Overlay or Plant-on Panels

As mentioned, frame and panels are used to make the sides, the back and the door of this bedside cabinet. This particular construction is known as overlay panels. A glance at the photographs and the diagrams explains that these frames and panels are grooved in such a way that the panel sits atop the frame — or “overlays” it. This version of the frame and panel contrasts in many ways to its relative that uses a raised and fielded panel, so I am going to take the opportunity to expand on their differences.

Technically and visually, the overlay panel is simpler than the raised and fielded one. Technically, because to get the panel to fit into the frame, you need only one machine setting to cut the same size groove into both the parts. The groove can be made on a table saw using a 1/8″ kerf blade. Alternatively, it can be made on a router table using a slot cutter. In both cases, the frame is set so that the wall of the slot is a hair less in width than the width of the cutter or groove. That will allow for an easy-sliding push fit when the two parts are brought together.

One step that is important in this sort of frame and panel construction is that you should make the corner joints of the frame and panel before you cut the panel groove. Once made, clamp the frame together and plane flush any misalignments of the joint line on the face of the frame. You are now two steps ahead. First, this will ensure that when you cut the grooves in the frame pieces they will be properly aligned. Second, it is hardly possible to plane any joint line misalignment once the assembly is glued, because the panel is in the way — which is not the case with the frame on a raised and fielded panel assembly.

Visually, the overlay panel is simpler than the raised and fielded panel because it’s a flat panel with no highlights and shadows which come from raised and fielded moldings. This simplicity is an opportunity to use wood that has a strong grain or color character. It might be any extraordinary colorful piece of cocobolo or a wild tiger-striped pattern on a piece of maple or a quartersawn oak board with perfectly dappled silver grain.

But simplicity is always a two-edged sword. In the case of the plant-on frame and panel, there are two things you must attend to. One is major and one is minor. The major one is getting the two components — the frame and the panel — to be in proportional harmony individually and in the overall. The proportion of a raised and fielded panel can be manipulated within the stiles and rails because the molding around the panel can be made narrower or wider. As well, the molding can be made a different shape, and it can run across the end grain on the top and bottom, or not. Those are variations you can’t make with a plant-on panel. My solution to getting plant-on panel proportions right is generally to make them narrower. You can see what I mean on the sides and back of this bedside cabinet. The door, on the other hand, has a wide panel without vertical division. If the door’s book-matched pieces had not been available, I would have probably chosen three narrow panels to make the door.

The minor problem with the panel is what to do about the square edges that stand proud of the frame. They are only 3/16″ to 1/4″, but that square shape looks very uncomfortable. The answer is to shape the edges at an angle of about 15°. You can do it with a plane or on the table saw. Once you’ve angled the edges, break their corners with fine sandpaper.

The joinery used to make this piece of furniture can be done using machines commonly found in a home workshop, but the finished surfaces are best prepared with a hand plane. This combination of machine and hand tool makes for an exquisite result. I make no bones about the fact that planing the surfaces inside and out was quick and easy because every part was selected from straight-grained quartersawn white oak. Regardless of your skill level, don’t think of this “best quality material” as an extravagance. Realize instead that it makes the most economic use of your time because the wood works easier. Its cost, compared to the cost of your workshop setup, is marginal, and the quality shows through in the finished piece.

Prepare the Parts

Begin by preparing the parts for the sides, the back, and the door. The frames pieces are all 5/8″ thick, with the panels 7/16″ thick. Rip the frame material to width and then cut the stiles and rails to length. At this stage mark each piece with a face side and a face edge mark. Choose the best-looking face to go outside and make the other side the face side. This is the vital step in machining the joints and the grooves in the right place to get the best-looking side on the outside.

Now that you have prepared the stock and cut the components to size, you are ready to move on to making the joints. There are three pieces that need to be butt joined: the top, bottom and shelf. This is an appropriate point in time to glue and clamp those pieces together so they’ll be prepared when you need them later on. If you choose to use a large panel for the door as I did, make that butt joint as well.

Cut the Joints

Joining the frames is the first step in this construction. I used a Festool Domino machine to make the frame joints.

The tool makes what amounts to a mortise-and-tenon joint but, in this case, the tenon is what we call a “loose tenon.” The machine makes a mortise hole in both pieces of wood.

The tenon is a piece of European beech hardwood made to fit the combined mortise holes in width and thickness and length. The loose tenon joint has been used in industry for many years; there’s nothing new about it.

The industrial machine used to make the holes is called a slot mortiser; unfortunately it’s a 3- phase machine that costs a few thousand dollars. The Domino machine is fast and efficient; it makes short work of the frames.

You’ll find the locations for the mortises, as well as many other construction details, in the Drawings. Once the joints are cut, clamp the frames together and be sure that the parts are flush at the joint lines. If not, correct them by planing.

Size the Panels

Once you’ve made the frames, cut the panels to size. This includes the panel that will go into the door. The Drawings should help you work out the dimensions. The panels on the sides and the back are formed from single pieces of solid wood, but as I’ve explained in previous articles and in the DVD series, there is more to making these panels than simply cutting them to size randomly from thicknessed lumber. There is an aesthetic component to this step in that you are choosing to cut the panel from the board where the grain pattern and color is shown to the best advantage. If that means some waste because the best-looking panel is in the middle of the board, so be it. Additionally, spend some time figuring out which of those panels will look the best paired with another in the sides and back that you will be making. This process of selecting the parts and composing them as a whole is a vital part of a handmade product.

Cut the Grooves

Cut the grooves on your table saw or with a slot cutter on a router. Positioning the fence is critical and best done with the help of some test pieces. The gap between fence and cutting should be a hair less than the width of the cut. In this way, the tongues will go into the groove as an easy push fit. Once again, you will find details for these grooves in the Drawings. It’s now, when you are cutting all the grooves, that the face side and edge marks will orient the faces in the direction you want. Paying attention to the marks will put the correct face to the fence and bed, which gets the cut where it should be.

When you are done plowing the grooves into the sides of the panel, it is time to put the 15° angle onto the panels. You can do this with a plane, or using the table saw.

Clean Up: Polish and Glue

Once the mortise-and-tenon joints and the grooves are made, the machined surfaces can be planed smooth. In this instance, planing was made easy because the material had been carefully selected — in addition to its attractive figure, it planes beautifully. As stated earlier, I used straight-grained quartersawn white oak: a classic Arts & Crafts species. Before any subassemblies are glued and clamped together, I apply a polish (a “finish” in “States” terms) to the areas that would be difficult to reach after assembly. Salad Bowl oil by General was the finish I chose for the cabinet. It is a durable finish that is easy to apply and builds up quickly. Gluing up the frame subassemblies is made easy because the frames are flat — even so, check for square and that the frames are out of winding.

Joining the Subassemblies

Before I could assemble the case, mortises for the upper and lower rails at the front of the cabinet needed to be cut, as did the matching mortises on the rails themselves. Once again, the Domino loose tenon system was used here. That done, the next step is to join the subassemblies together. I butt joined the sides to the back, but to help align the joint during glue-up, I used biscuits as shown in the Drawings.

The biscuits were glued into the back panel and allowed to cure, to simplify the final glue-up. Now it’s time for a dry clamping runthrough. Gluing and clamping, especially a large assembly like this one, is best done as a two-person effort. In this case, LiLi Jackson, who was my co-host in the DVD series, lent a hand. After the dry clamping, we glued and clamped the cabinet case together — as always, testing for square by checking the diagonals and making adjustments as needed.

With that step completed, mount the ledgers to the top and bottom of the cabinet. It’s best to predrill holes in the ledgers, which are for the screws that will later secure the top and the bottom in place. The butt joined piece that you prepared earlier for the bottom can now be fitted. Plane off the machine marks and apply the polish. Do the same with the top. When the finish has cured, attach the top and bottom using screws driven up through the ledgers. Make the feet next, and glue them in place. Your cabinet will suddenly start to look like a piece of furniture.

Making and Fitting the Door

The book-matched paneled door is made to fit into the space between the sides of the cabinet. The top and bottom edges of the door nest on the top and bottom front rails, which act as doorstops. These rails are set back so they hold the door standing proud of the edges of the cabinet about the same amount as the panel stands proud of the frame.

A more traditional case construction would dovetail the top and bottom rails in place so they present an edge at the front as do the sides. In the traditional construction, you’d be required to fit all four edges of the door to the opening; in this construction, you need fit only one edge of the door.

The rails are turned through 90° (see the Drawings for details) so they could be attached to the sides using a Domino. The length of the door is the same length as the side panels. The alignment of these parts, and the shadow caused by the door standing proud, make for a comfortable detail.

The first step in hanging the door is fitting the door to the opening. Here, I planed the edge of the door to fit the width of the case opening. There should be about 1/32″ gap between the edges of the door and the sides of the cabinet before you move on to mounting the hinges.

Making a Hinge Gain

There is no formula as to where to position hinges, but they should end up equidistant from the top and bottom of the door. You mount them into the door first, holding the hinge in place and marking its length with a knife mark at each end.

Square that mark across the wood with a try square. Now turn to your marking gauge. To mark the width, set the gauge with its fence on the flap and the spur to the center of the barrel, and scribe a line.

Next, set the gauge to the depth. With the face of the hinge on the fence of the gauge, adjust the spur to the center of the hinge barrel and mark the wood. The waste can be removed with a 1″ chisel. Start by cutting the end grain about 1/8″ in from the knife line, then rough out the gain, staying 1/8″ inside the lines.

Complete the gain by chopping back until your last cut is in the knife lines. Drill pilot holes for the screws and put a steel screw in first, and then replace it with the brass screw. When you have completed these steps on the door, repeat them on the cabinet.

Fitting the Hinges

The door is hung using a pair of butt hinges. The preferred hinges are solid drawn brass. A less expensive alternative is pressed brass (get the solid ones: your work deserves it).

The area that is cut away to accept the hinge is known as the “hinge gain.” Properly done, the hinge should fit into the gain tightly so that the weight of the door and any other pressure is transferred to the end grain wood of the gain, not the screws. It is not a task that can be done in a hurry, but a properly fitted door is a pleasure to use and one of the benefits of furniture that you make yourself.

The Last Details

With the door hung and swinging freely, there are a few more details to complete. Although the rails on the front of the cabinet act like a doorstop, the door still needs a door catch. I used a solid brass catch that securely holds the door in place and both closes and opens with a substantive click. The pull on the cabinet door is likewise solid brass … it matches the hinges and the door catch.

Earlier, you butt glued together a panel to become the shelf. It is time to fit the shelf into the cabinet opening. When it fits, plane it smooth and apply the finish. There are many ways to mount a shelf in the cabinet, but for the sake of simplicity and to continue the elegant look of this piece, I simply drilled shelf-pin holes into the stiles and did not make the placement of the shelf adjustable. I chose to locate it in one position, but the choice is certainly open to you. The last thing to do is break the edges of the top with worn sandpaper. Then apply final coats of finish
until you are satisfied.

This little bedside cabinet is an excellent example of frame and panel construction and provides a good exercise in hanging a cabinet door. But more than that, it is a useful and beautiful piece of furniture that will provide years of service.

Download the Drawings and Materials List.

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It is a bit like an oversized planter box on wheels, but it has some nice features that add to its usability. For one thing, you don’t have to bend over to “weed the garden”; at 42-1/4″ tall, you are working at a comfortable level. The mobile feature allows you to move the cart around on your patio to the most advantageous position in terms of sunlight, but move it out of the way if you are entertaining on the patio — also, it can travel into the garage or other shelter to avoid seasonal frost damage. It has ample storage underneath for additional potted plants or gardening supplies. The cart was a big success last season, with my friend receiving compliments on the cart’s attractive looks to go along with her veggies and flowers.

Getting the Cart Started

One nice thing about this cart is that it is made from dimension lumber that is easily purchased from any lumberyard or big-box home center. I used Western red cedar for all of the 1x material and was intending to use cedar for the legs as well. Cedar, as you know, stands up to the weather well and resists rotting in a moist environment, and it will also turn a lovely silver color as it ages if you don’t apply a finish to the wood. As will sometimes happen, I encountered a small hiccup the day I went shopping: the selection of 4 x 4 cedar was poor, mostly twisted and checked, so in this instance, I opted for Douglas fir 4 x 4s, and I was pleased with the results. If you, like me, decide to get your stock at a big-box store, take advantage of the fact that you can select your own wood and get the very best lumber that you can find. Stay away from large knots (small, tight knots are no problem), and avoid other problems by checking the lumber for twisting, cupping and other distortions. The time you take here selecting high quality stock will save you time and effort in the shop later — trust me on this.

Which brings me to one of my first tips: dimension lumber is milled to specific widths and thicknesses, but those dimensions can vary a bit. To accommodate this variation, I ripped the pieces to size, even if I was using a “full-width 1 x 10.” This step meant I could trust that all my pieces would match up well as I assembled them later. You will find all the parts and their dimensions in the Material List. So go ahead and start making some sawdust!

The sides, ends and cross braces (pieces 1 through 3) are the first components you will need to make. After ripping them to width, go ahead and cut them to length. I used a miter saw to cut most of the garden cart’s pieces to length, but a table saw, or even a handheld circular saw, will do the trick. Western red cedar 1x material is most commonly sold with one face surfaced smooth (but it’s not always 100% smooth; it is technically called hit-and-miss milling, and it means just what it says) and one face left roughsawn. I chose to orient the smooth face of the wood to the outside of the box — but that choice is up to you; if you prefer the rough side out, go for it. Another detail to know is that 1x hit-and-miss surfaced cedar measures out to 7/8″-thick, not 3/4″ like other softwood. If you choose to make your cart from pine or some other kind of wood, you will need to adjust some of the measurements you’ll find in the Material List.

The construction of this cart is blue collar, meat-and-potatoes joinery. Butt joints rule the day, aided by nails and screws where appropriate. I also added Titebond® III glue at times — it is virtually waterproof and supplied additional strength at some of these very simply constructed joints.

Nail (galvanized nails are the best here … no rust marks later on) and glue the ends to the sides to create a four-sided rectangle. Next, test-fit the cross braces to the opening in the rectangle. They need to fit snugly. There are three cross braces: one is located exactly in the center of the rectangle; the other two fit tightly into each end of the box. Apply glue on the long edges of those two cross braces where they abut the ends. I nailed the pieces in place, setting the subassembly aside until the glue cured.

While the glue is drying, take a few minutes to rip and cut the cleats (pieces 4) to size. Fit them between the cross braces, and then nail them in place. Their task is to provide a continuous level edge around the inside of the box; later on, you’ll attach the hardware cloth to this.

Moving on, grab your 4 x 4 stock and make four legs (pieces 5). The ends of the legs must be perfectly square to help align them on the cart. I formed chamfers on all four long corners of each leg. The chamfer measures 5/8″ across the flat and adds a bit of shape to the leg. It also removes some “visual mass” from the legs, which are big square chunks of wood and would otherwise look heavy and clunky.

Mechanical Fasteners

Before you attach the legs to the box subassembly, take a few minutes to add some screws to the equation. It is best if the screws that you use, like the nails, are the type that won’t easily rust. I used stainless-steel screws, but any type of coated screws designed for decks or outdoor use will work fine. As you can see in the photos above and below, I pre-drilled using a countersink-drill combination bit. Then I drove the screws home. All the screw and nail holes will be covered by trim of different sorts, so there is no need to plug them. Following that, miter and wrap the skirts (pieces 6 and 7) around the subassembly, securing them with nails.

Get ready for attaching the legs by ripping and cutting the leg anchors (pieces 8). They will act as braces, helping to secure the legs in place. Turn the box subassembly upside down, and check the Drawings for the anchor locations. Mark their locations, drill pilot holes and screw them in place. Then drill countersunk pilot holes up through the cross braces where the legs will connect. The next step is just awkward if you are doing it yourself — but if you have a friend to help, it’s not bad at all.

Using glue and screws, attach the legs to the box sub-assembly. When that step is done and with the box upside down, check the legs for square. Make any adjustments and then drive nails through the leg anchors into the legs. To complete the leg assembly (which is not a typical construction), glue and screw the bottom stretchers (pieces 9) to the ends of the legs as shown. Now you have really made some progress!

Trim, Wheels and Wire Cloth

With the box and legs combined into one large subassembly, the pace of construction will really accelerate. Before turning the project upright again, rip and cut to length the long and short base rails (pieces 10 and 11) and nail them in place with glue. They might look a little odd now as they don’t quite meet, but in just a bit, you will trim their ends to align with the chamfer on the legs. It’s also the right time to install the casters (pieces 12 and 13). I chose all metal, 3″-diameter casters and purchased them from a big-box store. They work perfectly on a concrete patio. Depending on the surface that your cart will be rolling over, you may want larger-diameter wheels with rubber tires — especially if the cart will be on a deck, dealing with all those gaps between the decking. They’ll probably cost a few bucks more, but they would likely make the cart more usable. I used two fixed casters and two swivel casters, all of them plate-mounted.

With the casters mounted and ready to roll, go ahead and flip the cart over on its wheels. Once again, step over to your table saw and rip material to make the bottom cleats (pieces 14). Install them using nails — be sure that the nails are not too long, as the points will stick out of the long base rails. As long as you are working on this lower section of the cart, grab a hand saw and slice off the ends of the base rails and the little corner of the bottom stretcher to create a finished looking corner.

Enough of that working down by the floor; from here on out most of your assembly will take place closer to waist level … nice. The long and short top trim sit on the top edge of the sides and ends and form a picture frame-like accent to the cart. Miter them to fit, and then nail them in place. Once again, I chose the smooth surface of the cedar to face up (less chance for splinters, in my opinion).

The decorative trim (pieces 17) is the next set of parts that you need to make. If you use a thin-kerf blade on your table saw, you should not have a problem re-sawing the 3/8″-thick pieces from 7/8″-thick cedar. All 10 pieces are secured to the box with brad nails as shown. If you don’t have a nail gun that shoots small nails, the old-style brad and hammer system still works great.

That’s it for the outside aspect of the cart … from here on in, you will be modifying the interior of the planting box. Start by drilling 1-1/2″ drainage holes in the cross braces. See the Drawings for locations, although exact placement of the holes is not critical. Next, cut and fit the screen retainers, both long and short (pieces 18 and 19), but don’t install them yet. The hardware cloth (piece 20), which is very heavy-duty wire screen material, can also be found at big-box or hardware stores, and it is the next part to be made. Using a pair of aviator snips, cut the piece to size, fitting it from end to end and side to side inside the planter box. Now grab the screen retainers and use them to secure the hardware cloth in place. I used short nails for this task.

The final parts to make are the slats (pieces 21) which, when placed on top of the bottom cleats, form a shelf in the lower section of the cart. There should be small gaps between the slats when all six are in place to allow for drainage.

While I did sand the smooth faces of the cart and broke the sharp edges, I chose not to apply a finish of any kind to the wood. This was not due to laziness (well, at least not completely), but rather due to the fact that cedar weathers the elements well and its hue changes to a nice silver color if left unfinished.

And that is it — the garden patio cart is done in the workshop. Fill it with dirt and plant some seeds!

Laying Down the Layers

To build up an effective growing medium, start by putting a layer of burlap over the hardware cloth at the bottom of the planting box. Then put a 2-inch layer of peat moss (available at most garden centers) on top of that. Finally, fill the rest of the planting box with potting soil mixed with a bit more peat moss. Fill it right to the brim as it will compress over time.

Click Here to Download the Materials List and Drawings.

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The basic formula consists of a mixture of milk, lime and earth pigments — three items that were common to any Colonial farm. History suggests itinerant painters of the time brought along their own pigments to mix with local milk and lime. Although other additives have been tried over the years, including drying oils, chalk, calcium carbonate, albumin and hide glue, the basic mixture still works just fine today.

Why should you consider using such old technology in this day and age? Milk paint has a lot going for it, especially in today’s climate of chemically aware consumers. It’s green, in that you mix it by hand, it contains no petrochemicals, it’s made of local, all natural ingredients, and it’s nontoxic, environmentally friendly, biodegradable and contains no VOCs (volatile organic compounds) or HAPs (hazardous air pollutants).

The milk paint you can buy today looks like, and in fact is, the same thing they used back in the old days, yet it’s the ideal product for today’s trendy “shabby chic” look. Sold in powdered form, it has a very long shelf life, since you mix only what you need. It’s easy to apply, and once it goes onto your walls or furniture, it is surprisingly durable. After drying, its sheen is dead flat, but you can top it with boiled linseed oil, waterbased polyurethane or oil varnish to add gloss.

The easiest way to buy it is from one of two venerable and very reliable companies: The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company and The Real Milk Paint Company. Both sell bags of high quality products in powdered form, ready to mix with water, so you don’t even need milk. A bag that makes a pint of paint costs about $10. Between the two companies, they offer over two dozen colors, and you can, of course, mix two or more colors to make your own custom hue.

You can also buy what is called milk paint in liquid form from companies like General Finishes (you’ll find it at www.rockler.com) but to be honest, it’s really acrylic paint made to match the sheen and colors of milk paint. Since milk paint works best on raw wood, this acrylic alternative may be a good choice for going atop already finished wood.

Just in case you have a yen to make it yourself, here’s a simple 19th century formula courtesy of Dwayne Siever at The Real Milk Paint Company. Get started by stirring enough skim milk into hydrated lime to make a cream. Add the balance of the skim milk. Now add a sufficient amount of limeproof powder pigment to create the desired color and consistency. Stir well for a few minutes before using and during use. Extra paint may be kept for several days in the refrigerator, until the milk sours.

MILK PAINT RECIPE

– 1 quart skim milk (room temperature)
– 1 ounce of hydrated lime (not quick lime) by weight
– 1 to 2-1⁄2 pounds of chalk may also be added as a filler.
– Limeproof powder pigment as needed

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The carver’s mallet is necessary for driving the gouge if you haven’t gotten around to carving a bowl yet. This is a nice beginning spindle exercise that I throw at aspiring turners. While the carver’s mallet is straight spindle turning, the assembly hammer includes some unique lathe drilling techniques that are not easily accomplished on a drill press.

Adding to the fun factor of these projects is that the mallet and the head of the hammer can be turned from green wood. It can be a freshly fallen tree or even a piece of firewood — seasoned or unseasoned. If you use an 18″ billet of firewood, use the middle section and discard the ends. Turning green wood or even seasoned firewood (which is 15% water content) is really fun! With sharp tools, it’s like turning on steroids with long flowing chips flying from your tools.

Carving Mallet

The carver’s mallet needs to start with a 3″ to 5″ cylinder between 10″ and 12″ long depending on the starting diameter. Once you have a suitable billet, find as near the center of each end as possible and turn it cylindrical with a sharp spindle roughing out gouge. I prefer to orient the head of the mallet to the headstock end of the lathe. Face both ends dead square with a spindle gouge. It is very important that the head have a dead square end so it can strike close to an edge.

Mark the head section and narrow down the handle area with the spindle roughing-out gouge. It is important to stay on the bevel at the juncture between the head and handle or the gouge will ride up onto the head section, requiring a change of design. This means that you’ll hold the spindle roughing-out gouge angled to the right if you follow my chucking scheme.

The head needs a bit of back taper to make a serviceable mallet. Tapering makes the surface of the cone that forms the head parallel to your workbench as you strike, allowing for better transfer of energy to chisels and carving tools. I rough the taper with the roughing-out gouge and finish it with a skew; however, nearly as good a finish may be obtained by angling the gouge to the work and walking it down the conical surface.

The slope between the head and handle will be quite gentle as left by the roughing gouge. I employ a spindle gouge to steepen this angle to approximately a 15° angle, segueing to a radius as it meets the handle itself. The handle is really two gentle coves with a bead between them. This is all seamless but leaves you with an ergonomic handle. The swelling fits your palm and gives great control. I finish 90% of this area with a skew, negating the need for sanding. The butt of the handle is a sharp cove ending in a half-round bead. This ensures the mallet won’t fly from your hand regardless of the intensity of your pounding. This is simple turning, but the variation in diameters is challenging. Wander off the bevel and gouges will climb up to the greatest diameter with harsh consequences.

Assembly Hammer

The assembly hammer ratchets up your skills with some interesting drilling techniques. The head can be turned from green or dry wood, depending on what you have available. Start with a billet that will yield 4″ to 5″ diameter by 4″ to 4-1⁄2″ long (depending on the diameter). Turn it round with a spindle roughing-out gouge and face the ends dead square with a spindle gouge. Make a finishing cut with a skew, or use the roughing-out gouge technique I outlined on the carver’s mallet. Find the center of the head with dividers and make a very small V-groove with the toe of your skew.

Now bring one face to a gentle convex shape with your spindle gouge. The other face should remain dead square, but put a heavy chamfer at the edge to ameliorate splitting. I now strike two grooves about 3/8″ apart, equidistant between the center groove and the convex face. I turn a bead between the two grooves to quickly identify the convex face.

The next step is drilling a hole that passes through the center of the cylinder that forms the head, which is tricky on a drill press. A time-honored lathe accessory is a crotch-center that makes the task simple. While crotch-centers were a common listing in old Delta catalogs, you will have to find one used today, or make one as shown at right. It works with the cylinder nested in the V that runs flat through the crotch-center while you advance the tailstock wheel against a drill running in the headstock. The resulting hole has to pass through the center axis. I use a 1-1⁄16″ drill because I have an open-end wrench of that size, and I use it as a sizing gauge when turning the tenon on the end of the handle. End the tenon with a slight shoulder, leaving the rest of the handle a bit fatter.

In preparation for assembly, cut a slot about two-thirds down the length of the tenon. Cut a 15/16″-wide wedge that has a long gradual taper in the 3° to 5° range. Smear glue on the tenon, the wedge and the walls of the hole in the mallet head. Tap the handle home until it bottoms out on the shoulder with the slot aligned so that it is across the head and will apply pressure along the grain of the head. Trim the turning bosses and the wedge, and you now have a great assembly mallet. Finish with shellac, oil or varnish. If the head is from green wood it will dry better with some finish on the end grain, but if turned from dry wood, no finish at all is a good option. And always remember the woodturner’s motto: Mallets towards none.

Make a Crotch-Center

To make a wooden crotch-center, turn a Morse taper 3-1⁄8″ long; small end to 17/32″ diameter and the big end at 45/64″. Turn down a 1/2″-diameter tenon. Make the plate as shown above. The author recommends cutting the V into a larger piece of wood and then cutting the plate down to size.

Click Here to Download the Drawings.

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