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CONTEMPORARY

restle ble

LATHE TURN ING : STEPBY STEPTO TURNING GOBLETS

BENCH PLANES : HOW TO USE THEM TO PLANE A TABLE TOP

M ICROW AVE CART: A VERSATILE S ER VIN G C AR T

2 50OTES FROM THE SHOP

O 23

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WOODSMITIi

A1l0UT THIS ISS(;I:. \Vhenever we get

visitors here at

Woo milh

one question

that always seems to com e UI) is, ..How do

you decide what projects to build for each

issue?

What we usually do is

try

to decide on a

technique before we ever get to the

projec $. For this issue, we thought it \\lIS

time todo an article on using beneh planes.

That naturally led

to

using a plane to

smooth a table top. Which in tum led to the

Trestle Table.

At least that's the story I'd like to tell.

What reaJly happened is that everybody

kept leasing me abeut the original design

of the Trestle Table shown inthe finsl issue

of n ' oo

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3

VOODSMITH

.EPAIRING ROUND TENONS

I'm in th, ' furniture 'llAir business,

and

han' come ,roo. a little ide. I'd

like

to

pa.. . . . . .

on to )'I.ur

n o a cl\ ' ~

On clllll~ that have been repaired

1'1'

p.'3tt1

tenon.

Hold the .havinj in I'lll' witb mashing

t1lI)( UI111Ih t l o tl u c

o cures,

then rasp the

tenon clown to It COIT tfit,

The .hrll'inl( works, well because it hat;a

naturol curl thut \\I'nl~',ar tlnd th. round

tCllOn~ .

Til il '- \ \ ( , rkl i

ra r l H. ller (o r me

lhru\

l1 1'in g (0 \IM -8 v (,n c er fo r . . .h immlnp: .

Rot. rl G r t n > l

K urlillr. Jlltl

(,i,

AtIOI

F\AH(;f

THI AIRASIVE MITER

III \\',wJJI III, No, : l, the article on cut

t inj .l ' nut t . 'ni nlt . 'nt i t lnt . ' (1 thallht '

, , cod

tencb

to (T\~'P It'. '

1 1 1 1 {

cut

\~1u,t I d~ to o\'ert'_ thi. ; to glue a

I ~

PI of111nlques

(Ihat

ate

accepted

10 .publicabOnlPie... g IVe a completee)(plana

DOli KitH bOnof you. Idea II a ,kelch I. needed. sand ,t

POd/and. Or gOl aloog ; well d.awnowono.

Carl R, Ma.cia

C

''l't> ,~bllrg, P( )lllSyittaJI io

DUPLICATE CUnlNGS

l \ e alway. had troubl~ cutting duplk te

part, nn th~ band

.ow

until I came ae 'O,;,;

thi, 8llY Iutlon, I .an

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_~~ M.~..~~

WOODSMITH

.,

~

When we decided to do an article on turn

ing ~(Jl,h:l. turned ;,

few

examples and

asked ()nnwhich nne he

Ilk 'l .

Prt'(jkt.1bl~.

he liked them all.

This created

somewhat

of

3

problem, I

fiI lJ re

rd

\\'(:d have to r-xpand th~ i..e to

about 2(NIpages to ,;qUL in everything I

\ \ an tex lto s ho w .

ut ur

s om e rc a .

~OI\.

D on

rejected that idea. So insread, I decided to

.ho\\ howto turn IWo

goblet.' tMt

are nut

nnly c1iffeJ-ent

n

3I'l)('nr:lIlCe,

butthm .1,,0

require different turning techniques,

The two goblets shown in the photo ar c

different in several ways, The w I of the

It0blet on thp light has very straight sides

that taper in from the rim all the way down

to the

stem Then

the bowl is 1)3J 8ted

from

lh .

,tem

wilh a

.grog,' '.

The bowl ofthe

soeond

goblet tapers tlut

Iju, both J(ob

lets arc

similar in the sense

that

they're

turned froma fairly Iat) ~block of wood.

LAMINATING THEBLANK

The

first step isto

get

a blockofwood

larg..

enough to turn tho goblet. I used bloeks ..

square, 9 longto turn both gable

to:

cherry

for the goblet on

lh .

light. and

D e n's I lC I

s on al s to ck u f'k oa ( wh ic h about cost m e m y

job)

for the goblet on the I~ft.

To get this size block. I laminated five

pi _ofI (''' )umberface to face. Thi.

brings up

the

subject ofglue.

f the goblet

is

going to be

used

as a

functional piece, a

true water-proof glue (penol-reserciuol or

epoxy are the two most common kinds)

must be used,

Idecided to use a tw o-pan epoxy called

Che Tech 1 -118,

because it has some ma

jor advantages over penol-resorcinol

glues, First,

it

\ \ i

cure at

temperatures

down to 40', a big-advantage if

yow .hop

is

in the basement or the garage. Second. it

doesn't require

high

damping

pressure

as

most penal-resorcinol glues do. And third.

i t

le av es a c le ar glue line. (The Itlue line

from pencl-resoreincl glue. is usually

dark.

::iO t RC t:S . Chcm Tech 1 -88 is available

f ro m C h em Tech. 4669 Lander Road. Cha

grin fails, OH 440'l2. All orders for T-8S

are shipped C.O.D.. via nitta rcel

S ' I '; . T - llBcosts s.q.6.~per pint.

Tl'RSI~r. SQI'ARS.There is one other

option. Asolid turning square can be used,

if you can get one big enough. Large turn-

Turning oblet

OR TURNING TO DRINK

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tMK UOHt CUTS AtOM

( TK EUN na ou r

-caru

1 HOLE

2

U S it lg t Il t

sq tare I htt

~C1 Upcr ,

Ij la e

rows

oj'light cuts

lhu.1 a re '/,. de I ' ,

S ta rt < oc ll

w

alllw h o/ . a ud p 1 ()(;U d

10

,ilh;> 1 1 . < I [ tJlI~

ini.

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WOODSMITH

SANDI,..G 1HE INSIDE

AfW, the final passes with the ro u n d -n o s e

scraper, both bowls wil l

b e

ready for final

sanding. I use a progr ...ssive series of foUl'

grits of sandpaper, 120, 15 0, I SO , 2 2 0 . (If

the

s urf a c e

is in reaUy poor condition, you

could start with a 81).1(Iitpsper.)

Whenever sandpaper is used on the

lathe, there's enough heat generated to

bum

~ OUT

ingers in no time

flal.

1 use a

pad of steel wool behind the sandpaper [

protect my

fingers

from the heal. 'rho steel

\\ 001

a ls o e ve ns out the pressure

.0

you

d on t s an d grooves in the surface.

After the inside issanded. the next step

k to shape the outside of the howl.

THE OUTSIDE Of THE BOWL

Refore doing any work 011 the outside of

th~ goblet. 1 mark the finished (inside)

depth of the bowl 01 1 the outside of the

blank. (\Vhene er

I

hink I'm good enough

to skip this step, I always manage to cut

the outside of the bowl too short. and wind

up with the top two-third. of it in my lap.)

Once the depth of the bowl

is

marked. I

use a p arting tool to cut a .t -deep. b Y J . O O \ ~

on the waste ,;ide (stem side) of the mark,

se e Fig.

6 .

Then

I

wadually \\;den this

groove by roulldin)'( over the shoulder on

the stem side to provide a little extra room

as the bowl

is

formed.

SnAPING TRF.Ot:TSIIIE. To shape the OUt

side ofthe bowl,

J

use a

t>

gouge, se e rig.

7.

A ;.

ahout 1 1 \ .

larger

than

tta tlni,.hed

: i7A~

T o f in l5 h

the base ,

m ..,t o f

the

profi le

can

be [unI1( (1 with a l -kew. ( 1 hb . eut i

n u l h il tj ; m n r .

than

a o ne- sided b ea d. see

f'ig. II.) Then. I 0\ uch 10the~ j. OUjl'eo

g 'L lhl'

baM

0111(1

tern

lo

n O together.

Fin ally, I

.alltl

the

nli ....

lo wer hn lf o f

Ih J(ubl,t wilh Ihe

s ame

grIt. that

w e

USNt I>r. 1I0 ,r. for this final sand

ing. I 1 1 1 m

If

tho' IlIlh, . and .and in the

(.otNIOf

SQUAll NOSESCUf [.

U S EO 1 0 S MO OT M S lO ES

for Ihe

rwnc l . . .

idcd bowl. sed the

,,

~..Ul ~10-hape Ihe bottom uf th e bo nd

the tOil 01 the ..tem une OIW eontinuou,...

\. 0\ .... set 1- '15:.

1 .

T1K 'n

10

finISh

lhe -tem,

1 . . a .

)(o)U.re (on bothgobU.bllo reduce the ....-

m aln ln l ' th ickn ess o f the stern

10 ju,1

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WOODSMITH

shelf in plaee.)

Once e'erything is laid OUl, go ahead

and cut the mortises, 1 used a drill press

and a to brad-point spur bit drill OUt

most of the waste for the mortises. Then

cleaned up the cheeks of each mortise with

chisel. (See

lI ood mitli

No,

S

for more

information on cutting a mortise and tenon

joinL)

IIOLS FOR ADJt:STABLE SIIELF.

The

; ; ; t i d . : I : shelf will be attached to th~ cart

with adjustable shelf support brackets

that are mounted in holes. ( went ahead

and drilled

se ri

of four

holes 2

apart)

on each leg.

HOLES FOR CASTERS. Finally. I drilled

hole in the bottom of each leg for

2

Shep

hard casters (No. 93Oll) . ( bought these

casters at a local hardware store. The same

type (or something

very

similar) should be

available at any

g o o

hardware store or

lumber yard.

T HE S ID E S TR ET CH ER S

Alter the legs

are completed,

the

next

step

is to cut the two side stretchers (B) that fit

in the middle mortises. These stretchers

help hold the cart. together, but their main

purpose

is to

preven t stuff

from sliding

of f

the bouom shelf,

First, 1 cut the two stretchers B) to

final size - 2 ide by 18Y?long. (This

length measurement includes the 1.long

tenons on each end.) Then the tenons are

cut to fit the mor tise s

in

the legs, The

finishe d shoulder to shoulder length of

these stretchers should be 16Y., see

F

Ig _.

?licTO\\ a\ c ovens are a ho t item: Every

bod wants one but. n obo dy kn ow s \\ here

to put it. And if your kitchen i. anything

llke

mine, counter

space is

more ,alliable

than ocean front property.

W~ decided the best selutlon to this

)lrvbl~ln was t(l build a .'UIIa ,und micro

wave cart that could fit into almost an y

kitchen. and at the same time. be u.

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9

two Ik'lf ~ul'I,..rt frame- However.

the

top frame - < I 0,11 mo...thing. The shen

'1n'ICh on

Ih '

top frame are notched

for

the

leaf I'I',n sy.t.m. l:iimply cut a

o .. rlftp. 1

t

wid. notch at the center of

the $hort ,tn'teher. Note: the depth ofthi,

notch c o v . . . .heruhl1l13teh th~ thickness of

the w , ,,1 u ,dfor the leaf uPPOl'tarm C E ).

t'Utl>'Tt:t(llUK>:.nt'Fore final ... sembly of

the cart, I di,1 two more thinl(S. First. I

counterbored pilot hole. In the shelf

franw. for th, I'Cre , that willhold the top

and bottom .hel\,e. in place. see detail in

L .,

r,g. _.

For the oounllrhore. I I'd a

y

bit.

drilling to a depth of

no,

(Since the

CI'I'''') :-Ie the pilot hole.- are drilled.

The, hol,'j mU 1

be

drilled oversized to

allow for ~'pan'lI>n and eentraenon of the

top. (A. the top moves \\ itb seasonal

changes in humidity the screws can

bend in the overslzed holes. I used a Y

bit to drill these pilot holes. )

ROttSI)I\;(. , \ f.H The Ia.st step to com..

picte the b'fllicrArt ioto roulld o\'er

all

four

edl(('s well lU I the tOl) and bottom for the fold-down

1 . -

s, ..,

Fig, : .

Sinrt' thIS arr n,;remenl aCluall~'tte ltes

a frame, I cui and .'sembled the

,tr tch.,,,, .. t\\0 >\( parate frames.

an d

then

3\\ ,h llh m 10 th

Iep.

Tilt:

l.UG

~TRETfU&RS The long

-tretch~1 IC C l nn the front an d back of the

l Drt

are the C~lt:~lrl~he) _ re cut to

,idth and length. and then tenons are rut

to

mall~

\\;th th(

mortises

onthe legs.

see

Fig. 2.

ThP

shoulder to shoulder measure

ment of lh.. , stretchers should

be

2 . 1 .

MORTIt.S. ()nc~ thp tenoo. ha\'e been

cut, Lh~n~'( ~tep iNto cut the mortises fo.

OWl MOCK

J

SIOfSf.PCH(

11

liD

c

c

- ~

r

o

c

16 ,

. .

A

I(

I .

--i

1 1 j

c

GUt( 1

. ?

I~

th

e

shun

.In

leh. , I ,houltl

mention

here

that

tht- moru ses \\ e 'r e bo ing in Fig . 2

are Ml

n-ally p'PE'r.

Alwin monil-e andl.nonjomlshould be

u'l'(l h~1'\'C ~11',~,J mi'h : - : 0 . 12). BUIIO

.implify

constructlon,

I

used a

single

mortise, and then added a corner glue

block. Thi. Itill. black add, two gluing

su rf,LC~ 'tlnd cr,'al., a fairly slrong joint

(even though it'. not technically correct).

sHORT STllt:nIH:KS. Next comes the

.hl)rt.tr 'lrh~r. el)) for the frames. These

.ttehe ..... hould be

CUI 10

fit 0hey're

compatible \\ Ith the ,ide stretchers CB).

In order ter ,h''''rmm,' the final length of

the ,oon >l1'I:t ~

~(

-

1

AUOInSlS

O

. w.

. . . .

A

r

C UI LEG S

y S U

A G U ,

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WOODSM ITH

,

. S LOT

lEAf SUPPORt

~Otmst

ONtH lf

KNUCKL E allOW S U (F AC E

, .3 aun HI.NGE

RGUR.E-o

6'.

It. J

G

12 lEAl

lS .

tOP S Jo 4 tl F+

IJl j

r:~N) H~

V_.OUN OVERlOGES

,. - --;

lG

NOTCH DETA il

I~t DfUS

1

ners of the legs: all four edges of the side

stretchers: and the bottom outside edges

the edge t ha t, w il l s how on the outside of

the cart) of all eight pieces for the shelf

SUPI) )rtframes. I di d all of this with a y,

corner round bit 01 1 a router table.

ASSEMUI.Y.

Before assembling the cart.

I fini hetl sanded all pieces.

It S

a lot

easier to do It now than afLer assembly.)

Then to assemble the

cart,

I glued-up the

shelf support frames (making sure they

were na t and square Ill they were clamped

together). Then I glued these assembled

frames and the side stretchers into the

legs. This completes the basic cart .

THEWORKING SURfACES

Now that the cart iscomplete, all you need

are the three work surfaces- the top and

leaves, and the two shelves. made all

thr ee of these SUlfates by gluing up strips

of

4/ 4

stock ( Y.

thick

to give them

a

butcher block appearance.

Note: 1 did not us e dowels or splines

when gluing-up

these th ree

planks.

Just

a straight edge-to-edge gluing and clamp

ing prevides enough strength.

THESrn)LI'F,s.

The bottom

shelf F)

and

the adjustable shelf

are the easiest

just out 24 su-ips 10/,, wide,

6

long.

(This length allows a little

Waste

at the

ends of these planks. They're trimmed to

final length later.)

Glue 12of these strips tngether to form

the bottom shelf, and th e

remaining

12

strips

to form the adjustable shelf. Then

set them aside to dry overnight.

THE TOP ,,- 0 l.EAI'ES. To iorm the top

and the two leaves H . cut 12more strips

1%'wide,

but this time

5O~'

long. Then

edge glue these 12 strips to form one long

plank. Once again this rough length is

more than is needed.

In effect. you're gluing up all three

piece. (top and two leaves) at the same

time so there will be 3 continuous grain

pattern across the enure surface when the

leaves are up.

After the glue bas dried (overnight) on

all three planks, plane them Oat on both

sides (see page 20 for more information on

planing large surfaces).

TRill TOSIZE. Next. the bottom shelf and

the adjustable shelf can

be

trimmed to final

width

19V, ).

To cut them to final length

(25y,;). I used the panel cutting jig shown

in

l V o o d smi t i l No. 22.

The plank for the toll and two leave. is

also trimmed to 1 9 y ; wide, but then it's

cut into three pieces. First cut.

5V

section out of the middle of the plank, see

Fig. 4.

Next. cut the two 12 -long leaves from

the two 'waste pieces that remain. These

leaves are trimmed down to a width of

16Yo (which is

I I

less than the distance

between the legs of the cart). When doing

this, I trimmed an equal amount oCfboth

G

lEAF

JOP 'HE lf '

JI

f lO M . ((JItT ER S HE LF

19

101

L ~_~ Irr----~--~

AG URE ,

FtGU lE S

-

r

r-------,=~

FIGURE .-

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11/24

11

Bero , final

tV,'ll ~ ...

the rart,

an d

1 Fh~I

s ,

M('r

lhl'

hing . to th

attached thi

To

1 / : 1 (

it pr

(with the

the leaye, an

T h en d rill

eoumerbored

guido . Filla

lh,' r r a m ~ \ \

l\cxt.

attach

tom

fromt

u

An.lfinall

110

be Ii

00. ..

of the top, bou.om, and ad -

jusu.ble ,lK>hes are notched

.0

hat they

wrap around the

legs, Each

of these

notche,

are marked

out W '

larger

than

needed

to

allow for seasonal expansion,

Then

I

rut them out by

hand

(with

a

back

saw) ,

Till: IIISG~, After all three pieces are

CUIto size, the leaves

are

attached to the

middle ...>fini:;h is applied.

Nexl, the.>outer two corners of the

I

eaves are tot to

1 ,

radius, see

detail

in

Fig, I A nd finally, the edges of the top.

the leaves, the bottom .helr. and the ad

justable .h~lf. ,

all

rounded over with the

v

COI'n

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\VOODSMITH

2

NOCAPS

As mentioned above, the end caps (or

bread-board

ends) are

a

traditional fealul'e

on trestle tables. but they're a real hassle

to mount. The problem

ha s

to do with the

direction of grain

The grain of the end cap runs at a right

angle to the

grain

of the table top. Thus.

the table top

will

move (in width) much

more than the end caps (in length).

\\'hat this boils

down

to is that the end

caps can not be glued in place. They must

be mounted to allow for the movement of

th. lOp. There are several methods for

mounting end caps to allow for this move

ment - some rood . some not so good.

But the one we're showing here is one of

the best ways weve come lip with to pro

vide the strength needed at the

end or

the

table. The mounting procedure

used

is a

combination ofsleued serews and a tongue

and gTOO\'ejoint. This is a rather typical

approach. But

T e e l

earneup with the idea of

adding the end strips C) to add strength.

The real purpose of these strips is to

serve as extensions of the end caps under

the table. refer to Fig. 7. Since the grain of

These end strips are also

ripped

2

wide. bUI

the

length

should

be about

le than the distance between the side

thicknesser

strips, Pig.

3.

This allows.

space

between the side strips

to

allow for

movement of the table top. After the end

s trip s a re c ut

to size and screwed in place,

planed them flush with the ends of the

t ,ble lop.

ragged 8l1'angement ofend. tMt had W be

trimmed square. To

d o th is ,

fir

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13/24

SCREWHo tES

. J . . IN NO J1iICMNtSSEI

- :- - ~ -.CJ t ~

sacme

t C

t il Tot A

.. . 1 ' .

H. WOOOSc. aEW ' '-

fiGURE

~ : : ~ = = ~ . ~ = = = = = = = = = = = = : : ~ ~ ~ R O ~ U I ~ ' ~ O ~ . : O O :_V ' ~ ~ ~ ' ~ W : ' : ~ ~ ' ~ .

~ o : , : . ~

fiGURE S

Rm V END CP

AND

sior

Or

HO LE S

GlUE IO E.

T11IC.KNt S ta

rOlOP

sior SGREW

EN D fH IC KN ESSEIt to rop

NOTGlUl

I tO~GUE TH1Ck ..._.

C

END CA P

- i- lW O ECM OF LAMINATED

A

2 R ADiUS O N CO tNERS

1 tO NG tJ

\ I

THtC lC

c

1 3

~s_

6

S.

R G U A E 1

~ S -

t :

\VOOOSMITH

these strips run parallel to the

b.....

n uflhe

caps, the end eap can be glued to the end

strip to add a considerable amount of

strength. Normally. no glue at all used

on

end eaps .

T if F . T O N G I;.:. T he first step in mounting

the end caps is to cut a tongue onboth ends

of the table top. This tongue is actually the

result of cutting two rabbets - one on the

top an d one on the bottom side of the table

V

top.

se e rg .

1 .

ized these rabbets in order to leave a

longue that s at least \1 : thick, (\Vhkh

means that the depth of the rabbets

will

vary depending on the thickness of the

table top after il , been planed.)

END

CAl S.

Onee

the tongue.

art

formed.

work can begin on the end caps (D). Both

end caps are glued up of two ~4oards.

Then tbey re ripPl

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WOODSMITH

THE TRESTLES

This table gets its name from the trestles

that support. the table top. Each trestle

consists

of

an arm

(E), two uprights

(G).

and a base (Fl. (Figure 16shows what this

final

assembly looks like.) To build these

trestles. I started work on the arms and

bases.

ARMS Nt) BAS.: .

The arms and

bases

are identical - a total of four pie

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15/24

I

0

I

0

Q

2 IOUOS

V ~

$'., .

60

I

H

~

. . SOAROS . *f l . _ S''i 60

I

f

I

Q

~

1 OAJtDS -\;, ','1 60

I

2

M

1 SOARO. '1(,. lC S',' ) 60

I

B

m

I IOARO ~. lC So,. 3.

I E

:

15

CUnlNG DIAGRAM

=n '>tD' 'HICt

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WOODS~UTli

an-purpose hand planes.

However, the I~\\' pitch of the blade

(about 2(0) makes them ideal r their in

tended purpose (planing end grain), but

u se le ss a s an al l- around plane.

S.:I.P. (..-rI()X.o r these four basic styles

(lengths) ofbench planes, which one is the

best? The ideal situation (if you really want

t O

get s e r i o u s about this b u s i n e s s of h a n d -

planing) would be to have

selection o(

three sizes: smooth, jack, and either a fore

or jointer plane.

If you're not quite serious, the best

choice

(01' an all-around plane

is

the jack

(jack of all trades). The jack plane in OUI

shop gets the most use by far. In fact, it's

used for everything from smoothing down

relatively small p a n e l s to planing the sur

(ace of a large table.

PARTS OF A BENCH PLANE

Nomatter what style (length) the plane is,

the key to the whole thing is that it must be

properly sharpened and adjusted before it

6

THE CAP IRON

Once the lever cap isremoved. the cap iron

and the plane iron can be lifted out. The'.

two irons are held together wuh a cap

iron screw

which

rides in a long key-hole

slot

in

the plane iron. (Thi. assembly

is

sometimes r e fe r red to as double

iron. )

THaOAl (MOUTH)

The entire family of planes con

sist of hundreds of individual

l1.ylc,~.But all or these planes

can be

grouped

into two basic

categories: bench planes and

specialty planes.

Specilliity planes are made

for specific p U I J X . . . .s (culling

rabbets, or grooves, or molded

edges). Although some

of these

plane. are still manufactured

today, they are, for the most

port, collectors' items.

Bench planes ar e the ones

used to smooth the'sul'l'ace nr edge of 3

board. (Nowadays that means most of the

work done

by

hand planes.) Bench planes

are divided lnto foul'basic styles (lengths).

The only real difference among these four

styles is the length of the plane body (Ihe

wi.).

and to some extent the width of the

plane iron (cutter). The four sryles are:

smooth (lW,' long). jack (11), fore (18 ),

and jointel' (2'2 ).

Note: Although there are many varia

uons on the length (and the width) ofeacb

heneh plane, the lengths given above are

the current standards for the two largest

full-line manufacturers of steel-bodied

bench planes: Stanle~' (U.S.) and Record

Ridgeway (Ellglandl.

Block planes arc SOrtof a lib-category

of bench planes made specifically for plan

ingendgrain. The~.re alsothemost widely

misused of all planes, Becanse blockplanes

arc small and relatively inexpensive,

they re sold in almost every hardware

store and generally th~ught t~ be

g o o n

The first part of the plane that

can be removed is the lever

cap. This isjust a lalX piece of

nickel-plated east iron with a

cam-action lever at the top.

The sole purpose of this lever

cap is to hold

the

next two

pieces (the cap iron and plane

iron) fU'IIdy in place.

Since that's iL$sole function,

the lever cap doesn't seem lik~

a big deal. But this little gizmo

is the one thing that trans

formed the entire plane

making industry.

In

18511 when

Leonard

Bailey patented the lir.;t cam

action lever cal' to hold the

plane iron in place, it replaced the old

method of using a wooden wedge, and

forged the way for modern steel-bodied

planes used today.

Enough history. From a functional

standpoint. very little v goes wrollg

with tbe lever c a p anything, it only

needs 1.0 be oiled for smooth act ion.

The lever cap is held in place with the

lever cap screw (actually it's a machine

bolt).

There's no need to

remove this

screw; its main function is as a fulcrum for

the lever/cam. If the movement of the

lever/cam is too loose or too tight, JUSt

loosen Or tighten this screw (about a quar

ter turn usually doe. it).

will do much (If anything. In

fact, a brand new plane is little

more

than

an intricate assern

bly of expensive steel, In most

ease ' it needs some work b e -

fort' it becomes a tool.

The fil l;t step is to dLllmantle

the plane to get the pieces

working the way they're sup

posed

to, \\'hen you start tear

ing

it

apart, what you end up

with are the five basic pieces

shown in ~lgure

These five parts are: the

lever cap, the cap iron, the

plane iron, the frog,

and the

body of the plane.

TH E LEV ER CAP

flOG ADJUsnNG

SC R O W

HANDLE

OEPTH AD JUSTING

.NOl

F tO G S C R EW

-PlANE .RON

NOTCH FOI ~. 'tOKE

OE' tIi AOJustMEI'IT

CAM LE YEI

I(EYoHotE SlOT

FO R

e I RO N S CREW

No motorized tool can even

come close to the quality of

work a hand plane will do.

)llghty slnmg word you say.

(or a 1.001hat . been around (ur

the

po,t

2,000 years. Rut

it

true. And I think it kind of

re(reshin~ to know there s at

least one 1001 in the shop that

doesn't have to be plugged in

to d o Itsjob.

Y

~t

hand planes seem win

tim idate m an}' \\ 'OOC 'J\ \ o rkers.

This (ea r is usually based on

the feeling that hand planes

re

quire a tremendous amount o r

skill to use. Actually, il just

takes a lot ofelbow grease. The

real skill involved with a hand

plane is adjusting it so it oe

what you want it

to

do.

TY PES OF PLANES

A N O T H E R L O O K A T A C A N T A N K E R O U S O L D F R IE N D

Bench

l nes

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17

OODSMITH

mos t of this problem is at the other end

M

heyoke (where it enters the square holein

the cap iron). You call go throullh

a

lot of

effort

to make this work more effici.ntly,

but Idon't mess with it. Partly because I'm

used to the hassle, and partly because the

procedure use to adjW

the name implies, thi~ screw is used to

arlju't the JIOsiUonof the frog,

TII~;TllROAT.In Iront ufthe platform for

the frog is an opening in the sole of the

plane called the throat (or mouth) where

the plane iron pok... through. Onsome new

planes lhe front edge of this upening isout

of square, or slightly rounded.

Since the plane unn is often set vel)'

dose to lhe front edge Ill the throat, you

can run into a lot of problems lryin) ,

to

gN

the iron aligne-d

i

the throat i. not per

feclly straight. It .hould be filed down

until it's both .traight and square to the

sides Qfthe plane.

TII~

SOL1-: ,

Nowwere

down

to the bo t

tom line: the I~ of the plane.

0 1 1

.tcel

planes the

sole

can

be

either

smooth

or

corrugated. A corruj ~tcd ,;ole means that

n s er ie s (If J , , OOV t l S hS \e lw en g ro u n d in to

the length of the sole. Pre:;umably, these

grooV . l'educe the amount of friction and

ction betwecn the plane and the wood,

thus providing a smoother (calliel') planing

actiolt.

No mutLer what kind of sole lhe plane

bas the erilicallhing is lhal it ; absolutely

nat. A. it tun ,out, many 1)lane~tenri to be

aliule on the wavy sirie, Thi. issometimes

the I..,sultof poor machining at the factory,

and sometimes a natural movement of

the ,teel f the >,teel hal; not been given

C -nough l ime to cure befol'eo the :\ole

j ;

m ac hi ne d f latt th e g re en steel

call \ arp

Iflb. $Oleis not

nat,

getting it that way

can be a r l ha.ed in Shop

Notes, see page 22.

key to the plane iron can be summed lip in

one word: sharpness. lf it's not harp, the

plane won't work. The next two pages arc

devoted to the methods we usc to sharpen

3plane iron s o we won't get into it here).

THe fROG

Now we're down to the f1'Og,The main

purpose of the frog is to act as a mounting

platform (with

a

pitch of

. 1 5 C O l

the plane

iron and cap iron assembly The frog is

attached 10 a raised platform on the plane

body ...

rith

two machine bolts (called frog

screws), These screws fit through two

slotted holes at th e b ase of the

frog.

The one problem you findwith the frog is

that it nee-ds to be c leaned Usually the

loping face(that the plane iron rests on i.

coated with some sort of finish (either

paint Orlacquer) to prol(>('tit from rusting.

)lore likely than not there are runs (drip

marks) in lhis protective coating. Thi.

creates an une ve n surface fOl'the plane

iron (which means the coating is doing

more

harm than good).

scrap

n T

ef this

co atin g and the n use some steel wool to

polish it

to

a

smooth

surface.

Then to get a really good surface,

clamp the frog ina vise, and use a fine India

stone to hone (flatten) the surface se the

plane iron rests on a Oat (unobstructed)

surface.

Attached to the Cragare two more thin~

that trunsformed the modern steel

bodied plane into an extremely useful tool:

the depth adjusting knob, and the lateral

adjusting lever,

DEPTH,U 1 J I.'ST)t:'of the

Y straddle a 1(I'00veon the shank of the

adjusting nut. The other end of the yoke

fitS in a square hole in the cap iron. As

the brass knob is rotated in and out, the

yoke moves the cap iron (and thus the

plane iron) up and down, to adjust the

depth of cut.

Although this mechanical arrangement

docsthejob it'. supposed to, there is often

an exce.'Sive amount of slack in it, Thus,

the knob has to be rotated an inordinate

amount before the yoke actuaUy starts

mo,;ng the cap iron.

Some of this slack is the re.wl of too

much distance between t legs of the Y

and lhe sides of the

grooVe

in the brass

knob. To take up the slack here, remove

the bra.

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19

OODS~UTH

1'ed.'smefhod: Bolh heel alld t p are

flat

0 Japanese

100/

8to C. Moue

i ron forward. pa reseto check pol li tio ll . t ire),

pulllKuk. Rep.al 0 fini hing . to> .

Amy

PllSSVRf TO

TI

~CH1Sll

JAJ-ANfSE

WAIf. SlONE

Don' ,eUlod: T

.tart

on an / dw .

8 to e 10hOll eedge (i s li gl lt a rc ) u t il

ea a burrQ t ht /a c e s ide . 7 1I~/ repeal

t hi s proces8 011a 8 ft Arka .as sloll .

3

W he Ted ho .a Ih . (lilting edge

(1,/1), both tip a nd h R ore/loLo fhe

Rio,,'. / roiSt

I he h ee l ,.f slilllttly

(right)

10

fo rm a m i(ro b . 1

al

iii.

tip.

O OM S M ET HO D

the honing process again, but this time just

nough to remove the burr .

This is where T~'Il'smethod pay. off. He

knows

or

sure

that on these successive

passes he', at the same angle 8 On the

original passes. (This method completely

eliminates the po;;~ibility of creating a

series ofmicro-bevels as \\ ..- ilh my method).

Then tbis procedure is repeated until no

trace of the

burr

remains.

The results are shown in Photo a This

photo also demonstrates very important

aspect of honing a plane iron You can

just barely see :t

\\\~illt

between the

polished surface at the tip and the ,'Ough

texture left by the grinding wbeel, This

line is wavy for the .inl(>le reason that

during the grinding .t.itstcne and thun polisbes the ;111

facewith a finishing stone. The results are

impre~i\'e. Aficl the plane iron is polished

on a f ini :- :. hing water stone. the surface is

SOsmooth it has an almost mirror finish,

(After seeing this finish. I'm about to

change

1 1 1 ; \ ways, and switch

over

to

the

J apane se s tones .)

GRl lOC G A.~I OSTS ( ;.

Once agai n, we

agree on the procedure for grinding a

bollow-ground bevel at. :l;). angle to (orm

the cutting edge. From there on. Ted

different technique.

He holds the iron with both hands, ap

p1)ring

pressure

to

the very

lip

of

the i ro n

with a. many fingers 3 possible. Then he

reeks the hollow-ground bevel back and

forth until both the tip and the heel are

resting firmly on the stone. (Once again.

Ted uses Japanese WBU>rtones. starting

with the lOOO-gritstone.)

Now, instead o( lilting the heel of the

hollow-greund bevel (a. [ do). h. keep.

both heel and tip on the stone and pushes

the plane iron forward refer to Fig. fi.

Al the end of the forward stroke. he

pause. briefly to make sure both the heel

and tip are Onthe stone, and then pulls the

i ron bac k toward him. T his action is con

tinued until he feels an even burr

011

the

f e side of the plane iron.

R~IOVL Gue DeRR. 1'0 remove thi.

burr, Ted takes a much more serious ap

proach than I do. First, he flips the iron

over to the face side and hones with the

same motion shown in Figure I.Although

most ofthe b\lTl'is removed ,,-jth this hon

Ing,some ofit remains, and i.actually bent

back onto lhe beveled side of the iron.

On again, be finds the honing angle by

rocking the bevel until both lhe heel and

tip are firmly on the lon('. Then he starts

I) )~ S

~tt:TIIOl).

The method I use

is

vero'

imilar 10 Ihe one I use to hone a chisel.

Ba.it'lllly, I start lh~ honing procC:'oon a

fine I dia .tont>. First, ( place the hollow

round edge on th

e

stone and rock it back

an d forth unti l both the heel and point ar e

resting Oat on

the stone, see }'ig.

3.

Then

lill.

it .lightly (probably about

2

or 3'), and move the plane iron in

a

slight

a re. a s sho wn

in Fig.

4 .

r

continue honing

(it u;ulI.llyonly tak.,..Sto 10strokes) until I

feel an even

burr

on the

face

side.

Once the burr is formed, that's as far as

you have to go . (Anything more isjust an

exercise in removing metsl.) Next, Dipthe

iron over so the face side of thp iron is nat

on the stone. Theil r pull it toward me to

snap off most (if not all) of th~ burr,

Since the line India leaves a somewhat

rough edge. I take it one step further and

polish a micro-hovel on the honed edge

using a soft Arkansas stone. The pro ess

here is exactly lhe same as before- move

the plane iron in a shallow r u e until you feel

a slight burr on the face side (u uaIly about

or Gstrokes). Then plat\' it Oat en the

~tonp and pull it toward 0\1 to remove the

burr.

REltO\~

rue B1RK Af-rer this initial

poli$hing- process on the : ;01\ Arkansas

stem . ii I can still feci a burr on either the

face 01 beveled side of the plane iron I

..imply repeat the polishing precess one or

two rimes. Then ( remove any traces of the

bun' b~' stropping the cutting edge on a

leather pad coated with jeweler's

rouge

(The result of all this isshewn in Photo 2.)

Now here's whore

Tefl

and

I

ge t into

a

friendly disagreement. Ted argues that

there's no way for me to know if I'm hold

ingthe plane iron at exactly the same angle

on these successive passes on the India

stone, then the sol\ Arkansas stone. and

finally on the 5lropping pad. Thus, I could

be creating a series of micro-bevels. all at

sliJl'htly different angles.

I agree .. in theocy. Hut I also think

that the micro-bevel i. so sm.ll Lhat it

really doesn't make much difference. Be

sides, the only way to know for sure if the

iron is sharp is to te~t it out.

But [u'St. Ted's method.

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0

DEP TH AD JU STMENT

The easiest way to ruin a good piece of

wood is to set the plane iron tOOdeep for

the first cut, I've r e a d

in

s o m e book. that

you set the depth of cul by sighting down

the sole and a,

(Which

in m c as e

tends to b e a lad on the blurry side.)

Lower the plane

iron

until lhe CUllinI

edge is sticking OUt a fraction of an inch

below the sole of the plane. Then hold the

plane up-side down and aim' it toward a

light. reflective

surface

(a piece

of

while

cardboard, a fluorescent light).

As you sight down the sole. the cutt ing

edge of the plane ir on s ho uld appear as a

thkk clark line, All you have to do is move

the lateral odju.

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21

OODSM1TH

S~l( ~l ICJSr.tlESl Rf~\( .~.When lh~

surface is fairly fiat. [ start plnninlt' along

the length of the boards. The first strok e

is

made witb plane going in straight line -

parallel to this edlte. see Fig.

1 .

(I'm right

handed so ( start on the light edze of the

b oard . I

Once again, the depth of CUt should he

fail'ly Ught. A ll of the tirst 1)9. 0 aCI'OS,

th e surface ill simply be skimming off the

high spotaIt'sno; uncommon

(01

the plane

t~cut for 3while, and then skip over some

areas (Ihe low SllOIS).

Afier the inltial stroke along the edge, 1

tum the plane to a slight angle but ill

move u parallel to the edge, This, in effect,

makes the plane very wide and gives you

the best chance for levelina the entire sur

, 1 '

ace, see 1 9. _.

From here on, it's juf't a matter of work

(funl. Just keep moving the plane across

the surface with overlapping strokes.

Then go back to the right edge and make

another series of passes,

After I've had enough fun for awhile. I

check the surface with slJ'sight edge.

(Here it h~II' to pat a bl'ight light at the

end of the surface so it's eRl'ier to see the

low spotsl. \Vhen the surfate is just about

perCect, I reset the plane il'Onfor a very

thin CUland make onc hlst series of passe,;

over the entiJ'e-

S U Ir ac e .

'115111(:.

No matter how hard I lTV.

the plano is bound to leave titll. rid~

e\-el1' once in

~l hile.

To

remO\ e

these

(and to go o\'~r areas ith wild grainl, 1

use a seral>er blade r the tina finishing.

(Se~ Il'oud. ,illl No.

1 5

for mQre on

scraper blade. )

One last thought. Allofthis sound. likea

lot ofwork. But it's al,o a lot of fun. And in

the end, there's no grealer thlill than 10

t'un your fingers over a perfectly smooth

surfaoo that's been planed by hand.

L....._.._(=( 101

-, flItS STROI(f ON fOGE Of acAltO

@?O) C=~

tUtN LANEAt

$UGHr ANGlt

OVlll.A ST.ol(lS

nothing fancy. [just stan at one end ofthe

.urfa eeand plane directly across the gruin.

If. during Ihe initial

passes,

the plane

starts tearing out in some areas, you ean

change th e angle of attack so you're at

something more like a IS' angle.

The important thing. however, is to

start with a shallow depth-of-cut. Don't try

10take all the wood off at once. Jm;1 keep

going with fairly light passes until all the

joint Iinc$ a re k no ck ed off.

handle as you end the cut. This is tech

nically correct. But if you actually try to

move the plane this way, you'll probably

die out before you get to the end of the

board.

(approach it a little differently. First. I

have it in my mind that I'm going to make

one smooth. continuous stroke all the \\ 8\

to the

en d

ofthe board

(A

nice fluid bod;

and arm movemem.) ~

Then, instead of worrying about the be

s;nning 01 end of the stroke. I concentrate

on the rniddle. Alter the stroke has begun.

I b e a r 01 ) \ \11 on the plane 11. it'. in the

middle of the board.

It .

almost like tryin,

to hollow OUtthe center of the board. The

sole ofthe plane won't allow you to actually

hellow-eu; the hoard. BUI thinking thi,

way put, my attention on the longest part

of the stroke, instead ofjust the beginning

and end.

Aren't you supposed to lifi up the plane

on

lh .

return

s troke sovou re

not dragginl

the plane iron over the surface?

Once again.

I've

read that thi~

is

the

COITeet procedure. 1 t hink the reason is

to prevent wear and lear an the plane iron

S O

il doesn't get dull.

But this

p ra cti ce s eem s v e ry

Awkward

to me. A nd I think it break. thP rhythm of

planing. Instead, 1 just ease up on the

plane and drag it back. r dulling the

plane iron, I don't think it really ma k e s

much difference. If anything. dragging the

plane probably help> the cutting edge last

longer. Ineffect, you're stropping the cut

ling edge on the wood.

PLANtNG A TABLE TOP

At this point the pian. is really doing it.

job. And now I'm supoosed to talk about

how to plane a board - or more properly.

how 10 true a board with a plane.

This is 8 niee exercise, but it's rarely

needed in woodworking today. Most of the

lumber weuse is already surfaced when

w

e

buy

it.

Then, once the edges are ripped

square, the board very elose to b~ing

true.

Besides. the vast majority of the time, a

plane is used to true a large surface -one

that'. been glued up of .. veral boards. I

really don't see much point in truing each

board, then gluing several board. to

gether. And then having to true the whole

.urfaCe all u\'e1'agnin.

ROt:GHISGo()WS. Ifyou're working with

a large sudac,; (3 table top, for xample),

tbat's been gluedup of

. a t

boards. the

fll'St gt p

is

to rough il down. No matter

how careful I am when gluing up tbe

boards, there's al,,'a~'s some ariation at

the joint lines. So the planing begins by

smootrung down this surface to

get

all the

boards 8t the ;;ame le\el.

Thi~ milial planing is done

(1( :1 '1)88

the

grain ofthe wood. (Iu,;eajack plane for

all

this initial work.l The technique here is

ridieuleus. The difference between a

thin .ha\anR nnd a thick shaving is

only 3 f,' '' ' thnUlldths ofan inch.

My

y

s )U,I n(ll good enough to make such fine

adjustments.

~t: ITI~r. nlE DEI TlLrart with a very

fine CUt.In fact. [start \\~th no cut at all

The CUlling edge of the plane iron is set

completely ort the sole of the plane.

Then I slowl)' lower the Illane iron ..

ju_t a little at. time. With each small tum

o f the brass knob,

make a p o Over the

board until the cutting edge starts tomake

a shaving, This

\\ S)r [

can sneak up on the

depth of cut ( want, without nliniolt thp

board

with the very Ilrst

pa

ee,

But there 's another reason for this a p-

pruQch. A~ mentiuned in the article on

IlI\lI 16,

thCI'( 'Rome amount of play in

the depth adjusting mechanism.

To compensate for this play. the depth

adjusting knob should be on a forward

mo v e me n t (mo\; g th e p la ne iron down),

a nd nOIon a backing off' movement. Thls

\\ U

the Y )'okt is exerting pressore on

the plane iron and it .tays put.

PUTTING IT TO USE

The ultimate test for all of thls _

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WOODSMITH

H

you re

lucky, the grain line. on the

edge ; 1 1 gently curve lo one fare or the

oth .. fo, the entire length of the board.

When gluing up a set of these boards, try

to gel all of them arranged so the grain

curves to the same side of the final glued

up surface.

However.

sometimes the grain pattern

onthe edge iswavy-c-It switches back and

As for the splines themselves, 1 usua lly

us e plain old M Ma.onite. It s cheap, and

it always seems to fit lhe groove

b y

sa w

blade cuts.

S H A R P E N IN G S T O N ES

I thought there would be enough room on

thi page togel into a discussion ofthe tWO

new Stones we used to sharpen plane (the

diamond stone and the Japanese water

stones). But. we ran out of space. We ll

cover these stones in a full article in the

next i ssue .

G RA IN C UlI VlS 1 0 T HIS FA c t

LJ

/ f O U J \ _

Utfeno

< .

. . t\

(\\\\ ~ l/

1\\ \\\

[ / / .~ \ \ \ - . . 1 / . / i 1 \ \ \ \ \

SJl INES

T OP F AC ES O F-6O A RO S A A Fl US H

forth, usually where a knot is forming.

When confronted with this situation, [ try

to make

a d em o e ra ti c

decision: the major

ity of the grain pattern

ins.

That is. Iry

to arrange the boards so the majority of

the grain isgoing inone ~clion to

reduce

the lear-Out problems.

Inthose areas where you do have prob

lems, you may have to plane rom two

directions, or you can use a s cr ap er blade

(see Wood mith No. 15),

U S IN G S P L I N E S

Although 1willadmit that l enjoy working

with hand planes, I try to cut down on a lot

ofunnecessary work

by

getting the

surface

of the gluedup boards as flat as possible

before the planing ever begins.

If I m

gluing up several

n a r r o w

boards

to form a rather large surface, I cut

p;Ioovesonedges ofeach board for splines.

Although splines add some strength to

the joint, their

C 8 purpose

is to align the

top face. of all the boards - to get the

surface of lhe gluedup boards

as

nat

as

possible right from the start, This makes

the planing operation much easier.

However, the critical thing here is

to

cut

the p ; I O O e s 0 they re

all

exactly

the

same

distance Cromthe fate side

the

top side) of

the b o a rd .

To do this, place the

Iaee

side

(the top side)

of

each board agaill.llt the

fenceoflhe table saw and cut the groove on

one edge. Then cartwheel the board (nip

it end-for-end) so the same face is still

against the fence, and

o u t a

groove on the

other edge of the board.

\Vben the splines are inserted in these

grooves. the top fares of allthe boards ill

be Ilush, even though the bottoms may

vary depending on the thickness of each

board. eo drawing above.

the cement. In order to prevent a dished

out block. move the plane evenly over the

entire surface of the block. Once the sole

is

flat, switch to silicon carbide paper

a s

described above) to poHsh it smooth.

G R A IN D IR E C T IO N

There s 8 lot of controversy c o n c e m i n g

how to layout beards that are going to

b e .

glued together. Some say you should alter

nate the grain

as

seen fromthe ends ofthe

boards) so one board is up and the next

down , etc. Others

say

you should pul

new

growth against old growth.

1 can t really dispute any of these ap

preaches, But I go about it differently.

Two things a re important to me: I The

grain pattern

of the finished piece should

b e .

pleasing. even

if

it s not technically

correct. And

2) .

it s more important to me

that the boards are laid out

SO

the grain is

going in the proper direction for planing,

not

necessarily

or gluing.

I

should add here that

w e v e

followed

this approach ith all of the projects

shown in Wood mith and haven t had any

problems.)

Laying out th~ boards

so

they

ca n

be

planed easily is a step that s rarely men-

tioned (and often forgotten). But if the

hoards are not going in the right direc

tion rplaning, you ll be faced with a lot of

tear-out problems.

There s also a m is co nc ep tio n ab out how

to determine the proper

grain

direction for

1.laning. When looking a t the face side of a

board, the grain usually fonns a series of

Y patterns that point in one direction.

There s a natural tendency to want to

move the plane in that direction

with

the grain.

However, the only way to tell if the

grain

is

going in the right direction on the

f e of the board is to look al the grain on

the edge of lhe board.

F lA T T E N IN G A P L A N E

\Vbe you buy a new plane, it s reasonable

to expect that the sole of the plane is per

fectly flat. Unfortunately, that s not

always the case. ln fact. most new

planes

have a little problem area right around the

throat (mouth).

This area is critical because that s where

allthe action is. lithe sole is warped (form

ing 8 high spot or low spot at the throat). it

will affect the

cuulng

action of the 1)lane

iron (usually causing excessive chatter ).

lII(lH SPOT. If the plane has a high spot

around the throat, it s usually not toomuch

of

a

problem because all you have to do is

flatten the high spot flush with the rest of

the sole. This is relatively easy to do by

sanding the bottom of the plane on some

silicon carbide paper.

T81>ea sheet of 22O-grit silicon carbide

paper

to

the table of the table

sa w

and take

a few careful strokes. The high spots

should become quite visible as shiny areas,

Keep working the

plane

over the paper

until these areas arc flush with the rest of

the sole. Then switch to 320 and finally

400-grlt

paper

to smooth out the sanding

marks.

L O W S PO T. If the sole has a low spot at

the throat. it s more of a challenge.

Y ou

have to flatten the entire sole of th. plane

to get this area flush. This is too much

work for sandpaper. but it call b e . done

with silicon carbide slurry.

This slurry is made with powdered slli

eon carbide powder mixed with enough

water to fonn a thin paste. I start with 8 0

grit silicon carbide powder.

and

work to

finer grits

as

the sole is

flattened.

(Note:

Silicon carbide powder is available at lapi

dary supply stores. Look in the Yellow

Pages under Lapidary.)

Although lhe s lu rry d oe s a terrific job of

cutting steel. the problem is finding a nat

surface to work on. What l wound up using

w a s a

cement

blo c k .

Or to b e . more

precise,

two cement patio blocks. These are 1 1 - >

thick blocks, aboutg-\\ ide

by

15V

long.)

The surfaces of these blocks are almost

(but not quite) flat. So first Ihad to flatten

them.

I

meared

a

little slurry on lhe two

blocks, and simply rubbed the blocks to

gether until the surfaces were tlat,

Then

I

cleaned off the

b l ock s

and

m i x e d

up a fresh batch of slurry to flatten tbe

plane bottom. AUyou have to do is rub the

plane ever the cement blockand the slurry

to smooth out the sole.

This will cut the steel sole of a plane

quite rapidly, but it also tends to remove

Sho~ot s

SOME TIPS FROM OUR SHO P

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 023

23/24

VOOOSMITI'

In IVtXXl~mi(hNo. 21, you mentioned that

you used a V carbide-tipped straight, rou

ter bit to

rou t sp lin e g ro ov e s ,

After looking in all of my mail order

catalog>',and checking with the local supp-

liers, I've been unable to locate a source ror

a W carbide-tlpped bit anywhere. Can you

provide

me with

a m ail

order

source?

DUlleall

G.

Graham M D

A

e~a

riZOtla

The f carbide-tipped route

I

bit we use is

made by POI 1~rC b(tR(X kll~II).we pur

chased it at a local hardware store (that

sells Porter Coble power hand tools), and

didn't realize that there would be a prob

lem obt ining one

The only 1 : . carbide bit that we can find

that's availablemail order ismanufactured

by Frtlld.

It

can be

ordered

from /ligh

uwd

Harduar; Stock

10.20.O l,

price

510.80 plus $l.f,o for shipping charges.

Their address is listed above.

Another source for a v. high-speed

steel router bit (not carbide-tipped) is

Sears. The stock number of their \ > I bit is

9-CT-2552, 2.09. They also have the Y

high-speed steel bit that we used on the

end caps of the trestle table. It'. stock

number is 9-GT-25528 . and it cost Sl.89.

Editor's Note; Recently. both R o < k w e l /

and Sta1lley power hand tools have under

gone some name changes. Their new

names are Bosch (formerly Sw.lIley), and

Porter Cob/~

(fonnerly

Rockwell).

From

now on we'll be using their new names

whenever we refer to their products.

CA RB ID E ROU TfR B ITS

I've tried to find a source for the tconon

grinding wheel you recommend in IVood-

snritl N o. 20, without an success.

G RIN DIN G W HEEL S OU RCES

Ken Slrei

Cedar

P O I k T e r a s

The only mail order source we

know

of for

the aluminum oxide grinding wheels re

commended in our

article

is Woodcraft

Suppl l

(Tbese grinding wheels are made

by

Bay Stal.

Ab''(lllj''e8, but they're very

similar to the

Nortoll wheels.)

The 6 diameter aluminum oxide wheels

offcl'ed by

Woodcroj

all have ', arbor

holes. If your grinder has a v arbor. you'll

h ve to use bushing to reduce the ~~

diameter to

V .

Doth the bushings and the wheels can be

ordered from IVood~rnft Supply. Their

new address is;41 Atlantic Ave .. Woburn,

M A 01888 . Catalog: 2.00 .

Could you possibly give me a source for

the grinding wheel you recommended that

has

a

V I arbor hole?

Gary Paris

Farmviltc,

irgiuia

C

7/24/2019 Woodsmith - 023

24/24

THICq. I f SS 0 B A SE EOUAlS

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soUAlE

This bench isa nice companion piece for the

Trostle Table in this issue; and it's also a

good

warmup project.

Things

always

seem to

go

easier the second time

around.)

The same method of construction is used

on this bench

as

on the table, with only

minor differences.

TH t: S EAT .The assembly of the top (seat)

is the

same.

Glue up of enough boards

to

get rough dimensions of 14 wide by 48

long. Then trim the ends square to 8 final

length of 47~ and cut the tongues v .

long this t ime) on each end.

Next, the side thieknesser strips are

glued to the edges. and the end thicknesser

strips

ar e

mounted with the slotted

screw

method.

To

complete the top, the

en d

caps

are

cut and mounted.

Tllf; TRESTLES. However, the trestle

assemblies On this bench are slightly di

ferent than the table. First the notches

(mortises) in the three-board assemblies

for the arms and bases are cut to allow for

only

a

Single-thickness

rail ( Y O W ) .

Second. the arms on the bench trestles

are long enough to

be

mounted directly to

the side thicknesser strips, which means

their overall

length

i~

2 - only 2

less

than the width ofthe seat.

Also ,

inorder to

provide a

little more leverage for the

bases, W e made them the full width of the

lop

N

long).

A nd

third, all four

of

these

p ie ce s a re

tapered, but this time the taper starts t

down from the tOPedge, and ends Y from

the mortise. For the a rm s th is means a

13

taper, and for the bases it's a 10 taper.

Ti lt: L EG S- The legs (uprights) are made

exactly the

same way as on

the table -

glue up three boards, trim the faee sides to

allow for a chamfer on the edges of'the

base

and arm, and finally, counterbore the holes

for the carriage to

hold

the rails in place.

TIlE lUlL. The rail has to be cut to Iinal

length so

when

it's

mounted,

the trestles

o f

the bench fit comfortably between the

trestles on the table. Then to mount the

5 ,3t,

drill holes in the side thicknessers (of

the seat) for rosan

inserts

and counter

bore

holes

in lhe

tresue arm s for

hex

head bolts.

Iound it much easier to finishsand all of

these

pieces

(the

arms,

bases, legs. and the

rail

before

the trestles

ar e

glued

up.

And

then before final assembly of rail and seal.

Iinished

a ll

the pieces with Minwax poly

urethane. I also mounted adjustable level

ing

pads

to

the bottoms of the trestle bases

to allow for variatiens in the Ooor. 1

figured it had to be the floor that caused

THE PER FECT PARTNER FOR A TRESTLE TA BLE

Trestle Bench