Popular Woodworking Magazine » April 2013 #203

City Sideboard

Article Index — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:56:35 +0000

Contemporary details and materials update this classic form.By Mario Rodriguez Pages 20-27Apartments in the Philadelphia area where I live are in demand and rents are high. The same is true for urban areas all over the country. So for someone who insists on living in town, one solution is to “go small.” The city sideboard is the perfect piece for tight urban spaces and it’s versatile, too. Measuring around 35" wide and only 16" deep, it can work as a dining room sideboard, an entry table (with storage) or an office credenza.Blog: Build a “scissors brace” to help square your casework. Web Site: Take a class at the author’s school, the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop. To Buy: “Building Cabinets, Bookcases and Shelves” a book featuring 29 projects. Read more »

The post City Sideboard appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Quarter Columns

Article Index — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:49:10 +0000

Forget the lathe; a router table setup makes quick work of these striking architectural features.By Charles Bender Pages 28-31If you want to add a little punch to your next traditional furniture project, try adding quarter columns. They help narrow the look of any piece by drawing your eye inward. This usually gives the piece the appearance of being more compact and vertical, and gives it a more powerful stance.Blog: Read the author’s blog. In Our Store: “Carve a Ball & Claw Foot” a DVD by Charles Bender. To Buy: Charles Bender’s “Cabriole Legs Simplified” DVD. Web Site: Visit the author’s web site to view a gallery of his work. Read more »

The post Quarter Columns appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Compound Dovetails

Article Index — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:41:52 +0000

Discover how to join oblique sides with through-dovetails.By Tom Calisto Pages 32-35As an avid sailor and full-time furniture maker, I’ve always wanted to make a proper sea chest replete with rope beckets and a compass rose inlay. The compound-angle dovetails are the only tricky aspect of the sea chest so I designed this little handled tote to practice oblique dovetails. This tote tray is useful around the house and fun to build. The angles of the oblique dovetails offer a challenge.Web Site: Visit the author’s web site to see more of his work. Pattern: Download a full-size PDF pattern for the tray divider/handle: Tote_Handle Web Site: Here's a good compound angle calculator. In Our Store: Warm up for compound-angle dovetails with a simpler version of a dovetailed tool tote that has simple angled ends. Read more »

The post Compound Dovetails appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A Workholding Renaissance

Article Index — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:21:04 +0000

After years of decline, the industry that makes vises and holdfasts for woodworkers has come roaring back.By Christopher Schwarz Pages 36-40In my first book, “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use” (Popular Woodworking Books), I urged fellow woodworkers to “fight progress” and “invent nothing” when it came to designing their workbenches.Boy, am I glad that the tool manufacturers ignored me completely.Blog: Read “The Kitchen Test” for workbenches. Blog: Read eight years of articles (free) by the author on workbenches. Web Site: Visit workbenchdesign.net for bench-building ideas. To Buy: “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest,” by Christopher Schwarz. In Our Store: “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use.” Read more »

The post A Workholding Renaissance appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Greene & Greene Inlay

Article Index — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:55:33 +0000

Jewel-like details are the crowning touch on these masterpieces of American furniture.By David Mathias Pages 41-45Furniture designed by early 20th-century American architects Charles & Henry Greene is as rare as hen’s teeth. The reason is simple: their pieces were never mass-produced or marketed. Every table, chair, bed and cabinet was designed to occupy a particular location in a particular house of the Greenes’ design.Slideshows: Watch our PDF slideshows of additional furniture and architectural details from Greene & Greene houses: Greene & Greene Everyday, Green & Greene from a Woodworker's Perspective and Greene & Greene: Details and Joinery Blog: Read the author’s blog and view his other photographic work. To Buy: Previous articles by the author can be found in the August, October and November 2008 issues of this magazine. In Our Store: Purchase the author’s book, “Greene & Greene: Poems of Wood & Light.” Read more »

The post Greene & Greene Inlay appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Cove Cuts on the Table Saw

Article Index — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:01:21 +0000

Accurately set up for and safely make these versatile curved shapes.By Gary Rogowski Pages 46-49It was the 1970s. I was a young, lost woodworker out cruising the West Coast in search of inspiration, mentors, cool old tools and furniture to study. I found legendary furniture maker Art Carpenter at his studio in Bolinas, Calif. He showed me two things. One was the first and loudest router table I ever saw: a router hanging under a piece of plywood perched atop a 55-gallon drum. He also showed me how to cut coves on the table saw. What the heck was this? Curved shapes cut on a table saw? I was mesmerized by this bit of woodworking wizardry.Video: Watch the author demonstrate his technique. In Our Store: Get our 76-page Essential Guide to Table Saws. Web Site: Visit Gary Rogowski’s Northwest Woodworking Studio site for information on classes and to view a gallery of his work. Read more »

The post Cove Cuts on the Table Saw appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Design a Trestle Table

Article Index — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:22:02 +0000

Choose your own styles and techniques: simple, advanced, or somewhere in-between.By Graham Blackburn Pages 50-53In furniture, the term “trestle” historically referred to a pair of diverging legs wide enough to be self-supporting, and joined at their upper end, sometimes by hinges. Two or more such trestles that support a wide board form a table, which can be easily folded up and moved.Video: See a free preview and purchase issues of Graham Blackburn’s video magazine, “Woodworking in Action.” Article: Christopher Schwarz builds an American Trestle Table. To Buy: Download step-by-step instructions for an American trestle table. Read more »

The post Design a Trestle Table appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

A Woodworking Disorder

Article Index — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:25:43 +0000

Most of us share this pathological habit that’s hard to break. By Peter Franks Page 64 I have a problem. A compulsion, really. It’s not as serious as, say, alcoholism, a food addiction or an unhealthy fascination with Megan Fox. But it’s a problem. Fortunately, most people are too polite to point it out. Or … Read more »

The post A Woodworking Disorder appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Design Matters: A Chairmaker’s Design Lessons

Article Index — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:16:21 +0000

The Windsor form survives trial by fire.By George R. Walker Pages 16-18The blaze started sometime after midnight. A weak spot in the chimney broke and glowing embers spilled out onto dry timbers. By the time the fire crew arrived and strung hoses from a nearby stream, it was all they could do to keep the adjoining barns and outbuildings from burning. A complete loss. The late Nancy Kalin’s circa 1810 farmhouse, stuffed with splendid antiques and Americana, was now a pile of charred rubble.Blog: Read more from George R. Walker. Web Site: See more of Richard Grell’s work, and find out about his chairmaking and finishing classes. In Our Store: George R. Walker’s DVDs: "Unlocking the Secrets of Traditional Design," and "Unlocking the Secrets of Traditional Design: Mouldings." Read more »

The post Design Matters: A Chairmaker’s Design Lessons appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Bosch Trim Router Plunge Base Tool Test

Article Index — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:13:42 +0000

By Robert W. Lang Page 14 In 2005, Bosch introduced a new laminate trimmer that eventually became know as the Colt. Powerful and user-friendly, it quickly became a favorite in our shop and in shops across the country. At the time, I suggested to Bosch that they needed to make a plunge base for it. … Read more »

The post Bosch Trim Router Plunge Base Tool Test appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.