First, he’ll demonstrate how to build drawers using a specialized drawer joint bit in just two simple steps. Then, for those of us who choose not to buy the special bit, Phil will take us through the steps of building drawers with an ordinary 1/4″-dia. straight bit.

Get the Seminar Guide here: Building Drawers Using Drawer Joint Bits

Here’s last week’s tip from ShopNotes online editor Phil Huber:

My workshop shares space with the family car. So it’s important that all of my power tools be portable and take up as little space as possible. So I made the fold-up router table you see here.

I made a simple router table top and attached it to a pair of 2×4’s with screws. Then, after removing the top of an adjustable clamping table, I mounted the router table to the clamping table stand, as shown in the left photo above. The table is firmly supported by the clamping table base.

The nice thing about the table is it can be raised and lowered to match the task at hand. Best of all, I can remove the router and quickly fold the table up to store it against the wall whenever it’s not in use (right photo).

If you’d like to see other router table plans, just go to PlansNOW.

Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

Send for a preview issue of ShopNotes magazine

Here’s last week’s tip from ShopNotes online editor Phil Huber:

The router table in my shop gets lots of use. But it’s always difficut to make fine adjustments to the fence. So I built the micro-adjuster you see in the photo above using spare parts I had around the shop.

The adjuster is easy to build. Start by drilling and tapping a strip of ¼″ aluminum to accept a piece of threaded rod. And then bend the aluminum strip into an “L” shape.

Next, drill two holes in a hardwood adjusting block. One horizontal hole for the threaded rod and a vertical one for the hold-down. Then you can cut a dado at the bottom of the fence to hold the piece of L-shaped aluminum in place.

Assembly. Put the pieces together by slipping the threaded rod through the adjusting block and adding washers and locknuts, like you see in the drawing and detail below. This allows the aluminum strip attached to the fence to be moved forward and backward one thread at a time when you make fine fence adjustments.

Fence Adjustment. To use the micro-adjuster, you’ll first need to lock down the opposite end of the fence. Then lock down the micro-adjuster by tightening the knob on top of the adjusting block. Use the turning knob to adjust the fence to the desired position. Once the fence is located where you want it, lock down the other end of the fence. Then all that’s left is to turn on your router and you’re ready to go.

If you’d like even more great ideas for getting more from your router, go to: Router Tables at PlansNow.

Good Woodworking,

Phil Huber
Online Editor, ShopNotes

Send for a preview issue of ShopNotes magazine

NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2007
Release #07-120
Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 525-2579
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
 

One World Technologies Recalls Throat Plates Sold with Ryobi Router Tables Due to Laceration Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of product: Ryobi Router Table Throat Plates.

Units: About 100,000.

Manufacturer: One World Technologies Inc., of Anderson, S.C.

Hazard: The throat plates do not securely snap into the router’s table top bit opening. The throat plate can come loose during operation and be ejected from the table top, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: One World Technologies has received three reports of throat plates coming loose during use. Two consumers were struck on the nose by the throat plate and received a minor cut and bruising.

Description: The recall involves Ryobi-brand router tables, with model number RT101, which is written on the table’s data plate, located on its front leg. These tables were sold as part of the Ryobi combo kits with model numbers R161RTA and R162RTA. The combo kit model number is written on the packaging. A router table holds the router underneath the table. Instead of moving the router over the wood, the table allows the user to guide the wood for cutting. The throat plates are components of the table that consist of five yellow plastic rings. They serve as a guide for the router bit and provide a stable surface around the bit.

Sold Exclusively at: Home Depot stores nationwide between May 2004 and January 2007 for about $100 for the combo kits that include the router, router table and throat plates.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately check their router tables to ensure that the throat plates securely snap into the router bit opening. If any throat plates do not securely snap into the table top, consumers should stop using the router table immediately and contact One Word Technologies for a free replacement set of throat plates.

Consumer Contact: For more information, consumers can call One World Technologies Inc. at (800) 525-2579 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or go to the firm’s Web site at http://www.ryobitools.com

To see this recall on CPSC’s web site, including pictures of the recalled product, please go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07120.html

********************************************************

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.asp. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.

—————————–

This message is from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independant federal regulatory agency, located at 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814 Toll-free hotline: (800) 638-2772

Thank you.

RIPPING THE LEG STRIPS

With the bending jig all done, I actually started making the legs. The first step was to rip a number of thin strips from 6/4 (1-5/16” thick) cherry. After some experimenting, I discovered that I could bend an 1/8”-thick strip around the arc of the jig. Any thicker than that and it wouldn’t bend around the jig without breaking. Since the finished legs were to be 1” thick, that meant I needed 8 strips per leg, or 32 strips for all four legs.

My first thought was to rip the strips on the table saw or band saw a little too thick and then send them through the thickness planer to get them smooth and consistent. That didn’t work so well as the pieces were so thin, they started chipping out and shattering as they went through the planer. I tried the technique of fastening them down to a carrier board with double-sided tape. Even that didn’t work so well.

So I tried using one of Freud’s new “Glue Line Rip Blades” on my table saw. Then I just cut the strips to exactly 1/8” thick, see Fig. 11. The little green plastic piece behind the blade is a MJ Splitter from Micro Jig. It holds the kerf open after the cut. This technique worked great. The cut was so smooth that I could hardly see any saw marks on the wood and the pieces were a very consistent 1/8” thick.

Fig. 11

I also used a push block from ShopNotes No. 1 that pushes the thin strips safely past the blade, see Fig. 12.

Fig. 12

Note: There are a number of other ways and jigs to safely rip thin strips. See Ripping Thin Strips from ShopNotes No. 34.

Setting the rip fence to cut exactly 1/8”-thick strips took quite a bit of experimenting, but once I had it right on, I used my dial calipers to show that 8 of the strips put together would equal exactly 1” thick, see Fig. 13.

Fig. 13

You will also notice in Fig. 13 above that I numbered each of the strips as they were cut. This helps keep the grain lines and color “close” when I glued them up. I say “close” here since I lost 1/8” of wood (the kerf cut) between each of the strips. Actually, that’s one thing that was hard for me to get used to. Since half of the wood ended up as sawdust (the kerf cut), I needed twice as much wood to make these legs as were actually in the legs! I couldn’t believe how much cherry I went through just to get these four little legs.

Also, while I had the saw set up, I cut four or five extra strips. I know from past experience, that having extras can really save you when one of your “good” pieces splits, chips, or there’s a knot or blemish.

Something needs to be said here also about the length of the leg strips. I measured the outside arc in the bending jig and added about 6” extra to that to be on the safe side. Then I wouldn’t have to align the pieces perfectly in the jig.

Before actually gluing up the pieces, I did a “test run” by trying to load them all in the jig and clamping it up dry. The first thing I discovered was that it would take some brute strength, dexterity, and about four hands to bend all 8 strips around the inner form and get them clamped in place. So I drilled a couple of holes in the base of the jig where I could temporarily insert some dowels that would hold the pieces roughly in position while clamping (you will see these dowels in an upcoming photo).

GLUING UP THE LEGS

Okay, here’s where things start getting really messy. To give me some extra assembly time, I used Franklin Titebond’s Extend Wood Glue. I laid out my pieces in order on the bench and applied glue on one side of each piece, see Fig. 14.

Fig. 14

Then I grabbed all of the pieces up in their final position and stuck one end between the temporary dowel and the inner form, see Fig. 15. Next, I pulled the other end around the inner form and stuck another temporary dowel into the other end of the jig to hold the pieces roughly in position, see Fig. 16.

Fig. 15

Fig. 16

Then I took a deep breath (and washed all the glue from my hands!).

Next, I started adding the clamps, working from the center out to the ends. The glue on the pieces wanted to make them slip up and down a bit, but I tried to keep them down tight against the base of the jig using a mallet and block of wood, see Fig 17. I didn’t worry too much that they be were all at exactly the same height, as I knew I was going to do some planing later to produce the final width of the legs.

Fig. 17

It really took a lot of pressure on the clamps to squeeze the two parts of the jig tightly together. More than my old, arthritic hands could muster. So I used a tip that I picked up quite awhile ago. I drilled a hole through the wooden handle in my clamps. Then I used an awl in the hole to get some extra leverage, see. Fig. 18. That was just about enough to squeeze the clamps tight and close up most of the gaps between the thin strips.

Fig. 18

CLEANING UP THE LEGS

With all that glue, it takes quite a while for it to dry. So I waited 24 hours before removing each leg from the jig. (And, that meant it took four days to make all four leg blanks.)

Before I removed each blank from the jig, I labeled the “TOP” and “BOTTOM” of each leg as they started looking alike, see Fig. 19.

Fig. 19

Next, I scraped the big globs of glue off each blank with a scraper, see Fig. 20.

Fig. 20

I considered hand planing the legs, but that seemed like a lot of work and chipout was likely. Since the bottom of each blank was fairly flat, I glanced over at my thickness planer and wondered if somehow or another I could just send each blank through there? Sure enough, I fed it through sort of wiggling it around the corner as it went, see Figs. 21 and 22. It was surprisingly easy and the surface was perfectly smooth. Then I flipped it over and took a pass on the other side.

Fig. 21

Fig. 22

Side Note: You might have noticed my 10” Ryobi Surface Planer. Yep, that’s one of the original models (vintage 1986?) that kind of changed the whole woodworking field when it brought the prices of planers down to something home hobbyists could handle. I bought this from Woodsmith when they were upgrading many years ago, and I’m still very happy with the quality of cut.

With all four leg blanks planed to final width, I sanded the inside and outside faces. Then I rounded over all four edges with an 1/8” roundover bit on my router table, see Fig. 23.

Fig. 23