techniques, 70 cutting on a table saw, 39, 44; joints, 36; 36,40; jigs for, 14, 75; and lap joint, 62;
Miter joint: blind-spline, 66, 77; in lock joints, 43-44 and lock joints, 41-55; miter gauge, 74;

clamping, 74-75; edge miters, 66, 67-68; Rasps, uses, 86, 90 mitered joints, 67-77; ripping, 14, 76;

flat miters, 66, 69-70; jig for, 68, 69, Resawing thick stock, 77-79 safety, 15; and slip joint, 63
70; multiple miters, 68; splines for, Rifflers, uses, 86, 90, 97 Teak, properties, 11
66, 67, 70, 71; strengthening with Ripping rough boards, 76; jig, 75, 76 Template, a pattern or mold used as a

splines, 66 Rosewood: grain, 10; properties, 11 guide to shaping work. For cutting
Moisture meter: machine to measure Rough cutting, 76-79; crosscutting with dovetails with a router, 52, 53-55; for
amount of moisture in boards being table saw, 14, 76; resawing thick sanding, 708-709; shaping a furniture
dried. Testing boards, 12, 73 boards, 77-79; ripping boards with a leg on a lathe, 702-703

Molding head: attachment to table saw table saw, 14, 76 Tenon, cutting with a table saw, 58, 67
that cuts with profiled blades. Using, Router: attaching dovetail template, 53; Tongue-and-groove joints, 36; cutting

36,40 cutting dovetail joints, 52-55; cutting dadoes and rabbets, 36-39; in flooring
Mortise-and-tenon joints: blind, 58; dadoes and rabbets, 36, 47; cutting a and wall paneling, 36; joining dadoes
cutting mortise, 58, 59-60; cutting mortise, 58-60; and dado cutter, 37; and and rabbets, 36; lock joints, 47-45
tenon, 67; and a drill press, 34, 59; lap rabbet cutter, 37; cutting recess for Tubular sander: safety, 107; using, 709
joint, 58, 63; mortiser, 58; pinned, 58, inlays (veneer), 720, 722, 724-725; Turning wood: choosing wood to turn on
62; planning dimensions, 58, 59; slip routing a tongue, 37; safety, 36 a lathe, 92; faceplate turning, 704-705;
(open), 58, 63; through, 58 hand tools, 92, 93, 94; operating a lathe,
Sanding: with belt-and-disk sander, 706, 92, 93-703; shaping a cylinder into a
Newel-post cap: turning with a faceplate, 707-709; smoothing wood while furniture leg, 96-707; with a template,
704-705 turning on a lathe, 703; with a 702-703
template, 708-709; with a tubular
Oak: grain, 10; properties, 11 sander, 107, 709 Veneer: air pockets in, 779; applying to
Shooting board: guide to planing an large surfaces, 112, 774-775; border
Panels, planing and joining boards at edge. Used with a jointer plane, 28, 29 inlay, 770, 720-727; clamping with a

edges, 28-32 Softwood, described, 8 caul, 112, 775; curves, 776; finishing
Planes: block, 20, 23; cleaning, 20; Spokeshaves, using to round and smooth edges, 778-779; gluing, 112, 113, 774-
compass, 86, 89; jack, 20, 27, 22; jointer, curves, 86,88 775; hammer veneering, 112, 776;
20, 28, 29; jointer-planer, 24-27; scrub, Sycamore, properties, 11 inlays, 720-725; patterns, 773;

20, 27; thumb, 86, 89 producing, 111,112; repairing and

Planing: by hand, 20-23; with a jointer- Table saw: aligning, 74; attaching a dado patching, 777; splicing joints, 774
planer, 24-27; long edges of boards to head, 36, 38, 41; bevel cut, 45; and box
be joined, 28, 29; with a shooting joint, 56-57; cleaning blade, 14; Walnut: grain, 10; properties, 11
board, 28, 29 crosscutting, 14, 76; cutting dadoes, 36, Warping: bowing, 73; correcting, 27;
Power tools, safety precautions, 9. See 38-39, 47-44; cutting rabbets, 39, 44; cupping, 73, 27; during drying, 8, 73;
also Names of individual tools cutting a tenon, 58, 67; cutting tongues, springing, 73; twisting, 73, 27

128