TE SE On PMO O ee aes ens a eine een eee Sac 4 xe ~ f és ina | @ Shop-Built Router Table e Table Saw Accessories | e Tips for Accurate Crosscutting e Elu Router ReviewIssue 1 January 1992 ‘soerom Donald B, Posshlee ‘corona omecron Douglas L, Hicks amainasorron Terry J, Strohman stieareorron Richard S. Paters conrmaurie torrors Gordan Gaippe Pip A-Tarten ‘Tin Robertson eneanveomecron Ted Kralicok asst anr omecror Cury Christensen, uusraaron Kort Sehnlts conrmmurina nave, Chris Clawacki Rahere H. Whitmer esam omecron Ken Mankel ‘estaner Jen Hale Svec proroanapwen Crayola England sop nunacer Sieve Curtis cemcuianow pmecron Liz Breton sussouPmion anager Sandy Baum eweuLation anatysr Jin Woedson ewssrano sauzs. Kent A. Buckton apumstnarive assy, Chery] Scott sosrrionssT Lori Sabert ponoma wanrananon Ken Crifith ‘marcato omecron Robert Murry pnower eupruice Leslio Ann Gearhart Linda Jones veenncat suproer Jonathan Garblsea cusrower seavee Lina Morrow, Mim ara Bathe MeNelly Jennie Enos Soy Jomnson. ‘Tammi guhl ‘Mate Hooter ‘shpeme peparrienT Jerry Carson, Supt, ‘Goria Sheehan Ronald Long ‘Dannie MeVey Seat eC apyrigit 129 by Wonks Coren. Sree rot [tteeponn: Sees Copy, 06 Ov yarmnip (ea en 8 repo 2 ee, B95 Seta cin Petager etd Denes {Hoes Des tines, a 00-12 Sutscrption Quon Cal 029-654 Sam Somcern Tae rei Ihe premiere issucofanew magazine sets the stage {or all the ideas and stories to be told in the years to come. ‘This first issue of ShopNotes was born ofa trait common to all, woodworkers . ...we like to talle about our shops, the tools weuse, the techniques, and the way things work. ‘That's what you'll find in Shop- Notes. The whole idea is to have a magazine that’s dedicated en- tirely to your shop. If you like working in yourshop, even when you're not building a particular project, maybe just pattering around, this magazine ought to appeal to you. IDEAS. When we first started talking about the idea ofthis new ‘magazine, we were in the Wood- smith shop. (Woodsmith is ama- -gazine for woodworkers that has plans for building furniture and small projects, and the tech- niques that go along with them.) As we looked around the shop, we began talking about all the tips, shop projects, and new ideas that could be in ShopNotes. ROUTER TABLE. For example, in this issue we're featuring an all-new design for a router table. This all started with the router table shownin Woodsmith almost. 10 years ago. ‘We've built a lot of projects on that oldtable, and we've had alot of ideas for improving the origi- nal design. ‘The new Router Table is pre- sented ina way so you can choose the parts of the table that work best for you Build just the table top with the phenolic insert, or build the ShopNotes new fence with the Talot for adding accessories, (If you don't build anything else, the fence is worth looking at.) ‘As a bonus in this premiere issue, we've also added a special plans section for an enclosed router table cabinet, JIGS AND ACCESSORIES. The one area that probably has the most interest for woodworkers are the special jigs and accesso- ries that help you get the most. out of your tools. In this issue we're showing three accessories for your table saw, And in future issues we will show Jigs for your band saw, drill press, radial arm saw, router, and all the other tools in your shop. TOOLS. As we began talking abouttools themselves, it started alittle controversy. How should ‘we approach tool reviews? We didn’t: want to list all the routers, for example, on the market a with chart comparing their features. This approach makes it tough to get a sense for any one tool and how it operates. Sowe decided toselect one tool inthisissve, (the Ku Plunge Rout- ex) and concentrateon itwith a full fledged diseussion about what we like ard don’ ike, This in-depth ap- proach should tell you exactly what ve think about the tool. ‘TECHNIQUES. And, finally, in every issue we want to highlight a particular woodworking tech- nique. This time it’sa collection of ideas and tips on how to get the best performance when crosseut- ting on the table saw. ‘THE FUTURE. I hopeyouenjoy this premiere issue of ShopNotes. Tm looking forward to its future, ER a No.1No.1 Contents digs and Accessories ___4 Three table saw accessories: Small-Piece Clamp, Push Block, and Table Saw Jointing. Elu Plunge Router ______ 10 ‘The Elu #3338 plunge router is puto the test and comes out areal winner. Crosacutting _- 12 Problems involved with crosscutting on the table saw and helpful tips on solving them. Table Saw Cabinet ___14 This simple cabinet mounts to the side of a table saw providing storago for blades, arip ‘once, various acces- ‘sories, and even a miter gauge. Router Table_____- =i 46 This router table is loaded with options starting with a very simple base. (As a special bonus we've included a set of plans for an enclosed router cabinet) Router Table Top ________ 18 The sandwich construction of the top provides a heavy, vibration free work surface. And allows 2 smooth surface for the miter gauge slot and the removable insert plate. Router Table Fence ___ 22 Sliding faces allow you to vary the bit opening to fit the bit youre using. The Tslot makes attaching accessories (quick and easy. Fence Accessories ___ 26 A bit guard, free-hand guard, adjustable featherboard, and shop vacuum attachment make the router table safer and easier to use. Shop Solutions _______ 28 Five shop-tosted ips: A Spring-Loaded Sanding Block ‘A Woodscrew Tip. Sawhorse Tray. Pipe Clamp Rack And a Magnetic Too! Bar. Book Review ________ 30 A look at The Workshop Book by Scott Lanai. Sources — = ee ot Hardware, project supplies, and mail order sources for the projects in this issue. ShopNotes Crosscutting page 12 Table Saw Cabinet page 1h Router Table Fence page 22 3Cutting small pieces sofely is easy when you use this simple clamp that at- aches to your ‘miter gauge. PRT M te Small-Piece Clamp e Re was building apro- ject that required cutting several small pieces on the table sav. Rather than take any chances, I made a clamp jig that attaches to my miter gauge ‘The idea of the jig is that two “arms” hold the warkpieces se- curely and keep my fingers away fiom the blade. ‘The clamp consists of three pieces: a back juve, a front jaw, and an adjustable spreader that connects the two jaws, see Fig. 1. spreader from 34"-thick hanl- wing mut, see Fig. 2. Serew a A slot cut in the spreader allows wood, see Fig. 1. hanger bolt into the end of the ‘you to adjust the distance be- SPREADER.Thespreaderhasa back jaw, see Fig. 2a. (To insert tween the jaws so you can eut slot inone end tomake theelamp the hanger bolt, refer to tip in different size pieces adjustable. To cut this slot, first margin on the opposite page.) ‘A camviage bolt and wing mat at hole 214" from the end, After the bolt is installed, the other end provide the elamp- see Detail in Fig. 1. Then make thread on a washer and wingnut. ing pressure. When the nut is two parallel cuts up to the hole When you tighten the wing nut, tightened down on the bolt, it witha band saw or eabre saw. it pinches the spreacler, locking pinches the two jaws together After the slot iseut,drill cou- one end of the front jaw in place. like a vise to hold the workpiece tersunk shankholes atoneendof ATTACHING THE CLAMP. To at- in place as you make a eut. the spreader, and serew it to the tach the clamp to the miter conereucTiett end of the front jaw, see Fig.2. gauge, first locate the holes for HANGERBOLT.The slotted end the screws. T began work on the damp by of thespreader fits over ahangr Set the miter gauge at 90° ,and cutting the two jaws and the bolt andistightened downwitha place the back jaw against the 1 ewan MITER GAUGE. Wastes — z } et FRONT JAW — ao xte PR woovecREW re y | Bane sexist HANGER BOLT + x “WASHER SPREADER counrersinx. \ Seer “SHANE HOLE, ve ane Nor 4 ShopNotes No.1PITT tts miter gage, see Fig. 8. Then slide the clamp over so the end touchesthe saw blade. Now mark the position of the two serew holes in the back jaw, and drill pilot holes. A carriage bolt is used to close the jaws around the workpiece at the Fight end of the clamp. Mark the position of the bolt on the back jaw, see Fig, 3. ‘Then counterbore a hole to accept the head of the bolt, see Fig. 4a, Fi- nally, drill a4" hole throagh both jaws for the carriage bolt. Now serew the damp to the miter gauge, insert the cariage bolt and washer, and tighton the swing nut, see Fig. 4. USING THE CLAMP ‘Touse the clamp, locsenthe wing rut on the spreader (at the left tend of the clamp), and adjust the jaws to the width of your work- piece. Then tighten the nut. Next, insert the workpiece be- tween the jaws at the right end of the clamp, and tighten the wing nut on the earriage bolt. Note: When clamping pieces wider than 1", the top edge of the jaws may tip in, To prevent this, cut a spacer the same width as the workpiece, and insert it be: tween the top edges of the jaws, Miter Cuts ‘When you tilt the miter gauge to 45°, the end of ‘the clamp is too far away from the blade to safely hold and support a small workpiece. So, you need to re- position the clamp onthe miter gauge for 45° miter euts. ‘Todothis, unserewthe clamp and tilt the miter gamge to 45" Then slide the clamp No.1 vaneaie ——_srneaoen To insert a hanger batt, thread two nuts on the shaft and tighten them to- gether. Then ase avworenchto sorew the bolt in. We WNG NOT = sore =. a + coUNTERBGRE = along the miter gauge TOP VIEW me ‘until the front omer of Se thebark jawjust touches | gergeroncamr SFP SACE JAW the edge of the blade, see "Quan aortoe— drawing at right. With the clamp in this position, mark new loca- tions of the serew holes, and drill pilot holes. Then serew the clamp to the miter gauge. Now turn on the saw, and trim off the back corner of the bads jaw. NOTE: RETURN cLawe TOORGINALFOSIION ‘ShopNotesPIT ris es Push Block ° P= blocks get chewed up. one solves that by ssthat get chewed laceable. Yet, you can reuse the handle (the part that takes the time to make). A good push block is probably cone of the most important acces sories for your table saw. It should be designed to solve com ‘mon problems when ripping. (See bbox on next page.) ‘This push block has three parts: a replaceable main body (a piece of 2x4), a Masonite heel that hooks over the end of the workpiece, and a handle. HANDLE. The handle is the key tothe whole system, so i's worth making a good one. I cut the handle ‘out of a serap piece of 2x4, but any 116". thick stock will do. Start by cutting the handle blank 314" wide by 9" long. Now, lay out the shape shown in Fig. | onthe blank. Then eut the handle toshape on a band saw, and round over the sharp edges hy filing them smooth, The handle is at- tached tothe2x4 body and the heel with a drywall serew. Drill a shank hole into the notch in the handle, see for this serew at a slight angle Fig. 1a. (about 5°) so when the serew is BODY AND HEEL. When the tightened down it will handle is complete, the next step pull the main body is to eut out the body and the and heel tight Masonite heel. e@ 1 | EXPLODED VIEW forthe push lock is cut from a piece of serap 2x4. ust lay out tine shape and cut the handie to size CUTTING DIAGRAM The handie » Bet HANDLE BLANK, : Pc I Note: ~ Dow ROUND ovER, ROWHEDSECTON HEEL (Wat 394" MASONITE) CORNER 6 ‘ShopNotes No.1PEM at For the body, cut-aserap piece > BEET of 2x4 7'-long. The heel is cut CAM PUSH froma piece of /4'thick Masonite eee so its the same width (or even slightly less) than the bedy, and extends 14" below the bottom edge of the body, ace Fig. 10, ShopTip: Sinee the bedy and heel will get chewed up, its a {good idlea to ent several of these pieces and keep themon hand for eis. replacements. _ DRIVEN SCREWAND HEMOVE CLAMPS ASSEMBLY, To assemble the push block, set the parts on aflat surface and damp them together, see Fig. 2. Then serew them to- gether with a drywall serew. ShopTip: I used a drywall screw because it doesn't need a pilot hole. This is especially handy when it comes time to re- place the heel and body. ‘When the body and heel get chewed up, you don’t have to re~ place them, see Fig. 3. Instead, just flip both parts, clamp and | Bet catenes @ vrer thom togethersee Fig-2a | Someesearstape a. RENOVE-THE ScREW, "AND BODY Using a Push Block 4 This push block is very helpiul & To prevent aworkpiece from pull-_& The angled handle provides a when ripping thin strips. The body ing away from the rip fence, center comfortable grip — and ferce in two @ | ‘sce thetninstrip steady while the the push block beeen the biade drectons It allows you to push heel pushes the thin strip through the _andfence, andapply gentle pressure straight anead and press the work- saw blade without kickback, toward the fence during the cut. piece down (to prevent chattering) No. 1 ShopNotesPIT Table Saw Jointing ° M« than one eyebrow was raised in the shop when T ne ee mentioned that there was a way Comvarting Your rat: the cigs of 4. pete ot table sate into @ wood on the table sav. Tt works jointer isn'it.as dif- on thesame principle asa jointer, fieultas you just adapted to the table saw. might think — if On a jointer, a workpiece is ‘you build this peshed along an infeed table which is set slightly lower than the Special fence. ten knives, Ad a wetleiocs in pushed over the knives, they aut ‘the wood! and joint the edge. ‘An outfeed table is set flush with the knives to support the [q | HOTESONTER rENcr ErENDS workpiece and prevent the COTREPRIMFENEE Onc tice Ienives from takingtoo deep aeut Youcanuse thissame principle to convert your table saw into a simple _jointer. Note: ‘This ‘jointer” takes off 14" per pass. ‘The secret is converting your rip fence into the infeed and outfeed tables, see photo above, Converting your rip fence for Jointing is easy. All it takes is a THAME SONTER FENCE strip of 94"-thick plywood and a Tae rece: swoon. pizce of Masonite. PLYWOOD. Start by ripping a strip ofplywood 4"-wide. To make it easier to joint long pieces, cut the plywood 12* lmger than the Jength of your rip fence and tem- porarily damp the plywood to your fence. MASONITE. Nexta pieceof Ma- sonite is glued to one end of the plywood to become the oatfeed MASONTTE 77 RAISE BLADE 0 cur RELER the same as most car saw blades ‘To determine the length of the Masonite, measure from the back end of the plywood strip to the center of the saw blade. This posi tions the front of the strip directly over the center of the blade —which provides the maxi- 8 ShopNotes No. 1TPL ‘mum cut and exposes the min- imum amount of blade, see Fig. 2. Now cut a 4" wide strip of Ma sonite to length and glue it to the plywood strip, refer to Fig. 1. ‘CUT RECESS, The next step is to cut a recess in the plywood fenee for the saw blade. ‘To do this, first clamp the plywood fenee toyourrip fence. Thenslide the rip fence over so it butts up against the blade. Lower the EEFTI) Atry square can be used to quickly align the table saw jointer with the blade, blade and move the fence to the lefvan additional 14", see Fig. 2. Now tum on the saw and slowly raisethe blade up into the Masonite to a height of 2° (this allows you to joint wood 2" thick). To prevent the blade from pinching against the plywood fenee, lower the blatle, move the fenee over an additional 142", and rraise the blade again, see Fig. 3. ADJUST FENCE, After you've cet the relief in the plywood (and whenever you use this “jointer” fence), you'll need to adjust the position of the fenceso the face of the Masoniteis flushwith thesaw blade, see Fig. 4 Bat before you do this, first checks to make sure the rip fence is square to the saw table, ‘Then, place the blade of the try square against the face of the Ma- sonite, and adjust the fence sothe square just touches the outside edges of the teeth on the saw blade, see Fig. da, Note: If afer you've adjusted tthe fence, you find that the work- Piece pivots in towards the fence, the bladle may be sticking out too far, see Fig.5.Or, ifthe workpiece \ catches on the Masonite, the blade is in too far, see Fig. 6. In either case, re-adjust the fence. Using the Jointer To jcint an edge with the table sw jointer, slide edge of the workpiece long the “fointer” foneo applying even pressure to both the infeed and outfeed sides, see Fig. 1. As you finish a pass, apply pressure to only the contfeed side — or the workpiece may pivot in toward the blade, TOP VIEW eraer rrLy PRESSURE EVENLY TOINFEED AND OUTFEED SDES see Fig. 2 If youre jointing a long, warped piece, you may want to take off the high points on the ends (or in the center) to prevent: the workpiece from pivoting around the rip fence. This ean be cone by starting at the sections ‘with high points. Then, joint the piece along its full length, OuTFEED SIDE No.1fyouwereto pay alinost At the slowest speed, the ‘$800 for a router, you'd Elu motor is quieter than fthe. @Xpect something special. my kitchen blender. I’ve be- Thetopafthe. With the Blu. variable come hooked on the slow. Hine Blt 8338 seed, electronic plunge speed option on the Eh. plunge router is router, you get it. Even when working with loaded with “Plunge routers aren't hardwoods, T rarely ‘urn special features, new. Ela, a Swiss mamta the spesd up past the Level turer, built the first one in 8 setting (16,000 RPM), and 1951. (Black and Decker x frequently [use the Level 1 purchased Elu in 1984, but c setting (8,000 Kem), the Elu line of tools is still [like the slowest speed manufactured in Switzer ¢ with bits that make partial land.) It wasn't until the Fi cuts (like a round-over bit). 1980's that plunge routers i ; It’s quieter, and I've ex- beeame popular in the U.S. > perienced no compromise in FEATURES. So what docs cutting performance. plunge router do that acon: - ‘The biggest advantage to ventional router can't? Just the slower speed though is what the name says — it al- the bit doesn’t heat up like lows you to phinge a bit into the contoured plate positioned right it would in a conventional roater workpiece.’This plungefeatureis by the fingers of your left hand, turning at 22,000 RPM. By using ‘great for routing stopped dadoes, and ean be reached without let- only the speed necessary to make mortises, and surface designs. ting go of the handle. the cut, the chance of burning the ‘The important thingin making Now, with just slight down- wood or the bit is reduced. aplunge ent is forthe bit toenter ward pressure, push the motor ELECTRONIC. CONTRO. As and exit the workpiece at exactly housingdown the guide rodsuntil soon as you turn on the router, 90°. The slightest amountofside- it reaches a preselected depth. the eleetronie circuitry takes toside play can ruinthe eut.'This ‘Then lock the plunge lock lever over, and the motor smoothly ac- lappy” plunging action is a that’s within easy reach of the celerates up to speed. This “soft problem ou some plunge routers. fingers of your right hand and start” feature eliminates the However, the Eli makes start routing. wrist-twisting torque you'd ex- plunge cuts with the precision of After completing the eut, re- pect froma big, 214 h.p. motor aSwiss watch. Theguiderodsare lease the lock lever. The motor After the motor reaches oper- made out of case hardened steel housingtravelsbackup the guide ating speed, it won't bog down in andaretumedtotight tolerances rods — keeping the spinning bit the middle of a heavy cut. In- (the same tolerances specified for safely above the workpiece until stead, the speed is electronically most router bits). youturn the router off. That’ the increased to maintain the RPM at The rods slide in2"-Jong bush- beauty of using the Ela plunge the level you selected, like the ings made of phosphor bronze (an router — you feel in control ise control on a car. expensive material that is self-In- rricating and has incredible wear moTOR DEPTH ADJUSTMENT resistance). Bycomparson,come One of the advantages that the One thing that's always bugged plunge routers have bushings Eluhasover a standard router is me about routers is setting the only on one side, or use a pair of its variablespeed motor It allows hit height, You have to loosen the nylon bushings. vou to select a speed from 8,000 motor housing to adjust the bit to USING THE ROUTER. You car't to 20,000 RPM. The idea of avari- the exact height youwant. When really appreciate the engineering able Speed motor is to be able to you retighten it, the height othe ofthe Elu until you take ifoffthe match the turning speed to the hit changes just a fraction, and shelf and use it. Ge material and the size of bit you're _ you need toset the heightall over des. Flip the “on” s using, And — its quiet. again, Sound familiar? ShopNotes No.1‘The Blu'sdepth setting system eliminates all that witha series of progressively finer adjustments. ‘The heart of the system consists of depth stop bar and a turret, see photo below. ‘The stop bar is adjusted by a rack and pinion gear. This stop bar determines the depth of cut when it eontzets one of the three serews on the turret. (The three screws allow you to preset three different depths.) The turret fes- ture is particularly useful when ‘making a cut, like a dado, in pro- gressively deeper increments. ‘The point is when you set the depth stop bar and turret, you canbe surethat the bit will eut to that exact depth — and you can return to any setting, exactly. ‘To add to the precision, there's a magnified seale with a hairline dicator, And finally, a micro-ad- juster on the end of the depth stop rod allows you to fine tune the depth of eut. All of these depth setting fea- tures are fine in the freehand routing position, but how do they ‘work whenthe router ismounted upside down in a router table? AA three position turret and a magnitied hairine indicator allow for precise depth settings. No.1 Making micro-adjustments on some table-mounted plunge routers can be a frustrating ex- perience. It almost impossible to get a good grip on the height adjustment nut, Elu has solved this problem by using an extension knob. Unfor- tunately, you have to pay extra (about $20) to get this option. COLLET SYSTEM The Fly's plunge mechanism, variable speed motor, and depth adjustments work great. But it’s the collet system that impresses me the most. Ifyou've ever had a bit sip out ofthe collet and rain @ project, you'll appreciate how the Blusystem works. First of all, the Blu Jong. It grips a full one inch of the shank of a bit. (Other routers have eollets that grip as little as 16" of the shank.) Bat there's more to the holding power of the Ela collet than just a long grip. There are six slits that run almost the entire length of the collet (compared to two or three in some collets). Theseslits create “fingers” that exert uni- form pressure around the shank of the bit as the collet mut is tightened. COLLET NUT. The collet nut is also designed differently than other routers. The collet snaps into retaining ring in the collet nut. Then the nat and the collet assembly are serewed to the end of the spindle shaft. The benefit of this comes when you remove the bit. As you loosen the nut the collet is puiled loose from the bit. ‘The only problem is, if you for: get to snap the colle all the way into the mut before tightening it, you'll erd up using apair of pliers to remove the bit and collet from the shaft, But ifyou snap the two pieces together; you won't have to worry about a slipping collet. One final thing T liked about the Elu’s collet system —theway ShopNotes the bit is tightened. With many routers, youre always fighting with two wrenches. On the Blu, youpressa button tocngage apin that locks the spindle shaft. So you only need one wrench to ioosen or tighten the collet nut. The Elu collet system is about as good as youcan get, exeept you only got a 14" collet (for bits with, Wg-diameter shanks) when you buy the router: If you want a Y4" collet, it’s a $80 option. SPINDLE SHAFT coder RETAINNG couer— of cour ‘Nur K 4A With the Elu collet system, ‘oosening the nut puils the collet tree trom the router bit. CONCLUSIONS: ‘The closer you look at the lu 38, the more you realize thi tool was designed by people who understand woodworking, Details count. Like the fact that the base is designed to ac- cept standard guide bushings from Black & Decker — and also from Porter Cable. Even little things like spring- mounted knobs make 2 differ- ence, (The springs prevent the mobs from vibrating loose while you're roating.) ‘The list goes on, but the point ismade. They were really thinking when they engineered this tool. Bottom line, isit worth $300? Well, if you admire a nearly perfect router, the Blu 3338 is as close as you ean get. ntSafety Note: Always unplug ‘your table saw before making adjustments. To check your blade, first mark atooth, Then, place a square in the slot and adjustit so the ‘end of the square touches the side of the marked tooth. Next, slide the square and ro- {ate the blade backward until the marked. tooth aligns with the square. Ifit louches, the slot and biade are aligned. Te check your miter gauge, first loosen the lecking knob. Then, use a try square and set the head 90° to the saw blade and tighten the knob. Bren: takes crosseutting on the table saw forgranted. Afterall it should beeasy tomake 90° ents with a miter gange — but making perfect crosscuts ean be quite a challenge. ADJUSTMENTS The frustrating thing about making precise crosscuts is there isn’t usually just one problem. SAW BLADE. An often overlooked problem is that ‘yoursawblade may not beparallel tothe miter gauge slots. A quick way to check thisis touse a combination square and the procediare in the toptwo photos below, By using this method, you can check the blade’s alignment. If the blade is not parallel to the miter slot, the table saw trunnion needs to be adjusted. (The trunnion is the assembly that holds the saw arbor to the bottom of the table.) Normally all you need to do is loosen the belts that hold the trunnion 2 ShopNotes and tap the trunnion in the direetion needed. MITER GAUGE. A more common problem is the siviveling head of the miter gauge isn't exactly 90 to the miter gauge slot — usually because the graduations on most miter gauges aren’t accurate. ‘They're really only good for rough positioning. ‘Toget amore accurate setting, loosen the locking knob and use a try square to set the miter gauge 90°to the saw blade, see bottom photo at left. DYNAMIC TESTING. However, even this is not as reliable as you might think. To get an accurate setting, you should make a dynamic test Everything we've done up to this point has been a statie test or adjustment. In other words, we haven't turned onthe saw to make a eut. ‘The only way to he sure that you're getting per- fect crosscuts is to doa dynamic test. One method Tuse to make a dynamic test is shown in Fig. 1 Set your miter gauge as close as you can to 90° with a try square, Then make a crossent on a piece of serap (the wider, the better). After making the cat, fp one seetion over, and butt the ends together. Irthere’sa gap, the miter gauge isnotset at 90 Seni GAP INDGATE® MITER GAUGE |S NOT DEF AT SO" ‘A Fig. 1. To check that your miter gauge 's 90° to the blade, crasscuta piace of scrap. Fip one piece overand butt the cut ends together. Ifthere's a gap the miter gauge needs to be adjusted. No.1‘STANDARD PROCEDURES: Once you're sure your table saw and miter gauge are set up accurately, there are two simple proce dures to help ensure clean, accurate erosseuts. MAKING A CLEAN CUT. First, always erosseat with the good side of the board face up. This way ‘any tezr out will be on the side that won't be seen. Second, you can ruin a perfect erosseut by pulling the board back along the side of the saw teeth after ‘making a cut. Instead, slide the workpiece away from the blade after the cut. Then you ean pall the miter gauge andl workpiece back. ‘AUXILIARY FENCE AND STOP BLOCK One of the most important things you ean do to make hetter erosseats is to use an auxiliary fence ‘This isnothing more than an extension fence (I use a stripof #4" hardwood) attached to the face of the miter gauge, see Fig. 2. (Most miter gauges have slots or pre-drilled holes for screwing on a fence.) An auxiliary fence improves the quality of the cerosseut in two ways. SUPPORT. It provides extra support for the workpiece, preventing it from pivoting during the cut. This is particularly helpful on long, wide pieces that tend to drag on the table surface. WANDER. Even more important, an auxiliary fence can prevent the tendency of a spinning saw blade to pull the workpiece into the blade eausing a ‘bad eut. (This is sometimes called wander, or creep.) One common way to prevent wander is to ghue a strip of sandpaper to the face of the auxiliary fence. ‘The sandpaper provides extra “grip” and keeps the workpiece from slipping. ‘The way I prefer to prevent wander is to clamp a stop block to the fence, see Fig. 3. To counter the pull of the blade, I push the workpiece in the op- posite direction — tight against. the block, while making the cut. ‘TEAR-OUT One otherbenefit ofanauxiliary fence is that it can help reduce tear-out on the back edge 1k Fig. 2. To provide support along the iength of a long board whon crosscutting, screw an auxiliary fence to your miter gauge. This prevents the board! trem dragging or swiveling during ine cut. No.1 ShopNotes LAMP CLEARANCE of the workpiece. Just extend the fence soit'sin the path of the blade, see Pig. 2. This way the fence supports both the workpiece and the waste piece, redacing the chanee of the grain tearing out. REPETITIVE CUTS. Besides improving the qual ity of the cut, using an auxiliary fence with a stop bloek ean also make quiek work of eutting several ieees to the same length Instead of marking each piece with a peneil (and hoping all the marks and cuts are accurate), Lusea two-ent provedure with an anxiliary fence. The first eut is made with the stop block posi- tioned so the piece is cut slightly (about 12") longer than the finished length you want. (This makes sure that this end of each piece is perfectly square.) Then, just reset the stop block, flip each piece en¢-for-end, and cut it to final length, By using the same set-up (and pushing against the stop block), youensure they're all enactly the same length, ‘Note:One minor problem can foul this up. Besure to cut a sawdust relief on the bottom corner of the stop block to prevent any sawdust from building up ‘between the stop block and the workpiece. SHORT PIECES. When I need several short pieces all the same length, I clamp o clearance block to the rip fence to use as alength gauge, see Fig. 4. TCs okay to use the rip fence along with the miter gauge as long as the block provides enough clear- ance sothe eut-off ean’t bind between theblade and fence. It also heips if the auxiliary fence extends to support the eut-off piece and pushes it all the way through and beyond the saw blade (so the eut-ofls don't stop right next to the saw blade). —BlbcR TO RIPFENCE 13 Fig. 3. Clamp a stop block to the fence to crossscut pieces to the same length, Fig. 4. To cut short pieces, clamp a cloar- ance block to the rip fence and push the piece through with an auxil- ary fence. To prevent saw- dust from build: ing up between the workpiece and the stop block, cut a save- dusi relief on the bottom corner.Cet Saw Cabinet D:: this sound fa- Thisspacesaving SP riliar? You're just cabinet plaesyoy geting ready to rip a a gives yc board and there’s no away tostore convenient place vo your table saw store the miter gauge. accessories so And when you're trying they're right at foerssut herp fence pie inthe way. your finger tips. your finger tips.“ ty store ‘the miter gauge and rip fence lose at hand, I built a cabinet that hangs on the side of my table sav, taking advantage of the unused space below the table extension, FEATURES. The cxbi- net has a deor which effectively doubles the storage space — lowing you to store the arbor ‘wrench, saw blades, and other ae- cessories inside. The miter ga quiek-access holier on the door And there's a channel on top of the eabinet for the rip fence. CONSTRUCTION ‘To build the cabinet, I started by ‘cutting the back (A) and the door blank (B) from ¥4"-thick ply ‘wood, see Fig. 1. I cut both pieces 19¥4" wide by 23" long large enough to store 10'-dia ropmorrom. ‘The door and the back are joined together with the top and bottom (C, D). Cut both of these pieces to the same length as the hack and 412" wide, see Fig. 1. Note: The 412° width will acsommodate most saw fences — but you can change the width to fit your fence. After the topandbot. tom are cut to size serew them to the back piece (A), see Fig. 1. ENDPIBCE. To mount the doos, an end (E) is eut to fit between the top and bottom pieees, see Fig. 2. To provide more holding powerfor the hinge serews, I eut this piece from 4 thick harelwood (not plywood). ‘The width of this piece has to allow for the hinge. So measure the width of the bottom (414") 1 #0 «ive Fh woovscxew MiTee GAUGE Bowen eBx2Wth waonenc —nore: J EXPLODED VIEW CKTERPLATE gotrom ROUND over. TOP CORNERS ShopNotes No.1and subtract the thickness of the hinge. Then serew the end be- ‘tween the top (C) and bottom (D). DOOR BLANK. Before the door can be mounted, the door blank: (B)is ripped into two pieces. One piece becomes the door, The other piece is screwed to the top (C) to complete the channel for the rip fence, sea Fig. 1. BLADE HOLDERS. Before in- stalling the door, I laid out and drilled holes forangled dowels that hold the blades inside the cabinet, see Gross Section in Fig. 1 MOUNT DOOR. When you're ready 10 mount, the door to the ‘cabinet, cuta piano hinge the same length as the door. Then serew the hinge to the door, see Fig. 2. Next, screw the other flap of the hinge tothe end (B). Finally, add amag- netic catch, see Fig. 1. ‘MOUNT THE CABINET. [f the angle of the legs on your table saw interferes with mounting the cabinet, add a couple of spacer blocks. Counterbore holes in the blocks, and bolt them to the side of the saw, see Fig. 3. Now all that’s left is to screw the cabinet tothe blocks. AA quick-access holder is mounted to the cabinet for your miter gauge. Itallows you to slide the miter gauge in place —even with an auxiliary fence attache. No.1 (tres tea3. ‘nuceness BINGE (OF HINGE KNUCKLE KNUCKLE SS 4 eases > a SQ rsx ain on | Woebéctew secon, Qe ScREW CABINET TO BLOCKS. FABLESAW One of the most awkward things HOLDER, The holder is just a to storeis amiter gauge —espe- bracket with a tapered notch. cially when it has an auxiliary ‘To make it, cut a serap piece of fence attached to it. 2x4 8'long. Then, rip it to a Storing it becomes even more width of 2", see drawing below. ofaproblem ifyou wanteasy and Next,lay out the tapered notch quick access when you need it. and cut it out with a sabre saw or ‘Gur solution is this simple on a band saw. Also, drill two ‘quick-access holder that mounts countersunk shank holes. tothe front of the cabinet door. When mounting the holder to the door, tiltit at a slight angle to =| ‘keep the miter gauge from sliding off the front (open) end. ShopNotes 167 Gr Router Table verthe years I've kept alist of allthe features T wanted on a router table. ‘This new table is designed with those fea- ‘tures, but also with flexibility so you canuse only the parts you want — the new open base orthecabinet, thenew top with an insert plate, orthe fence with a’T-siot for accessori THE BASE. We started out building an enclosed base cabinet that has everything .... bit storage on the doors, a removable sawdust bin, an accessory storage area, and the best feature, it’s quiet (the enclosed cabinet dampens most of the router noise.) ‘The plans for this cabinet are in the special pull-out Build the cabinet (above) or the open frame (left), then add the top and fence. Or build the adjustable fence to fit your own router table. section included with this issue. Or, you ean opt: for the easy-to-build open frame (plans on next paste). ‘THE TOP. As forthe top, I thought three features were essential. First, [ wanted an insert plate to hold the router: This way the router can be lifted ont ofthetop o change its or removed completely for free-hand routing. I also wanted a heavy top (Lo dampen vibration), Zena ne FENCE. If you don't build any other part of this router table, consider building the fence. Tt has a the face that’s designed to accept a variety of accessories (refer to pages 26 and 27). And the clamping system is designed to attach to any table. A A channel can be routed to accept A The router is mounted to a remov- The fence has a T-sit for attaching able insert plate so it can be lifted cut various accessories, and siding faces for changing bits or free-hand routing. allow for different sized router bits. your miter gauge. This is particularly handy for routing the ends of boards. 16 ShopNotes No.1Open-Frame Base EXPLODED VIEW = 0 CUTTING pETAL STRETCHER Nore: [sh Woe 1 i 3" HARDWOCD bowel ERONT VIEW OPEN-FRAME BASI This open-irame base is sturdy and easy tobuila. The entire base is built out of 2x4’s. But before I started, I cleaned them up alittle by ripping 14" offboth edges, re- ducing the width to 8", see Cut- ting Detail above. END FRAMES. The base has two end frames that consist of two legs and two rails. THE LEGS. Bach leg is made from two 2x4’s cut to length and then sandwiched together, see Exploded View. To provide mor- tises for the rails, I pre-cut wide dadoes in each leg pieve before glu- ing them together: (This simplified the joinery.) ASSEMBLY After the dadoes are cut in the leg pieces, glue the legs and rails together to com- plete the end frames, see Fig. 1. STRETCHERS. Next, the end frames are joined together with tree stretchers (Note: To pro- de access to the router, there isn'ta top stretcher between the front legs.) ‘The stretchers are fastened to the frames with lag bolts. But since the bolis are threaded into end grain, there’s a trick to strengthening this joint, 1 drilled a hole near the end of the stretcher and glued in dowels before serewing in the leg bolts, see Pig. 2. No.1 ShopNotes A. vent ssernorHo1 “THROUGH DOWEL. 7 You can provide extra holding power when screwing into end grain by in- serting a dowel. The dowel pro- vides cross grain strength.TET TIT Router Table Top T* heart of this router table the top. Tt has three im- portant features: the removable insert plate, the miter gauge slot, and ite weight. REMOVABLE INSERT. The sert plate is a pleee of 4'-thick phenolic plastie (you could also use Masonite) that fits in a recessed opening in the table, The idea is to serew the router to the bottom of the plate. Then ‘you can simply lif the router oat of the table to change bits, orto do freeha ing. ‘TECHNIQUE. The only tricky part to adding an insert plate to the top is routing ont the recess. Tt has to fit exactly. (The tech- nique we used is to rout the recess with a patiern bit ina router, refer to pages 20 anil 21.) TOP CONSTRUCTION ‘The top consists of a core of ply wood and Masonite, edged with dro hardwood, and covered with For- mica on both sides, "THE CORE. The core of the router table top is a sandwich of two layers of Masonite gined on top of a 24° plywood base. The flea here is to make a heavy top (to. dampen vibration). Also, when the recess (for the insert plate) and the miter gauge slo. are routed in the surface of the top, the two layers of Masonite provide smooth, hard edges. EXPLODED VIEW LAMINATE. | cif a Bos EZ OPEN FRAME Moyne” ‘SeacKEY TABLE TOF FTUBK. Oo ao x7er re ‘Bracke 18 ShopNotes No.1aera T began making the core see- tion by eutting a base (A) to size from 4" plywood, see Fig. 1. Design Note: After the edging is installed, the finished dimen- sions of the top will be 23° x 30°, MASONITE PIECES. After the plywood is eut to size, the next step is to cut two pieces of 14" thiek Masonite (B) and glue them ‘on top of the plywoed base with contact cement. ‘The trick here is getting the edges of the Masonite to align with the plywood. TRIM FLUSH. To solve this problem, I eut the Masonite pieces slightly larger than the plywood, Then [routed the edges of the Masonite flush with the ‘edges of the plywood by using a flush trim bit, see Fig. 1a, Shop Note: I used a flush trim bit with a bearing on the top, refer to Fig. La. It's also the bit 1 used to rout the recess for the insert plate and the miter gauge slot, refer to pages 20 and 21. EDGING. After routing the edges ofthe Masonite, this whole core section is then edged with hardwood. I used 94’-thiek maple edging (C, D). First, rip the edging to mateh the thickness of the top. Then cut it tolength, see Fig.2. Now, glue and clamp the edg- ing pieces flush with the edges of the top, see Fig. 2a. SOFTEN CORNERS. When the glueis dry, sand or file aradiuson each corner, see Fig. 2b. LAMINATE. The last step is to glue Formica laminate (E) to both sides of the core. Design Note: To prevent one side of the top from expanding and contracting differently than the other, it's important to gine laminate to both sides, seo Fig. 3. Here again, Icut the laminate oversize, then trimmed it... but this time with a chamfer bit to chamfer the edge ofthe top at the same time, see Fig. 3a, No.1 MASONITE peceeriuse ate PLWOOD, runs roe Nome: ore \ APPL EVEN “@PASE CEMENT TO MATING Sar SURFACES ‘SECON CUT FRONT AND BAG EDGING. z sue ox sIDEEDONS. SAND RADIUS ON EACH CORNER ©Laminate. ‘cor sisHny cHanres, “EWEN TO reo 80TH SURFACES LAMINATE ShopNotes. 19Guide strips are used to rout arecess inthe top that's exactly the size of the insert plate. eee Insert Plate After completing the top, the next step is to make the remova- ble insert plate. I used a piece of V4"+thiek phenol plastie, but 14" Masonite will also work. ‘THE INSERT PLATE, First, cut the insert plate (F) to its finished size, see Fig. 4. (If you plan to use a large router, make the plate about 1" wider than the handles ‘on the router, see page 81.) After cutting the plate to size, use the base from your router as @ template to locate and dvill mounting holes and the center hole in the insert. Also drill two finger holesin the plate, see Pig. 4. Next, sand or file a 14" radius onthe corners of the insert, (This equals the radius of the pattern Dit used to rout the recess, ater) Finally, chamferalll the edges, see Fig. da. LAYOUT OPENING. After the insert plate is complete, L used it as. template for laying out the ‘opening in the top. Position the plate 6" fromthe front edge of the top so it's centered side-to-side, and trace around it, see Fig, 5. Now the problem is to rout a recess that has a lip around it to hold up the plate. So, draw cut lines for the lip '4" in from the outline, see Fig. 6, Now, drills hole in each corner of CoUNTEREINK Hous 70 haven ROUTER pase cenreR nGERTON. 5 |wapni or rasce ror, curunes ‘Sp rkOM ouTUNe the eut lines, Then use a sabre saw to cut out the opening. ‘THE LP. The next step is to rout the lip for the insert plate to sit on, The seeret to getting the outline of the lip to perfectly match the plate is to use the plate itself as a set-up guide for posi- tioning the guide strips. GUIDE STRIPS. To do this, place the plate over the opening so it aligns with the outline pre- viously drawn on the top. Now plave guide strips around ‘the insert plate, see Fig. 7. These strips will guide a pattern bit to rout the lipped recess. The pattern bit Tused has eut- ter length of 1'. So, to provide a surface for the bearing to ride 7 cule eres Shwe iene AeTABLE TOP porven 4" purwoco FoR ROSFIONING Snipe aon Supe stere -— “rooenes.10. (wake oupe stars J Stress sa eunieee: Orinoeer 20 ShopNotes No.1against, the guide strips need to he 1" thiek, see Fig. 7 The strips should he 3" wide to support the router, And two of the strips should long enough to match the width of the top. (They're used later for routing the miter slot, refer to Fig. 10.) After sticking the guide strips down with double-sided carpet tape, lift the insert plate ont. DEPTH OF CUT. Before routing the lip you need to set the bit eee depth to mateh the exact thiek- ness of the insert plate To do this, mount the pattern bit in the router. Then place the insert plate on top of a guide strip, see Fig. 8, Set the router on top of, the insert plate and lower the bit inti it barely touches the top, Remove the insert plate and rout out the recess lip, See Fig. 9. ‘To improve the air low to the router, rout a chamfer on the bot- tom of the opening, see Fig. 9a. A Using a paitem bit ina routeris a quick way to rout the recessed lipin tne top. The bearing on the pattem bit rides against guidestrips and cuts a recessexactly the same size as the insert plate. TSE NSERT PLATE FOeETDERTH OF CUT shouLbJust OUCH THE TABLE ‘AROUNDTHE GUIDE STRIPS © Viter Gauge Slot After completing the recess lip for the insert plate, there's only ‘one thing le to do on the tep — rout the miter gauge slot. GUIDE STRIPS. Using double. sided carpet tape, position one of the guide strips 4" from the front, edge of the top. This will form the inside edge of the miter gauge slot, see Fig. 10a Now to position the other guide strip, hold the miter gauge snugly between the two strips, see Fig. 10. ROUT THE SLOT. To set the cepth of the pattern bit to rout it ORE Sentra the slot, use a procedure similar to that shownin Figs. 8 and 9. Place the miter gauge bar on top of the guide strip, and the router on top of the bar. ‘Then lower the bit to barely touch the table top. Now remove the miter guugeand rout theslot,see Fig. 11. lela a fo mae GAUGE TO 1 povste No.1 ‘ShopNotesTET Router TableFence e fhether you build any to accept so you can adjust the opening to other part of this router ‘Tehaped nuts fit the router bit you're using. table, the fence is worth looking that slide in and let you add a CLAMPING SYSTEM. The fence at Ithasthreeuniquefeatures— variety of accessories, includinga is also designed to adapt to any a T-slot for accessories, a pair of guard, and a featherboard. (For table (even one you already own). sliding faces, and aspecial clamp- more on this, see page 26.) ‘The built-in clamp heads on each ing system SLIDING FACES. The faces on end (that secure the fence to the TSLOT. The Tislot is designed the front of the fence slide open table) ean easily be adapted to fit, almost any table top. EXPLODED VIEW vorsse BULDINGTHEFENCE = qy © Thefence ismade up of foursee- tions, The split base (A) serves as a platform for adding the top bar (with the Tslob), the sliding faces, and the SprPLasticxNos. Bier Me Ke f clamp heads. Hea ‘The base is eventually ext in , half to fit around the router bit, Sree refer to the Exploded View. But it starts out as a long strip that consists of two pieces, a bottom Were piece, and a top piece with four ) INSERT y @/ SruNe SUD ee Gadoes cut init, see Fig. 1 © ‘The idea is to sandwich these SPACER end two pieces together to form a ee + base with four slots. (Knobs pass caraincs 1 _ SOT | through the alota to hold the aid N Co wotoatete e ing faces in place, refer to Ex- -—t ploded View.) "Ty determine the length of these base pieces, measure the =F Qj. | length of the router table top | (80) and add 6". This allows 3" on se each end for the clamp heads. ‘After the two base pieces are woio ne NTE cornon cut olength, ext dadoco(siois)in OD Wit AUKGRMENT SCREWS the top piece. Spacing the dadoes equally from the ends, see Fig. 1. 22 ShopNotes No.1esi el ASSEMBLY. Now glue the two base pieses together. Since glued surfaces tend to slide as they're clamped together; [useda simple technique to keep them aligned. First, align the edges of both SUDING FACES piceas and dry clamp thom to- gether. Then serew the pieces to- getler with a couple of wood \ 128 ove serews, see Fig. 1. I) tcc oe nc once ait Now remove the clamps, apply : glue, and serew the pieves back Be fogether. The serews will ato- a ee matically realign the pieces and on — Z keep them from sliding as the Cenot FOR usr Lier i clamps are tightened. sous get as close as possible to the of the base. Then use an awl to router bit, I beveled one end of _seribe the position of the slotson Later, the tase will be eut into each piece. T also routed a small the back of the faces, see Fig. 3. two sections (to create an open- chamferalong the bottomedge of With the slots located, you ean ing for the router bit). But for both faces. This chamfer serves drill holes for the threaded in- now leave itas one piece andadd as arelief forsawdust, see Fig.2. serts. Center the holes between the sliding faces (B). ‘THREADED INSERTS. The slid- the scribed lines and near the end Each sliding face is onehalfthe ing faces are almost complete — of each slot closest to the bevel, length of the base (18"), And the all that's left is to install the see Fig. 4. width (height) of each face is ig’ threaded inserts, Note: The hole needed for most. less than the height of the base, The problem is making cure 540" LD. threaded inserts is 54" see Fig.2. This creates dearance the threaded inserts align with deep. Be careful not to drill 100 so the sliding faces won't bind the slots in the base. To do this, deep, see Fig. 4a. against the top bar. hold thesliding faces nthe closed _ Finally, install the threadedin- ‘Toallow the sliding faces (B)to _yosition and flush to the bottom _serts in the faces, see box below. iDbEC POSTION BUM ety S C_ sceipe stor Locanon ‘ONTO FACES WITH ANN. a DRL TOFIT DRL HOLE, fe" 1D THREADED For Nort gERT Iwexe peveve pet ee oF SUING Pace = Ss —s é No.1 ShopNotes 23Top Bar The base of the fence is just a [] Sy-tacK— platform for adding the top bar aa (and the elamps). The top bar (C) has a Tslot which is actually a system foradding all the aceesso- ‘COUNTERSINK BOTTOM OF| ws ghownen panos BE and 27. MAKE THE BAR. The first step ‘seme isto cut twopiecestosize tomake a Nore: ALIGMENT the ban, ee Fig. 5.'The length of i eee Ram each piece is the same length as fe | = the base (A) (36"). And the width | #*"~ ‘STEP ‘STEP2 of each piece (214") equals the width of the base, plus the sliding ae sunn prece face (B) pieces,refer io Fig. 6a. | cot she i CUT THE SLOT. After cutting the pieces to size, the next step is to make the T-slot. Cutting the ‘Tlot is a two-step operation. Start by cutting a 34" by 3" groove in the face of each piece, see Step 1 in Fig. 5. ‘Then turn each piece on edge Here again I used the serew __ GLUE-TOP BAR TO BASE. The and trim \4" off the end of the and glue technique (mentioned nextstep isto glue the top bar(C) “tongue” formed by the groove, on the previous page) to glue to the base (A). see Step 2 in Fig these pieces together. To keep To help align the pieces, tem- GLUE-UP. By gluing these two the heads of the serews from porarily attach the sliding face pieces together, a Tslot is formed showing, screw them in from the pieces (B) to the base (A) with in the top bar; see Fig. 6a. bottom face of the top bar, ‘knobs (or bolts), see Fig. 6a. ‘Then,tomakesure that the top bar and the base are flush and square, clamp them together (no slue yet) on a flat surface (I used my saw table), see Fig. 6. ‘Once again, use the serew and elue technique, this time serew- ing from the bottom of the base into the top bar, ‘After the glue has dried, re- 5 ‘move the serews and the sliding Take ouce meceD ARE face pieces you temporarily at- RBH AND sau ARE ea iG ia BIT OPENING. Now that the ‘base is attached to the top bar, the next step is to cut an opening for the router bit. The opening is 4" wide, and centered on the length of the fence, see Fig. 7, T eut the opering on the table saw by setting a dado blade slightly lessthantheheight ofthe ‘base, See Fig. Za. Then T made repeated passes to waste out the stock for the bit opening, 24 ShopNotes No.1UMP Clamp System e@ ‘The fence is almost complete, all | p PLASTIC KNOB 1 that’s left is the clamp system. A a. "2916 1x08 (OR NG WT) CLAMP staat. What mos mn aie or y this clamp system work is a car- 4 riage bolt that passes throughthe aloes Mai dl oy Eira the fence. By tightening a knob (or eo w ‘wing nit) onthe bot, the clamp pda head pinches against the bottom es of the table top, holding the fence AD in place, see Fig. 8a, THE CLAMP HEAD, Each clamp head consists of two F scmvess pieces — a spacer that’s slightly cron thimerthan thetop,andanarm | xem— onkcer 9° | Gsatilet “caaetads nour that extends under the table top. ‘The clamp heads are ‘hinged” to the fence with Masonite the same width as the router side-to-side on the table top. splines, see Fig. 8. The only re- fence base (A) (1°4"), see Fig.9. Then measure the amount of quirement is to cut matching SPACERS. Next,determine the overhang on each side (3") and keris inthe spacer and the fence. thickness of the spacers (E) by subtract 14" for clearance 2%"). ‘To cut these kerfs safely, I measuring the thickness of your Now cut two spacers (E) to lucd the spacers to a long atm router table top. Then, for clear- these dimensions, and gine them Dank first. (Later, Tut the arm ance, subtract 14". (This ereates a to the arm blank (D), see Fig. 9. blank in half to make two clamp spacesothe arm can pinch against SPLINE HINGES. The next step heads, see Fig. 9.) tthe tale top, see Fig. 8a.) isto eut kerfs for the 14" Masonite ‘ARM BLANK. To make the arm ‘To determine the length of the _ splines, see Fig. 9. blank (D), cat an8’-longblank to spacers, center the fence from _Toallign the pieces, use the rip fence on the table saw toposition ° Tenrronerine— SPACER __guweeracers | _ker‘s in the botiom ofthe fence, ‘soe oF yn fotos) an the, witht changing he Tor tess ter oe >, cut kerf in the spacers. cree Le { a Now, cut Masonite splines 14" Soon | | wider than the combined depth of thekerfs (74"). And finally, before cutting the blank in half, I cut bevels on the ends (for appear ance), see Fig. 9. CARRIAGE BOLTS. These suankinnaLe clamp heads are attached to the ARM BLANK. @ fence with carriage bolts. ‘The easiest way to get the holes —ORILLHOLE FOR to align in these two pieces is to fasten the clamp heads to the fence with carpet tape, and drill through both pieces, see Fig. 10. ShopTip: If your drill bit isn't long enough, drill es far as you can, remove the clamp heads and complete the hole, see Fig. 10: FINISH. Before assembling the fence, I applied two coats of tung ol finish to keep the wood pars from getting soiled. 25are Fence Accessories e Kouter Bit Guard2 = = eee For safety, you shonld include a bit guard on the roater table. ‘This one is designed to attach to the fence with Tuts and threaded knobs. ‘The guard is made of two pieces: a 16"-thick hardwood back | piece, and a Plexiglas shield. ‘Tomake the guard, first eut the back to size, and cut two 1" slots for adjusting the height, ‘The shield is eut from /4"-thick Plexiglas, and screwed to the ack, This whole assembly. is ‘simply attached to the fence with threaded knobs, see Fig. 2. ADUUSTHENT e tig iar 2 ve-raicg, counrersinx | | screw —~ ribactis suancreue | | PuEICLAS ws |wesedetew \ sxteLo ae for Freehand Routing WWrhen you wantto do freehand routing, you need a guard that extends Out from the fence. This one is made from a single piece of thick Plexiglas, see Fig. 1. ‘Tostabilizethe guard, bwo sets of notches are cut. Two straight And two 45° notehes are eat: in the sides, see Fig. 1. To install the guard, turn the fence over and pinch the sliding faces against the guard, see Fig. 2, Then install the screws. ‘To remove the guard, simply notches are cut onthe back edge. open the faces and pull it out. 4 \ : 2 iit — gescoee stots ror 1 NE8 Dee pe “Tete t none 7 — | - agen we 2) lair ona 26 ShopNotes No.1ee Lens WA featherboard is helpful for keeping boands tight against the table fora consistent cut. ‘To make this one, eut a work- piece from 35'-thick stock with Doth ends cut at 90°, see Pig. 1. ‘THE FINGERS. To cut the fin- gers, attacha tall auxiliary fence to your miter gauge, see Fig. 2. Now; tilt the table saw blade to 80'and raise it to make a 114" high eut, see Fig. 2a, ‘Once the blade height is set, ‘make 17 equally spaced cuts. (This leaves 18 fingers) CUT THESLOTS. The last step is to make two slots for attaching the featherboard to the fence. ‘To make the slots, drill $4" holes, 2%" up from the bottom edge of the featherboard. Then, cut: out the slots witha sabre saw or band saw, see Fig. 3. 1 vatotuien evoeK — wy HANDS CLEAR Roun) oreR leonners. curoursiors Vacuum Attachment WHere’s an easy-to-build dust collection system that serews to the back of the fence (over the router bit opening) and connests to your shop-vae, see photo. ‘Tobuild theattachment, cuttwo triangular-shaped side pieces from Vol-thidk stock, see Fig. 1. ‘TOP PLATE. Next, make a face plate from Ya" Masonite. It's 5° wide and beveled on the top and bottom edges to match the side pieves, see Fig.2.(Thisallowsthe attachment to fit tight against the fence ard the table.) HOLE Size. Now drill hole in the face plate so your vaewum hose will fit snug, see Pig. 2. Glue the pieces together and then serew the attachment to theback ofthe fence, PROBLEM. As you're driving in the screws, the bottom of the vacuum attachment is foreed down and tends to lift the fence, ‘To get around this, put pennies under the side pieces before starting the screws. After they're started, remove the pennies and finish tightening the serew. 2 #8 x2"Fh ss ao FENCE, Use renee OF wz : Se Sec No.1 ShopNotes orTIPS & TECHHIQUES Shop Solutions Sanding Block mHere’s a different twist, @ sanding block that uses 2 belt from a belt sander: (I made mine to fit a 3" x21" belt, bat it can be modified to fit any belt.) ‘The sanding block is actually 2} two pieces, hodyands heel with springs in between, see photo. Dowels are glued into the heel to hold the springs in place. When the heel and body are squeezed together, a sanding belt ean be slipped over the block. ‘The springs pash the pieces apart to tension the helt, refer to Fig. 2. “To make 1 sanding, block for 3"x 21" belt, eut a 2x4 blank the same width as the belt (3") and 84" long. Then, drill the holes for the dowels, see Fig. 1. (It's easi- estto drill these holes before cut- ting off the heel) ‘To help tension the belt, T rounded over the edges of the heel and beveled the other end, see Fig. 2, Finally, cut offthe hee! and glue the dowelsinto it. ‘To use the block, slide springs on the dowels and insert the dowels into the body. Then com- press the springs and slip on & sanding belt. When you need & fresh surface, squeeze the block together and rotate the belt. 2 af ROTE-SANDING sLocK Saab rors x 2r'0eLt fas ee “BODY LUE Donets When screwing two pieces of wood together, the threads can ull up the grain between tho pieces. This pre~ venis the pieces from being drawn tightly together. Sometimes the threads of a serew can raise the wood fibers between two pieces, causing a gap, see photo at left. ‘Typically, you ean avoid this by clampingthe pieces together. But what if you can't clamp them? One Solution is to create a “pocket” for the raised fibers. Us ‘easy todo this by countersinking the inside face of ether the shank hole or the pilot hole see Figs. 1 and 2. Note: The only crawback to eountersinking the pilot hole is it reduces the holding surface for the serew threads. COUNTERS SHANK HOLE a ShopNotesSawhorse Tray e ‘A tray between the legs of a sawhorse is a good idea. The only problem is if you add a tray, you won't be able to stack your saw- horses on top of each other. But here's a way to have your tray and stack it, too — make a fold-up tray, see drawingat right. It workslikethissa pairof3"-long roundhead screws act 2s pivot points on each end ofthe tray,see Detail in drawing at right. The other side ofthe tray is supported by alight weight chain suspended from the top rail. ‘The tricky part is making sure the tray will clear the top rail ‘when one sawhorse is stacked on top of another, ‘The way to solve the problem is to locate the pivot point of the tray halfway up the leg. Then to find the overall width ofthe tray, measure the distance between the pivot peint and the top rail, @ 224 subiraet 1" for clearance. Pipe Clamp Rack Mts hard to imagine a rack for pipe clamps that's easier to make than this, It's made froma length of 2x4 and broom handle clips from a hardware store, I screwed the elips to the 2x4 spacing them 3" apart, see draw- ing. Then serew the 2x4 to the ‘wall. The pipe clamps snap in the clips and the heads of the clamps rest on the 2x4. \\ BNA J) / c1ams eureorr | | Seaver Aca ENO Toerack, mWhen using the drill press it seems that 'malways looking for a misplaced bit, countersink, or chuck key. But a trip to the local hardware store solved all that. T parchased a 12"-long mag- netic tool bar (it’s just a long bar magnet). The tool bar holds itself to the metal head of the drill press. And keeps my drill bitsand accessories handy, see photo. ShopNotes. NOTE: spaces euocK ONLY NEEDED TP SAWMORSEHA® NNER GUSSET | _-serew THEKNESS "AS INNER. Gusser LARGE, WASHER ron hy" WASONTE| ano N2's Finding solutions to problems isa part of woodworking. If you'd like to share solutions to problems you've, faced, send them to: ShopNotes, Attn: Shop Solutions 2200 Grand Ave.,Des Moines, IA 50312, ‘We'll pay uporr publication up to “$200 depending on the published length, Please send an explanation along with a photvor sketch, 29TTL ae Book Review A‘, book, The Workshop ‘ook by Seott Landis, just ‘came aeroas my desk. Naturally, T was curious to get a close-up view of all the professional and ‘home workshops that Landis vis- ited while working on his book. AN IDEABOOK. The Workshop Boole is crammed with hundreds of practical and creative ideas for tool and lumber storage, shop- mace tools, igs and safety neces- sories, shop location, and layout. Some of the ideas ean be lifted right cut of the book. Others ean beadapted to fit your situation. One story I found particularly interesting was about Mark Duginske, a woodworker from Wisconsin, Duginske found a creative solution to the space limitations ofa single car garage shop. He sliced the garage in half, rolled one half to a conerete pad, and then filled in the open space with walls, windows, and a roof. A RANGE OF IDEAS, Maybe what makes Landis’ book 30 ap- pealing is there are usable ideas for a whole range of woal- workers. For example, Landis deseribes dust collection sys- ‘tems that range from a Sears shop vacuam, to a shop-built sys- tem esting $250, to a very chiborate sys ‘The Sea feos tem that compresses sawdust into briekets that are burned to heat the shop. ‘SPACE-SAVING IDEAS Tf lack of space is a problem (are there any shops where it isn’t?), youmight get afewpointerstrom ‘Aleren Watson, Watson set up his shop in a laundry room, Ob- viously limited outfeed table for the table saw. And the table of his overarm routar also adjusts to the same height if he needs more support. DETAILS. Clustering work sur ‘ces to get. the maximum use of space and tools may seem lke & minor detail, But it’s details like these that make a shop work. Its also the kind of attention to detail in the number of power tools he can have, he manages with just a fold-out denchtop, a band saw with infeed/outfeed supports, and- still has ade- quate storage space for all his tools and jigs. Landis de- seribes lots of working shops ‘that have been shochomed into closets, stties, and pantries. The important thing is these space-saving shops offerin- formation that yon ean use in your ‘own shop, no matter what size. ‘SHOP LAYOUT ‘While most of us don’t have lots ‘of shop space, we can learn some- thing from the more fortunate woodworkers who do. Take a look at Kelly Mehler’s shop in Berea, Kentucky, He has re- claimed 3200 square feet-from an old auto dealership. Withallof that space, it’s hard to imagine anyone having to worry about shop layout. But Mehler does, His bench doubles a8 an ShopNotes ‘A Detailed plans ikethese are used throughout the book, Along with large color photographs of unique shopsand space-saving solutions. that Landis shows throughout The Workshop Book. Landis has ineluded over a dozen ealor floor plans of shops. Everything is labeled: the loca- tion of machinery, tools, storage, and sharpening areas, You'll also find large, full eolor photographs throughout the book that show enough detail so you ean model your own ideas after them. ‘The only problem is it may be difficult to baild some of the shop projects sinee they're not shown, ina step-by-step fashion, But this is an “idea” book, not a “how-to” manual. Ifyou'relooking for atour of great chops, and lot of ideas, The Workshop Book will fi the bill. (Photos reprinted from The Worleshop Book by Seott Landis, ©1991 by The Taunton Press Used with permission.) No.1Sources ShopNotes Project Supplies is offering a variety of hardware kits and manufactured items for the Router Table, "We've also put together a list of der sources that carry other mail 0 the same or similar items. ROUTER TABLE TOP The following items are available from ShopNotes Project Supplios for the Router Table Top. PORMICA. Two choots of whito For- mica, forthe top, oversized to trim to final size 24"x 32"). ‘9018-105 Formica... $26.95 ‘The metal mounting brackets used to attach the topto the base, (4)needed. {6801-110 Mounting Bracket swith serews, INSERT. The 1 .$35¢a, ik phenolic in- sert for the Router Table Twp comes predrilled with a 194’ opening for the bit, and two I' finger holes. ‘The corners are rounded and the edges chamfered. This insert is 784" wide (deep) and 1134" long and will fit ‘mos routers. 4502-229 Phenolic Insert for Roater Table $19.99 OVERSIZED BLANK. We're also offering an oversized phenolic blank for use with larger routers. Note: This blank is not drilled, or routed. ‘You must eut it to shapo. 4502-245 11" x 15" Phenolie Blank. 18.95 A kit is available that eontains all of the hardware (but not the wood) for the router table fence. The kit in- Featherboand requires Attachment cludes the following hardware: Wit 6501-250) *(2)%" x 6" Carriage Bolts, 4502-525 Featherboard, ) 96" Star Knobs FREEHAND GUARD. This guard is #2) 36" Washers 9(4) %4¢" LD. Threaded Inserts #(4) Sot x24" Star Krnbs #(2) Se! x1" Scar Knobs made from eptic orange Plexiglas with flame poished edges, Mounting srews are included. {6801-220 Freeh. Guard 906) 540" Washers DUST HOOD. The dust. #2) 546" T-slot Nuts hood is made irom black ABS plastie 801.200 Router Table Fence and fits. a214' shop-vac hose. Hardware Kit... $18.95 6801-230 Dust Hood CABINET KIT Ifyou want to bulld tae enclosed ea- inat shown in the special plans in- sertedin this issue, ahardware itis availale. "The kt includes: “@) 1148 x82" Piano Hinges 92) D-handle Pulls ‘*(2) Magnetic Catches #(4) Mounting Brackots (4) 36x LIS! Lag Serews 6801-150 Cabinet Kit ACCESSORIES ‘The Accessories shown on pages 26 and 27 are also available as manufac tured versions. BIT GUARD. This is 2 one-picse guard made from ¥4"-thick optie orange Plexiglas. Slots are cat and itsbent to aright angle. (Note: Ifyou don’t order Fence Kit 6801-200, the Bit Guard requires Attachment Kit 6801-250.) 4502-200 Bit Guard. FEATHERBOARD. We're offering a featherboart made trom %'-thiek ATTACHMENT KIT Spedal Kt for attaching Guard and Featherboart includes 2) Tlot nuts, ‘and (2) threaded krobs and washers. 6801-250 Attachment Kit... §9.95 A kat is available that includes all of tho hardware needed to build the ‘Top, Fence, and Cabinet Caminate {$14.95 not included). Aloe includes the four accessories, see Accessoriesheading, However, no wood is included, ‘6801-300 Complete Kit. FLU ROUTER ‘Themodel #3838 router canbe found at Elu dealers and from some of the ‘mail order sources listed below. THE WORKSHOP BOOK ‘This book is available through Taun- $99.00 ton Press and several of the mail {$15.95 order catalogs listed below. The Workshop Book by Scott ‘Lands isalso availabe trough Shop- palyearponate, (Not: If you dav. Notas Projet Supplies jer Fence Kit 6801-200, the MAIL ORDER SOURCES Similar hardieare and supplies may be four in the following catalogs. Please call each company for a cata- og or for ordering information. Constantine’ ‘TrendLines ‘The Woedworkers! ‘on-223- 087 300-767-1900 Store owning Proteta ——‘Honiare Phonalie ~ §12-428-2100 Highland Hardware Williams Teo! Plast Knol, Moutng ‘Sov oat-74s "R00 788-2007 ‘Bruclt, Te Wortahp Blu33h, Insot Mote. The Workshop Book, Book Fal, Hanieare Inset Merial” Woodworkers Supply ‘Taunton Prose Wooderatt ‘So ‘SOM ase S256 "500'325-1153 Hrardaare, The Work- {Im Worcahop Book ‘Therap Book hep Boo Tool Crib ‘The Woodsmith Store ShopNetes Supplies onase 006 ‘S1s55.979 bose? Bassa Blussss ‘The Workshop Book No.1 ShopNotes 2004-155 Workshop Book.. $34.95, ORDER INFORMATION BY MAIL ‘To order by mail, use the form enclosed with & current issue. Theorder form indudes information on handling and shipping charges, and sales tax. Sond your mail order to: BY PHONE For fastest service use our ‘Toll Free order line. Open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Central Time. Before calling, have your VISA, MasterCard, or Dis- eoverCard realy. ShopNotes Project Supplies 1-800-444-7527 P.O. Box 842 Note: Prices subject Des Moines, 1A 50304 herp 11008 31SUG R ‘outer tables are one of the most valuable tools in the workshop ... but they have two drawbacks. They're noisy, and they create a ot ofsawdust. Aswe were working on the new Router ‘Table shown in ShopNotes No. 1, vwe built an enclosed base to solve both of these shortcomings. CLEAN AND QUEET. It’s amazing how much an enelosed base qui- ets down a router. The noise re- duction makes it a lot more | comtortabie to work around. And by adding a removable dust box inside, you substantially reduce the dust and chip mess The only problem with enclos: ing a router in a cabinet is heat. ‘Th allow for cool air flow through the cabinet, we eat vents in the side and the hack. BIT HOLDERS. Enclosing a router base to reduce noise and sawdust is great, but my favorite feature of this eabinet is some- thing you won't see until you ‘open the doors. Serewed to the insides of the doors are a set of unique router bit holders that won't fill with dust and chips. SUPPLIES. I used one sheet of maple plywood for the case (you could also use birch), and maple for the trim. ShopNotes Project Supplies has a complete hard- ware kit for this cabinet, see Sourves on page 31 ofissue No. 1. A Supplement to ShopNotes Capt 142 Woods Copan 2200 Gard Ae, Dis Noes ABBCORT ee Roures ABLE TOP oe (yom. B. moipina| LEVELER DETAI i. COUNTER: CUTTING DIAGRAM A Sides (2) % ply-14'%6x95 B Back|1) % ply- 2314 x35 © Shelf (1) 9% ply-14%9x22% D Bottom (1) 34 ply-141%46 x 22% EEsping tt). ex 2a te -| F Molding (4) 11x3-31% BASE G Spacer (1) 1%46x9%4- 20% H FrtuBok. (2) 1%46 x 312 - 255% 1 Sides(2) 1M6x3%- 166 DUST BOX J FrtuBok. (2) % ply- 5x22 K Sides (2) Seply- 8x14 L Bottom (1) 4 ply- 13% x21 Doors M Doors 2) Seply-11%6 131% gee Bh jal (1) 46x %- P Bit Hidrs. (6) %4 x 1% -10 ‘SUPPLIES +(2)D-Handle pull +(2) Mag. catch *(2)36" Plano hinge (a) Mt. Bracket *(4) 9" 11" Lag screw aro 40" (TW BONDS ©2580.) i [ies 84" x4"~72" (2 BOARDS @ 480. FT.) detea" 72% (2 80.F4) ae aa 1 SHEET (46" x 96°) OF 24-THICK WAPLE PLYWOOD 2 K r[RORT een ‘The router cabinet is a plywood case with hardwood trim around tthe base and at the corners. CASE. The cast consists of five basie pieces: two sides, a shel, a back, and abottom. The doors are added later. (The top is shown in ShopNotes No.1, page 18.) Start by eutting two sides (A) from %4" plywood, see Mig. 1. edging strip (B) can be glued on ‘Then, tojoin the shelf'and bottom’ to cover the plywood edge. to the sides, cut 4"deep daloes VENTILATION. To prevent heat tomatch the thickness of the ply- trom building: up inside the eabi- ‘wood you're using, sco Fig.1. net, cut a notch ct thd top of each The next step is to cut a back side(A),and cut asiet inthe back (B),ashelf(C),anda bottom (D), (B), see Figs. 1a and 1b, After ‘seo Fig. 1-The shelf (C)is ent 14" eutting the vents, glue and screw narrower than the bottom so an_ the ease together, see Fig. 2. a. peemenss >| [2 Coen r ees er teeae | ab Ap aursionn BAGKFOR PROM | GIVE AND oonen Afterthe caseis assembled, work can begin on the base. The base consis:s of four pieces CH, 1) that are Serewed to the bottom of the case, sco Fig.3. ‘SPACER, Before I cut the base pieces to length, T glued and serewed a spacer (G) to the bot- tom front of the case, see Fig. 3. This stripis necessary so the base will protiude uniformly around the case after the cabinet doors are attached, see Exploded View. BASE PIECES. After the spacer is serewed to the case, cut the base pieces (H, I) from stock (LM4¢" actual thickness) 314" wide and to rongh length, soe Fig. 3. ‘Then roat a¥4" round-over on. the top edge of each piece. Next, miter the ends to fit around the bottom of thé eabinet, and gle and camp the base pieces in place. With the clamps still in place, drill shank holes and screw tthe base pieces to the cabinet. LEVELERS: To compensate for in Exploded View on page 1 ‘unevenfloors, [added four shop- 1 drilled "dia. eounterbores made levelers to-the front and so I could use a soeket wrench to back hase pices. Thelevelersare install and adjnst. the levelers. simply lag serews that fit in ‘Then I drilled pilot holes for the counterbored holes, see DetallB. lag serews. EST: screw 5) Sree oe ‘SECOND: Pees torr oe 2 HOLES FORScREWSRe ee MOLDING = ‘The molding strips (F) that [4 cover the plywood eamer are cut from 11/9"thiek hardwood. To determine their length, measure from the top of the base (1) to tae top of the sides (3144"). Then cut four molding strips" wideandto the measured length, see Fig. 4. Next, rout a6" round-over on three corners of each strip, see Fig, 4b. Then remove the last corner by cutting a large rabbet, see Figs, 4b and 5, ATTACH MOLDING. ‘The two | strips for the back ean be glued and screwed in place, see Fig. 4a, But the two molding strips on the font actually wrap around the doors. I simply sipped the strips along their length, and at- tached one strip to the eabinet sites sc6 Fig, hemes: |p SBMA Bean 7 * tion is glued to the door later) ‘GLUE AND SCREW MOLDING JO BAZ CORNERS 5 eure oo eT G6] "Chsnersive ‘AND BOGE ‘packness oF $a" perwooD > ven f { @, GLUE AND soReW - oun srr Mouome (NOTCH, ‘Sm ‘To catch sawdust and chips that fall through the ronter bit hole i, the table top, I added-a dust box that slides into the shelf in the cabinet, refer to Exploded View. ‘Twbuildthebox,cutafront and back (J) and two sides (K) from 54'-thick plywood; see Fig. 7. To join the front and back to the sides, cut rabtets on the ends of the front and hack, see Fig 7a Next, to hold the bottom-in Place, cut a groove near the bot tom of each piece, see Fig. 7b. Finally, eta bottom (L, to it, then glue and nail the box together.With the dust box complete, the nextstep isto make thedoors. Leut them from 94’-thick plywood and covered the inside edges with edg- jing strips, and the outside edges with the door malding strips set aside earlier To determine the width of the doors, first: measure across the front of the cabinet from outside edge-to-edge, and divide this in half, Then subtract 1" for the edging strip and 14¢" for the cen- ter gep (11% 9", in my case). ~ ‘Mo determine the door length, measure from the top of the base (H) to the top of the sides and subtract 14" for clearance 81%. Now cut two doors (M) to size, see Fig. 8, ADD Trim, Then cut two 14'- thick edgings (N) and glue them to the inside edges of each door. ‘Also glue and serew the door “moldings (eet aside earlier) to the outside edges, see Pig. 8b. ASTRAGAL, ‘To prevent dust from eséaping and to minimize CRT noise, I added anastragal (0) to the back of one door, see Fig. _-HARDWARE. Before mounting the doors, attach the handles, see Pig. 10."Phen mount the doors with two piano hinges eut tothe same length as the doors, Screw ane hinge flap to a door and the, other to the cabinet side, see Fig. 11. For clearance, insert a tem- porary spacer under each door hefore screwing them to the side. Finally, serew magnetic catches and strike plates to the doors. & Pp cet ASIDE EARUER) ASTRAGAL, {10} “SECOND: ‘SeREW DOOR SOMOLDING. | oe [od es, “oe ce exes wile | oH coictrsorrin—el So es 15 TOEVEW TO) @ ove woLDNG mgt mnenene caren AaTIAGA oT Sr 1 we eget] ©.Ree After the doots ate mounted, T added router bit holders inside each door. These are, simple holders, bat designed so they won't get clogged with sawdust. ‘The holes are crilléd all the way through the holder so saw- dust falls throagh. ‘To keep the bits in place, the holders are cut ait an @ngle so the bit stops against the door, see Fig. 15a. (CUT BLANK. To make each bit holder (P), start by cutting a 10"- ong blank from 34"-thiek hard- ‘wood, see Fig, 14. DALLHOLES. Next, drill a ser~ ‘es of holes the same size as the shanks of your roater bits, Note: If your fouter bits dont slide, easily in and ont of the holes, en- Jarge the holes slightly with a owel wrapped with sandpaper. Tesalsoeasier to drill and coun- tersink the two setew holes used to mount the holders before cut~ ting the holder at an angle, see Fig. 14, 2 FIP BLANK. After the holes are Grilled, the next step is to bevel rip the holder along its length at 45°. To do this, position the rip fence 6n your table saw to eut the holder 154" wide, see Fig. 14a, nee the holders are ripped, serew them to the doors, posi- tioning each holder 394" apart and ¥2" in from the inside edge, see Fig. ‘CABINET TOP. Aside. from the wiring (see the section below) and mounting the router table top, the eabinet is complete. To mount the top, I used the same mounting braekets shown on page 18 of ShapNotes No. 1. FIRST: DRILL HOLES. — MOUNTING] 15} sexew 211 Howers 70 _| INSIDE FACE "Or 00K ‘Tomake iteasy to turn the router ‘on and off, I added a switch. It © controls power to an outlet in the cabinet, seb Fig, 16. ADDING A SWITCH. To add a ewiteh, first drilla hole in the cab- inet side for the wiring to pass through, see Fig. 16. Then, serew the electrical boxes to the eabi net. Next, wire the switch to the outlet. Finally, serew the switeh and ontlet into the boxes and add anoutlet and switch cover. OUTLET STRIP. If you're not comfortable with wiring, eonsult “alicensed electrician. Or, you can install a “switehed” outlet strip, see Fig. Téa. ‘ORILLAOLES| peep FOR WRG CUR "TO CABINET , <