Tabla de contenidos para Issue 138 en ShopNotes Magazine

Pocket hole joinery is the go-to method of joining wood for many woodworkers. If you use this method on a regular basis, the new Kreg Foreman Pocket Hole Machine can really increase your productivity over other jigs currently on the market. With a standard jig, you have to position and clamp the part, then drill the pocket hole with a power hand drill. The Kreg Foreman is a self-contained unit that clamps the positioned workpiece and drills the pocket hole all in one smooth motion. Features. The Foreman features a built-in drill motor that drives a stepped drill bit. When the machine is turned on, and the handle is pulled down, the drill extends from below the table to drill the pocket hole. The Foreman has a large, cast aluminum table to…

Sliding tables are usually found on large, industrial table saws used for panel-cutting. And there’s a good reason for that. A sliding table guarantees precision cuts, particularly on wide panels. With the sliding table shown here, you can upgrade your ordinary table saw to make square crosscuts every time. The table replaces a wing on your saw’s table. You may have to shorten or move the fence rails, but this modification is worth it. The sliding table has the capacity to crosscut a 30"-wide panel with ease. The fence automatically registers square to the blade when installed and can be easily removed. This fence also features a side support to help when crosscutting long stock. (For a dedicated outrigger support, turn to page 22.) If you’ve been looking to improve…

Hardware adds the final touch to a project. The proper selection of hardware enhances the look and creates another layer of detail. The wrong hardware, on the other hand, draws your attention to the project in a bad way. For furniture projects, I spend a lot of time finding a good fit. But for shop and garage projects, it’s tempting to take the easy route, pick up basic utility hardware, and call it good. This kind of hardware is inexpensive and has a shiny, zinc coating that’s designed to resist corrosion — all positive qualities. My beef is that it’s just too shiny and stands out like a sore thumb. The good news is you can upgrade the look of basic hardware without a lot of time or effort. Here…

A bevel gauge, sometimes called a sliding bevel, is indispensable for a number of tasks around the shop. They’re are great for laying out joinery (main photo). And they can be used to set up for drilling angled holes and making bevel cuts on the table saw. Bevel gauges have been around for hundreds of years. I have a couple of antique gauges that work as well now as they did when they were new. There’s not much that can go wrong with such a basic layout tool. How They Work. For all that it can do, a bevel gauge is pretty simple. It has two main parts — a body and an adjustable blade. The blade is slotted to allow it to extend on both sides of the body.…

Woodworkers by and large are a creative bunch. We’re constantly finding new and unique ways to use different materials in the shop. And one of those materials is foam. Over the years, we’ve seen some pretty handy tips for using foam in the shop. But as you’ll soon discover, there are different types, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Closed-Cell Foam. In simple terms, foam falls into two categories: open-cell and closed-cell. Open-cell foam is the soft foam typically used for things like mattress toppers and padding in upholstered furniture. Closed-cell foam is the more dense or rigid foam. The white Styrofoam material often used as packing material and in disposable cups is considered a closed-cell foam. The problem is, for shop use, it’s messy to work with. Instead,…

Supporting the end of a long board when crosscutting or ripping makes for a safer, more accurate cut. The outrigger you see above can be placed to the side of your saw to lend a hand when crosscutting. Or place it at the back of your saw to support a long board when ripping it. Adustable Height. The out-rigger features a pair of posts that ride in wide, shallow grooves on the inside of the legs. This allows you to adjust the height of the rail to match your table saw. A pin at each end of the rail allows it to pivot slightly to account for uneven floors. Built-Up Feet. You’ll start by building the feet. They’re glued up from three layers of ¾" stock. The middle layer is…

A Handy Router Bit Rack Creating the angled bit racks for the router cabinet on page 34 only requires following a few easy steps. And there are a couple of tricks involved with drilling the router bit and mounting holes. I began by making a few extra-long, 1¼"-wide blanks. You’ll cut the blanks to final length later. Rip the Bevels. Take a look at details ‘a’ and ‘b’ on the right. You can see how to cut the bevels while you’re at the table saw. All you need to do is tilt the blade to 35°. After ripping the first bevel, rotate the workpiece a quarter-turn and adjust the rip fence to cut the second bevel. A push block keeps your hands safely away from the blade. With the bevels…

If you’ve ever tried to drill a deep hole through the center of a piece of wood, you know how challenging it can be. And the deeper the hole, the more difficult it becomes to drill it straight. The problem often occurs with a hole drilled into end grain. In this instance, it’s easy for a standard twist bit or brad point bit to wander off center. These bits tend to take the path of least resistance, so they follow the softest grain. To solve this problem, you can use a special bit called a shell auger shown in the photo below. Because it has no point, it isn’t prone to deflection in the wood like a pointed bit. However, these bits are only available in limited sizes (refer to…

With all the great cordless options now available, is there any reason to consider buying a corded drill? J. Smith Watervale, New York Cordless drills have certainly become the drill of choice for many woodworkers and craftsmen these days. The convenience of not being tethered to a wall outlet gives them a big advantage over drills with cords. Either type will drill a satisfactory hole in most materials you’ll normally work with. And both types share common features such as variable speeds, keyless chucks, and reversing switches. Corded. However, don’t assume corded drills are obsolete just yet. They have features that give them an advantage in a number of drilling operations. Corded drills are generally much cheaper than cordless drills, both initially and over their lifetime, if you consider battery replacement…

SLOT CUTTER BIT Tight-fitting joints are essential to building good projects. I keep a few tricks up my sleeve to make sure the joints in my projects are the best they can be. One of those tricks is a slot-cutting router bit. It’s natural to think of using a slot cutter for creating the grooves for tongue and groove joinery or to house a panel. But I use a slot cutter for a few other joinery tasks, as well. Aligning Parts. Probably the most frequent use for my slot cutter is creating long edge joints. I use the slot cutter to create matching slots in a pair of workpieces. A spline spans the grooves to lock the parts together. The spline registers each board to the registers each board to…

As I searched for a board in my lumber rack a while ago, I happened to notice how much empty space there was between the stacks. I decided that space could be put to much better use, so I came up with this multifunctional lumber storage center. As you can see from the photo, this lumber center not only provides plenty of storage for boards of various lengths and widths, but it also keeps cutoffs and shorter stock well organized. There are deep, removable drawers for tools and supplies, as well. Another nice feature is the addition of a worksurface with a builtin miter saw. I used to have to tote unwieldy boards across the shop to rough cut them but now I can make those cuts on the spot.…

For a lot of woodworkers, the idea of shop safety seems to butt heads with a get-the-job-done practicality. However, the truth is that safe woodworking goes hand-in-hand with consistent, accurate work. As a woodworker, I’m always looking for ways to improve the results I get when using tools. The table saw is a good place to show you what I’m talking about. No matter what kind of saw you have, an inexpensive accessory, a featherboard, can improve both results and safety. Rip It Right. Many projects start with ripping parts from wider boards. There are two ways to use featherboards while ripping. I attach a featherboard to the saw table when ripping long boards. The featherboard acts as a third hand to hold the workpiece tight against the fence while…