arc welding

After some deliberation, I decided that I really like the drawer case layout and went ahead and permanently installed them in the cabinet. The mounting method I arrived at is actually quite straightforward. The right hand drawer case is pegged to the bottom of the cabinet with four short dowel pieces. It is not directly attached to either the back or right side of the cabinet with this method, eliminating any wood movement issues however small they might be. The left hand single drawer case is also not directly attached to the cabinet side or back for the same reason. Instead I created a small platform for the left drawer case using two pieces of beech with grain in the same direction as the rest of the cabinet.

This is the last day of the year when the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown settlement was celebrated in America and some ...

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

Part V 

One of my favorite lines in a movie was in one of the Naked Gun movies (with Leslie Nielsen) where Ricardo Montalban was playing the villain.  When asked by Priscilla Presley how he could be so evil his response was something like:

"You forget I spent two years as a building contractor!"

Of course that's in jest (?).  You know - there are, of course, good and bad contractors, and I've dealt with my share of each - and the concrete contractor I used for this project was quite unfortunately of the latter persuasion.  I was really disappointed in his work - and I even gave him a second chance the next year to pour the slab out front of the shop for me - but that's for a later entry...  If you are looking for a general contractor, or even just a "sub" contractor, make sure you check references and investigate your choices with the local builders' association.  Above all - you will need patience and perseverance to be successful.  Don't expect perfection - but be ready to stand your ground when needed - and pick your battles well.  Know what's important, and what's not. At the time, there was a shortage of available contractors for me to hire, and I was not patient... 

But first, I should go over the design of the foundation in a bit more depth...

The Design

There were two different foundation systems I looked into using.  My first consideration was to pour what's known as a "monolithic" slab - that's where the footings, stem wall (if there is one) and the finished floor are all poured at once, in one big pour...  The section through such a system looks something like this:

There are several advantages to a system such as this.. It is the most efficient system, combining the footing, wall, and slab all into a single, large system.  There is considerably less labor involved in the pour, but the earthwork needs to be done more precisely to save fill requirement.  And finally if termites are an issue in your part of the country this type doesn't allow anyplace for the nasty little buggers to penetrate from underneath.  It does have a couple of disadvantages as well...  One is that the bottom of the wall is more prone to water damage, as the top of the concrete can be only slightly above grade level...  and because of that, it also does not work as well on a sloped lot.  Though it's hard to see in the photos below, my lot slopes down from right to left (east to west) about a foot in the width of the shop.  It might not seem like much, but it is a lot of fill to bring in.   I prefer to work with the slope of the land rather than fight it...

Another disadvantage - at least for me - is that I wanted to have the entire floor of the slope 1/8" per foot from the back end to the front - a drop of about 4", so it would drain and I wouldn't have water puddling up in the center of the floor if I parked a snow-bound car inside.  That would make it difficult to frame up so it is level... This might not be an issue for you, but my experience has been to keep the space as flexible as possible - and that means uses other than woodworking.  The next owner of my shop might want to work on cars, for example - and so will I, for that matter.

The final disadvantage is I wanted to be able to hose down the slab in the main section of the shop if for some reason it needed it...    I can seal a rubber base down for some walls, but doing all would be too much.  So - it meant I would opt for the more expensive version (of course) - a stem wall type foundation.  Here's a typical section for that style of  foundation:

 

You can see that now the foundation wall is independent of the floor slab, so with this system I can slope the floor and not worry about framing the exterior walls plumb and level.  The slab at the far back of the shop would be about an inch below the top of the foundation wall - and about 5 inches below it at the front.  This works out well for the driveway slab to be poured out front of the shop - it will work out to be about the right height so the foundation wall can be above finish grade level by about 8".

You can also see why more labor is required to make it...  Instead of one pour for the entire foundation and slab, the work now has to be divided into three separate pours...  First you must form up the strip footing so it is below frost depth and pour it - then you must form up the stem walls and pour them; and then, finally, you pour the floor slab.  Three separate pours...  It uses the same or more concrete, and your contractor must have the form work to be able to pour the stem walls.  There are many concrete contractors out there that do only flat work - they don't want to invest the money into the forms required, and most often they can get away without investing in too much heavy machinery.  If you do it yourself, you can easily make your own forms, and rent your own machinery... but it's an added expense, and not a small one.  You could use the forms afterward as sheathing - but you need to coat the forms with a release agent (usually an oil) that can make it less than desirable for use as sheathing.  My neighbor rented a backhoe to do his shop, and by the time he was done with it, he'd spent $1100 or so just for it.

What determines how deep you put your foundation is set by the local building department and is what's known as "Frost Depth" - the depth at which the ground does not regularly freeze.  Freezing ground is bad for a foundation. Water expands when froze, and as a result lifts and stresses the foundation, and over time that stress can result in the foundation failing.

Frost depth in my area is about 2'-0" below finish grade.  With an 8" deep strip footing at the bottom, that means we can use a 2' deep stem wall - which will give us two feet below grade if we keep the finish grade at a maximum of 8" below the top of the stem wall.   Frost depth varies around the country... in warmer climates, there isn't one, just a requirement the footing be on inorganic undisturbed soil or compacted structural fill.  Where I grew up in the Dakotas, it was a full 4' below finish grade.  It's one reason you will see so many basements in the north vs. the south - you are required to go so deep anyway to get down to frost depth with your footing, there's no good reason not to make it just a couple feet deeper to make it a basement.

Optimally, I would have used the detail above, with a 6" wide stem wall.  Structurally, it's plenty strong to hold up the building. it also keeps you from having problems with applying the finish material - when you install the drywall (or plywood, or whatever finish material you have) the inside of the wall will line up with the concrete.  What I ended up with was more like this, however:

 

Note the foundation is 8" wide, not 6".  One other difference that is shown on that detail that I don't have - insulation.  I got none.  Nada.  It's a sordid tale - I'll let you know as I go through the photos of the construction below just how I arrived with that detail.

Strip Footings

The first job after you dig the trench for the footings is to form up for the strip footings.  It's pretty simple, really - your biggest concern is setting them at the right height.   You want the footings resting on undisturbed, inorganic soil (or compacted structural fill), just below frost level.  Your building department will be able to tell you just how much your soil can support, and thusly how big your footing needs to be.  You can check with them to find what frost level is in your part of the country.  You then want to form so the top is level and gives the footing a minimum depth (in my case 8").  You can use the excavated soil for the sides of your forms at the very bottom - but it's best to have most of it formed with footer boards to make sure the edges are held in place correctly, which will allow you to estimate just how much concrete you need.  It's always better to overdo the forms rather than under-do them, as nothing sucks more than a blowout during a pour.

The easiest way to set the level is if you have a builder's level or transit and a pole, which can be rented for fairly little money.  You set stakes in the ground at strategic points and with the aid of a helper, shoot the top of the stake, then drive it down with a sledge until it's at the right height.  Do this with each successive stake, then using a string line, a plumb bob, and batten boards, drive a pair of stakes in about every 24" or so (more or less depending how good your soil is) and nail the footer boards on the inside of the stakes - which you've placed just for that purpose, using one of the sides as a guide.  Once in place, you can reinforce the footer boards by putting nailers across the top to help keep them from spreading apart while pouring, as this crew did:

For reinforcement, mine has two #4 rebar (#4 means 4/8" or 1/2" diameter) running the length of the tooting.  An additional rebar can be added perpendicular to these every four feet or so, but I am fortunate enough to have soil with a great load carrying capacity, so it wasn't necessary.  The next step is to pour them, obviously...  but I wanted to show the photo below for another reason:

 Look at that nice, green lawn.  By the time the concrete was done - they had torn the living snot out of my yard.  I tried to keep them from doing too much damage, and I even roped off the area where my drain field was located to keep them from driving their 574 ton trucks over it - which could easily crush the pipe.  Or should I say did?  For some reason, I'm telling you - it was like trying to keep flies of of s__t.  I came home after bringing dad to a doctor's appointment to find they drove right over my little tape barrier like it wasn't even there.  Not only did this happen once, but it happened several times over the time they were there.  My drain field still works, but it's capacity has been cut about in half from what it was - no more "super" loads in the washer for us...  and a healthy repair bill someday when I do half to replace it.  The one guy I was most worried about - the kid with the skid hoe - was easily the most careful and professional and did by far the least damage of any of them.

Stem Walls

So after the footings were poured and allowed to dry for several day, the concrete guy's crew comes back and sets the forms for the stem walls:

It was at this point that I went out back and measured them only to find out they had set them for an 8" wall and not a 6" wall, like was in the drawings.   The concrete guy wasn't to be found anywhere, this was entirely done by his crew...  Ugh.  Is it really that hard to do something I ask?  It's not like I was being disagreeable, or hard to get along with, or anything.   I bring it up to him, and he's like, well - we can tear it down and do it at 6", but then I'll have to schedule it for later because that crew's already on another job.  Jeez, can't these guys come up with something more original?  In the end, I said screw it, let it be 8".  I'll just deal with it later, and let it remind me of why I should never hire bozos like this guy again (yet I don't even listen to myself - more on that in a later entry in this series).

Reinforcement was just as described in the detail above - a #4 rebar every 4'-0" vertically, and a #4 within 6" of both the top and bottom of the wall.  Anchor bolts were placed every 6'-0" and within 12" of each end of each wall.

 After they poured the stem walls, the kid with the skid hoe came back and backfilled around the stem walls, stripped the topsoil in the center, and no - I don't know why he did it that way, but it didn't take him all that long to get the sod out and down to good soil, so what the heck?  As long as it got done right, I wasn't concerned.  There wasn't enough good fill to use on the inside of the walls to support the slab, so I ordered structural fill brought in to bring the sub-base up to grade.  They brought in a type of fill that doesn't require compaction, which I think is interesting - it's a product I was familiar with but had never seen it done before, a material called CLSM (Controlled Low-Strength Material).  It looks mostly like really sloppy wet sand, and it is brought in in a concrete truck and poured out and leveled almost like concrete. 

It's usually made up of a mixture of portland cement, fly ash, and aggregate mixed with water.  Lots of labor saved in that you don't have to compact it, and it can be put in place so very quickly...  I did need 2-1/2 truckloads of it, each costing $200 though (I ended up having to buy 3 truckloads full)  I had the remainder put out so I could use it as fill for under the driveway slab that would eventually be placed out front of the shop.

So, I think in my case, I paid dearly for it.  But at least it was ready for the floor.  I did have one problem - there was a lot of soil left over in a big pile - sod, rocks, organic soil - pure garbage to me and I had nowhere to put it.  The kid with the backhoe offered to take it - seems he was filling some ditch on his property out in the back woods, and could put it there. He loaded it and hauled it out himself, so there was some consolation. I rewarded him by getting him to put in a gravel driveway back to the shop and to redo the one out front.  He did a particularly splendid job, for a fair price.

For more information on CSLM, visit the Portland Cement Association's web site.

The Floor Slab

So - another appointment for dad, and I knew they were going to pour the floor - when I got back, this was the scene:

It was a good thing I got back when I did...  I noticed two things were completely wrong.  First - there was no insulation laid down around the perimeter.  Second - he hadn't dug out for the two pier footings I would need for the two columns I had designed for the structure.  You know, I don't think he actually ever looked at the drawings...  Guess there might have been too much information there for him to handle.  Anyway, it was already too late for the insulation, but I did at least get him before the concrete had reached where the pier footings were to go - and stood there while he dug them out and made sure they were the right size, even as the concrete was flowing closer to the pit.  Essentially, the pier footings can be poured as a part of the floor, like a monolithic slab would be - so it's fine if done that way.  It would have sucked if he hadn't done them though - I wouldn't have known about it, and would have wondered why the floor slab cracked so badly around the columns later...

At long last - I had a foundation on which to build my shop.   Woohoo!  The rest would be all up to me and me alone.

 

Up next - walls!

Please excuse all the mess around here. I have gone though a major ordeal with this site but I think the problems are finally resolved. I'll try to explain some of the issues (Warning! Geek speak ahead). 1. My webhost since 2003, HostMerit, went bankrupt. He gave no notice he was shutting down until after the fact. 2. Another company, who shall remain nameless, took all the website files from HostMerit and put them on their own servers. Again this was after the fact and without my permission. Of course nothing worked because this broke all the links in the database. I had learned to keep my own backups and was able to put the site back up but many things were broken. I had several nasty email exchanges with the new host because they kept changing things without my permission or notifiying me so I had to make several restarts. I agreed to pay them month by month until I could get my site fixed and moved even though I had paid a year in advance with HostMerit. I found these people don't send invoices or emails, they just shut your site off each month at the payment date even though I had asked to set up an automatic payment with PayPal.

Chris Schwarz has posted a wonderful review of my third book on his blog.

He must be a mindreader, as he points out that ...

It?s no secret that I?m a fan of the work of Greene & Greene. A big fan. Anyone with cursory knowledge of the brothers has heard of the Ultimate Bungalows. These homes, designed by Charles and Henry at the height of their popularity and creative energy, are grand residences built with uncompromising attention to detail. Everyone agrees the the Gamble, Blacker, Pratt and Thorsen houses are in this category. Many include the Freeman Ford house as well. Were I the ultimate authority, the Robinson house would also join the list.

While the Gamble house remained in the Gamble family until it was donated to USC and the city of Pasadena, the other Ultimates have more colorful histories. Most endured some period of neglect or abuse. The rape of the Blacker house resulted in ordinances that protect historic homes in Pasadena. I think the Thorsen house trumps them all, however. Since 1942 the Thorsen house has been home to a fraternity.

I suspect that many of you have seen the movie ?Animal House.? It?s hilarious. It?s a classic. It?s completely unlike the California (Berkeley) chapter of Sigma Phi. The brothers of Sigma Phi take their stewardship of the Thorsen house, which the fraternity purchased from the Thorsen estate, very seriously. Every Saturday morning they work as a group on maintaining the house. They learn its history. They take pride in it.

But keeping up with the demands of a 100 year old mansion (and a work of art at that) is difficult. And expensive. About 9 million dollars. If you find yourself in Berkeley, stop by the house. The brothers will happily give you a tour and accept a donation to the fund. But don?t let an inability to visit stop you from contributing. Send a few dollars and help save an historic landmark, one of the Ultimates. It?s a lot easier to keep such houses around than to wait for another genius to come along and design more.

The Thorsen House Restoration Campaign
c/o Mr. Dan McNear
Route 1
Box 264-E
San Rafael, CA 94901

Tommy takes a break from shaping the drawer fronts to construct the drawer bottoms and finish the drawers. He's using wood scraps saved along the way for the job. He first bevels the back edge then cleans up the side edges with a plane so the bottoms will fit snugly in the grooves along the drawer sides. Next he cuts the profile on the front edge and then bevels it. Once the profile is set and the bottom slides in smoothly and tucks in nicely on the front profile, he uses his bandsaw to cut the back edge to fit and cleans it up with the plane. Finally he makes a little notch where he'll put a screw that should hold the drawers together for the next 200 years. Before signing off, Tommy tosses out a little nugget of advice: you'll save aggravation when you plane, if you take five minutes to build a benchdog (or bench hook) to hold the piece you're planing securely in place.

After a nightmare of Al, Tommy pulls himself together to finish up the BIG dining room table. Watch as he looks up glib, fixes a mistake on the edge, puts on a killer triple bead, attaches hardware and test for the all important 35lb turkey dinner.

Referring back to Flattening Traditional Oilstones on 15th Nov 07, here is a picture of the rounding or bellying of a chisel ...

My story goes like this. I was edge jointing some boards for my workbench. (Yes, I am still working on it, no it is not finished yet.) Of course, I was trying maintain a very sharp edge on my plane blade since I was having trouble with my plane, and since the yellow pine I was using was a bit contrary.

I have a set of Norton water stones that I bought new a few months ago. As I was progressing from the rough stone down through the 1,000 grit and 4,000 grit and to the 8,000 grit, I noticed that it seemed like no matter what I did, the finer grits were not properly honing the blade across its entire width.

I didn't suspect at first that the stone might not be flat since I had been religiously flattening it. However, after a bit of inspection, I finally figured out that it seemed like my stones were striking the blade differently. Finally, I pulled out a straightedge and checked the stone.  read more »

Hardwood floors are part of an established home?s heritage. The look of the wood is what draws a guest in and what adds warmth even on the coldest of days. When you decide to install solid wood flooring in your home or office you are not only going for that old familiar aesthetic, but you are also acknowledging that wood flooring is extremely sensible. There is a treasured stability with hard wood flooring, something that immediately elevates the value of your property. With wood flooring you give a nod to the baroque.

In addition to looking beautiful and lush, wood floors are also unquestionably good for the environment. The flooring is, in a sense, insulation between your home and the elements. This insulation is said to be sixteen times as powerful as steel and four hundred fifteen times more productive than steel. Most solid wood flooring is made in America and therefore must adhere to the nation?s strict environmental codes and ordinances.

What grain of wood you select will determine the overall character of your floor. Nothing exudes dependability like oak solid wood flooring. Within each plank you see the life of the tree: the knots and burrs. Another benefit to choosing solid oak flooring is that it does not scratch easily. With proper care, the warmth of the color will last a very long time.

Engineered oak wood flooring is a less expensive option. You get the same look and character, but the installation is much easier. In most cases nails or screws are not necessary, all that you need is a foam underlay. Since most of the engineered oak wood flooring is made in China some may argue that the quality is lower.

While some of the heartiness of solid oak wood flooring may be lost, and the value of your home or business may not increase as much, the appearance is not sacrificed and most people rarely can detect the difference. The greatest difference is in the cost and the installation. A professional with elaborate and specialized tools must install solid oak wood flooring.

A benefit for choosing engineered oak wood flooring is that you have the option of putting in the floor yourself. With the do it yourself craze at full tilt many new and established homeowners are getting excited about improvement projects that can be accomplished within a weekend.

Most major chain home improvement centers not only offer a large variety of engineered oak wood flooring, but they are now offering workshops that will guide you through the step by step process. An added bonus to doing it yourself is that now under floor heating is becoming mainstream. In the same workshop where you learn about wood flooring you can learn about the under floor heat process and how energy efficient a row of heating coils can be.

Choosing to upgrade your home or business flooring is simple, and in most cases, affordable. Going with solid oak flooring or engineered oak wood flooring is up to your taste and your wallet.

Natalie Aranda writes on home improvement. Hardwood floors are part of an established home?s heritage. The look of the wood is what draws a guest in and what adds warmth even on the coldest of days. When you decide to install solid wood flooring in your home or office you are not only going for that old familiar aesthetic, but you are also acknowledging that wood flooring is extremely sensible. What grain of wood you select will determine the overall character of your floor. Nothing exudes dependability like oak solid wood flooring.

The wood for this ring is from a tree which is commonly known as the “Tree of Heaven�. It is the tree that has taken on the symbolism for what it is to be an immigrant in America in the book “A tree grows in Brooklyn� by Betty Smith. Anyone who has ever come in contact with this tree will remember it. The journey to learn more about this tree has led me to learn more about myself. It was the long forgotten memories and dreams of a little boy that this piece has allowed me to rediscover.



The base wood is walnut which represents passion and intellect. The crème colored wood ailanthus (Tree of heaven) celebrates the spirit to overcome all life throws at you.
http://www.simplywoodrings.com

I learned the basics of using Follow Me in Sketchup, and it solves the problem of creating round overs on the tensioner plan I've been struggling with. Now that I know how to use this tool, it's fairly easy. This task that has occupied at least 5 hours of my time can now be completed from scratch in under 5 minutes (with several mistakes). Here's how I do it:

1. Draw a rectangle 1.5 x 6 inches.
2. Using the line tool draw a section 1/2 inch long at the tip.
3. Using the line tool draw a section 1 inch long on the right side.
4. Draw a line connecting the two sections.
5. Delete the resulting triangle.
6. Using the Push tool, extrude the shape to 1.5 inches.
7. Orient the object so I'm looking right at the square end.
8. Using the tape tool, drop a reference line 12.25 inches from each side.
9. In the top left corner, use the arc tool to draw an arc that runs between two intersections and tangent to the sides.
10. Do the same in the bottom left corner.
11. Select Camera, Standard Views, Iso.
12. Orbit slightly if necessary to get a good view of the arc and the area it defines.
13. Select Tools, Follow Me.
14. Click on the small section formed by the arc and the corner.
15. Move the cursor to follow the four edges that want a round over and click when they are all defined.
16. Select Camera, Standard Views, Bottom.
17. Select Camera, Standard Views, Iso.
18. Repeat steps 13 ? 15 for the bottom.
19. Select Tools, Dimensions.
20. Add dimensions as needed.

Having learned to do it so quickly and easily, I'm almost embarrassed at the amount of time I spent trying to do this with Intersect Selected and other means. But I'm super excited about the Follow Me tool, which will allow the creation of custom moldings and other details that I couldn't do before.

Have some good tools that you no longer use? Maybe you are looking for some used woodworking tools at a good price. The Des Moines Woodworkers Swap Meet is for you.Our Swap Meet is scheduled for Saturday, September 20; 8 am to noon at the Woodsmith Store. If you have tools to sell, swap, we will provide a table at no charge. Just download and print out the application by Clicking Here Fill out the application and mail to the address on the form, or if you have a scanner, scan the completed document and e mail it to dynexdp@aol.com The event is open to both members and non members.

Now that the frame is even with the face of the case, Tommy can attach the crown molding. Wax is placed on the frame, the ends of the molding have been cut to fit, a little glue is applied and Tommy crosses his fingers hoping everything will work out. When the molding is put in place and the glue dries, Tommy reviews how it connects the upper case to the lower case. The upper case slides in from the back and is held by the crown molding. It's difficult to tell it's two separate pieces.

Saturday Mornings at Highland complement our woodworking class & seminar offerings. Join us at our store in Virginia-Highlands on Saturday mornings at 10am EST for FREE, live demonstrations featuring a wide variety of woodworking skills, tools & techniques. These 1 to 1-1/2 hour-long demonstrations feature our knowledgeable staff and instructors, local clubs & guilds, guest authors, and others. Upcoming events include woodturning, woodcarving, care & use of hand tools, joinery, book signings, an introduction to woodworking design software, and much, much more.

Saturday, July 5, at 10:00am—Longboarding provides countless hours of fun and cheap transportation! Building a longboard is not that difficult once you learn a few basic principles. Page Burch will talk about board design, materials, and history. He will discuss a variety of finishing techniques and provide examples of different finished boards.

All demonstrations take place in Highland Woodworking's retail store in Atlanta, Georgia and begin at 10:00am EST.

Doug Stowe has up a new article on the therapeutic value of creative manual labor such as hand tool woodworking. He has some food for thought that many of us can back up from personal experience even if we don't understand the technical and chemical processes involved.

Here is a quote from the article: "By getting lost in our work, transcending the sense of self, losing all track of time in our creative efforts we generate the same neurohormones that we excite through mind altering drugs and alcohol... We ignore the needs of our children for creative expression only to introduce and enforce their tragic addiction to other things."  read more »

Tommy is upset because the hinges have arrived but they have company markings on them, rendering them useless. So, Tommy goes to work on the doors. First, he shows where he got the inspiration and the pattern. Then, after cutting the pattern, he sands the edges so they are smooth and traces the lines.

Gapura is a part of gebyok formed as entrance door. This part also has many demand and can be functioned as :

* Room decoration

* Door frame of the room door

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

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Topics: April is turning out to be a very busy month with lots of travel. Marc recently attended the Festool Grand Opening event. Matt went to a Lie-Nielsen tool seminar/demo last weekend. Improper safety techniques in a woodworking class. The announcement of the first annual Woodworker’s Safety Week (May 5th - May 9th). We get Rick Rolled. Hollow chisel mortisers. Tom’s Tip. And if you had $2500 to set up a shop, what would you buy? Leave us a voicemail and let us know!

If you want to leave us a voicemail: 623-242-2450

Tommy finally gets to glue this "bad boy together." After putting glue in the front only, he assembles the drawer dividers, the back and the partition and puts them in the desk to show the viewers. Watch this episode to find out why Tommy calls himself a "colorful guy, just not too bright."

My next logical step in the progression is to create the rabbets for the frame and panel back. The rabbets in the left and right side panels are fairly straightforward. I selected a 5/8 inch depth and 5/16 inch width for the rabbet. The 5/8 inch thick frame provides sufficient strength for the 5/16 inch back panels. The will be two back panels housed in the frame which is divided by a center stile, or at least this is what the plan is. It is fairly important to have the depth of the rabbet uniform in both side panels and the top and bottom panels, this involves careful measuring and allowance for the chamfer edge profile of the top and bottom panels.


The rabbet in the top and bottom panels is a stopped rabbet, ending just before either end of the back of each of the top and bottom panels. After removing most of the wood to create the rabbet, I squared the ends of the rabbet using chisels and careful marking. To ensure all the panels are squared up and exactly the same size I overlay the top panel onto bottom panel without the side panels and then with the side panels in place.

In the photo, the panels are loosely assembled to confirm all the rabbets are the same depth and uniform around the carcase. I also take this opportunity to mark the outline of each of the side panels onto the top and bottom panels. This paves the way for the next step which is to create the joinery for the panels, in this case dowels. I create a doweling guide which is the same dimension, thickness and width as one of the ends of the side panels.

More about this in the next post..