“Wow, that is a really stylish, modern-looking table design,” thought I, “I need to take a closer look at it.” To my surprise, it was not a modern design at all, but a traditional pine country table. Still, there was something about it. I started to wonder what it would take to convert the humble country effort to a modern-looking end table. After a quick chat with art director Jeff Jacobson, the answer came back: “not much.” I removed some little nubs on its feet, added a chamfer around the top, changed the species of wood, inserted a cherry accent strip and added a second wedge to each tenon — and the deal was done. The design had gone from down-home to uptown in just a few minutes. Now all I had to do was build it!

Starting with Species and Grain Selection

The original country table had been built from plainsawn pine — a reasonable and traditional choice. The modern version could have been made from a straight-grained, light-colored softwood like Douglas fir or longleaf pine, but I had been thinking of using quartersawn ash and dyeing it nearly black. As I was perusing my favorite lumber racks, looking for just the right ash lumber, I glanced over and saw a stash of some really large wenge boards. I did a sort of double take, because the wood had many of the visual characteristics that I had hoped to develop in dyed ash lumber — only here it was naturally occurring in the wood. So, I grabbed one of the long and wide wenge boards, measured it up and found I could get the whole table out of that one piece. (This entire table uses less than eight board feet of lumber.) The grain of the plank changed from riftsawn at one edge to cathedral figure on the other edge. After noodling it over for a bit, I decided that all the legs and feet would be made with riftsawn figure. The only place the cathedral grain would be seen would be on the stretcher and the table top.

Additionally, for the table top, the riftsawn grain would be oriented to the outside edge of the top with the cathedral figure divided by a cherry accent strip down the center. At first, I thought the cherry accent was just going to be a narrow strip to add a touch of color. I also planned to use two cherry wedges in the exposed through tenons on the legs as additional accents. But, after looking at Jeff’s CAD drawings of the table, it occurred to me that a 3/4″ x 3/4″ accent strip, turned 45° to the plane of the top, might bring some visual interest to the piece. I blame this kind of thinking on master woodworker Ian Kirby, who has influenced my design sensibilities over the years. A tweak of the CAD drawing convinced me I was right, and my coworkers agreed. With those choices made, it was time to start making sawdust.

One quick word about wenge. I had never used this species of wood before this project. I found it to be a very dense hardwood that cuts, glues and finishes well. One detail that I learned about wenge the hard way is that it splinters, very easily, on the edges. While I didn’t find this to be a problem in general, when I got to chopping the through mortises on the legs, it gave me fits. I needed to resize the openings and carefully insert the tenons to avoid breaking out the edges of the openings.

Making the Legs and Feet

The feet, cleats and legs (pieces 1 through 3) of the table form a shapely support for the table top. In addition, they are made with a couple of nice pieces of joinery which are attractive, fun and practical. I recommend beginning by making the legs. I cut them to width and length, marked out the mortise location and then stepped over to the table saw to raise the tenons on the ends of each leg. (Note: if you choose to use wenge as I did, I found it important to use a white pencil to do my markup; the wood was too dark for a regular pencil line to be seen.)

Because the tenon on the foot end of the leg was so long (4-1/4″), I couldn’t slice it with a traditional tenoning jig, so I nibbled away the waste. (I would have used a dado head in my saw, but I discovered that my new table saw will not accept my old dado cutters! Even woodworking editors are forced into workarounds …) With the tenons formed, I then chopped out the through mortises with my mortising machine. You can also cut the cleats to length and width and use the mortising machine to form those mortises as long as you have the mortising machine set up. If you don’t have a dedicated mortiser, use a Forstner bit and a chisel to chop them. With those tasks behind me, I moved on to the feet.

Start that process by cutting blanks for the feet that are 5″ wide and 10-7/8″ long. Next, cut the blanks to match the geometric pattern shown in the Drawings. You will machine these pieces while they are in this shape, forming open mortises that capture the long tenon on the end of the legs. This happens when all three pieces are glued together. I used a modified tenoning jig on the table saw to cut those open mortises. The jig’s fence leaned back at 45° so I could plow the opening in each foot. I tested the fit of the open mortise on the tenons as I went.

Then I stepped to the band saw and cut a couple of square notches on the foot pieces that would help me clamp them together more easily. Staying at the band saw, I cut the curves onto the edges of the legs, the last step before gluing the feet and legs together. Glue-up not only required clamping across the face of the legs, but I squeezed the open mortise walls together, using wax paper to keep the glue block and the bench from getting stuck to the glue-up. After the glue had cured, it was time to mark out the final leg shape on the subassemblies and cut them out on the band saw. I took the time to make accurately shaped templates from scrap 1/8″ plywood of the foot shape. I did this for all of the shaped parts. It takes just a few minutes, but it provides an added level of control and makes the rest of the process go much more smoothly.

While the cleats are still in a rectangular shape, take a few moments to bore the holes for the screws that will secure the table top to the cleats. These are two step holes as shown in the Drawings. Following that, I cut the profiles onto the lower edges of the cleats as shown in the Drawings.

Once the legs, feet and cleats were cut to shape, I took them over to my spindle sander and sanded the edges up to the marked out lines. With that done, I glued and clamped the cleats to the top of the legs and allowed the glue to cure. At that point, I set them aside and moved on to the last couple of components.

Building the Table Top and Stretcher

The table top is composed of three pieces of wood, and the stretcher is secured with cherry accent wedges (pieces 4 through 7). As I mentioned before, the stretcher was formed out of the cathedral grain section of the stock. I cut it to length and raised the tenons on its ends as I did with the legs. (See the Drawings for construction details.) The original country table used only one wedge per tenon, which did not make sense to me if it was intended to be something other than eye candy, so I placed two wedges per tenon, as shown in the Drawings.

The table top is simple in concept, but a little tricky in execution — only because it is a long, exacting joint. Go ahead and cut your two tops just slightly oversized, so you will have a bit of stock to trim if necessary. Making the V-groove cut on the table saw requires some preparation. You will need to secure a sacrificial face to the saw’s fence in such a manner that you can slide the tops without obstruction. You will also need a zero clearance insert in place that you sliced the blade opening through at 45°. This is because you need to form the V-groove, but leave a very small amount of wood in place on both sides of the V — less than 1/16″. That tiny bit of stock needs the zero-clearance insert to ride on. I also used a featherboard to help control the cut. I heartily suggest that you test your setup with some scrap lumber and even go all the way to glue-up as I did. It is an odd little joint, and practice never hurt anyone!

When I had the tops machined, I formed the insert strip by cutting an over-long piece of 1″ cherry and then machining it perfectly square in my planer.

Glue-up of the table top was not tricky at all, but I did check to make sure that the two tops were aligned with each other (flat across their width). Once the glue had cured, I used a hand plane to remove the triangle of cherry that protrudes over the flat surfaces of the table top. Then I cut it to final size. There are a few ways that you might create the rather large chamfer on the edge of the table top, but seeing as I had the 45° zero-clearance insert already made, I just did it on my table saw. It worked really well.

Wrapping Up the Last Details

All of the components were now complete, which left just a couple things to do … first off, you guessed it … sanding. One nice thing about this little table is that there are a lot of flat surfaces, which are easy to sand. One not so nice thing about this table is that there are a lot of curved edges to sand — which are a lot trickier to do well. I used a combination of spindle sanders and hand sanding on the edges. For the flat surfaces, I used my trusty 4 x 24 belt sander and a random-orbit sander. But I always do my final — in this case 320-grit — sanding by hand. I “broke,” or gently rounded over, the edges of the pieces during this step.

Once the sanding was done, it was time to glue the stretcher in place. This was done with extreme care to avoid breaking off an edge of the through mortise. I cut a temporary brace for the clamp-up that was exactly the distance from shoulder to the shoulder of the stretcher. This allowed me to clamp top and bottom on the leg subassemblies and keep the assembly exactly square. I glued the wedges and tapped them in place, wiped all the excess glue clean with water and a soft rag, then waited for the glue to cure. When the glue was dry, I trimmed the excess off the wedges and sanded the tenons and wedges flush to the legs. Now it was ready for the finish.

I finished the table top and the legset separately. My first application was amber shellac mixed three to one with denatured alcohol (right from the can). I wanted the amber color to highlight the lighter grained flecks in the wenge. I paid special attention to the end grain, making sure to seal it well. Then I used three coats of sprayed-on shellac from an aerosol can, de-nibbing between coats with #0000 steel wool. I applied a final coat of lacquer from a spray can, because I think the lacquer is a little tougher than the shellac.

Once the finish had cured, I attached the top to the leg-set with screws, and the table was completed. And I must say that I think it turned out well. The dark wenge accented by the cherry lumber looked very sophisticated: equally as attractive, but quite a bit different from, its country pine table origins.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

The post PROJECT: Country Table appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Since then, I figure that it took me 10 years, a hundred calendar frames and the availability of rare-earth magnets to find my perfect attachment method for my calendar frame back panel. I use a piece of 20-gauge sheet metal and attach it using eight 1/2″ rare-earth magnets. It works wonderfully, needs no tools, is easy to remove and has no moving parts (no levers to turn or screws to remove).

After completing a project for a close friend, I decided that this was the opportunity to try my new method and show my appreciation for the commission. He is fond of the Arts & Crafts style and needed a calendar for his workshop.

After I designed the frame, I started the project by making a material list and selecting the lumber. I had a couple of 5/4 rough-sawn quartered white oak boards left over from a recent kitchen project, and all I had to do was determine which sections of the boards had the most figure. To do this, I used an old Stanley #70 box scraper. This is a great tool, and I routinely take it with me to the lumberyard.

Next, I surfaced and dimensioned all the parts, paying close attention to the different thicknesses of the stiles, rails and top cap. I kept the stiles square and parallel at this point and waited until all the joinery was completed before tapering the sides and cutting the angle on the bottom edges.

The four joints in the frame consist of two through-pinned mortise and tenon joints and two floating tenon joints. I used my Domino mortising machine for the floating tenon mortises and used an old Oliver hollow chisel mortiser for the bottom rail mortises.

First, I mortised the top rail and its matching mortises in the stiles with the Domino. Next, I positioned the stiles on the Oliver and mortised for the through tenons, chopping them halfway on each side to minimize any deflection in the chisel or discrepancies in the straightness of the mortise.

The Oliver’s mortising chisel was slightly dull, and the mortise edges were a little ragged. To fix this, I used a very sharp cutting gauge to pare the edges and inside faces of the mortises. Now I was ready to raise the tenons.

I cut the tenons on my Hammond Glider printer’s saw. The saw is from the 1960s and is the most precise machine in my shop. It has a sliding table that rides on twenty 1/2″ ball bearings and is smooth and accurate. After determining the length and width of the tenons, I started by cutting their shoulders. Next, I mounted a tenon jig onto the Hammond’s sliding table and finished the tenons by cutting their cheeks and sides.

Knowing that I would be making more frames in the future, I decided to make a dedicated taper jig, as shown at right. I chose to make the taper cuts on my table saw using a newly sharpened blade as this minimized the final sanding of the edges. When that task was done, I trimmed the ends of the stiles to approximately 10° to add a nice detail.

While I could have used faux pins that would have been 1/8″ or so deep, I decided to use long ebony pins that would provide a mechanical lock in addition to the glue. I dry-assembled the frame and stepped back to the Oliver. I used a 5/16″ mortise chisel and set the mortise depth so that it would pass through the tenon but not through the back side of the stile. The ebony that I used for the pins came from my supply of old piano keys.

I cut the ebony pins to 5/16″ square and about three inches long. To shape the ends of the pins, I set the miter gauge to 20° and formed a “dome” on one end, then I flipped it over and cut the other end. I returned the miter gauge to 90° and cut the pins to length. With the joinery cut and fitted and the pins made, my next step was to taper the sides of the stiles and to cut an angle on their bottom edges.

The last task prior to sanding and gluing was to rout a small, 1/16″ chamfer on all the front edges. I did not chamfer the back edges, but I did lightly sand them to remove any edge sharpness. I also chamfered the ends of the through tenons. That done, I sanded all the parts with 220-grit sandpaper. Because of the pins being proud of the surface, the through tenons and the inside corners, I needed to finish-sand prior to glue-up.

Even though this frame is small, it does present a couple of clamping challenges. First, I had to deal with the tapered stiles, which meant that I had to make angled clamp pads and second, I could not clamp directly over the through tenons. What I did was to use two clamps, one on each side of the through tenon. This method allowed me to see the fit of the tenon and gave me access for cleanup of the excess glue. Once the frame was clamped tight, I tapped the ebony pins in place with a mallet and a small block of wood.

I gave the fresh glue joints time to dry overnight, then got started the next morning by setting up a router for the two rabbet cuts. I needed one rabbet for the glass, calendar and 1/8″ hardboard assembly and another for the metal back panel (see Drawings for details). The rabbet for the metal back was routed first so that the bit’s bearing would have a surface to ride against (the screw holding the bearing on would have hit the edge of the larger rabbet if I had cut it first). For the second rabbet, I carefully measured the thickness of the calendar set, glass and 1/8″ hardboard assembly. After I had this measurement, I routed the rabbet to that depth plus 1/32″. You do not want this rabbet too deep or too loose. If the rabbet is too deep, the calendar will be loose, or if it is too shallow, the metal back will not sit tight against the magnets. When I finished routing, I squared up the corners of the rabbets with a sharp chisel.

With the machining completed, I was ready to order the 1/8″ glass and metal back panel and drill the holes for the magnets. For the back panel, I took the frame to a local supplier of sheet metal and, while I waited, they cut and fitted a piece of 20-gauge steel. I used 3/8″ diameter magnets with their corresponding cups. This step did require very accurate measurements and drilling. Ideally, you want to drill the holes about 1/64″ less than the magnet assembly. This will ensure that the metal back will lay on the magnets and not on the rabbet face.

Now I was ready to finish making the top cap. I set my table saw’s blade to 35° and cut the bevels on the cap. The cap was then centered on the frame and glued directly to the top rail. Before I glued it on, though, I sanded it, working up to 220-grit sandpaper.

Finishing Up

I used an oil stain and two coats of lacquer for the finish. When spraying, be careful not to fill the magnet holes with lacquer, as that would make it difficult to install the magnets (I put cotton balls in the holes when spraying). After the final coat had dried, I rubbed out the entire frame with fine steel wool, then I buffed the surfaces with a clean cotton cloth. While I was spraying the frame, I also sprayed a light coat on the metal back panel. The metal back was fairly clean, and all it required was a light sanding with an orbital sander.

The frame was finished and I was ready to install the magnets, drill the back of the stiles for a wire-hanging system and insert the glass, calendar, hardboard and metal back panel. The 1/8″ glass received a good cleaning after I took the sharpness off the edges with my diamond honing stone (I used a 2″ x 6″ diamond honing stone with water). Next, the calendar assembly went in along with the metal back and, finally, I attached a length of wire for hanging the frame. All that was left was to wrap a ribbon around it and deliver it to its new home.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

The post PROJECT: Arts & Crafts Calendar Frame appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

A Series of Subassemblies

It would be really hard to think of a more classic project than a walnut bookcase, and this one is traditional — even down to its joinery. But, as you’ll see later, I do add a twist or two that makes the whole thing a bit easier to put together. All in all, though, there is nothing really tricky about this project.

As with most of my furniture pieces that are made entirely from solid lumber, my first tasks were determining which pieces of stock would go where on the finished bookcase, and then gluing up narrow boards to make the flat panels.

Fortunately, I had a long, nicely figured board in 1/2″ thickness that was wide enough to make the side panels without butt joints. (Again, I took considerable care selecting this stock, because the panels are a major visual component in the bookcase.) After I rough-cut the pieces to length, I machined them down to their proper size on my table saw. If you will have to glue up stock for the side panels, try to make sure that you match the grain pattern across the glue-up as well as you can to blend the glue seams.

When it came to the top, shelf and bottom, I did need to glue up stock sufficiently wide to create those pieces. So I took the time to prepare stock and glued up butt-joined panels for each of these “show” pieces. This entire bookcase is made from solid walnut lumber, with the exception of the bottom stringers (which I made from some thick oak stock I had set aside in my shop for just such a situation). You could substitute walnut-covered veneer sheetstock for any number of the parts if you’d like … but I prefer the look and feel of solid hardwood, and in a project of this size, you would not likely realize significant cost savings by using the sheetstock. You can find all the dimensions for the various parts in the Material List.

I set the side panels — along with the three clamped-up pieces I just mentioned — aside for now and moved on to making the stiles and rails, which I constructed from 3/4″-thick stock. After cutting them to width and length (remember to factor in the length of the rail’s stub tenons in this calculation), I needed to machine grooves and tenons. Once again at my table saw, I outfitted it with a dado head to plow grooves in the center of the appropriate stile and rail edges.

To help control the cut, I used a shop-made featherboard in this operation. Then I placed my big crosscut sled on the table saw (keeping the dado blade in the saw) and raised the tenons on the ends of the rails — taking care to fit them to the grooves I had just formed. Once the stiles and rails fit together properly, I needed to chop a couple of mortises into the stiles. I used my old mortising machine to chop the openings. When I make mortises like this with a machine, I always start the process in the middle of the mortise and move to either side. I believe I get better results as the cutter does not deflect during the cut this way. These mortises are open at the top of the rail so they will accept both the veneered front stretcher and the lower stretcher that sits just below it. They both slide down into the same long mortise. See the Drawings for more details.

With that done, I grabbed the two side panels and got to work machining them to fit into their respective frames. Once again I used my trusty table saw, in this case to form a rabbet all around the edges of the side panels. The joints are formed such that the panels fit into the stiles and rails so their inside faces are flush. (Later, when mounting the shelf into the bookcase, it will make perfect sense why I did this.) Once again, you can check out the Drawings for details. One important note: because they are made from solid lumber, the panels must have room to expand and contract seasonally within the frame.

I test-fit the components of the side subassemblies, and once I was satisfied that everything was well and proper, I glued and clamped them together, allowing the panels to float within the frames. When the glue had cured, there were just a couple more pieces of machining to get through. I formed shallow rabbets on the back edges of each frame-and-panel side assembly into which the outermost back slats fit.

There is also a stopped rabbet right at the bottom of each side assembly. I cut this rabbet with a handheld router guided by a straightedge. I needed to square up the stopped end with a sharp chisel, but that was easily accomplished. With that hand work done, I set the machined sides aside.

Making the Bottom Assembly

After taking the panels that I had glued up to make the top, bottom and shelf out of their clamps, I moved on to building the piece from the bottom up. Starting with the piece that would become the bottom, I cut it to size on the table saw. Important details on the bottom are the notches that correspond to the stopped grooves on the frame-and-panel sides and the rabbet for the back slats. I cut and fit the notches carefully, testing them in the side panels, rather than doing this later. Then I formed the rabbet along the back edge of the bottom. It’s important to note that the bottom is a key part of the lower subassembly, which also includes three thick moldings, two stringers and two stretchers — all of these pieces are structural.

I got going by cutting the molding stock overly long (enough to make the side and front molding pieces) and to its proper width and thickness. Then I chucked a beaded roundover bit into the router table and took several passes to shape the stepped roundover on the top edge of the molding. I like to take a very scant final cut on molding like this … it reduces tearout and leaves a really smoothly cut surface. With that done, I machined the stringers and stretchers.

As you can see in the Elevation Drawings, I used pocket holes bored into the stretchers to join them to the stringers. The order of assembly was: first, attach the stretchers to the stringers, then attach the bottom to this subassembly (put a bead of glue on the top edge of the front stretcher).

Next, I used my miter saw to cut the base molding pieces to size. They wrap around three sides of the base with mitered corners. Using glue and screws, attach the base moldings to the stretchers and stringers and allow the glue to cure. I quickly wiped away glue squeeze-out with a wet cloth.

Now a word about the feet. These bun feet match the style of the bookcase very well and are easy to install. I ordered my walnut feet from Osborne Wood Products rather than trying to stain another species to match the rest of the stock in the bookcase. I think it’s worth the extra time and money.

Moving to the Top and Back

There is an internal frame at the top of the bookcase — unseen in the completed unit — that helps hold the top together and to which the back slats are mounted. Because it is hidden, I once again used screws to assemble the frame cleats.

The back slats are shiplapped so they can overlap one another as they go across the back of the bookcase. It is a very traditional way to build a solid wood back that takes into account its expansion and contraction. Note that the center slat has two rabbets on the same face, while the remainder have the rabbet on the opposite faces. These back slats are actually pretty visible from the front of the bookcase, so I took time to compose them in an attractive manner. With the back slats and the upper frame completed, it was almost time to do some more major assembly … almost. First there was some sanding to do. It is much easier and more efficient to sand these components before they are assembled. I took them right up to 180-grit.

After test-fitting all the parts, I glued and clamped the side subassemblies to the base, then glued the top frame in place. I also used screws to help secure the frame to the side subassemblies. It is important to square up the bookcase at this step.

I measured the inside dimensions of the case and carefully cut the shelf to size, allowing for the thickness of the shelf front. I also sliced a narrow groove in each end of the shelf, to accommodate the hidden shelf support pins. (See the Drawing for more details.) When that was done, I cut the shelf stiffener to size and glued and clamped it to the shelf, setting the assembly aside until the glue cured.

A Veneered Accent Strip

One detail that gives this bookcase a truly “classic” feel is the burl veneer glued to the upper stretcher that runs across the front of the piece. If you are thinking of building this piece but are uncomfortable with the practice of veneering, you could always skip this step and use a really attractive piece of solid walnut. But this sort of veneer work is not hard, and it might just help you to become more comfortable with this truly handy technique.

I cut the upper stretcher to size from a piece of solid walnut and milled it about 1/16″ under 1/2″ thick to accommodate the added thickness of the front and back veneer. A piece of 1/2″ plywood or MDF actually would have been better for this task, but frankly, I didn’t have any on hand and was not going to buy a whole sheet of plywood to make a 2-1/2″ x 35″ strip! Next, I selected my veneer from a flitch of 6 or 7 pieces. (A “flitch” is several sequentially sliced pieces of veneer. Because they are very thin slices, the grain is nearly identical on each of the pieces.)

Examining the veneer, I found a nice place to start my book-match, placed the stretcher piece on top of the veneer and carefully sliced around it about 1/4″ oversize with a utility knife. (I used a fresh blade!) It is important to note that this piece will cover only half of the stretcher. Taking the next piece of veneer from the flitch, I located the same grain pattern and cut it to rough size as well. I overlapped the veneer slightly at the center seam and used a small straightedge to slice a clean square cut where I would join the two pieces together to form the book-match.

With that done, I taped the veneer together, forming a long narrow strip that was just about a 1/2″ wider and longer than the upper stretcher. (What kind of tape should you use? Veneer tape is the proper product for this task … but again, I did not feel like buying a whole roll of it, so I used blue masking tape. It is not great for this task, but it worked for me.)

I put some newspaper on my workbench to catch the glue drips. Then I applied a coating of regular wood glue (white or yellow, it makes no difference) to one face of the stretcher and the non-taped face of the veneer. A thin, smooth coat of glue is required. If, as happened to me, the veneer fractures (burl is notoriously fragile), just carefully tape it back together and keep on going. The good thing about burl is that its exceedingly wild grain will hide a few little imperfections, and they probably will end up not being noticeable.

I allowed the glue to dry completely and, while that was happening, I dug out my clothes iron. The iron, set to its hottest temperature, is used to push the veneer down on the substrate. The heat from the iron activates the glue, and it sticks in place instantly. One important point: once that hot iron hits the veneer, you can’t move the veneer side to side or up and down on the substrate, so I make dead sure that I have it exactly where I want it when I start this process. Press the iron down along the whole length of the stretcher to secure the veneer. I again used the utility knife to trim off the excess veneer. Then I repeated the veneering process on the back of the stretcher. (If the stretcher had been made of plywood, I would not have felt the need to put veneer on the back of the stretcher. Because it was made from thin, solid wood, I chose to balance the layers to keep it from distorting.)

At this point, I raised the tenons on the ends of the upper stretcher, fitting it to the mortises I had chopped earlier. I also made the lower stretcher and machined its tenons at the same time. When they fit well, I glued and clamped them in place. (I did take the time to sand them before I attached them to the case.)

Adding the Top and Trim

The project was getting closer to completion with every step. I moved on to the top, which I had glued up earlier. Now I cut it to size and shaped the sides and forward edge with a Roman ogee bit installed in my router table. I tested its fit on the bookcase, and then set it aside. Following that, I made the trim molding. Because it is very narrow, I shaped the edge of a wider board first with an ogee bit in the router table and then followed that by shaping the bottom with a roundover bit. With that completed, I ripped the trim piece off of the board at my table saw. This method is far safer than working with thin stock on a router table. I cut the pieces to length, mitering them around the bookcase and then glued and clamped them in place. After the glue had cured, I mounted the top to the bookcase using screws driven up through the hidden internal frame.

After thoroughly sanding them, it was time to mount the back slats to the bookcase using one small brad nail through the center of each slat, top and bottom. I started with the center slat and worked outward. The last slats on each side required a bit of extra fitting. I glued the outside slats into the shallow rabbets on the back of each frame-and-panel side.

At this point I also attached the bun feet using small hanger bolts. They mount to the bottom stringers.

The last step in the construction process was to bore four holes for the shelf mounting system. (See the Drawings for the hole locations.) It was the first time I had used these little pins with the odd flat wings on them, but I have to admit, they worked pretty well.

Finishing went smoothly on this piece. Because I had taken the time to sand the pieces before I assembled them, the final hand sanding to 220-grit did not take too long. Now, some folks might think this is odd, but I find some walnut gets a bit flat and gray looking with just a clear finish. So, to combat that, I used a red mahogany oil stain to add red highlights to the walnut. Then I followed with three coats of clear poly. It looked great.

While I’m not going to get into fulltime casework projects, this bookcase was an enjoyable change of pace for me. I hope that you enjoy building it and that it finds a fitting place in your home.

Click Here to Download the Drawings and Materials List.

The post PROJECT: Classic Walnut Bookcase appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

It’s one thing to own an expensive sports car or a luxurious boat, it’s another thing to keep it in top condition over time. Regular maintenance is essential to keep all of our “adult toys” operating at their best. A table saw – or any power tool – is no different. A well-tuned machine is a pleasure to use, while a poorly maintained one is at best inaccurate and a pain to use and at worst can cause a serious accident.

I like to go over my saw and perform each of the operations I’ve described in this column at least once every six months – more often if I’m using the saw all the time. It’s also prudent to go through most of these procedures on a brand-new saw right after you assemble it. Good maintenance will keep any kind of table saw – cabinet, contractor’s or portable – performing both accurately and safely over the decades to come.

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Adjustments for the Miter Slots and Gauge

To keep your miter gauge crosscutting accurately, there are several checks and adjustments you’ll need to make. The first step is to make sure that the bar on your miter gauge fits snugly, yet slides smoothly in the table slot. Some miter bars have special inserts that can be adjusted in or out with a small Allen wrench (Photo 1). If your gauge lacks this feature, you can replace the bar with an aftermarket steel bar that has adjustable spring plungers that keep the bar tight in the slot.

Next, check that the slots on your table saw are actually parallel to the blade. If they’re not, you’ll never get accurate miter cuts, no matter how perfectly the gauge itself is adjusted. Start by mounting a good, flat saw blade and raising it to full height. There are several ways to check the slot/blade parallelism. The easiest method is to use a dedicated tool, such as Rockler’s Superbar (available through Rockler’s website) or the Woodpeckers Saw Gauge (Photo 2). These specialized tools accurately fit into the saw’s miter slot and use a dial indicator to take readings on the front and rear surfaces of the blade body. If the dial shows a different reading front to back, then the slot is likely not parallel to the blade.

A lower-tech way of checking parallel is to clamp a scrap wood stick to a miter gauge set for a square cut. Extend the stick so that it just touches the front edge of the saw blade. Slide the gauge until the stick is touching the back edge and see if there’s a gap (if there’s resistance sliding the gauge, reset the stick to touch at the back of the blade and slide it forward). Measure any resulting gap between the blade and stick with an automotive feeler gauge (Photo 3). To make sure that any gaps aren’t due to an un-flat saw blade, rotate the blade 90-180 degrees and repeat the process (also be sure and do this if you’re using a special saw gauge).

If the parallelism test reveals a discrepancy of more than, say, .003-.005 in., then you should realign the blade and miter slot. On contractors’ and some portable table saws, resetting parallel is done by shifting the saw’s rear trunnion side to side on the underside of the saw table.

On most cabinet style saws, this job is accomplished by rotating the entire table top relative to the saw’s base. In either case, loosen the necessary bolts and shift the position of the trunnions or top slightly, then retighten the bolts and recheck the parallelism of the slots and blade.

Finally, check the angle stops on the miter gauge head by taking cuts and 90 and 45 degrees, and comparing the cut ends as you did when adjusting the blade tilt angle stops, described above. Readjust the screws on these stops as necessary so that they yield accurate cuts (Photo 4).

Adjust the Rip Fence

One of the most important things to do to maintain the cutting safety and accuracy of your table saw is to make sure the rip fence is basically parallel to the blade. A fence set with its back end closer to the blade than the front end tends to pinch the workpiece against the saw blade, which can result in a dangerous kickback.

An easy way to check for parallel is to press two 3/4-in. thick blocks at either end of the saw’s right-hand miter slot, then lock the fence down just shy of the blocks and measure the gaps. Ideally, the gap at the back edge of the blade should be just a skosh (.001 – .002 in.) greater than the front gap (this provides just a slight bit of clearance at the back of the cut). Use a feeler gauge to check the gap. If the setting isn’t right, loosen the screws or bolts that secure your rip fences bar (Photo 5) to the fitting on the front rail and reposition the bar as necessary. Retighten the bolts and recheck fence alignment.

If your table saw has a cursor and scale on the front rail, position the fence bar so that its face lightly touches the saw blade teeth and lock it down. Reset the fence’s cursor to read zero on the rail’s scale (Photo 6).

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This interactive DVD-ROM will show you the fundamental maintenance procedures for seven major woodworking power tools: the table saw, jointer, drill press, dust collector, air compressor, pneumatic nailer and even a moisture meter. You’ll get step-by-step instructions, over 150 photos and over 60 minutes of video from experts Sandor Nagyszalanczy and Chris Marshall, Senior Editor of Woodworker’s Journal magazine.

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