Woodworker's Journal February 2022

The fact that you are reading a woodworking magazine is a good indication that you value high quality woodworking information. But “quality” can be tricky to find. There seems to be an unlimited number of people online “teaching” the ins and outs of woodworking. To be frank, some of them make me cringe as they deliver bad or incomplete information about the craft I love so well. While I sure appreciate their enthusiasm, I wish they’d take a class. (Or read some woodworking magazines!) One online location where I can assure that you will get quality woodworking information is the “Learn” section of rockler.com. These pages have been under development for years and are now ready for prime time. This substantial and ever-growing body of content offers a collection of woodworking…

PUTTING 2021 TO BED IN A BIG WAY The new year is upon us, and it’s time for me to get into the shop in a big way. I need a substantial project to help me while away these long, cold and dark winter evenings. So what am I building? I am making a bed. It’s such a practical project for dealing with all the challenges that January evenings bring to bear. I’m already imagining myself snuggled under a thick quilt, a good book or woodworking magazine to read and maybe a winter beverage of some sort on the side table. It’s a nice dream. Curiously, while I have made several beds in my career as a woodworker, I have never made one for my own use. And to be frank, I am…

Eye Wash to the Rescue While I certainly agree that personal protective equipment [“PPE: Your First Line of Defense,” October 2021] is important, accidents still happen, and woodworkers should be ready for anything. To that end, I keep a $5 bottle of sterile eye wash in my shop. Sometimes I use it for a bit of water on a rag to clean up glue or just to rinse dust out of my eyes. But I once needed it for a serious purpose after splashing weed killer in my eye. If you’re wondering, yes, it worked. Steve Pompervia the Internet Seated but Can’t See? Concerning the inset picture for the “Sit/Stand Desk” project on page 46 of the October issue, there may be a problem. It appears unlikely that a seated person could see the…

Bed Sofa Gets Built, Finally! Around 30 years ago I had an idea to build a bed sofa, and recently I finally got around to doing it! I call it a bed sofa because unlike a sofa bed, which is mostly used as a sofa and rarely used as a bed, mine is just the opposite. My initial design concept for the conversion became too complex. I resolved that by simply making the back articulate to either position. It sits and sleeps surprisingly well. Bruce KiefferEdina, Minnesota Souped-up Router Table I ran out of room to store router bits and accessories, so I’ve customized my Rockler router table with two drawers, two side-loading bit storage compartments and an illuminated, sealed compartment for my router and lift. Many of my shop tools and supplies are…

WE ASKED OUR SURVEY GROUP ABOUT THEIR 2022 SHOP ASPIRATIONS The future is now, as they say, so we were wondering what your woodworking plans are for the new year. What are you most likely to make in the upcoming year? Furniture 15% Shop improvements 19% Small projects (boxes, lamps, etc.) 19% Outdoor furniture 6% Toys 6% Turned items 10% Carved items 3% Kitchen cabinets 3% Home improvement projects 17% Other 3% Which of these skills would you most like to develop in 2022? Dovetail joinery 18% Woodturning 14% Carving 6% Veneering 3% Inlay 7% Hand tool skills 14% CNC routing proficiency 5% Finishing 16% Working with epoxy resin 13% Other 5% Compared to last year, do you think you will be doing: More woodworking in the upcoming year 50% Less woodworking in the upcoming year 5% About the same amount of woodworking in the upcoming year 45% There’s more online at woodworkersjournal.com https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/magazine/more-on-the-web/ Check online for more content covering…

Harmful Wood Dust — It’s What You Don’t See How small are the fine [wood] dust particles that can harm us? We can’t see most of them: Individual particles smaller than 100µm (0.1 mm) are invisible to the unaided eye. Particles between 10µm and 20µm tend to become trapped in the outer passages of your respiratory system (resulting in the grotty goo that you see on a clean hanky when you blow your nose after a sanding session). Minute wood particles — particularly those between 0.3µm and 10µm — easily penetrate deep into the farthest reaches of your lungs, even into the tiny air sacs called alveoli. Sandor Nagyszalanczy Woodshop Dust Control: A Complete Guide to Setting Up Your Own System The Taunton Press; ISBN: 1561584991…