ShopNotes Magazine Issue 144

Spending time with woodworkers as they build a project is like looking inside their minds. Walking around the shop here, I’m usually distracted by the progress of each project. It’s also a chance to learn how Marc, Steve, Dillon, Chris, and John design and build. What tools are they using? What layout methods or joinery techniques does each favor? However, there are plenty of sneaky lessons to be learned, too. Each person has a certain amount of shop habits that set them up for success. For example, Steve’s work area stays neat and organized. Each day ends with a sweep up. Marc lays out his plans and carefully stacks project parts by subassemblies. I’ve probably absorbed as much from their work routines as from their techniques and tool choices. It…

There’s a lot to learn about woodworking. The subject can feel overwhelming frankly. One key piece of advice I was given was to pick a single technique and stick with it. This applies to sharpening, finishing, and joinery. Developing this mindset has helped me build skills and confidence in what I make. From this level of competence, it’s easier to learn other skills. And that happens to be another nugget of wisdom: it’s a good idea to have a few options in your skillset in order meet a variety of woodworking challenges. POCKET HOLE JOINERY. One example that meets both of those aphorisms is pocket hole joinery. The technique offers a short learning curve and a wide variety of applications. On extended family visits, I enjoy helping relatives tackle woodworking and…

There’s a fascination I have (and one I imagine I share with many other woodworkers) concerning old tools. Some of it is historical: an interest in how the world used to work. Some of it tickles the little engineer in my brain, oohing and aahing at rusty, mechanical monstrosities (yes, bargain bin combination planes, I’m talking about you). But, in all honesty, I find the main draw I have comes in imagining that old tool revived as a new part of my arsenal. Fixing up old tools is something that I find grabs the attention of many woodworkers. The issue, however, is that many people don’t know where to begin. In my opinion, the best place to start any job is knowing what tools you’ll need to undertake it. Here…

Handplanes are an integral part of my shop. Even though most of my heavy-lifting is done with power tools, every project gets hit with a handplane to some extent. Sometimes it’s to clean up the face of a board. Sometimes, a quick edge chamfer. At the very least, I use one of my specialty planes to fine-tune joinery. With as much joy as I find in using planes, that excitement is taken to another level when it’s a handplane that I’ve made myself. The two small planes you see here, a smoother and a chisel plane, are great ways to get started in toolmaking. As you can see in the photo above and the drawings on the next page, each plane is fairly simple. Only a handful of parts comprise…

Lumber storage is one of those shop needs that always seems to be in short supply. Like clamps, you can never have enough of some things. And if you do happen to be lucky enough to have storage space for your wood and supplies, it’s usually at the opposite end of the shop from where you’re working. This little gem is the perfect solution when wrestling with that dilemma. Between bins, shelves, and drawers, this cart has all manner of storage options. It also serves as a staging center for any project that you’re working on. Stout and mobile, the cart is easy to move around your shop so it’s right where you need it. I made my cart from maple and ¾" Baltic birch plywood. But don’t hesitate to…

In the last issue of ShopNotes (issue 143) we started building the second version of our shop-made CNC machine. There we built the body of the machine and installed the X-axis assembly underneath the bed. Let’s look at what’s left. NESTED ASSEMBLIES. The drawing on the next page provides a big brush look at what’s ahead. Picking up where we left off means adding to the gantry that you built earlier. The Y-axis drive train is anchored to the gantry, and from there it propels the Y-assembly back and forth across the rails mounted to the gantry. That assembly, in turn plays host to the Z-axis drive train and unit which controls the up and down movement of the router that’s mounted to its front. The last bit there literally…