NO.21__ NOTES FROM THE SHOP $2.50 Woodsmith SOLID OAK HOW TO CUT SCHOOLHOUSE fell ets CLOCK PLANS i i r WITH A ROUTER CURIO CABINET ff | THE BASICS OF AND MATCHING | j Nts a) WALL MIRROR SPLINE JOINERY axe) 161 Fe / BOWL TURNING: TURNING A ei THE TOOLS WOODEN BOWL AND TECHNIQUESWoodsmith. Number 21 May, 1982 Eaitor Donald 8. Peschke Design Director Ted Kralicek ‘rt rector Jon Snyder Assistant Editor ‘Stove Krohmer Graphic Designer Marcia Simmons Subscription Wanager ‘Sandy J. Baum ‘Subscrpon Assistants ‘Chriotol Bork Donna Prins ‘aministrave Assistant Cheryl Scott Contributing Eeitor ‘Adolph E. Peschive WOODSMITH (ISSN 0164-4114) is publshed Dimoniniy (January, March, May, July, Sep= tembes, November) by Woodsmah Puslising Co.,2200 Grand Ave., Des Moines, lwa50012. WOODSMITH is a reqistored trademark of the Woodsmith Pubiishing Co, “Copyright 1982 by Wocdsrith Publishing Co. ‘All Fights Reserved. Subscriptions: Ore year (6 issv0s) $10, Two ‘oats (12 issues) $18. Single copy price, $259 Change OF Address: Pleasobe suro io ncludo bath your old and new adress and a maling labe' from a recent issue. Postmaster: Sond change of address notice, Fertn 3579, o Woodsrith Publishing Ce,, 2200 Grand Ave., Des Noines, lowa 50312. AROUT THIS ISSUE, As the Schoolhouse Clock for this jase, we decided to hang it on the wall inoarrecep- n area. Since we rent space in a large to See what the latest project is. The day we pit the Schoolhouse Clock on the wall, we hhad two requests to buy it on the spot». . for $350. Now I was faoed with a tough decision Should 1 spend the weekend building another cock and pick up an easy $3507 Or Should I do what Treally want to do: mow the lawn and pull woeds in the garden? ‘rooLs, A comment Lhear from a jot of smuys just in woodworking ves something: like tobuild a project like that Schoolhouse Clock. . . if only hadl the tools.” Well, wo built the clock, the Ci Cabinet, the Lazy Susanand the Trivet (all shown in this issue) with only two major tools: a table saw and a router. That's certainly not much in the way of tools, Actually, Pl have to admit that. you do need one more tool, Patience. All of these projects inyolve mitered joints. Although one miter is not all that diffient to ent, when youhayeto cat several miters(foran octagonal frame, for instance), they all have to mate perfectly. That tencls to take alittle ime. And maybea few trial euts on same serap wood. (Our shop islitered with, scraps lke this.) Question: You said you used a router for all of these projects. What kind of router did you use? Wehave four routers inthe shop i Rockwell, Stanley and Makita). Its not that we neaded all of them, It's just that ‘we're in the process of trying them out. Bu to answer the question, we used a new Sears Craftsman | hp. rontor for most ‘of the work. Surprised? I wanted to use this router for two reasons. First, [like to sethekind of equipment that most of our readers are likely to own, And second, I ‘wanted to use the new Soars edge guide andtrammel-point attachment (No. 25179, $15). It’s pretty nice little gizmo. Now that we're on the subject of routers, [have a few other comments I'd like to make. I have the feeling that routers are kind of “dream machines” for ‘woodworkers. With all those bite and at- tachments, you ought to be able to do almost anything with them, But the procass of turning dreams intoa finished project is not always an easy one. Corsequenr, routers spent most oftheir dust, Tn fact, I've come totthink of a router as Just ¢ fancy motor that needs some help. Anil the best help I know of is a router table. Bvor since we built the router table GGhown in Woodsmaith No, 20), my router Fas spent s lot more time making dust... . instead of collecting it. ‘Okay, Don, why the big sales pitch on the roiter table? ‘AaT mentioned above, have this thing about using tools that’ our readers are likely to have, Althouzh several brands of router tables are on the market, 1 really prefer our “home-made” version, Tguess what I'm getting at is this: [like this router table, so I used it to build the projects in this issue. But that sort of im- plies that you have to build theroutertable before you can build any of these projects. Which is sort of true. So, 1 feel a litte agilty beeatise you may not want to baild . But I think it's a pretty good tool, 20 T tendl to eneourage building it, And Idrive myself erany in the proves. ‘LATHE PROJECTS. Turning toa new sub- Jeet, we've received a lot of requests for lathe prjects. And that presents a prah- lem. I don't have much experience with lathe work, and to be honest, I don't get that exeited about it However, Steve (our new Assistant Edi tor) is pretty good on a lathe, so he's the fone that got us going on the Burned Prait Bowlin this issue. Infact, he’s now work ing on a series of articles on turning. ‘Why did we choose a bow! (faceplate turning) to start this series? Well, we didn't know where to start, so ‘wesat downand talked about it. Steve said ‘that almost every bool he's seen on turn- ‘ingsuggests that vou should start out with spindle turning (between centers) tolearn the basics. I said, “Yeah, but spindie turning usually means turning legs, and then T haye to build a table to go with the legs.” Steve responded, "Well, we could tuna. simple bowl, but it takes a little more patience to learn the techniques. My eyes lit up, “Patience, there's my favorite word. Let's do it.” ‘The next day, Steve emerged from the Shop with a prototype of the bowl he had in. rind, and handed it to me. Now, usually when Iseea woodworking project, I stand back, ross my arms, and stroke my chin. with a serious leole on my face ‘This time things were different. As T held the bowl, I could see the wood, but I ‘eoild also focl it. And 1 could feel the texture and the shape of it, ‘That'sall it took. Now I'm exeited about bowl turning, and I thine welll be doing 8 lot more of it. NEXT MAILING. July, 1982 2 WoopsMiTH, aTips & Techniques IMPROVED MARKING GAUGE Inthe January issue of Woodsmnith, Tfound an item that I was very interested in: the marking gouge. Your design makes a beautiful tool and it struck a responsive chord when I noted that you used a rosan {nsort to malee the damping mechanism of the gauge block. But I was surprised that you did not use 2 similar deviee for holding the lmife blade, instead of making do witha velge. Here's myidea: start by drilling the very fend of the arm for a Y" rosan insert. Be ‘sure that there's enough room between the square mortise and the end of the arm for MABRING GAUGE the entire length of the rosan insort. Then insert the rosan insert and 4" thumb- screw to secure the wedge. ‘This gives you a mechanism which will take blade adjusting much more accurate and a lot easier. Edwin Tichenor Pelahatchie, Mississippi Rosan inseris core be purchased from: The Woodworkers Store (Catalog $1.00), 21801 Industrial Bivd., Rogers, Min nesota, 59374. They're available in two sizes, and Vs", and cost .28 each, SENSIBLE STOP LINES Whenever I'm eatting blind dado’s with a router table or table saw, I always make a Tine on the table so { know just how far to run the stock, With jst one fine 1 was always wondering when it would show up. Isornetimeslet the cuiter’bam the stock in Antieipation, and sometimes T cut too far before I saw the ine ‘Now Imake four parallel lines in front of ny stop line, with equal spacing between cach line. The lines are visibie before teaching the stop line, and with the equal spacing, almost allow you to “see” the stop Ine before sctually reaching it. Ronald T. Mowry Janesville, Wisconsin INEXPENSIVE DRAWER DESIGN 1 wanted to make a drawer front with « ‘outer design, without having to use alot of snentte srodvortne caine 3 having was how to achieve a goo H-tegree comer. ‘Tosolve the problem, [ripped a bonrd to ‘equal 4¢the width ofthe draver front, and Wot = ONE NAG wort Dr oeaivt FRONT about 2% times as long as the actual drawor, Thon I routed grosvo, using the router table and Sears genter-poin ogee hit, the entire length of the beard. After it was routed, I mitered (45°) the drawer front as shown, and glued the pieces together. The results were ex- Collet, and it was alot easier todo than T expected, By ‘electing he wood, it’s possible to achieve perfect 90° turns in the weod ssi. Alerander L. Smith Vinginia Beach, Virginia TURNING GAUGE Tye tried to sect outside calipers with ruler when measuring spindle turnings, ‘and to be honest, it's not really a very ‘acenrate method. Insteed, I tumed a gauge with steps for different measurements. Each step in- reases in Yui" increments, ranging from 94" to 1%" (the sizes I frequently use). It’s very easy to set your calipers to the correct size, using the gange. You also get the same “fee!” of the calipers slipping over the gauge as you do when they slip over the eee being ture. This helps insure that the size is eorrect. L.A. D. Colvin Satellite Beach, Florida RABBETED DOVETAILS Aer reading your Janzary issue on dove- tails, [thought you mighé be able to use this shop tip on cutting a rabbeted dovetal Tet rabbet on the inside of one board before eating cither the tails othe pin, ‘Thisrabbet can be any depth (usually cut mine i" deep), but the widch must exactly natch the thie of the other piece. The primary purpose ofthe rabhet isto provide ‘shoulder to cones the insideseam ofthe dovetsil, and togive asharp appearingline own the inside comer, Besides concealngrany roughnessin the the same manner as the shoulder of a tennon covers the mor- tise), the rabbet also makes chopping the dovetail easier. First, the wood is thinner, so there's less waste to cut. Second, the shoulder ofthe rabbet can be used asa stop for the chisel, making the clamping of an auxiliary board unnecessary on the inside ‘of the drawer front. John Wilson Chariotte, Michigan This is also a good technique jor conceal ing thee groove for a drawer bottom when using a through dovetail ‘SEND IN YOUR IDEAS. We invite you to share your woodworking tbs and techniques with other readers of Wocd- “smith, We willpayarminimum of $5for a Vp. anc $10 or more fora special techricue. Al material submitted becomes the property of Woodsmith Publishing Co. Upon payment. you give Wocd. “smith the igh to use the materia in eny manner foras long as we wish. IT your ian rwolves a drawing or phoio to explain it, do your best ard, if recessary, well make & rw drawing, or ld the projet oF ig nd photograph it. (Ary drawings 0: photos submitted cannot be relumed) ‘Send your ideas 0; Woodsmin, Tips & Tech | niques, 2200 Grard Ave., Des Mcines, lowa 0312, WoopsmirHSchoolhouse Clock THE OLD CLOCK ON THE WALL SAYS IT'S TIME This Schoolhouse Clack is built from just ‘twooalsboards 6-feet long. That’s not what T would call a lot of lumber: However these boards mast be cut up into 82 small pieces (just the right size and shape), and carefully joned together T think that's the most intriguing thing about cloelcbailding. It doesn't require a lot of wood \woodlwerking Skil JOINERY, Joinery import is probably the most it aspeet of this clock. Almost every jeint is on display, so it mast be eat accurately However, that's not easy be: use the pieces are somewhat stall, and most of them are mitered at 224 This miter angle is the result of the ‘gctagonal(eight-sided) design theme. The frame surrounding the dial, the part of the saae extending below this frame, and the ame for te laser all require mers ct at 22" Since cach of these mitors is jeined with the aid ofa spline, grooves must be cut in all mitered pieces. Although this can be done on a table or radial-arm sayy, I found ‘tovasa whole lot easier on a router table. 1 azuoss what I'm gettingeat here is that you might want to build the router table (shown in Woodsmith No. 20) before launching into this Sehoolhouse Clock. ‘There is one other consideration, ‘Th ‘woodworking: part of this projeet is both fun and challenging. However, the result is not a clock. Rather, it's just the case for the real “guts” of the clock: the works THE CLOCK MOVEMENT ‘We designed this schoolhouse clock to accept two kinds of works: either the traditional “gear and spring” movement, or the modem replacement: a battery operated quartz mavement For the clock shown here, we went all out and bought a German-made, solid brass movement from the Mason & Sullivan catalog (686 Higgins Crowel Rd, ‘West Yarmouth, MA (2573), The move- ‘ment we used is listed in their eatalog as a *Calenalar‘Bim-Barn' Key Wind Pendulum Movement, Al of that moans it's a 14-day. spr driven movement that drives both the minute and hour hands, as well as a ealen- dar hand. This mavement also comes with ‘two-tone (BBim-Bam) chime, a brass pen- ium rod and bob, and black serpentine hands. The Mason &Sullion Catalog No. is B341X (144" pendulum). The cost: $81.00. If your budget doesn't allow for that ‘bat it does require alot of operated quartz. movement, mont that we know willie this elo the Klockit Company (Catalog: Free), RO, Box 2H, Lake Genova, WE S314. The Gat. No, 12005 ‘This movement has provisions for hour and minute hands (bat not a calendar hand), Bim-Ban chi thing like an electrie doar bell), MATERIALS LIST he BY 21% (29) 03% 3M (aA) hae 3-04 @) Vax h- 8% (10) x14 9705) Yon 8 (10) he x3 = 6s (7A) Holding tips ox %4- cut fofit 1 Deer Top he e768) 4 Door Sido hen A= 770 (8) K Door Bottoms "hex 7% -216(395) CUTTING DIAGRAM. Tee tegrated pendulum movement, and a tide tock sound. (Note: The pendulum length is measured differently on this movement — {you need a 16" penclulum inctead of 144) DIAL, wezeL, ETc, In addition to the lock works, there are a few other things youll noed: 1) The Dial. We ordered an 11%" diameter enameled metal dial with a Sl-day date ring from Maton & Sullivan (Cat. No. 74003, $6.85). Note: whenorder- ‘ng, specty e panched for 3341 X movemort Ifyou choose the Klockit quariz. move- onced for punched key holes, so il will work, 2) The bezel, This is the glace door and brass frame that fits over (and protects) the clock face. Again we used a Mason & ‘Sullivan bezel:Catalog No, 4200B, $19.50. 8) Hinges and knobs. lock veorks, you'll need some miscella- neous hardware, We wore able to purchase all of these items at alocal hardware siore However, we're also listing the catalog number and priee from The Woodworiers! ‘Store (Catalog $2), 21801 Industrial BIvd., Rogers, MN 5537 Brass Butt Hinges, ¥%, two pai, (DSOL, 3.65 per pair) Brass Door Knob. (D8088, 3.55 each) Bullet Cateh, %i" diameter, 3%" long. (D3801, $2.70 per 10) ‘Turn-Bution Latch. (D8057, 3.95 per 1D) Brass Hanger, (D3509, $1.55 per 10) 4) Glass for Pendulam Door. We used single strength window glass for the pen: alum door, and cut it to ft the door frame ourselves, Jon (our Art Director) added the blac and gold painted borders around the edge of the glass, This is a nice little touch, but not altoxether necessary — it requires a little more artistie talent th Thave. ‘Onee the hartiware and clock works are ordered (and hopefully in hand), the wood. working ean begin. I started with the ease, THE CASE ‘The ease (shown in Fig. 1) has six sides, ith the bottom three pieces forming 3 partial cetagon. Th keop a continuous grai pattern from one piece tothenent, Teutal Six pieces from one board (as shown in the Cutting Diagram), First I cat each piece to rough length (see Materials List), marking them to keep thom in ordex Then I rippod all picees to WoopsmiTHCUPTOLENGTH. Five of thexe pieces (the ‘to sides and three bottom pieces) can be ‘cut to final length now. (The top is cat later). [started with the two side pieoos (A), cutting the top end square. The bot- tom end is cut at a 226° miter so the final Tength (from the square end to the long point of the mitered end) is 215%", ‘Next, the three bottom pieces (B) are ‘ent. These pieces are mitered at 2234" on both ends so the final length (from long ‘Point to long point) is 8%. GROOVE FOR SPLINES, Now the grooves for the splines can be eut. As shown in the detail in Fig. 3, the groove is positioned ‘ef from the long point of the miter to allow room for the rabbets. Once the ‘grooves are cut, the xplines are cut to fit. (This tochnique is diceussed in more detail ‘on page 8.) RABBETS. Finally, rabbets must be cut ‘on both the frent edgesand baekeilge ofthe tivo sides (A) and the three boitom pieces (B)— the top is notraboeted. The x 3° rabbet on the front edge is for the door frame, and the 4’ x" rabbet on the back edge is forthe plywood back, Fig. 3. Also, a W-doep rabbet on the top ends of the tivo side pieces (A) should be cuts" wide {to maten the thickness of the ton pee), see Fig. 2. ‘THE ToPiEcE, Dey-assemble these five pieces (minus the top) to make sure every- thing fits properiy. Now final mossure- ‘ments For the top (C) ean be taken, he top pie is jotned to the two side with a rabbet and dado joint, soo Cut a "deep dado right along ine shoulder of the rabbet. Then cut a rabbet ‘0n both ends of the top piece (C), leaving a tongue to tn the groove. ‘The key thing here is that when the top is installed, the two cides (A) must be parallel. If this forves the mitered joints on the diree bot- tom pieces slightly out of alignment, it ‘not too much of'a problom because they'll be covered with a molding strip later. ASSEMBLY. All six pieces for the easeean now be glued together. started with the bottom piecesand worked my way around to the top. I used two band (Strap) clamps around the porimeter of the ease te hold it together while the glue was drying. THE DOOR FRAME As the glue was drying on the case, Started work on the door frame —the pieces between the easeandthe glass door. Since oe ofthese six plecesis2" wide, fst Tripped a 2'-wide strip, 45° ong Before cutting the six pieves to roagh length, I resaied (ripped on edge) this strp toa thickness. Then [ent offa10" length for the top piece (F), and ripped the remainder 146 wide for the to sites (D) and three betiom pieces (F). Now, cach of these five pieces is cut 10 gi rough length using in ie sequence sho inthe Catting Diagram to maintain a eon tinous grain paste, Next, both ends of ach piece are mitered, I start with the center bottom piece both ends at 2042. Thon 1 place. Nest, Leut the tyro ther hotom pieces and glved them in place, Fig. 4, Getting these pieces to fit takes little playing around, Although they should be mitered at exactly 23, reality they're eut to ft so the joint lin ae tight and mateh up with the Join lines ‘nthe ease. For the side pieses (D) one end is mi- tered (at about 2244") to mate with the bottom pieces. But the other end (the tap end) is mitered at 45%, The fina length of both side pieces should he 876" trom long point to long paint. Before gluing the ide pieces in place, 1 eat two notehes in one ple for the door hinges: These notches are 47 wile (or the width of the hinges) and Ya" deep, On the other side piece 2 %i hole is drilled for a Inlet eateh Finally, the 2wide frame top (F) is eat tot between the rabbets in the ease, and nnitered (at 45°) to mate with the’ side ieces, Fig. 5 WoopsmiritTHE OCTAGONAL FRAME ‘As with all the other pieces sp far, the ‘ectagonal frame (surrounding the dil) is fui rom one stip of wood to get a con- ‘tinuous grain pattern. Ripa pieve of stock 3° wide by 60" long (ceo Cutting Diagram) for the frame pieces (G), Then cut each piece to rough length (72). Both ends of each piece are mitered at 223° so the final length is 6¥ie" from Jong point to long point. This is not easy. In fact, the best approach is to make trial cuts on some serap wood. Then fit the eight trial pieces | together. 1f there’s more than an %” gap | (total) on this assembly, reset the miter gauige and try again. The piezes dont have to fit perfectly (some correction can be made during assembly), but they should be close. GROOVESFORSPLINES, Now the zrooves forthe splines ean be cut. Those srootes ‘must be stopped s0 they don't show on the perimeter of the frame. (This where the router table works like a charm, see page 8 for details on this cut.) These spline mbovesshould be eat coseto the backside ‘af each piece to allow room for the rabbet ‘on the front edge, see Fig. 6. After the spline grooves are cut, a 4 deep by 6" wide rabbet is cut on the front face) side of each piece. (Again, this was done on the router table.) ASSEMBLY, Gluing-up this frame is done in stages. First, [ glued pairs together to form four seetions. Then hued two sec ‘tions together to form two halves. If the splines fit tightly in the grooves, this fluing can be done without. camps. Just apply some glue to the miters and the splines, and push them together. ‘To complete the frame, | cleaned up the ating edges ofthe tivo halves with th shown on page 17, and glued them to- seether, Finally, Irounded over the outside celges with a 34" eorer-round bit. Finwoon 1Nsexr. The clock movement 's aetually mounted to a piywood insere that's eut to fit inside the octagonal frame, ifyoure using the 3341X movement (rom ‘Mason & Sulliven), you mast also eut a ‘8¥"diameter hole in the plywood insert MOUNT THE FRADE. Now the octagonal frame can be mounted to the case with 1" Aatchead serews. To get a good fitorer the door frame, 1 also serewed the octagonal frame to the door frame (going in from the bach), see Fig. 7 MOLDING SrEtPs. Once the frame is in place, molding strips (H) are ackled to the bottom half of the case. To make these halGround strips, I rounded both edges of piece of waste with a %" comer-round bit. Then L ripped off a 3"thiek sixip to et the half-round molding. MOUNTING THEDIAL AND BEZEL, There’s ‘little hand-work involved in mounting WoopsMiTHthe Lezel: wo mortises must be cut (One mortises the size and depth ofthe hinge on the brass framo ofthe bezel. The second mortise — for the cate — must go all he way through the frame, see Fig. 8.1 entered the bezel on the frame and Tmarked the position of these mortises, ‘Then [eit them out with a chisel ‘The last stop isto make a litle wooden lath to hold the bezel catch, Fig 9. Tiss Just cat from apiece of serap ari mounted With a 4 flathead serew. ‘THE PENDULUM DOOR ‘he glass door that fits over the pendulum is probably the most difficult part of this project The pieces sre small tobegin with, bhutthen there's arabbet ext on each side to make them even smaller. ‘Tomake this door, Lripped several small. sixips Ve! x %a', sce Detail A in Fig. 10, One edze ofeathstrpis rounded over, and then a Wf xis" deep rabbetfxeut below the Toundedover edge. (This rabbet will be the inside edge of the door.) ‘Nove you have to cut pieces from there strips to tthe door frame. This takes & little measuring, snl a lot ofluek. Here's Tow T went abont i Thnew Twanted the door to overtap the frame by 1, (The rabbet on the outside Of thedoar'is V7 wide, bu the overlap is only We because I wanted to leave "for clea ance.) Going fuck to the ease, L marked a Tine is! trom the inside edge of the door frame, Wherever the mare Tine erssed A joint Ime, that was the length of each Diese for the door Once the pieees have been cu: to lengthy grooves are routed for the splines, and Splines are cut to fit the grooves, Por assembly, this door is small enough to alow hane-pressure gluing av all joints. After the glue is dry, the outede edges are rounded over — again with a 3% corner-round bit on the router table, see Fig 11 Then a 2x37 rabhet i eut onthe tse edge using a straight bit and the Tence on the router table, Fig. 12. “Tofinish the door, glass eut to shape, and then Wx stops are cit and glited ‘into the rabbets to hold the giass in place. ‘Tomount the door to tho frame, frst eut ‘ovo smal ler blocks and give them wo the Ahor irestivaeross from the roiehes nthe frame, Fig, 13. Then the hinges can be serewel in place, THE BACK. As shown in Fig. 14, the plywood back for the clock ease is eu im Jal. The bottom hal & tacked in place, But the top half is hinged to the ease so it can be opened to get so the movement, ‘Since this back can be seen through the glass door, I used 4" oak plywood. ‘MOUNTING THE MOVEMENT. The 9841 ‘movement has four mounting brackets so it can be serewed to the plywood insert in theostagonal frame, The chimes also have their owa mountingbracket that’s screwed tn the top of the ease. PratsHINa, [ used Wateo Danish Oil to fBnish this clock case. The nice thing about this oils that it ean he used to fillany gaps between all of those mitered joints. Apply a liberal amount of ofl and sand with 2l-arit silieon earbide paper, Thiscreates ‘coop that fills the gaps andthe poresin theoak). When the gaps are filled, wipe off theexcess *goop,” letitdry 2d hours), and ‘ald another coat of ol, WoopsmirHJoinery: Miter & Spline A MITER WITH A SECRET PARTNER We used miter and spline Jjoinory’on overy project inthis issue, That alone should indi cate it's quite a versatile joint, Miters can solve a lot of prob Jems — especially on any type of frame that requires Spectal cats along the edge. instance, You can make ‘or tabbets — either on the inside oF outside edue — befure the pivees are mitered, This eliminates many of the headaches associated ‘with other frame joints (ike a mortise and tenon. However, miters do have thelr bad side, In fact, ercss miters (cut saeross the fave of a hoard) and end miters bevel eut at the end of a board) are probably the two worst joints in wood- working. ‘The problem srith both of these joint that you're joining end-grain to end-grain, And no glue (no matter how strong it is) will hold this kind of joint together (for tong). However, there is a simple solution: a spline. If groove is cut in both mitered pieces, 2 spline can be inserted to Strengthen the joint consi The spline not only adlds mechanical strength, bat it also provides a good glue surface long graintolong grain) hetweenthesides of the groove and the spline. ‘Yet, this solution creates another prob- Jem: How do you cut the grooves for the splines. . accurately? Infact, how do you cut the miters accurately? SETTING THE ANGLE ‘The first step for cutting a miter is to set the angle of the eut. The accuraey’of your setting, however, is limited by the ac- ‘curacy of the markings on your saw. Most miter gauges and radisl-arm saws leave much to be desired ‘To get an accurate justable protractor, (Sco Talking Shop in Woodsinith No. 20.) This type of pro- tractor can easily be adjusted to fractions ‘ofadegree, ani is well worth having inthe hop, Adjustable protractors ean be fourd at almost any art supply store, or in the Garrett Wade Catalog. MAKING THE CUT tting I use an Eveniftheangle is accurate, the mitereut self can still be off. The eulprithere isthe saw blade, Its the nature of a saw blade to cither pull the workpiece into the blade as 8 the eit is being made, or pushitan “creeping” throws the cut out of Tine get arotind this problem, I use the follow Ing procedure. First, [cut all the workpieces to rough length — about 1" longer than needed for thefinal length, Then I set the miter gauge to the proper angle, ENCE AND stor. When working on a table saw, Tattach a plywood fence to the miter gauge. The fenes supports the work- piece all the way to the blade, and also Pushes the waste out of the way. To provent the “creeping” mentioned ‘above, [fasten a stop block to the fence, see Fig. 1. The stop is helpful in three ways, Ifthe saw blade tends to push the workpiece away, the stop prevents it. If the blade tends to pull the workpiece, vou ean counteract this aetion by pushing the workpiece toward the stop. Also, the stop s very handy for cutting several pieces 10 the same length. MAKING THE CUT, I like to sneale up on mitered euts — making two cats on eaeh ritered end. Although this two-cut prv- cedure is rather time-consuming, the reault is an accurate miter ‘As mentioned above, all of the work pieces have been ext to rough length, Then the first eat for the miter Is made, This cut clears away most of the waste ononly one end of each pieeo. 1 tse the stop to make thiseut so all pieses are cat to the same Jongth, The second cutis a trimming operation. I move the stop Vos" doser to the blade, SS ind tin off the very end of each piece. Since only one sie of the blade is in eontact with the wood, It has less tendenc to pull or push, and the eut cleaner and more accurate. Next, I mark the final lengih on the other end of each picee, and repeat the tiwo-cut procedure, This time, both cuts an be lined up by using the kerf in the fonce as a guide, SPLINE GROOVE: CONSIDERATIONS Now that the miters are cut, a groove rust be eut for the eplines that join the pleces together. These grooves can be cut on either a table saw or radial arm saw. However, i's difficult to cut a stopped groove — especially in narrow pieces, | ‘There is another way. Ever since we builttherouter table chown in Woodsmith No. 20), F've come to rely on it as an easy anv accurate way to eut spline grooves — teapecially if the groove must be stopped. ‘After experimenting with this type of operation a little, T found three helpful! ‘additions to the router table, SECONDARY TOF. The router table's top is designed with a 1%'-dismeter opening for the router bit. made a secondary top, by driling a 4’ hole in a plece of ssrap Masonite. This top is temporarily clamped to the old top to provide a amooth surface (on all sides of the bit (which is neces- sary when working with very small workpieces). ‘CARBIDE BITS. Since we usually work with hardwoods, I dug; deep in my pocket fend bought a 1” carbide-tipped straight miter bit. Although this bits expensive, it's excellent for entting spline grooves, AUXILIARY FENCE. When cutting @ spline groove in a eross miter, it’s ery helpful to clamp a higher fence to the ad- Justable fence on the ronter table. T just use a 4” stp of 4" plywood, see Fig: For an end miter, you'll need a fence that's beveled at the same angle as the miter. Here I simply bevel-rip the edge of a 2xt, see Fig. WoopsMiTHa ROUTING A SPLINE GROOVE ‘Before cutting a spline groove, mark the face side of all pieces with an “X". Ifthe X" side is always placed against the fence, {you'll be sure the grooves on both pieces line up properly. ‘THROUGH GRoovES. Cutting a through groove (from one edge to the other) is relatively easy on both types of miters, Simply place the “X" side of each work ‘piece against the fence, and make the cut. ‘The workpicee should always move from rrightto let. With this direction of feed the rotation of the router bit forees the work- piece against the fence. STOPPED GROVES. The first step for ceutting a stopped groove is tomark where ‘you want the gronve to stop on the mitered fend. Then measure the distance from this mark to the pointed end of the miter. ‘This socond measurement is used to mark start and stop lines on the router table—one to the eft, and one tothe right of the router bit, see Figs. 2 and 3. ‘The actual cutting of a stopped groove presents a problem, Sinee the "X" side ‘must always be against the fonce, the right and left ends of the workpiece are cut in slightly different ways. Yeah, but which is the right end and which is the tet end? Ifyou hold the mitered piece so the long points are on top, the right end is the right ‘end, and the left end istheleftend, (This is the only way 1 could figure out how to explain what follows.) Coss MITER. Tocuta stopped grooveon ‘ cross-mitered piece, I make the first cut onthe right end ofthe workpiece, stopping at the “stop” line, as shown in Fig. 2, ‘To make the eut on the left end, I posi- tion the pointed ond of the miter directly over the “start” line. Then Tslowly plange the workpiece onto the bit, and finish the cut moving to the left, see Fig. 3. END atTen. For an end miter, both cuts tre made the same way as the eross miter, except a beveled fence must be used. For the right end, Just feed the workpiece from. Tight to left, stopping at the “stop” Tine, Bat for the other end (tho left end), the workpiece must be plunged. Hold the ieee firmly against the beveled edge ‘of the fence with tho loft edge lined up with the “start” tine. Then slowly push the Iitered surface onto the hit, The bit will males sliding cut until the miteris resting flat on the router table, but i's usually not 4 problem if you're using a 4" bit. CUTTING THE SPLINES ‘Now all you have todo fseut the} fit the grooves. For greatest strength, the splines should be cut so the grain is going across the joint line, Cutting this type: of spline is very similar to cuttinga rabbet on the end of a board — exeept in this ease, the waste is the part you want, ‘This is usually a precarious operation because the tiny waste piece (whieh is the spline you want to Keep), usually. gets ‘caught hy the blade and is hurled across the rom, never to be seen again, After fighting with this aggravation, ‘Ted (our Design Director) eame up with a procedure to solve this problem, CUTMNGTHE SPLINE, Tout asolid-wwood spline, the first eut is made by setting the rip fenee the “proper distanee” from the inside of the blade. This distance should ‘equal the width of the groove. ‘What you're trying to achieve is a spline that fits the groove with a good friction fit — not £0 tight that it has to be hammered {n, and not so loose that it rattles around, ‘The depth of ent (height ofthe blade) i also important. Measure the combined depths of the two spline grooves. ‘The spline should be slightly less than this m surement soit doesnt prevent the miteres ends Hitting together. Ifyou're working witha stopped groove, raise the blade about ¥" fess than this combined measurement. For a through ‘groove, raise the blade about Ys loss than the combined measurement. Now, stand the board on enel and make one eut on one side of the board, and another ext on the other side, see Pig. 5. SECOND CUT. ‘To make the second eut, guide the workpiece with the miter gauge and use the rip fence as a stop. This is normally considered an unsafe practice, oeause tho small waste pice ean easily bind between the blade and the rip fence, and then is thrown back at vou, However, if the rip fonce is adjusted so the cut is made Just a tad (about ") beyond the end of the first cat, the waste jece (the spline) remains attachell to the tain body of the workpiece, and doesn't come flying off. After tho sevand eutis made i's simply a ‘matter ofsnapping off tespline and elean- ing off the ragged comer. GLUING UP MITERED PIECES After the miters, the spline grooves, and the splinos are eat, you're retlytojainthe Hlecestoyether. But what ifall ths effort, fails to prodace clean tight joints? Refore rushing for the alie bottle, the best procedure Is to drysissemble every thing (without inserting the spines). You may havo to malke« fow little trim eats to get good joint tines. Once you're sure all joints it proper! brush some glucon the miteredends and in the spline grooves, Then applya very thin vat to the spline. Now just push the joint, together with hand pressure. ‘Wait # minute...» you mean you dort clamp the pieces together? Clamping mitered pieces i dificale at est, and usually causes more problems than it solves. Resiles, the strength of a miter and-spline joints not where the two mitered ends meet, Rather, is thespline, ttiued into the grooves on each miter, that supplies all the strength. ‘The spline should fin the grooves with good friction fit. Then, as glaeis applied, the spline wil pick up moisture and swell, taking the Joint very tight. In fact, atver thant 30 seconds i almost impossible to got the joint apart, even if you wanted to.Spinning Seryer ROTATE THE RELISH, PLEA This little Lazy Susan should knock some of the dust off your router and put it to. good use. I used a roator for two different ‘operations on th rst, to cut the ‘exposed spline joints for the frame, and then to cut the frame into a cirele. However, I have to admit that the router needs a little help in order to get this project under way Tp cut the grooves for the splines (that join the eight pieces for the frame to- ‘gether), I used the roater table shown in Woodsraith No. 20. 1 also used the new Sears combination edge guide and trem- mel point attachment (No. 9 HT 25179) to rrout the eircles on the fram ‘Armed with these two attachments and Twas reedy to cut some wood. THE WOOD FRAME ‘The Lazy Susan consists of two parts: the reular Wood frame, and a creular ‘The wood frame actually starts out as an ‘octagon, see Fig. 8. eat ‘the eight pleses for the octagon from an oak board 3” wide and 48° long. Each pieve is cut to a rough length of 6, and then 22s" miters are cut on both ends ‘of each piece 20 their final length (from point to point) is 51", SPLINE GRDOVES, Next, grooves for the plines are cut on the mitered ends of each piece. [ used the router table Straight bit to through-cut these grooves Grom edge to edge) 30 the spline would show on the perimeter of the "The router table is ideal for t ‘exposedl-spline joint beeause the roater tit teuts a nice flat-bottomed groove, (See page for more on this technique.) ‘Tojoin the cight pieces, Tent splines out of some scrap walnut, These splines are a litte trieky to cut because they must St tight enough so there's no gap in the rvoves, but not so large that you can’t got aa tight ft at the joint lines. (it took three times before I got the size I wanted) Next, [started gluing-up the frame. 1 elued pleees together to forma total offour ‘Then [ glued pairs together to form .ssembling the two halves, [used the jig deseribed on page 17 to trim the four mating edges of the halves for a youd fit ‘THE CIRCULAR INSERT Before doing any routingon the frame, it best to cut the cireular insert frst. ‘The incort shown kerestarts out asa 14" square made by laminating a piece of white For ‘nica to a piece of % plywood. However before laminating, drill a ¥° hole in the center of the plywood, (This will bo the pivot hole for the trammel ment.) Then bond the Formica and plywoed with eontact coment. “To cut out the cirealar insert, tack the four corners of the laminated square to a. plywood backing board. Then I used a ‘Seers router and trammel-point aitach= ment to rout a 4¥/"radius cirele, Fig, 1 ‘There is one problem hore. The stem of the trammel attachment is too long tofitin the shallow pivot hole in the plywood. This may cause the trammel attachment to end as you're roating — thus creating a slightly beveled edge on the circular in- ert, This edge ean he sanded equare, or Taft as is; either way will work, ROUTING THE FRAME ‘Three circular euts must be made on the ‘octagonal frame. To hold the frame stealy for these eats, Teut small holding bloekto fit (very tight) between two inside edges of the frame, Fig. 2, This block is tacked to | the plywood backing board. ‘Tofind the center point forthe pivot hole place a ruler st each joint line and mark a center “star” on the holding: block ‘OUTSIDE CIRCLE, In arder tocut the out: side perimeter of the frame, Idrilleda plot hhole in the frame so Td have a place to | Tower the bit for each pass and to start the ‘eu: Without tilting the router, Fig, 3, This | hole is drilled so the insite edge is 6 from the center pivot hele. |] Begeinae Farle 04 pigwondand tack it (faer down) to a plynvood back- ing board. Use trammel point attackment to rout outside perimeter 9 in diarceter DSi iat pieces for otagon ane join ‘eith splines, Then cuta holding block tofit beticeen inside edges. Find eonter for pivot hole by marking a “star” on block. 10 WoopsMiTH