Woodsmith June/July 2022

Some of my favorite toys as a kid were Legos and Transformers. The first for the process of creative building and the second for the way robots could be turned into cars and planes with a few simple moves. Both toys invited a level of exploration and tinkering. It’s in that vein that we present the clock featured on page 56. The movement of gears, the swinging pendulum, and the gentle tick tock are a delight to experience. The design flows from the mind of Chris Fitch. In past issues, he’s come up with a whirligig and weathervane — two other projects that incorporate a sense of motion and transformation. He calls it “kinetic sculpture.” I’ll allow it and look forward to the next one. Chris made the clock parts using…

Originally from Coventry, UK, he completed his Carpentry and Joinery training with the City and Guilds of London Institute. He worked as a self-employed carpenter and for a remodeling company before transitioning to the finer side when joining Woodsmith as a Shop Craftsman. To date: his favorite projects include a modern chess set turned on the lathe and a 14' plywood boat, which he later acquired — perk of the job! If he can escape the honey-do list and home remodeling projects, he coaches his son’s soccer team and gets out on the boat with the family.…

Compact Sharpening Holder My woodshop is rather small, so I’m always looking for ways to save storage space. One such way is this compact holder, made for two diamond sharpening plates. Now I have four sharpening surfaces in a single block. This holder makes it quick and easy to switch sharpening surfaces for whatever I need, and the holder itself has the same footprint as just one plate. The plates are held by aluminum channels on one end and secured by a rare-earth magnet counterbored into the base, as you can see in the lower photo above right. I used my band saw with the fence to cut the kerfs that fit one lip of each channel (detail ‘c’). I slightly recessed each side of the kerf on the table saw so…

Prefinishing Protection. Don Filson of Lima, OH used masking tape and some foam backer rod to protect glue surfaces (like the mortises and tenons you see above) when he was prefinishing parts. This gives you a better finish and strong joints. Quick Lathe Tool Holder. Jack Sarcone of West Des Moines, IA likes to keep his most used tools at the ready when turning. To make sure they’re holstered nearby, he found a spare milk crate and attached it to the wall with a few screws and some big washers.…

It’s time for a face lift in your home. It could be re-trimming the interior with a new, more fashionable material. Maybe you want to hang some floating shelves (known as torsion boxes) or install built-in bookcases that need to be anchored to the framing of the house. All of these projects require you to attach something to an object hidden in your wall — the infamous stud. A stud is the infantry member of the framing of your house. Framing is the underlying skeleton of your house. Understanding the logic behind the placement of these bones will give you the confidence to hunt down the location of studs without having to lay out a lot of cash for tools such as stud finders and density meters. FINDING A STUD. Yes, let…

I was working on a project recently when I got the opportunity to use some air-dried lumber straight from a mill. I started with a couple eight-foot-long slabs of rough-sawn hickory, and I was excited to work with them. Air-dried lumber has a rich color, and I find it’s far less prone to chipping and tearing out than kiln-dried wood. I had one issue though, and those familiar with rough-sawn lumber will likely see where I’m going. I enjoy working with rough-sawn wood, but those planks will almost always dry unevenly, warping, bowing, and twisting. That’s what I was working with, and no planer or jointer I had around was going to be able to deal with it. There’s a common misconception that a planer will flatten stock. What a planer…