a The Seven Essentials of _ WOODWO RFiling a Rrw Saw Sharpening Chisels and Plane Irons Grinding the Bevel Honing USING HAND PLANES The Value of Using High-Quality Planes Tuning and Adjusting Standard-Grade Hand Planes Low-Angle Jack Plane Seruh Ph ne Plauening a Board Surtocing Surfacing the Orher Side Edge-ointing MARKING MORTISF & TENON JOINTS Bridle Joint “Housed” Mortise-and-Tenon Joint Mastering Joint-Making WOOD FINISHIN Preparing the Wood for a Finish How Well Should the Wood Be Prepared? Preparation Technique Om Finish Tang Oil Finish Danish Oil Shellac A Final Word about Finishing APPENDICES Glossary luudes Metric Conversions Chart About the Anthar “4 66 67 16 9 si a 85 86 90 96 100 103, 1o4 104 105 iirc lie 12 1 1B 15sed here except a grinder, but that doesn't make i a stacement against wood working machines (I own lots of wood- working machines—couldn'r make a living without them). This book discusses a phi- losophy. Once you understand this philoso- phy, it_wor matter if you make art furniture or birdhouses, or whether you use hand toole of machines. Your approach to your work will be sound and you will be able to solve whatever woodworking prob- lem you may come across, even if you've never done it before. Examples: If you know what makes an optimum glue joint, you'll be able to make one using any method (1-1). If you know how a properly set and sharpened saw blade should work (1-2), you'll know when one isn’t work- ing—whether it’s a table-saw, band-saw, or handsaw blade. If you know when a board io “flat” because you've learned how to flat Tot. This nwtie-aout-wern jin ty an excelene lue joint because of the long-grain surfaces in the mor- ties (holes) and the tenams (projecting pieces). Chapter ‘One discusses optimum glue joints, andl Chapter Six: discusses how to make mortse-and-tanom joins WHAT WORKS, WORKS 1-2. © A che ofthe wath on a bow saw showing the proper amount of set. Chapter Four discusses sharp- Cragin fr til Gate para Toon ara ten one, you'll always know when boards are flat—whether you flatten them by hand or with machines. WHAT WORKS, WORKS Whenever I write a mag hand woodworking, L always get letters from people who want to argue, among other things, the relative merits of using saws dif- e article about ferent than the ones [ use; of scomring any riqne tool shows instead of just buying a good tool to start with; and of endlessly fid- dling with inferior hand planes to get them to work rather than simply using a good- quality one, These people are more inter- ested in tinkering and puttering (ond arguing) than they are with finding out what works and doing it. My methods aren't the only ones out there, and they are not even the only ones that work. Bur they do work, and are the fastest. In my workshops, if students do just what | tell them, and useDo you want to be a top-notch wood worker! It’s simple (but not easy). Pay atten: tion to the information in the following pages. Then huy a quality handeaw and learn to crosscut and rip hardwood boards by hand. Good. Now lear to edge-joint and surface a three-foot plank by hand. Then see if you WHAT WORKS, WORKS can sharpen tools better, sharper, and faster than anyone. Finally, cut_a-mortise-anxl tenon joint by hand and become completely finique. Do that and you'll have no competition. That’s whar’s in the book familiar with one finishing « Anthony Guidice Author Anhomy Gradice m his wenkshop.a a practitioner of any discipline— whether woodworking, paintin music, writ ee requires a certain amount of commitment. That means investing part of your life in this discipline, and it also means hard work. You can’t just buy a violin or a guitar and become a musician. Similarly, owning a table saw and some power tools doesn't necessarily make you a woodworker, either. The study and mastery of the skills make you a woodworker. Thar rly involves Ie ning to think properly as well as doing the actual work Many students have wrong ideas about the tools, the material, and the correct approach for woodworking: They arcn’e thinking prop erly at the start. After all, some things are possihle—and reasonable to expect—and some simply aren't. The correct mindset at the start is of primary importance: THE WORKSHOP A comfortable shop (1) is a necessity for rious work. My shop is prerty small. [eS in a reconverted 1910 carriage house. My last shop was even smaller than that—the wood chared space. with che laundry ro Even so, | did lots of good work in there, made a lot of money, too. It wasn’t very big, but it had what is essential for a good shop. TIL mention a few shop tips here \ shop should have xvanl lighitinns. [have six double fluorescent fixtures for general 1. © The author's workshop.PREAMBLE: SOME NOTES ON BEING A WOODWORKER English-style workbench with an iron vise on it (3), but it's impor- tant that the work is held firmly while you caw, chizel, and mark it, Otherwise, woodworking can not only be dangerous, but thor- oughly frustrating, Wendell Cas- tle, the art furnituremaker, uses a hydraulically controlled bench: with a pattern-maker's vise on it Arthur Chapin uses an ancient iron vise on an equally ancient workbench. Both work Some additional safety tips: ‘When you chisel, keep the other hhond behind the blade. When you som; keep the other hand where the saw won't cut it if it jumps out of the kerf. (Don’t laugh. [once had to go w the hospital because of a cut from a 9-point bow saw blade, a handsaw! 1 left the blood spots on the floor as a te- minder) Don’t shortcut any steps when working around machines, and know all you machines intimn: ely before you use them. Don’t ever rush. A good craftsman never rushes. Never work when you are tired or run down physically for any reason (or taking cold medication). Concentrate. Always eon. centrate. Don’t get distracted while attempt- ing to do any work. Remove the distraction. or stop working, Use good rools and don't lend your tools to friends. You don’t want to lose your tools or your friends. WOOD: BEAUTIFUL, NATURAL, INEXACT Wood is in a constant state of flux. It moves, twists, cracks, warps, and bends. I's also a English-Style Woodworking Vise 3. © An Fnglish-arvl> wnushuvmbing wc ik thie se cam he ouafited to any type fectly adequate for holding wood while yore work i workbench and is por- pretty easy material to work with, so usually those problems can be resolved. 1's a mis take, however, to ever assume that the char acteristics of wond are ahsnlure T hear terms the time about wood: “perfectly square,” “perfectly straight,” ete. at this is not so. Nothing about wood! is absolure. You'll never get a board “per thrown around « Sorry, feetly” anything. If I flatten a board in my shop, leave it on the hench, and ir rains overnight, the next day the board won't be as flat anymore. It'll be almost as flat, usably flat, reasonably flat, but it won't be as fl it was. And that’s just in one night, ‘Sometimes hoards of the same species of wond cut from the same wondpile will he. haye unpredictably. | made a Shaker-type utility chest out of northern Missouri hick- ory for some photographs for the Rhode Is- land School of Design, (If you're a beginner,PREAMBLE: SOME NOTES ON BEING A Shaker Jelly Cabinet A Shaker chest of drawers What's so difficult about making est uth four drawers mit: Plenty What this is, i a series of rectangles edit bo something mae than fries you cae sll swwep smnderath it WOODWORKER 4.© A Shaker jelly cabmet with « misleadingly simple de tod ngs that lok sign. It's very ta mnand male d this. If any ofthe proportions ov shapes bn this picce were serong, it woul watched one student cur the end off'a hoard He marked it, clamped it to the bench, and then cut it, rotating was cutting. Somethin ttken 30 t 40 seconds took him about 10 nd clamping it as he that should have Why is learnir technique so important? Woodworking is a: teady by its very nature time-consuming, the proper woodworking Things often take twice as long to do as you tusitially chink they will (ask any professional ina small shop). You really can't afford to be spending over a half hour making fone « that should take less than three minutes. [es too inefficient. If you're a pro, you'll go broke. I you're a hobbyist, you already have limited time. Why waste it? Also, there is a oO oO Cie are, Tou eoaett _—— ee Shaker Chest of DrawersPREAMBLE: SOME NOTES ON BEING A WOODWORKER or a nailed butt joint for a birdhouse (8), two things alvays apply. The key to making a variety of joints is to know how to make vite joint —the thes sential or “core” JoInt. Then you can figure out how to make any other one—provided you have the ability 1 control the correct tools. properly. (Even a nailed butt joint needs two straight sides to “butt” rogether, so if you can't control a plane and a saw, you Gun't even make chat.) Nailed Butt Joint 8. © A mile burt jsine the oa est-to-make joint, but usualy a poor choice for any quality project. Sil Af yo ca’ sw aad plane the end sn piece, and plane the long-erain accurately, you won't be able make ven this: 9, ¢ Carcass construction wed m cae construction is use in dos, picture frames, and cabinet face frames. Each type of emoueson wae oery peu 10 There are lots of joints—hundreds of them, Some are “carcass” joints and some are “frame” joints (9). Carcass joints are used in cabinets, furniture casework, boxes, ete Frame joints are used in doots, picture frames, and cabinet face frames Some “ex- perts” try to teach you all of them at once! Dovetail joints (10) are used in drawers and cabinet casework, as are box joints (11) A box joint is a straight dovetail joint, hest made by machine. Tonguc-and-groove (12) and rabbet joints (13) are two carcass joints Spline joints can be for either frame or ear- cass construction. The machined biscuit joint (14)—which consists of compressed ‘wood! watery inserted into slots cut by a bis: cuit jointer is a spline joint A sliding doverail joint, as shown in 6, is a very important joint that is used to hold wide carcasses together without bowing, but Carcass-ana-Frame Construction CarcassPREAMBLE: SOME NOTES ON BEING A WOODWORKER 13. © A rubbed comer join, also shoun in carcass construction. This aint also has namal mechanical strength, [1's better than a nailed afore ond buat joint, but not much Rabbeled Gumer 14. © The biscuit jint—a “high-tech spline joint, Prefabri: 1, compressed “bis is” ft ito slo cut with «dedicated mae chine. Ie is remarkably ul Bisouit JointPREAMBLE: SOME NOTES ON BEING A WOODWORKER magazines or hooks or see on televi- sion don't cover this very well (es pecially when handsaws are used). 1 woodworkers have so much trouble The reason students ated begin doing handwork of any kind is al- most always due to the tools. In book after book, backsaws are ree- ommended for hench sawing, that is, close, accurate sawing. Backsaws (17) are heavy, difficult to balance, and unwieldy. All the ones I've seen have teeth that are too small and that are sharp- ened and set incorrectly, Ir's difficult to reset and resharpen the tiny teeth, and if it's not lone just rigl cut. And it doesn’t cut well, either: It’s slow. too slow: [e's at least twice as slow as a bow saw, which is the saw I recommend. (The backsaw does not have the worst saw design Fve ever seen; the standard carpenter's hand- savy, as shown in 18, has a thicker blale saul a higger woth, whips and kinks in the cut, cuts even more slowly.) So the proper handsaw will solve many of the sawing problems in good joint-making English Backsaw or “Tenon” Saw 17. © The buckoau, alse called « enon save. Ubiqui- tows in ewoodunking lteratuse. this saw i meficont ‘and wncomjimabe to use. Why have you never heard thas hejome? don’t Ko “Standard” Carpenter's Handoaw 18, © The standant compenter's hamdsaw, or panel saw. Older madels ofthis saw cue better than the new mes. Thats not saying much. A etchen broad knife would prohably eu beter. Here “fi” is. The correct fir for a woolworking joint is largely a marter of “feel.” It has to be. Ir isn’t a constant; it depends on the wood you're using. A good fit in hard maple is dif- ferent from a good fit in fir or mahogany. another factor: knowing what a good So if all woods respond differently to being sawn, bored, and chiseled, and if the fir of the joint varies depending on what wood you are using, it's best to learn to make only one joint first in one type of wood, and practice making it until you are thoroughly familar with it. Then you can notice the differences when you make that joint in other types of wood. When you know how one wood be- haves, you have a basis for comparison USING YOUR WORKSHOP TIME WISELY Tam assuming, throughout this text, that the objective of the woodworker reading it is to ‘make beautiful things ftom wood. The point ofPREAMBLE: SOME NOTES ON BEING A WOODWORKER ‘Shaker Drop-Leat Table Great work in any medium doesn’t come from a desire to make things easy. It comes from hard work, a concerted effort to be truly excellent at something. You already know more than you think you Wane 1 Well, you've been using furniture all your life. What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? ‘What features in your desk or bedroom chest of drawers, for example, would you lke to im- prove? What types of wourl dey you prefer? Dy » make furnitu you really like walnut because the guy in the woodworking magazine likes it, or do you like something else better? Ever see a piece made from tulipwood (poplar) and finished with Lunseed onl? 1rs pretty. How about finishes? Uo you like the look of embalmed, plasticized word? Tharé what polyurethane does, but the magazine and television guys say you should use it. What do you think? Irs completely up to you what design and finish your furniture 19. # A Shaker drop-kaf table her masterpiece, Ici. simple table with a drawer and rear drops leaf. If you can design something like this, you're doing very well. Spend your time studying thi hind of word working, not experimenting with futile igh vechnigques has, You probably have some very good ideas but don’t trust your judgment. Here's an idea: Go on a tour of a cheap fur- niture store! L grew up in a house full of ugly furnicue—that ghustly, cheap, production- ke Hike too-bright cherry, and then varnished or lac- ling staff made of poplar stained to L quered to look like it had been dipped in lig- uid glass. Design-wise, this furniture was equally awful. It had a smattering of watered- lowa period details, with equally bad-looking hardware that was much too fancy for the piece. It was difficult to tell what was worse— the design or the finish. I didn’t know what preferred in furniture back then, but it eer tainly wasn't that. Then, sewing table with d any yeas later 1 saw a Shaker wer, in oiled cherry wood. The wood looked real, touchable, and the oil finish looked pleasant and natural snilarly, the design was utterly simple and| mee ae SURFACE,1234 End grain is the cut-off end surface of rhe wood fibers. End grain will not glue to any other surface—whether it is long grain ot other end grain (1-4). It can be dismissed for use as a working glue surface, and hence nored when laying out joints or deciding a joint for any particular project 1-5. © Bnd grain of boo (as shown in A) bout in the middle of LONG GRAIN AS A GLUE SURFAC 1-4. # Eni in co long grain, Glue will not bond In is worthwhile to note thar end grain oe curs not just on the ends of boards, but in the middle of them as well. As shown in Bof 1-5, the cut section in the board (mortise) is pre dominately end grain. If we were to cur a piece to fit it (@ tenon), the joint would be predominately end grain and wouldn't be very DirectionMECHANICAL STRENGTH 1-9, © The common nailed buat joint is very poor be 1-10. @ Any force om the nailed butt joint will cause it cause it has no mechanical strength tw rack, that is, ro move In 1-11, the boards are glued together surface (long grain to long grain), but we \ Jong grain to long grain—a maximum now have an even better joint because it has amount of glue surface. If we notch them as mechanical strength, too. This joint is called in B, there is still a maaiununy anouat at half lp. I-L1. & A joint that consists of two boards that have been glued and overlapped (A) has glue svaface, but nowching Fein a half-Lap joint (B) now gives it mechanical srengch,Sometimes the nailed butt joint, as inade- quate ay it seems, is the right joint 10 use. There are many types of woodworking 1 small jewelry box won't require the same strength as a joints because, for example. chair. The important point is this: Once you can make a good mortise-and-tenon joint, you tant make any other joint. Experience will tell you which i the best joint for a given project (1-15). No one single answer will solve all the problems. The same princi pal—the essential principal—to joint mak- ing will always apply: Maximize glue surtace and mechanical srength, 1-15. © Bri frame-and-panel door, the door st The stronger bridle joint (or open sine shown in cabinet door, fn this rortiso and tenon) isa better choice tham the half lap GLUE What ts the best glue 1 use to Join joint members! PVA (polyvinyl acetate) glues (1-16) are fine. There are all sorts of con- fusing marketing terms and buzzwords used to describe PVA glue. White and yellow glues are PVA glue. Carpenter's yellow glue is a bit thicker than white glu and sande better dries faster, All PVA glues clean up with water, and are nontoxic, inexpensive, and more than strong ‘enouga for use on anything, 1-16. © Whive and orking glues. All ane PVA Apolyuinglacenate) ad il work, hesives is 10 use one exclusively fora while and lear its A good long-grain-to-long-grain glue bond will be stronger than the actual wood, If you break two well-glued boards joined this way, they will always break in 3 spor other than the glue joint. When glue manu: facturers say their glue forms a bond stronger than the wood itself, this is true. But it is also crue of all glues used for wood. Ignore the marketing yellow igons. Just choose one good ue, use it exclusively, and thor- oughly learn its characteristics. Later, if you need to use another glue, you'll have some thing as a basis for comparison. (Gluing jomung boards into panels—e Is exe plained in Chapter Five40 “Use accurate tools to mark and measure with. If possible, don't measure at all.” Frank Klaus. ds cause any fine furniture project bezins with the marking of boards for din sioning (and Later for juist-unahinny), it is ob vious thar precision in this first step is of primary importance if accurate work is to te- sult, Mad ing in which precision is essential Sometimes woodworkers throw terms ng out is one aspect of woodwork: around like “perfectly square” and “perfectly flac”; these terms don’t really apply to. wood. AA flat board can absorb moisture overnight and be “less flat” in the morning than it was the night before, hut still be quite usable, A cabinet carcass can be assembled a bit out of square (by Y%eur Yo incl) aul still be cone sidered square. But marking and measuring is ing lunch with au absolute—the board is either marked and measured correctly or it isn’t. This isn’t to say +n mark, Marking you should ayonize over e and measuring should be done quickly and accurately, The very best method doesn't involve measuring anything. You mark the dimen- sions on a storypole, which is a stick. Dimen- siouy can be male directly from a piece of furniture, cabinet, ete. (2 1). Then the is used to transfer dimensions to the work pieces. Entire rooms—kitchens especially — can have all their important dimensions marked on storypoles, and then the craftsman ‘cat essentially “carry” the room back into the shop afterwax 2-1. © A storypole allows ‘yo to mark directly (and ‘more accurately) from a piece o fom dhe space here the piece goes (i. atlatchen) without the ac ccurmulaved errors that Desi for uring dawnt Frank Klaus, a New-Jerey cabi maker who also teaches woodworking sem ing videos, and Thay writen extensively on the subject, learned the rade as an apprentice in EuropeMEASUKING & MARKING WOOD. 2-3. A combination square can be sotto mark work fr all som of appli smalking. Te can be used: A, ca depth gauge: B, as a 45 degree angle gauge: C, as a marking gauge; D, as try square; E, to mark at 45 degrees; and F, to check a bo d for sq 2-4. © Here, a combmation square nals. a board for vip cut“4 MEASURING & MARKING WOOD. The ends of the V were almost 4 inch from each other. That's a Me-inch error over 10 inches—a gross error. Use that square co mark ‘out the four joints in a cabinet face or doot frame and you could be off % inch or more by the time you get to assembly! On a larger piece, the error would be much greater. Real experts (not writers and talkers) use high-grade, quality tools because they are ac- curate and eliminate errors. The best there is is whar you need SIMPLE TECHNIQUES Marking and measuring procedures will be ‘cavured ae they arenceded inilater chapter, but here are a few handy general techniques to know: They include techniques for divid- inga board into equal parts, finding the cen- ter of boards, making a rip cut, making a ‘V-shaped cut, and planing end grain. 26. 6 “Walking of sa pres of board with dividers, Judge the divisions of the tal wide by ee and ads the rts unl they ae equally die. hiss much easier shan endearing dimensions. Dividing a Board into Equal Parts Ifthe board you're dividing measures around 5% inches, for example, and you need to di- vidle it into six parts, you don’t have to calcu- late anything. Set the divider for about $4 inch and “walk” ic acioss che board. When, after six steps, it comes up short or long, judge by eve the total amount it is off by and either add or subtract one-sixth of this amount to the setting. By the third time through, you should have the exact distance (2-8). Finding the Center of a Board To find the center of a board's width, length, or thickness, first mensure the otal dimen. sion you wish to halve. Let’s say we want to. halve the width, and you measure 4% inches for the total width. Set the combina- tion square to about half of that—2% inch Now, make a mark from each side of the Using Dividers to Mark Equal SegmentsMEASURING & MARKING WOOD, against the blade. The remaining three fin- gers rest on the board. The tongue must be tight against the edge, the blade flat against the face of the board, aud dhe whole assent hily still. Mark the line with the knife. With the light-duty marking knife. the line is thin: you don't use much pressure Next, take the utility knife and deepen the line (2-15). Make wo or three passes, using more pressure as you go deeper. Be re- Jaxed, and watch your fingers. If you cense up, the knife can slip. Using a ehisel, cut a V! shaped groove to one side of the line (2-14) The saw blade will rest in this groove as you make the crosscut (2-15 and 2-16). 2-13. @ Deepen the line with « wily louif 214. © Using a chisel to make the Vicu. 2-15. © The finished V-cut, 2-16. ¢ The saw blade rests in the V-cut and it's easy eesSAWIN G TO A LINEre, THE BOW SAW 3-1. © A cabi netmaer’s bow saw (German type). At ser-up, align the hamale end with the eye hole; this way ose aleys now which end a a oe Bow-Saw Detail Configuration 1 (0 sere) 3-2. © Comparing a bow saw's speed of cut when rip bing Cowening with dhe graie) a7 fret sa’ (anand carpenter's handsaw). ten strokes, a 5-poine bow sw cut mone than ewice as far as panel saw with the same numberof teth per inch. A Y-point joint-making Frow saw with almost tice che points (teeth) per inch ‘cuts about ewive as far 3-3. © Comparing a bow saw’s speed of eur when ‘cosscaung (cating against the gram) «0 panel saws The mel saws, with 5 and 9 points per inch, dai te beater erosscutting than making vip cuts, but the bow-saw resid ane stil clearly superiorSET Set is the amount of offset the teeth have from each other. If you look directly at the teeth in any saw blade, you can sce that they 0 in alternate directions—one goes to the lofi, the next goes to the right, ete. That is the set. The amount that they go left and right is the degree of set ‘Most saws come with too much set. Illus. 3-5 shows a 5-point blade with too much set af @ Thy Hales wea for teres eet fe cutting dry hardwoods The more set a blade has, the slower it cuts (excess set is good, however, for cutting green, or “wet,” wood). To remove excess set from a saw blade, lay the blade flat on a met- alworker's anvil and lightly tap down the tecth that are sticking up. First do one side, and then the other, Most inexpensive metalwork ing vises have a little flat anvil surface behind the jaws that works well for this (3-6). The proper amount of set is almost invist- ble. As you Took at a properly set how saw Wade, the teeth should barely he discernibly offset from one another (3-7). A. small led a dove turned-handle saw, son tail or Sgents” saw (3-8), really needs no set ince its maximum depth of cut is only about SET 3 3-6. ¢ One tab per woth from the small peen on a ball-peen hammer will remove excess set a saw Blade. 3-7. ® These 5-point bow-saw teeth have the proper amore of st. They look ike they have no set at al Turned-Handle Dovetail or “Gents” Saw 3-8. 6 A tumed-hondle * overall sa, this saw iss Also called a for erimming and cuating ery small pieces of wood. Sharpen with triangular nee- dle fle. The teeth should have almost no st.) and the 10 (3-12), With the saw clamped lightly m the bench, I tilt the blade and teeth toward me and set them (3-13). Aes pevenl ruletgent wantunead rapes the teeth until they've been sharpened at 3411. © The saw set atthe proper setting for S-poine TOOLS FOR SETTING SAW TEETH least three or four times. If you have a Putsch bow saw, just leave it as 1t 1s when you get tt With any other bow saw or a turned-handle (gents) saw, tap out the set and leave the saw The saw set setting for 9-point bow-saw tecth a 3-13. © Setting nt baw sat The saw the teeth away on do the other.saw. A good woodworker with a bow saw can press an average table-saw user pretty hard. You should master the use of bow saw. Hore’s how. Take a stack of boards (about two feet long and five inches wide) and make 50 crosscuts and 50 ripcuts in a row: SAWING TO A CUT LINE Not four cuts—50. Spend two or three hours, It beats heing a machine operator for the rest of your life. When you're done, you'll he able to de something only about two percent of woodworkers in the United States can do. 3-15. © Rip-sawing with a bow saw. A bow-saw blade can be tumed at an anele to the frame to clear the board for work lke this. These saws cut so well you can do entire projects with them.60 “A sharp blade is more important than the horsepower.” ne of my earliest memories in. wood working is of learning how to sharpen properly. My teacher not only: sharpened plane and chisel blades, but saw blades, knives, fishhooks, carving tools—anything He would calle for houts about things like carbon steel, the temper of the steel quenching the blade, and, most of all, the horrors of a dull cutting edge. Today, if he walks into my shop and picks up a cutting tool that isn't razor-sharp, I'll get the whole lesson all over again including the part about how the ancient Romans would test their newly sharpened swords by running them through a slave's body! (J don’t recom mend that.) Using properly sharpened tools is impor- tant. Eighty to ninety percent of problems when using planes, far example, come from dull blade. Chisel use is difficule and danger- ous unless the tool is sharp, and nothing is worse than trying to cut with a dull handsave In most of the woodworking literature, these ckills are often shown to be unnecessarily complicated. Learning to sharpen tools cor- rectly is straightforward. SHARPENING HANDSAWS Once the set on a handsaw blade is correct (see previous chapter), it is important ro keep, the teeth sharp. To sharpen them, you use a triangular file that fits the tooth size (4-1), Arthur Chapin® Vor HL. © Left wright: sim file for 5-poine blades: dow ble exera-slim (XX) fle for 9-point blades; 9-point feow.-saw Blade; andl -poine bow-saw blade. filing at 90 degrees to the blade. It isn’t nec esary to tum the blade around and file from both sides, nor s a crosscut-tooth profile ever necessary. Why have you never heard this be foe? T don’t know These techniques have worked beautifully in my shop for many years, and they'll work well for you, too. Arthur Chapin sa woodworker and craftsman living in Fairport, New YorkSHARPENING TOOLS is thar the jaws that hold the saw blade are made of rubber. These are much more efficient than the wooden jaws on the Frid vise. When the rubber jaws grip the Dale, acy Inld it much tighter with less pressure. The spacer, slued to one of the lower portions, insures that the rubber jaws maintain an even, tight grip oon the blade, and that the blace will not slip. Another advantage 1s that the top edges are simply rounded with a rasp and then sanded, ar you can just sand them These rounded edges allow you to get your hand working, and are comfortable when your hand brushes them. This vise will hold the blade nice and tight, and allow you close whil tw file saw blades easily. If you use an Frglish-style bench vise, you don’t need the cleats on the vise sides. The cleats rest on the upper part of Scandina- vian-type bench jaws and prevent the vise from falling onto the floor. To make one, start with two 10 X 10-inch pieces of hardwood plywood (bitch, vak, ete.) (4-4). A cabinet shop will have them as sap. Touse M4-inch luuber-core lauan ply wood, and that works well also. Just don't use sheathing or decking (construction) plywood. You'll also need two small butt hinges (L use a scrap of piano hinge), a hot-melt glue gun, and two | x 10-inch scraps of 4-inch thick rubber gasket material, If you have trouble getting the gasket material, you can use an old inner tube from a large tire or get thinner pieces from a bicycle shop and glue them together to make them thicker. The spacer block should equal the thickness of the tubber jaws when they're glued on the plywood pieces; in this case, it's 4 inch thick. In Illus. 4-4, the spacer is already glued onto one of the plywood pieces. With everything ready, spread hot-melt alue on the inside top of one of the pieces of Materials necessary for 14 sharpening vse: plywood pieces, rubber sips, hinges (a scrap of piano hinge is shown here), hot-melt glue gun, and seveuvdriver. Nore thatthe spare piece is already glued to one of th ices of plywood.SHARPENING TOOLS FILING A BOW SAW Another advantage of the bow saw is that the tecth are relatively large, 20 the files woed to sharpen them are easy to find. For a 5-point blade, a "slim" size works well (refer to 4-1); for a 9-point blade, use a “double extra-slim” file. You can usually find them in hardware stores or home centers. (For doveratl and “gents” saws, you'll need needle files [4-9].) | use a piece of dowel as a handle (4-10), rounding over the bottom edge a little with a rasp. You can also use a piece of tree branch, “To file the caw blade, clamp it in the vise (you can leave it in the bow-saw frame). Take a piece of chalk and chalk the file on two edges (4-11). The chalk keeps the file working better longer. Place the chalked edges of the file in the miangular recess and file at 90 degrees to the saw blade (4-12). 449. © Neve fle (chalked) shonen abe th wood! rule, These tiny files ane used to sharpen the cory small gents-sau called for when filing these sane tect, th. An easy, gentle touch is 4410. # Files for shanpening handsaws. I se pieces of dowel for handles (old, discarded foam-brish han: dles work well). Roxand over the ends for comfore Shan om top is a handle T made fom a ree branch. le +SHARPENING TOOLS Use only enough downward (nor side-to- side) pressure to allow the file to bite into the steel. Most first-timers use t00 much pressure. Hold the file by the handle and the tip and be relaxed as you work, One stroke per tooth is enough if only a bit of light tlints off the teeth, Jse the same edges of the file for the entire blade. If the file skates” and doesn’t bite, the file 1s old, the blade isn't clamped tight enough, or you aren't using sufficient presse. Don't ar- tempt to use a lot of force with a worn file Ger a new one Consistency nportant (4-14). If you aren't consistent with. your strokes and presoure, the teeth will be at uncven heights and only the high reeth will do any cutting. A bow saw will still work well, even if you aren't completely consistent at first, hut a backsaw or a panel savy will stall and jam in the wood and be very difficult to use if the teeth aren't even. Still, don't 4414, © These eth have boom proper filed (sharb- ened). They are all she same height, sal of them d freeze up. Relax and you'll be able to file accurately When you've finished sharpening the howssaw teeth, don't stone their edges that’s more gross misinformation someone dreamed up. Just leave them as is. If there is 1 burr, three or four strokes through your first board will remove it SHARPENING CHISELS AND. PLANE IRONS Some chisel- and plane-ion_ sharpening methods will leave a “better” (ie., longer lasting) edge than others, and some meth. ods take longer to do than others, but the objective is always rhe same—a ravor-sharp edge. To tell if the edge on your chisel or h, with a very light mo- plane is sharp enou tion try to shave the hair from your forearm, If you ean, it 1s. If not, it will have to be sharpened. we tried almnet all types of sharpening technique and equipment over the years, and settled on Japanese water stones some time ago. In not too much time, they leave a qual- ity, long-lasting sharp edge. There are different ways to usc them, howeves, aia some can he confiising. Therefore, [will de- scribe a very quick and easy method using di- amond stones and a leather strop (4-15). Though not providing quite as long-lasting an edge as the water stones, the diamond: and-strop technique will obtain a razor-sharp vilge faster and with less effort This is not to say it is an inferior technique; it is a fine sharpening method you can use for your en tire carver if you like 41 se ity Lat I erin res sire whe inf AsSHARPENING TOOLS The first step in grinding a blade is to draw a straight line across the back of the blade, as close to the top as you can get tt (4-17). Use a micro-point, permanent imarker, With the tool rest at 90 degrees to the wheel, gently grind to the line. Look at the cutting about Me inch of light will be glinting off it (4-18). Reset the tool rest at about 25 degrees to the wheel and have a can of water nearby to quench the blade. You can use the chisel visting hewel to reset the tool rest (4-19) ight line om the back ofa chisel 4-18. ¢ The light clearly gnuing off the ee ofthe c the width ofa human hair —withone breming the st 4419, Hold the chisel or plane iron as shown in 4-20, with one finger near the top so you can feel the heat. Only the bevel is ground, trot thie back. What you want is an absolutely even, flawless, 25 ¢ bevel. Place the blade on the tool rest and slowly ease ir inc the wheel, using your other hand to move it from side to side. Use a light touch, and a te laxed motion. When you teel a slight bit of heat, dip Uae bkade ir dhe water can, Repeat until the light glinting off the cutting edge i Setting the tool rest using te existing bevel unSHARPENING TOOLS Honing Honing is where we take the blade from rough-giouend i voreshiasp. Grinadinny leaves kof the bevel (4-22). We'll remove it, create a “microbevel” on the a burr on the hac freshly ground bevel, and "strop” it Diamond stones are the easiest way to hone a cutting edge. You can get by with just a medium-grit stone, but it helps to also have a fine-urit one Rest is ta have all four Hollow chisel ner isa rough, wemed-over edge on the estate crease tach b easier to feel it than to see it 424. Washing the swf off a diame one after coarse, medium, fine, and extra fine. A strop is a piece of thick leather, tacked “flesh side” ‘out to a hardwood block, as shown in 4-15, You'll uced some suupping compound de signed for carbon steel. That’ it T put a pad under my knees and kneel on. the floor with the diamond stone in front of me, propped up on a holder so it won't move A water bottle and a towel are nearby. The stones I use come with the holder shown, but you can make a holder out of wood, or we a rubber pad, ete. Lay the chisel back flat on the stone and rub it back and forth to re- move the burr (4-23). Wash the steel parti- cles (swarf) off the stone with water (4-24). chisel. | 4:23. ‘on the floor. my hages rest Homing the back of his keelingSHARPENING TOOLS The stropping motion is always toward you—away trom, not into the leather (4-27). This way, you wou't slice into it, With the strop in front of you, rub come of the compound on it. Lay the chisel back on the strop and pull it toward you about five or six times (4-28). The strop will darken as you do this. Look at the chisel back. It should show some bright polish near the edge Apply a little more compound and Stropping a Blade 4-28. ¢ Sompping the back of the chis PEL Ths tate Enel ward The stop is shou here clamped nthe workbench, for clarity wiCompound strop the microbevel, pulling toward you as before and keeping the angle constant (4-29). Three or four swipes should produce 1) mirrorlike microbe vel Test the edge. Very lightly, try to sh: bit of hair from your forearm (4-30). Don't cut yourself; a light whisking is all you need. When the hair shaves off, congratulate your- self: you have achieved a razor-sharp edge. You can sharpen tools. 4-27. © “Stropping’ Devel edge The nodion i wuacu yo, Keeping the angle constant. You are polishing the very edge of the hevel to achieve a razor sharp edgeUSING HAND PLANESTUNING AND can spend your time on woodworking and furnituremaking—not tinkering with junky Is. You can't do serious work with these es af thal Lie-Nielsen Toolworks in the United States and E.C. Emmerich in Germany make high-quality planes. Lie-Nielsen makes metal 7 planes work beautifully, right out of the bua nes, and E.C. Emmerich wooden ones. The ADJUSTING STANDARD-GRADE HAND PLANES TUNING AND ADJUSTING STANDARD-GRADE HAND. PLAN For standard-grade hand planes such as the jack plane shown in this section (5-2 and 5-3), some tuning and adjustment is necessary hefore the plane will even work at all. Ftst of all, dhe blade must be ship, That’ simple Lever Cap Adjustment Lever Blade Frog ‘Stangara” Jack Plane Simplified ViewSeating” is also a huge factor in how well a plane works. In any plane, the tighter the “plane ion” (cap-iron/blade assembly) seats yn the “frog” (the little ramp), and the tighter the frog seats on the plane body, the better the tool will work (5-5). Without tight seating, the parts vibrate against each other and the plane “chatters” over even slightly difficule grain. On high-quality planes, the seating is good. On poor ar stan. dard-grade ones, it's not so good. 5-5. © Finger points to the “fog.” Since the frog sup. ports th A 4B pre the blade assem: ly); af mot, the plane will “chatter,” or vibrate, aver to “seat” i co the plane boy (and he workpece Can yon fiy poor seating? Yes. You need coat one of the mating surfaces with “ma: chinist’s blueing” (a thick blue ink), put them together, take them apart, and then grind or file away the high spots. This is re peated over and over and over uutil there are no more h h spots. Sound arduous and time-consuming? It is. You would be ill-a vised to even attempt it The sole of the plane should be flat also or you won't be able to take a very fine shaving with it, Wood-plane bodies can be flattened LOW-ANGLE JACK PLANE on a motorized jointer. To do this, back the fron out from the mouth % inch, but keep it tight in the plane; you want the me ten sion in tho wooden plane body ar when you're using it. Use the jointer to take off shavings from the sole Ye inch at a time until its flat. Of course, the jointer must be tuned properly too! You'll 1eadl suzzestions saying you can flat ten a metal-soled plane yourself, but never by anyone who has ever tried it. I would take it toa machine shop that has a “Blanchard” grinder and have them do it. Unless Your favorite uncle owns the machine shop, type this will cost you more to do than the plane ix worth From the foregoing, it should be obvious why the so-called “expensive” and “high: priced” planes are really very good bargains. If you have a standard-grade plane, sharpen the blade, fic che Gap tom uightly ayatnse the blade, and use the plane like that. Accept the fact that its performance will be limited: it will chatter on knotty grain, and shavings will only get so thin. Trying to improve it further simply isn’t worth it LOW-ANGLE JACK PLANE To know how a plane should operate, you should get used to a fine-quality plane Then you'll have a standard to judge every thing ele by, The Lie-Nielsen low-angle jack plane is a versatile too! that is simple in For the proce res desrihed in this chapter, youl noes a sceul plane for Jhing our and a jack plane (14 inches Ie) cecctaeggeril va grtUSING HAND PLANES ably rounded (5-10). It acts more as a ige—it scoops. Ihe Lie-Nielsen scrub plane will perform beter if the blade is ground wo a smaller radius, similar to the radiue of an ECE. plane blale-about 214 inches* (5-11). (Should you also slightly grind a radius on blades for jack and smooth planes, like it says in some books and magazine articles? No. There is no noticeable advantage in doing so.) 5-10. © The sole of «scrub plane, A seruh plane's Dade is rornded to remove wood fas, FLATTENING A BOARD. Jake a piece of rough-sawn hardwood Load—ouk, cheny, poplar, ete—abour 6 inches wide and I inch thick. (Buy it at a lumberyard or hardwood supplier, not a home center.) Cut off a 3-foot section and, placing it on the workbench, try t0 rock it When you hone the srubyplane blak, you ml it on he stone so thar the entite microbevel i sharpened When ine it, you aso rol the edge as yo sedate reall ane: mi regu lane Blac, which is discussed in Chapter Four: (To sind the new rabias, mark it om the hick, grind to thy Yo the blade as you clo this Dap itn 5-11. © A Liv-Nielsen seruh-plane blade a it comes from the manufacturer (top) and ground to a inch reais (bottoms), The blade with the more n adius wil x with less effort from opposite corners. You'll find that it will rock in both directions because it’s not flat Flip the board over and clamp it to the bench. Adjust the scrub-plane blade so that less than % inch sticks out the bottom. Plane the board diagonally, first in one direction, and then the other (for example, first from left to right, and then right to left, as indicated in. 5-12). You'll notice how casily and well the scrub plane works (3-13), despite the fact that you're removing big chunks of wood, Flip the board over and, pushing down on in (5-14) You'll find it doesn't rock at all, or the amount it doe opposite comer, try to rock ie is noticeably less, If it does still rock, bring your fingers in from the cor nets, diagonally, until the board doesn’t rock anymore. In benween your fingers 18 a high spot (5-15), Make a mental note of where it is. Then flip the hoard over and plane ir our Two or three times doing this will get one face of the board flat—not surfaced or smooth yet, but flat, Flatness occurs when the face of the board doesn’t rock on the bench.TLATTENING A BOARD 5-12. ¢ Senub-planing. Go diagonally down the fd in one direction, and then fram the other. 5.13. & The rounds ridges in the board. These willbe removed with a jack plane bes = 5-14, # Rocking the board to check for flamess Unless the board is very long, ding sis om a flat workbench will well yon if fla oF no 5-15. © Ifthe hoard stil rocks after snub plan ing, mote our fingers m tol stops rockng. In Peet eeetinue these steps until most of the scrub- plane marks are gone. Nest, set the plane for a thin shaving amd plane the hoard in the direction of the (5-18). Do this until the board is bright and 5-18. © Finally, with the low-angle jack plane set Jor ey aya) a0aKd ype Jo spua oy punose Av axp ype LY “(#Z-9 7 ayaa) gsprumesdd gaia yeu UE NOs 9 “ourey oop 40 +990 SauMond ve SuyeAL AIP NOs F190} ay YO pusoy, mY sptEWE as pH YpUL 9% aE eYp soaoKd opvapun-z asp) -diysuewsayeso puey Jo yoo} jnpapuom ax sey pu ‘suo! uouar-pue-sstuow (posnoy) uappry v ueyE dens an x01 poo amuosey Au jo 940 S1 GIO! appuy aK ALNIOL a TGNa ek A]feMage ap “SIUFOL AUPLO.s (1-9) wappry st auto! Sq) pur ajoy agenbs v st astuour aup arayas suoust pur-osniow posnoy aya pur (uo uouarpue-astuou Uado Un SE PAPA) OL (dns 40) aypug e simnof oan oyeur TUN 9A HuJof 1aqpo Sue ayEUUE OF apg ax ATISHD |],NOA pue [pw qo! UoUA-pue-asmoUL ve ayeUL Aaouuot asounady axed) a4, OVS 02K, ov Sues] Ayjear “uaea] -sjraep [enpiatpur JO spursnowp! uo Aourpunpar ssapus iou—ay plnoys sued ayn moy Bupwouy, pur spadoad sjooa Buypury jo anew v fjosy st Buyout wef pay ysBueus jeoueqvouL pur wae nfs minuets ceapr su UO suOREEPA a30 Squtof SunPoNpoOM IY “ParE>tiduIOA1aA0 os s{ aioqaasa pute Syoog UF UONaNsU BuPyeUE -rurof asout aours “uisudins ou st sty “poss SHUI St WoUM-puE-aSHOW! ay 95U0 SiULO! ptpo aye 01 Aa SzoyBOA\poOA v BUNA 9 yoypqeip prseaudya savy spdoad sui03, spoon sopiey ueyp Buratiuoy aout ayia & ate Aout asne aay, zepdod 40 ‘Kuegogeur ay Jo Ino srutof uouoy-pue-ostuiow asiy anos ayeur 01 apr poost esta] 3ppeI9 |EA i astu0U 24 pur ays oor spyoy uum Leu HH —WIUe chrady anos Aq paunusarsp 99 We> a4 9K 4 poo & pur Sunana pue Hunpeut gyeans>" souatpy tues a4p soutnbor Supjeu- auto! Py surof uouaL-pue-estUOUE ay st pouDIseU pur pou] 94 o1 auto! 91 axp weEp SUOFHDK Sous Soe ay IUIO! UoUM-pUR-asHBOUW ae no nonenes © ep RHO aynse wuapoU aan}

310m poor), a6MAKING MORTISE & TENON JOINTS Now, use the gauge to draw a line from the original knife mark, up the edge across the end grain, and down the other edge on the other side (6 4). Repeat this on the other piece. Be sure you index to the same face side again (the side with the pyramid marks on it). 6d & Marking for the mortise -and-tocm pisces. The Japamese gauge makes it easy 40 mark clea, accurate lines Marking Waste Areas For Bridle Joint Mortise Piece Tenon Piece What you have now are wo identically marked pieces. The centerpiece of one will stay there and be the tenon; the centerpiece cof che other will be Gut out and be the more tise. Mark with an “X” the waste areas (6-5). To make them fit well. they must be sawn accurately. The key to doing that is to saw on the waste side of the line for the tenon cut (that is, to saw to the outside of the line) and to saw to the inwside of the line for the mottise cut In any mortise-and-tenon joint, the mortise (hole) is always made frst. The tenon is then cut to fit the mortise, and can he adjusted eas- ily if the fit is off, which it very often is, Tele: visivn waahvorkers auxd book and magazine writers who show three quick steps and then a perfectly fitting tenon are showing you utter fantasy. By hand or by machine, tenons almost always need to be trimmed to fit right 6-5. & Marking bridle-joint waste ‘areas. The "X” indicates the areas that are cut ont. Don't lave this cut or you'l end up with wo tenom or morse pices. Yin will exvmeenrate so hard om cut eurately, soul forget what 1 cwMAKING MORTISE & TENON JOINTS Underout ‘sugmy Mortise Piece 6-9. © he bridle-joint mortise. ‘The umdercut insures that the tenon piece will ic tgh 6-10. © Casting the tomom shoulders. Shice ho m rial 'm semaine is about % inch thick, the small saw works wel ta the cheek cuts (you ean do the shoulder cuts before the cheek cuts if you like). [ lay the piece against the bench stop and cut it with an offset dovetail saw (6-10). You can also use a bow saw in a bench hook ws dy this. With the waste removed, clean out the comers with a chisel if necessary. That com- pletes the tenon. Test the fit of the tenon and the mortise If ws too tight, you can shave the tenon checks a bit with a Linch rabbet or shoulder plane (BELL to 6-13) (A rasp will also work.) A rabbet plane is a skinny plane that can work right up against an edge. Trim the check a bit at a time, checking the fit of the mortise and tenon as you go. If the fit 1s to096 MAKING MORTISE & TENON JOINTS loose, you can glue pieces of veneer to the tenon cheeks, and then fit the pieces as he- fore. If che shoulders don’t fic tight into the mortice pi them as well. the shoulder plane can trim “HOUSED” MORTISE-AND- TENON JOINT For this mort and-tenon joint, which is hidden, the renon is eur just as for the bridle joint, with two shoulders. Some believe that the tenon should have four shoulders in onder to hide the joint (6-14%). This is not only a more difficult joint ro cut (all shoul- dors must be in the same plane), it docan’t lls, 6-14 shows a housed” mortsearu-tenon joint in tdve mille of « workpiece, For he sine joint on the en cof a board, you would use a “haunch” or three-shoulder oS possess the same amount of glue surface as a two-shoullder tenon. For this joint, use stock that is 3 inches wide » 1 inch thick. Mark the faces. The mortise will be a bit more than % ineh wide. You'll need a bit brace and a %-inch auger bit (6-15 and 6-16). Most of the hole is bored out with the auger bit; the sides and ends ate squared up with a chisel. Using an auger bit ina bit brace teaches you to line up and bore a hole straight and square. The hit, being long, is easy to aligns the motion of the brace is slow and itis easy to keep the brace steacly If, like most people, you go directly to a power drill, you'll drill the holes crooked. Again, you make the mortise first. In this case, ‘mark out the width of the tenon piece, which is 3 inches. Nest, mark the center of the mortise with a line from end to end, The result will be an “I” shape (6-17). Mark in from the edges ¥ inch. a ener Tee hs © 14+ Te norte 2orousers ae = stow TG it 4 Shoulders,MAKING MORTISE & TENON JOIN’ 6-18. © Aligning the After a while, boi bt withthe work are holes with this tool here—get the tool to where it looks and feels right and start boring the holes. If you're off okay. What’ the proper feel of the correct position, In a litele, ie important is to get time, it will come automatically, (With a power hand drill, the pistol cont ation prevents you from lining anything ups with a rill press, the machine aligns it for you. In either case, you learn nothing.) When the two outside holes are bored. hore the majority of the waste (6-19). Don’t overlap the holes, es in between them to clear out because the hit may have w temdeney to duifi, although the screw usually will keep it on line. Once the holes are hored, the mortise is sauared up with chisels With the mortise gauge indexed to the face side (the side with the pyramids), set the blades tu about ‘Ae inch on either side of the holes. Lock them in place and draw them across the work, from end line to end line. The width will be around % inch (6-20). The gauge lines you just drew indi cate the sides of the mortise. Leave the gauge With a 4-inch chisel, chop the ends of the mortise square. Chop down a bit (don't unMAKING MORTISE & TENON JOINTS The tenon is made the same way as for the bridle joing, with o few exceptions. Make the length about #6 inch shorter than the depth of the mortise. This is to insure enough clearance in case the bottom of the mortise is uneven. Also be sure to use the previous gauge setting. Otherwise, cur the tenon with the bow saw the same way as before, trim: ming with a rabber or shoulder plane as ner~ essary (6-23). 6-23. © Fitting the joint. The “fel” should be the sue us fir dae Drie joi. i unt tight, che mumuse piece wil Using chisel wo clean 0 the end o plank MASTERING JOINT-MAKING Most people uever master any teat of wood working, least of all joint-making. One tea. son for this is that they continue to make the same mistakes. I've seen students consis tently try to use the wrong tools and/or methods and create crooked, badly fitting pieces—over and over and ver. It is important to learn how to cut mor tise-and-tenon joints because this will teach,a FINISHINGand labor to make a piece of wood as smooth and flawless a: and unwanted. ass is unnecessary Often, just the smooth plane ts enough to prepare the wood for finishing. The wol asaks lefe by a plane are perfectly acceptable—even desirable They show that a craftsman made the piece, not a machine. = # A low-angle smooth plame—tke the as few parts. It works especially well on Fenoury woods PREPARING THE WOOD FOR A FINISH I TA. © Blanket chest Put he The top d the tg ae sy arate be it's cracked and ink-seained, dles on the side are broken off No matter: is sill beau Excess work on ths piece eo pre fra i fo finish sn its character. Only medioere work needs o be perfect; good work can be considerably flawed Preparation Technique Before any finish is applied, the wood must be prepared for finishing. For years I used nothing buta hand plane for this—an old fif- reen-dollar garage-sale smooth plane that I coaxed into working. I still use a plane today but now [use a low-angle smooth plane (7-2 and 7-3). It makes very thin shavings (7-4) Acjuster Nut ap tron Low-Angie Smootn HianePREPARING THE WOOD FOR A FINISH Lateral. ‘Adiustment aR Cever Lever Cap bench smooth Cap iron plane. This ple an has mone pas than the low-angle Adjustment smooth plane works just as wel Bench Smooth Plane Simplified Cutaway prefer using just the smooth plane; i character w the piece. faster and lends more If you dimension boards by hand, as described in Chapter Five, you can leave them as they are when they're flattened. They'll have the wondertul character of the blanket chest deccribed previously. When y buy wood thar’s been machine- surfaced, you'll need to remove all the planer marks with the smooth plan Wood Parboreemtiodplon Isn't it interest- smooth plane. This i a god, general: ing that hand tools leave a naturally precey surface and machines leave an ugly one? Once the surface has heen prepared. it's time to add the finish. Below | describe finishing techniques for oil and shellac finishes,PREPARING THE WOOD FOR A FINISH FLL. # The sand block ready for vse, Why sand when you've abealy smooeh-planed the wood? Becawse sandpaper can reach spos the plane wood tn receive the finish. Most woodworkers sand too much Sanding Motion <> sano enn ine rain, -Lounie up" on ‘the Ends 7-12. © "Double up” on the ends ofa stroke whenever you sand (that is, go over the ends twice). It proves a eeeuse the oil straight from the can (7-19). Afiet covering the piece, walt 30 minutes and then apply another coat of oil. Fifteen minutes after this second application, wipe the piece off. It will be ready for use in about 12 hours, Danish oil is the easiest (and the most-ex- pensive) oil finish to use. I like it because I can finish a piece quickly. 719. © Applying Danish oil finish to a dovetailed cake box. This ox was fist finished with orange shellac 7-20. # Orange und super-bhinde slit. The flakes care mixed with denatured alcohol w make « working solution. Onange shellac is goad for darker woods, super blonde Jor tighter words SHELLAC SHELLAC There are two types of shellac you're likely to need: orange and blonde (ako called super blonde) (7-20). Orange shellac gives a warm tone to darker woods like cherry, oak, walnut, fir, etc, Super blonde is goo for lighter-colored woods such as ash and hard and soft maple. The best sway to make a ahellac finish is to mix your own®. In a glass peanut-butter or spaghetti-sauce jar (never use metal for shel- lac), put in about two inches of shellac flakes. Pour in cover the flakes about one inch (7-21) ough denatured alcohol to *Erelly sain cline will pesfrensouch better than the remixed types, Premixed shellic has a retarding agere hells that gives i an indefinite shell lite in the stor. ‘you mix yourself wall ls for months once is mise. hur you should stil testa premixed hatch before using it. With 1 finger, dab abi lac should be dry in about one minute (in 68-degroe Fahrenheit oom), and super blonde in about rv aminuts. of coma piece of glen. Orange she TODA. w Audling denanred alcubol ww super-blnae shellac flakes. For a small amount lke tis, I cover the flakes about % inch with the alcohol.A FINAL WORD ABOUT FINISHING My first woodworking teacher taught me ro use a linseed-oil finish. For my first three years of serious woodworking, that’s all I used. I became thoroughly familiar with lin seed-otl finish on all types of wood, and used it Later as a basis of Comparison for all other finishes I tried. Most didn’t measure up, but | wouldn't have known that if I had- n't known what looked right ro me. Many woodworkers accept the advice in magazine and book articles or trom people on television without even tinking ewice shout it Look at furniture and develop a personal preference. Many museums and art galleries have furniture on display you can view, or you can visit antiques dealers. Ie’s also good to know what to dislike—go to a A FINAL WORD ABOUT FINISHING and look at its pieces. You'll see cheesy-looking, ultra low-end furniture “warehou high-gloss veneered particleboard or that wvful glocoy stained poplar that only gang sters could lave. Ie isn’t important that you like and use what I like and use. Whar is important is to become well-acguainted with one method thar works well. This means experimenting with different techniques.Try samples of oil and shellac finish on different words tn see what they look like. Do you know that you can apply shellac to wood, let it dry, and then oil over it (7-24)? Try that, too. See how uwo, three, six, and ten coats of oil look on different woods, Then try this with shel: lac also—both orange and blonde. Try it with oil over shellac, as well as oil over raw wood. If you do this, you'll know more when you're done than most wood finishers. 7-24. © Applying a tung-oil product toca bor lid, Any ol fish can be used over a first coat (or coats) af shellus Glossary Dacksaw A hiavidsaw with a sulfening bar along its back to keep the blade rigid. Most don’t cut well. Devel The unled area at che curting edge ofa plane blade of chisel Discuit Joint A spline join ale with a biscutt joiner (a dedicated machine) and prefabricated, compressed hardwood plates (biscuits) Bit Brace A rotary-action hand tool, sometimes ratch, cred, most often used with an auger bit. for boring lane holes (over % inch). It is also used to drive screws. Blind Joint Any hidden joint (no elements of the joint or mechanical fasteners are visible). Blonde Shellac A clear wood shellac finish (as opposed ) to orange shell: Bow Saw A saw, widely used in continental Europe, that holds a blade in tension within a wooden frame, The blade is thin and cannot whip or kink, and so cuts very fast and accurately Box Joint An interlocking finger joint, best made by machine, usually seen on small hoxes but useful for larger work, too, Bile Joint An open mortise-and-tenon joint. Burr The small rough bit of metal remaining on a tool edge after grinding. Butt Joint A joint, uswally nailed, in which the edge or end of one board is butted against the face of another board. Most often, it is a poor joint. Cap Iron A cover piece that screws to a plane blade to hold i rigie Careass Ihe basic box of a cabinet Carpenter's Handsaw ‘The panel sam—what most of us think of as a woodworking handsaw. Its blades are thick, cut slowly, and make a luge kerf, Ics of almost no use.120 GLOSSARY Green Wood Unseasoned lumber, referred to as “wet.” Grinding. A process in sharpening a tool that obtains a fresh bevel. The next step in the process is honing, which makes the blade razor-sharp. Half-Lap Joint A simple, shouldered woodworking joint. | High Spots Areas on the face of a board that are higher than the surround. Hollow-Ground Bevel A curved bevel made with a rinding wheel, as opposed to a bevel made om a flat sharpening ston Honing A process in sharpening blades that makes a rough-ground blade razor-sharp. Jack Plane A gene: proximately 12 to 17 purpose hand plane that is ap- ches long. Jointer Plane A 23- to 24-inch plane that will obtain a flac surface on the longest boards, whether on an edge or the face. Jointing Making an edge straight and square with the face of the board, Linseed-Oil Finish A simple, penetrating oil finish Marking Gauge A tool used to lay out lines parallel to the edges on a board. The best type have a Japanese de- sign that uses a blade for marking. Marking Knife A sharp knife used to mark out jomery or dimensioning cute Microbevel A small, secondary bevel at the very edge of a lorger bevel, usually on a chisel or a plane blade Miter Joint A joint made by fastening pieces together at 0 45 degree angle. Mortis a fence and two beams that is used to mark mortises at Gauge Similar to a marking gauge, a tool with tenons, and can also he used! to make orher markings122 GLOSSARY 1¢ Dovetail A dovetail-shaped dado joint, very usefull in carcass construction, that is glued on one end. An unusual mixture of great suength and allowance for wood movement Slip Joint See Bridle Joint ‘Springing a Joint A technique that involves leaving a zap in the center of two edge-joined boards to insure that the hoards particularly the endo will stay tight. Square Parts that are at sight (90-deyree) ang ther; also, a how or frame in the condition of having all four corners at 90 degrees. Standand-G rade Plane Generally, this means a tool of lesser quality—not machined to high tolerances, not fin- ished well, blades made with poor-quality steel, ete Storypole A shop-made stick with dimensions marked on it, This allows dimensions to be made directly from a piece of furniture, a room, or plans to the stick; then the dimen: sions are transferred to the workpieces via the pole. It is more accurate dats micas, Strop A piece of thick leather, tacked “flesh side” out to a hanhyoud block, that is used with a compound to hone a blade Tongue-aud-Groove Joint Au edge dado joint, often used in flooring and decking materials Tang Oi A trees. I is used by itself or mixed with other oils to make wal vil detived from the seeds of tung penetrating oil finishes, Tuning Adjusting all of the working parts of a plane to their theoretically optimum positions. Usually an excuse for wasting time. Turpentine A solvent used in oil-based finishes. Iris considered the ideal thinner for linseed oil. Utility Knife A heavy-duty knife with a replaceable. often retractable, blade.124 Index a Arkansas stone. See Whet- Auger bie, 6, 97,98 B Backs “efinicion of 118. disadvantages of, 26 Bench smooth plane, 106, 107 Bowel slefinition of, LIS stinding 2, 07, 05-09 Becuit joint slefintion of, LIS smeieh 2, 24 Bit brace efinution of, LAS to make a mortise-and- tenon joint, 36,9 98 Blanket chest, 104, 105 [lind join, 118 ‘Blocking in” 47 Block plane, planing end ean wis 47 Blonde shellac dlefiniion of, LIS Finishing wie, 118, 114 Boards ‘edge-jointing, 86, 87 Finishing, 104, 105 Flatening, 82, 83, 84 from same species of wood, 19, 20 walking” off 44 Boiled linseed oil, 110, 111 Bow sav ir edvantages ofa 17 lade, 52, 53, 60, 61 crosscutting with a, 56 Sefton of. 118 Sescription of, 50, 51, 52 1 mie motive tenon joints, 93 ripping with a, 56, 57 of UL teeth on, setting, 34,55, ox joint slefiniion of, LIS tse of, 22,23 Tie ib rivera toa, 115 Bridle joint in cabin dane, ¥7 definition of, 1S making a, 91, 92-95, 96 mitered, 25 strungrh of, 36 Bure 70, 118 Burt hinges, for sharpening vise, 02,09 But joint, nailed leis of 1 veedbamtical arcags ob % use of, c Cabinet door und vide joint, 37 Cine face frame, and halla jin, 36 Gap iton ‘on herch smooth plane, 107 Aefintion of 118 papel dlfinition of, 118 joints or, 22, 23, 24,25, (Careass-anltrame con Caycrers Haale Uefinition of, LIS ddicavantage of using 2 7h speed of cut, 51 Carpenter's yellow wlue, u Castle, Wendell, 18 pin, Arthur 18 Chest of drawers, 20 Chisel hopping mortias with 98,99, 100 ecaik- neck, 97 making Vocus with a, 46 safety tips when using, 18 sharpening a, 66, 67. B Combination square dlfinition of, 19 to draw erst line on chisel blade hack, 68 ‘find the eenter of a board. 45 high-quality versis poor: put 3,4 to mark board for rip cut, 56 1s measuring and mark ‘ng tool 4, 42 ‘Conractor grade combina con sore, 43 Croscutting ack foe, profile, 52 with a bow sa, 51, 54 slefnition of, L1¥ with a panel se, 51 Car ling, swine v0, 56-57 b Dao joint Alefinition of 119 edge, 122 Danish ei applying a finish with, 112,13 Aefinition of, 119 Diamond stone etiam of 119 sharpening chisels ann plane irons with 66, a wort, washing off, 70 Dividers slefiniion of, LID dlviding a board sith, 4 ata mening ond mark ing too], 3 Dowetail join Jefinicion of, 119 fon onk box, 113 through, 23 Dovetail sw: See Gents Dressing grinder wheels, 67,119 Droplet He. 28 E Else joining slefinition of, 119 with a jock plane, 86, 87 End grain Tsai properties of, 92 dlefiniion of, 33, 119 planing, 47 Fogel bench ice and sharpening vse, 62, 0 for workshon, 18 Face frame, ant lf lop joint, 36 File needle, definition of, 121 shanpeniys bow saws itl, O65, 66 sharpening hands with a, 60, 64 Fines, wre cil, 10-112, 113 preparing wood for 104, 105-109 shellac, 113, 114 Folding re definition of, 9 ‘as measuring and marke ing tool, 41 Fore plane, 119 -and-panel dor, and le joint, 87 Frog. on standand-auality jack plane, 77,26 INDEX smooth, fr preparing wot en Bera, 105, 106, 107 standandgrade, ening anal acbstine. 77.38. 2 surfacing with 4, 04,85, 86 suming 27 Plane ino, sharpening 66, 67-73 Poin per mch, 121 Polyurethane varnish, 104 PVA glue 4 for joint members, 7 yam mark for bridle joint, 90 om practice frame, 1OL R Raber joint definition of, 121 ue of, 22,24 Rabe plate definition of, 121 shaving tenon cuts with 2.04 Racking ‘and bute joint, 34 35, minimising, 121 Ripe swith a bow soy 51, 54, 56,57 Aefininon of, 121 marking a board for a, 4 wwe teth fon 52 s Sanding lock. 106 108-109 sletiniion of, 12 types of 54, 58 Sa vie, 6162-69 Scarsinavian-syle work bench, 1, 19 ype bench jaws, and sharpening 6 Scrub pline defini of, 12 slescription of 81 Aawening beards with a “Seating. 19 eta beer 1 Sefinition of, 121 sd elfcct on blades, 53 5 Seven dnvwer sewing table, 30 Sewing table, 25, 29, Shaker furniture chest of drawers, 20, Arop-leaf table, 25 jelly cabiner, 20 seoving table, 28, 29, Sharpening: vise, 61, 62-68 Shelhe definition of, 121 Finishing with, 113, 14 Shaler Jefniton of, 21 on halflap joint, 36 Shoukier plane, trimming tent cee wth 94,95 Sliding dovetail joint oti 12 importance of, 21 Slip joint. See Bridle yont Smooth planes, for prenat- ng wood fora Tiny 105, 106, 107 Spline joins, 22, 24 ‘Spnnging the Jot, definition of, 122 when edge-ointing, 87 seats 122 indand-zrade plane Uefintion of, 122 unin an acing 72, 78,79 Sunypsle definition of, 122 reasoning and marking with 9 40, 41 Stop slefnauon of, 10, 122 forming a microhovel witha, 73 eral Superblonde shellac slefinition of, 128 finishing with, 113, 114 Surfacing, 84,85, 86 Brat, wan ion stone, 70 io Tape measur, 41 “Tenon saw. See Backs ‘Through dovetail joint, 23 Thows 54 Torygu-and groove joint definition of, 12 tse of £2, 25 Tool test, 67, 68, Tools Teche 28 how sa, 50-57, 64.65, 66 canpenters hanstenw. 76 chiselsand plane irons, shaspening, 66, on hhand planes, 75-87 hranchaws, sharpening, 60-65, 66 ‘measuring and marking, 4143, 44 Tung finish pevicinen 112 lento of, 122 “Tuning, definition of, 122 Tumed-handle saw. See Dovetail sw Turpentine, definition of, u Utiiey knife lion of, 122 raking a Vecut with a, $46 1 maura math ing ool, 43 planing end a a Vet, marking and making ap Vie Englishestyle, 18 w “Walkine" off board. 44 Water stone definition of, 123 sharpening chisels seal plane irons with 0, 66, ‘7 "Wer" wood definition of, 120 and excess set, 533 Wheel dreser, 67 Wherstons, definition 13 White stue Aefinition of 123 ud use with joins, 37 Whe sella, defincons of 123 Wood epancion of, 4 finishing, 104-115 lung surface of, 32,33, uM imexoct nature of, 18, 19 measuring and marking, 44.45.46 perfectly square and fla," 40, working with, 12, 18 Wecderiemeath lect, 106, 107 Woodworking anprches 10. 10 experts, IZ rechnigues, ropes, 2, au Woodworking bench w 1s Workhench Englishestyle, 17, 19, Scandinavian, 7 Workshop, Tighting iy 165 17 safery rips, 18) twiness in, 17 time, using, 26, vise, 17,18 y Yellow glues sleinition of 123 an use with joints, 7