【木工制作杂志Woodsmith】#040 - Country Wall Cupboard

NO. 40 NOTES I-ROM TFE SHOP $2. s0 r\" |'..'::. -.t:! r, ..t l r l r f .,:1 )' " t ; Edilor Donald E. P$chke Design Oi€clo. rsd Krallcet Assislanl Editors Stev€ Krohmsr Dougl$ L. Hlcks oou9la6 . Lld8ter Art Oirsctor Kay Muld€r T€chnical llluslfaloF Oavld Kreyllng ittk€ ttenry Subsc prion Managef Srndy J. Baum Subsriprion Assistanls chrlst€l lrln€r vlcky Foblmon Jackle Siroud Dlrna Sbr Compul€r Opglalions Ksn ittn€r Circulation [,lanag6r Jefl Farrls Adminisratvo Assistant Cheryl Scoti Building Mainrenance Afchle Krauae WOODSiII]H (SSN 0164-4114) is publishgd bimonlhly (January, March, May, July, Seplsm. ber, November) by Woodsmilh Publishiig Co., 2200 Grand Ave., Oes ^ ,loin€s, lowa 50312. WOODSillTtl is a fsgislered trademak ol lhe Woodsmilh Publishing Co. .Copylght 1985 byWoodsmilh Publishing Co. Subcdptlon6: One year (6 issu€s) $10, Two yeals (12 issues) $18. S,nglo copy pice, $2.50 (Canada and Fofeign: add $2 per year.) changeolAddr63s: Please be sure ro include bolh youf old and new addr€ss. Seond cla33 po€ttge pald al Des Moines, P$haslsr: Send chang€ or address nolice, Fom 3579, lo Woodsmith Publishing Co.,2200 Gand Ave., Des Moines, lowa 50312. BACK ISSUES Allback issues ol W@dsdnh ar€ stillavailablg. Send lor a free booklel describing lhe conrenrs and p ces ol all back issues. SAUPLE COPIES llyou haveaffiendwhowould like lo see a copy of Woodshlih, juslsend !h€ nam€andadd€ss, and wellsend a sample (at no cost). Sawdust SHARII A couple ofweeks ago I was helping a fiiend set up and sharpen a brand nervjack plana. As he iookit out ofthe box for the first tinre, h€ was a litile surprised q,hen I looked at it and sai{i. "Boy, this is Aoing to take a lot of work." " I t 's brand new," he arsued, "why should ii necd a lot of {ork?" The problern is that we usually ihink of "ne!v" m€aninA that something is in the best condiiion possible. Everything fiom there on just weals it out. But s'ith s'oods'orkins tools (especially hand tools), jusi ihc opposite is tne. A nes' tool usually ne€ds a lot of work €specially if it's one that has (or is supposed to have) r shary edse. Plane nons, chisels, and carvingtools all need to be shar"ened s'he. they're new And this taskcontinues as lors as ihe tool is used. Okax I've made my case for sharp€nins - albeit not a very conirovelsial one, es pecially when we're talking about planes and chisels. But how about Fo$tner bits? This is on€ tool most of us would neyer dr€am of sharpening. The first one I bousht cost $15 (for o"" y:" bt). A.d all it took was on€ look al the business end to conlinceme thatth€re's no way io sharpen a FoNtner bit. Even ifit could be done, it would certainly requirc an exp€nsive ar- ray of machine shop equipment. So, the only rlternalive was to assume that "new" in this case meant that the bit wasth€ best it sas going to be. And when il sot dull, I would just lrave lo toss il. Waii aminute. Throw awaya$15bjt just because it's dutl. No s'aJ'. Thal's when I decided lo leam how to sharyen Forstner bits. (See page 4.) It didn't take longbefore I discovered that a I'olstner bit is relatively easJ lo sharyen. And then comes the fun part. Just like workins on a plan€ and se€ing the first cnsp shavings, it's a thrjll to see the lons ibbon of shavings that emerses f.om a well-shar"ened Forstner bit. In fact, ii's sralNs.It's obvious that I can get excited about sharpenins. But lhe subjecl of an- oih€r art'cle in this issue $'olking with stains is one I've nevef been too int€L- ested in. Part of il is that I like natuml sood. Stain always seens artificial. But the oiher palt is that I never knew ivhat to do silh a stain if I didn't like th€ particular tone orcolon The bis question for me was: How do I get the color I want? It turns out that the ansrver is not nuch different that the answer for how to sharpen a Fontner. All it iakes is some Ii's messy, and the ends of yoN finge$ tum a lot of different colors. but mixins your oln stain is an inter€sting process. The al.ticle slating on page 19 giles an overview of the differenl types of stains alailable. Then in Talkins Shop (page 2B) ofihis issue, s'e sive a fomula for making your o"n hone brew It opens a Lot of possibilities for coloring wood. This aticle continues our sel.ies on fin- ishing. We're already at work on the up' coming aticles oniopcoais: vamish, shel r MBoLRs. W}lile I'm on the subject of discovering new ways to doing thinss, I found a nee use for a tambour. Although the typical application is to use jt as a sliding lid (as on a roli top desk), it does have at least one other in ie.est ing appiication. I used a tanbour to fonn a cylinder to build the umbrella sland andpiaDterstand sbo{r in this issue. (See pages 6 and r0.) (By the way, in case you're sondering about the word "bumbershoot" in Lhe sub- title on page 6, it's English slang for soURcDBoo(. Last year in September, we sent out the frst edition ofthe Wood smith Sourceboak. The response to that nrst effort was overwhelming orde$ ivere placed tha. we (or the adver- tiseG) thoushl possible. Wlich indicates one thing: the SorlrceDoo/r proved to be a useful guide to the information that's available on woodsorkng catalogs, iools, and supplies. This year, s'e're doingan encore!iththe Soarc€booi- It will be mailed out lh€ end of August so you should receive it by the middle of September. For those of you q'ho have subscrib€d to Wooftntllr rec€ntl), the Sourceboak mar come as a surprise. Almost everyone lik€s ihe fact that ure pages of woodsn ifi aren't cluttercd with a lot of ads. Onthe otherhand, manyof oursubscrib- €l.Ns niss som€ ofthe information that ad- vertising provides. So, we initiated the Woatunith Saurcebaok to ptovide a single souce for ordering catalogs and product Insjde this year's Sorrrcebooi you'll find descriptions of 43 woodlorkins catalogs and products. Yet, the page.otwao&rlnith masazine stayjust ihe way ev€ryone likes ihem advertising free. I hope you find theSorrcebool helpful in ploviding lhe information you need lo buy shop tools and supplies. NExr MAILTNG. The Seplember/October issue of Woo&nilh (No. 4l) sill be maiLed during the week of October 15, 1985. WooDsMlrH TipS S Ti..hniques ? WooDsMrrH NO.ClAMP5 F'ATHTRAOARD l'unbhrg Nitlr claups to faslen a fearh€r board to a sa\r table ahvavs seened likc a lot oftrouble io make one cut. Recent\' I built this no'clamps featherboard to solve the ploblem. It\ an ordinarx featherboar.l Nith a lhin griile bar fastcned to the bot iom that tnounts in the table saw's miter I began bl' makinga featherboard oLrt of 5I s tnck Olera l l . mrne i . ; t r ide b\ 18 ' lo ' ,ganr l has a l5 'cut un the feathrred end. The indi! Lral barbs ofth. featherarc |I,i \tide bY 3 long. ,{fter the 'feathcr" end is cur, rour two v{-\dde br'6 lonCadiustment slors allthe Nay through ihe featherbodd. The slots aI€ 2l:" apart and start 1" fi.om lhe barbs. r\"e\1, cut aguid€ bar to Nidth and thick- nes,c so it fits precisell in the miicr gauge slot ofvour table saN Make it at least as longas the entire trble for Do$ laterit s cut to 12". AficrcuttiDgtheguirle barto fit the slot. clamp the bar to the bottom ofthe feather board. Lirre it up parallel \\'ith the feath- ercd cnd ( that is , a t a{S"angletotheedge) and oY.r the adjustment siots. Using th€ slots as a gauge, mark thcir locations on the gaide bar $ith aD awl. Unclamp and ddll a ri dia. counteFnrk and % -dia. hole centered on the suidc bar at €ach nar.ked location. Aftef the tlvo holcs are dfilled, cut a v ' :s topped s lot (ker0 cenrered on the holes allthe $ar throush thegrrnte bar: To do this. clamp thr piece do$n to the ,qa$ tablc so it\ (idth is ceDtered r.isht over the blad€. Ttren sloNlv raise rhe bl;de until therc's an S lons dot. Finallr', th€ bar can be cut to 12" long. Assemble thc featherboar- i l wi th a couple 2" long, '/r"-din. flathead mache screws, Nrshefs, and lving nuts_ Tighte. ingthe wingnuts causesthescre$s to stidc u! inlo tlre countersink. -{s the! sliile up. the '/"" slot is opened and sDreads thc bar ao hol.l it secLr.ll in the miter gauge stor. One prcblem I discolered \as that thc BOTTOM VIEW ^":Er'": ,E*;W\E' scre$'s t$'isted rather than tightened as I turDed the \ ns nuts. I solved this br cutting the slot in the top ofeach screw a little deep€r and then slujng a finishins nail nrto the slot $'ith epoxy. Rohei l K. Gndl At tor , I t t i a is MI'IRING SMALI STOCK I'!e made a number of projects that re quire 'r' quater-round moklinss as glass stops. These usualh r€quire a precise miter. It's difficult to hold the smatl mold- inss tight and in the conect posiiion on a table saN of traditional miter bori. My solution was to make a mnriaturc miter box. Th€ work suface is a pi€ce of l/4 stock $ ith a /1"-$.ide \'/i-deep gl oove cut dorvn the center io hokl the moiding.(These ineasurements could b€ altered to 1lt the piece to be mitered). To cut the 45" ke|f in the work sur.face, tust lar.. it out n'ith a p€ncil. Then clamp a temporarl guide board to the line anil cul i l i th a backsaw along the board unt i l therc's a %"-deep kelf in ihc work sufacc. Next f l ip the p iece o ler and dr i l l a 1vr ' -d ia. f i lger hoic centered on the s oole:}nd aboutll" fi.om the kef The hole makes it easicr- to hold and romole rhe workpiece and helps clear out sawdLNt be Then scrc$ a block to thc botom ofthejisto clamp it in a vise. l.'inal\,, cut apiece ofsclap as a stopthat\just lhickenough to(edge in thc groole. v'.,drll A tl.ts., HaDtrcat l , I l l i ia is CTIANINO UP NOICHIS Since I don't osn:] bandsas, I u,.ed m) sabre salr to cur out the notchcs iD the top and bottom pieccs Nhen I rvas buiklinstlre Enslish UrallLanteln ( li'oods Di itl No. 3d). But I $asn t able to get an e!en, smooth edge- Tbe router tabie solved thepl'oblem. After making '/j-wme, fuildepth end cuts on the table sa$r mafk a cut olT line about %,," less thaD the tul1 depth. Then cut alons this line $ith a sabre sa\l N€xt, mount a %" str.aight bit 0n th. router table and raise it up Lrntil it\ abo\,e the thickness of the \olkpicce. Set the distance flom the lence to the outside of the bit the same as the depth of the table sa\rn notches. This shoulil be just d.c! enough Lo clean offthe %,i'and stmighten up tne un€ven edges. Tin Dni , IlbatJ la nd. IIlt sh i rytan t 'd i ror 's No1.r l l 'e t t i .d l I t . Dtd;" s netho. l a"d i t o tks l iN. Rt t wt . l l ike t . ) .(l(l a cadrl. .( tiors: Be &t..tnt itot to sra tt ard stop the ctt toa.lio. into th. table sant ,()tt:hfs ta at ta ooto. llt( cane$. tStop h l .cks canld b. at tdch. t l t r th . fe ie to pt?.ent th is) . Ar . l l i th the Er l l ish I I i t l l Ldr t .n t , lhe t t t is h. i j t lJ tu t tcd i l r rd l rdnt . R. sr rc to hal . l a" f t . r rcL as n ' rdtet h i t , r ( r "o\ l i lh . crd 0ta i . t\ Y ,,/ -/- scREw BrocK ,.t.>4 --' "i""3J3" SEND IN YOUI IDIAS ll you d likelosharcawoodwo4(inglipwith olhef teadets ol Woadsmith, ssnd your idea tol Waodsnih, rips & Techniqu€s, 2200 cand Ave., Des Moines. lowa 50312. We pay a min imum of $r0 lor t ips, and $15 or mo.e lor special lschniques (thal afe accepted rorpub icalion). P ease giveacomplet€ sxplana- lion ol your idea. lf a skelch is needed. send tt a longiws l ldraw a new one. Sbarpstuqg: Forstner Bits HOW TO GET A SHARP EDGE ON A BORING BIT rorstnerbits can do things no otherbit can do. Forexample, ifyou it'ant lo d llahole at an angle (aven a vel.v steep angle), a Forstner bit \rill do the job. If you rvant to drill olerlappins holes (forroushinsoutanoftise, forexample), a Fo$tnerbit is the one to choose. Oa ifyou need todrilla flat-botton€d hole, orifyou have to drill into end srain or wild sain The rcason Forstnerbits can accomplish these tasks rvhen other bits can't is be cause the rim, rather lhan the center point, suides the bii through the wood. Although there is a small ce.ter point in ihe cutting head, it's used only to position the bit at the stadins location. It plays no role in suidins the bit through the \rood. The rim scor€s the circumference ofthe hole being drilled. Th€n, \'hile the rim is holdins th€ bit in position, iwo chisel-like lifiers (iadiaiing from the centerofthe bit) pare arvay the wood with a planins action. a HEAt-SlNsltrvE Brr But wiih all it's abilities, l'orstner bits arc nor wiihout problens. Th€ most serious is its tendency to overheat. Fo$tner bils were developed for us€ in a bit b.ace (hand brace), and not intended for tbe speed ofa rnotor-drilen drill press. Since the €ntire dn of the bit is in full contact with lhe wall ofthe hole, l'ontner bits must be run at slow sp€eds (less than 400 rpm) or they will overheat. Ifthe bit is mn too fasi, a tremendous anount ofheat will be built up as th€ rin Irlbs against the circunference of the hole. This heat can draw the temper from the steelvery quickly (Ifihe steel turns blue. the temper is dralvn.) Once the temper is drawn, the rim s'ill be ioo soft to hold a sharp cutting edse. Then it's usually/o/ced into the wood, or the speed is increased to ,rak€ it cut, whichjusl mins the bit. Anoth€r problem with Forstner bits is that thelre very poor at ejecring wood chips, especially when tbey're not sharp. The ejection throats t€nd to clos and then it's difficult to feed the bit into the wood. When this happens, the most common soiution is to "jog" the bit d ll a little, lift up, drill a little more, lift up. If the clogging is r€ally bad, you have to stop ihe ddll press and use an awl or small nail to clear the ejection throats. Bui, there's a better solution. Forstner bils clog for one .eason: they'r€ not shary. lnfact, even a brand new bit isn't as sharT stones for y€ars, I've rccently switched to a pair ofJapanese {ater slip stones in 1000 and 4000 srit. These stones m€a- sure2"x 4". (See Sou-Ices, page 24.) B€cause they're larger than the lndia/Arkansas ston€s, feeling for the onginal be!'el is more diffrcult. But I If the bit is sharpened, it will srtce tirough th€ wood vith ven, liitle resis- tanc€ ($hich rcduces heat build'up). And instead of clogging, it will actually produce lons dbbons ofshavings, see pholo. TOOTS NEIDID TOT sI{ARP'NING However, all it takes is one look at th€ business end of a Forstner bit to realize that there's no way to shapen ii. The nrn can only be reached from tle insjde, and the lifte.s are impossibl€ to set to. Okay, it's no se$et that sharyening a Forstner bit is trickier than sharpening other€dged tools. Bul it can be done. And with the help of a few tricks and the dght equipment, it's really pretty easy. I use two small carver's slip stones (mediurn and fine), and a sirnple jis to hold the bit. sl,rpsroNEs-The slips I usearemade for sharpenins carving tools: a small (r/' x 2%") medium-grit lndia and a hard Ar- kansas make a nice combination for sharp ening Forstner bits. (S€e Souces, page %.)The Indiais used in the initial stages to rough down the edse, and then the hard Arkansas is used io hone the eds€. Although I've used the India/Arkansas find rnyself putting up with this incon- venience because the Japanese stones cut faster and produce a better edse. HoLDING JIc, To help hold the Forstner bit at the proper angle rvhen using the stones, I use a simple hoidingjig. This jig isn'r fancli it'sjust a piece of scrap with a hole the size of ihe bit shank, see Fig. 1� Shop Note: Cut a kerfthmueh the hole so when the jig is placed in a vis€, tle amount of pressure on the bit ca be ad'justed by looseningor tighteningthe vise. This rdll allo{ the bit to spin free or be held secuely in the hole. SHATPENING THE I.I'TTRS Once the sharyenins equipment is col- lected, I start *orking on the tifters. SHARPEN LTFTER BACK. The back ofthe lifter has to be flat and smooth before the bevel can be sharpe.ed. The first step in flattenins the back requires getting the bit into position so the back ofthe lift€rcan be reached comfortably, see Fis. 1� I find that secuinsthejisin a vise so the bit is parallel to the floor and pointing to the left feels comfofiable. Thjs puts the back of th€ lifier in line with my am for a WOODSMTTH natxral back-and-fol1h sharpening motion. Once the throat is liDed up comfortab\', s iar t Ni th the medium gf i l s tone io smooth the back. Rock th€ stone on the back of the lifter until il lesls flat. Then stfokc back and fofth, see fig. 2. The kcJ is to be consistent in the strcking motioD. Keep sloning until the backs of both lifters looksmoothand flat. Thenswitch to a fine honins stone and so thlough th. sH.rripE)i r,IlTER r]EVELS. When both lifterbacksarc flat and mirrorsnooth, the lifter b€vels can be sharyened. At first, it may look like this pari of the lifter is iln- possibleto get to. But there's a smallclear ance nolcb in the dm ight Dext to the lifter This rotch alloirs enoush clearance forthe stoneto rcstflat on th€ ]ifterbelel. To sha$en the lifter belel, I begin bI clamping thejigin the rise so the bit is held almost upright, see Fig. 3. Then place the n€dium grit slip stone on thc belel and feel for th€ orisinal angle. Uhen vou find the angle. rub the stone back and folth. (Althoush it looks like Jou'll run into the im aS ihe stip stone is stroked. the angle ofthe lifter is such that the stone is actunl\' sumed up and aral from the dm, see rig. 3.) Aftef one lifter is stoned. Iotate the bit and store the opposite lifter: 'fhen Iepeat tne prccess irith Lhe line stone to hone the lifters to a shary edge. I r::i ::: : : xi,xi ":,i' i it : :j "i?,:i:, |ril ls parulkl h a nolloltl sh-oking notion. Thurlb ptessue slead.ies hit. 4 : :5" :r ii: :i;,:I: ]'i "",; :" ::l#:ygte. Rotat...tile and bit in opposite di. rcctia8 to scftpe a srnoth be9t. REItovE lHE NrRt) EDGE. As the lifter bevel is honed, arvne edge is la ised on the back (flat) snl€. To remove the wire edsc, position thejis and bil as thev Nere uhen flatienins the back, see rig. L Then lerf, lishtly rubthelinc honinsstone across the back lo hoDe off lhe irc e.lge. s} IARPIN IHI NIM The next step is sharpenins tbe r.ims. If lhe bit is in really bad s}ape, or has sloppy sdndins fron the faclor\', the inside con- toul. ofthe n has to b€ shaped before it can be sharyened. This requires a rather unorthodo\ technique. I scrap€ the edge witb the sharpened edge ofa triangllarfile. T0 do tbis,lishtly srindthethree sides at the iipofthefileto makc three shary cutling cdges. Because the nle slccl is considerably hadar than the l'orstn€f bit, lhis tool wilt actuallr Nos' hoki the bit ir onc hand and use a sharp corner of the file to make several smooth strokes along the entirc dm, see Fig. 4. It's easier tha. it sounds to (aNe thc inside b€lel to a smooth shape- sTo).-INc THFi RIM. Tbe technique I use to sharpen the rim is torotat€ the bitagainst the rounded edge of ure slip stone. Put the bi t in thej is , and c lanp thej ig in a v ise so it's roughll at a 45" ansle. Make sufe the Now place the round cdse of the slip 4 Flott?" the Liftct hock l,A strckirn th. - norp l lor ugoins l lh , s t l {u te. Cat t inre t i l l aL l tool ,1orks af t ga e, then hanc to ),ntutJin;sh nith fine stone. 1 Shoqret i^ith of n t L! trtotinq thz r h i ! (h" l , l l ! ! te l ! in thpj t t t oqt inst the edse of the sta e. Use the ce tetpoint ta pilDt th. hit o the end at' tht stoue. stone on the insidc bcyel of the rim, sce Fig- 5- To gel a consistcnt honing aDgle, slide the end of the stoDe in so it rests oD the bit's ceDter point. NoN ir's just a maticr of holding thc stone stcadt an.i rotatirg the bil so the entire edge of the m rubs asainst the edge ofthe slip slone. Just spin the bil s'iUr wlren the insi.le of the rim is unifonnly smooth, fcpcal the process on the opposite im- Then switch lo the fine stone to hone RErrovE $rnri Et)cE. The last step is to remove thc Nire