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On The Cover: Childhood Memory Box

By: Michael Kampen (Feb/Mar 2009)
Children love playing with messy, gooey things and adults love to preserve those early childhood memories. This project is great for both. Mounted in this memory box along with a photo taken on the day the handprint was made, this project will preserve childhood memories for a lifetime. Make one every year to have a record as they grow up. Michael gives excellent step-by-step instructions, including six full colour photos, three detailed illustrations showing all of the parts and measurements, and a complete materials list. Kids will love to participate in this project.

Intarsia Project: Laurentian Sunrise

By: Henriette Corbeil
The Laurentians is a vast region of Quebec known for its lakes, valleys and mountains. For the intarsia artist it provides countless design opportunities. This intermediate level project contains 137 pieces of wood of various species. The pieces vary from 1⁄4´´ to 1´´ thick, with the final project size measuring 16´´ by 30". You can photo-enlarge the pattern to customize the size of the project, but bear in mind that some of the pieces are quite small, so don’t reduce the pattern too much. On the pattern, Henriette has indicated wood grain direction (arrows), wood shading, and wood thicknesses in eighths of an inch. Follow Henriette’s clear directions, twelve full colour step-by-step photos, and complete pattern, and you will have a stunning intarsia project showing the splendor of the Laurentians.

Wood Finishing: 3 Easy Steps to Grain Filling

By: Carl Duguay
For an ultra smooth, glass-like surface on open pored woods (such as oak, ash, walnut or mahogany), fill the grain before applying your topcoat. There are both oil-based fillers and waterbased fillers - you can use the former only under oil-based finishes, while you can use water-based fillers under any kind of finish (with the exception of oils or oil blends, like tung oil, boiled linseed oil, or Danish oil). I’ve used two brands of grain filler with good success: Bartley fillers, lawrence-mcfadden.com, and Mohawk fillers, mohawk-finishing.com. Grain filling has never been easier, or more enjoyable when you follow Carl’s three easy steps: seal open pores; stain the wood; apply the filler.

Turning Project: Cherry Serving Tray

By: Paul Ross
A serving tray is a great way to embellish any dining room table. Try different woods for dramatically different results. Turning a tray is an excellent means of enhancing your outboard turning skills, as all the turning is done on the left side of the headstock. The big advantage of this form of turning is that you can keep your body behind the gouge at all times. When turning inboard (the right side of the headstock) and performing a shaping cut on the bottom, you have to pull the gouge toward you, because the lathe bed is in the way. Another advantage of outboard turning is that it usually accommodates a much larger stock diameter. Of course, not every lathe has outboard capacity. You can still turn a serving tray, but the diameter will be limited by the capacity of the swing over the lathe bed. Paul offers great instructions, ten step-by-step full colour photos, and a gorgeous photo of the finished tray that is sure to inspire you to give it a try.

Toy Project: Train Set

By: Garnet Hall
Every child loves a toy train. This simple train set is as much fun for a youngster to play with as it is for the young at heart to build. You can build this train set with a small handful of spare wood, while the wheels, pegs, people and smoke stack are commercial toy parts, stockade.ca. The train has six interchangeable pieces held together with leather loops. Leather is safer than metal hooks, holds better than magnets, and is easier for small hands to handle. Garnet makes this project a pleasure to make, especially with a child. He not only provides excellent instructions, he also gives a detailed illustration showing all of the parts and their measurements. And, perhaps most important, he also gives resources and references regarding ‘toy safety’, including info on the safe and proper finishing, glues etc.

Tool Project: Traditional Hook Knife

By: Scott Richardson
Hook, crooked or bent - whatever you like to call them, these knives are exceptionally versatile tools that you can make yourself. Carvers, craftspeople, and woodworkers of every stripe would benefit from having a good sturdy hook knife in their tool box or on their workbench. A strong hook knife gets into places nothing else will. It’s an excellent tool for carving wooden bowls and spoons, masks, wooden musical instruments, cabinet handles and just about anything with an intricate shape. The process of making a knife is relatively simple: anneal (heat) the steel to make it soft and flexible, use a hacksaw to cut out the blade shape, use files to refine the shape, and then harden and temper the blade. Some grinding speeds up the process but you have to be very careful not to burn the steel. Scott will make you wonder why you didn’t try making your own knife long ago. He covers in detail: Material Sources; Annealing to Make Steel Soft; Shaping the Blank; Setting the Tang into the Handle; Using Files to Form Blade Bevel; Forming a Hook on the Blade; Heating the Blade to Re-harden; and Tempering the Blade. He also gives you eight step-by step full colour photos, two detailed illustrations showing all of the parts and measurements, and a complete supply checklist.

Skill Builder: Hand Cut Dovetails

By: Vic Tesolin
Cutting dovetails with hand tools can be a relaxing and extremely rewarding experience. The fine pins and custom layouts of hand cut dovetails also elevate your work to a higher level. In today’s woodworking world, there re many machines and jigs that can cut dovetails very quikly. That is if youdon’t include the time learning how to use the jig, setting up the jig, and making all the necessary test cuts to make sure the jig does what you want it to do. These jigs are also limited by the fact that you can’t make pins any smaller than 1/4”, due to the fact that the smallest router bit shank is 1/4”. Vic refers the look of tails with tiny pins because it assures his clients that the joinery is hand cut with the attention that fine furniture deserves. Vic leads you through his process of making perfect dovetails using easy-to-follow instructions, twenty step-by-step full colour photos. He also gives you an invaluable sidebar telling how to make a cabinetmaker’s triangle – an ingenious way to mark and keep track of the various parts that need to go back together. This ‘carpenter’s triangle’ sidebar is something that will help you in many other situations, and is itself worth the price of the magazine.

Product News: The Editors

By: Titebond Instant Bond Adhesives, Tormek T-7/TNT
Tormek T-7/TNT Titebond Instant Bond Adhesives Cyanoacrylate (CA) wood adhesives are perfect for repairing hair line cracks and those inevitable wood splits; gluing up small parts, particularly for hard to reach joints or surface areas that are difficult to clamp; and quick assembly of jigs and fixtures. Find out more about this glue and its uses in this overview of the product. Tormek T-7/TNT Sharp tools make for easier, more accurate and more enjoyable woodworking. Find out how this handy shop tool will help your woodworking.

Router Skills: Router and Bit Care

By: Michael Kampen
Keep your router and bits clean to avoid the problems caused by the two deadly enemies of all powered woodworking tools – heat and dust. Michael tells us that a great number of problems that woodworkers have with their routers could be eliminated with some routine maintenance. Such care will ensure that your router will provide years of trouble free service. If you do any routing at all, you owe it to yourself to learn how to protect your investment – Michael shows you how.

Skill Builder: Hand Planes

By: Vic Tesolin
No single tool personifies woodworking and craftsmanship like the handplane. Understanding it’s purpose and function can make your woodworking both more enjoyable and productive. This is the first of a series of articles on handplanes. It covers: Increasing Your Efficiency; Reducing Dust and Noise; and What Plane to Use for Various Tasks. Find out which types of planes are most important to have in your shop, and make sure that you are using yours correctly. Future issues will cover: Smoothing Planes; Block Planes; Shoulder Plane; and Specialty Planes.

Shop Essentials: Tool Storage Bags

By: Michael Kampen
When you need to do an installation or a repair outside the shop, having the right tools with you is essential. In this article Michael looks at tool storage bags from: Samona; Irwin; Veto; and Stanley. He outlines each bag and lets you know the pros and cons of each.

Shop Jig: Ultimate Router Jig

By: Michael Kampen
Build this rock solid fence to handle any routing task with ease and accuracy. Router tables need fences, and this one is as good as it gets. Michael provides a full colour photo of the router fence, detailed instructions on both making and using the fence, and a detailed materials list.

Wood Chuckle: Valentine’s

By: Don Wilkinson
Don tends to get himself into trouble sometimes, and Valentine’s is no different. However, he is usually able to woodwork his way out of any situation. Be sure to see how he gets out of this one…..there just may be a lesson you can pick up on.

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