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Make 3 Great Projects For Your Home - The Easy Way!
Make 3 Great Projects For Your Home - The Easy Way!
Great Projects
for Your Home
The Easy Way!
i c a n d o t h a t
by mag ruffman
Lap Desk
Portable productivity
with a nod to
steampunk style.
popular woodworking magazine August 2011 opening photo by al parrish; step photos by the author; illustration by robert W. Lang
Then drill three height-adjustment 20"
holes in the side pieces using a drill bit 111 4" Lap Desk
thats just a hair bigger than the size of No. item dimensions (inches) material
T W L
the post on your clamping knobs.
3 4"
1 Top 34 1114 20 Oak
hairy and splintery, so lightly sand all a scraper. are free online.
surfaces with #150-grit sandpaper. Finally, drill holes for the insert nuts Download the complete I Can Do
That manual:
using a bit diameter that matches the u popularwoodworking.com/
Gloss-eyed shaft of the insert nut (not including the icandothat
Next, give all pieces a clear coat. (I like threads). Drilling into end grain can be
Our products are available online at:
acrylic driveway sealer because its a cheek-sucking adventure in steering. u ShopWoodworking.com
crazy-indestructible.) Practice on scrap in a vise, attempting to
keep the bit plumb. When you do it for About This Column
real you might want a helper eyeballing
Our I Can Do That column features
projects that can be completed by any
woodworker with a modest (but decent)
kit of tools in less than two days of shop
Supplies time, and using raw materials that are avail-
able at any home center. We offer a free
Lee Valley online manual in PDF format that explains
leevalley.com or 800-871-8158 all the tools and shows you how to perform
the basic operations in
1 1/4 -20 insert nuts
a step-by-step format.
#00M90.01, $6.90/10
Visit ICanDoThatExtras.
2 3/4" clamping knobs (male)
1 com to download the
On the cheap. Glue a piece of sandpaper #00M56.11, $2.30 free manual.
around a hole cutout, then mount it on a bolt
Prices correct at time of publication.
with lock nuts instant drum sander!
popularwoodworking .com
I CAN DO THAT BY MEGAN FITZPATRICK
T
his form is typically called a
Shaker silverware tray but it
comes in handy for ferrying all
sorts of things hither and yon.
I got lucky at the big box store in
finding some perfectly straight, flat
and clear 1 2"-thick white pine with a
birds-eye-like pitch-pocket pattern.
At my home center, thin stock is
available in nothing longer than 3'
lengths. So to be sure Id have plenty
of that pretty birds-eye for all my
parts, I picked up three 3'-long and
two 2'-long 1 2" x 6" boards.
A design note: The dovetailed piece
that inspired this version (which can
be found in the October 2007 issue of Whichever approach you choose, and drop the rule down over the edge of
Popular Woodworking Magazine, #164) the size of the workpieces remains your workpiece until it meets the table
has half-pins at the bottom (and top) constant; only the joint layout changes. surface. Then tighten the thumbscrew
of the ends, which helps to support the to lock the rule in place.
sides as you lift. And for the notched First Cuts Using that setting and a pencil, mark
construction shown here, it would The ends are 51 2" wide which is the (or scribe with an X-Acto knife) a lay-
arguably be a bit stronger to have the actual width of 6"-wide dimensional out line on both faces and the top and
joints reversed so that notches on the lumber so those two pieces need only bottom edges of both end pieces and
ends support the front and back when be cut to their final 91 2" lengths, which the front and back. This is more easily
you pick up the box. I did at the miter saw. accomplished with a marking gauge if
But reversing the notches would The front and back are 161 2" long you have one.
mean two more shoulder cuts to bring but only 4" wide. So before cutting them The notched cutouts are all 2" x 1 2".
the box ends flush with the outside to length, mark out the cutline and use a Reset your adjustable square for 2",
faces of the front and back technically, jigsaw to cut them to width. If you have a then on each workpiece, mark a line
you would be cutting one box joint by little practice under your belt, you dont from your rst layout line to the edge
hand at each corner (and a box joint really need to set up a straightedge for
is typically a machine joint). Those this rip cut. Yes, you need the cut to be
additional shoulders would make the straight but you can arrange the fac-
pieces harder to fit well, and for our tory edge at the top and turn your cut
first handsaw cuts in the I Can Do That to the bottom (and of course, you can
column, I elected to keep it simple. Be- quickly clean up your cut if necessary
sides, Im not planning to put anything using a block plane). Now cut the front
heavy in the piece; the nails will hold and back to length.
it together just fine.
You could also choose to simply Joinery Layout
reverse the joints and inset the ends Set your adjustable square to 1 2" or for
so as to avoid a box joint but I dont more precise work, set it to the actual
Pinch for precision. Just shy of your cutline,
think that looks as clean (youll find thickness of your wood. Put your wood pinch with your ngers to form a guide for
a bonus SketchUp drawing online for face-down (or up) on your Workmate, the cut. Slight changes in nger pressure will
this approach). then set the squares stock on the wood micro-adjust where the sawplate falls.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 62
POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE October 2012 LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT W. LANG FROM THE AUTHORS MODEL
of the piece on both faces, and across down to your baseline, then make the
the end. It doesnt matter off which shorter cut and on to the next one.
long edge you register the square for After all your notches are cut, dry-t
the front and back; the layout line is at the pieces to ensure that youve sawn
the centerline of the board. On the end Trim for precision. Hold your chisel at 90 to the mating surfaces on each one at
pieces, register off the bottom edge. the work and gently pare toward the shoulder and straight. If necessary clean up your
to create a at mating surface for your joint. If cuts with a sharp chisel.
Time to Saw you need to pare the end-grain surface, take Once your joints are t, lay out the
lighter cuts and use a sharp chisel.
We recommend a dozuki as your rst curve across the top and the handle
handsaw, in large part because you can holes on the two end pieces. Cut the
get a decent one at the home center. This work with your off-hand using the pads top curves with a jigsaw. Then drill a
Japanese saw cuts on the pull stroke, of your ngers to align the sawplate hole inside the handle waste on each
and the one in our kit has a back that with your cutline. With your index end piece, into which you can insert
stops short of the end of the sawplate, nger extended toward the end of the your jigsaw blade, then cut those, too.
as you can see in the picture on the pre- saw, grasp the handle just enough to If clean-up is required, use a rasp, le
vious page. Thats important, because keep it from ying out of your grasp. and/or sandpaper.
the 2"-deep shoulder cuts cant be made To start the cut, hover just barely
if you dont have 2" of sawplate under on the work and pull the saw toward Hammer Time
the back and this saw doesnt. So as I you. Align your body so that you can Its almost time to nail everything to-
nish each long cut, I nibble away my pull the saw straight back (and push it gether. But rst, cut cleats to t inside
cutline with the toe of the blade. forward) using your shoulder to supply the joined pieces, and glue and clamp
To make these cuts, pinch across the a locomotive-like motion. Saw straight them in place aligned with the bottom
edge of both sides and the front and
back. The notches make it easy to prop-
erly align the workpieces while you
clamp them square. Drill two pilot holes
151 2" through the long grain and into the end
grain of each joint, then sink 5d n-
41 4" ish nails to secure it together. Rip your
bottom boards and cut them to length
151 2" then drop them in place. A coat or two
of clear Watco, and youre done. PWM
4"
Megan is the managing editor of this magazine. She
can be reached at megan.tzpatrick@fwmedia.com.
51 2"
ONLINE EXTRAS
2" For links to all online extras, go to:
1 2" popularwoodworking.com/oct12
EXPLODED VIEW 2"
PLAN: Download the two free SketchUp
1 2" 81 2"
1 2" models for the Shaker Carry Box.
1 2"
Our products are available online at:
ShopWoodworking.com
Small Bench
This simple seat is ideal
for a hallway or porch.
POPULAR WOODWORKING MAGAZINE October 2011 LEAD PHOTO BY AL PARRISH; STEP PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR; ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT W. LANG
Once both sides are cut, clamp them place as you drop your seatboards and ARTICLE: Bonus I Can Do That article
together to shape and sand the curves shelf onto their respective cleats, then from Mag Ruffman on our web site.
simultaneously so theyll match. clamp across the width just tightly PLAN: Download the free SketchUp plan
enough to hold things together. Now for the Small Bench.
Start Screwing you can dismiss your helper. ARTICLES: All the I Can Do That articles
Mark the cleat locations from the plan, Adjust the front seat board so its 1 2" are free online.
drill clearance holes and countersinks, back from the front edge of the sides, Download the complete I Can Do
then put a line of glue on each, and screw tighten the clamp to hold it securely, That manual:
u popularwoodworking.com/
the four cleats in place. then drill, countersink and screw icandothat
through the outside into the end grain
of the seatboard using #8 screws, at Our products are available online at:
uShopWoodworking.com
least 11 2" long (and make sure you
drill straight you have only a 3 4"-thick About This Column
piece into which youre drilling; you Our I Can Do That column features
dont want screw tips poking through projects that can be completed by any
into seated bottoms). woodworker with a modest (but decent)
The shelf can be screwed or nailed kit of tools in less than two days of shop
to the cleats. time, and using raw materials that are avail-
able at any home center. We offer a free
Now loosen the clamp, butt the sec- online manual in PDF format that explains
ond seat board against the first, and all the tools and shows you how to perform
Plane to t. If your backboards are slightly repeat. the basic operations in
proud of the sides, take a few passes with a The stretcher butts against the front a step-by-step format.
block plane at either end to curve the back Visit ICanDoThatExtras.
end of the seatboard cleats. Clamp it
pieces in to meet the sides. If the sides are com to download the
proud and need planing, wet the end grain in place and again, drill, countersink free manual.
with alcohol to soften it, then plane them and screw through the outside of the
down to meet the backboards. side pieces.
popularwoodworking.com