Aerosols can be a lifesaver when you want to avoid having to clean the gun, for hard-to-find materials, or tough to match colors or when you only need a small amount of a particular finish. Shading toner, specialty colors, touchup lacquer, blush chaser and cross-linked coatings are just a few of the options making “rattle cans” a boon for woodworkers of every stripe.

First, let’s do a quick recap of spray can tips and tricks.

Rattle On

Any can that requires mixing will have a small ball inside that rattles around during agitation. Even though it feels agonizingly long, keep shaking the can for a full 60 seconds AFTER you hear the ball start moving.

As with guns, spray evenly about 6″ to 8″ from the surface, keeping the tip parallel to the wood. Move the can at a consistent speed for even coverage, and overlap each pass about half the width of the spray pattern. Make the surface wet but not dripping. To clear the tip, turn the can upside down and spray until only air comes out.

Fly in the Ointment

There are two drawbacks to aerosols that you do not encounter with spray guns, but there’s help for both. The first is that, until recently, aerosols did not offer the range of spray fan options common to guns. With a spray gun, you can change the cap, tip, air feed and fluid feed to create round, fan-shaped, full or sparse spray patterns. In the past, aerosols did not offer such options, but all that has changed.

Mohawk now offers 16 different replaceable spray tips to give you a range of fan widths, sizes, shapes and spray volumes. At around 25 cents each, you can have a set of tips that makes your rattle cans rival your spray gun, and have replacements should the tip clog.

The second problem is that finishes in aerosol cans are usually low in solids, often around 6%, which means you’ll need to apply more coats than with a spray gun. In particular, you’ll notice that the first coat or two will be almost totally absorbed by end grain or softer wood.

You can even the playing field by priming or sealing the wood first by hand. Flood the raw wood surface with dewaxed shellac, then quickly wipe off whatever is not absorbed. That will seal the wood and create a base to help the spray finish build more quickly.

Improved Comfort

Admittedly, spending an hour with your finger pushing a spray gun tip is tiring, but even that is changing. More and more, aerosols like Rust-Oleum’s Universal line, designed to spray over multiple substrates, now come in comfortable, ergonomic trigger cans. They’re easier to handle and less tiring when spraying a lot.

Clear Finishes

Spraying is ideal for fast-drying finishes, like shellac or lacquer, and for an “off the gun” sprayed satin or matte finish, which has a different look than rubbed satin. Luckily, aerosols are available in all sheens.

For those who prefer oil-based polyurethane, that, too, is in rattle cans, and unlike cans of liquid finish, the remaining polyurethane in aerosols won’t skin over or harden. Even pre-cat lacquer is now offered in aerosol cans, as well as specialty coatings, like brass lacquer and plastic primer, for nonwood substrates.

If you can’t find the right color or finish in a can, make your own with the aerosol power pack sprayer. Fill the jar, screw it onto the aerosol power pack, and spray away.

Glazes, Tints and Toners

Want to do a wet glaze finish? Normally you’d mix a glaze of pigmented color in a fairly slow-drying medium that you brush on and wipe off, leaving color in pores, inside edges and recesses. There’s now a faster, easier way. Mohawk sells pre-mixed colored glazes in aerosol cans, ready to spray on, wipe off and blend for the look you want.

You’ll also find tinted clear finish in both translucent dye and more opaque micronized pigment versions. Use them to subtly change the color of the wood, touch up light or sanded-through areas to match, make faux inlays or add uniformity to uneven wood.

Stretch your finishing skills by using Shadow Toner to create a gradual sunburst or corona. Simply spray your chosen color of Shadow Toner around the edges of a panel, door, box or instrument.

Finish Repairs

Got blush? That’s the annoying, cloudy, white haze caused by spraying lacquer when the humidity is too high. Eradicate it without even emptying your spray gun by spraying with Mohawk’s Super Blush Retarder Aerosol.

Need to do a spot repair? Mohawk’s Perfect Blend® lacquer is just the ticket, with low bounce-back and a gentle spray for smooth blending of the finish even in just a small area. Working on-site where odor is a problem? There’s now water-based, low odor touchup lacquer in spray cans as well.

More Options, Versatility

No discussion of spray cans would be complete without mentioning the staggering array of solid colors, metallic hues and even pearlescent paints, but that’s just the beginning. There are other materials bound to tickle your creativity.

For instance, use a stencil with glow-in-the-dark paint to add a stars-and-moon motif to your work.

Chalkboard paint, available in traditional black, several colors, and even clear can turn any surface, even a kitchen cabinet door, into a handy notepad.

There’s also aerosol whiteboard paint, if you prefer that. Textured paint offers a sandblasted or dry spray appearance, while hammered finish gives the look of industrial metal, perhaps just the thing for a man cave bar top.

Whatever your spraying needs, chances are there’s an aerosol with your name on it.

The post Spray Can Finishing Roundup appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Quick Jig for Accurate Angles

The strongest way to build a circular frame from wood, and avoid showing end grain, is to make this jewelry frame from miter-cut segments that form an octagon. Then, cut the circle out of the octagon shape. To make this project’s 16-1/2″-diameter frame, with the frame having 2-1/4″-wide members (final width), you’ll need eight workpieces that each begin at 3-1/4″ wide and 7-1/8″ long — they’re overly wide because some stock width will be lost during the circle-cutting process. Rip and crosscut these eight blanks to size. While you’re at it, cut eight test workpieces to the same size from some spare scrap.

The eight outer angles of an octagon each measure 135˚. Bisecting those obtuse angles determines the two acute angles that must be cut to bring the eight segments of the octagonal frame together. So, both ends of each segment need to be miter-cut to 67.5˚ — or half the obtuse angles.

You could cut these angles with your miter saw or table saw’s miter gauge swiveled to 22.5˚ — it’s the complementary angle to 67.5˚. But, I went a different route: I created a quick cutting jig to use on the crosscut sled of my table saw: it’s simply an isosceles triangle, made of 3/4″ scrap plywood, with its top (obtuse) angle measuring 135˚. The advantage to using it is that each pair of octagonal segments can be miter-cut while resting against the legs of the triangle and a stop block — one half of the joint against one leg of the triangle and the other half of the joint against the triangle’s other leg. This way, pairs of adjacent part ends will match the triangle’s obtuse angle and fit together as closely as possible.

Whether you try my crosscut sled jig or use another option, miter-cut the ends of your “test” segments and see how a sample octagon fits together. Use a stop block when cutting the parts to make sure they don’t get shorter in the process. If your shape won’t close up completely, the joint angles are slightly more than 67.5˚. Conversely, if the last joint of the octagon overlaps, the miter angles are slightly less than 67.5˚. Adjust your cutting angle ever so slightly and re-cut the test pieces to improve their fit. It only takes the slightest change of angle to make a big difference in how the shape fits together, so be very conservative here.

Gluing Up the Frame

Once your cutting method is dialed in, go ahead and miter-cut the ends of the actual project segments to shape. Since these segments will form weak end-grain joints, a pair of 1/4″ dowels at each joint will strengthen the frame. Lay out their locations. I positioned the center of one dowel 1-1/16″ in from the inside corner of the mitered ends, and I located the center of the second dowel 7/8″ away from the first dowel. Drill pairs of dowel holes at each joint.

You’re ready to glue and clamp the octagon together. Spread glue on the contact surfaces and into the dowel holes, then fit the segments together. (Note: If you’re planning to cut your frame round with a band saw, see the section on Bandsawing the Circle, below, before gluing all the joints together.) A band clamp is the easiest way to provide even clamping pressure all around the shape at the same time. When you tighten the clamp, be sure it doesn’t distort the frame’s ability to lie flat.

Routing the Circle

Its center pin will enable the jig arm and your router to pivot around, compass-style, to rout the inner and outer rims of the frame. Then, secure the octagon to the sheet stock with strips of double-sided tape, making sure to center it carefully on the layout lines.

Install a 1/4″-dia. straight or upcut spiral bit in your router, adjust the jig arm to either the inside or outside diameter, and rout all the way down through the wood in several deepening passes. Repeat to mill the frame’s other rim.

Bandsawing the Circle

Cut just outside your layout lines by about 1/16″ or so. Then glue the half frames together to form a rough circle.

Now, you can refine the rims easily by sanding — a disc sander will clean up the outer rim in no time flat, and a drum sander can do the same job to the inside rim.

Cutting, Detailing the Circle

When the glue dries, remove the frame from the clamp and flatten the joints with a hand plane, card scraper or sander. Next up, it’s time to cut the frame round, and here again, you have options. You could use a compass to draw the frame’s circular shape, then cut it out with a jigsaw, scroll saw or band saw. But a quick, accurate and really fun way to do the job is with a circle-cutting jig and a router.

Besides the convenience and accuracy a circle-cutting jig offers you for routing this frame to shape, a second benefit is that you can also use it to form decorative details on your frame’s face. I used a V-groove router bit to cut a pair of shallow, concentric rings, spaced 1/2″ in from the inner rim and 5/8″ in from the outer rim. Cutting them was as easy as setting the bit depth to 1/16″ and taking the router for a spin around the frame at each ring location. Experiment with this detailing on scrap, first, to arrive at the look you prefer best. If you don’t have a V-groove bit, a little core box, ovolo or even a straight bit can provide other design options.

Next, shape the inner and outer edges of your frame. I routed the frame’s outer diameter with a 3/8″-radius roundover bit and eased the inner rim with a 1/4″ roundover bit. A 1/8″ roundover took care of the back’s outer edge.

Give your frame a thorough sanding up through the grits to 180 or even 220 if you’re using some attractive figured wood. Then, apply your favorite topcoat. wiped this curly maple down with an oil finish first to enhance the figure, let that dry, then sprayed on four coats of satin lacquer for a low-luster sheen.

Adding Screen and Hardware

We’ll fit the center screen into the frame just like a piece of glass in a photo frame. For that job, I routed a 1/2″-wide, 3/8″-deep rabbet around the inside back edge with a rabbeting bit in the router table. Then cut a 13″-diameter circle of screen with a scissors to fit inside the rabbeted recess — the copper wire is pretty soft and easy to cut by hand.

I milled a circular backer ring from a panel of 1/4″ maple to cover the back rabbet and screen. Make it 1/2″ wide and 5/16″ thick. I made mine using my compact router and circle-cutting jig again. To bond the wooden ring and copper screen to the frame, I used a thin bead of silicone caulk dispensed around the rabbet. Embed the screen in the wet caulk, and press the wooden ring down into the rabbet. I secured the ring with 5/8″-long, 23-gauge pin nails to hold everything securely while the caulk set.

All that’s left to do is to install some necklace hangers to the front lower half of the frame. Those I’m suggesting from Rockler in our “Hardware” section at the bottom of the page are solid cast brass and will give your project a quality finishing touch. A shallow hole and a bit of epoxy will mount these hangers permanently.

Now, attach a couple of picture hanging brackets to the back of the frame and tuck this project away until it’s time to wrap up for the holidays — you’re one handmade gift closer to done!

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard to Find Hardware

Compact Router Ellipse and Circle Jig #27867
Freud® Solid Carbide Upcut Spiral Bit #55748
V-groove Router Bit, 1/4″ Shank #90869
Self-centering Doweling Jig  #49221
Spiral Dowel Pins, 1/4″ Dia. #21113
Solid Brass Necklace Hangers #93633

The post PROJECT: Circular Jewelry Frame appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

As an added bonus, I incorporated a guitar hanger — a feature I’ve never seen on any other music stand. The hanger accommodates all but the largest guitars as well as ukuleles and banjos. It can also be altered to hold violins, violas, mandolins and other instruments (it may also be omitted). I built my stand from ash, which makes it very light in weight: less than 7 lbs.! However, you can use any wood that steam bends well: white or red oak, cherry, walnut, beech, etc.

Cutting Out the Parts

Once you’ve selected the wood for your music stand, the first step before cutting begins is to use the parts diagrams to make full-sized paper patterns. You can do this by either scanning and printing them using a computer, or drawing them full-size by hand using the grid of squares shown on each diagram as a guide (you only need one paper pattern for each part). The patterns for the smaller parts —- the stretcher, guitar hanger, bracket arm and top spacer — can be applied directly to the stock; just be sure to plane the stock to final thickness first, following the parts list. Apply a light coat of spray adhesive, such as 3M Super 77, to the back of each pattern, then press it onto the wood. As the stand’s pairs of legs and feet will be pattern routed, glue their paper patterns onto 1/4″ hardboard or MDF template stock instead.

Saw out all the smaller parts as well as the leg and foot templates using a band saw or jigsaw, cutting just outside the marked lines (glue the pattern to the stretcher, but don’t cut it out just yet). Carefully trim the excess back to the pattern lines using a stationary disc or belt sander for the convex edges, and a drum or oscillating spindle sander for the concave edges. When cutting out the parts for the guitar hanger, it’s best to cut out and sand the upright first, glue on the two hanger prongs as rectangular blanks, then saw them to shape.

To finish the leg and foot templates, sight down each long curved edge to make sure that it’s smooth and flowing, and sand out any irregularities as necessary (it’s not important for the curves to perfectly match the pattern lines; close is close enough).

When choosing stock for the legs, the boards with the straightest grain will give the best results when steam bending. Use the templates to mark out the legs and feet on the stock with a soft pencil; make two pairs of parts that are mirror symmetrical. Saw the legs out, cutting just shy of your pencil lines as before. Attach the templates atop the rough cut blanks using either double-stick tape or adhesive transfer tape.

In preparation for pattern routing, chuck a flush-trim bit into your router table. You’ll get the cleanest cut with a 1/2″ shank piloted bit that’s at least 3/4″ in diameter with shear angle cutters (rather than straight ones) such as the Rockler Double Bearing Shear Flush Trim Router Bit. Set the height of the bit so that the top bearing firmly contacts the template.

Before switching on the router, it’s important to check to see how the grain of the wood runs relative to the template. For best results, only rout the sections of leg or foot where the bit is cutting with the grain. Cutting against it is likely to result in severe grain tearout. After those sections have been routed, the way you trim the unrouted sections depends on the type of bit you’re using: For a double-bearing bit (with bearings both above and below the cutter), simply flip the part over, reset the bit’s height so the bearing rides against the template and finish trimming. If your bit has a single top-mounted bearing, pry the template off and attach it to the opposite side of the part, carefully aligning the sections which have already been trimmed with the template. Leave the bit at the same height and finish trimming the unrouted sections. Repeat this process for both legs and both feet.

Machining the Legs

Before the stand’s legs are ready for steam bending, you need to rout the lap joint that attaches the legs to the feet as well as the slot that the music holder mounts to. Start by temporarily clamping one of the legs to the inside surface of its corresponding foot, positioning it as shown in the Drawing. Prop this assembly atop a flat workbench and position a long rule (or a straight stick) square to the benchtop with one edge flush with the rear end of the foot.

The distance between the rule/stick and the top of the leg should be 6-1/4″. If it’s not, shift the end of the leg back or forth as necessary. Using first a pencil, then a sharp knife, scribe a line onto the leg where it overlaps the foot. Use a router fitted with a straight bit to rout away the lapping section of the leg to a depth of 1/4″, working from the bottom end towards the scribed line. Rout as close to the line as you dare, then finish trimming with a sharp chisel or a gouge with a low sweep number (#2 or #3). The trimmed edge should be nice and square relative to the face of the leg.

To assure that the music holder mounting slots are properly aligned on both legs, you’ll first rout a slot into the leg template that will be used to guide a router fitted with a guide bushing and straight bit to rout the actual leg slots. To rout the template slot, clamp two straight-edged pieces of 1/2″ plywood atop the leg template, setting them exactly 1/2″ apart and parallel to each other. Then use a plunge router fitted with a 1/2″ O.D. guide bushing and a 3/8″ straight bit to rout a slot that’s centered, widthwise: it’s 5-3/8″ long and begins 1-11/16″ from the top end of the template.

Then, attach the template to the leg (using double-stick or adhesive transfer tape) and rout a through slot with a 1/4″ straight bit (preferably with fluted cutters) and a 3/8″ O.D. guide bushing mounted to the router’s subbase. It’s best to rout the slot in several passes, increasing the bit’s cutting depth each time. Scrap boards clamped on either side of the template/leg assembly will help to keep the router steady as you work.

The final machining step is to round just the front-facing edges of both legs using a 1/4″ radius piloted roundover bit. When routing the inner-facing edge of each leg, stop the cut about 9-3/4″ short of the top. Now is also a good time to round the upper, outer-facing edge of both feet, using a 1/2″ radius roundover bit.

Steam Bending the Legs

Bending the stand’s legs in their flat dimension gives them their sinuous shape, which curves in two dimensions. In preparation for bending, build the form onto which the heated legs are clamped after steaming, so that they’ll retain their shape as they cool. You can make this form out of just about any 1/2″ or 3/4″ scrap plywood or MDF you have lying around. You’ll need at least six form segments, cut to the shape shown in the Drawing (if you run low on stock, the outer two can be shorter on the skinny end).

Nail or screw the segments together with a couple of 3/4″-thick spacer strips between until the form is at least 6-1/2″ wide. (A form this wide is needed since the legs are wide in their non-bent direction, and one leg must be clamped in one direction on the form, the other in the opposite direction.) Nail/screw the assembled form to a 1/2″ ply baseplate, with a piece of 1/2″ ply screwed on top, flush to the skinny end of the form segments.

To perform the actual steam bending, you’ll need a source of steam, a sealable steam box big enough to accommodate the legs and a hose to connect them together. Rockler sells a kit that includes all the essential equipment, save the steam box, which you build yourself. A thermometer, like the kind used for checking meat while cooking, is also needed (you can watch my entire steam bending process in my More on the Web video for this article).

Joining the Stretcher

The next step is to trim and shape the music stand’s curved stretcher, then join it to the legs. First, clamp the legs to their respective feet, then clamp the top of the legs together with the guitar hanger and top spacer set in place, but not glued. Set the assembly atop a flat, level workbench, spread the feet so that they’re 18″ apart (outside measurement) and parallel, then clamp them down onto the benchtop. Using a sliding bevel set on a spacer block, check the angle of the inside of one of the legs at 9-1/2″ above the benchtop (the bottom surface of the stretcher). Use the bevel to set the tilt of the blade on your table saw (or miter saw) and trim one end of the stretcher. Measure the angle of the other leg and reset the saw blade tilt, then measure the distance between the two legs at the stretcher height. Trim the other end of the stretcher, cutting it to its final length. Now you can saw out the stretcher’s curved shape, following the pattern you glued on earlier. Round all long edges with a 1/4″-radius roundover bit, and sand the stretcher smooth.

Use a cordless drill to bore holes for the four 5/16″-dia. dowels that join the stretcher to the legs. To prepare for this operation, chuck up a 5/16″ brad point bit, set the drill on the bench and use a small level to see if the bit is parallel to the benchtop. If it’s not, tape a wedge to the underside of the drill’s battery. Now use as many spacers (scraps of plywood, Masonite, cardboard, etc.) as it takes to elevate the drill until the center of the bit is 913/16″ high. Clamp the stretcher in position between the legs atop a sturdy box or blocks and clamp it to the benchtop. Working slowly and carefully, drill two 1-1/2″-deep holes through the legs, into each end of the stretcher. Drive a couple of dowels (sanded to be slightly undersized) into these holes to keep the stretcher in place, but don’t glue them in just yet.

Next, you’ll drill a pair of holes for the 5/16″ dowel holes that join the guitar hanger to the legs. Unclamp only the stretcher and feet from the benchtop then set the stand on the floor. At the drill press, make a drilling guide out of a 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ x 3″ scrap wood block by boring a pair of 5/16″ holes spaced 1″ apart. After confirming that the guitar hanger is in exactly the right position, clamp the drill guide to the leg with the holes positioned as shown on the drawing. Clamp a scrap block to the leg opposite the holes (to prevent tearout from the emerging bit), then bore through both legs and the hanger.

Making the Music Holder

The music holder, ledge and bracket sides are all made from stock that’s been resawn and/or planed down to 5/16″ thickness. Unless you have some really wide stock, glue up enough stock to make the 12-1/2″-wide music holder. Rough cut the ends of the holder to shape, then use a section of the leg template (adhered as before) to pattern-rout the curves. Next, cut the ledge to size, then saw a 1-1/4″-radius curve into both outer-facing ends. Sand the holder and ledge smooth. To form a strong joint between these parts, plunge-cut five evenly spaced slots for #0 biscuits into both parts, and glue them together. Drill three countersunk holes for #6 screws through the face of the music holder, positioned as shown in the Drawing, for the screws that attach the music holder to the bracket.

To make the music holder bracket, first put a 1″-radius roundover on the outer ends of the bracket sides and spacers. Glue them together with the bracket arm, then rout the outer edges with a 1/4″-radius roundover bit (don’t rout the bracket arm).

Final Assembly

Before gluing the stand together, make sure that all parts are sanded smooth. Bevel the bottom edges of both feet by running them over a jointer with its fence set at a 105˚ angle — just make sure to keep the non-rounded-edge side of each foot against the fence. Now glue the legs to the feet at the lap joints, making sure to keep the legs properly positioned during clamping. Once these joints are dry, scrape off the excess glue. Glue the top spacer in place on only one of the legs and let it dry. Working atop your bench again, dry clamp the legs together as before, with the guitar hanger in place, but not glued. Position the stretcher and glue in 1-1/2″-long, 5/16″- dia. dowels into all four holes. Apply a clamp, if necessary, to make sure the joint is snug. Once dry, trim the protruding ends of the dowels and sand these areas smooth.

With the music stand on the floor, remove all clamps from the top of the legs and apply glue to the top spacer and guitar hanger upright. Clamp the legs together again, making sure that everything is properly aligned. Glue in the two 2-1/4″-long 5/16″ dowels that secure the guitar hanger, and clamp everything tight. Do one final check by setting a try square horizontally against the back edges of the legs, to make sure they’re square to one another, before leaving the assembly to dry. Trim and sand both ends of the hanger dowels, then sand the tops of the legs and spacer so that they’re all flush and smooth. Using a rasp or rifflers and sandpaper, round the top of the inner curve on the guitar holder’s prongs so that they cradle the headstock of your instrument and prevent it from accidentally sliding off.

Press the music holder bracket into its slot and check the fit; if it’s too tight, plane or sand it until it slides smoothly. If it’s too loose (or the holder won’t stay locked), stick a disc cut from 180 PSA sandpaper to the bracket arm centered on the bolt hole. Fit the 2-1/2″ x 1/4″-20 bolt and cam clamp that lock the bracket into position, then center the music holder on the bracket and clamp them together. Check to make sure the holder’s ledge is level and tweak its angle slightly, if necessary. Then, drill pilot holes through the countersunk holes you drilled earlier and drive three #6 x 1″ screws to secure the holder to its bracket.

You can finish the music stand with whatever finish you prefer; I applied a Danish oil to mine, which made the ash I built it from look darker and richer. Best of all, my finished music stand harmonizes beautifully with the décor of my music room; now that’s something to sing about.

Hard to Find Hardware

Double Bearing Shear Flush Trim Router Bit #27867
Steam Bending Kit #42826
1/4”-20 Cam Clamp #32545

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

The post PROJECT: Wooden Music Stand appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Cherry’s warm tones conjure up cozy thoughts of entertainment shared around the table for me. So, cherry was my first choice here. To get started, I picked up some 8/4 and 5/4 solid stock and cherry veneered plywood from the local hardwood store. Then I jumped straight into milling up the stock.

Prepping Stock, Tapering the Legs

My cherry lumber was kiln dried, so I wasn’t too worried about giving it time to acclimate to my shop. Even so, since this wasn’t a rushed project, I milled the apron and the leg stock about 1/8″ oversize, then let them sit for about a week. To my surprise, a couple pieces cupped and twisted just a bit; leaving them slightly oversized once again proved to be good practice!

I re-milled everything to be flat, square, and to proper thickness. I left the apron pieces overly long so that I could use them as test pieces for the mitering setup, and I kept back a 12″-long extra piece of apron sized scrap for testing my routing setups, too.

I decided to taper the legs for a couple of reasons: first, I love the look of tapered legs. Second, the taper added to the vintage card table look that I was going for. Rockler’s taper/straight-line jig makes ripping long angles like these safe and easy. Mark the dimensions and the taper angle on one of the legs.

Check that the table saw blade is set square to the saw table. Set the leg in the jig on the table saw and make adjustments so that you will be cutting on the waste side of the marks. Once the jig is set and the leg is locked in place, rip tapers on two adjacent faces of all four legs.

Profiling the Aprons

I played around with a few different styles of aprons for the table. The aprons will be glued to the plywood tabletop and the legs will be attached to them, so the aprons need to be both sturdy and attractive. Simple rounded-over edges would look nice, but I settled on a three-beaded pattern that adds even more interest. A bullnose radius router bit and a 1/2″ straight bit can create this retro looking molding. The exact bits I used are listed in the Hard-to-Find Hardware. This is where you can put that 12″ test piece to work as you check all the setups carefully before you shape the actual apron stock.

Before I got to the router table, I used a 1/2″-wide dado blade stack in the table saw to plow out most of the waste for the two grooves in the aprons. Then I set up the bullnose bit in my router. The bit height should be set so that the bit rounds over the raised section of the molding (see the Drawings). Once the bit height is set, adjust the router fence so that you are only removing about 1/16″ of material at a time, creeping up to create the perfect rounded beads.

Now adjust the bullnose bit in the collet as needed so the cutters will be able to reach and shape the middle bead when the router collet is fully raised. Reset the fence so that, once again, you are only removing about 1/16″ of material at a time. Once the beads are milled, switch to a 1/2″-dia. straight bit to clean up the grooves between the beads.

The next step in making the tabletop is cutting the plywood to size. Evaluate which of its faces looks best, and mark it as the top face.

Notice in the Drawings above that you’ll need to form a tongue on all four edges of the tabletop, and you’ll do that by machining a rabbet. Use a marking gauge to score the plywood 1/8″ in from its top edges. I decided to also tape a piece of paper to the top face to protect it from getting scratched while working with it. Mill the four rabbets with either a dado blade or using a handheld router and rabbeting bit.

The 1/8″-long tongues you’ve just formed are captured in a groove in the aprons to form sturdy, interlocking joints. So go ahead and put a 3/8″-wide dado stack in the table saw. Adjust the rip fence 3/8″ away from it, and raise the blade just slightly higher than 1/8″. Test your setup on the 12″ molding scrap before milling a long groove into the back face of all four aprons. (Milling these grooves slightly deeper than 1/8″ allows a bit of extra depth at the bottom of the joints for excess glue to migrate when the tongues are inserted.)

Mitering the Aprons

Miter joints need to be spot-on accurate to fit together well. Prepare for cutting them by first squaring your table saw miter gauge’s fence to the blade and adding a long sacrificial fence. Now tilt the blade to exactly 45 degrees. Cut miters on the ends of the test piece and one apron, and fit them together. Check for accuracy with a square. If the joint is square, mark the length of one of the aprons and miter it to length. Test it against the plywood tabletop. If it fits properly, cut the other three aprons to length, too, checking for accuracy by fitting them into place on the tabletop. Cut and fit them one at a time.

Assembling the Top with Splines

The apron miter joints are held together with splines that fit into grooves, so we’ll cut those next. Use the Drawings to mark a spline cut on your test molding. Tip your table saw blade to 45 degrees and adjust the blade so it will cut 3/16″ into the mitered face (half the groove width). Now clamp a block to the rip fence, ahead of the blade, to serve as a “step off” for the far ends of the aprons and to help position the groove cuts.

Rip 1/8″-thick splines from a piece of 3/8″ solid stock, and cut them 2-5⁄8″ long so that you’ll have a little extra length to grab onto when gluing up the aprons.

A band clamp is a great choice for gluing up the tabletop. Dry-fit the tabletop pieces first. Make sure you apply plenty of glue in the spline cuts and the apron grooves. Clamp the aprons, splines and top piece together, then carefully scrape the glue squeeze-out from the top after about 20 minutes, once the glue becomes rubbery.

Adding Leg Hardware

The metal leg brackets that allow these table legs to fold can be finicky to install properly. Since the legs are tapered, be sure to orient them correctly inside the brackets so the tapers face inward.

The dimensions spacing the holes from the top of the leg are correct, but these holes are drilled 13/16″ from the outside, non-tapered face of the leg. It is imperative to drill the 5/32″-dia. through-bolt holes on the drill press — they must remain perpendicular as they pass through the legs or the locking mechanism may not work correctly. Go ahead and drill the 3/16″-dia. holes for the machine bolts on the drill press, too.

Round the tops of the legs with a 7/8″ radius on the band saw, and then sand them smooth. When that’s done, soften the sharp edges of the legs using a 3/16″ roundover bit chucked in a router table.

Take a couple of passes so that you don’t overtax the router or risk chipout. I chamfered the feet of these legs with a sanding block and added adhesive-backed felt pads so they won’t snag carpeting or scratch a floor.

Well, you knew it was coming…now it’s time for sanding. I used a palm sander on the top of the table and on the faces of the legs.

A little 1/2″-wide stick wrapped with sandpaper will make sanding the surfaces between the apron beads much easier. I cupped the sandpaper in my hand to sand the rounded edges of the legs and the apron beads.

Finishing with Varnish and Wax

General Finishes Arm-R-Seal in a satin sheen is a great choice for this project. I just love applying the first coat of finish and really bringing the wood’s color and figure to life! I wiped on three coats of finish, allowing at least 8 hours of drying time between each coat. A little scuff-sanding with 400-grit between coats of finish kept the surfaces smooth.

After you give the finish at least 24 hours to cure, I recommend applying paste wax next. First, mush the wax into 0000 steel wool, and then wipe it on in the direction of the grain. Work in small areas so the wax won’t dry before you can buff it smooth with a clean cotton cloth. It’s a simple way to make the surfaces feel velvety smooth.

Assemble and attach the leg hardware, following the instructions that come with it. Hold the legs and hardware in place on the aprons to mark where to drill pilot holes to attach the four leg assemblies to the aprons.

Now try out your new table! The chilly weather has me thinking it’s time for a puzzle and some tea. Enjoy!

Hard to Find Hardware

Card Table Leg Brackets #63198
Taper / Straight Line Jig #21597
Bullnose Radius Router Bit, 1/2″ Shank #32545
Straight, 2-Flute Router Bit, 1/2″ Shank #90550

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

The post PROJECT: Folding Table appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Making Side Assemblies

Start by crosscutting four legs to length from 1x4s, according to the Material List. Be sure to make clean, square cuts with your circular saw. Then crosscut four side rails to length from another 1×4. Measure 3″ up from the bottoms of the legs to mark for the bottom edge of the bottom rails.

Mark 1″ in from this edge along the bottom end of the legs, and connect the marks to draw layout lines for the angled “feet” on the bottoms of the legs. Cut the feet to shape. Then miter-cut the top front corners of the front legs at a 45° angle, sizing this cut at 1-3⁄4″ from both the leg’s top end and front edge.

Next, set and clamp pairs of legs and rails together, with the rails positioned between the legs so the top rail is flush with the tops of the legs and the bottom rail’s bottom edge aligns with the angled intersection of the feet. Carefully measure between the inside edges of the rails to determine the final length of the side stiles. Crosscut four side stiles to final length from 1x2s.

You’re ready to mark the ends of the rails and the inside edges of the legs for dowel joints. Plan for two 5/16″-dia. dowels per joint. Position them 1-1⁄4″ apart, 1/2″ down from the top edge of the top rail and 3/8″ down from the top edge of the bottom rail. This way, the dowels will stay clear of the dadoes you will mill later for the shelves.

With that done, mark the inside facing edges of the rails for the side stile dowel joints. Here, the stiles will attach to the rails with a single 5/16″-dia. dowel at each end. Locate these dowels 1-3⁄4″ in from the ends of the rails, and center each of them on the stiles.

It’s always a good idea to mark the parts of an assembly to keep the orientation clear, so do that for your bookcase sides. Now bore 5/16″ dowel holes in the legs, rails and stiles at your marked locations. Drill each of the dowel holes slightly deeper than half the length of your dowel pins so they will fit in the joints without bottoming out in the holes, which could prevent the joints from closing properly.

Take a few minutes to sand the inside edges of the legs, rails and stiles up to 180-grit, while the part surfaces are still easy to access. Then dryfit the two side assemblies together, with the dowels in place, to be sure the parts go together well. If they do, spread glue into the dowel holes and onto the mating surfaces of the joints for one side assembly. Insert the dowels, fit the parts together and clamp the side assembly so the joints close. Be sure to glue the stiles between the rails first, and then add the legs. Clean away any glue squeeze-out.

Repeat the process to glue up the second side assembly. When the glue dries, sand or scrape any misalignments between the joints flat. Then sand these assemblies up to 180 grit.

Adding the Shelves

Next, cut four shelves to size from 3/4″ plywood. If you use a 2 x 4-ft. sheet, you’ll be able to get all four shelves from one piece of plywood.

Lay both side assemblies flat with their back edges together, and mark the back legs for the four shelf dado locations. Marking them simultaneously guarantees that the shelves will line up. Make two layout marks for each shelf, 3/4″ apart, so you’ll be sure to cut the dadoes between these lines.

The shelf dadoes must stop 1″ from the front edges of the front legs. So, mark a termination line at the end of each dado location to be sure you’ll stop these dado cuts correctly.

Three-quarter-inch plywood is almost always 23/32″ thick instead of a full 3/4″, but you can buy an “underthickness” 23/32″-diameter straight bit for a router that will cut perfectly fitting dadoes for 3/4″ plywood. It’s a helpful bit to own here. I’ll recommend that you make a simple slotted jig from scrap, to guide the router during dadoing.

It has a 1″-wide slot to accommodate a 1″ outside diameter guide collar, fixed to the router’s base. The jig’s base squares it against the bookcase side assemblies. Align and clamp the jig carefully to cut each dado. Rout the dadoes in three successive passes each, deepening the cut by 1/8″ with each pass. Their overall depth should be 3/8″. TIP: Slip scraps between the side stiles to fill the slots between them during dadoing. This will prevent the router bit from splintering the back edges of the stiles as it passes through them.

The ends of the two middle shelves will show their plywood cores in the gaps between the side stiles unless you cover them. The easy fix is to apply adhesive-backed iron-on red oak veneer edge tape to the edges of these shelves. While you’re at it, apply a strip of edge tape to the back edges of all four shelves, so the edge plys won’t show up on the back of the bookcase, either. Carefully trim the edges and ends of the veneer tape flush with the shelves.

Now, go ahead and dry-assemble and clamp the bookcase with the four shelves in their dadoes. This way, you can measure for and crosscut three lengths of 1×4 to serve as vertical backs for the bottom three shelves. Rip a fourth strip of 1×4 to 2-1⁄4″ wide, which serves as a narrower back for the top shelf. Crosscut it to length and test-fit it, too. Dismantle the bookcase.

Sand the faces of the shelf backs and shelves up to 180 grit. Then lay out three pairs of dowel joints between the bottom edges of the shelf backs and the top faces of the shelves along their back edges. Drill these dowel holes. Be careful to adjust your dowel hole depths to avoid drilling through the shelves.

Reassemble the bookcase to make sure the shelves and shelf backs fit properly together with the dowels in place. If they do, glue and clamp the backs to the shelves — but don’t glue the shelves in their dadoes just yet.

The front edges of the shelves are covered by strips of solid oak trim, to add durability here. Cut strips of 1×2 to fit the shelves and, if possible, rip-cut them to 3/4″ x 3/4″. (Alternatively, if you don’t have a table saw to make these narrow rip cuts, you can glue 1x2s to the shelves first, then rip the front trim to 3/4″ with your circular saw after the glue dries.) Spread glue along the front edge of each shelf, and install its trim strip with the bookcase still dry-assembled. Hold the trim strips in position with clamps or strips of wide packing or painter’s tape while the glue dries.

Finishing Up

Take the bookcase apart and carefully plane or sand the front trim on the shelves flush with the shelf faces as needed, as well as to clean off any residual glue. Then ease the sharp edges around the side assemblies with a chamfering bit in a router. Keep these chamfers small, at just 1/16″ or so, to add a subtle detail. Then cut a 1/8″-wide chamfer around the inside edges of the stiles and rails — it adds a nice shadow line here and makes the sides of the bookcase look less “cookie cutter.” The router bit will leave the corners of these inner chamfers rounded. So, carefully chisel the corners square. Use the same larger chamfer along the front edges of the shelves.

With that done, you can finally glue and clamp the bookcase together! Make sure the shelves seat fully in their dadoes. You may also want to clamp the stiles where they attach to the middle two shelves; narrower, long bar clamps will fit between the stiles and pull these joints tight.

Arts & Crafts-inspired bookcases of this sort will typically be stained a dark “Mission” brown or antique walnut color. Once you’ve colored the wood with the stain of your choice, apply three coats of your favorite clear finish to complete this project.

Hard to Find Hardware

Rockler Undersized Plywood Router Bit Set #60788
Red Oak Hot Melt Edge Banding, 13/16″ x 25′ #44805
FastCap Quad Edge Banding Trimmer #45318

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

The post PROJECT: Classic Oak Bookcase Plan appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The post VIDEO: Cutting a Circular Frame with a Band Saw appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

FixThisBuildThat.com

Brad Rodriguez took a path to woodworking familiar to many of us: an interest in building things and the purchase of a house needing some serious attention. Brad’s projects are practical and really well-received. Here are a couple examples of his work. You’ll find a lot more project instructions and plans on his site FixThisBuildThat.com.

This Mobile Miter Saw Station features fold-down support wings and a lower storage space for a shop vacuum. Check out the complete step-by-step instructions for this Miter Saw Station here.

This DIY Sideboard project features a rough-sawn walnut top and inset doors and drawers. Check out the complete step-by-step instructions for the DIY Sideboard project here.

Addicted2DIY.com

Katie Cleveland has successfully taken over her husband’s workshop, and she’s more than OK with it. Katie’s entry into the blogging world came after she started building furniture for their new home. Saving money and getting just what you are after are the core of her blog. If you subscribe to our eZine, Katie will be familiar to you from our March 2017 Today’s Woodworker profile. Here are a couple examples of her work. You’ll find a lot more project instructions and plans on her site Addicted2DIY.com.

This DIY Rustic Dresser project features frame-and-panel drawer and door fronts. Six deep drawers and a large middle section with three shelves provides tons of storage for her son’s clothes. Check out the complete instructions for the DIY Rustic Dresser.

Katie’s DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa is made with a combination of redwood and cedar. Pocket hole joinery makes this project easy to assemble.  Check out the complete instructions for the DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa.

Make Something

David Picciuto offers solid woodworking projects and how-to information via seriously entertaining YouTube videos. David’s sense of humor is well-known across the how-to blogging community and has made him a leader in the field. Here are a couple examples of his work. You’ll find a lot more project instructions and plans on his site MakeSomething.tv.

You may recognize this bandsaw box, as he shared it with Woodworker’s Journal readers last December.

And, here’s a sample of the work you’ll find on the MakeSomething YouTube channel.

The post Maker Spotlight: Brad Rodriguez, Katie Cleveland, and David Picciuto appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The post VIDEO: Step-by-Step Building a Red Oak Bookcase appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The post VIDEO: Steam Bending Long Parts appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – November/December 2017 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.