You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tips sent to your email address each week! Got to Woodworking Tips.com and sign up today.

Here?s last week?s tip from Woodsmith online editor Ted Raife:

When gluing up a mitered assembly, I often rely on band clamps to pull the joints together. They?re easy to apply and provide the even clamping pressure needed to keep things square.

The only catch is that the sharp mitered corners of the assembly have to be protected from the pressure exerted by the band. My clamps came with metal corners meant for this purpose, but they often damage the corners they?re supposed to protect.

My simple solution was to substitute more forgiving, corrugated cardboard pads for the hard metal corners, as shown at right. The cardboard pads provide plenty of protection without leaving any unwanted evidence of their use.

You?ll find more great project tips, techniques, and plans at PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Ted Raife
Online Editor, Woodsmith

Send for a preview issue of Woodsmith magazine

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tip sent to your email address each week! Go to WoodworkingTips.com and sign up today.

Here?s last week?s tip from ShopNotes online editor Phil Huber:

A block plane makes quick work of chamfering the edge of a workpiece. To ensure a constant width and angle, I built the base shown in the photo above. It slips over the plane to make ¼? chamfers and doesn?t require any setup.

The base is simply two triangular-shaped runners glued to a pair of side pieces. Then cross supports are glued into notches in the front and back to hold the sides together.

Two rare-earth magnets glued into recesses in the runners hold the plane securely in place. A shallow dado is cut in the top of the runners at the mouth of the plane for the exposed iron.

The base is easy to use. With your block plane in the base, position the V-shaped groove formed by the runners over the edge of the workpiece. Then plane the workpiece until both runners sit flush. It worked so well I made a second one for ¹/₈? chamfers.

You can learn even more simple shop techniques, just go to PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

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Designing your rooms around an ethnic theme can be exciting and fun and allows you to bring elements of other cultures and distant lands into your home. You can be more daring in your approach to colour and with such a wide variety of textures and patterns available, this can collectively add a whole new dimension to your interior design project. Unusual artifacts from different cultures can work very well as focal points in a room and as there are no hard and fast rules to stick to and because there are so many variations, you can go beyond the usual or traditional to portray a style that is not only beautiful, it is unique.

So what do we mean by ethnic?

Ethnic basically means native or indigenous people from a particular area so in relation to Interior Design it means to bring the natural elements that are representative of whatever culture, land or peoples you choose to portray into your own home to define your space.

Naturally the world is your oyster as they say so there are countless cultures to choose from, all you have to do is bring a particular ensemble of colours, patterns, materials and artifacts together to create a "look" that is recognisable and distinctive. What about a Mediterranean flavour, Native American Indian symbolism, or perhaps Tibetan Buddhism? Popular themes include African, Mexican, and Asian but you can go with whatever inspires or appeals to you. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

African Theme

Think of Africa and all that it conjures up in your mind, the landscape, the sounds, the smells, the colours, the mood, and then if you try to pick out the key points, what would they be? Colour schemes might include earthy colours like green, beige, browns and tans, set off with orange and splashes of red. Think about floor and wall coverings, natural substances would probably work best. Finishing touches can include wall hangings, African artifacts, drums, rugs, African fabrics and prints, animals made of stone, clay or wood, ceremonial masks hung on the wall, brightly coloured African bowls and pots, and so on.

Mexican Theme

What does Mexico mean to you? Perhaps desert colours with sandy tones, beige and khaki, along with reddish, rustic colours and hues. Blankets and woven fabrics in bright colours, perhaps terra cotta pots and bowls, pine wood is popular for furniture. Artifacts can include symbols of the South West or from the Spanish influence, or from the Aztecs, Mayans and other ancient civilisations, all of which can add an interesting and authentic Mexican look and feel.

Asian Theme

There are many variations within an Asian theme but two quite popular ones are Japanese and Chinese. Japanese themes tend to lean towards a more minimalist look and have a tranquil and peaceful feel. Consider a futon and using screens to get that Japanese ambiance. Colours tend to be natural and objects from nature often feature as focal points, for example, smooth stones and pebbles, water fountains and bonsai trees. Chinese themes on the other hand might involve brighter and bolder colours, lanterns, dragons and other mythological creatures, artwork depicting the traditional people colours and landscapes and Chinese handwriting.

How to get started

Once you have established which particular ethnic culture appeals to you, browse through books and magazines and the Internet to get ideas that will spark off your own imaginative flair. Identify what elements go together to make up that particular look or feel that you want to create.

Consider the walls, ceilings and floors carefully as this will provide a base for you to work from and then you can add in the details to finish it off. For example, is the texture and appearance of the walls and ceilings rough or smooth? What floor covering is appropriate, should it be wood, stone, tiles or carpets? Will rugs and mats make a difference and if so what are they made of? Are the windows better suited to drapes, blinds or shutters? What style of furniture works? What about plants, motifs, pictures and wall hangings?

The theme you adopt and the way that you choose to portray specific elements of that theme is entirely up to you and your imagination, the end result will be your own unique interpretation of a culture or a place and you will have added a touch of the exotic to your home.

David McEvoy is an expert in interior design. If you are looking for a leather sofa to give the finishing touches to a newly decorated room then please come and visit our site http://www.leathersofa.uk.com/

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tips sent to your email address each week! Got to Woodworking Tips.com and sign up today.

Here?s last week?s tip from Woodsmith online editor Ted Raife:

It always breaks my heart when a project gets its first scratch. But I know that even with the best of care, it?s bound to happen. So rather than stew over a minor blemish, I came up with an easy way to make it disappear.

My repair system started with an investment in an assortment of touch-up markers. You can get these from many woodworking and finishing supply companies. My set includes about a dozen different colors and this gives me a good shot at finding a close match to the project. But the trick is finding the best color match without relying on a lucky guess.

To help make a more informed choice, I created a sample sheet on a piece of clear acetate. The sheet contains a small, labeled swatch from each marker. As you see in the photo, I simply hold the sheet up to the project to find a good match. After choosing a marker and performing a quick touchup, the project looks as good as new and I feel a whole lot better.

For more helpful project tips, techniques, and plans, visit PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Ted Raife
Online Editor, Woodsmith

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tip sent to your email address each week! Go to WoodworkingTips.com and sign up today.

Here?s last week?s tip from ShopNotes online editor Phil Huber:

My workshop shares space with the family car. So it?s important that all of my power tools be portable and take up as little space as possible. So I made the fold-up router table you see here.

I made a simple router table top and attached it to a pair of 2×4?s with screws. Then, after removing the top of an adjustable clamping table, I mounted the router table to the clamping table stand, as shown in the left photo above. The table is firmly supported by the clamping table base.

The nice thing about the table is it can be raised and lowered to match the task at hand. Best of all, I can remove the router and quickly fold the table up to store it against the wall whenever it?s not in use (right photo).

If you?d like to see other router table plans, just go to PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

Send for a preview issue of ShopNotes magazine

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tip sent to your email address each week! Go to WoodworkingTips.com and sign up today.Here?s last week?s tip from ShopNotes online editor Phil Huber:

Drilling a centered hole in a dowel can be a challenge. It?s hard to get the drill bit centered and keep the dowel from turning as the hole is drilled. To make it easier, I built the jig shown below.

Build the jig by first drilling a hole the diameter of the dowel in a piece of hardwood. Then just cut a saw kerf through the hole from the end to make a clamp.

Using the jig is simple. Begin by centering the dowel under the bit. To do this, clamp a piece of scrap wood to the table and drill a hole to fit the dowel. Then change out the bit to the size needed.

Next, slip the dowel into the hole in the scrap wood. Then slip the clamping jig over the dowel and squeeze the kerf together with a small clamp. Now you can clamp the jig in place and drill the hole in the center of the dowel.

To learn more essential woodworking tips and techniques, just go to: http://www.plansnow.com/basics.html.

Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

You can sharpen your woodworking skills with helpful tips and techniques from the editors of Woodsmith and ShopNotes magazines. Get a FREE tips sent to your email address each week! Got to Woodworking Tips.com and sign up today.

Here?s last week?s tip from Woodsmith online editor Ted Raife:

Whenever I use screws to assemble a project, I hide them under wood plugs. Cutting the plugs and gluing them in place is the easy part of the job. The bigger challenge comes once the glue dries ? trimming the plugs flush to the surface.

For me, this is a two-step process. First, I use a small back saw to trim off the bulk of the protruding plug. Then I sand or plane the remaining portion flush to the surface. But my lack of care with the back saw often led to problems. If I tried to cut the plug too close, I would scratch or gouge the surface, making more work for myself.

But as is usually the case, a small problem had a simple solution. I dug up a scrap of plastic laminate and made a flush cut shield. The laminate shield has a hole drilled through it slightly larger than the diameter of the plugs. You place the shield over the plug flush to the surface and then saw away without worry (Figure 1). The thin shield allows you to give the plug a very close trim and all that?s needed to finish the job is a little sanding (Figure 2).

For more helpful project tips, techniques, and plans, visit Plansnow.com.

Good Woodworking,

Ted Raife
Online Editor, Woodsmith

July 18, 2008 Atlanta, GA. Highland Woodworking is pleased to announce the addition of The Fretboard Journal to their collection of woodworking books, magazines and DVDs. An important journal for luthiers and instrument enthusiasts, the quarterly publication is archival quality and chronicles the most innovative fretted instruments and instrument makers of the last 150 years. Fretboard's writers, historians and photographers from around the world provide well researched and insightful stories highlighting the best players and the most interesting tales in music.

The Summer 2008 Fretboard Journal features David Grisman's Chris Thile interview, details about veteran luthier Rick Turner's Compass Rose acoustic guitar and examines the tradition behind Kamaka ukuleles. The Fretboard Journal published by Jason Verlinde is a magazine for musical instrument makers, players, collectors.

Highland Woodworking, Atlanta, GA USA is a purveyor of fine woodworking tools and supplies with a 30 year reputation for quality tools and service. It is the exclusive source of the Wood Slicer Resawing Bandsaw blade, voted by Fine Woodworking Magazine as the best resaw blade available. Highland Woodworking is a trusted source of woodworking education and information. A schedule of woodworking classes and detailed product information is available at highlandwoodworking.com. Highland Woodworking 1045 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta, GA 800-241-6748.

The Carver's Mallet Part 1

In Part 1 I talked about making the handle from curly maple and fastening it to 3 layers of cross grain laminated wood.

Now I'm adding the rest of the laminated layers to the mallet and turning the assembly on the router.

As mentioned before, the head of the mallet is made from laminated 1/4" wood, oak and padauk. I had enough scrap 1/4" wood to make it a total of 14 layers. 10 oak and 4 padauk. The bottom three layers attached to the handle and then I stacked the rest on that, gluing up 3 at a time because even that many gets squirrelly when clamping the freshly glued wood together.

The photo above is the final clamping of the entire assembly. Those Harbor Freight bar clamps fit perfectly into the 3/4" holes in my clamping table.

I quickly made a jig from particle board to hold the mallet at an angle over my router. This idea came from an article in one of the wood magazines (I forget which one). The idea is to be able to rotate the mallet over the router bit to give it a smooth face at the correct angle. I wasn't confident enough in my turning skills to use the lathe on end grain oak, so I wanted to use the router.

It was a mistake.

Several times the router grabbed the piece out of my hands, chewed it up, and spit it back at me. I'm glad I was wearing goggles!

I finally gave up on the router and put it on the lathe. I gave my turning chisels a fresh hone, held my breath and started cutting.

Not bad! Not bad at all! Some tearout on the oak end grain, but overall a good turn. I'm very comfortable with the end result. Too bad I had done so much damage to the head already with the router. Otherwise I'd be able to say it was perfect. As it its, the mallet is just ok. There is no finish on the mallet. Just 2 coats of Butcher's wax. The photos were taken before the wax was applied. That shine is from good cuts alone!

Not really. It's from sanding down to 2000 grit. =D

This is a small mallet. I am planning to take what I've learned and turn a larger one with maple for the head.

The photos here show the damage, the turning on the lathe, and the final finish photos.

I hope this helps inspire you to try your hand at crafting your own mallets! It's satisfying picking up a tool that I've made myself!

You can now download an enhanced pdf of the March 2008 issue of Woodworking Magazine (Issue 9) for $6.

Our instant digital downloads are compatible with any computer running Adobe Reader 7.0, a free program available from Adobe that runs on Macintosh, PC and other systems. The downloads are delivered to you on a secure and fast server (a high-speed Internet connection is highly recommended). Plus, if for some technical reason your download is interrupted (power outage due to nefarious squirrel activity etc.), it’s quite simple to get back on and download the issue again.

Issue 9 focuses on the act of handsawing, and it explores the three backsaws you need for hand-cut joints – the dovetail saw, carcase saw and tenon saw. Plus we explain the nearly-lost English system of cutting joints by hand.

We also delve into cutting circles with a simple (and very cool) jig, plus how to properly use glaze when finishing. All these skills will help you build the Stickley Tabouret featured on the cover.

On an administrative note, we’re still working on how to deliver subscriptions digitally to subscribers and have narrowed it to a couple options. More news on that to come this summer. Until then, these enhanced pdfs will (we hope) keep you informed and inspired.

For more details on the digital downloading process and to place an order, click here. You can view all our digital downloadable products here.

— Christopher Schwarz

Learning to cut woodworking joints is one thing. Figuring out how to assemble all those joints in a correct and efficient order for a project is another skill entirely.

In the upcoming Fall 2008 issue of Woodworking Magazine, we're delving deep into the topic of cabinet construction. And the method we have developed during the last decade is different than any other you have read, but it will do three things for your woodworking:

1. You'll make fewer mistakes and waste less wood.

2. You'll have an easier time fitting your doors and drawers.

3. Your cabinets will go together faster with tighter joints.

If you'd like to learn about our new method, then I encourage you to subscribe to the magazine by May 30 to guarantee you will receive a copy of the Fall 2008 issue. In addition to our research into cabinet construction, you'll also find:

Fitting Doors & Drawers: We show you how to square up doors with a table saw and fit it precisely with a hand plane. Plus, we explain how to size your drawers so they'll fit properly with only minor adjustments with a plane.

Tool Review – Sliding Bevels: Why do so many of them slip and slide around on you? We investigate the major brands available today and find the best ones.

Coloring Walnut: Walnut with a simple clear finish looks cold and lifeless.
We show you how to warm up this beautiful wood with a variety of approaches, including shellac and stains.

So why should you subscribe to Woodworking Magazine? We think it's different than every other magazine out there. It's written to help all woodworkers fill in the inevitable gaps in our skills that result from teaching ourselves woodworking.

We show you the historical, time-tested and frequently forgotten methods to saw any joint, drawboring, wedged through-tenons and splines. We review tools that other magazines won't touch but are extremely important: like 6" rules, screws, combination squares and moisture meters.

Plus, we offer projects you won't elsewhere. We build only time-tested forms in classic styles, such as Arts & Crafts, Shaker and early American. More importantly, we pick projects that can be built without an enormous outlay of time, wood or tools.

And that's not all that's different. Woodworking Magazine has no advertisements and is printed in glorious sepia-toned black-and-white on its inside pages.

If you're ready to subscribe, we're ready to take your order. Click here and we'll sign you up to receive the next issue.

— Christopher Schwarz

I was digging through a pile of old woodworking magazines today and came across the very first on I bought when I took up woodwork. Surprised me how many years I've been doing this (although not THAT many!)
And as I flicked through a few pages I noticed a familiar theme for hobby woodworkers. One that I have noticed on a few woodwork blogs I keep an eye on. And that is the old cry "when I have enough tools and a dream workshop I will start producing stuff".
When I took up woodwork it was to make my own furniture - custom sized to fit my home, built to a higher standard than the rubbish we see in shops and made for less money. And it is way to easy to become distracted from that original goal and become a "tool head". You know, if only I had (insert latest tool release here) I could make that table we want. And we are all guilty of this.
Be honest - how many tools do you REALLY need to make a worthy project? Take a moment to take stock - do you really need 6 routers and 9 smoothing planes........... ;)
It is too easy to be distracted - get in that workshop, sharpen a few tools and MAKE something.
Now pass me that Axminster catalogue......... ;)
Philly

After three more hours of CAD work last night, I finished up the preliminary drawings for the next cover project for Woodworking Magazine. We're calling this project "An American Wall Cabinet." But right now a more apt name would be "An R-5 Wall Cabinet."

This morning I spent about 45 minutes building the face frame, tombstone door and drawer front of the cabinet using the pink ½"-thick Foamular insulation board. I taped up the joints with packing tape. Then I printed out the hardware from the Horton Brasses web site, cut it out (Horton scaled it full-size!) and taped it in place.

If you ever wonder how woodworking magazines get away with coverlines like "Build a Bench in a Weekend," this is it. It's our trade secret. We just build it out of Foamular.

After a dry-fit of all the parts (no tape), I determined that the mediary rail in the door was too wide. So I shaved off ½" with a ruler and a knife and it looked much better. Then Senior Editor Glen Huey and I placed the rattail hinges on the stiles so they would work well and look good.

This short exercise also drove me to plan on adding some stopped chamfers on the stiles of the face frame when I build it out of walnut. So all in all, it was worth the $10.

If you've never worked with Foamular, it's a cinch to cut with a knife and a ruler. I used my Tite-Mark gauge to first score the foam's plastic film. Then I followed up with the knife. To make the curve in the tombstone door, I drew it with a compass. The pencil lead didn't cut the foam; it made a furrow in the film. Then my knife could easily follow that furrow to complete the cut.

And what are we going to do with the leftover foam? Easy. I use it for slicing up plywood with a circular saw. I lay the foam down on the driveway, put the plywood on top, and set the sawblade to cut through the plywood and slightly into the foam (and not the concrete). Works every time.

— Christopher Schwarz

There is one variation of usage which has struck me forcibly after many years of reading American magazines and Reviews.

Larry Williams' wooden moulding ...