Shopnotes 137 pdf download

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Every page of ShopNotes Magazine will make you a better woodworker,. ShopNotes Magazine.. I dont believe they sell back issues,. If this option is u n-Magazine Back Issues for sale.

Online Extras from past issues of ShopNotes are archived here for. It serves two purposes. I set compartments when the wings The short dividers span the width up the table saw to cut a shal- are folded up for storage.

The long divid- low rabbet on one side of the The sides of the drawers fit ers fit front to back. Test the fit of case opposite the side with the into rabbets in the fronts and each piece in the drawers before threaded insert. This provides backs. With the same saw drawer bottom. And by stacking like parts to the base with the continu- in the drawer pieces for them.

This helps keep the drawer front for the drawer pull. Drill and tap for tapped for a machine screw, as the screws, as before Figure 3a.

A metal tap A studded knob through the works great to cut the threads. To make the Drawers. As I mentioned, a drawers interchangeable, slide small drawer fits into each case each drawer into both cases.

A Figure 3. The woodworking Mark the hole locations on both flathead screw to make the drawers is pretty sides of each drawer with a drill levels the wing to sit level standard fare. I sized the drawer bit through the threaded insert. To make the sides, front, and back for a Dividers. The hardboard threads, refer to Shop Short snug, but sliding fit in the case. The Cuts on page This helps keep screws in their first step is to cut them to size.

Details 6 x! The last things to add to the Each insert is a wide, upside- just a tad above the surface of workstation include a sliding down T-shape made from hard- the case. This guarantees that the stop system, knobs, washers, wood.

I made both inserts from locking knobs and fender wash- and a handle. Cutting After installing the T-track, inserts and stops first. The sliding dado blade. It should slide in the top of each case. The two hard- wood stops come next. I started a little wide and then kept trimming them slightly until I got a good fit. After beveling the corners, a. The last CL piece to add is a hardwood!

It not only makes it con-! You can find all of the dimen- sions for the handle in Figure 6. I started by cutting the blank to final size. The sliding insert adjusts to fully support the workpiece. Plus, the stop the handle allows it to swivel allows you to position multiple workpieces accurately for consistent pocket hole locations.

I little sanding to make everything of screws for all your pocket hole drilled the hole at the end of the smooth. After chamfering the joinery projects. I sprayed on To use the workstation, simply tle final shaping. A roundover bit a couple coats of lacquer before open the wings and clamp the at the router table forms a com- installing the dividers and load- base to your benchtop.

Attach fortable grip between the long ing up the drawers. The drawers a shop vacuum to the dust port notches. Salvage your warped boards with this no-fuss planer sled. Though its primary purpose is planing warped boards, you can remove the levelers to plane thin stock as well. It would be wonderful if every run it through the planer.

Unfortunately, warped might be to just run it through and hot glue or screws. This boards are a challenge wood- the planer. Mine is sized to fit a 12". It has five levelers bottom skin to size. Then cut the middle of this assembly, so I used that can be positioned along the long filler pieces and position cauls and C-clamps to get con- length of the board and adjusted them inside and parallel to the sistent pressure across the filler up and down.

Now strips. I rounded the corners after An additional feature is that cut the short filler pieces and the glue had set. Place these to size. Round the corners with is clamped in place. Inset photo parts on a flat surface and glue sandpaper before gluing it to the facing page. For this operation, them to the bottom skin. The level- ers can be locked in place and have a non-skid surface. Torsion Box Construction.

TOP 9! Each assembly con- sists of a sliding base that can be positioned anywhere under the! The leveler! The planer sled!

Then I cut the rabbet on one b. Shop Short Cuts on page 33 has more on cut- glue, I positioned the parts on some clearance for the assembly ting threads in wood.

Once the Baseplates. Now cut the waxed paper between the tor- glue has set, trim the edges flush base plates to size. I glued and sion box and the baseplates, as and round the corners. Then drill clamped the base plates and the shown in Figure 2.

The waxed the stopped holes for the hand- slide blocks together right on paper not only keeps glue off the wheel screws Figure 2a. Before applying torsion box, but it also provides Leveler Bars. The leveler bars are made from solid stock.

After 3! The notches for the hand- wheels are cut with a curve! A pattern made from cardboard will speed 4 up the layout of each notch. Then STOP 1" x 8" -! The handwheels are used to adjust the leveler bars up and down. A T-nut in the cen- ter threads onto the screw.

Refer to Shop Short Cuts on page 33 for 8 x 1" Fh an easy method to make them. The stops and! Then I applied strips of and baseplate assembly. I wrapped the exposed eler bar edges Figure 3. They hold the assemblies warped boards on your planer. Leveler Assembly. To assem- in place.

The setup and operation Lumber that might otherwise ble the levelers, first insert the of the planer sled is explained in have been cut up , or even thrown screws through the holes in the the box below. To set up the planer sled, I first determine which face is the flattest by sighting along the face. Lower the leveler bars com- pletely, then set the board on the lowered leveler bars with that face up. The two levelers with the stops are positioned at either end of the board. I adjust the planer to take a light cut, a.

A shop vacuum is great for collecting dust and chips in a small shop. But there are a couple of problems with it. The filter quickly clogs with dust, which reduces suction. And the limited capacity of many vacuums means you need to empty them frequently. The system you see here solves both of those issues.

Dust and chips drop into a yard hopper. This empties into a standard yard waste bag for easy waste bag for easy disposal. Interlocking bars keep removal and disposal. With a compact footprint and low-cost the bag in place when the door is closed. Cabinet sized to hold a commonly avail- cut at the table saw. You can A hand-held router and a empty the hopper into the bag straightedge guide make a good without raising a cloud of dust. You can the plywood to find a bit that tained in a space-saving cabinet.

The cabinet is divided into four fairly simple dado and rabbet The rabbet along the back edge compartments. What makes things a little of the sides requires a different find the cyclone unit behind the out of the ordinary is that the approach, as shown in Figure right door. The left door covers sides and back are pretty long. Here, you can use a bearing- a storage compartment for vac- So instead of taking the parts to guided rabbeting bit to do the job.

I want to take The middle compartment in turned to portable power tools to a moment to look at a few details the cabinet is the collection hop- handle most of the work. First per. The chips and other debris I used a circular saw to cut the off, the top, bottom, and dividers fall from the cyclone into this sides and back to size.

The top, are all the same size. Except for sealed chamber. The top and upper divider have a centered dado to hold the partition, as in Figures 1 and B CL 5! These accommodate the connections for the cyclone. I GATE 24" x 15! This allows dust and chips to fall from the The plate has a pair of open- the bag in position. There are two hopper compartment to the bag. The things to note here.

The chute Hassle-Free Assembly. Glu- larger opening handles most of front has a groove cut in it that ing up a large cabinet like this the material.

But son for the other one in a bit. This plate. This creates a pocket for piece. These are glued in clamps or waiting for glue to dry.

The Gate. The gate is sized to place, and the whole assembly This stage of the process is a fit inside the pocket and seal off can be screwed to the bottom of good time to cut mortises for the large opening in the lower the lower divider, as in Figure 2.

If you turn to page divider. You can use the drawing 32, you can see the jig I used to at right to guide you while cut- support a hand-held router and ting it to shape. The two horns at the back of 1"-DIA. This involves making the drifts into the gate pocket to CL assembly that seals off the bot- the narrow slot that you cut in tom of the hopper. The first part the plate. Below A Chute.

The rear baffle is the first and I used a table saw to make this simplest to make and install. The hole in the lower divider a bevel cut along each edge.

But Closing In. The front of the allows most of the dust and chips in order for them to fit seamlessly hopper is sealed with a plywood inside the hopper to fall into the against the rear piece, they need panel. A small glass window in bag. To direct all the dust and compound miters cut at the back the panel lets you see when to chips toward the hole, I installed ends. T Shelves. They rest on adjustable shelf supports.

Upper Doors. The upper a. A coat of primer is the next The Cyclone. The final step is step. I like to sand the primer to install the cyclone unit. Use the vacuum and tools to the collec- coat to make sure the surfaces holes in the cyclone to drill mount- tor. To minimize air leaks, wrap are smooth.

The ish, you can fill it and re-prime ures 5 and 5b. For the tightest seal, ers and the cyclone with foil tape design of the that section. This prep work sets apply a thin bead of kitchen and lower right photo. Two coats of cyclone before attaching it. Follow these steps for perfect parts, tight-fitting joints, and flush, smooth surfaces on your projects.

And grain. These tough fibers are dif- workpiece directly from the proj- it can often mean the difference ficult to cut smoothly without ect. Most often, I use one of reliable tools and techniques to two tools to get the job done.

My first choice is the table saw. Now when Ineed a few than what can be applied in most retailers sell small pieces of Baltic small pieces for drawer bottoms, home shops. Plus, the UV-cured birch Refer to sources on page cabinet backs, or jigs, I don't need finish is sanded smooth as glass.

You can order panels up to to invest in a full sheet. Another interesting option is a 24" x 48". In a few days, the pieces Using plywood in your shop pre-primed version of the poplar are delivered right to your door. This time-saving material Of course, you do pay a pre- a look at the box below for one has a primer coat sprayed on and mium for the convenience.

So it more idea. With a little planning sanded smooth. So it's ready for works best for jigs or other proj- and the right-sized materials, paint right from the get go. They're made in the United States and use formaldehyde- get it free adhesives. You won't find Project Panels in the store. Instead, you order Cuffo Order the panels online from the com- Here's my favorite tip for cutting large sheets fort of your easy chair.

Delivery of plywood - Have someone else do it. Many takes business days. You can home centers and lumberyards will break down arrange to have the panels deliv- sheets into smaller pieces for free or a small addi- ered to the nearest Home Depot or tional charge. The key is to plan ahead. By using your materials list or a cutting dia- It's possible to special order gram, you can have the store make a few well- full-size sheets of all the same placed cuts.

Be sure to leave room for trimming. However, you Not only will the small pieces be less cumbersome need to do that in-person at the to load into your vehicle, but they'll also be easier pro desk in the store. The station s wings fold up and lock in place under the handle for easy transport and storage.

Each adjustable stops allow you to drill holes at the same locations more ways to use it in my proj- wing contains a drawer with on multiple workpieces. But I've always felt I could dividers for storing screws, drill Finally, when you're done for get more use out of the jig if I had bits, and drivers. A sliding insert on the top of storage. The hardwood handle The portable workstation you each wing provides support for secures the wings and the draw- see above is the answer.

First of large workpieces. And a pair of ers until your next project. Rose Knobs. I'll talk. Wings tently locate the holes on mul- tiple workpieces. There's one more task: The Two Cases. Figure 1 will get case back fits into dadoes cut The workstation consists of a pair you started on the cases. They're into the case sides, top, and bot- of folding wings, each of which identical, so you can cut and tom, as shown in Figure la.

Then is nothing more than a case that assemble all of the parts for both assemble each case with glue. The cases at the same time. Simple Base. Connecting the drawers are convenient for stor- I cut all of the parts to size first. I cut a pair of dadoes for want to keep on hand. On top of Ib, the top has a wide groove for the hardwood risers that support each wing is a sliding stop assem- the sliding stop assembly.

Before the Kreg KS pocket hole jig. It serves two purposes. I set compartments when the wings The short dividers span the width up the table saw to cut a shal- are folded up for storage.

The long divid- low rabbet on one side of the The sides of the drawers fit ers fit front to back. Test the fit of case opposite the side with the into rabbets in the fronts and each piece in the drawers before threaded insert.

This provides backs. And don't forget to cut cutting the notches for the joinery a mounting surface for one leaf a groove in each piece for the that interlock the dividers. With the same saw drawer bottom. A dado blade in the table saw setup, it's easy to cut a rabbet on You can see in Figure 3 that the makes quick work of cutting the opposite edges of the base.

So you'll need to cut dadoes 3. And by stacking like parts to the base with the continu- in the drawer pieces for them. This helps keep the drawer front for the drawer pull. Drill and tap for tapped for a machine screw, as the screws, as before Figure 3a. A metal tap A studded knob through the works great to cut the threads.

To make the Drawers. As I mentioned, a drawers interchangeable, slide small drawer fits into each case each drawer into both cases. Figure 3. The woodworking Mark the hole locations on both to make the drawers is pretty sides of each drawer with a drill standard fare. I sized the drawer bit through the threaded insert. The hardboard snug, but sliding fit in the case. The This helps keep screws in their first step is to cut them to size.

W' x 1"-DIA. This guarantees that the stop system, knobs, washers, wood. I made both inserts from locking knobs and fender wash- and a handle. Finally, you'll cap one long blank. You'll build the pair of sliding you can begin shaping it. Cutting After installing the T-track, inserts and stops first.

The sliding dado blade. That's how I also cut and install it with knobs and inserts fit into the wide grooves a centered groove for the T-track. It should slide in the top of each case. You can The bottom of the wide rab- smoothly in the case's recess.

The two hard- wood stops come next. Shop Short Cuts on page 32 will give you the details. In a nutshell, you'll form the two keys from one blank that's extra wide and long. After shap- ing them, drill holes for the hex bolts and install them onto the T-track on the sliding inserts, as shown in Figure 4b.

You're finally to the point where you're ready to mount the Kreg jig. It's attached to a pair of hardwood risers that.

ShopNotes No. The only critical thing here is to cut the risers to width so that the top face of the jig's base is flush with the top of the sliding inserts. I started a little wide and then kept trimming them slightly until I got a good fit. After beveling the comers, attach the risers to the base with screws from beneath the base.

Figure 5 gives you a rough dimension for locating the pocket hole jig on the risers. Basically, I extended the sliding inserts and aligned the back of the drill guide housing flush with the front edges of the stops. This way, the stops can be extended over the jig's base to position a workpiece for drilling pocket holes.

Then you can mount the jig with 1l. Locking Handle. The last piece to add is a hardwood handle. It not only makes it con- venient to carry and store the workstation, but it has a couple of other purposes. The knobs that lock the handle in place also hold the drawers closed in the cases. You can find all of the dimen- sions for the handle in Figure 6.

I started by cutting the blank to final size. You'll find that a Forst- ner bit works great to form the radius at each end of the long notch in the sides of the handle.

Then it's an easy task to remove the waste at the band saw and sand the slot smooth with a sand- ing drum or spindle sander. The sliding insert adjusts to fully support the workpiece.

Plus, the stop the handle allows it to swivel allows you to position multiple workpieces accurately for consistent pocket hole locations. I little sanding to make everything of screws for all your pocket hole drilled the hole at the end of the smooth. After chamfering the joinery projects. And being able slot first, then stepped over to the ends of the handle, it's time to to store bits, drivers, clamps, and band saw to remove the waste.

All that's left to do now is a lit- Putting It to Use. I sprayed on To use the workstation, simply tle final shaping.

A roundover bit a couple coats of lacquer before open the wings and clamp the at the router table forms a com- installing the dividers and load- base to your benchtop. Attach fortable grip between the long ing up the drawers. The drawers a shop vacuum to the dust port notches.

Follow that up with a are capable of holding hundreds and you'll be in business. Plane Thin Stock. Though its primary purpose is planing warped boards, you can remove the levelers to plane thin stock as well.

How- ever, if the board is too wide for In the past, I've solved this problem by building a sled and straight and flat, and stayed the jointer, the first inclination stabilizing the board with shims 1 that way. Unfortunately; warped might be to just run it through and hot glue or screws. This boards are a challenge wood- the planer. If you do, you'll end proved to be a tedious and time- workers encounter all too often.

That's because the with this planer sled. The sled sup- Generally the first step when flatten the board while it's going ports the board so it doesn't flex preparing a board is to flatten through, and the board will just under the pressure of the feed one face on the jointer, and then spring back after it's been planed. Mine is sized to fit a 12". It has five levelers bottom skin to size. Then cut the middle of this assembly, so I used that can be positioned along the long filler pieces and position cauls and Cclamps to get con- length of the board and adjusted them inside and parallel to the sistent pressure across the filler up and down.

Now strips. I rounded the comers after An additional feature is that cut the short filler pieces and the glue had set. Place these to size. Round the comers with is clamped in place. Inset photo parts on a flat surface and glue sandpaper before gluing it to the facing page. For this operation, them to the bottom skin. I tacked the top in place with a manual to determine the mini- in torsion box construction, it's couple of small brads until it was mum thickness board that can be important to spread the glue clamped to keep all the pieces safely planed with it.

I removed the The base is a torsion box that's maximum coverage. I don't brads once the glue had dried. The level- ers can be locked in place and have a non-skid surface. Torsion Box Construction. Slide Blocks. Interlocking bars keep the bag in place when the door is closed. But there are a couple of problems with it.

The filter quickly clogs with dust, which reduces suction. And the limited capacity of many vacuums means you need to empty them frequently. The system you see here solves both of those issues. A commercial cyclone unit diverts most of the debris into a large hopper. This empties into a standard yard waste bag for easy removal and disposal.

With a compact footprint and low-cost materials, this is a great upgrade for any shop. The cabinet is divided into four compartments. The left door covers a storage compartment for vacuum accessories or other items.

The middle compartment in the cabinet is the collection hopper. The chips and other debris fall from the cyclone into this sealed chamber. The lower compartment is sized to hold a commonly available yard waste bag.

You can empty the hopper into the bag without raising a cloud of dust. Figure 1 shows the general structure of the cabinet. You can see that it goes together with fairly simple dado and rabbet joints. What makes things a little out of the ordinary is that the sides and back are pretty long. So instead of taking the parts to the table saw like I usually do, I turned to portable power tools to handle most of the work.

I used a circular saw to cut the sides and back to size. A hand-held router and a straightedge guide make a good combination for cutting the dado joints. The rabbet along the back edge of the sides requires a different approach, as shown in Figure 1c. Here, you can use a bearingguided rabbeting bit to do the job. A Few Details. I want to take a moment to look at a few details in some of the cabinet pieces.

First off, the top, bottom, and dividers are all the same size. Except for the bottom, the other panels need some additional work. The top and upper divider have a centered dado to hold the partition, as in Figures 1 and 1a. You also need to drill some large holes. These accommodate the connections for the cyclone. I used a hole saw and a heavyduty hand drill.

This allows dust and chips to fall from the hopper compartment to the bag. Hassle-Free Assembly. Gluing up a large cabinet like this could cause some anxiety. But you can simplify things by adding glue to the joints and nailing the cabinet with an air nailer. This lets you get on with the construction without wrangling a lot of clamps or waiting for glue to dry. This stage of the process is a good time to cut mortises for the hinges.

If you turn to page 32, you can see the jig I used to support a hand-held router and locate the mortises accurately. Dust Chute. This involves making the assembly that seals off the bottom of the hopper. The first part of the assembly is shown in Figure 2. Below that is a chute that fits inside the opening of the yard waste bag.

The larger opening handles most of the material. Glue a few strips of thin plywood around the top face of the plate. This creates a pocket for the gate once the plate is attached to the lower divider. The Gate. The gate is sized to fit inside the pocket and seal off the large opening in the lower divider. You can use the drawing at right to guide you while cutting it to shape. The two horns at the back of the gate are important features. They snowplow any dust that drifts into the gate pocket to the narrow slot that you cut in the plate.

This system prevents dust from building up over time that could keep the gate from closing and creating a good seal. A Chute. There are two things to note here. The chute front has a groove cut in it that lines up with a mating rail in the door to pinch the bag and hold it in place Figure 2c. The other detail is the back piece.

These are glued in place, and the whole assembly can be screwed to the bottom of the lower divider, as in Figure 2. After that, building a few doors wraps up the woodworking. The hole in the lower divider allows most of the dust and chips inside the hopper to fall into the bag.

To direct all the dust and chips toward the hole, I installed 4 a set of angled baffles on three sides of the opening. The rear baffle is the first and simplest to make and install. Clamping this piece would be a challenge, so I used brads to fix its position while the glue dried. The side baffle pieces start out the same as the rear piece, with a bevel cut along each edge. But in order for them to fit seamlessly against the rear piece, they need compound miters cut at the back ends.

I used a table saw to make this cut. Figure 3b helps you set the miter gauge and blade angle. For the other side baffle, you need to set the miter gauge to the opposite angle and use the other miter gauge slot. Closing In. The front of the hopper is sealed with a plywood panel. A small glass window in the panel lets you see when to empty the hopper — once the dust gets halfway up the window is a good time. The glass is set in a rabbet and held in place with L-shaped glass stop, as illustrated in Figure 3c.

To maintain a good seal, I wrapped the edge with adhesivebacked weatherstripping. Lower Door. But there are still a few things about each one that deserve some attention. As I mentioned earlier, this works with the groove in ShopNotes No.

Attach the rail so that the tongue on the rail aligns with the groove in the chute front. The hinges on the door are mounted on the inside face. On the opposite edge, I used draw latches.

Before making the upper doors, you can cut a pair of shelves for the upper storage compartment Figure 5. They rest on adjustable shelf supports. Upper Doors. The upper doors are just smaller versions of the lower door.

Simple magnetic catches hold these doors closed. Painted Finish. I decided to paint the outside of the cabinet. The inside has a clear finish. The key thing is preparing the surfaces, especially the cut edges of the plywood. After sanding the whole project, I used drywall spackle to fill the edges and then sanded them smooth.

A coat of primer is the next step. I like to sand the primer coat to make sure the surfaces are smooth. If you find a blemish, you can fill it and re-prime that section. This prep work sets the stage for applying the finish coats of paint. The final step is to install the cyclone unit. Use the holes in the cyclone to drill mounting holes in the cabinet, as in Figures 5 and 5b.

For the tightest seal, apply a thin bead of kitchen and bath sealant to the bottom of the cyclone before attaching it. Figure 6 has the details for a basic setup to connect your shop a. To minimize air leaks, wrap the joint between the PVC reducers and the cyclone with foil tape lower right photo. The dust collector is now ready to go. And in no time, your shop will be cleaner. Use the blade plate as a guide for taking light cuts at the miter saw to sneak up on precise project parts.

These tough fibers are difficult to cut smoothly without tearout. When faced with trimming tasks, I turn to a handful of reliable tools and techniques to get right-on-the-money results. Cut to Length. The simplest task is cutting a workpiece to length.

More often than not, this is a multi-step process. The approach I take is to mark the approximate length of the workpiece directly from the project.

Most often, I use one of two tools to get the job done. My first choice is the table saw. The photo above shows how it works. The miter gauge guides the workpiece past the blade. The real trick is setting up to trim a small amount with each cut. To do that, I make an adjustable stop block.

The miter saw is another tool for cutting parts down to size. And actually, the adjustable stop ShopNotes No. Using a miter gauge and shims at the disc sander increases your control over the workpiece.

Take light passes to avoid burning the face of the miter joint. This is shown in the lower left photos on the facing page. You start by lowering the blade without turning on the saw and butting the workpiece against the saw plate. Hold the piece in position as you raise the blade back up. Now make a slow and steady cut. The amount you trim is equal to the amount that the teeth extend past the saw plate, as you can see in the inset photo.

Trimming the length of square parts is a walk in the park. There are a few other tasks where the degree of difficulty increases. Fine-Tune Miters.

One of those tasks is trimming miters. I use a disc sander to take off controlled amounts of material. Although you could hold the part freehand, I find a miter gauge gives me more consistent results.

But rather than fussing to set the miter gauge to the exact angle, I ShopNotes. By inserting a few playing cards, I can tweak the angle of the workpiece. Where you place the shims depends on where you need to remove material. To close up a joint with a gap at the heel, slip the shims between the miter gauge and workpiece on the side closest to the sander upper left photo. Place the cards on the opposite end of the workpiece to close a joint with a gap at the point.

Glued Joints. But there are times when I deliberately make parts a little longer than necessary to ensure that joints come together fully. Through dovetails and box joints like the ones shown in the upper right photo are good examples. So instead, I use a small block plane. Since the parts are glued up, getting a clean cut is my main concern.

There are a few things that can make that a certainty. First, set the plane for a fine cut. Skew the block plane and plane toward the center from each side of the joint. I also moisten the end grain with mineral spirits. This softens the wood and makes it easier to slice. Finally, move the plane so that the wood is supported on the back side, as you can see in the photo.

One sure-fire way to prevent tearout when trimming the end of a workpiece is to score all the edges with a marking knife. Each mortise should be sized accurately, cut cleanly, and located consistently on the project. While there are a number of ways to get the job done, the jig shown here does all these things without being too complicated.

In a nutshell, a pair of bases support the router and guide a short dado cleanout bit. The space between the bases defines the length of the mortise. Below the bases, a pair of fences sandwich the workpiece and back up the cut to prevent tearout.

The short, inside fence registers against the cabinet top, bottom, and dividers to locate each mortise. The long fence goes on the outside and creates a clamping surface. The drawings below highlights the process while the right drawing shows the completed stop. You start with an extra-long blank cut to final width. In Figure 1, you can see how to cut the key on one side of the blank at the table saw.

Test the fit of the key in 1! Next, lay out the length of each key on the blank, accounting for the saw kerf. Drill a hole in each stop for the bolt used to fasten it to the T-track. Then you can cut the waste free at the band saw, as illustrated in Figure 2. After cutting the keys to length, chamfer each end, as shown at right.

For added durability after tapping the threads, soak them with thin cyanoacrylate glue. Clean up the threads by repeating the tapping process after the glue dries. Making the handwheels for the planer sled levelers page 23 is simple. Starting with a hardwood blank, first drill a counterbore to fit the T-nut flange. Using the center of the counterbore as a guide, you can cut out the wheels with a hole saw.

Use spurless T-nuts or file off the spurs because they can split the wood when pressed in. Add the hardware shown in Figures 3 and 4, and then chuck it into the drill press. A little hand work with a file takes care of the rest. On any given day you could see everything from lawn mower repair to woodworking being done on that workbench. And just like the old bench from my childhood, it can really take a beating.

But the best part is, you can build it in a weekend using readily available constructiongrade lumber. The base assembly involves a few lag screws. The top planks are held with washer-head screws. The woodworking is super easy.

Upgrade this basic bench with a rail system that incorporates bench dogs and clamping accessories. It was featured in ShopNotes No. Notched legs form the joinery for the long front and back rails.

Cross rails are joined with lag screws through the long rails. Sturdy Legs. I used 4x4 legs for the workbench. Start by cutting the 4x4 legs to their final length, as illustrated in Figure 1.

After laying out the location for the notches for the rails, I set up the table saw with a wide d dado blade and attached an auxil auxiliary fence to the miter gauge. Once the notches are cut, I used a ha hand-held router to round over the edges of the notches to match th the radius on the edges of the ra rails. You can also do this with a li little sanding. This extra step crea creates a more finished look after the rails are attached.

Long 2x4 rails join the legs to create a fron front and back frame assembly. Crosscutting long 2x4s at the table saw can be a chore. I find that a miter saw is a better choice when cutting long parts like this to length. The two top rails need to be drilled with five pairs of holes. These are used for securing cross rails that support the benchtop. The bottom rails are only drilled where they fasten at the legs, as shown in Figure 1.

After the holes are drilled, you can glue the long rails into the notches in the legs. Just make sure to keep the assemblies square. The notches help by aligning the rails as you fasten them. Cross Rails. While the glue dries, you can cut the six short cross rails that fit between the legs Figure 1. These short cross rails join the front and back assemblies.

I set up a stop block on an auxiliary fence of the miter saw to ensure each of the cross rails were the same length. Time for Assembly. The short cross rails are joined to the front and back assemblies with 5"-long lag screws. I used the holes in the ShopNotes No. At this point, you may need some help in clamping and attaching the short cross rails.

I started by temporarily clamping the short cross rails between the front and back assemblies, centered on the legs. The top of the cross rails should be even with the top of the long rails. Use a drill bit to mark the ends of the cross rails through the holes in the legs. Driving Lag Screws.