www.ShopNotes.comIssue 66 PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE EDITORS. ‘CONTRIBUTING EDITOR. ‘SR. GRAPHIC DESIGNER SENIOR ILLUSTRATORS November 2002 Donald B. Pesehke Terry/J. Strohman Bryan Nelson Vineent Ancona Phil Huber Cary Christensen Kurt Schultz Roger Reiland ‘Mark Higdon came mono re ar Saka ein Soiree tok bares Sees Sian ccna a et oes cet Bho do 8 tes Etnies Coy Tht Sai Son Dur Say Bas Now Bis Di nde Kael ‘hn Alara Kee ee Hit Eni el se Page Eilag & Caio Ars Rebeca Cuan «Mote ‘Pram ig cana Pronto Anat PAST pee eae ee ren eee noes cee teceee tee eee pee eer tense ns Sacer eae eee: eae cen eae Eeteites ore atenaen Syren maces uae EERE tee Bean pekinese Seve ‘Ami hat: Nee mn To ene Aneta 8 ‘hat Sir ep ney aoe, ae Ca Dore hy ti tga: ese ne Siro, Mana Dae Laren As Ten» Ses Su ‘Rens Stns, any Mav Geer amt Ma han, arian» ge a a ‘Se eens M6 shinee, war, Sy ef by cr Home Pan, 255 Cr ‘SiooNojesleeonedtratemarc nt Hoar Pacing Sees eet aiieg pera Esew ees ore pee an ee ee resect cosh TAINTED IVUSA Ta Cutoffs ast issue we featured a fullsize jworkbench, At the time I men- tioned that we would be featuring a storage system to go with it. Ofcourse, I wanted a place to store lots of woodworking tools. And I wanted to keep them organized and close at hand, My first thought was to simply custom fit_a large cabinet under our workbench, But the more } thought about i, 1 realize that this solution wouldn't be very versatile. After all, you may already have a workbench that's dif ferent size than ours, And what about the woodworkers who prefer not to store tools under their bench at all? ‘The solution to this big storage problem was to think smaller Instead of one large cabinet, we designed two smaller ones. This ‘way, You can set the cabinets side- by-side under your bench, or you ‘ean stack them up for convenient rollaround storage. Either way, I think it’s a versatile storage system ‘hat “stands” on its own. ‘Saw Station - We used a similar approach to another project in this issue — the Table Saw Workstation ‘on page 20. The initial idea was to ‘Heo eS owe ‘make a stand for a portable table saw that would provide storage and out- ‘eed support for ripping long pieces. Here again, we started with the concept of one large cabinet, but realized it would be more versatile if we split the project into two parts. Not to mention the fact that a large ‘cabinet might defeat the main reason for having a smaller sav in the frst place —floor space. Now you can start by building a ‘small base cabinet. This cabinet puts the saw at a good working height, takes up litle floor space, and pro- vides plenty of storage. ‘Then if you want more capability (and have the room), you can add ‘another cabinet. It provides all the ‘outfeed support you could ask for ‘And to make better use ofthe space ittakes up, we incorporated a router table and a handy place to store a shop vacuum for collecting dust. T guess it just goes to show you that “bigger” isn't necessarily better. ‘Sometimes the best solutions come about when you think “stall” ihre poe Paria feaoseeroeeees cpp ‘ssaatinee SS anaes ShopNotes iedddetoyng aoe No. 66Contents Features Thin-Stock Hold-Down ____6 Need to cut thin veneer or laminate on the table saw? You'll Thin-Stock Hold-Down page 6 {get chip-free results safely with our shop-made hoid-down, whether you'e cutting narrow strips or wide ones. Convertible Shop Storage Cabinets __ 10 It easy to see how much storage you can pack into these handy cabinets. What you can see is how versatile they are. You can stack them, like you see in the photo at right, or set them side-by-side under a bench Tongue & Groove Joinery_____18 Soli, dependable, and easy to make — tongue and groove Joinery gets high marks forall trae. We show you howto cut this basic jnton te table saw, providing os and techniques for geting great resus every time Table Saw Workstation_________ 20 Any shop can benefit by combining tools in a central location. Our two-cabinet workstation features a portabie table saw, table-mounted router and fence, and a shop vacuum — along: with a pair of drawers for storing ail your accessories. 6-Step Router Plate Installation 30 Fiting a router plate into the top of table doesn have o be ahassie. We'll show you step-by-step how to do this successfully using a handed route anda set of shoo-nade guides Departments Readers’ Tipe ‘Shop-tested tips to solve common woodworking problems. POON CNag es Sometimes the smallest tool packs the biggest punch. This ‘Issue too! slips easily in the pocket of your apron so it’s always close at hand when you need it Migridik 3 os ae See how something as simple as the grain ofa workpiece can dramatically affect the look of a project. ispuipce Le \Mallarder sources and supplies to help you complete the projec featured in this issue Table Saw Workstation page 20 No. 66 ShopNotes 8Get more wood- ‘ing tips free. Vist us on the Web at ‘ShopNotes.com Sign up to epee a free shop tip by email every week, m Whenever Tm working with long pieces, I offen have a hard time supporting the end of the ‘workpiece. So T came up with this adjustableheight work support stand. The nice thing about this stand is that it can be builtin about ‘an hour for around $20 in materials. ‘The stand is primarily made out of standard PVC pipe and fittings. ‘Two different diameters of pipe are used for the column of the stand. A. PVC compression fiting joins the two sections of the column and allows you to adjust the height of the stand, as shown above. To make the lower half of the column, glue a reducer fitting onto the end of a section of 2" PVC pipe. ‘Then take a 14" compression fitting 4 2G PVC Outfeed Support —____ a. END VIE\ oe 7 , NEE ger 1A cxrcxones ire | Se, < » | “PRIFTING + E\ ) ae ea il Lf conten % raat (aun aur) no ef. Be ae me LL on | Fe e G sees 7) aa Seesirasar at ceere er eae RH ‘and cutit in half, You'll need to sand down the circumference of the com- pression fitting until it fits into the cen of the 2" pipe. Then, glue the pieces together. “The riser section of the colurnn is made out of 11" PVC pipe. To create ‘a mounting surface forthe top of the stand, the top is sliced off a Tftting and the fing is glued onto the end ‘of the pipe, detail ‘2’. Now just slip ‘the nut and rubber washer from the ‘compression fting over the end of ShopNotes see the riser and then sip the riser into the column. (You!l have to cut a sec- tion out ofthe washer to allow itto fit around the riser, detail b*) Finally, I made a base and top for the sand out of plee of "i wood and some “tweeby” seraps. Charles F. Phelps Pittsford, New York No. 66Quick Tips — A Dana Craig of Norwood, MA uses 4 Duane Bames of Menomonie, W! slips & Charles Nielsen of Forest Lake, MN Plastic soap holders to support small a length ofpanty hose over the fter of his makes a drying rack for molding and trim projects during finishing. This prevents shop vacuum. The hose keeps sawdust by hammering some nails into a pair of them from sticking to the top of his bench. from ladging in the pleats of the fier. _2x4s and leaning them against tho wall, Spring Clamp Support mi Whenever I use my fig saw to cut thin stock, I have trouble with the waste piece drooping down and pinching the saw blade. To help keep the waste side of the stock sup- ported, Fuse a srong spring clamp. Qi ier staring the cut, just postion ‘the spring clamp over the kerf on the end of the workpiece. Gary Rowe Woodland Hills, California Quick Connect 1 When I was installing a dust cok Jection system in my shop, ] wasabit surprised by the high cost of the hose clamps. Fortunately, [found a cheaper solution, While browsing through a home improvement store, T came across some wire hose clamps that are used for clothes an added bonus, you don't need any dryer vents. The clamps were inex tools to connect them — just pensive and as you can see in the squeeze the ends with your fingers, photo at lef, they ithe hoses on my B.A. Jones dust collection system perfectly. AS Gig Harbor, Washington Send in Your Shop Tips Ifyou have a unique shop tip, we'd like to consider featuringitinone or more of our print or electronic publications. ‘We'll pay up to $200 for a tip we pub- Tish. Just write down the tip and mail it to ShopNotes, Artn: Readers’ Tips, 200 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50812. Or RAK it to 515-282-6741, or send us an email at shopnotes@shopnotes.com. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number in case we have any questions ShopNotes. 5Thin-Stock luting thin stock like veneer ‘Xirand plastic laminate has always ‘given me some trouble. The stock tends to “surf” over the blade, tearing and chipping as it goes. It also has a tendency to wedge itself under the fence, where it gets stuck. ‘This jig solves both of those preb- lems. Here's how it does ‘How it Works - You can see from the photos on this page thatthe jigs basically an auxiliary fence that clamps to your existing rip fence. The bottom edge of the fence beveled so that it makes full contact with the table of the saw. This pre- ‘vents thin material from working its ‘way underneath the fence. Connected tothe fence by a pair of steel adjusting rods are a pair of hhokddown blocks that act lke another set of “hands? while cutting. One of the holddown blocks is positioned in front of the blade, so the workpiece is held on the table as you feed it into the blade. The rear block straddles the blade and prevents the stock from being lifted up, ‘The hold-down blocks can be adjusted in or out for dif {erent widths of material. So you can cut very thin strips (or inlays or for edging a countertop) or wider pieces. ‘At first glance, the hold- down blocks look a lot like A Wide or Narrow. The adjustable hold-down featherboards. But there’s a blocks are mounted to rods that slide out, allowing difference. Featherboards you fo cut laminate or veneer as wide as 6%" are usually fixed rigidly in 6 ShopNotes place, The hold-dawn blocks on this fence dangle and pivot freely from| the ends of a pair of steel rods. The weight of the blocks offers just enough pressure to keep the stock flat on the table without making it dif ficult to push the workpiece through the saw blade. AUXILIARY FEN If you take a look at the exploded view to the right, you'll sce that there are two main assemblies to this jie — a simple auniliary fence that clamps to your rip fence and a pair of hold downs thatride in a Tslot on the top of the fence. I began by making the auxiliary fence. ‘Two-Piece Construction — As yout can see in Figure 1, there are two pieces that make up the L- shaped awiliary fence (A). A sroove cut in each piece will form the Tslot. The first step is to cat the fence face piece to width. The height of the fence will depend on the height of your table saw’s rip, fence. T made my fence 1" wider (alles) than the overall height of my rip fence. This will allow the bottom No. 66JIGS & ACCESSORIES EXPLODED VIEW soaugane _/ ® estoy "SUING SUPPORT BLOCK — ene HOLD-DOWN ‘BLOCK. et Note raeegapeuron Bet Etec ® FENCE, GAS, edge of the auniliary fence to rest ‘completely on the table of the saw. Talso added a slight bevel to the bottom of the fence face, like Figure Ja shows. This is to prevent your workpieces from getting wedged in between the fence and the saw table when using the fg. ‘The second part of the fence is just a narrow strip of" stock cut to the same length as the face of the fence. It will get glued to the face EOFS EGE un eer cr suir ance a.) ‘Boa oPetabE piece of the fence, but not just yet. First, you'l need to make the T:slot. Cutting the Slot ~ The T'slot on the top of the fence will allow you to adjust the hold-dowm blocks that are added later. Toilet bolts will slide in the slots and be used to lock the sliding support blocks and hold-down blocks in place. Making the’T-slotis actually atwo- step process. First, a YA!twide saw kkerfis cutin both pieces ofthe fence, et | NOMESrees ECOND.cut fy, | poe SENSE i No. 66 ShopNotes ‘FRONT VIEW as you see Figure 1b. When the two parts ofthe fence are glued together, these kerfs will form the botiom of the Plot that will hold the heads of the toilet bots. twill be opened after the pieces are glued together. Once you've cut the kerfs,you can flue the two pieces together. The triekthere is in keeping the saw kerfs for the Tslot aligned while clamping up the workpieces “The solution is to use a “key.” I just cut a narrow strip of 46" hard- board to fit in the Keris. The key will keep the Keris aligned while the glue dries. To avoid accidentally suing the key in place, just give it a coat of wax so it can be removed once the glue dries, see the margin etal to the right. With the fence glued up as one piece, you're ready to complete the ‘Telot. This is just a matter of cutting, a slot along the top of the fence for the shank ofthe toilet bots. 1 did this by removing the waxed key and setting the fence upside down on the table saw.Then I cut the slot opening in a couple ofpasses, as shown in Figure te waxed haraboar key hejos to keep the kerfs aligned uring glue up.ORE Hold-Down Assembly ee With. the fence completed, you're now ready to make the two adjustable hold down assemblies for the jig as in Figure 2. ‘There are two parts to each assembly. The first part isa sliding support block that rides inthe fence Tslot. It postions the hold down block along the auxiliary fence. It's held in place by a toilet boit and knob, as you can seein Figure 2a ‘The second partis the holddown block. The weight and the shape of these blocks holds the workpiece on the table. The “ingers" ofthe blocks are designed to straddle the blade. ‘They are connected to the sliding support blocks by a pair of steel rods, as shown in Figure 2. Support Blocks — began by making the alidling support blocks (B). Tomakerthe pieces safer to work with, Idd al the cutting and drilling on a single, extrelong blank before cuttingtheblockstofinalsize, Start by ripping 2°/4!4hick blank to width. Next, youl make a cen- tered tongue sized to fit the slot on the fence by cuting two wide, shallow rabbets, like you see in Figures 3 and 2a. With the tongue made, the next stepisto dillholes forthe toiletbolt and steel adjusting rod. To support ewer “At SLIDING SUPPORT Ze cotton ———— BAe euow arc oN POUR Boat fenceto the drill press, as in Figure 4. ‘Then with the kerfs cu, you ean cut ‘Then, you can dril the toilet bolt the blocks to final length, hole in the center of the block, as Hold-Down Blocks ~ The last Figure da shows. parts ofthe jig to be made are the ‘Nest, center the bit on the thick: holddowm biocks (C). Just as their ness of the block and dril the hole name implies, these blocks keep the for the steel rod, ike in Figure db. material firmly on the sav table. “The last siep before cutting the They are made from two layers of support blocks to length isto cut a #/Mhick stock, giving them just kerf in the block. This allows the enough weight to hold the work- knob to pinch the adjusting rod and piece down [found it easiest to glue secure the sliding support block to upan extrelong blank before cuting the fence, see Figures 5 and 5a, them to thei final size. ‘Once the give fas dried, you can cut out the hold-down blocks on the table sav. Since all cuts are 45° IIaid ShopNotes No. 66PRR cout the shape on the workpiece, then 1! 0 see, Ando sanport ine Plank as the blocks are cut, T attaches’ an auxiliary fence to the miter gauge, as in Figure 6 Fingers ~ Now that the blocks are cut to their final shape, the next step is to cut the “fingers.” As you can see in Figures 7a and 7b, the fin- seersin each block are different. The rear block has an extra finger that forms a second slot that is used ‘when cutting very narrow pieces. Cutting the slots is the trckiest part of making the blocks. But built a simple carriage to cut the slots safely Ifsa piece ofhardboard glued and serewed to a 2x4 backing piece that’s been mitered at 45° ‘The blocks are simply clamped into the jig, as Figure 7 shows. I cut the slots in several passes with ares ‘lar blade in the table sa, making, sure the jig and block were held firmly agains the fence. Once the fingers are cut, I soft ened the sharp edges and sanded a ight radius on the bottom of the blocks to provide a smooth contact point regardless of the thickness of the workiece, asin Figure 2c. ‘The jig is almost ready to put together. But fist youl need to add ‘a counterbored recess to the blocks for a stop collar and a through hole for a stec! rod (Figure 6a). Finally, cat tivo steel adjusting rods to con- “THIRD: camp woup-bowns, FOREITING Cneove as Bible BUPrber Bloc No. 66 6 Ce END VIEW neet the holddown blocks to the sliding support blocks and file off any sharp edges. Setup and Use ~ At this point, you're ready to assemble the parts and start cutting, The jig goes together pretty quickly. Begin by securing the toilet bolts and support blocks tothe fence with washers and knobs. Next I attached the hold down blocks to the steel rods with stop collars and slipped them through the sliding support blocks. Le SIDE VIEW Now that it’s assembled, the jie is pretty easy to use. After clamping it to the fence, set the holddown blocks to width. Next, position the rear block over the back half of the blade and the front blocs justin front ofitand tighten the knobs. (One more thing. I's good ideato install azero-clearance insert to pro- vide support and prevent chipout. ‘Then to safely clear narrow strips simply turn off the saw before pulling them out from the back. #4 A Stop Colars. 4 pair of stop collars position the hots down blocks but allow them to pivot ‘A. Added Control, Using this jig with a zero- clearance insert on your table saw wil give cutting thin laminates and veneers. 9 you greater contro! and accuracy whenright or side-by-side? No, I'm not talkinge about Dee eee eee a rg shop storage cabinet. Actually, is two cabinets. One has Cee tne es accor ae ce a Sere ee eee ey Pree ee ce en ‘The idea came about while building the workbench in, Fe eu Aces ented fo it underneath the bench (see photo on page 17). But Seren eae sections, it would be easy to transform it into a stacked, Poe othedn tener ce ts Senescence tere nied emai _ Shop Storage or the “upright* version, te goal is he same — turning an unused area info valuable storage space. The com Peres nin orst reece etna es small power tools, while the drawers will hold most of Soriano a SRT CN ae aoa enc Cece e CRCe Nee Cee ee oe oe eens ee Re Seca SU neath the workbench in issue No. 65, it would be easy to Sr Re enue sec gt Bre cme eaten enn t sa aca tee cnet iscsi ra ete alone cabinet, you can use any type af wood you like. 10 STN No. 66i EXPLODED VIEW GVERAID DIMENSIONS @ B284"W x 22%6"D x40%2"H — SRESSRRENE “B ay races piper aenges coum sae ass TION: Sages, — .DESLONOFTION:, wotteitta ee SEEMS Set ‘eRetene ERNANGED OY THE USE oF RIEAIN ENGeK CEC EAGE 4 Coe Moke INEOKIATION ‘A Case Tops/Bottome (4) 20%lsx 28-51, Pood B Case Sides (4) 21x 165-2 Plywood © Edging (1) Stax 9-40 In, Fo. D Case Packs (2) BIL, x 16a" Plywood \. E Door Rails (4) 3x3 \ F Door Stiles (4) 84x8- lo SeNQLSEERONTSCONCEN. G Door Panels (2) Bax Flo 'ls Pywood i Ses eee 1H Sm. Orawer Fronts/Backs (2) Yox Bie 258% Ce | Med. Drawer Fronts/Backs (2) Yex ¥/e~ 20° Ont aon J ly Drawer Fronts/Backo (2) ‘lex Ga 25% DRAWER SLIDES K Sm, Drawer Sides (2) ‘ex BM4-20 1 Med. Drawer Sides (2) ‘ex #le-20 M Lg, Drawor Sides (2) Vax 64-20 Bae N Drawer Bottoms (8) 19% 25% ts Plywood aaa 0. Sm. Drawer False Front (1) STRING Cea. P. Med. Drawer False Front (1) @ Le. Drawer False Front (1) ax 6a ~27'le R Base/Dvidor Panclo (2) 21x 28g 2s Plywood Top Fane! (1) 2 la x27 Ie -7/s Plnood T Top Ende (2) Siax3 -22% No. 66 ‘ShopNotes uwCase SE As I mentioned earlier, this storage cabinet is made up of two separate units. Although we built one unit with drawers and the other with doors, you can build them any way you choose (both with drawers or both with doors). The real beauty of this design isthe fact that the cases of both units are identical no matter how you configure them. Essentially, each case is nothing more than an ‘open plywood box. Cut Case Pieces to Size ~ You ‘can start by cutting out the plywood pieces forthe case fops and botioms (A), and the case sides (B). As you ‘can sce in Figure 1, these pieces are joined together with tongue and dado construction. Tongues cut on the ends of the top and bottom fit into dadoes cut into the sides. Figure 1a shows a detail ofthis joint. Once you've finished cutting all the tongue and groove joints, you ‘can set the top and bottom aside ‘until you're ready for assembly. But there is sill justa litle more work to do on the case sides. First, you'll need to cut a rabbet, along the back edge of each side piece, You can see this rabbet in Figure 1b above. This rabbet will hhold a back panel that is added later. (The top and bottom of the case will simply batt up against the back, so they don't need to be rabbeted) Ee EDGING, ear setitex HaksuSeey Edging ~ To conceal the plywood edges of the case, I added some hardwood edging (C) to the front edge of each side piece. Then I trimmed the edging flush on the router table. If you look at Figure 2 below, you'l see that I did this using a flush trim bit and a tall auxiliary fence to support the workpiece and actas a bearing surface oN e@ Gee B88 Assembly ~ Before you assemble the ease, take a look atthe front of the grooves in the ease sides. Ifthere is any cred glue inthe grooves just behind the edging, clean tout with a narrow chisel. If you don't, the tongues on the top and bottom panels wont seat tightly against the back of the edging when you assemble the case. ShopNotesAfter you've assembled the case, ‘you can add the edging tothe front edges af the case top and bottom. Like the edging on the sides of the cease, this edging also starts off a little wide, However, itis cutto exact length to fit in between the edging onthe sides (Figure 3), Once the glue is dry, you can trim the edging flash, But tis time, youll need to use a hand-held router. But because it can be hard to balance the router on the narrow front edge of the case, I clamped a support strip to the case, as shown in Figure 4, This support stip is HENGWEAgTE actually glued up from two strips of wood — a wide one and a narrow Ss ‘one — to create a clearance gap for es the router bit (Figure 4c). MF SS ‘With this support stip clamped in place, you can trim the edging on both the outside and inside of the you see being done in Figure da. case Figures 4b and 4c). Just make "Back ~ The last step to complete sure to pay attention to the direction the cases is to add the backs. Bach you are routing in order 0 avoid back (D) is eut from "plywood. I ‘backrouting the workpiece. you fake a look at Figure 5, you can ‘The router bit won't be able to see that the back is cut to fit in the reach into the inside comers of the _rabbetsin the sides ofthe case and is case. Here, you'thaveto use achisel flush with the top (and bottom). to pare away the remaining, waste, 2s ‘Then it’s simply screwed in place. PET TT @. veccuse.z0 latex) "48" 06" RIFTEAWN RED OAK PLYWOOD case | case | case | case | case Hardware SSE | SBE | SEE | SEE | EF ®|e e@ ®@ # (4) #6x1" Fh Woodscrone 2 (A) Bato" race Butt Hinges wlocrewe oe oto | eStiGu © (2) Magnetic Catches w/screws @ ® * (8) T'Square Knobs 16) B52 Tis" Rh Machine Screws ( pr) 20" Drawer Sides wrocrows (24) #8x1" Fh Woodscrone (4) #8x2" Ph Woodeorens + (4), 4 Locking Sivel Casters | Bie | Bottom | Boon + (18) #14 x2" Fanhoad Woodserows w w © + (16) "1" Flat Washers case | cee | BASE pyper Ge | Oe a me | ne eh © | © S ® ® Se 40": Oe FFTBAMI RED OKFLYWOE FB x80 TSAI FED OAKPLIMOOD No. 66 ‘ShopNotes B4 Open and Shut Case. A pair of hinged! doors gpen to reveal a large storage compartment. A Color- Coordinated. To match the black ish on the knobs, the hinges and screws are primed and then sprayed with black paint, Once you have both cases complete, yon can turn your attention to making the doors and drawers that 4g0 inside them. Tt doesn't really matter which you choose to make first, but I started with the doors. ‘The doors are built with frame and panel construction. A hardwood frame surrounds a plywood panel. ‘To build the doors, I started by cut- ting the door rails (B) and stiles (F) to size (Figure 6). ‘The door frames are assembled ‘with tongue and groove joinery. (For a complete article on tongue and ‘groove joinery, turn to page 18.) ‘The first step in making this joint js to cut a centered groove along the inside edge of each door piece. ‘The width of this groove should be sized to match the thickness of the plywood you will be using for the door panels, Figure 7a. (I used 14" plywood for the panels, which was actually just over ‘4a thice) Sar DOOR RAIL nen) DOOR STILE ay DOOR PANEL oun TOP a VIEW WES BeBe SRN? After cutting the grooves on the pieces, you can cut the tongues on the ends of the door rails. These tongues are 4" long and are sized to {itn the grooves cut inthe stiles. Emetion, SECOND: cur "hrancove oyiess Ty Pvioon ‘ShopNotes: Panels ~ The door panels (G) are cutto. rom 1" oak plywood. Once this is done, you can glue up each door frame around its panel ‘Hardware ~ The last step to com- plete the doors is to mount them to the case and then add the rest of the hardware. Using the table saw, I cut a couple of mortises on the edge of each door for the hinges, as shown in Figures 8 and 8a, The hinges are mortised into the door only — they're surface mounted to the case. ‘There's one other thing to men- tion about the hinges. I wanted the hinges to match the black knobs that planned to use. But all [could find were brass hinges. So I just spray- painted the hinges black before attaching them to the doors (see photo in margin at left), Once the doors are in place, you ccan add a knob to each door and then install the magnetic eatches, as shown in Figures 6 and 6c. No.Sa Drawers 8 =) MALL DEAWeR se PONE oO | MEDIUM DRAWER, rae PALES FRONT @ LARGE DRAWER, FALSE FRONT NOTE: au raise fronts ARE ErAMONG Se mice @ Mating the drawers for the storage wood.) Oncethis is done, youcan cut cabinet is not difieult — but they —threedottoms(N)tosizetrom'/ply- are a itle more imeconsuming to wood and give up the drawers. build chan the dors. Drawer Slides - Each drawer is s you can see in Figure 9 mounted on fillextension drawer above, there are three diferent slides, Bach slide comes in two sizes of drawers in the cabinet. halves. One half mounts to the Other than the height of each inside of the case, and the other drawer, the construction is the mounts to the side of the drawer. same. All the drawers have fale Take a lok at Figure a for the fronts and travel on fllextension, positioning of the drawer slides. metal drawer slides To make the drawers, you can neone start by cutting the fronts end backs (HI, J) ad the sides (K, LM) to PeREROS size irom ¥/¢hicc hardwood stock, BOO asin Figure 10. (lused poplar forthe interior drawer parts) Nest, you can cut the joinery on the drawer pieces. A narrow dado is cut near the ends of eaci drawer side, Then a tongue is eut on each end ofthe drawer fronts and backs to :mateh the dadoes in the sides. Asshownin Figures 10and10a,the @ Bee ace of ach drawer pice is ORAWEE BD grooved to hold a plywood bottom, (@7 1086) iL (The with ofthis groove nse to NOTE RR ees anes, match the thickness of your ply- POTN ARE IPP No. 66 ShopNotes. False Fronts — Once you have all. three drawers mounted in the case, you can make the false fronts. Each {false front (0, P, Q) is cut to size from "stick hardwood. Isized the false fronts to leave a Ysa" gap on all {our sides of each drawer. ‘The false fronts are simply screwed to the drawers (Figure 9b), ‘Then you can add a couple of knobs tothe front of each drawer. A Easy Access. Fullextension met drawer slides allow you to open each drawer all the way to reach items at the back. NOTE:Perose aseennvr ont. Ne Sa HOLES FOR FALSE PONT DRAWER FRONT (amon) Tor viEWNOTE no oun Deron esrakt Eran Top & Dividers Ifyou are making the storage cab- inet to fit underneath a workbench, ‘you can stopat this point. Allthat you hhave to do is slide the units under your bench and fasten them in place. (Gee the opposite page.) However, if you are building the “upright” storage cabinet, you will need to add a base and a op, plus a divider that fits in between the two cases, as shown in Figure 1. I sfarted by making the base and divider. (These two pieces are iden- tical) Bach one is simply a plywood panel with hardwood edging on three sides (Figure 12). After cutting the baseliivider panels (R) to size, you can miter the edging (C) and flue it to the front and sides. Then trim the edging flush and round over the ediges, as shown in Figure 12b. Once you're finished with these pieces, they can be attached to the lower case. The base is screwed to the bottom of the case. And the Aivider is screwed to the top of the Jower case, as shown in Figure 11b, ‘Top ~The top of the cabinet is a just a little more involved, Like the base and divider, itstarts out asa ply- ‘wood top panel (S). Then strips of hardwood edging (C) are added to the front and back edges only Instead of thin strips of edging, the ends of the top are covered with Stowide pieces of hardwood. These ends overhang the sides of the cab- inet, creating a ledge that makes ita Tittle easier to get a grip on the cab- e Gere 16 BASE/ONADER —— inet when paling it around the shop. Each top end (7) is just a piece of hard wood with a centered ‘groove cut along one edge Figure 125). tongue is cut along each end of the top panel to match these grooves. Then the ends are cut to length and glued to the top panel To complete the top, the edges are rounded over, just as you see in Figure 12a, Then the top is screwed TOP PANEL Tamayo eRe ShopNotes: I DivipeR Base “sane to the upper case (Figure 11a). Casters = To make the storage cabinet mobile, T added casters to the botiom of the base, These are shown in Figures 1 and Me. 1 used 4" locking swivel ‘casters all around. ‘These allow you to move the cabinet in any direction and then lock the wheels down once you have it ‘where you want it, ‘Once the casters are attached, the last thing to do is place the upper cane ontop of the lowercase, center it from side to side and serew the two together, just as you see in Figure 11b, & No. 66Workbench Storage you are building the storage cab- @ inets to fit underneath a work a ‘bench, you might wantto consider using MDF instead of expensive plywood for the top, bottom, and sides. Once these pieces are edged in hardwood and the cases are slipped into place underneath thebench, you won'tbe able to tell the difference from the outside. (1 ‘you Took under the top of the Dench, you will be able to see the MDF top ofthe case, but from the front, you won't be able to tel.) Regardless of what material you use for the cabinets, there are a few things you should consider when it comes to sizing the cases, particularly if you are building ‘them to fityour own bench, We sized the width of our cases to fit between the two ends of the bench —with avery slight gap at leave enough clearance between built, all you have to do to install ‘each end. (This extra room makes the benchtop and the top of the them is slide them in place and. italitle easier to slide the storage storage cabinets for any bench fasten them down to the shetf of cabinets in place) dogs or vise hardware, see detail e Asforthe depth ofthe cases, we ‘a’ (Three to four inches of lear- sized them so the front and back — ance should bene.) cediges sit just behind the edges of Once you have the the lower rails of the workbench, storage cabinets ae asyou can see in detail b’ below. GO ‘When it comes to the height of SE | vexwoury the cases, you willwantto == ee ‘make sure you ‘ers 7), (eee ye ©. | CABINET i = aah | Lower No. 66 ‘ShopNotes hen eae WwTECHNIQUE Tongue & Groove Joinery /nenever I'm building frame and panel assemblies that almost always use a tongue and groove joint. There are a few good reasons for this. Besides being quick and easy to make, the assembly is ineredibly strong, That's because a hardboard or plywood panel can be . ‘glued into the frame. use a plywood or hardboard panel, 1 . ‘The first step in creating a tongue and groove joint is to cut the ‘grooves in the rails and stiles that make up the frame. In most cases, the groove is cen- tered onthe edge of the frame piece. Start by adjusting the rip fence on your table saw so the blade euts clove to the center, as shown in Figures 1 and 1a. But don't worry about being, centered perfectly on the first try. Flip Workpiece - The reason is simple. After making the first pass, just flip the workpiece endforend and make a second pass (Figure 1b). ‘This way, even if your blade isnt per fectly centered, the groove will be. ‘To finetune the width of the groove, nudge the rip fence over a little and make another cut. Keep in ‘mind that you're removing material from both sides of the workpiece. So its best to make small adjustments and sneak up on the final width. Troubleshooting - Getting a per- fectly centered groove involves more than just flipping a workpiece. Its important that it stays tight ageinst the rip fence. So like to use a feath- erboard to hold it tight (Figure 1). Another problem is not cutting the groove deep enough. This can hhappen when the workpiece “rides up” during the cut, causing a step in the groove (eft drawing below). To solve this, its important to keep the work: piece pressed down againstthe saw table, So T make sure to cheek the groove after each cut and, ifmecessary, make another pass. Groove Width ~ There is one thing to mention about the width of the groove. lfm using '/" plywood ‘or hardboard, I cut the groove to match the thickness — which is often slightly less than 1/1" thick, But if Tm working with /2" ply- ‘wood, like on the workstation, I cut a 4/)svide groove and then cut tongues ‘on the panels to match (se inset). Blades ~ One last thing, Ifyou'l see the bottom ofthe grooves (like on a frame and panel door), you might ‘want to consider using a rip blade to TROUBLESHOOTING GROOVES q ‘AEENATIG asa A Downward Pressure. To prevent stepped cul in the bottom of the groave, hoid the workpiece firmly against the saw table, 18 ShopNotes A. Blade Choices. A crosscut blade produces grooves with ridges A better choice for cutting grooves is a rip blade. The fat-topped teeth produce a groove with a perfectly flat bottam. No. 66aL make the cut Iteaves a perfectly fat the tongue. It should ft the groove bottom (see bottom of page 18). with aslightly snug ft. ‘After cutting all the tongues on ‘TONGUES both ends ofl the rails,you can turn ‘Once the grooves are complete, the your attention to the tongues on the nex step so cut the tongues onthe "plywood panes. For this you can endsoftherails.Iprefertouse adado eave the rip fence set and simply blade to cut the tongue. This way,you adjust the height ofthe blade to cuta can cut the tongue in two passes rabbet along the edge of the pane. using a singe setup Again, i’ best to sneak up onthe ft ‘To do this, start by burying the dado Wide in an auniiary fence ASSEMBLY ‘ieure2). Thenajustthe ence toset At this point, you're just about ready thelengih othe tongue (Figure 2s). to ghie up the assembly. But it's Blade Height ~ The next step is always a good idea to dry assemble tosettheheight ofthe blade toestab- things to check for any problems lish the thickness of the tongue. As Sand ~ Then you can sand the before, the idea is to make two faceofthe panel aswellasthe inside Attaching the stiles isjust amatter passes, flipping the workpiece over edges of the stile and rails, These of repeating the same process. But between each pass (Figure 2b). This areas are difficult to sand later here [apply glue to both ses of the vill center the tongue on the rail Glue ~ Like most ghieups, the tongues on the rails (Figure 3b). But you sil needa starting point. trickisusing enough giue to makea fier clamping the pieces, ‘A good guide is the groove itself. strong joint, but not so much that it together (Figure 4), check to see Simply raise the biade until it's just runs all over the place. I start by — that the frame is flat and square. Kit about even with the groove (Figure gluing the ailsto the panel, applying isnt fat, try loosening the clamps a 2a). Here again, make your cuts ona glue to the groove and inside face of bit. And if it isn't square, try repost test piece and check the thickness of the tongue on the panel (Figure 3). tioning the clamps slightly. & moe. Bs] eo SEAS? << ROUNDED Ove “gunmen ove cents OF yom A Tongue Troubles. When the tongue is to0 long (left) or too wide A Fitting the Tongue. Lightly sand the tongue cheeks (center), assembly s dificult A tongue that’s too thin (right)results and chamfer the ends to get a good fit in the groove. ina poor glue joint and makes it hard to align the faces. But stay clear of the shoulder to keep it sharp. No. 66 ShopNotes 19‘Table Saw Workstation See eed treat when you're working away from the shop. But Gree ae ert ee eee nes COU EL ECS G san Lote DC OSS mes eel Cee Se AUR eae eee Ueno Re CAR GMS) eae ice cum ees nL Foresite een eee ere eee renee tility, the top of the outfeed cabinet doubles as a table for Pi) Src SNe ae Sc area handy workstation, It turns your portable table saw and arcana ena cia ‘mounting a hand-held router, Combined with an easy-i0- build fence, vou can handle just about any routing task Dust Collection — The outived cabinet also features, pe Ore sore SUS o Ma oor at the back and roll inside. An access panel at the od ete etree greene eens either the saw or the ronter table fence (photo B), Ste ee cee cer end Ps OD eat eer eee nee ee eee eet at Roce tees oor uo) NOFaREE ‘Shopllotes, 16 dowrioed a | moe Cutting G24 Diagram forthe Table Saw Workstation, gota; | weushopnotescom | souke Seon once (ee rHoTOD) TORINO CRONE POR abt Said ane Route RASEREE ATS feiow CEE PHGIO A) Salis vrsonn ee PD NY "AN bia EXPLODED VIEW: OVERALL DIMENSIONS: saw cases curroRrs 284NL x BBD x BASH POR RSRE ste Re nmse CONTENTS OF DRAWER Qi comers top Pesttring te op sox noes over te beck ofthe outeed cabinet cess a te Stale spoon eurace who ig ng worpcae B, Shop Vacuum Access. A removable panel provides quick access when hooking the dust hose fem the shop vacuum up to the table saw or router table fence, No. 66 ShopNotes 21Saw Cabinet A Saw Cabinet. As a stand-alone unit, the saw cabinet provides solid support for a ‘As I mentioned earlier, this work- Station is made up of two separate cabinets — a low cabinet provides basic support for the table saw (see photo above), and adding on a taller cabinet provides outfeed support ‘when you're working with long stock. ‘Besides providing solid support for the table saw atjustthe right working height, there's the added storage that's a great bonus. Plas, you can quickly and easily remove the saw. Size ~ Speaking of height, the cabinet shown in Figure 1 will accept portable saws up to 13" tall. Wit the casters added, the table of the saw is about 35" high — a comfortable working height. Ifyour saws less than 13" high, don't worry. You can add spacers to raise the saw table so it's at a portable saw with plenty of storage for accessories, a Cae 22, See SIDE RAIL (2 17" @, BACK RAIL (2t" 205) = eystor § EYES, ele Se 2 RS eee te SIDE PANEL LOWER RAIL CASTER Barou Age BR RINASE (a that holds the frame together. The! dimensions are shown in Figures 1a and 1b. Note: For a fev tips on cut- ting perfectfitting tongue and groove joints the first time, check out the article on page 18. After cutting the tongues and ‘grooves, you can turn your attention to the panels that it inside each of the frames. Each side panel (C, P) is just apiece of 1/2" plywood. ‘Why 1" plywood? The reason has todowith mounting the drawer slides later. After cutting a rabbet around the edges to form a tongue Figure 1), the panel will ft in the grooves so the inside face of the panels flush, vith the frame, This makes it easy to ‘mount the drawer slides. Cabinet Assembly - Once the rabbets are complete, you can glue up each frame assembly and begin ‘work on assembling the cabinet. ‘To join the back assembly to the side assemblies, there's a wide rabbet along the back edge of each, side assembly, as in Figure 1b. Next, to accept the subtop and bottom, I cut narrow grooves (1/") comfortable height or Ievel with the outfeed table (more on this later). Frames & Panels - There’s nothing tricky about building the cabinet. I's just a large box made up of three frame and panel assemblies along with a plywood subiop and bottom, lke you see in Figure 1 Each assembly consists of a pair of rails and stiles that wrap around a plywood panel. T started on the frames by cutting the side and back rails (A, D) and side and back stiles (B, FD to final size, Once that's complete, you can ‘work on the tongue and groove joint NOD Rise Nr ShopNotes No. 66ET near the top and bottom edges of all the frames (Figure 1a). These rooves accept tongues cut along three edges of the subtop and bottom (G), which you can also see in ‘Figure 1a. Once the tongues are cut, you can glue up the cabinet. Finally, to provide some rigidity to the front of the cabinet and to cover the plywood edge at the bottom, 1 added a lower ral (H) made from {sick hardwood (Figure 1). Top - Although the cabinet already has a “top” [wanted to make sure the tale saw would have solid support. To accomplish this, 1 auded a lamitated top. The tp (Ds nothing more than a piece of 8/;" plywood wrapped with 9/:"-thick hardwood edging (asin Figure 2 ‘Then to provide a smooth, durable surface, Ighed on an oversized layer of plastic laminate and trimmed it flush with the edging. After screwing the tp in place so twas Bush atthe back and centered side to side, I eased the sharp edge by routing a @ sat chamier eure 20). With the basic cabinet complete, you're ready to add the two drawers thatyou see in Figure 3. Size Drawers ~ What's impor- tant to keep in mind as you size the drawer parts is to allow for '/." of space on each side for installing the drawer sides (Figure 3c). “After planing: your stock down to 2/9" thick, you can cut the drawer Sronts/backs (R) and sides (1) to the ‘dimensions shown in Figure 3. ‘Tongue & Dado Joinery ~ The joinery forthe drawersis cut entirely on the table saw. A single kerf atthe ends of each side accept tongues cut on the ends ofthe fronts and backs, like you see in Figure 3a Before assembling the drawers, ‘youll need to cut a i/s"-wide groove near the bottom edge of all the drawer pieces to hold the bottom eu 3). It’s also a good idea to rill set of countersunk screw holes ineach drawer front for ataching the false fronts later (Figure 3a), No. 66 ~/ Bie EDGING, een, After cutting the drawer bottom (M) to size from 1/4" plywood, you can glue up each drawer. Drawer Slides - The drawers travel on fullextension metal slides. ‘This makes iteasy to reach items in ‘the back of the drawer. Installing the slides is just a matter of screwing one half to the cabinet and the other half to the drawer. (The slides are posi- tioned flush with the bottorn edge of each drawer, as in Figure 3c). False Fronts - After mounting the drawer slides, you can add the alse fronts (N). These are pieces of "4 plywood trimmed with "hick hardwood edging (O). The false fronts are sized so they're flush with the sides ofthe cabinet and create a Ys" gap above and below each drawer Figure 3). Finally, Ieentereda drawer pullon the front of each drawer and screwed them in place (Figure 3). Casters — If you only plan on building the saw cabinet, you can ShopNotes aud all four locking swivel casters at this point The casters are set in Y/" from each corner ofthe cabinet, like you see in Figure te. (For more on the casters, refer to pase 35) Materials & Hardware K Drawor Frta/Boks (4) Drawer Sides (4) M Drawor Bottoms (2) 7A Side Rails (4) Saxe The B Side Stiles (4) Saxe 16> © Side Panels (2) 7s fae Pl D Back Rails (2) Sax te 206 E Back Stiles (2) Max 2e- 16% F Back anal (1) Bex 12% ie Py G SubtoplBoteom (2) 2 Vex26-% Py. Hi Lower Ral (2) Sux e- 27 1 Top) Bex 26h = Ply Edging Six -8 ln. Fe ax Sh 2h Sax Bie 20 19a 24 =, Py. N Drawer Faloe Fres. (2) Sia x 26! -°% Py. © Drawer Edging iy 7h Mt Ln Fe. * (8) 48x!" Fh Woodecrems (8) #8xt1 Fh Woodecrens (8) 3"Dia. Looking Swi Casters (16) #12x54"Ph Sheet Metal Seroms (2 Pr) 20" Drawer Sides w/ecrews * (2) "3%" Drawer Pulls w/scroneOutfeed Cabinet rie dite (tat suround tng ins ct one ee of 2.1/8" plywood side panel (R). And both panels (Figure 4). These ‘the joinery is identical to the frames tongues fithe grooves cut earlier in for the saw cabinet — tongues and the side assemblies. grooves (Figure 40) Cabinet Access ~ Although the Once you've cut all the joinery, go joinery is complete, there's still a ahead and assemble the frames. litle more work to do on each of the ‘Then after the glue dries, you can panels. On the subtop youl need to work on the rest of the joinery used create an opening to allow you to to assemble the cabinet. reach the shop vacuum and make First, there's a pair of grooves hooking upthe dust hose easier. And you'll need to cut along the top and on the bottom, there’s a Ushaped Dotiom edges of the side assemblies, opening that allows you to roll your like you see in Figure dc. These — shop vacuum inside. grooves will accept fonguesyoulcut I started on the subtop by laying ‘on the subtop and bottom shortly. out the location of a 15"square Besides the grooves, you'l also opening, like you see in Figure 4. need to cut a rebbet along the front After drilling 1'/2"dia, holes in With the saw cabinet complete, you and back edges of each side each corner, removing the waste is can start building the second cabinet assembly (Figures 4 and 4b). These just a matter of connecting them that makes up the base of the work- rabbets accept the framing pieces with a jig saw (Figure 4a). You'l station — the outfeed cabinet, that are added later. also want to drill a set of oversized shown in the photo above, Subtop & Bottom — With the holes that will alow you to attach ‘The outieed cabinet attaches to joinery complete on the side assem- the top later (Figure 4). the back of the saw cabinet, And as lies, youlre ready to make the The last thing to do before Bee rec tete as cee a aes ae ee nee es ‘construction is similar to the saw them. The sibiop and bottom (S) cabinet. But there are a couple start out as identical panels made bottom, Here again, after laying out important differences. from ®/" plywood (Figure 4), the location of the opening, I drilled For starters, you'll notice that Once the panels are sized, the a pair of starter holes and then there are only two frame and panel only joinery to complete is the removed the waste with a jy saw. assemblies on this cabinet, These ‘A Outfeed Cabinet. Opening the hinged oor at the back of the outteed cabinet provides easy access 10 the shop vacuum stored inside. waste é awoments | Eid assemblies make up the sides of the is QUPTOP —coxrenano_[ iP | outed cabinet. And instead of a € frame and pane back and drawers, the cabinet is open. This allows you to modify the subtop and bottom to accept a shop vacuum while pro- viding easy access for hooking the vacutim upto the table sa. Finally since there isnt afront or back Fame assembly to give the cab inet some rigkiy, T added some applied iaming” ce the main prt of the cabinet was assembled. ‘Frame Assemblies - Here again, both side assemblies consist of side paamer 3. soe gre lr wi ol Has viEW ri c. by E SIDE RAIL eee ic. "AH BOTW ARE Sc FerWOOD 24 ShopNotesNote: sized my opening to accept shop vaewum up to 21 wide, ‘Assembly — With both the subop and botom compete, you can assemble the outed cabinet ‘There’ nothing eky here, jut be sure to keep the cabinet square as the guedries since there front Gee bac rae tote the shape Frame Pieces To provide some rigty to the cabinet and give ita“tramed” look. added thick hardwood spe to the front and bcc of the cabinet, These tis cover the edges ofthe plywood and ft into the rabbets cut inthe side assemble, a shown n Figure. ‘Mer utGng the rent and back sties (1) to inal se, the only ininery to complete ist cutadado at tach end tof the tongues on the subtop and botom, Then you can fue the stiles in place Tostallng the font and back rails () Ws even easier, Once you cit them (0 ft between the sil, all thateftodoisto cua groovenear one ed tha fits the tongue slong the edge ofthe subtop and bottom, ‘Then the ails canbe ghd in place Note: To ee the back ofthe cab inet open or the shop vaca, you only nec a single ria the op @ 088s te he ine cabinet, theres a door CW) made from a pico of 17" plywood rapped with bik edging CW, No. 66 So-rmick HARDNCOD Front Rail (@, SIDE VIEW) me © my @ ice az | = VIEW as seen in Figure 6 Attaching the door to the cabinet is just a matter of ‘screwing a piano hinge in place and then adding a catch to keep it closed (Figures 6 and 6a). And to prevent the door from swinging inside the cab- inet, there's a door stop (X) made from*/;'Mthick hardwood (Figure 6a). eben. ee | Materials F Side Rails (4) SaxBhe- 22 @ Side Stiles (4) Ax 2e- 50 Side Panels (2) 22x 202 'le Py. Subtop/Bottom (2) 26%26-%/Ply. T Front/Back Stiles (4) “4x 2%-B0 U Front/Back Ralls (3) xe 2M ¥ Door (3) 19%%5x 26% -7h Ply. W Edging 54x59 Ln Fe. UxBy 2BYe (10) #6814" Fh Woodscrowe (2) 1H" 28%" Piano Hinge wlecrows (1) Barrel Catch wlecrem= Join Cabinets - Once you've ‘glued and screwed the door stop in place, you can attach the outfeed cabinet to the saw cabinet. They're just screwed together (Figure 6b). Finally, you can add the casters to the outside corners of the workst tion (refer to Figure 1a on page 22). ‘eiascvey P shivEl caDER oh Me ShopNotes 25TTETT Taek With the outfced cabinet complete, you're ready to add the outfeed top. ‘The top shown in Figure 7 incorpo: rates a number of handy features. First, you can see that the top extends past the end of the cabinet. This ensures that you'll have solid support when ripping long work: pieces or sheet goods. ‘Then to provide additional capa- bility, the top doubles as a router table. To do this, there's an opening at one end of the top that allows you to “drop in” a router mounted t0 an insert plate. And depending on your needs, you can rotate the top to the side for more convenientaccess, the photo shown on page 20 of the outfeed cabinet to provide xy access to the shop vacuum inside. ie "ROWE FLUBH (DETAL 2) 26 Beenie Tie @ QUTEEED TOP. (eon EB SEALY ACCESS PLATE GAY, ns" WASHER Proa HMR) : x | ‘Aocess rite — iter TRAE 5 fess fl if x ae Rios Finally, youll seea second opening single layer of /" plywood with 3/4". that provides access to the inside of thick edging (Z), applied around the the outieed cabinet. All you need to edges, as illustrated in Figure 8. do is remove the access plate and Unlike the top for the saw cabinet, reach inside to hook the vacttum you'll notice that I covered both sides hhose tothe table saw (see margin) or of the top with plastic laminate. the router table fence. ‘Why both sides? Since the top isn't ‘Top ~ Building the outfeed top (¥) attached permanently and one end isn't all that dificult I's just a extends past the edge ofthe cabinet, laminating both sides helps stiffen the plywood to prevent sagging. Note: To trim the laminate flush and ease the sharp edges, I outed a small (/') chamfer along both the top and bottom edges (Figure 8). Openings ~ AsI mentioned, there are two openings inthe top—one for the router plate and the other for an access plate. The secret to getting a perfect fit between the openings and the plates isto use the plates as tem- plates when youcutthe openings. To do this, oul need to have the plate inhand before you start. Launane sorters | _ Plates - To mount the router, I {Evvemare S| i a comme Bet ia ShopNotes No. 66ITT ee for sources, see page 35). But you could make your own. For the acess plate (AA), 1 used a small piece of 54a" plywood (Figure 9). Although there isn't any need for edging, both sides are laminated so it matches the thickness of the top. After rounding the edges, I cut a U-shaped opening centered on one edge (Figure 9). This provides an ‘opening for the hose from the shop vacuum to pass through when it's attached to the router table fence. Note: Plate Openings - With both SEFERIO,, plates in hand, the next step is to AGE SeroRcurms, A nonce BO PACES cereate the openings they fitinto, The Jocation of these openings is shown in Figure 9. The nice thing is, you ‘can use the same procedure to cut both openings. For more informa tion on this procedure, refer to the article on page 30. Besides cutting a perfectiitting ‘opening, the procedure also creates alipin the top for the router plate to rest on so it's perfectly fush with the top of the outiced table. PUNE ab AGcESS PLATE Butfor the access plate, you won't need to create alip. The opening you ‘cut earlier in the subiop of the cab- inet is smaller and forms its own “lip” for the access panel to rest on, Attach Top ~ Once the openings are cut, the top is ready to be attached. To do this, I used a set of studded knobs that fit into threaded inserts in the bottom face of the top, ee like you see in Figures 7a and 7b. ‘To locate the inserts, clamp the top in position so it overhangs the {ont and sides ofthe cabinet evenly (/2!). Then use the holes in the cab- inet as a guide, After driling holes, you can install the inserts, This can be litle tricky. ‘To make it easier, I used the installa- tion tool shown in the box below. Installing Threaded Inserts Threaded inserts, lke the ones shown below, are a quick way to comect two pieces, yet sill make iteasy to take them apart. The trick is keeping the insert straight as you're screwing itin place — which isn't always easy. To solve this problem, I made the insert tool shown at right. Insert Tool ~ The insert tool is made from a block of AY/sMihick hardwood with a fttdeep notch cut in one corner, as strated in the drawing at far ight. ‘A counterbored hole is delle through the notch to hold a/e-18 bolt and nylon bushing. The through hole is sized to hold the bolt and the '/'dia.counterbore is drilled T/A deep to accept the ie! LD. bushing. The bushing holds the hex bol straight hile you tighten it down, Finally, between the bushing and the mut and washer that are tightened against the insert, 1 added a spring, It provides just enough down- ward pressure to help the threads on the out: side ofthe insert to begin cutting into the wood. ‘Note: Before screwing the insert in place, i's 1 good idea to add a slight chamfer to the starter hole. This prevents the insert from chip- ping out the edges as its screwed in place. 27 ShopNotes wn TEASE SALE Materials | Y outteed Top) 26 lex 3B "1. Ply. Z Edging Siaxa- 12 ln Fe Ad Acceas Pla (1) 16x 16-54 Ply. Hardware + (4)%he" Threaded Inserts + (A) %he18 Studded Knobs (1%" Lora) + (A)%! WashersA Miter Siots. Routing slots in the ‘op of the outfeed table provides clearance for the bar of the miter ‘gauge when making erosscuts. Materials BB. Fado (4) (Custom size to At ‘sable san) ©C Base (1) 4 x52-"he Ply. DD Face (1) 5x52-54 PY. EE Braces (2) | FexS%e-ePy. | FF Gover () | xB a Py. | Hardware + (10)°ho" Threaded inserts + (4) "1B Studded Knobe (Length to ft saw) + (2) %he"48 Studded ‘obs (1 Long) *(6)Pho" Washero YET At this point, the basic construction of the workstation is complete, All that’s left to do is mount the table saw and add some slots to the top of the outfeed table to accept the bar of the miter gauge (sce photo). ‘Mount Saw ~ To mount the saw securely, yet still allow it to be removed easily, I once again turned to a set of threaded inserts. ‘This ‘makes it easy to use studded knobs ‘and washers to secure the saw. ‘To accurately locate the insertson the top of the saw cabinet, used the ‘mounting holes in the saw itself to lay out the insert holes (Figure 10). Just position the saw so its centered side to side with clearance in the back for the rip fence rail and the blade guard. After marking the loca tion of each insert, you can drill the holes and install the inserts just lke you did before. Riser Pads ~ The next stepis to bring the top of the saw table up so ittsush with the outleed table. In my case, all I needed was a set of “spacers” about 1/¢" thick. So after planing some material down, I cut ‘out a set of pads (BB) to fit the cor- ners of the saw, Then after drilling a hhole through each pad, Tsecured the saw (othe stand with knobs and washers (Figure 10), Miter Slots - Once the sawis mounted, you'll need toadd slots to the top of the coutfeed table to allow the miter gauge to slide com pletely past the blade when making a crosscut 28 Mounting the Table Saw ry ‘The Slots don't need to be very long. In my case, the slots ran from the front ‘edge of the outleed top to the opening for the access plate, a in Figure 11 Guide ~ An easy way to cut the slots in just the right spot is to use a router and straight bit along with a || shopmade guide. The ‘guide is nothing more than | | apiece of 8/4" plywood with runner setin a groove cut in the bottom (Figure 1). Since some table saws use a miter bar with washers that fit a Plot, I used a 1"lia straight bit to cut the slots. Since the miter bar doesn't have tofit the sot tight, this provides alittle “wie” room for the bar. ‘After mounting the router to the amide so the bit is aligned with the ‘runner, adjust the bit to make a cut just a hair deeper than the thickness ‘ofthe miter bar, (in my case, set the bit to make a'/a"deep cut) At this point, cutting the slots is easy, Start by removing the access plate. Then se the guide (andl router) ‘onthe sawso the runner slipsinto the miter slot and the bit is jst past the cend of the saw Figure 11), ‘Now turn the router on and slide the guide along the slot to rout a ‘groove from the front edge of the out- {feed table to the access plate opening. After routing one groove, simply move the guide to the other miter slotand repeat the process. Ifsalso a ‘£004 idea to rout miter slots with the ‘top positioned to the back. This we you can use the miter gauge in either position (Figure 11). Shop Vacuum Switch - With the shop vacuum inside the outfeed cabinet, turning it on and off can get whe quite a hassle, To avoid this, I added a switched receptacle so I could control it from the outside of the cabinet, You can see how I did this by checking out the box on the opposite page. FIRST, er oune w ves SESH OETABLE SAN SECOND: our suor TOG RE RO NOTE: sewove MERE SEARLETT Fence 1 Last thing to ad to the worksta- Base & Fence I started on the tion isa fence forthe routertable, like fence by making the base (CC) from the one you see in the photo at right. a long stip of 1/0" plywood and the ‘As you can see in Figure 12, the face (DD) from a piece of °/" ply- fence has five parts: a base and face wood, asyou see in Figure 12, piece form the working part of the You'll notice that the face has a fence, and a pair of braces and a narrow notch in it to provide clear- ‘cover allow you to hook up the hose ance for the router bit. And the base opening for collecting dust and chips. from the shop vacuum, hhas.a wider notch that helps form an A couple of narrow slots allow you to adjust the fence once it’s attached to the top of the outfeed table Once the notches are cut, joining these pieces is just a matter of cut- {ing @ groove in the fence face to accept a tongue cut on the edge of the base (Figure 12a). After the glue dried, 1 installed a pair of braces (BE) and a cover (FF) ‘made from '/s" plywood. A hole cut in the cover is sized to fit the end of the hose from the shop vacuum, Inserts ~ All that’s let to do to complete the installation of the fence is to instal two sets of threaded inserts (Figure 12). The inserts allow you to attach the fence with a pair of Studded knobs and washers, ‘A Fence. Adding a fence to the router table adols vorsatiliy and allows you to hook up the hose from the shop vacuum. Electrical Hook-Up ‘Turning the shop vacuum on and off short length of electrical cord (vith a by reaching through the access plate plug wired on one end) between a wall opening isahassle (orimpossible with outiet and a. switch/receptacte, as the router table fence in place). And shown in the drawing below. ‘going through the hack ofthe outfeed Once that’s complet, just plug the cabinet ist any better. To solve this power cord from the shop vacuum into problem, [added a switch (See photo). the receptacle and you're all set. Note: ‘Frame-Mounted Switch - Adding You'll need to leave the switch on the the switch isn't dificult. Just run a shop vacuum in the “on” position, SWITCH/ RECEPTACLE ANATOMY een Genta) SI * (0 18 Amp, 20 SeichlReceptacte () Switch Box + (6) No.8 Spade Serminale (4 ga) #2) Grounding Pigs (20) 9 (9 "Cable Connector (9 Wie ue Connector (velow) + 280%" Parbend ‘Sheet Meta! Sores. (1) up Boe Cover 4 (9 1 Amp, 125 vote Pug (Grounded) 916-354 Electric Cond (14 feet) ame zowo.r ict eee ShopNotesNo measuring. No marking. And still get a perfect fit between your insert and router table. For smooth ccutting through laminate, apply a spray lubricant 10 the hole saw before ariling the hole, 1e biggest challenge to making AL any router table top is cutting an opening for the insert plate so that it fits perfectly. To answer that challenge when it came to the out- feed top for the Table Saw Workstation (page 20), [used a fool proof method that doesn't require any tedious measuring or layout. Just a few common shop tools ‘The nice thing aboutthis method is ‘you can use itto ereate an opening for ‘any size or type of plate. Note: used a ‘mounting plate from Woodhaven, For more information on this ‘mounting plate, refer to page 35. ‘Template & Guide Strips - This method works because you use the ‘actual plate as a template for posi- tioning a set of sisips that guide a pattern bit when you're cutting the opening. (Most pattern bits will require l'-thick strips) Locate Guide Strips ~ After making the guide strips, you're ready to locate the opening. To do this, use carpet tape to position one of the guide strips so it's parallel with ‘one edge of where you'd like the plate located. Then use the insert plate to locate the other strips, as in Step 1 Ta locate the guide strips, use the insert plate as a template. Start by fastening one strip in place with carpet tape so its paralle! with ane edge of where the plate is 10 be located. Alter positioning the plate ‘along this strip so its in its final location, you can “wrap” the plate with the remaining guide strips. ton 9 slep 2 Toprovide a stating point for tho bt and create roiet holes for dust, cit a 18- | Flatsawn lumber will i have sections of ight grain along fi with some wil, I arched grain | pattems. This [aie inconsistency can = detract from the ie =e} (ook of a project. I The consistent grain of rftsewn lumber doesn't draw attention to itself, 0 you can appreciate the design and craftsmanship of the cabinets. Lumb Ja 1. yu Flatsawn vs. arched growih rings that are 30° (or Tess) to the face of the board, like the top board shown in the margin, In many cases, especially in wide boards, the rings will often be par- allel to the face. This results in wide, arched face grain patterns, Does it Really Matter? - You ‘ight be asking yourself how much difference this could really make when it comes to building a project. A glance at the photos at left and above, and the answer is fairly obvious. ‘When flatsawn lumber is used on a large project, the grain grabs your attention and takes away from the look ofa well-designed project. Does that mean you should always use riftsawn Tumber? Of course not. But whenever you want to play down the grain, like in the photo above, i's something you should consider Besides its looks, riftsawn, lumber has another benefit, ShopNotes 7 Ws more stable, So parts of 2 project like doors are more likely to stay flat and straight, instead of ‘warping and causing a problem with the fit And drawer fronts are Tess likely to cup or twist Cost & Availability ~ Nove you right assume that rtsawn lumber will cost more. But if you spend a lite extra time sorting through the Iumber stack, you can probably find all che riftsawn lumber you need. ‘That's because youl almost always find some in the same siack as the flatsan lumber. Unfortunately, that's not always the case when you need rifsawn py ‘wood, Unless the veneer is eut just Tight, you're likely to have to special order rifsawn plywood. Stil, in the Jong rant’ worth itto end up with a betterlooking project. So the next time you head forthe store, select your lumber (and ply wood) with the grain in mind. j might take a litle more work uf front, but its sure to make your project a standout once it’s built 8. No. 66Although there isn't much hardware required to build the Convertible ‘Shop Storage Cabinets (page 10), there area couple ofitems youl need, Knobs - To give the cabinet doors and drawers a unique look, we used 1/4"'square knobs from Lee Valley (O1G62.20). The knob has a Router Plate Insert You can use just about any type of router plate for the Table Saw Workstation on pave 20. But one of the best we've run across is one made by Woodhaven. For starters, the 9" x 11°/" plate is a */s"-thick piece of phenolic. it's solid and stiff enough for Qeovnting a hearty router: (Ceres also a smale version thats sized 77/4" x 10/4") Inserts — Then to accommodate different size bits, you get a set of three inserts that snap securely in place — an 1°/s"dia, bushing/bit hole, a 2"dia. bit hole, and a blank for customizing. (With no inserts Sources Storage Cabinet Hardware___. post mounted with two serews, so you don't have to worry about it rotating during use. Slides ~ And to make it easy to reach the entire contents of the drawers, they ride on fallextension, ‘metal sides. Ths type of slide is avail. able in avariely oflengthsand finishes, installed the bit hole has a diameter of 3/4". One last thing, Starting a workpiece into a router bit with a bearing can be tricky. To help with this, you also get a starting pin as part of the “kit” —anice extra. Cost — The large Woodhaven router plate costs around $55, (The Heavy-Duty Casters. ‘The locking swivel caster shown below was used on both the Shop Storage Cabinets (page 10) and the ‘Table Saw Workstation (page 20) to ‘make them easy to roll around. DoubleLocking - But just ecause each project is mobile doesn't mean itisn’trockesolid during use. Tha’s because the ever on these casters Jocks both the wheel and swivel ation. And since each casteris rated for 300 Ibs, they're heavy-duty enough to support just about any shop (or home) project around. Cost — We used 3" casters on the Workstation and 4" casters on the Storage Cabinets, but 5" casters are also available. The casters range in ‘cost from $16 () to $20 6"). These casters (or similar types) are avait able from the sources listed at right. ShopNotes (We used 20Y0ng black slides on the Convertible Shop Storage Cabinets) Drawer slides are available from MAIL ORDER SOURCES Lee Valley 800-871-8158 wrmeleevalecom ‘most woodworking stores and the Caters, Drunner sources listed at right ‘small one sellsfor $50) You can order ‘Slides, Knobs Rockler 800-279-4441 Casters, Drawer ‘Sides Wooderatt 800-225-1153 ssronderaf.comn Casters, Drawer ‘Slides Woodhaven 800-344-6657 semesroodhaven on “Router Plates Woodsmith Store 800-885-5084 Casters, Drawer Sides, Rowter Plaies the lange plate from the Woodsmith Store or both plates are available from Woodhaven (see margin) ip De. 4, SYED ‘Online Extras" - Plans, Patterns, & More ‘+ Over 109 Woonvorking Tips Online + Forums for Woodworking, Tools & Classifeds + VistOur Wondering ‘Shop Tours Gallery. Online Customer Service Propet Mansiou | Clk ice Sec Can Download iuremstopmotee co +* Catalog of Project Kits, | * MC you oars ‘amiieaPane | SOoe menses ofl ‘© Links to Other ee Woodworking Stes | teparapin nO | Hee Onder ShepNole & | Sater omen www.shopnotes.com 35,4 The outieed table of this Table Saw Workstation 4 Theoutieed table can also be positioned to the side for makes it easy to rip long workpieces with @ portable routing operations. And an opening in the access plate table saw. Step-by-step instructions begin on page 20, makes ita snap to hook up a shop vacuum to the fence.ShopNotes. Cutting Diagram Table Saw Workstation Materials 1 Side Ral 2) Sx 2h the @ Side Stites (4) Sx2e-90 8 Side Stes (4) nx 16% Side Pact (2) 2 25) P. 6 Side Panels (2) Tex 12a YaP 8 Subtop/Bottor(D) 2626-9 Ph. D Back Rae (2) Sx 2he-2Pho T FrontBack Stes (4) Shx2e-80 Back Stes (2) xz h-16'o U Front/backRals (3) Sax th 2p F Back Pane (2) BPX 2a Ph ¥ Door) 19x 20/0 Pe {6 Subtop/Botzom (2) 2px 26-°1 Py WEdaing Px Or Fe 1 Lower Ral) Sax 2-27 X Door Stop (1) exh 28% 1 top) BP 226/21 Phe ¥ Outtoed Top (1) 2658-9 Pl J edging Six8h- On Fe 7 edging Spx Fo Fromta/Backe (4) Saxe 24 1A Aeceoe Pate (1) 16x16-"1.Fh 1 sides (4) Sx Ble 20 8B Pade (4) (Cootom sie tof sablesan) MBottome (2) 10en24-"aPy. ce Boce 61x32-PU FY. I Fale Fronts (2) Bx2B%.-9h Pe Do Face Bx92-16Ph 0 Edging Sax Nn. Fe EE Braces Bax Blah P Side allo (4) Sax 2h 22h FF Cone Bx 5%o- YP x62 96" = ase @ e 3 @ D (DO CUT 20 LINEAL FEET OF 3%" 4" EDGING FROM THIS EXTRA AREA "xx 6" x 96" (TWO BOARDS) ® ® oO oO Ss) Bute" 96" 8 — e Sut" x96" © I @ (QZ cur 20 LINEAL FEET OF 34" 34" EDGING FROM THIE EXTRA AREA i Page 1 of 2 ‘ShopNotes, No. 66“48° 86" - 4 PLYWOOD ® ® o mn” ao 149°. 96" 4" PEYWOOD wD © ® @ © @ oO 49" x06" -54" PLYWOOD 24 40" PLYWOOD @ ey ® @ No.66 ShopNotes Page 2 of 2