| eee eee se tee ae e = Handy Tool Carry-All =Shop-Built Clamping Station =Plate Joinery Techniques = Adjustable Grinding JigMay 1992 Donald B. Peseike eorromat oingeron Douglas L. Hicks ‘Mawncine forton. ‘Terry J, Strohman Richard S. Petors ‘Tim Roberton ‘oncarivepinceron ‘Ted Kralicek ‘arr inccron Cary Christensen ‘nayermarons Kurt Schutz ‘Will Niskanen Roger Reiland 5. Robert H, Whitmer ‘besten omeeron Ken Murkel esianen Jan Halo Sree oroanarien Crayola Kngland ‘vor masusen Stove Curis femeviarion omeeror Liz Bredoson, ‘sunsoniprion uanaaen Phyllis Jessen ceimeviarion anaver Jin Woodson wewastiwo sales Ken: A.Buekton ‘cowrnouen Pel E. Gray ‘xecounine. Linda O'Rourke ‘ookesPwa Julianne Spears Douglas M. Lidster Chery] Sekt Lori Seibert Ken Grifith Robert Murry Cindy Jackson Laura MeNelly Leslie Ann Gearhart Linda Jones| Sonat Garhison LLinds Morrow iecermionist. Keri Lee Jonnie Bnos (Supr.), Marci Nelson, Jett ‘anes Joy Johnson, Sara Johnson, "Ami Blanch erny Carson (Sup, Gra Sheehan, ‘Ronald Long, Don MeVey, Chuck Carson ‘hopes pi ewan ary Mara, jr ‘nz Gre estes IRE. Seton $46, yartae. Seti fge ern nomen = or ae ostnntn atone fates Shp, Berita Deen Scere ‘ebecriplon ues? Ga 13-22-54, (hap Cn wage Imost every weekend in ‘our shop somebody is making a project. for their home. On a couple of oeca~ sions this past winter the project was a major one — making new kitchen cabinets. Inboth cases, most of the join- ery for the cabinets was done with biseuit (or plate) joints. Plate joinery is not used much in traditional furniture making. But it has caught hold for produetion- type cabinet work. ‘The idea behind plate joinery is very simple. You just eut slots in the two pieces to be joined. Then gluea pressed-wood biscuitin the slots. ‘When I first tried it, my initial reaction was, “It's easy and fast, but the joint probably isn't very strong.” T wasn't prepared to give up mortise and tenon joints for these little biscuits. But the resulting joint is stronger than you might think. I was surprised .. . and impressed. There are limitations, of course. Biseuits won't replace all traditional joinery methods, (Al- though they have just about re- placed dowels in my shop.) T'm convinced that plate join- ery is a technique worth adding to the tool box, particularly in ‘wo circumstances. First, for cor- ner joints — like joining the four coriers of a cabinet. And second, formaking mitered joints—ason a cabinet or drawer with mitered comers. ‘The only drawback is that you have to buy a rather expensive plate joiner to eut the slots for the Ddiseuits, ShopNotes A few years ago, the market for plate joiners was fairly lim- ited — it centered around the Lamello biscuit joiner, an expen- fe tool from’ Europe, where plate joinery originated. Now the field has widened, and the price has come down, So we decided to take a look at four plate joiners that you can buy for under $250 (page 20). HGS, Aside from plate joinery there are two jigs in this issue that I really like. Pirst, we came up with a handy device for hold- ‘ing your chisel or plane iron to grind a precise angle on a grind- ing wheel (page 6). ‘The other jig that's worth some attention is the clamping station (page 22). Even if you don't build the entire clamping table, the lit- tle clamp eradle is worth a close ook (see photo on page 22). ADDITIONS. Every drawing shown in ShopNotes requires a surprising number of hours of creative effort. ‘The team that creates the artworkislead by our newly promoted art director, Cary Christensen. He and Kurt Schultz have worked a lot of late ‘evenings since the first issue to get the artwork done. ‘We wanted to add to the staff tohelp these iwo guys. We had to find talented illustrators who also know and understand wood- working. Will Niskanen and Roger Reiland were just what we were looking for. ‘The whole idea behind their work is to spend hours creating an illustration — so you can look at it for only a few seconds to get all the information you need. ‘We hope you enjoy this issu —— EDITOR'S NOTE No.3(ETRE Contents Slip-on Auxiliary Fence _______4 This auxtiary fence sips over your rp fence so you can cut rabbets or support tall workpieces. Bevel Grinding Jig_________6 Grinding a precise, even bevel on a chisel or plane iron Is easy once you've buil this handy jig. Router Traminel = = ae og Cut perfect circles or arcs with your router and this shop-made trammel. Tool Garry-AN_ = 40 A removable tray for small jobs and a storage tray for organizing parts and hardware are just two of the fea- tures of his handy Carry-Al, Plate Joinery 16 ‘Make tight-fitting joints quickly and easily by cutting ‘matching slots and then gluing in a wood “biscuit.” Plate Joiners_____________——=—20 A review of four plate joiners priced for the home work- ‘shop: Ryobi, Freud, Porter-Cable, and Skil Clamping Station ______22 A ilexible clamping station for gluing-up perfectly flat panels and frames. And it doubles as an assembly area. Shop Solutions ____26 Four shop-tested tips: A Drill Press Clamp, Scraper Holder, Shop-Made Bench Vise, And a Tip for Storing your Shop Manuals. Toggle Clamps _______ 28 A look at these versatile clamps along with tips and ideas on how to use them in your shop. SOUICEs ee 31 Hardware, project supplies, and mail order sources for the projects in this issue, No.3 ShopNotes Tool Carry-All Clamping Station page 10 page 22 3This slip-on fence makes it easy to cut rabbess (or tenons) on the end of a work- piece. It also provides support when cutting tall workpieces. RT One of the quickest and easiest ‘ways tocut a rabbet on the end of workpiece isto use a dado blade onthe table saw. To do this, part of the dado blade needs to be “buried” in a ‘wood auxiliary fence, see photo. Clamping on a wood fence is fast, Dut lamps ean get in the way. Instead, T use an ausiliary fence that quickly slips aver my sides (A) from ¥'-thick ply- warp and twist the side of the ip fenee. And by making the wood. Cut the sides 5" longer fence.) These strips are the same fence 7'-tall, I can use it to sup- than your rip fence to allow for lengthas thessdes, and exactly 28 portatall workpiece, see photoat clearance andfortwostop blocks wide as your rip fence, see Bx- bottom of page 6. that are added later), see Ex- ploded View. ploded View. CHECK Frr. To check the fit of FENCE CONSTRUCTION 'SPACERSTRIPS.Afterthesides the strips, temporarily clamp the ‘The slip-on fence consists of two are cut to size, the next step is to fence together so one strip is tall sides held together with a make the spacer sérips (B). (I fush with the top, and the other pair of spacer strips. used plywood for these strips is ¥@" above the rip fence. Then SIDES, Start by cutting two since solid wood strips could slide the fence over yourripfenee EXPLODED VIEW = se LENGTH oF YouR ia a pues aukous PENCE hs sracee OTN Over 2 | FoR DAD BADE oeoacre Ne rece rounb ror SAND ALL END VIEW 4 ShopNotes No.3JIGS AND ACCESSORIES FIRST: ‘AND SUP OVER RP FENCE to see how it fits, see Fig. 1 1 If it’s too loose, carefully rip down the strips. If you get it too tight, see the Shop Tip at right. Once you've gota snug fit, drill pilot holes, and serew the fence together, soe Fig. 1. STOP BLOCKS. To prevent the slip-on fence from sliding forward aS COND) during use, stop blocks are | ‘Woues AND seen’ ‘mounted on both ends to eatch SSE SEES the ends of the rip fence, see Ex- ploded View. Cut a pair of stop blocks (C) to the same width as the spacer [> strips, and about 1" long. Then giue them to the lower spacer |Buron strip sothey justeatch theend of | T= the rip fence, cee Figs. 2and 2a. Then I rounded over the top corners of the fence and sanded a round-over on all the edges. CUT RECESS. To use the fonce to cut rabbets, you have to eut a recess for the dado blade. First, ‘mount a dado blade in the saw and lower it all the way down. ‘Then slip on the auxiliary fence. Now slide the fence over the ‘SECOND: Ifthe slip-on fence is too tight, add a strip of paper or masking tape as a shim. — OF Lowen STRIP dado blade to cut a "wide re- ence cess in the inside face of the slip- ee | on fence, see Fig. 8a. Then clamp fies Cur eLae the slip-on fenee to the saw table. ‘To cut the recess, turn on the saw and slowly raise the blade, see Fig. 3. The recess only needs to be about ¥/2" high since that’s the maximum cut you'll need for ‘most, work with ¥/"-thick stock. ‘A Easy on and off. This fence is designed so & Extra support. One side of the auxiliary slip-on ‘you can slip it on or off your metal rip fence. And fence Is left smooth fo provide uniform support ‘you don’t need clamps or serews to hold tin place. when cutting wide or tall workpieces. No.3 ShopNotes 5PIE eee Grinding Ji The first step to getting ara- two cradle support zor sharp edge on a tool is to arms (B). To get the Wing this jig grind the correct bevel. A bench carriage (and the tool it- ‘makesit easy to Binder can do this very quickly— self closer tothe grind- ‘pind a perfec smetizes too quickly. ing wheel, theends ofthe 8 ‘A grinder cuts so fast that if support arms are cut at ‘evel on a chisel ye too] isn’t held at the correct an angle, see Fig. 1. STOP BAR, Later, when the or plane iron. angie, or remains in one spot too Next,notehesarecutin the top carriage is mounted tothe eradle, Jong, the beval ean be ruined. ends ofthe support arms to hold the angle of the carriage (and FEATURES, Tp solve this prob- the carriage assembly rod, see thus the grinding angle) is ad- Jem I built a grinding jig, see Figta, Aflerthenotches are cut, justed by a etop bar (C), refer to photo, This jig holds the tool at serew the support arms to the Step in Fig. 7. Cut this bar and the correct angle while you slide base, see Alignment Tip below, mount it to the base, sce Fig. 2. it across the grinding wheel. It even has a built in “stop” to set [7] the angle and to prevent you keep from grinding too far. See: ‘Two PARTS. The jig is made in |“ARM. two separate parts’ a cradle and a carriage assembly. aa Stirrers araa ‘The cradle supports the carriage }2 "FROME" ~ assembly (which holds the tool) ea and is clamped down in front of 0 teat ravages re the grinding wheel. (For more on Note: this, see the bottom of page 7.) ‘support ‘surroRT ca Relendes ‘To make the cradle, start by ARM “ARM ANGLE basinal cutting the base (A) to size, see Fig. 1. Attached to the base are {GUT SUPPORT ARN FROW EXTRAAONG BANE Ea surzort Po @ 20 acer i vote shat 1 = EARSIAGE surrone Sot = F]_sosusnaen evor Base AEN 7 wiehccheain ‘When the support arms are being screwed to . { fae e@ the base, insert the rod in the notched ends of eS Le STOP BAR, a ¢ the arms to keep them aligned. 6 ‘ShopNotes No.3PRP es CARRIAGE ASSEMBLY ‘The carriage assembly is the heart of this jig. It holds the tool in the correct position for grind- ing. And it slides side-to-side, al- lowing you to grind a consistent bevel across the end of the tool. ‘Three parts make up the car- riage assembly: the carriage bloek, the support rod, and the pressure bar. CARRIAGE BLOCK. The car- riage block is made from three pieces: a center piece (D) and two side pieces (), seo Fig. 3. The side pieces are glued to the center piece so they extend Ys" above the center piece. This creates alip to position the tool against. SUPPORT ROD. Aftergluing up the carriage block, the next step is to drill a hole in the block to insert the support rod. ‘This round rod rests in the notched support arms and allows the carriage block to pivot so you can gently tip the end of the tool against the grinding wheel, see photo at the top of page 6. PRESSURE BAR. ‘Tb hold the tool to the carriage block, I at- tached a pressure bar (F), seé Pig. 4. This bar has a filler strip attached to the bottom. The pur- 3 Preces TO Pree tenon Sieteve cour, 25" OVERALL Se AMeTER STEEL ROD, 16"LONG. Bier wnd afe Nur eve Sour ie, cunt 7 NOTE: CENTER CARRIAGE BLOCK ON LENGTH OF ROD pose of this strip is to fit between the extended sides of the carriage block and put pressure directly onthe tool, refer to Step 2 below. ‘The pressure bar is clamped down to the carriage block with a couple of eye bolts and wing nuts, see Fig. 4a, These eye bolts slide over the support rod. (Por hard ware information, see page 31.) FIRST: rosmon FIRST: Ccasmee stoce arrec| roston BADE AT ZERST I wy ve FROM wns eae ash Soo cansunge nook ~ eurront Ae SECOND: FosiMon etor eax SECOND: ‘amar eaten Tommie @ Ko i [ase a the grinding wheel, and remove stop bar from the cradle base. Now clamp the cradle so the carriage block is about /2" away from the wheel. No.3 Step 1: Center the cradle in front of the ShopNotes ‘Step 2: Slip the plane blade under the pressure bar, and loosely tighten the bar. Now adjust both the angle of the carriage block and the position of the blade to get the desired angle. ‘Step 3: When the angle is set, tighten the stop bar against the bottom end of the carriage block. To grind the bevel, tip the blade into the grinding wheel while moving the carriage side-to-side. iSUT) Router Trammel ‘oucan rout perfect circles or All you need is, ares by attaching this ad- three pieces of Sustable trammel to your router. Besides being easy to use, this trammel is also easy to make, ‘There are just two basie parts: a base, and an adjustment, arm, see Exploded View. BASE, The trammel base is ‘madle by gluing two pieces of Ma- sonite together, refer to Fig. 2. The width of the top and bot- tom pieces (A,B) is determined by the size of your router base. (in my ease, this is 6) But the length of these pieces depends on the size of circle you ‘want to rout. To rout circles upto four fect in diameter, I decided to ‘make the bottom piece 24" long. Masonite to make this adjustable irammel for your router. Toallowroom for mounting the router, the top piece is cut 6 shorter than the bottom piece. (Hore again, this depends on the size of your router base, see Ex- ploded View.) Cut both pieces to size, Then drill a hole in the bot- tom piece, centered on the width for the router bit to fit through, see Exploded View. EXPLODED VIEW ‘TOP PIECE DETAIL OUTER Fin cut wir HAND SAW ShopNotes, No. 3SLOTS. After cutting the top and bottom pieces to size, the next step is to eut slots down the center of each piece. ‘The bottom piece has a2"-wide = —? slot down the middle that holds | coustretSune the adjustment arm. The top HOLES zal gree Far oor piece has a slot to allow a bolt to Ss L—© passthrough to lek the adjst- | ar ‘ADJUSTMENT ‘ment arm in place, see Fig. 8. ie can! CUTSLOTS. To make the slots, | Turn aem arouno Va" DIA. first drill §/g"-dia. holes to locate | T MAKE LARGE RADIUS a the ends of each slot, see Ex- ploded View. Then when cutting ene Ee: the slots, stop about V2" before reaching these holes, see Fig. 1. (This will prevent the waste piece from kieking back.) Then finish the ent with a hand saw. ‘To complete the base, simply glue the top and bottom pieces together, see Fig. 2. 4: ADJUSTMENT ARM. Next, an adjustment. arm (C) is eut to ft. the slot in the bottom piece, see Ks ig. 8. I’s mounted to the base with a bolt and wing nut (see Sourees on page 81). aes ‘mer. There’satricktousing this reer: SECOND: or'nonerece Ye arm. Forsmall circles, mount the |Useckona—DeuLano es me arm 30 the pivot hole is near the [ravresoere, — feunctrenw | Ve ws ous fr router, gee Fig. 8. For large [nous ean Ae cirlees, rotate it so the hole ex- ‘tends out the end of the base. ‘MOUNTROUTER. All that’sleft to do is to mount the trammel base to your router. To do this, locate the screw holes, soe Fig. 4. Then drill countersunk holes and screw the trammel to your router. ROUTING CIRCLES. To rout a of the workpiece. Then insert a pivot pin (a short piece of dowel), and plaee the pivot hole over the pin, Adjust the trammel arm, and use the base on your router to circle, drill a hole in the backside Auxiliary Plates ‘The router trammel is designed to work from the backside of a work- piece. But there are times when you may want to rout from the “good side.” This can be done with a couple of auxiliary plates, see drawing. Instead of drilling a hole for the pivot pin, simply use earpet tape to fasten the pivot plate on the work- piece. Then to keop the tramme! level, tape another plate to the tram- rout the cirele, see Fig. 6 Ve nance MAGONETE VOT Pure cLuE ousie-siveD 194" DIA HOLE eaueeRnaar ieee INROUTER PLATE oous.e-sen No.3 ShopNotes, 9This Carry-All makes it easy to transport tools, parts, and hard- ware right to where you're working ... all in one trip. lometimes mistakes have a phappy ending. When I built the prototype of this Tool Carry- All, Imade the bins quite deep. I thought I could get more stuff in thom if they were deeper. But after I cut all the pieces and test clamped it together, the open bins seemed too deep. So I disassembled the ease and ripped a.2"-wide strip off the bottom of SIDE BLANK. DIVIDER BLANK | Ya TREE toss these cut-offs into the serap pile, I realized that Thad most of the parts necessary to make a storage tray. Not only that, the tray was sized to fit perfectly un- der the case and the joinery was already done. This method of building over- size bins first, and then ripping ShopNotes the bottom pieces off for the storage tray worked well. In fact, I decided to use this tech- nique for the version shown here. I started work on the Carry-All by edge-gluing enough ¥/2"-thick hardwood (T used maple) to make two side blanks (A,G), see draw- ing at left. SIDE BLANKS, Each U-shaped side blank is formed in two steps. First, cat apiece5¥6" wide by 25" long for the bottom of the “U,” see drawing. Then cut two pieces 8" wide by 52" long and glue ‘them to the top edge to form the “U" shape. ‘Note: This creates blanks that are oversized to include enough height for the storage tray. END/DIVIDER BLANKS. After the side blanks are complete, the next step is to glue up Y2'-thick stock to make four blanks for the ‘ends (B,H) and dividers (C.D, see raving, (Note the grain direction.) Hereagain, Imade the blanks over- sized forthe storage tray. No.3Ieee EXPLODED VIEW REMOVABLE, TRAY SIDE, STORAGE TRAY END REMOVABLE TRAY END © STORAGE TRAY DIVIDER STORAGE TRAY SIDE Case 1 Dividers (2) Yex2-9%0. A Sides (2) Vex6-25 J Center Bottom (1) 9/e x 14/4 - Ye Masoni B Ende (2) Yex6-¥/e K End Bottoms (2) 9Yax4'/4~-/s Masonite © Dividers (2) xe, L Tray Dividers (16) Ye Masonite* D Canter Bottom (1) 9/ex14/4-Yo Masonite E End Bottoms (2) 9/ox4"/4./e Masonite Removal Tray ieee aa F Cleats (4) Yaxle-8/e Nees jane Storage Tray 0 Bottom (1) ge x 1579 - Ye Masonite G Sides (2) Vax2-25 P Handle (1) 4x5 -12% 0 H Ends (2) Yex2-970 * size of divider varies, see text Wer ots"-80" BeoR FH) | Ae ™ No. Ne Ne | Ee | we “ Ne Sr Sr NOTE: ALs0 NEEDS/ene 13" rece OF ern els" 80" 654 Ft) Sre-talck @tack FOR HANDLE om | om | en en No.3 ‘ShopNotes uThe Case ‘To{oin the parts of the Cany-All [| together, Tused a joint that Teall a hidden groove joint. Basically, this is a tongue and dado joint that’s cut in a way to hide the groove for the bottom oftheease, | ¢ ssee box below. ‘Do cut this joint, first ent shal- t low dadoes in the side blanks (A,G) at four locations shown in Fig. 1. To complete this part of | secono: the joint, eut kerfs along the | BES shoulders of eachdado. (Note the | &*-woe positions of the kerfs in Fig. 1a.) Finally, euttonguesonthe edges of the ends (BH) and dividers (C.D to fit the kerfs, see Fig. 1a, CASE PIECES. Now rip the case sides, ends, and they're 6" high, and set aside the “waste” off the bottom for the storage tray, see Fig. 1. Next, cut the grooves for the bottoms, see Fig. 2 BOTTOMS. The center bottom (D) and two end bottoms (E) are cut from Y/s'-thick Masonite to fit in the grooves, see Fig. 2a. Fi- nally, glue-up the ease. First: cbranis ‘DADO RULGNED Der CLAMP EASE dividers so CENTER Hidden Groove Joint call this a Hidden Groove Joint, butit’sjusta variation ofatongue and dado joint. Tho idea is to ent ‘thojoint soit hides the groovefor ‘the bottom of the case, If the joint weren't ent this way, the groove for the bottom ‘would come through on the end of ‘the side piece, and you'd have to “plug” this hole, This variation on ‘he,oint eliminates that problem. ht THemnese: Step 1: Start by cutting a Ya'deep fabbet on side piece so width matches the thickness of the end piece. Step 2: Use the rip fence as a stop to cut a /4"deep kerf right along the shoulder of the rabbet curronove “4 —ie Step 3: Use a dado blade to cut a fabbet on the end piece, leaving a tongue that fits the kerf. nally, cute Ya"deep groove near the bottom edge of each piece to accept the bottom. 2 ShopNotes No.3cenrerrerr_| | ror sorrows on, onienomor | | SEERC28) — GrORAGE AND TRAY END TRAY SIDE eur Groove SECOND: cur ar: DEEP KERFS FOE MASONITE DVIDERS. Vo peer Rene mH ‘GWE-UPTRAY oO STORAGE TRAY DIVIDER Now with the case complete, ‘work can begin on the storage tray. Allofthe basic pieces for the tray are already cut (they're the cut-offs left over from ripping the case pieces to final width). BOTTOMS. ‘The only other pieces needed are the tray bot- toms, But before eutting the bot- ‘toms, I cut grooves for the bottoms in all the tray pieces (G, H,, D, refer to see Figs. 2a and 3. “After the grooves are cut, dry clamp the tray together. Then, measure the inside dimensions (adding /4") to eut the center bot- tom (J) and two end bottoms (K) to size from Ye"thick Masonite, stors. The only additional step you need todo before assem~ bling the tray is to cut slots for the tray dividers (L). These di- viders allow you to separate the ‘ray into small sections. ‘Toallow for a variety ofdivider combinations, I cut a series of "-deep slots (kerfs) on the tray sides and ends, see Fig. 3, After thekerfsare cut, glue up the stor- age tray. pivipers. When the glue is hy, the tray dividers (L) can be cut from Ve"-thick Masonite to fit. the tray. There are three differ- ent lengths of dividers. ‘The shortest dividers fit in the slots in the ends of the tray, refer No.3 4 FoMireR GAUGE to Fig. 5. And the two longer di- viders interlock to form a grid in the center of the tray. Note: I eut all the dividers toa width of 1/4"so they won't inter- fere with the cleats on the bottom of the ease. (See page 15 for more on this.) ShopNotes TRAY DIIDERS © Lone papeK® 1 Ate TOTAL) <~eutorayy NoTcHES, After the dividers are cut to size, I ent the notches in the eenter dividers, see Fig. 4. Stack up like-sized dividers and ‘cut the notches in three or four pieces at once, Note: To stabilize the cuts, serew an auxiliary fence tothe miter gauge. BRemovable Tray 6 REMOVABLE | [7 TRAY SIDE First: ‘SECOND: ore TOTRAY uae Nore. ‘The Carry-All is designed with a the length (for clearance). Then HIDDEN GROOVE JOINT. With removable tray that fits between the bins of the case. When the tray is locked into the case, the handle of the tray also serves as the handle for the Carry-All. SIDES. To determine the size of tray, first measure the opening in the case, and subtract 16" from ent two removable tray sides OD, see Fig. 6. TENDS. The next step is to cut the ends to fit. Here again T used the hidden groove joint. So the length ofthe removable tray ends (N), is the same as the length of the ease ends (B) (98°), a HANDLE raps Bae |e rADlls \USE% eToCK BLANK \ceNreR HANDLE IN TRAY AND RIL cOUTERSUNE HOLES NOTE: ounotovert for AND Sas 4 ‘ShopNotes the tray pieces ent to size, the next step is to join the pieces to- gether. Todothis, used thesame hidden groove joint that was used ‘o join together the case and the storage tray, refer to page 12. BOTTOM. Next cut the grooves for the bottom, and then cut a bottom (0) to size as you did for the ease and storage tray. ‘To ensure the removable tray fits perfectly in the case, Lapptied glue to the tray, and immediately set the tray inside the ease and applied clamps, see Fig. 7. CHAMFER EDGES. After the glue is dry, rout or sand a slight ‘chamfer on all the outside edges of the Carry-All, HANDLE. With the edges chamfered, you ean begin work on the handle, refer to Fig. 9. ‘To make the handle, start by cutting a 5¥/2"-wide blank of 4" thiek stoek to Tength to fit the in- side length of the tray (1215/¢", in ‘my case), Then lay out and eut the handle (P) to shape, see Fig. 8. ‘To make the handle more com fortable to hold, I softened the edges with a Y4" round-over bit (on the router table), see Fig. 9a. Note: Don't roand over the out- side ends of the handle. Finally, drill a pair of counter sunk pilot holes through each end of the tray and serew the handle in place, see Fig. 9. No.3 ®eT Assembly ‘The three sections of the Carry- All are held together with two pairs of catches. One pair “locks” the removable tray (with the handle) into the ease. The other pair holds the lower storage tray nto the bottom of the case. (See page 81, for sources of catches.) Before adding the catches, I ued cleats to the bottom of the removable tray, and to the bot- tomofthe case, see Fig. 10. These cleats serve two purposes. First, they align the trays with ie CinreR curso FrTINGIOE — STORAGE TRA the ease and prevent them from sliding around, refer to Fig. 10a. [4q Second, when the eatehes are installed, the “button” on the top catch protudes down below the bottom edge of the removable tray, see Fig. 11. When you re- move the tray and set it down, it would rock on the eatch. But the cleats extend past the “buttons” to prevent this. (The same ap- plies to the main case when the bottom tray is removed.) CLEATS. Cut the four cleats (F) so they stick out 14", see Fig. 10. Then giue two cleats to the re- movable tray, and twoto the ease. CATCHES AND FINISH. Before adding the catches, I applied two coats of satin polyurethane. Then serew a pair of eatches to hold on the removable tray, and another pair to hold the bottom tray. Note: OUT OF SAND Vow chamrer note or Tear Storage Tray Options Y The center section of the storage tray can be divided to hold chisels and small tools. Interlocking » the center divid- ers of the storage tray provides an ideal area for storing hardware, screws, and bolts.Three quick steps to tight joints. Cut one slot, cut an- other, and glue in a biscuit. fe've had a plate joiner in FIRST: cur W:: shop. for beveral ADVANTAGES 1 Jere years now. The guys borrowit for In addition to being a strong > “production” jobs, like building joint, plate joints also have a their own kitchen eabineta, ‘number of other advantages. Buta plato joiner is more than SPRED, Firet of ell, entting a srproduction ion. Baty projects plate jotta. All you have to can be assembled using just one dois butt the pieces together and joint —a plate joint. mark across the joint, see Fig. 2. INeexr BiscUrr @ Basically, a plate joint consists Then to cut the slots, align the of cutting two slots and gluing a centerline on the plate joiner for the expansion of the biscuit, compressed wood plate, or “bis- with the layout line and just push the slots are eut slightly fonger cuit” into these slots, see Fig. 1. the joiner into the workpiece, see than the biseuit, see Fig. 8a. Un- Daina shih water ny ing 2a ce dere bales Gut gee glue, the biscuit swells against ACCURACY. But the biggest up perfectly, the extra side-to- the faces of the slots, locking the advantage of a plate joint is a __ side play lets you stide the pieces SECOND: ‘Arrty GLUE AND joint in place. built-in “fudge factor.” To allow into alignment, see Fig. 3. ee Spee aaa ~~ ‘JOINT LINE LONGER Ree Beet ee XL peces supe 4 [SIDE VIEW aca No BAe PUNE BADE Ko cod c3 worxriece con vesck wir tavaur TINE AND CUT SLOT 16 ShopNotes. No.3PLATE JOINER The only problem with plate join- ‘ery is you need a special tool —a plate joiner. Basically, the joiner is a plunge-cutting cireular saw with a horizontally mounted 4" Dlade, refer to Fig. 4. SPRING-LOADED BASE. The blade is enclosed in a spring- loaded base. When the base is pushed against a workpiece, the blade projects through an open- ing in the base and cuts a slot. ‘When you pull the joiner away from the workpiece, the springs retract and the blade slips back into the base. DEPTH ADJUSTMENT. ‘The depth of the slot is controlled by presetting a depth stop. Plate Joiners cut to three depths that correspond to three biscuit sizes, see Figs. 5 and 5a, There's also a miero-adjuster to fine-tune the depth of the slot, FENCE. But the key to a plate Joiner is how the slotis positioned fon the workpiece. To position a slot, the height and angle of the fence is adjusted. HEIGHT. For most cuts, the fence rests on top of the work- piece. Raising or lowering the fence positions the slot up or down, see Fig. 6. ANGLE, Both the height and angle of the fence need to be ad- i svorror \e204R0 18 100 re eDOE, Ts DEPTH oF e107! suIoHLy DeEPER “HAN HALE THe WDTH OF BISCU rence 10 cur SLOFN rer ome | w LOCATE SLOT ON WORKPIECE justed for mitered cuts, see Fig. WIDTH OF STOCK. One of those 6. To adjust the angle, some join- times is when cutting slots in the ers have a tilt-angle fence while end of a narrow board. To keep others use a fixed-angle system. the blade from cutting into the (For more on this, see page 20.) edge of the workpiece, the work- piece must be wider than the slot LMTATIONS Tength, see Fig. 7. ‘The thing you have to be careful Even the smallest biscuit re- about is getting “biscuit happy.” quires a slot 2Y/s" long. This There are times when a plate means the workpiece has to be at Joint just won't work. least 21/4' wide toaeeept theslot. Design of a Biscuit COMPRESSED BEECHWOOD SWELLS: A TT ABSORBS MOISTURE IN GLUE ‘SURFACE STAMPED WITH “WAFFLE” PATTERN FOR EVEN DISTRIGUTION OF GLUE GRAIN RUNS DIAGONALLY ‘ACROSS BISCUIT TO PREVENT, BISCUIT FROM BREAKING AT FOOTBALL SHAPE FITS. HALF-OVAL SLOTS: JOINT LINE NUMBER INDICATES SIZE OF BISCUIT BLUNT ENDS. ALLOW ESCAPE, BEVELED EDGES MAKE ‘OF “EXTRA” IT EASY TO INSERT GLUE IN SLOT BISCUIT IN SLOT No.3 ShopNotes 7aa ee ee Making Plate Joints e All plate joints start out as butt joints. The only difference with a plate joint is that slots are cut in both pieces, then biscuits are added. Face-Frame Joint < To join the corners ofa frame, fence height to center the blade use a face-frame joint. With this on the thickness of the pieces. - joint,slotsareeutintheendgrain Now, hold the fence tightly of one piece, and the edge grain of against the marked face of each another, see photo. piece, and cut a slot centered on ‘Todo this, align the pieces and the marks, see Figs. 1 and 2. ‘To mark across the faces ofthe joint, assemble, spread giue in the slot, see box at left. Then adjust the insert a biseuit, and clamp. 7 | wes iavourine ‘WITH CENTERLINE. 2| vor same rence sErrnove cur ior EXTENDS OVER BENCH Sonbor emENDS oven BENel Corner Joint The only difference between a adjust the fence, and eut the end corner jointanda face frame joint grain slots first, see Fig. 1. is that slots are eut in the end Next, cut the slots in the face grain of one piece and the face grain of the other board. To pre- gvain of the other, see photo. _vent the fence from tippingonthe Here again the pieces are held narrow end of this piece, [ elamp together and marked across the on a backer board to support the joint line, see box at left. Then fence, see Fig. 2. FENCERESTS 2 ‘ON FACE Lavour oF WORK ECE: Fincersers LNES WORRMECE AND PACKER BOARD, 18 ShopNotes No.3Miter Joint @ Tr Using a biscuit to join the ends oftwomitered pieces has.acouple ‘of advantages, see photo. First, miters tend to slip out of alignment as you elamp them to- gether. The biseuits prevent the pieces from shifting when the clamps are tightened. ADwuet ane Onrenceto Second, sinee the ends of the miter are primarily end grain, the biscuits help strengthen the joint by “locking” the pieces together. "To make the plate joint on mi- tered pieces, align the work- pieces and make a mark across ‘the joint line, see box at right. ‘Then, if possible, clamp each piece in a vise with the miter up, see drawing at left. (Ifthe board is too long, clamp it to the bench so the mitered end extends over the edge of the bench.) Next, adjust the angle of the fence to match the miter, and set. the depth stop. To keep from eut- ting slots through to the outside face of the workpiece, position the fenee 50 the slot is closer to the inside corner of the miter, see drawing at let. example, when joining a shelf to the side of a cabinet, ‘The problems the feneo on the plate joiner can't be adjusted (it’s actually in the way) for eutting the slots in the middle of the up- right piece. ‘The solution is to tilt the fence ‘out of the way (orremove it), and Like the comer joint, a T¥joint index the slots off the base of the requires cutting slots in the endplate joiner, see Fig. 1. grain of one piece and the face As before, align the pieces and grain of another, see photo. For mark the joint lines, see box at right. Also, draw a line where the bottom of the shetf will be. ‘To cut the slots you use the two workpieces to align the plate joiner. To do this, clamp the pieces together with the shelf on the marked line, see Fig, 1a, Now slide the joiner across the bottom piece to eut the slots in the end of the shelf, see Fig. 1. ‘Then use the end of the shelf to guide the joiner to eut slotsin the face grain, see Fig. 2. 1 OFF BASE, (FIRST: avo on 2 SECON Clipe Jone O4| Boron piece To cur} {LOTS IN END GAN ee FLUSH WITH UNE SUDE BASE AGAINST END oF tor mEcE TO eorsvore in No.3 ‘ShopNotes" ” ; Plate Joiners RYOBI bought a Porter Cable plate joiner for the shop a few years back. Atthat time, it was the only joiner in the $150-$225 price range. Since then several other ‘companies have come out with plate joiners priced in this range. So I decided to give them a try. 1 purchased four plate, or bis- cuit joiners: a Ryobi JM-100, a new Porter Cable 555, a Freud 4JS-100, and a Skil 1605. The most expensive joiner was the Ryobi at around $215, the least expen- sive was the Skil at about $130. Basically, these joinersall euta ‘90° slot (in the end or edge of a workpiece) the same way. In fact, with the exception of the Porter SKIL Cable's unique handle design, they even look alike, see photo. But there are clear differences when it comes to adjusting the fences to make an angled cut. FIXED-ANGLE. The Skil, Por- ter Cable, and the Freud all have fixed-angle fences. This means you can only make two different cents —a 90° or 45° cut. To change the angle, you have to remove the fence and flip it over, see draw- ings below left and center. ‘This is fairly easy with the Freud. The fence slides off by loosening a couple of wing nuts, But it’s more of a hassle with the Porter Cable and Skil. To reverse these fences, you need to remove TD PORTER CABLE two Allen serews (and washers) that hold the fence to the base. TILPANGLE. Ryobi seems to have solved the problem with a tilt-angle fence, see drawing be- low right. This fence adjusts to virtually any angle without ever having to remove it. ‘MITER CUTS. There's one other key difference between these fences — the way they line up on a workpiece to cut slotsin amiter. ‘The Porter Cable and the Ryobi “trap” the long point of the miter between the fenee and the base, refer to Fig. 1. In this posi- tion, it feels like the joiners are locked in place. RuBs. The Freud and Skil join- CHANGE FROM Nore: ‘sx Pence AL8O Baie. Lock ever 20 ShopNotes No.3cers use a different system to eut aslotinamiter. Their fences have 45° “ibs” that rest on the inside face of the board, see Fig. 2. At first it feels like these join- ‘ers ean “ride up” the face of the miter. Butif you position the base tight against the miter, they do make accurate euts. ‘TJOINTS. Another joint that requires a different setup is a T- Joint. On most joiners, when mak- ing a plunge ent into face grain, the fence gets in the way. (For more on this, see page 19.) The only joiner I tested that can make this ‘cut without removing the fence is the Ryobi, see Fig, 3. ‘Although the fence is probably ‘the most important part of aplate joiner, there are several other features worth considering, CHANGING BLADES. There's no need to change the carbide blade on a plate joiner very often. But when you do, it should be as simple as possible. Removing the blade on the Ryobi is simple. Just remove a plate in the base, press the spin- le lock, and loosen the arbor nut with an Allen wrench. The blade slides out the front of the base. Changing the blade on the other joiners isn’t as easy. You'll need a tray to hold all the parts that have to be removed. Even ‘when you finally get to the blade, none of these oinershasaspindle Jock button, DUST BAG. Another feature to consider on these joiners is the reas IY. asoue cxeare dust collection system. (Making plate joints creates alot of chips.) ‘The Skiland Ryobiare the only ‘two that come with a dust bag. The dust bag on the Skil works pretty well. But the Ryobis is a bit of a mixed blessing. ‘The problem with the Ryobi is when the bag is attached, there's xno room for your fingers to grip ‘the handle near the front of the barrel-where the switch is, Also, the dust chute logs up with chips when the bag isin place. As a result, I found myself not even using the dust bag. HANDLE. Even without the dust bag attached, Ihave a hard time getting used to the barrel handles and the slide on/off switches on the Ryobi, Skil, and Freud joiners. [like the more fa- Aa SPRING No.3 LOMDED Pins FREUD AND eccel PORTER CABLE Se nibors ShopNotes miliar feel of the Porter Cable's D-handle with a trigger switch that's right at my fingertip. ‘Regardless of the shape of the handles, each of these joiners is fairly steady when making a ent. ‘Thisisimportant because a joiner hhas a tendency to “walk” to the left due to the clockwise rotation of the blade. PADS AND PINS. To keep the joiner in place, the Ryobi has a rubber pad screwed to the front of the base, see Fig. 4. I like this better than the Porter Cable and Freud joiners that use two spring loaded pins. Surprisingly, ridges ‘malded into the plastiebase of the ‘Skil also prevent it from sliding. T've cut a lot of plate joints with the Porter Cable over the years. And it’s been a dependable tool. But after trying out all four join- ers, I find myself leaning toward the Ryobi. ‘The biggest reason is the ad- justable fence system. Allit takes is one simple operation to adjust the height and angle of the Ryobi fence. In my opinion, that’s worth the extra eost al by itself. 24Clamping Station Glue up panels and frames... and get them perfectly flat on this clamping table. It doubles as a working-height assembly table. "Cradles" keep the clamp heads upright, yet allow you to slide the clamps from side to side. By adding a plywood top, you can convert the clamping station into an assembly table Ispace is limited, the table ‘can be wall mounted to fold up when not being used. al 22 ShopNotes ntil recently, whenever I had to glue up a large panel or frame, I started by clearing out a large area on the shop floor. It was the only flat surface in the shop that wasn't already piled high with tools or half-finished projects. But bending over to get the boards aligned and clamps tightened got to bea painin the back. It was time to design a working-height clamping station. GLUE-UP TABLE. This table provides a flat sur- face for gluing up panels and frames, see photo above. (For a souree of clamps, refer to page 31.) If floor space is too limited for the free-standing ver- sion, the table can be hinged to the wall, see bottom left photo. ASSEMBLY AREA. By adding a plywood top, the table converts to a good-sized work surface or assembly area, see center left photo. And when you're not gluing boards together, the pipe clamps an be stored inside the table. ‘TABLE DESIGN. Basically, the damping station is a simple wood frame with four legs. But there are a couple of features that separate it from a typical glue-up table. CLAMP CRADLES. First, the ends of each pipe clamp are attached to cradles that hold the elamp heads upright, so there's no fumbling around when you're ready to start gluing, see top left photo. The radles also slide from side to side in rabbets built, into the table frame. SUPPORT RAILS. Another feature of this elamp- ing station is the support rails (see page 24), These rails raise the workpiece off the pipe clamps just enough so the edge of the boardsis centered on the clamp screws. This gives a direct line of pressure from the clamps so the panel is glued up flat. No.3Ieee The Top Frame @ rrereart ofthe camping station is the top frame. I made it wide enough to hold 36"long pipe clamps, and long enough to glue ‘up a48"-long panel, ‘The top frame actually consists of two frames, one inside the other, This creates a rabbet around the inside edge, refer to Fig. 2a. This rabbet holds theera- des and the support rails. Design Note: T used 9/4" ply- ‘wood to build both frames. If these frames were made out of solid wood, they could warp and transfer atwistto the workpiece. INSIDE FRAME. To build the in- side frame, eut the front, back, and side pieces to size, see Fig. 1. ‘Then giue and serew these pieces together. Tb keep the table from racking, I added two cleats across the center. OUISIDEFRAME. To create the rabbet, cut the outside frame @ pieces Ye" wider than the inside frame, see Fig. 2. Then glue and serew these four pieces around the inside frame, Cradles sexier Asia" woobecxéw INSIDE atenars FRAME = "ioe < Gn Ra Note: FRAME TOSETHER, SoM AbD CLEATS cive mm acaew 2 OUTSIDE FRAME aac Re ae OUTSIDE FRAME One of the most frustrating things about using pipe clamps is that the clamp heads always seem to fall over just when you're ready to tighten the serews. ‘To hold the clamp heads up- right, [made two cradles for each pipe clamp, The cradles are just wood blocks with electrical con- frame and allow you to slide the duit holders screwed to them,see clamps from side to side. Pig.3. The blocks can beany size, HP. You don't have to use the as long as they're tall enough so whole clamping station to take ‘the clamp heads clear the top advantage of the eradles. They edge of the frame, see Fig. 4. work great on any flat surface to ‘The eradles rest in the rabbet hold the clamp heads upright as fon the inside edge of the top you're clamping up a panel. Kote, corres ONS CO Seen ce NOTE: Laue Oursibe FRAME ceanit neers ‘| nieaser ShopNotes 23 Ifthe pipe turns inside the conduit holder, wrap a strip of masking tape around the end of each pipe.ee Support Rails One unique feature ofthis clamp- ing station is the support rails. ‘The purpose of these rails is to raise the boards so they're cen- tered on the clamp serew. Why not just lay the boards directly on the pipes? As you tighten the screws, the boards tend to bow up in the middle. ‘This bowing ean be caused by 2 ‘number of things, from a twist in one of the boards to edges that aren't square. But more often than not, the problem is caused by the clamps themselves. ‘PROBLEM. As a pipe clamp is tightened, the pipe starts to bow uupinthe middle. Ifthe boards are sitting on the pipe, they will “copy” this same bow. SOLUTION. How do you pre- vent this from happening? ‘There's really nothing you ean do to prevent the pipe from bowing, ‘The problem is “built into” the clamps. But you can raise the the support rails come in, The rails elevate the boardsabove the pipes so the bow in the pipe can’t transfer to the workpiece. Making the support rails is casy. Just glue up two pieces of 5" plywood, and cut this blankto length to fit between the rabbets in the top frame, see Fi ‘The only tricky part is figuring ‘out how tall (wide) to make the railsso they raise the stock to the center of the clamp serew. DETERMINE WIDTH. This re- quiresalittle arithmetic, Start by ‘measuring the distance from the bottom of the rabbet tothe center of the clamp screw (24" in my case). Then subtract half the thickness of the stock you'll be clamping up. (For example, for %s'-thick stock, subtract. Ys") ‘Then rip the rails to this width (1/39, see Figs. 5 and 6. NOTCH. Thesame supportrails can also be used for thicker stock, A Support rails raise the boards off pipes and center pressure on the thickness of your workpiece. the rails need to be lowered. ‘To do this, cut a Y16" notch on each end of the rails, see Fig. 7. ‘Then just flip the rails over so the notch rests on the rabbet, ‘TIP. There's a side benefit of using the support rails. If the boards rest direetly on the pipe, a chemical reaction occurs be- tween the giue and the pipe which causes black marks. But workpiece off the pipes. like 5/4 (1Y1¢"-thick) stock. But using the rails raises the boards SUPPORT RAMS, That's where because of the extra thickness, off the pipe to prevent this. 5 First: SECOND: cueorivoreces —_curraiarouenomro rit Pore riwtcoe GRTWENRADBETS IN PRAOE i ee ——— SIDE EW PREBBURE ON srack & zor : ee cuTNOTENES ON RAL ENDS, ‘To win 5 Leh é CLAMPING 27 -THICK STOCK 7] CLAMPING iMe™THick STOCK Surrane ras cenrek seme curnoren 19 cenreR Nw SCRE PRESSURE ON STOCK. 24 ShopNotes No.3aera Legs and Table Top @ eomprerethedampingstation, [Be T added four legs. Each leg is Su made by gluing two lengths of | FiRer: 2xd's together, see Fig. 8. Jone eee Teut the legs 82" long. But you |" sta «30 can adjust the length so the table | Pvoobecse height matches another work rs ssrfacein your shop. r,justfind | SECOND" a comfortable working height | (es vse and cut the legs to suit. Broom clips pro- ATTACH LEGS. Aftr the ge | cast Truro vide a great way dries, clamp the legs to the frame ule AND Sexe pase a so the topis flush with the bottom [ySscietess" geinpnen of the rabbet, see Fig. 8a, Then es a rill countersunk shank holes, veyrene bales and glue and serew thelegs to the A inside corners of the frame. For added strength, giue and screw Ixd stretchers to the legs. ‘TABLE TOP. As an option, you can convert the clamping station intoanassembly table, To do this, cut a piece of '/2" plywood to fit in the rabbet on the top edge of rawoopscrew —_ the frame.'To make it easier to lift out the top, drill a 1" finger hole near one edge. FINISH. To keop glue from can place strips of wax paper along the top edge of the rails. Or, brush on several coats of polyure- ‘thane, and apply a couple of coats BROOM CLIPS. Finally, I serewed broom clips to the cleats, see Fig. 8. This way I can store the clamps when they're not be- stieking to the support rails, you Fold-Up Version If your floor space is limited (whose {sn'?), this clamping station ean be hinged to. wall to swing up out of the ‘way when not in use. All this requires isa couple of simple modifications. HINGE TABLE. First, one of the short ends of the top frame is hinged toa 2x4 cleat, that in turn is screwed to the wall, see detail a, ‘To hinge the table, first serew the cleat to the wall. Then mount, the hinges between the table and the leat, see detail a. LeGs, The other modification is that there are only two legs. Rach leg of paste wax. ‘ng used. and e. When the table is lifted, the Finally, serew a 1x4 stretcher to legs pivot on the bolts and swing to- thelegs. Then Faded a hook and eye ward the wall. (For82"-highlegs,this to store the clamping station up against the wall. is made from a 82"length of 2x4 i that's bolted to the outside of the top. = frame. Just. drill a ¥3"-dia, hole a @ | tirosiiheregs andtrameandinsert LN as" x 4" hex head bolt, see details b i No.3 ShopNotes l 25ea Shop Solutions e Drill Press Clamp ‘Occasionally I need to giue-up two small pieces of wood. But it’s almost impossible to clamp the pieces together without the twisting action of the clamp eaus- ‘ing them to shift out of alignment. One solution is to use your drill press and a hex-head bolt as a clamp. This allows you to exert prossure in a vertical line — with no rotation whatsoover, ‘Todo this, first align the work pieces and make a peneil mark across the joint line. Then, place the pieces on the drill press table and position the bolt about 1" above the workpieces. Next, apply glue and match up the peneil marks. Now turn the handle on the drill press to lower the head of the bolt so it presses tight against the workpieces, see drawing. Then tighten the depth adjustment to hold the bolt in place. This clamps the joint tight ‘without twisting, Clifford B. Hicks Brevard, NC Scraper Holder A hand seraper is a great tool for smoothing a workpiece. But keeping the seraper flexed can be tiring. And the frietion from ‘eliminated both of these prob- Jems with this simple seraper holder, see photo. It's just a serap of /4!-thiek stock with a couple of serews to hold the scraper THUMBSCREW. To flex the seraper, I added a thumbscrew (available at hardware stores). It threaded through the holder and pushes against the back of the scraper allowing you to adjust the amount of flex, see Fig. 1 CUT BLANK. To make the seraper holder, start by eutting a blank 2* longer than the length of your seraper, see Fig. 1. center it from side-to-side, see Fig. 2, Now mark and drill a pilot holeforaserew ateachendofthe @ seraper, ‘The next step is to drill a hole centered on the holder slightly less than the diameter of your thumbserew, see Fig. 2. (This way the thumbserew will eut its own threads as it's serewed in.) ‘To assemble the holder, serew the seraper in place and thread the thumbserew direetly into the holder. Finally, adjust the thumb- serew for the desired amount of flex, see Fig. 1 seraping can build up enough ” DRILL HOLES. Now lay your ‘Wes Boulton heat:soit’s uncomfortabletohold. seraper flat on the holder and Ft, Collins, CO CENTER OGRAFER —_HETLONG. ‘ONFOLDEE” — swUMeScREW wastes ‘scxeW Howe [4] Ops | [2ETT Shop-Made Bench Vise —__ m Recently Inceded to sand some Jong trim pieces for a project. I ‘ried to use my bench vise to hold them, but it didn’t support the ends of the trim, To solve this, 1 built a long vise that clamps on top of my bench, see Fig. 1. ‘The vise is just a 2x6 that's ripped in two to form the jaws of the vise. The clamping’ power comes from 5/6" threaded rods. ‘THREADED RODS. These rods run through the front jaw and are anchored into nuts set in “pock- ets” in the rear jaw, see Fig. 1b. ‘The length of the rods and the distance between them can be ad- justed to fit your workpiece. (The longer the rods, the farther apart you'll be able to spread the jaws.) ‘Tightening wingnuts threaded on the end of the rods pinches the ‘workpiece between the jaws. CUT 2x6, To make the vise, start by cutting 9 2x6 to length, Then locate the holes for the threaded rods and the nuts that hold them in place, see Fig. 2. DRILL HOLES. Next, drill 34" holes for the rod. Then use z 1" spade (or forstner) bit to drill the “pockets” for the nuts. To keep these nuts from spinning when the wing nuts are tightened, set the depth so one face of the nut sits flat against the bottom of the “pocket,” see Fig. 1a. After the holes are drilled, rip off the 2". wide front jaw. 1 WORKBENCH cLAVP SHOP. MADE WoRKMECe Vise TO SENCR hor. Sape ‘wine NOT al POCKETHOLE _@.) [VISE CROSS SECTION ane wr FACE OF NUT bree wor OT SY ‘AGainSt Sorfou OF POCKET yaw fener "a “fO)L., yfrtur Pocxet ROD ROLE" [SECOND: ona POCKET HOLE THIRD: “aA ‘RL COUNTERBORED HOLE FOR T-NUT AND ‘TAREADED ROD ; Set ENUT sseveL ENDS FOR CLEARANCE WING NUTS. I made my wing nuts from 1/2"-thick serap cut 4” long. Drill a hole for the threaded rod and eounterbore it to accept, Manual Organizer No.3 i Aneasy way to keep shop mana- als organized is to use a three- rring binder, The problem is some ‘manuals don't have holes. (And ‘you may not have a3-hole punch.) ‘A visit to the local eraft store will solve this problem. Just pur- chase several plastic Craft Book Holders, see photo. Now you can fit almost any size manual into a three-ring binder. ShopNotes a‘Enut. The opposite side is bev- led for clearance. Tom O'Sullivan Fairfield Bay, AR. | Send in Your Solutions. If you'd like to share original sola- tions to problems you've a send hi a photo or sketch. TeSne cater otsbe _wéean-eall youif we have questions, by