WOOD Magazine October 2019

With this issue, WOOD® magazine celebrates its 35th birthday. It’s a milestone, to be sure, but you won’t see us splashing a commemorative logo on the cover all year, or dedicating a bunch of pages in this issue to a retrospective of our history. It’s certainly a storied one, but you read WOOD for shop-proven projects and to improve your skills, not for a bunch of self-absorbed navel-gazing. So, instead of looking back at the past 35 years, I thought it might be fun to look ahead at what we’d like to see happen in the woodworking world in the next 35 years: Sandpaper that, like a toothbrush, changes color when it’s worn out so you know when to replace it. Telescoping bar clamps that stretch out to tackle a big…

Boring, Abrasive, & Flawed No, not you. I wasn’t talking about you. Don’t go away mad. Let me explain. Boring What I really meant was drilling! That is to say, I really like your bits. Wait! That came out wrong. Ugh, just read these… Drill Spot-on Holes woodmagazine.com/spotonholes 6 Essential Drill Bits woodmagazine.com/6bits Video: Drill-press Basics woodmagazine.com/drillpressbasics Video: Trick Out Your Drill Press woodmagazine.com/drillpressupgrade Video: Drill Shelf-support Holes woodmagazine.com/shelfpinmethods Abrasive When I say “sandpaper,” I’m not saying you rub me the wrong way. I’m saying that you, um, have grit. And, uh, that you’re fine. Definitely not coarse. The Nitty-gritty of Sandpaper woodmagazine.com/nittygritty Which Grits Should I Use? woodmagazine.com/whichgrits Hand-sanding Success woodmagazine.com/handsanding Sanding Discs Reviewed woodmagazine.com/sandingdiscs Sand for a Perfect Finish woodmagazine.com/sandsmooth Flawed Look, flaws can be features. Not that you have flaws! You’re not flawed. Anyway, flaws can be fixed. No! You don’t need to be…

Shop Students Build Boards As a woodshop teacher, I’m required to do all kinds of professional development but none of it has anything to do with woodworking. I think it’s good for woodworking teachers to challenge themselves and change up the projects. So, when I saw on Instagram a guy named Jason Thelen, who makes amazing hollow wooden stand-up paddleboards, I called him and asked if I could come work with him for a week to learn how to build them. He agreed, and it was money well spent. At the start of the school year, I showed my classes the boards Jason builds, and they were excited! The students worked in small groups designing and building the boards, and Jason has been an excellent mentor to my program. We are also…

Q: Are tools with lithium-ion batteries safe to use? A battery-powered chainsaw or circular saw would be handy for me, but because of news stories about Li-Ion-powered phones, laptops, and hoverboards catching fire, I’m already leery about using my drills with these batteries. Am I over the top here? —Chuck Stine, Hayward, Calif. A: We understand your concerns, Chuck, but you have little to worry about with your power tools. It is exceedingly rare for any type of Li-Ion-powered device to catch fire (less than 1 in 10 million for any type of device, according to Cadex Electronics, a manufacturer of battery charging and testing equipment). In other words, the odds of a properly manufactured Li-Ion battery catching fire are 14 times less likely than you being struck by lightning in a given…

Simple Circle-routing Jig Runs Rings Around Other Trammels Unlike most shop-made circle cutters, this one has no limit to how small the cut circle can be, incorporates a fine adjustment, and doesn’t require removing the router’s subbase. And it’s easy to make! Build the jig as shown, but leave off the dowel rod (used as a pivot point) for now. Neither the bolts that hold the rods nor the fine-adjustment bolt require inserts. Simply drill their pilot holes, then put drops of instant glue into the holes and allow the glue to cure before tapping the holes. The threaded holes will hold up in a dense hardwood such as oak. After installing a ¼" upcut spiral router bit, attach the jig to the router, slide the router against the inner rail, and plunge-rout…

This attractive cabinet displays books and decorative items on four shelves (two adjustable for versatility) and cleverly conceals valuables in a base drawer with a secret magnetic lock. Craft the Carcase 1 Cut the sides (A) about 5" longer than listed [Materials List]. Trim them to finished length and save the cut-off pieces to make the outer base sides (R) later. Mark the sides and cut-off pieces to keep them in their original orientation so the grain will match. Cut the fixed shelf and top (B) to size. Learn about miter-framing a panel on page 38. 2 Rout the dadoes and rabbets to make a mirror-image pair of sides (A) [Drawing 1, Skill Builder above], and drill the shelf-pin holes. Finish-sand the fixed shelf, top, and inside face of each side. 3 Glue the sides…