Project Design Archives - Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/category/how-to/woodworking-skills/project-design/ America's Leading Woodworking Authority Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:57:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.7 PROJECT: In-Drawer Knife Block https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-in-drawer-knife-block/ Fri, 05 Apr 2024 20:57:41 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69486 Add custom storage to almost any kitchen drawer with a simple-to-make knife block.

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The best way to store kitchen knives is in a knife block. It will keep them organized and protect the blades from both getting damaged and perhaps even injuring you! While countertop knife blocks often serve as decorative accents in a kitchen, not everyone wants their cutlery on display. Or maybe you just don’t have room for another object on the countertop. A knife block that fits inside a drawer is a great space-saving alternative.

Gluing up blocks for knife storage
Face-glue and clamp three pairs of bottom inside dividers together, and do the same for the handle rest halves. Be careful to keep the part edges and ends aligned while the glue is still tacking up.

The two-level design I’ve come up with here is relatively easy to build and offers a wide range of customization options. The dividers are made from a combination of 1/2″- and 3/4″-thick solid walnut and mounted on a 1/4″-thick Baltic birch plywood base. But you can choose just about any species of wood, mix and match multiple species or even use Baltic birch plywood for all the parts, if you like.

Cutting the Parts

Look at the the Drawings and Material List to familiarize yourself with the knife block’s design and pieces. Start construction by ripping enough 2-1/4″-wide stock to make the bottom inside and outside dividers.

Then rip 1-3/8″-wide pieces for the top dividers and handle rest. Crosscut the bottom dividers, top dividers and handle rest parts 1/4″ longer than necessary for now.

Shaping the Dividers and Rest

Marking contour cuts on knife blocks with compass
Draw a 3-3/4″ radius on the top front corner of each of the bottom inside and outside dividers. Mark the four top dividers with 1-5/16″ radii.

Face-glue three pairs of bottom inside dividers together, and do the same for the two handle rest parts. Carefully align their edges and ends flush. When the glue dries, unclamp and crosscut the parts to final length.

Using band saw to round off knife storage blanks
Cut the divider curves to rough shape at the band saw or with a jigsaw. Saw just to the waste side of your layout lines.

Now grab your compass to lay out a 1-5/16″ radius on the sides of the top dividers and a 3-3/4″ radius on the sides of the bottom dividers. Then, use a band saw or jigsaw to cut just outside the layout line on each divider.

Sanding down sharp edges on knife storage block
For both consistency and effi ciency, the author clamped the top and bottom dividers into groups so he could gang-sand their curves to the layout lines.

I clamped the top dividers into a single group and did the same for the bottom dividers so I could sand their curves to the layout lines all at once. Next, use a hand plane, file or sanding block to shape a slight radius on the top of the handle rest. When that’s done, sand all the knife block parts to 180-grit.

Assembling the Knife Block

Shaping rest piece for knife storage block
Mark the top edge of the handle rest with a slight radius, and shape it with a block plane, file or sanding block.

Cut the plywood base to size as well as seven spacers for the top and bottom dividers from 1/4″-thick scrap. Place the bottom dividers upside down and insert spacers between them, aligning the back ends of all pieces. The spacers are narrower than the dividers to prevent them from contacting the base when the dividers are installed.

Clamping parts for knife storage block glue-up
Arrange the inside and outside bottom dividers together, upside down, and insert 1/4″-thick scrap spacers between them. Align the parts so the back ends of the dividers are even.

Clamp the dividers and spacers together. Apply a thin layer of glue to the bottom edges of the dividers only. Then flip the divider-and-spacer assembly over and clamp it to the base.

Using clamping caul to secure knife block glue-up
Clamp the bottom divider assembly to the knife block’s base so the back edges and sides of the parts are flush. A scrap caul can be helpful for pressing each divider down with clamps, as needed.

When that glue-up dries, remove the clamps and spacers. Repeat the assembly process to install the top dividers. Glue and mount the handle rest to the base where it best suits the handles of your knives.

Attaching handle rest to knife block assembly
Glue and install the top dividers on the bottom dividers with spacers in between. Mount the handle rest on the base with glue and clamps.

Finally, lightly sand all surfaces with 220-grit paper and apply a wipe-on poly finish to all surfaces. It will be foodsafe once the finish completely cures.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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PROJECT: Dovetailed Printer Stand https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-dovetailed-printer-stand/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 21:49:53 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69384 This home office project will help you brush up on your dovetailing skills.

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Aproject doesn’t have to have “heirloom” potential to be worth building, of course, and that was the case for this little organizer. I simply needed a way to stack a printer, scanner and a ream of paper to take up less space on my desk. The stand’s through dovetails on top aren’t crucial, but they gave me a good reason to practice my sawing and chopping skills, which had gotten a little rusty. If your dovetailing could use a refresher course too, perhaps earmark this project as one to build before diving into a bigger dovetailing commitment.

Preparing a Long Panel

Marking cut lines for printer stand on wood panel
Laying out the project parts sequentially on a single long panel enables the grain to flow as continuously as possible from one side of the printer stand to the other, harmonizing the pattern.

There are only four parts on this stand’s Material List, so its modest lumber requirement provides a nice opportunity to try an exotic or figured wood you wouldn’t normally choose. I settled on a piece of swirly grained bubinga. Its irregular pattern and reddish color reminds me of marble more than wood!

Whatever species you choose, rip and crosscut enough 3/4″-thick stock to glue up a panel measuring 16″ wide by 48″ long. Joint and plane the boards carefully to minimize the glue seams as much as possible, then glue and clamp them up. When the joints dry and the panel comes out of the clamps, plane, scrape or sand any uneven glue seams flat, and sand the panel up to 120-grit.

Using marking knife to determine top side of printer stand
Set a marking gauge slightly wider than the thickness of the top panel, and incise a baseline around what will be the top end of each side panel. These will register a chisel blade later.

The reason for beginning with a single panel is so you can harvest the individual workpieces from it to harmonize the grain pattern. Square up the ends of the panel. Then, starting from one end, mark an 8″ length for one side panel, a 16-1/2″-long piece next to it for the top panel and another 8″ piece after that for the other side panel. Crosscut the parts to rough size. What’s left of the panel is the shelf. Trim it to 15-1/2″ wide and 15″ long. Finish up this step by trimming the sides to 7-1/2″ long and the top to its final length of 16″.

Starting with Tails

Marking out dovetail joinery on printer stand with saddle squares
Clamp the side panels together to lay out the pin sockets simultaneously on both boards. Rockler’s 90-degree and 1:6 Dovetail Saddle Squares can make this layout process easier.

There’s no shame in cutting through dovetails with a router and a dovetail jig, if you’d rather do that. But I like the ability to create narrower pins than my dovetail jig will allow and the freedom to space the pattern as I choose — two big advantages of cutting dovetails by hand.

If you like the look of the dovetail pattern shown on the facing page and in the Drawings, we’ll start by laying out the tails on the two side panels. Grab a sharp marking gauge and scribe a baseline for the tails all the way around the top ends of both side panels. Set these scribe lines about 1/32″ wider than the thickness of the top panel (this way, the tops of the tails will protrude slightly above the top panel when the joints are assembled).

Using hand saw to cut out dovetail tails along marked lines
Sawing the angled layout lines that form the pin sockets/tails is often done freehand.

Now lay out the center points of the pins every 2″ across the tops of the sides. This spacing will create a half socket on both ends of the side panels and six pin sockets in between. I did this by first clamping both side panels together with their ends and edges aligned and their “show” faces pointing outward. That way, I could mark the center points on one board and extend the layout lines across to the other board so the sockets would align perfectly.

The tops of the pin sockets are 1/4″ wide, so mark those next on both sides of each center line. I then set the angles of the tails to 1:6 (about 10 degrees). It makes the bottoms of the pin sockets 1/2″ wide. Use a fine-lead mechanical pencil and either a bevel gauge or a dovetail saddle square to draw the tail shapes down to the baselines on both side panels. Unclamp the side panels and complete the tail layouts on their inner faces, too. Do yourself a favor right now, and mark the pin sockets with black Xs to avoid confusion later. These are the waste areas to remove.

Metal dovetail cutting guide
But a magnetic dovetail sawing guide, such as this one designed by David Barron, builds confidence.

You’re now ready to saw the tails down to the baselines with a dovetail saw, following your angled layout lines. Many will cut these freehand. But if you’re less than confident that you can saw squarely and accurately, there’s another option that makes the process very easy. A number of years ago, I tried out a clever and simple aluminum jig, designed by British woodworker David Barron, that guides the saw blade while making the tail and pin cuts. Rare-earth magnets hold the saw blade at the correct angle while you saw to minimize angle-cutting errors. You can learn more about it at Barron’s website, and on his YouTube videos.

Cleaning out dovetail pockets with fret saw
Remove the waste in the pin socket areas. The author saws the bulk of the material nearly to the baselines with a fretsaw equipped with a fine-tooth blade. The process goes quickly.

To use the jig, position its angled face toward you and rest the portion of the jig below the magnet on the tail board’s top edge. Carefully align one or the other angled edge of the jig with a tail line, hold or clamp the jig securely and set the saw blade against the jig’s magnetic face. Then start the saw cut with a long, gentle stroke and proceed to cut down to the baseline. Repeat this for every tail layout line on both side panels.

Using mallet and chisel to clean up dovetail sockets
The remaining pin socket waste can now be chopped away with a chisel and mallet.

Now remove the waste in the pin socket areas, marked with Xs. To do this, some woodworkers chop all the waste out with just a chisel. I prefer to saw the waste out with a fretsaw first, leaving just a bit of waste at the bottom of each pin socket. Then, I chop and pare the rest of the waste away with the blade registered at the baseline. I work carefully in from one face until about half the waste is removed. When I make these chopping cuts, I tip the handle of my chisel about a degree or two closer to me so I’m slightly undercutting the bottoms of the sockets. When half the waste is removed from all the sockets, I flip the panel over so I can remove the remaining waste by chopping in from the other face. Doing this prevents the chisel from chipping the bottom outer edges of the sockets.

Completed and cleaned dovetail sockets
Register the edge of the chisel in the incised baseline and remove waste to about the center of the side panel’s thickness. Then flip it over to remove the rest, leaving neat pin sockets.

When the sockets are cleaned out, make sure their baselines are flat through the thickness of the side panels. This will enable the pins to slide into them squarely when the joints are assembled. Check the baselines with the blade of a square extended through the sockets; it should rest evenly across them on the baselines. Pare away any remaining waste that prevents this from happening.

Trimming printer stand panel corners with band saw
Cut off the tiny back half-pin socket waste and the longer front wastepiece marked with Xs at the band saw. Be very careful when setting the saw’s rip fence so these cuts will fall just to the waste side of the baseline. They should line up exactly with the baselines of the chopped pin sockets.

Carefully saw off the tiny half-pin socket waste from the back corners of the side panels and the longer front wastepiece. I did this at the band saw with each side workpiece registered against a rip fence and the blade cutting just to the waste side of the baseline.

Shaping the Pins

Using dovetail sockets to help mark out pin locations
Clamp each of the side panels on top of the top panel with their ends aligned (the author used a simple plywood jig to make clamping easier). Knife the tail shapes onto the top panel.

With the tails now cut to shape, rip the top panel to its final 14″ width. Clamp it to the edge of your bench with an end facing up, and lay the correct side panel over it on your benchtop.

Using saddle square to lay out dovetail pins
Scribe baselines across the faces and ends of the top panel, then extend straight layout lines down from the knifed tail lines to the baselines. This forms precise pin shapes.

Align the edges of both panels, and adjust the tail board carefully so its baseline is aligned with the inside face of the top panel. Clamp the tail board in place. Carefully transfer the angled tail pattern onto the end of the top panel to mark for the pins.

Marking waste to cut away from dovetail pins
Mark Xs in the large tail socket waste areas beside each pin to avoid confusion.

Use a sharp, thin-bladed marking or pocketknife to incise these lines into the top panel’s end grain. Then flip the top panel so its other end is up and repeat the pin-scribing process using the other tail board.

Cutting dovetail pins with hand saw
Saw straight down to the baselines, aligning the saw blade so the edge of the teeth just “kiss” the knifed pin lines. Accuracy here is crucial to how well the joints will fit together.

Grab your marking gauge, again set 1/32″ deeper than the thickness of the side panels, to scribe baselines across the faces and ends of the top panel. Then draw straight lines down from the knifed lines on the end grain to the baselines to complete the pin shapes. Mark the large tail socket waste areas with Xs.

Forming dovetail pins using a fret saw
A fretsaw with the blade turned sideways is the quickest way to remove waste from the tail socket areas.

Go ahead and saw straight down to the baselines to cut the angled faces of the pins. Again, my Barron jig helped me guide these cuts easily by flipping its orientation around for the pin cuts. Aim as accurately as you can to literally split these layout lines with the saw blade — it will help to minimize the amount of paring you’ll have to do next.

Using chisel to clean out space between dovetail pins
Saw nearly to the baselines, then chop out the rest of the waste.

Saw or chop out the large waste pieces in the tail socket areas. Effectively, the process is the same as when cutting out the pin socket areas, but there’s just more waste to remove. Use wider chisels to help speed the process along, and work carefully when you’re chiseling up to the baselines to keep them straight and evenly aligned with one another.

Test fitting printer stand dovetail joinery
If you’ve sawn and chiseled accurately, the dovetail joints might go together at this preliminary stage with light mallet taps. But don’t force them with excessive pounding if they bind, or you could crack the panels.

Now, fit the corner joints together, one joint at a time. If you’ve cut carefully, the pins and tails should engage one another snugly, right from the start. If they don’t, you’ve got some paring to do to improve the fit.

Trimming dovetail pins after test fit
For overly tight-fitting joints, rub pencil lead on the angled faces of the tails and tap the joints together to see where it transfers to the pins. Then carefully pare away only the lead rub marks on the pins to improve the joint fit.

The goal here is to pare away as little material as possible so the joints will close without creating gaps between the pins and tails. But, if you remove too little, the panels could crack when tapping the joints together. Pare only from the angled, inside faces of the pins, leaving the tails alone. Work slowly and carefully until the joints fit together.

Installing the Shelf

Routing shelf groove in printer stand
Plow a 1/4″-deep x 3/8″-wide groove along the inside face of the side panels for the shelf. Stop these grooves 3/4″ from what will be the front ends of the workpieces. Chisel the rounded ends square.

The dovetails are the hardest part of this project, so it’s downhill from here! Chuck a 3/8″ straight or spiral bit in your router table, and raise it to 1/4″ cutting height so we can plow a groove on the inside face of each side panel for the shelf’s stub tenons. Set and lock the router table’s fence 31-1/16″ away from the back of the bit. Identify the cutting limits of the bit by drawing a pair of long vertical lines on the router table fence to mark the bit’s position. This way, you’ll know where to begin and end these groove cuts accurately — they stop 3/4″ from the front ends of the side panels.

Adding tenons to end of shelving with table saw
Mill stub tenons on the ends of the shelf to fit the grooves in the side panels. One option for cutting them is to use a wide dado blade buried partially in a sacrificial fence facing, as shown here.

Mark the outside faces of the side panels so you can stop the groove cuts accurately. (We’ll be routing these panels with their bottom flat edges against the fence.) Go ahead and plow grooves, then square up their rounded ends with a chisel. When that’s done, cut a 3/8″-thick stub tenon on each end of the shelf. I did this step at the table saw with a wide dado blade buried partially in a sacrificial fence. Trim the front corners off the tenons, shortening their width to 15-1/4″.

Dry-assemble the sides, top and shelf to make sure the dovetail joints close fully with the shelf in place and the sides are square to the top.

Adding Curves and Finishing Up

Smoothing curved foot for printer stand with spindle sander
Draw arches on the front end and bottom edge of the ganged side panels and cut these contoured areas out. Fair and smooth the curves on a spindle sander or with a sanding drum in a drill press.

Disassemble the project so you can use double-sided tape to stick the side panels together in a stack with their inside faces touching. Mark one side panel for the large arch that forms the stand’s 2″-wide “feet” on the bottom edge. I made the apex of this arch 2″ and used a large French curve to create the shape. Draw the smaller curve from the front half pin socket down to the front edge of the side panel 4-1/4″ up from the front foot. Saw these curves into the ganged side panels at the band saw. Then sand the curves smooth and fair.

Installing shelf in printer stand body
Glue up the dovetail joints, then plane the protruding pins and tails flush and final-sand the project. It’s a good idea to prefinish the interior and shelf before gluing it in place. Topcoat the exterior last.

Give all the stand’s parts a final sanding before assembling them. Spread glue on just the dovetails, and clamp up the project with the shelf dry-fitted in place. This way, you can remove the shelf after the glue dries to prefinish it and the interior surfaces of the project next. My bubinga certainly needed no stain, so I simply sprayed it with three coats of aerosol satin lacquer. Once that was done, I flattened the protruding dovetail joints, glued the shelf into its grooves and sprayed the outer surfaces of the project.

Finished printer stand with printer and paper sitting on it

Allow a week for the finish to cure, then this office machine stand is ready for use. And you’ll have another hand-cut dovetailed project under your belt!

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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PROJECT: Stickley Small Server https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-stickley-small-server/ Thu, 14 Mar 2024 19:38:23 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69275 Build this rare, single-drawer version of a Stickley classic. Its timeless styling and compact size will complement any room.

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Originally cataloged as a sideboard, this #802 Gustav Stickley Server was a wider, two-drawer version. The full-size form was very popular in the early 1900s and has continued to be prized by collectors. Voorhees Craftsman, a purveyor of antique Arts & Crafts-style furniture in Pasadena, found a rare single-drawer version that they dubbed a small server. It might have been a one-off custom order from the Stickley factory in Syracuse, New York, or perhaps a rare uncatalogued form. At any rate, its compact size functions perfectly as a server for a smaller home. It would also make a nice entry table or nightstand. If you’ve built other tables with drawers, this project should be well within your skill set.

Preparing Quartersawn Stock

Cutting leg parts for serving table from lumber slab
Rough out the leg blanks at the band saw from 8/4 stock. If the board is warped or twisted, it’s helpful to cut the plank lengthwise before jointing one face flat and planing the workpieces to final thickness.

Round up some attractive 4/4 quartersawn white oak so you can make the four big panels for this project — the top, two side rails and the shelf. The top is large enough that if you don’t have a large planer or drum sander, you might need to glue it up in sections. While the panels are in clamps, mill the 1-3/4″-thick leg blanks from some 8/4 stock, making sure they come out flat and square. Go ahead and make blanks for the front, back and shelf rails as well as the backsplash from 3/4″ material.

Using crosscut sled to cut server parts to size
Once the leg stock is ripped into leg blanks, crosscut them to 33-1/4″ long. The author does this using an oversized crosscut sled equipped with an adjustable flip stop.

I often mutter, “Joinery before curves” and “Mortises before tenons,” and we’ll take both of those mottoes to heart with this build. Lay out the 1/4″-wide mortises as shown in the Leg Mortise/Taper Detail Drawings, and machine or chop them with your best method. Cut 1/4″-wide x 3-1/2″-long mortises on the inside of the front legs to receive the curved front rail. Start these mortises 4-1/4″ from the tops of the legs, and inset them 3/8″ from the front faces. The back rail requires 1/4″ x 4-1/2″ mortises that start 1/2″ from the top of the legs. Position them 1/2″ in from the back faces of the back of the legs so the outward face of the back rail will be flush with the back faces of the legs. The mortises for the shelf rails need to be 2-1/2″ long, and they start 7-3/4″ up from the bottom of the legs. Locate these mortises 5/8″ away from the inside edge of the leg so they will be properly positioned once the legs are tapered.

Marking leg parts for serving table
Label the legs 1 through 4 in a clockwise direction, starting at the front left to help keep their orientation clear when marking the mortises.

I was tempted to make the centered 11″-long mortises for the side rails with a router and edge guide, but clamping the workpiece for that operation is sometimes problematic. So, I used a 1/4″ hollow chisel in my mortising machine instead. Take note that the mortises for the side rails are only 3/4″ deep, while all the other mortises are 1″ deep.

Cutting leg mortises with mortising machine
Chop them with a mortising machine or your preferred method.

Once the mortises are chopped and cleaned out, it makes sense to work on the tenons next. When you look over the plans for this project, there are admittedly some cross-grain issues, and it would be difficult to build this form conventionally without violating some rules of wood movement. That’s why, as with the original, the grain of the side rails runs vertically and not horizontally. With a dado stack installed on the table saw, cut 3/4″-long tenons on the side panels to fit the long mortises.

Using table saw to cut side rail tenons for server
Form 3/4″-long tenons on the side rails with a dado blade and sacrificial rip fence at the table saw. Notice that these tenons are located on the long-grain edges of the side rails to avoid wood movement problems.

Aim for an easy friction fit, because these long-grain tenons are somewhat vulnerable to breaking until the frame is glued together, if they are flexed. Then reset the rip fence for making 1″-long tenons on the front, back and shelf rails. The front rail has a simple centered “blind” tenon, however the back rail is a little different.

Cutting ends of side rail tenon
Without changing the rip fence position, raise the blade to 1/2″ and turn the panel up on end to create shoulders on the ends of the side rail tenons. Back these cuts up with a miter gauge equipped with a sacrificial fence.

To position the outer face of the back rail flush with the outer faces of the back legs, an off set tenon is required. So, raise the blade incrementally to cut those tenons until they fit the 4-1/2″-long mortises you made in the back legs. When all the tenons are sawn, fine-tune their fit with a shoulder plane until they slide easily but not sloppily into their mortises.

More Preliminary Details

Side-by-side comparison of side rail and shelf tenons
The shelf rail tenons are longer than the side rail tenons by 1/4″, so make sure the resulting “shoulder-to-shoulder” dimension is 12-3/4″ for both parts.

Now that the basic joinery for the server is complete, go ahead and mark out the curve on the front rail. Use a flexible strip of wood or a thin metal yardstick to lay out this line so it creates a smooth, flowing arch and leaves the front rail just 1-1/2″ wide at the apex of the curve.

Cutting back rail joinery with table saw
With the rip fence set for a 1″ long cut, create offset tenons on the back rail. Raise the blade incrementally until these 1/4″-thick tenons fit the leg mortises and the outside face of the back rail is flush with the back legs.

Cut the arch at your band saw or with a handheld jigsaw, sawing just to the waste side of the layout line. Then fair and smooth the curve up to your layout line using a drum or spindle sander. Start with 80- or 100-grit, and work up from there.

Using hand plane to clean up tenon cuts
Trim the tenons as needed with a shoulder plane until they slide into their mortises with a bit of friction; they shouldn’t need force.

This is also a good time to cut 1/4″-deep grooves along the inside faces of the side rails to receive the shelf. Center these 3/4″-wide grooves on the rail widths. I have found it easiest to cut the grooves first, then plane the shelf’s thickness down until it fits the grooves without gaps. Then, assemble all the parts you’ve made so far to confirm the actual size of the shelf. Measuring directly off the project will give you confidence to proceed with trimming the shelf to final size.

Cutting parts to hold server table shelving
Plow a 3/4″-wide, 1/4″-deep groove along the inside face of the shelf rails and centered on the part widths.

Next up, we need to taper the legs on two sides. There’s a long taper on the front face of the front legs and on the back face of the back legs.

Test fitting server table base framework
Dry-assemble the server’s frame, and use “pinch sticks” to measure an accurate length for the shelf. The bottom clamp, with one jaw reversed so it can be used as a spreader, is positioning the legs 18″ apart.

The left or right outer faces of all four legs have two tapers instead of one: a short one on top and a long one below it, which matches the long tapers on the adjacent faces of the legs. The four long tapers remove 1/2” of material at the bottom of the legs, reducing them to 1-1/4″ x 1-1/4″ at the floor.

Using tapering jig to shape server table legs
Taper the legs on two outside faces with a tapering jig. Complete the first long taper, then rotate the leg away from the blade for the second cut.

These primary tapers are 25″ long, stopping just short of the upper rail joinery. The subtle top outer tapers are 4″ long, and they remove just 1/8″ of material from the top left or right faces of the legs. This gives the server “hips” when viewed from the front.

Completing second tapering cut
Finish up by sawing the short taper on the outside left or right face of each leg. It removes 1/8″ of width from the top of the leg.

While you could certainly band-saw the tapers, I like the precision of using a tapering jig at the table saw. Mark the taper cuts carefully and saw the first long one on each leg. Then rotate the leg blank away from the blade to make the second long taper cut. The single short side taper at the top of each leg can be completed in the same way.

Assembling serving table side sections
Glue and clamp the server’s frame together in stages, starting with two side assemblies. Be sure to align the top edges of the side rails flush with the tops of the legs.

Take a little time now to ease edges of the parts you’ve made. Pay particular attention to “safe edges” or areas you don’t want to round over. Notably, these are where the back legs intersect the back rail. Likewise, the back edge of the top panel stays crisp for the addition of the backsplash. None of the shelf edges should be eased, either. Finish-sand all the parts up to 150- or 180-grit.

Assembling the Sideboard Framework

Attaching front and back portions of serving table frame
Bring the two side subassemblies together with the front rail, back rail, and shelf to complete the framework. The top edge of the front rail should be positioned 4″ down from the tops of the front legs.

Retrieve the backsplash workpiece you made earlier so you can round both of its top corners to a 1/4″ radius before attaching it permanently to the top panel. Finish-sand both of these workpieces up to 150- or 180-grit first.

Securing server table backsplash with biscuit joint
Attach the backsplash to the top panel with glue and #20 biscuits, dowels or some variation of loose tenons. Leave the back edge crisp where it intersects the backsplash for a nice tight joint.

Glue alone is sufficient for strength, but I always add a row of #20 biscuits for alignment when attaching a backsplash in this manner, so cut those mating biscuit slots if you decide to do the same. Glue and clamp the backsplash to the top panel with the biscuits installed, then start assembling the server’s frame. First, create a pair of side assemblies by gluing two pairs of legs together with their side and shelf rails. Be sure the top edges of the side rails are flush with the tops of the legs as you draw the clamps tight. Allow those joints to dry.

When the side assemblies come out of the clamps, bring the two together by gluing the front and back rail tenons into their mortises and the shelf in its rail grooves. Double-check the height between the top of the front rail and the tops of the front legs, which should be 4″. Tighten the clamps, and set the frame aside to dry overnight. Then drill 7/8″-deep holes through the long tenons, centered 3/8″ from the edge of the leg, so you can peg the joints with 3/8″-diameter dowels. The front and shelf rails receive two pegs per joint.

Building a Side-Hung, Center-Guided Drawer

Routing dovetail joints for serving table drawer
The author cuts these half-blind dovetails with a router jig. He uses two routers to produce cleaner cuts. The first, with a 1/4″ spiral bit installed, hogs out the pin sockets, followed by the second with a dovetail bit for final shaping.

You can construct the drawer box however you like, but I thought half-blind dovetails were a proper choice for a Stickley-style reproduction. You can see the dovetail layout I used with my router dovetail jig in the Dovetail Detail Drawing. The original server appears to have a “piston-fit” drawer, but I elected to use a different Stickley hallmark: a side-hung
and center-guided drawer. While there’s a little more work constructing a drawer with these features, it promises trouble-free operation for a long time. The center runner prevents racking and conveniently acts as a drawer stop, while the top edges of the side runners are the only points of contact when sliding the drawer in or out. (To see side-hung, center-guided drawers in action, look for a video on my YouTube channel, The Thoughtful Woodworker.)

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Joint and plane enough oak stock for the drawer front, back, sides and divider, and cut them to the Material List sizes. Then saw the dovetails by hand or using a routing jig as I did. Now mill a 1/4″-wide, 1/4″-deep groove for the plywood drawer bottom, spaced 1/2″ up from the bottom edge. You also need to mill a 1/4″ x 2-1/2″ mortise 1/4″ deep underneath the drawer bottom groove on the drawer front workpiece. (It will house the front end of the drawer center track.) The drawer sides also require a 1/8″-deep x 5/8″-wide dado for the drawer divider. It serves as a false drawer back, which creates an interesting secret compartment behind the main drawer compartment.

Dovetail joint cut with router bit
Rout a 1/4″ deep stopped-groove in the drawer sides with a 3/4″-diameter bit capable of making plunge cuts. Reference the top edge toward the router fence for both cuts so these grooves match on both drawer sides.

Now rout a groove in the drawer sides to receive the side runners. This 3/4″-wide groove needs to stop about 1-1/4″ from the front of the drawer sides, and it’s best cut on the router table. Make sure to use a router bit capable of making plunge cuts, as one of the grooves should be made by tipping the drawer down over the bit with the drawer standing on its side and against the router table fence (often referred to as a “drop cut”). The groove in the other drawer side can be cut in the traditional fashion, starting the groove from the back edge of the drawer instead of at the stopped end of the cut. Set the length of these groove cuts with a stop block clamped to the router table fence. The reason for routing these two side runner grooves differently — a drop cut for one and a typical groove cut for the other — is to ensure that both grooves line up exactly with one another across the drawer so it will hang evenly in its opening and slide smoothly.

Cutting groove for drawer installation
Lower the bit height to 1/16″ and make a through groove in the filler strips with the same router table setup. This shallow groove will register the drawer slides in the perfect position, without trial and error.

Loosely assemble the drawer to check the final sizing of the drawer bottom panel. Cut a plywood panel for it to size Finish-sand all the drawer parts, then prefinish the drawer front. Once the finish dries, glue the drawer together with the bottom and divider in place.

The secret to fitting this type of drawer is to mill the 1/2″-thick filler strips with the same router table setup as the side runner grooves you just made. So, make up a pair of filler strips from scrap stock and lower the router bit height to 1/16″. Rout a groove into one face of each filler strip along its full length. Mark the edge of each filler strip that was against the router table fence “top.” Then bore three pocket holes that face the “top” edge of the filler strips for attaching the top panel later. Fasten the filler strips to the inside faces of the side rails with screws. Set their marked “top” edges flush with the top edges of the rails. Then head to the table saw and trim 1/16″ of width from the drawer parts on both the top and bottom edges to set the drawer reveal. Hand-plane the divider’s top edge flush with the other edges.

Adding wooden slide to server for mounting drawer
Install the center slide into the 1/16″-deep notches in the top edges of the cleats and secure it with a pair of wood screws, one driven through each of the slide’s tongues.

At this point we’ve laid the groundwork for a really nice drawer, and there are just a few remaining parts to build. Make up a pair of drawer runners from maple or other dimensionally stable hardwood. Size them to slide easily in the drawer grooves, and notch their back ends so they’ll fit around the back legs. Mount them in the filler strip grooves with countersunk screws.

Attaching drawer slide notch to drawer framework
Insert the center track’s tongue into the mortise below the drawer bottom in the drawer front, and drop it into the notch in the back of the drawer. Two screws at the rear secure the track to the drawer.

The back of the drawer also needs a 1/4″ x 2-1/2″ centered notch to make room for the track that’s mounted underneath it. Saw that notch now. Then make the drawer track component from 1/2″ stock, and cut a tongue on one end to fit the mortise you made earlier beneath the bottom panel groove in the drawer front. The track also needs a 1/4″-deep x 2-1/2″-wide groove plowed into its bottom face and centered on its width to receive the center slide. Install the track on the drawer by fitting its tongue into the drawer front mortise and securing the back end in the notch in the drawer back with a couple of small screws.

You’re ready to install cleats in the server to support the center slide. Make up the 1″-wide cleats from scrap stock. Cut centered notches, about 1/16″ deep, into the top edges of both cleats to register the slide before fastening the cleats to the inside faces of the front and back rails with screws. Locate them so the top edge of the front cleat is flush with the top edge of the front rail. Position the back cleat’s top edge 4″ down from the top edge of the back rail.

Make up the center slide from a piece of dimensionally stable hardwood. Cut a notch into its front and back bottom edges, leaving a 3/8″-thick tongue to fit into the slide cleat notches. Set the slide into place in the server and test the drawer action. If it opens and closes smoothly, fasten the slide’s tongues to the cleats with countersunk screws.

Applying a Multi-step Finish

Rubbing brown dye on serving table drawer side
The author uses a two-stage coloring process: dye first, followed by gel stain.

I use a multi-step stain-over-dye technique, which enhances the figure of quartersawn white oak and lends a vintage appearance to the piece. I start with TransTint Dark Mission Brown Dye. To avoid raising the grain, I mix 1-1/2 ounces of concentrated dye into a quart of a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol and lacquer thinner. Apply the dye with a terrycloth-wrapped sponge. Adding five to 10 percent lacquer retarder will slow the drying time and help avoid lap marks. I then seal the dye with a light coat of sprayed shellac (don’t wipe or brush on the shellac, as it will resuspend the alcohol-based dye) before applying General Finishes Antique Walnut Gel Stain. I complete the finish by spraying on two coats of satin lacquer.

Coating serving table drawer panel with gel stain
He applies a barrier coat of dewaxed shellac after dying the wood to seal it in. The final topcoat is satin lacquer.

Attach the top panel to the server’s frame by driving 1-1/4″ pocket screws up into the filler strip pocket holes. You will notice that I added dowel pins to the tops of the front legs. They are optional but do help to register the top evenly. Complete this lovely little server by installing a reproduction Stickley drawer pull, centered on the drawer front.

Click Here for the Drawings and Materials List.

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PROJECT: Slab-built Bookcase https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-slab-built-bookcase/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 19:13:02 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69220 Ruggedly beautiful as it is practical, this bookcase's red elm slab lumber was milled with a new Benchtop Slab Flattening Jig from Rockler.

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River tables and live-edged furniture are immensely popular, but I’ve been thinking about other interesting ways to use a slab in a more non-traditional way. Slabs can offer spectacular grain patterns and more character than you’ll often find on typical dimension lumber, because they’re frequently sourced from trees that aren’t part of forests that are periodically logged.

Since this sturdy bookcase has fairly simply styling, I thought resawing a unique slab might provide a chance to spice up the design with thicker components, showier grain and distressed figure. So I went to a local sawmill and selected a slab of red elm — it’s a species you won’t find at many lumberyards. I think its strong grain pattern, natural defects and warm color look great. The large box joints on the corners of the carcass complement the bookcase’s black, stocky base to give the project a contemporary look. Here’s a design that should work well with many home decors.

Selecting the Slab

When I had my piece of red elm picked out, I made sure to take note of its moisture content. Material around 12 percent or less moisture content is ideal for furniture building, and mine was dry enough for immediate use. The slab I bought was 7 ft long and about 14″ wide. I checked for any embedded metal objects with a metal detector and then rough-cut the plank into three sections that were about 26″ long.

Rockler slab flattening router jig
Rockler’s Benchtop Slab Flattening Jig features a reinforced plastic router carriage with ergonomic handles that slides along pairs of aluminum cross rails. A clear acrylic baseplate (not shown) attaches to the router carriage and is predrilled to fit a variety of mid-sized routers. Used in tandem with a spoilboard surfacing router bit, such as the one shown at left (sold separately), this setup and your router will make quick work of many smaller slab-flattening tasks.

I sized my pieces, in part, to fit into Rockler’s soon-to-be-released Benchtop Slab Flattening Jig. It fits workpieces up to 18″ wide, 28″ long and 1-3/4″ thick. My slab was about 2-3/8″ thick and had a slight crown to it, but that was no problem for this slab-flattening system. One of the unique features of this aluminum-railed jig is that it can be shimmed up to any height to match the thickness of the slab for surfacing. I raised the jig by inserting strips of 3/4″ MDF under its rails on top of the jig’s MDF substrate.

Flattening Both Sides

Creating risers for slab flattening jig
While this Slab Flattening Jig is intended for slabs up to 1-3/4″ thick, it can be raised higher with spacers for thicker slabs, as the author did here.

When preparing a slab for flattening, it’s important to stabilize and secure it to the jig’s MDF or plywood substrate so it can’t shift. I used a combination of shims and blocking, hot-glued to the substrate and the slab sections, to lock things down.

Prepping slab for smoothing process
Be sure to shim and secure the slab so it won’t shift during routing.

With a 1-1/2″-diameter carbide-insert spoil bit installed in my mid-size router, and the router mounted to the jig’s reinforced plastic router sled, I was able to easily remove the rough surface of the wood and eliminate the cupping/crowning. The process to flatten a slab in this jig is simple: Slide the router carriage back and forth on the jig’s aluminum rails, taking off about 1/8″ of material or less of thickness at a time.

Running router over wood surface with flattening jig
With the router set to remove about 1/8″ of material thickness, flattening a slab involves sliding the router carriage back and forth slowly in side-by-side passes from one end of the slab to the other.

After one side is flat, you could flip the slab over and repeat the flattening process to create a second smooth face. That might be really helpful if you don’t own a planer. But since I do, I ran the slab sections through my planer at this point with the flattened faces down to reduce their thickness to 2-3/16″. This way, I could resaw them to achieve the 1″ stock thickness I needed plus account for the material lost to the blade kerf and a bit of cleanup.

Checking flatness of wood slab surface
Once you’ve completed the process, you will be left with a dead-flat surface.

Once the faces of my slabs were flat, smooth and parallel to each other, it was time to work on their live edges. At the table saw, I used Rockler’s Straight-Line Rip Hold-Down Clamps attached to a plywood sled to rip one irregular edge off of each slab. I cut the opposite edges off using the rip fence, leaving each piece about 1/2″ wider than the Material List dimensions. I squared up their ends at the miter saw and kept them a tad overly long.

On to Resawing, Gap-filling

Prepping resaw cut of thick slab on table saw
Starting an ambitious resaw cut at the table saw is one way to reduce the amount of material that a modestly powered band saw must then cut through. Square both workpiece edges first.

It’s sometimes easier with modestly powered band saws to first begin a resaw cut at the table saw, making a deep cut into both edges. That’s what I did here, which reduced what would be left for the band saw to finish up.

Finishing resaw cut with band saw
Even though the rip fence on this Laguna band saw isn’t in view (the tall workpiece obscures it), it’s supporting the opposite face of the slab section to help guide the cut along the line the author marked on top of the workpiece. A tall featherboard presses the slab against the fence to also help keep the cut on track.

After making the table saw cuts along the slab’s centerlines, I took them over to the band saw and split them the rest of the way, turning three thicker pieces into six thinner ones.

Tools for smoothing rough cut lumber
Once a resaw cut is completed, the roughsawn faces can then be smoothed in a surface planer. If you don’t own one, however, a belt sander or bench plane can do the job by hand, too.

I cleaned up the six sawn faces with one more pass through my planer, which brought them all to 1″ thickness. But you could use the flattening jig instead, or even a belt sander or a bench plane. It’s up to you. The important thing is, make sure the stock thickness for the bookcase’s top, bottom and sides match.

Setting dado blade cutting depth
The author set the height of his 3/4″-wide dado blade just slightly above the 1″ thick bookcase stock so the box joint pins would be cut a tad proud.

One of the reasons I selected this slab was because of the unique cracks and voids in it. I filled those defects with a black tinted epoxy designed for this application.

Adding spacers before making dado cuts
A second wood key served as a spacer for indexing the box joint jig’s fixed key the correct distance away from the blade during setup.

After a few hours of curing, the epoxy was ready to sand flat, which I did with my random orbit sander. Then I trimmed the bookcase’s top, bottom and sides to final size.

Cutting Box Joints

Making initial box joint cuts for assembling bookshelf
A pair of slot cuts, made by flipping the bookcase top and bottom panels edge for-edge and fitting them over the jig key create the irregular box joint pattern.

This bookcase features an irregular box joint pattern on the corners to add some visual interest as well as strength, since the project has no back panel. I cut my box joints using the old tried-and-true shop made “miter gauge” jig. It consists of a piece of 3/4″ plywood attached to my miter gauge’s fence with a 3/4″ x 1″ wooden key installed in a notch in its bottom edge. I chose a piece of plywood measuring roughly 12″ x 16″ for the jig fence — it was large enough to provide plenty of vertical and horizontal support for these large bookcase components, particularly when two of them need to be standing side by side on the jig for cutting the box joints. With a 3/4″-wide dado stack installed in the table saw, I set the height a hair above 1″, so the pins of the joints would extend just a bit past the workpiece faces when assembled. (I think it’s easier to level those flush than have the pins come up short and need to plane the whole faces of the parts instead.)

Box joint cuts with marked up lumber
Then these panels act as indexes for setting up the first slot cuts along the edges of the side panels.

I cut a 3/4″ slot through the edge of the jig’s fence, about halfway along its length, for the wooden key. Then I made up a piece of 3/4″ x 1″ key stock about 4″ long. I cut it in half and installed one piece in the jig’s notch so it was flush to the back face of the fence and projected outward.

Masking tape drawn out to lay out box joint cuts
Two more slot cuts create the outer pairs of pins that fit in the top and bottom panel slots. The inner slot cut being made here also defines one inside edge of the 3″-wide center slot. Masking tape helped the author keep this tricky pattern clear.

To prepare the box joint jig, set the second key against the first key on its left side (looking down from above) to act as a spacer, and place the jig fence against the miter gauge fence with the miter gauge in your saw’s left miter slot. Slide the fence assembly over so the spacer key touches the right side of the dado blade. Holding it carefully in this position, fasten the miter gauge to the box joint jig with several screws driven through both fences. Then remove the spacer key and cut a second notch through the jig fence. The distance between the jig’s key and the blade must match the width of the blade precisely, or the joints will be difficult to assemble. Accurate setup is really crucial here!

Making second set of box joint cuts
After making the necessary slot cuts on one side of the bookcase side pieces, flip them over, edge-for-edge, to repeat the three cuts in from the opposite edge.

I used masking tape to lay out my box joint pattern on each of the bookcase’s top, bottom and side workpieces to help avoid confusion — no room for mistakes here on one-of-a-kind lumber! The tape layouts are merely visual guides, not exact templates for cutting.

Cutting out middle box joint pins
Then remove the last of the inner waste in side-by-side passes to complete the wide center slot.

As you can see in the Box Joint Layout Drawing, the 3/4″-wide pins are spaced between 3/4″-wide slots, and there’s a 3″-wide “pin” in the middle of the pattern on the bookcase top and bottom panels. I cut the joints on the ends of the top and bottom panels first, indexing each slot cut by fitting it over the jig’s key. Notice that you cut two slots in from each edge of these parts to form two thin pins. What’s left in the middle is the wider pin. Once the top and bottom panels are cut, use them to index the first slot cuts on the edges of the bookcase sides. It’s typical box-joint cutting procedure. Finish cutting the wider center slots by removing the waste in several passes.

Assembly Time!

Test fitting bookcase joinery
If you do a careful job of setting up the box joint jig initially, these joints should slip together without needing to be pounded home or showing extra gaps. However, if this is your first attempt at making box joints, be sure to test your jig setup and the entire cutting sequence on scrap stock first.

With the tricky step now behind you, dry-fit the corner joints to make sure they slip together — if you made the jig correctly and worked carefully, they will!

Clamping up parts of bookshelf
Assemble the bookcase’s carcass with glue and plenty of clamps so the joints close fully.

Then I disassembled the carcass, gave all four parts a finish-sanding up to 220-grit and brought them together one last time with glue and clamps. When the glue dried, I flattened the protruding pins with 60-grit abrasive in my random orbit sander, then finish-sanded those areas again.

Sanding down joints after assembly
Flatten the protruding pins of all four joints with a sharp hand plane or with 60-grit sandpaper in a random orbit sander. Work up through the grits from there to 220. To avoid scratches, don’t skip grits.

I wanted the bookcase shelf to be adjustable, so it was time to pull out my Rockler shelf pin jig and drill/driver to bore the 1/4″ shelf pin holes. Make sure all the rows of holes you drill align with one another so the shelf will sit evenly.

Drilling out pin locations for installing shelves
Bore two rows of shelf pin holes into the inside face of each bookcase side. A shelf pin drilling jig like this makes the task easy. Masking tape can help avoid accidentally drilling too many holes.

The base’s legs and short and long stretchers are simply 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ stock joined with pocket screws and glue. Since I would be painting the base, I just milled down economical 8/4 poplar for these parts. Once you’ve got the components cut to size and shape, fasten pairs of legs to each short stretcher with glue and pocket screws, orienting the pocket holes so they’re inside the base where they won’t be seen.

Assembling base for bookshelf
Poplar is a sturdy paint-grade hardwood for this bookcase’s base. Assemble the legs and stretchers with glue and pairs of pocket screws at each joint. Orient the screw pockets to hide them.

Then join these base end subassemblies to the long stretchers, again hiding the pocket holes on the back sides of the parts. When the glue dried, I sanded the base and brushed on two coats of General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint to wrap up its construction.

Finishing Up

Attaching base to bookcase carcass
Paint the base and apply a topcoat to the carcass and shelf before attaching the base to the carcass with 2″ screws driven into countersunk holes.

This bookcase will receive lots of use in my busy home, so I opted to finish the carcass and shelf with a hard wax oil. It’s easy to apply by hand, and it buffs beautifully to a soft luster. It’s also easy to repair down the road by simply wiping more finish on again.

Once the paint and finish thoroughly dried, I bored 1/4″-deep countersunk holes into the bottom of the base stretchers, centered the base on the bookcase’s bottom panel and fastened the components together with 2″ wood screws.

Now grab some metal shelf pins and install the shelf at a height that works for you. I hope you’ll enjoy this rugged and attractive bookcase as much as I do!

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PROJECT: Gluing Supplies Caddy https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-gluing-supplies-caddy/ Thu, 29 Feb 2024 22:41:43 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69176 This portable organizer can help corral all your woodworking glues and applicators.

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It’s tough to do much woodworking without reaching for a glue bottle and some means of spreading it around or dispensing it into joint parts. Over time, you’ll likely end up with a bottle of nearly every “flavor” of glue out there. I keep five types of PVA glue, hide glue, four viscosities of CA glue and a couple of small bottles of five-minute epoxy. Along with the adhesives, I have all sorts of Rockler silicone glue brushes, including those made for dowel, biscuit and other specific joints. And just recently, I’ve added some new silicone glue bottle caps for joinery to my collection too — they’re brand new from Rockler.

Opening double sided glue caddy drawer

All of this stuff has needed organization for some time, and with this gluing supplies caddy, I think I have the solution. On top it’s amply sized to hold all the glue options, plus a quart of mineral spirits for checking for glue splotches and a small pail and sponge for cleaning up squeeze-out. Underneath, there’s a drawer for storing a bunch of glue brushes, a putty knife and my new Rockler glue bottle caps. The drawer is divided and slides out from either the front or back of the caddy to make it easier to find what I need. It’s held closed with pairs of rare-earth magnets to keep it from sliding open when I carry the caddy from where I’ll keep it to the bench for use. If your gluing supplies could use tidying up too, that’s a good excuse to commit some energy and a bit of lumber to this project on a Saturday morning sometime soon.

Building the Carcass

Cutting joinery for Glue Caddy case
Mill 1/2″-wide x 3/4″-deep notches on the ends of the carcass front and back, and a mating pattern into the top ends of the carcass sides, to form interlocking box joints. Be sure to test your setup on scrap stock first.

Get this build underway by gluing up panels for the carcass sides from 3/4″ stock, as needed. Rip and crosscut them to final size, according to the Material List. Then cut a pair of workpieces for the carcass front and back to size.

The front, back and side panels connect with 1/2″ box joints. I made them on the router table with Rockler’s box joint jig and a 1/2″-dia. upcut spiral bit. But, you could also make them on the table saw with a 1/2″-wide dado blade and a shop-made jig. Raise the bit or blade to 3/4″ so the pins and slots of the joints will enable the workpieces to mesh completely together. Start the joints with a pin at the top edges of the front and back pieces, and machine the pattern across the full width of these two parts. Then use them as spacers to mill a mating joint on the top edges of both side panels. Here, there should be a slot that starts the pattern. Mill four slots and three pins only.

Routing joint in side panel of glue caddy
Plow 1/4″ x 1/4″ grooves along the inside faces of the carcass front, back and sides for the deck panel. Mark the cutting limits of the router bit so you can start and stop the groove cuts in the side panels accurately.

Next, install a 1/4″ straight or spiral bit in your router table so you can plow 1/4″-deep grooves on the inside faces of the front, back and sides for the caddy’s top deck. Adjust your router table’s fence so these grooves align with the bottom edge of the bottom pin on the front and back panels. Plow them the full length of the workpieces.

Securing glue caddy joinery with biscuits
While the author opted to use #20 biscuits to attach the bottom panel to the sides, other joinery options would be fine choices too, including nailed or screwed butt joints or loose-tenon variations.

Use the same router table setup to plow grooves for the deck on the side panels. This time, however, mark the cutting limits of the router bit on the fence so you can start and stop these groove cuts 1/2″ in from the front and back ends of the side panels in order to hide them when the carcass is assembled. Square up the ends of the grooves with a chisel.

Adding small magnets to glue caddy body as drawer catch
A pair of 3/8″-dia. rare-earth magnets, set fl ush with the top face of the bottom panel near both ends, will provide half of the drawer “catch” feature. Rough up the bottom surface of the magnets with a fine-grit sharpening stone or sandpaper before installing them in their holes with 5-minute epoxy.

Now you can cut a 1/4″-thick deck panel to size — I used MDF for mine. Prepare a 3/4″-thick bottom panel, too. Then go ahead and dry-assemble the six carcass parts you’ve made up to this point to ensure that the box joints close properly with the deck and bottom panel in place. If they do, sand the inside faces of the front, back, side and bottom panels up to 180-grit.

How you’ll install the bottom panel in the carcass is entirely up to you. I decided to use biscuit joints and machined four evenly spaced #20 biscuit slots into the adjacent surfaces of the bottom and side panels for this purpose.

Using cauls to hold together glue carcass during glue-up
Glue up the carcass with the deck and bottom panels installed. Rockler’s blue 1/2″ Box Joint Cauls and a pair of strap clamps are an effective way to press the joints’ pins and slots together snugly. Hide glue, used here, makes squeeze-out easy to clean up with water and a sponge.

As you can see, the drawer can be opened from either end of the caddy. And since this project is intended to be carried where it’s needed, it’s a good idea to provide some provision for a drawer “catch.” Four 3/8″-dia. rare-earth magnets can accomplish this purpose nicely! We’ll embed two magnets in the top face of the bottom panel and do the same in the bottom edges of the drawer’s front and back pieces. This way, when the drawer is closed, the pairs of magnets will attract one another and hold the drawer in place. I used a 3/8″-dia. Forstner bit to drill shallow holes for the magnets in the inside face of the bottom panel and then glued the magnets into place with quick-setting two-part epoxy. Make sure the top faces of the magnets are flush with the panel’s face.

Adding drawer guides to interior of glue caddy
Glue a pair of 1/4″-thick scrap drawer guides to the bottom face of the deck panel. They’ll prevent the drawer from tipping down excessively when it’s opened. If they’re initially flat, the guides don’t need to be clamped in place.

Next, spread glue over the pins and slots of the four box joints and into the biscuit slots, and clamp the carcass together with the deck, bottom panel and biscuits in place. When the glue cures, rip and crosscut two strips of 1/4″-thick scrap to create drawer guides. Glue and clamp them to the bottom of the deck inside the drawer “tunnel,” with their long outer edges flush against the carcass sides.

Adding the Handle

Routing shape for glue caddy handle
Saw the handle to shape and sand it smooth. Then ease the sharp edges above the carcass area with a 1/8″ roundover bit in a handheld router, as shown here, or with sandpaper, to make it more comfortable to grip.

Cut a blank for the handle to size, as outlined in the Material List. If you’re building your caddy from solid lumber as I did, make sure to orient the grain direction so the long grain will be parallel to the handle’s top grip (the grain should run horizontally when the handle is in place on the caddy). Lay out the handle’s shape, using the Handle Drawing as a guide.

Now step over to your band saw to cut out the handle, or use a handheld jigsaw. Sand the cut edges and faces of the handle smooth. Then ease the sharp edges of the portion of the handle that will extend above the carcass with a router and 1/8″-radius roundover bit. Or break these edges with sandpaper.

Attaching handle assembly to top of glue caddy carcass
Fasten the upper divider to the front end of the handle with a couple of #8 x 2″ countersunk screws. Then attach the handle/divider assembly to the carcass with more screws.

Cut a divider for the upper area of the caddy to size from 3/4″ material. It should fit snugly between the side walls of the carcass. Center the front end of the handle on the length of the divider, and fasten the parts together by driving #8 x 2″ countersunk screws through the divider and into the handle.

Trimming installed wood plugs
Wood plugs aren’t necessary for shop projects like this, but they do make evidence of screws less noticeable. Install them with glue, then saw off the excess and sand the areas flush.

Slide the handle assembly into place on the caddy. Drive more countersunk screws through the sides and back of the caddy to secure the divider and back end of the handle. Cover the exposed screwheads, if you wish, with matching wood plugs. Trim the plugs flush and sand them smooth.

Assembling the Drawer

Cutting joinery for glue caddy drawers
Box joints are an attractive and sturdy choice for the caddy’s drawer, too. This time, set the 1/2″-dia. spiral or straight bit to cut 1/2″-deep slots. Mill the joint patterns on the drawer front and back first so the outer corners become pins. The drawer sides have slotted corners instead of pins.

Joint and plane enough 1/2″ stock to make the drawer’s front, back, sides and drawer divider. Cut the parts to size. We’ll assemble the drawer with box joints to mimic those on the caddy. Set up your box joint-making system again, only this time, adjust the cutter height to 1/2″. I arranged the pattern so the drawer faces would have pins on their top and bottom edges. Mill all four corner joints.

Sawing groove for installing drawer divider
Cut a 1/8″-deep x 1/2″-wide dado across the inside face of each drawer side for the drawer divider. This way, you can simply glue the divider into place without using nails or screws.

Just as before with the carcass, dry-fit the corner joints. If all looks good, plow a 1/4″ x 1/4″ groove for the drawer’s bottom panel into the inside faces of all four parts. Locate these grooves 1/2″ up from the bottom edges of drawer workpieces. That placement enables you to rout the grooves along the full length of the drawer front and back. Stop the grooves 1/4″ in from the ends of the drawer sides so they won’t show.

Clamping drawer assembly for glue caddy
Assemble the drawer with glue and clamps. Be careful not to apply excessive pressure, which could throw the drawer out of square. Its diagonal measurements should match.

I decided to install the drawer divider with dadoes rather than simply nail or screw it to the sides, because sometimes a rogue nail will go sideways when driven into such thin material. I used a 1/2″-wide dado blade set 1/8″ above the table to plow dadoes all the way across the width of the drawer sides for the divider panel. I located these dadoes 8-1/4″ from the same ends of the drawer sides.

Drilling hole to install second magnate for catch
Drill a shallow 3/8″-dia. hole into the bottom
edge of the drawer front and back for inserting
the second pair of magnets. Be sure to double-
check for correct polarity with the bottom
panel magnets before gluing these into place.

After you cut a 1/4″-thick bottom panel and a divider to size, fit all the drawer parts together without glue to make sure the joints close correctly. If they do, sand the inside faces of the parts up to 180-grit. Then glue and clamp the drawer together. Make sure the corners remain square under clamping pressure; the diagonal corner-to-corner measurements of the drawer should match.

Drilling hole for attaching knob to glue caddy drawer
Drill a centered hole through the drawer front and back for the drawer knob machine screws. It never hurts to back up the drilling area with a piece of scrap clamped in place to prevent the bit from splintering wood as it punches through.

Once the glue dries, mark and drill a centered hole into the bottom faces of the drawer front and back for the other pair of magnets. Epoxy them into place, but before you do that, make sure to orient them so their polarity will attract the magnets in the carcass bottom instead of repel them.

Finishing Up

Attaching accessories to glue caddy
After applying several coats of a wipe-on oil/varnish blend, the author added a hook to the back of the handle for hanging Rockler’s 5″ Glue Roller. He also mounted a Glue Bottle Dock to the caddy’s front, above the drawer opening.

Finish-sand the outer surfaces of the caddy and drawer, and break all sharp edges either with sandpaper or a 1/8″ roundover bit. Then measure and mark a center point on the outer faces of the drawer front and back, and bore a 3/16″-dia. hole through each for a machine screw to attach the drawer knobs.

Apply finish to your new caddy. I wiped on several coats of Rockler’s Sam Maloof Poly/Oil Finish — it’s an amber-toned oil/varnish blend — to make the most of the grain pattern and color of my caddy’s southern yellow pine.

When the topcoat cures, install the two drawer knobs and fill this handy shop project up with your collection of glues and applicators. I attached a hook to the back of the handle for hanging Rockler’s 5″ Glue Roller and mounted a Glue Bottle Dock to the front with a couple of machine screws.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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PROJECT: Sofa Armrest Table https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-sofa-armrest-table/ Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:29:14 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69109 A small section of live-edge slab can bring rustic charm and more practicality to a sofa.

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Live-edge slabs have been trendy solutions for bar tops, mantels, tabletops, shelving and all sorts of cutting boards for many years now. If you can imagine a project where the rugged good looks of a piece of wood in its most natural form might be appealing, don’t be afraid to turn that notion into reality for all sorts of home decor!

Armrest table laid out on sofa arm

That’s exactly what we’ve done here with this sofa armrest table. It started out as a roughly 10″-wide x 30″-long slab of 3/4″-thick walnut. You can find similar slabs at Rockler stores or many hardwood lumber vendors these days. The dark brown heartwood, separated by stripes of walnut’s cream-colored sapwood, can’t help but call attention to itself! And wrapping the slab around the armrest of a sofa not only makes it a conversation piece but also a super handy place to park a coffee cup, your smart device, a bowl of snacks or the game controller you’re using at the moment.

Front view of live edge walnut sofa table

You won’t need a lot of power tools to build this project. It requires the use of a table saw or track saw to make various cuts, Rockler’s Corner Key Doweling Jig to reinforce the miter joints, a drill/driver and a random orbit sander. A tape measure, combination square, several F-style bar clamps and a means of cutting the dowels flush (we used an oscillating multitool, but a flush-cut saw will work fine, too) are about all you’ll need for hand tools.

Cutting the Miter Joints

Sanding down a slab of walnut lumber
Once the top and side panels have been miter-cut to length, give their faces a thorough sanding. Start with 80- or 100-grit to remove any machine marks, then continue sanding up to 180- or even 220-grit.

The sofa shown here has armrests that are about 6-1/2″ wide. So, after crosscutting the ends of the slab square, we found its center point and drew a layout line across it. Then we drew a pair of parallel layout lines across the slab that each were 4-3/4″ away from the center line. Those established the top corners of the table’s top panel; if you draw a 45-degree line back from these layout lines on what would be the edge of the slab, the “bottom” length of this top panel is 8″ — an easy fit over many sofa arms. But be sure to measure the armrest width of your sofa and adjust the length of the top panel accordingly, if needed.

It’s imperative that the slab be held securely when cutting the top panel free of the two side panels, and this becomes trickier if your slab has very irregular edges. One way to do it is by setting the slab on a crosscut sled, aligning the edge of the sled with each of the cutting lines on the slab and miter-cutting them at 45 degrees with the slab clamped to the sled. You could also tip a track saw to 45 degrees and align the edge of the track to follow each cutting line, then cut the top panel free from the rest of the slab that way. A miter saw could be another option, but it will only work safely if both edges of the slab are flat and parallel so you can set them against the saw fence for cutting.

You now need to miter-cut the edges of the two side panels that were abutting the top panel to 45 degrees. Line these cuts up carefully so all you are doing is trimming off the mitered waste but not shortening the side panels in the process. That way, when the table is assembled, the slab’s grain pattern will wrap around the armrest in a continuous “waterfall” style.

With the miter cuts behind you, set the top and side panels together to check that the miter joints form 90-degree corners. Now is also a good time to verify that the length of the side panels will allow the table to sit flat on the top of the armrest without being obstructed by the seat cushions. Shorten the bottoms of the side panels if they are too long for your sofa. Then give the faces of the three panels a finish-sanding up to 180-grit or higher.

Assembling the Table

Using a jig to guide dowel hole cuts
Clamp a top and side panel within the Corner Key Doweling Jig so you can drill diagonal holes across the joint accurately for inserting 3/8″-diameter dowels. Let the bit and drill/driver do the work when boring these holes.

Rockler’s Corner Key Doweling Jig enables you to drive dowels in three different diameters diagonally across miter joints. It reinforces them with a mechanical connection that makes the joints significantly stronger. The dowel ends show through the faces of the joints as ovals, which adds a decorative detail. We followed Rockler’s instructions to set our jig up for drilling 3/8″-diameter dowel holes here. The jig enables you to adjust the position of the dowels within the joint, and we located them to be centered on the joint thickness.

Laying out cuts in panel for assembling table
The authors positioned the dowel holes so the dark walnut dowels would land within the slab’s cream-colored sapwood areas. They used two dowels per joint, but the number and locations of these dowels is up to you.

Both members of a mitered corner are clamped together inside the jig, so you can drill each dowel hole completely through the joint in a single pass. We positioned the dowels for our table about 1-3/16″ in from the front and back edges of the joints, but you could locate them anywhere you like. Same goes for how many dowels you choose to insert in the joints. We think two look good for this project because the walnut dowels we usedcontrast nicely with the light-colored sapwood. But you can use as many dowels as you like.

Filling dowel holes with glue for assembly
Assemble the joints by spreading glue along the mitered surfaces and into the dowel holes, then inserting a length of dowel into the first hole until it extends beyond the opposite side a short amount.

When you drill the holes, don’t try to drill all the way through at once. Drill partway, back the bit out to clear the accumulating chips and then drill some more, letting the drill and bit do the work. Ease up on your hand pressure on the drill when the tip of the bit begins to poke through the other side, to avoid punching it through the joint face and potentially tearing out the surface. The cleaner the exit holes are, the better the dowel details will look!

Cutting dowels to length during assembly
Trim off each dowel so it’s longer than necessary. Work relatively quickly to get both joints assembled and the dowel pins in place while the glue is still wet.

It’s time to round up several bar clamps so you can assemble your table! Since the dowels will hold the joints together, that’s a pretty easy process to do. We spread glue along the mitered edges of one joint, set the top panel and side panel together and inserted a length of dowel into one of the glued dowel holes.

Using bar clamps to assemble sofa table
Apply clamps across the two joints in both directions to pull the seams tightly together. The dowels hold the joints in alignment, which makes this clamping process much easier.

Leave the dowels overly long for now so you can continue to install dowels in the remaining hole or holes of the first joint, then repeat the process for the second joint. Install clamps on the table to pull the joints closed, and wipe off any glue squeeze-out before it begins to cure. Allow the joints to dry for at least eight hours.

Finishing Up

Spraying table with poly topcoat
When the project comes out of the clamps, cut the protruding dowels flush and sand those areas smooth. The authors applied a coat of boiled linseed oil next, before top-coating with aerosol satin polyurethane.

When the clamps come off, trim the ends of the dowels flush with the faces of the panels. Then give the dowel areas another round of careful sanding to smooth them until you can’t detect their ends by feel from the surrounding wood.

Rubbing down finished table with steel wool
Rub down the flat surfaces and edges of the project with 0000 steel wool when the first coat of varnish is fully dry. It will remove dust nibs and other blemishes. Then apply a second coat of finish.

Walnut with sapwood like this is too pretty to cover with stain, so we decided to keep the wood’s color as natural as possible. You can enhance the color and grain pattern, however, by wiping on a liberal coat of boiled linseed oil. Wipe off the excess completely, and give the oil at least a full 24 hours to dry. Then topcoat with oil-based polyurethane in a sheen you prefer — we used satin. The poly will give this project a durable, waterproof surface. Rub out any imperfections, and apply a second coat. When that dries, it’s ready for use on your sofa!

Click Here to Download the Drawing and Materials List.

See more woodworking projects at makingmanzanita.com.

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PROJECT: Compact Plant Stand https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-compact-plant-stand/ Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:00:20 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=69005 With bamboo for the undercarriage and crowned by a poured resin top, this plant stand is a striking success.

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Indoor plants bring color and life into our homes. They are small oases of nature that soothe our nerves and please our senses. This small plant stand has a clean design that displays plants without making a fuss about its own looks and yet is attractive to view in its own right.

This design has a round resin “tabletop” that is as ultra-practical as it is impervious to water. Pouring your own resin top gives you the advantage of having nearly unlimited color variations at your fingertips. And that task will be made much easier by using a round silicone mold from Rockler. I have had mixed results making my own molds — breaking the hardened resin free from those molds is a common problem. They can be quite stubborn, and some bad words may have been uttered as I worked to free them. This silicone mold made that step so easy that it’s hard to explain the difference.

The framework of the plant stand is made from a manufactured bamboo board. I’d never used bamboo before, but I have to say I will use more of it now. It is solid and easy to work. Rockler sells a 3/4″ x 8″ x 30″ board that is more than sufficient to make one plant stand.

Starting at the Beginning

Cutting bamboo panel into parts for plant stand
Slice the legs and top pieces from a bamboo board. Bamboo rips nicely and leaves a nearly polished edge in the process. Manufactured bamboo boards are dimensionally stable and exceedingly strong.

Kick the project off by ripping the top pieces and the legs to width on the table saw. As I’ve mentioned, this was my first experience with a manufactured bamboo panel. I was so impressed with the smooth, nearly polished edge that my carbide combination blade formed with these rip cuts. It was super clean.

Crosscutting plant stand panels with miter saw
Crosscut the top pieces to length. Unlike when ripping, bamboo’s fibrous nature tends to leave a ragged edge when cut across the grain. It will need to be sanded smooth later, unless you score it before sawing.

Following that step, I used my miter saw to cut the top pieces to length. As surprised as I was about the smooth ripped edges, I was equally surprised by the fuzz formed on my crosscuts.

Cutting joinery notches with dado blade at table saw
The author used a dado blade in his table saw to form the half-lap joint in the center of the top pieces. Sneak up to the proper depth of cut a little at a time. Remember, each adjustment is doubled when you make the notch, because you are cutting a notch in two interlocking pieces.

Apparently, the fibrous nature of bamboo does not take well to crosscutting. I likely could have improved my success by scribing a line with a knife in advance of the cuts, but I decided to use sandpaper to solve the problem instead.

Routing mortises in plant stand crosspiece
At the router table, plow 3/8″-wide by 3/8″-deep mortises into the top pieces.

With the pieces cut to length, it was time to make the half-lap joint in the center of the top pieces. I used a 3/4″ dado blade in my table saw. Test your setup on scrap pieces. This needs to be a tight joint, so take your time and do it right.

Finished and assembled plant stand crosspiece
Notice that the orientation of the notches must be accommodated so that all the mortises end up.

With that done chuck a 3/8″ straight bit into your router table and use it to form the mortises on the top pieces. It is a “drop” cut, so I made use of a featherboard to help control the operation.

Shaping crosspiece with tapering jig
With the mortises and notches prepared, it’s time to cut the angled ends of the top pieces. Rockler’s small tapering jig is just the ticket to make the accurate and repeatable cuts needed here.

I was able to rout the full 3/8″-deep mortise in one cut. The half-lap joint means these mortises need to be on a specific edge; mark them so you don’t get confused. Finish shaping the top pieces by cutting the angles on their ends.

Legs are Next

Resetting miter saw for cutting plant stand legs
The legs need to be cut to length with the top and bottom ends cut at an angle. A miter saw is a great tool for this task.

You’ve already ripped the legs to width, so now you need to add some details. First, cut the legs to length using your miter saw. Both the top and bottom of the legs need to be angled slightly. Set the angle — 10 degrees — on your saw. Be sure to cut the legs to exactly the same length to avoid a wobbly plant stand.

Cutting end of plant stand leg with miter saw
A miter gauge on a table saw would also do the job nicely. It’s critical that each leg is exactly the same length, or the plant stand will be tippy.

I raised the tenon on the top of each leg using my router table and a miter gauge. I attached a sacrificial fence to the miter gauge and chucked a 1/2″-diameter straight bit into the router.

Routing tenon on plant stand leg top
The author raised a tenon on top of each leg on the router table. A 1/2″-diameter bit cut the 3/8″-long tenons. Attach a sacrificial fence to your miter gauge and secure a stop block to register the cut. Test the setup on scrap lumber.

Setting the bit 3/8″ above the table, I cut a notch in the fence, then clamped a stop block to the fence. Test the setup with scrap lumber until you are raising a 3/8″-tall by 3/8″- wide tenon.

Cutting tenon in table saw leg with band saw
Use a band saw to
start forming the
shoulder of the tenon.

Using a combination of a band saw and hand saw, I squared up the shoulders of the tenons. Finally I used a rasp to round the shoulders to match the rounded ends of the mortises. Test-fit each leg to be confident of a proper assembly.

Trimming plant stand leg tenon with hand saw
 Then use a Japanese hand saw to complete cutting out the shoulder.

Tapering the legs comes next. The taper starts 3-1/2″ down from the top of the leg (minus the tenon) and angles over to leave 1/2″ of bamboo remaining at the bottom of the leg. I set up Rockler’s large tapering jig and sliced the tapers, which cut smoothly and cleanly.

Smoothing tenon edges with rasp
Lastly, use a rasp to round the tenons to fit the mortises you made earlier.

With that done, sand the undercarriage pieces smooth and do a dry-fit to make sure all the parts are correct. Now it’s time to glue and clamp them together. I chose to make two subassemblies using a top piece and two legs each.

Shaping plant stand leg with tapering jig
The last machining step on the legs is to form their long tapers. Using Rockler’s large tapering jig is a no-fuss method to get it done. You could also cut the tapers on a band saw and sand the edges smooth.

I let the glue cure then applied glue to the half-lap joint and clamped the subassemblies together. I chose Titebond III, as it’s a darker color that matches the bamboo, but any wood glue would work just fine. After all the glue had cured, I broke the edges of the pieces with 220-grit sandpaper.

Dry fitting plant stand base parts
Test-fit the legs and top pieces. If they fit together well, go ahead and glue and clamp them up. Prepare two subassemblies consisting of two legs and a crosspiece, then glue and clamp the subassemblies together. Regular woodworking glue works just fine with the bamboo.

You may have noticed that the resin top is lifted slightly above the level of the top pieces. I did that with shelf pins that are usually used to support adjustable shelves in a cabinet. I bored holes for them 3/4″ in from the end of each top piece, centered in the edge.

Screwing plant stand legs in place
With the framework glued together, mark and drill the shelf pin holes. Use dowel points to transfer their locations to the resin tabletop.

Later, I used dowel points to locate the matching holes on the underside of the resin tabletop. This completed the woodworking aspect of the project. I sprayed a few coats of lacquer on the bamboo from an aerosol rattle can. It took the finish well.

Round Resin Tabletop

Measuring out epoxy for tabletop pour
The sky is the limit when it comes to creating resin tabletops for this plant stand. Color, metal flake additives, using a combination of solid wood and wood shavings — all are options.

Epoxy resin work has become exceedingly popular when combined with woodworking. Rockler’s silicone molds make that work so much easier.

Stirring green dye into epoxy mix

Measure your components carefully — by weight is best, but volume will work reasonably well. Using a mold release spray is also a sound technique … work smarter, not harder. Imagination and attention to details are the keys to great-looking resin products.

Adding blue epoxy to a green base

Careful measurement of the resin and hardener is critical to success. Mix the two components together well, then add color, should you so choose.

Stirring green and blue epoxies together to create patterns

Combining colors and decorative agents adds variety to resin work. Rockler’s round silicone resin mold forms a perfect circle, and it also makes it so easy to remove the hardened resin when it cures. One trick in creating interesting swirls is to wait for the resin to just barely begin to harden and then move the stir stick across the shape in irregular and abstract patterns.

Topping it Off

Epoxy with a translucent green top
Transparent top with green dye

I made the choice to make the tabletop from resin for a couple of reasons: first, resin is sturdy and waterproof, and second, it gave me a chance to try out Rockler’s new round silicone mold. Let me tell you, removing the top from that mold was so easy I could hardly believe it. That feature and the repeatability of the mold really sold me on the concept.

Two tone tabletop created with wood particles and resin
Half solid wood with wood shavings suspended in resin.

I made a few tops with my favorite being a translucent aqua green. To be frank, the tabletop could have been made of wood and the plant stand would be just as functional — but to me, the see-through top really adds to the freshness of this design.

Black and silver tabletop made with resin
Black dye with silver metallic flakes.

Here’s a fun little project to build, and it makes a great gift. If you give them to a few different people, changing the tabletop colors and textures ensures unique gifts for all.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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PROJECT: Wine Cabinet https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/project-wine-cabinet/ Thu, 11 Jan 2024 22:29:05 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=68867 Wine is a traditional and thoughtful gift. This presentation cabinet is a simple but beautiful way to enhance your offering.

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Elegance can be simple in concept and execution, and this wine cabinet is a good example of just that. Made from only five pieces, it is beautiful by virtue of its rich wenge lumber and lifted to another level with its solid-brass hardware.

Small cabinet knobs, hinges and screws
The solid-brass hardware used in this cabinet are quality additions to the project. In this example, knife hinges were the choice, but all of these options are up to the builder.

When building small projects that you want to really make a statement, material selection is one essential key. Perhaps wenge is not a lumber you find attractive. If so, this wine cabinet would look amazing if made of bird’s eye, clouded big leaf or fiddleback maple. Highly figured walnut or quartersawn mahogany would also be good choices. The point is that if the design is basic, the “wow” factor must come from the beauty the wood provides. Then the hardware will enhance the whole. In a simple project, the details will carry the day. In this case, the curly cherry plywood back and the green felt lining add much to the whole, too.

First Things First

Cutting wood to make side panels for wine cabinet
Rip the sides to width and then crosscut them to length. The sides and the door are the most visible aspects of the cabinet.

Whatever species of lumber you choose, select your most attractive pieces for the sides and the door. As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but being intentional about these choices will pay dividends in the long run.

Crosscutting board for wine cabinet panel
Take time to select your most attractive stock for those pieces. This is an essential and subjective step.

Rip the sides to width and then crosscut them to length. We did both on the table saw, but you could cut them to length using a miter saw as well. The dimensions provided in the Material List will accommodate most wine bottles, but if you have specific bottles in mind, measure them to make sure they will fit, and adjust accordingly if needed. With that step done, go ahead and cut the top and bottom pieces to size as well.

We cut out each of these parts from lumber wide enough that we did not have to glue up pieces for the sides, top and bottom.

Gluing together boards to create wine cabinet door panel
Glue up two 5″-wide pieces of lumber to form the door blank. Try to match the color and the figure of the grain for best results. Joint the mating edges for a perfect and hopefully invisible joint.

That was not true for the door. We used 3/4″ x 5″ x 24″ wenge lumber, sourced from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware. The door needs to be just a little shy of 10″ wide, so that required a center glue joint. It was our preference that the door panel look as if it were formed from a single piece of stock, so we took care to match the figure and the color of the two pieces. Joint the mating edges so that they fit together well. Use Titebond III (its darker hue is helpful here), clamp them together and leave them in the clamps overnight. If you are using wenge like we did, that extra clamping time is important because glue joints in wenge can be fussy.

Shaping door edge on router table
Putting an ogee shape on the edges of the top and bottom adds shadow lines and a bit of visual interest.

With the door still in clamps to allow the glue to cure, grab the sides, bottom and top. Go ahead and sand them up to 100 grit, then step over to the router table. The top and bottom pieces require an ogee shape on both faces of their forward edge. All the pieces need 1/4″ x 1/4″ rabbets on their inside edges.

Side view of ogee cut door edge
The shape is fully visible from the ends of the top and bottom as well.

Chuck the ogee bit into the router table and set up the cut on scrap lumber. The shape should leave about a 3/8″ flat area between the two ogees. Again, if you are using wenge, move the pieces slowly across the bit. Wenge can be brittle, and tearouts are common. You may even wish to consider a climb cut to avoid trouble. You can certainly choose another edge shape rather than an ogee, but keep the depth of the shape around 1/4″ to align with the edge of the door.

Recesses cut in wine cabinet panels for adding backing panel
Rabbets to accept the 1/4″ plywood back are formed on the router table. A 1/2″ straight bit is perfect for the task. Note that the rabbets on the top and bottom are stopped, while the rabbets on the sides are not.

Next, chuck a 1/2″-diameter straight bit into the router table. Set the cut to form a 1/4″ x 1/4″ rabbet, checking the setup on scrap lumber. On the sides, rout the rabbet the full length of each piece. Stop the rabbets on the top.

Dowels and Dowel Points

Using doweling jig to cut holes for joinery
Rockler’s doweling jig is a fast and easy way to bore dowel holes into the ends of the sides. To transfer the dowel locations to the top and bottom, we used dowel points. Biscuits or Dominoes would work equally well.

The next step is to join the carcass pieces together. We used dowels to strengthen the joints. In hindsight, biscuits might have been a better choice. There are carefully to length. Next, go ahead and sand the door smooth up through 320- grit. We chose Odie’s Oil for the finish, and with that product, the smoother the better. (It’s another important detail in taking a cabinet like this to the next level.)

Dowels installed on edges of wine cabinet frame pieces
Be sure to mark the sides, top and bottom so you don’t confuse which piece goes where.

When the glue has cured on the carcass, chisel off any glue squeeze-out and sand the carcass up to the 320-grit level as well. (You may wish to install the hinges first, then remove them and do your final sanding.)

Test fitting door before hinge installation
If knife hinges are your choice for your cabinet, one important detail is to size the door to accommodate the small gap between the hinge leaves, as shown in the bottom image. Card stock paper folded in two works perfectly.

Install and then remove the door pull and the feet, then apply the Odie’s Oil. Note that with this hard wax oil, a little goes a long, long way.

Knife hinge installed on cabinet door

Once the finish dries, put the felt pad in the carcass and attach the plywood back. Put a drop of CA glue into the holes where you mount the feet and secure them. Rehang the door with its pull, and you are ready to grab a couple of wine bottles. Enjoy the cabinet, oh … and the wine too!

Click Here to Download the Drawing and Materials List.

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VIDEO: Making a Modular Shoe Rack https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/video-making-a-modular-shoe-rack/ Sat, 25 Nov 2023 16:00:30 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=68618 Rob Johnstone demonstrates how to use Forstner bits to drill holes to create a handy three-tiered modular shoe rack.

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Make a clever and expandable shoe rack employing Fisch’s new Black Shark Forstner bits.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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Installing Classic Knife Hinges https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/installing-classic-knife-hinges/ Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:00:41 +0000 https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/?p=68538 Laying out and forming precise hinge mortises is the key to successfully installing beautiful and functional knife hinges.

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Installing knife hinges is not complicated in concept, but it needs to be precise in execution. For that reason, laying out the mortises you will create for the hinges is the most critical step, as well as sizing the door accurately.

Small gap in closed knife Hinge
Note that there is a slight gap between the leaves of the hinge. When a hinge leaf is set into the wood flush to the wood surrounding it, the gap will provide clearance for the door to swing open.

Screws to attach knife hinge
Quality hinges like these often come with brass screws. Brass screws break easily, so a steel screw is provided to make sure the hole is properly sized and threaded. Drive in the steel screw first, then remove it and install the brass screw.

There are a few things to keep in mind. With a full-overlay situation like this one, you will want a slight space — a scant 1/16″ — between the back face of the door and the front edges of the cabinet carcass to allow the door to swing freely. You achieve that by slightly offsetting the location of the hinge leaf in the door.

Checking location of knife hinge on door blank
Set the knife hinge so the pivot point on the hinge is bisected by the edge of the door. The end of the hinge mortise will determine this placement.

Cutting installation mortise for knife hinge
After the hinge mortise locations have been scribed with a cutting gauge and a marking knife, plow a narrow slot into the mortise area with a router. This removes waste and sets the proper depth of the mortise. Don’t try to cut exactly to the lines of the mortise. Note the plywood clamped to both sides of the door, which provides a wider surface to set the router on.

First use a cutting gauge to scribe the long edges of the mortise and then a marking knife to cut the end of the mortise into the wood. On the door, you can use a router bit narrower than the hinge mortise (1/4″ for this 3/8″-wide mortise) to set the depth and remove some of the material.

Cleaning out knife hinge location with chisel
With a pair of sharp chisels, chop out the mortise to the full width of the knife hinge (here it’s 3/8″). Removing the waste with the router bit sets the depth of the mortise. Test the fit of the hinge leaf as you go.

Marking hinge location on cabinet body
Accommodate for the door gap, then use a cutting gauge to scribe the mortise lines into the cabinet lip. Masking tape allows you to see the markings for the mortise sides.

Clamp the door between two pieces of plywood to provide a wider surface for guiding the router. A wood screw clamp is useful for stopping the router before it cuts beyond the end of the mortise. Then clean up the mortise with a 3/8″ chisel and a wider one.

Cutting installation location for hinge in cabinet with chisel
Chop out the mortise with vertical cuts followed by paring away with the chisel.

Attaching knife hinge to cabinet body
With hinges attached to the door, slide the door and hinges into place on the cabinet. Carefully open the door, then pre-drill screw holes and attach the carcass-side hinge leaves.

To chop mortises into the edges of the cabinet, lay out the location again using a cutting gauge to ensure accuracy. The vertically chop a series of lines about 1 mm apart in the mortise with a 3/8″ chisel. Pare the chopped area away and clean up the edges with a wider chisel. Do this until the mortise is at the proper depth and fits the hinge leaf neatly. Attach the hinges to the door. (Use a steel screw to help tap threads for pilot holes if the hinges come with softer brass screws.)

Cabinet door installed with knife hinge

Finally, slide the door and hinges into place to check its alignment. Then carefully open the door and fasten the hinge leaves to the edge of the cabinet to finish up the installation.

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