category_outlined / Crafts
WOOD Magazine March 2019
Every issue includes clear, fully illustrated plans for all types of projects from gifts to furniture, skill-building tips and techniques, and hard-hitting tool reviews. Get WOOD Magazine digital subscription today for helpful videos that bring the pages to life for woodworkers of all skill levels.
IN THIS ISSUE
story sticks
Whenever I build a project for someone else, I try to include something that gives the completed piece a story; some interesting tidbit the recipient can share with those who might ask about it. For example, when building a new conference table for my church, I went searching for some solid-wood banding to hide the plywood edges. My hardwood dealer had a whole rack of old-growth oak harvested from sunken ships at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Bingo! A merely functional table now had a story. Last Christmas, I made “pegs and jokers” games for both kids from a Philippine mahogany shelf I’d salvaged while remodeling our first house. So, when my son, Colby, married his fiancée, Jenny, last November, I wanted to build them a gift that would have a special…
sounding board your voice
Digging out the Splinter Just curious: Did the all-wood Splinter supercar you featured on the cover 10 years ago (issue 186, October 2008) ever make it to the street? —Wendell Barrick via e-mail Yes, but technically no, Wendell. Its progenitor, Joe Harmon, took a few years off from the project after earning his master‘s degree in industrial design (for which the car was created) and married Caroline, one of the build-team members. After being asked in 2016 to show the midengine supercar—90 percent of which is made from wood—at the Essen Motor Show, Joe initially declined because the car wasn‘t done. But, inspired by the invitation, he made it streetlegal in time to display at the show. Although he says the car has lived up to his expectations, Joe confesses he‘s never licensed the Splinter…
sounding board your projects
Send us a photo of your work Want to see your work showcased in WOOD¨ magazine? Send a high-resolution digital photo of your completed project to woodmail@woodmagazine.com.…
two-car (no-car) shop
When Ed Kassof converted his twocar garage to a woodworking shop, he exiled the family cars to the driveway, a decision he hasn’t regretted. The shop features many creative solutions for storage, mobility, and multipurpose use. For example, the hideaway tablesaw (page 14) and mitersaw workstation with flip-up wings both store small, but work big. Ed designed his shop with lots of open floor space. Putting casters under benches, a lumber bin, tool cabinet, and clamp rack means that “no tool in the shop is ever in the way of any production,” Ed says. Two custom-made workbenches fill specific needs. The top of the tablesaw workstation consists of a hollow-core door sandwiched between two layers of plywood. At the front of the bench, an outlet strip nestles between the plywood layers. Large drawers…
ask wood your questions
Build feather-friendly birdhouses and feeders Q I use all sorts of wood scraps and recycled materials to make houses and feeders for songbirds. Some of those projects attract flocks of feathered visitors, but others don’t. What can I do to improve results? –Dan Polson, Durango, Colo. A The material you use and how you treat it can have a big impact on whether a birdhouse or feeder will appeal to its target audience, Dan. For better visitation, try these pointers: Like us, birds prefer to stay out of the heat in the summer and the cold during winter. So don’t use plastic decking that gets hot in the sun. Tin and other metals also heat up in a hurry and provide little insulation. If possible, don’t place a birdhouse in direct sunlight. Of…
shop tips work faster, smarter, safer
TOP SHOP TIP Light tight spaces when turning vessels While turning the inside of deep vessels, I struggled to see the tool’s cutting action, even while using a flashlight to peer inside. Then, it occurred to me to mount a flexible-neck penlight (woodmagazine.com/streamlight) directly to the tool. Mounted as shown, the light can be repositioned on the tool, as dictated by the shape of the vessel. —Peter Messinger, East Amherst, N.Y. Easy-build cart solves several shop issues I organize and store hardware in shallow fishing-tackle boxes, with clear lids that enable me to quickly see what’s inside. Those boxes began to take up a lot of room on my workbench, so I came up with this cart to hold all of them. Build the cart from ¾" MDO (medium-density overlay) plywood for the top, bottom, sides,…
