Woodworker's Journal December 2017

If you’re not a subscriber to our weekly newsletter, then you’ve already missed out on thousands of free tips, plans, tool updates and more. On top of that, you missed out on the 500th (500th!) issue. We commemorated this milestone by giving the newsletter a makeover. It’s now called Woodworker’s Journal Weekly and it features a fresh new design and the same great content that over 260,000 current subscribers know and trust. My point is, if you’re not already receiving Woodworker’s Journal Weekly, then you’re missing out. Don’t miss another issue. Head over to our website and click on the Woodworker’s Journal Weekly signup boxes. It’s free! P.S. It’s not too late to make a few holiday gifts. If you’re still looking for project ideas, we put together a bunch of project…

Building Gifts and More MAKING MEMORIES IN YOUR SHOP ... One thing that gives me a sense of well-being is when I visit one of my adult children’s houses, and I see a piece of furniture that I made years ago being used in their home. Not only does it feel good that these items are still providing service, but I know that my family likes them a little more because I was the one who built them. And it also gives me a peaceful feeling to know that they will still be around when I am gone. While some may find that a bit of a dark thought, it is not that way to me at all. I have no false impression of my importance in the world; my life is…

Once upon a time, books, magazines and TV were the only sources for how-to-do-it information. They were effective, but had some limitations — they are expensive and complicated mediums to communicate through. But because of the expense, both to publish content and to buy it, high quality of the information was paramount. In recent years, the Internet has removed much of the expense and heavy lifting. Online publishing has become easy: lots of folks are telling you how to build things and showing off their work. But as the costs were removed, in some cases, so were the quality filters. As one of the well-established outlets of quality content, we want to shine a light on Internet woodworkers and makers we see doing interesting work of high quality. Here are our…

Inexpensive Polishing Wheels for Rotary Tools Ordinary felt furniture pads with plastic backs can be made into polishing wheels for high-speed rotary tools, like Dremel. I use a center finder to mark where to drill a small hole into the pad’s back surface. Then, I simply screw the pad onto a felt bob shaft — it’s the accessory shaft that appears to have a pointed sheet metal screw on the end (see photo, above). Alternately, you could use the cutoff wheel shaft if you trim away enough of the felt so that the shaft’s center screw can thread down and tighten against the pad’s plastic back. Don Baker Tulsa, Oklahoma Veneer Tape Drawer Spacers Recently I needed some really thin spacers to position the inset drawer faces on the bathroom vanity I was building.…

Q I am making a door with half-lap joints. We have all seen this done using a dado blade. A dado blade is a ripping blade, meant to go with the grain of the wood. When you use it to cut a halflap or a stub tenon, it leaves a very ragged surface, which would seem unsuitable for a glue joint. I used my shoulder plane to clean up the rough cut, so my question for you is: Should you use a dado blade to cut tenons or half-lap joints, or is there a better way? Is a band saw accurate enough for this type of joint, or is the only option a tenoning jig, which limits the length of the wood that you can use? Jon Rouleau Geneseo, New York A…

“The thingamajig in August 2017 is a folding spanner wrench used in the fire service to tighten fire hose.” That’s Tommy Pearson of Inman, South Carolina’s answer to the mystery tool sent in by Andy Omdal of Mount Vernon, Washington. As fire captain Tom McLean of Ketchum, Idaho, noted, the spanner wrench “is typically folded and kept in the pocket of a firefighter.” That way, said Jerry Anderson of LaConner, Washington, the wrench was handy to “easily connect and disconnect hoses from hydrants or fire engines.” “Older fire hose featured round lugs on the couplings, which the head of this wrench would slip over,” explained Dave Kinman of Deming, New Mexico. “Pin lugs are cylindrical nubs that protrude from the swivel fitting on fire hoses or caps to hook a spanner (wrench) to…