Ginkgo Leaf Table: While this unique table is Willie Sandry’s original design, he drew inspiration from Japanese furniture and architecture.

Wine Presentation Box: Impress a wine aficionado in your life with a handmade gift box. It features a unique mechanism that “pops up” three wine bottles when the lid is opened.

Tambour Console Cabinet: Our emeritus publisher Rob Johnstone crafts a Mid-Century Modern classic complete with waterfall corners, routed tambour doors and tapered legs. If you’re a child of the 1950s, this design should resonate immediately!

Cherry Blanket Chest: Try your hand at cutting through dovetails with a backsaw and chisels. It’s not that hard (really!), if you use an aluminum sawing guide like we did to build this beautiful chest.

Custom Knife: Cut, drill, sand and glue are the basic steps to form the wooden scales of this useful and attractive pocketknife. You can build one from a kit supplied by Rockler in less than a day.

Stickley-Inspired Plant Stand: Plant stands are enormously popular projects, and this Arts & Crafts design is easy to build. Why not make it from white oak as we did, then give it an authentic ammonia-fumed finish.

Turned Rolling Pins: Master woodturner Ernie Conover demonstrates how to create three variations of rolling pins: baguette, American and pasta cutter-style.

Vertical Drilling Jig: Drilling straight holes into the end grain of workpieces is tricky without a jig. Our design clamps to your drill press table and offers two helpful stops to take the hassle out of the task while ensuring accuracy.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – September/October 2024 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Carefree Porch Swing: Any covered porch will be more inviting for spending leisure time if it includes a swing! Our design seats two comfortably and is easy to build.

Mission Coffee Table: Get ready for some mortise-and-tenon fun if you tackle this classic. And rest assured — it will never go out of style.

Ash Bar Stool: Sharpen your chisels and find that favorite backsaw, because you’ll put them to good use cutting through dovetails for this curvy custom stool!

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: Track saws are ideal for slicing up sheet goods. A.J. Hamler extends their usefulness for crosscutting thick slabs, making waterfall miter joints and kerf-bending.

Tool Preview: Slab furniture continues to on-trend and a popular contender for hobbyist woodworkers. Rockler offers two sizes of Slab Flattening Jigs that will help surface them easily and safely with a handheld router.

Shop Talk: Consider taking a woodworking class under the expert tutelage of Ernie Conover or at the recently opened Wendell Castle Workshop.

Tricks of the Trade: Readers share easy ways to keep glue bottles clean and a nifty sliding support for ripping sheet goods on a table saw.

Our Weekly Readers: What do you think about cutting dovetails by hand versus reaching for a jig system and router? Our online newsletter readers share their opinions on the topic.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – July/August 2024 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Adirondack Rocker: Four years ago, we published a “Modern Adirondack Chair” plan, and Rockler sells template and hardware kits to build it. For this issue, we’re making that chair even more comfortable to relax in (and get out of!) by adding a set of rockers to it! Learn how to build it here.

Pedestal Stand: A benchtop lathe with bed extension helped our author turn a beautiful and handy focal point for displaying a candy machine. But you could easily modify it to showcase a favorite house plant.

Translucent Screen Shutters: Add elegant privacy to any window in your home without compromising sunlight.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: No one we’ve met is wild about power-sanding. But our expert offers plentiful advice to help you sand more efficiently and effectively, regardless.

Tool Preview: Now and again, it sure would be handy to be able to cut ferrous metal on a woodshop band saw, wouldn’t it? Laguna is making that a reality with its new hybrid 14|CX Bandsaw. Learn more about it in this article.

Shop Talk: Sometimes woodturning accomplishment shouldn’t be measured by a stopwatch, and our essayist, Rick Weil, explains why. We also feature a Twin-Cities based lumber business that makes the most of discarded trees.

Tricks of the Trade: Tips for safeguarding a scroll chuck and keeping wooden face trim in alignment when installing it.

Our Weekly Readers: Hide glue has been around for centuries, but do you use it? Readers share thoughts about this ancient but still very practical wood glue.

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Dovetailed Printer Stand: Stack a printer, scanner and ream of paper in the same footprint you’d need for just one of these items otherwise! Here’s an excellent excuse to brush up on your hand-cut dovetailing skills, too.

Arts & Crafts-inspired Bookcase: Longleaf pine takes this sturdy Prairie design in a fresh, new direction. Or build this practical project from any wood species that suits your fancy.

Kitchen Drawer Organizers: Many drawers suffer from wasted space or outright clutter because their interiors aren’t partitioned effectively. Our knife block and utensil tray can help you bring a bit of order to the chaos.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: Loose-tenon joinery is faster to produce than traditional mortise-and-tenon options, and you can build these joints with a variety of common tools. A.J. Hamler covers the options.

Tool Preview: Rockler’s new 10-18 Mini and VS 12-24 Midi lathes can get your new woodturning hobby off to a great start, affordably and conveniently. Learn more about them here and in our “More on the Web” video.

Shop Talk: Greenville Woodworking Guild members share some 20,000 square ft of shop space for fellowship, outreach, education and, of course, great woodworking!

Tricks of the Trade: Fellow readers share their tips for at-a-glance storage solutions, saving wasted electricity and improving miter gauge handling.

Stumpers: Guessers uncover the purpose of our December Stumpers item and put this mystery to bed.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – March/April 2024 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Slab-built Bookcase: Tabletops, mantels and river-pours aren’t the only options for slab lumber. Why not resaw one and use it as the components for a rugged, attractive bookcase? Rockler’s new Benchtop Slab Flattening Jig (coming in February) can help make the first stages of that lumber prep easier!

Stickley Small Server: Willie Sandry offers plans for making a reproduction of a rare, single-drawer variation of Gustav Stickley’s popular #802 Server. It’ll make a handsome addition to your living room.

Gluing Supplies Caddy: It’s surprising how many variations of glue and glue applicators an enterprising woodworker can amass over time! This box-jointed tote with two-way drawer will help you stow all those sundries neatly.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: A.J. Hamler shares three techniques for getting the most from your handheld router: sign-making, routing circles or ellipses and leveling wood plugs.

Tool Preview: Nova’s new Neptune DVR Lathe could launch a new woodturning hobby. It offers a host of standard features, and many upgrade options can help it continue to deliver for a lifetime of projects.

What’s in Store: Rockler now has a two-stage sharpening system that works with your dry grinder for sharpening chisels or plane irons. You’ll also find nifty needle-nose clamps, 3M’s next-level abrasives and a new cordless mid-size router from Milwaukee.

Tricks of the Trade: Readers have clever ideas for shimming a router tabletop, putting the squeeze on a metal-working vise, loosening brass screws without damaging them and more.

Stumpers: Fellow woodworkers crack the seal on our October-issue mystery tool.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – January/February 2024 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Compact Plant Stand: Woodworker’s Journal readers love plant stand designs, and this one has a couple of particularly cool attributes to it. First, we built it from sustainable and beautiful bamboo board, and second, the top is a disc of poured resin using a new round silicone mold from Rockler.

Brick-laid Bowl: Turners will appreciate this segmented bowl project, because it’s just as much fun to glue up from ordinary cherry and maple lumber as it is to turn. Here’s a gift idea that might be just as enjoyable to create as it is to give away!

Wenge Wine Cabinet: Bottles of wine make a classy statement, especially when you offer them inside a custom presentation “cabinet.” Ours is made of handsome wenge adorned with elegant brass hardware.

Tool Preview: Festool adopts a double-bladed panel saw approach to cleaner cutting with its new TSV 60 KEB-F-Plus corded track saw. It might just be the answer to zero tearout!

What’s in Store: Need stocking stuffer ideas for a woodworker you know? We offer some affordable new-product suggestions from Rockler, Milwaukee Tool, Robert Sorby and MICROJIG.

Tricks of the Trade: Learn three tips from fellow readers that will help you get the upper hand on workpiece handling.

Stumpers: Find out the fishy features of our August issue’s mystery tool.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – November/December 2023 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The dresser is only about 15″ wide, so it might be perfect for a narrow wall space or small bedroom. But notice that its three unconventional legs are centered underneath, so the dresser must be mounted securely to a wall stud. It’s not one you can move around a room, but it’s surely bound to be a conversation piece!

Building the Carcass

Get this dresser project off to a fast start by breaking down a sheet of walnut-veneered plywood into two carcass side panels, a top and bottom and four dividers, according to the sizes specified in the Material List. I used a track saw and my sliding compound miter saw with fine tooth blades for that job to help minimize tearing out the fragile face veneer.

Notice in the Exploded View Drawing, that the top, bottom and side panels have mitered corners to help extend the illusion that this dresser’s carcass is solid wood. So very carefully trim the corners of those parts at your table saw with the blade tilted exactly to 45 degrees.

Then I dry-assembled the mitered parts to check their fit and so I could measure for a 1/2″-thick plywood back panel. Cut the panel to size now, too.

In the Drawings, you’ll see that the top, bottom and sides require a 1/4″ x 1/4″ groove cut 1/4″ in from the back edges of the parts. This groove around the carcass fits a 1/4″ x 1/4″ rabbet, milled into the edges and ends of the back panel, to both lock it securely in place and enable the back panel to be installed flush with the back edges of the dresser.

Remember, it’s the wall attachment point for the project. So, head to your table saw or router table to mill the grooves and rabbets with a 1/4″ dado blade or straight bit. Carry out a full dry-fit again to make sure the back panel fits into the carcass easily and the mitered corners close well.

At this point, we can cut four 1/4″-deep x 3/4″-wide dadoes across each side panel to house the four dividers. I clamped them together, side by side, and milled the dadoes across both side panels in long passes with my router and a straightedge to ensure that the dadoes would line up evenly.

The plywood top and bottom divider panels are narrower than the middle dividers so their front edges can be covered by a 3/4″ x 3/4″ solid-wood trim piece. Go ahead and make up those trim pieces from walnut, and glue and clamp them to the front edges of the two dividers.

Preparing for Doors

The dresser’s two doors recess flush to the front edges of the top, bottom and dividers, so we need to cut 13/16″-deep notches that extend from the carcass top down to the top divider and up from the carcass bottom to the bottom divider (see Drawings) on both side panels.

As you can see, I took care of that job with my handheld router mounted to a scrap plywood base and a 1/2″ straight bit. I carefully removed the face veneer in these notched areas first to prevent tearout, then hogged out the rest of the inner plies to leave clean openings. Alternately, you could use a jigsaw if you like.

You’re ready to glue up a 3/4″-thick blank of solid walnut to create the two doors. I chose walnut stock for my doors with a pleasing grain pattern and no sapwood, so each door’s appearance would really complement the face of the dresser. Sand your door panel smooth when it comes out of the clamps, and rip and crosscut it to create two doors at final size. Then take a close look at the Drawings again and at the photo series above to get a clearer understanding of how the fingerpull edge on each door works.

The sculpted lip on the door edge is created partially with a 1-7/8″-diameter cove bit in the router table, set to 9/16″ high and projecting 3/4″ out from the router table’s fence. The flat, fingerpull edge of the door receives this profile cut first, then a portion of the coved area is removed by cutting the routed edge of the door into a gentle, broad arc. The outer edges of the coved recess disappear, with the full cove shape remaining only in the apex area of the arc. Pretty cool, huh?!

I used a thin dowel, flexed between a couple of clamps on the door, to draw the arc shape, then headed to my router table to make the cove cuts. Again, even though routing these coves will have you looking down at a curve drawn on each door, what you’re making is a simple cove cut along a flat door edge.

Once the coves are routed, take both doors over to your band saw to finish up the fingerpulls by sawing along the arcs. Complete these door details with some hand-sanding to remove any burn marks left by the router bit and to smooth the sawn edges.

Preliminary Hinge Installation

Brass knife hinges are about as sleek as hinges get, and instead of seeing long hinge knuckles along the edges of the dresser, as you would with butt hinges, or chunks of hinge hardware inside when you open the doors, as with Euro-style cup hinges, knife hinges are much more refined and subtle. There’s just a thin bar of brass for each hinge leaf, recessed into the top and bottom edges of these doors and the adjacent faces of the dresser’s top and bottom panels and dividers. The downside to knife hinges, though, is that installing them is more exacting than other hinge options. They offer no adjustability once installed. So, working patiently and precisely is the name of the game for getting these hinges hung on the project correctly.

The first step of the installation process is to lay out the hinge-leaf sizes and locations on the top and bottom edges of the doors. I used a cutting gauge, a small square and a knife to incise the hinge-leaf mortises on the doors to make sure they would fit the hardware like a glove when I was done. It’s also important that the pivot points of the hinges are located completely outside the faces of the dresser, so keep that in mind when setting the mortise lengths on the doors. Removing the waste from the hinge-leaf mortises is quick and easy if you run the doors on-edge against your router table’s fence and use a 3/8″-dia. straight or spiral bit to zip away most of the waste. I clamped a scrap piece of walnut to the outfeed side of the fence to act as a stop block, preventing me from accidentally routing too far (it’s easy to make this mistake, believe me!). I then squared up the mortises with a chisel.

That takes care of the door-side preparation. Now the hinge locations need to be marked and the other hinge leaves cut accurately on top and bottom divider panels and the carcass sides. That’s easy to do on the divider panels with a similar router table setup that you used for the door-leaf hinges. But marking the hinge-leaf locations on the carcass side panels is trickier. That’s because the front edges of the carcass need to be covered with walnut veneer edge tape to hide the center plies, and it takes up a thickness.

The door also needs to end up flush with the front edges of the dresser when closed. My solution was to use strips of walnut veneer as spacers to shim up the door where it would need to be in the carcass recesses. Once each door was accurately placed, I could mark their locations onto the side panels with a sharp pencil, then extend those lines as needed where the hinges would cross over the side panels to account for their pivot points.

A narrow, flush-cutting backsaw was just the ticket to saw shallow pairs of layout lines for the hinge mortises on the edges of the carcass side panels, and I removed the waste in between the saw kerfs with a sharp chisel.

Assembling the Carcass

With the hinge prep work behind you, give all the plywood parts a final sanding, then go ahead and assemble the carcass top, bottom sides and dividers with glue and clamps.

Make sure the assembly is square and that the four miter joints at the corners are as close to airtight as you can get them.

Making and Installing Drawers

Because this dresser is pretty narrow, the drawers don’t have to be heavy-duty. Some good quality 1/2″ plywood is all you need to build the drawer boxes. Cut panels for the fronts, backs, sides and bottoms to size, according to the Material List. The corner joints are 1/4″ x 1/4″ rabbet-and-dado style. You can see how to machine the joints in his article. Locate the drawer bottom grooves 1/2″ up from the bottom edges of these drawers, however, because you’ll need that clear space underneath for installing the undermount drawer slides used here. Finish-sand the drawer box components, and assemble the three drawer boxes with glue and clamps.

Rockler’s Soft-Close Undermount Drawer Slides require a 1/2″ x 1-3/8″ notch cut into the bottom back corners of the drawer backs so they’ll fit over the slide hardware. I cut those notches at the table saw with a wide dado blade. The instructions that come with the slides will also inform you that a hole needs to be drilled above these drawer notches to accommodate a sharp prong on the slides that helps to lock the drawers and slides together. Bore those holes now, too.

The main steel component of the slides fastens to the inside walls of the carcass, and a second component fastens to the inside front bottom corners of the drawers, underneath the bottom panels. Follow the hinge instructions that come with the hinges carefully to create the proper setback for the slides inside the carcass, and install them with screws. Then attach the “drawer” components of the slides to the drawers with more screws. Check that the setup works.

I painted the faces of these drawers, made from 3/4″ MDF, and used a V-groove bit in the router table set to 1/8″ high, to plow a series of decorative grooves into the faces one inch apart. You could space them differently if you’d like. Once you’ve painted the drawer faces, attach them with short panhead screws. Select your drawer pulls — I like the look of oil-rubbed bronze with dark woods like this — and install them.

Finishing Up

With all the hardware in place, you can go ahead and apply adhesive-backed walnut veneer edge tape to every exposed plywood edge to cover them up. I also added edge tape to the front edges of the walnut trim on the top and bottom dividers to bring those edges flush with the other carcass edges.

You still have a center leg and two outer legs to complete. I made mine from three pieces of walnut plywood, cutting their front and back curves at the band saw and hiding those edges with veneer tape. I centered the legs on the bottom of the dresser and spaced them 2″ apart. A few countersunk 2″-long screws, driven down through the dresser’s bottom and into the tops of the legs, is all it takes to fasten them in place. Again, remember that this unit must be attached to the wall with screws. Its design will not allow it to be freestanding.

Your choice of finish for the plywood components of this new dresser is entirely up to you. I suggest shellac, lacquer or oilbased varnish to really bring that walnut grain and color to life!

The only step left is to position it where you want it to be and fasten the dresser to a wall stud through the back panel with four to six #10 x 3″ screws, and it’s ready for use.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

The post PROJECT: Tall Dresser appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Tall Dresser: This narrow wall-mounted dresser with two doors and three drawers looks nothing like the usual collection of boxes we typically call a dresser. Unconventional? You bet! And it could be just right for a tiny bedroom.

Crokinole Gameboard: Canadians know this engaging table game well, but most of us here in the States do not. Here’s a chance to build the gameboard and introduce a new pastime for family gatherings this upcoming holiday season.

Modern Nesting Tables If it’s been a long while since you’ve worked with hickory lumber, this minimalist table trio could be good opportunity to put a tough, beautiful and affordable native hardwood to good use again.

Woodworking Basics: It’s time to “graduate” by adding door-building skills to your budding woodworking hobby! This attractive wall cabinet will have you building simple cabinet doors with no special tooling or skills required.

Modern Shop Hand Tools: Whether you need to shape and smooth wood, metal or plastics, there’s a file or rasp that can handle the job. Our expert walks you through the options.

Simplifying Bit Setups: Panel-raising bits are among the largest you’ll ever chuck into your router. And they’ll bring a level of machining capability to a router table that elevates cabinet doors to pro-shop quality.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: Cutting wheels, hogging out mortises and boring angled holes are all within the range of possibility of even the smallest drill press. These are next-level skills to keep in mind so you can get the most out of your machine.

Tool Preview: Rockler’s latest Dust Right Dust Collector features wall-mounted convenience plus cyclonic efficiency and HEPA filtration.

Hardworking Hardware: Knife hinges are as elegant to look at and use as they are persnickety to install. It’s worth the effort, if you know the right mortising and fitting procedure. Here’s what you need to keep in mind.

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While mitered and regular half-lap joints can be made any number of ways, Rockler’s new Router Table Half Lap Jig makes quick work of them with a spiral upcut bit. You’ll need to mill eight of these joints to build this mirror frame, so we’ll put this innovative jig to use here as a helpful introduction to its capabilities.

Preparing Narrow Frame Stock

Joint and plane a piece of 4/4 hardwood flat and square along its width and length, and reduce the board’s thickness to 3/4″. I decided to use bird’s eye maple for the primary parts of this project, because its attractive “spotted” grain pattern is sure to capture attention! But you can select any hardwood that suits your preference and budget. A piece of 5″ x 36″ stock will be sufficient for making the frame’s top, bottom, sides, rail and stile. Because the components of this modified mirror frame project are so narrow — just 1-1/8″ wide — choose your stock carefully. Give the wood at least a few days to acclimate to your shop before surfacing it to help minimize potential twisting, bowing or cupping.

Next, rip workpieces for the top, bottom, two sides, rail and stile to 1-1/4″ wide, and give the parts a night to allow for any minor warpage that might still occur along their length after ripping them. The next day, flatten one edge of each on the jointer again, and rip these parts to their final 1-1/8″ width.

Crosscut two frame workpieces to 12-3/8″ long for the top and bottom of the mirror frame. Crosscut two more to 22-1/2″ long for the sides of the frame. These side pieces are overly long because their ends will be mitered; the extra length will allow you a margin for error when sawing those angles. Crosscut the frame’s rail and stile to rough length, too — leave these at least 1/4″ longer than necessary.

Study the Exploded View Drawing to familiarize yourself with the mitered half-laps that form the corner joints of this picture frame. Notice that the top and bottom frame members (pieces 1) have 3/8″-deep recesses with a 45-degree shoulder on each end of the parts, and these recesses are removed from the front faces of the workpieces. The back tongue of the half-lap remains square on the end. Conversely, the side frame workpieces (pieces 2) have mitered ends. A 3/8″-deep recess is removed from the back faces of these frame parts instead, creating a front-facing mitered tongue with a square shoulder. The front and back tongues of the four corners of the mirror frame overlap to create strong mitered half-lap face grain joints.

At your table saw, set the fence on a crosscut sled or a miter gauge carefully to 45 degrees, and miter-cut the ends of the side frame pieces. Or, use a miter saw to make these cuts instead. Have these cuts trim the side frame workpieces to their final 21-7/8″ lengths. Do not miter-cut the ends of the top and bottom frame pieces.

Routing Mitered Half-Laps

Rockler’s Router Table Half Lap Jig has a repositionable fence for plowing square or 45-degree half-laps accurately and safely. It requires the use of a 1/2″-diameter upcut spiral bit to remove the waste material on both halves of the joints. And to that end, you will be removing exactly half the stock thickness to create the overlapping connections. So, take some time now to mark the side frame workpieces on their back faces and outside edges with square layout lines to indicate the recessed areas that will be removed next to form the half-lap joints. It also helps avoid confusion if you mark the waste areas with X’s. Mark the top and bottom frame workpieces as well with a 45-degree layout line on each end on the front faces of these parts. Then mark the outer edges of these waste areas with layout lines to show how much stock must be removed there.

Step over to your router table and install the upcut spiral bit in it. Carefully follow the instructions that come with Rockler’s Router Table Half Lap Jig to set the bit height accordingly. The process involves using two test pieces that match the thickness of your frame stock and routing a matching rabbet into the end of each one. Adjusting the size of these rabbets until their tongues meet in the middle when the rabbets are fitted together ensures that the router bit will cut to the exact center of your frame workpiece thickness.

Next, set the fence on Rockler’s Router Table Half Lap Jig to the 90-degree position. Rout away the waste on the back side of the frame side pieces at each end of the parts to form the four mitered tongues of the half lap joints. Be careful when approaching the shoulders of these joint cuts to not rout too far; trim just to your layout lines.

Now swivel the fence on the jig to 45 degrees. With the workpieces oriented face-down, carefully cut the mitered recesses on the top and bottom frame parts, removing all the waste material you laid out initially.

When all four mitered half-laps are routed, set the four frame parts together to check the fit of the joints. Ideally, the edges and faces of the joints should meet flush when fitted together. If they don’t, carefully consider how the joint fit could be improved. If the joints don’t quite close completely, you might be able to adjust their fit by routing away a sliver of more material from the shoulders of the cuts.

Adding the Rail and Stile

Install a strap clamp around the frame to draw the corner joints together tightly. Take a measurement of the outer width of the frame; this is the length to crosscut the rail to, so do that now. Then, on the front face of the rail, lay out a 1-1/8″-long x 3/8″-deep recess on both ends, and mark these waste areas with X’s.

Now refer to the Frame (Front View) Drawing to mark the rail’s location on the back face of the frame side pieces. Remove the strap clamp and disassemble the frame so you can lay out these 3/8″-deep dadoes where the tongues on the ends of the rails will fit into the frame sides.

Head back to the router table to mill the “regular” half-lap joints on the side frame pieces and the ends of the rail. This time, the fence on Rockler’s Router Table Half Lap Jig remains in the 90-degree position for removing the waste on all three workpieces. Be careful when approaching the layout lines during routing to avoid cutting away too much of the layout lines. The goal is for the rail to fit snugly between the two frame side pieces, with the seams of the half-lap joints meeting flush. Any gaps between the ends of the rail and the frame sides will be really obvious on the front of the frame when it’s assembled.

Dry-assemble the parts again so you know exactly how long the stile needs to be, and crosscut it to this length. Then repeat the layout process for centering the stile between the frame sides — it sets the 4-1/2″-wide openings for the two 5×7 photo spaces in the frame. As with the rail, lay out the stile so the tongues of its half-lap joints will be on the back of the stile, not the front. Mark the back faces of the frame bottom and the rail for 1-1/8″-wide, 3/8″-deep dadoes to house the stile. Rout these two half-lap joints in the three frame parts.

With all the joinery cuts done, go ahead and glue the top, bottom, sides, rail and stile together. Use the strap clamp and small clamps at each joint to hold the parts together while the glue cures.

When the frame comes out of the clamps, clean off all excess glue and sand the faces and edges up through the grits to 180. Then install a rabbeting bit that cuts 1/2″-wide rabbets in the router table, and set its cutting height to 1/4″. With the back of the mirror frame facing down, plow a rabbet around the inside edges of the frame in the mirror area only to begin creating the recess for the mirror backer piece. Reset the bit to 3/8″ high and make a second routing pass to deepen this backer piece recess.

Now switch to a rabbeting bit that cuts 1/4″-wide rabbets and set it to about 1/2″ cutting height (the exact depth will depend on the thickness of the mirror glass you’ve chosen). Make a third routing pass around the mirror opening to create a deeper “step” at the bottom of the recess for the mirror itself. Creating a larger opening for the backer than for the mirror will enable you to install the backer with brad or pin nails driven into the frame around the mirror, which will strengthen the frame as well as hold the mirror in place.

Lower the same 1/4″ rabbeting bit to 1/4″ cutting height, and this time rout recesses around both picture frame openings in the back face of the frame. Then raise the bit to 1/2″ to deepen these recesses. Finish up this work by squaring up the rounded corners of the mirror and photo recesses with a sharp chisel.

Applying Decorative Beaded Moldings

You could choose to leave the outer edges of the frame as they are in order to see the edges of the lap joints you’ve made. But a banding of beaded moldings around the frame will add even more pizzazz. I made them from lacewood using Rockler’s Edge Beading Router Bit with a 1/8″-radius bead profile in the router table.

Rout the profile into the face of a couple long pieces of 3/4″-thick x 2″-wide stock — sufficiently long to create the four pieces of molding you’ll need to wrap around the frame. Make two routing passes into opposite long edges of the same face of each molding workpiece.

Now rip both of these profiled edges free, with the table saw’s rip fence set 5/16″ away from the blade, to create long strips of molding with a tiny recess next to the beaded edge. Sand these strips lightly to remove any routed burn marks or irregularities. Carefully miter-cut them into four pieces to wrap around the outer edges of the frame; arrange the molding so the larger beaded edge will be on the outside and the recess abuts the frame. Install the moldings with glue and 3/4″-long pin nails.

Installing Mirror, Photos and Backers

Cut three backer boards from 1/8″- or 1/4″-thick hardboard or MDF to fit the photo and mirror recesses. Insert the glass and mirror into their openings, and choose a couple of photos.

I installed the mirror backer with 1/2″-long, 23-gauge pin nails driven through the backer, about 1/8″ in from its edges. I switched to short beads of hot-melt glue for attaching the photo backers to the frame. It offers enough strength to hold the backers in place but also is fairly easy to peel off, should the photos need to be changed in the future.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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

Cherry Dog Kennel: Fido doesn’t have to settle for a metal or plastic dog crate, because your woodworking skills can raise that bar considerably if you build our version of an all-wood kennel. Even better, it’ll disguise its true purpose beautifully as an end table.

Memento Mirror Frame: This attractive accent offers one final reflection before you head out the door, and a pair of 5×7 photo openings can lift your spirits at the same time! A new router table jig from Rockler makes its cross-lap joints fun and easy to mill.

Outdoor Corner Plant Stand: Curves and more curves adorn this four-shelved organizer. If you build it from an outdoor-suitable wood, it offers plenty of space to display your summer plants on a patio or deck.

Woodworking Basics: Our third installment of a new four-part series for beginners will have you building a walnut wall shelf while honing your skills at cutting and fairing matching curves.

Modern Shop Hand Tools: A piece of steel, sharpened and burnished well, becomes an excellent micro-plane. It’s called a cabinet or card scraper, and every woodworker should benefit from its versatility. Let our expert enlighten you in his article and “More on the Web” video.

Simplifying Bit Setups: Keyhole slots are the most durable option for hanging large photo frames or plaques. They’re also easy to rout with the right template, guide bushing and bit from Rockler. We’ll show you how here.

Advanced Power Tool Techniques: A jointer is no one-trick pony! A.J. Hamler explains how to use it for tapering table legs and milling rabbets as well as taking the twist out of gnarly boards.

Tool Preview: Festool cuts the cord with its all-new 36-volt Kapex KSC 60 Sliding Compound Miter Saw. We take a closer look at its features.

Hardworking Hardware: A flipper door is the perfect solution for this issue’s “Cherry Dog Kennel,” and Rockler’s EZ Pocket Door Slide hardware makes that possible.

The post Woodworker’s Journal – July/August 2023 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.