Fine Woodworking 08 2024 Freemagazines Top
Fine Woodworking 08 2024 Freemagazines Top
Fine Woodworking 08 2024 Freemagazines Top
311
•Dovetailing tips
•Readers’ gallery
Te a c h • I n s p i r e • C o n n e c t
10" 3 HP 220V Table Saw 8" x 83" Helical Cutterhead Jointer 20" 5 HP Helical Cutterhead Planer
High-end components for maximum precision Feature-packed, award-winning machine Versatile and compact
» Rip capacity: 36" right, 18" left of blade » 36 Indexable carbide inserts » Rabbeting table » 92 Indexable carbide inserts
» DROs for blade height and angle and distance of fence to left » Infeed digital height readout » Heavy-duty center-mounted fence » 5000 RPM cutterhead speed
or right side of blade » Parallelogram table adjustment » 16 & 28 FPM feed rates
» Precision-ground cast-iron table with beveled edge » Precision-ground cast-iron
» Smooth and quiet poly table
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extruded aluminum resaw fence » Oversized, stationary table supports larger workpieces control
» Foot-operated brake system » Built-in dust collection » Work stop with extension rods
» Quick-change blade release/tensioner » On/off foot pedal switch » Quick acting rack-and-pinion
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CUTTING
DOVETAILS 48
HARD-WAX
OIL TEST 34
SHAKER
SIDE CHEST 26
features
26 Shaker Side Chest 42 Turned Pepper Grinder
Bottom shelf adds interest and utility A weekend of woodworking can provide
to a classic design years of daily pleasure
BY CHRISTIAN BECKSVOORT B Y M AT T M O N A C O
8 Contributors
10 Letters
14 Workshop Tips 66
GALLERY:
■ Smart jig for bandsawn dovetails PILLAR AND
SCROLL CLOCK
■ Chain stay for box lids
■ Hot-rod Domino tenons
for easier use
66 Gallery
Back Cover
Passion Project
NEW
PLANES 18
72 DRYING
LUMBER
Learn more
shapertools.com/origin
FRICTION
FIT? Design custom tenons directly on-tool
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Online extras
Visit finewoodworking.com/311
VIDEO
Skewed reality
When making a pepper grinder, Matt
Monaco (p. 42) reaches for his skew
more than any other tool. In this
excerpt from our eLearning class, he
demonstrates how he sharpens it.
VIDEO
Stick it to ’em
Chris Schwarz (p. 56) shows how he
has taken many of the more tedious
processes of stick-chair making and
refined them to pure simplicity. Scan
for links
VIDEO
Roasted and toasted
Fine Woodworking editor Michael
Pekovich tried some thermally
modified wood (p. 72) recently. Find Cut to the line
out what he thought of it (other than
Bob Van Dyke (p. 48) is
it smells like a campfire).
truly an encyclopedia of
dovetailing knowledge
VIDEO and techniques. One
See the future thread that ties his
Amanda Russell demonstrates a techniques together is
technique from the Bruce Hoadley his ever-important cutting
classic Understanding Wood that gauge. Learn the finer
provides a way to anticipate wood points of its use.
movement while resawing.
VIDEO WORKSHOP
Additional perks of Unlimited
Shaker candle stand FREE PLANS
As a member, you can
He’s built dozens of round Shaker stands over four
search our entire digital
decades, so there is no one more qualified than Christian plan library to find just the
Becksvoort to demonstrate making this classic. In this project you’re looking for.
seven-part video series, you’ll learn how to:
6 FINE WOODWORKING
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contributors
EDITOR AND Michael Pekovich
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Adam Godet (“Tool Test: Hard-Wax Oil Finishes”) DEPUTY EDITOR Jonathan Binzen
grew up in central New York state, surrounded by DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR John Tetreault
tradespeople, including his dad, a mechanic. Later SENIOR EDITOR Anissa Kapsales
EDITOR-AT-LARGE Asa Christiana
he built furniture and cabinets for his first few MANAGING EDITOR/ Elizabeth Knapp
apartments. After earning a master’s in International PRODUCTION
Relations, he took a job at the Pentagon, working as ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Betsy Engel
an analyst for the U.S. Defense Department. A few EDITOR, Ben Strano
FINEWOODWORKING.COM
years into that career, however, he began feeling like
ASSOCIATE EDITOR, Amanda Russell
he needed to generate something “more tangible FINEWOODWORKING.COM
than a meeting, a report, or an email.” So he took
an adult-ed class on fine furniture building and CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Christian Becksvoort, Garrett Hack,
never looked back. Today he shares a large, well- Roland Johnson, Steve Latta, Michael Fortune, Chris
Gochnour, Bob Van Dyke
equipped, co-op shop in Washington, D.C., where he
builds custom furniture and teaches woodworking ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, Alex Robertson
to people who are as eager as he was to get their ADVERTISING & MARKETING 203-304-3590
DIRECTOR arobertson@aimmedia.com
hands off a keyboard.
8 FINE WOODWORKING
letters
From the Editor Clarity on grain at last
Peter Galbert, oh boy! I bought his
The things we take with us book, ordered some tools, and made a
couple of Windsors but hey, be careful
It was 2005, and Fine Woodworking was looking for a copy editor. Having spent most when you sit in them. That unwanted
of my career as a newspaper editor, I was looking for a job with more stability, normal crack you just heard signaled wayward
grain because I hadn’t built with
hours, more time to pursue my own passions, less controversy. I figured it would be
split green wood. His current exposé
easy. (“Understanding Grain,” FWW #309),
That was almost 20 years ago. It has not been easy. But it has been good. I’ve another of your magazine’s seminal
works, has me better understanding
worked with some of the best people I will ever know. I’ve come to realize how deep
those cracks, reflecting on failed steam-
the love is for this craft. I’ve learned to see our words and photos through the eyes of bends and working out the steps for
readers who are so dedicated they can spot an error at 50 yards and so passionate good looking grain on the curved
they will call and tell you about every error, every single time. I’ve edited at least 5 backrests I’ll be cutting this week. Great
insights—thanks so much!
million articles about how to cut dovetails, while somehow avoiding ever cutting them
—B I L L A N D E R SO N , Q u e e n s l a n d, Au s t r a l i a
myself. I’ve met people who make furniture so beautiful it will break your heart. And
I’ve learned how a small group of hard-working people, dedicated to excellence, can
change lives.
It’s not easy being an editor at Fine Woodworking. Our editors take their own photos,
spending days far from home in a woodworker’s shop as they build a piece of furniture
step by step. They shape the author’s words into articles, captions, illustrations. They
take videos, and deal with egos. Some editors are extremely good at this work. Others
have come and gone quickly, having never quite mastered the delicate, difficult dance.
My job has been to take their articles and make them better. To help polish out the
rough spots just like the furniture maker scrapes and planes and sands the wood to
remove flaws. To see the magazine through production and to ensure it gets to print Even better belt sanding
on time, in as flawless a condition as possible. It’s a sacred trust, to take something In the June 2024 issue, FWW #310, Jeff
that people have worked so hard to produce, and guide it over the finish line. I have Colla offered an excellent suggestion
for an auxiliary table for a stationary
tried to be mindful of that over the years.
belt sander. I think it can be modified
These days, I work with the happy/sad knowledge that my last deadline is just to be even better. Rather than initially
around the corner. At the end of June, I will retire. Someone else will comb through fastening all the layers together, stop
after completing the base platform.
the articles in search of perfection. Someone else will nag the staff about deadlines.
Make each subsequent layer a certain
Someone else will make up trivia games to ease the weird isolation that working from amount longer than the preceding one,
home has imposed on us since 2020. Someone else will plan the lunches and get- say 11⁄2 in. for example, to facilitate the
togethers. Someone else will pester Mike about details, large and small. addition of a 3⁄4-in. cleat at each end to
fit just snugly over the one before it. That
I hope whoever it is realizes what a privilege they’ve been given. There are not many way you could add them as necessary,
places you can work where everyone cares about the product as much as these leaving more or less fresh sanding belt
people do. I certainly didn’t realize when I started here what a deep impact it would exposed for smoothing stock of different
thicknesses. I use a similar setup to
have on my life.
maximize the use of all 9 in. of the
I do now. —Elizabeth Knapp, managing editor drums on my oscillating spindle sander.
—B I F F C RO S S LE Y, Al l o w a y, N .J.
10 FINE WOODWORKING
QUALITY MATTERS!
J o i n U s At
B o o t h C2340
JULY/AUGUST 2024 15
workshop tips continued Router table Align main fence so
center of workpiece
is aligned with bit.
Clamp secondary fence
tight to primary fence.
Domino tenons
have raised
ridges on edges.
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tools & materials continued
■NEW TO MARKET
Three innovative
products to look out for
ive hook
Smart push pads with a positive
On my jointer, table saw, and router table, I often team
m up one
push pad with a shopmade push stick, which has a hook ook on
one end to help me give the workpiece a positive push. sh.
The DuBois 51049 Easy Grab Push Block has a drop-down down
hook at both ends, which can be engaged as needed to
grab the end of a workpiece. At just $26 each, one off
these handy blocks is a good addition to any shop. Go o to
PowertecProducts.com.
—Asa Christiana
www.melbournetool.com
ZZZIDPDJFRP
T he original version of this pine side
chest was made in the Mt. Leba-
non Shaker community, probably in
the mid to late 19th century. It’s a small,
Shaker Side Chest
easy-to-build piece, just right for next to
the couch, next to the bed, or in the hall.
Looking at the photo, the construction Bottom shelf adds interest and utility
seems fairly straightforward: nails, dadoes,
and dovetailed drawers. However, as with to a classic design
any piece re-created only from a photo, it’s
a guessing game choosing between what
is known, what is visible, and current best B Y C H R I S T I A N B E C K S V O O R T
3
⁄8 in.
Web frame front rail,
3 3
⁄4 in. thick by 13⁄4 in. ⁄4 in.
wide by 251⁄2 in. long
TONGUE AND
Dado, 3⁄16 in. deep GROOVE DETAIL
Drawer bottom,
1
⁄4 in. thick
Drawer back,
1
⁄2 in. thick by 3
⁄16 in. 5
⁄16 in.
243⁄8 in. long
1
Drawer side, 1⁄2 in. thick ⁄16 in.
Knob, 2 in. dia. by 153⁄4 in. long 3
⁄4 in.
18 in. 29 in
5 in.
Top drawer front,
415⁄16 in. tall
6 in.
Bottom drawer
front, 57⁄8 in. tall
3
29 ⁄4 in.
11 in.
JULY/AUGUST 2024 27
Prepare the sides practices. I made this version out of cherry,
using my usual construction techniques.
Though it’s not in keeping with the origi-
This solid-wood case piece lies somewhere between a table and a chest of drawers. The two sides nal Shaker design, I decided to make the
house the joinery for the drawer dividers, shelf, back, and subtop. Once that has all been cut, glue piece even more useful by adding a shelf
the subtop to the sides, and you are well on your way.
under the drawers. Perfect for that stack of
books in your reading queue.
Wide sides. The
sides are almost a
Side panels
foot and a half, so
more than likely
The side panels are where the action is in
you’ll have to edge- this piece. They have integral legs cut into
glue your stock to the bottoms, they hold all the joinery for
get that width. Set the case, and they are nice wide panels
up on a flat surface, that show off the grain you choose.
use a thin layer of The top, sub-top, shelf, and side pan-
glue, and clamp
els are each edge-glued from two boards.
the boards together
tightly. Use clamps
After gluing them up—matching grain as
at the ends of the best I could—I cut them to size. To cut the
boards to keep the rabbets in the sides for the back, I made
boards flush with a vertical and a horizontal pass over the
one another. table saw. A router, dado blade, or even a
rabbet plane will also work. Then I made
the cutout at the bottom of the side to
create the legs, laying out the angles with
Rabbets for the back. Two cuts on the table saw are all it takes to
create the rabbet on the back edge of the sides to accept the tongue-
and-groove backboards.
Triple dadoes. At the table saw, with a dado blade, cut the three dadoes
on each side. One dado for the web frame between the drawers, another
for the divider beneath the two drawers, and a third for the shelf. Shallow
dovetail sockets will be cut later at the front of each dado.
28 FINE WOODWORKING
Clamping block
does double duty.
With spring clamps,
attach a block
across the dovetails
at the top of the
sides. This protects
the surface of the
work while acting
as a clamping caul.
Side to subtop
connection. Apply
glue to the pins
and tails and set
the subtop onto
the sides. Hand-
screw clamps on
the floor hold the
sides upright during
assembly.
www.f inewoodworking.com
Dovetailed stretchers add strength
For structural integrity at the front of the case, Becksvoort adds narrow dovetailed stretchers to the shelf and the dividers. To simplify making them he
dovetails one wide stretcher and rips it into three narrower ones. Two get glued to solid panels, the third becomes the front rail of the web frame.
1
⁄16 in.
5
⁄16 in.
30 FINE WOODWORKING
Sockets are next
Mark in place. Place the stretchers into the dadoes. The shoulder-to-shoulder distance
of the stretchers should fit nicely between the dadoes, and the dovetails should overlap the
front edge of the case sides. Knife around the dovetails to transfer their location to the sides.
WEB FRAME
Chop the mortises. The front rail of the web frame is dovetailed at the
ends. Before you glue it to the sides you must cut the mortises for the
side pieces of the web frame. Waste away most of the mortise on the
drill press, and then clean up with a chisel. Once that’s done, glue the
stretcher in place in the front of the case.
Tap the web frame together. After gluing the web frame’s dovetailed front rail to the sides, turn the case face
down and tap the rest of the web frame together, but don’t glue it. This allows for wood movement. With the
back in place the web frame won’t go anywhere. A spacer at the bottom keeps the sides from tipping inward.
32 FINE WOODWORKING
Stretcher
meets PANELS
panel. Glue
the dovetailed
stretcher to
the front of sides first, fol-
the divider. Use lowed by the web
green tape to apply frame, the solid divid-
pressure. A spring clamp er beneath the drawers,
at the joint keeps the two and the shelf. I made sure
pieces flush with each other. the case was square, and then
sanded the sides.
Hard-Wax
Oil Finishes
The best of them offer foolproof application
and beautiful results
B Y A D A M G O D E T
34 FINE WOODWORKING
Photos, except where noted: Asa Christiana; product photos: Adam Godet JULY/AUGUST 2024 35
EASY APPLICATION
This relatively new class of finishes promises foolproof application and a
rich look after just one or two coats. Most delivered on those promises.
120 GRIT
Sand to a
fine grit.
Manufacturers’
recommendations
vary here, but 1,000 GRIT
our tests showed
that sanding to
finer grits had a
significant effect
on look and feel.
The finer the sandpaper, the higher the sheen. The board on the left
was sanded to 120 grit, as recommended by the manufacturer. The result
is a matte look, without much depth. The board on the right was sanded
to 1,000 grit, which greatly improved the depth, sheen, and feel of the
finished surface.
36 FINE WOODWORKING
One more coat
and done. Only
one finish, Tried &
True, recommends
sanding or buffing
between coats (far
left), in this case,
a quick rub with
0000 steel wool.
We tried a third
coat on all of these
finishes (near left),
but it did not have a
significant effect on
the look or feel.
Results varied. Like most of the products, Osmo Polyx-Oil (left) was fine after 90 minutes, but showed some issues after that. Bear in mind that
the steel nut kept the puddle from evaporating as quickly as it might otherwise have. Odie’s oil (right) was a standout, showing only the slightest
haze and no staining after 12 hours.
If the directions didn’t specify a sanding grit or a specific number Since penetrating finishes don’t form a film, adding extra polish
of coats, I went with the directions given most commonly, stop- to the bare wood has a significant effect on the finished surface,
ping at 220-grit and applying the finish twice. helping it to reflect light and giving it a more satiny feel. My pre-
When a specific tool for applying and/or wiping off a product ferred method is to sand up to 320 or 400 grit (360 in this case)
was not indicated, I went with my favorites for oil finishes: white, before jumping up to 1,000. I’ve tried intermediate grits between
non-woven, nylon pads, which apply thin, even coats. Norton the 300s and 1,000 but haven’t found them to be necessary. For
Bear-Tex is a common brand. These pads are roughly equivalent large surfaces, I used a random-orbit sander; for narrower ones,
to 0000 steel wool, so they have a mild buffing effect as they apply sandpaper backed by a block. I did not sand the surfaces between
finish. To wipe off the excess, I used cotton rags. coats. To apply the finishes I used the white, nylon pads men-
tioned above, wiping off the excess with cotton rags.
We also tested an enhanced approach The enhanced approach worked best—For every product but
For a second set of samples, I used cherry and followed a more one, the enhanced surface prep improved the look and feel of the
universal approach to preparation and application—one based surface. The one exception was Tried & True, where the manu-
on my own sense of best practices for hard-wax oils and other facturer suggests buffing with 0000 steel wool between coats. I
oil finishes, which I covered in FWW #269. followed this advice on the standard samples, and those looked
38 FINE WOODWORKING
Repairs are easy.
Like all oil finishes,
hard-wax oils make
damage easy to
repair. To hide a
scratch, sand it up
to the same grit
as the surrounding
surface, and apply
more finish.
and felt slightly better than my “enhanced” samples (which had no surface. Be sure to read manufacturers’ instructions on how long
buffing between coats). to wait before wiping off the excess, as some can get sticky and
I also tried additional coats—To see if the number of coats streaky with too much elapsed time.
makes a difference, I divided these same sample boards into halves. Cotton rags work well for this step, with pressure similar to
For the two-part finishes that promise top performance with one hand-sanding. The two exceptions are Odie’s and Bumblechutes,
coat, I applied a single coat to one half and two to the other. For which require firmer pressure, similar to buffing a paste wax. This
the one-part finishes, which generally recommend two coats, I ap- might be why Odie’s recommends terry-cloth rags.
plied two and three coats to the respective halves. Fiddes is an outlier—Unlike the other products tested, Fiddes
The results were revelatory. Almost all of the products—includ- Hard Wax Oil applies, looks, and feels like a thin film-forming fin-
ing the finishes that promise one-coat coverage—looked and felt ish—very similar to our control: Minwax Wipe-On Poly. Tellingly,
their best after two coats. The one minor exception was Tried & neither product directs users to wipe off the excess, and both allow
True: great after two coats, but subtly improved by a third. airborne dust to settle into this thicker, wetter coat, requiring light
sanding or buffing afterward to remove the toothy feel.
Most hard-wax oils are very easy to use Fiddes also called for brushing, making it easy to leave streaks
As a category these finishes live up to their user-friendly promise. on the surface and drips at the edges. Even on my enhanced
Whether you follow manufacturers’ instructions or my own sug- samples, where I applied the finish with a pad, there were streaks.
gested approach, you can simply wipe them on and off, with no Two-part products not worth the trouble—The two-part fin-
sanding between coats and no buffing afterward. ishes—Rubio Monocoat, Osmo 2K, Natura One Coat, Rustic Lum-
Advice for wiping off—These finishes are meant to penetrate, ber Furniture Oil, and General Finishes Hardwax Oil—promise
not build, so they don’t work well if you leave extra finish on the one-coat protection. However, the look and feel of each of these
*Not all available in pint size; price per ** Marketed as one-coat finishes
pint estimated for sake of comparison. *** Higher ratings reflect less yellowing.
was significantly improved with the addi- use the excess for a second coat (or fu-
tion of a second coat, just like the one-part ture use). And there’s always a fair amount
finishes were. left over, because you have to make sure
Therefore, it’s hard to justify the extra you’ve mixed enough for each coat.
trouble required by the two-part products.
Aside from the hassle of measuring and Look and feel
Two-part products require careful planning.
mixing them, there’s also significant waste In terms of sheen, or the quality of reflected
You’ll need to mix up a separate batch of finish
for each application, so make just what you generated. That’s because the combined light on the finished surface, as well as clar-
need for the project at hand because any extra mixture has a short shelf life—roughly four ity and depth, all of my enhanced samples
will go to waste. to six hours—which means you can’t re- met the standard for fine furniture.
40 FINE WOODWORKING
NON- WATER/STAIN
Some are too yellow for light woods—
CURE TIME SHEEN APPEARANCE To get a clearer picture of the yellowing
YELLOWING*** RESISTANCE†
effect, particularly on the whitest woods, I
referred to the ash samples. On those Gen-
Not specified Excellent Very good Very good Good eral Finishes, Interbuild, Natura, Osmo 2K,
Rubio, and Rustic imparted more yellow
than I would like to see.
2 to 3 days Very good Very good Very good Excellent Surprising level of protection—Based
on their performance promises for flooring,
I expected hard-wax oils to deliver better
7 days Excellent Very good Very good Excellent durability and protection than basic oil fin-
ishes. And they delivered on that promise,
with two coats of each product protecting
3 days Excellent Very good Fair Very good at least as well as two coats of our control—
Minwax Wipe-On Polyurethane, which
builds a thin film.
Not specified Excellent Excellent Fair Very good
The standouts were Fiddes and Odie’s
Oil. Fiddes was not a surprise, given its
very likely inclusion of varnish resin, but
Odie’s was, leaving only the slightest haze
7 days Excellent Very good Fair Excellent
after 12 hours of my water test (p. 38).
pleasure
PEPPER MILL,
INSIDE AND OUT
B Y M A T T M O N A C O
Cap, 25⁄8 in. dia. by 27⁄8 in. tall, friction-
fit onto shaft of grinder mechanism,
is removed to fill pepper cavity.
1
3
⁄2 in. dia.
⁄4 in. 3
⁄8 in. dia.
7
⁄8 in. dia.
27⁄8 in.
15
⁄16 in. dia.
25⁄8 in.
11⁄4 in. dia.
Pepper
cavity 15⁄8 in. dia.
23⁄4 in.
dia.
1
⁄2 in. 211⁄16 in.
dia.
3
⁄4 in. 27⁄8 in.
dia.
3
⁄4 in. 13⁄4 in.
dia.
Rounding the blank. After turning his blank to a cylinder Tenons top and bottom. With the blank still between centers, Monaco uses a skew
with a roughing gouge, Monaco here uses a 1-in. skew to do to cut 1⁄4-in.-wide tenons at each end of the workpiece. These will let him mount the
the final planing. work in a four-jaw chuck.
Stick figures. Monaco transfers key transitions from his drawing of the Layout on the spin. While the cylinder spins, Monaco makes pencil
mill onto a story stick. marks on the blank at each transition point on the story stick.
Separate the body from the cap. Using a parting tool, Monaco cuts a 3⁄8-in.-wide
recess where the mill body meets the cap. Then he parts nearly all the way through the
work on the cap side of the recess. That leaves a 1⁄4-in.-wide tenon at the top of the body
for mounting in the four-jaw chuck. He uses a hand saw with the lathe turned off to
finish the parting cut.
JULY/AUGUST 2024 43
HOLLOW THE BODY having hardware exposed on top. Instead,
the cap is a friction fit onto the mecha-
Make way for nism’s stem. This allows the outer contours
the mechanism. of the mill to flow together and appear as
The body blank a single, uninterrupted form all the way
has tenons at both from the table to the top of the cap. While
ends; mount the on mills with exposed hardware the grind
bottom tenon first. is often adjusted by loosening or tighten-
Mark the body and
ing the cap nut, the CrushGrind mecha-
the cap to avoid
confusion over nism has a small, circular knob accessible
which end is which. on the underside that lets you adjust for
coarse or finely ground spices.
You can turn your mill using my design,
but you don’t need to. As long as you provide
adequate space inside for the mechanism,
Deep drilling. Using a 11⁄16-in.-dia. Forstner bit, drill to the halfway point Boring from the bottom. After turning the body end for end, part off the
in the body or just beyond. Before turning on the lathe to do the drilling, bottom tenon and drill a three-step hole. First, as shown above, drill 3⁄4 in.
engage only the point of the bit at the centerpoint of the blank; then deep with a 13⁄4-in.-dia. Forstner bit. Then drill 21⁄4 in. deep with a 19⁄16-in.-
start the lathe and advance the tailstock to do the drilling. dia. Forstner. And last, use the 11⁄16-in. Forstner to finish the hole.
Smoother still.
Monaco uses a
3
⁄4-in.-square end
scraper to refine
the drilled walls of
the outer recess at
the bottom of the
body.
SHAPE THE BODY
New chuck for the bottom. Make a jam chuck to fit the Base notes. Transfer the transition points from the story stick onto the mill body. Use
13⁄4-in. hole at the bottom end of the body. a revolving cone center to steady the tailstock end of the workpiece.
Groove and grade. After cutting V-grooves at all of the penciled transition points, Beadwork. Using the 1-in. skew again, Monaco rolls the
Monaco uses a 1-in. skew to shape the straight lower section of the body. beads at the waist of the mill body.
The wide cove. Monaco uses a 3⁄4-in. skew with a convex Sand and finish. With the shaping complete, Monaco dry-sands the body with
sweep to create the wide cove at the top of the mill body. 180-grit paper, then wet-sands with oil. Before applying a carnauba and paste wax
mixture with steel wool, he cuts a chamfer at the top end of the body.
Drill it. After truing up the cap, use a 15⁄16-in.- Remount and begin shaping. After making a Sculpting with the skew. Monaco uses rolling
dia. Forstner bit to drill a hole 11⁄4 in. deep to jam chuck to fit the hole, mount the cap, snug sweeps of his skew to shape the convex curves
receive the top part of the grinder mechanism. up the tail stock, and turn the rough shape. of the cap.
A quick, critical
assessment.
Before committing
to the final
contours of the
cap’s finial, Monaco
removes the cap
from the lathe and
places it on the
body to assess the
overall form.
Finally, the finial. To make the last defining cuts on the finial, including
this V-groove that establishes its bottom edge, Monaco backs off the
tailstock and, using very light pressure, relies on the jam chuck alone to
hold the workpiece steady.
46 FINE WOODWORKING
FIT THE ME
MECHANISM
C HANISM
SOURCE
O F S U P P LY
CRUSHGRIND MECHANISM
CERAMIC SHAFT
Model #146928
woodcraft.com
Cut a Dovetail
F lexibility in furniture-making tech-
niques is not a common trait among
most woodworkers. We tend to find
a way that works and stick with it. That
makes sense; habits are comfortable and
the more you repeat something the more
proficient you become. However, the best
woodworkers are comfortable with mul-
tiple techniques for each task because they
accept that situations vary. Recognizing
that, here are the reasons why I would
choose one technique over another for a
given dovetail situation.
Baseline placement
Where you strike
the baseline
determines
whether the pins
will be proud or
recessed. There
are aesthetic
and technical
reasons why you
would choose one
method vs. the
other.
Proud pins. Dovetails are traditionally planed flush after assembly, but Shy pins. To make traditional dovetailed drawers, first fit the drawer
leaving them intentionally proud is an aesthetic choice that showcases front to the opening. Then set the cutting gauge just shy of the tail board’s
the joinery, rather than downplaying it as was done in 18th-century thickness, which will result in the surface of the tail board being slightly
furniture. To do this, set the cutting gauge 1⁄32 in. to 1⁄16 in. thicker than the proud of the pins. After assembly, plane the surface of the tail board flush
tail board. Slightly chamfer the protruding corners before assembling. with the pins.
Pins first for easier transfer. When you’re dealing with larger workpieces, it’s Tails first for multiples. If you’re cutting tails first, you can
much easier to transfer the pins to the tails than the other way around. After you tape the parts together, mark them all out at the same time,
cut the pins, make a quick grooved clamping block, lay the tail board on your bench, and make your sawcuts to the whole batch at once. When
and put the block over the pins you’re not transferring. Use a hand-screw clamp cutting tails by hand, taping two tail boards together makes it
to stabilize the pin board and a bar clamp to hold it to the tail board. With the bar easier to cut the tails square to the face.
clamp lightly tightened, tap the pins in place, then tighten the clamp.
JULY/AUGUST 2024 49
Cutting tails By hand...
Whether you are cutting
dovetails by hand, by machine,
or a combination of the two,
apply the technique that is
best in any given situation.
Your approach to dovetailing
a drawer could be completely
different from your approach to
dovetailing a carcase.
50 FINE WOODWORKING
or by machine
TABLESAW
Table-saw
technique. Van
Dyke tilts the
sawblade 10°, the
same angle the
top of the blade
was ground to.
That keeps the
top of the blade
parallel to the table
surface. Then he
cuts the tails using
a simple sled that
supports the board
on end.
Integral rabbet
Easy-peasy rabbet. A quick skim cut on the table saw gives
you a solid registration point to transfer tails to the pin board.
52 FINE WOODWORKING
Add a rabbet. To simulate what an integral rabbet does to locate the
parts, simply clamp on a straightedge with a lip. It registers off the edge
Temporary rabbet of the board and creates a shoulder across the face of the tail board. The
edge guide on the jig protrudes beyond the baseline, which also provides
side-to-side registration.
Flip and repeat. When you’re about halfway through, flip the board and The flat supports
repeat the process. Use vertical and horizontal chops to clear the waste. the waste.
54 FINE WOODWORKING
Coping
Coping with
be cut is now significantly higher than the waste. After
vise and is not supported solidly. I firmly sawing the pins
or tails, many
believe that most period cabinet makers
woodworkers use
cut the pins with the pin board clamped a coping saw to
horizontally on the bench. Not only is the remove the waste.
length of the pin board not a consider- Saw close to your
ation, but the cut is also supported right baseline and
up to the edge of the bench. It felt odd then use a chisel
when I first tried it, but now I always cut to pare to the
baseline.
half-blind dovetails in this manner. ☐
Leave the triangles. The majority of waste can also be quickly removed with a scrollsaw or Clean up the triangles. A coping saw or
bandsaw. Make sure the inside face of the pin board is up or you will cut into your pins! chisel makes quick work of the little triangle of
wood left by the scrollsaw or bandsaw.
Routing
Rout to the baseline. Holding the work in a Through-dovetails. Once you’ve cleared out Half-blind dovetails. A bearing-guided bit
shopmade jig and routing to the baseline after most of the waste, use a trim router with a won’t work with half-blinds. Use a spiral upcut
most of the waste has been removed is the fast- bearing-guided bit to cut to the baseline. The bit or a straight bit. Clamp your pin board to the
est, most accurate path to perfect baselines. bearing rides on the upper half of the pins router box and rout by eye to your saw lines,
It works for through-dovetails and half-blinds, without letting the bit cut into the pins. clearing all the sockets to the same depth and
though the bits and techniques differ slightly. leaving little to clean out by hand.
Back leg
1-in.-dia. by 21⁄4-in.-
long tenon on top end
BOTTOM VIEW
Backrest overlong;
Leg, 15⁄8 in. thick recommended trim 13⁄8 in. 20-in. radius
by 15⁄8 in. wide by
19 in. long
35⁄8 in.
41⁄2 in.
SOURCES
24 in.
O F S U P P LY
BACKREST TOP VIEW
TENON AND PLUG CUTTER, 11⁄4 in.
17⁄8 in.
1 IN. DIA.
41⁄2 in. 41⁄4 in.
zoro.com, amazon.com, $40
POWER TENON CUTTER 21⁄2 in.
BY VERITAS 93⁄16 in. 11⁄4 in.
leevalley.com, $102
TRAVISHER
thewindsorworkshop.co.uk,
20 in.
$210
GODRILLA
lostartpress.com, $58
131⁄2 in.
DRILL BIT EXTENDER
amazon.com, zoro.com, $6 713⁄16 in.
53⁄4 in.
SPOKE POINTER
Vintage ones are easy to
find and inexpensive,
or get the small model at
lehmans.com, $73
5 in. 11⁄16 in. 20 in. 11⁄4 in.
Corner to corner. First, draw a diagonal line between two opposing Plane off the corners. Set the leg blank
corners. Then set a ruler from one of the remaining corners to that in a simple holding jig, and hand plane the
line. Use that setting to draw two lines on each face of the leg. corners, stopping when the facet meets
both lines on either side of the corner.
Clever tapering
If you are doing a run of chairs and
have a lot of legs to taper, consider
the jointer. Woodworker Troy Sexton
showed this trick to the author 20 years
ago, and it has saved him hundreds of
hours of planing.
Stop short. Set the jointer to cut 3⁄16 in. deep. Clamp a stop to the Flip and joint. Remove the stop block and turn the leg end for end. With
outfeed table, 10 in. from the center of the cutterhead. Joint each facet a push stick pressing down on the narrow end, the lead end will be lifted
of the octagon; when it hits the stop block, lift the back end. off the table a bit as you make passes. Joint each facet until you have a
continuous, tapered octagonal leg. It should take you two cuts per facet.
Octagon straight
leg stock
Stop
Cutter height, 3⁄16 in.
hedge, which is one of the reasons they are called stick chairs
10 in. and the parts are referred to as sticks. And though the joinery was
simple, the chairs have survived for hundreds of years and today
are prized by collectors.
Here are some ways these long-forgotten woodworkers built
chairs without special tools.
Wood selection
I usually use kiln-dried wood from the lumberyard for my stick
chairs. You need straight-grain stuff for the legs and sticks.
Once you find a board with straight grain, split or saw out your
parts so the grain runs continuously from one end of the part
Octagon tapered leg
to the other.
58 FINE WOODWORKING
Joinery that lasts
While most Windsor chairs use a tapered tenon
and mortise to join the legs and seat, vernacular
stick-chair makers used cylindrical mortises and
tenons. These chairs with cylindrical joints survive
for centuries just fine. Schwarz has two methods
for cutting the tenons—-with a power tenon cutter
or with a spoke pointer plus a plug cutter.
W a spoke pointer,
Spoke pointer first. With
cut a chamfer on the end of the leg to prepare it
for the tenon cutter. Smooth it
i out with a block plane.
You can buy spoke pointers new, but
b vintage ones are
significantly less expensive. Another alternative
a is to create the
taper using a chisel or a rasp.
Follow up with a
plug cutter. Score
the shoulder of the
tenon with a marking
gauge (far left). Create
the tenon with the
plug cutter, making
adjustments to center
the tenon. A laser level
on a tripod helps you to
level the leg in a vise. If
the laser line is splitting
a facet in two, you are
Online Extra in good shape.
For videos on how to make the chair
tenons, drill the mortises, and taper the
legs, go to FineWoodworking.com/311.
Legs, no stretchers
Instead of turning the legs, stick-chair makers would plane or Power tenon cutter. If you want to buy a high tech, modern tool you
shave them to a hexagon or octagon. If they wanted a round leg, can also use a Veritas power tenon cutter and do the whole tenoning
they would continue planing the octagon until it looked turned. operation in one fell swoop. The cutter has a built in level and eliminates
I make legs and sticks by shaping them to octagons either at the the need to chamfer, plane, and mark as you must with a plug cutter.
Layout with a
template. Lay out
the locations of the
mortises for the legs
and armrest sticks and
the sightlines that guide
your drilling. Keeping
all this information on
a template speeds the
process. Transfer and
mark through the holes
in the template onto
the seat.
bench with a hand plane, at the bandsaw with a jig, or at a table On one facet after another, make each pass until the leg hits
saw. Half of the antique stick chairs I’ve encountered over the the stop block, then lift the back end of the leg. Remove the stop
years have no stretchers. And they have survived centuries just block and turn the leg end for end. For the next passes, use a
fine. push block to “pop a wheelie” with the leg—creating the taper.
The mortises in the chair seat are made with an auger bit. I make
Tapered legs and simpler tenons the tenons with an inexpensive tenon/plug cutter. This tooling is
You can taper the legs with a jack plane at the bench. If you have designed for the drill press, but I have found it works well in a
a lot of legs to do, the jointer is a fast alternative. The goal is to handheld drill. The only trick you need is to first taper the tip of
taper one end down to a 1-in. octagon. Clamp a stop block to the the leg so it enters the mouth of the tenon/plug cutter.
jointer fence 10 in. from the center of the cutterhead. If you have a chair with stretchers, you can use these same
60 FINE WOODWORKING
Leg-to-seat assembly
The chair gets assembled in stages, the first of which
is gluing the legs to the seat. Once you do that you
must level the seat and cut the legs to length.
Legs to seat connection. Schwarz uses liquid hide glue (which has a 40-minute
open time) to attach the legs to the seat. Then he wedges the tenons.
Level up. Level the chair side to side on a true The right height. The measurement at the front of the seat, from the top of the seat to the bottom
surface using wedges under the feet. Prop the of the leg, should be 143⁄4 in. Schwarz drops a tape measure from the top of the seat and sets a
front legs up on blocks and wedges until your pencil in a scribing tool to the correct height. Then he takes the scribing tool and draws around
bubble level is true when its back edge is 3⁄4 in. each leg. With the partial chair in a vise he uses a handsaw to cut the legs to each scribe mark.
above the rear of the seat.
methods to make the tenons for them. Most stick chairs use 3⁄4-in. Many vernacular chairs use a flat seat and sit just fine. If the chair
or 5⁄8-in.-diameter tenons for the stretchers and sticks. was saddled, it typically had a shallow saddle. I saddle all my
seats because my customers like it. But you can skip the saddle
The seat and put a sheepskin on the seat, which is traditional.
You can use any wood for the seat and can glue up two or three If you want to saddle your seats, I recommend purchasing just
boards to get to the desired width. The grain in the seat typically one specialty tool: a travisher from Windsor Workshops. With
runs from right to left (instead of front to back). This allows you their travisher, you can get the seat to shape and then finish the
to use narrower stock. It’s easier to find a 16-in.-wide board than job with an orbital sander and a scraper.
a 20-in.-wide board. And if you want to glue up the seat, it’s easier Once the seat is shaped and sanded it is time to glue the legs
to find two 8-in.-wide boards than two 10-in.-wide boards. into the chair seat. This is the first part of the chair assembly.
Armrests add curves to the mix. Trace the shape of the armrests, ideally onto Refine the arms. The arms will receive a lot of attention
one wide piece of stock. Cut out the shape on the bandsaw. from the sitter, so use a spokeshave to shape and soften the
arms, particularly where the user’s hand might wrap around
the front or where an elbow might rest.
Arm-drilling jig
helps with locating ARMREST DRILLING JIG
arms to seat. A
simple jig holds the 26 in.
seat assembly to the
armrests while you
drill the mortises 6 in.
8 in.
through the armrest 11⁄4 in.
into the seat. A laser Stick work. Schwarz mills the stock, cuts the octagons,
level helps keep the uses a tenon cutter to cut the tenons, and then shapes the
hand drill at the right sticks with a hand plane.
20 in.
angle.
62 FINE WOODWORKING
Glue and wedge the legs into the seat. After the glue cures, trim
the tenons flush, then trim the legs so the seat tilts about 3⁄4 in. One arm, three sticks. Each arm gets two short sticks and one long
from front to back. back stick. The back stick goes from the seat through the arm to the
backrest. First, glue the short sticks to the arm with the back stick
Easy arms in place. Then glue that assembly into the seat. Do the same with the
Stick-chair makers didn’t do much steam-bending. Instead they second arm assembly.
would either look in the woods for a branch that was the right
curvature or they would create a “pieced” arm bow made up of
three or four laminated pieces of wood to create a curved arm.
The pieces could be simply stacked and glued. Or they could
be joined with a dowel or fancy joinery, such as a keyed miter or
a half-lap. But the simplest arms on stick chairs like this one are
straight boards, or boards cut with a slight curve for a little style.
Layered look.
Schwarz laminates
two curved pieces
to create the blank
for the backrest.
On two wide pieces
of 8/4 stock, trace
the template and
bandsaw out the
shapes, leaving
extra room to cut to
exact size later. After
laminating, carefully
bandsaw to the line,
then sand and shape. Take advantage
Use the template of the back
again to lay out the sticks. Temporarily
holes in the bottom of attach the backrest
the backrest for the template to the
back stick mortises. two outside back
sticks, where
it will become
your drilling jig.
Drill through the
template into the
seat to cut the
mortises for the
final three back
sticks. Schwarz
uses a 16-in.
spade bit plus a bit
extender that Lost
Art Press makes
called the GoDrilla.
Another option is
the Bosch extender.
64 FINE WOODWORKING
Attach the backrest assembly to the seat. After gluing the three back
sticks into their mortises in the backrest, glue that assembly to the rest
of the chair. Blue tape on the outside sticks serves as a depth guide.
the arm. Glue the short sticks and the back stick into their mortises
in the seat. Wedge the through-tenons in the arms. Then assemble
the other side of the chair.
■ AU S T IN S C H U L ER
■ Arcata, Calif.
The impetus for this cabinet was the undulating curve of the front. Harmoniously pairing
the S-curves with the stepped top was a challenge when it came to doweling the case
and establishing a hierarchy of reveals. And it was an aesthetic challenge to ensure
visual continuity between the convex and concave features.
WESTERN MAPLE, CURLY SILVER MAPLE, MAHOGANY, NARRA, 10 1⁄ 4D X 15 1⁄ 2W X 48H
Photo: Todd Sorenson
RO B E R T G .
S T EVE N SO N J R .
Chula Vista, Calif.
■IAN HERDELL
■ Durham, N.C.
While preparing for a recent show at the Hillsborough
Gallery of Arts in North Carolina, Ian came across a
beautiful piece of maple and decided the time had come
to make a piece he had been thinking about for some
time. He had made similar tables in the past, but never
one with drawers. It was a fun project for him, and the
drawers with curved fronts presented a nice challenge.
AMBROSIA MAPLE, 16D X 71W X 33 1⁄ 2H
Photo: Alec Himwich
66 FINE WOODWORKING
■ AU S T I N WA L D O
■ Austin, Texas
These modern nesting side tables are built using offcuts
from the Austin School of Furniture. Austin joined strips of
cherry to form circular tops in two different sizes. The legs
are joined to the feet with an angled bridle joint. Each foot
lifts upward at a subtle 3° and intersects the other feet as
a focal point below the top.
CHERRY, 20D X 20W X 22H
Photo: Mike Roberts
■MARC SP R I N G E R
■ Woodland Hills, Calif.
When asked about his inspiration for this bookcase, Marc said, “I like drawers,
for one. I also like working with California woods.” The piece was milled, joined,
and crafted using traditional hand tools. The case assembly uses through-
mortises, doweled rabbets, and shiplapped boards for the back. All the drawers
are hand dovetailed. The finish is four coats of hand-rubbed soap. The back is
finished with flat black paint with a flat clear topcoat.
WESTERN RED CEDAR, 14D X 30W X 72H
■CRAIG BURFIELD
■ Milford, Del.
It all started with some veneer and
the desire to make a convex door.
The project was built around that.
Craig’s stepdaughter submitted
this piece for the Gallery without
his knowledge. She said, “When my
stepdad retired and moved from New
Jersey to Delaware, he began teaching
himself woodworking. I am so grateful
he found this passion. It makes him
happy.”
MAPLE, MAHOGANY, POPLAR, BALTIC-
BIRCH PLYWOOD, BIRCH, SPANISH
CEDAR, 12D X 13 3⁄ 4W X 25H
■ C H R I ST O P H E R J OYC E
■ Stonington, Maine
■ D O MIN IC FAV IA
■ Richmond, Calif.
Dominic spends his days building harpsichords in
Berkeley. He also enjoys woodworking at home to
make functional pieces of his own. This bench was
inspired by a boot bench made by Kieran Binnie.
Dominic adjusted the proportions and added a
drawer. He kept simple, clean lines and focused
on keeping the design open-ended so it can be a
functional, flexible piece of furniture that his family
can enjoy for years to come.
WHITE OAK AND EBONY, 13 1⁄ 2D X 40 1⁄ 2W X 28 1⁄ 2H
■ M AT T BRENN
■ Wake Forest, N.C.
Matt’s clients asked him to come up with a
design for a sideboard that would complement
their traditional, somewhat Colonial palette
while incorporating a darker wood species
other than walnut. They landed on sapele with
a stain, accented by antique brass ring pulls
and hand-cut brass molding on the doors and
drawer faces. He hung the drawers using Chris
Gochnour’s side-hung drawer technique from
FWW #277.
SAPELE, 18D X 84W X 42H
68 FINE WOODWORKING
• Live Edge Slabs
• Domestic & Exotic Wood
• Thermally-Modified Lumber
• Figured & Specialty Wood
• Custom Hardwood
Finding Beauty Flooring & Molding
& Function in
Every Tree BAILEYWP.COM
Since 1928 KEMPTON, PA | 610-756-6827
gallery continued
■FRANK EASTMAN
■ Dallas, Texas
Given a quick, freehand sketch of a table a
designer wanted made, Eastman completed these
tables for the Mormon Temple in Dallas. They are
finished with white lacquer and gold leaf.
MAPLE, 18D X 24W X 32H
■ J AC K SO N SH A R P
■ Lewisville, Texas
Jackson built this cabinet as a gift for his dad. The glass display section is used to
store his smaller model airplanes. This was Jackson’s first time using shopsawn
veneer in a carcase. The inspiration for this cabinet stems from a previous wall
cabinet he made out of European pear. He had always felt that the design would work
much better on a stand, and this piece was his chance to test that theory.
ELM, WHITE OAK, BASSWOOD, DOUGLAS FIR, WALNUT,
11D X 24W X 59H
Photo: Duke Morse
■ M I C H A EL BURT
■ Muncie, Ind.
This rocker was Michael’s first attempt at building a rocking chair and
was inspired by David Haig’s signature rocker. The build presented
many challenges, from the joinery of a bent-laminated piece at a
compound angle into a curved seat edge, to finding the lumbar support
that was just right. His goal was to come up with a chair that he could
sit in comfortably for an extended time. After four years, hundreds
of sketches, multiple jigs, lots of trial and error, and great input from
others, this is the chair he built.
INDIANA WALNUT, 35D X 21W X 44H
70 FINE WOODWORKING
© The Taunton Press
a closer look
A
ll wood contains moisture in its cellular structure, and indoor use, the MC target is closer to 6% to 8%. Here I’ll describe
much of that moisture needs to be removed before the two primary methods for drying wood to these moisture
the wood is ready for use. The wood’s application levels—air-drying and kiln-drying.
will determine the amount of moisture that needs I run a wood business that’s been in my family for four
to be removed from the cells. The goal is to reach generations. We saw logs into planks and then air-dry and/or
a level of moisture in the cells equal to the relative kiln-dry the lumber. In recent years we’ve also begun selling
humidity where the wood will be used. When a tree is felled and wood that, after being kiln-dried, gets thermally modified. This
the green log is cut into planks, the wood’s moisture content (MC) brief, high-heat process, which involves no chemicals, makes
can range from roughly 40% to 160% depending on the species. wood far more rot resistant and also less hygroscopic—greatly
For use in framing a house or building outdoor furniture, the MC reducing its tendency to expand and contract. I’ll discuss
needs to be lowered to 20% or below. For furniture and other thermal modification as well.
How wood The first method of removing moisture from the wood is simply
to stack the lumber on drying sticks—stickers—so air can pass
over and around the surface of each board. Nearly all lumber
gets dried: drying starts with some air-drying. This allows “free water”
contained inside the wood’s cells to migrate to the surface
of the lumber and evaporate. It will occur naturally, and will
Air, kiln, stop when the lumber’s MC is equal to the relative humidity of
its surroundings. In the northeastern U.S., where I live, most
air-dried lumber will eventually reach a moisture content of
thermal somewhere between 12% and 16%.
Depending on the species of wood, and the thickness of the
modification planks, this process can take several months to several years.
The thicker the lumber, the longer it takes for the moisture in
the center of the wood to be removed. The rule of thumb is
to expect the drying to take a year per inch of thickness. Even
B Y J E F F R E Y S C H U C K E R lumber that will be kiln-dried is generally air-dried first for a
while to begin the drying process.
Air-drying doesn’t cost a lot to do, and given time, good
results can be achieved. If the wood is going to be used for an
exterior application, once it has reached equilibrium with the
environment, it is ready for use.
Kiln-drying
For indoor use, however, wood needs to be dried to a lower
moisture content than can be achieved by air-drying alone
(unless the air is extremely arid, as in the desert Southwest). In
order to do that, the wood needs to be subjected to heat, and a
dry kiln is the vehicle that makes that happen. There are many
types of kilns (see “A diversity of dry kilns” on p. 78), including
solar, dehumidification, microwave, vacuum, and conventional.
The kilns I use are the conventional type, which are the most
widely used for commercial seasoning of lumber.
Air-drying
It all starts
outside. Air-drying
is a reliable, if slow,
method for reducing
the moisture in wood
so it can be worked.
Even lumber that will
later be dried in a
kiln will often first be Check the content. Given enough time, air-drying stick- Air-drying suits thick stock. The author often dries
air-dried for a time. ered lumber outdoors can bring wood’s moisture content very thick planks and cookies outdoors. Conventional
(MC) to about 15%—dry enough for outdoor woodwork. kilns, like those he uses, struggle to dry very thick stock
Bringing the MC down into the 6% to 8% range suitable without causing cracks and other drying defects.
for furniture making usually requires kiln-drying.
JULY/AUGUST 2024 73
a closer look continued
Stoking the
74 FINE WOODWORKING
In a conventional kiln the lumber is stacked and stickered
in an enclosed chamber where fans circulate heated air across
and through the load of wood, and excess moisture is vented
out of the chamber. The MC of the wood and the relative
humidity of the air in the kiln are carefully monitored and
adjusted to keep the wood drying evenly, steadily, and not too
quickly. Depending on the species of wood being dried, in a
conventional kiln the process takes roughly several weeks.
Through kiln-drying, the wood fibers will reach equilibrium
with the relative humidity in your home. In the Northeast that
moisture content is 6% to 8%, depending on the season. Winter
is when the relative humidity is at its lowest, because the air, in
colder temperatures, isn’t able to carry as much moisture.
Near the end of the conventional kiln-drying cycle, an
important process called conditioning takes place. As the wood
dries in these kilns, the moisture content of the fibers in the
center of a plank is always a few percentage points higher than
those on the surface where evaporation occurs. Conditioning
introduces steam to the kiln to regulate the final stage of drying.
When the fibers in the center have reached the 6% to 8% range,
the steam is introduced, raising the moisture content of the
surface fibers. When conditioning is done correctly, the MC of
the wood will be the same from the center to the surface.
If you have sawn up improperly conditioned wood, you’ll
know it—the workpiece will either bind on the sawblade or
split apart as the blade cuts through. The severity of these
reactions relates directly to the amount of drying stress that
remained in the wood, which could have been relieved with
proper conditioning.
Even when lumber has been properly kiln-dried and
conditioned, it is important to bring the material into the shop
for several days or even a week before beginning to work on it.
This allows the wood to adjust to its new environment. During
the winter, if wood is stored at a colder temperature, it is even
more important to allow it to acclimate to your shop.
Stacked right. Conventional kilns, which rely It’s windy inside. In conventional Moisture metering. The author uses wet bulb
on surface evaporation to extract moisture kilns like this one, fans circulate and dry bulb readings to track the relative
from wood, require green planks to be stacked the heated air, driving it around and humidity in his kilns and adjusts the temperature
on stickers, creating airways between layers of through the lumber stack. and venting schedule accordingly. He follows
lumber. Schucker mills specially shaped stickers tables that prescribe humidity and temperature
that reduce the chance of sticker stain. levels for a wide range of wood species.
76 FINE WOODWORKING
Thermally modified
In the last decade or so, thermally modified wood—also known
as toasted, torrified, or carmelized—has entered the market.
Thermally modified wood takes kiln-dried wood one step
further. After being briefly air-dried, then properly kiln-dried,
the wood is put in a special vacuum chamber and subjected
to high temperatures. In a conventional kiln, the air is typically
heated to 140°F to 160°F. In a thermal modification chamber,
the temperature is raised to between 300°F and 460°F. Before
the chamber is heated, a vacuum is pulled, removing oxygen
and preventing the wood from igniting at high temperatures.
The treatment typically lasts from one to two days.
Thermal modification makes wood rot-resistant without
applying any chemical treatment. Wood, like other plants,
contains sugars and starches in the cellular makeup of its fibers.
And wood decays when mold and fungus consume the sugars
and starches. Thermal modification, by virtue of the high level
of heat, carmelizes the sugars and starches, modifying them into
a substance that mold and fungus can no longer break down.
Hence the term thermal modification.
Another boon for the woodworker is that the wood’s cellular
walls are crystallized in the process, making the wood fibers
far less able to absorb moisture. As a result, there is roughly
85% less seasonal movement in thermally modified wood than
in air-dried wood. Modification also alters the color of wood.
Depending on time and temperature in the chamber, the
wood can be turned anywhere from caramel to a deep, rich
chocolate brown. The color change, like the other benefits of
the modification treatment, affects every fiber in the wood.
Because of its rot-resistance, thermally modified wood is
frequently chosen for decking, siding, and other outdoor uses.
And because of its rich colors and reduced seasonal movement,
it is also seeing use in furniture and other indoor woodwork.
This process may be relatively new to the market on a
commercial scale, but it isn’t a new idea. Vikings were fire
charring the hulls of ships hundreds of years ago to prevent
barnacles from growing and causing rot. Native Americans used
fire to harden and cure arrows and other tools. And Japanese
woodworkers have long been scorching wood to preserve it.
One downside of thermally modified wood is that the heating
process makes it more brittle. The wood fibers become more
rigid and a lot less willing to bend as compared to kiln-dried
wood, and even more so compared to air-dried wood. Also,
as thermal modification crystallizes the wood’s cell walls,
they become less able to absorb moisture. If you are coating
thermally modified wood, use an oil-based primer, and avoid
use of any waterborne finishes, because they will not bond
properly. Additionally, when gluing thermally modified wood,
Color shift. Bingaman thermally modifies mostly it is recommended that you increase the clamp time over kiln-
oak and poplar. Both species turn a rich dark dried wood, particularly with water-based glues.
brown from the treatment. A lighter brown can be
achieved with moderated time and temperatures Jeffrey Schucker cuts, dries, mills, and sells wood at Bailey Wood Products
in the kiln.
in Kempton, Pa.
To learn more, go to
courses.finewoodworking.com
a closer look continued
kilns
A diversity of dry kilns continued
VACUUM KILNS
Radio frequency (RF) kilns, also known as high frequency (HF)
or microwave kilns, unlike nearly all other types of kilns, don’t
withdraw water from the wood through surface evaporation.
Instead, RF kilns send electromagnetic waves through the wood
that polarize the water molecules within. The water molecules
begin oscillating rapidly, producing friction that heats the wood
from the center outward, vaporizing the water. Since RF kilns
don’t rely on airflow for evaporation, the lumber can be dead
stacked. And as a result, RF drying can be combined with a press
system—often a hydraulic plate or a bladder mounted on the
ceiling of the drying chamber—that exerts powerful downward
pressure on the lumber stack during drying, producing very flat
planks. RF kilns also typically include vacuum technology so the The term “vacuum kiln” is a bit of a misnomer. It doesn’t
evaporation temperature (and electricity costs) are reduced. describe a standalone category of kilns. Instead, vacuum
Because RF technology can penetrate deeply and dries the technology—which reduces the temperature at which water
wood from the center out, it can dry thick boards as easily as will vaporize—is incorporated in a variety of disparate heating
thin ones. Drying processes that rely on surface evaporation systems. However you heat the kiln, if you pull a vacuum first,
struggle to dry planks much more than 3 in. thick without you can dry the wood at a far lower temperature, reducing
significant cracks and other defects. RF kilns are well suited heating costs and making for a shorter and gentler drying
to drying thick planks and cookies, and are capable of drying process. In addition to a compressor, creating a vacuum
timbers up to 9 in. thick. requires an airtight and very stout drying chamber.
80 FINE WOODWORKING Photos, clockwise from top right: courtesy of WDE Maspell (top two);
courtesy of Traditional Timber; courtesy of Legacy Lumber
CLASSIFIED WOODWORKERS MART
The Classified rate is $9.50 per word, 15 word min.
Orders must be accompanied by payment. The
WOOD & TOOL EXCHANGE is for non-com-
mercial individuals only; the rate is $15/line, min.
3 lines. Email to: Fine Woodworking Classified Ad
Dept. ARobertson@taunton.com. Deadline for the
September/October 2024 issue is June 21, 2024.
Hand Tools
Instruction
PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS, in the spectacular North
Carolina mountains, offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in wood-
working and other media. (828) 765-2359. www.penland.org
Wood
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS
RARE WOODS Ebony, boxwood, rosewood, satinwood, ivory wood,
tulipwood + 120 others. (207) 364-1520. www.rarewoodsusa.com ADVERTISER WEB ADDRESS PAGE
Bailey Wood Products baileywp.com 69
Bessey Tools besseytools.com 19
WOOD AND TOOL EXCHANGE
Blue Spruce Toolworks bluesprucetoolworks.com 19
Limited to use by individuals only.
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship woodschool.org 23
Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking schoolofwoodworking.com 23
Wanted
FAMAG-Werkzeugfabrik GmbH & Co. KG famag.com 25
ANTIQUE VINTAGE and high quality new hand tools. Collector
looking for all woodworking tools from one piece to an entire collec- Felder Group USA feldergroupusa.com 23
tion/workshop. Highest cash price paid guaranteed. Michael Rouillard.
(860) 377-6258. Fine Woodworking E-Learning courses.finewoodworking.com 79
Fine Woodworking Unlimited finewoodworking.com/unlimited 71
For Sale
Grex Power Tools grexusa.com 69
50 YR OLD WOOD VENEER COLLECTION - 3000 Sq.
Ft. 130 species figured & burls-$3500 F.O. B. Harrison, AR. Grizzly Industrial grizzly.com 2
If interested, TXT 1-479-244-0972. I will call back.
Groff & Groff Lumber groffslumber.com 19
125 ISSUES OF FINE WOODWORKING within the years
of 1997–2013. Please call Dan 440-321-8655. $3 each plus
Hearne Hardwoods hearnehardwoods.com 69
shipping. Infinity Cutting Tools infinitytools.com 17
FELDER TABLE SAW/SHAPER, KF 700 $10k. Format Keller Dovetail Systems accuratedovetails.com 81
4 Dual 51 Jointer/Planer $10k, One-Way Lathe 2436 3HP
$7.5k new. Lots more… Owner was outfitting shop when Lee Valley leevalley.com 17
he passed away, most never used. Bay Area. 925-899-1327,
Lindafj620@Outlook.com. Lignomat Moisture Meters lignomat.com 19
Melbourne Tool Company melbournetool.com 25
n! Micro Fence microfence.com 81
ni
te
Lis Nyle Dry Kilns nyledrykilns.com 11
Oneida Air Systems oneida-air.com 7
PantoRouter pantorouter.com 17
SCM Group scmwood.com 21
Shaper Tools shapertools.com/origin 5
Vacuum Pressing Systems vacupress.com 23
Woodcraft woodcraft.com 21
Woodpeckers woodpeck.com 12, 13
Woodpeckers woodpeck.com 69
ShopTalkLive.com Woodpeckers woodpeck.com 83
S
ome machines we acquire quickly, like a trout caught
on the first cast. Others take a little more effort. And a
little more time ...
When I was a patrolman in the Oil City, Pa., Police
Department during the 1980s and 1990s, Pennzoil, For nearly a decade, I was too busy to do much with the
Quaker State, Wolf’s Head Oil, and many other lathe. And then my wife and I decided to move to Virginia. Not
manufacturers shut down or moved away. US Steel’s Oilwell wanting to part with my treasure, I loaded it up on a U-Haul
Division plant was one of them, and as its buildings were truck using jacks, cribbing, and pipe rollers and dragged the
being razed, I was tasked with patrolling the grounds. Driving monster to our new home. We had space for it in the barn.
through the plant, I laid eyes on an old piece of machinery, It sat there pretty much undisturbed for the next three years.
which I believe was used to drill centers in billets of steel to Then we decided to move back to Oil City, occasioning another
be mounted on metal lathes. Measuring approximately 17 ft. in U-Haul trip. Soon my big baby was back in my brother’s place.
length and with two mammoth headstocks and two pneumatic At some point I decided the ways were long enough to
clamps for holding stock, this thing was a monster. The plant accommodate two lathes. Inspired idea, right? But it took 10
was demolished around it day by day, and eventually the years of scouting around before I came across the headstocks
machine was left standing alone. and tailstocks from two century-old, belt-driven Porter
I was fascinated by the sight of it. Years before, I had patternmaker’s lathes that were perfect for the project. Featuring
purchased a book with articles on heavyweight lathes and Babbitt bearings and headstock spindles with four step pulleys,
shopmade lathes, and I had read it so often that I wore it out they were in great shape, needing only a good cleaning and a
and had to buy another copy. I really wanted a big lathe. fresh coat of paint. I devised transitional bases to mount them
Not having the income to buy one, I entertained the idea of on the ways, and with help from my machinist friend Doug I
making one from old car parts—transmission, axle, etc.—but outfitted the beast with custom tapers and tool rests.
never settled on a scheme to build it. What if I could use parts Then I designed and built a drive system. My brother had
of this machine? scavenged some beautiful old three-phase motors from our
When the person overseeing the assets of the plant heard dad’s dry-cleaning machines, and I used two of those for the
that someone was interested in the machine, he said, “If they lathe, converting the single-phase incoming power to three-
can move it, they can have it.” Faced with the decision to take phase using variable-frequency drives. The VFDs also provided
this monstrosity or leave it, I threw caution to the wind. I knew my vintage behemoth with infinite speed control, reverse,
if I didn’t take it, it would haunt me. But how to move it? An variable startup and stop timing, and they negated the need for
arborist friend with a crane truck agreed to help. Trying to lift step-pulley speed control.
the lathe, he found it was so heavy it nearly pulled the crane I improvised a system of belts and pulleys to connect the
truck over on its side; he had to maneuver right up beside the motors to the headstocks, and when I ran through my small
beast. Once it was in the truck, where to put it? I had no space. supply of leather belting, I used an old truck load strap,
But my brother, Rich, who had inherited our father’s former trimming it to length and joining the ends by employing
dry-cleaning building, said I could park the lathe in there. tailoring skills also inherited from my father.
After I had cleaned off many decades of grease, crud, metal Now that it runs, what can you turn on this thing? Just about
shavings, and old tool bits, I began assessing what I had. I anything. The larger of the two lathes is 12 ft. between centers
decided the specialized heads, which probably weighed 200 lb. and has 32 in. of faceplate capacity inboard and 8 ft. outboard.
each, couldn’t be adapted to wood turning. I parted with My wife and I have always wanted to build a Victorian gazebo,
them, along with the huge pneumatic clamps. There was much with our own designs for turned columns, balusters, and
to do—I had a base and ways, but the lathe was without a brackets. That should be no problem. It’s just a matter of time.
headstock, tailstock, motor, wiring, pulleys, and belts, and all
would need to be suited to its size. Fred Schattauer does his turning in Oil City, Pa.