Router Table • Box Joint Storage Chest • Old-Fashioned Clock

EDITOR'SCOLUMN

,___,.il_!W

CREATIVE RESOURCESCreative Director: Ted Kralicek • Project Developer: KenMunkel • Sr. Project Designer: Kent Welsh. Shop Manager:Steve Curtis • Shop Craftsman: Steve Johnson • SeniorPhotographer: Crayola England

SPECIAL PUBUCATIONSExecutive Editor: Douglas L. Hicks • Senior GraphicDesigner: Chris Glowacki •Assistant Editors: CraigRuegsegger, Joel A Hess ·Graphic Designers: VuNguyen, April Walker Janning, Stacey L.Krull ·GraphicIntern: Heather Boots

CIRCUlATIONSubscriber Seroices Director: Sandy Baurn • New Business Mgr.:Todd Bierle • Promotion Mgr.: Rick Junkins· Renewal Mgr.:Paige Rogers • Billing & Collections Mgr. : RebeccaCUIUlingham • an: Matketing~ Kris Schlemmer·Moc.an: MatketingAna!)lst: Paula M. DeMatteis· As5t. Subs. Mgr.: JoyKrause • Sr. Graphic Designets: Mark HaYes, Robin Dowdell

CORPORATE SERVICESDirector 0/ Finance: Mary R. Scheve· Controller: RobinHutchinson • Sr. Account.: Laura Thomas • Accts. Payable:MaryJ. Schultz • Accts. Receivable: Margo Petrus·ProductionDir.: George Chmielarz • Electronic Publishing Director:Douglas M. Lidster • Network Administrator: CrisSchwanebeck· ?repress Image Specs.: TroyA Clark, MinnietteJohnson· Prod. Coordinator: Noelle Carroll· New MediaManager: Gordon C. Gaippe • Web Site Art Director:Gene Pedersen· Technology Analyst: Carol Schoeppler •Web Content Managers: Terry Walker, David Briggs •Web Prod. Specialist: Adam Best· H.R. Assistant: KirstenKoele • Facilities Mgr.: Julia Fish· Admin. Assistant:Sherri Ribbey • Receptionist: Jeanne Johnson·MailRoom/Delivery: Lou Webber

SAWDUST

rate cabinets. The upper cabinet canbe lifted off the lower section. Thisway if you're working on a projectaway from the shop, you can take theupper part of the router table withyou, As an option, the lower part canalso be used as a tool stand.

There are also a few other detailsabout the router table that are worthmentioning. For one thing the top fea­tures a unique metal track that can beadjusted to fit any miter gauge.What's different about this mitergauge slot is it also has a separate T­track that allows you to quickly attacha featherboard to the table.

The fence also has a couple of inter­esting features. It has two slidingfaces so you can adjust the width ofthe bit opening. And once again, ametal T-track makes attaching a bitguard or featherboard a snap.

Even if you don't plan on buildingthe router table in this issue, this T­track is worth a look. It's a great wayto add a quick, adjustable mountingsystem to any shop jig or accessory.

As you can probably tell, I'm veryexcited about this new router table.And I hope you are too.

I t'sfall":-the time ofyear when I geta chance to start spending more time

in the shop. As usual, I'm always itch-ing to get started on new projects. Thisyear, at the top of my list was a brandnew router table.

Now there's nothing wrong withmyoId router table. I've been using itfor a number of years, and it hasalways seemed to get the job done.But to be honest, I thought it coulduse a few improvements.

At first, I considered buying a man­ufactured router table. However Icouldn't find any single table that hadall the features I was looking for. So Idecided to build my own.

Taking a look at the front cover, it'seasy to see that this new router tablehas a large, laminated worksurfacewith a lift-out insert plate that pro­vides a quick way to change bits. Italso features plenty of built-in storageand an accurate, shop-built fence.

But what sets this router tableapart is something you can't see. Iguess you could say it has a "split per­sonality." Let me explain.

The router table is designed so itcan be taken apart to make two sepa-

October, 2000

Donald B. Peschke

Terry J. StrohmanJon GarbisonVincentAnconaJoel A Hess

Todd LambirthDavid KreylingDirk Ver SteegHarlan V. ClarkKara K. BlessingGraphic Intern

Publisher

EditorAssociate Editors

Contributing Editor

Art DirectorSenior Illustrators

No. 131

WOODSMlTII MAIL ORDEROperations Dir.: Bob Baker. Customer Seroice Mgr.: JennieEnos· Warehouse Sup.: Nancy Johnson· Buyer: LindaJones· Tech. Service Rep: Johnny Audette • Admin.Assist.: Nancy Downey. Cust. Servo Reps.: TammyTruckenbrod, Anna Cox, Deborah Rich, AprilRevell, Jeanette Rankin • Warehouse: Sylvia Carey,Dan Spidle, Sheryl Knox

Woodsmith® OSSN 01644114) is published bimonthly (Feb., Apr.,June, Aug., Oct., Dec.) by August Home Publishing Company, 2200Grand, Des Moines, 1A 50312.Woodsmith® is a registered trademark ofAugust Home Publishing.Copyright(;) 2000 August Home Publishing Company. All rightsreserved.Subscri.l'tions: Single copy: $4.95. One year subscription (6 issues),$21.94. (Canada/International add $10 per year, U.S. funds.)Periodicals Postage Paid at Des Moines, 1A and at additionaloffices. USPS/Perry·Judd's Heartland Division Automatable Poly.Postmaster:Send changeofaddress to Woodsmilh, Box 37112, Boone,1A 50037-2112.Subscription Questions? Write to Woodsmith, P.O. Box 842, DesMoines 1A 50304-9961 or call 1-800-333-5075, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm,Central Tune, weekdays. Or send an e-mail to:orders@Woodsmilh.comE-Mail: woodsmilh@woodsmilh.comWorld Wide Web: http://www.woodsmilh.com

Printed in U.S.A

NEW On the Web

rsl Ga eryVisit other Woodsmith subscribers' workshops, and see photos ofthe projects they've buill It's all online in the new Readers'Gallery on the Woodsmith web site: ••~www.Woodsmith.comWe want you to be part of the Readers' Gallery! Tosubmit photos of your favorite Woodsmith projectsor views of your shop, follow the instructions you'llfind at the gallery.

2 Woodsmith No. 131

A LOOKINSIDE

_~ '_=~-""""-<:~~.~~~~_'1".At.--.

CONTENTSFeatures

Router Table : 6A two~part design makes this router table unique. The upper sec~

tion can be carried to a job site while the lower section has plentyof room for storing your router accessories.

Router Table Fence 14A good fence is a must~have for any router table. This one fea~

tures a postive~action clamping system as well as adjustable frontfaces. And it's reinforced with aluminum angle and T~track.

Box Joint Storage Chest 20With its rows of evenly~spacedbox joints, this storage chest is sureto please. The drawers are sized so you can mix and match themin the case, creating your own distinctive look.

Box Joints 26Learn the secrets to making perfect box joints. With nothing morethan a table saw, a dado blade, and a simple jig, you'll be turningout professional~looking joints in no time.

Box Joint Clock 30So you want to try making box joints, but you're not sure whereto start? This little clock just might be the perfect choice. It doesn'trequire a huge investment of time or materials.

Departments

Tips &Techniques 4Shop Notes 18Sources 35

Router Table page 6

BoxJoint Clock page 30

No. 131 Woodsrnith 3

FROM FELLOWWOODWORKERS

FREEOnline Tips

If you'd like evenmore woodwork­ing tips, the solu­tion is simple.Just visit us at ourweb site and signup to receive afree tip via emailevery week.

www.woodsmith.com

Wine Rack JigI recently built a wine racksimilar to the one that youfeatured along with thekitchen work center inissue No. 129. Since I don'town a band saw, I had tocome up with a differentway ofmaking the crescent­shaped cutouts that holdthe wine bottles, see photo.

Instead I use a 3lf2!'-dia.hole saw in my drill pressand a simple jig thatattaches to the drill presstable, see Fig. 1.

The jig helps me to lineup the workpiece for con­sistent cuts. It's simply alarge plywood base and afence made from a shortpiece of 2x4 stock. I glued

the fence to the base andthen clamped the jig to thedrill press table.

By centering the holesaw lf2" from the edge ofthe fence, I can make thecutouts in the rack using aportion of the hole saw.Plus, the fence helps tokeep the drill bit alignedwhile making the cut

Justdraw acentered linethrough the kerf and thebase. Layout the work­piece and hold it againstthe fence to make the semi­circles. Then clean thesemi-circlesupwith a sand­ing drum ifneeded.

David HendrickSalina., Kansas

3W-dia.hole saw

Body Filler Sanding BlockSanding the profiles on wax paper over the covecove moldings can be molding, pour in the bodytricky. The problem is filler, and add a scrap ofholding the sandpaper to wood for a handle asthe shape of the cove. To shown at left. Once themake this job easier, I filler dries, I use the blockmake a custom sanding by attaching a piece ofblock using leftover body self-adhesive sandpaper tofiller from my garage the curved face.workshop, see photo. Mark Vanderpool

I simply lay a piece of Wichita, Kansas

QUICK TIP

4

Lathe Window ShadeMy lathe sits against the wall in mygarage. Whenever I turn reallywetwood or when finishing a turningon the lathe, the wall behind thelathe gets splattered. So I mounteda roll-down window shade abovethe lathe. I justpull down the shadeto protect the wall.

Ralph SpinneyAttleboro, Massachusetts

Hardware MagnetI stuck a magnetic bar on the edgeof the extension wing of my tablesaw. When I unscrew the auxiliaryfence from my miter gauge, orremove hardware from a jig, I stickthe hardware to the magnet Thisway, I know right where it is whenI need it again.

Craig RuegseggerAltoona., Iowa

Woodsmith

Dust Bag ZipperInstead of having to remove thebag from my dust collector everytime it gets full, I came up witha quicker method. I simply seweda zipper into the bag. This way, Ican just unzip the bag and emptyit out while it's still connected tothe dust collector.

Bobby HiUColumbus, Georgia

No. 131

Turned Spindle RepairRecently while turning an turned down on the spin­intricate spindle, my chisel dIe. A hole is drilled incaught the work piece and the center of the block totore out a chunk of wood. match the diameter oftheRather than discard the area to be repaired.ruined turning, I came up The block is then cutwith a simple technique to in half on a band saw (orrepair the damage. split with a chisel) and

To start with, I used a glued in place around theparting tool to turn down spindle, as shown in Figs.the damaged area to a 2 and 2a. Once the glueconsistent diameter, as dries, the spindle can beshown in Figs. 1 and 1a. re-turned correctly.

Next, select a block of If you take the time towood with similar color carefully match the grainand grain as the spindle of the block with the spin­that's being repaired. The dIe, the repair will belength of the block hardly noticeable.should match the width David McNishof the area that was Pinehurst, North Carolina

Flush Cut GuardI like to give my projects afinished look by pluggingexposed screwheads. Butsometimes when I'm cut­ting the plugs flush, I nickthe workpiece with myback saw, leaving a scratchthat's hard to sand out

So I've come up with a

little trick to avoid this.Now when trimming theplugs, I use a scrappiece of laminate as aguard to protect theworkpiece (Fig. 1).

The scrap piece isn'tvery large. (Mine's 4" x8".) I simply drill a hole

in the guard slightly larg­er than the size of thedowel used for the plug.Then I place the guardover the workpiece andsaw off the plug flushwith the laminate.

After removing thelaminate, the plug will be

standing a little proud ofthe surface. But this iseasy to fix. Just lightlysand down the end of theplug so it's flush with thesurface of your project,as shown in Fig. 2.

Federico Val1enasSt. Huberth, Quebec

If you have an original shop tip, we would liketo hear from you and consider publishing yourtip in one or more of our publications. Just writedown your tip and mail it to: Woodsmith, Tipsand Techniques, 2200· Grand Avenue, DesMoines, Iowa 50312. Please include your name,address, and daytime phone number in case wehave any questions. If you would like, FAX it tous at 515-282-6741 or send us an email messageat: woodsmith@woodsmith.com. We will pay upto $200 if we publish your tip.

No. 131 Woodsmith

Sand plugflush with

surface

~ To measure theinside dimensionsof cabinets anddrawers, I simplyextend a telescop­ing pointer (foundat most office sup­ply stores) andtransfer the meas­urements to a tapemeasure or rule.

Paul FertellLongmont, Colorado

5

SHOPPROJECT

ROUTER TABLEYou can't buy a router table this good. But you can build one.

6

I call this my "Jekyll and Hyde"router table. Notbecause it's a mon­

ster, but because it has a dual per-sonality. At first glance, it looks like afairly ordinary, floor-standing routertable. Butwalk over to it, liftup the topsection, and all of a sudden you havea smaller, portable router table that'sready to go anywhere.

Even though it's made to beportable, this isn't a lightweightrouter table. It's got a full-size topand just about all the features youcould want in a router table (see thebox below). Plus to top it off, we'veincluded a shop-built fence which isfully adjustable and includes a guardand dust collection port. For moreon this, turn to page 14.

Check out these features:

~ Portability - A two-piece design allows you tosimply lift off the upper section and carry therouter table to your jobsite.

~ Dual Track - Miter gauge slot includes a [­track for attaching featherboards.

~ Lift-out Insert - An easily removable insertplate means quick bit changes.

~ External Switch - No more fumbling under­neath the table trying to find the router switch.

~ Storage - A drawer and large storage com­partment in the stand offer plenty of space forbits, routers, and accessories.

~ Fence - Sturdy fence equipped with adjustablefaces, bit guard and hood for dust collection.

~ Leg Levelers - Easily adjustable, heavy-dutylevelers make this router table rock solid.

.. The portable upper section of therouter table lifts straight off thestand. It can be placed on a benchor carried to a remote jobsite andthen returned to the stand.

Woodsmith

~... You can make your router table

even more versatile by adding thisshop-built fence. It featuresadjustable sliding faces to accom­modate different size router bits.

No.I31

o

\I

iI@I

r

II

Adjustable fence(see article

on page 14)

Aluminum anglereinforces corners

of stand

I @

i ;

\

Hardwood edgingcovers all exposed

plywood edges

Dual trackmiter gauge slotincludes T-trackfor attachingfeatherboard

Doorpull

Drawer rides onfull-extensionmetal slides

Doors provideaccess to

router

Mitergauge

bar

NOTE: Drawer an.d storagecompartment In standprovide plenty of roomfor router accessories

Falsefront

@@ Adjust

levelers withAllen wrench

NOTE: Two-piecedesign allows

you to liftrouter table off

stand for portability

NOTE: Cabinet and standare constructed out

of 34" maple plywood

Construction DetailsOVERALL DIMENSIONS:

'. 30"W x 23"D x 3715ft6"H

CROSS SECTION

Dualtrack-----.'~-_____

No. 131

Magneticcatch

Insertplate

T-track

Top is made up ofplywood core sandwichedbetween hardboard and

plastic laminate

Cleatssupport

insert plateHardwood

edging

7

Cleat

Plasticlaminate

Insert plate

No.131

hardboard edges, it protects themfrom damage as well.

EDGING. Looking at Fig. 3, youll seethat the edging (C, D) is just fourpieces of hardwood that are miteredand glued around the edges of thetop. I made the edging slightlywider than the thickness of the top.Then after it was glued in place, Iplaned it down flush with the sur­faces of the top using a hand plane.(You could also sand the edgingflush.) With the edging applied, Irounded the corners with a beltsander, like you see in Fig. 3a.

LAMINATE. I applied laminate to bothfaces of the top for a good reason. Ithelps to keep the moisture level thesame on both faces of the top, there­by preventing the top from warping.

As you can see in Fig. 4, there'snot much to adding the plastic lami­nate. It's just a matter of gluing thelaminate down with contact adhe­sive and trimming the edges with aflush trim bit A:file or sanding blockcan be used to knock down thesharp edges of the laminate that areleft behind by the flush trim bit.

INSERT PLATE. At this point, the top isalmost complete. All that remains to

Dual track

Trim hardboardflush withtop panel

1"radius

a. TOPVIEW

Top is plywoodglued betweentwo layersof hardboard

CROSSSECTION

a.

flush trim bit (Fig. 2a).Before adding the plastic lami­

nate, I added some hardwood edg­ing to the top. The edging not onlycovers the exposed plywood and

Woodsmith

DSIDE

EDGING

NOTE:Round overcorners after

edging is applied

NOTE: Cut hardboardoversize and trimflush after gluing

®TOP SKIN

('4" hardboard)

NOTE:Edging is3,4"thick

TopWhen it comes

to router tables, the top iswhere the action is. Since all the workwill be taking place on the top, we puta lot of thought into the design ofthispart of the router table.

FLAT TOP. First and foremost, thetop of a router table needs to be flatand smooth - and stay that way. Ifit's not, youll have a hard time rout­ing consistent profiles, grooves, ordadoes. Since solid wood may warp,I used plywood and two layers ofhardboard to make the top. By lami­nating these materials together, youend up with a table that's flat and sta­ble. Then to provide a smooth,durable surface, plastic laminate isadded to each side of the top. Youcan see what I'm talking about bytaking a look at Fig. 1.

To make the top, start by cuttingthe plywood top panel (A) to fin­ished size, as shown in Fig. 2. Thencut the two oversized hardboard topskins (B). (I made my hardboardskins about I" wider and longerthan the plywood top panel.) Afterthese skins are glued to the ply­wood with contact cement, they aretrimmed flush with a router and

CFRONTEDGING

A

TOP PANEL(3,4" plywood)

8

Screw trackto top

END ­VIEW

CROSS SECTION

--------.~. ------

a.

bled track pieces. As you can seein Fig. 6, this groove matches thewidth and thickness of the track.

Once the groove is cut, the twopieces of track are just screwed inplace, like you see in Fig. 6a.

EBACKCLEAT

Flushtrimbit

Size grooveto matchdual track

F

SIDECLEAT

#6x 114"Fh wood­

screw

Trimlaminateflush with top

NOTE: For moreon insert, seepage 19.

piece with instant glue. (Note: Asheet of paper slipped around thebar of your miter gauge will help tocreate a perfect sliding fit.) Then adado blade can be used to cut agroove in the top for the assem-

be added is an insert and a slot for amiter gauge. I decided to use aninsert plate that's made out of phe­nolic (a hard, dense plastic). Thenice thing about this plate is that itlifts right out along with the routerso you can change bits easily. ShopNote: If you plan on using a plungerouter with this table, you may haveto use a larger insert plate.

In Fig. 5, you can see that theinsert plate fits into a simple open­ing. (fum to page 19 for more infor­mation on making this opening.)Hardwood cleats (E, F) arescrewed to the sides of the openingand support the insert plate so it'sflush with the top (Fig. 5a).

MITER GAUGE SLOT. The miter gaugeslot I used for this router table ismade up of two separate aluminumextrusions - an L-shaped piece andaT-track - take a look at Fig. 6a.Together, these parts form a slot forthe miter gauge. And the T-trackmakes it easy to attach a feather­board using a couple of knobs andtoilet flange bolts.

Editor's Note: This track systemis a product called Dual Track thathas been specially manufactured forWoodsmith. It's available as part of

. a hardware kit for the router table,refer to Sources on page 35.

Before you can cut the groovefor the dual track, you'll need toassemble the two track pieces.Using your miter gauge as a spac­er, glue the T-track to the L-shaped

MAKING IT STICK

Brush the contact adhesive onto both sur­faces that you wish to join. After the firstcoat dries, apply a second coat and let itdry also. The adhesive will look glossy andwon't transfer to your finger when dry

No. 131

Since contact adhesive grips on contact,you want to avoid letting the laminatetouch the router table top before it's posi­tioned To do this, lay dowels across the topand center the laminate over the top.

Woodsmith

Starting at one end, begin removing thedowels, rolling the laminate down as yougo. The trick is to use as much pressure aspossible to ensure a good bond This isespecially important around the edges.

9

)!

#6x 1W'Fh wood­

screw

',1,.. )~ \ .! \ r

\ ( I, \. I <t: I

11 2 " III~I!1{ I

b. TOP SECTIONVIEW

Rubberbumper

Once this hole is drilled, you canglue up the cabinet While the glueis setting up, drill pilot holes andinstall the screws and finish wash­ers on the sides and back of the cab­inet. When these are in place, youcan remove the clamps.

DOORS. To help contain the dustand tone down the high-pitchedscream of the router, I added doorsto the front of the cabinet. Eachdoor is made up of a plywood doorpanel (K) with hardwood edging onthree sides, as shown in Fig. 8. The

NOTE:Attach topwith figure-8fasteners

•

TOPSECTION

VIEW

TOPSECTION

VIEW

I used a dado blade to cut the rab­bets with an auxiliary fence clamp­ed to my rip fence. The sides arerabbeted to hold the back and thebottom. And the back is rabbetedalong one edge to hold the bottom.

Before assembling the cabinet, Idrilled a large hole in the back for ashop vacuum (Fig. 7). Hooking therouter table up to a shop vacuumnot only keeps the inside of the cab­inet clean by removing sawdust andchips, it also pulls air across therouter, allowing it to run cooler.

FRONTSECTION

VIEW

a.

NOTE: Allpieces (exceptedging) are34" plywood

Cabinet &StandWith the top of the router table com­pleted, you can start working on thebase. There are actually two parts tothe base. The table top is fastened toa small cabinet thathouses the router.This cabinet in turn sits on a stand.With this arrangement, you can eas-

ily lift off the upper section ofthe router table and take itwithyou to a jobsite while leavingthe stand behind.

CABINET. As you can see inFig. 7, the cabinet is really justa small plywood box that'sopen in the front for access tothe router. To start with, I cutthe two sides (G), back (H)and bottom (I) to size from%"-thick maple plywood.When laying out and cuttingthese pieces, pay attention tothe grain direction. (The grainshould run up and down.)

To hide the exposed edgesof the plywood, the frontedges of the sides and bottomare covered with hardwood.To make this edging, I simplyripped l,4l1-wide strips from theedge of a %"-thick piece ofmaple stock. Then I glued theedging (J) to the front edgesof the sides and bottom andtrimmed it flush with a router.

The cabinet is held togetherwith glue and screws. But as youcan see in Fig. 7b, I used rabbets toincrease the glue surface and keepthe pieces aligned during assembly.

NOTE: Cut hingesto size

l ,i111; '12%"\

\

I ;,' ,

~ORPANEL

NOTE: Do notapply edging tohinge side of door

..

Electrical

• (1) Handy Box• (1) Single 15 Amp., 120

Volt Receptacle

• (1) Single Receptacle BoxCover

• (1) Cable Connector• (1) Exterior Receptacle

Box

• (1) 15Amp., 120 VoltSwitch

• (2) Water-Tight CableConnectors

• (1) Switch Plate• (1) 14-3 Electrical Cord

(8 ft.)

• (1) 15Amp., 120 VoltPlug (grounded)

• (1) Wire NUl Connector

10 Woodsmith No. 131

a.

FRONTVIEW

I 0

I SIDE I 22114"

I ® I: ' £ 1

\

I#6 Finishwasher 0

#6 x 1314"

small piece of plywood that is gluedand screwed in place.

SPACERS. Since the corners of thestand will be covered with alu­minum angle, I added some spacerblocks (p, Q, R, S) to the stand.These provide a place for mountingthe aluminum angle as well as thedrawer and door hardware. They'rejust %"-thick pieces of hardwoodthat are glued to the front and backedges of the sides (Fig. 11). Oncethey're in place, you're ready tomake the drawer and doors.

NOTE: Glueedging toplywood beforecutting dadoesin sides

like making the cabinet. Start bycutting the sides (L) and threedividers (M) according to thedimensions in Fig. 10. After addingedging to the front of these pieces,you can cut the rabbets and dadoesthat hold them together. Then thesides and dividers can be glued andscrewed together.

BACK & TOE KICK. The back (N) isbeing added in Fig. 11. It is also cutfrom %" plywood and has dadoesand a rabbet cut in it to fit over thedividers. The toe kick (0) is just a

STANDLooking at Fig. 10, you can see thatthe stand is also a plywood boxthat's assembled with rabbets, glueand screws. The main differenceis that the stand contains a draweras well as a storage area.

Building the stand is pretty much

doors are then attached to the cabi­net with continuous (piano) hinges.

HARDWARE. To complete the cab­inet, all that's needed is to addthe remaining hardware. First, apull is attached to the front ofeai>~h door. Then a couple ofmagnetic catches are mountedinside the cabinet and to theback of the doors. Finally, four

. rubber bumper feet are fastenedto the bottom of the cabinet toprevent the router table fromshifting around during use (Fig.7a). Once this is done, you canattach the top to the cabinetusing Figure-8 fasteners (Fig. 9).

SWITCH. To avoid having to fumblearound under the table for therouter switch, I mounted an outleton the inside of the cabinet that iscontrolled by a switch on the out­side of the cabinet (Fig. 9). SafetyNote: Wiring the outlet and switchis not difficult, but if you aren'tfamiliar with basic wiring princi­ples you should seek the advice ofa licensed electrician.

11

NOTE:Spacersare cut

from %"-thick Nhard- BACKwood

SIDE SECTION VIEW

R

SPACER NOTE: Back attachedwith #6 x 1314" Fhwoodscrews and

finish washers

P Q

SPACER SPACER

a.

SPACER~~~=====~~~~5

NBACK

(314" ply. ­20Vs"x 22114")

Woodsmith

NOTE: Donot use finish

washers whenattaching back

and toe kick to sides

NOTE: Glue frontspacers flush withedging

No. 131

BOTTOM(%" hardboard)

V

.•_:~~;..:. . ....~=.cz:r: _- _·_·-'--···:-rT··~- .~ -.'

b. SIDE SECTIONVIEW

hinges down to size with a hacksawto fit the doors.)

HARDWARE. To complete the doorsand drawer, I added some pulls tothe front to match the ones on thecabinet doors. Then I mounted acouple of magnetic catches to theinside of the stand for the doors(Figs. 13a and 13b).

ALUMINUM. At this point, all thatremains is to add a couple of fin­ishing touches to the stand. Themost obvious of these is the alu­minum angle that is applied to

NOTE: Drawer sides,

TOPSECTION

VIEW

TNOTE: Leave roomfor false front whenattaching drawer slide

a.

Thickness of34" plywood.---'----+-:-'-+-_HA'+-+---'T-__--l

'-----.

sized to allow a 1/16" gap on all foursides of the drawer front. Once theedging is applied, the false front canbe centered on the front of the draw­er and screwed in place.

DOORS. Except for their size, thedoors on the stand are identical tothe ones you made for the cabinet.They are just a couple of plywooddoor panels (X) with hardwoodedging on three sides. Once theedging is in place, the doors can bemounted to the stand with continu­ous hinges. (You'll have to cut the

Drawer & DoorsAt this point, the carcase of the standis complete. All you have to do nowis add the drawer and make the doorsfor the storage compartment.

DRAWER. I decided to add the draw­er first. It's made up of %"-thickhardwood stock with a plywoodfalse front. The first step is to cut thedrawer front and back (T) andsides (U) to size according to thedimensions shown in Fig. 12.

The drawer is joined with rabbetjoints and held together with glueand screws. Rabbets are cut in theside pieces, one at each end, justlike you see in Fig. 12a. Then agroove is cut near the bottom edgeof all four pieces to hold the drawerbottom. After cutting a piece of %"hardboard for the drawer bottom(V), you can glue and screw thedrawer together.

DRAWER SLIDES. To make it easier toget to items at the back of the draw­er, I used full-extension drawerslides. Each kind comes in twopieces - one is screwed to the sideof the drawer and the other isscrewed to the inside of the drawercompartment. The important thingto note is that the slides should beset back far enough from the frontedge of the stand to allow room forthe false front that is added next,like you see in Fig. 12a.

FALSE FRONT. As you can see in Fig.12, the false front (W) is made outof %"-thick plywood with hardwoodedging all around. The false front is

Magneticcatch

JEDGINGA This stand can also be used with

other portable power tools, such asa thickness planer or a bandsaw.

12 Woodsmith No. 131

3%"

~

.6JFh wood­

screw

i®\!

Legleveler

NOTE: Aluminum angle 11.8

" x 111.2" X 1 11.2

"extends 3;"" above " I. I.

top of stand aluminum angle.---------,-------.....b. V2" radius~

1V8"o

~ 5%"

\;" ii'li

l'

I:

adjusted with an Allen wrench, with­out having to reach underneath thestand or turn it upside down. Oncethese are attached to the stand, youcan apply a finish and mount yourrouter to the insert in the top. LW

[ 'if! ;i!

FRONTSECTION VIEW

#8x%"Ph screw

The final pieces of hardware toadd are the four leg levelers (Fig.14a). The ones I chose are reallyslick. They simply screw to thesides of the stand. But the nice thingabout them is that they can be

each corner of the stand. Besidesstrengthening the stand and pro­tecting the corners, the aluminumangle also creates a lip to positionthe upper cabinet on the stand.

The way this works is quite sim­ple. The aluminum angle is cut %"longer than the height of the stand.This way, when it is attached to thecorners of the stand, the ends willstick up and create a lip that holdsthe upper cabinet in place.

Since aluminum is soft, it can beeasily cut with a hacksaw. You canalso cut the aluminum on a tablesaw, using a carbide-tipped blade.Safety Note: Do not try to cut thealuminum on your table saw unlessyou have a carbide-tipped blade.

Once the aluminum is cut tolength, you can drill and counter­sink the screwholes. A few secondson a belt sander will round over thetop corners of the aluminum angle,like you see in Fig. 14b. Then thealuminum angle can be screwed tothe corners of the stand.

MAlERIALS, SUPPLIES & CUlliNG DIAGRAM

. A Top Panel (1) % ply. - 21112 x 28YzB Top Skins (2) % hdbd. - 21112 - 28Y2C Ft./Bk. Edging (2) % x 1% - 30D Side Edging (2) % x 1% - 23E Ft./Bk. Cleats (2) Yz x 1 - 8F Side Cleats (2) Yz x 1 - 6G Cabinet Sides (2) % ply. - 17% x 14H Cabinet Back (1) % ply. - 20 x 14I Cabinet Bttm. (1) % ply. - 17% x 20J Ply. Edging (1) % x % - 32 lin. ft.K Door Panels (2) % ply. - 9%z x 12%l Stand Sides (2) % ply. - 177/8 x 22%M Dividers (3) % ply. - 17% x 20YsN Stand Back (1) % ply. - 20Ys x 22%

o Toe Kick (1) % ply. - 19% x 3%P Frt. Drwr. Spacers (2) % x 2% - 4Q Bk. Drwr. Spacers (2) % x 3 - 4R Door Spacers (2) % x 2% - 12%S Toe Kick Spacers (2) % x 2% - 3%T Drwr. Ft./Back (2) 112 x 3112 - 16%U Drawer Sides (2) Yz x 3Yz - 16V Drwr. Bottom (1) %hdbd-1 SlAG x 16%W False Front (1) % ply. - 17Yz x 3%X Door Panels (2) % ply. - 819hz x 12Ys

• (1) Phenolic Insert Plate• (1) 32" Dual Track w/Screws• (16) #6 x 1%" Fh Woodscrews

• (48) #6 x 1%" Fh Woodscrews• (40) #6 Finish Washers• (4) %" Rubber Bumpers w/Screws• (5) Pulls w/Screws• (4) Magnetic Catches w/Screws• (2) 1Yz" x 30" Piano Hinges w/Screws• (4) Figure-8 Fasteners• (8) #8 x 1" Fh Woodscrews• (1 pr.) 16" Drawer Slides w/Screws• (4) Leg Levelers• (24) #8 x %" Ph Sheet Metal Screws• (4) J.B" x H2" x H2" x 24" Alum. Angle• (24) #6 x %" Fh Woodscrews• (4) #6 x 1" Fh Woodscrews

6 Board Feet of 34" Maple

W' - 48" x 48" TemperedHardboard

2 Pieces of Plastic Laminate(24" x 32")

ALSO NEEDED:

A

H

K

N

xG 0 I-----j~'vl_--_V/

G

L

L

3;"" - 48" x 96" Maple Plywood

No. 131 Woodsmith 13

SHOPPROJECT

ROUTER TABLE FENCE

3h6"-dia.countersunk

hole

b. TOP VIEW

%2"-dia.3fa" hole

radius. '...--------'T----'----L.......j

the waste, simply drill holes in thecorners like you see in Fig. 2 andcut away the waste with a sabre sawand a metal-cutting blade (Fig. 3).Youll probably need to clean up theedges of the opening with a file.

The last bit of work to do on thealuminum angle is to radius thetwo back corners as shown in Fig.lb. This can be done quickly on adisc or belt sander.

FENCE. The aluminum angle getsattached to a hardwood fence. Thisfence (A) is just a piece of %"-thickhardwood with a shallow rabbet cutalong one edge to receive the alu­minum angle (Fig. 4). After cuttingthe rabbet, the aluminum angle canbe screwed to the back of the fence(Fig. 5). Then four holes can bedrilled through the fence for the toi­let flange bolts that will attach thesliding faces later (Fig. la).

It's hard to get good results when

CLAMPSLOCK

AFENCE

can be seen in Fig. 1. A length of alu­minum angle serves as the back­bone of the fence.

To make the fence, I started bycutting the aluminum to length anddrilling the holes for the screws andbolts that will be used to attach thevarious parts of the fence to the alu­minum. (fhe screw hole locationscan be seen in Figs. la and lb.)

After the holes are all drilled, youcan layout the bit opening in themiddle of the aluminum. To remove

14---- 15"------<14---- 14" -----.<

-------36"----------------l----16"----

HOW do you improve on a greatrouter table? The answer is to

add a great fence. Now there are alot of router table fences out there onthe market. But you don't have tospend big bucks to get a quality fence.

The shop-built fence shownhere is made out of a few boardfeet of lumber and some com­monly available hardwareitems. In fact, the only part thatyou probably won't be able tofind at your local lumberyard orhardware store is the aluminumtrack at the top of the fence and onthe back of the sliding faces (seepage 35 for sources).

This fence clamps firmly to yourrouter table and provides a rigid,straight surface for guiding yourworkpieces. The two front facesare adjustable for different sizebits. And the T-track along the topof the fence allows you to addsome handy accessories, like a bitguard or featherboard.

ALUMINUM ANGLE. The secret to mak­ing the fence strong yet lightweight

a.

NOTE: All piecesare %" -thick stock,except spacer andpositioning block

14 Woodsrnith No.l31

\

.l Toilet flangebolts and thread­ed knobs areused to attachthe sliding facesto the fence.

FENCEA

CROSSSECTION

CSLIDING

FACE

a. //

Vs'

,

1END ~VIEW

2"

45·

1-----,,1t

NOTE: Slidingfences should sit %2"

proud of upperT-track

you're routing with a fence that'stwisted or bowed. And while the alu­mipum angle is pretty straight, Iwanted to make sure the front faceof the fence was as straight and flatas possible. So once it was mountedto the aluminum, I took a couple oflight passes on a jointer to flatten thewood face of the fence.

Now that the fence is flat, you justneed to cut out the area of the bitopening. You can use a sabre saw toremove most of the waste and thencome back with a router and flushtrim bit to clean up the opening, asshown in Fig. 6. After the opening istrimmed flush, a chamfer is routedalong the inside edges to provideclearance for extra-large bits.

T-TRACK. One of the neatfeatures ofthis fence is the T-track that runsalong the top. This allows you toattach a bit guard or a featherboardat any point along the length of thefence without having to use clamps.

As you can see by looking atFig. 7, the T-track is mounted to aspacer (B) that is in turn glued tothe front of the face. The thicknessof this spacer is important. Youwant to make sure that the T-trackwon't extend beyond the slidingfaces that will be added later.

After gluing the spacer to thefront of the fence flush with the top

-'. edge, you can add the T-track. Thisis just screwed in place.

SLIDING FACES. If you take anotherlook at Fig. 1, you'll see that rightbelow the spacer and T-track are acouple of sliding faces (C). Theseslide on a second piece of T-track.The two faces start out as a single,%"-thick blank, slightly over 36"long. A groove is cut down the cen­ter of the blank to hold the T-trackthat is used to attach the faces to thefence. (Make sure that the groovelines up with the holes in the fence.)

After the groove is cut and the T­track is screwed in place, the blankcan be cut into two 18"-long faces.Then the ends of the faces arechamfered to create clearance forthe bit. You can see this in Fig. 7a.Finally, the faces are attached to thefence with toilet flange bolts andplastic knobs (Fig. 7b).

No. 131 Woodsmith 15

A short piece of ..aluminum

angle, a block ofwood, a knob,

and a few piecesof hardware are

all it takes tomake this fence

hold-down.

Designing the last part of the fenceproved to be the most challenging.The trick was to figure how tosecurely clamp the fence to the top ofthe router table, but still allow thefence to be easily adjusted.

The solution I came up with issimple. It's just a small hold-downmade out of a piece of aluminumangle and a wood block, as shownin the photo above. These hold­downs are attached to each end ofthe fence. When the knobs aretightened down, the aluminumangle grips the edge of the routertable top with surprising force.

A couple of thick wood blocksattached to each end of the fenceprevent the hold-downs from rotat­ing out of position when moving thefence over the router table top.These positioning blocks (D) aremade first. I glued up two pieces ofstock for each block, ending up witha finished thickness of 1WI. In Fig.8a, you can see how these blocksare attached to the fence. Beforethey're screwed in place, the sharpcorners of the blocks are relievedon a sander, like you see in Fig. 8b.

HOLD-DOWNS. Making the hold­downs that secure the fence to thetable is a little more involved thanmaking the positioning blocks.Each one is made up of a shortpiece of aluminum angle. But inorder for the hold-down to matchthe thickness of the table top, you'llhave to cut down one side of the alu­miilUm angle, as shown in Fig. 8b.

To provide a means of bolting thealuminum angle to the fence, awood block is epoxied to the insideof the angle. Fig. 8c shows one ofthese hold-down blocks (E). Before

Aluminumangle D

POSITIONINGBLOCK

END VIEW

Epoxyblock

to alum.angle

these blocks are glued in place, youneed to do a little work on them.

The first step after cutting thehold-down blocks to size is to drill ahole for a bolt in both the block andthe aluminum angle. To do this,clamp the block to the inside of thealuminum angle. Then place theblock with the aluminum angleagainst the positioning block on thefence and mark out the location forthe bolt (using the hole that'salready drilled in the fence as a tem­plate). Now you can drill a bolt holethrough the hold-down block andthe aluminum angle.

To prevent the bolt from spinningwhen tightening the knob on thehold-downs, I used lock nuts. Asmall notch is cut in the top of eachhold-down block to receive the nut.The trick here is to size the width ofthe notch so the nut fits in snug.This will keep the nut from turningonce the hold-down is assembled.

~. Wa,ste

Aluminum~~angle 2"

FRONT SECTION VIEW

You can get a better idea of what I'mtalking about by looking at Fig. &.

ASSEMBLY. As you can see in Fig. 8d,assembling the hold-downs is prettyeasy. Start by inserting a lock nutinto the notch on each hold-downblock. Then epoxy the blocks to thealuminum angle. Now to attach thehold-downs, simply thread a bolt(with a washer) through the alu­minum angle and the block. A plas­tic knob then secures the assemblyto the fence. Finally, to help give thehold-downs a little more grippingpower, I placed a piece of self­adhesive rubber grip tape on theinside face of the aluminum angle,like you see in the photo above.

FINISH. To help protect the woodsurfaces of the fence, I wiped on acouple coats of an oil finish. Thenafter the finish dried, I applied a coatof paste wax to the fence and slidingfaces to reduce friction and to makethem easier to adjust. 1\1

16 Woodsmith No. 131

ROUTER TABLE FENCE ACCESSORIES

.... BITGuARDThis bitguard is designed toattach to the T-track alongthe top of the fence. Theguard consists of a hard­wood back and a shieldmade from lf4" polycarbon­ate plastic (plexiglas). Aftercutting two adjustment slotsin the back, the shield isscrewed in place.

.... FEATHERBOARDOne nice thing about thisfeatherboard is that it canbe attached to the fence orto the top of the table. It'sjust a piece of WI-thickhardwood with miteredends. To cut the slots thatform the fingers, I tilted thetable sawblade and clampedthe featherboard to an aux­iliary fence attached to thefront of the miter gauge.

Back.~ (112" thick)

1l0"---..

Flexiblehose

c· Hose~mp,.

f1B -Tee.~onnector

.... DuST CoLLECTIONTo help remove sawdust, I added a dust hood to theback of the fence. This is made out of a few pieces ofhardboard and a strip of hardwood and screws direct­ly to the back of the fence. With a few plastic fittings(see page 35), you can attach your shop vacuum to theback of the router table cabinet as well as the fence.

A Fence (1)B Spacer (1)C Sliding Faces (2)D Positioning Blocks (2)E Hold-down Blocks (2)

% x 3112 - 36% x1%2 - 36

% x 21V,6 - 181% x 2 - 2V,6% x 1% - 2

MATERIALS & SUPPLIES• (2) 36" T-Tracks w/Screws• (4) S/'6" x 1%" Toilet Flange Bolts

(6) S/'6" Through-Hole Star Knobs• (8) 5/'6" SAE Flat Washers• (1) Ys"x 2" x 2" Alum. Angle (42" long)

NOTE: List does not include hardware for accessories

• (2) 5/'6" x 2112" Hex Head Bolts• (2) 5/'6" Lock Nuts

(8) #8 xl" Fh Woodscrews• (8) #8 x 112" Fh Woodscrews• (1) 6" of Anti-Skid Tape (2" wide)

No. 131 Woodsmith 17

TIPS FROMOUR SHOP

~~~1rJlof:

SHOP NOTES'-Square Router Edge GuideThe nice thing about using keep the dadoes square toa hand-held router to cut a the panels. And best of all,dado is you can see what's it requires just a couplehappening. The trick is straight scrap pieces.positioning the edge guide To build the T-squareso the router bitwill line up edge guide, I screwed theexactlywith the layout line. long straightedge to the

For the stopped dadoes crosspiece, using a fram­in the storage chest case ing square to position the(on page 22), I used a T- pieces and a coupleshaped guide that aligned clamps to hold them inthe bit easily and helped place, as shown in Fig. 1.

Then I routed throughthe crosspiece to makesetting up the guide easier(Fig. 1b). Simply align thedado on the crosspiecewith the layout mark onthe side panel, as shownin Fig. 2b. But when set­ting up the edge guide,

keep in mind that youneed to move the routerfrom left-to-right (assum­ing it's between you andthe fence), just like anyhand-held routing opera­tion. Otherwise the bitmay pull the router awayfrom the guide. m

Layout markon workpiece

e lib~--'-+----1

Crosspiece

/CROSS SECTION

a. #8xl1f4"Fh screw

Small Stopped DadoesI typically rout stopped pieces werefairly small. Sodadoes on the router table I decided to cut the dadoesor with an edge guide (as just like I would a mortise.shown above). But on the LAYOUT. The first step isboxjoint clock, the stopped to layout the dadoes care­dadoes were cut between fully. When doing this, Ithe two grooves, and the also scored the edges to

make the dadoes easier toclean up later, as shown inthe margin photo at left.

OVERLAPPING HOLES. Next,most of the waste of thedado can be removed witha Forstner bit (Fig. 1).

CLEAN DADO. Now allthat's left is to clean up thedado. I use a wide chiselon the shoulders (Fig. 2).And a narrow one (withthe bevel down) for thebottom (Fig. 3). m

~ Before drilling outthe stoppeddndoes, I scoredthe shoulders witha utility knife.This mluie theclean-up easier

later on.

18 Woodsmith No. 131

Router Table InsertWhen it comes to creatingthe opening for the insertplate for the router table onpage 6, there are two thingsto be concerned with. Youwant the plate to fit theopening like a glove andyou want it to be flush withtop of the router table.

Making the opening forthe insert plate involvesthree steps - laying outthe opening, cutting outthe waste, and trimmingthe opening with a routerso the plate fits perfectly.

LAYOUT. To layout theopening, I like to use theinsert plate as a template.For the router tableshown on page 6, theinsert plate is centeredon the table. A framingsquare makes it easy toposition the plate squarewith the edges of thetable, as shown in Fig. 1.

Carpet tape will holdthe insert firmly in placewhile. you carefully tracearound the edges. Theselines serve as a guide forrough-cutting the opening

as well as positioning thetemplate for routing theopening smooth.

ROUGHING OUT. The nextstep is to cut out the open­ing with a sabre saw. Inorder to do this, I beganby drilling a couple ofstarter holes in oppo,sitecorners of the waste area.Then I use a sharp, newblade to rough out thesides of the opening, stay­ing about 3/16" away fromthe layout lines (Fig. 2).

TRIM OPENING. After roughcutting the opening, thelast step is to trim theedges to match the size ofthe insert plate. To dothis, I made a template bysimply taping down somestrips of %" hardboardalong the layout lines onthe top, just like you see inFig. 3. (You can use theinsert plate to test the sizeof the template opening.)

Once the strips are inplace, the opening can betrimmed with a router anda pattern bit (see marginphotoatright) .There'sjust

SECOND: Cut awaywaste with saber saw

one thing to keep in mind.Since most pattern bits areonly l"long, youll need tomake two passes, increas­ing the cutting depth afterthe first pass. You can seewhat I'm talking about inFigs.4aand 4b.

ATTACHING CLEATS. Onceyou've created the open­ing, all that's left is toattach cleats to the sides

a.

of the opening to supportthe insert plate. The trickis to position the cleats sothe plate ends up flushwith the top. Here's a fool­proof way to do this. Justset the top face-down on aflat surface. Then drop theinsert plate in the openingand glue and screw thecleats in place, like yousee in Figs. 5 and 5a m

TOP VIEW

NOTE: Stay3116" awayfrom layoutline

A A pattern bit has aguide bearing atthe top of the bit.

_..s.-

Lower biton next pass

CROSS SECTIONCROSS SECTION

a.

To mount a ..router in thetable, simplyremove thebaseplate of therouter and useit as a templatefor locating thescrew holes inthe insert plate .

Woodsmith

a. SIDE SECTIONVIEW

SECOND: Dropinsert plate intoopening

FIRST: Place topface-down onflat surface

THIRD: Glue andscrew cleats tosides of opening

No. 131

STORAGEPROJECT

Box OINT STORAGE CHESTInside - a place for everything.Outside - box joints take center stage.

By and large, the work of wood­working - the joinery - goes

mostly unnoticed. Not with this chest.The consistent spacing of the boxjointscreates a lot of visual interest on whatwould otherwise be a rather plain chest.

However, being "front and center,"these box joints will also be subject tosome close inspections. So their fitshould be about perfect. This isn'tanything to worry about. Box jointsmay look exacting, but the accuracy isbuilt into a shop-made jig that has anindexing key. Once the jig is finetuned, you could almost cut them withyour eyes closed. (But please don't.)

There's something else impressiveabout this chest - it's all the storagespace. There are three rows of deepdrawers, and these drawers can bebuilt in three different sizes. Thesmallest is just right for CDs, while thelargest will hold just about anythingyou'd want to put in a drawer.

And best of all, the drawers aredesigned so they can be arranged(and even rearranged) in a variety ofconfigurations, as you can see below.So you can choose the one that fitsyour storage needs. Plus, on page 25,there's yet another version of thischest that rolls on small casters.

20

What kind of storagedo you need? There'sa lot of f1exibility in thenumber and size of thedrawers on this chest. Soyou can customize tnemto fit your particularstorage needs.

Woodsmith No. 131

NOTE: Forother designoptions, seepage 25

Case joinedwith W' x3j,,"box joints

Small_.-- drawer '

ALSO NEEDED: One 24" x 48" piece of Ill" cherry plywoodand one 24" x 48" piece of W maple or birch plywood

CUnlNG DIAGRAM3j,," x 5" - 96" Cherry (Six Boards @ 3.3 Bd. Ft. Each)

I A I B I2.--D-~W' x 4" - 96" Cherry (Four Boards @ 2.7 Sq. Ft. Each)

I I I J I J I~J~EEJ%m?Z%m1W' x 4" - 96" Cherry (Four Boards @ 2.7 Sq. Ft. Each)

I L I L I L I L I--'-.:......:.L-'---L----r-L----,~

34" X 5" - 96" Cherry (Two Boards @ 3.3 Bd. Ft. Each)I E ---'-'--'--E------'--'--'--'--.-------E-----,~

34" x 4" - 96" Cherry (Two Boards @ 2.7 Bd. Ft. Each)

1 F G 1Z~~~~~~~W=i~H::;::::;»;;::;/..0;:::;v~~~7,0'i////~7/j

Bin-styledrawer pull

~'====:~~~~~;:q.ff:::::::::::=t:::::: Case back isrnr .' I ' W plywood

NOTE: Fordifferentdrawerconfigurations,see box onpage 20

Gentle curvecut in front andback of base

Bottom panel(and top) hasslight bevelon one edge

Drawers builtwith \12" x W'box joints

Cleats glued tobase frame andscrewed intobottom panel

MATERIALS & SUPPLIESA Case Top/Bottom (2) % x 12% - 25%B Case Sides (2) % x 12112 - 227/sC Case Back (1) %ply.-24%x2WsD Case Dividers (2) % x 11 % - 24%E Top/Btm. (2) % x 14 - 27%F Base Front/Back (2) % x 3% - 26%G Base Sides (2) % x 3% - 13112H Base Cleats (2) % x W2 - 25%I Large Drawer Fr./Bk. (2) 112 x 6112 - 24J Medium Dwr. Fr./Bk. (4) % x 6% - 12K Small Dwr. Fr./Bk. (8) 112 x 6% - 6L Drawer Sides (14) % x 6112 - 11 %M Lg. Dwr. Btm. (1) % ply. - 11 % x 23%N Med. Dwr. Btm. (2) % ply. -11% xl W2o Sm. Dwr. Btm. (4) % ply. -11% x 5112

• (8) 3" -wide Bin Pulls w/Screws• (6) #8 x 2" Rh Woodscrews• (6) #8 Flat Washers

ConstructionDetailsOVERALL DIMENSIONS:275fs"H x 27%"W x 14"D

No. 131 Woodl'mith 21

requires more glue and clamps,which takes more time. So my goalwas to be able to press the piecestogether completely by hand. (How­ever, you'll still want a mallet handywhen you add glue to the joint)

To cut the joints, you'll need tostart with the top and bottom pieces(Fig. 2). The reason has to do withsmall, square "holes" that will be vis­ible after the case is assembled.(These are created by grooves cutlater to hold the case back.) Bystarting with the top and bottom,the holes will end up at the top of the

case (Fig. 7), where they'll be cov­ered by a top panel later.

One last thing. When it's time tocut the first slot on the sides, you1lneed to have both pieces set againstthe jig. These panels are too large todo this without a little "help," so Iclamped a long scrap cleat acrossthe two pieces to hold them tight tothe fence, as you can see in Fig. 3.

GROOVE FOR BACK. With the boxjoints cut, the next thing to do is cutthe groove to hold the back of thecase (Fig. 4). A %11 plywood back iscloser to 3/1611 thick, so I cut this

288"

ICASE SIDE

@

\ f ~ \(;;\' .; i \SJ '

CASE BACK \.(1f4"-ply. ­

245fs" x 21 W)

\.

I II.

: \

A

CASE BOTTOM

~

~ Vz" -wide ~box joints ~3f.I" long

~

NOTE:For more oncutting box joints,see page 26

NOTE:Case built with34" -thick stock, exceptfor plywood back

~DECase & DividersThe mechanical precision ofboxjointscan look intimidating - the pins andslots interlock tighter than the teethon a pair of gears. But believe it ornot, box joints don't take any greatskill. The consistency and precisionare achieved with an easy-to-buildjig.

CUT TO SIZE. The first thing to do isglue up four %II-thick blanks for thetop (AJ, bottom (AJ and sides (BJ.But instead of cutting these to finalsize, I ripped them WI extra wide.(Fig. 1 shows finished sizes.) Thisway, after the box joints are cut, youcan rip the pieces so there's a fullslot or pin on both edges.

CUT BOX JOINTS. With the work­pieces cut to size, the box joints canbe cut on the ends of each piece. Ifyou haven't cut box joints before,there's an article on page 26 that willwalk you through this process step­by-step. But even ifyou have cut boxjoints before, there are a few thingsto keep in mind. That's becausebuilding a large case with box jointsrequires a different strategy than asmall box or a drawer.

First of all, keep in mind that thefront fence should be long and tallenough to support the wide panels(Fig. 2). Second, even though theslots here will be cut %11 deep, Imade the key a hair less than WI tall(Fig. 2a). This way, this same jig canbe used later when building thedrawers with their shorter pins.

When fine-tuning the box joint jig(as described in the box on page27), I didn't size the pins to fit quiteas tight as I usually do. A large case

22 Woodsmith No. 131

23

A. A simple edgeguide makes it

easy to rout astopped dado.To see how it

works, tum to

page 18.

For easierinstallation,sand bottomface slightly

(except front 1")

Small groove holeswill be covered by

____--e:::""""-'--a top panel later

b.

a wide panel into a dado isn't easy. Ifthe fit is tight, you'll never get thepiece in place. Too loose, and youllend up with gaps. But here's a sim­ple trick: Lightly sand the ends ofthe bottom face (except for the front1" or so) to reduce the friction. Thepiece will slide in much easier.

NOTE:Groove for backcut on all case pieces

a. SECTION VIEW

ing blocks to the box just behind thepins, as you can see in Fig. 6. (Thesehelp spread out the clamping pres­sure.) And to glue up the case, Ichose liquid hide glue so I'd haveabout twenty minutes to get the glueon and all the pieces pulled tight.

DIVIDERS. The last step is to glue uppanels for the dividers (C) that willsupport the drawers (Fig. 7). Gluing

NOTE:Don't set

clamping blocksdirectly on box joints

NOTE:Use slow­setting glue

No. 131

groove in two passes, nudging therip fence away from the blade forthe second pass. Initially, I set thefence lf2" from blade, but the impor­tant thing is to check that the bladelines up with the box joints (Fig. 4a).

STOPPED DADOES. Now the top andbottom panels can be set aside soyou can cut %"-deep dadoes for apair of dividers (Figs. 5 and 7).These dadoes stop at the groove forthe back. To make it easier to seewhat was happening, I decided tocut them with a hand-held routerand an edge guide.

There are a variety of edge guidesyou can use here. I quickly made aguide shaped like a ''T.'' The cross­piece screwed to the straightedgehelps when positioning the guide(See the margin photo and page 18).

When setting up the edge guide,it should be located so the groovewill be routed left-ta-right from thefront edge of the panel to the groovein back (Fig. 5). This way, you won~t

need to make a plunge cutThe groove at the back is too nar­

row for the bit to rout the dadoescompletely. So after the dadoes havebeen routed, the back edge of eachdado needs to be cleaned up with achisel, as shown in Fig. 5b.

BACK. Now you can dry assemblethe case and cut the WI plywoodback (C) to size. (I often cut a panellike this a hair less than full size so itwon't prevent the box joints fromgoing together completely.)

ASSEMBLY. To assemble the case, Idid a couple dry runs and found ithelpful to carpet tape some clamp-

Before gluing up the base, I cut agentle curve on the base front andback. To lay it out, I used a scrap oflfsll hardboard, and the curve can becut quickly with a band saw or sabresaw. A little sanding, and the frameis ready for assembly.

Finally, to attach the assembledframe to the case, I glued two cleats(H) to the frame and then screwedthrough them into the bottom paneland case (Figs. 10 and lOa).

--....;;;::i'!:Zj;.l:.-::~rn'!lD'.l NOTE: Top- and bottom

overhangcase 3;"" onall sides

--TOP@--

NOTE: Bottomoverhangs basev,,' on each side

a.

sized so the bottom (E) will over­hang the assembled base frame 1,411on each side (Fig. lOa).

To strengthen the miters, I addeda hardboard spline to each corner.This means cutting a kerf in theends of each base piece, as shown inFig. 9. But instead of centering thekerfs, I cut them closer to the insidecorners of the miters (Fig. 9a). Thislets me add a little larger spline with­out weakening the tip of the miter.

Top & BaseI wanted the storage chest to have atraditional look, so I worked on a topand base next (see margin photo).But if you're toying with the idea ofwhether or not to add casters (asshown in the box on the next page),now's the time to decide.

TOP & BOTTOM. For a traditionalchest, the first thing to do is glue uppanels for the top (E) and bottom(E), as shown in Fig. 8. They're cutto size to overhang the case %11 allaround (Fig. 8a).

CUT BEVELS. After the panels werecut to size, I beveled the edges withthe table saw (Fig. 8b). The trickhere is guiding the pieces safely.After all, these are fairly large panelsto run through on edge, so I added atall auxiliary fence to the rip fence,which made guiding the panel moresecure. Also, when beveling a panel,it's always a good idea to start withthe short ends. This way, if there isany chipout, it'll be cleaned up whenthe bevels are cut on the long edges.

ATTACH TO CASE. To attach the topand bottom, I simply glued them tothe case with the bevels facing eachother. (The overhang should beequal on all four sides.) But go easyon the glue here. Use too much, andthe panel won't want to stay in placewhen you apply the clamps.

BASE. The case (and bottom panel)sits on a 31!4"-tall base made up of afront (F), back (F), and sides (G),as shown in Fig. 8. These pieces aremitered on each end, and they're

• This chest can bebuilt with a tradi­tional top and base(shown here). Orwith casters (seebox on page 25).

SECOND: Screwbase to bottom

I---L.--- SIDESECTION

VIEW#8 x 2" -H-------1

Rhscrew @& washer

FIRST: Gluecleat to base flush

with top edge offront and back

24 Woodsmith No. 131

I also fine tuned the jig so the boxjoints fit a bit tighter (refer to thebox on page 27). That's because thedrawers aren't going to be as chal­lenging to assemble as the case.

Also, when cutting the box joints,you'll want to start with the frontand back pieces so the plugs end upon the drawer sides (Fig. 11b).

!4"ply.

~

FRONT

Pluggrooveson sides,see page29--~

BOTTOMS. Next, the bottoms (M,N, 0) can be added. For these draw­ers, the grooves should be cut flushwith the bottom pin on the fronts.

With all the drawers assembled, Iplugged the grooves (Fig. 11b).Then I applied several coats of fin­ish. When it's dry, all that's left is toadd the pulls (Fig. 11a). l\1

ILARGEFRONT

The width ofeach row ofdrawers addsup to 24"

Bin­style pull(file screw

tips slightly)

NOTE:Drawer pieces areV2" thick except for~" plywood bottoms

DrawersAll that's left to build are some draw­ers. What size and how many is upto you. There's a lotofflexibility here.Also, if you want to create handlecutouts instead ofadding pulls, youllwant to do the work before you assem­ble the drawers. (See the box below.)

The drawers simply sit in the caseand can be pulled out completely. Tokeep the math easy, they're either6", 12", or 24" wide, which meanseach row of drawers has lfs" total forthe gaps between the drawers.

CUT TO SIZE. Regardless of theirwidth, all the drawers are built thesame way. The lf2"-thickfronts (1, J,K), backs (1, J, K), and sides (L) allstart out slightly oversized, just likethe case pieces did. (Fig. 11 showsfinished dimensions.)

BOX JOINTS. The spacing of the boxjoints here is the same as the case.So you can use the box joint jig youmade earlier (refer to Fig. 2 on page22). But these box joints are only lh"long (instead of %"). So to reducethe chipout, I backed up the cuts bygluing a scrap plug into the notch inthe fence. Then I recut the notchwith the blade raised to lf2'1.

While working out the design ofthis stor­age chest, a couple interesting optionscame up that you might want to consider.

MOBILE CHEST. The first option is to makethe case mobile by adding casters, asyou can see in the photo at right and cen­ter drawing below. This means you don'thave to build the top or the base. Butyouwill need to plug the grooves for theback that are exposed on the top of the

case, as shown in the left drawing. (Formore on this, refer to page 29.)

HANDLE "CUTOUTS." Another option is tobuild the drawers with cutouts instead ofadding metal drawer pulls, as in the rightdrawing below. These cutouts couldn'tbe more simple. Before assembling thedrawer, drill two 1"-dia. holes andremove the waste with a band saw orsabre saw. Then sand the cutout smooth.

Case without top or base. This storagechest can be built without adding the topor base. Just plug the holes in the top.

Mobile chest. For a mobile chest, youcan buy casters and screw them to thecase. (Locking casters are also available.)

Handle cutouts. Instead of traditionalpulls, you can cut openings on the frontpieces before assembling the drawers.

No. 131 Woodsmith 25

No. 131

(Figs. 1 and 1a), so its size isn't tooimportant. What is important is todrill oversize shank holes whenscrewing the fences together. Thiscreates a little "play" so you canmicro-adjust the front fence later on.

KEY. Finally, there's a hardwoodkey that's glued into the front fence(not the back fence). The nice thingabout this key is that once the jig isset up and fine-tuned, cutting thebox joints is almost automatic.

MAKING THE JIG. Now that you'vegot the basic idea, take a few min­utes to build the jig following Steps1-5 on the next page. And if you'rewondering why the notch (and key)are set below the thickness of thestock (Step 1), the explanation ispretty simple. You don't want thekey to prevent the ends of the pieces

from seating fully on the table.SETUP. After the jig has

been built, it can be set up tocut the box joints. All there is to

this is getting the key in the rightplace. That's because the position ofthe key determines the width of thepins. So all you have to do is

FRONT FENCE. Of the two fences, theone in front provides the support.How big should it be? It depends onthe size of the workpieces. I makesure the fence is at least twice aslong as the pieces are wide. (Andwith large panels, making the fencetaller is also a good idea.)

BACK FENCE. The fence in back is amounting board for the front fence

Boxjoints have it all- they're strong, quick, and good--looking.And all you need is a dado blnde and a "ten--minute" jig.

BoX}OINTS

Boxjoints are strictly"power tool" work.

You don't need hand sawsor chisels. That meansthey're quick and easy to

cut- as easy as pushing apiece across the table saw. And

the interlocking pins create somuch good gluing surface you'd behard pressed to break the joint.

Don't get me wrong. Quick andeasy doesn't mean sloppy. Box jointshave to fit well for the glue to work.That's why I rely on a shop-made jig.With a careful setup, this jig workswith assembly-line consistency.

Another nice thing about boxjoints is their flexibility. They can beas wide or narrow as the dado setyou use to cut them. (A stacked setworks best.) Their length (set bythe height of the blade) will alwaysmatch the thickness of the stock.

JIG. The box joint jig I use has justthree parts: two fences that attach tothe miter gauge and a small hard­wood key, as shown in Fig. 1.

Frontadjustable

fence

26

A Interlocking pinscreate a lot of glu­ing surface for areally strong andattractive joint.

Hardwoodkey

1With the fences screwed to themiter gauge, set the dado blade

slightly below the thickness of thestock. Then cut a notch in the jig.

unscrew the front fence and shift itover "one key" to the right (Step 3).

When testing the setup (Steps 4and 5), make sure the test piecesare the same thickness and at leastas wide as the workpieces. If not,even though your test pieces fit per­fectly, the workpieces may not.

Just how tight should the fit be? Itdepends on the workpieces. I usual­ly fine tune the jig so the pieces haveto be tapped together lightly with amallet. Any tighter, and youll haveproblems when the glue is added.

However, for large, wide panels, Ilike to be able to dry assemble themwith just hand pressure (l still haveclamps on hand for when the glue isadded). This way, the assemblygoes a little more smoothly.

Loose fit. If there is a gapbetween the pins, nudge the keyaway from the saw blade slightly.

Short pins. If the blade is set toolow, the pins will be short. Sosimply raise the blade slightly.

No.l3l

2 Now cut a hardwood key thatfits snug in the notch. Glue this

key into the front fence and relievethe top edges with sandpaper.

Firsttest piece

4 Holding a test piece tight againstthe key, make a pass. Then fit this

slot over the key and make anotherpass. Continue across the workpiece.

When fine tuning, you'll also setthe length of the pins by raising orlowering the blade (see box). I likethe pins to stick proud just a hair(lh2" or less). This way, all I have to

FINE·TUNING THE FIT

UIf pins are

long or shortadjust height

of blade

Woodsmith

FIRST:Positionfront fence

3 For the initial setup, unscrew thefront fence and position the key

with one ofits cutoffpieces. Re-attachthe fence and set the blade height.

Secondtest piece

5 Flip the first testpiece aroundandset a second test piece against it.

Cut the slot, remove the first pieceand continue with the second piece.

do after assembly is sand the pins ­not the entire face of each piece.

Once the test pieces fit well, the"tricky" part is over - now you canget started on the good workpieces.

Tight fit. If the pins won't fit intothe slots at all, then nudge thekey towards the saw blade.

Long Pins. If the pins standproud more than V32", the sawblade needs to be lowered.

• When fine-tuningthe front fence,1make any micro­adjustments"visible" by draw­ing a line acrossthe two fences.

27

Label piecescarefully

NOTE:Box joints cuton both endsof front/backpieces first

idea to label the pieces. I orientthem the way they'll be assembledand number the corners along thebottom (or back) edge. This will bethe leading edge - the one setagainst the key for the first pass.

CUT JOINTS. Now you can begin cut­ting the box joints, as shown in thesteps below. I focus on keeping thepieces held tight to the jig andpressed down flush to the table. Butas I've said, this is almost automatic.

Bottomlines upwith pins

SECTION VIEW

a.

Pieces start :::::=~~~~~~~~~:::::::::::::::".out extra wide

Groove will~0exposed on sideafter assembly

Front

intended width in the end, but noone (besides you) will know.

And what about drawers thathave to fit a particular opening? Istill start with oversize pieces. Thenwhen trimming them down, I simplydo what looks best. Sometimes it'strimming a little off the top edge.Other times I take a little off boththe top and bottom of the pieces.

LABEL PIECES. Before you begin cut­ting the box joints, it's also a good

Cutting Box JointsAt this point, you've already cut atleast one set ofbox joints (on the testpieces), so you know just howeasy it is. Now it's time to getstarted on the actual workpieces.

BOX JOINT PRECISION. But first,there's a little secret I shouldlet you in on. Box joints aren'tas precise as they look. Forinstance, say you're cutting WIbox joints for a drawer, as shown inthe drawing at right. These boxjoints won't be exactly 0.5" - theymay be 0.49", 0.51" or 0.52" (Itdepends mostly on the width ofyourdado blade.) This may sound likehair splitting, but after cutting thethirteen or so slots and pins, this.01" starts to add up.

EXTRA WIDE PIECES. Don't worry, thesolution isn't to get out a set ofcalipers. What I do is build in a"fudge factor" by cutting the piecesextra wide. Then after the box jointsare cut, I trim them so there's a fullslot or pin on each edge. The work­pieces probably won't end up their

1Begin with the front piece (onethat starts with a pin). Set its bot­

tom edge against the key and hold ittight as you pass it over the blade.

2 NOW lift the piece and straddlethe first slot over the key and take

another pass. Repeat this processacross the entire end of the piece.

3FliP the piece end-far-end, keep­ing the bottom edge against the

key Then cut the slots on this end.Repeat this on the other "pin" piece.

4 To cut the sides (that begin witha slot), straddle the mating "pin"

piece over the key Then butt the sideagainst it and cut the first slot.

SNow remove the "pin" piece andcontinue cutting the slots across

this workpiece. Repeat this pr:ocesson all the mating corner pieces.

6 After cutting the boxjoints on allfour corners, set the rip fence to

trim the top edge ofeach workpieceto leave a full pin or slot.

.,

28 Woodsmith No. 131

PLUGGING THE GROOVE

Adhesive­backed sandpaper

bled with a mallet and a scrap piecethat's set just behind the box joints(since the pins were cut to standproud), as shown in Fig. 2.

With one corner together, I moveto the next, working my way aroundthe case until all the workp'ieces areassembled (including the bottom). Iwon't have picked up a clamp yet,and sometimes I don't have to. Thejoints are tight enough that they'reheld together by friction. But oftenthere are small gaps, which is whenthe clamps come in handy.

Two cautions, however. As whenusing a mallet, you can't put thepressure right on the joint So againI use scrap blocks, carpet tapingthem next to the box joints (Fig. 3).

Second, you want to careful aboutapplying too much clamping pres­sure. With the clamps set beside thebox joints, they can easily force thesides of the assembly to bow in.

SAND PINS. After the glue is dry, allthat's left is to sand the pins. Withsmall boxes, I find it easier to keepfrom rounding over the corners if Iset a couple pieces of adhesive­backed sandpaper on a flat surfaceand sand the box lightly until thepins are flush, as in Fig. 4. m

Rotate chiselaround plug

Plug

'" I (I r

To trim the plug, use a chisel topare off the excess by workingaround the plug towards the cen­ter. Then sand it smooth.

You can anticipate any problems bymaking several "dry runs." Plus,using a slow-setting glue (like liquidhide glue) will buy you a little moreworking time. I also keep a smallbrush handy, which lets me spreadthe glue on more quickly.

The second challenge is pullingthe corners tight. Each corner hasto be squeezed in two directions.This can mean quite a few clamps,but they're not the first tool I pickup. Instead, each corner is assem-

Hardwoodplug

To plug the hole, start by cut­ting an extra-long plug. Taper thesides slightly to get a snug fit andthen glue the plug in place.

Assembling the BoxWith all the box joints cut, the lastthing to do is glue the workpiecestogether. But before getting out theglue and clamps, youll want to takecare of the groove for the bottom orback of the box, as well as any otherjoinery that needs to be cut

GROOVES FOR BOTTOM/BACK. As youmight expect, cutting the groovesfor a drawer bottom or case back ispretty straightforward. I like to dothis on the table saw, as shown inFig. 1 at right. This way, I can sizethe groove so the bottom or back(usually WI plywood) fits perfectly.But keep in mind that these grooveswill be exposed after assembly.

Sometimes the exposed grooveswill be covered with a panel, as theywere on the cases of the storagechest and clock. But it's not a big jobif the holes do need to be plugged,as they will with most drawers. (Thebox below shows you how.)

ASSEMBLING BOX JOINTS. When all thejoinery is completed and the bottom(or back) has been cut to fit in thegrooves, the workpieces are readyto be put together. But with box jointassemblies, there are a couple ofchallenges you should be aware of.

First, to get the glue in the slotson both ends of each piece and thenget the pieces clamped together,you have to move quickly. And thelarger or more complicated theassembly is, the faster you have tomove. But don't let this scare you.

No. 131 Woodsmith 29

\VEEKE\DPROJECT

'Wll'r'~~~i$I~Jp#ff4f.Jj~~EifH*<.'?J.~

OLD.-FASffiONED

Box JOINT CLocKLooking for a project .you can build in no time? This clock is the answer.The secret - a simple jig makes the box joints go like clockwork.

For me, one of the biggest frustra­tions with woodworking is time­

there never seems to be enough ofitThis clock is an exception. It's aweek­end project from beginning to end.

BOX JOINTS. Now, I know it seemslike cutting tight, consistent boxjoints would be time-consuming.And they must require a great dealof skill and experience, right?

Wrong. The truth is that with thehelp of a simple jig, cutting boxjoints is almost automatic. And by"simple," I mean a couple of scrappieces that can be screwed togetherin minutes. Spend a few more min­utes fine-tuning the jig, and you'll beready to cut the box joints.

CLOCK MOVEMENT. Besides the boxjoints, the other striking part of thisproject - the clock - will takeeven less time. It's an inexpensivequartz movement that's commonlyavailable from woodworking andclock catalogs. (For sources, turn topage 35.) To install the movement, ahole is drilled in a mounting board,and then after the case has beenassembled, the clock is pressed intothis hole. It's that simple.

FINISH. Even finishing this clock isquick and easy. To help the maplelook "aged," I used an off-the-shelfoil stain (Honey Maple) and wipedon a few coats of an oil finish. Butdon't get in too much of a hurry.Letting the finish dry is the one partof this project that will take time.

So if you've got a "free" weekendcoming up, why not plan on build­ing this small clock? I can promiseyou a couple big payoffs: You'll get achance to try your hand at a classicwoodworking technique. Plus, youwill end up with a timeless project.

30 Woodsmith No. 131

v.," xv.,"boxjointscut with

shop-made jig

. ,

; i

CASE SIDE ,

Case back hasW' tongue to fitgrooves in case

. ,"

Bottom(and top)

are cut fromW' -thick stock

. Mounting.L-- board is V2', thick to

supportmovement

34"- dia.

~WOOd .knob

.'".\

Quartzmovement

TOP

CASE TOP

NOTE: Jig and step­by-step procedure forcutting box joints aredescribed on page 26

Dadoesfor

dividers

Groovefor

mountingboard

~ ./~

·-dia. 0=

artzss-in ~ement

Mounting

L I board andback heldin Wx VB'

I grooves

JI

"- Jers set ....

Jck VB'front .

case 1

1,..:. VB' hardboard-/. drawibottom

..,:\

,I

314' -dia.wood knob,..,.

~attached, -r=-with scrap

dowel

w ., .

~",- '- ,,'~

"

.-

""

CROSS SECTION

.ConstructionDetailsOVERALL DIMENSIONS:121fs"H x6%"W x 5"D

Drawba

fromof

3¥Bqu

premov

MATERIALS & SUPPLIES CUnlNG DIAGRAM

• (1) 37/s"-dia, Quartz Movement• (2) %"-dia, Wood Knobs

ALSO NEEDED: Two small(3" x 4 v.,") pieces of W hard­board for drawer bottoms

w x 5W' - 48" Maple (1.8 Sq. Ft.)

W' x 5W' - 24" Maple (.9 Sq. Ft.)

c:JF]FrA

w x 6" - 36" Maple (1.5 Sq. Ft.)

, 122222222~ZZ22ZZZ

% X 3% - 11Ys%x 3% - 5

% X4'11,6 - 1013!i6

%x3%-4%Y2 X4'11,6 - 4'11,6

112 X 5 - 6%% X 2% - 4Y2% X 2% - 3%

.Va hdbd, - 3 X 4%

A Case Sides (2)B Case Top/Btm, (2)C Case Back (1)D Case Dividers (2)E Mounting Board (1)F Top/Btm, (2)G Drawer FrJBk, (4)H Drawer Sides (4)I Drawer Btm. (2)

No. 131 Woodsmith 31

Clock CaseAs I've already mentioned, this caseis built with box joints, and they onlyappear difficult. You can build a jig inminutes, and once it's set up, you'llhave all the box joints cut in no time.

CUT TO SIZE. Before cutting the boxjoints, however, you need to cut thecase pieces to working size. The fin­ished sizes for the sides (A), top(B), and bottom (B) are shown inFig. 1. But to start with, I rippedthem slightly wider, as you can seein Fig. 2. This way, you can be sureyou'll end up with a full pin (or slot)on both the front and back of thecase. (This means your case maynot end up exactly 3%", but nobodywill know any difference.)

CUT BOX JOINTS. Now you're readyto make the box joint jig and cut thebox joints on the case pieces, asshown in Fig. 2. The article thatstarts on page 26 describes bothbuilding the jig and cutting the boxjoints. All I need to point out is thatfor this clock, you'll want to startwith the sides (A). This way, whenyou cut the grooves for the back andmounting board later on, they'llshow up on the top and bottom ofthe case, as you can see in Fig. 6 onpage 33. This is exactly what youwant because the top and bottom ofthe case will end up being coveredlater (Fig. 7 on page 34).

CUT GROOVES. After the box jointsare cut and the workpieces havebeen trimmed to final width, it'stime to cut the grooves for the backand mounting board (the piece thatwill hold the clock movement).

There isn't anything tricky aboutthese grooves. They're both WI xV8" and are cut on all four pieces. Butnote that the grooves in front are cut

3%"~

~

~,• mounting

board flushwith secondpin

Ripfence

further away from the edge thanthose for the back (Figs. 1 and 1b) .

CUT DADOES. With the grooves com­plete, I set the top and bottom asideso that dadoes could be cut in thecase sides. These dadoes will trap

; 1

@,:CASE BACK

111,18"

some case dividers (shown in Fig. 3).But I didn't want them visible fromeither the front or back of the caseafter assembly. So these are stoppeddadoes - they're cut only betweenthe two grooves you've already cut.

The stoppedgrooves in the casesides were roughed

out at the drillpress and then

cleaned up withchisels. See page

18 for step-by-stepinstructions . ....

32 Woodsmith No. 131

Scrap blockbacks up cut

®

Frontedgeof

divider

Exposedgrooves willbe coveredby top andbottom later

NOTE:Groove cutonly in uppercase divider

"I I

: I! :

I,@

b.

NOTE:Right sideand back ofcase not shown

NOTE:Apply glue onlyto box joints and (notches on dividers

To ease assembly­set case on its side

port to the clock movement. Andthis mounting board is like the back(C): it's 1/1611 smaller than the open­ing created by the grooves and itsinside face needs to be rabbeted tocreate a small tongue (Fig. 3a).

To hold the clock, the mountingboard requires a fairly large hole.And since all quartz movementsaren't identical, be sure to have yourclock in hand before drilling it.

To drill out the hole, I used a com­mon wing cutter, as shown in Fig. 5.And to keep my fingers clear of thespinning cutter, I secured the smallworkpiece in the jaws of a hand­screw. (If you don't have a wing cut­ter, you can also drill a starter holeand then cut out the opening with asabre saw or scroll saw.)

ASSEMBLE CASE. Now you're ready toglue the case together. There are alot of pieces to work with here, butonly the box joints and the frontends of the dividers need any glue.

By setting the case on its side, asshown in Fig. 6, I could get most ofthe pieces in place easily. Except forthe lower divider, every piece wassupported by at least one other. Allthat was left then was to glue and fitthe second side onto the assembly.

'\ Handscrew secures\ mounting block

\\1''-, """

Normally, I cut stopped dadoes on,a router table, but it's hard to seewhat's happening. So this time, I cutthe dadoes by drilling overlappingholes on the drill press, as shown inthe photo on page 32. (For more onhow to do this, refer to page 18.)

CASE BACK. With the case piecescomplete, I cut a back (C) to fit inthe grooves in the case (Fig. 1). Butto be safe, I didn't cut it to fit tight.(It's 1M' smaller in both width andheight.) Of course, the grooves areonly %11 wide, so youll need to cut asmall rabbet around the front faceof the back so it'll fit (Fig. 1a).

DRAWER DIVIDERS. Next, you canwork on the two dividers (D) for thedrawers (Fig. 3). These are cut to fitinto the stopped dadoes. So I meas­ured the opening of the case andadded 1/411 - %11 for each dado.

Since the dadoes were stopped infront, the dividers must be notchedso they'll fit between the case sides(Fig. 4). Youll want to sneak up onthe size of these notches so youdon't end up with gaps at the front ofthe dividers. Fortunately, checkingthe fit couldn't be easier. I dryassembled the case and test the fitof the notches between the casesides, as shown in Fig. 4b.

When you're satisfied that thedividers will fit well, there's still onemore thing to do. Since the upperdivider is part of the "frame" thatwill hold the mounting board, youneed to cut a groove that aligns withthe front groove in the case pieces,refer to Fig. 1b on page 32.

MOUNTING BOARD. The last piece toadd is the mounting board (E), asshown in Fig. 3. It's WI-thick to sup-

No. 131 Woodsmith 33

! I

i

II '

I

Clocks don't get much handling,so you don't need to worry about aheavy-duty finish. After staining thewood a honey maple color, I wipedon a few coats of an oil finish. Thenwhen that had dried, I pressed themovement into its opening. m

I 2%"

DRAWER ~BOTTOM

~====:::j:i~===±::j(118" hardboard)

c.

added to each drawer front. I didn'thave a screw small enough for thehole drilled into the back of theknob. (And a screwdriver would'vebeen too long anyway.) But I did digup a small scrap of dowel to useinstead, as shown in Fig. 7.

""~ _=5'=-1~~~~---339's" -dia. !..I__~ -:-- _

quartz -1.....----------.... movement ---.~"I'firffmTr1'Ul

%"

Top, Bottom & DrawersWith the case glued up, all that's leftis to add a top and bottom to the caseand build the two drawers (Fig. 7). Istarted with the top and bottom.

TOP & BOTTOM. The WI-thick topand bottom (F) are sized to over­hang the case %" on all four sides(Fig. 7a). Then the only thing to dowith these pieces is bevel theiredges (Figs. 8 and 8a). When bevel­ing all four edges of a piece, I alwayscut across the end grain first. Thisway if there's chipout, the bevels onthe edges should clean it up.

I glued the top and bottom to thecase one at a time. The only thing tobe careful about here is that theoverhang is the same on all sides.

DRAWERS. With the top and bottomin place, the drawers can be builtfrom %"-thick stock. And like thecase, thefront (G), back (G), andsides (H) start out extra wide atfirst. (Since the drawers are small, Ibuilt them to fit tight from side toside. Then I sanded them until theyopened and closed easily.)

The box joints are cut on the sidepieces first. This way, the groovescut for the lis" hardboard bottom (I)will be exposed on the sides. Thenafter cutting the box joints, thepieces can be trimmed to size.

This is where the drawers differfrom the case. The final width of thecase wasn't critical, but the drawerpieces have to fit into the case open­ings with a 1/16" gap at the top, asshown in Fig. 7b. So you may notend up with a full slot (or pin) at thebottom of the drawer.

HARDWARE. After the drawers areglued together, the small holes inthe sides can be plugged (see page29), and a small wood knob can be

Sanding Tip.If the edges ofa drawer aren'tflush, apply oneor two strips ofadhesive-backedsandpaper to aflat surface andsand the drawer

NOTE:When bevellingtop and bottom,start with ends

--~

34 Woodsmith No. 131

New Online Customer ServiceClick on Subscriber Services at

WMVowoodsmith.com• Al:cess your lKtCMlI sIu1us• Find out ~ your payment 1m been received• Change your rnaUlg or _ address• Tell us ~ you've missed on issue

MAILORDER

SOURCES

Lee Valley800-871-8158

www.leevalley.comDust Collection

Accessories, T-track

S. LaRose888-752-7673

www.slarose.comQwLrtz Clock WJJ"-dia.)

Woodworker's Supply800-645-9292

QwLrtz Clock (3'f,,"-dia.),Router Table Hardware,

T-track & Inserts,Dust Collection

Accessories, Casters

Woodcraft800-225-1153

www.woodcraft.comQuartz Clock WJJ"-dia.),RO'UiRr Table Hardware,Inserts, Dust Collectian

Accessories, Casters

Similar projectsupplies and

hardware maybe ordered from

the followingcompanies:

RockIer Woodworking800-279-4441

www.rockler.comQwLrtz Clock (3lf;/'-dia.),Router Table Hardware,

T-track & Inserts,Dust Collection

Accessories, Casters

KIockit800-556-2548

www.kIockit.comQwLrtz Clock Wl,o"-dia.)

Restoration Hardware800-762-1005www.restorationhardware.com

Storage chest JYUlls

STAND KIT

ROUTER FENCE KIT

While other sources offer similar T­tracks, ours works with both %"-20and 5/16"-18 toilet flange bolts. OurDual Track (which is not availablefrom other sources) takes this astep further by allowing you to add aperfect-fitting miter gauge slot• 32"-long DualTrack7213·220 $26.95• 36"-longT-track4502-076 . . $13.95

DUST COLLECTION. To connect therouter table to a shop vacuum, weused attachments and hoses fromLee Valley (see list at right). m

.....$18.95

• Over 100 Woodworking Tips Online• Visit Our Readers' Project Photo Gallery• Project Plans You Can Download• Catalog of Project Kits, Tools, Jigs & Plans• Forums for Woodworking, Tools & Classifieds• links to Other Woodworking Sites• Order Woodsmith/ShopNotes Back Issues

www.woodsmith.com

----.-

guard (page 17), the durable plasticones shown above are also avail­able. Both can be attached withhardware already included in therouter fence kit (and complete kit).• Large Featherboard4502-526.• Router Bit Safety Guard4502-206....$15.95

DUAL & HRACKS. The T-track andDual Track are also available sepa­rately from Woodsmith ProjectSupplies. The T-track provides aquick, secure way to attach acces­sories to any shop jig or project.

• The router table hardware is availablein a kit that includes everything you need(except for the electrical supplies, theplastic router bit safety guard and feather­board, and the dust collection supplies).

1-800-444-7527When ordering,.please use Key W13)

Note: Prices subject to change after December 2000.

To order a hardware kit from Woodsmith ProjectSUPPlies, please use ourToll Free order line, see below.It's open Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 5 PMCentral Time. Before calling, please have your VISA,MasterCard, or Discover Card ready.

Ifyou want to mail in your order, call the numberbelow for more information concerning shippingcharges as well as any applicable sales tax.

There's a lot of hardware that goesinto the router table in this issue. Mostitems, like the screws, washers andeven the aluminum angle, are avail­able at a home center. Other items,like the plastic knobs, T-track, andinsert plate, are only available fromwoodworking stores and catalogs, seethe mail order sources at right Andthe Dual Track is an item our "prod­ucts group" recently developed. (Itworks so well we just had to use it.)

Woodsmith Project Supplies haspulled all the hardware together andis offering three separate kits for thedifferent components of the project.These kits include everything need­ed to build the project, including alu­minum angle, T-track, Dual Track,and a 7%" x 11%" phenolic insert.The optional items not included arethe plastic accessories (see below),the electrical items, and the dust col­lection hoses and connectors.• Fence Hardware Kit7131-100.. . $63.95• Table Top & Cabinet Hardware Kit7131·200.. .....................$57.95• Stand Hardware Kit7131-300. . $103.95

BUY COMPLETE KIT & SAVE. For a limit­ed time, you can buy a completerouter hardware kit at a special dis­counted price and save over $25.• Complete RouterTable Kit7131-125.$199.95

ACCESSORIES. While you can build afeatherboard and router bit safety

SOURCES

No. 131 Woodsmith 35

ALASTLOOK

FINAL DETAILS

! Box Joint Clock. With its eye-catching box jointdrawers, this little, old-fashioned clock will look athome just about anywhere. Plans begin on page 30.

! Router Table. With portability and storage designed into one package, this may be thelast router table you'll ever need to build. Easy-to-follow directions for this project canbe found on page 6.

Box Joint Storage Chest. ~Build this cabinet your

way... choose from tradi­tional or mobile, drawerpulls or handle cut-outs.

Plus you decide the configu­ration of the drawers. Step­

by-step instructionsbegin on page 20.