I .

I Pow Mter Saw Station ..Random-Orbit Si

Shamening without Stones Shoo-Made Hand 1
m
w e purchased a portable mi-
ter saw for the shop several
years ago. And it has proven
to be a very popular tool around here.
In fact, our miter saw is so popular that
it never seems to be in the shop. Some-
one is always using it for some project
at his house.
One reason our miter saw is so popu-
larisit canbe easily movedto wherever
it's needed. But the size of the saw also
creates a problem. Since the table and
fence of the saw are relatively short, it
can be dimcult to work withlong pieces
of stock
What we wankdwas away to extend
the length of the table and fence and
still keep the saw portable.After trying
several different approaches we M y
came up with the Portable Miter Saw
Station shown on page 16.
MITER SAW STATION. The miter sta-
tion features two extension wings that
safely support long workpieces. We
even came up with away to extend the
saw fence and add asliding stop system.
But the thing I like best about the
Miter Saw Station is the way it works
when it's not being used.
To make the stationportable, the ex-
tension wings can be tucked under the
saw. The fence system can be knocked
down and stored. There are even han-
dle cutouts to make it easy to cany.
AND PLANE. Another project that
I've been wanting to tackle for a long
time is ashup-madehand plane. So I got
together with our designers and ex-
plained what I had in mind - a small
wood bodied plane that worked well,
looked good, and was easy to build.
The trickiest part to building a plane
is coming up with a way to hold the
blade securelyinplace. Qpically, this is
done with a wedge-shaped piece of
wood. But it can take alot of fitting and
a ~ u s t m e nto
t get the wedge to hold the
blade securely.
ShopNotes
So we decided to take a different ap-
proach. Instead of usmg a wedge to
secure the blade, we simply screwed
the blade in place. For more onthis, see
the article on page 10.
N o d y , I would tell you more
about what's in the rest of this issue.
But the last couple of days around here
haven't been exactly normal.
THE moo^. As I write this, we're in
the middle of a real crisis. The city of
Des Moines is suffering the worst flood
on record. We don't have running
water. Our Customer Semce and Pro-
ject Supplies W c e s were flooded.And
water islapping at the door ofour ware-
house. Not the best of times.
The strange thing is, I feel lucky. No
one that works here was hurt or lost a
home to the flood waters
We were able to save most of the
equipment and supplies from our Cus-
tomer Sewice and Project Supplies of-
fices. Since the publishing offices didn't
receive any major damage, we're mov-
ing Customer Service and Project Sup-
plies to this building. Right now things
are a bit chaotic, so if you call please be
patient. We'll handle your questions and
orders as quickly as po~sale.
The flood has also made me realize
how lucky I am to work with such a
great group of people.
When the flood waters started to
rise, I didn't even have to ask for help.
The word just got around. Before I
knew it, we had crews of people pitch-
ing in to move computer equipment to
higher ground. It was good thing, be-
cause within a few hours everything
was under water.
As the water started to go down,
people spent days sloshing through
mud and debris to remove the rest of
the office equipment and records. To all
those people who spent so muchof their
own time and effort to help, I can't
thank you enough
No. 11
I
I
Contents
I
Drill h 5 5 Table Counterweight
- -4
All ,I takes 1s 1,nger pressure lo movc your drrll press table
orice you've ~nscall~~d ch~ssrnp~ecounlcrwerghr Randonz-Orbif Saxd

Pipe Clamp Rack 6

Keep yourpipe clamps organized and right at hand with
this easy to build wall-mounted rack.

Radial Arm Saw Return 7

Make your rad~alarmsaw saferto use w~thth~s accessory
It returns the blade after each cut and keeps it there.

Random-Orbit Sanders 8
A look at random-orbit sanders. What makes them
different, how they work, and techniques for sanding.
Hand Plane page 10
Hand Plane 10
There's nothing complicated about making your own
hand plane. Especially when you start with a special
blade set and build the plane around it.

Portable Miter saw station 16

You can make yow power miter saw safer and more accu-
rate to use with this work station. A unique design offers
support for long stock, yet knocks down easily for storage.

Sharpening with Sandpaper 24

You can ach~evea razor sharp edge on your hand tools
wlth thls qulck and mexpenave technique

Shop Solutions 28
Seven Shop-Tested Tips:Frame and Panel Jig, Sanding
Belt Storage Rack, Tip for Clamping Edging, Plugging
Mortises, Peel and Stick Veneer Tip, No-slip Water-
stones, and a Guide for Power Sanding.

P b o o d Grades 30
What the various grades of hardwood plywood mean.
And how to use them to your advantage

Hardware, project supplies, and mail order sources for

the projects in this issue

No. 11 ShopNotes
 2 JIGS & ACCESSORIES

4 ShopNotes No. 11
- -
 NOTE: COLLAR IS MADE

PUSH BLOCK

Use a C-clamp
to measure the
drameter of the
drill Dress column

out the hole for the drill press
column. To do this, measure the
diameter of the column and trans-
fer acircle of this size to the collar,
see tip in margin and Fig. 2a.
To avoid binding the pulley
when the collar is tightened, I
6.
npped a W-wide "clearance" strip
down the center, see Fig. 2. Then
cut to fit inside the bottom of the
pipe and screwed in place.
WIRE CABLE. All that's left is
to connect the counterweight to
the table by running a wire cable
over the pulley. I slipped one end
between the column and the table
clamp, and used a crimpon clip to
form a loop, see Fig. 5.
To attach the other end to the *
counterweight, a bolt is passed
through a hole in the pipe and
another loop in the cable. Note:
Filing a notch in the bolt keeps
the wire from sliding side to side,
refer to Fig. la.

it's just a matter of cutting the

curved openings for the column.
The collar is held together with
bolts. The trickis to align the holes
for the bolts in both pieces. To do
this, I clamped a fence and stop to
the drill press table, and then
drilled the holes, see Figs. 3 and 4.
ATTACH COLLAR Thenext step
is to attach thecollarby bolting the
two halves together with the pul-
ley in between. Tightening hex
nuts on the ends of the bolts locks
the collar in place.
COUNTERWEIGHT. NOW YOU
can add the counterweight. To
raise and lower the table without
exerting a lot of pressure, it
needs to be roughly equal to the
weight of the table.
What you use for a weight isn't
critical. The important thing is
it's compact enough so it doesn't

'
.bump into the column. I used a
length of 2' PVC pipe 6lled with
lead shot, refer t o Fig. la. To hold
the shot, a scrap piece of wood is

No. 11 ShopNotes 5
 P ipe clamps are one of those
tools that when you need
An easv to them, nothing else will do. But
build rack that when they're not being used,
organizes your where do you store them?
One solution is this Clamp
pipe 'lamps Rack, see photo. It mounts to the
and keeps them wall to organize your clamps and
right at hand. keen them riehtat hand. -
&P. To a"she1f'for the
clamps, I started by making the
top (A). Each clamp fits in a notch
cut in the front edge. The only
problem with this is there's no
support for the short sections be-
tween the notches. And with use,
heavy clamps can break these off.
To strengthen the top, I glued
a strip of Masonite to a piece of
#8x 2" Fh
DRILL "/$"-DIA.
COUNTERBORE.
w-DEEP
6 ShopNotes
34"-thick hardwood, see Fig. 1.
Next, to prevent clamps from
slipping out of the rack, the top is
tilted at a slight angle. To allow it
to fit tight against the wall, the
back edge is beveled, see Fig. la.
NOMIES. There are two things
to consider when you're ready to
cut the notches: the diameter of
the pipe, and size of the clamp
heads. In order for the clamps to
slide easily in and out of the rack,
the notches are sized 1/8" larger
than the diameter of the pipe. (In
my case, this is ll/s".)
It's also important to space the
notches far enough apart to pre-
vent the clamp heads from hitting
each other. For my 3/4" pipe
HARDWOOD
LAG SCREW
/
/ ,
/
clamps, I spaced the notches 3"
apart, see Fig. lb.
ARerthenotchesarecut, there's
one more thing to do. To prevent
the edges from splintering when
slidingclamps in and out, I routed
a slight chamfer on both faces of
the top (A), see Fig. la.
BACK. With the top complete,
the next step is to make the back
(B). To tilt the top slightly, the
top edge is beveled at a 5" angle,
see Fig. la. Then the top and back
are glued and screwed together.
MOUNT mca AU that's left is @
to mount the rack in a handy loca-
tion. Because of the weight of the
clamps, I used lag screws and fas-
tened them into wall studs.
No. 11
 Arm Saw
0 ne thimg I've noticed about
the blade on my radial arm
saw is it has a tendency to creep
forward when the saw is running.
The thought of the blade aeci-
dentally catching the edge of a
workpiece and "walking" across
the top is downright scary. So I
built a simple return to hold the
blade in back of the fence until I'm
ready to make a cut.
SPRING. % k tmakes the return
work is a spring that attaches to
the column of the saw and the
carnage, see Fig. 1. The spring
No. 11
keeps the blade from inching for-
ward. As you pull the blade to-
ward you to make a cut, the
tension that's produced draws the
blade back to its starfig point.
The trick is to get a spring that's
strong enough to return the blade,
yet not so stiffit's hard to pull. To
do this, I measured the total
travel of the blade. (In my case,
this was 17".) Then I bought a
spring a t the hardware store that
extended easily to this distance.
COLLAR To anchor the spring,
I added a collar (A) to the column
COLLAR DETAIL
ShopNotes
of the saw, see Fig. 2. The collar
starts out as a 3h"-thick piece of Make uouy
hardwood ( I used maple).
u
radial arm saw
To fit it to the saw, you'll need
to measure the diameter of the safer to use
column and mark a circle of this with a scrap of
size ontbe collar, see detailinFig. wood a d afew
2. Then, after ripping it down the gieces of
center, the w e d openings can hardware.
be cut. Before attaching the col-
lar, I drilled a hole for an eye bolt
that secures one end of the spring.
ATTACH COLLAR The collar is
held together with bolts. (For a
tip on aligning and drilling the
holes for these bolts, refer to
Figs. 3 and 4 on page 5.) Next,
pinch the collar tight around the
column by installing the bolts and
tightening nuts on the ends.
INSTALL HARDWARE. TO com-
plete the return, I attached the
eye bolt with two hex nuts. One
end of the spring is attached to
the "eye", and the other to an S-
hook which fits over the knob that
locks the blade in the rip position.
(2)V4" X 4V2"
Hex Bolts
.
( 4 ) V4" Washers
(4) V4" Hsr Nves
(1) V4" x 1V2"
Eye Bolt
(1) 5/8" X '?-?/8"
5pring
(1) #6 x 1Yz"
5-Hook
7
 Random-Orbit
Sanders

PALM-GRIP RIGHT-ANGLE

Radomorbit
sandws remove
w hen random-orbit sanders sandingaction-but cab be more ble a f b b h sander, see above.
Erst appearedinthe wood- difficult to control.
working catalogs afew years back,
I was a bit skeptical. Did I really THREE S M E S
They're jmall, lightweight, and
intended for one-handed use. But
as with the pistol-grip style
0.
stock quickly need another sander? After all, AIthough themotionofallrandm- (where the motor is above the
I've built a lot of projects with orbit sanders is similar, there are disk), these sanders are tall and
without ereat- just a belt and finish sander. three distiid styles: pjgtol-grip, have a tendency to tilt.
ing cross-gr&n Eventually, I gave in to cnrios- palm-grip, and right-angle. R I G x r r m ~ ~ ~ . l ' hright-an-
e
smaiches. ity and bought one. And I'mglad PISTOLGRIP.Pistol-grip sand- gle style sander is basically a
I did. The random-orbit sander ers (also called in-line) have their right-angle grinder with a ran-
removed material a lot faster motors dz~ectlyabove the sand- dom-orbit head, see above.
than my finish sander. And unlike h p disk. see Drawing above.
my belt sander, I could sand in ~ g c the e drive motion-is trans-
any direction without creating ferred diiedly to the di&k,these
cross-grain swatches. sanders are very quiet. And
DRNE S Y ~So. how can a the "pisto1"style grip makes
random-orbit sander do dlthh? It these sanders the easiest
has to do with the drive system. to control - even with
A sh& rotates a counter- one hand.
weighted disk.This disk carries an But putting the motor
off-center bearing. And attached above the disk does have
to the bearing is a pad that holds its drawbacks. A tall mo-
sandpaper. In operation, the off- tor housing makes it difficult
set between the shafk and disk to sand inside cramped cabi-
creates both rotary and orbital nets or drawers. There's also
motions, see Drawing at right. a tendency to tip or tilt durin
The amount of offset ranges sanding which can cause the dis

manufacturer. Generally, larger

-
from %3z1'to 552''dependingonthe to m g., e the worhieee.
PALM-GRIP. random- N m : RANDOM OFFSET
offsets offer a more aggressive orbit sanders most closely resem- WGGERAED FOR CLARlTY

No. 11
.
 Though noisy, these sanders simplestmethod of attachingsand- 4 PSA. Pressure
generally have large, powerful paper, see photo at right. Just press sensitive adhesive
motors. Which makes them very the disk on the pad and start sand- backed disks pro-
aggressive - almost like a belt ing. Since the disk is stuck di- vide the best "feel"
sander. Thii means they take off rectly to the pad, I've found I get
of the work sur-
stock quickly and are excellent better feedback when sanding-
face. And when
for rough shaping and sanding. it's easier to "feel" the surface I'm
the disk wears out,
The only drawback to this ag- sanding. And when it's worn out,
just peel it off and
gressive sanding styleis it makes peel it off and throw it away.
throw it away.
a right-angle sander harder to HOOK & LOOP. the hook
control. Forbest results, I always and loop system, disks can be re-
use two hands. One on the body, moved and remounted many times,
and the other on the bicycle-style see photo at right. In addition to
grip that comes with the sander. this, there's another advantage. 4 Hook & Loop.
A wide range of optional disks Sanding disks that
SANDPAPER OPTIONS are also available (such as buffing attach with the
In addition to the different styles, and polishingpads). You can even hook and loop sys-
there are also a couple of options stick a piece of Scotch-Brite di- tem can be re-
for attaching sandpaper to the rectly on the disk (or a felt pad) moved and
pad. pressure sensitive adhesive and do some nice 6nish sanding. remounted many
(PSA), and hook and loop (hook The only disadvantage to hook tihes to increase
and loop is similar to Velcro). and loop is (depending on the the life of the disk.
PSA. A disk backedwith apres- source), the disks may cost you
sure-sensitive adhesive is the more than PSA.

The first time I used a random- random-orbit sander (particu- LK ; , z . you're fin-
When
orbit sander the sanding disk larly the pistol and palm-grip ished sanding, some manufac-
skipped over the work surface styles), you decrease the sand- turers suggest you let the
like a flat stone on a calm pond. ing action. Additional pressure sander stop on the workpiece.
I was sure there was something actually slows down the free- But I've noticed the disk hops
wrong. But there wasn't. The wheeling disk and results in around when I do this and
random orbit motion just takes less sanding. I've found that scratches the surface. So in-
some getting used to. light to moderate pressure pro- stead, I turn the sander off and
SW-m..The first notice- duces the best results. lift it stmight up and off.
able difference is how you start
up. To reduce the chance of
gouging the work when the
disk first makes contact, these
sanders are best started while surface wifh d~sk
in contact with the workpiece. flat and turn ~ton.
And you should always start
the sander with the disk flat,
andinfull contact with the sur-
face (and keep it that way). disk flat and Use
PRESSURE. Another peculi-
arity of these sanders is they
don't respond to pressure like
other sandem where additional
pressure results in a more ag- prevent disk from
gressive sanding action.
When you press down on a

No. 11 ShopNotes
 Hand
Plane
A simple design and a unique
method of securing the blade make
building this plane aneasy a l t e m -
tive to a traditional wood plane.

T here's no question about it.

I have an incurable weak-
ness when it comes to hand
EXPLODED
VIEW
planes -especially wood planes.
There's just something special
about the look and "feel" of a
wood-bodied plane.
The problem is making a tradi-
tional wood plane and fitting the
blade correctly can be time con-
suming work.
So we designed a small hand
plane that combines the look and
feel of awood plane with a simple,
straightfonvard method for hold-
ing the blade, see photo. The re-
sult of all this is you can build the
plane in the morning and be mak-
ing shavings in the afternoon.
BLADE. I started with a 1%'-
wide blade manufactured by the

1
Hock Company. As with other
Y4'' WASHER
Hock blades I've used, it's made
of high quality steel and holds an
edge extremely well. Like most Yd'' - 28 x lV$'
SOCKET HEAD
- FRONT
bench plane blades. it comes with CAP SCREW BLOCK
a cap iron as part'of a matched
set. (For sources, see page 31.)
But even a good blade won't f \
work well unless it's sharp. So I CR055 SECTION
took a few minutes to get a nice, CAP SCREW THREAD5
INTO CAP IKON
sharp edge. (For more on sharp-
ening, see page 24.)
CORE. After sharpening the
blade, I started work on the core
.
~
of the plane. I t consists of two
6
~

.. .
~. ~ >
wedge-shaped blocks, see Ex-
ploded View. When the sides are
added later, the blade fits in the CAP
BLADE AGAINST BACK BLOCK
openingcreatedby the two blocks. 1
10 ShopNotes No. 11
 Both blocks start out as a sin-
gle hardwood blank, see Fig. 1.(I
used a piece of hard maple.) The
thickness of this blank deter-
mines the width of the opening
for the blade. To allow for some
side to side hlade adjustment, the
blank is '/r6" thicker (19!6") than
the width of the blade (1%").
CUT BWCKB. To provide room
inside the plane for the shavings,
the front block CA) is cut at a 70'
angle, see Figs. 1and 2. The angle
of the back block fB) determines
the cutting angle of the blade.
For all-arounduse,I cut it at a40"
angle, and then trimmed the block
to length, see Figs. 1 and 2.

The next step is to pravide a way

to mount the blade. This is where
I took a slight detour from the
traditional approach. Instead ofa
wood wedge that exerts pressure
from above, the blade is "screwed''
to the back block from below.
The secret is a socket head cap
screw. It passes through a hole in
the back bloek, and into the also a bit unusual. The first step to start drilling in the bottom of
threaded hole in the cap iron, see is to find the paint where the drill the block. This depends on the
Cross Section on page 10. Tight- bit will exit. To do this, position distancefrom the tip of the block
ening the screw draws the cap the cap iron so the tip ir located to the mark The idea is to clamp
iron tight against the blade and just behind the mrtting edge, see a fence this same distance away
locks it in place. Fig. a. Then mark the location of from the centerpoint of a bit, see
EXITHOLE. In addition to se- the hole with a brad point bit. Fig. 4. Then, with the tip of the
curing the blade with a screw, the Once the exit point is estab- block against the fence, drill a
procedure for locating the hole is lished, the trick is knowingwhere counterbored shank hole.

SECONDr MARK EXIT HOLE

WITH BRAD POINT BIT

No. 11 ShopNotes 11
After completing the core, work
can begin on the sides of the
plane. The sides are just thin
strips of hardwood that hold the
front and back blocks together.
Although any hardwood would
work here, it's a perfect opportu-
nity to experiment with an un-
usual or highly figured piece of
wood. I chose apiece of curly ma-
ple for the sides. We also built
another plane with sides made of
walnut, refer to photo onpage 10.
Regardless of the wood you
use, each side (C) starts out as an
V8"-thick bJank that's cut to a
rough length of 7",see Fig. 5. At-
taching these blanks to the front
and back blocks does two things.
First, it creates the opening for
the blade. Second, it forms the
sole (bottom) of the plane.
SOLE. The sole keeps the blade
a consistent distance kom the
workpiece. So in order to produce
an even cut, it needs to be as flat
as possible. To ensure that it's flat, makes it easier to check that the this block creates an opening or
-
I used the top of my table saw to sides are straight and square. "throat" in the sole of the plane
align the bottom edges of the sides FRONT BLOCK I attached the for the blade, see Fig. 7a. The idea
and blocks, see Fig. 6. Note: A front block (A) &st. After apply- is to make this opening large
piece ofwax paperproteds the top ing glue to the sides of the block, enough so shavings don't clog it
from glue squeew-out. it's just a matter of clamping the up. Yet small enough to produce
sides (C) around it so they're a clean cut.
ASSEMBLY flush a t the end, see Fig. 6. SET OPENING. An easy way to
To avoid having to align all the THROAT OPENING. When the establish this opening is to use the
parts a t once, I assembled the glue dries, you're ready to add blade as a "gauge."To do this, tem-
plane one block a t a time. This the back block (B). The position of porarily install the blade so the cut-

CUTTING EDGE

POBITION CUTTING
EDGE FLUSH WlTH
BOlTOM OF BACK

12 ShopNotes No. 11
ting edge is flush with the bottom cm TO SHAPE. With the pat- form a gradual crown, see Crown
of the back block, see Fig. 7a. tern in place, the plane is ready to Detail below. To raise the plane to
To attach the hack block (B), cut to rough shape. Start by cut- a comfortable working height, I
apply glue to the sides of the ting to within 1/16"of the line on clamped it in a handscrew that's
block. Then spread the sides (C) the band saw, see Fig. 8. Thenuse tightened in a vise, see Fig. 9.
apart just a bit as you slide the the drum sander on the drill press S A N ~SMOOTA. All that's left to
block forward, see Fig. 7. to sand up to the line. do is to sand the plane smooth. An
When the cutting edge touches CROWN. There's just one more easy way to sand the ends is to
the tip of the front block, clamp thing to do to complete the basic use a strip of sandpaper and
the block in place. Then remove shape. That's to file the sharp cor- '%uff'the plane as if you're shii-
the blade, and clean up any glue ners off both ends of the plane to ing a pair of shoes, see Fig. 10.
that squeezed out.
SHAPINB THE PLANE
REMOVE PLANE
With the sides in place, the next BLADEBEFORE
step is to shape the body of the
plane. I experimented with sev-
eral different shapes to find the
most comfortable grip.
The one I l i e d best has a
rounded hack that fits in the palm
of my hand. And the gentle curve
on the top of the plane lets me
apply pressure without having
my finger slip off the h n t block,
see F u l l - S i Pattern above.
Editor'sNota You may prefer to
customize your own shape. But if
yon want to use the pattern shown
above without cutting it out of
the issue, you can reproduce it on
a photocopy machine.
PATTERN. TOposition the pat-
ternon the side of theplane,there's
a dashed line representing the an-
gled part of the front block. The
pattern can he attached to the
side of the plane with either a
spray-on adhesive (like 3M's
Spray Mount) or rubber cement.

No. 11 ShopNotes 13
Tuning Up the Plane
Like any plane (wood or metal),
this hand plane needs to be tuned
up before you can use it. This
takes a little patience. But the
satisfaction you'll get seeing thin
shavings curl off a workpiece is
worth the effort.
TRUE THE SOLE
The key to this tune-up is to
"true" the sole (bottom) of the
plane so it's good and flat. This
does two things.
First, it ensures that the plane
rides evenly across a worlcpiece,
so you end up with a smooth, eon-
sistent cut. Second, it enlarges "scrubbing" the plane back and clog up the plane. To check this,
the throat opening for the blade. forth across the sandpaper. To install the blade so the cutting
SAND BOIT~M. TO flatten the avoid sanding too much (and edge is flush with the sole, see
sole, I place a piece of fine grit openingup the throat toofar),it's Fig. 12. What you're looking for
sandpaper on a flat surface (Wze a a good idea to check your pro- here is a 1/16"gap between the tip
saw table). Note: To prevent the pess frequently. of the front block and the blade,
plane from rocking, clamp a board CmCK OPENING.The idea is see Fig. 12a. If the gap isn't wide
90" to the saw table, see Fig. 11. to make the throat opening just enough, remove the blade and
Now it's simply a matter of large enough so shavings don't continue sanding.
SQUARE OPENING. once the
throat opening is established,
there's just one more thing to
check. That's to see if the h n t
edge ofthe openingis squareto the
sides, see Fig.13. Ifit's not square,
remove the blade and carefully
makeafew lightpasses with a file,

FINISH. Finally, to complete

the plane and protect the surface
from getting dirty, I applied a
couple of coats of an oil fiish.

REMOVE BLADE
BEFORE FILING

IF NECESSARY
LE EDGE OF FRON
BLOCK SQUARE

14 ShopNotes No. 11
Adjusting the Blade
As with any plane, the secret to with a mallet. Note: To avoid
getting paper-thin shavings is to
use a sharp blade, and adjust it so
the cutting edge is just a whisker
below the sole of the plane.
I start by roughly positioning
the blade, see Step 1.To hold it in
place, the cap screw is tightened
with an Allen wrench so the blade
is snug, see photo.
FINE TUNING.Before fine tun-
ing the blade, I make a trial cut.
Depending on the thickness ofthe
shaving, the blade can he raised
(or lowered) by tapping the plane
damaging the plane, use either a
wood or a No-Mar mallet.
To make a shallower cut, tap
the back of the plane to move the
blade back, see Step 2. Tapping
the front of the plane moves the
blade forward for a deeper cut.
SQUARE BLADE. If you need to
square the blade, the process is
slightly different. The "high" cor-
ner of the blade is dropped into
the cutting position by tapping J , 8~ blade is held in place by
on the opposite side of the plane, tightening the socket head cap
see Step 3. screw w~than Allen wrench

Step I: Position the Blade.

The blade is positioned so the
cutting edge is flush with the
sole. Then the cap screw is tight-
ened wrth an Allen wrench until
the blade IS snug. Th~spulls the
cutting edge down just below the
sole of the plane.

Step 2: Adjust Depth of Cut.

After making a trial cut, you may
need to adjust the depth of cut.
To make a shallower cut, tap on
the back of the plane with a mal-
let. To make a deeper cut, tap the
front of the plane.

Step 3: Square the Blade.

To maintain a consistent depth
HIGH CORNEROF
of cut across the width of the BLADE DROPS INTO
blade, the cutting edge should
be parallel with the sole. Striking
the opposite side of the "high"
corner drops the blade info the
cutting position.
ON LOW SIDE

No. 11 ShopNotes 15
 Portable Miter Saw 0
Station Ad
T h e u n i q u e design of t h i s
w o r k s t a t i o n makes y o u r
m i t e r saw safer and m o r e
accurate t o use.

C-

EXTENSION WINGS. To support long workpieces,

That's because the miter saw is one shop tool that's
never in the shop. Someone has alwaysborrowed it
to use at home. What else would you expeot with a
power tool that's both accurate and portable?
And every time the miter saw comes back into
the workshop, there's always ta& about building a
, work station for it. Something that would support
long stock. And some sort of a stop system for
making accurate repeat cuts.
The challenge was to incorporate all these ideas
without sacrificing portability. Our answer is this
Miter Saw Station, see photo above.
we designed a pair of extension wings that attach
to the ends of the station. For portab'ity, these
wings can be "tucked" away inside the case, see
photo A. And whenstored, the wings provide built-
inhandlee to make it easy to lift and move the miter
saw, see photo B.
FENCE SYSTEM. One problem with most miter
saws is they have short fences. And this makes it
difficult to position a long workpiece for an accurate
cut. To solve this, we added a pair of rails to extend
the fences, see photo above. And for acmate re-
peat cuts, there's even a stop system that slides in
slots cnt in the fence rails, see photo C.

n. Wings:A paw of wrngs offer sup- B. Portable: To make it easy to lrft C. Stop System: For accurate repeat
port to long stock and then "tuck" and carry the mrter saw statron, The cuts, an adjustable stop slrdes ~nslots
away mns~dethe case for storage w~ngshave bu~lt-~nhandles cut m the fence rails

16 ShopNotes No. 11
 The Case
*I-.
t.", b.
.A=pcr
P.nuvLn
RABBET DETAIL 1w
INSIDE EDGE
ON TOP PIECE5 CUT MATCH
HEIGHT OF
4 - . -. _ --..
YOUR SAW

.-

I started work on the Miter Saw top pieces (Dl, see Fig. 2. (F) are glued in each end of the
Station by making the case. It's MOW SAW. At this point the case, see Fig. 3. These supports
. hasicallv an oven-ended box with saw can be attached to the ease. are used later to mount the
U-shaped sides, see Fig. 1. To do this, center the saw from wings. Note: I found it easiest to
SIDES. The U-shape forms a re- side to side on the platform. And drill holesin the supports (for the
cess for the miter saw to sit in, see slide i t as close to t h e h n t edge wings) before gluing and screw- @
Fig. 1.At the same time, this cre- as possible. Then drill holes and ing them in place, see Fig. 3.
ates a work support surface on secure the saw with T-nuts and To complete the case, I screwed
either side of the saw, see Fig. 1. hex bolts, see Fig. 2a. four rnbber feet to the bottom,
To fit most 10"miter saws, the SUPPORTS. Next, two supports refer to Fig. 1.
recess in each side (A) is 20"wide.
An easy way@ (Note: For a sliding compound or
WOODSCREW
"drawna ~ . into~ large
~ tmiter saw, you may need to
hardwood is to adjust the case dimensions.)
use a wrenchand The important thing is that the
a hex-head bolt, top of the case end up flush with
the table of your saw. For this to
happen, the height (width) of the
short pieces that form the sides of
the "UU"mustmatch the height of
the saw table top, see Fig. 1.
BCWlQM,F%4!llWRM,&MP. The
bottom (B),platfomn (C), and top
pieces (D)are all the same width
(16"). But the lengths of these
pieces vary, see Fig. 1.To keep the
pieces aligned, I cut rabbets on the
edges, see Fig. 1.Then I glued and
screwed the case together.
BRACES. Next, to strengthen
the case and help prevent it from
racking, I added two hardwood
braces (El, see Fig. 2. They fit
between the sides and under the

ShopNotes
 Y

CASE

I
EUPPORT
LIP I
WOODSCREW
-%
e"r-p L.

ABLE SUPPORT DETAIL

Afkr complebhg the m e , I ATI%CH TBE WW%In order to allow you to use the same knobs
added a pair ofwin@ to support honk down and set up the wings to sermre the wing in either the
long w o ~ ~ e c e s , s e e4.H~ quicklx they're held in place with open matoredposition.Thetricky
LIP. But hefore mrb@inbegn ithreaded h4h8 (4pthumbscrws) part is aligning these holes with
on the M@ , a& to glue
yaulll adT-nu&. (FarMware mmes, the onw you drilled in the sup-
a Wdtpoot3 Ep 6 3 cross each
l seepage 31-1 The tweaded h o b s ports (F).TO do this, Iused dowel
end of the d e ,seeFig.4. We lip psssthxoughtheholesyoudrikd centers, see Figs.5 and 6.
covers the edge of the plywood earlier in the supports (F)and After drilling the holes,install
bottom (B) and helps tn support thead into T-nuts, see Fig. 4a. the T-nuts. Fimdly, position the
the wing-8. Two sets of holes in each wing wings mdthread in the knobs.
mm. With the lips glued in
place, you can mad~e'the-6,
Each wing eonsistx of an end,two
supports, and a table, see F4g. 4
The 5mt step is t o make the
ends,To prevent a workgiem born
catching on the wings, if$impor-
tant that the & (a be dwh
with the top of the w e . The
height of the ends (m is the di5
tancefi-omthe top oftheEpto the
top of the ewe (inmy m e , 6").
To completetheends (El,I cut
a handle hole in each to make it
easy to move the saw, see Fig. 4
SUPPOR%S 8 f 'rmmAttached
toea& end (IT) aretwo table mp-
parts (IJ and a &hie (61% see Fig.

*
4. To Size the tab1;lblasbthe wings
will £it inslde the case, measurn:
between the supports @) and
subtract. W for clearance {IOWj.
Then rabbet the edges and glue
and screw the wings together.

No. 11 ShopNotes 19
Once the wings are complete, the
station is ready to use. But I've
never been satisfied with the
short fences on my miter saw. It's
awkward to position and hold a
long workpiece. And for repeat
cuts, there's nothing to clamp a
stop block to.
To solve both of these prob-
a/a" MOUNTING HOLES
IN EACH RAIL
BABE AND BACK
ARE MADE FROM
3/+"-THICK STOCK
NOTE: CHAMFER BOlTOM EDGE OF FACE FOR ~ A W D U S T R E L I E F ~
20
lems, I added a pair of shop-built
rails, see Fig. 7. They feature a
built-in T-slot for a stop system
added later. And just like the
wings, the rails attach to the case
with threaded knobs. This way
they can be easily removed (and
stored, see page 21).
THREE PARTS. Each fence rail
ShopNotes
is made up of three parts: a base,
back, and face, see Fig. 8. The
base (K) provides a foundation
for the hack. And two mounting
holes drilled in each piece allow
you to attach the rails to the case
later, see Figs. 7 and 8.
Each back (L) supports the
workpiece and is grooved for the
stop system added later, see Fig. @
8. After each groove is cut, a back
is glued to a base to form an "I,,"
see Fig. 8.
For accurate cuts, it's impor-
tant that the back is 90" to the
base. So before you glue these
pieces up, dry clamp them and
check for square.
Note: Make sure to glue on
each base (K) to create aright and
a left fence rail. (The end of each
base with the mounting hole
should face in toward the saw, see
Figs. 7 and 8.)
FACE. The next step is to add
the face pieces. Each face (M) is
cut from Vim-thick Masonite and
is glued on top of the groove in each
back, see Fig. 8.
Note: After gluing on the faces,
sand or rout a chamfer on the
bottom front edge for sawdust
relief, see Fig. 8.
T-SLOT.Finally, to create the
'T"and provide a rock-solid way
to lock the stop system in place, a a
slot is cut in each face, see Figs. 9
and 9a.
No. 11
Mountin4 the Rails

fence, and the fence rail to the

a . To make it easy to
wing, see Fig. 10. Then hold the
reposition the ralls,
other end of the rail in place and
mark a reference
drill through the holes in the
fence base and into the case and
liw on the table.
wings, see Fig. 10a.
Note: To make it easy to re-
align the rails whenever they're
removed, see margin tip at right. POSITION RAILS IN LINE
T-NUTS. All that's left is to add WITH FENCE OF MITER SAW
T-nuts and threaded knobs and
screw the rails in place.

To make it as convenient as possible THIRD HOLE.TObolt both rail ends through the hole in each end of the rail
to lift and move the Miter Saw Sta- to the case, you'll need to drill a thkd and into the side, see Drawing and
tion, the rails can be mounted out of 34-dia. mounting hole in each fence Cross Section.
the way on the rear of the case, see rail, see Drawing. MOW m s . Finally, to secure
Drawing. They're held in place with Then, to locate the matching holes the fence rails, insert the T-nuts and
the same knobs used to mount them in the case for the T-nuts, just hold screw the rails to the case with the
on top of the case, see Drawing. each railup against the case. And drill threaded knobs, see Drawing.

HOLD RAILS IN PLACE

AN0 DRILL INTO CASE

ADD T-NUTS AND ATTACH RAIL5

No. 11 ShopNotes
 THREADEDKNOB

THREADED

work can begin on the stop sys-

tem. To allow you to make quick
and accurate repeat cuts, the stop
system slides in the T-slot in the
fence rails, see Fig. 11.
~REEPAIETS.The only prob-
lem is there isn't a T-slot in the
miter saw fence. In order to use

a clamp block, a length of steel

To prevent the
rod. and a slidine" s t o ~This
. wav
steel rod from
you can extend the stop out over
binding, use a
the table of the miter saw, see
dowel wrapped
photo above.
with sandpaper to
CLAMP BLOCK I started work
enlarge the hole.
by making the clamp block (N),
see Fig. 12. The clamping action
is provided by a toilet bolt (avail-
able at most hardware stores). It
passes through the block and fits
in the T-slot in the fence rail, see
Fig. lla. Tightening a plastic
knob (or wing nut) on the end of
the bolt pinches the bolt in the
slot and locks the stop in place.
Next, a hole is drilled the length
of the block to accept a steel rod,
see Fig. 12 and margin tip at left.
To help prevent the clamp
block from twisting and binding
as it slides back and forth, I glued
a kt'-thick Masonite cap (0) to
the top of the block, see Fig. 12.
THREADED INSERT.In use, the
steel rod is locked in place with a
threaded knob (or thumbscrew).
I t runs through a threaded insert
in the damp body to pinch the rod
in the hole, see Figs. 12 and 12a.
s m . Next, I added a stop (P)
to the end of the rod, see Fig. 1 3 . 6
Safety Note: To keep your hands
away kom the blade, the stop
doesn't extend all the way to the
blade -it stops 6" away from it.
To strengthen the stop, I glued
a Masonitefaee (Q) to one end, see
Fig. 13. And for sawdust relief, I
sanded a chamfer on all edges.
Finally, epoxy the steel rod in
the stop. When it's dry, slide it
into the clamp body and attach
the stop system to the fence rail.

CLAMP BLOCK

INTO CLAMP BLOCK

22 ShopNotes No. 11
 TOP UP AGAINST CLAMP BLOCK
For the majority of cuts I make,
I butt the stop (P)up against the POSITION ASSEMBLY FOR DESIRED CUT
clamp block (N) and lock it in
place, see Drawing.
Nowto set the stop forarepeat
mt, first loosen the plastic knob
on the clamp block. Then slide the
entire assembly for the desired
cut and lock it in place.

Extended STOP S Y S l E M NEAR END OF RAIL

To cut shorter workpieces, slide
OP FOR DEBlR
the stop near the end of the rail
and lock it in place, see Drawing.
Thenloosen the threaded knob
on top of the clamp block and ex-
tend the stop (P) out for the de-
sired cut. Safety Note: The stop
should always be at least 6" away
from the blade.

Lofig Stock
To make repeat cuts on stoek
longer than the fence rails, I
added an optionalstop,see photo.
It's similar to the fence system
except it fits under the left wing.
The optional stop consists of a
rod clamp (22) and a two-piece
stop, see Figs. 1and 2. These two
parts are connected with a %'$-
diameter steel rod.
Note: Since I wanted to store
the stop in the m e and still get
the maximum extension, the
steel rod is cut 22" long.
I
M O W STOP. TOmount the as-
sembled stop, position it under
the wing soit butts up against the
face of the fence rail. Then glue
and screw the clamp block to the
wing table (J), refer to Fig. 1.

No. 11 ShopNotes 23

0 ne thing I've learned over
the years is there's more
than onc nay tu get a joh (lone
light. Take s h q e n i n g a chiselor
pime iron for example. Lately,
I've been experimenting with a
slightly "offbeat" technique that
doesn't even require a sharpening
stone. Yet it produces a sharp edge
in a matter of minutes.
SANDPAPER The key to this
system is an inexpensive (yet ef-
fective) abrasive that's available
at most hardware stores - Wet
or Dry silicon carbide sandpaper.
What makes it such agood choice
for sharpening is the particles of
silicon carbide that are bonded to
the paper. They're extremely hard
and sharp, so they cut quickly.
Another advantage to silicon
carbide paper is it can be used
A piece of glass provides an ideal
surfacefor flattening the back or
bevel of a blade. But it has a
tendency to slide back and forth
as you're sharpening.
To hold the glass in place, I use
a simwle shamenincr wlatfonn. see
u.
Drawing. This isjust a scrap piece
of plywood with Masonite cleats
attached at each end of the glass.
Another advantage of the
platform is it keeps metal filings
I
from spreading out onto your
work area.
24
S i l i c o n carbide sandpaper p r o v i h s a
quick
. and inexpensivew& tb get a r a z o r
s h a r p edge o n a chisel o r p l a n e i r o n .
either wet or dry. I prefer to use
it "wet" by spraying water on the
sandpaper. (1mist it nith a splay
hottle.) This floats the figxaway
and keeps the paper from clogging
up. And since it has a waterproof
backing, the paper won't fall apart
as you're sharpening.
THE EDGE. Whether you use
the paper wet or dry, the thing to
keep in mind as you're sharpen- thick glass, see box below. But the
ingis the geometry of the cutting bed of a jointer or a table saw
edge. It's formed by the intersec- would also work. Note: If you're
tion of two surfaces - the back using the paper "wet," be sure to
andthe bevel, see Fig. 1.To create use alubricant like WD-40 topre-
a sharp edge, the secret is to vent rust.
make both of these surfaces as
smooth and flat as possible. FLATTEN THE BACK
GLASS. The only way to ensure Although flattening the hack re-
a perfectly flat hack (or bevel) is quires a little elbow grease, the
to work off a surface that you nice thing about it is you only
know is flat. I use a piece of W- need to do it one time. Once it's
3/d''-THlCK PLYWOOD
SCREW CLEATS TO PLYWOOD
L OKEEP GLASS FROM SLIDING
T
CLEAT
(!@'-THICK MASONNE)
I1-
I
ShopNotes No. 11
. *
flat, you just need to concentrate
on the bevel the next time you
sharpen the blade.
So why bother with the back at
all? Because even with a brand
new chisel, it may not be per- "HOLLOW IN BACK CROWN ON BACK FLAVCN BACK TO GET
fectly flat. If the back has a slight PRODUCES DISHED EDGE RESULTS IN STRAIGHT CUTTING EDGE
CURVEDEDGE
hollow, you end up with a
"dished" cutting edge, see Fig. 2.
A crown on the back results in a
cnrved edge.
To eliminate these problems, I
start with apiece of 240grit sand-
paper and workon about a 1"-long
area behind the cutting edge.
Note: Spraying some water on To lay the ground-
the glass before positioning the work for a sharp
paper creates a surface tension edge, the back of
that helps keep the paper from the blade is pol-
sliding back and forth. ished to a mirror
When flattening the back, the booth fin~sh
idea is to apply pressure over the
beveled end of the blade and
make firm, even strokes across

*
the sandpaper, see Fig. 3. As the
sanding progresses, you'll begin
to see a shiny surface develop on
the back ofthe blade. When it ex-
tends clear across the blade, the
back is flat.
POLISH BACK.Even when the
back is flat, it still needs some
work. That's because the coarse
grit paper leaves large scratches
behind. Each of these scratches
forms a tiny nick where it meets
the cutting edge of the blade.
RANGE OF GRITS. TOremove
these scratches, I polish the back
with a progression of finer grits.
I move on to 400 grit next, and
then follow it up with 800 and
1,000grit sandpaper.
While this produces a service-
able edge, I like to continue pol-
ishing with 1,600 and 2,000 grit
paper to get a mirror smooth fin-
ish. (I found these extra fine
grits of sandpaper at an auto
body parts store.)
SQUARE THE EDGE. Once the
back is flat and smooth, there's
one more thing to do before you
begin workon the bevel. That's to
check that the edge is square, see
the box below.

Afterflatkning the back, 1 make permanent mark*.

it ahabittheheck thatthecutting
edge is square to the sides.
This is especially important
when sharpening a plane iron.
TkaYs b e m # e most planes are
d e e d @hid a blade wi$h an
edge that's 9Q0to the sides.
Fwtamtelg, thee% nothing
compai%ked about reshaping the
edge. Start by squaring a line
across &aback af the blade, 8ae
Drawin, N & % keep the h e
from hllrbing a, 1 use a Brie tip
If a lot of material needsto be
removed to square up the edge, I
make a few light passes amom
the high corner with afile. Butif
the edge isre~sonablyclose,Iu6e
a slightly diffasent approach.
Basically, the idea here is to
square up the edge and flattan
the bevel at Wle same time. This
is just a mtter ofapplying more
pressure to the high corner as
you're sharpening. (For more on
this teebiqw, wfer to page 26.)

No. 11
 - the Bevel
Flattening
Once the back is flat and you've
polished it to a smooth finish,
you're halfway to a sharp edge.
Now you can concentrate on the
bevel. The god here is to make
the surface of the bevel as flat and
smooth as the back.
CONSISTENTANGLE. The key
to gettimg a smooth, flat bevel is
to hold the chisel (or plane iron)
a t a consistent angle to the sharp-
ening surface. The problem is it's
difficult to hold the blade a t the
correct angle as you sharpen it.
HONING GUIDE. TO solve this,
I mount the Made in a honing
guide, see Fig. 4. There are sev-
eral different styles of honing
guides available. The one I prefer
to use is nothing more than a roll-
ing clamp that holds the blade a t
the desired angle. (For infoma- ROLL HONING GUIDE BACK AND FORTH
ACROSSSANDPAPER
tion on this guide, see box below.)
FLAITEN THE:BEVEL With the
blade mounted in the honing
guide, you're ready to flatten the edge, I ''rough shape" the piece of fine grit sandpaper is all
the bevel. Here again, the idea bevel with a piece of 180 grit pa- that's needed.
is to use silicon carbide paper per. But for most work, thisisjust EVEN PRESSURE. Regardless
and proceed from a coarse to a too coarse. of the grit, the important thing is
fine grit. The trick is knowing For example, if I'm sharpening to apply even pressure on the
where to start. a brand new chisel for the first blade. To keep the honing guide
* GRITS. Basically, this requires time, I'll start with a piece of 240 from rocking side to side, I place
matching the grit to the condition grit paper. Or, if I'm just touching my thumbs behind the guide and
of the bevel. To remove a nick in up an edge, a few strokes on a press my fingertips down on the

This honing guide solves the big-

gest problem ofgetting aperfectly
flat hevel -holding the chisel or
plane iron a t a consistent angle.
To secure the blade, there are
two pairs of adjustable jaws: a
wide set for plane irons, and a nar-
row set for chisels, see Drawing.
Regardless of which set of jaws
you're using, the angle of the bevel
depends on how far the blade pm- Thenjust tighten the screw that
By hold~nga chisel (or plane fron) at a consis- jects i n h t of the guide. I match locks the jaws, and apply pres-
tent angle to the sharpenfng surface, thfs the existing angle by positioning sure to the blade as you roll the
hon~nggwde ensures that the bevel remafns the blade in the jaws so the entire guide across the sharpening sur-
flat as you're sharpening surface of the bevel is flat. face. (For sources, see page 31.)

No. 11
 back of the blade right over the
6 evel, see Fig. 5. Now it's simply
a matter of rolling the guide back
and forth across the sandpaper.
As you're sharpening, it's a
good idea to check your progress
frequently. You're looking for
two things here: a square cutting
edge and a small metal '%oak" or
burr that forms when the back
meets the surface of the bevel,
see Fig. 6a.
5~uAFcE.Theedge is easy to
check for square. I either use a
small try square or compare the
edge to the lime drawn across the To create a razc
back of the blade earlier, refer to sharp edge, the
box on page 25. If one corner is bevel is flattenea
higher than the other, just con- so it's petfectly
tinue sharpening and apply more sqooth and flat.
pressure over the high corner.
BURR Another good indicator
of your progress is the burr, Since
it's too small to see, you'll need to
feel it by drawing your finger up
the back of the blade, see Fig. 6.
I)
Safety Note: Don't pull your fin-
ger along the edge. The ideais to
avoid putting deep scratches in
the back, I switch to the final
and forth until it breaks off.
POLISH BEVEL. All that's left
keep sharpening until there's a grit paper that was used to polish to produce a razor sharp edge is
nice even burr across the entire the back. to continue polishing the bevel
width of the blade. Now, without taking the blade using progressively finer grits of
REMOVE BURR. When YOU can out of the honing guide, alter- paper. As before, check the edge
feel a burr across the back of the nately stroke the back and the for square, and remove the burr
blade, the next step is to remove bevel across the sandpaper, see at each stage before going on to
it with a piece of sandpaper. To Fig. 7. This bends the burr back the next grit.

Sometimes all I need to do is

SCRAP PIECE OF
touch up the edge of a chisel or HARDWOOD
\
plane iron, Rather than go
through the entire sharpenkg
process, I use a "touch-upl'paddle.
Tbis isjast a pieee of hardwood . ...
withfine grit silicon carbide sand-
paper glu8d on, see Drawing. (I
use a spray a&esive like 3%
Sprq Mount.)
2h~ideahereistore8tthe bevel
flat.on the paddle. Then pull the
blade toWard you a m p 1 e of II PIECE OF FINE GRIT
ANDPA.PER WITH SPRAY-ON
times. This creates a very fine ADHESIVE
busr that's ea@ removed.

No. 11 ShopNotes 27
Fmme and finel Jig
H Gluing up a frame and panel
door so it ends up perfectly
square can be difficult. The pieces
always seem to slip out of square
during glue-up.
To get around this, I built a
simple jig that provides an accu-
rate reference when gluing up
panels, see photo.
The jig consists of a plywood
base and two cleats, see Drawing.
To provide an accurate reference,
it's important that the cleats are
screwed to base so they're 90" to
each other.
To use the jig, start by placing
each clamp directly over (and
parallel to) the rails of the frame.
Then, adjust the pressure and po-
sition of the clamps until the
frame sits square in the jig.
Note: To prevent any glue
a .
squeeze-out from sticking to the
jig, I brushed on several coats of
polyurethane finish to the base
SCREW SECOND CLEAT and cleats.
SQUARETO FIRST CLEAT Lonnie R. Baxtw
Murfmesbwo, Tennessee

fl I used to store my sanding belts

in a drawer. But every time I "KaL:; -v4i
needed to change a belt, I ended 3/e''DE
up emptying out the entire
drawer to find the one I wanted.
To avoid this, I made a wall-
mounted storage rack for my
sanding belts, see Drawing.
The rack consists of a %-thick
base with dowels, seeDrawing.
f
4" R

The dowels are soaced far

enough apart so the belts hang
without touching each other. And
to take up the least amount of
space, I mounted the rack a t 45". DOWEL ROD
Lzonel Fishman
Los Angeles, Calzfomkz

28 ShopNotes No. 11
 Clamping
- Edging
I came cross a ~ r o b l e mre-
6cently top. (To ensure a good glue joint,
when I needed to glue edg- space the clamps evenly about 6"
. ing to the ends of along table. The apart.) And to get the proper
problem was the table was longer clamping pressure on the joint
than my pipe clamps. So I came line, tap a small wedge between
up with this simple technique the edging and each clamp until
that uses C-clamps and wedges to the edging is tight.
hold the edging in place while the Spike Lacombe
glue dries, see Drawing. Pal~rump, Nevada
To do this, first attach the C- Editor's Note: This also works
clamps to the edge of the table for attaching counter top edging.

li

.* ,,
Plugging Mortises
:i. W Recently I was working on a tise temporarily with foam caulk-
'.
,S.?.
~$.
~-. project that had a series of slats ing rod, see photo. (The caulking
"'
that fit in mortises. Because of rod I used was slightly wider than
$ .
3:
the way the project was de-
signed, it was easier to apply the
the mortises.) After thevfinish
dries, just remove the foam rod.
. ...i finish before assembling all the A twenty foot length of%"-dia.
- pieces. The trick was keeping the caulking rod purchased from my
-&.
3 : finish out of the mortises - I
~

Lt
local hardware store cost $2.50.
wanted good glue joints later on. Gail Jeager
To do this, I plugged each mor- Rochester, New Ym%
0 -
*

Quick 7ipg
Occasionally, I use adhesive- workpiece with a coat of varnish. rn To prevent a waterstone from
backed veneer. In the past, I'd The varnish helps f i l in the po- sliding around on the workbench
1; just press the veneer down on the rous surface. And this provides a when sharpening a chisel or plane
workpiece and roll it out until the smoother work surface for the iron, place it on a damp cloth. The
air bubbles were gone. But some- veneer to stick to. cloth sticks to the workbench and
times after afew days the veneer After the varnish is completely the waterstone stays on the cloth.
would bubble back up. The sur- dry, just apply the veneer as you James Moon
face was too porous for the ve- normally would. East Point, Georgia
-?. neer to stick. Gus Klubal Editor's Note: A few damp pa-
To prevent this, I first seal the Williamstown, New Jersey per towels also works well.

Sanding Guide
.To prevent a power sander
(particularly a belt sander) from
tilting near the edge of a work-
piece and roundingit over, I place
another board that's the same
thickness up against the work-
piece, see Drawing. This way, the
sander rides across the edge in-
stead of rounding it over.
Kent Hester
Krernnzling, Colorado

No. 11
 Sources
ShopNotes Project Supplies is of- Hand Plane. The kit includes a
fering some of the hardware and 1W-wide Hock plane blade set,
supplies needed for the projects washer, and socket head screw. The Sharpening with Sandpaper
in this issue. All you need to supply is the article shown on page 24 de-
We've also put together a list of hardwood. scribes a method of sharpening
other mail order sources that 511-6811-100 Hand Plane that uses silicon carbide sandpa-
have the same or similar hard- Hardware Kit ................... $26.50 per instead of water or oil stones.
ware and supplies, The grit of the sandpaper used
MITER SAW STATION ranges *om 240 to 2000.
HAND PUNE The Miter Saw Station featured Most hardware stores cany
Using a hand plane that you've on page 16 will make your miter silicon carbide paper up to 600
made yourself is satisfying and saw safer and more accurate to grit. The finer grits (up to 2000)
rewarding. And the simple de- use - without sacrificing any can be found at most auto body
sign of the hand plane shown on portability. shops and supply stores. If you
page 10 makes i t easy to build A unique design allows a pair can't find this sandpaper locally,
your own. of extension wings to knock- see the mail order sources below.
down and slip into ihe station for
storage. Fence rails help position RANDOM-ORBIT SANDERS
long stock and are slotted to ac- The article on random-orbit
cept a stop system. This stop sys- sanders shown on page 8 explains
tem allows you to make quick and what makes these sanders differ-
accurate repeat cuts. ent from other sanders, and de-
ShopNotes Project Supplies is scribes how they work.
offering a hardware kit for the They're more aggressive than
Miter Saw Station. The kit in- an orbital (finishind -, sander. And
The heart of the plane is a blade cludes all the hardware needed to you don't have to wony about
set manufactured by Hock, see build the station. All you need to creating cross-grain scratches if
photo above. The set is made up supply is 3h"-thick hardwood and you sand across grain (or joint
of a thick blade for improved sta- plywood. Note: You'll also need to lines) like you do with a belt sander.
bility, and a matching chipbreaker supply the correct size mounting Random-orbit sanders can be
that adds rigidity to the blade as it bolts and T-nuts to attach your found at many hardware stores
helps reduce tear-out. miter saw to the station. and home centers. If you can't
ShopNotes Project Supplies is S11-6811-200 Miter Saw Sta- find them locally, see the mail or-
offering a hardware kit for the tion Hardware Kit ........... $23.95 der sources listed below.

-
MAlL ORDER SOURCES
Similar hardware and supplies may be found in the
following catalogs. Please call each company for a catalog BY MAIL BY PHONE
orfor ordering infmation. For fastest senice use our
Constantine's Japan Woodworker WoodcraR Toll Free order line. Open
8~2~3-8087 80-7-7820 800-~~153 Monday through Friday, 7:00
H ~ ~ , R
Hock a
Plans ~
Blades, HazingouldsqRmzbm AM to 7:OOPM Central Time.
Orbit & d m , 1SOO Grit H a i n g &ides Orbd Sanders
Sand~Iwr Sanding Catalogue TheWmdwmked8tore
Before ealling, have your
Garrett Wade 80&~0000 612-4Z&S200 sales tax. VISA, Mastercard, or Dis-
800-221-2942 ~ ~ ~ d o ~ - 0 7sand-
bit ~ a z i nG
g,&+ ~ m z b m cover Card ready.
HaingGzIides,lmand ers,8W, 2000,and 1200 OTbdSadm
15OO Grit Sandpaper
~ghlandaardw-
Grit Sandpaprr
Trendlines
WoodworkerrsSupply
8WG46-W
1-800--7527
8W767-9999 HazingGuids,Rmzbm
HaniyGwdeaRandan, Random-OrbitSanders Orbit Sa& Note: Prices subject to change
m a sanders

No. 11 ShopNotes
 ! ?nesFrcr,~,,,,d n
Often referred to as a "transitional te, this Stanley firred (over all-mt dunes) for the better
No. 35features a cast iron frame withan accurate blade pro ' when planing. And to protect thei
settzng mechanism. And a urooden sole that many pre- me, ? owner often stamped their name on