06. December 2001.pdf

WORLD’S FIRST CORDLESS ROUTER TESTED

COMPLETE GUIDE TO SPRAY FINISHING AT HOME

Woodworking

Popular

December 2001 #125

15 Best New

Tools of 2001

We scoured the world and

found the tools that will

blow your mind

EXCLUSIVE:

Freeze Your

Bits & Blades

Inexpensive cryogenics

doubles (or triples!) time

between sharpenings

Plus

• Ingenious Dado Jig

• Craftsman Wall Shelf

www.popwood.com

Colonial Spice Box

Part One: Traditional Casework

contents

TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

12 Set UpYour Saw With Scraps

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

You don’t need a lot of expensive machinist tools to super-tune your table saw. Have you got

some scrap wood and a spare screw? Good. That’s all you need. Also, find out how to make

your radial arm saw laser-guided.

By Scott Phillips

16 World’s First Cordless Router

TOOL TEST

We’re sure the first woodworkers who saw a cordless drill wondered why they needed one for

their shops, what with all the power outlets there. Now everyone’s got a cordless drill/driver.

Find out if the new cordless router from Porter-Cable is destined to be an essential tool or an

evolutionary dead-end. Also, we review a modular shop system from Waterloo and a new

clamp designed to compete with Bessey K-bodies.

22 Accuset 2" Brad Nailer and Micro Pinner

ENDURANCE TEST

Sure, there are nailers out there that cost a lot more and a little less. But we have yet to use a

nailer that is both as sleek and tough as the Accuset A200BN brad nailer and as versatile as

the A100MP micro pinner. Find out why these two tools have a permanent place in our shop.

26 Super-Simple Dado and Tenon Jig

INGENIOUS JIGS

Stop clamping a straightedge to your work for cutting dadoes with a router. Make this almost

embarrassingly simple jig that will make quick work of dadoes. It also is great for cutting

tenons on several pieces at once and cutting the tongue for breadboard ends on tabletops.

By Nick Engler

32 Exhausting Overspray in the Home Shop

FLEXNER ON FINISHING

If you want to spray your finishes indoors, you need an effective way to evacuate the overspray

without risking an explosion. Here’s how to set up a simple and effective home system that uses

plastic curtains, a furnace filter and a modified fan to direct the air out a window.

By Bob Flexner

43 Best New Tools of 2001

Even to our jaded eyes, 2001 was simply an amazing year for new tools. In fact, it was almost

impossible to whittle our list down to the 15 you see here. Before you go shopping for a tool

this weekend, check out our list of the latest that’s hitting the stores right about now.

58 WhyYou Should FreezeYour Tools

You can easily double the life of your jointer knives, planer knives, saw blades and router bits

by sending them to a cryogenics lab. Sound expensive? It’s not. Here’s all you need to know

about freezing your tools — the latest trend in industrial tooling.

76 A Beginner’s Guide to HVLP Systems

Once you try spraying a finish, you will never go back to a brush. Spraying is faster, and the

results are almost always superior. Most home woodworkers choose a turbine-driven high

volume, low-pressure (HVLP) system. Here’s all you need to know about how to pick an

entry-level system and how to use it correctly.

By Troy Sexton & David Thiel

continued on page 4

www.popwood.com 3

On the Cover

Master marquetry

without mastering hand

tools.Table saw and

router master Glen Huey

shows you how it’s done

in this two-part article

that walks you through

construction of this

classic spice box.

Cover photo by Al Parrish

IN EVERY ISSUE

PROJECTS

50 Pennsylvania Spice Box

FIRST OF TWO PARTS

Believe it or not, the marquetry and joinery on this stunning little box were done almost

entirely with a router. In this first installment, Glen Huey shows you how to build the car-

case and a frame-and-panel door — in case the marquetry is too much for you. In the next

issue, we’ll show you how templates and a straight bit can make the marquetry manageable.

By Glen Huey

62 Craftsman Wall Shelf

Make room for photos, pottery and handmade tiles with this cherry shelf unit. The wedged

through-tenon joinery is traditional but do-able thanks to a clever template and a router.

By Rick Peters

68 Tractor-Trailer Toy Box

Load up the army men, blocks and plastic snakes. This easy-to-build toy box is tough

enough to ride and roomy enough to store a heap of toys. If you start building it now, you

can make it just in time for Christmas.

By Al Krogh

84 Modern Occasional Table

This simple contemporary table has a secret. Lift up its top and you’ll find the perfect storage

space for those unused remote controls, VCR manuals and other stuff you don’t need everyday.

6 Out on a Limb

What’s Your

Finger Worth?

8 Letters

Mail from readers

40 Projects from

the Past

Console Table

90 Caption the

Cartoon

Win a Freud

router bit set

96 Out of the

Woodwork

The Inheritance

By Walt Akers

Popular Woodworking (ISSN 0884-8823, USPS 752-250) is published six times a year in February, April, June, August, October and December by F&W Publications, Inc. Editorial and advertising

offices are located at 1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207; tel.: (513) 531-2222. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs and artwork should include ample postage on a self-addressed,

stamped envelope (SASE); otherwise they will not be returned. Subscription rates: A year’s subscription (6 issues) is $24.96; outside of U.S add $7/year ■ Canada Publications Mail Agreement

offices. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Popular Woodworking, P.O. Box 5369, Harlan, IA 51593 Canada GST Reg. # R122594716 ■ Produced and printed in the U.S.A.

P OPULAR W OODWORKING December 2001

O UT ON A L IMB

What’s Your Finger Worth?

December 2001, Vol. 21, No. 6

www.popularwoodworking.com

Editor & Publisher Steve Shanesy

Art Director Tricia Barlow

Senior Editors David Thiel,

Christopher Schwarz

Project Illustrator John W. Hutchinson

Photographer Al Parrish

Editorial Intern John Tate

Editorial Assistant Barb Brown

Contributing Editors

Nick Engler

Bob Flexner

Glen Huey

Scott Phillips

Troy Sexton

Technical Advisers:

Bill Austin • Makita USA. Inc.

Scott Box • Delta International

Chris Carlson • S-B Power Tool

Bill Crofutt • Grizzly Industrial

Dale Zimmerman • Franklin International

Senior Vice President David Lewis

Editorial Director David Fryxell

CIRCULATION

David Lee, Vice President

Lynn Kruetzkamp, Group Manager

New technology could save thousands of fingers a year.

table saw equipped with a passive

safety device that would send you looking

for a bandage after a saw accident instead

of to the emergency room carrying your

finger in a baggie?

Woodworkers were first shown the Saw-

Stop (sawstop.com) system 18 months ago.

It halts a table saw blade in less than a quar-

ter turn, or within milliseconds, when the

blade senses contact with human flesh. I

saw it operate, and it performed as adver-

tised. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s fool-

proof. Field testing is necessary to learn

how reliably it operates in the real world.

And while testing is underway, what

should be of concern to woodworkers is

why the evaluation process hasn’t pro-

gressed more. Understandably, manufac-

turers are now figuring out how this safety

feature would change their business. Key

issues include:

• Product liability (some say it would

actually rise for tool manufacturers).

• How many millions of dollars it will

cost to retool the manufacturing plants to

accommodate the device.

• And the impact on sales when the

cost of the device itself — plus fees to the

inventor, a patent attorney named Stephen

Gass — are all added to the price tag.

There’s disagreement between the in-

ventor and tool manufacturers about how

much this device will cost you on a new

table saw. Our best guess, and it’s only a

guess based on their disparate claims, is

about $150 to the price of a contractor saw

and $200 or more for a cabinet saw.

But it’s not just the price of a table saw

that is slowing this process down. Manu-

facturers I spoke with made the case that

they can’t simply rush forward. And while

some manufacturers seem more interested

than others, none has set the goal of find-

ing a way to make it work. While nobody

wants to be first to market with the device,

most admit that once one manufacturer

takes the plunge, the rest will follow.

Then there’s Mr. Gass. His frustration

with not seeing his invention enthusiasti-

cally embraced by manufacturers may also

be an obstacle. When interest among

woodworkers upon its announcement did-

n’t translate into licensing agreements with

tool manufacturers, Gass took his case to

governmental safety regulatory agencies,

which may force its use by fiat. This tactic

raised the hackles of most tool makers. Gass

also appears to want greater fees for Saw-

Stop as time goes on because, he says, his

investment continues to rise. From my un-

derstanding of Mr. Gass’s royalty structure,

he will make millions every year on table

saws alone. If installed on other equipment,

millions more will flow to him.

We don’t take issue that Mr. Gass should

enjoy a comfortable life if his clever device

prevents thousands of serious finger and

hand injuries every year. We also recognize

that manufacturers have to make money to

stay in business and can be held responsible

to shareholders when they don’t.

All parties involved need to focus on

the fact that it’s their current and future

customers whose hands and fingers are at

risk here. And to their customers they also

have a responsibility. It’s time manufac-

turers and Mr. Gass get together and map

out a plan that takes everyone’s best inter-

ests into account then move forward with

all deliberate speed.

You can help this process. Please go to

our web site (popwood.com) now through

December and weigh in on your willing-

ness to pay more for equipment that offers

real protection without interfering with

your use of the machine. Or send us a post-

card stating “yes” or “no” to spending an

extra $150 on a contractor saw equipped

with SawStop. We’ll share the results with

you, the manufacturers and Mr. Gass. The

results just might be the nudge that will

get the decision makers off square one. PW

PRODUCTION

Barbara Schmitz, Vice President

Heather Griffin, Production Coordinator

ADVERTISING

National Sales Representative

Bill Warren, Five Mile River Assoc. LLC

RR1 Box 1400, Stockton Springs, ME 04981

Tel. (207) 469-1981; Fax (207) 469-3050

wkwarren@aol.com

Advertising Sales

Joe Wood, Tel. (513) 336-9760

Fax (513) 336-9761

josephfwood@aol.com

Classified Advertising Sales

Joan Wright, Tel. (800) 388-1820

joanwright@ix.netcom.com

Advertising Production Coordinator

Debbie Thomas, Tel. (513) 531-2690, ext. 219

debbiet@fwpubs.com

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P OPULAR W OODWORKING December 2001

H ow much more would you pay for a

L ETTERS

Why Slow-Speed Mortisers

Stall in Tough Woods

Don’t Forget Chip Removal

When Evaluating Machines

I just read your article “Mortiser Slug-Fest”

in the August 2001 issue (#123). It was a

good article, but there is one thing I’d like

to comment on. The reason slow speed

mortisers tend to stall easier has little to

do with horsepower or torque. If it did, then

a slow-speed machine would actually be

better — because all other things being

equal, a 1,700 rpm motor will have twice

the torque as a 3,400 rpm motor, and would

therefore be more resistant to stalling.

The real reason has to do with chip re-

moval. On a mortise chisel and bit, the cut-

ting diameter of the bit is larger than the

shaft of the bit. The head of the bit tends

to cut off larger chunks of wood than can

easily fit between the bit and the chisel at

the point where the hole in the chisel is

necked down. So these chunks must be

chewed up first before they can get up into

the chip-removal flutes of the bit.

A 1,700 rpm mortiser will only chew

up and remove material half as fast as an

equivalent 3,400 rpm mortiser. This is fine

if the operator plunges half as fast, but as

you indicate by doing time measurements

in your article, we’re all in a hurry and don’t

like to go slow. You indicated that a small-

er gap between bit and chisel works better

for the slow mortisers. This is for exactly

the same reason. Just as when you close the

gap on a hand plane to take a thinner shav-

ing, closing the bit/chisel gap forces the bit

to take a smaller bite and the slow mortis-

er can keep up with the reduced amount

and size of the chips more easily.

There is also a second, but less signifi-

cant, reason for a faster motor to work bet-

ter. Even if the horsepower is equal, the

mechanical energy stored in the rotating

motor is four times greater on a 3,400 rpm

motor than on a 1,700 rpm motor. This

won’t help you if you constantly plunge

too fast, but it does help when once in a

while the bit breaks off a large piece of

wood that has to be forced up the flutes.

It can offer a lot more energy momentari-

ly to force that one piece through before

the motor slows too much and stalls. This

is the same reason why an engine with a

larger flywheel is harder to stall than one

with a small flywheel.

I still like the slower machines because

they’re quieter and run cooler when run-

ning idle. Once you start cutting, there isn’t

much difference in noise or heat, but I don’t

like to run them long without wood going

through them because the metal-to-metal

contact noise is irritating, and can really

heat up the bits (I have turned some blue

idling, but never while actually cutting

through wood).

Jim Neeb

Chandler, Arizona

sears

Thinned Down Polyurethane

Finish Really Works Well

I was getting ready to finish some cabinets

for a customer when I read your Trick of

the Trade on finishing in the June 2001

(issue #122). I figured, “What have I got

to lose, I can always go over it with a brush

later.” I diluted Minwax satin polyurethane

by 25 percent with mineral spirits as you

suggested, and went to work with a cotton

rag. As you said, it went on smooth and

fast, with no drips or runs. Why have I been

cleaning brushes all these years?

I was working with shop-grade birch

We Want to Hear

From You

Popular Woodworking welcomes

letters from readers with questions

or comments about the magazine

or woodworking in general.We try

to respond to all correspondence.

Published letters may be edited for

length or style. All letters become

the property of Popular

Woodworking .

How to SendYour Letter:

• E-mail: Popwood@FWPubs.com

• Fax: 513-531-0919

• Mail carrier:

Letters • Popular Woodworking •

1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH

45207

P OPULAR W OODWORKING December 2001

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