Tag Archives: February 2011

I Can Do That: Pirate Chest

Masonry nails and two XXL leather belts impart the ‘arghh!’ in this build.

By Megan Fitzpatrick
Page: 24-25

From the February 2011 issue #188
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Don’t let the curved top of this “pirate chest” scare you. It’s a lot less tricky than it may appear – and it’s excellent practice with your block plane.
In Our Store: Every aspiring pirate needs “The Pirate Primer.”
Plan: Download the free SketchUp plan for the Pirate Chest.
Articles: All the “I can Do That” articles are free online.
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 »

Tool Test: A Fusion of Saws & Colors

By Glen D. Huey
Page: 18

From the February 2011 issue #188
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Grizzly’s newest hybrid table saw is from the Polar Bear series. It’s priced under $800, and that’s seldom seen these days. The G0715P has a fully enclosed cabinet for better dust collection and a 2-horsepower motor that’s tucked inside the cabinet. It’s the table-mounted trunnions that reveal its contractor saw heritage.

Blog: Read more about the polar bear series. Read more »

Tool Test: Benchcrafted Glide Vise

Machined to the nth degree, this leg vise clamps like a champ.
By Megan Fitzpatrick
Page: 16

From the February 2011 issue #188
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The Benchcrafted Glide Leg Vise takes its design cues from a traditional leg vise with a wooden screw, but this contemporary iteration works more smoothly, easily and quickly. And it cinches down hard on a workpiece with little torquing effort by the user. Benchcrafted calls it “effortless workholding” – and that’s true, once you get the Glide properly installed. It’s a little more work than installing a wooden screw but once you’re done, this
vise is a joy to use.

With a traditional screw, you simply cut a through-hole in your bench leg and seat a threaded block in a notch at the back of the leg (and install a garter, if you choose), cut a through-mortise for the parallel guide, then the work on the leg is complete. (With both the Glide and a traditional vise, you also, of course, have to make the chop and parallel guide.)

Blog: Read more about Benchcrafted. Read more »

On the Level: What’s a Workbench Worth?

By Christopher Schwarz Page: 8 From the February 2011 issue #188 Buy this issue now In 2005, I loaned my French workbench to a friend to use in his booth at a woodworking show. As I rolled the 350-pound behemoth onto the show’s floor, I heard a couple wolf whistles (really?), then one of the … Read more »