Articles | woodworking dust collection syste | Hardwood Floor |Polishing Abrasives|Bandsaw|Saw Mill|Sand Paper|lathe

Subscribe NOW

Woodworking Forum

Free Woodworking Classifieds

Free Woodworking Newsletter

To order with credit card by phone call 1-800-204-1773

On The Cover: How to Prepare Lumber

By: The Editors (Feb/Mar 2008)
One of the biggest frustrations faced by novice woodworkers is the acquisition and preparation of lumber for their projects. Where you purchase your stock will determine how much work you will need to do before your material is ready to use. How you prepare your stock will have an impact on the quality of work that you do. In this easy-to-follow three page article, our editors outline the process of preparing your lumber. They make the process especially straight-forward with detailed photos and simple instructions. Follow their 5 steps to a perfectly dressed board.

Furniture Project: Small Stickley Table

By: Derreck Bryans
Small tables are sensible around the house. They fit unobtrusively in almost any space, and they are easily moved about. This small table is based on the Stickley #658 table from the 1912 Gustav Stickley Craftsman Furniture Catalogue. While it is often referred to as a child’s table, it will do just as nicely beside your favorite easy chair, or as a hall table. To maintain the connection with the Stickley heritage, Derreck made the table out of white oak, but cherry, walnut, or mahogany would look just as nice. The half lap and mortise and tenon joints are not overly difficult and will make for good practice for the novice and intermediate woodworker. Derreck leads you through the construction of this table, covering: Prepaing the Stock; Constructing the Top; Milling and Assembling the Legs and Stretchers; Cutting Through Mortise and Tenons; Finishing and Assembling. Derreck also gives you three detailed illustrations showing all of the parts, measurements and joinery; as well as a complete materials list, supply checklist, and sources for everything you will need.

Shop Essentials: Digital Calipers

By: The Editors
Dial calipers were once the domain of the machinist who needed to measure parts down to a resolution of 1/1000 of an inch. Woodworkers have been slow to adapt to these precision measuring tools. However, with the widespread use of digital electronics in manufacturing, there is no reason not to add an easy to use and inexpensive digital caliper to your tool arsenal. A good quality dial or electronic caliper can be one of the best investments you can make. This multifunction tool can measure things as diverse as the inside measurement of a mortise, outside diameter of a dowel and the depth of a recess. It really shines when used to lay out your joinery and do your machine set ups; the days of guestimating will be over. Included in this excellent ‘how-to’ article is a cut-out reference chart that converts fractions, decimals and metric measurements. This chart alone is worth the price of the magazine, and will be helpful for years to come.

Skill Builder: Routing Basics: Joinery Bits

By: The Editors
Without a bit, the router is just a fancy paperweight; but when you slip one of these joinery bits into the collet you unlock the potential of creating a multitude of strong and attractive joinery options for your projects. The router excels at cutting joinery with a precision and speed that are hard to match. The bit does the cutting and determines the nature of the joint, while the guide system determines how precise the joint will be. In this article we take a look at some of the joinery bits woodworkers can choose from, and in future articles we will take a closer look at guide systems. As with all tools, time spent setting up the cut and defining the range of motion for the router will reward you with accurate and precise results. Most of these joinery bits are used on a router table. Before using any bit ensure that you understand how it functions. In this article Michael does a stellar job teaching all about joinery bits. He covers: Dovetail Bits; Lock Mitre Bits; Drawer Lock Bits; Slot Cutter Bits; Tongue and Groove Bits; and Rail and Stile Bits. The article also features 6 full colour photos of various joinery bits, and a detailed sidebar telling you how to achieve that ‘Hand Cut Dovetail Look’.

Skill Builder: Using the Mallet

By: David Bruce Johnson
Roughing out a large carving, or even a medium-sized one, can be a very laborious process. In the interest of saving time and energy, many carvers opt for ´power´. This approach usually takes the form of a chain saw of some kind of toothed devicemounted on an angle grinder. Fortunately, for those who choose to pursue the purists´ path and avoid the use of power, there is a tool that one can argue is safer, more effective, and with practice, just as effiecient. That tool is the mighty mallet. David gives a great overview of using the mallet, using 10 full colour photos, detailed instructions, and expert advise.

Skill Builder: Wood Repair

By: Heather Craig
No one is perfect, but we can appear to be, or at least come close to it on our woodworking projects – once we touch up those few imperfections with a little wood shop ingenuity. We’ve all been there: the shop is too small, your project rather large, and at some point you damage a visible surface with a ding, dent or gouge. Or you notice a crevice on a stile that appeared out of the blue after assembling a door frame. It is maddening, but it seems all too common, and knowing how to repair the damage can mean the difference between salvaging the work you’ve done up to this point or making a replacement piece. In this article, Heather helps you to understand the best ways to fix any woodworking blemishes. She covers: Repairing a Dent with Steam; Wood Fillers; Epoxy; Sawdust as Filler; Splinters for Narrow Crevices; Tips on Using Fillers; and Chaulking as Filler. This ´fix-it´ article will save you hundreds of dollars, hours of time, and make your finished projects look better than ever.

Shop Project: Versatile Hand Tool Display Shelf

Some tools are best kept tucked away – they work, but they are hardly things of beauty. Other tools cry out to be displayed, as they are far too elegant or beautiful to be concealed in boxes and drawers. Michael built this particular tool rack, not only to store, but to display those hand planes that he uses on a regular basis in his shop. Not only does Michael show you how to make a totally customizable display shelf, he also leads you through the construction of four handy jigs that you will be able to use for this and many other projects. Those jigs consist of: Marking Jig; Dado Jig; Routing Jig; and Trimming Jig. He also gives you instructional sidebars covering: Routing Dovetails; and French Cleats. And, on top of all of that, Michael makes the project even more easy by including 15 full colour photos covering all of the steps. Also included: 7 illustrations showing all of the parts, measurements and joinery; a complete materials list; and a supply checklist. No matter what your requirements are for a display shelf, this very adaptable project should be just the thing.

Easy Project: Video Game Holder

By: Alan Ashcroft
This is an easy to build and smart looking unit. It will store all those messy game boxes lying around the living room, stuffed into various drawers, or scattered on bookshelves. Alan makes this project so easy that you will want to make a bunch of these for your friends with ´video-playing kids´. Alan covers: A Thick Top Gives Visual Weight; Laminated Uprights Add Visual Interest; A Rotating Base Makes for Easy Access; and Finishing Tips. He also includes a photo of the finished project; a detailed illustration showing all of the parts, measurements, and joinery; a complete materials list; and a supply checklist.

Home Improvement: Fireplace Surrounds

By: Carl Duguay
Enhance the look of your living room with a spectacular fireplace surround. It’s easier to build and install than you might have imagined. Gas and electric fireplaces are quite popular in new home construction, and in older homes a lot of wood burning fireplaces are upgraded with gas or electric fireplace inserts. Most fireplaces have some kind of mantle (shelf) that sits over the top. Less common are fireplace surrounds – columns on either side of the mantel. However, you can easily create a whole new look to the living room by remodelling, or adding, a fireplace surround. It’s a great way to showcase your woodworking skills, and the added market value on your house isn’t too hard a pill to swallow. Building a fireplace surround is well within the scope of any woodworker with intermediate level skills. It’s really no more difficult than building a bookcase. Carl leads you through this project with a full colour photo of the completed fireplace surround, three illustrations detailing the measurements that you will need, fireplace styles, and the column style surround. Carl also lists two excellent books on this topic.

Woodworkers Gallery: Jewellery Box:

By: Brent Smith
Projects featured in the Woodworkers’ Gallery are chosen by our woodworking forum members. Kerry Cox, from Fort Saskatchewan, AB made this bowed front jewellery box. His black walnut jewellery box features a red oak lid panel, sides trimmed with maple stringing and a maple and African blackwood compass rose inlaid in the lid. The finish is simply boiled linseed oil, shellac, and wax. You can see more of Kerry’s work, along with the work of other members of our woodworking forum, on the CanadianWoodworking.com website.

Shop Jig: Zero Clearance Inserts

By: The Editors
The throat insert that comes as standard equipment on a table saw is meant to provide sufficient clearance around the blade as it moves through its full range of motion. While this is convenient, it does little to support stock close to the side of the blade, which often results in chip-out (particularly on sheet goods) and can also result in thin pieces of waste material jamming between the throat insert and the saw blade. A Zero Clearance Insert (ZCI) is a replacement for the throat insert that came with your table saw. While you can buy a ZCI, as you’ll see, they are very easy to make. Once you install the ZCI on your table saw you’ll cut the opening for the saw blade so that it’s the exact width of the saw blade kerf. It’s a good idea to make a ´master´ ZCI that you then use to make a new insert any time the need arises. Keep up with this ongoing series on making your own woodworking jigs, and you will have a complete set of helpful jigs to improve the safety and efficiency of all your woodworking projects.

Wood Chuckle: Smokin´ in the Woodshop

By: Don Wilkinson
Every once in a while you come across someone who takes their enthusiasm to the extreme, no matter how incompetent they may be. In this delightfully humorous article, Don tells us of just such an enthusiastic customer.

Woods to Know: Elm

By: Carl Duguay
Of the three species of elm that grow in Canada, white elm (our southern cousins call it American or gray elm) is the most ubiquitous, stretching from the easternmost part of Saskatchewan all the way to Cape Breton Island. It’s one of the largest trees in Eastern Canada, with heights of up to 125´ and diameters of up to 7´. This easily recognized tree has a distinctive double toothed leaf. The tree flowers, which contain both sexes, appear before the leaves open up. Sometime in the 1930s a fungal infection began to infect elm trees, and over the ensuing decades Dutch elm disease destroyed vast tracts of elm. In this article Carl gives Elm´s: Characteristics; Working Properties; Physical Properties; and Uses. He also includes a detailed illustration showing the Elm´s profile, leaves, and seeds; and a beautiful photo of a piece of Elm wood.

Scroll Project: Whitehorse

By: Marcus Cutler
Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon (and home to about 70% of the territory’s residents) is located on the banks of the wild Yukon River, and lies within the shadow of the imposing Coast Mountains. This scroll saw project shows the true power and beauty of Whitehorse.

Turning Project: Custom Tool Handle

By: Paul Ross
Once in a while a tool handle breaks, maybe from excessive blows with a mallet. Or, perhaps you have purchased a tool, but the original handle just doesn’t feel right. Whatever the reason, making a new tool handle is an enjoyable process that provides you with the opportunity to further develop your design and turning skills. Paul leads you through the project with 8 step-by-step photos with detailed instructions. He also gives a beautiful photo of the finished project, and an illustration showing a variety of common handles. Don´t throw that old tool away, turn it into a new one!

Shop Tool: 1/4 Sheet Finishing Sanders

By: The Editors
There are two aspects of woodworking that most people just cannot seem to get enthusiastic about – one is finishing and the other is sanding. Unfortunately, if you don’t do a thorough job sanding your project, the results of your finishing efforts may be less than stellar. Man learned early that having the right tools makes the job easier (if not enjoyable) and throughout our history we’ve invented countless machines to make our tedious chores less onerous for ourselves. Go into any woodworking tool store and this is soon made abundantly clear by all of the tempting tools on display. If you are looking for something to ease your sanding woes, there are many products that will help make the job easier. On the ´portable´ side they range from small detail sanders for fine sanding in tight spaces to large, heavy and aggressive belt sanders for serious stock removal. On the ´stationary´ side are cantilevered and closed frame belt sanders that can be as small as an oven or larger than the average home workshop. In most woodworking shops you’re likely to find a belt sander and a random orbital sander (ROS). Both are eminently useful tools to have on hand, when used for the purpose for which they were intended. A belt sander is ideal for rapid stock removal, while the ROS is unbeatable as an all-purpose finish sander. One major drawback for the ROS is that it has a round sanding base. In corners it’s practically useless. Which is where the sheet sander shines. In this article, the editors cover 1/4 Sheet Finishing Sanders. Topics include: Price; Paper Clamping; Dust Collection; Power and Speed; Power Cord; and Practical Considerations. If you are in the market for a finishing sander, this overview will show you what to look for, and what to look out for in a variety of sanders. Sanders covered in this article include: Black and Decker; Bosch; Craftsman; DeWalt; Hitachi; King; Makita; Milwaukee; Porter-Cable; Ridgid; Ryobi; and Skil.

Tool Sharpening: Hollow and Flat Grinding

By: Carl Duguay
The method you choose to sharpen an edge tool, such as a plane iron or chisel, will result in either a hollow ground or flat tool face. If you sharpen a chisel against the edge of a rotating wheel on a bench grinder, the resulting surface will take on a concave shape – referred to as hollow ground. For decades sharpening with grinders was the only option for woodworkers. Over the past decade or so platter style grinding systems, like the Work Sharp or the Veritas Mk.II, have become popular. Because the platter that holds the abrasive is flat, the resulting surface will be flat ground. Learn more about hollow and flat grinding in this short, informative article.

You can subscribe to our magazine by clicking here.

Your Privacy - Disclaimer - Subscribe to Canadian Woodworking Magazine