General Woodworking

I’m kind of in-between things these days. the museum opens this weekend, so lots of cleaning & sharpening in my shop right now. Then I will get back to some projects. One thing I hope to work on soon are some tools; I have some plane-making to resume, and I want to make a brace & bit for my shop. I dug out some of the braces I made years ago for review.  Here’s two of the same general design, based on an oldie at Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth.  I made mine out of maple; “pads” are hickory I think. Heads are ash, it looks like. These tools have seen regular use for about 10 years or more.

brace & bit/wimble/piercer

 

The head is made in two pieces; I think I made this up. The original when I saw it was in a case…I never handled it. So I turned a pin with a head, & that is fitted through a hole in the top end of the brace. Then the head itself is bored through as well, and the tenon end of the pin fits through that & is wedged.

head for brace

 

top view of brace's head

 

The bits are probably early 20th-century…and Mark Atchison fits them into pads I make. The pad spreads like a clothes pin, you squeeze the end of it to insert it into the brace. Mark grinds the tapered tangs into flat, tapered tangs. then bores holes for them, & burns them in…one got fitted with an iron ferrule, (first photo here) that might be after the fact; once it started to get beat up.

pad & bit

 

Here’s the old one I photographed; come to think of it, I had some measurements, so we must have had it out of the case years ago. then this photo was just maybe 5 years ago…that’s when I shot it through the case. So maybe I didn’t make up the way the head fits…

wimble & bit; probably 17th c; New England

 

All week I've been itching to saw these joints that connect the legs to the benchtop. I've never cut a 5"-deep dovetail joint in a 6x6, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

It was easy going until my enormous saw suddenly stopped cutting. Had the flesh-detecting technology in my tenon saw kicked in? (Ye Olde Saw Astyntan?) But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Let's back up to Tuesday when I was laying out these joints. I spent a long time staring at the original plate from Roubo's "L'Art du Menuisier," and it wasn't making sense to me. Robert Lang and I tried sketching the joint (electronically and on paper) to reconcile the odd perspective of the joint (I believe it's supposed to be in parallel projection instead of in perspective, but even that doesn't really explain it).

Oh, and there was the fact that the original text's dimensions don't really jibe with the drawings.

So I set forth to create a joint that resembled the drawings of workbenches shown throughout the four volumes of Roubo – and that obeyed some of the basic rules of wood-to-wood joinery set down by Joesph Moxon. And it would split my top like a muffin.

The first question was proportioning the thickness of the sliding dovetail and the tenon. These legs are finishing out a little bigger than 5" x 5". So I went for a 1-1/2"-thick dovetail, a 1-1/2" thick tenon and 1-1/2" space between the two. The remainder (a bit more than 1/2") was the shoulder at the back.

About that angle on the dovetail. It looks a lot steeper than is typical in a drawer or carcase. Roy Underhill suggested in "The Woodwright's Shop" to use a dovetail that has a slope of 2-1/2" to 1" when he built his bench with a rising dovetail.

That sloped looked too shallow. After fussing around, we settled on a slope that was 1-3/4" to 1". That is one steep slope (about 30°), but it looks right. So be it.

I laid out the joints last night before I left work and started in on the sawing this morning with a honking enormous 11-point tenon saw that's 16" long.

I needed a bigger saw. I couldn't reach the baseline because the brass back hit the top of the leg. That was a new sensation.

So I got out my full-size ripsaw. And that's when the fun began. Even with the big saw, it took some time to rip those cheeks. I could have written a couple blog entries while sawing one joint. But it's going well.

Soon I'll get to make the female part of the joint and give my mortise chisel and brace a workout.

— Christopher Schwarz

We've all been following the lawsuit where a jury awarded a Massachusetts man $1.5 million dollars for an accident he had while using a Ryobi table saw. (Need to catch up on the story? Click here for an article in the Boston Globe, here for an article in INC. magazine about the SawStop technology and here for a piece from The Oregonian). Catching up with the case is easy, but working with the numbers, not so much.

The Oregonian reported that there are, "An estimated 700,000 table saws are in use across the U.S." It goes on to report that "According to the Journal of Trauma, an estimated 565,670 table-saw-related injuries were treated from 1990 to 2007 in U.S. emergency rooms." That's an average of 33,274 injuries per year. Of those injuries, it is estimated that 10 percent result in amputation. I found that statistic alarming, and I'm willing to bet that most woodworkers did, too. Imagine what non-woodworkers might think.

The more we talked about the figures here in the office, the more we wondered if the numbers were real. I don't intend to question the number of injuries reported. I'm sure those numbers are well documented – insurance companies are like that. But let's look at the other number in the equation: 700,000 table saws caused more than half-a-million injuries. In 17 years, there's nearly one injury for each table saw being used. How dangerous is this machine?

Are there 700,000 table saws in use in the United States? There must be, I read it on the Internet. In fact, I've already seen that same number repeated in another online write-up. Soon it will be fact! (Note of sarcasm in my voice.)

After discussing the numbers, we thought it best to talk with someone in the industry. Someone who has held a position in a number of the companies that sell table saws and other woodworking tools. Someone that has dealt with factories abroad, large chain store orders and has worked a lifetime inside the woodworking machine and tools industry. We wanted a reliable source.

In talking with this someone, we found that Sears, which back in the day was the only woodworking machine seller I knew about, sold Craftsman table saws in huge numbers. During its hey-day, the stores would sell about 50,000 contractor table saws and 150,000 benchtop saws per year. Back a few years, Delta would sell 15,000 to 18,000 Unisaw models each year, as well as 25,000 contractor saws annually. One of the large chain stores placed an order for benchtop table saws in excess of 110,000 units, and that was just for the holiday rush. These numbers don't add up to 700,000.

If that doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand at attention, take a look at this figure: There is a single factory abroad that produces 700,000 benchtop table saws every year!

I think it's safe to say that the figure quoted in The Oregonian is not even close to accurate. When asked to provide a number as to how many table saws are in use within the confines of the United States, our source said, "Four million, maybe more."

That certainly changes the injuries-to-table-saws ratio. Doesn't it?

— Glen Huey

USS Unisaw docked just north of the workbench

My wife Barb says I’m pretty territorial about guarding my workshop space. She jokes that I pee in the corners to warn other wolves and miscreants not to touch anything. Most of the space in the house is shared but I jealously guard and fuss over that small patch of earth. Which brings me to my dilemma? I have this circa 1949 Delta Unisaw. Compared to my first table saw, the Delta with its heavy cast iron top is an aircraft carrier. It does a fine job at what it was designed for. Ripping and crosscutting wood when repetition and horsepower are the order of the day.

 I want to say up front that I work a lot with hand tools but I’m not a purist. I tend to gravitate to using the best tool available to do a job. As my skill develops I am finding that hand tools are often the best tool.  But I don’t have some religious belief that hand tools are somehow holy and power tools are at the root of the decline of western civilization. The last few years I have noticed that my Unisaw was getting more duty as an assembly table and less as a saw. Then last summer I was on a tight deadline to finish some props for my DVD on designing moldings. I had a section of crown moulding with a large cove that I opted to use my Unisaw to excavate. Cove cutting on a table saw I find a tad nerve racking and my heart sunk when noises like a blown chain saw motor erupted from below the saw cabinet. What a time for the bearings to fail on the spindle. A friend let me use his saw to finish the moulding and I vowed to repair the Unisaw later when time allowed.

 So it sat pushed off to the side (across the line into the non-sacred part of the basement) for the past nine months. I did plenty of woodworking, just couldn’t seem to find time to hoist the 180# top off the cabinet and bother with the repair. There were a couple of times it would have come in handy but I was actually surprised how few and how easy it was to use another method. Luckily I didn’t need anything requiring lots of repetition or horsepower which is what it excels at. Last week I strapped a hoist over the I beam that supports the house, and lifted the top off. Turned out to be an easy fix, the key had worked free securing the main pulley to the motor. I took the time while it was apart to give everything a good cleaning and lube and had it back in shining order in an afternoon.

 I docked the USS Unisaw up in its normal spot just off the end of my workbench. Then it happened. I realized it no longer belonged there. I don’t want or need this big iron thing to work around. That space was so handy to pull a pair of low saw horses in and out. So I did something I never thought I would come to. I pulled that wonderful old saw over the line into the non woodworking area. I’m not ready to part with it yet and besides it might kill me hauling all that weight up the stairs. Yet my work with one off furniture making is going in a different direction. Are any of you finding this to be true?

George R. Walker

I follow a lot of woodworking blogs and forums, but I'm more interested in getting the information and getting back to the shop than I am in staring at a computer screen until my eyeballs dry up and fall into my lap.

And that's why I have become a huge fan of the "Spoken Wood Podcast," the mastermind of Matt "The Podfather" Vanderlist. This free service gathers together the best blog entries from the Internet and has the author (or Matt) read them in a radio-show format. You can listen to them at your desk, or you can do what I do: Subscribe to the feed on iTunes and get them loaded onto your iPod and listen to them on the way to work.

Already I've been exposed to some good bloggers I didn't know about before, and I have enjoyed the 23 podcasts Matt has posted so far. To show how much I like the "Spoken Wood Podcast," I've even stepped up my game and have recorded my first submission.

Like anything new, it was fun making the jig you need to record a podcast. Basically I needed a wire hanger and some of my wife's pantyhose. (It's funny. She doesn't even roll her eyes anymore at these requests.) Using these two household items I built a screen for the microphone to stop the "plosives" from ruining the podcast (plosives are the hard "p" sound that makes a hard pop on a recording).

In any case, look for more submissions from me (and perhaps the rest of the staff). To learn more about the "Spoken Wood Podcast," you can subscribe to it through iTunes or listen in at Matt's Basement Workshop.

— Christopher Schwarz

Plans are moving ahead full force with the newly announced woodworking show on PBS. I’m told that WGBH and Tommy J. MacDonald have met with a few potential sponsors for the show. Laurie Donnelly was with Tommy at the New England Home Show when the announcement was made (see the video here) and she is with Lifestyle Programming at WGBH. (That department develops shows slated for a national audience, so this show will be pushed out nationwide from the beginning.) When I spoke with her, she didn’t want to spill the beans on what companies they had talked with about sponsorship, but she stated that interest was very high.

Donnelly’s idea for the yet-to-be-named show (she did mention a working title, but forbid me to print it until an actual name was decided on) dovetails with what Tommy had described. The idea is to cover a wide variety of topics: information about tools (hand and power), show the tools in use then move on to what can be built with that knowledge. And she also emphasized the idea of developing a woodworking community.

She also mentioned that this would be a not-so-perfect television show, meaning mistakes would be shown as would ways to correct those mishaps. That’s something I've heard woodworkers ask for many times – real-world woodworking.

Look for the show to roll out during Fall 2010 if dotted lines are signed quickly, or sometime in Winter 2011 if the process is slowed for some reason.

More on Tommy MacDonald

I received a copy of Tommy’s stepstool DVD and gave it a look. Like what is read in many of the forums, Tommy is definitely a Boston guy. His strong accent – how many times did you comment on Norm saying “sar” during his many years at New Yankee – is part of what makes him fun to watch. And his DVD is informative; I picked up a new technique that I had not seen before. Give it a try.

MacDonald has two DVDs out right now and there are three more in the wings. The stepstool and a toolbox DVD are the two available and yet to come is, according to MacDonald, a sweet table, slant-top desk and a set of chairs. I’m looking forward to those.

You might want to purchase a copy of the Stepstool right away (click here). The Toolbox is already sold out. With the agreement with WGBH, MacDonald has decided to change the covers on his DVDs. This could be an opportunity to purchase what might become a collector’s item in the future – did you consider buying stuff from Norm early in the game?

— Glen D. Huey

marked up interior

here we are looking at the proper right rear stile of a New England 17th-century  joined chest. I marked some points I wanted to show – (click the pictures to enlarge, these are small details we’re looking at.)

•  the height of the mortise is struck with an awl (and presumably) a square. The awl skitters a bit across the fibers of the oak. A knife would cut it more cleanly..
• the joint ID marks that I wrote about last night are clearly shown, chopped with a very narrow chisel. I’d guess about 1/4″.
• the pins securing the rear frame were driven in, then the pin from the side blew through it.

Here’s a photo I couldn’t find last night; of an assembled stool. Shows the joint ID marks – the stile just gets one mark, then the two rails (in this case, aprons) each have the numeral I chopped in them.

joint ID marks

Reader Herb Wofford writes: With the downturn in the economy and prices going up I have been considering which woodworking magazine(s) I will have to for go. Until the latest issue, Popular Woodworking Magazine was not being considered, but now I will not renew my subscription.

Personally, I take offense to language that I consider inappropriate. And your editorial stating that you will do your %$##est and then to see in big bold letters the inappropriate use of the word for donkey made up my mind, along with the content and future content of the magazine.

I by no means have virgin ears. I spent four years in the military and worked around men and women who could use some of the foulest language, but I never thought it would show up in a magazine that I looked forward to receiving. I realize you were quoting someone in the back article, but did the word have to be so bold? I let my 12 year old grandson read these, and yes I am sure he hears these words at school. But you see, I am trying to set an example for him; you can communicate intelligently without using profanity.

I am 63 years old and my father is 87. To this day, I have never heard him say one cuss word, and he spent 21 years in the Army. He had enough respect for my mother that he would not allow her to come into where he worked for the foul language. And I might add, my children and my grandchildren have never heard me cuss; I do not.

My time with your magazine has been wonderful and rewarding. I will miss the excellent articles of making furniture. Should you in the future decide to go back to the original format and leave out offensive words, let me know for I will renew my subscription.

— Herb Wofford

Editor Christopher Schwarz responds: Sorry you felt that way. In the 13 years I’ve been here, that has been the one time we’ve used that word in print. ("End Grain," April 2010, "Put Yer Ass Into It" by Roy Underhill.) I thought it was justified, germane and fairly mild compared to the language on television (not to mention the Internet).

We’re not changing our policy on language — that is, you won’t see it become a habit. But when presented with a story like the one Roy Underhill wrote, I thought it was appropriate.

Thank you for your letter.

— Christopher Schwarz

Publisher Steve Shanesy's recent rebuild of a vintage Delta Unisaw was of considerable interest, both here on our blog and on the Old Woodworking Machines Forum. Many of you followed along on and watched the videos documenting the project. If all of that left you with a taste for more old iron, you might be interested in what reader Dan Wyatt has planned for April 16 and 17 in Branson, Missouri.

I was working last week or so on the stool book project. That’s why I assembled a small joined stool the other day, it was to shoot trimming the feet.  While I was at it, I shot some stuff concerning the “joint ID” that we will present in the text. This is what I mean:

II goes in II

If you have read my blog, or even had the displeasure of being a victim of  mine in a workshop…then you know I won’t use a pencil to mark these joints. but marking them somehow does help to keep them straight. All these pieces look the same when stacked on the bench. But I have never seen a joined stool with its pieces marked out for assembly. But these sorts of marks are quite common on larger pieces of furniture; chests, cupboards and such. And they are found in carpenters’ work all the time as well. Carpenters need a more detailed method of marking, having so many joints to keep track of…but us joiners have it pretty easy. Alexander & I decided years ago to use chisels and gouges to mark a stool, borrowing the method from other joinery.

The picture above is a stretcher (lower rail) meeting a stile – it is marked with the 5/16″ mortise chisel that cut the stool’s mortises. I have stumbled along until I have a method that only uses numbers I & II. I mark one “frame” of the stool with the mortise chisel, the oppostie frame with a gouge.

joint ID wth gouge

The aprons (upper rails) and stretchers (lower rails) are not interchangeable, thus can each be I & II. With one set done with the chisel, the other with the gouge, they are distinct.

The angled end rails then are marked according to where they fall in the stool; one end with a chisel, the other with the gouge. simple.

Once I get the front & rear frames  assembled, I set them on the bench with their feet together…then I can set the end rails in one section…

foot to foot

and drop the other on top…

This October, Woodworking in America will be held in our backyard here in Cincinnati from Oct. 1-3. Registration will open in early May, and we'll start telling you all about the instructors and 80 sessions as soon as we get all the contracts signed.

But there is one aspect of planning this conference that I could use your help with. For this conference, we're planning some extra evening events. And I'd like some advice from you about which ones you think are most interesting. Read these short descriptions then click on the ones you like the best using the polling widget below.

Thanks in advance for your help.

'Toolmakers' Dinner' at the Popular Woodworking Magazine shop
When: The Thursday evening before Woodworking in America
Where: Our offices and workshop in suburban Cincinnati
Details: A lot of toolmakers will be unveiling new products at this conference, so we thought it would be a fun evening to invite all the toolmakers to a dinner at our headquarters plus as many attendees as we could fit. We'd provide dinner that would give you a taste of local food (LaRosa's pizza, Skyline chili, Graeter's ice cream), plus a few local malted beverages for you to try. You'd get to tour the shop, see the newest tools before everyone else and get to chat up the toolmakers.

'The Feast of Andre Roubo' with Roy Underhill and Don Williams
When: Saturday evening
Where: A restaurant near the conference
Details: Don Williams and a team of scholars are in the middle of an historic task: translating A.J. Roubo's 18th-century masterwork "L’Art du Menuisier." Williams will present – for the first time in public – some of the very cool things he's learned about early workshop practice during this project. (And if you saw Williams at the conference last year, you know he's an amazing speaker.) Also, Roy Underhill – who reads Roubo in the original French – will share some of the fascinating details he has unearthed about the man.

'Covington Pub Crawl' with the Popular Woodworking Magazine Editors
When: Friday evening (after the keynote dinner)
Where: Covington's Main Strasse
Details: Find out just how well Megan Fitzpatrick holds her liquor (here's a tip: she's tipsy when she starts using big words in a Southern accent). Our editors lead you on a trip down Covington's Main Strasse, a nicely restored 19th-century street just a couple block from the conference. Chat woodworking as you sample beers from some of our favorite German beer gardens and the Cock & Bull English pub (which has the best fish and chips in town). There's no formal program – just a casual evening with a bunch of fellow woodworkers.

'Make this Tool, Please' – Lunch with Manufacturers
When: Saturday at noon
Where: a room at the conference center
Details: One of the biggest frustrations many woodworkers have is that many tools they want are not made anymore. Who makes a decent folding rule anymore? At this special lunch, you can bring your wish list of tools, which we'll present to many of the leading hand-tool manufacturers around today. They'll let you know why they tool isn't being made (maybe they don't think there is a market, or materials are too expensive, or they never thought of it). And perhaps – just perhaps – you'll inspire them to make the tool of your dreams.

'Woodworking Night at Molly Malone's'
When: Saturday evening
Where: Molly Malone's Irish pub, a block from the conference
Details: We take over a floor of Molly Malone's, an Irish pub and restaurant that's a short walk from the conference. In addition to hanging out with the editors, toolmakers and other attendees, we'll arrange for some traditional woodworking music – yes, you guessed it – musical saws.

'White Water Shaker Village' a Personalized Tour
When: Sunday morning
Where: White Water Shaker Village (bus transportation provided)
During the last year, Popular Woodworking Magazine has become involved with the restoration efforts at the White Water Shaker Village, a beautiful group of original buildings still in their original setting. The village isn't open to the public, but we have arranged to get you special access to the village with guides who are restoring the village's Meeting House. Get a close look at Shaker craftsmanship – from the toolmarks to the cut nails. See some of the original furniture pieces in the collection, and get a privileged look at this amazingly untouched gem.

— Christopher Schwarz

From outside the confines of our shop, the fact that I'm building another workbench might be interpreted as a cry for psychological help. After all, I already have my fair share of workbenches.

But there are some good reasons that I'd like to share with you. And believe me when I say that the problem here isn't me, it's you.

1. "Schwarz, your bench is too large." One of the biggest complaints I get from readers is that there is no way they could fit an 8'-long Roubo-style workbench into their 6'-wide shop. Or they have to have the bench in a public space and can't have some ugly construction-lumber thing where the guests can see it. This bench is an attempt to build a smaller, apartment-sized bench that will still do full-size work and looks nice enough for a public space.

2. "Dude, I don't have power tools." Another criticism: The benches I've built have used a combination of power and hand tools. What about the people who work entirely by hand? This bench is an attempt to document the hand process (I used a machine to deal with one nasty part of the top that I should have asked the sawyer to deal with).

3. "I need a place to put my tools." This bench will have that. Stay tuned.

4. "What about other bench designs out there, such as John White's "'Newfangled Workbench?'" This bench won't address that question, but a book I'm working on now will. Yes, you read that right, a new workbench book.

This book will be a companion to the book "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use." The tentative title of the new book is "The Workbench Design Book." It will contain complete plans for a bunch of workbenches we've published in the past with some updated information and new chapters.

We'll have chapters that take about 20 common workbench designs (from the "Newfangled Workbench" to Frank Klausz's workbench) and explain the pros and cons of each design (as I see it). I'm also going to re-draw these classic bench forms (blasphemer!) to show how they can be modified to be more effective.

And we'll have a chapter on how to make your workbench knock down and an updated chapter on workholding – there have been a lot of new vises that have hit the market since 2007.

The book will be published later in 2010. More details to follow.

We're also making a DVD that will document the construction of this old-school Roubo bench. Glen Huey has filmed every step of the process (except when I used the band saw. I still feel dirty about that).

As of today, the top of my old-school Roubo workbench is complete, and I am itching to get started on the legs. These will be joined to the top with a sliding dovetail and tenon, which is going to be a lot of fun to cut, especially on this grand scale.

But before I get into that joinery, I wanted to give you a quick video tour of the top so you can see how the epoxy looks and the workholding I've installed so far. Take a look.

— Christopher Schwarz

Cornice detail by William Evans, Photo by Lie-Niesen Toolworks

I don’t often look for direct correlation between the classic orders and a furniture design but if you understand the wellspring that feeds western design it can be very helpful. Part of it is actually learning the nomenclature which takes you into the language of this traditional world and allows you to occasionally go down to the fish market and at least stumble through a conversation to buy dinner. It also can give you some ideas about how to apply some simple proportions to tackle some common design problems.

The classic orders were developed when primitive construction was primarily trabeated. Trabeated construction is made up of posts or columns supporting horizontal beams or lintels. It’s thought that the stone construction we associate with Greek and Roman buildings is a stylized version of earlier wooden buildings.

Representaion of primitive wooden structure thought to be the basis for the classic orders.

 I mentioned earlier that a classic order has a pedestal (beginning), column (middle), and entablature (ending). The top part or the lintel supporting the roof is the entablature. Though each of the different orders has their own character with different entablatures, they all consist of three divisions or three horizontal bands. The bottom band that rests on the capitals is called the architrave. Think of this as the heavy beam that actually carries the load of the roof and transfers that load down to the columns. Above that is the frieze. This is a wide band directly above the architrave. On a Doric order you can see representations of the structure resting on the architrave, on the Ionic and Corinthian the frieze is a wide panel (which conceals the underlying structure) that is often decorated with painting or carving.

Major parts of an entablature on a Doric classic order, Drawing by author.

Finally crowning all and terminating the form is the cornice. It projects from the building to help shed rain and the elements from the building below. The final moulding at the top actually contains a rain gutter.

There are many variations on how these parts are proportioned in relation to each other but there are a few simple concepts that you may find helpful when designing furniture. First, furniture can often have some similar design requirements as a building. We may be using legs instead of columns and tabletops instead of roofs, but many furniture forms involve supporting some sort of lintel on top of some vertical structure. In period building artisans adapted designs directly from the orders such as this fireplace surround. You may not want to be so blatant or mechanical but if you do have a wide horizontal band let’s say at the top of a chest you may want to look at how an entablature is broken up. First note that the band (entablature) is broken in to three parts. Next, notice that the parts are not all equal. There is always this major and minor going on. Often the proportions are very simple. In the case of this Doric, divide the entire height by four, give the bottom fourth to the architrave, and divide the remainder in half for the frieze and cornice. The Ionic and Corinthian is often divided into five parts, give the top 2/5 to the cornice and divide the remainder in half for the frieze and architrave below. Sometimes the architrave is five parts, the frieze six parts, and the cornice seven parts.

Period fireplace suround, can you see the main parts of the entablature? Photo by Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.

If you look closely at period work you will see artisans were very playful in how they might have arranged them. In fact it’s helpfull to know that any wide band regardless of whether it’s horizontal can benefit by breaking it into three parts that play off one another. The key though is that we are breaking up the monotony by using simple proportions. Take the time when looking at buildings and furniture to see how this is applied.

George R. Walker

Gordon Humphrey writes: As (you are) past-editor of Woodworking Magazine (which I am more than a little sorry to see disappear), and still editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine and designer of the sideboard on the cover of the Summer 2009 issue of Woodworking Magazine (the featured project of that issue), I wish to call you attention to what I believe to be an error in the cutlist on page 12. The web frame stiles are said to be 33" long. Given that the interior measurement of the table is 34" and you state (page 15) that the "guts" should be "a little too tight" with respect to the interior of the base, this listing of 33" should appropriately be more like 34", preferably 35", or so.

As a "intermediate beginner" woodworker, I jumped ahead and made the "guts" before reading your statement on page 15: "Measure the inside of your base and make the web frame so it fills that space exactly,...." This sentence may serve to absolve you of responsibility, I suppose, but I don't see why a cut list should be wrong. If it's wrong, what's the point of it? I wasted lots of time making the mortises and tenons for the "guts" and assembling the "guts" before gluing up the base (and therefore before measuring or looking at the 34" interior dimension shown in the schematic. That was time and effort wasted. I don't understand why that should have happened, since I don't particularly like making wasted mortises and tenons with wasted wood. (Does this disqualify my from the realm of woodworkers, I wonder?).

I shall take 20 percent of the blame and let it serve as a lesson to me, but I suggest that as editor you need an editor or a proofreader or a reader stand-in who builds your stuff and checks your figures before going to press.

— Gordon Humphrey

Editor Christopher Schwarz responds: Sorry for the error. We don’t make too many of those and we do have proofreaders. However, this is a human endeavor, and we make mistakes.

I will say this (and I’ve said this before), that woodworkers should never (and I rarely use that word in woodworking) cut out all the pieces from any cutlist. Even their own. Even from a cutlist that has been checked 1,000 times.

The proper procedure is to build the exterior case and base all your measurements off that as you proceed. Heck, I think that providing parts lists for drawers is a waste of valuable ink. But when we remove them, we get phone calls.

In any case, I hope you can find a use for that extra wood.

— Christopher Schwarz

wainscot chair

wainscot chair, side view

white oak boxes

today is a VERY dreary day here, weather-wise. Cold, windy & heavy rain…

I spent the morning at this desk, trying to re-learn how to work my website. I rarely work with it, so when I need to update it, it’s a project. What I wanted to add today was an announcement for a Spring-Cleaning Sale. The remaining small boxes (3 altogether) and the wainscot chair pictured here are now 20% off the regular prices. My house is over-run with both chairs and boxes, and if I want to make any more, I have to get these out of here. The income wouldn’t hurt either. So if anyone is inclined, the links are below. PayPal is now part of the gig. Shipping will be additional…I can deliver the chair for folks in the vicinity, the boxes are small enough so that shipping is cheap.

PS: Ahhh, I told you I didn’t know what I was doing with the website – I left off the price of the wainscot chair. Now fixed there, now fixed here.

Boxes were $600, now $480. Wainscot chair was $4,000. Now $3200.

there.

http://peterfollansbee.com/new_website_Mar_2010/sale_items_p_1_BOXES.html

http://peterfollansbee.com/new_website_Mar_2010/sale_items_p_2_WAINSCOT_CHAIR.html

When I am deep into a sawcut, you could walk into the shop totally naked, on fire and covered with leprous monkeys, and I probably wouldn't notice.

Accurate sawing is tantric. It's a rhythm. It is meditation.

Today I was sawing the legs to length for this Roubo workbench and I was surrounded by mahem. We had a photographer in the shop shooting photos. All the overhead lights were out and there were wild flashes and beeps every minute or so. We had a guest in the shop learning woodworking. Router. Circ saw. Benchtop table saw. Jigsaw. Animated conversation. And we're trying to close the June 2010 issue of the magazine and there is a lot of torn hair on the floor.

I finished cutting a 5" x 5" leg to 33" with a handsaw. I split the line on all four faces. I was feeling no pain, and I was hearing the sound of one hand clapping. But then I heard this:

"What are you doing working so hard?"

I looked over at our guest, who was learning all the hand-held power tools today. I opened my mouth to explain, and then I knew what it must feel like to wear a saffron robe and live in a cave without speaking for a decade. I couldn't explain it.

But for you, dear reader, I can explain a couple things.

1. My block plane was not cleaved in thrain by epoxy yesterday. That staged photo was my sick sense of humor leaching through my training as a journalist. I'd apologize for the misunderstanding, but we Midwesterners apologize for anything at the drop of a hat. So it would be meaningless.

2. Here's how to saw a 6x6. Start sawing on a corner as per usual. Immediately lay down the saw to cut at a low angle across the uppermost face. Saw until you have traversed the face. Rotate the stock 90° away from you. Put the saw in the kerf and advance on the face that is now uppermost. After a few strokes, lay down the saw again and traverse the line facing up. A low sawing angle is less aggressive, but it is more accurate.

Flip the work 90° away from you again. Do the same routine. Start at the corner. Lay down the saw. Traverse the face. When you finish that face, move the saw to 45° and saw like crazy. Throw the handle like you would a baseball pitch. Don't use much downward pressure. Let the tool do the work.

When you have sawn from corner to corner, flip the leg 90° away from you one last time. Connect the saw kerfs by laying down the saw. Then return to 45° and finish the cut.

If you take your time, I think you'll find this technique crazily accurate and weirdly fast.

— Christopher Schwarz