www.ShopNotes.com EDITOR'S NOTE ShopNotes Issue 66 November 2002 PUBLISHER EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ART DIRECTOR SR. GRAPHIC DESIGNER SENIOR ILLUSTRATORS Donald B. Peschke Terry J. Strohman Bryan Nelson Vincent Ancona Phil Huber Cary Christensen Kurt Schultz Roger Reiland Mark Higdon CREATIVE RESOURCES Creative Director. Ted Kralicek • Sr. Project Designers : Ken Munkel, Kent Welsh, Ryan Mimick, Chris Fitch • Shop Craftsmen: Steve Curtis, Steve Johnson • Sr. Photogmpher. Crayola England SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS Corp. V.P.: Douglas L. Hicks • Art Director. Douglas A. Flint • Sr. Graphic Designer. Chris Glowacki • Graphic Designers: Vu Nguyen, Jonathan Eike • Senior Editor Craig Ruegsegger • Asst. Editor Joel A. Hess • Editorial Intern : Cindy Thurmond CIRCULATION Subscriber Services Director Sandy Baum • New Business Dir.: Wayde J. Klingbeil • Circulation Marketing Analysts: Kins Schlemmer, Paula M. 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Asst.: Kirsten Koele • Office Mgr.: Natalie Lonsdale • Facilities Mgr.: Kurt Johnson • Receptionist Jeanne Johnson • Mail Room Clerk: Lou Webber MAIL ORDER Opera tions Director Bob Baker • Customer Sendee Mgr.: Jennie Enos • Warehouse Supr.: Nancy Johnson • Buyer. Linda Jones • Admin. Asst.: Nancy Downey • Tech. Rep.: John Audette • Sr. Oust. Serv. Reps.: Tammy TVuekenbrod, Anna Cox, Deborah Rich, April Revell • Oust Sen: Reps.: Valerie Jo Riley, Kim Harlan • Warehouse. Sylvia Carey WOODSMITH STORE Manager: Dave Larson • Asst. Mgr.: Tim Thelen • Sales Staff: Wendell Stone, Larry Morrison, Gregory Kauzlarich, Mark Johnson, Brian McCallum • Office Mgr.: Yield Edwards ShopN otes® (ISSN 1062-9696) is published bimonthly (Jan., March, May, July, Sept., Nov.) by August Home Publishing, 2200 Grand, Des Moines, IA 50312. ShopNotes® is aregistered trademark of August Home Publishing ©Copyright 2002 by August Home Publishing. All rights reserved. Subscriptions: Single copy: $4.95. One year subscription (6 issues), $27.95. Canada/International add $10 per year, U.S. funds. Periodicals Post age Paid at Des Moines, I A and at additional mail- ing offices. Postmaster: Send change of address to ShopNotes, P.O. Box 37103, Boone, IA 50037-2103. Subscription Questions? Write to: ShopNotes Customer Service, P.O. Box 842, Des Moines, IA 50304-9961. Or call 1-800-333-5854, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Central Time, weekdays. FAX 515-283-0447 Email: ShopNotes@shopnotes.com Internet: http://www.shopnotes.com PRINTED IN U.S.A. Cutoffs • L ast issue we featured a full-size workbench. At the time I men- tioned that we would be featuring a storage system to go with it. Of course, I wanted a place to store lots of woodworking tools. And I wanted to keep them organized and close at hand. My first thought was to simply custom fit a large cabinet under our workbench. But the more 1 thought about it, I realized that this solution wouldn’t be very versatile. After all, you may already have a workbench that’s a dif- ferent size than ours. And what about the woodworkers who prefer not to store tools under their bench at all? The solution to this big storage problem was to think smaller. Instead of one large cabinet, we designed two smaller ones. This way, you can set the cabinets side- by-side under your bench, or you can stack them up for convenient roll-around storage. Either way, I think it’s a versatile storage system that “stands” on its own. Saw Station - We used a similar approach to another project in this issue — the Table Saw Workstation on page 20. The initial idea was to make a stand for a portable table saw that would provide storage and out- feed support for ripping long pieces. Here again, we started with the concept of one large cabinet, but realized it would be more versatile if we split the project into two parts. Not to mention the fact that a large cabinet might defeat the main reason for having a smaller saw in the first place — floor space. Now you can start by building a small base cabinet. This cabinet puts the saw at a good working height, takes up little floor space, and pro- vides plenty of storage. Then if you want more capability (and have the room), you can add another cabinet. It provides all the outfeed support you could ask for. And to make better use of the space it takes up, we incorporated a router table and a handy place to store a shop vacuum for collecting dust I guess it just goes to show you that “bigger” isn’t necessarily better. Sometimes the best solutions come about when you think “small.” STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1 . PuWkction Title: ShopNotes. 2. Publicotion No.: 1062-9696 3. Filina Date: September 1 5, 2002. 4. Issue Frequency: Bimonthly. 5. No. of issues published annually: 6 (six). 6. Annual subscription price: $27.95. 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, (Polk County), Iowa 50312-5306 8. Complete mailing address of the hcadouarters or general business offices of the pub- lisher: 2200 Gtond Avenue, Des Moines, (Polk County), Iowa 50312-5306. 9. Full names end complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor, and nwneging editor: Publisher: Donola B. Peschke, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, lewo 50312; Editor. Terry Strahmon, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. 10. Owner: August Home Publishing Compony, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312; Donald B. Peschke, 2200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, lowo 50312. 1 1. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and oilier security holders owning 1 percenter more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None. 12. (Does not appdy.) 13. Publication Title: ShopNotes. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Date Below: July/August 2002 (#64) 1 5. Extent and nature of circulation: Average no. copies each issue Average no. copies of single issue during preceding 1 2 months published nearest to filing date A. Total number of copies (net press run) B. Paid and/or requested circulation: 1. Paid/requested outside-county mod subscriptions slated on Form 3541 2. Paid iiKounty subscriptions 3. Sales llaough dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter soles, and other non USPS paid distribution 4. Other dosses mailed Ihroudh the DSPS C. Total paid and/or requested circulation D. Free distribution by moil, samples, complimentary, and other free copies 1.0uiside x w Fh WOODSCREW y inet when pulling it around the shop. Each top end (T) is just a piece of hard- wood with a centered groove cut along one edge (Figure 12a) . A tongue is cut along each end of the top panel to match these grooves. Then the ends are cut to length and glued to the top panel. To complete the top, the edges are rounded over, just as you see in Figure 12a. Then the top is screwed 9 EDGING to the upper case (Figure 11a). Casters - To make the storage cabinet mobile, I added casters to the bottom of the base. These are shown in Figures 11 and 11c. I used 4" locking swivel casters all around. These allow you to move the cabinet in any direction and then lock the wheels down once you have it where you want it. Once the casters are attached, the last thing to do is place the upper case on top of the lower case, center it from side to side and screw the two together, just as you see in Figure lib. & 16 ShopNotes No. 66 Workbench Storage If you are building the storage cab- inets to fit underneath a work- bench, you might want to consider using MDF instead of expensive plywood for the top, bottom, and sides. Once these pieces are edged in hardwood and the cases are slipped into place underneath the bench, you won’t be able to tell the difference from the outside. (If you look under the top of the bench, you will be able to see the MDF top of the case, but from the front, you won’t be able to tell.) Regardless of what material you use for the cabinets, there are a few things you should consider when it comes to sizing the cases, particularly if you are building them to fit your own bench. We sized the width of our cases to fit between the two ends of the bench — with a very slight gap at each end. (This extra room makes it a little easier to slide the storage cabinets in place.) leave enough clearance between the benchtop and the top of the storage cabinets for any bench dogs or vise hardware, see detail built, all you have to do to install them is slide them in place and fasten them down to the shelf of the bench with a few screws. As for the depth of the cases, we sized them so the front and back edges sit just behind the edges of the lower rails of the workbench, as you can see in detail ‘b’ below. When it comes to the height of the cases, you will want to make sure you ‘a.’ (Three to four inches of clear- ance should be fine.) Once you have the storage cabinets No. 66 In most cases, the groove is cen- tered on the edge of the frame piece. Start by adjusting the rip fence on your table saw so the blade cuts dose to the center, as shown in Figures 1 and la. But don’t worry about being centered perfectly on the first try. Flip Workpiece - The reason is simple. After making the first pass, just flip the workpiece end-for-end and make a second pass (Figure lb) . This way, even if your blade isn’t per- fectly centered, the groove will be. To fine-tune the width of the groove, nudge the rip fence over a little and make another cut. Keep in mind that you’re removing material from both sides of the workpiece. So it’s best to make small adjustments and sneak up on the final width. Troubleshooting - Getting a per- fectly centered groove involves more than just flipping a workpiece. It’s important that it stays tight against the rip fence. So I like to use a feath- erboard to hold it tight (Figure 1) . Another problem is not cutting the groove deep enough. This can happen when the workpiece “rides up” during the cut, causing a step in the groove (left drawing below). To solve this, it’s important to keep the work- piece pressed down against the saw table. So I make sure to check the groove after each cut and, if necessary, make another pass. Groove Width - There is one thing to mention about the width of the groove. If I’m using ty*" plywood or hardboard, I cut the groove to match the thickness — which is often slightly less than W thick. But if I’m working with V 2 " ply- wood, like on the workstation, I cut a W'-wide groove and then cut tongues on the panels to match (see inset) . Blades - One last thing. If you’ll see the bottom of the grooves (like on a frame and panel door), you might want to consider using a rip blade to Tongue & Groove Joinery W henever I’m building frame and panel assemblies that use a plywood or hardboard panel, I almost always use a tongue and groove joint. There are a few good reasons for this. Besides being quick and easy to make, the assembly is incredibly strong. That’s because a hardboard or plywood panel can be glued into the frame. GROOVES The first step in creating a tongue and groove joint is to cut the grooves in the rails and stiles that make up the frame. FEATH ERSO ARD KEEPS WORKPIECE TIGHT AGAINST FENCE FENCE FIRST PASS SHOULD — CUT CLOSE TO CENTER LINE SECOND PASS CENTERS GROOVE ON WORK- PIECE TROUBLESHOOTING GROOVES ▲ Downward Pressure. To prevent stepped cuts in the bottom of the groove , hold the workpiece firmly against the saw table. ▲ Blade Choices. A crosscut blade produces grooves with ridges. " /A better choice for cutting grooves is a rip blade. The flat-topped teeth produce a groove with a perfectly flat bottom. 18 ShopNotes No. 66 TECHNIQUE make the cut. It leaves a perfectly flat bottom (see bottom of page 18). TONGUES Once the grooves are complete, the next step is to cut the tongues on the ends of the rails. I prefer to use a dado blade to cut the tongue. This way, you can cut the tongue in two passes using a single setup. To do this, start by burying the dado blade in an auxiliary fence (Figure 2) . Then adjust the fence to set the length of the tongue (Figure 2a) . Blade Height - The next step is to set the height of the blade to estab- lish the thickness of the tongue. As before, the idea is to make two passes, flipping the workpiece over between each pass (Figure 2b). This will center the tongue on the rail. But you still need a starting point. A good guide is the groove itself. Simply raise the blade until it’s just about even with the groove (Figure 2a). Here again, make your cuts on a test piece and check the thickness of the tongue. It should fit the groove with a slightly snug fit. After cutting all the tongues on both ends of all the rails, you can turn your attention to the tongues on the V 2 " plywood panels. For this you can leave the rip fence set and simply adjust the height of the blade to cut a rabbet along the edge of the panel. Again, it’s best to sneak up on the fit ASSEMBLY At this point, you’re just about ready to glue up the assembly. But it’s always a good idea to dry assemble things to check for any problems. Sand - Then you can sand the face of the panel as well as the inside edges of the stile and rails. These areas are difficult to sand later. Glue - Like most glue-ups, the trick is using enough glue to make a strong joint, but not so much that it runs all over the place. I start by gluing the rails to the panel, applying glue to the groove and inside face of the tongue on the panel (Figure 3) . Attaching the stiles is just a matter of repeating the same process. But here I apply glue to both sides of the tongues on the rails (Figure 3b). After clamping the pieces together (Figure 4), check to see that the frame is flat and square. If it isn’t flat, try loosening the clamps a bit. And if it isn’t square, try reposi- tioning the clamps slightly. CLAMP ACROSS MIDDLE TO KEEP STILES FROM SOWING CLAMPING SLOCK REDIRECTS PRESSURE TO CENTER OF JOINT (SEE DETAIL) TROUBLESHOOTING TONGUES ▲ Tongue Troubles. When the tongue is too long (left) or too wide k Fitting the Tongue. Lightly sand the tongue cheeks (center), assembly is difficult. A tongue that’s too thin (right) results and chamfer the ends to get a good fit in the groove. in a poor glue joint and makes it hard to align the faces. But stay clear of the shoulder to keep it sharp. No. 66 ShopNotes 19 You'll get big results in a or table power tools, like a table saw or router, are great when you’re working away from the shop. But once they’re back “home,” the challenge is to make them perform like hard-working stationary tools. The work- station shown above provides the solution. The workstation consists of two separate cabinets. One supports the saw, and the other acts as an outfeed table when you’re ripping sheet goods or long stock, like you see in photo A on the opposite page. Router Table - To add to the workstation’s versa- tility, the top of the outfeed cabinet doubles as a table for 20 mounting a hand-held router. Combined with an easy-to- build fence, you can handle just about any routing task. Dust Collection - The outfeed cabinet also features a handy storage area for a shop vacuum. Simply open the door at the back and roll it inside. An access panel at the top of the cabinet makes it easy to connect the vacuum to either the saw or the router table fence (photo B) . Storage - Have a wide variety of accessories for your portable tools or shop vacuum? To keep them organized and easily accessible, the saw cabinet has a pair of deep drawers that ride on full-extension slides (photo above). ShopNotes No. 66 small package with this handy workstation . It turns your portable table saw and router into hard-working “stationary” tools . labiebaw Workstation FEATURE PROJECT ROUTER TABLE FENCE TOP OF OUTFEED CABINET DOUBLES AS ROUTER TABLE THAT CAN BE ROTATED EA5ILY TO THE BIDE OR BACK ghoffiatos To download a mbw w ^ ree Cutting mr^WtSS^l Diagram for the Table Saw Workstation, go to: www.shopnotes.com STUDDED KNOBS MAKE IT EASY TO REMOVE TABLE SAW SHIM PADS LEVEL TABLE SAW WITH TOP OF OUTFEED CABINET DRAWER PROVIDES STORAGE FOR TABLE SAW AND ROUTER ACCESSORIES A. Convertible Top. Positioning the top so it extends over the back of the outfeed cabinet creates a long, stable support surface when ripping long workpieces. B. Shop Vacuum Access. A removable panel provides quick access when hooking the dust hose from the shop vacuum up to the table saw or router table fence. No. 66 ShopNotes 21 FEATURE PROJECT 5a iv Cabinet ▲ Saw Cabinet As a stand-alone unit, the saw cabinet provides solid support for a portable saw with plenty of storage for accessories. As I mentioned earlier, this work- station is made up of two separate cabinets — a low cabinet provides basic support for the table saw (see photo above) , and adding on a taller cabinet provides outfeed support when you’re working with long stock. Besides providing solid support for the table saw at just the right working height, there’s the added storage that’s a great bonus. Plus, you can quickly and easily remove the saw. Size - Speaking of height, the cabinet shown in Figure 1 will accept portable saws up to 13" tall. With the casters added, the table of the saw is about 35" high — a comfortable working height If your saw is less than 13" high, don’t worry. You can add spacers to raise the saw table so it’s at a comfortable height or level with the outfeed table (more on this later) . Frames & Panels - There’s nothing tricky about building the cabinet. It’s just a large box made up of three frame and panel assemblies along with a plywood subtop and bottom, like you see in Figure 1. Each assembly consists of a pair of rails and stiles that wrap around a plywood panel. I started on the frames by cutting the side and back rails (A, D) and side and back stiles (B, E) to final size. Once that’s complete, you can work on the tongue and groove joint that holds the frame together. Thel dimensions are shown in Figures la and lb. Note: For a few tips on cut- ting perfect-fitting tongue and groove joints the first time, check out the article on page 18. After cutting the tongues and grooves, you can turn your attention to the panels that fit inside each of the frames. Each side panel (C, F) is just a piece of V 2 " plywood. Why V 2 " plywood? The reason has to do with mounting the drawer slides later. After cutting a rabbet around the edges to form a tongue (Figure la), the panel will fit in the grooves so the inside face of the panel is flush with the frame. This makes it easy to mount the drawer slides. Cabinet Assembly - Once the rabbets are complete, you can glue up each frame assembly and begin work on assembling the cabinet. To join the back assembly to the side assemblies, there’s a wide rabbet along the back edge of each^ side assembly, as in Figure lb. Next, to accept the subtop and bottom, I cut narrow grooves (V 4 ") (g)SlDE RAIL (2V2" x iW) ©. BACK RAIL (2V2" x 21 % M ) 22 ShopNotes No. 66 FEATURE PROJECT near the top and bottom edges of all the frames (Figure la). These grooves accept tongues cut along three edges of the subtop and bottom (G), which you can also see in Figure la. Once the tongues are cut, you can glue up the cabinet. Finally, to provide some rigidity to the front of the cabinet and to cover the plywood edge at the bottom, I added a lower rail (H) made from 3 / 4 n -thick hardwood (Figure 1). Top - Although the cabinet already has a “top,” I wanted to make sure the table saw would have solid support. To accomplish this, I added a laminated top. The top (I) is nothing more than a piece of 3 /V ! plywood wrapped with 3 / 4 M -thick hardwood edging (J), as in Figure 2. Then to provide a smooth, durable surface, I glued on an oversized layer of plastic laminate and trimmed it flush with the edging. After screwing the top in place so it was flush at the back and centered side to side, I eased the sharp edge by routing a ►small chamfer (Figure 2a). DRAWERS With the basic cabinet complete, you’re ready to add the two drawers that you see in Figure 3. Size Drawers - What’s impor- tant to keep in mind as you size the drawer parts is to allow for VV 1 of space on each side for installing the drawer slides (Figure 3c). After planing your stock down to V 2 m thick, you can cut the drawer fronts/backs (K) and sides (L) to the dimensions shown in Figure 3. Tongue & Dado Joinery - The joinery for the drawers is cut entirely on the table saw. A single kerf at the ends of each side accept tongues cut on the ends of the fronts and backs, like you see in Figure 3a. Before assembling the drawers, you’ll need to cut a VV’-wide groove near the bottom edge of all the drawer pieces to hold the bottom .(Figure 3c). It’s also a good idea to ^ drill a set of countersunk screw holes in each drawer front for attaching the false fronts later (Figure 3a). 5IPE NOTE: drawer fronts, (5V2 m x 20") SACKS, AND SIDES ARE Vfe"-THICK HARDWOOD. FALSE FRONT IS 3 / 4 " PLYWOOD, DRAWER BOTTOM IS W PLYWOOD 20 " DRAWER SLIDES BDGIHG frfi (S/V x 3 / 4 ") ^ DRAWER a. TOP VIEW SIDE VIEW b. Ml I © V, SI. IS mA. wi After cutting the drawer bottom (M) to size from VT' plywood, you can glue up each drawer. Drawer Slides - The drawers travel on full-extension metal slides. This makes it easy to reach items in the back of the drawer. Installing the slides is just a matter of screwing one half to the cabinet and the other half to the drawer. (The slides are posi- tioned flush with the bottom edge of each drawer, as in Figure 3c). False Fronts - After mounting the drawer slides, you can add the false fronts (N). These are pieces of V/ plywood trimmed with 3 / 4 u -thick hardwood edging (0). The false fronts are sized so they’re flush with the sides of the cabinet and create a Vs 11 gap above and below each drawer (Figure 3b). Finally, I centered a drawer pull on the front of each drawer and screwed them in place (Figure 3). Casters - If you only plan on building the saw cabinet, you can add all four locking swivel casters at this point The casters are set in Vs" from each corner of the cabinet, like you see in Figure lc. (For more on the casters, refer to page 35.) Materials & Hardware A Side Rails (4) 3 Side Stiles (4) C Side Faneis (2) Sack Rails (2) Sack Stiles (2) Sack Fane I (1) Subtop/Sottom (2) Lower Rail (1) Top ( 1 ) Edging Drawer Frts./Bcks (4) Drawer Sides (4) 3 / 4 x 2'1 Z - 17'/ 2 3 / 4 x 2'/z - i6 7 b 17’/ 2 x I2 3 / s - V 2 Ply. 3 / 4 x 2% - 21 s b 3/ 4 x2’/ 2 -I 6% 21 5 b x 12 3 / a - >/ 2 Ply. 21’/ 2 x 26 - 3 / 4 Ply. 3 / 4 x2’/ 2 -27 21 3 / 4 x 2&h - 3 / 4 Ply. %x 3 / 4 -9Ln. Ft. 3 / 4 x 5 xV/ 4 " Fh Woodscrewe • (1) V/ 2 " x 23 3 /3 n Piano Hinge w/ screws • (1) Barrel Catch wlscrews Note: I sized my opening to accept a shop vacuum up to 21" wide. Assembly - With both the subtop and bottom complete, you can assemble the outfeed cabinet. There’s nothing tricky here, just be sure to keep the cabinet square as the glue dries since there isn’t a front for back frame to hold the shape. Frame Pieces - To provide some rigidity to the cabinet and give it a “framed” look, I added W'-thick hardwood strips to the front and back of the cabinet. These strips cover the edges of the plywood and fit into the rabbets cut in the side assemblies, as shown in Figure 5. After cutting Hie front and back stiles (T) to final size, the only joinery to complete is to cut a dado at each end to fit the tongues on the subtop and bottom. Then you can glue the stiles in place. Installing the front and back rails (U) is even easier. Once you cut them to fit between the stiles, all that’s left to do is to cut a groove near one edge that fits the tongue along the edge of the subtop and bottom. Then the rails can be glued in place. Note: To keep the back of the cab- inet open for the shop vacuum, you’ll only need a single rail at the top. Add Door - To close off the back r of die cabinet, diere’s a door (V) made from a piece of 3 /V ! plywood wrapped with '-thick edging (W), as seen in Figure 6. Attaching the door to the cabinet is just a matter of screwing a piano hinge in place and then adding a catch to keep it closed (Figures 6 and 6a) . And to prevent the door from swinging inside the cab- inet, there’s a door stop (X) made from 3 / 4 M -thick hardwood (Figure 6a) . Join Cabinets - Once you’ve glued and screwed the door stop in place, you can attach the outfeed cabinet to the saw cabinet. They’re just screwed together (Figure 6b). Finally, you can add the casters to the outside corners of the worksta- tion (refer to Figure la on page 22). No. 66 ShopNotes 25 FEATURE PROJECT Outfeed Top k Access Panel. Just “pop out" the panel from the top of the outfeed cabinet to provide easy access to the shop vacuum inside. With the outfeed cabinet complete, you’re ready to add the outfeed top. The top shown in Figure 7 incorpo- rates a number of handy features. First, you can see that the top extends past the end of the cabinet. This ensures that you’ll have solid support when ripping long work- pieces or sheet goods. Then to provide additional capa- bility, the top doubles as a router table. To do this, there’s an opening at one end of the top that allows you to “drop in” a router mounted to an insert plate. And depending on your needs, you can rotate the top to the side for more convenient access, like the photo shown on page 20. Finally, you’ll see a second opening that provides access to the inside of the outfeed cabinet. All you need to do is remove the access plate and reach inside to hook the vacuum hose to the table saw (see margin) or the router table fence. Top - Building the outfeed top (Y) isn’t all that difficult. It’s just a single layer of 3 A" plywood with 3 /J } - thick edging (Z), applied around the edges, as illustrated in Figure 8. Unlike the top for the saw cabinet, you’ll notice that I covered both sides of the top with plastic laminate. Why both sides? Since the top isn’t attached permanently and one end extends past the edge of the cabinet, laminating both sides helps stiffen the plywood to prevent sagging. Note: To trim the laminate flush and ease the sharp edges, I routed a small (Vie 11 ) chamfer along both the top and bottom edges (Figure 8a). Openings - As I mentioned, there are two openings in the top — one for the router plate and the other for an access plate. The secret to getting a perfect fit between the openings and the plates is to use the plates as tem- plates when you cut the openings. To do this, you’ll need to have the platee^k in hand before you start. Plates - To mount the router, I bought a commercial insert plate 26 ShopNotes No. 66 FEATURE PROJECT (for sources, see page 35). But you i could make your own. For the access f plate (AA), I used a small piece of 3 A M plywood (Figure 9). Although there isn’t any need for edging, both sides are laminated so it matches the thickness of the top. After rounding the edges, I cut a U-shaped opening centered on one edge (Figure 9). This provides an opening for the hose from the shop vacuum to pass through when it’s attached to the router table fence. Plate Openings - With both plates in hand, the next step is to create the openings they fit into. The location of these openings is shown in Figure 9. The nice thing is, you can use the same procedure to cut both openings. For more informa- tion on this procedure, refer to the article on page 30. Besides cutting a perfect-fitting opening, the procedure also creates a lip in the top for the router plate to rest on so it’s perfectly flush with the top of the outfeed table. But for the access plate, you won’t need to create a lip. The opening you cut earlier in the subtop of the cab- inet is smaller and forms its own “lip” for the access panel to rest on. Attach Top - Once the openings are cut, the top is ready to be attached. To do this, I used a set of studded knobs that fit into threaded inserts in the bottom face of the top, like you see in Figures 7a and 7b. To locate the inserts, clamp the top in position so it overhangs the front and sides of the cabinet evenly (W). Then use the holes in the cab- inet as a guide. After drilling holes, you can install the inserts. This can be a little tricky. To make it easier, I used the installa- tion tool shown in the box below. Materials Y Outfeed Top (1) 26 1 / 2 x3&V 2 - 3 / 4 Fly. Z Edging 3 / 4 x 3 I 4 - 12 Ln.Ft. AA Access Fiate (1) 16x16- 3 / 4 Fly. — - — Hardware • (4) 5 /w" Threaded Inserts • (4) 5 / 16 "-13 Studded Knobs (V/ 4 " Long) • (4) 5 /ie" Washers Installing Threaded Inserts Threaded inserts, like the ones shown below, are a quick way to connect two pieces, yet still make it easy to take them apart. The trick is keeping the insert straight as you’re screwing it in place — which isn’t always easy. To solve this problem, I made the insert tool shown at right Insert Tool - The insert tool is made from a block of l 1 / 2 ,, -thick hardwood with a 3 /V L deep notch cut in one corner, as illustrated in the drawing at far right. A counterbored hole is drilled through the notch to hold a 5 /i6 M T8 bolt and nylon bushing. The through hole is sized to hold the bolt and the W'-dia. counterbore is drilled 1W 1 deep to accept the Vis" I.D. bushing. The bushing holds the hex bolt straight while you tighten it down. Finally, between the bushing and the nut and washer that are tightened against the insert, I added a spring. It provides just enough down- ward pressure to help the threads on the out- side of the insert to begin cutting into the wood. Note: Before screwing the insert in place, it’s a good idea to add a slight chamfer to the starter hole. This prevents the insert from chip- ping out the edges as it’s screwed in place. No. 66 ShopNotes 27 FEATURE PROJECT Mounting the Table Saw A Miter Slots. Routing slots in the top of the outfeed table provides clearance for the bar of the miter gauge when making crosscuts. Materials BB Fads (4) (Custom size to fit t able saw) CC Base (1) 0/ 4 x 32 - Sources Storage Cabinet Hardware Although there isn’t much hardware required to build the Convertible Shop Storage Cabinets (page 10), there are a couple of items you’ll need. Knobs - To give the cabinet doors and drawers a unique look, we used D/V'-square knobs from Lee Valley (01G62.20). The knob has a post mounted with two screws, so you don’t have to worry about it rotating during use. Slides - And to make it easy to reach the entire contents of the drawers, they ride on full-extension, metal slides. This type of slide is avail- able in a variety of lengths and finishes. (We used 20 f, -long black slides on the Convertible Shop Storage Cabinets.) Drawer slides are available from most woodworking stores and the sources listed at right. MAIL ORDER SOURCES Lee Valley 800 - 871-8158 www.leevalley.com Casters , Drawer Slides, Knobs Router Plate Insert You can use just about any type of router plate for the Table Saw Workstation on page 20. But one of the best we’ve run across is one made by Woodhaven. For starters, the 9W f x ll 3 /*" plate is a 3 /s ,L thick piece of phenolic. I So it’s solid and stiff enough for Counting a heavy-duty router. (There’s also a smaller version that’s sized 7 3 /4 m x lOW 1 .) Inserts - Then to accommodate different size bits, you get a set of three inserts that snap securely in place — an l 3 /i6 ,L dia. bushing/bit hole, a 2"-dia. bit hole, and a blank for customizing. (With no inserts installed the bit hole has a diameter of 3 5 /8 M . One last thing. Starting a workpiece into a router bit with a bearing can be tricky. To help with this, you also get a starting pin as part of the “kit” — a nice extra. Cost - The large Woodhaven router plate costs around $55. (The small one sells for $50.) You can order the large plate from the Woodsmith Store or both plates are available from Woodhaven (see margin). Rockier 800 - 279-4441 www.rockler.com Casters , Drawer Slides Woodcraft 800 - 225-1153 www.woodcraft.com Casters, Drawer * Slides Woodhaven 800 - 344-6657 www.woodhaven.com Router Pla tes Woodsmith Store 800 - 835-5084 Casters, Drawer - Slides, Router' Plates Heavy-Duty Casters The locking swivel caster shown below was used on both the Shop Storage Cabinets (page 10) and the Table Saw Workstation (page 20) to make them easy to roll around. Double-Locking - But just because each project is mobile doesn’t mean it isn’t rock-solid during use. That’s because the lever on these casters locks both the wheel and swivel action. And since each caster is rated for 300 lbs., they’re heavy-duty enough to support just about any shop (or home) project around. Cost - We used 3 M casters on the Workstation and 4 M casters on the Storage Cabinets, but 5 M casters are also available. The casters range in cost from $16 (3 M ) to $20 (5"). These casters (or similar types) are avail- able from the sources listed at right. ShopNotes • “Online Extras” - Plans, Patterns, & More • Over 100 Woodworking Tips Online • Forums for Woodworking, Tools, & Classifieds • Visit Our Woodworking Shop Tours Gallery • Project Plans You Can Download • Catalog of Project Kits, Tools, Jigs, & Plans • Links to Other Woodworking Sites • Order ShopNotes & Woodsmith Back Issues Online Customer Service Click on Subscriber Services at www.shopnotes. com • Access your account status • Change your mailing or email address • Pay your bill • Renew your subscription •Tell us if you've missed an issue • Rnd out if your payment has been received www.shopnotes.com No. 66 ShopNotes 35 Scenes from the Shop Whether you build these Shop Storage Cabinets to fit under a workbench or as a stand-alone unit (see page 1 0), you ’ll have ample storage right where you need it. Detailed plans begin on page 10 A The outfeed table of this Table Saw Workstation makes it easy to rip long workpieces with a portable table saw. Step-by-step instructions begin on page 20. k The outfeed table can also be positioned to the side for routing operations. And an opening in the access plate makes it a snap to hook up a shop vacuum to the fence. Cutting Diagram Table Saw Workstation Materials A Side Rails (4) 3 Ux2 , / z - 17 i /2 Q Side Stiles (4) 3 / 4 x 2% - 50 3 Side Stiles (4) 3 / 4 x2'/z-167/e R Side Panels (2) 22?% x 29 Z 2 - V 2 Ply. C Side Panels (2) 17/2 x 12 3 /g - V 2 Ply. S Subtop/Bottom (1) 26x26- 3 UPly. D Back Rails (2) 3 / 4 x2'/ 2 -2 1 S / B T Front/Back Stiles (4) 3 Ux2%-30 E Back Stiles (2) 3 / 4 x2V 2 -16 7 /a U Front/Back Rails (3) 3 U x V% - 2V% F Back Panel (1) 21 s /g x 12 3 /e - '/ 2 Ply. V Poor (1) 19% x 26 7 /s - 3 U Ply. G Subtop/Bottom (2) 2 V /2 x 26 - 3 U Ply. W Edging 3 / 4 x 3 / 4 -9Ln. Ft. H Lower Rail (1) 3 / 4 x 2 V 2 - 27 X Poor Stop (1) 3 / 4 x2 3 / 4 -20% 1 Top (1) 2\ 3 U x 26% - 3 4 Ply- Y Outfeed Top (1) 26%x3&%- 3 / 4 Ply. J Edging 3 U x 3 U- 9 Ln. Ft. Z Edging 3 / 4 x 3 / 4 -12Ln.Ft. K Fronts/Backs (4) 3 U x S'h - 24 AA Access Plate (1) 16x16- 3 U Ply- L Sides (4) 3 / 4 x 5 V 2 - 20 BB Pads (4) (Custom size to fit tablesaw) M Bottoms (2) 19% x 24 - Ply. CC Bace 6'/ 4 x32- 3 / 4 Ply. N False Fronts (2) 9% x 29% - 3 U Ply. PP Face 5 x 32 -’/ z Ply. 0 Edging 3 U x 3 U - 11 Ln. Ft. EE Braces 3’/ 2 x 3’% - '% Ply- P Side Rails (4) 3 / 4 x 2% - 22% FF Cover 5 x 0 5 /,e - '% Ply. %" X 6" X 96- Page 1 of 2 ShopNotes No. 66 40" x 96” - Vz u PLYWOOD ©§> n © © © © 46'' x 96" - %" PLYWOOD 24" x 40" - V PLYWOOD @2) (ED No.66 ShopNotes Page 2 of 2