August 2010 #184

The cover project for the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking is a workbench in the 18th-century style. Andre Roubo first drew it in L’art de Menuisier. It endures as quite possibly the most perfect workbench ever designed. Our version, built by Editor Christopher Schwarz, was built using exclusively hand tools (except for one 6′ rip on the band saw).

Senior Editor Glen D. Huey shows you how to turn a puny half-lap joint into a strong, mitered half-lap joint in just minutes with a router, a straight bit and a piece of plywood.

In this first of two installments from Toshio Odate, discover how to marry Japanese design sensibilities with Western dining table traditions (legs that accommodate chairs) in Magobei’s Dining Table.

Jim Tolpin shows you how to make a footstool perfectly sized to your own body dimensions (your hands serve as the unit of measure) in Design by Foot, Hand & Eye.

Dress up the outside of your shop (or your house) with this easy-to-build old plane birdhouse (the only birdhouse Christopher Schwarz has ever made).

Bob Flexner shows you two methods for filling pores for an elegant look.

In Woodworking with Wee Ones, discover the secrets to getting kids into the workshop (all it takes is free range of imagination – and lies).

George Walker writes about sublime echoes in Design Matters.

Detailed article previews are below. Online Extras (downloads, etc.) for this issue can be found inside each article.

[description]Articles from the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine[/description][keywords]Popular Woodworking Magazine, Magazine Articles, Technique Articles, Project Articles, Tool Reviews, Finishing[/keywords]

Designing by Foot, Hand & Eye

Empirical, not Imperial, is the measure of the pre-industrial maker.
By Jim Tolpin
Page: 46

From the August 2010 issue #184
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In this article I’m going to show how I design a simple piece of furniture whilst immersed in the mindset of the pre-industrial, hand-tool artisan. Because I’m not going to use power tools to build the piece, I can shelve my usual, machine-oriented design process to develop it. This means I won’t be bothering with drafting up (or SketchUp upping) numerically defined drawings in order to generate cutlists because, as you will see, I simply don’t need them. Machines need numbers – the hand-tool artisan doesn’t.

I start by roughing out concept sketches that satisfy the essential parameters of function and aesthetics that are the “givens” of the project. When I come to an iteration that looks good enough to pursue, I draw a full-scale rendering of it – and from there construct a cardboard mock-up that allows me to view the piece not only in three dimensions, but placed so I can look at it in the way it will be viewed in use. (Often, real-world views elongate or foreshorten planes and details in ways that are not obvious in drawing elevations.) Once satisfied with the mock-up, I commit the design to the traditional, analog recording system of tick sticks and templates. No tape measures or rulers of any kind are harmed in the creation of this design!

Blog: Visit Jim’s blog and read about the classes he offers at Port Townsend School of Woodworking.
Blog: Read more about the whole-number rations on George R. Walker’s “Design Matters” blog.
To buy: Get all the dividers you need on eBay. Use our custom search to find them.
In our store: Purchase Jim’s “Measure Twice, Cut Once” from our store.
Read more »

Magobei’s Dining Table: Part 1

A table built for a ‘rags to riches’ patron becomes the perfect project for an accomplished protégé.
By Toshio Odate
Page: 40

From the August 2010 issue #184
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All these years, my assistant, Laure Olender, has not only been working with me doing woodwork, she also takes photographs (including those in this article), edits my articles and assists me at lectures and demonstrations. I thought she was ready to do her own large project from beginning to end. I brought up several traditional Japanese woodworking projects, but every one of them had some small, complicated, technical detail that did not fit well for her first large project.

I came up with the dining table idea and thought this to be the perfect project for her, so we made a plan. I explained all the necessary concepts to her before she started on the project, as I have many wishes, thoughts, traditions and ideologies about this dining table.

Article: Christopher Schwarz takes Toshio Odate’s sharpening stones for a test drive.
Article: Build an Asian-inspired coffee table with step-by-step instructions.
Web site: Learn the history behind traditional Japanese woodworking techniques.
To buy: The best way to discover Japanese woodworking is with a Toshio Odate book.
In our store: Discover how to hand cut traditional woodworking joints. Read more »

Miter Half-lap Joinery

With a router, straight bit and plywood scrap, turn a weak joint into a superhero of strength.
By Glen D. Huey
Page: 38

From the August 2010 issue #184
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One of the strongest joints in woodworking is a properly fit mortise-and-tenon and the opposite in strength is a simple butt joint. For years I built base frames with mortise-and-tenon joints at the rear and mitered corners at the front. The miters were joined with biscuits. The rear joints were much stronger, so I wanted to add strength to those mitered front corners, but how?

Not with mechanical fasteners; screws were out. I needed something quick to create and when assembled, I wanted the joint to retain a mitered look. The answer was a mitered half-lap joint. With a half-lap, there is plenty of fl at-grain glue surface, and that increases the holding power, big time.

Video: Watch how to build and use another dirt-simple router jig.
Article: Build a jig to make straight, square dados fit exactly where you want them to.
To buy: Pick up a copy of “Danny Proulx’s 50 Shop-Made Jigs & Fixtures.” Read more »

The Return of Roubo

An 18th-century French workbench is quite possibly the most perfect design ever put to paper.
By Christopher Schwarz
Page: 28

From the August 2010 issue #184
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In the 18th century it was common for the workrooms and living areas of a home to share the same space. A workbench, for example, would not be out of place in the front room of the house.

This small historical fact has me concocting a plan, which I haven’t yet shared with my family.

My workshop at home is in a walkout basement. I’ve done what I can to make it pleasant, but it’s isolated from the rest of the house. This is on purpose: My planer and jointer sound like air-raid sirens.

During the brutal stock-preparation phase of a project, my shop is perfect. I can run machinery all day and bother no one. But when I get into the joinery of a project, I long for a shop with beams of natural light, wooden fl oors and a close connection to the day-to-day of my household.

In other words, I want to claim some space upstairs as a bench room.

Hold tight: This story isn’t just about me. It’s about you, too. A furniture-grade workbench is a great idea for apartment dwellers, or people who need to set up a shop in a spare bedroom of their house. It’s also a fi ne idea for people like me who plan (read: plan to grovel for permission) to do some woodworking in a living area of their home.

Lucky for all of us, one of the best-looking workbench designs is also the simplest to build and most useful, no matter if you have a love affair with your plunge router or your router plane.

Article: See a video demonstrating how to make 4° wedges.
Article: Read a detailed article on how to flatten a workbench’s top.
Blog: Read all of Christopher’s blog entries about workbenches.
To buy: Purchase a wood vise screw from Lake Erie Toolworks.
In our store: Purchase “Workbenches: from Design & Theory to Construction & Use.” Read more »

I Can Do That: Step Stool

Whether stepping or sitting, this multi-purpose stool is sure to give your youngster a boost.
By Glen D. Huey
Page: 26

From the August 2010 issue #184
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You may not remember when you looked up at the sink, or when you climbed up to the potty – but if you’d had a few extra inches on your legs, things would have been so much easier. This stool can do that for youngsters – and help you clean out your scrap bin, too.

This column generally begins with a trip to buy lumber, but you probably have the needed material – scraps – floating around your shop. This especially holds true if you paint this piece instead of go all wack-nutty with fi gured maple like I did. But if you need wood, simply head off to the store with your cut sheet in hand.

On this project, you can cut the pieces to size at the beginning of the build (most times it’s better to cut to length and width as you need the parts in case things change). Once the parts are cut, the majority of the work is on the sides; they get laid out, drilled and shaped.

Slide show: We took extra step photos while building this piece – though you can build it with what’s printed here. See the extra shots online.
Plan: Download the free SketchUp plan for the step stool.
Articles: All our “I Can Do That” articles are free online.
Read more »

Arts & Mysteries: Tallow Tales & the Black Handplanes of Britain

Puzzling Lubrication.
By Roy Underhill
Page: 24

From the August 2010 issue #184
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I ran out of mutton tallow this morning! I searched my tool chests, under the benches and in the drawers hoping to find just enough white magic to ease the passage of the big jointer plane up and down the long shooting board. But all the grease boxes were licked clean – the cupboard was bare. Must … find … tallow!

It was a set of smelly black British planes that started me down the slippery slope of the tallow trail. Unlike American planes, British planes are often black from ceaseless soaking in linseed oil and relentless rubbing with tallow – a practice that was perhaps not so good in the long run. Aside from linseed oil turning planes black with age and dirt, the royal armorers at the Tower of London have recently discovered that the walnut stocks of the Brown Bess muskets that they have been rubbing with linseed oil since the time of King George are getting a bit soft. They now recommend that you switch over to wax after 250 years or so.

Video: “The Woodwright’s Shop” episode in which Roy makes his dovetailed puzzle grease box is available free online.
Blog: Kari Hultman (“The Village Carpenter”) makes Roy’s puzzle box.
Web site: Take a class at “The Woodwright’s School” in Pittsboro, N.C.
To buy: Roy’s latest book is “The Woodwright’s Guide : Working with Edge and Wedge.”
Read more »

Design Matters: Sublime Echoes

Repetition of proportion and shape can create design harmony.
By George R. Walker
Page: 22

From the August 2010 issue #184
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Depending on your canoe route, Little Crooked Lake is about two days of paddling and portaging from the nearest highway. It’s worth it. On a still morning, you can hear the smallest sound carry across the fog-shrouded water and echo off the steep rocky shoreline. A wood thrush pipes its fl ute-like song and the music folds back on itself to transform the solo into a chorus. I fi rst hiked into Little Crooked intending to catch a fi sh dinner. The fish weren’t hungry, but I took away memories of those haunting echoes that I still relish. I don’t know why echoes can capture our imagination. They don’t have to be loud; sometimes it’s the small, subtle echoes that engage something deep within us.

Blog: George R. Walker writes three times a week on the Design Matters blog.
Blog: Read about Editor Christopher Schwarz’s visit to George R. Walker’s shop.
In our store: George R. Walker’s DVDs.
Read more »