Popular Woodworking May/June 2022

As a woodworker, I used to want to have every dimension laid out for me. I wanted to have a cut list, cut the parts to size, and put the project together. But, as I’ve grown as a woodworker, my opinion has shifted. Now, I realize it’s much more prudent just to cut the damn parts to fit. It took a good long while, but I now realize that some dimensions are critical. But, everything else is derived based on those dimensions. Heck, even critical dimensions are only critical relative to something else. So, as you flip through this issue, you’ll find a couple of different projects, and all of them have dimensions. But really, don’t give much thought to those. Sure, you can use them as a guidelines; however that's…

Bargain Screw Lube A toilet bowl floor gasket is an excellent lubricant for screws—it’s much more slippery than paraffin, soap, or all of the other materials I’ve tried. It’s very soft, so all you have to do to coat a screw is push it into the ring. One gasket lasts for years. You’ll find them in hardware stores and home centers. —Robert Behm Thrifty Spring Clamp This light-duty clamp is ideal for small parts and is easy to make by the dozen. All you need are a couple of wood scraps, a rubber band, and a short piece of dowel rod. You can vary the pressure by changing the position of the dowel or the rubber band and how many times you wrap it. —Jim Tite Your Router is Also a Biscuit Joiner I love…

More and more, cordless tools are becoming everyday fixtures in the woodworking shop. The most common of these is the drill, which you can see broken down to the right. Most cordless power tools have the same basic components, though, so once you understand how one tool works, you’ll be well on your way to understanding them all. Volts vs Amp-Hours The two numbers that appear on the sides of most tool batteries are volts (V) and amp-hours (Ah). So what’s the difference? If we were to use a car as an analogy, volts would be how much horsepower/torque your engine has, while amp-hours would be the size of the gas tank. (Before any battery engineers write us letters explaining how inaccurate that is, remember we’re a woodworking magazine, not a scientific…

PROJECT #2211 Skill Level: Intermediate Time: 4 Hours Cost: $30 Interested in the novelty of melting, casting, and texturing pewter? With this turned drum style box, I’ll show you how to make a beautiful enhancement to any woodturning or woodworking project. Begin with a blank of wood that is 6" long and 3" square. I chose a rippled maple blank, often referred to as curly maple. Find the center of one end by marking a couple of lines on each end, from corner to corner. Then I use a center punch to pop an indent in the middle where the drive and revolving center will be located. I prefer to use the Sorby Stebb center or a similar drive from PSI Industries to mount the square and a revolving ring and point center in the…

PROJECT #2212_ Skill Level: Intermediate Time: 2 days Cost: $125 Attending antique furniture shows and pouring over Charles Limbert and Gustav Stickley catalogs are favorite activities in my household. I love to see antique pieces from the early 1900s, but when they’re not available, a picture or a catalog will have to do. From the pieces I’ve measured in person, I learned Limbert favored a 5° slope on many of his angled tables and desks. The proportions are still fresh and inviting more than a hundred years after this table was originally designed. In fact, with many of Limbert’s tables and chairs, I’m amazed at how they pair with other styles. With interesting cutouts, angled panels, graceful corbels, and an octagon top, this interesting little tabouret is equally at home with craftsman bungalow style…

PROJECT #2213 Skill Level: Advanced Time: 7 Days Cost: $300 One of my favorite ways to spend my lunch hour is to pop into any one of the dozen antique and thrift stores within a few minutes’ drive. While I’m mainly on the lookout for vintage tools to restore and flip, I’ve found myself recently just browsing the furniture. The always-changing pieces have different styles reflecting what was “in” at the time, different functions depending on when it was built, and countless construction methods. I find an odd joy examining and contemplating these pieces of furniture that span centuries. A recent find was a small, four drawer cabinet labeled a “watchmaker’s cabinet”. Upon opening the drawers, it indeed had a gob of small compartments within the drawers that I could envision holding various watch parts…