The Restorer Kit (PXRA2676KIT) includes a Restorer tool, carry bag, six sanding sleeves, two abrasive sleeves, and 1 rust and paint removal wheel.

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One Board is All You Need

You can build this stool from a single 1×10, but if you’re using #2 pine from the home center, like I did, I’ll suggest spending the extra three dollars for an 8-ft.-long 1×12 instead. Even when you pick the best one of the pile, you’ll still need to do a little squaring, straightening and cutting around knots. If it turns out your board is nice enough, you can make two step stools: one for the house, and one for the shop!

First, taking the knots into account, crosscut three pieces to rough length: one at 16″, one at 18″ and one at 20″. These will be the stretchers, top, and legs, respectively. Joint and square up the long edges before cutting these parts to their final dimensions. When you rip them to width, leave them about 1/32″ oversize, so you can sand or plane off any saw marks. Cut the top to final length at this time, and crosscut the legs to 10″. With the table saw blade tilted to 8˚, crosscut the top and bottom of the legs parallel and to a finished length of 9″. In addition to adding some style, angling the legs gives the stool extra stability.

Mark a vertical centerline on the legs. On the top of each leg, measure 3″ out from either side of the centerline, giving you 6″ between the stretcher notches. To make the shoulder cut for these notches, I used my table saw with two miter gauges connected by a sturdy fence, angled 8˚ to match the angle at the top and bottom of the legs.

Now, to make the cheek cut for the stretcher notches, you’ll need to use two rip fence settings, so you can make a cut along both faces of each notch. You’ll make two cuts for each notch, eight total cuts. Once you’ve set the fence for the first cut, rip just a little ways at a time, checking the underside of the board after each cut. When you reach the shoulder cut, turn off the saw and clamp a stop block to your rip fence at that stopping point. Make the four cuts possible with this fence setting. Change the fence setting, flip each notch over to cut its other face, and you’ll come close to cutting the entire joint. Finish cutting the notches by hand to remove the remaining waste.

Next, you’ll give each leg a pair of feet. Start by drilling a 1/2″-diameter hole on the centerline 2-1⁄2″ up from the bottom. Make a mark along the bottom edge of each leg 2-1⁄2″ away from either side of the centerline, and connect these marks to the 1/2″ hole.

Cut along the layout lines using a band saw or jigsaw. To finish off the leg shapes, cut their angled sides and use a block plane or sanding block as needed, to remove any saw marks.

Bandsawing Legs

The simplest machine for this job is the band saw. Make the cuts by eye, following your layout lines.

If you don’t have access to a band saw, a handheld jigsaw will work fine, too.

Making the Stretchers

Rip the two stretchers from the remaining board that you cut earlier. Cut the stretchers’ angled ends at 22-1⁄2°. Now mill the 8˚ dadoes using a dado blade in your table saw. Be careful that these dadoes are angled correctly, relative to the angled ends of the stretchers. The correct direction is to have them angled opposite to, not parallel with, the angled ends of these parts.

Cutting Angled Dadoes

Be picky about sizing these dadoes to the right width — too narrow and the legs won’t fit them; too wide and the fit will be sloppy, which defeats the purpose of the dadoes in the first place. Aim for a good, snug joint connection.

Assembling the Stool

With all the cutting done, go ahead and apply any edge treatment you like. I routed a chamfer around the top board and a 1/8″ roundover on everything else.

You can assemble this stool using just glue or glue and finish nails. However, for maximum strength, I recommend going with glue and wood screws. If you plan to paint your stool in several colors like I’ve done here, do that now on all surfaces that won’t need glue, while the parts are still fully accessible. (If you decide on a clear coat like varnish instead, that can wait until the very end.) Proceed with the assembly by attaching the stretchers to the legs. I counterbored all of the screw holes to set their heads below the surface. Now place the leg assembly upside down on the bottom face of the top board, center it, and drive screws through the stretchers to attach them to the top.

I covered the screw heads with decorative mushroom buttons. While they usually fit tightly in counterbored holes so as not to require glue, it’s a good safety precaution anyway: loose buttons could end up in inquisitive little ones’ mouths, ears or noses by mistake.

With the screws capped, your stool project is ready to make step-up tasks easier for just about everyone.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings and Materials List.

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We at the Woodworker’s Journal are pleased and honored to be working with BackYardHive. We support their efforts to help better the bee and pollinator situation. Below, in their own words, is what they are all about (from their website): “Our primary focus is on improving bee ecology and beekeeping methods that respect the honeybee.

Our hope is that by introducing new hobby beekeepers to the rewards of beekeeping there will eventually be backyard beekeepers worldwide who will help bring back the feral bee population and improve the genetic diversity of the honeybees. This diversity is critically important to the survival of this most precious natural resource. Thank you for being a part of the solution and being a part of the growing community of backyard beekeepers we are helping to create at BackYardHive.com.”

Get Your Beekeeping Supplies

Once you’ve built your beehive and found a good location to place it, you are going to need some supplies — for example, some bees.

We recommend our partner in this project, BackYardHive.com, as a great place to get the stuff you need to put this project into production. They have informational online material that can get you started as well as a nicely produced DVD that walks you through the process. They have supplies for sale and even an online place to ask questions. Here is a short list of “must-haves” our partners recommend:

How-to DVD — demonstrates how to care for bees in your backyard

The Original Hive Tool — key to working the hive, loosening the combs for harvesting

Herding Tool — helps to gently move the bees off the comb without using smoke

Natural Beeswax — used to coat the bars; this encourages the bees to align their combs on the bars

Building the Box

Start the project by laying out and cutting the two hive ends (pieces 1) to shape. Then use one of these workpieces to set your table saw’s blade tilt angle for trimming the top and bottom edges of the hive sides (pieces 2), which also cuts them to width. Then cut the sides to final length. Now chuck a rabbeting bit in your router and rout a 1/2″ x 3/4″ rabbet on each end.

This hive has a viewing window in one of the sides. You can make the window opening’s long cuts on the table saw, carefully raising the blade through the stock at the starting point and then ripping to the stopping point.

Then make the short end cuts with a jigsaw. Or make all four cuts with a jigsaw, if you prefer. Finish it by routing a 1/8″ x 3/8″ rabbet around the inside edge for a glass recess.

With that done, trim 1/2″ off of the bottom of one of the hive ends: this gap will be the bees’ entrance. Go ahead and assemble the sides and ends with waterproof glue and stainless steel screws.

Next, cut the bottom panel (piece 3) to size and set the hive assembly on it. Trace around the inside. Use this outline as a guide to pre-drill angled pilot holes for attaching the bottom panel to the sides and ends.

If you’d like to round over or chamfer any part of the hive up to this point, now is the time to do it, before attaching the bottom. Then go ahead and install it on the hive with glue and screws.

The end handles, window trim and feet (pieces 4 through 6) come next. Cut them to shape, mitering the ends of the handles, and fasten them all to the hive.

You can also rip and crosscut the window cover (piece 7). Round over and rabbet its ends and top edge, leaving the bottom edge flat for attaching the hinge.

After you’ve cut the hinge (piece 11) to length, fasten it in the window opening, and attach the cover. Make and install the latch block (piece 8) above the window opening, and screw the latch (piece 9) to the window cover. Wrap up by setting the glass (piece 10) into its rabbet with a bead of silicone caulk.

Assembling the Hive’s Lid

The lid comes next: it fits over the hive and rests on the handles to protect the inner compartment and combs.

Cut the lid frame sides and ends (pieces 12 and 13) to size, and rabbet the ends of the side pieces.

Notice in the Drawings that the lid (piece 14) fits down into a top rabbet in the frame.

Rout that 1/4″ x 3/8″ rabbet along the top edge of the four frame pieces, before assembling them with glue, screws and corner blocks (pieces 15). Now bed the lid panel into its rabbet with silicone caulk.

Making the Roof

The hive’s roof covers the lid and creates a seasonal thermal barrier, plus weatherproofing.

I decided to style my roof with some resawn lap-siding (pieces 16) to add a “homey” touch. To make it, start with 3″-wide by 3/4″-thick stock.

With your band saw’s table tilted 5°, resaw the stock, making two almost equal halves. Doing this can be difficult, so set your fence to saw the offcut about 1/32″ thicker. After cutting the first piece, run the offcut through, so it will end up exactly the same.

When the dust clears, you’ll notice that because of the angle on the siding’s bottom edge, the rough, resawn faces will be the outer faces. To change this angle relationship, rip the bottom edge of each piece with the rough sides face-down and your table saw set at 90°.

Cut off just enough to change the angle. Next, use a dado blade tilted to 85° to cut the rabbet into these bottom siding edges. Leave two pieces un-rabbeted; these will be the bottom edges of the roof. Then cut the siding to finished length.

One last step: use a straight bit in your router table to make the 1/4″-wide, 30-1⁄2″-long roof vent cutouts in only the top two pieces.

Most router table fences aren’t long enough for this, as the cutout is longer than the fence. Mine wasn’t long enough, so I clamped a long auxiliary fence with a cutout for the router bit.

Glue the eight siding pieces into two roof panels, using weights and clamps as necessary to keep the assemblies flat and square. When the glue dries, trim their top edges at 15°, so there’s no gap where they meet at the roof peak.

Next, lay out the roof ends (pieces 17), and cut them to finished length. Cut their slopes on the band saw. Now, rip two roof sides (pieces 18), and bevel-rip their top edges to 15°. Cut them to final length.

After you mill 1/2″ x 3/4″ rabbets on their ends, glue and screw the roof ends and sides into a frame. You’re now ready to install the roof panels with glue and finish nails. Then bore a 1-1⁄2″-dia. vent hole through each roof end, and staple window screen (pieces 22) over them to cover them from inside.

The roof has two end blocks (pieces 19). Make their V-shaped cutouts on the table saw. If you have a left-tilting table saw, move the fence to the left side of the blade for this operation.

Cut the angles a bit at a time, raising the blade incrementally after each cut. Be sure to cut from both edges before raising the blade. Crosscut the blocks to length, and glue and screw them to the roof.

Install screen (piece 22) over the ridge vent with screen retainer strips (pieces 21) and staples. Wrap up the roof by attaching the ridge cap to the roof ends with countersunk screws.

Machining the Top Bars

The 24 top bars (pieces 23) lie across the hive and form attachment points for the bees to make individual hanging combs. To build the bars, start with 1-3⁄8″-square billets that are cut to the final length. Cut the non-through end angles at the table saw using a miter gauge equipped with a long fence and a stop block for accuracy. Trim off this waste at the band saw to form a lapped end.

Set up for drilling the bars’ top holes by making three 1-1⁄4″-wide spacers. Clamp a stop on the drill press for the end hole. Drill the first hole and then slip a spacer between the stop and the bar’s end for each successive hole.

Cutting the bars’ long angled sides is tricky, but with the proper setup, it needn’t be dangerous. You could easily make the first cut with the point facing down, but the second cut would be impossible. Instead, you’ll need to cut the bars with the point facing up. Again, if you have a left-tilting saw, move the fence to the left side of the blade.

You’ll need three essential items to make these cuts: a zero-clearance insert (with its slot cut through at the same angle that you’re cutting), a featherboard and a push block. The zero-clearance insert and push block are job-specific but worth the added measure of safety. Without the zero-clearance insert, the offcuts will slide down between the blade and the throatplate’s opening, causing a dangerous binding situation. If your blade doesn’t lower far enough to allow an uncut throatplate to seat completely, groove the throatplate’s underside where it contacts the blade, allowing it to fully seat. Then raise the blade through the throatplate while it’s pinned down by the rip fence.

The push block has two “feet” that hold down the thin lapped ends of the bars (see top center photo). Trim the feet to the same width as the bars, so that they don’t interfere with the featherboard. The block’s middle is cut out so that it bridges the taller part of the upturned bar. As you feed the stock, the blade becomes housed within the block.

Now that you’ve got all of your safety equipment ready, bevel-rip one side of each bar, then spin it end-for end in the push block to trim the other side.

Next, make a slight roundover along both top edges of each bar. The roundover makes it easier to insert a tool that’s used to separate the bars when they’re in the hive and coated with wax. The final step for the bars is to rout a 3/32″-wide, 4-3⁄4″-long vent on one side of each bar. When you set the bars in place in the hive, it creates a gap that’s too small for the bees to crawl through. The false back panel and top bar (pieces 24 and 25) are your last things to build. Rout a 1/4″ groove along the top bar for the panel, and just glue them together.

Apply a finish if you like, to the exterior only. The best choice is a natural finish , so it doesn’t affect the bees or the honey. Now assemble the hive and order some bees!

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

Hard to Find Supplies

Stainless Steel Piano Hinge #32611
Feed-N-Wax® Wood Polish and Conditioner #24545

Help our Pollinators

Pollinators are in trouble — and that is not good news for those of us who like to eat! (Or for the environment or life on earth in general.) Recent studies and news stories report that honeybee and Monarch butterfly populations are in steep decline. The list of challenges for these essential insects is long: not enough forage (they are starving), pesticides, pollution, mites and other parasites — it is no bed of roses, literally. One bit of good news is that everyday folks are now starting to step up to try to reverse the trends that are hurting our pollinators. Below are just a few good websites (there are many more) for you to check out if you’d like to be a part of the solution.

http://www.backyardhive.com/

http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html

http://www.xerces.org/bringbackthepollinators/

http://baselandscape.com/portfolio/pollinator-boulevard

The post Building a Backyard Beehive appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

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Start with the Slab

Since the slab determines the size and shape of the cabinet that goes under it, that’s the place to start. First, decide which side of the slab will be the top. This one was obvious, as it had a huge crater on one side. As the slab will go against a wall, obviously it needs to be cut to make a straight edge. After considering that cut, a semicircular cabinet seemed like a natural choice, as it would roughly mimic the shape of the finished countertop.

Before making any cuts, make the slab as flat as possible. A drum sander — like the SuperMax 19-38 — makes easy work of the task, as its open end allows for sanding pieces up to 38″ wide. Alternatively, you could use a belt sander or a hand plane. I was very happy to have the use of a drum sander, as the belt sander and I have never been very good friends, and a hand plane would have meant hours of labor.

After flattening the slab, make a rough layout of the cabinet using tape to determine where to make the cut.

Use a track saw or a shop-made saw guide for your circular saw to make the long cut. This slab was close to 3″ thick, so I finished the cut with a hand saw and then smoothed the cut edges with a hand plane. You could make the cut on a band saw if you have a helper to catch it as it comes out.

In this case, the off-cut is just as lovely as the main countertop, so I decided it would make a great shelf to complement the countertop. Also, to bring an element of the slab to the cabinet, I cut two strips from the offcut’s edge to make book-matched trim for the doors.

Slabs like this one are a challenge, as there are often voids of all shapes and sizes. Use epoxy to fill the voids before proceeding. This slab had one large hole all the way through. To fill the hole, I applied tape to the top surface, covering the hole. Then, I flipped the slab over and filled the hole from the bottom. I used black TransTint® from Rockler (a tint created with aniline dye) mixed into the epoxy, so that the hole wouldn’t be transparent.

After the epoxy cured, I flipped the piece over to determine what areas of the top needed pre-filling. Most large voids will take several applications to fill them, as the epoxy will continue to flow until it finds the end of the hole, or a way out. When you’re doing this, put plastic or cardboard on the floor and use wax paper under the slab. It’s going to be messy.

This can take multiple pours, so be patient. Sometimes, what appears to be a small surface crack can actually be a hidden cavern that seemingly has no end. Or, as was the case for my slab, there were a couple of cracks that presented no easy way to block the exit. In the end, I decided to move on and let them be cracks in the finished piece.

For voids at the edge of the slab, dam them up with tape before pouring. Depending on your preference, you can use clear or tinted epoxy for these voids.

After filling the voids to my satisfaction, I let the epoxy cure for a couple of days before taking it back to the drum sander. If you try sanding it too early, it’ll just gum up the sandpaper and make a mess. To see if it’s ready to sand, try sanding it with a sanding block. If it feels even a bit sticky or the epoxy balls up, wait longer. When the epoxy is cured, sand both sides of the slab flat and then finish with a random orbit sander up to 220-grit.

When the slab and shelf are sanded, it’s time to start applying finish. To apply MirrorCoat® epoxy, set the workpiece on sawhorses and then shim and level it. Leveling the workpiece is essential, as MirrorCoat is thin and will continue to flow as it cures, and you want it to flow evenly over the whole surface.

Mix up a half-cup or so of epoxy and pour some on. You can always mix more if you run short, but if you mix too much it’s a waste. Use a foam brush to spread the epoxy over the entire surface. Here again, cover the floor with plastic and place wax paper between the slab and the sawhorses.

After you’ve spread the epoxy over the entire surface, you’ll notice air bubbles starting to appear; that’s when it’s time to apply some heat. Using a propane torch, just wave the flame over the finish and watch the bubbles disappear. Keep the flame moving so you don’t burn the epoxy. Let the finish rest for 15 minutes or so, and then revisit it with the torch.

This finish will likely take three or four applications. You don’t have to sand between coats as long as the next coat is applied within 72 hours of the last one. That said, I sanded anyway to make sure the surface was nice and flat. Between applying coats of epoxy, you can start building the cabinet.

Making a Bending Form

To make this curved cabinet, I laid up three layers of 1/4″ bendable plywood on a bending form. The outer plywood layer is veneered with ribbon stripe mahogany. My bending form consists of a base, four ribs and one layer of 1/4″ bendable plywood.

Lay out the arc with a large compass. Since this arc is the inside radius of the doors, it should be about 1″ smaller than the doors’ exterior radius.

Band-saw this first piece close to the line, then sand the rest of the way. Use this first rib as a pattern to rout the rest of the ribs. Screw the ribs to the base.

I didn’t glue the ribs to the base because I don’t have room to store the form, and I wanted to be able to disassemble it and reuse the parts.

Staple one layer of bendable plywood to the ribs. This layer of bendable plywood helps to prevent flat spots in the finished lamination.

Mark a centerline across the form to help line up the laminations when you’re gluing them. This helps keep everything straight and square.

Building the Arc

Cut three pieces of bendable plywood slightly larger than you’ve determined you’ll need for the finished arc. Make sure they don’t extend beyond the bottom edges of the form, however. Mark centerlines on the edges of all three pieces so you can line them up with the centerline on the form. Cover the form with wax paper so that you don’t glue the laminations to the form.

To make sure the glue-up goes smoothly, do it in stages, letting the first two layers cure before applying the third. Apply glue to the bottom lamination using a foam paint roller. These rollers work great for spreading glue, and you can wash them out with water and reuse them. Bend the first layer around the form and then apply the second lamination. Use ratchet straps to clamp the laminations. Let them cure overnight and then glue and clamp the outer layer.

Sizing Up the Curve

After removing the finished arc from the form, you’ll need to make two straight edges and two square ends. The edges are pretty straightforward: just run it through the table saw with the convex side down, rolling it as you go. The ends are a different matter.

As a starting point, set the curve on a flat surface such as your bench. Lay a straightedge on the bench against one of the curve’s edges. Make a mark along the top of the straightedge where it meets the curve, on both ends. Repeat this step on the other edge.

If you don’t have a sliding fence for your table saw, this is a good time to build one. It’s simply a fence that fits over your saw’s fence; just snug enough so that there’s no play but it’ll still slide. Fasten a tall board to the sliding fence using either screws or clamps. Clamp the arc to the board so that the marks you made on the edges are perpendicular to your saw’s table. Check the marks with a square and adjust if necessary. Slide the whole assembly through the saw, and then repeat the process on the other end of the arc.

Once the arc is square, lay out the rest of the cabinet parts. Start by tracing the arc onto a piece of stock that will become the cabinet’s top or bottom, allowing room for the cabinet’s narrow sides. After laying out the cabinet, use hot-melt glue to temporarily stick the top and bottom together. Band-saw close to the line and then sand the rest of the way. Check the curve against the top and bottom to see if you need to trim any more from the ends of the arc. If so, trim them like you did before.

Split the arc into two equal size doors using the same table saw and fence jig setup used to trim the ends of the arc.

Building the Cabinet

Make the narrow cabinet sides by laminating more bendable plywood. I used four layers here so I could make more substantial rabbets for fastening the sides to the cabinet. The thicker sides also give a little more “meat” for the hinge screws. Make the pieces oversize, so you can square up the edges later.

To laminate the pieces, I used I-beam style clamping platforms to ensure that they’d come out flat. Be careful when applying clamping pressure, as the glue can cause the pieces to slide. While the side laminations are drying, cut the remaining cabinet parts, making any necessary rabbets and dadoes.

When the sides are dry, trim them to final dimension and then rabbet them for the top, bottom and back. Assemble the cabinet. Because this cabinet hangs on the wall and holds a lot of weight, use plenty of screws and glue. I added “L”-brackets to further secure the back to the sides.

Attach the hinges to the doors using just a couple of screws. Pre-hang both doors to check their fit. I used piano hinges because they offer lots of support. Unfortunately, they don’t offer much adjustability, so you may have to do some trimming to get the doors to fit just right. When you’re satisfied, remove the doors and apply iron-on edge-banding to the cabinet’s raw edges if you wish. I chose not to veneer the doors’ edges. They don’t show until you open the doors, and I think the plywood edge adds to the modern flair of the piece.

Offcut Shelf Accent

After I cut the shape for the vanity top, I had a piece remaining that made a nice shelf — and I sure didn’t want a sliver of this wood to go to waste! Thinking it through, I didn’t want to see any hardware on this shelf, so I used an invisible mounting system available from Rockler to mount it to the wall. The mounting system consists of small steel plates that mount to the wall, set screws and 5″-long hexagonal rods that thread onto the set screws. Use as many support rods as necessary. For this shelf, two would have probably been enough, but I used four because I like things a little “overbuilt.”

You’ll drill 7/16″-dia. holes that the wall-mounted rods will slide into to support the shelf. Because my shelf is wide at one end and narrow at the other, I had to cut two of the rods short.

Cut mortises in the back edge of the shelf to house the mounting plates, allowing the shelf to slide all the way against the wall.

Applying the Door Trim

Cut the doors’ trim pieces to length and sand or plane them to final thickness. These pieces were cut off of the edge of the piece of redwood that I made into the accent shelf. They should be no more than 1/8″ thick so they’ll bend around the doors’ curves. Use glue and lots of clamps to attach them to the doors. Because of the bend I was putting in these pieces, I left the clamps on overnight to make sure the glue was well cured.

If you want the finish on the doors’ trim pieces to match the counter, mask closely around them and then apply epoxy. For this application, use a brushing technique instead of pouring it on and spreading like you did with the counter. You don’t want the epoxy to flow over the edges and pool up on the tape, because it takes forever to remove the tape cleanly. Ask me how I know! You’ll have to apply two or three coats.

Finishing Up

Apply the finish of your choice to the cabinet sides and doors. Attach the countertop to the cabinet using countersunk screws driven from inside the cabinet. When the finish is dry, rehang the doors and install handles and catches.

I found it best to wait to remove any material from the internal divider until I was ready to mount the sink and plumbing. Those details can vary. All in all, I found this to be a very satisfying project, and I think it looks just great in our bathroom.

Click Here to download a PDF of the related drawings.

Hard to Find Hardware

Stainless Steel Bar Pull (2) #20417
3″ Non-Mortise Butt Hinges (1) #33958
Low Profile Magnetic Catches (4) #26534
MirrorCoat Bar/Tabletop Finish (1 pk.) #29138
Blind Shelf Supports (2 pr.) #69053

The post Redwood Slab Vanity Project appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.

Want the plans for this vanity? You’ll find them in the May/June 2015 issue of Woodworker’s Journal. Order the May/June 2015 issue here.

The post Curving Bendable Plywood Around a Form appeared first on Woodworking | Blog | Videos | Plans | How To.