WOOD Magazine December/January 2021-22

Our family has always been gamers. Not so much the video variety (our newest game system is a PlayStation 2, for cryin’ out loud), but card games, dice games, and board games. When the kids were little, we played the classics: Sorry!, The Game of Life, Trouble… As they got older, we leveled up to Phase 10, Dutch Blitz, Farkle, and eventually into Sequence, Catch Phrase, and a newer favorite, Forty Below. Family game nights were frequent and fun, and often included friends and neighbors. I’m not saying our game sessions were competitive, but we’ve been known to draw curious onlookers from all around the campground during a fast (and loud) afternoon of Dutch Blitz. Now that we’re empty nesters, game-night gatherings happen mostly during the increasingly rare times when we can…

The Wizard of Oz A tin woodsman meets a young woman who claims to hold the secrets of his heart. Torn from his beloved hobby in the blessed seclusion of the woods, he must help her complete a honey-do list of tasks, including shoe-shopping, dog-sitting, and recovering a broom from a rival, before he can escape back to his true love: milling lumber. Chainsawing Lumber: woodmagazine.com/chainsawlumber Using a Bandsaw Mill: woodmagazine.com/bandsawmill Hiring a Sawyer: woodmagazine.com/customsawyer Citizen Kane In an iconic but familiar tragedy, young Charles Foster Kane follows a dark path into a career in print journalism. Through a life of poverty, wealth, obsession, and scandal, we learn that true happiness could have been his, had he only stuck with his first love (spoiler alert!): sleds. Crosscut Sled Plan: woodmagazine.com/crosscutsled Miter Sled Plan: woodmagazine.com/mitersled Cope-cutting Sled Plan: woodmagazine.com/copingsled The Maltese…

Pining for the Good Ol’ Days With high lumber prices high, I decided to build this hall table from pine, as it’s much cheaper than hardwoods. Pine also suited the project well because my wife, Katie, wanted a distressed look instead of the typical stain and clear coat. To create the “character,” we first painted the table a grayish color, then applied a slurry of grayish grout on the surface. For the top, we adhered cracked bathroom tiles, then grouted between them, as if they were whole tiles. This project represents my first attempt at template routing. With curves on every piece, I needed smooth lines to make it beautiful and, thanks to hardboard templates, these turned out better than expected. I also used this project to introduce my 10-year-old son, Ryan,…

To watch our strength test of various joints visit woodmagazine.com/jointtest. Q To glue, or not to glue, with the pocket screw? I have a bet with a buddy about glue and pocket-hole joints: He says just drive the screws and be done. I apply glue to the joint for added strength. Which way is right? —David Roders, Lewiston, Idaho A Technically speaking, David, pocket screws possess plenty of strength to hold a joint together without glue. So your joints likely won’t fail from using pocket screws alone. But comparative tests show that pocket-hole joints with glue withstand greater forces before failing than joints without. In the case of end-grain-to-edge-grain joints (such as between a rail and stile of a face frame) the added strength may not be huge, but it provides an extra bit of insurance. Gluing…

Secret, Sliding Sharpening Station In my small shop, having a dedicated sharpening station was out of the question. So I installed beneath my benchtop sliding trays for rough, fine, and ultra-fine diamond sharpening stones and a leather hone. The trays fit between the dogholes along the front of the bench. The trays that hold the diamond stones start out as 1½"-thick hardwood about ½" wider than the stone. (Make sure the width of the tray fits between dogholes.) To keep the bench edge clear for clamping, I made the trays short enough to slide well under the bench, as shown in the inset, without sticking out the other side. In each tray, form a pocket to fit the sharpening stone. The depth of the pocket should match the thickness of the stone so…

Whether you’re just starting out in an apartment, downsizing to smaller living quarters, or simply looking for a secondary work area, this scaled-down bench contains all the required features to do some serious woodworking. A stout base and thick top stand up to just about anything you can throw at them, while a bank of graduated drawers provides plenty of storage for tools and supplies. And it all fits in a compact, 2×4' footprint. Start with a small but mighty base 1 Cut the legs (A) and upper (B) and lower (C) side rails to size [Materials List, Drawings 1, 2]. Label the workpieces so the best faces and edges face out. 2 Lay out and rout the mortises on the edges of the legs [Drawing 1, Photo A]. Square the ends of…