NO.

38

NOTES FROM THE SHOP

$2.50

DEO CABINET DOLL CRADLE

BU K BEDS

:rALE PREP FIRST IN A SERIESON FINISHING

Sawdust
Number 38

Mar/Apr, 1985

ABOUTTHIS '!iSUE. There'$ a good side and

pieces? Cut the dadoes before cutting the

bad side U> everything, including working

Editor
Donald B. Peschke
Design DjrOOlor

Ted Kralicek
Assistant

Editors

Steve Krohmer
Douglas L. HickS

Art Director
Kay Mulder
TechnicailUOslrators
David Kreyllng
Mike Hanry

SubscrfptionMaJj8ger
Sandy J. Baum
SubscriptiOOAsslstanlS
Christel Miner
Vicky Robinson
Jackie Stroud
Shirley Eeltman
Diana Sterr

Computer Ope(t1liofl~
Ken Miner

Circ;ulat'ion Manager
Jeff Farris

Administrative AsSistant
Cheryl Scal1
Building Maintenance
Archie Krause

ViQODSMITH (ISSN 0164-4,114) Is publ,~hlMl

bimonthly (January, March. May, July. Sep
tember. NOVIJmbar) by WOOdsml1ll Publishing
Co .. 2200 Gfand Ave., Des MoJnes, Iowa 50312WOODSMITH Is a leglsterlMl .""emark oltha
WoocIsmllh Publishing Co.
<Copyright 1985 by WOQdsmilh PlJbHshlng Co.
AI! Rights Resa"'ed.
Subscriptions: One year (6 I$$U8$) SID, Two
years (12 issues) 518. Siegle copy price. 52.SO
(Canada and F"'''''gn: add $2 per year.)

Change

(If

Address: Please be sure 1.0 indu4)

both your okS and neW address.

Second cl.ass postago paid at, Des Moines.

Iowa.

Postmaster: Send change ot addfess notIce,

FOfm 3579. 10WoocIsml1h Publlslling Go" 2200
Grand Ave.. Des Moines, Iowa 50312.
BACK ISSUES

two pieces. That is, cut the dadoes in a

double-wide piece first, then rip tne piece
down to form the two pieces with the dathis issue, a number oflittle preblems kept does perfectly aligned. We did this to make
popping up.
the uprights for the bunk bed ladder. See
Over and over again, I found myselC Figure 3 on "age 19.
beating my head against the wall trying U>
FINISHING. This issue begins a series or
come up with solutions (techniques) t,o articles on finishing. This is subject 1
solve some of these problems. Well, so have mixed feelings about. Most of the
much fol' the, good sicle.
lime 1 jllSt want to get. it over with - get
The bad side is that OJ1Ce solutions are SOme finish on the project and be done
found, we, have a difficult time getting all with it.
this information in the issue. In the past,
6u~ that has led to disappointment more
we solved Wi. problem by showing proj- than once, and I've found myself re-finishects that involved a similar technique, and ing ajll"oject to get the look I wanted (and
presented a full article on that technique.
the project deserved).
For the last couple of issues we've been
ff I've learned one thing about finishing,
trying something different. Most of the it's that 1 can'~ put oil' thinking about it
techniques we've used arc smaller until the end of the project. Pinishing lias
really more like tips. And as much as we to start when you're. buying the wood. and
can, "'e've tried to include these tips right continues with each step in construction.
in the article fer each projceb.
That's Ihe short version of the article
I guess what.l'm getting at here is thaUL that begins on page 20 - preparing the
may be worth reading through these artisUI.f.ce. \Ve will be following up with articles even ifyou're not. all Ih"t interested in cles in the eoming issues on each step oflhe
actually building the project. There are
finish)ng process: filling, sealing, staiJ)ing.
severalgood tips tucked away in this issue,
plus full articles on the characteristics of
Ol>ay,I'll make i~
easier; AOL
.. 's a list of varnish, shellac, polyurethane, and lacsome of-the tips:
quer finishes and how to apply them. Stay
J. 11Ola do 1101. to make a through
tuned.
,""rige.'"mortise and tenon Wok picnn ..
TI(E sell I)UI.&. During the past few
'f!6ltect? Cheat" little. I used a filler plug months we've added quite a few new subon the ends of the mortise and tenon joints
seribers. \Vith each new subscriber; it.
on th" bunk bed. This is a whole lot easier
doesn't take long before we heal' two Camilthan h''Ying to cut ,\ perfect mortise, and iar questiens: ,,\Vhere'snlY issue? "!fly is it
then fitling it with, a perfect tenon. See so late?"
Figure 25 on page 15.
Those who have been with us for awhile
ll. Okay, 1l0W Iltat tlte/ilkr pluJJi".;)<llte know that the issue always gels there, but
mortis., III)" do YOI mootit it flus" will, it is late.
llw 8urface? One "lay is to sand 'til your
This problem started two years ago
blue rn the face. (The filler plug is end when we were going through a big expangt-ain, which takes forever to sand down.)
sion period. We slipped behind scheduleAnother way is to make a router jig that
to the point that the issues were going out
cleans 0[( the ena of the filler plug in no almost six weeks past the normal mail
time fl"~'
See Figure 26 on page 15.
date. \Ve've been trying to' catch up ever

on an issue of WOOd.sJ"illt.. As we were

working on th e designs fm' the I'rojecls in

S. How do 1/ou cut a. note in plywood

wi/ltout cltippj"U a>ldsplint.ring til.edge

to 1ii~ces?Use a router instead of a sabre
S,I\\' r had to cut an access hole (or \Vh.. s
and cables) in the plywood back of the
TV/VGRStand. The best way to make this
type of eut is with a router - I used the
router table. See Figure 16 on page Ll,

a umole.blt".h of
mortis(l4 '.'tllou.( ac({(ally hav'>lg to cu: a
~. I:1(11V

cio yo"

CII(.

An back lssues ot WOOdsmith are still av~lable.

Sand lor a booktet desc,ibing the contents and wlmte punch of m<niisee? Use a notched
priees 01 all bat'" issues"
spacer stMp. That's bow we solved Ihe
problem of mounting 10 slats between the
SAMPLE COPIES
cross 'lliis -of the headboard on the bunk
It you have a friend who would'like to See 8 copy
beds. See Figure 21 on page 14.
ot WoodsmHh, Jus. send the name and address.
6. How do yo" got dadoe. to !i)~a"P
and we'lIsend a sample (., no cost).
perf~Uy (a.)'(18.9 front
oU,ItI)"'11,.0

ea.."

since.
After ,,",YO years of working seven days a
week! we're still behind. What we've found
ourselves doing is putt.ing more effol't into
the quality of each issue. As a result, the
qualitx has improved but the schedule has

not. 1'9sol"e this problem, we've outlined a

new schedule that will (hopefully) allow us
to catch up one week with each issue.
But we ",;11 not saerifiee quality for time.
You expect gOO(l issues, on time. We will

continue- to produce the 'best we can, and

try U> gradually-catch up so we'reback on a

more normal schedule.

NEXT ISSUE. The May/JuJle

issue of

IVoad.mUI< will be mailed <luring the week

of June 17, 1985.

WOODSMITH

T_i{!s & Technigu_e_s __

__

PLANING THIN STOCK

To use the fixture, mark the limit.ofthe

cut on one end or the workpiece. "'ithout

I enjoyed building the toy truck (Woodsmith No. 3<;) for m)' son. It proved to be

tUI11ing OD-the sa\v, place the \vorkpieee

an in:~restinge~er(!isein resawing and

hand planing thin stock. 1 found it helpful
to build" bench hook to do the planing.
I ~tarf.ed with al), S" x IS" piece or 0/.0"
plywood to use as a base. Theil I drilled.
row of holes l' from one end to ~ec.pt
#8 x 0/./' flathead wood screws. Finally I
cut a 0/..' rabbet on tbe opposite side and
end to attach a 2" wide by .f!!' long cleat,
'Jlhe bench hook rests-over the edge of a

bench or

fits. into a vise. The. screws

can 'be.

backed oub as little as necessary to dog the

thin stock. The real advantage in this
bench hook is that it can hold extreinely
thin stock for planing without rear of the
plane iron being nicked by tbe dogl'.

}f8

1C~"

Fh WOOO~ftEW

Since the serewheads tend to dig into the

en(l grain ofthe stock. I always allow extra
length and cut orr the waste.

Gene (;a,';)\/J()1Ie.8C)li
SeverlllLPark, MarY/Q..d
STOP THAT SAW

Since radial arm saws cut on the top of the

wood, the blade has a tendency to grab the
wood and walk light through a cut. This

t'l' EOAM
wrAlHERS-fIUP

tAPE

on the auxiliary fence and clamp the stop

block at this point. The WOrkpiece is
turned end-for-end and fit into the space
between the auxiliary fence and the stop
block. The block allows me to hold the
workpiece tight and keep it from creeping
toward the blade. Then the remaining
pieces that are to be the same length are
brought in against the block and cut.

Al Ferllald
Brevard, North Carolina,

i
~Ol2.!
1
CARRIAGE

tight against the fence and bring the arm

forward until it has r eaehed .the marl"
l10ck the saw a~tllis point, place the fixture OV&the arm in front of the S8\\\ and
tighten it down. Ilelease the Saw lock and
it'R ready to use. As i~'. pulled forward, the
fixture will prevent the sa,,' from gOing
bexond the indicated point.
1'he fixture can also be plaeed behind !.he
saw, In this position and with a dtill chuck
attached to the SRw arbor, I use it as a
depth .stop for horizonta! boring,

SANDING ON THE ROUTER TABLE

Need a steady mount for a drum sander

and don't have a d.rill press? That was my
problem and here's how my Wqod$inilh
router table proved its worth again.
I mounted. Portalign with my electric
drill and sanding drum under the table.
There are bwo holes in the base of Ihe
Pcrtalign that accept 14' x 1!I," Oathead
macl!ine screws and wing nuts. I used the
NOTE:

PORTAUGN HELDUP

wITH lWO COUNTERSUNK

MACHINE SCREWS

SANDING
ORUM

Jo Coughlin
Doog"e Citell, Tf!'xas
MITER STOP BLOCK

One problem I've had when cutling miter

joints for a frame is g~tting the opposing
side pieces eo be the exact same length. If
they're nOLthe same. there will bea gap in
one or more ofthe joints. The t~;C:kis to use
stop block.
Istart by fasLening an .uxiUal'y fenee to
the mite.' gauge and cut. miter on one end

causes a problem if ~'OUwant to make a

stopped cuttsuch as a blind dado). It'.hard

base of the Portalign as a template to mark

the screwholes in the top of the router
table and then drilled and countersunk
holes for the screws.
The depth coDar on the side rod has to
be removed and placed below the yoke to
hold the drill up under the table. The collar
location can be periodically adjusted if the
drum wears down in one spot.

To use it, chuck the correct sanding

drum in the drill, plug it in, and push the

constant-on button. I find it's a comfort-

to stop the saw at the correct point.

I made. 6xturethat fils over the arm of

able height for drum sanding.

a radial arm saw and stops the saw at a

Bob {,{qr"

predetermined point. It's made out of two

pieces of 4/4 scrap that are 2f' wide and cut

Lenoir; :VOrlJi Carolma:

to length to accommodate the individual

radial arm saw
J cut. a section OUII or the top piece. to
match the shape of the arm. Then I
attached foam weatherstrip tape (~") to
the cut-out, to keep the stop from stipping
and to protect the arm.
The fixture is 'held t.ogether with two
long carriage bolts, washers, an~ \\ling
nuts. A couple spins of the wing nuts and
it's off or moved into position.
WOODSMITH

SEND tN YOUR IDEAS

Ifyou'd iiJ(eto shale .,wood_klng

of all the frame pieces. Then I make a stop

block with the same miter angle cut on one

end. (If one of the scrap pieces Irom the
initial cuts is long enough, L use it as the
stop block.) I also cur a rabbet on the
mitered end to act. as a sawdust ,.lief.
Next, I mark the linallength of the piece

tlpwitholher
readers 01 WOOdsmith. sen-d yOU( idea 10:
Woodsmllh, Tips & Techniques, 2200 'Grand

Ave.. f.)es Moines, Iowa 508t2.

We poy a minimum01$10 lor Ifps. ~hd $15 or
mor& (or special techniques (U~alare accapted
ror publfcal1on), Please give a complete expjanatkll1 of your i(j , II skeich [s need"".
send 11along: We'll draw 8 new on9.

DoH Cradle
Usually the Ohristmas season ends in Deeember, But this year, it seems to be linger-

ing on a while longer. The most recent

post-Christmas project has been a doll
cradle for all the Cabbage Patch Kids

"adopted" this year,

I designed the doll cradle to be a fairly
simple piece. using basic joinery techniques, and requiring only a few hours to
complete. r also used ponderosa pine to
keep the cradle light enough that even a
two-year-old can can')" it around the house.
The cradle c..onsists of five pieces; t' ....
9
sides and a bottom that are joined to the
headboard and footboard. The first step in
building the cradle is to make a template
for the headboard and footboard.
THE TEMPLATE

11> make

the template, Istarted by cutting

a piece of v.."thick Masonite 16' by 181'>',
see Fig. I. Then I laid outlhe profile of the
headhoarcllfootboard.
C~"'Elt~JN. The key to laying out the
profile is tbe vertical centerline, See Fig. 1.
Once this line is drawn, the rest of the
profile ls centered around it.
IllACONAI,S. Fil'$t. the sides of the template are formC'<1b~' drawing two 15'diag
onals, see ~'ig. 1. lbdo this, connect a point
on the bottom edge, 3',,' from the centerline to a point on the side of the template,
1514' from the bottom edge, see Flg. 1.
TOP J\RC. After the sides are drawn, [
marked the top are. 11> do this, first locate
center point. A on the centerline, 8.:AI from
the bottom edge. Then dra\v1l10V,radius
are, see Fig. 2.
Shop Note: I used the simple beam compass shown in Detail A to draw this are,
This compass is just a thin ship of wood
with a notch at one end to hold. pencil, and
a v.." hole at the pivot point for a brad.
BOTTO:\tAI{C. The bottom are is drawn
the same way: Locate center point 'B on the
centerline 18' from the bottom edge and
draw an l8'-radius arc, see Fig. 2.
RADIUSCORNERS. Once, these two arcs
are drawn, locate th~ center points for the
four radios c.. met'S at the top of the template. These radii form the tOI) of the
handle and the shoulders, see Fig. 3.
Alter the center points are located, use.
compass to draw the radius corners on the
template. Then to complete the shoulder,
draw a tangent line connecting the two

radii on each side.

Next, follow the same procedure for the
four radii near the bottom of the template
toform the endson the rocker -locate the
center points and draw the radii.

lIANULB. At this point the template is

almost complete. All that ..emains is the
handle. To layout the handle, first find the

centerline by drawing a 9~" radius arc

from cenfer point A, see fig. 4. Then draw
the :y.,dia.end holes on this arc, 1%' from
the centerline. r'inntly connect the to) and
bottom edges on the two end holes with

using pivot point A.

scnew nOLES. The template is complete
ab this point, except for six holes that are
~CSJ

used later to locate tile screw holes for

attaching tbe headboard rd footboard to
the cradle sides. To locate, these holes on
lhe template, draw line parallel to both
sides of the template, %" tom the edge,
see Ftg. 4. Then mark the posiuon of the

from the bottom edge.

Alter these points are located, drill y;."
pilot holes in the template so the location of
the holes can be transferred onto. the headboard and footboard.
Ctn'TINC. The last step before cutting out
the pr:onJeis to bore the ....dius corners and
handle holes with a drill bit 01' hole saw.
Although this step is optional- depending
011 whether you have the right sized bit.sit.'$ an excellent way to produce perfect

radius -corners, see Detail B.

Once the corners are drilled out, use
either a band U\V or sabre saw to cut out

the remaining profile. (To cut out the

handle, 1 used a sabre saw and hand filed
the edges smooth.) Then sand the edges of
holes along this line, 4*", 8o/.c", and lOY-." the template smooth with. drum sander.
DETAIL a

ORllL SMAU RADII

WITH HOlE SAW
OR ORlllllT IF AVAlLA6U
Yor~---6MASONITE'

US SMAll BRAO
,IVOI POINT

...

OSE IA~OSAW OR
SMRE SAW ro cvr OUT PROFILE

WQO()SMITH

The Tem:Rlate
aNI".

I---------,o--------ool

toiN't 8 ISI" ,.OM

801rOM fOOt

~---- __----------~----------------__J~ctNrEjI
POINT fi

MEA.SUIlEMENrS SHOWN
fOR DIAGONALS PlOD!JCE

1$" ANGlE

USE w- MASONITE
FO" TMPlAJ'E

YElTKiAl
'~NTEJt.lINE
18"'j"

1$~"

..

'

IS"
OIAGONAL

'"" _ D'AGONAl

CENTER POINT A
IS 31h" FItOM.BOnOM EDGE

0,center li"eo'>I. 'Piece 'h' Masonire. 1'/!61I dl"OWthe

Locate cellICl'l'oi)!ts A and B on.th centerli" e. Then 1,81119
a
1Dnuu
15 diego1wls. sutrlfing
tne
edge .'11/i' /1-0'" C;41lf-er, 2 beanl CO"lpaSS, d.?'CllOtllA i()J/1/' radius lop ~rc 1f.Sing ceniC1'
eluJ.illgon the o..tside edge 15'/,'[rom. th. bouom.
poillt A, and 111$18" radius bottom arc "#119 C.eI'(e>'
point n,
Qf
bott.fml

Otl

~,,(i

10C,61E,nOJ
HOLES
fOR SCRE-WS
ON UNE"N
fROM StOES--;

CO~HECTTANGEtff$ 0): a~1I

TO FORM s.,OtJ I!R OF l'~PI.A'f

...._

./

St1,O,",WEIt

1"'..

lV'.....

lOeAIE- CENJEIt
'
POIN'JS Ofil9~
RADIUS ARC

c:

......-I--+-+--~
CON.NEGT y..-

"'___:UNE

DIAMEl.

END

HOLES wrrH ARt.S

10 FORlfl HANDlE

lOCAtJ CNn:~POINTS
,6J4D DRAW RAmf USING
SMALl

coMPAss

12'~"
101/,'

Cemerthe:."d holesfor the kandl

3
the
and botto'" edges of
a line *" Iron. the sides. arul Locate
COI,ltIut

top

a 9'1,,-adiusIll"01ld
th end holes, Then:d'nw

tlte

WOODSMITH

all

~nOlt'llti1lUholes.

Nezt, locate the center pointsforthe small radiitVlltd)'O:lv the.

4
eight radii 1iSi,zg a.s~IUlJl..cOntpass.Then connect:UietangenUJ
of the radii. at the lop of the template 10!ID.,,, the ./u}uldcrs.

RGURE s

"'a,w

UHE t,I,
(ENtH UHES,

((}

%:-

~\
-r~~

"NISH

?ib

- -" -1~ \

,~_'5E!!...
allOtt MOvtNG TlMPUrt. USE It. RNtSH NAIl
TO MAJ1( fOf' AND IOnOM SCllW HOlfS

,tACt OUfUHE 01" tlMltAl't

ONtO HtAo.oAlD
""" .. 7

.,

AUGH aHltt
fIro\I\M(

UNES ON
AHD fOOtIO.uO

,r

raoUl!

.uP rUro!.Pl.A.Tt

IlPOSmQN TOr 01
TlMIUTtR~H
WYfH UHf

AUGNEDwnH
ClHTUUm

0J\. --

SHOVLDll

SMOUIDU

IH0
lOW(1 P'ROfILl
u, 1'0 SHOVtOEIS

.~
\'

ft,A((

...... ,owurwo

1'2''''

FOOTBOARD
SHOUlDEgQETelt

"{

5(
(O"N[CT
SIiOUlOlJ AND

-s,51.~
""OfU5

I
I

/~

\~

FlOUltflO

w,rr)t'

ORill 'MAll 011

HOl' SAW OR O.IU 1fT
If AV~LAal' G -"i

to-

~-

>
.>:
)

Dlill UHnl
liT U(.US
fHIOUGH $1Q(.IC

AGtJtl "

'~
,

aACJC srt)(

TO HlVtHT atlPOUT

~~/;,
",<:'"""",

HANDlI

ANISMOlnuNG

us, SAI.r-

U.... UM'.... ' ......

~
ro SMOOTHAll (OOIS
ON H.fAOaoAItD ANO f00f80AIIO

'I\/Lf

t,lSt RU 01 .AS" TO SMOOrH

'.~

SAW TO CUlOUT

I
,

DtAW r- UOfVS TO CONNEct ~OULOt:t

AHO Slo( WHItt ,.OfUS
Min

IKESS
ORUMSANO(t
SUtM.CI

//'

~-,.
...... ,..'--';'
11

on the footboard so the centertines Hneup,

and the bottom edges are flush, sec Fig. 7.
Then trace the boUom halfofthe template,
onlY up to the shoulders ncar the handle.
\Vith the template still in this posiucn,
mark the location of the lower two screw
holes with an 8-penny finish nail.
'lb complete the patten, for the footbeard, lift up the template and ma"k (1
point on the centerline of the l);lnel 12W'
from the bottom edge, see ~ig. 8. Then
reposltion the template so the top of the
handle is flush with this mark, and the
eenterllnes on both piece. are aligned.
Now trace the lop half of the pI'ofile
(including the handle) down to where it
intersects the profile of the lowe,' h.lf al
shoulder. Since the template has been
shifted down lYt"t the 1" radius lit the
shoulders won't tine up properly where the
upper and lower profiles meet.
To produce a smooth corner between the

two profiles. use. a compass to draw a new

('

c_

lb_

fiOTE;
00 Nor ORIU
COMPt.nElY
fHtOUGH STOCk.
S1!! DETAJl

rooT'OA.O

i~

\- ..--_. l ---~\

MA"~ A UNE 12'h" '.OM BonOM i.OG-E

_n

.Y

..
II
I
d

I~

~.'

POSr"ON 1eMPlA'E ON: 'OOl'OARO

nUSH WITHlonOM tOOl

V,

the footboard because it's 1 shorter

than the headboard.
The first step is to position we template

~U~6

TRACEHANW.
AND urnl ptonu
ro SHOULDERS

IS'

SCllWHOllS WITH
_. "NIS" NAIL

fiGURE 9

r:\ /~
f

When the template is eompleted, the next

step is to USe it to build the headboard (A)
and footboard (B). Start by gluing up two
panels of '1\" pine, IS" wide by 1'7"long.
After these panels are planed and sanded
smooth. draw. vertical centerline on both
panels to align the template.
HEADBOARD. To trace the profile on the
headboard. position the template so the
centerlines on both pieces tine up. Then
tracetheouttineoithetemplate,
see Fig. 6.
With the template $tiUin position. mark the
location of the top and bottom .,,, ..ew hole.
'Withan ~penny finish nail. see Fig. 6.
fOOTBO.o\RD. A $Iightly different proeedure is "",uired to trace the profile on

"-.\/

THE HEADBOARDAND FOOTBOARD

<,

HOU5"

;;;" e,

,\i~~'

c>
~

I"radius corner between the shoulder lin.

and the side of the footboard. sec Fig. 9.
DRILLCORNERS. After the profiles have
been laid out, drill all the radius comers,
just like on the template. see Fig. 10.
(Again, this step is optional.)
Shop Note: To prevent ehipout on the
back side of the workpiece, stop drilling as
soon as the centerpoint of the bit break!
through the back side. Then flip the workpieccover, and finish drilling from the back
side, see Steps 1 and 2 in Fig. 10.
After the comers are drilled, the remaining profile is cut out on a band""w (or
sabre saw). and sanded smooth using a
drum sander, see Fig. 11. Then use. sabre
saw to cut out the handle, and smooth the
edges with a file. sec Fig. 12.
CRADtE SIDES
Once the headboard and footboard nrc
completed, the next step is to cut tbe
cradle sides and the bottom. Glue up
enough "'" pine for the LWO side. (e), and
WOOOSMITH

the bottom (D). Then plane Or sand the

panels smooth and trim the side. 8" wide
by IS" long.
""Gl.EO GROOVf..The sides of the cradle
are joined to lhe bottom with a groove
angled at 10'. see Fig. 15. (This groove is
cut at an angle 1lOthe cradle sides \\;11be
parallel with lhe sides of the headboard
and footboard, see Fig. 18.)
'Io eut the groove, r used adadobJudc on
the table saw and made several trial cuts
until the width of the groove matched Ihe
thickness of the bouorn, Then I 8juSled
the angle of the blade to 15. and set the
depth of cut 10 o.' deep, see Fig. 14. "'hen
the blade is set, atliust the renee to cut a
groove y.- from the bottom edge of the
cradle sides,
After the grooves are cut, layout the
profile on the cradle sides as shown in Fig.
13. Then cut out the profile. drilling the
radius ccrners fi"'I, and sand Ihe ,)rofile
smooth with a drum sande ...
DRILL Plun' uoi.es, To join the sides to
the headboard
and footboard,
(irRt
counterbore and drill pilot hole. In the
headboard and footboard [01' #8 X l!(
woodserews and IV buttons. see t'ig, 16,
Th d.rill the pilot holes on the ends of the
cradle sides. draw a line centered on the
ends and mark the 1003,ion of the bouem
holes, see Fig, 13, Measure up to the tOI)
holes using exactly the same spacing as the
pilot holes on tho headboard and lootboard, FinalJ,y,drill %>" pilot holes Y( deep
in the ends of the cradle sides,
CUTBOTnDll. \Vhen the pilot hoi.. are
drilled, dry- ass emble the side. to the
headboard and footboard to determine the
linal width of the bottom, With these
pieces screwed together, trace the outline
of the angled grooves on the headboard
and footboard, 'rhen disassemble the
pieces and measure between the grooves
todetenninc the final width of the bottom,
ROL'SDiSGBDGES.The last step i. to
round over all the edges of the headboard,
footboard, and lhe 1.Opedges on the sides,
(I used a y,' round over bit set to a depth of
to produce a softened bullnose proflle,
see Fijr, 17.)
Shop Note: A. I was routing the headbeard and footboard, every time I eame te
oneofthe "points" 011 the profile where the

"'0-

grain direction made an abrupt change, the

wood tended to chip out, see Fig, 18, Th
prevent this, )1011mllYwant to stOI)I'outing
just short orthc /'points," and round over
this area by hand with" file and sandpaper,
ASSElIBLY. Finally. all the pieces are
ready to assemble. Insert the bouem in
the sides, but don't glue it in place, Only
apply glue to tho ends of the cradle sldes,
then attach the headboard and footboard
with #8 xlv.. .. woodscrews.
Finally. I Iinished the cradle with three
roots ofThng Oil Varnish, and covered the
screw holes with ~" buttons.

\VOODS~nTH

1-5Y"~.
r ~'.

RGURE 13

FOOTBOARD
END

- ... -'.

~i'-l

CRADLESIDE DEl6l.\

T'

~'\

CONNCT IADII
WItH STRAIGHT UHI

1 '.'i-.

-4'1."

..

'0

,llOT HOlIES fOR 118 WOOD$CR(WS ~~. --.

DEl' CENTfJtlO ON $TOCK

k=!.

OAOOfOI AJlACHIHG aonOM, tiE ,toUR 14-

lo-

J.

~....

SID.

.r

- .-

"

ClA.IE
$10
T

~
&OnoM

t..

~~

DADO itAOl
SETAT IS'

,1,

'OITO>I_,

_..

CUT TO RT AfTtI

J.

FIGURE"
1~

5'0($
h

::~;

J[

CIRCLES INDICAn "POINTS"

PRONE TO CHIPOUT

~/~ .~r{V

",.

fROl HOLl

(j]-;

'v

COUNTfRIOlt1
01'

t'-~

If CHtPOUT 'S A PROBlEM.

ROUND OVIIlI'OINTS WITH FIlE

I#'

,."

__..

, SHAHK HOll

'1 00GlUE
NOT

O~

v,.~

Sfl elT
OEE'
TO P.fIOOUtE
aUlt,NO$E.. -,

'10"

OV".~.Ai
ROUND

../

__..0

~,
11
,

I
r

&OTT""
iOSlOES

MATERIALS LIST

CUnlNG

OVHOUDI"'en..Jo.ns.: 16"WlI. 14"H.. 19')J"l

A Hoodboo'" (1)

0/

1$.17

(S p~e ,llJ.o.up pan.l)

6 Footboo'" (1)
(S pi.ce glued.up ponel)
G, Sid" (2)
(2 pl.(o glued.up pan.1)
0 Bo"om(l)
(2 pi.(. glued-up pan.l)

V... 1S.. 17

v 8 .. 18
v.. x 70/

,.

t ....

'\.~
00 HOT ROUND
OVERlonOM

~ _,....._roo.

ONLYGWE SIDES to
HEADBOARD4ND FOOllOAtD

.-.;;::

r'-::

~
GUlf 17

t.

/t.._j~"OE

AllOW Sl'Aet
fOl EXPANSION

RGU I.
DJUll AND COUNri1l80Rf NDS
fOR #$)( I 'i." WOOOSCREW

1lUTTO

..... A5Wo\1a

_i\\~

f!J

~~

""!."

.~

~4/;

CRAO"

AHe.

"

'IGUR~-

MAlCH DADO WIOt)l

TO IO"OM fHICJ(N(SS

TAW SAW

..L

II

[1.0,00 DETAIL

tieTE:

P'4"

......~

FIGU.f 14

'l'"

'Vi

1'.

.r,

....

vl.~

HEADBOARD
END
T rr:

0' 51"

"(~
DIAGRAM

7" ... 1#'

t
S s'n"..,.....J"""B W@
t:;:~rzzzZZf!!'2 ~

8
0

.~

bUWm?",,~
C::;:g:",!. ""~ ,,,;i.Wflj
7

TVNCR Stand
A STAND FOR VIDEO RECORDERAND TAPES
It used to be that everyone
wanted a cabinet for stereo
equipment.
Now it's video
equipment. In just the past year.
the number ofreque.18 we've had
for this type or stand hag been
staggering.
The stand we came up with is
dl)$ignedto hold a portable television. and hag a compartment
with glass doers for a "ideo recorder. Wealsoadded a drawer to
store video cas..seues.

~ESIDES
10 build this stand. I started by
edge gluing enough 514 stock

y,'

thick) to get two side

panels (A) with rough siee of
22" x 22". When the gille Is dry.
plane these panels smooth. and
trim them to filial dimension" of
21%' x 21'1'., see Fig. J.
THE GROO"~S. To f.,m the
basic cabinet; three pIY\\'oo(i
shelves arc mounted to the aide. uSillg
tongue and groove Joints. "hi. meRnA
three v.,.widegroove. are routed in each
side piece.
Shop Note: Nunnally, the grain on the
sides of the cabinet would run ve,llcally.
But I had to run it ho,i~ollt.lly 011 this
cabinet because the plywood shelves huve
to be glued in grooves that run the /."glh
of the solid-wood side s. (Solid wood
expands/contracts in width. but not much
in length. Plywood does not expand/
contract at aU. So, the plywood shelves
have to run the [trigO, of the .. lid-wood
(1

-===,ides to a"old probtems.)

In addition, the grooves for the shelves
are double-stopped - stopped short. of
both the f,'Onland back edges. Before routillg the grooves, I marked the stop lines on
the eabinet sides, see Fig. J.
Not.: The grooves stop at different
points because of the alignment of the
shelves, the edging "trips, and the 1l1y
wood back. To get an idea of what's going
on, refer to Figure 2.
TO" GROOI'F.. 'I'he groove for the top
.helf is positioned o" down from the top
edge of the side panel, and stops II'<' from

,..

FIGUH I

ffGUtf ,

flF"";;'SHE"~

1.

-I...

....,,...-'.

,......

,.

I' ....

J.
~/

both the front edge and lhe back

edge. see Fig. I.
)tIOOL GROO"E. The middle
groove is positioned 8'''" from the
bottom edge. This groove also
stops I Y. from the fronl edge (to
align with the top groove). But it
extends a little closer to the back
edge (stopping 11." from the back
edge) to align with the cabinet',
plywood back see Fig. 2.
801'1'0>1 CROOVE. The bottom
greove is positioned 1 V....from the
bottom edge. This groove stop
W~~~_.the~me
as the middle groove. However.
since the bottom shelf doesn't
have a tongue or an edging "trip.
this groove stops Y' farther back
than the top two grooves. see
Fig. 2.
HOCTGRQOVi<S. Aft.er the stop
lines are marked. claml'. fente in
position. see Fig. l. Then rollt.
y.. ..-wide groove bet\veen Lho
tines starting each pass with a phlllge cut.
SQUAllS~NIlS. After the grooves were
routed, I used a chisel to chop the ends of
the $'owves square at the slop lines, see
Detail in Fig. I. (This helps align the
shelves during the glue-up phase.)
UOLF.SFORSIlEL>: As an opuon, ,. gla""
shelf can also be added above the video
recorder. To do this drill three V(din.
boles ,o" deep in the cabinet eldes for pin.
style shelf supports, see fig. !.
ROIISD EDGES. To complete the sides, I
rounded the comers to u ,o" radius. and
the edges with a W' round.. ver bit.

LXTIA
HOUSfOO
SH8I

,.J

"",,"',
.......

4' j.......::::-=-r

"r'

SImI

lAO(

fOGi

III

1 i,t."

CK

01- SMRYES

I
#:1 :~

SIDE PANEL (.

-(

""

$ItOUU)(1S

_OAO(

MAlIC STOP UNIS

fO.GOOOVU

~ AUGN FIOH'

PDWOOO

' .. ,y v e It.

~=UI
,.. .,

~~

o_

00""" """

/'

f ,.

FtON'DIG(II

..

"""""j ,
I

WOODSMITH

AGURE- 3

THE SHELVES

;.'
,

i-----2.y,-------,I

to \"Ougb
size out of 3/4' oak-veneer plywood. (In
order to get all tHree shelves out of a
4' x 4! piece of plywood, I had to cut the
bottom shelf wilh the gl -a in running from
fl'ont to back, see Fig. $.)
CV"J'
SHEiNP,s TOsrzs. Alter cutting lhe
shelves to rough size, cut them to a final
width of 281'.". Then cut each shelf to the
same length as the corresponding groove
in the cabinet sides, see ~'ig. 3.

2IV...

.,

Now the three shelves can be cut

IAClJ(

v.-

TGP SHElf@

lOP

VLI}$)/

8OnOM S~eLF

from the top edge, see Fig. 4.

Shop Note: I routed these grooves on
the router table so they would match the
groovesin the cabinet sides. This way the
tongues can be cut exactly the same on aU
edges of the shelves,
VEINING. Next, rout two =ti"-: wide decorative veining grooves- on the two strips
that go on she front edges of the top-and
middle shelves, see Fig. 5.
ROUNDEDGES. Then to complete the two
front strips, round the top and bottom
edges, sec Fig. 6. As for the strip that
goeson the back edge of the top shelf, cut a
W' x
rabbet for the plywood back, and

1'9~"

v.7AFN=O='RO==m==O~N=w~==~=====B
"ON!
;

Y.lONG tONGUES TO 8t GROOVU_.II"

IN SIDES ANO,EOGI~ mlf~
~Q(

Before mounting the shelves tothe cabinet

TONGUES ON
SIDfS ONlY

""'

SHELF

_:\\., ,J

fRON'

,'--=~.CD

RASI"8Aac'DGING mlP

1t'"
1.

fOJrfGUES ON SlOES

v.'

""CK

joints, see Fig. 3. To do bhis, rout, a

;4"'...wide. groove in each strip, y,.H down

GIIAIN .....,..
'""""
01''''''',,,

__

MIDDlE SHElf

EDGING STRIPS
sides, 1 cut three edging strips (E) for the
lOPand middle shelve. from &/4stock, 1v...
wide and to rough length of 29".
GROOvES. These strips ru-e joined to the
plywood shelves with tongue and groove

V.- _

t--"' v.-

,'- '.

FORPlrWOOD MCK

MIDDLE SHElf

GI!l\lN
OI.ctfON

~
_L_1~~----~
..
~om~------~

I-----,.,,-..
---..jl

FIGURE 11

1
fIGURE

f'fN(;E

ffNCE

~u,GJiOOVE

ON EDGINGSTRIPS

~."S~CE
a.tnWEfN GR._OOVES
CENTE.EO ON

FOR lOfI AND

1\"-_L

_NIl

MIDDlE 5HRVIS

,,., ,

SIllIp

"I, VtlNINGSIT
'AGURE 6

V,

F{NC~

r-:::::::::I;?~

ItOONO OVER

TOf' AND
6OnOMtOGES

round over the top edge, see Fig. 3.

TONGUES
GROOVES

TONGUES ON SHELVES
When the edging strips were complete, I
went back to work on'the shelves. All three
shelves have tongues on the two edges that
join to the cabinet sides, 'refer to Fig. 3.
The top and middle shelves also have
tongues for the edging strips.
cIJ1I'1'O:>ICUES.1
cut the se tongues on the
router table, see Fig. 7. Se~the fence and
cut two Y..IJ-y.iderabbets, leaving a tongue
that fits snugly in the grooves.
Shop Note: As the cuts fer the tongues
are s:et Ill', make sure the tongues are positioned so the top edge of the edging st.rip is
just slightly above the surface of the plywood. Then the soiid-wood edging can be
sanded down flush with the plywood.

Ill$T1tAIGRT
ApURf'8

ASSEMBLE THE CABINET

After the tongues are cut, dry-assemble

the cabinet to make sure the shelves line
up as shown in Fig. 2. If all fits well, glue
and clamp the shelves to the cabinet sides.
When the glue is dry on this assembly,
cut the edging strips to final size (to fit
tight between the cabinet sides), and then
glue and clamp them to the tongues on the
shelves, sec Fig. 8.

WOODSMlTJ;I

NOTE:

~grR~~[t:~7.
CAa)NET IS GlUm

UP

flGUR.f 9

THE DRAWER

241."-

lAC.

!l

After the cabinet i~assembled, the drawer

can be added. Here lshoutd mention" few
things about the size of the drawee When
designing this project, I actulllly .tarted

:'

l4".~

fV

with the dimensions of the drawer - mak

ing it "ide enough to hold three row. of
video tapes, Then I built.the cabinet so the
i>18iJk width accommodated a drawer with

there measurements,

flGU'!'
....... - .......
10""'___

OWElOGINOTO'AU( fR.ONT

THEN,ajM '0 LENOTH

ro RI CA'INrT

~~ING

cur fROM 4"4

(t~THIC STOCK

CIT PIECES TO SIZE. This drawer is eonstrueted using' ~. stock for aU four sides.
Then later a false front is added. To start.
rip the pieees for the front. back and sides
to eommon width of 4~.... rig. 9.
Then rut the sides (G) to a length of 1&'.
'Ihe- critical measurement is the length
of the front and back pieces (F), Measure
the distance between the cabinet sid.. and
subtract I' for the drawer slide s, <The
drawer slides Iused require a ~. space on
each sid.. ) Then subtract the thickn ... of
the drawer's two side pieces (l" tol.,I), and
add ~. (or the V.long tongues on the
ends of the front and back pieces.
flGU.. "R--=TO~P:::;V~'Wl';::_O::::t.;;D~Rti~W~E;II=,j!
JOINERY. After the four pieces are cut
to size, they're joined with tongue and
dado joints. To cut these jointJl, O,.. t cut
V.'-wide dadoes on ~he ends of the side
DRAWER
pieces, see the Front and Back Corner
HtON~,
Details in rig. 9, Then CUL rabbets on the
PETA~,
ends of the front and baek pieces, leaving
tongue. that fit the dadees.

2' ~
11'A;;;1";;;;F~'O~'"
GnOOVE FOR UOT'rOM. At\.cr tho joint
cuts
are complete, cut ;_1, g"OO\'C '/.l' (r(u"
SCREW OfIAWfR FRONT
the
bottom
edge of each piece fo,' the ply
~
TO fAlSE fRONT
wood bottom.
D1VlllERS,Also, cut ,\\;d. dadoes on
the inside faces oflhe front and back plecell
I"
for the two dividers (H). Dry-assemble the
drawer to gel. the measurements for the
dividers. and cut them to size to fit
between the grooves.
ASSElIBLl'.Before finlll assembly, drill
six counter-sunk pilot holes in the drawer
ClAWft
lACK
front for the screws that hold the false
DlAW{1
front to the drawer. see Fig. 11. Then the
drawer can be glued and clamped together.
FALSE'RO~T. Now the flllse front (J) is
added. This front is cut to rough length
from 414 stock. about I' longer than Ihe
opening in the cabinet. Then rip it to width
to equal the distance from the top of the
bottom shelf to the bottom of the edging
strip on the middle shelf, I",", ~. for clearance, refer to Fig. 12.
EDGIl<GSTRIP.Next, CUI lhe edging strip
(E) that goes on the bottom edge of Ihe
false front. This strip is cut IV. wide from
NOTE:
ATTACH HfNG$ ANO 1"HEN
514stock, see Fig. 10. Then rout two 'l\.'
HAVE GLASS DOORS CUT TO RT
veining cuts on the face side, and the lOP
and bottom edges are rounded with y.'
"
I
round .. ver bit, refer to FigS. 5 and 6.
Airer the molding cuts are made on thi.
v
'~~~
piece, glue and clamp il to the bottom edge
of the drawer front, When the glue i. <lr)',
..... _ ONI
~
cut the drawer front to final length to fit

r-.

'?
\;:;;-;';;;'~,",;;;;

~'DE

,,

,."CLWANCI'

ll....

_W"'~"'"
ClAW..

$I"

,.

HINGE DETAIl

-~

~
11,1i, "-~~-

10

~Ii.

'1'~~;:"~'I.Jl..~~/~

WOODSMI'r~1

I~

between the cabinet sides, less.

total of

f;tGUR( 15"

y." for clearance.

UflAwell S~IOES. Before mounting the
fIllsc front to the drawer, first mount the
drawerslides, see fig. 13. Then attach the
false front to the drawer with No.6,
I"
woedserews,

THE GLASS DOORS

wir:-

If you have a ''ideo reoorder with a

less remote control. only gI.... doors
allow the remote control to operate while
the doors are closed. To determine tne size
of the glass for the dO~)I'8,first order and
mount the hinges (see Sources, page 24) to

",II
SCREW lACK IN PlACI
./
WITHNO. 6lt
woooscalws""""'-

v.-

verify the. clearances.

Mount the binges to the cabinet side $0
they're set back Yo- from the CaceoC the
edging strip and Y'( above the sheli, see
Detail in Fig. 14. Then bave tbe glass cut
to Si7.c.
TOt;CII LATCH. To complete the doors, I
mounted a double mafll1ctic touch latch.
'rhiA iij a clever piece Ofhlll"(i\\tUI'C that let's
you open and close the doors without a
handle, see Source s, pg. 2-1. In order to
mount the latch, glue pacer block to the
underside of the top shelt, see Fig. 17.
Then screw the tAluch latch to this block.

flGUR, '6

UNCI
I~

~-

""4'j/_

r
,

~ ,

AUGN lOGi 0' II' WITH

EDGEOF CORNt. MOll

THE 8ACK
:~S","'GHr."

Normally when building n cabinet, one of

the lust steps is cutting the back to size.

ll3:oa,U. \'...

ting an access hole to feed wires and cables

. ....~'<""~.
.... _J,."fJ_., _" '----,,,_uA
.....

f."..dia. holes at each corner; To complete

1 also mounted four 2" swivel cas-

ters to the bottom shelf.

PINISI.(.xC. To finish the cabinet, J gave
all surfaces a final sanding with lSQ..grit
..andpaper and then applied two coats of
tung oil varnish.
WOODSMITH

---- ---

CUmNG DIAGRAM

AGUII 17

"'ith the back of the video recorder,

To cut this hole. I $tal'!ed by (billing

fII"(I\t,.'S.

014 HOl!
AT tACH CORNEa

----

boundaries of the access hole so i1.'sInline

the hole, a sabre saw could be used, but the

edge. would come out pretty splintered
and chewed up.
Instead. I cot it out on the router table.
(A router with ,' straight bit produces
.",ooih, clean cut on plywood.) Adjust the
felice on the router table so the bit just
barely skims the edge of the 'Y,'dia.corner
hole, see Detail ill Fig. 16.
\Vben the fence is set, lin. up the ply.
wood back, turn on the router, and slowly
plunge the plywood back onto the bit and
rout to the other comer hoIe. Repeat this
procedure for all four sides to get an access
hole with perfectly smooth edg es,
\Vb,n the access hole i. complete, screw
the back in place with No.6 x 'Y.t wood-

I I

Although that's true with this cabinet,

there's one other step fOl' this back - cut.
to the video recorder.
CL'T TO SIZE. Start by cutting the y,pl~~"ood back (K) to lit the hack oC the
cabinet, see Fig. IS. Then the aeeess hole is
cut Cor the wires. To do this, mark the

$PAC

LA.,.rI

IlOClt

1',.- II $'

C:::]

As

!_..;;.'
_..II
__
-,

lS"." J.'l.'.:. .:::..,...,~

r "

I';]

MATERIAlS UST
,...... S",,- 60

..

$idft (2)
Top SMIf (1)
C MIddle SMIf (1)
0 Ioltom She..-(1)
f EdgIngSrrips(41
F Orowo, flmtl80ck (2)
G Draw., Side. (2)
H Drawe, Dividers (2)

1 v, '1. 211f,
.IJ'
11'1. _
v 19'1t - 2.Y.

'/ 13~ 26',4

IV,. x 6'1 27-Ve
'1... 191/ 2~.

J
K

Q.

Draw., Iottom (1)

fol Oraw.,- F1nt.
flo

"1/.

.......
"I' W

~. " 1f1'(. _ 28'/.

1 V, 1V...'7'/.

'A. 4'n .. 261/.

'11.4'1,_15

'n.""

13Vt

tl

n
v.

,t,

.' .

11

Kid's Sing,_le_B_e_d

THIS ONE IS A REAL SLEEPER

As soon as I finished building the bunk bed
shown on the cover; we II"thered t~elher
some of the IVood.""ith kid. and asked

them

tor an expert opinion. The reaction

was unanimous -

C.}'CS

opened with de--

light at the sight of what looked like.

jungle gym rather than place to sleep.
In fact, Katie (Ted's three-year-old) WIIS
having so much fun exploring the height
of the top bunk, that when it was
time to go she exclaimed, "No. I
want to stay - ru take a nap on

this bed, okay?" Ted's

jft\\'

dropped, and he decided the bed

was worth an)' amount of lime
and money to build.
The single bed shown at right i~
designed so it can be used alone,
or two of them can be stacked to
form. bunk bed. Whether you're
building one bed or two, the eon-

struction procedure SUl.rts out

the same,
THE UPRIGHTS

I started by cutting tho uprights fOI' the

headb ca ,,1 and roolboa"d out of 61'1 oak
(lY,,' thick actual), The IWO uprights (A)
for the headboard are 4" wide by 31" long,

and the uprights (8) for the footboard nrc

4" wide by 28" high. see F'ig. 1.
MO"TIS>:S. AIle,' the uprights nrc cut to

'1

U2

cnru.

JWO IND
HOlES RItST

size, through mortises arc cut tor the cross

rails. These mortises arc made by drilling.

series or ""dia. holes, centered on the

width or the uprights. 1.'<) fig. 2.
To form the bottom mortises on all four
uprights. mark a ll."-dla. hole centered
lOY... up from the bottom end of the upright, see Fig. 1. Then mark a second hole
centered 3ll!" up from the fil'l!t.
Drill these two hoi es and continue with a
series of overlapping hole.' to rorm the
mortise. see Fig. 2. (I used a Fo rstner bit
here because it will drill o"erlapping hole.
without gliding off eeurse.)
For the top mortises, measure up 28V.'on the headboard upright (A). and 22%"on
the footboard upright (8) ror the first
holes. Then drill the second hoi es centered
3ll!" up from the first holes. see ~-ig. I.
CL&AS UP MORTISE. To clean up the
cheeks of the mortises, I clamped a guide
board along the edge of the hoi to l.",ide
Ibe chisel. sec Fig. 4. To get the cleanest
edge on both sides, I chopped only half.
way down. and then flipped the piece over
to clean out the morti se from t he back .id e.
ORII.L 1l0LF.s FOR SIIJE 1I0A"I). Tho last
step on all four uprights i. to drill two
Yo"dio.hoies next to the bottom morti ses ,

12

--.-

-"",~...

CROSS t.AllS

J1

NOTE:

USI S ..
(I' - STOOC)

3"

~...,.

"1+

.tv'0.

MOllS

SfDltoAIt

tr
I

I
.,_n.
....

twO

"I'

HOUS

.....O((f

..flu-

MORlISE DEtAIL

II'

RGUIf C

,
c"

WOODSM1TH

see Fig. 3. Although tbese holes aren't I I""u" >

.r

~-

Next. the uprights are joined lOl(ether

IhinJ!ll: I) the width of the mattress, and 2)
the length of the tenon s,
It', best to get a measurement from the
mattress you're going to use. (The Sears
mall ress I used is 37~ wide.) Measure
the width of the mattress and add 3" to get
th I,o"ld.rto-shoulder length of the
rails, see ~ig. 6. (The additional 3' allows
for the two side boards plus a little clearance for the mattress.)
Now .del the length of the two tenon s,
Since the mortises go all the way thl'Ollgh
the uprights. the tenons would normally be
cut lonl( enough to also go all the way
through. But I decided to cut the tenons
v.' short - to leave room Cor. filler plug.
""fer to Fig. 25. (This is an easy way to get
perfect fit on the end of the tenon lhat
shcwa through the mortise.)
Cll"TII RAIL.Now the rail can be cut to
fiMllength. see Fig. 5. Then cut tenons on
both ends to fit .nugly in the morti .... see
l'lll. 7. (Refer to lVood$mitJ, No. 26 for"
stepbystep article on culling a mortis.
nnel tonon.)

GROOVES IN RAilS

mI

,~,

....
* rtNON.

"C'

ON SlOOC-

" "';''::::::::
~_r
I rtl~~.OH

'.lONG

atnaD

tROSS RAIL

=.w._./ k~jl
-

the edge. of the rails, see ~'ig. 12. To do

this. set the fence so the blade is ncar the
center of the stock. and make ~ Jl!U<R. see
Step I in Fig. 13.
Now nip the rail around so the other face
is against the fence and make another-pass.
see Step 2. Nudge the rence away from the
blade and repeat this process (Step" 3 nnd
4) until the groove is "ide enough for the
.I.~. see Fig. 14.
WOOOSMITH

Al0

--

-::

!.

~..

~)

1lOUN .,...

""

~
I

U,.JOHf

I-

FlOUJl 8

ONE "teE IHI$ Sttll MAKES

-- -

TWO HtAOlOAII:O StATS

r-

I.'

r=

..nIT
~.':l

- -

".as '~

CUT'M
'HIS Sill

1111$

.f

CUTTHItD IIKlS

...j

'0)

.......

~-",

o.
0Hl Net THISSUI MAlIS
fOOt fOOt1OAl:D SlAlS

.....::-1~
~

.~

-"

','

IESAWING ON WLE SAW

. ...'.

SKOHD-

l'l.$.A.w IOrH

fIfCE$ 10 fINAl. '"'""''"

,... ,.

AGVU "

fQ9T80ARD
SLAT

"n-

r':k
1

"

r .."l

,
/

r -r

,2

AI(

..

AGURE 13

MOVt ....

ct

TOWAJO
IIIAOl

,
;

AGUtf 1..
U$I

s....

roCHlCI<

wtDfH Of GROOVI-

~
I....

f\Pr

..-:' ~

3
I~

- - ~--

0I't .SUMlU
HIADIOAID.JOOtaOAIO.
MAtK toGU WH.EI GItOCMS
.AH 10 Sf an

CUT TO AT

.RISJ MSS
CENT_
ON THIOHES

aonOM ClOSSWL

Sl&

-KNeE

TOI' ClOSS u.a_

-------

HEADBOARD

StAtl

SET

,:~:

~-

""_lOA%,
ON fINAL MSS ,

CUT GROOVE: ON
INSIOI!
(DGS
ON&-\

~_OTe,&LHGnt Of

....,

(-~-

_.-aoss
,_
.....
HIGH

\\.

I~'H(0)

'......
"'.

./

PUSH SflCK

'J 1'~B;-~ ~
~fii'!. ~

(-=:""
~-

"'. v .

.LA....

'"

USE

__.

..,Ie,

- RAStl IU!SAW
I'N"" PieCIIN" HAlf

1.

Sal

.i

l'

RGUOf

\;(luaJ mortises. But there's; an easler wa)'.

1u.e<la notched spacer strip that's ""t into
groove on the edge of the rails. refer to

spacer strip, grooves are cut centered on

4'2" -

AGORE 6

The slats would normally be mounted to

the rails by cutting a whole series of indi-

Fig. 21. This, in effect. produees a serieA of

mortises - the easy way,
C~'T CE~'TERRD GROOVE. To mount thi.

tlr

USE s... (1 VI" STOCIC)

MrASOHMENTS SHOWN ARE fOil 37'h~MAmlfS5

THE SLAT5

Before jOining the cress rails to the uprights. the slats have to be cut. To make
the 10 slats (D) for the headboard. start
\\ith five pieces of 514 stock 2" "'ide by 16'
long. see Fig. 8. The 10 slats (E) for the
footboard can be <lit from three pieces of
514 stock 2" wide by 16' long.
R&,';AWS~ATS.Now. resaw these pie,,,,. in
half (see Fig. 9). and then set the fence to
resew the halved pieces to a final thickne~s
of%". see Fig. 10.

' ,,

CRQSS RAIL

THE RAIL5

"~lith L\vOcross rails CCl. These rails arc 6"

wide uncitheir length is determined by two

....._-

MfASUIfMH1 3" GHAJD THAN'MOTHOf ~

SHOtJU)fa.1().$HOU.O(I

used until later (to join the bed's side

boards between the headboard and foot
board. refer to Fig. 29). I drilled them now
while it's easy ee ge~ to this area.

in

./

!=RQ~~MIL

Gi!OOV'

~iIo"WlDI,
,..,- 011'
ClN'TtHD

ON~ud

'13

.R. ,

(i) $PACE~ mJf

TQP VIEW

SPACER STR.IPS

lAY OUT AlL ML<$ 1M'>m 110M wrmt

I I I 1 I I 1 I I I I [=1::1 I-I r ! ! ! ! !'r'

1r ' "1"1" ~r ~r'--~

SIDE VIEW

t 2

Ii

AUOADOurW1l'1l

SfAClD

, ....~

r A1U.T

"

4 g;'

R$AW $fR:JPS

10'"
OFGROOvt
""""

fiNe!!

r ".

CRQSS SErnOtl

NOTE,

RUN caoss JtAl\

THROUGH SAW TO
CUAN UP fDGE

To complete the headboard and footboard.

the notched spacer strips (F) have to beeut
to hold the slats.
MARK OAOOIlS. To make these notehed
strips, start with a piece of 414810Ck2~
wide and trimmed to length to match the
shoulder-to-shoulder length of the c~
rails (C), see
21
Now mark the boundaries of the 2"-wide
dadoes along this piece. starting at the
center and working toward. the ends, see
Fig. 15, (\\'ork [rom th. renter out 10 get
even spacing at the ends. no matter hew
wide the mattress is.)
CL' OAOOES.Aft.". marking th. JlO"ition
of all the dadoes, [ started 10 cut them.
Unfortunately, 1 found that the workpiece
haa a tendency to slide as the cut was being
made. To prevent this, [attached a fcn.olO
the miter gauge. Then clamped a slop to
one end and used the rip fenee at the ether
end 10 define the limits of '.he dado. see
Fig. 16.
Shop Now: Since the dadoes are spaced
equally from the center out, eUI one of the
center dadoes first, then Oip the bo.. -d
around to cut the dado on the other sid. of
the center line,
CUTSPACERSTRlPS. When all the dadoes
are cut, rip this piece to fonll the four
spacer ships, sec Fig. 17. Rip ea eh strip III
widlh to fit snugly ill the greoves ill the
CI'OSS rails. Theil resaw then' ,0 Sil.()(.'Ig.
18) so the top edge of the strip is nuoh with
the edge or the rail.
When the strips iiI the grooves, glue
them ill place. (Avoid USing100 much glue
-it might s ee p into the "mortises,") Whe ..
the glue is dry, run the rail through the saw
to trim the tops of the spacer llU5hwith the
mil, see Fig. 20.

.'g.

ROUND EDGES AND ASSEMBLE

The last step before assembling the headboard and footboard is 10 round the corners

Tor IAli

NOTe,

.."""""
00 HOT
GUlf 5WS

OONOf

"""NO

OVU

'"14

and edges of the uprights and rails.

ROL'NOEDGES. First, round the corners
of tho uprights to a
radius. ( used
qaarter-to mark the radius, sec o.tail A in
Fig. 21.. Next, all the edges are rounded
with a V, reund-over bit on the router
table. see Detail B in Fig. 21.
Before assembly. finish sand .11 the
pieces - especially the slats, Also, SCTC"
threaded inserts in the top holes near the
bottom rail. ref.". to Fig. 29. (Sec Wood
sm#.h No. 30 for a good technique for Installing inserts using a drill p ress, )
ASS&~I8LY.Now dry-assemble lhe uprights and rails 10 get the final length ror
the slats. Afier the slats arc cut to length.
mount them between the "mortises" on the
edges of tbe ralls. (Don't usc any glueherc,
just let the slats "float" in the moruses.)
Then glue and damp the mortis. and tenon
joints (the uprights and rails) together,

'I.

\OODSMITII

MORTISE PLUGS

1!l00mSE PlUG

41\51menbioned earlier, I cut the>tellons on

the cross rails Y4'" short. to allow for (leC01"3live fillerplugs at. the ends of the mortises.
(Ills a lot easier to cut these plugs to fib the
mortise perfectly than itis to cut the OOl10n
to fit.)
To make these plugs, rip a piece of oak
into three strips, see fig. 22. Theil I c,ut
t.\VO strips otwalnut to simulate the ends of
wedges (to make the joint. look like a
wedged mortise and tenon joint).
Laminate these five pieces together. and
when the glue ,is dry, reS3\V this piece to
match the width of the mortise (W). Then
I;P ie to size I() match the height of the
mortise, refer to Fig. 23.
Now here's where all t,ruswork pays off.
Round the e.dges of Ihis tiller plug on the
router table with a ~" round-over bit. See
Fig. ;24. This will make a perfect fit. with
the drilled end holes of the mortise.
~I01JNTPLUG. Cut off 'Yo"longslices of
the laminated stril) and glue them into the
mortises. Than there's one more trick, 1b
smooth the plug flush with the face of the
upright, cut a ~I.sonite bas. for tbe router
and glue two y..lhick Masonite spacer
pads to the base, see F'ig. 26.
Mo.unt. y,' straight bit in the router and
set t.h. depth to cut flush with the spacer
pads. Now the endsotthe plug ~Ileasily be
routed flush with the.face of the upright s,

ffRST CUT !!tEa

fRYO THREE STRIPS

.y....

FeGtUIE13

rC~l'RASTlNG

I _

WOOO STRiP:

0' j-Y'-,
I ~.-;If" . lJ' ~ 1
-"l r-r't'

y."

<

- cur TO lNGTM

01 MORnSE __

ASSEMBLED MORnSE PLUG

AQUIIE 24

: ROU'" fABlE
"" c-- "',,:.

_Jf':][

ftOU~OOVER

AU. EOGES
Of MoRTIS6 PlUG

II'~/IA

tJ-"- - '/~"

tlOUNo.OVER~T

FtGUJlE-4S

, -',

UPRIGHT_~ _

_,..,-

SCRtw '/,{'I'M$ONITE
lASE ON ItOUTQ

THE SIDE BOARDS

At this point tbe headboard and footboard

ar e,complete. Alilhat's needed ore the side
boards (0) thatrun the length of the bed.
The side boards are 5' wide and cut to
length so they're l'longer than the length
of the mattress, see ~'ig. 27.
ORIJ,LHOI.ES. After the side boards-are
cut to size. holes are <uilled atboth ends for
the boll and dowel pin that are used tojoin
them to the headboard and footboard.
(Note: When locating these holes. what
you want is fO.I
the holes in the side boards
to match up \ViU,the holes already drilled
in the uprights, refer to Fig. 29.).
DRILLIIOLES. AftCl' locating the centerpoints of these holes on the oUlsii:leface of
the side board, I drilled them by starting
with the counterbore on the top hole on the
ineide face, sec Step I in Fig. 28. Then flip
the side board over and drill n 0/,.' shank
hole, using the centerpoint marked on the
.,,(Sid. face, see Step 2.
AIBo, drill a stopped I(,"dia. hole fOI'a
dowel pin on the outside face, see Step 3.
To complete. the side board, round three
edges with a
round-over bit;.as shewn in
Step 4.
J\ssE~IBL'~
FinaUy, glue a Y2" dowel in
the hole in th.e upright and test the assembly of the side boards to the uppghts
by screwing a UJtJ x 1~ hex head bolt into
the threaded insert, see Fig. 29.
~I'

WOODSMlTH

NOTE; 0"' 'IO.OOAllO

I" LONGERTHANfM.m~S5
,/to" HOLI

i-

'DIt11i. ntltotJGH
fACE SIDE W1TR -'(I. In'

:...

~8r

DO NOT ROUND
OVER THIS EDGE-,

>T+-~J;nr~.ou-,.-.-O..
l:.WI

E~S- W!'fH '/"

ItOUN().OVU SIT

FIG 11129

UPRIGHT

NOTE:lT,..Y BE
NECESSARY TO TRIM END

to AUgw HOW;
TO ON. UP

!s.;

@'
r -:
i ' ,

',L

GlU"",,-v....,. @
\.
DOWEL 1
l~

I.L

)I
CROSS SECTION

'15

flGUltt

10

ttOltS101

,,,_''

SClfWS ME

cgoss

SECTION OF ClEAT

li~.2fi
CUAI..J.

THE CLEATS

GLUE AND SGRiW TOGUHER

Thel as t step on the side board. is 10mount

a cleat (H) to the bottom edge 10 support
the mattressboard and mattress.
TRECLEAT. This cleat is made by lipping
"piece of5l4 stock IW' wide and to length
to match the side board. Then mounllh.
cleats by eounterboring a "'dio. hole,
followed by a 0/,,' -dia. shank hole (all the
waythrough), see Cross Section in Fig. 30.
Now clamp tbe cleat to the side board 00
it's flush wdth the bottom edge and dlill
pilot holes in the side board. Finally. unclamp tbe clear, apply glue 10 we edge. and
screw it in plate.
ASSIDI8LY. AI this point, the bed 13 eomplete. I gave it a final sanding and finished
it with two coats of tung oil "ami3h. Wben
thefinish is dry, it'ojusta matter of bolting
the side boards to the uplights and putling
the mattressboard and maures in place.

g,
StDfIOARO

.HOC'
01'

COINIIS

,,s..

~~
..~}-~

USI J,4
(1' ... STOC~

*.- COIJHTER:IOlt
.... 0Uf' ClHTERro
ON

ClAMP ClfAT TO $10(1I0AIO,

DRIU. PILOT HOl!S, rHEN

,lOCI(

fOtCUAfS

Ell

THE DRAWER
RONT,

!Q_P VIEW

,j;:~... ''f.

I'

!-''--J-'-,l,.-./
'n'

f.-

t:-

SlDf

<i)

.t,.

!'Of

a.C:K

t,.

SID.

TOP VIEW

"""It ,.
uS( \-.." ROUND GYri

USf QUAlTII TO
lAVOUT I.ADtUS \

.,

lIT OH AU IDGlS

ROURI3.5

Dt,AwtR fROM .....

,I

flI.st OIlU. I 0fA. KOUS

$lCONO. cur OUT WAST'

1 6'.-

L::"

IfTWllH HQUS
),J.t.*

DRAWER fROtiT

)-

(.

WOOOSCtfW-/

16

reurer table with a ~. dovetail bit

==:'=4~

centered I' from the fence, see f'ig. 31.

Then rout V -deep dovetail grooves 8t
both ends of we drawer fron~, stopping
these grooves sv.' from the bottom edge,

see Fig. 34

....

....wu
..D<

r-

J
~

,,,

FIG"". >61

lAC!( ~

,.,~
..

7'..

i r,

With the router table still set up Ihi.

also rout dovetail grooves on the in..

side faees of the drawer side. for the
drawer back, ... Detail B in .'11(. 83.
IlOVE1l\l~T()NGIl>:S.Aner the groove.
are cut. _<\iust the fence on the router table
(but don't change the height of the bit) to
rout dovetail tongues on Ihe side pieces,
see Fig. 32. Then trim the top end of the
\\'<8y,

';:."c

: I~.~

(I ~ ~

After the bed was done, Illloughl it would

be handy W add two large roU-out 8l<>MljIC
drawers. These drawers are designed 00
they can be built and added whenever you
have time. Note: The dimensions given
here are for a drawer (with 2" casters) th"l
fits an opening 10" high - the space between the bottom edge of the side board
and the 0001', see Fig. 41.
1lJt,\WER f'RO~TS. Stnrt by cutlln~ the
drawer ironts to size. The width (height) of
the drawer fron~ is 7W. 'l'he length i~
figured by measuring between the headboard and footboard \lpl'ight~ and eubtracting a total of :y.". ('rhis allows y.....
between the two drawers, and 14' at each
end.) Then divide this difference by 2 to
get the length of each drawer fronl.
1'1IF.SIDES.Next, cut the drawer ~ides to
a width of T', see Fig. 33. (They're Vo"
shorter than the top of the drawer fronl.)
The length of the drawer sides is optional
- I cut them 20" long.
JOISeRY. I assembled these drawers
with dovetail tongue and groove join ...
(These joints are easier to cuI than they
sound. See the step-by-step article in
IVood$mitll No. 31.)
1lO\"ETAlL CKOO\E$. first, set up the

'A~ OFORAM,.)

WOOOSMITH

tongues to fiL the stopped grooves in the

drawer front.
AJmr the tongues are cut, dry-assemble
the sides to the front and measure to get
the final length for the drawer back. Cub
the back to length and then cut dovetail
tongues on both ends to fit the grooves fn

fiGtJRE 38

Flout! 40

DRJll \i"
HOLES fOR

aotrs

the drawer sides.

Finally, switch to
a ;.'4" straight- bit to rout grooves o/.a" from
the bottom edge of the drawer front and
sides for the \14" .lJlasOllite bottom.
RANDLE ON FRO:-lT. Before final assembly; complete the drawer (rollt by e',.ting out the handle pull on the.top edge. see
Fig:34. Then round the four comers ,,[the
fronf to a \4' radius and round the edges
with a v...... round-over bit.
CASTERS. Now the drawers can be glued
and clamped together,
they're asGl,lOOVR ROR BQITO>1.

FIGURE 41

Aft_,

sembled, 1 mounted fOtll" casters to each

drawer, see Fig. 37. Since- the drawer
bottom is only y,,' thick, Iadded y.-' spacer
pads and lhen mounted' the casters with
0/.1" machine screws, see Fig. 37.

SIDE80ASlO

DRAWER GUIDE RAILS

MIDDlE: ORAWER GUIDE

1$ CENttREO ON SIOEI}OARO

The guide system for these drawers is

fairly simple: since the drawers are on

castera, the guide rails j,ust act as

"bumpers" to guide the drawer as jt'$
puUotdin and O~L
I cut the guide rail .. out of5l4 stock l'l(,'
wide and mounted them to the bottom of
the cleata on the side boards, see Fig. 39.
(nstead of mounting them permanently, 1
used threaded inserts so' they could be
easily removed iflhe bed was taken apart ..)
Position the middle guide. rail so it's
centered on tbe le"glh of the bed. Then
position t~letwo outside rails so they allow
for the width of the drawer plus v." ele.. anee, see F'ig. 41.

ORA~~.<t~~~s
ARt

DRAWER~!lIQE !iR2S~ ~~!;TlON

f.

~DTH Of PRAWq PlUS

',S" fOR ClEARANCE

I I

WlOlH Of DRAWE$!flUS
......-FORClfARANce

CUnlNG

;1

DIAGRAM

SING"! BEb (FOR BUNK 8ED~ OOUBLE MATERIAL)

"/I""$~"'2'1

JnTg~S"F

'''j.'')t~lh.96''1
TWO SOARDS

MATRIALS LIST
Overoll Oimen.ions~ 42V."W'X 80"L 34"'H
For Singl. 8ed:
A Headboard Upright. {2l
8 Footboard Upright' {2J
C Crot., Roils (4)
0 Ho~dboord Slots (10)
E Foo,bootd Slo.n (1 0)
F Spacer Strips (~)
G Sid. Boords i2)
H Cleats (2)
For Drawo".:
Df'CIw~tFrOnt (2)
~ Drawer Side. (4)
K Drawer P.a.ck(2)
l Draw~t Bottom
M Drawer GuideJ; (3)
For Ladder and Guard:
N todd., Upri9~"(2)
0 !.odder Run9~ (4~
P Guard Roil (1)
Q Guard Upright. (2)

WOODSMITH

1111
4.34
11/1 4.28
11/1 5.42
0/ 2 13'At
.x~7%
0/. I( Vi:. 40~
lV..xS75
1 Yr,,,x

l''h 15

10/,.11: 7V. 3S~/.

1.04.120
Ih)lf7.33'/,
" .. )( 18Y 33.
1'A. K ry 38'4
lYI.249
10/,. x 2YJ;. 12'.4
1VI.x536
lYI.x2.
t31t..

_6tYl

111o..... S!IS..

GUARD RAIL
P

1.. :8

I!@Jl
17

Bunk Bed
STACK 'EM UP FOR lWlCE AS MUCH SLEEP
If you want to make a bunk bed, it'sJuSI a
matter of building IWO ~ingle bed. and
stacking them. But that's not the whole
story.
The single bed is designed "ith a headboard that's 6' higher than the footboard.
If you want to make two bed. to form 0
bunk bed, the lower bed i. built with two
headboards (34' high) and the tOP bed has
two footboards (28" high).
l\ormally bunk bed. are stacked and
held in place with a steel pin in the uprights. This pin keeps the uprights from
sliding oft - but it. doesn's strtlN) the upper bed to the lower bed.
If the guy in the lower bed Irie. to kick
his brother out of the upper bunk. the
whole bed can come loose - much to the
chagrin of the one in the lower bunk.

KNOCK.OOWN FITTING

We thought it would be nice to add a little

safety feature here by joining the upright<!
with a knock-down fitting, see I'ig. I. 'rhi.
fitling consists of a steel pin 'hot 6crews

into a plastie tnsert o one end nn<lattac:hca

to a cam collol' at the other end.
Note: The procedure lind measurements
we used to mount this fittinl{ vory n Iitll~

'dla. hole. Again, I used. Portalign to drill ihls hole centered

'Ii" in Irom the inside face, see Fig. J.

from the instruc.tions thnt. came with it~

~IOUNT CA_)lCOI.I.J\f', To mount this fit-

IIOI ~ ron INsefrr. Jo'in.all~f, drill another

%"clin. hole in the bottom upright for the
pla.~tici.. sort. This hole i. also centered on
the width orthe upright and V,. in from the
inside face. (It must line up exactly with
the hole in the bottom of the upper upright.) At\er this hole is drilled, tap the
plastic insert in place.

ting, ClTStdrill n 'dia. hole on the inside

face of the upper upright, see Fig. 1. (I
used a Portalign and Forstner bit here.)
This hole is centered on the width of the
upright and 1y." up from the bottom edge,
see Fig. 2. It'~ also stopped 'If" deep.
HOI.& .-OR STE.:L PIN. Next. drill a
'!1o.-dia. hole for the 81ee 1 pin in the bottom
end of the upright so it intersects with the
"""U 1

~IOUNT F''M''I.!'iC.

screw

r:

fitting.

fIG'

lOOtlOAJO
UNtOHT

Th mount the

the steel pin in the plastic insert.

\
I

V ...
I

low,er the hole in the top upright, OVOI'

the steel pin (see Fig. 2). and push the cam
collarin the }"-dia. hole. Use" screwdriver
to twist the cam collar so it catches the
head of the steel pin. (As the collar Is
turned, the cam action pull. the steel pin
tight inside tbe collar.)
Finally. cover the holes with the 1)I... tic
cap that comes with the fitting. sec Fig. 2.
THE LADOlR
No bunk bed is complete (or any fun) without a ladder. The ladder r made hoo~ on
the. side rails of both beds.
LADDER CPRIGlrTS. The uprigh .... (N) for
the.ladder are eut from a piece ofS'4 stock.
49" long. see Fig. 3. in order to have the
dadoes for the rungs tine up .x.ctly. Icut
!his piece double-wide to begin with. (Wide
enough for two 2".wide uprigh~ pi.. Vo'
for the kerf bet ween them and little for
trimming it up.)
CIT DADOES.Tb mount the rungl!, cut

[our Yc--deep dadoes. across this piece..

..
18

KOllS

H(AOIOAIIO
UP.IOHT

CENTUlD

ON WlDlH 0'

sroc,c

HEAO&OAJD
UptiGHT

(Note: When setting up these cuts, check

the width of the dado with the actual.lock
to be used for the rungs, The rungl! should
fit tight in the dado.)
The first dado (at the bottom of Ihe
ladder) starts l' from the end. The next
three are spaced 12" apart, sec Pig, 8.
CO,J('L&1'.: UPRJGHTS. At\er the dadoes

WOOOSMITH

are cut, ril) the workpiece down the middle

and trim it to produce two uprights 2"

"Tide. Then round the corners to a Y:"
radius and round over t.heedll"'l u1th a Yo"
round -cver bit on the router table.
THE RUS(:~. Next, the four rungs (0) are
cut to aiee out of 414 stock. 2y"" wide by
12Y.'long. Since the top rung I. positioned
right in front of the side bo.. -d on the top
bunk. 1 notched out the baek edge to allow
room for a hand-hold.
Drill two l"-dl . holes S" apart, and
centered y," from ~he back edge, see
fig. 6. Then cut out the shape of the hand
hold, rounding the back corners of this
notch to Y,," radius.
ROUXD EI)(;P.s. Finally. round the fronl
and back edges or all four rungs with a Yo"
round-over blt, (Do not round the endsleave them square)
,1SSF.'"ILV. Before final assembly, drill
two %"-dia. counterbores followed by 0/,.
shank holes on the outside face of the uprights. centered over the dado, and 11."
from the Irom and back edges, see Fig. 5.
Then place the rungs in (he dadoes and
clampthe laddertogether 80 pilotholescan
be drilled through the upright~ and into
the ends of the rungs,
After the pUot hoies are drilled. apply
glue to the dad oes and screw the rungo in
place with No. 8 x 1Y:~'twoodserews, and
cover the counterbores with o/~.plugs.
IIWKS. '1'0 attach the ladd.. to the bed, I
made four hooks that hook over the side
boards. first, rip four spacer blocks to
width to match the thlekness of the side
board. and to a length of 3". see Fig. 7.
Th mount the blocks to th~ ladder, mark
the position of the bottom blocks so they're
5' up from the bottom ends of'the uprights.
Then to get the position of the top block,
measure the distance from the top edge of
the bottom sid. board to t.hetop edge ofthe
top side board. Mark offlhi!<same distance
on the ladder uprights - from the bottom
block to tho top block.
Pre-drill the pilot hoi on the spacer
blocks to match the holes on a ." x 6"
mending plate. Also mark and pre-drill
holes in the ladder's uprights. Then glue
and screw lhe spacer blocks and the mending plates to the ladder, see ~'ig. 7.

flOURE 3

LADDER UPRIGI;I!S

CUToouau WID "teE Of'

fH.cae).r lONG

.s. 4 stOCKC" ,

-f .---1r-

__

All DADOlS

r'- + (-1

.r--THICKNIiSS

j 0'
I '1.

'UN~

SIDE VIEW
4

FIGURe 5

SIDE VIEW

ASSEMBLED
LADDER

...,"staA2.

"'-

MfNOINO

",ua

f
12-

;8)

2~P
...1-_
AU RUNOS ARE

'M.~.2"','. I'"""

12'

lOWEI--lUNGS

,
~

use

"4

..

(l'Io."lHI(K)

STOCI('0'
U'.IOH1S

"",AI'
t'KlCJ(NlS$

1--...,II-'L6'

s.omo ....o
.PII if
MENDINO

C'

srRA'-

.,.3

, 0I
."'._-'-1'--'
1;;;.-

_t_

,,,-

\VOODSMtTH

. It=-,

,2

GUARD RAIL

for smaller children it's also a goodidea to

adda guard rail. The one Ibuilt is a pieceof
514 stock, 5" wide by 36" long, see fig. S.
It's mounted to the bed \\'th two uplights an" two hooks (as on the ladd .. ).
Cut the uprights 2" wide by l3l'l'long and
glue and screw them to the guard rail.
Then mount hooks the same ~'8y as on
the ladder: cut the spacer blocks. pre-drill
the pilotholes, and then glue and screw the
SIlCCrblocks and .:v." x 6" mending plates
to the edge of the uprights. And that complet es the bunk beds.

.~

I
,'

," fH

wOOOS'.lWii;;;~:-j
IT

,.

f
SMa.

BlOCk

1.$SAAU; THICKNess

...
Co-

A.S SI.DE&OARO
MENDtNO

s,aAl

rl
19

Finishing: Surface Preparation

BEFOREYOU FINISH, THIS IS WHERE TO START
I'm really talking about three
different things here: dents, where
the wood cells are crushed; chips
where the wood cells a re actually
missing; and gouges and scratches
where the wood cells are severed.
DENTS. If a blunt object (like a
hammer) strikes a piece of wood,
the wood cells are crushed and collapse into their hollow centers. All
the cell walls are still there, but
they're compressed. Tha!!. a-dent,
Sometimes a dent can be raised
back to it!s original level by simply
applying a drop of water to it. The

I have to admit that there are certain parts of woodworking that I

e)1joy more than others. Getting a
tenon to fit so it slides into. mortise perfectly is definitely on the
positive side. So is putting on and
rubbing' down the final coat of fin-

ish. It's somewhere in bet\y(ten

these peaks that 1get bogged down
in som_e of the more mundane
chores of woedworking.
Spocifically, it's the process of
making sure the surface is ready to
take the finish. It's at this point
that all the little problems and mistakes that have been building up
from the beginning of the project
are now staling me tight in the
face ... and I have the challenge
of fixing them.
Itls also at this stage of the project that every weodworker'sfavorr
ite activity, begins .. sanding.

water flows into the ,\109d and

swells the walls back to their original shape. If the water needs a
little help in order to penetrate the
cell walls, Imay prick the spot with
a pin.

Or I use an-iron.T take a piece of

damp cloth or paper towel, Pitt it

(As I said, there are parts of

ever-the <lent, and hold a hot-iron to

woodworkingthat I enjoy more

than others.)
I find it easiest to approach finishing like anything else in woodworking. It's a series of steps to
obtain ~he desired result. But it's
also a series of decisions. Once you make a
certain decision, to 'itain the project for
example, that decision affects many of the
steps that lead up to it. I try to develop a
plan for finishing at the start of a project
and carry it through to the end.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

While Pm building a project a little. voice

somewhere in the back of my head keeps
asking me, "How will what you're doing
now affec~ the appearance of the final finish?" The voice gets louder at certain
points in the oonstl11ction process.
EOGE.()I,UINC. One of-the first times this
happons is when I'm edge-gluing several
boards to form a wide panel. Two things are
important here; color and grain structure.
'1'0 play down ajoint line, I try to select the
pteces so tl,e colors and grain blend into
each otlte,. It's a matter of ""ing eareful
now instead o[trying to selectively stain 0,
bleach later to get a uniform appearance.
Excess GLUE. Another time [ hear t~a.
voice is when it eemes.time to-glue. Excess
glue in a joint will cause "squeeze-out." [r
these beads and globs aren't removed, the
finish, eSl>eeiaUy stain, won't penetrate
into the wood. It ends up looking like the
piece has chicken pox.
The problem is lhat some of these glue

20

it until the cloth-dries out. The iron

causes steam to penetrate the

wood cells and swell them back to
their original shape, After it has
dried thoroughly, it call be sanded.

In addition to major dents, the

spots are difficult to see boCore you start
finishing. I usuany see the globs at the
joints, but always manage to miss a light
fingerprint smear-In tha middle of a board.
It seems as though every woodworker I
know has a theory about when this glue
should be removed. These theories run all
the way from immediately wiping the exCI1.1)S
glue away with a "let rag to waiting'
until it gets completely hard and then
chip)ing at it with a chisel or scraper,
1 agree with John Moser, president, of
Wood Finishing Supply Company, when he
explains: "The typical white and yellow
glues go tllroug~ certain stages as they
<ky. First they skin oven If you try to
remove the glue at this stage, you open up
a bJister that just deposits fresh glue nil
over the place.
"If you Jet it.dry a little longer (usua.lly
about an hour), you can go over it with.
scraper (1 use. I",int scraper) and (he
globs act:..ally come offin their entirety. If
you wait too long, they', .. tough.to getoIT."
-oorsss- There's one more thing you
should watch for when a project is-under
construction. Around our shop we call
them "eopses." These are the little dents,
chips, gouges, and scratches that always
seem to happen when you least expect
them.

minor ones thancollect on the surface of the

workpiece can be aggravating. It seems
like somewhere during. project I \\;11 set
dO\\TU a piece of wood on top of a chip or
dried glue glob oil my bench. This usually
causes. minor dent that has to be raised.
Ken Burtch, 3 professional refinisher

and owner of The Hardwood Connection in

DeK.11b,Illinois, tells an interesting story
about some minor dents he once had on a
project, "When I first got started 1 took
some boards to a local cabinet shop to have
them resawn and run through their thickness planer, The dust cclleeticn system on
the planer wasn't operating correctly and
the reed rollers smashed all the chips down
making dents allover my nice cherty.
''1 thought 1 could easily repair it by
using a belt sander to erase all the wood
surrounding the-dents until the surface gob
down to, their leveJ. When everything was
level, I put a glass-smooth finish on it,
"It wasn't until a coupleyears later th~t
disaster struck, The seasonal changes allowed mositure in the air to slowly enter
the wood. The St'''5S in bhe dents was
relieved and some of the dents are now
raised spots. If Icould do it again, I would
have raised the dents first."
CHIPS. A chip or a splinter is different
from a dent. In this ease the wood is actu-

WOOE>SMI'Ill

ally missing and moisture won't help. The

first thing I do when a splinter mes off my
work (this seems to h"ppen a lot when
u$ing' a router) is get. down on my hands
'lOci knees and start looking through the
sawdust. Somehow it al'vnys seems to find
a resting spot under the very back of the
bench. \Vhen Irescue it, I putaUttle glue
on it and clamp it back in place (usually
masking tape works be<t to hold a small
splinter while drying). When it's dry J'm
usually able to sand it smooth.
(:OUGS. A gouge or scratch is somethinifcOmpleLely dlfie,cnt. In this case the
wood cells have been severed, lfoiSture
won't help and there isn't" chip to replace.
Ithink you are faced with three choices
with a gouge: or mlss in,Jrchip: First. you
can set aside the piece and 8tart over. Wait,
do you mean throw it in the serap bin! Yes,
that's often the best solution if it's in a
eririenl spot such as a tabletop.
Second. you can live with It. Especially it'
it's " de<lp gouge that can't bo sanded out
and you don't want to replace the piece. In
this situation T develop the philosophy that
jt's part of the "character" or "patina" of
the piece. J always feel better when I tell
m)'sclfitmigbtha\'e
happened when it 'vas
moved upstairs to the livinif room.
Finally. you can try to repair it. Unro.tunatel~" this sometimes creates more
problems. If not done PI'opOJ'lyit makes
the gouge or chip more Ilrominent.

transferring a scratch into what looks like

a large dent). On an edge J feather a gouge
or chip until it blends In with the edge.
I(thc~e methods don't work.uhe subject
alway. turns to fllling. At Wood.lllith, we
try to keep our use ofput lies and fillers to a
minimum, (I'm talking here l\bout wood
fillers, not poste icoodfill .... that are used
to fill pores in open-grained woods.) PuttiOll and fillers always look to me like a
band-aid solution to a mllior problem. For
example, we might use putt)t to fil1in along
ajointlinc where.it isn't so obvious. But.we
don't use it in the middle of" tabletep to
repair a gouge,
I"UTTIES.There are a wkle variety of
pl... tic putties, water putties, puttystieks.
cabinetmaker's waxes, and burn-in sticks
on the market. They're advertl..ecl as being
available in "an assortment of colors to
makh Rny wood,"
That's always bothered
me, Even
thouifh a common brand plaslic Ilutty is
available in both "Light Oak" and "Dark

Oak," I cnn't remember ever seeing aetual

oak woo<lonly available in two colors, It's
available in an infinite number of colors.
And as natural oak ages it darkens. Plastic
wood fillers dont. Their color may start
out as 8 close match, but it rare);,' stays
thai way. And then the patch 8tand~ out.
CoIOI'isnt the only problem. Some fill-

ers nrc incompatible with vruious finishes

01' are designed

for other usc s. Wawr putty

(8 powder material) won't accept any
REPAIRS
st-ain:tor oils when it's dry, (It's used when
With a shallow gouge Or scratch. I'm often the surfaee will be painted). Cabinetable to plane. scrape, or sand the sur- makers wax never ge~ completely hard.
rounding wood. On a flat
1tTYto Putty sticks aL"O don'l get hard and are
even it. out by feathering out the sur- best used for filling nail holes after finrounding area to create a shallow de-- ishing. Burn-in sticks (also called shellac
pression (This depression has to cover an sticks and lacquer sticks) are usually used
area S to4 inches in diameter or you'rejusr to repair damage on ini!Shc(1furniture.

.urf_

FINISHING TIPS
8L'CK BL01'CII&S. BhICkmarks often
appear at joint lines (partleularly on oak)
anywhere glue comes in contact. with pipe
clamps. These marks are the result of a
chemical reaction between the water inthe
~Iue. the iron in the pil)e clamps, and the
tannin in the wood. 1'1> prevent this. pia,..
strips of waxed paper between tbe clamps
and the wood at the glue line.
COLORED GLLE. Add a drop or two of
food 00101' to glue 50 it .hows up better.
Thi. i. particularly helpful for finding
",mears in places where you don't expect.
or ,"ant them.
l'A1Nl' sen,'PER. When edge gluing
boa"I the glue squoczcout at the joint
lineJl can be easily rcmovect ,\ri(h a p.ainl
8cnlper - tbe kind Uil<:d to """111><' paint off
hou&' I bought one that has. removable
blade so I c:otild sharpen it - a duD blade
":lkales" over the sur(a~,
WOOOSM1TH

Bt:R.'<S.

~'IXIN('; YOUR O\\!N,

'{'he

mHln

problem

with all ertbese manufactured products is

that they're not 100.... wood. You're introdueing a foreign substance that works differently tban the wood iUlelf. for this
reason sometimes I'll mi."( my 0\\-" filler
with line sawdust and a few drops of the
finish I'm geing to use on the project. I use
the mixture most often on lhe end grain of a
joint, such n~a boxjoint. where it can turn
dark (and i~will) and won't be noticeable.
One other thing. Many people reeommend mixing glue with sawdust
filler. I
have round that when glue is used. it erreelively Ileal. out any finish altogethercreating white blotches.
l"SI:<Gnip. WOOD ITSELf: Probably the
best solution for big defects i.to use. piece
of the wood itself. A plug cut oUI or the
bottom of the piece, or a piece of veneer
can ol\en be patched into a spot. It.'sa more
permanent solution and easier to color
match and finish.
MILL MARKS

a."

The most common probJem Irun intoinjust

abouteveryprojectismillrnarks.
These are
uniformly spaced ridges thatrun across the
width of planed lumber. They're eau se d by
the l'Ot,ation of a planer or joint0r's knives

from our shop

U.ing sandpaper
to remove burn marks is a 101.of work. A
hand scraper (8 3 x 5 piece or steet sharpened with a burr edge) does the job easily
- 081)0.ially on end grain. If for no other
reaso, I~'.
worth learning how to .h""""n
a scl'ul>er to remove burns.
W()fIKINGON ~"'S10E tOIlNERS. \Vhen
gluing up a cabinet, don't use IIdamp cloth
to remO\'e glue from an inside comer -it
jU:il smear'::) and ereates a bigger mess.
Instead, wait until tbe glue h.., reaehed a
paste stage (about 20 minutes). and remove it by running the COrner of a hand
semper along the Inside cornel' of thejoint.
ANGI.&D 1..16111'. To check for mlll
marks and sanding .scratches, hold a mechanic's light at a10w lillgle over the wood.
The low-angle light will create a .hadow on
."en light seratehes. 1 use II clear (not
frosted) light bulb to create more glare.
RE'10,'L'<C

PI.ASTle I'UTTIS. Plastic putties (of

which there are many brands) have one big
advantage over these other fillers: They're
made from actual wood fibers and u plastic
binder. The wood fibers allow. them to
accept stain and gives them some of the
quail tie. of wood and the plastic binder
hastens the set-Up time. (Out of aU the
fillers we've tried. the one Ilike the best is
called FIX Wood Patch. I use it mostly for
fiDingjoinl lines that aren't a. tighl as tbey
might be. It also accepts stain better than
most of the others.)

CIlf.C~ FOR SltE.>RS.One of the mo.'!

difficult problems to cateh i. a lijtht glue

smear. To cheek for these. wipe or "pray a
fine mist, of naphtha over the surface,
(Naphtha i. aclearnon-stainlng liquid that

won't rHise ~hegrain.)

TACK RAGS, To

rag. use

11 piece

make youl' own tack

of cheeseelcth, n clean

handkcrt:hief. or a well-washed diaper.

Saturate the doth with turpentine and
wring it out thoroughly. Apply .t"",""" or
\ami.h across the cloth. roll it UP. and
wring out completely. Continue adding
\'ami,h until it's evenly distributed in the
rag and the rag feels sticky. not gummy.
Stor" in a sealed jar Qr Zip-lock bag so {.he
rag stays tacky.
\Vben using a tack rag. fig/lily wipe the
entire surf_ or all dust. Don't rub hard or
the vam;'h \\ill be deposited on tb. workpieee and interfere with finishing.

21

taking shallew ..bit es" out of the wood. If

the knives are dull or the feed rate too fast.
the ridges really stand out.
The Ii",t problem with mill marks is
finding them. Sometimes they're diftieuJt
to see. But it I get m~!eyes down at a very
low angle to the wood, J can usually see
some raint ridges,
Onee I lind them, the next problem is
removing them. (If they're not removed,
the second the finish goes on they'll stick
out like furrows in " freshly plowed field.)
A couple IighL passes with a sharp plane
usualiy does it, J find it's easiest 10 do this
on ali the wood b%re assembly;
O<,\, ionally I'll use a pad 01' belt sander
(with 100 f(rit paper) to remove min marks,
BuU lind itoilen takes a lot ofwork with a
pad nder, and I always get a tittle nervous about gouging and rounding edge.
with. beit sander,
Somerlmes after the project is assembled I'll discover some mill marks J
missed, In this ease Iuse a scraper. (This is
a3 x 5 pieee of steel with a c:utting burr on
the edge, seelI'ood.",ill. No, H, Ascraper
al.. works quicker than sandingfor removing machine b,(rJla caused blot planers.
routers und M",".)A scraper works best if
it's held at an angle to the ridge. so it's not
riding up and down with them - but it's
cut ling off their lops.
",I)C~S, SNII'F.~, AND TP.Ak.QOT. In additlon to mill marks, planers and jointers
have (I way of doing other undesirable
things to your wood. A small chip in the
knives can leave nlittle ridge the length of
the board, This can usunlly be scraped ofI
with. hand scraper,
It the planer or jointer isn't :uljusted
ecrreetly, a snipe (gouge) can be taken out
at the belrtnningor end ef theboards. Once
again, this has to be removed (Qrbette yet
<Ilt ofl), or it will stand out like a sore
thumb aner finishing.
And there'. always the possibility of
grain u:ar-out where the grain shift.;< di
rection. (such a. around a knot). This
usually has 10 be sanded out.
SANDING

When PI'~I)"ring this artide it seem. aa

though questions about sanding came up
the most. Jerry ~'()I'Hnl'kon Ihe staff of the
wood fini~hing prol.'1'"m.t Dakota County
Area Vocational Technical Institute in
Minnesota explained, "Without the proper

sanding many things sho'" up once you put

your stain and finish on. A good sanding
job will either make or break the pi""":'
When do you start sanding? If at all pas.
.ible, btlo~assembly, .. but aIler plan.

ing . '\c aJ"'R~round it easiest to use a

hand plane or .. raper to get out all the min
marks and generally flatten the surfacoe.

But

it'!

difficult to get a consistent sur-

fa.. all the way .. ross tabletop with a

hand plane or cabinet scraper. That's when

22

sandpaper cernes in. It provides consistency. Consistent little scratches.

It helps to know a little about the differ
ent types of sandpaper and grits, (See the
artieleonl!llndpuper in lVood8milh No. 33.)
SAIIt>Il<GR()L-rINf. I usually start sanding with aluminum oxide paper (100 grit)
on an orbital palm sander, Prom there J
jump to 120, then ISO, and then slop. I
finish off by handsanding ",it,h a block and
ISO grit paper moving with the grain 10
remove nny of the slight swirls caused by
the OI'biu.IIlClif)l1
of the palm sander, That's
as far M I go,
1'hel'~ (11'0 some people who go UI) to 600
grit, but I think it's ,idiculous, Sanq;ng
this lino bm'nishes the wood fibers and flits
the pores with fine dust, Stnin. won't soak
in evenly and oil~ won'.. penetrate. Besides, who likes s..nding any more than
necessary?
Ken Burtch gays, "The biggest mistake
woodworkers experience is when the)
have mill mark. or der..,t. - they grab
220 grit ... ndpaper and work for hours.
Sometimes it seems barbaric \\'hat ~..ou
have to do, but for the sake of <peed, you
should go to the appropriate grit."
Let'. back liP a bit with few specific
questions about sanding:
ShOludll't I make
1 sand il1leach.
grit ",,(lllot Jltml' glit.? Tom Eckstein!
product development engineer for aM
SllYS,ji'l'here's realty neroason to go every
grit sLep. The reason there are so many
grits is some or them nrc designed specifically for very "pcclAl applications, And
when you 8tnrt u~ing them you won't see
any benefit going up e"cry number."

.w..

IVilil get "dif/frtllilookillgfi"ish based

on houlfiirt I landl1b some extent this is
true, but il abo depends on the wood
you're using. Tom explains, "IC I have nice
straight grain oak and the re aren't any
knots in it, I've stopped as low as 120 grit
and stained it. Because th. coarse grain
marks in oak are working with the grain
and the sanding marks are perfectly
aligned, But eloKed grain woods, like

On these joints I wam the rwo pteces to be

level across their fares, Sal\(ting."""", the
joint doesjust' that, In this ease it's almost
a necessit) to sand across the grain on one
of the pieces since it's difficult to come to a
halt right at the joint line.
Tom Eckstein explains his method for
sanding miters, "1 sand the corners a
couple grits finer than I would normally.
What happens is that I still sand aero." the

grain on one or the frAme pieces but I'm

sanding with such n fine grit that it doesn't
make much ctiITercncc."

ShOlu,11 ",1M 1M {lmill by wettin!J th

it ofT! Wetting the
fibers allows !lny cell walls that have been
I.od and the.t rand

pressed down or d.maged from sanding to

swell and stand up. Then you can let it dJ'),
and remove the whiskel'$ by nding at a
slight an((le to the grain with 180 grit
sandpaper;
To be honest, I don't find it necessary;
The only exception to thtl; would be when I
plan on Using a water-based stain or dye.

Then it's nece~I")' or the stain or dye ,\;U

mi.. the grain when it's applied,
M."OI"G JJI~-n;.A couple final thoughts
on sanding, When u,ing a pad (or palm)
sander be sure that the sandpaper can't
move on the bottom of the pad, Tom Eckstein explains, "You onl~'generate so much
power in the 111Ql()rand if you let it slip
between the pad nnd the sandpaper you're
generating h<:.nl- not sawdust. It's just
rubbing the back of the ndpaper,'
As Lhelast stop in gnnding, I go ovei the
enLi>:cproject and soften Ihe shar] edge.
(technically, the !I'Tises ), I don't really
rollnd them, but just make one P;ISS to
break them with 120 l.'1'itpaper. It removes
the knife-sharp edges, hell>' prevent spllntars, and gives a comfortable feel to the

piece. In addition. surface finishes usually

will rub right off a .harp edge.
FtNAL tNSPECTION
The last bit of advice can be summed up in
one \\'01'(1: patience. Don't rush into, applying the lini.h, I ..uk. one last inspec

maple or clear pillet. a.re .&;"oingto sho\v tion for any )'t'lunining problem areas. I
ever)' scrntchlunrk,
So you're going to start by brushing off the mf\jority of the
\"Rul to !"nuve UI) Lo the 220 grit. range. oJ). sanding dusL and Lhen lightly wipe the
\..'hole piece cto\vn \vith n tack l'llg,
these \\'oods."
Is there t,y tifu(" it's okay to8u.nd (lcroS8
II,. {fIYlinl All Lhe books .ay miller sand

across the g....in. But I think there's two

times it's okay. In Lheinilialstagesof.and
ing \\Ihen I \Vnnl t~remove a lot oC\\'ood, [
us;! a belL.anderto go across the grain. I'm
just trying to quickly !let lh. surrare level
Then i follow it up by ""nding or hand-

planingy,ith

the grain to remo\'e thecros.s-

grain scratche., and I proceed 10 sand with

finer f(rits.
The: other t'it.uRlion \..'hen )'ou'-re almost
foreed to Mnd across the grain is at a joint
where two pieces of wood come together at

an angle, ~uchas 8 miter or rail and stile.

With .lIlhe dust off, any final mistakes

e,' pt",blemij become <lllp;tI'ellt.Once again,
holding the piece at 8 low angle to the light
helps make any problem. 8tand Ollt.
If it looks okllY, I go ahead and finish it
right away. All kind. or things happen 10
un_led
wood sitting around our shop.
Humidit) alone ~anni!t(> the grain in a

couple day~.Not to mention e\'el')'one who

has just .ome back from lunch at )Ie
Donald's, It never fails. , . I ju" finish
sanding and they come in with their oily
fingers to check out my """ding job.
And then it'~ back to that ef\ioyable task

of sanding. Somttimeli l'OUjust can't "riD.

WOODSMITH

1'1'-

Ta_dn_gl Shop

___

AN OPEN FORUM FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS

I C07lfacted a local cabi".! .hop, and
lhey erplai".d I/ral the dry air ill.ide our
111Wood.mith No. 96. yall ",,,"tiolled that I Itave a q'W$[io1l abaul " pal1ItiaL safety hOltSf WG3"'( able to C;rcl~lat~iJISide the
YOlthad bcM,/ookillg [or carbidelipped.
probleni it' "'ll./IO/}. lVltt1!mJeTI'm sa'ld chest. Thi8 call8cd a lnoistttr6 '1'10014,1C6
bat! bearillll'~rbbcli"g
bjt to .ut Ii 'h-wide i1lg a project i" 11111 ba.em6?,t 81t0P, tit. bet'IUCe-l'l)lO ''tlside Ulld out8ide faces of
rabbet. I ,..." Info th_ Sallie p/'obl6?14but basclIlcllt IIccllme. Jilled with very fine
1Ir.e lid.
I'll(! C01'lC ItP fuii/( (I .!fOI1'iO)l.
SU'l'tdi'1tg (l1tltt. IJeC(l1t8t! 111il/ gas water
On Ih. outside ttop) lace, Ihe lid i8 ex
IVlral I did It'a8 pllw:ila.t Ie Sear 'i/
/l .. ter and [urnae lire balll completely posed to tllcdry i1rl.eriorai); altttsh?iltkSQS
carbidctipped rl.f,bel bit (#9GT!lij5~,
c:qJ08l'd, 1")1 coucm"llcd thc,t tht Sandi)lg
it dries out. On tlte ~'tlsidc face, IQhel'e
$12..$9catalog price). I also purchasedthe d ..sl may b<l a fire m' explosion tuuard.
/,here'. tiul if allY cirClI/alioll of lire dry
arbor se1(N90T JoS95,$6.09 call1lO9price)
interior air. ttte lop rt"loi,t8 008"icallgtne
Jor lite robb<llill9 bil. This set includes a
Richard Kacelilz 8al1te. The mId reBult Qj'thi' iUlbolallce is
""dia. bearillll Jor cltlting "'"aide robLilburn. Georgia that Ihe lop Cllrl, up. 01' Clip,.
""t~,and a 'i,dla. ""arill9 "lid bU$hiJtg
The cabi"el ~hap I tatked 10 8'Ilgge8led
for cl(ttilrg V,..lfide r(1bbtts.
To find an answer to your question, I een- altachillg cltal. 0>1 tltt ill.id. fou oJ lhe
tatted three experts: our local fire mersbal,
lid uhelp hold ilflot. IVhal 0011011thillk.
our state OSHA offioo, and the National i$ Ihio tlu! a'13l<yr to k~tping Iht lid jI41?
Fire Protection AlSSOCiation
(NFPA).
If .... ho.e .hould 11r, cltal. be aI/ached 10
First of all. I found out there'. a sig. lhe lid?
nifit3nt diifer<incc between a dust fire and
an explosion. A dust fire occurs when a
Joe Cuttcic
particle or dust comes in contact \\;th an
Sault Sit. Mario, Ontario
igniting source (.uch AJ! an open Rame). II
there's a high enough concentration of dust This winter. we had exactly the same prob'-\" SEARS III!AI(ING
particles; in the air. every time a particle Jem. Slowly but surely, the top on the chest
'_
S'EAItS
burns, it. ignites the other particles around started to CUI'.And befcre lcng, there was
RABDIT rJIt
it.
1'his can develo] into a ohain reaction _
a
gap between the lid and tho r,,,,nt of
I'T
LA
or nash tia'eth"t I:SPI'CU(tslike a wave across the chest.
To ",dltce tilt wilUh oflhe ,...bllet to 1>\".1 a room.
purchased a fI" out.;ide diameter bearing
A dust explosion, on the other hand,
(Fll/llir IiSI KDO) 01 a boor/llg supply results from u lat'gc nllSh fire that occurs in
house Utat fil. or'er Ihe Sears bushing a tightly enclosed area. However, for an
.upplied wilh the lI,.-dia. bearing. This explosion to occur, il takes just the right
"'-t.....,-t'jII
'"
co",bitlalion prodtlf~S a yo,.~aTbidt.-tipped set or conditionfiland sequence of events. It
USi OVlft$lUD
~l
~I SHAHX' ttOU IN
. ..
boll ""or/liD rob""li>l9 bil.
should be of some <omfort to know that it's
CtW> 10 AllOW
all but Impesslble to preduee a dust exEarl Clark
plosion in a home workshop.
Holla",l,
Even a Rash ("" in home ,hap is only
theoretically poR.iblc, aecording to Bob
We've tried to I'ureha.-;e bearings for rab- Benndeeti of the NFPA. It would almost
beting bits scvcl'al times in the past. The have to be inlentional _ like throwing a
~,
problem we kept rllnning inl<>was finding bucket of ""wdust in the air in front of an
bearing lhat had the correct i""ide dia open flame - to achieve ihe concentration
As ~fOllmentioned, one \\1(1)' 1.0 help pre
meter to fit the arbor on a rabbet bit. of airbol11c dust needcd to keep the chain vcnt the top from cUPl,ing is to attach
fi'in(ling u bealing \vith a 0/,('" oUt$i<ie dia reaction in I)rngrcs.'i.
cleats across the width ofthe 1111.
The thing
metcr w~" CII8Y, bill t.r)<ingto lind,one that
In a hOnleijhop, even du.in~ heavy sand- to ,.. member when using cleats is that they
fit on I'abbet bit _ any rabbet bit _ was b'g conditions with IIUle ventilation. the must s(ill allow the top to expand and
next to im]lo~.lble. 0 .. so we thought.
concentrtttion of sunding dusl in the air contrac!, while at the some time help keep
As .oon "$ I rcnd Ea ..I'. idea, I called a just isn't high enough for n Dash fire to the top fi1)m w'lrping.
local bearing .upplier and sure enough,
occur. And by simply providing a litlle
The way I do this is to cut an ove",ized
they had the bearing thal fit over the Sears
ventilation, there shouldn't be a problem.
shank hole for thc woods.rcws. This allows
bushing _ although it was a different
the wood""rew room to move ,,;th the lid
CURLING CA81NlT TOPS
brand and @tock number (Delco 77R4A).
as it. expands and contracts, \\'hile at the
They said it'$ n typical bearing, and ir a I bllilt 1/... blallktl chUI .hoWII III Wood- same time keeping the cleat tight against
supplier dOCl'n't have one of these t'ol'O smith No. ;It alld illllnled oul beaulifully. the lid to resist warping.
brand they should be able to cross refer
HOIcer:cr. 1'......... illio a problem. IVA." I
Although uoing cleats will help prevent
ence their numbe ... I<> a brand they do brollghl it illfrolll my 901'Og. shop in 101. some of the cul'ping, this i$n't a cure-all.
carI')'.
December, til< II1p CliPped (frolll 10 back) Under severe conditions, the wp may still
A1\_er\,'C purchased the bearing, e'el')' after ollly a coupl. of day . I 11'0, de.. "s cup to a paint. (AIIA!rall. part oCthe joy of
thing went together perfectly. And we've faled "'1"", I 8aW tlti. a/ler all my /Ulrd working ";lh I!Olidwood is that it's still
been cUlting Y, rnbbets ever since.
'I1Ork ha7ld clllli7lg lilt dOt",loil.
alive enough to move.)
THl UUSIVI

'I,"

RABBlT BIT

SMOKING SANDERS?

0/,.

r__

-~~
_--

\VOODSMITII

23

Sources
DOLL CRADLE

SURFACE PREPARATION

You ean order the screw hole buttons for

the doll cradle (rom;
Tilt! wO()OWonK~"S' STOR~, 21801 In
dustrial Boulevard. Rogers, ~IN 55374;
(612) ,128-1101(Note; $7.50 minimum cash
0,,101;Catalog: $2.00). Screw Hole B'ulto>ls
(8), Bireh, V,", Order No. BIOll, $1.25
per 50,

We mentioned in the article that we like

fiX Wood Patch. We buy it locally since

TYIVCR STAND

You can ord~r all of the h-dwsre needed

for the TV/vCR st.nd from tl>e following
seurees:
TilE II'OOVWOI<KERS'STORE. (address
above). D,..""r ./idu (I set). 18" long,

Order No. D75.JI. SI3.25 per set, r: Plate

Caster, Order No. C1143 (black), $1.6.40
per set of (our.
CO~'S1l\'\"I'INE'S.2050 Eastchester Road,
Bronx. NY 11).161;800223-8087 (Note;
$7.50 minimum order. Catalog; 81.00).
Gla.. Door fJ juyr (2 pair). Order No,
GH7030 (Black), :5<1.45 per pair. SlipO"
Handle.' for GIll,' Doo..., (4). Order No.
GP7011 (Black), $.75 each, M(.yu.Uc
TOllelt Lalclt, double unit, Order No.
ML772, $3.45 each,
We had a loelll gl.5. supplier cut two
pice es of Vo" smoked glass to the correct
size 1'0.' the doors, The total biU; $10.74.
BED/BUNK BEDS

You can ordcr the hardware for the bed.

and bunk beds from:
Tnt: II'OOI)WORK&KS' STORE. (address

. above).
for .ingle bed: Threaded I..ants (4),
"' x # 18, Order No. D-39E>I,$.32 each,
for bunk bed s, Four more Threaded
Insert. (same M specified above). Elite
(kltockdoll"') Filliug. (4), 04170. $.50
each.
For drawers nud drawer guides: Six
more 7'h"caded iI'8~rl8(same 8$ specified
above). i!" Plate Ca,te,.. (2 sets), Order
No. Cl143 (black), $16.40 per set of four.
We I)u.-.:hnsed the mllci.;lIebolts (<;,,,' x
IY.) and washe,.. fo. the threaded inserts
and ~he .ix '"omli'.g .trllp. ('1',' x 6")
needed ror the bw,k bed ladder and railat.
I_I hardware store.
Wedlseo"cred in designing the beds that
there i~
some \lsrianee in the dimensions of
t.win !li~mattresse~ and springs. llost
$tate that they "illfit a 39" x 75*bed'but
the 80tUal measuremenl$ are smaller. \Ve
U$ed mattress and Z' thick mattressboard (rom Sears (catalog no. I A 70109N.
$27.99) that act"ally "'eo.,""" 37W x 74-.
But the bed i. designed to hold any matt"' 30~ to 39' wide.

24

there aren't llny mail order sources. Find

the location of lhe nca rest dealer by calling

the Darworth Co. at 800-624-7767.
We talked to a number of helpful people
to get the inrOI'nu,tiUIl (or this article. Speeial thanks go to Ken BUI1.ch,professional
refinisher and owner ()f The Hardwood
Connection, n fine tool and wood store in
DeKalb, Illinois; Rick Stohr. branch manager of 3l\1'to ~ul'fac(!preparation products;

'Ibm Eckstein, :IM product devclopmen~

engineer: Jerry ThrHark, on the .taff of
the wood finishing program at Dakota
County Area Vocational Technical Insti
tute in ~linnesot4 and owner o( a refinishing shop; and John )I"""", president of
\Vood finishing Supply CompaD.)'
Jerry TerHark explained that the
DCAVTI wood fini~hing program is the
only program orit. kind In the country. It's
ten-month, accredited program that
trains studcnl3 of nil ages to become accomplished tlnishe,-sfrefinishe.'1l. For more
information about the program contact
JelTyat I)CAVT I, 1300 145th St '-eet East,
Rosemount, MN 55068 (612) 423-8862.
John Moscl' hilS offered to help any
lVo<xhmUiI ,'(:ade.1I who want further informationnbout p.-eparingthe~urfaee, fin
ishing, and Behlen finishing product.s, The
Wood finishing Supply catalog begins
with R thorough de!ClipLion o(how to prepare tl>e surface and use a variety 0( flnishing material$. Then th.""s a description explaining when, where, and how to
use eocit of the product. they carry. The
tatalog i. available (or $2.60 from Wood
Finishing Supply Co" 1267 Mary Drive,
Macedon, NY 14502: (315) 986-4517.
BOOK ON FINISHING

In researching the ar tiole on preparing the

surfaee we found on excellent bOok about
p,-el)aring the sUI'fMO,refinishing, and finishing. 1V.0tl f<'illi.Idl1Oand Refjui8/tillU
by S. W. Gibbia hilS step,bystep insb"c
tions on all phases of finishing.
It's available in hardcover (01' $14.95
ppd. (Order No. IOL04CY) from \Voodcraft Supply Corp .. 41 Atlantic A,'eDue.
Box 4000, \Voburn,
MA 01888:
800226-1103. Now: S10 minimum order.
Catalog: $3.00 (credited on first order).
WOODWORKING

CLUBS

\Ve keep hearing (rom woodworking clubs

all o\'er the rounlr)':
WOODWORKERS' ASSOCIATION Of TO
PF.KA. A

year and hair ago Cleo Me Donald

I~
got a group or woodworkers together to
she"v them his ccntinulng shop project. a
one-quarter tiO\leeolleetlon of early American tools. Thiti assoeiatlon sprang from
his presentation and has grown to over 30
members. (f you are interested. contact.
Cleo Me Donald, President, 9421 NW 42n<l
Street, Silv Lake, Kansas 66039.
S.\N 1111+;(;0PINt: \\'()()I)\YORKtiltS ASSOCI.
ATION.'l'his gt'o,ving gl'Oll on the west

coast meets once (!\ICI'Y two months. J"'Ol'

more information. contact Chuck Mee
chum, P, ident, P.O. Dox 99656. San Diego, CA 92109.
Tilt) WOOI)WORK':R;;'Gt:'LV OF CEQRGIA,
INC. Charles Boelkin3. se<t'CUlry of this

group. ~ntly
called to get the names of
other woodworking organizations in the
SOIIthea..tern United Stales. He explained
they are planning a major "'gioru" juried
show and would like to ecntaci interested
club>. (If your club wants to ger involved,
contact him at the addrct'S below.)
The Guild has been in oxistenee for five
years and has over 100 members. They
meet every month in Atlanta. Their project to donate to.yl\ to n children's hospital
was recently fentu,'cd on the! television
show"PM ~t;lgft.zine,"~'in(lout.more about ~),

them by contacting Ch"I'1.8 Boelkins, P.O.

Box 1113. Conyel ..., Georgia 30207.
THE WOO)\\'OllKJo;RS' cun,u or THE LEX
I:-\GTOS (ttl") AUTS ASI) CRAI'''T'S SOCIJo;:Tf.

This guild has 50 men and women whose

skill. range from beginner to master
craftsman. They provide a well-equipped
shop tor the U8e or their members, New
members are welcome. 'Th learn more
about the Guild. contact the Membership
Secretary, 130 Waltham Street. Lexington, MA 0'2173,
TERC WooOWORKING CLU8. This group
has about 250 membera and a very eomplete wocdwerktng ghop supported by the
Tennessee Eas tman Company. They are
involved in community projcets such a.
Toys for ''01. and building an outdoor fltness trail. Get more information by contacting Jack Bracy, President. TERC
Woodworking Club, P.O. Box 1972, Kingsport, TN 87662.
SORTII TF.X.~ II'OOI)WO"K'~RS' GllIl.O.
(An updaw). In 11'00111 il/, No. au we
listed this group in the Dallas area. The
contact person we printed at that lime "'"
moved. The new contact is Gloria Jacobus.
9500 Inwood Road. Dallas. TX 75220.
SOldh~r" 11I;"oi. A group o( wood
"'orkers is organizing in southern lllinois ,
this spring. They are looking for help. suggestions, and membc~. J r interested, contact Tom Hanley, Rt. #1, Box 128, Creal
Springs, IL 62922.
WOODSMlTH

l
,