February 2011 #188

Our cover story for the February 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking is a three-legged occasional table by Michael Fortune. It can be built using steam-bending techniques or clever bent laminations.

In a creative nonfiction story, Roy Underhill writes about André Roubo and his folding bookstand, built from one piece of walnut. The piece was used at the “Altar of the Nation” when General Lafayette swore allegiance to the new republic in 1790. The article includes plans translated from Roubo’s original text.

Marc Adams teaches a geometry lesson in veneer as he shows you how to make “Louis cubes,” a simple form of parquetry that is easier to make than it appears (really!).

Senior Editor Glen D. Huey compares three-knife cutterheads with two staggertooth designs. He’ll help you decide if you need to upgrade your cutterhead in your jointer or planer (or both).

Editor Christopher Schwarz shows you how to build a Shaker wall cupboard, a classic piece from the New Lebanon Shaker community. It’s easy to complete in just a few hours.

In Tool Test, we try out the Benchcrafted Glide Vise, the “Polar Bear” hybrid table saw from Grizzly and the new Side Winder Router Lift from Woodpeckers.

George R. Walker discusses the humble yet essential divider in Design Matters.

In Arts & Mysteries, Bob Rozaieski shows you how to tune up and use traditional moulding planes in Replace Your Tailed Router.

Our I Can Do That project for this issue is a pirate chest with a curved lid, built by Managing Editor Megan Fitzpatrick.

Chris Schwarz visits an incredible shop in Living the European Dream for Great Woodshops.

In Flexner on Finishing, Bob Flexner gives a finishing overview to help you make sense of the many types of finish available.

End Grain, by Brendan Isaac Jones, features a squirrel surprise.

Detailed article previews are below. Online Extras are found in the articles.

[description]Articles from the February 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine[/description][keywords]Popular Woodworking Magazine, Magazine Articles, Technique Articles, Project Articles, Tool Reviews, Finishing[/keywords]

Flexner on Finishing: Finishing Overview

Understand the basics.
By Bob Flexner
Page: 56-57

From the February 2011 issue #188
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A wood finish is a clear, transparent coating applied to wood to protect it from moisture and to make it look richer and deeper. This differs from paint, which is a wood finish loaded with enough pigment to hide the wood. And it differs from a stain, which is a wood finish and a colorant (pigment or dye) with a lot of thinner added so the excess stain is easy to wipe off. The remainder just colors the wood; it doesn’t hide the wood.

Unfortunately, the term “finish” also refers to the entire built-up coating, which could consist of stain, several coats of finish (a “coat” is one application layer) and maybe some coloring steps – for example, glazing or toning – in between these coats. For some reason, we have only one word to refer to both the clear coating used, and to all the steps used.

Usually, the context makes clear to which is being referred.

To Buy: Get Bob Flexner’s new book, “Flexner on Finishing.”
Article: Read “The Basics of Wiping Varnish.” Read more »

Great Woodshops: Living the European Dream

A St. Louis physician spent years assembling the perfect shop.
By Christopher Schwarz
Page: 52-54

From the February 2011 issue #188
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The problem with many “dream shops” is that their visionaries never wake up and get on with building any furniture.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with building a hobby shop and having the shop alone being the hobby, but this magazine is about building wooden things inside a shop. So it seems a waste when I visit a shop that never sees a speck of sawdust. For the last few years, I’ve been following the progress of Dr. Kent Adkins, a young surgical urologist outside St. Louis, who has been methodically planning and constructing an 1,800-square-foot shop attached to his home by a breezeway.

It would be easy to assume that Adkins simply picked the machines and tools with the highest price tags for his shop, but that would be an insult to the years of passionate research Adkins and his friends have put into searching the world for tools that are the best in class and safe as possible.

I’ve seen Adkins on the floor of the International Woodworking Fair, picking apart the features and details of machines, veneer presses and even hand tools. He traveled twice to the Ligna woodworking show in Germany. I’ve watched him question sales representatives with the insight of a journalist. And in May 2010, I got to operate his crane.

Video: See the Maka mortiser in action.
Web Site: Download a free video from this shop. Read more »

Upgrade Your Cutterhead

Segmented knives reduce tearing and noise. But do you need to upgrade both planer and jointer?
By Glen D. Huey
Page: 42-47

If you purchased your jointer or planer a couple decades back, or if you had a watchful eye on your woodworking
budget as you made your purchases, chances are your machine has a three-knife cutterhead installed. Did you choose wisely? Should you make a change? Today you have other options.

Other cutterhead options most common to home woodworkers and small production shops have small square knives spaced around the diameter and along the length of the cutterhead.

These cutterheads reduce the noise in your shop, mill figured woods better than straight-knife heads and make dust collection easier. However, they are more expensive and require installation in an existing machine. Is one option better than another? Is changing your cutterhead worthwhile?

Video: Watch the installation of a 20″ stagger-tooth with shear into a planer.
Article: Read Glen D. Huey’s article about “The Right Way to Prepare Lumber.”
Web Site: Visit Byrd Tool for cutterhead installation information.”
To Buy: Grizzly.com has both cutterhead designs available for your machines.
In Our Store: “Woodworking Machines (Back to Basics)” by John Kelsey Read more »

A Geometry Lesson in Veneer

Part 4: Louis cubes are a simple form (really!) of parquetry that is easier to make than it looks.
By Marc Adams
Page: 38-41

From the February 2011 issue #188
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Parquetry is cutting veneer and arranging it geometrically. By cutting and taping geometric pieces
together in some fashion, a veneer project can come to life.

If we cut diamond-shaped pieces at a 60° angle we can make something called Louis cubes. Louis cubes are created by arranging three pieces of veneer together to produce the mesmerizing effects of 3-dimensional cubes. This same diamond shape can also be used to create a star arrangement. The stacking potential is
endless. I do recommend that you have at least two or more colors of veneer. Try to avoid veneers with difficult grains such as red oak, lacewood and wenge.

Video: Visit the David R. Webb veneer mill with Marc Adams.
Blog: Executive Editor Robert W. Lang takes you on a detailed trip through the Atlantic Veneer slicing operation and the Veneer Tech splicing plant.
Web Site: Explore veneering classes at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.
To Buy: Purchase excellent veneers from Certainly Wood.
In Our Store: ” A Woodworker’s Guide to Veneering & Inlay: Techniques, Projects & Expert Advise for Fine Furniture” by Jonathan Benson. Read more »

Arts & Mysteries: Replace Your Tailed Router

Stop the screaming once and for all.
By Bob Rozaieski
Page: 22-23

From the February 2011 issue #188
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When I first started using hand tools, I was hesitant to let go of my router. I had no love affair with the screaming
beast. We weren’t even good friends. We just called on each other when we felt that need to … make moulding.

Let’s face it. It’s tough to beat a router at cranking out moulding. For the woodworker on a budget, the big shaper with custom cutters won’t give us the time of day. So the router becomes the go-to tool.

But as most make-do relationships go, we tire of the screaming, constant mess and inadequate performance. This leads to periods of inactivity, neglect and, ultimately, designs devoid of the shapely features we once knew.

When I finally had enough of the screaming, I discovered moulding planes. If you’re a relatively new hand-tool addict, beware these hand-tool sirens. After using a well tuned moulding plane, their calls become difficult to resist.

Web site: Visit Bob Rozaieski’s web site and read his hand-tool blog.
Article: Read Editor Christopher Schwarz’s article about Clark and Williams, makers of molding planes.
Blog: Read Adam Cherubini’s “Art & Mysteries” blog.
In Our Store: “Traditional Molding Techniques,” a DVD from Don McConnell. Read more »

Design Matters: Essential Dividers

Unlock your creativity with this humble tool.
By George Walker
Page: 20-21

From the February 2011 issue #188
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How comfortable would you be giving up your tape measure? If that puts you in a cold sweat, I can relate. Time was when I worked only from prints, taking careful measurements to make accurate parts. I thought design was for the talented few – those folks blessed with a good eye. Here’s a little secret: Some are born talented but many acquire design skills much the same way as learning to cut dovetails. It’s a matter of building foundation skills and a little practice.

Lesson number one: Get acquainted with your new instructor – the simple, humble pair of dividers. They’ve been
rightly called the “tool of the imagination.” In pre-industrial craft, artisans used this simple pair of pointed legs joined at a fulcrum both to explore and apply proportions. Dividers were the stock-in-trade for all the woodworking crafts: carpenter, cabinetmaker, wheelwright and everything in between.

Blog: Read more Design Matters on George R. Walker’s blog.
Blog: Work with some more example mouldings to practice divider use.
In Our Store: George R. Walker’s DVDs. Read more »

Tool Test: Crank Up Your Router

By Glen D. Huey
Page: 18

From the February 2011 issue #188
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Back in the day, you had to remove your router from the table to change bits, and
fine adjustments required twisting the tool while under the table. Later, lifts were
raised or lowered to gain access to the collet and dial in the needed height via a
ratcheting system from above.

Some time back, Woodpeckers delivered a router lift that allowed quick elevation
adjustments and a way to fine-tune settings with a thumb-turned wheel, but
to the company that wasn’t good enough. Today there’s a new lift from the team at
Woodpeckers. It’s called the Side Winder Router Lift.

Video: How to install a router table base plate. Read more »