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Design is an area of woodworking that some people find intimidating. With all the woodworking info and plans available, it’s tempting to simply follow a well-designed plan and get a good looking project or copy an existing “masterpiece”. It’s not really that hard to do a good job of creating original woodwork. A good starting point is reading and studying a number of books and magazine articles that have been published. They contain good advice on dealing with issues of style, proportion, symmetry, and construction. Most importantly, as with all things, practice and a solid foundation of knowledge make the job easier.

However, having been a designer/builder previously and now a full-time designer for ShopNotes and Woodsmith for many years I would like to add a few rules I follow based upon my experience:

1) Start with many approaches. Consider a project from as many aesthetic and construction angles as you can to start with, and then narrow the field. I usually try to start with 3-5 concepts. Explore each and then eliminate.

2) No self-indulgent design! Woodwork needs to carry out its function well and have a wide and lasting appeal. As a designer, always be thinking about how people will interact with your work. And, will your design still be a interesting and attractive 20 years from now? If you build a cabinet purely to please your own likes and dislikes you may well end up with a finely built and very unique cabinet that just stores old cans of paint in the garage.

3) Avoid unnecessary complexity. I struggle with this one the most. I like complicated mechanisms with lots of parts because it fits my mad-inventor psyche. But, unnecessary complexity can make a project very difficult to build or give it a cluttered and unbalanced look. Good design seeks an efficiency and purposefulness in both construction and aesthetics.

4) Build prototypes. There’s no substitute for looking at and building a fully scaled mockup of a project to help you work out issues of aesthetics and construction. Prototypes-even just prototypes of parts or individual assemblies can be invaluable. You will teach yourself about the building process as well as the design. Think of it as taking a few warm up swings with a golf club before hitting the ball.

5) Get feedback. Discuss your design ideas with and seek the honest comments of others-even non woodworkers. It will improve your work and often lead to new ideas that are better than your original. Every project I have designed for ShopNotes and Woodsmith has come out better for having gone through the gauntlet at staff meetings. (And I have learned, over time, not to get angry with the commentary, mostly).

6) Get all your hardware as soon as you can. Absolutely have all of the needed hardware before you build. Nothing is as it seems on a catalog page. Vendors change and parts are discontinued all the time.

7) Be patient. Sometimes the answers take time. Don’t give up. I have had ideas that have taken well over a year before becoming a viable project.

It’s true, design can be a bit overwhelming with all the complexity and choices, but keep at it. It’s a wonderful skill to hone or develop as a woodworker. To paraphrase an old saying: The more I design, the less I know, but the easier it gets.

If you’re into ShopNotes Magazine and enjoyed building with an Erector Set as a kid then chances are you’ll enjoy the 80/20 website.

The 80/20 company has a product line that they call “The Industrial Erector Set.” Basically it’s a framing system that uses T-slotted extruded aluminum tubes and bolt on connectors.  But, that is an oversimplification because there are thousands of different parts and variations available which makes the system highly adaptable for applications such as machine frames, automation, furniture, lineal motion, displays, and (to borrow from their catalog) “modular anything.”

So, visit the 80/20 website and think of all the cool stuff you could build for your shop!

Recently I’ve been working on a prototype for a sharpening center for ShopNotes 107. Building a machine is one of my favorite shop projects. It’s always a thrill to watch turning shafts, sheaves, and moving belts in action on a tool I made myself. Experience (making poorly functioning machines) has taught me that much of the success in shopbuilt machines lies in the bearings and their installation. You won’t be proud of a machine that vibrates, or is feeble, or is inaccurate due to misaligned bearings.

There are, of course, many requirements for bearings and so there are many types. One type that I find quite handy for low rpm applications is a bronze sleeve bearing. They are easy to work with, durable, and inexpensive.

In a sleeve bearing, the load is supported through the sliding motion of one solid surface against another, very simple. The sleeve bearings you’ll find at your local hardware store are made of oil impregnated sintered bronze. Sintered bronze bearings start as a powdered bronze alloy that is molded into the correct shape and heated to fuse the bronze grains together thus creating a porous structure. Oil is then forced into the voids. As much as 18% of the bearings volume is oil and this creates a permanently lubricated bearing.

Sleeve bearings typically come in two different styles. Those that look like a short piece of tube are designed to carry radial loads, like a spinning shaft. The other style includes a flange on that piece of tube. This bearing is designed to carry both radial and thrust loads. For example, a spinning shaft that’s being pushed on from one end. The style that you choose depends upon the application.

Even though they are simple, there are a few things to keep in mind when using these bearing.

One simple way to install a sleeve bearing is to press fit it into a wooden part. However, if you plan on press fitting  a bearing  get the largest shell diameter available. Thin shell bearings will actually compress somewhat into a smaller internal diameter if forced into a very tight hole. The result will be a shaft that will not turn freely, if at all. (This will make you very angry.) And, always make sure to seal any wood that touches the bearing with some shellac or varnish. Remember that porous structure impregnated with oil? The oil will wick out into raw wood leaving a dry bearing on the road to failure.

Another way of mounting a bearing is to use an oversize hole with epoxy paste allowing the bearing to seat into the correct alignment with the shaft in place. I think it’s a good idea to rough up the exterior of the bearing with coarse sandpaper to allow the epoxy to get a “grip” on the bearing.

Whether you’re using epoxy to mount the bearing or even applying finish around it, protect the interior of the bearing with some wax and plug the opening. It’s hard to ream glue or paint out of the bearing  without causing damage. (This will also make you angry.)

I’ve found it’s often better to build your machine around the bearings with the shaft in place. This ensures proper alignment rather than to just hope that things will turn out right down the road. Remember, there’s more to an accurate machine than precisely cut parts. Accuracy must be part of the whole process of building a tool.

The last thing to consider is the shaft. Here it pays to spend a little more and  get a precision ground shaft. You can’t expect smooth performance from a piece of not  quite round hot rolled stock from the hardware store.

Simple, durable, and inexpensive, a sleeve bearing is a great option for a shopmade machine tool.

Like a lot of woodworkers my workbench is used for many duties. Though purists (myself included) may shudder, auto work and home repair jobs take place on my bench with depressing regularity. To help with these chores, I often temporarily mount a machinist’s vise to my bench. But recently the grease, grime, and metal filings that find their way all over my woodworking bench have been too much for me. Not to mention the annoying vibrations and movement that come with a temporarily mounted vise. Enough!
I decided it was time to come up with a permanent home for my machinist’s vise that would isolate the mess and be rock solid. Now, I don’t have a 3500 sq. ft. super shop, so, the solution had to be compact. And, of course, have some storage space for files and hammer and a hook onto the side for my hacksaw.
What I came up with is a very simple wall mounted stand made of several layers of laminated plywood (mass matters). The joinery is simple: butt joints and screws. The main thing to note is that all of the shock and vibration that the vise encounters is transmitted to the wall and straight down to the floor.
My new vise stand may not prevent the unwanted auto and home repair work from coming into my shop, but at least it will help quarantine it.

We have an easy and fun project coming up in the next issue of ShopNotes that I think you’ll really like. It is sharpening stone box. I got the idea few months ago when I caught sight of a small box on Vince’s (managing editor of Woodsmith) desk. It was a sharpening stone box that Vince made patterned after one in an early 20th century book on woodworking.

What’s fun about the design of the box is that both the top and bottom are made from single pieces of wood that have been hogged out to accept the sharpening stone. The top had a routed edge and the bottom had a band-sawn profile. A simple, direct, and very appealing evening project with as many variations as you can think of.

Now, the heart of this project is creating the cavity for the sharpening stone and as simple as this might seem it took a few tries to get right. I thought about just chiseling them out. But, years ago I had made some boxes for carving tools that were carved from solid slabs and based on that experience, I knew this method was out. Next, I tried using a Forstner bit and then cleaning things up with a chisel. This worked OK but left an ugly bottom full of dimples and circles from the bit.

Then, I went to the router table and  made a template with a rectangular cutout that registered off of the outside of  the top and bottom of the sharpening stone box. To figure the size of the opening  just take the width or length of the stone, double that number, add 1/16″ extra for play, subtract the diameter of the router bit, and add the desired  wall thickness of the box, twice (confused yet?). Plunge cut this opening in some plywood to make a template, clamp it to the router table centered around the router bit with spacers to let out the sawdust, and  then impale the blank on a spiral router bit  and remove the waste, carefully, since you can’t see the bit. And there you go.

I can say that this method worked. But I can’t say it was simple, or easy, or felt comfortable. Later, Joel, the editor for this project diplomatically asked, “Is there a reason why you did it this way?” rather that just saying “Chris, this is a stupid way to make these boxes.” Joel and the ShopNotes staff had a project meeting and devised a much simpler approach. Their idea was to just use a template cut to the exact size of the desired opening and to use an upper bearing hinge mortising bit, it keeps everything in plain view — no critical dimensioning, easy, straightfoward, and safe. I had made the process overly complicated. I should have slowed down and taken the time to ask myself a few questions about the method of building: Is it accurate? Is it safe? Is it simple? Am I getting the results that I want? The lesson here is that you need to take the time to ask the right questions if you want to get the right answers.

I ended up making nearly a dozen boxes and really enjoyed coming up with appealing looks. These boxes are simple to build and a lot of fun. And, it’s a great project to use up some of those cutoffs and wood “treasures” that you’ve got squirreled away. If you decide to build a sharpening box, please send us a picture, we would love to see what you’ve done. (Pictures should be sent as attachments to cfitchATaugusthomeDOTcom.)

The woodworking shop here at at August Home Publishing can be a very busy place. It’s where all of the projects for Woodsmith, Workbench, and ShopNotes are built as well as the props for the Woodsmith Shop television show. Now, all of the projects that come out of our shop have to hold up to the uncompromising standards of magazine photography. If there’s a scratch, drip, or chip it’ll show. So our shop craftsmen put a lot of effort into choosing the best lumber, matching it carefully, building to very high standards, and applying a flawless finish.

Most of the equipment in our shop any hobbyist would recognize and might well own: table saws, drill presses, planers, and workbenches covered with parts and hand tools

There’s one item that we have that the home shop might not is a dedicated finish room with a professional spray booth. With the volume of projects that get built around here, it’s an important tool in our shop.

I am in awe of this thing. Some people love to apply a careful, flawless finish and they’re great at it; I’m not one of those people. I find it all to be a bit tedious and frustrating. A spray booth excels in applying a final finish (clear or paint) evenly and smoothly. The booth also has the advantage of providing a clean and well lit environment. It’s a much better place to apply finish than in the corners of a dusty shop.

The spray booth arrived on several pallets stacked with all sorts of galvanized sheet metal parts and fasteners like an Erector Set spilled on the floor. Piece by piece it was bolted together. This was followed by a parade of sort. First came the contractors for electrical work, plumbing the compressed air lines, running an exhaust duct to the roof, and setting up the fire suppression system. Next came the inspectors from the city, fire department, and insurance co. You don’t have one of these installed on a whim.

The front of the booth consists of two large doors for easy loading and unloading. The doors also act as pre-filters to help trap dust. In the back of the spray booth are filters that catch overspray as the air is drawn out by the fan. And it has a big fan. There’s no doubt when someone is using the spray booth because it’s actually hard to open the exterior doors to the shop due to the suction created by the fan.

All of the electrical equipment is explosion proof (no sparks please). There’s one switch to turn on the lights and a second that simultaneously turns on the fan and opens a valve that lets compressed air flow to the spray gun. You can’t spray if the fan isn’t on.

With all of the use this spray booth gets, there’s a bit of overspray, so, the interior has a peel away coating. When the overspray gets too thick we can peel it off and apply another coat. We typically keep the gun full of clear lacquer and ready to spray. Lacquer has the advantages of being clear (color neutral), easy to sand, and very fast drying.

For my projects at home, I’m still a fan of simple wipe on finishes. They’re easy and almost (but not quite) foolproof. But here at work, nothing beats the spray booth for fast, quality, no- hassle finishes.

Last night I undertook the task of cleaning 2 weeks of accumulation off my benchtop.

Some of the clutter was the remnants from fun projects. But mostly it was the residue of home maintenance – sound familiar? After cleaning the benchtop, I got to thinking about what items I would allow to remain.

Now, there are the tools that we own, and then there are the tools that we actually use (a much smaller list). I like to keep my benchtop clean and not use it as a storage shelf. But, I’ve got a couple of tools that never seem to leave my benchtop because I use them constantly. They include a small square, block plane, dust brush, mallet, measuring tape, a mechanical pencil, and finally a bench knife.

A bench knife can quickly round the edge of a tenon that needs to fit into a routed mortise, clean a tight joint, bevel an edge, and do many tasks quickly and easily. And it is a wonderful companion to my block plane and chisel.

Now, by bench knife, I don’t mean a utility knife. Utility knives are great for straight down scoring and cutting thin materials like carpet, tar paper, matboard, and the like, but, utility knives are not woodworking tools. The blades wiggle about, are too wide, and the handles are designed only for an inline power grip making fine control very difficult.

A bench knife is a woodworker’s tool. It should have an appropriate handle size and shape, one that can easily be gripped and pulled in conjunction with using the thumb to brace against the workpiece, similar to the motion of making a fist, or firmly and comfortably gripped to push the blade away, or make a piercing cut.

A bench knife should have a tapered blade so that the tip can get into tight spaces yet the base of the blade is stout enough for heavy cuts. Also, the blade should not flex (flexible blades are for peeling fruit) and a cross section that can “roll” into and out of a cut.

And forget about A2, cryogenic steel, molecular packing, or any steel-related voodoo you may have heard about. Tried-and-true high carbon steel that has been properly heat treated makes a wonderful blade that has the right combination of toughness and edge-holding ability.

For a purchased knife, my favorite is a 2″ knife by Frost. It’s a plain unadorned knife and the price is reasonable. I used this knife daily for years carving figures as part of my former life as a craftsperson, so, I can vouch that the blade is of good quality with a shape that makes it quite versatile. The center swelling of the handle is comfortable and allows for a variety of grips.

So think about adding a bench knife to your benchtop. There are the tools we own, then there are the tools that we use. A good bench knife is a tool that you will use.

P.S. Off in the future the making of a bench knife may be a project in ShopNotes. My first prototype uses a purchased knife blank to which custom wood scales have been riveted on. The nameplate is a fun addition. (Who doesn’t like to personalize their tools?) I may also custom make a knife blank from tool steel.

It’s not very often I develop projects for ShopNotes using a set of well thought out plans. More often I just have a general idea of what I want documented by a few pages of illegible notes and sketches. It may be kind of a mad-scientist approach, but as a designer, I like to let the project be somewhat directed by the experience of building. I leave the possibilities open and see what happens. I find out what works well and what doesn’t work at all, what’s simplest to build and what’s a nightmare, what’s attractive and what should be hidden away forever, and change and modify as I go. There’s always a few good surprises. And, always a few problems I just didn’t anticipate.
Once I begin building and learning though, I start to lock in certain dimensions and shapes. New parts are made as things progress. Old parts may have to be remade several times to adapt to changes. Each part needs to match the critical dimensions of screw hole locations or joinery for where it will be located. Sometimes, I will need to remake the entire project as a finished piece for the magazine. And (unfortunately), deadlines stop me being the experimenting designer and force me to start creating working drawing with lots of very exact dimensions that can be used by our shop builders and in the magazine.

Whether I am building from plans or just winging it, I rely on accurate layout as a discipline to produce quality results. Good layout is just good shop practice, like returning to the kitchen all of the coffee cups that you take out to the shop and not tracking sawdust in the house. Here are a few basic principles that I use in my shop work:

Establish a Baseline and Start Point. The first step in laying out a part is to establish a baseline. This is a reference line for all the other measurements and angles that are found in each part. This can be the trued edge of a board, the factory edge of a sheet good, or a line marked or drawn with a sharp pencil or marking knife. In the case of a part that exhibits symmetry, a centerline can be the baseline. The baseline acts as an X-axis.

We will also need to establish an end point to start our measurements from. This will often be the cut end of a board.

Layout Critical Points and Angles First. The next step is to start laying out the critical angles and points. It is important that as you lay out the points and angles that you continue to use the baseline and start point to locate them and not off of each other. This will help prevent cumulative error, and therefore, cumulative frustration.

Basing new layout criteria off of old is trouble. No layout point or line is perfect. Each will contain some error and each additional error will compound. Even if you are working from plans, remember that there’s no substitute for measuring from true life. In the case of a point or perpendicular line, try to directly transfer the locations with a pencil mark to your baseline and extend the line with a square rather than measuring from the original and then taking that measurement to your part. The more direct the path, the less chance of error.

Add Non-Critical Lines, Points, and Forms. After all the critical measurements are in place you have a foundation from which you can add the remaining swoops, curves, lines, and angles that complete the part.
It’s worth noting at this point that if you have multiples, a layout template can save some time and add consistency to your work. Thin hardboard is a favorite of mine. It’s easy to work with and looks professional. (Although, I have quite a few templates I use for carving work that are cut from Cheerios boxes and they seem to work, but, they don’t look professional.) Cut the template to exact size if you wish, or for fine work what I do is to cut templates a little small so that when I go around the template with a pencil the center of the pencil line is the actual size of the part. Otherwise, the pencil line is a bit larger than the final part and I end up having to saw and sand my reference lines away. (I find comfort in seeing those lines.) Mark layout points on the template by drilling a small hole just large enough for the tip of a pencil. You can then easily and accurately transfer points from template to workpiece.

Be Consistent. Last, just approach layout in a consistent and workmanlike manner. Once you have an established a ritual it’s not the tedious bother that it might seem. In fact, the expression that applies here is “in discipline lies freedom.” Or for my part, it means that I can keep fewer parts, fewer projects, and my attitude out of the Dumpster.

One of the things that makes woodworking interesting and a lifetime hobby is that it covers a lot of ground. Furniture-making, boatbuilding, carpentry, marquetry, carving, green woodworking and turning are just a sampling of the many types of woodworking. Recently I have been enjoying woodworking on a small scale building a wooden sailing ship from a kit. It has been a surprise to find that so many of the techniques that I use in “full scale” woodworking are also used in miniature woodworking. I have wet-bent hull planking, laminated curved cap rails, cut tiny mitered joints, sanded, stained and varnished the deck and hull, and have produced a cup full of tiny cutoffs, shavings, sawdust, and mistakes.

Although the techniques are same as in full size woodworking I have had to adapt to the new (small) circumstances by making some new tools and modifying others. (This is, of course, something that we thrive on at ShopNotes Magazine.) One of the challenges has been to fit the hull planking. Covering an organic shape such as a boat hull requires that the planks taper and flow to produce what is called a “fair line”. In order to work 1/32 x 1/4 walnut strips I needed a vise long enough to clamp a plank and a model-size hand plane. You can see the results in the photo. I cringe at the thought of “cute” tools, but the hand plane(finger plane?) is kind of a cute size. The plane fits in with the small hammer and C-clamps I use. And, I suppose I’ll have to grudgingly admit that they’re cute too.

If you’re designing tools for big work or small, there are some points to consider:
1) Tools should work well and efficiently. Obvious huh? Well I’ve built my share of creative, pretty, and well built tools that didn’t work worth a darn. The excitement over your new creation will quickly disappear if it’s not doing the job. So, be brutal in your assessments and if the facts bear out just call your “tool” a prototype, art object, or firewood, and try again.
2) Don’t let your tools dictate the style or methods of construction of your work. I know it happens, but we shouldn’t limit ourselves or get into a formula of building based on the tools we have (or current abilities or current knowledge). Tools should never dictate the outcome of your project. Once again, the work leads; tools and shop follow.
3) Tools should be intuitive. Visually it should be obvious what the function is and how to use it. We can be creative in our approaches, decorative if we wish, but a plane should look like a plane. Tools should also be intuitive in their physical use as well. You should know where to put your hands. The grip should feel natural and ergonomic.
If I do any more miniature woodworking I’ll go back and refine my vise and plane. And add few new tools as well: maybe a small spokeshave, a mini-miter box, and a jig to aid in cutting stripwood with a knife. I just don’t want them to be cute.

P.S. One frustration I had to deal with was trying to cut some additional walnut hull planking. 10″ contractor saws don’t do a very good job ripping 1/32 x 1/4 strips. But, if I need any more there is an answer, ShopNotes designer Ken Munkel has a great project coming up in issue 105. It’s a micro fence and table for cutting small pieces. And it’s not just for models,  you can use it for inlay, stringing, edging, or any time you need precision cut wood.

When you design for ShopNotes Magazine you can’t help but develop an appreciation, even an obsession, for hardware. Not just flashy hinges and knobs, but mundane bearings, springs, brass rod, plastic sheets, cranks, pipes, motors – even threaded rod. There are more bits, parts, and stuff out there than you can believe. (Just sit down with all 3,602 pages of the McMaster-Carr industrial supply catalog. You’ll be amazed. And you’ll be inspired.)

A few years back in ShopNotes, we did a version of an English carving vise that appeared in Issue No. 71. (Editor’s Note: This issue is available as part of ShopNotes Annual Volume 12, a hard-bound collection of Issues 67 — 72.) I have an early prototype in my home shop that I use often. At the time we designed this project, the only reasonably priced and available option for the screw mechanism was to use standard threaded rod. The size I used was 3/4″-10 NC threaded rod. It works well, but you know how it can be if you need to go a distance on regular threads, spin, spin, spin, yawn, spin, spin some more. Standard V- thread is more for sealing and fastening applications rather than quick movement. What I really wanted to use was ACME threaded rod.

So what’s so great about ACME thread? This stuff has the guts you want for strong clamping and it won’t put you to sleep spinning the handle. What sets it apart are the shape of the threads. The threads are large, broad, and square, which provides great strength. And, because there are fewer threads per inch, it offers rapid lateral movement. ACME threaded rod and fittings are available in two grades: general-purpose grade or precision grade.

General-purpose ACME thread has one start, or one continuous thread, the same as standard thread on bolts and screws. Precision acme thread can have up to five starts delivering much more lateral movement per revolution.

General-purpose ACME threaded rod has a looser fit, better for dusty shop environments. Precision ACME threads are made to much higher standards as it’s often used for lead screws in lathes, milling machines, and industrial equipment requiring great precision and durability. This precision and durability can cost 3-4 times as much as general-purpose ACME rod.

General purpose ACME rod is the type we’re interested in. It’s now available through two of my favorite suppliers (McMaster-Carr and ENCO) and priced reasonably enough for projects in the home shop.

Of course, there needs to be something for the threaded rod to engage. Square, hex, and cylinder nuts are available for general-purpose use. Brass and bronze nuts are also available. They’ll travel move lightly than steel, but I find that plain steel hex nuts are the best option as they are versatile and also inexpensive. So, I don’t have to cry over a nut buried in epoxy that didn’t work out.

A few simple design rules. First, when I build any mechanism out of wood, I don’t strive to build with perfect precision. Instead, my aim is to build the structure around the mechanism, altering and adjusting to it to accommodate the movement that I want.

What I mean is rely on accuracy rather than precision. (Precision means building to a tight standard. Plus or minus 1/8″ might be precise for a house. Plus or minus .0001″ might be precise for a wristwatch.) Accuracy is building toward what’s right or true. In the case of a shop made vise or clamp, this means it should work smoothly and effectively.

The second rule is to design mechanical projects from the beginning with a bit of float in them. If it rattles a bit more than you like in winter be satisfied by knowing it will still work fine in the summer.

Finally, just like a powered machine, moving parts benefit from lubrication. In a dusty shop environment greases and oils collect dust, dirt, and other shop grime. So, the best choice is a dry lubricant. There are convenient spray dry lubricants available, but I prefer the old-fashioned paste wax I use on my woodworking projects. Is it the best choice? No, but I always have some around and it’s easy to apply.

“Working tools” such as vises, hold downs, and clamps are great projects for your shop. Not only will you get the satisfaction of using a tool that you’ve made, but, the tool can be built specifically to suit your requirements and style of work. Additionally, there will be a whole new range of things to learn including the strength of individual materials, the strength of assemblies, and principles of simple mechanics. Designing and building tools can be a fun challenge to your ingenuity.

If you decide to build one of these working tools take some time to consider all your hardware options. Even a small upgrade like using ACME threaded rod will make a huge difference in how your project will turn out. Your project will look and work like a “real” tool.

Spoiler Alert: I’m in the early stages of designing a benchtop vise that will possibly appear later this year in ShopNotes Magazine. I’d like to hear what you’d include in the way of design, materials, and features.