Frustrated over the hassles of setting conventional straight knives, I pushed my old 6″ jointer out the door 11 years ago and bought one of the then-“new” 8″ helical cutterhead models. I’ve never regretted it. Fixing nicked or dull edges is as easy as loosening screws and turning the little square carbide inserts to a fresh edge. No need for resharpening or hours fussing to get all the knives cutting on the same plane. Maintenance aside, I’ve also marveled at how well a shear-cutting helical head can make clean work of gnarly, interlocked grain. Tearout seldom happens.

Look through the models here, and I’ll anticipate your gasp. Yes, these 8″ jointers are expensive! But, once you have one, you’re set for a lifetime of quality surfacing jobs. And I’ll bet you won’t miss the old straight knives when the cutters need service. Here’s how these state-of-theart machines tested for me.

Baileigh IJ-883P

Street Price: $2,945
Weight / Motor Size: 540 lbs. / 3hp, 220 volt
Fence / Table Size: 5-1⁄2″W x 48″L / 8″W x 83″L
Table Height: 31-3⁄4″
Cutterhead Inserts / Rows: 36 / 4
Cutterhead Speed: 5,000 rpm
Web / Phone: www.baileigh.com / 920-684-4990

A jointer performs three crucial tasks: flattening, straightening and squaring faces and edges of workpieces. To do that well, it needs flat infeed and outfeed tables that are parallel to one another, both widthwise and lengthwise. It also must have a fence that can be squared accurately to the tables. The longer and taller these reference surfaces are, the better.

Baileigh’s aircraft carrier-sized IJ-883P has table and fence proportions in spades: it offers about 7″ more table length than any jointer here, and about a 10″ longer fence. Plus, at 5-1⁄2″ tall, its fence is the tallest — a real advantage for edge-jointing wide stock.

To evaluate all the jointers for table and fence flatness, I used a 50″ machined straightedge with +/- .003″ accuracy over its length and a set of feeler gauges. So, I used .003″ as my benchmark for what I’ll consider to be “flat.” (Keep in mind, .003″ is about the thickness of a sheet of office paper. I was picky.)

Under the straightedge, the IJ-883P had tables that not only were dead-flat along their length and width (measured at five places), as well as along both diagonals, but when the tables were leveled to one another, they were precisely coplanar along 83″ of length! Impressive.

The fence has a large ratcheting handle that makes it easy to adjust for squareness to the tables. I dialed that in with an engineer’s square right at the cutterhead area. Then, sliding the square to each end of the fence, it was square on the outfeed end but tilted away about .012″ at the top corner of the infeed end. Lengthwise, this fence was slightly concave, allowing a .025″ feeler gauge to slip underneath my straightedge.

But, regardless of a bunch of minuscule numbers, where rubber really meets the road is how flat and square a jointer can make a workpiece. So, I settled on a “real world” performance test for these machines: flattening and squaring a 7-3⁄4″- wide, 4-ft.-long piece of 8/4 poplar. And Baileigh’s IJ-883P had no trouble with that job: I set the jointer up for 1/32″ passes, and the board face became straightedge-flat and square. While its 36 carbide inserts did leave some very faint tracks on the lumber’s test face, I could only see them in strong raking light. The IJ-883P created the smoothest board surfaces of this group.

There’s much to like here. Its front-facing hand wheels with folding levers make the tables easy to adjust up and down, and the action is silky smooth. Similarly, a handwheel on top makes the fence easy to adjust laterally.

The jointer’s control panel has a helpful white light that shines to show it’s plugged in. Turn it on, and the IJ-883P’s 3hp motor muscles through wide hardwood. I was surprised that, unlike other jointers here, only one narrow V-belt delivers all that power to the cutterhead: most have two belts. But, Baileigh makes tightening it simple with a threaded adjuster. Other jointers here could benefit from that good feature, too — they involve loosening motor mount bolts and moving the motor.

Baileigh has only been offering woodworking machinery for four years, but it has a long tradition in the metalworking field, and that commitment to high quality is evident here. Even the edges of the tables are ground flat and smooth. Fit and finish all around is excellent. Priced just under three grand, this is a spendy jointer, but what a dandy it is!

General 80-200L HC

Street Price: $2,889
Weight / Motor Size: 572 lbs. / 2hp, 220 volt
Fence / Table Size: 4″ W x 38″L / 9-1⁄4″W x 74-7⁄8″L
Table Height: 32″
Cutterhead Inserts / Rows: 36 / 4
Cutterhead Speed: 5,500 rpm
Web / Phone: www.general.ca / 888-949-1161

Selling for about $100 less than Baileigh, General’s helical head jointer offers some similar features: it has front-mounted handwheels with folding levers for cranking the tables up and down. The fence is hand wheel controlled, too, for moving it back and forth. But, the table length and fence proportions are more modestly sized.

Unlike Baileigh’s “parallelogram” styling, where the machine’s tables move up and down on pairs of tilting parallel arms, this General is what’s called a “wedgebed” jointer: the tables slide up and down on dovetailed ways cast along the edges of the machine’s sloped, center bed. It’s the traditional style. Some will argue that a wedgebed requires more regular adjustment to level the tables end to end. I’ve not found that to be necessary on my wedgebed jointer after 11 years of regular use.

The 80-200L HC has precision ground tables that were within my .003″ tolerance lengthwise, diagonally and across their widths. They were also coplanar when leveled up, from end to end.

Once dialed in for square, this machine’s fence was flat along its center, lengthwise, but the top infeed corner showed a .005″ deflection.

When I set the infeed table for a 1/32″ cutting depth to run the poplar test, I found the table’s knurled locking handle kind of hard to reach; it’s tucked between the guard’s pivot post and the big handwheel. But, I tend to leave my jointer at the same cutting depth most of the time anyway. Not a big deal.

General provides an enormous “Off” button located on the infeed side of the base. It will help you shut the machine down with your knee — convenient when your hands are full. But, I found the control box a bit low for my long legs. You’ll need to bend over to start it, too, as the “On” button is nestled here. The switch is keyed, for extra security when you’re not around to monitor usage. It’s a good safety feature only General and Oliver share.

Turn it on, and the 80-200L HC is very quiet. Even when pushing stock through with a dust collector running, the ambient noise didn’t exceed 92 dB on my sound meter. That was true for all six jointers, and it’s a side benefit to the helical cutterheads. Their design makes them quieter than straight-knife styles. You should always wear hearing protection, of course, but at least these machines will be more tolerable in households with basement shops.

General’s jointer flattened and squared the poplar quite nicely. The face surface showed one slightly raised track, but it was otherwise smooth and ready for use. All in all, the 80-200L HC is an accurate, well-made machine.

JET JJ-8HH

Street Price: $1,939.99
Weight / Motor Size: 411 lbs. / 2hp, 220 volt
Fence / Table Size: 4″ W x 38-1⁄2″L / 9″W x 67″L
Table Height: 31-1⁄4″
Cutterhead Inserts / Rows: 36 / 4
Cutterhead Speed: 5,500 rpm
Web / Phone: www.jettools.com / 800-274-6848

Following on the heels of Grizzly, JET’s wedgebed JJ-8HH is also one of the more budget-friendly machines in this group. A careful check of its tables showed them to be extremely flat, straight and coplanar. Same goes for the fence: I found no evidence of a deflection in the casting from end to end, and it held an accurate square corner. Still, it has the same locking lever issue as Grizzly: release the fence to shift it across the table, and the lever tends to swing down and obstruct the fence’s travel.

The large table adjustment hand wheels are underneath — typical for most wedgebed joiners — and they turned more stiffly than front-mounted wheels. The machine’s rather tiny T-style table locking levers aren’t as comfortable to tighten and loosen as other knurled styles or longer ratcheting handles. But, these are minor gripes if you don’t change the table settings very often.

Tightening the JJ-8HH’s twin drive belts will be necessary at some point when they stretch, and you’ll need to do it when setting up the jointer for the first time, too. It’s not easy. The motor sits on a pivoting platform, and tensioning the belts requires loosening four bolts that face inward in the base, making wrench access difficult. General and Laguna’s jointers are similarly challenged.

On the plus side, the JET JJ-8HH did a terrific job of surfacing wide poplar. There was some amount of fine washboarding on the face but no evidence of uneven inserts. The board’s test edge was rendered flat and square.

JET offers two mounting options for the control box. If you prefer the ability to “knee” the machine’s paddle switch to turn it off, you can position the post low on the base. Or, bolt it near the top of the base so the control box will be above the infeed table instead. Good convenience.

In the process of examining the power switch, I noticed that it’s the only nonmagnetic type here. Why does that matter? Well, in the event the jointer is running and your shop’s power goes out, the machine won’t turn itself off. Once the power comes back on, it will start running again. A magnetic switch would be better for safety.

While the JJ-8HH has shorter tables than other jointers here, it delivered the goods for doing accurate surfacing work. Like the rest of the test group, it comes with some spare inserts and screws for them, Torx screwdrivers and a variety of wrenches. A pair of pushpads that the rest provide would be helpful “extras” here, too, but those aren’t included.

Laguna MJOIN8012-0130

Street Price: $1,999 or $2,299 (w/ Leeson motor)
Weight / Motor Size: 510 lbs. / 2hp, 220 volt
Fence / Table Size: 4-3⁄4″ W x 38″L / 9-1⁄4″W x 75″L
Table Height: 32″
Cutterhead Inserts / Rows: 54 / 6
Cutterhead Speed: 5,600 rpm
Web / Phone: www.lagunatools.com / 800-234-1976

While a couple of these jointers have 3hp motors, I think it’s more than necessary for surfacing 8″-wide stock. A 2hp motor is plenty powerful, and Laguna is proud of the motor it supplied on my test jointer. It’s an American-made Leeson, which company spokesman Benjamin Helshoj says draws much lower amperage than comparable Asian motors. I wasn’t able to test that claim. Upgrading to the Leeson will cost $300 more than buying the jointer with an Asianmade motor instead.

Laguna’s infeed and outfeed tables were within .003″ lengthwise, widthwise and diagonally, and when cranked level with one another, they were also dead-flat from end to end. I squared up the fence at its midpoint near the cutterhead, then checked the ends for square. They deflected about .005″ off of square — at the bottom of the infeed end and the top of the outfeed. But, it’s a tiny amount of deviation and more than accurate enough for woodworking.

Another impressive feature, from Laguna’s standpoint, is its ShearTec II cutterhead with 54 inserts. That’s 18 more carbide teeth than most, which allows this cutterhead to have six rather than the typical four rows of edges. More rows means smaller bites per knife, amounting to smoother cuts and longer edge retention.

Though impractical for this test, it would be interesting to see if a 54-insert cutterhead would outperform a 36-insert head over time, in terms of sharpness or cutting quality, before the inserts would need to be rotated. But, in this limited test period, what I can say is the ShearTec II delivered flat, smooth surfaces on my poplar test piece. Were they smoother than Baileigh’s test cuts? Not quite, but it’s a silly comparison, really. They only need to be flat, straight, square and smooth enough for planing, other machining or assembly. Laguna’s results passed that criteria with ease.

I’ve already alluded to this jointer’s fixed direction casters inside the base. The infeed-end wheels lock with star knobs near the bottom. If these wheels swiveled, it would be a more welcomed standard feature. Even so, the ability to roll 500+ pounds of heavy metal is helpful, no matter what. And you won’t have to buy a mobile base.

Laguna’s MJOIN8012-0130 delivered a strong performance for me. If you decide to forgo the Leeson motor, you could buy this jointer for about JET’s price. Between the two, Laguna’s longer tables, toothier cutterhead and built-in wheels give it a richer set of features than JET.

Oliver 4230

Street Price: $2,545.75
Weight / Motor Size: 572 lbs. / 2hp, 220 volt
Fence / Table Size: 5″ W x 38″L / 9-1⁄4″W x 74-7⁄8″L
Table Height: 30-1⁄2″
Cutterhead Inserts / Rows: 54 / 6
Cutterhead Speed: 5,500 rpm
Web / Phone: www.olivermachinery.net / 800-559-5065

The rugged design of Oliver’s 4230 may remind you of your school shop days, where woodworking machines seemed made to last forever. The company mounts this jointer on a flared steel base for maximum stability, then sets that on a beefy cast-iron skirt. Durability, not portability, is the goal here. The fence moves back and forth smoothly on a massive rack-and-pinion tube assembly with a metal hand wheel. Long handles lock it in position and square it to the table. It’s the stoutest design of this test group.

When prepping the machine, I appreciated that the motor belt tensioning system is simple: tighten one nut on a threaded shaft to take up any slack, and lock a second nut against it to hold the setting. It’s a helpful detail.

The control panel features a keyed lockout that I’m sure my high school shop teacher would have appreciated. Its “On” button glows green when the machine is running (as do Grizzly’s and Laguna’s). Instead, I wish the green light were constantly on, so you’d know the jointer is still energized, even when it’s not running.

Oliver’s infeed and outfeed tables were flat and straight, but they weren’t quite in the same plane: both the infeed and outfeed tables tipped down from the cutterhead at their outboard ends: .014″ on the infeed end and .016″ on the outfeed end. But, the poplar still came out flat and straight enough to satisfy my straightedge.

Likewise, when squared to the table at its midpoint, Oliver’s fence showed a slight twist over its length. The top corner of the infeed end deflected .004″, while the bottom corner of the outfeed end deflected .006″. Even so, the poplar’s face and jointed edge were square — proof that a little deviation is definitely not a deal breaker.

Oliver outfits the 4230 with a 54-insert cutterhead, like Laguna. All those chips of carbide produced nearly flawless surfaces on my test stock with just the lightest hints of track marks. In terms of overall smoothness, Oliver and Laguna were about evenly matched.

There isn’t much I’d change on this seemingly bulletproof jointer. The control panel is pretty close to the fence’s tilt-lock lever, and it can impede the lever’s throw. Oliver also doesn’t include a plug on the cord (and neither does JET). But those are easy to wire yourself.

You Can’t Go Wrong

These jointers satisfy their woodworking purposes well, and they’re built to go the distance. While your budget may limit the choices here, any of these machines would be a fine addition to a serious shop.

The post 8-inch Helical-head Jointer Reviews appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

The two cabinets are constructed separately, then bolted together. This not only makes the overall project easier to build, but also provides versatility. Most of the cabinet is made out of affordable shop-grade plywood, with solid wood used just for the door frames. To speed up construction, I didn’t bother edge banding the plywood, joined all carcass parts with biscuit joinery and built the door frames with loose tenons.

Among the cabinet’s coolest features are the double-layer doors on the upper cabinets that swing on special tandem hinges. Each door has a pair of twin handles: Pull one, and only the outer door opens, revealing small tool storage on the inside faces of the doors. Pull the other, and both outer and inner doors open, revealing the contents of the cabinet. To make them even more useful, the outer door panel surfaces are magnetic chalkboards. You can write part dimensions, notes, etc., with regular chalk and attach small magnets to hold photos, receipts and more.

The lower cabinet features a shelf, drawer, door with cubbies and an interior shelf and space for four plastic “Blitz Box” bins, just right for storing larger portable power tools together with their supplies and accessories. To make the tool cabinet easily moveable, it rides on 3″ polyurethane wheels, which can roll easily even over uneven floors.

Constructing the Carcass

The first step is to cut out all the cabinet’s plywood parts. This requires two 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4″ ply, two of 1/4″ ply, and a single 5 x 5 sheet of 1/2″ ply. Any good quality plywood will do. To make the most of each sheet, I used a free panel optimizing program. I laid each full-size sheet on a pair of sawhorses and crosscut it into more manageable size pieces using a small circular saw guided by a straight board clamped atop the sheet.

When all the plywood parts are cut to size, you’re ready to cut slots for the #20 biscuits used to join the carcass. For parts that butt together at the corners (sides and bottom of the cabinets), I flipped the biscuit joiner’s fence down to the 90˚ position and adjusted the height of the cutter to center the slots on the 3/4″ plywood. After marking the slot positions along the width of the parts, I cut slots on the ends of panels by setting the fence atop the stock. To cut matching slots on the faces of mating parts, I positioned them upright on the workbench and set the biscuit joiner’s fence on the plywood’s edge. I cut slots in parts that join in the middle of a panel with the joiner’s fence set flat. I plunge cut the slots in the ends of parts with the panel and the joiner’s base flat on the bench top.

There are a couple of other machining tasks to attend to: First, cut a 1/4″-wide, 3/8″-deep rabbet on the back edge of both the upper and lower cabinet top, bottom and sides. Next, using a 1/4″ straight bit in a plunge router, cut a centered through slot in the pullout support, located as shown in the Drawings. After routing, glue and nail/screw the top support perpendicular and flush to the back edge of the pullout support. Also, glue the edge band to the pullout shelf’s front edge, then use a plunge router fitted with a 3/4″ bull-nose bit and an edge guide to plow a 5/16″-deep rounded groove on the underside of the shelf, just behind the edge band. This acts as a finger groove for pulling the shelf out. Finally, bore four 5/16″ holes through both the upper cabinet bottom and lower cabinet top, positioning them as shown in the Drawing. Drive a 1/4″ T-nut into each of the holes from the underside of the lower cabinet top. These are used to bolt the upper and lower cabinets together later.

Gluing up the Carcasses

Starting with the upper cabinet, glue the bottom to the sides first, and clamp them together, making sure to keep their front edges flush. Now glue the top onto the sides, leaving it overhang the sides’ front edges by 1″. Before leaving the assembly to dry, measure to make sure that the cabinet’s inside diagonals are the same. If not, the cabinet isn’t square and needs to be racked one way or another until the diagonals match.

Assembling the lower cabinet is best done in three steps. First, set one of the sides outside-face-down on a small work table. Put #20 biscuits into all the slots, but DO NOT glue them. Then, set the pullout/ top support, door stop strip, box shelf, and cabinet bottom in place. Now glue biscuits into the slots on the other cabinet side and glue it onto on the upper ends of the bottom, box shelf, etc. After carefully aligning all parts as shown in the Drawing, apply bar clamps to pull all the joints tight. Check to make sure the assembly is square before leaving it to dry. After an hour or so, unclamp the cabinet, flip it over, and glue the other side in place.

Next, remove all clamps and turn the cabinet right-side-up. First, glue and nail the two top spacer strips onto the sides, making sure that all top edges are flush. Now glue on the top using bar clamps and cauls to clamp the parts tightly together. Next, apply glue to the ends and upper edge of the narrow top rail and install it below the top, using small clamps to secure it. Gluing up the twin base beams that support the cabinet on its casters is a simple matter. Start by gluing and nailing/screwing the 3″-wide bottom to the two 1-1/2″-wide front and back pieces. Cap the ends, then assemble the other base beam and leave them both to dry. Attach the casters to the bottom of the beams with #10 x 1-1/4″ panhead screws.

Building the Doors

To keep the tool cabinet’s doors strong but simple, I used basic frame-and-panel construction. I cut out all the frame stock (as well as the edge band for the pullout shelf) from 4/4 birch lumber, which I thickness planed down to 3/4″. After cutting all the rails and stiles to final length, as specified in the Material List, I plowed the grooves that hold the panels using a router table fitted with a 1/4″-wide three-wing slotting cutter.

Set the bit’s height to center the groove on the 3/4″-thick stock, and adjust the table’s fence to yield a 5/16″-deep cut. Rout all the rails first along the entire length of each inside edge. The grooves on the stiles are stopped short of the ends, so they don’t show on the edges of the doors. Start by positioning the stile’s end just past the bit, then carefully press it into the cutter until it bears against the fence. Feed the stile along until its far end is about an inch shy of the bit, then carefully pull it away from the fence to complete the cut.

To attach the frame members, you can use any joinery method you wish. Since I’m fortunate enough to own a Festool DF500 Domino machine, I built my frames using their 8 mm x 40 mm loose tenons. After setting the Domino’s fence to center the slot on the thickness of the frames, I slotted the ends of the rails first, using the trim stop accessory to center the slots side-to-side. After slotting both ends of the 2″-wide upper rails, I reset the trim stop and slotted the 2-1/2″-wide lower rails.

To slot the stiles I first removed the trim stop, then clamped a small wood stop block to the Domino’s fence. I set the block so that the slots in the stiles would match those in the upper rails. Since each frame member is machined face down, I slotted only the upper ends of the right-hand stiles first, then repositioned the stop and slotted the left-hand stiles. Repeat the process for slotting the stiles for the bottom rails.

Now you can assemble the doors one at a time. First, spread glue in all the slots and glue the loose tenons into both stiles. Then, set the upper and lower rails onto the tenons in one stile. Slide a 1/4″ plywood panel into its slot and press the other stile into place. Clamp the assembly together, checking for squareness before setting it aside to dry. Once all door frames are dry, scrape off any glue squeeze-out and sand them smooth.

Making the Drawer and Cubbies

To build the tool cabinet’s large drawer, start by cutting a 3/4″-wide, 3/8″-deep rabbet across the inside ends of both drawer sides, using a dado blade and a miter gauge on the table saw. Reset the dado for a 1/4″-wide cut, and plow a 3/8″-deep groove on the inside faces of both sides, back and sub-front, spacing the groove 5/16″ up from the bottom edge. Glue up the drawer, capturing its plywood bottom in the groove. Secure the sides by driving nails through the rabbet joints at each corner. Check for squareness, then glue and nail the drawer divider in place, centering it widthwise.

The drawer mounts in the cabinet on a pair of 20″ full-extension drawer glides. After removing the center slider from each glide, screw it in place inside the lower cabinet. Screw the center sliders onto the drawer sides, centering them on a line spaced 3/4″ up from the bottom of each side. After fitting the drawer onto the glides, tweak its position as necessary until it’s level and the sub-front is flush with the edge of the door stop rail. Drive four #8 x 1-1/4″ screws through the sub-front from the inside, then set the drawer front onto it. Once the drawer front is level and evenly spaced in the opening, press it onto the screw tips. Open the drawer and drive the screws all the way in.

The 1/2″ plywood cubbies are built to fit into the recesses on the back sides of the lower door frames. After dry assembly, glue and nail the two fronts and shelf onto one of the sides, positioning them as shown in the Drawing. Glue/nail on the other side, then the top and bottom. Seat each cubby fully into its door recess and secure it with four #6 x 1″ screws driven at an angle through the sides and into the edges of the stiles.

Mounting the Doors

To mount the double pair of doors on the upper cabinet, use the baseplate template supplied with the Rockler tandem door hinge set to mark out the hole locations on the cabinet sides. Instead of just using these marks as drilling guides, I prefer to actually position the hinge baseplate over the marks, then use a self-centering bit to drill the screw pilot holes. That ensures accuracy.

After screwing on all four baseplates, use the hinge leaf template to mark the screw holes on the edges of the upper door stiles, taking care to mark both the inner and outer door sets correctly. Again, instead of simply using the marks, I prefer to actually clamp each door onto its hinges, center the marks in the hinge holes, then drill pilot holes using the self-centering bit. Once the inner doors are attached, I set them in their closed position, then proceed to mount the outer doors on their hinge sets. Finish by installing the special stop plates and door pulls, following the included directions.

The lower cabinet doors are much simpler to mount, requiring only two pairs of heavy-duty 3″ removable-pin butt hinges. First pull the pin on each hinge, and screw on one half of each to the inside front edge of the cabinet sides, locating them as shown in the Drawing. Attach the corresponding hinge halves to the door stiles, positioning each to match its counterpart; no mortising is necessary. Set the doors in place and drive the hinge pins back in. To keep the doors closed, mount a pair of low-profile magnetic catches to the underside of the door stop rail. Finally, screw a pair of simple steel pull handles to the stiles of both lower doors, as well as a single matching pull centered on the drawer front.

Final Assembly

It’s time now to attach the 1/4″ plywood backs to both upper and lower cabinets. Put a small bead of glue into the rabbet around the back edge of each cabinet before slipping the back in place and securing it with small nails or 5/8″-long, 18-gauge fasteners driven with a pneumatic nail gun.

It’s a good idea to ask for a friend’s help with the next few steps: Set one side of the lower cabinet down on a low work table and clamp the two base beams to its bottom, positioning the beams as shown in the Drawing. (Make sure the fixed casters align with the left side of the cabinet.) Secure each beam by driving about a dozen #8 x 1-1/2″ wood screws through the cabinet bottom into the beam’s front and back rails. Now set the cabinet on the floor and lock its two swiveling casters. Lift the upper cabinet (with doors strapped shut) onto the lower, position its sides and back flush, and drive 1/4″ x 1-1/2″ bolts fitted with fender washers into the T-nuts in the four mounting holes.

Slide the pullout shelf into its recess and drive a #8 x 1-1/4″ washerhead screw up through the support shelf slot and into the underside of the shelf. Attach the drawer to its glides, and you’re done — unless you want to add hardware fittings or accessories to customize the cabinet to suit your needs. For my cabinet, I screwed a couple of magnetic strips to the upper cabinet’s inside doors, to hold all my hand saws and mounted ToolHANGER pegboard (http://hansenglobalinc.com) on the inside of the cabinet, using their special hooks and fittings to hold assorted hand tools. I also attached pieces of 1-1/8″-thick FastCap® Kaizen Foam to the backs of the outer door panels. I cut pockets into the foam to hold an assortment of marking and layout tools.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

Hard to Find Hardware

100-lb. Zinc Over-Travel Drawer Slides (1 pr.) #45953
Rockler Tandem Door Hinge Set (2 sets) #59882
3″ Casters, Rigid (1 pr.) #35340
3″ Casters, Total-Lock Swivel (1 pr.) #38865
18″ Magnetic Tool Holders (2) #81281
FastCap Kaizen Tool Storage Foam (1) #43845

The post Portable Tool Storage Cabinet appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

You need a hard, durable wood for a whistle. I use curly maple, but cherry or birch would also be good. Recorder flutes are routinely made from pear wood, so if you have any, this would be an excellent choice. You need to saw a blank that is 1″ x 1″ x 5″ long. Our finished whistle will be 4″ so the extra inch is for chucking.

Before You Turn

Before turning, it is important to saw the V-shaped opening for the tone generator. Although either hole can be drilled later, it is also much easier to drill the 3/16″ cross-hole for a lanyard and the 5/32″ second tone hole before turning. The second hole only goes halfway so as to intersect with the main bore. This ensures that the lanyard hole is at right angles to the notch so that the whistle hangs against the user’s chest in the correct orientation for instant use. It also aligns the tone hole at exactly 12 o’clock, where it should be.

The easiest way to cut the notch for the tone generator is with a scroll saw, which will leave a smooth finish. It can also be cut with a band saw or a small back saw but will require smoothing the ramped side and the square shoulder with a sharp chisel.

You also need to drill out the tone chamber, which is 3/8″ in diameter by 27⁄8″ deep. If you have a four-jaw chuck, that is the easiest way to hold the blank during drilling and turning. Mark an exact center on both ends of the blank and secure it in the chuck while supporting the opposite end against your lathe’s live center. This ensures the axis of the blank is on the centerline of the lathe. If you do not posses a four-jaw chuck, mount the drill chuck in the headstock and push the blank against the drill with the live center against the opposite center of the blank. To protect your hand, hold the blank with a small screw clamp while drilling and use a slow speed of 400 to 500 rpm.

Time for Turning

Turning the body of our whistle is straightforward spindle turning. I use a spindle roughing-out gouge to get things round and to put a bit of taper toward the mouthpiece. I then clean this taper up with a skew and turn the mouthpiece and the bead around the lanyard hole with a spindle gouge.

Turn the bead down to about half the diameter of the blank and part off. The end can be hand sanded and finished off of the lathe.

I like a decidedly nontoxic finish on a whistle, so use either walnut oil, which can be purchased at a grocery store, or carnauba wax. Oil is simply wiped on and the wax is crayoned on in the lathe and burnished with a piece of paper towel. Another great option is no finish at all.

Fipple: Fine-tune the Fit

The airway must be restricted by inserting a 3/8″-diameter by 3/4″-long dowel called a fipple with a 3/32″ flat spot on it. This causes the air to go directly against the sharp 45°angle edge of the notch (called the labium or blade), which generates the tone. You can simply sand a flat spot into a 3/4″ long section of dowel. I prefer to lay out the blank off-center so that you turn the plug with a flat spot. The flat spot is 3/32″ off of the 3/16″ radius of the dowel.

I make the fipple 1-1⁄4″ long and adjust the diameter until it is a tight slide fit with the bore. It should take some effort to insert it or turn it. This allows the fipple to be adjusted to get optimum sound, which takes some trial and error.

The end of the fipple should be perfectly square; do not chamfer it. However, chamfering or rounding the edge of the flat spot may improve sound. It should be pushed forward until its face is in exact alignment with the vertical shoulder of the notch. The flat spot should be horizontal, making it direct an equal air quantity on all parts of the blade. It can be cut off with a saw in place or removed, shortened with a parting tool in the lathe and reinserted. If removed, a pencil line for realignment is a good idea. The fipple can be removed by prying with a small flat blade screwdriver if things go awry.

My fipples are tight enough that I do not glue them but, if necessary, a couple of drops of glue make up for fit.

It is important that there not be any fuzzy edges on the bore of the whistle. This is especially true of the 45° side of the notch (the blade), but it also applies to the tone hole and the fipple. All burr and fuzz needs to be eliminated. I roll up a small piece of 220-grit sandpaper and lightly sand the bore to get it smooth and fuzz-free. The old saying “clean as a whistle” must come from this. Dirt, fuzz and whistles do not get along.

With that, you are finished — and it is time to go annoy the neighbors and their dogs.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

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I made our table out of cherry that was purchased from a lumberyard. Therefore, the wood was roughsawn, and it needed to be cut to size and milled. I started with a radial arm saw to crosscut the pieces down to appropriate smaller sizes before going to the joiner.

One tip for you: I chose to cut one piece of stock long enough for the four aprons plus a bit extra. This let me do all the machining for the aprons on one piece of wood, then cut them to final length when I was done with that step.

Getting Started

After I cut my workpieces to length, I took them to the jointer and surfaced the face of each piece of wood, and then jointed an edge to create two planes that are exactly perpendicular to each other (also known as “square” because the two surfaces form a 90˚ corner).

Then go to the planer and feed the pieces through to get the remaining rough face flat and parallel to the freshly flattened face you just created on the jointer. Mill all the parts down to thickness, as specified on the Material List. I then ripped all the pieces to width at the table saw, making the last rough edge square to the rest.

Glue up the pieces that you’ve chosen for the top. To add a bit of visual interest, I made the top with the grain running at 45˚ to how most tops are made. (I think of it as a diamond shape.)

See the Drawings for details. I glued up pieces that create a square at least 25-1/2″ x 25-1/2″. It is easiest to wait until the glue squeeze-out starts to harden before scraping it off.

While the glue is drying, set up your table saw and cut a groove in the aprons for the tabletop attachments. It is the width of a full-sized saw blade kerf (not a thin kerf).

If you leave all four aprons together as one length, it makes it a little quicker for this cut and routing the bead. Go ahead now and rout the bead along the bottom of the aprons. It takes only one pass to form this profile.

If you are using a handheld router, use another board alongside the aprons to give you more surface area to balance the router.

While you are at it, form the bead on the outside corner of the legs, making two passes with the router to get a fully rounded bead.

Now cut the legs and aprons to final length. I used a crosscut sled on my table saw.

It is super-accurate and safe. Set up a stop block to ensure you make consistent cuts.

Here’s another tip: if you place a coin below the stop block while clamping it, you’ll leave just enough room so that sawdust won’t get trapped and push your workpiece away from the stop. Remove the coin before cutting.

Using a Tapering Jig

If you are going to taper legs on a table saw, you need to use a jig to do it safely and accurately. You can always use a shop-made version of a tapering jig, but this one from Rockler is a proven and safe performer. As you can see in the Drawings, start the taper 3-1/2″ down from the top of the leg. This provides a squared-up section of the leg where the legs and the aprons will be joined with a loose tenon. It is also a typical treatment that visually completes the end of the leg.

Using a scrap piece of wood sized to match your leg stock, set up the jig and make test cuts to dial in the dimensions carefully. Taper the two inside faces of the leg — the ones without the bead detail.

Joinery Begins Now

I chose to taper the legs to add a bit of shape, in addition to the bead routed into their outer corners. That taper really makes the whole table look more elegant. One easy way to do that is with a tapering jig on the table saw.

To join the aprons to the legs, I used another jig-based system. Mortise-and-tenons are the proven and time-honored technique for joining edge grain to end grain. I used the Beadlock® system to make my mortise-and-tenon joint. Once you’re clear about the process, assemble the legs and aprons.

Beadlock Joinery

The Beadlock system makes “chopping” mortises as easy as drilling holes. This jig centers perfectly on 3/4″ material. Set the jig to the “A” position and clamp it on the apron.

Align the straight edge of the half-moon shape on the jig with your pencil line and drill the first three holes 5/8″ deep into the end of the aprons. Without unclamping, adjust the jig to the “B” position. Drill your last two holes, then make the mortises on the legs.

To do this, use a shim or two to create a 3/8″-thick offset between the leg and the jig. This will position the mortise close to the leg’s center. The Beadlock system provides the shaped tenons already made. The author cut the tenons down to 1-1/8″ lengths on the band saw.

Making the Tabletop

I mentioned earlier that I made the top with the grain running 45˚ to how a top is usually made. Cutting the top this way adds a unique look that results in a uniform end grain pattern on all four edges. Use a steel square to draw the layout for the diamond-shaped top. Then clamp a straightedge to the tabletop, and cut out the shape with a circular saw.

Now head to the table saw to cut bevels around the tabletop edges, using a tall fence. First tilt the blade to about 20˚. Then position the fence about 1/4″ away from the base of the blade. Notice that the tall auxiliary fence I’m using wraps around the rip fence and slides back and forth on it. That way, I can clamp the tabletop to the fence and slide it past the blade to form each long bevel cut. Before cutting your tabletop edges, run a test piece so you can fine-tune your settings. When you are satisfied with the setup, cut the bevels on all four edges.

With all of your table parts cut, it is now time to sand them smooth. Sand to 220-grit on the legs and aprons, and to 320-grit on the tabletop to ensure the end grain’s beauty really shows.

General Finishes Satin Arm-R-Seal was my choice for finishing this little gem of a table. Arm-R-Seal is a durable and easy-to-apply varnish. Brush on three coats with at least eight hours of drying time in between. Put finish on both faces of the top or it will warp. After the finish completely cures, wax the tabletop for added smoothness and protection.

To attach the top to the base, center the table base on the upside-down tabletop. Use a soft blanket underneath the tabletop to protect it from scratches. Drill pilot holes for the screws that will attach the tabletop fasteners. It’s a good idea to use a piece of tape on your drill bit to mark how deep to drill. If you’re pretty new to woodworking, I suggest using a screwdriver rather than a drill driver to install the screws. This will ensure that you won’t accidentally strip out the screw holes, and you’ll have perfectly tightened screws. Sometimes good old hand tools just can’t be beat!

By building this little end table, you’ve exercised some basic woodworking skills, learned new techniques and even used some helpful jigs. Now take a load off and enjoy your success!

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

Kimberly McNeelan has been a woodworker for about 14 years. She’s been coast to coast and beyond studying different woodworking techniques, learning from various masters, and working on a wide array of projects. Read more of Kimberly’s latest adventures.

Follow Kimberly on Instagram at ksm_woodworker

The post Quick and Easy End Table Plan appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Making the Box

While this article is about learning to do marquetry, you’ll need to make the box first, and this is a really nice one. The sides are joined with slender box joints made on the table saw. Any accurate box joint jig (shop-made or manufactured) will do the job here — but if you don’t own one, you’ll find the plan drawings for mine here.

The box lid (the marquetry location) is two pieces: a larger sub-top that rests on the box sides and a smaller sub-top attached with glue that fits inside. Find the sizes and dimensions of the pieces in the Material List and the construction details in the Drawings. You’ll see there that the box is shaped with gentle curves that add a pleasing look. I formed the curves using a band saw and finished with a stationary belt sander. With the box ready to go, gather your materials for the marquetry phase of the construction.

Tools + Materials

The marquetry scene I’ve chosen needs six different veneers; each will be cut into the background before the next veneer is added. For the process I’m teaching, you’ll need a scroll saw with a table that tilts at least 11° left or right, 2/0 non-pinned scroll saw blades, six pieces of veneer, application tape, blue tape, PVA yellow glue, tracing paper, transfer paper, clamps, hand scraper, sandpaper and a router.

Double Bevel and Pad Cutting

In marquetry, there are two main cutting procedures: Double Bevel Cutting and Pad Cutting. In Double Bevel, the blade is set at an angle and only two veneers are cut at one time. Bevel cutting has very tight joints, but only one piece of the final picture is cut and added to the picture at a time. Perfect fit, but slow. In Pad Marquetry, all of the veneers needed for the picture are placed into a pad, the blade is set at 90º, and all of the pieces are cut at one time. Individual pieces are then chosen and assembled for the final picture. The disadvantage? The fit is not as tight. The advantage? It is fast.

Gathering the Veneer

Select all six veneers before you begin cutting. Their grain patterns and color are the key to making your marquetry image pop off of the box lid.

The photo shows some possible colors, and the pattern indicates grain directions. Select a Sky-1 veneer with a visible grain pattern that is darker than Snow-2 but lighter than Mountain-3. Set the Sky veneer aside, put a piece of tape on it, and mark it number “1.”

Next, choose Snow-2 veneer and mark it with a “2.” Choose the other five veneers and mark numbers on them “3” through “7.” Lay the veneers together and make sure that they are compatible. Confirm that Sky-1, for example, looks good with Mountain-3 etc. Note that Snow-2 and Foreground-6 will be the same near-white veneer.

Making the Pattern

Marquetry is created by following a pattern that provides the shapes that will become the image. There is a full-size printable PDF version of the pattern (Figure 1) (print it at 7″ wide x 5″ high) free to download at our More on the Web section online.

Print or draw the pattern on white paper with heavy black pencil and number all the parts 1 to 6. Also draw arrows to indicate grain directions. Next, lay a piece of transparent tracing paper over the pattern and transfer all the lines from the pattern onto the tracing paper. Make “X” marks on the upper left and upper right corners of the tracing paper to use as registration marks.

First Cut, add Snow-2 to Sky-1. Set the scroll saw table to the correct angle (usually about 11° for U.S. veneers and a 2/0 blade), and figure out the direction of cut. Make sure the Snow- 2 veneer is big enough and is placed correctly under Sky-1.

Cut Sky-1 to size (7-1/2″ wide x 3″ high). Keep the grain horizontal and cover both the front and back with application tape. Now lay the pattern on top of Sky-1 and transfer the “X” marks. Register the pattern (line up the “X”s) and transfer the top of the Snow-2 lines onto the application tape using transfer paper.

Put application tape on the front and the back of Snow-2 veneer and place it behind Sky-1 veneer. To line up an incoming veneer on the back of the workpiece, first turn the piece over and lay it flat on your bench. Reverse the pattern and line up the “X” registration marks. Now place the incoming veneer in position and blue-tape it into place. Use blue tape on the edges to secure it tightly. Tilt the table to 11°. Work from the front and cut across on the dotted line.

Take the two pieces apart and secure Snow-2 to Sky-1 with application tape on both top and bottom sides.

Second Cut, add Mountain-3 to Snow-2. Notice the difference between the “cut-line” and the “pattern line” on the left and right edges of the pattern. Application tape is still in place on top of Snow-2.

Turn the picture face-up and put the pattern in place by lining up the “X”s. Transfer the cut-line for Mountain-3 onto the application taped background. Put application tape on the back and front of Mountain-3 veneer and blue-tape it in place under the background. Cut along the dotted line.

Lay the piece face up on your bench and carefully pull up the waste section of Snow-2 veneer. Now turn the piece upside down and lay it flat on your bench. Carefully push the incoming veneer into place. Pull off the discard veneer from the back and application tape the new Mountain-3 section into the background.

Third Cut, add Tree Trunks-4 to Mountain-3. Notice that the cut now is from the bottom: begin on the left or on the right depending on which way your saw table tilts.

Register the pattern and trace the new cut-line onto application tape at the bottom of Mountain-3. Blue tape the Tree Trunk-4 veneer under the background and cut from the bottom along the dots as in Figure 4. Now go ahead and application tape Tree Trunks-4 into the background as in Figure 5.

Fourth Cut, add Trees-5. This cut will require small holes in the background to admit the pin-less scroll saw blade. The pin hole on the left will be covered with the next veneer piece; the hole on the right side will be filled later.

Register the pattern, line up the “X”s and draw the cut-lines on top of the background. I use a pushpin to make small holes to admit the blade. Cut in Trees-5 as in Figure 5. Use application tape to place the new Tree pieces into the background.

Fifth Cut, add Foreground-6. Note: This veneer is the same as Snow-2 veneer. Now you are likely getting the process down. Cut in Foreground-6 as in Figure 6. Note that this cut defines the bottoms of the Tree Trunks.

Sixth Cut, add the River-7. Note the “Snowbank” cuts on each side of the River in Figure 7. Put River-7 veneer under the background and fasten in place with application tape on both sides as in Figure 7. Cut from the bottom and remove the River-7 piece. Now cut the Snowbank lines; this is done by cutting into the Foreground-6 piece (they are the orange lines on the pattern above) and then carefully backing the blade completely out — all while the saw is running.

You’ve now completed the picture in veneer! It is not attached to the box’s top and not trimmed to size — but you are nearly there. Go ahead and cut it to its outside shape, exactly to the size of the top.

Repairing and Filling

Now that all the pieces have been cut and assembled, the next step is to fix any small veneer defects and to use a filler to plug small gaps.

All of the application tape pieces on the front and back of the marquetry need to be removed. To do this, carefully remove all tape from the front and replace with one or two large pieces of application tape. Press the tape firmly in place.

Next, turn the piece over and remove all the tape pieces from the back side. Now hold the piece up to the light and note any missing pieces or large spaces. Use small fragments of veneer and patch any holes or spaces from the back side.

Now make a colored filler using sawdust and glue to fill in any gaps. Once the filler is dry, sand the back smooth.

Glue the Marquetry to the Box Top

As you can see in the lead photo, the marquetry picture has a black spacer veneer between it and the cherry box lid. To get a more visible line, I use a thicker veneer here.

Cut the black veneer to size and glue it to the box lid using yellow PVA glue. After this has dried (usually one hour in a warm shop is plenty of time), trim the veneer to fit the lid.

Now place the marquetry piece facedown on your bench. Spread yellow glue on the black veneer which is attached to the box lid, and carefully lay it onto the marquetry piece. Use blue tape on four sides to affix the two pieces together and clamp.

After an hour, remove the clamps and peel off the blue tape and the application tape that is still on top of the marquetry. Carefully scrape and wipe off any excess glue and reclamp, using a paper towel as a pad. After another hour, the marquetry is ready to be taken from the clamps.

Once a marquetry piece has been cut and glued to the box lid, it needs to be made flat and smooth. Before proceeding, seal the surface with dewaxed shellac. It helps keep wood particulate from discoloring the various veneer pieces as you are flattening the surface.

Use a sharp blade scraper to even out the surface. Pull the scraper across the surface carefully at an angle but still in the direction of the wood grain. Apply more shellac and continue the procedure until the surface feels even — your fingers will tell you more than your eyes will during this process.

Once the surface is even, use sandpaper to smooth it. Start with 220-grit held on a firm, flat block. Stop often to inspect and to add more shellac as needed. Be extra careful if you decide to go ahead and use an electric sander: keep the sanding pad flat to the surface and use the vacuum accessory to whisk away the dust.

Completing the Lid

Next we have to round over the edges of the lid using a 3/8″ cove bit on your router table. Work to achieve the rounded-over look as in the lead photo. Then seal the top with shellac again and final sand, working from 220-grit to 320-grit. Use a wipe-on polyurethane for the final finish. Usually four to five coats will do just fine.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

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