“I was struggling to find a reliable wood source until my wife suggested sending emails to all the tree-felling/ trimming companies in Phoenix,” explained David. “I sent 23 emails and received only one response. Since then, I’ve had a great working relationship with that particular tree trimmer.

“Once or twice a year, I give his wife a large bowl from the green wood he’s given me. I use other sources including fellow turners, craigslist.org (which has provided me with some great wood), friends, neighbors, and one or two company wood yards I’m able to access. The downed trees from the summer monsoons in July and August also provide a good resource as well as long as you can get to the wood before it is buried, burned, chipped for mulch or simply left to rot where it fell.”

David’s Process

David has a step-by-step process for harvesting and blanking his found wood. His first step is to try to be onsite when the crew is felling a tree so he can tell them how to cut the logs, depending on the relationship of length to diameter. For example, if the logs are 15-plus inches in diameter, he asks them to rip the sections in half. “I usually pay them (in cash) to do this and then load them in the back of my SUV. There’s nothing heavier than a two foot long, 15″-diameter piece of wet mesquite. I always wear a back wrap when I load and unload the wood.”

Once the wood is unloaded into David’s yard, he immediately covers the pieces with wood shavings and wets the pile with a garden hose. “I can keep wood for a week or two in a wet pile before it begins to crack. If I am going to turn a piece immediately, I move it into my woodshop.”

When he’s ready to turn a piece of stored wood, David selects the log he wants and marks the log’s pith on both ends to determine where to rip the log for the best result.

David’s cutting platform consists of two logs side by side. He centers his cut through the pith to split the log section into two halves.

After scribing the top of each halfsection with a compass, David highlights the pencil line with a dark marker.

He chainsaws the log into a rough circle, making taper cuts to what will be the bottom of a bowl.

After moving the trimmed blank into the workshop, he attaches a faceplate ring to the flat surface. This will be the top of the bowl. The faceplate ring is secured to the chuck, with the tailstock moved into position to support the opposite end.

David typically starts his turnings at a speed of about 250 to 300 rpm, making sure the lathe doesn’t vibrate or shake excessively as he turns the blank round. He always wears a full-face shield and a leather glove on his left hand — getting a large blank round is tough on the hands, wrists, arms and shoulders.

As the wood comes into round, he increases the speed. First he completes the outside shape, then he flattens the bottom in preparation for cutting the spigot/tenon for a four-jaw chuck. The spigot must be cut carefully to fit snugly into the chuck and be seated properly.

After reversing the blank on the lathe, David removes the screws from the faceplate ring. He trues the face of the blank and cuts a small dimple in its center to seat a 12″-long drill bit — using one of his granddaughter’s hairbands for a visual guide. He pushes the handheld drill bit into the blank to the desired depth of the inside of the rough turned bowl.

As he turns the inside of the bowl, wall thickness will vary dependent upon wood species, but David usually turns his pieces down to about 1-1/2″.

He uses Anchorseal® to seal the inside and outside of the bowl, dates it with a marker, and places it on a shelf to dry. Depending on the wood species, David checks the bowl daily or weekly for checks or cracks, using cyanoacrylate (CA) glue to fill them. When the blank measures 6 to 8% moisture content, he will finish turn it.

Since his move to Arizona a few years ago, David Crawford has kept track of the species of wood he’s found and used in his new home.

To read more about David’s assessment of his favorite (and least favorite) Arizona woods, Click Here.

The post Found Wood in the Arizona Desert appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

But “drilling” is just part of its versatility. It also drives screws, cuts countersinks or counterbores, makes wood plugs and even saws holes. Then, with the right attachment, it can drum-sand, grind, rasp, abrade and buff. Heck, it can even stir paint or mix drywall mud! That’s asking a lot from a tool that basically holds a bit and spins. But, drill/drivers are up to it all and can deliver on their value over and over again.

Regardless of brand, cordless drill/drivers share a number of common features. A tool-free chuck grips the drill bit or attachment inside of three jaws, and you use one or sometimes two hands to tighten it. Squeezing the trigger spins the chuck through a range of speeds — every drill/driver worth its salt these days is variable speed. Better models offer high- and low-speed transmissions that you control with a selector switch. Low speed provides maximum torque for drilling large holes or driving fasteners. Flipping to the high-speed range steps things up when drilling with smaller diameter bits or when higher speeds benefit the task — like sanding or cleaning rust off of metal with a wire wheel.

Once holes are drilled, the next step is often driving screws into them. For that job, drill/drivers have an adjustable clutch to help prevent the tool’s torque from either overdriving the screw too deeply or breaking it. A collar behind the chuck enables you to adjust this clutch through numbered settings; the higher the number, the greater torque the tool will apply to the fastener before the clutch engages and stops the chuck from spinning. Most clutch collars also offer a “drilling” setting so the drill/driver can operate at full torque, unimpeded by the clutch.

Lithium-ion Revolution

To power these activities, a battery either plugs into the grip or slides onto the tool’s base. Almost without exception these days, that battery’s chemistry is Lithium-ion. It offers dense energy capacity, long life, quick recharges and smaller, lighter pack sizes. Lithium-ion cells are a “smarter” power source, too: sophisticated electronics can help to maximize their efficiency during use as well as their charging cycles. While NiCad ruled the roost for many years prior to Li-ion coming on the scene, Li-ion has become the industry standard for cordless tools of all sorts. And, for the foreseeable future, it’s here to stay.

Three Main Voltages

During the “NiCad” period of the 1990s and early 2000s, drill/drivers came in a dizzying number of voltage options: 9.6, 12, 14.4, 15.6, 18, 19.2, 24 and 36. NiCad cell sizes dictated those thresholds, and the tool model options verged on being overwhelming. Now, however, Li-ion batteries have made our drill/driver choices considerably easier. There are three primary voltage categories these days: 10.8-/12- volt, 18-/20-volt or 28-volt. A few departures from these standards are still out there, including 14.4 and 19.2. And, there are some 36-volt giants in the market, too.

You might wonder why “10.8” seems to equal 12 volts or why 18- and 20-volt tools are essentially the same thing. Well, it all comes down to how manufacturers choose to label their tools. At peak voltage, fresh off the charger, the higher of the two voltages is accurate. A 12-volt battery charges to 12 volts. But, as soon as you begin to discharge the battery, it will operate at its working, or nominal voltage, which is the lower of the two numbers — 10.8 volts. Eighteen- and 20-volt batteries, same deal: 20 optimal, 18 nominal.

What is true about the three voltage sizes, regardless of the “numbers” game, is that the larger the voltage, the bigger and more powerful the motor will be inside the drill/driver — but that’s not to say that bigger is always better. While a plumber might need the gorilla torque of a 36-volt drill to cut 4″ holes for waste pipe all day, does a woodworker need a heavy-duty drill/driver for setting tiny hinge screws or drilling #8 pilot holes? Nope. In fact, I’ve found 10.8-/12- volt drill/drivers to be compact, powerful and pleasantly lightweight for many project tasks. The more delicate the drilling or driving situation is, the more inclined I am to reach for the smallest drill/driver I can find.

Mid-sized Sweetheart

Scroll the drill/driver web pages of any major power tool brand, and you’ll quickly see a trend: 18-/20-volt models outnumber the other sizes, and this voltage category continues to grow every year. Truth be told, professional tool manufacturers like Bosch, DeWALT, Hitachi, Makita and Milwaukee are designing tools to suit their biggest market: contractors. Jobsite users love the power, runtime and moderate size of 18-/20-volt drill/drivers. It’s also a voltage that’s able to support a broad platform of other tool types, like saws, grinders, nailers, impact wrenches and numerous specialty tools. The day is nearly upon us where every power tool a contractor could possibly need will have a cordless 18-/20-volt solution. The manufacturers are determined to see it happen.

Still, we hobbyists and DIYers also appreciate the performance and price points of this voltage size. You can buy a quality drill/driver with a charger, two battery packs and a carry case for around $125. My most used and abused drill/driver in the shop is a 20V MAX* PORTER- CABLE that I bought for about that price, and many comparable models are out there from other brands, too. I rarely need more capacity or features than it offers for general woodworking and home improvement. The pro users have helped us all land on a winning voltage here.

Amp/hour Considerations

So, what’s important to know about that other number on your drill/driver battery — namely, its amp/hour (Ah) rating? Well, to borrow from an overused analogy, amp/ hours are a measure of how much “gas” the battery “tank” will hold. While amp/hours actually are part of the equation for determining watt/hours (the total power capacity a battery can deliver: voltage x amp/hours = watt/hours), what’s most practical to know is this: the higher the amp/hour rating, the longer your battery will run before it needs to be recharged. So, an 18-volt, 2.0 Ah battery will deplete faster than an 18-volt 4.0 Ah battery. In fact, doubling the amp/hours can more than double the runtime, depending on the battery. The downside to more amp/hours — in years past, anyway — is that more “gas” has required a proportionally larger, heavier “tank.” That bigger battery drawback is withering as the energy density of battery cells continues to improve.

Drill/drivers Are Gateway Tools

Purchasing a cordless drill/driver often opens the door to a vast number of other tools that will run off of the same batteries, and those options continue to expand. This trend is especially true for 18-/20- volt tools.

So, before you plunk down your hard-earned cash on a drill/driver, take a careful look at the other “bare” tools the manufacture offers within the same voltage category. Then buy a drill/driver from a brand that best suits your broader cordless tool interests. It’s a way to save money over having to buy dedicated chargers and batteries from multiple manufacturers or voltage platforms.

Features to Watch For

Drill/drivers are a fiercely competitive market — after all, almost all of us need one! So, if you’re willing to spend a bit more on a “pro” quality tool, you’ll get most or all of the following features. If you’re shopping for your first cordless drill/driver, here are some of the better features to keep in mind.

– Brushless motors are all the rage these days. Without carbon brushes that contribute friction and heat, brushless motors are more compact, run cooler and communicate better with their batteries than typical DC drill/driver motors, thanks to monitoring electronics inside the tool. End users will notice that “brushless” drill/drivers will have a shorter motor housing, which can be a big help in tight quarters. Will you realize a tremendous difference in power or a dramatically longer tool life? For a hobbyist, probably not. But brushless is the next big step forward in efficiency, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg more than models with conventional brushed motors.

– Single-sleeve chucks: The ability to tighten or loosen the chuck with one hand is a convenience you’ll appreciate the first time you’re forced to grab a split-sleeve chuck with two hands, instead. A single-sleeve chuck is faster and easier to tighten, and the ratcheting advantage ensures a slip-free grip on smooth-shank drill bits. The best single-sleeve chucks even have carbide jaws.

– All-metal transmissions are a feature pro users look for. Budget priced drill/drivers may have plastic gears or a mix of both plastic and metal. Common sense will tell you that an all-metal transmission will win out for durability in the long run — whether your drill/driver is a constant companion or only used occasionally.

– Fuel gauges: Here’s a detail I thought was a cute extra when it first came to market, but now I wouldn’t want to be without it! It’s darn handy to be able to check the amount of charge that remains in a battery before you climb the ladder, head out to the yard or get set up in your unwired attic for a DIY repair. Some manufacturers locate the fuel gauge on the tool body, but most provide it on the battery. Either way, I’ll bet you’ll be surprised by how quickly you get used to checking that little glowing array of LEDs that give you confidence your battery is ready to go.

– LED task lights: And speaking of LEDs, one or several white task lights on your drill/driver can really brighten up a dark corner of a cabinet interior when you need the illumination most. They also make it easier to sight your pencil crosshairs when positioning a pilot hole or snaking a small screw down inside a piece of hardware when installing it. And if your overhead shop lighting leaves something to be desired, is it really ever possible to have too much light? I don’t think so. For all of these situations, thankfully, most quality drill/drivers now have task lights that are powered by the tool battery to help make jobs easier to see. Just be sure the beam of light actually targets the area immediately in front of the chuck. Some tools are designed more effectively in this regard than others. You can’t adjust where the light beam projects, so be sure to check the LED feature on the drill/driver you have in mind before you buy it.

– Interchangeable chucks: Festool and Bosch offer drill/drivers that can help save the day when a project requires drilling or driving in an awkward location. These models come with right-angle and offset chucks, plus a conventional three-jawed chuck and a hex-bit quick connect chuck. They all pop on and off the drill/driver body in a snap and without tools. Are multiple chucks essential? No. But, boy oh boy, will you be happy you have them when that rogue need comes up — and eventually, it will!

Alternately, most manufacturers make right-angle drill/drivers that can be bought as “bare” tools to run off of your drill/driver batteries.

– Hammering function: Hammer drills are designed with a percussive feature that spins the chuck while also driving it forward, multiple times a second. It’s a must have function when drilling into masonry and concrete. Aside from these materials, you won’t use the hammer setting for anything else. Wood, sheet goods, metal and other drilling surfaces can all be tackled with a conventional drill. Hammer drills can be switched between hammering mode and “normal” mode, too, so hammer feature is no hindrance for all-around use, but you will pay a bit more for the added convenience. If you don’t plan to bore holes into concrete or install masonry screws anytime soon, a hammer drill probably isn’t worth it. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve really needed it in the past 30 years.

– Hard cases or a soft-sided duffel bag for your drill/driver, charger and spare batteries are helpful to have, and stepping up to a mid-priced or pro quality model will surely get you one of these options. Hard plastic cases are easy to stack or stand on end, and they’ll help keep your investment dry if you carry it in the open bed of a pickup truck. A duffel bag is handy, too: I often use it to tote all the other tools I need to a project site when I’m not storing the drill/driver and its accessories in it.

– Drill/driver-impact driver kits: Here’s one last consideration that will boost your drilling and driving efficiency. A drill/driver will drive screws, of course, but an impact driver does it even better because it’s designed exclusively for that job. The larger the fastener, the better it works — it won’t twist your wrist like a drill/driver will. If you can splurge, buy a kit that comes with both tools. Then you can drill and drive with two tools instead of one.

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It is true that most vessels are faceplate turned, with the grain running across bowls. This is the strongest wood orientation. Generally speaking, for a traditional bowl with a level rim, the wood that ends up being the base of the bowl would have been near the bark of the tree.

However, as a vessel is made deeper, there comes a height-to-base ratio where it is better to spindle turn. At that point, spindle hollowing techniques are the next place to go. They’re also fun and easy to make.

For your first hollow form, use a billet measuring about 2″ x 2″ x 4″. It can be any straight-grained species, with maple, cherry and walnut being excellent choices. I used Spanish cedar for the turning in this article.

I turned the project on a Rockler Excelsior 5 Speed Mini Lathe mounted on my workbench and set to the 1,100 rpm pulley combination throughout the process. I grabbed the ends of the lathe between the dogs in my bench, for good stability and vibration dampening.

You will also need a 1-1/2″- to 2″-thick glue block, made of a durable wood such as maple, mounted on a faceplate. Simply band saw a suitable piece of wood to a slightly larger diameter than your faceplate’s.

Follow my step-by-step procedure through the photos in this article, and give this project a try. It will extend your spindle turning abilities immensely. Once you’ve mastered straight-grained woods, you can move on to curly (curly maple is always a winner) to keep expanding your skills.

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1. Standard, run-of-the-mill twist bits are OK, but do you know why so many woodworkers prefer brad point bits? Because they work better in wood. These bits are more expensive and a little harder to sharpen, but their effectiveness in wood and common sheet stock can’t be beat. They reduce tearout and are machined to extract wood waste more efficiently than twist bits designed for metal. The brad point also adds a degree of accuracy.

2. Tiny diameter drill bits break — all the time. Whether high quality or inexpensive, both options often snap. Solution? Buy 20 or 30 of each diameter. Don’t let a broken drill bit stop you from installing hinges or other hardware properly. This is one case where quantity is likely more important than quality: when you find a good deal on little bits, jump on it like a duck on a June bug.

3. Speed matters. Most woodworkers understand that there are optimum speeds for large diameter bits like Forstner and paddle bits. But did you know that, even with brad point and regular twist bits, you can slightly affect the diameter of the hole by changing the rpm you are using? If you spin the bit exceptionally fast in a drill press, the diameter will be slightly smaller than if you use a much slower speed.

4. Specialty bits like self-centering bits (such as Vix-Bits) or tapering drill bits with a countersink boring component (such as Insty-Bits®) are effective timesavers. An underutilized bit amoung woodworkers is the step bit. This cone-shaped bit with ever-increasing “stepped” diameter can be super handy in many situations. They come in a variety of sizes.

5. If you need to bore a clean, flat-bottomed hole in a larger diameter, a plunge router and an up-cut spiral router bit may be a better solution than a drill bit. You’ll need to accurately locate the router first, but the flat-bottomed hole the router bit cuts (no brad point or Forstner dimple in the center) is an excellent substitute for a drilled hole.

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Round Up Your Tools and a Torch

Let’s take inventory of the primary tools you will need for this project before we get started. I used a table saw, trammel points, band saw, sander, router table, a sharp chisel and a drill press. For the shou sugi ban step, I used a small handheld garden torch made by Magna Industries that you can find at most home improvement stores. It runs off of the same small propane tanks used for heaters and camp stoves. There are larger garden torches available that use a 20 lb. propane cylinder, but I found the larger flame to be a bit too intense for the small detailed parts of the leg joints on this project.

Getting Started

Round up some dimensional cedar lumber for the project. I used a 4×4 for the legs, a piece of 5/4 x 6 decking planed down to 1″ for the aprons and a 2×6 reduced to 1-1/4″ thick for the top.

Cut pieces for the tabletop to rough length, and use a jointer or table saw to flatten their edges. Glue them together to form a panel, making sure to alternate the growth rings from piece to piece to help it stay flat.

When the glue joints dry, use a straightedge aligned across the diagonal corners to find the panel’s centerpoint. Now set a pair of trammel points with a pencil installed to 10-3/8″, and mark a circle around the panel’s center.

Head to the band saw and carefully cut out the circle, sawing just outside the pencil line. Sand the edges to refine the shape, and decide which side will be the top.

Here’s a lesson I learned in that regard: knots will take quite a bit more heat to darken than the clear grain, so if your panel has more knots on one side than the other, make that the bottom face.

Making the Aprons

The aprons, a pretty fun project in their own right, take a few steps to make. If you have never mitered 60° to make a triangle, this will be a good trick to learn. Start with three 1″ x 3″ x 18″ blanks.

To hold the aprons vertically for cutting the miters, I made a quick jig that rides snugly on my table saw’s rip fence and tilted the saw blade to 30°.

Use a scrap piece clamped to the jig to make a test cut and check your angle setting. Once that’s dialed in, cut both ends off of each apron workpiece to produce a crisp, 60° miter.

In the Drawings, you’ll see that the top and bottom edges of the aprons are slightly rounded. To set those curves, I used a long metal ruler and a strap clamp to flex it into the correct curve shape, then traced the curves onto the apron workpieces.

Head back to the band saw to cut them to final shape. Sand these cut edges smooth — it’s easier to do this now than after glue-up. I also clamped the three together for sanding so their shapes would match.

The top of the table will be connected to the aprons with thin metal table top fasteners that fit into slots in the aprons. Since I have a router table and slot cutter, I went ahead and glued and clamped the aprons into a triangle before cutting the fastener slots into the aprons’ inside top faces.

If you don’t have my setup, you can cut shallow saw kerfs into the aprons for the fasteners instead, using a table saw, before gluing the aprons together.

Here are some details for setting up the router table to cut those slots. I installed a three-wing, 3/32″-kerf slot cutter in the table. (Rockler’s 1/4″ shaft #91100 or 1/2″ shaft #91743 bits are both good options here, depending on the router collet size you have.)

Raise the bit so the bottom face of the cutter is 7/16″ off the table. Check to make sure your cutting height matches the table top fastener shape by placing one on the table surface next to the router bit. The bottom of the bit should be slightly higher than the fastener’s height so that, once installed on your finished project, it pulls the top down and holds it snugly.

Mark a 2″-long slot on the inside face of each apron, parallel to its top edge and centered on the apron’s length. Go ahead and cut each 1/2″-deep slot, sinking the apron into the spinning bit slowly and carefully, then sliding the apron against the bit’s bearing to cut the slots to length.

Sawing and Sawing(!) the Legs

One of the trickier parts of this project is cutting the top joints of the legs to accept the angled ends of the aprons. But, if you study the Drawings and the photos carefully, you’ll see that the joint begins as a 1-1/2″ long tenon, which then gets split into two angled tenons to receive the apron. Then the outside shoulder of these tenons is removed when the legs are cut into their curved, final shape.

Start by cutting your leg stock into 2-1/8″ x 3″ blanks. Follow the Drawings to lay out the tenons, and cut them at the band saw. I used my saw’s rip fence as a guide to keep the cheek and shoulder cuts flat and square — this is important in order to ensure that the legs will be square to the aprons. With those cut, use a digital angle finder tool or a bevel gauge to lay out a pair of 60° cut lines on the tenons; follow the Drawings carefully to orient these lines correctly. Grab a fine-tooth backsaw or a Dozuki to cut along those lines to split the tenons down to their shoulders. With both angled cuts made, I widened one of the cuts slightly to make room for a coping saw blade so I could saw horizontally to remove the center waste piece. Clean up the angled faces of the tenons and the bottom cutout areas with a sharp chisel; it’s easy to do on soft cedar.

With the tricky tenons now cut, you can lay out the inner and outer leg curves, once again using a flexible curved shape as a tracing guide. Make sure to leave at least an inch of material for the foot of each leg. I laid out one leg, cut it to shape at the band saw and then used it to trace the other two legs to match. Once all three legs are shaped this way, sand them well to remove the saw marks and set them aside for the time being.

Forming Dowel Joints

The aprons attach to the legs with pairs of 3/8″-dia. dowels. Lay out locations for these dowels on the bottom corners of the apron assembly by using your angle-finding tool or bevel gauge — again set to 60° — to draw a line across the aprons that aligns with their inside corners. Mark a centerpoint for each apron on these lines. Now set your drill press fence 1/2″ away from the center of a chucked, 3/8″ bit. Drill 2″-deep dowel holes at all six marks.

Next, mark the apron corners and legs with “1-2-3” references so you’ll know how the parts go together. Grab a set of 3/8″ metal dowel centers, insert them in the holes of one joint and install the apron on that leg. Tap the apron lightly with a hammer to transfer dowel hole centerpoints onto the leg. Bore them carefully with a handheld drill, making sure the holes are parallel and straight. Move on to make joints 2 and 3 the same way. Once all the holes are drilled, cut six 3-1/2″-long dowels for them.

Now is a good time to do a full dry fit to make sure the project fits together well before you apply finish. Align and attach the apron to the top, using your table top fasteners and 1″ screws. Then install the apron on the legs. I found it easiest to assemble these joints if I put one dowel in the leg and one in the apron for each joint. If you need to make any adjustments to the joint fit, now is the ideal time. Once everything goes together nicely, disassemble the parts.

Staining the Apron

I chose to stain the apron red, which makes a bold contrast with the charred wood that I think looks great! Make sure you wear disposable gloves and old clothes when working with wood dye, because it will permanently stain anything it touches. I wanted a rich, deep red color, so I mixed one part dye to four parts water. Evaluate your dye mixture by wiping it onto some scrap wood. Once you have a color you are pleased with, it’s a very simple wipe on/wipe off stain application with a rag. Try not to splash or drip the dye onto the wood, as those spots may appear darker than the rest of your finish if the dye is allowed to set. Once it’s dyed, set the apron aside to dry, using three of the dowels in their holes as a drying stand.

Preparing for the Burn!

Now comes the part we have all been waiting for! As I talked about initially, shou sugi ban is a method of finishing that helps preserve wood when left outdoors. Bugs don’t like the taste of charred wood, and you will have burned off the softer wood that is less resistant to rot, leaving a hard and relatively impermeable surface.

Before proceeding, make sure you are using your torch in a safe environment. Stay away from grass and other flammables; a driveway or gravel patch will work well. Have a bucket of water on hand in case your table parts accidentally turn into a campfire. I used a few large landscaping rocks to elevate the parts off the ground for burning.

Once I had burned the top and legs and brushed down the surfaces, I wiped a heavy coat of tung oil onto them as a prefinish, let it soak in, then re-burned all the surfaces. This heats up the pores of the wood and sucks the oil in deeper. You’ll start to see a deep, beautiful finish coming through. However, be sure to not get oil inside the leg joints, which could prevent the glue from sticking. Soak and burn one section at a time before flipping the workpieces over and proceeding.

Fire Up the Torch!

Take your time to get the feel of the technique, and be careful not to overcook the surfaces. While a deep alligator scale finish looks very cool, it’s probably too coarse for a tabletop. But, the amount of burn and texturizing is, of course, up to you.

When burning the legs, be careful not to incinerate and damage the small tenons you’ve made or burn the inside of the joints any more than necessary — you’ll want to leave as much untorched wood as possible for the glue-up.

Once the the legs and top are evenly burned, let them cool while you find a stiff wire brush and a garden hose. Lightly scrub down the surfaces to remove excess soot and loose wood. Rinse the parts, and repeat with more scrubbing until the water runs fairly clean off the surfaces. Then leave the legs and tabletop to dry thoroughly for the rest of the day before proceeding with final assembly and finish.

Glue-up and Final Finish

Once the oil is dry to the touch, you can move on to the glue-up. I used Titebond® III waterproof outdoor glue. Glue a dowel into each leg and one into the opposite holes on the apron. Then, with a wet rag handy for squeeze-out, liberally coat the inside surfaces of the joints on the legs and slide everything together. Wipe off the excess glue before it gets rubbery. The pre-oiled surfaces will make this cleanup easy and quick. Now stand your table base on a level surface and lightly tighten a strap clamp around the bottom of the legs to hold them in place. Then set a piece of scrap plywood and some weight on top of the apron to push it all together. Let that dry for three to four hours, and leave the top and base unattached.

For the final coat of finish on the whole project, I applied two coats of General Finishes Outdoor Oil. If you haven’t tried it, it’s a UV-stable linseed oil with mildewcide that’s suitable for all exterior projects. Before applying it, I wiped the base down one last time to remove any remaining sooty oil from the prefinishing step. Then I flooded the oil onto all the part surfaces as well as one face of the tabletop. When that face dried, I proceeded with the edges and the other face, followed by the second coat on the base.

Give the oil a chance to dry thoroughly, and be sure to lay your application rags out flat to dry before throwing them away — linseed oil generates heat as it dries, and that’s a fire you don’t want to have with this project!

At this point, you are only three screws away from being done. Just flip your table over and screw the top on, using the predrilled holes from the dry fit. Now bring your table outside for a well-deserved happy hour on the patio or deck. Here’s to enjoying a bit of dirty work and having a very cool shou sugi ban table to show for your efforts. It’s ready to weather whatever Mother Nature can throw at it for years to come.

Download the Drawings and Materials List.

Hard to Find Hardware

Dowel Centers Set (1) #27179
Table Top Fasteners (1) #34215
Trammel Points Kit (1) #39394

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JackmanWorks.com

CraftedWorkshop.com

The post Maker Spotlight: Laura Kampf, Paul Jackman and Johnny Brooke appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Shou Sugi Ban Side Table: A tried-and-true Japanese finishing technique chars wood to protect it from insects, rot and the elements – a great way accent the top and legs of this outdoor table.

Limbert Window Bench: A reproduction of an Arts and Crafts era piece uses angled joinery to add visual interest. The upholstered cushion is optional.

Waney-Edged Box: A box’s simple lines showcase the natural edge of the wood used for the lid. Plus, learn about regulations now affecting that species – and all the rosewoods.

Tool Tutorial: The drill/driver is a standby tool, not just for woodworkers, but for homeowners, DIYers – just about everyone. Learn more about this basic from Chris Marshall, including why you care about amp/hours and whether you need a hammer drill or impact driver.

Woodturning: Ready to move beyond the basics of spindle turning? Small, hollow forms are a fun next step — plus, these vessels can make great gifts.

Finishing Thoughts: What do you put on your projects when they’re going to live outside? Michael Dresdner walks you through the options for exterior finishes.

The post Woodworker’s Journal July/August 2018 appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

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Milwaukee® Tool M18 FUEL 8-1/4″ Table Saw with ONE-KEY

Wagner SprayTech FLEXiO 3000 Paint Sprayer

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Read Chris’ complete overview of the latest drill/drivers and how to choose the best drill for your workshop in the July/August 2018 issue of Woodworker’s Journal.

Sometimes a standard drill/driver is just too big for the space you need to fit it into. Here, I can’t install the screws for these new slides because the drawer opening is too small.

And other times, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to drill at a right angle to your angle of approach, especially when you’re working in tight quarters, without having to be a contortionist? These sorts of these situations don’t come up very often, but when they do, this tool’s basic straight configuration may not help you much.

Well, there are a couple of unique drill/drivers from Bosch and Festool can solve these sorts of problems.

Several of Festool’s C and T series drill/drivers, and Bosch’s new 12-volt FlexiClick, each come with four different interchangeable chucks.

You get a conventional three-jaw chuck for holding round drill bits. A right-angle chuck. An eccentric chuck that shifts the drilling or driving action off of center by about an inch. and a quick-connect hex chuck for holding driver bits.

Both Bosch and Festool make their chucks easy to install: you just fit the chuck onto the head of the drill, and lock it in place with a collar. It’s ready to go!

Sixteen detents enable you to rotate the chucks to the most convenient position for the task at hand — there’s a stop every 22.5 degrees.

With the right-angle and quick-connect chucks installed, driving those drawer slide screws inside a small drawer opening was easy.

And the eccentric head gave me just enough clearance to drill that pilot hole for my seat slat without the drill/driver getting in the way.

Now, most of us woodworkers or DIYers aren’t going to need a right-angle or eccentric chuck very often. But remember, you can use these tools with their standard, three-jaw chucks as your dedicated drill/drivers. And then, when that oddball situation comes up — and you can be sure it will at some point! — you’ll have all the other chuck options too. That’s a LOT of versatility from one tool!

The post A Closer Look at Drill/Drivers with Interchangeable Chucks appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.