May/June 2013 Archives - Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To

PROJECT: Slab Top Sofa Table

Rob Johnstone — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 18:38:06 +0000

Working with thick waney stock was a treat that I had never done before. So, when the opportunity came to build this table, I jumped at it. At first I thought that the toughest task would be finding the 3″-plus thick wood to work with — but it turned out to be surprisingly easy.

I simply called a local sawmill, a farmer in my area who also saws and dries wood, and asked what he had on hand. He told me that he had some really great ash lumber in the stack…and he was right. After a quick trip to his place I was ready to kick this project into gear.

Preparing the Stock

The first step in making this table was to take the bark off the waney edges with a drawknife.

I selected the best looking section of the lumber to be the tabletop, and cut it roughly to length. Because this table has waney edges and is designed to be built with extra-thick stock, the width and thickness of your top may vary a bit from the dimensions found in the Material List. I decided that if I left the bark on the edges of the tabletop, my dusting time would increase significantly, so instead, I chose to remove most of the bark, leaving behind the underbark.

Then, the author chose to flatten and smooth the top and bottom faces with an 07 hand plane. The wood was roughcut lumber right off the saw.

That remnant provided a color change on the edges that helped to define the top. Using a drawknife, I was able to slice the bark away in very short order. When that was done, I moved on to flattening and smoothing the top and bottom faces of the tabletop. As you might expect, the ash lumber was sold to me in a rough state, right off the saw. At 17″ wide, the width of the piece exceeded the capabilities of my planer and jointer. This left me in a bit of a pickle, but after a moment’s thought, I picked up my 07 hand plane and got busy flattening the tabletop. I planed at a diagonal to the grain, and found this method to be quite effective at getting a flat smooth surface, and it did not take an exceptionally long time. The surfaces were not mirror smooth (hey, I’m not Ian Kirby), but they were ready for sanding when I got done planing.

To get identical leg sizes and shapes, the author used a template to mark them out.

With the tabletop set off to the side, I moved on to the legs. These pieces were narrow enough that I could rip them roughly to width and put them across my jointer, then through the planer, to get them ready to be cut to exact size. I used a template to mark out the legs. They have a taper in them which gives the table a sense of style. I thought of the look as “Eastern” as in Japan or China; my staff identified it as “Western” as in Montana or Wyoming…such it is with beauty and the beholder.

Some knotholes were unavoidable, so Bondo dyed with universal colorant was used to fill the voids.

Despite the fact that the legs are less massive than the top, they are indeed some big chunks of wood, so I joined them to the table using loose tenons. And because I own a Domino XL, that is the system that I used for this project. With that said, you could use any loose tenon method to attach the legs to the top — or you could use a more traditional mortise-and-tenon technique. Chop mortises into the underside of the tabletop, and raise tenons on the tops of the legs. You’d just need to add the length of the tenons to the overall length of the legs in that case.

The author chose Festool’s new Domino XL loose tenon system to create his mortises.

One challenge came to the fore as I was making the legs. There were several large knots that I could not avoid and they had material in them that I needed to remove. (The knot fibers were loose and the void looked bad.) To address the knotholes, I decided to fill them with Bondo®, colored to match other solid knots in the wood. I used universal colorant to mix the exact shade that I needed. One important point — if you look at the photos, you can clearly see that I applied some shellac around the holes that were to be filled. That shellac sealed the grain so that I did not get an unwanted halo of black Bondo squeezed into the open-grained ash. After I applied the Bondo, it cured quickly and I sanded it smooth in just a short while. Sanding also removed the shellac. With that done, I was able to lay out the mortise locations on the ends of the legs and then cut them as shown. Then I moved on to doing layout on the bottom face of the tabletop.

Locating the Legs

After striking a center line down the length of the tabletop, the author made a layout jig with a 45° angle formed on one end.

To accurately locate the legs on the underside of the tabletop, I first struck a line down the center of the table. I worked from a center line because the tabletop’s edges were not straight and I couldn’t accurately measure from them. I used a simple shop-made layout tool for the next steps. It is just a rectangular piece of 1/2″ MDF that has an accurately formed 45-degree cut on it. Align the mitered edge of the jig to the center line and strike lines for the outside edge of the legs. (See the Drawings for details.) Then measure the offset from the center line and use the jig to mark parallel lines to the centerline. The intersection of those lines locates the exact corner of the leg. Trace around the leg, take off the mortise locations, and you can chop the mortises into the bottom of the table.

Using the center line, he located the positions for the table legs as shown.

At this point, you may have noticed an intentional quirk to the design of this table — that, while the table legs are connected to each other on each side of the table, they are not joined one side to the other, except by the tabletop itself. This is because the tabletop is so thick, it is more than strong enough to resist the forces that may have cupped a top of less hefty dimensions. (And seasonal expansion and contraction will not be hindered.)

With the legs and tabletop prepared, put the tabletop upside down on a work surface and test-fit the legs to the top. If you are satisfied with the leg joints, it’s time to move on to making the stretchers.

After tracing around the legs and taking off the mortise locations, our editor cut the mortises for the Domino loose tenons. Any loose tenon system (or even a traditional mortise-and-tenon) would work for these legs.

The stretchers fit between the legs and are joined to them with loose tenons to the inner faces of the legs. (See the Drawings for details.) Located on the outer face of the legs are faux tenon ends. They are attached so that it looks as if the stretchers pierce the legs. (Again, see the Drawings.) As a way to further this illusion, cut the material for the stretchers long enough so that you can cut the faux tenon ends off of either end of the prepared stock. That way the grain pattern and colors will look as if they flow right through the legs.

Once again, joining the stretchers to the legs was a task that I used the Domino to do — but if you are not using that system, a pair of dowels on the joining faces of the pieces would work just fine. After you have machined the joinery on the stretchers, dry-fit and clamp everything together. I used a band clamp around the stretchers and faux tenon ends, but I did not clamp the legs down to the tabletop. Their weight and gravity were sufficient to form a solid glue joint.

The faux stretcher ends are cut off the stretchers as they are fitted between the legs of the table. Keep the ends with their stretchers.

When everything fits just right, take the pieces apart and get ready for your favorite woodworking task — sanding. But before you sand, you may need to pull one more trick out of your sleeve.

If you, like me, used wood that is a bit thicker than 3″ for your tabletop, chances are that you did not have a circular saw blade that was thick enough to cut through the top in one pass. So you cut off the ends in two passes, and likely the cuts were not perfectly aligned. If that is the case, grab a router and chuck a flush-trimming bit into the machine. Then use the bit to trim a flush end to your tabletop. With that done, there is no putting off the sanding any longer. When you have worked up through the grits (I stopped at 180-grit), it’s time for assembly.

Assembly and Finishing

Before the final glue-up, it is always a prudent step to dry-fit and clamp the project together. Glue-up is hard to reverse!

Because I had taken the time to dry-fit the pieces earlier, there were no surprises during the glue-up. I will say this, however: if I was going to make another of these tables, I would have a friend with me in the shop for the glue-up process. (Did I mention, this table is heavy? Really heavy!) An extra set of hands would have made this task much smoother and easier. The ends of the legs and the stretcher are end grain that is being glued to face grain. Be sure to apply enough glue to those end-grain areas to achieve good results. (A little glue squeeze-out here is not a bad thing — it will not easily be seen and you’ll know that you have enough glue coverage.)

The sheer weight of the legs was a sufficient “clamping force” to form a solid glue joint between the legs and the tabletop. Here, the author tightens a band clamp, pulling the faux stretcher ends, stretchers and legs together firmly. A shop helper sure would have been useful during the glue-up process.

After the glue had cured, I used a chisel to remove the glue squeeze-out. A bit more hand sanding preceded a shellac finish. I mixed amber shellac and clear shellac mixed half and half right out of the cans. I applied it with a soft brush, denibbing between coats.

And that’s it. All you need to do when you’re done is find a couple of really strong teenagers to help you put the table exactly where you want it!

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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PROJECT: Cherry Jewelry Box

Carole Rothman — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 17:05:50 +0000

Jewelry boxes are often made with complex joinery to give them an air of sophistication and high style. But you can make a wonderful little heirloom without all the extra work, using just a scroll saw. Scroll saws often sit idle in many shops because we don’t stretch their potential. Here’s a fun way to put yours back into service and prove that it’s more versatile than you might think.

Forming the Box and Insert

After cutting the box’s outer profile to shape, drill a starter hole in the insert area of the pattern to thread your blade through.

In selecting your wood for the box and the lid, look for a good color match between the two and an attractive grain pattern for the lid. I rough-cut both pieces to size and jointed the long edges that would become the back of the box, using a portable drum sander with a fence. Then make three copies of the pattern. Starting with the box body, I applied clear packing tape to the 1-1⁄8″-thick piece of cherry to help prevent burning when cutting it, then attached a copy of the pattern with temporary-bond adhesive, matching the jointed edge with the back of the pattern. Check your saw table to be sure it’s level before cutting the remaining three sides of the box’s perimeter using a #9 blade.

Then cut out the large inside waste piece with a #9 blade. Consider saving the waste piece for a future project.

To complete the box body, drill an entry hole just inside the inner cutting line, insert the blade and follow the cut line to remove the center piece. Given the generous size of this waste piece, I set it aside to use for another project. I then sanded the inner and outer faces, using a spindle sander, detail sander and belt sander to remove any burn and blade marks that might be present.

Your next step is to make the insert and compartments, using the 5/8″-thick piece of cherry. I covered the wood with tape and attached a second copy of the pattern. Cut along the outer layout line for the insert first, then drill an entry hole in each compartment, and cut out the center compartments. After you sand the outer and inner faces completely smooth, place the insert into the box body to check the fit. Mark any edge areas that rub the box sides, and sand them down until the insert slides into the box easily.

Smooth the inside edges of the box and remove all evidence of sawing with a small-diameter sanding drum.

I rounded the top inside edge of the box and all the upper edges of the insert with a piloted roundover bit in my router table. The box interior and insert were given a final sanding, working progressively to 320-grit. But don’t sand the outside of the box at this time; it will receive further sanding after you attach the lid.

Creating the Bottom and Supports

A second copy of the same template serves as a guide for cutting out the insert and its three compartments. Cut to the waste side of the layout lines, depending on which portion of the insert you are creating — its outer or the inner edges.

Next comes the plywood bottom. I traced the inner edge of the box body directly onto the piece of 1/8″ plywood to get a cutting line that reflected the sanded dimensions of the box interior. To make it easy to position this piece again after cutting it out, make a few reference marks on the side and the bottom. I cut along the line with a #3 blade and sanded the piece lightly to smooth the edges and adjust the fit. Now use the bottom panel as a pattern for the velvet liner by placing the plywood facedown on the paper side of the velvet and tracing its outline. Trim the velvet to size, and set it and the bottom aside for now.

Use your box’s inside edge to trace the shape of the bottom panel before cutting it out of 1/8″-thick plywood. That way, it will match your box’s interior shape as closely as possible.

Making the box body from a single piece of wood is faster and easier than using conventional joinery, but it doesn’t allow for cutting the groove that typically holds the bottom in place. I compensated for this by providing support under the bottom, using 3/8″-wide strips of cherry, curved at the ends to conform to the rounded inside corners of the box. To cut these supports to shape, place the strips lengthwise under the box body, lining up their outer edges with the inner edges of the box. This will make it easier to trace the curve of the corners directly onto the strips. I marked the location of the strips, cut along the marked lines, and glued the strips into position so their bottom faces are flush to the box bottom. Small clamps hold them in place as the glue cures.

Once the glue dries on the supports, glue the bottom panel in place.

Adding the Lid

The bottom rests on two supports glued to the inside edges of the box. Trace and cut these
to shape using the box interior as a guide.

To make the lid, attach the third copy of the pattern to a 1/2″-thick piece of cherry, matching the cutting line for the back of the lid with the jointed rear edge. Cut the top out and sand it lightly to remove burn or blade marks. At this point, I compared the profiles of the lid and box, marked any lid overhang, and corrected significant discrepancies by sanding. Final matching will be done once the lid is installed.

Strips of a playing card act as spacers between the box and lid when installing the hinges, to ensure correct hinge operation.

Before attaching the lid, take two precautionary steps. First, since the final thickness of the rear wall will depend on the amount of sanding you’ve done, and since the hinges mount from the back, check to be sure that your hinge screws will not protrude into the box body. If it looks too close for comfort, snip off their tips. Second, I cut two 3/4″-wide strips from a playing card, cutting crossways, and set them aside. These strips, and the remainder of the card, will be inserted between the box and lid on both sides of the hinges, to ensure that the lid will close properly. Once these preliminaries are completed, set the lid in place on the box and so their edges line up. Clamp them together. Draw a line 7/8″ from each side of the box, on both the box and lid, to mark the outward position of each hinge. Then insert the three pieces of playing card between the box and lid, position the hinges, and mark the screw holes with an awl. I put each piece to be drilled into a vise to hold it firmly and wrapped masking tape around the bit to serve as a depth stop. Now stabilize the hinges with a dot of epoxy, and screw them into place to mount the lid.

The author cut the lid’s bloodwood handle to shape, then smoothed the profiles further and eased the edges with her spindle sander.

Sand flush any places on your jewelry box where the lid and box don’t line up. I then set my sander table to 45°, sanded a bevel around the front and side edges of the lid top, and rounded the bevel to form a gentle curve. (The bevel serves as a guide for sanding.) Once shaping is complete, give the exterior a final sanding, ending with 320-grit. Cut and sand your lid handle to shape — I used a scrap of bloodwood for mine. Mark the center of the lid, and glue the handle along the lower edge. When the glue dries, unscrew the hinges to prepare for final finishing.

Finishing Up

For my finishing process, I started with a light coat of shellac to seal the surfaces, then rubbed the wood down with 0000 steel wool and tacked it off to remove the dust. Several light coats of clear gloss spray lacquer followed. A final rubout with 0000 steel wool removed any irregularities and left an attractive matte finish.

Now place the velvet, backing still attached, into the box to see if it needs trimming. When you are satisfied with the fit, remove the backing and stick it to the bottom. Place the insert inside, and your project is ready for jewelry.

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

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PROJECT: Build a Simple Dresser

Bruce Kieffer — Fri, 26 May 2017 16:59:48 +0000

Sometimes building furniture is not about making a museum quality piece, but rather it’s about pure function and saving time and money. My wife and I needed a dresser to tide us over until I could build our “real” dresser, so off to the furniture store we went, only to find very expensive junk — basically made of cardboard — and nothing for less than $200. I’m thinking, no way am I putting money into anything like that when I can build one for half the price that will function 100 times better. Hence the piece you see here. It really fits the bill … and when I complete our official dresser, it will find a new life somewhere else in our home!

The construction is simple: just cut, rout, biscuit, drill, and assemble. I used 3/4″ melamine with a maple coating for the carcass, 1/2″ fiberboard for the drawers and 1/4″ melamine for the back and drawer bottoms — a half sheet of each. The panel stock I used was CARB 2 compliant (very low formaldehyde), so I didn’t need to apply any finish, and that’s a huge time saver.

Now, even though it costs just $100 for materials, in no way does that imply it’s an ugly beast. Sure, it’s not a Victorian bowfront dresser crafted from Honduras mahogany, but it does look pretty darn good considering what it’s made from, and I’m confident it will serve me well for many years. I was so happy with the results that I even made another one to be used as a sewing supplies cabinet, and I have future plans for shop cabinets based on the same design.

Construction Notes

Photo 1: Get started by routing the 1/4″ x 1/2″-deep rabbets in the sides (pieces 3) to accept the back (piece 5). Use a 1/2″-diameter straight bit and edge guide.

You’ll need the following tools to make this little dresser: a table saw, a router with an edge guide, a 1/8″-radius roundover bit and 1/2″-diameter straight bit, a pattern flush-trim bit, a router table, a biscuit jointer, drill press, brad nailer, staple gun, a jigsaw, and some bar clamps. Having a palm router to shape the 1/8″-radiused rounded over edges is also nice, but not absolutely necessary, and you could manage without using a router table if you chose instead to machine the drawer side end rabbets on your table saw, using a dado blade and a zero-clearance throat plate.

Although most of the pieces of this project are some form of rectangle cut on the table saw, it is always a good idea to take a moment to look at the Drawings and the Material Lists before you start cutting up material. Cutting the 1/2″ fiberboard and 1/4″ white melamine pieces from half sheets is easy since there’s room for waste with them, but getting all the 3/4″ maple melamine pieces from a half sheet is a bit tight. Use the three cutting diagrams provided here so you can minimize your waste. The secret, I found, was to start by putting the stretchers (pieces 4) next to the top (piece 1). Once I’d figured that out, the rest of the pieces fell into place.

Photo 2: Assemble the carcass in two stages. First glue, biscuit, and clamp the bottom (piece 2) and stretchers (pieces 4) to one of the sides (piece 3).

The dresser design is based around the use of 3/4 extension white, epoxy-coated, side-mounted drawer slides. They’re inexpensive, very easy to mount, and they operate really well.

The drawer components of the slides wrap around the bottom edges of the drawer sides. This allows the drawer bottom to be overlaid and nailed or stapled on, eliminating the need for cutting drawer bottom rabbets. If you use other slides, then note that the dimensions in the Drawings for the cabinet components of the drawer slides’ mounting heights are the same as the distances the drawer bottoms are relative to the carcass bottom (piece 2). Knowing that should help you figure out any alterations you may need to make if you use different drawer slides.

Photo 3: Complete the carcass assembly by adding the remaining side. I use cabinet squares to ensure the carcass parts are 90° to each other.

You’ll notice that the design is so simple that there is only one size drawer, and one size drawer face. This makes the work very easy. The only difference in the drawer construction is the alignment of the drawer faces to the drawers. The top two drawers are the same, with a drawer face bottom edge overhang of 1/4″, but the bottom drawer face overhang is 15/16″. Carefully follow the specified dimensions in the Drawings, and you should have no problem getting everything to align correctly when you assemble your dresser.

Assemble the Carcass and Drawers

Photo 4: Drill the 5/16″-dia. holes in the drawer fronts (pieces 8) for the screws used to attach the drawer faces (pieces 7).

Now that you have the overall picture of the project, it’s time to start making sawdust! Go ahead and cut all the pieces to size using the Material List on the previous and next page (pieces 1 through 5, and 7 through 10), and get started by routing the back rabbets (see photo 1). Machine the biscuit slots in the bottom (piece 2), sides (pieces 3) and stretchers (pieces 4). With that done, drill the screw holes in the stretchers. Glue, biscuit and clamp the carcass together as shown.

Photo 5: Rout the 1/4″ x 1/2″-wide rabbets on the ends of the drawer sides (pieces 9). The total finished width of the drawers needs to be 21″.

Drill the screw holes in the drawer fronts (pieces 8) (photo 4). The 5/16″-dia holes allow you to make minor drawer face alignment adjustments later.

Photo 6: Glue and nail the drawers together. I made a 14-13/16″-long L-shaped support from white melamine to hold the drawer front and back (pieces 8) upright and square as I attached the first drawer side (piece 9).

Rout the rabbets on the ends of the drawer sides (pieces 9) (photo 5). Now, assemble the drawers (photo 6), using 1″ brads to “pin” the drawer joints. Attach the drawer bottoms (pieces 10) to the drawers using 3/4″ staples.

Photo 7: Rout the 1/8″-radius roundover top edges on the assembled drawers. Don’t rout the front edges. I screwed a long auxiliary base to the palm router for added support and control.

Rout 1/8″-radius edges around the top edges of the drawers (photo 7), but don’t rout the front edge of the drawer fronts. Then drill the pull bolt holes in the drawer faces (pieces 7) and follow up by routing the drawer face 1/8″ roundover on the corners and edges (photo 8).

Photo 8: Rout a 1/8″ radius on the corners of the drawer faces (pieces 7). Clamping the drawer faces together and gang routing them like this makes supporting the router much easier.

To mount the drawer faces, align and clamp them to the drawers and mark the pilot hole locations for the drawer-face mounting screws as shown in photo 9.

Photo 9: Mark the pilot hole locations for attaching the drawer faces to the drawer boxes. Use 1-1/8″-wide spacers to center the drawer face side to side, and 1/4″ “lifts” to align the height.

Note that on the two upper drawers the faces overhang the drawers by 1/4″ at the bottom, and the lower drawer’s face overhangs its drawer by 15/16″. Unclamp the drawer faces and use your drill press to drill the pilot holes, then attach the drawer faces. Mount the drawer slide cabinet components (pieces 12) to the carcass sides using spacers to locate them (photo 10).

Photo 10: I used spacers to position and mount the drawer slides. Work from the top down, starting at 14-15/16″ up from the carcass bottom, then 7-1/4″, and finally 1/4″.

Only the long flat bottom edge of the slide should rest on the spacer when you mount the slides. Align the slide front ends flush with the carcass front edge. Now attach the drawer slide components to the drawer boxes. Align their front edges 1/16″ back from the drawer faces — it stops the drawers from banging against the face of the carcass. I used a 1/16″-thick spacer.

Final Assembly

Photo 11: Rout the 1″-radiused corners of the top panel (piece 1) to shape. Rough-cut the corners first, and then finish the shaping with a shop-made template and router with a pattern flush-trim bit.

Staple the back (piece 5) to the carcass. Shape the top’s (piece 1) 1″-radiused corners as demonstrated in photo 11 and then cut the 1/8″ roundovers on the top’s edges. Then, screw the top to the stretchers. Note that the overhang is 3/8″ at the back.

Photo 12: Drill 3/32″-diameter holes through the pull holes in the drawer faces and through the drawer fronts to locate the pull bolt holes on the insides of the drawer fronts.

Drill the pulls’ bolt counterbore holes in the drawer fronts (photos 12 and 13). If you’re wondering why I drill the pull bolt counterbore holes this way, it’s because inevitably the pull mounting bolts loosen over time, and I want to be able to tighten them without having to remove the drawer face, and then having to realign the drawer face. When that is done, secure the pulls (pieces 11) to the drawer faces.

Photo 13: Drill 1/2″-diameter pull bolt counterbore holes through the drawer fronts. Use a Forstner bit centered in the locator holes you just drilled. Don’t drill into the drawer face.

Mount the legs (pieces 6), being careful not to split the carcass sides when you’re driving the screws into the panel edges. This is an inherent problem with composite panels. Drill pilot holes for all the leg mounting screws, and make the pilot holes for the screws that go into the side panel edges 1/16″ less than the screw’s diameter. Apply wax, and drive the screws slowly. Insert the drawers and make any necessary alignment adjustments to the drawer faces. And … you’re done! (I told you this was going to be fast!)

Hard to Find Hardware

Drawer Pulls #1006631
16″ White Drawer Slides #34843

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

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Creating Bushings for Your Grinding Wheels

Ernie Conover — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:45:25 +0000

Turning expert Ernie Conover explains how to create your own properly sized bushings to install on your benchtop grinder, replacing the ill-fitting and poorly sized plastic bushings that come with most modern wheels.

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Chainsaw Safety Primer

Sandor Nagyszalanczy — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:28:02 +0000

Lots of people love chainsaws: homeowners who buck firewood and build fences; ranchers who cut trees and clear their properties, wood artists who carve bears and benches from logs. You know who doesn’t like chainsaws? Emergency room surgeons who see way too many chainsaw injuries. Unlike a slip with a wood chisel, or even an accidental slice on a table saw, chainsaw injuries typically range from bad to horrific (the average number of stitches from a chainsaw injury? One hundred and ten.). Whether it’s powered by a gas engine or an electric motor, a chainsaw has dozens of fully exposed teeth spinning aggressively around its bar, and all it takes is a moment of inattention to end up with a Frankenstein scar or two.

But you can work safely with a chainsaw; all it takes is strict attention to basic safety practices and a well maintained saw. The majority of accidents occur because these rules of preparation and safety are ignored.

As we’re focusing on using cordless chainsaws, let’s begin by going through a sort of “pre-flight” check list of things you should do every time before every cutting session. You’ll work safer and get better performance from your cordless chainsaw (as well as extend its life) by following these procedures:

1. Remove the chainsaw’s battery and engage the chain brake, if your saw has one.

2. Look over the entire saw to see if it is in good condition, with no damage to the body and handles.

3. Remove the guard and examine the bar to make sure it’s undamaged and relatively clean. Look at the teeth to see that they’re clean and sharp; re-sharpen them if necessary.

4. Check the chain’s tension by lifting it carefully (wearing leather work gloves is mandatory here).

If you can lift the chain completely clear of the bar, it’s too loose and will need to be tightened.

Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for adjustment.

5. Make sure that the saw’s lubricating oil reservoir is topped up with special bar and chain oil. If the saw doesn’t feature automatic oiling, pump the oil button a few times to make sure oil is being fed to the bar and chain.

6. Check your battery’s built-in fuel gauge, if it has one, and recharge the battery if necessary (or have an extra charged pack on hand).

7. Before carrying the saw to the work area, slide the bar guard back in place, replace the battery pack and re-lock the chain brake, if your saw has one.

Chain Saw Safety

Now that your saw is ready to go, let’s look at a few essential safety practices you must always follow when using it:

1. Make sure your log, plank or other workpiece is securely set and placed so that you can cut through without the saw’s bar and chain hitting dirt, debris or (when working indoors) the floor. If you clamp the piece down, locate clamps so that the chainsaw won’t contact them, even if the bar accidentally slips. The work should be oriented so that the piece you’re cutting off will fall away and clear the saw’s bar, not bind against it. Also check the ground under the piece, so it won’t roll into you after it falls down. (If you’re working on uneven ground, stand on the uphill side of the workpiece.

2. Inspect the workpiece to make sure that it doesn’t contain any nails, spikes, bits of barbed wire, or other metal objects. If you’re pruning trees, make sure the branches you’re cutting aren’t under tension and may spring back and hit you or bind on the chainsaw’s bar.

3. Never cut a workpiece thicker than the length of your chainsaw’s bar minus 2 inches.

4. Put on your personal safety gear, including goggles or a face mask, and hand, hearing and head protection.

Do not wear any loose-fitting clothing. (Note that protective chainsaw chaps are not recommended for use with electric chainsaws. They operate by rapidly stopping the chain by clogging it up with loose fibers contained inside the chap’s shell fabric. Electric chainsaws have too much low-speed torque for this to be effective.)

5. Hold the saw with both hands firmly on the handles—never ever use one hand to support or hold the workpiece! Never attempt a cut with the saw higher than your waist.

6. Before starting up the saw, take the proper stance, with both feet standing on solid ground and legs spread apart and well clear of the path of cut.

7. Trigger on the saw clear of the work, then slowly bring the lower part of the bar close to the body of the saw into contact. Use the chainsaw’s bucking spikes (plastic on most cordless saws) to lever the bar into the cut. Advance the cut only as fast as the saw is able to run without slowing down significantly. It can help to change the angle of the bar slightly as you cut, to create and saw away different facets into the wood. When you reach the end of the cut, allow the cut part to fall away, then switch the saw off.

8. NEVER EVER cut with the tip or top edge of the bar. This will cause the saw to kick back with great force and is one of the major causes of chainsaw accidents.

9. Keep the saw topped up with bar and chain lubricant. If your saw doesn’t have an automatic lubrication feature, don’t forget to press the oiling button after every couple of cuts.

10. Even if you do not need an assistant for the task at hand, someone should be with you at all times in case of an accident. Always have a first-aid kit on hand, in case of small cuts. Keep the telephone number and address of your nearest emergency room. If you do get cut, cover the wound with a clean bandage or cloth, apply adequate pressure to stop the flow of blood, and get to a hospital immediately.

Sandor Nagyszalanczy is a furniture designer/craftsman, writer/photographer and contributing editor to Woodworker’s Journal. His books are available at Amazon.com

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Buying Lumber from a Local Sawmill

Rob Johnstone — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:12:25 +0000

Woodworker’s Journal editor-in-chief Rob Johnstone visits a few of the sawmills in his neck of the woods to show a glimpse of the milling process and give you an idea of the quality of wood you can receive from these small businesses.

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Build a Slab-Topped Sofa Table Using Loose Tenon Joinery

Rob Johnstone — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:34:07 +0000

Thick pieces of wood sourced from a local sawmill provide a sturdy base for a large slab-topped sofa table, put together with loose tenon joinery.

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A New Way to Cut Box Joints

Chris Marshall — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:29:00 +0000

Woodworker’s Journal’s Chris Marshall shows how the INCRA IBox jig made setting up box joint cuts quicker and easier than a scrap jig when building his serving tray cart for the May/June 2013 issue of Woodworker’s Journal.

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