2. Tools and Equipment

Workbench and Accessories

Bench.Of all the equipment necessary to the cabinet shop, the most important undoubtedly is the bench. Even in shops equipped with power tools here is where the actual fitting is done and the final touches put upon the parts as they are finished and assembled. Here, too, much of the marking, cutting, and planning is done, as well as the regular hand operations. The bench must be designed, located, and equipped with this in mind.

Actually, you don't usually need a great deal of working space. For most purposes a bench top 5 feet long and 15 inches wide provides all the level space you will need. Behind this 15-inch-wide top you can have either a level or a sunken space of 7½inches or so, finished by a backboard either with or without a rack for tools attached to its top edge. Your bench will thus be 60" x 22½" overall. Many cabinet makers use a bench six inches shorter than this.

The bench height should be gauged to suit your own height. On an average, the bench top height should be between 30 and 33 inches so that work held in the vise, or laid on the bench, can be placed with a minimum of strain and effort.

Of course there will always be occasions on which the bench height will not be suitable. Our own solu­tion of this problem is to keep under the bench a pair of platforms, one 3 inches high and the other 5 inches high. The higher one is 4 feet 2 inches long and the low one 6 inches shorter so that it slides under its big brother, and both go under the bench when not in use. In this way you can readily in­crease your own height to deal with wide boards and bulky pieces, and so maintain a comfortable and easy working position. But make the platforms so light that you can drag them out with the toe of your shoe instead of stooping and groping.

The bench top should be perfectly stiff and rigid, so you need two 8" x 60" planks (finished to 7½), at least 1¾" and preferably 2" thick. This should be of some hard wood such as maple or oak. At the rear of this heavy top you will have a 1" x 8" board (¾"x 7½”finished), also laid flat. The dif­ference in thickness between the planks and the board will give you a trough or recess. Into this you can push aside tools, screws, and other small objects while you are getting the work ready to use them. A lone screw can wreak awful damage if you lay the finished side of a board on it.

Behind the trough will be your vertical back­board. This can be level with the working surface or several inches higher to support a tool rack or shelf.

All of these parts are mounted on a frame com­prised of four 3" x 3" legs into which are tenoned two longitudinal 3 x 3's (one back, one front) 6 inches from the bottom. There will also be four transverse 3 x 3's (two at each end), one at the top of the legs, the other 9 inches from the bottom.

This frame is made 6 inches shorter than the top planks so that when the top is attached it overlaps the frame by 3 inches at each end. This 3 inches gives a place to which you can clamp work when necessary—a very useful provision. Since there is no vertical board or apron under the front edge of the top you can use that for clamping also. This means that if you install a drawer under the top you will have to set it back about 2 inches.

The advantage of having a drawer in the work­bench is debatable.  Such a drawer is useful if you have no other place to store certain tools, or wish to lock them up when not in use. Otherwise it can be a terrible nuisance groping for tools in a drawer that has to be opened—and closed again— when the bench is in use. Ordinarily, it is far better to have all tools where you can see and reach them, but if you must have a drawer in the bench let it be a shallow one and not a bottomless catch-all.

Boarding over the under-frame to form a shelf is also questionable as to advantage. Too often this shelf becomes another surface to clean of shavings and sawdust. On the other hand it can form a useful storage space for tool boxes and equipment in the small shop, even though it hides from sight tools and other objects that fall on the floor and roll under the bench.

Vise. The principal bench attachment is the vise. This is of the parallel-jaw type, made of metal but having the jaws faced with hard wood, preferably maple. The method of attachment depends upon the design, but it should be as close to the left-hand end of the bench as possible. The top of the jaws should be level with the bench top.

It is quite possible to do with one vise to a bench, but in handling long pieces of wood, a second vise at the other end is often a distinct advantage. The whole stick can be held rigidly, and the entire edge planed without moving the board once it is placed in position. It is even more helpful on a longer bench such as many shops use. On occasion it is also useful in permitting two men to work at the bench at the same time, and it is always a boon to the left-handed man.

Bench Stops. Bench stops are solid projections against which the work is held on the bench top. These can be of either wood or metal, adjustable or fixed. The adjustable types, which can be raised or lowered to suit the work, obviously are the most useful, and the metal designs have some advantages over the wooden ones.

The simplest stop is a square wooden (oak or maple) peg let in a hole in the bench top. The peg is tapered or notched so that it won't fall through. A refinement is to have the peg stepped at different levels on two sides so that it can be set in the hole at different heights.

The metal stops also can be had in the fixed or adjustable forms. The most useful of all is probably the sliding metal stop which can be raised or low­ered to any desired height by merely pulling it up or pushing it down. The top is a flat square of metal with fine teeth at one end and coarse teeth at the other so that it will hold all kinds of wood-hard or soft, rough or smooth—according to which way the teeth are turned. The danger with the metal stop is that you may set it too high while planing and forget to lower it till the plane strikes it and ruins the edge of the iron.

It is often an advantage to have two stops side by side, three or four inches apart, at the left-hand end of the bench. Then you can plane wide boards without moving them. At least one of the stops should be in line with the vise dog (the metal tongue in the middle of the vise jaw) so that you can use the vise to hold pieces too wide to go between its jaws.

Tool Rack. In most cases it is very convenient to have a tool rack mounted on the back board of the bench. Here you can keep the most-used tools for any particular job you are working on at the moment.  Normally, perhaps, it would hold chisels, screwdrivers, pliers, square, and hammer. For more permanent storage, shallow wall cupboards are usually best, leaving the bench as clear as possible. All of this, however, is largely a matter of personal preference, though it can be quite a nuisance hav­ing to leave the bench every time another tool is wanted. Tool cupboard design is discussed in detail later.

BENCH HOOK

Bench Hook. A very useful adjunct to the bench is a bench hook. This is merely a flat board, about 6" x 12", with a block fastened to each end, one on top, one underneath.   The upper one does not extend the full width of the board at the right-hand end. The underside transverse piece rests against the front of the bench top when the hook is in use; the other forms a stop again which you can hold pieces to be sawed by hand. Being short, this upper piece allows you to saw through the work without marring the bench top.

Shooting Boards. Where a bench hook holds the work for sawing, shooting boards hold it for planing. They are particularly useful in working on the end grain, and can be arranged for straight or angle cuts.

A typical shooting board for angle planing con­sists of two pieces of wood cut to 45 degrees and screwed to a baseboard so that they form a right-angle space between them. Into this space is dropped a thick triangular piece that projects above the others. This triangular block forms a pair sof cheeks against which the work can be held. The plane is laid on its side on the baseboard and slid along the angle so that it trims the work end at 45 degrees.

Another shooting board that enables you to plane the end  grain of a  board without splitting  off a sliver at the end of the stroke is even more easily made. It is merely a baseboard about 8 inches wide and 20 inches long, with a 4-inch board screwed on top along one edge. This forms a right-angle groove along which the plane, laid on its side, can be slid. On one end of the top piece is a heavy block against which the work is held. This shooting board is intended to be held in the vise, but others will work equally well against the bench  stops.

A somewhat similar device is the miter planing rig. This is really a clamp made from three trangular wood blocks and a thick base chamfered along one edge at 45 degrees. Two of the blocks are fixed, one at each end of the base. One of them forms the threaded holder for the clamping screw. The center block is arranged to slide along a groove in the base. Turning the screw clamps the work between the sliding block and the fixed end block.

MITER PLANING RIG

Since the faces of all three blocks are lined up to form a 45-degree slope, it is easy to run the plane along them and so trim the work which has been rough-sawed to the same slope.

Other varieties of shooting boards can be devised for special jobs as they arise.

Tool and Supply Storage. Hanging things on the end of the bench is not recommended. They clatter, fall off, and collect dust, and look generally untidy. It is far better to put the smaller items in wall cabinets as near the eye level as possible. Such cabinets should be made shallow (3 to 5 inches, according to the size of the tools it is to contain) so that one item does not block access to another. You do not want to snag your hand on drill points while reaching for the brace. Nothing should be put in front of anything else. Large objects such as long clamps can be hung on the wall, preferably under a cabinet which will protect them, in some degree, from dust.

Since cupboards hang on the wall, generally at least three feet from the floor, they should not be more than three feet tall. Then everything will be readily seen and easily reached. Keeping things at or near eye level is especially important in connec­tion with nails and screws. If you have packages of screws these are best stored in rows, and stacked not more than two high. The same thing applies to brads and finishing nails that come in boxes.

Hand Tools

Special tools required will depend almost entire­ly on the type of work you intend to do, but there is a long list of basic tools needed in almost every shop whether you have a power saw or not. Here is a list of the hand tools that should enable you to perform most of the operations called for in ordinary cabinet work:

Saws:

Crosscut saw, 26-inch, 11 points per inch (10 teeth). Rip saw, 24-inch, 8 points to the inch (7 teeth). Back saw, 12-inch, 13 points to the inch (12 teeth). Dovetail saw, 10-inch, 15 points per inch, round handle.
Miter box saw, 22 inches long 11 points. Compass saw, 14-inch, 10 points. Keyhole saw, 10-inch, 10 points. Coping saw, 6½-inch, 17-point blades. Hack saw with 24 teeth per inch blades.

Planes:

Block plane, 6-inch.

Smoothing or bench plane, 8-inch.

Jack plane, 14-inch.

Rabbet plane or combination plane.

Drills:

Rachet brace.

Auger bits: ¼, ⅜, ½, ⅝, ¾,⅞, 1-inch.

Countersink bit.

Forstner bits:¼, ⅜, ½-inch.

Hand drill.

Twist drills: Nos. 1 to 60 wire gauge; drill points:

1/16, 5/64, 3/32, 7/64, 1/8, 9/64, 5/32, 11/64

Expansive bits: ¾-to-1½ inches, 1½-to-3½inches.

Screwdrivers:

Cabinets: 5/16 x 9 inches, ¼x 7 inches, ⅛x6 inches,  ¼-inch stubby.

Screwdriver bits for use with brace: 5/16 and 3/16.

Chisels:

Firmers, bevel edged: ¼, ⅜, ½, ¾,and 1-inch. Mortise chisels: ¼ and ½ inch.

Cold chisel: ½-inch.

Gouges, ¼and ½-inch.

Files:

Cabinet file, half-round, 8-inch. Fine-cut, half-round.

Smooth mill file, 8-inch.

Taper saw file. Crosscut saw file.

Pliers:

Diagonals.

Pincers.

Side-cutters.

Adjustable wrench, 8-inch.

Hammers:

Claw hammer, 12-oz.

Tack hammer.

Ball-pene (machinist's) hammer.

Mallet (wooden or plastic soft-faced).

Clamps:

2 Jorgensen adjustable steel-spindle hand screws,

8-inch (open to 4½inches).

2 Jorgensen adjustable steel-spindle hand screws,

12-inch (open to 8½inches).

2 sets bar clamp fittings for use on ¾-inch pipe. 2 bar clamps, 4 feet.

1 Jorgensen miter clamp.

Several small C- and spring clamps.

Miscellaneous:

Mitre box (preferably metal). Nail sets: 1/16, 3/32-inch. Bench brush.

Brad awl.

Scratch awl or sharp-pointed knife. Saw set (saw filing vise).

Spokeshave, 10-inch (2⅛-inch cutter). Open-throat router, 3 cutters.

Butt gauge. Bit gauge.

Marking gauge (or combined marking and mor­tise).

Steel square, 24-inch.

Try square (or try and miter square), 8-inch blade. Combination square, 12-inch.

Bevel, sliding T, 8-inch blade.

Level,  12-inch, wood.

Dividers.

Steel rule, 12-inch. Dowel sharpener.

Doweling jig (usable as bit guide in mortising). Steel (or boxwood) rule, 6-foot, folding.

Very few beginners will want to get all this equipment at once, and some who confine their activities to a small variety of pieces will not need all items. It may be advisable to decide first on the one piece he will build as a starter, and buy only the tools necessary to make that piece. From then on more tools may be added as they are required and found essential. Too often it happens that the enthusiastic novice buys several tools that he uses rarely or not at all, so it is best to proceed slowly in the beginning. In any case the best procedure usually is to get only the essentials at first, such as crosscut saw, hammer, screwdriver, chisel, etc., and add to them the other tools as the need for each of them arises. If this can be done without incon­venience, the acquisition of a complete outfit over a period of time is practically painless.

Tool Sharpening. The four principal types of cutting tools that will need to be kept sharp are: chisels, planes, saws, and drills. Chisels include gouges, while planes include the spokeshave and router. Both chisels and plane irons are sharpened in the same manner. If the sharp edge of any of these tools is nicked or blunted it will need grind­ing. For this purpose you need a grinding wheel of aluminum oxide, either hand or motor driven. With the hand-operated type it is necessary to have someone turn while you hold the tool. A motor-driven grinder, preferably with two wheels (a rough and a smooth) is therefore a good investment. The plane, chisel, and spokeshave blades are all ground to about 25 degrees. In using the high-speed wheel, care needs to be taken to see that the blade doesn't become so hot as to lose temper. If it gets red hot at the tip, then turns blue, it will be soft and need re-tempering. With care, this need not happen, but in any case you should have a can of water handy for dipping the tool into after each short pass across the wheel. After a rough cut, the blade can be given a short finish grind on the smooth wheel.

In grinding see that the end of the blade is kept square to the wheel, and check its squareness be­fore and after grinding. The next step is to hone the blade by rubbing the ground bevel on an oil­stone. Apply a little oil to the rough side of the oil-stone, and, holding the blade so that the bevel lies flat on the stone, rub it back and forth in a figure-eight motion. To remove the feather edge that forms in grinding and sharpening, turn the blade over, lay it flat on the stone and rub it back and forth a couple of times. Finish sharpening on the fine side of the stone. If a leather hone is avail­able so much the better.

Sharpening a gouge is a little more difficult be­cause of the curved blade. Some gouges are bev­eled on the inside and some on the outside, and the procedure differs accordingly. Those with an outside bevel are ground on the wheel in the same manner as a chisel, but the point is turned slowly, first one way then the other, till the whole curved surface is equally ground. Some find this easier to do on the side of the wheel instead of the edge.

In the case of inside bevels you have either to use a special thin wheel with a rounded rim, or do it by hand with a round-edged slip stone. After grinding, the outside bevel can be whetted on an oilstone in the same manner as a chisel except that the gouge must be rolled as it is rubbed. The inside gouge is whetted with a very fine slip stone.

Auger bits are sharpened by hand with a special file. This file has two flat, tapered ends, one with teeth on the sides, the other toothed on the edges. The toothed sides are used for sharpening the nibs and the edges are used to sharpen the lips. No honing is needed.

The sharpening of saws is a much more compli­cated procedure than any of the foregoing. The process, which is called "fitting," consists of three operations: jointing, setting, and filing. In jointing, all the teeth are made the same length; setting is the bendng of the teeth sideways to the proper angle, and filing sharpens the teeth. In attempting this job of saw fitting the amateur should procure a saw vise that is equipped with a file guide.

The length of the teeth is equalized by running a file or stone along the edges of the teeth. It simplifies matters if you set the file halfway into a strip of wood of the same length before using it on the teeth. It will then run straight and not slide off to snag your fingers. The saw is then ready for setting.

The first step now is to secure the saw in the vise with about half the blade above the jaws. This allows room to manipulate the setting tool. This tool aptly is called a saw set. It looks like a heavy pair of pliers, but one jaw contains a heavy steel disc or anvil; the other an adjustable screw. The anvil can be revolved to regulate the angle it makes with the screw, and this controls the degree to which the saw tooth is bent over.

Put the "set" over one saw tooth at a time so that the screw presses against the tooth tip. When you squeeze the handles, the screw bends the tooth against the anvil. After each alternate tooth has been bent in this manner, the saw is turned around in the vise and the rest of the teeth are bent in the opposite direction. The saw is then ready for filing.

The type of file used depends on the type of saw. For a crosscut saw the teeth are made to form a series of sharp points, beveled toward the inside. For that reason they are filed at an angle of 45 degrees.

The rip saw, however, has teeth that form a series of tiny fiat-edged chisels. This necessitates filing them straight across at 90 degrees. As be­fore, the alternate teeth are filed, then the saw is reversed and the intermediate teeth are filed.

For the rip saw the file is triangular to fit in between the teeth. For the crosscut a thinner file is used, but it cuts an edge on two teeth at a time. After the filing is finished, any burrs on the sides of the teeth may be removed by laying the saw flat and running an oil stone lightly over them.

Holding Devices

In much of the hand work done upon the wood, both before and after assembly, it is necessary to have it held rigidly. The bench vise and stops are not always sufficient for this and other arrange­ments are necessary.

Sometimes a notched board on the bench will hold an odd-shaped piece, but more generally we need holding tools such as portable vises, hand screws, clamps, and clamping jigs.

There is a large variety of bar clamps available, from the fiat steel kind to the gaspipe variety. The latter consist of a sliding jaw and a crank jaw that fit over any piece of 3/4-inch iron pipe that is threaded at one end. With this arrangement you can make a clamp of any length at all, provided you have the necessary piece of pipe. Another type of bar clamp uses a wood bar, and this has the advantage  of being less likely to  mar the work than the metal kind. The T-bar steel clamp is made as a unit in lengths up to 4 feet or more.

BAV CLAMP

The C-clamps with which you can hold work to the bench top, to a board, or any two parts together, are available in many sizes from three inches up. The most useful sizes for cabinet shop use are the 4-inch and 8-inch sizes.

TWIN  BAR CLAMP

ADJUSTABLE HAND SCREW

Finally, there are the hand screws that will hold pieces of either  regular  or  irregular  shape.   The most versatile of these are the style known as ad­justable because the jaws can be set at almost any angle to one another. In the non-adjustable type the jaws do remain parallel, and these also have their uses. Both kinds consist of a pair of wooden jaws mounted on two screwed steel spindles. Each spindle has a right-handed thread for half its length and a left-handed thread along the other half. Turning either spindle therefore causes both jaws to move in relation to it. To adjust the clamp quick­ly you hold both handles and revolve the whole clamp by rotating the handles around one another. This causes both jaws to open, or close, depending on the direction the handles are turning.

On occasion, when there are not sufficient clamps available, it may be necessary to devise other means of holding assemblies together. If the work is flat it may be possible to lay it on a flat surface and apply pressure by wedging it inside a frame, or between two heavy battens. In the case of chairs and other odd-shaped pieces, the simplest solution may be a rope tourniquet—a light but strong rope tightened around the structure and pulled taut by twisting a heavy stick through a loop in the line. Ingenuity will always find a way.

Saw Horses and Saw Bench

PADDED SAW HORSE

In sawing long pieces of stock and trimming, or otherwise working upon large flat assemblies such as table tops, it is an advantage to be able to lay the material flat. This is best done by using a pair of trestles or saw horses. The horses are very easily knocked together from five piece of 2" x 4", one forming the top and four the legs.   They are best fastened together by bolts.

SAWING BENCH

To protect cabinet woods from dents it pays to cover the tops of the horses with heavy cloth, rub­ber, or a strip of baize or felt. The standard height of the trestles is 22 inches, but make them to suit your   own   leg   length—the   knee  often  forms   an efficient steady-rest. The legs need to be splayed sideways so that the horse will not rock or tip over endwise.

Even more useful than the horses on occasion is a sawing bench. This is merely a heavy table, the same height as the trestles or a little lower. The top should be of heavy plank, and the legs vertical, not splayed. The top needs to be about 12" x 30" allowing a 1/4-inch overhang all around for clamp­ing the work. This, too, should have a padded top to avoid scarring finished surfaces. If you can con­trive a removable pad, so much the better.

Power Tools

Nearly all operations called for in ordinary cabi­net making can be performed with the hand tools discussed on the preceding pages. Wood can be obtained from some yards and mills, planed, cut to size, as well as turnings and other parts for assemb­ling and finishing.

Therefore power tools should be considered only after a realistic appraisal of the intended extent of your operations.

There are so many types and varieties of wood­working machines available for the smaller shop that it is often difficult to know which to install first. A complication arises from the fact that certain tools can be had in combination with others, thus offering possibilities for savings in both cost and floor space. Some of these combination tools work out quite well in a one-man shop, but those that require a great deal of adjustment in changing over from one kind of an operation to another are not so acceptable. The drawback to many of these tools is that only one unit can be used at a time, and if the operator acquires a helper, temporary or permanent, time will be lost through the whole machine being tied up for one operation. As a rule, therefore, in a shop where serious work is to be done and expan­sion is anticipated separate machine tools are preferable to combinations, provided space permits. And each tool should have its own motor.

Under the head of power tools come both the stationary and portable units. The stationary ones include the circular or bench saw, band saw, jig saw, bench sander, drill, jointer-planer, shaper, and the lathe. A tool grinder is also a practical necessity for sharpening chisels, plane irons, and other tools. The portable units consist of electric saws and drills, the latter having attachments for driving screws, and special sanding and buffing operations.

Circular Saw. Almost always the first thing that should be acquired by the serious cabinet maker is a circular saw, probably with a dado attachment for cutting grooves. With a combination blade the saw will cut either along or across the grain. An 8-inch blade will cut wood up to 23/8 inches thick, and the 10-inch blade will cut up to 3⅜  inches.

With such a saw you can cut your stock to any length or thickness, cut miters at any angle, make rabbets and grooves (both square and round, and bevels).

Ail modern circular saws have the blade mounted on an arbor that can be screwed up or down to regulate the height of the blade above the table. The simpler and less expensive type also allows the table to be tilted to 45 degrees to one side. Work­ing on this tilted surface complicates the use of the saw and also introduces an element of danger to the operator. It therefore pays to acquire a better and somewhat more expensive professional type of saw in which the blade itself tilts and the table remains horizontal.

The most important attachment for the circular saw is a dado head. This cuts a flat-bottomed groove either with or across the grain. The head consists of a pair of outside cutters having both crosscut and rip teeth. Clamped between them are one or more double-ended cutters that space them the required distance apart and serve to remove the chips. Such cutter assemblies will cut grooves with the grain or dadoes across it from ⅛ to 13/16 inch on some 8-inch saws, and up to 2 inches on some 10-inch saws.

Band Saws. The two types of saws that cut ir­regular shapes are the band saw and the jig saw. The principal difference between them is that the band saw has a continuous ribbon-type blade driven in one direction only—downward through the work. The jig saw, on the other hand, has a much finer blade that "jigs" up and down, its actual length of travel being only an inch or so. The band saw, having a heavy blade and running in one direction only, is a much more powerful tool than the jig saw, and will cut through much thicker and harder wood. Such a tool is practically essential where curves are to be cut in heavy stock, and very deep cuts made edgewise through boards. The same cut-out work can be done on a number of thin pieces stacked and temporarily fastened together. Curved chair back and legs are simple to make with a band saw. The blades ordinarily used will be ⅛, ¼, and ⅜widths, though the larger tools will take a ½-inch blade with ease.

With the narrowest blade you can make curves and circles to about a 3-inch radius (6-inch circle), but the size of work the saw handles will be limited by the size of the piece of wood you are working on. The distance between the blade and the sup­porting arm of a 14-inch band saw is generally about 13⅝ inches—sufficient for most jobs in the smaller shop.

If you get a standard 12- or 14-inch saw you may also be able to fit it with an extension block that will increase the space between the table and the upper guide by an additional 6 inches or so. This is useful in sawing odd-shaped pieces or those partly assembled. But do not attempt to cut through very thick stock that will buckle the blade, overheat, and probably snap it.

Jig Saw.   The jig saw is used almost exclusively for cutting out simple or intricate patterns in thin stock. The professional types of jig saws will handle the saber-type blade as well as the usual jig saw blade. The saber-type is held only at one end and therefore does not need to be uncoupled in remov­ing the work. Modern saws also incorporate a small piston to blow the sawdust away from the work, and a lamp to illuminate the working area. Most generally useful are the jig saws that have a tilting table and a variable speed adjustment. For maximum utility, a saw with at least 20 inches clearance between the saw and its supporting arm should be procured. A 24-inch tool will not be too big.

Sander. Bench sanders are available in a vari­ety of types and sizes, but in a small shop where there is very little repetition work a medium-sized, general-purpose unit is best. This should have a flat table under the belt and a roller at each end, and be adjustable for either vertical or horizontal work. The belt need be no more than 4½inches wide and about 27 inches long. Flat surfaces are sanded on the table and can be held against a fence across the belt which is adjustable to various angles. The flat part of the belt is used for level surfaces and the sections between the plate ends and the rollers and over the rollers themselves are used for inside and outside curves. This type of sander usually has a sanding disc, 9 inches or more in diameter, mounted on one of the roller shafts. This has its own adjustable table and miter gauge, and is invaluable in trimming ends square or to an angle.

If a great number of long pieces such as chair legs have to be sanded, a different type of belt sander, having a long, flexible belt, may have ad­vantages, but the ordinary shop will get adequate service from the bench sander described and three or four grades of belts, from fine to coarse grit.

Drill Press. A bench drill or floor-type drill press can be a great time-saver both as a drill and as a router for carving, recessing, and making dove­tail joints. Boring and countersinking are common operations, and a very simple attachment turns the drill bit into a mortise cutter. This tool is merely a hollow square chisel or cutter that fits around the drill. As the drill makes its circular hole the cutter trims the hole square.

A drill press to perform all these operations, plus internal sanding, needs to operate at a fairly wide range of speeds. For most purposes, in the small shop, a tool that will take up to a half-inch drill bit should be adequate. Since large pieces may have to be handled, a floor-type drill is best be­cause the table can be lowered three feet or more below the drill chuck.

Jointer. This high-speed cutting tool makes board edges perfectly smooth and straight for joint­ing. It also planes surfaces up to 4 inches or 6 inches wide according to the size of the tool, and is used for tapering, rabbeting and beveling, and planing both sides of a board parallel. Extreme care is necessary in using this tool because the cutting head, which revolves at high speed, is often exposed and, since the boards are narrow, the operator's  hands of  necessity  come  close  to it.

The jointer may be of either bench or floor type, and the smallest practical size is the 4-inch model. This is large enough for the small shop as a rule.

The tool consists of a front and rear table with a cutting head between their adjacent ends. The work is done by sliding the wood from the rear to the front tables over the cutter. The manner in which the cutter trims the wood depends on the relative positions of the two tables and the cutting head. For example, if the front table is ⅛inch lower than the rear table, and the rear table level with the cutters, a cut ⅛inch deep will be taken off the length of the board. Raising the rear table above the cutter could take a taper cut off the work, and so on. This tapering, however, should not be attempted by anyone not thoroughly familiar with the machine, and only then when extreme care is taken—fingers can too easily be lost.

Shaper. Another useful machine with which it does not pay to take liberties is the shaper. This tool has a vertical spindle on which can be mounted a variety of toothed cutters that are made to revolve at extremely high speeds. Cutters of various shapes are used to make grooves, mouldings, fluting, and beads. For the advanced worker on the more elaborate furniture pieces the shaper is a great timesaver, but it is rarely a necessity in the small shop where a hand-operated shaper is more likely to fill the occasional need.

The Lathe. Turnings enter into a great many pieces of furniture, both classical and modern, not only for chairs and tables but for brackets and decorative parts of cabinets, beds, and other larger pieces. In the fully-equipped shop, a lathe is prac­tically essential. For all normal purposes, a four-speed, 12-inch, ball-bearing lathe, to take a piece 37 inches between centers should be sufficient. Longer pieces can often be built up in several sec­tions joined by dowels or turned shanks. The fore­going figures mean that a piece up to 12-inch diameter and 37 inches long can be worked on. The four speeds, probably 900, 1,400, 2,200, and 3,400 r.p.m., will be sufficient for practically all work on wood, including large face-plate turning.

This type of lathe is best driven through a V belt by a motor solidly attached to the base. There is, however, no objection to the bench lathe provided both it and the motor are rigidly mounted in rela­tion to one another. In all cases there should be a quickly accessible switch  in  case of accidents.

With such a lathe and a complete set of turning tools—and of course the skill to use them—you can make all kinds of spindles, legs, rails, split turnings, threads, and so forth. Then, with a number of simple jigs and attachments you can do special sanding, wire brushing, buffing, grinding, boring, and make dowels and do fluting and reeding.  The lathe also saves time in finishing turned parts. Various finishes can be applied—wax, oil, varnish, shellac, french polish—with the work revolving at slow speeds between centers or on the outboard face plate. The standard set of turning chisels consists of the follow­ing: ¼-inch gouge; ½-inch skew, spear; ¾-inch gouge, parting tool, round-nose; ¾-inch gouge; 1-inch skew.

There are two methods of turning—one by cutting or paring, the other by scraping. The scraping method is much the simpler. and is quite often in­dulged in by beginners in learning to use the lathe. Experts disagree as to which gives the best results in competent hands. Theoretically, the cutting meth­od should be quicker and cleaner, but the fact re­mains that many competent wood turners use the scraping method and rely on sanding to finish the work smooth. One advantage of scraping, it is claimed, is that there is much less chance of a chisel slipping and spoiling the work. This alone might well recommend scraping to beginners. The ideal system, however, would be for the beginner to familiarize himself with both methods and make a final decision only when he is skilled in handling the tools. By that time his aptitude with one method or the other will doubtless have settled the problem for him.

As the above may suggest, the art of turning is something that cannot be learned from text books. The only satisfactory way is to do the work under the watchful eye of a competent worker, and learn from your mistakes. It can be pointed out, however, that in making turnings observation of a couple of simple rules will make all the difference between a nice-appearing job and a clumsy one.

On  many turnings there are  combinations of shoulders with recesses or rounds (coves or beads), as you see in the illustration. Strange as it may seem, if the shoulder is not exactly square (i.e., parallel with the center line of the turning) and the curves do not meet the shoulder at right angles, the turning will have an unattractive look.

Even where two curves come together they should flow into one another and not meet at an angle. Careful attention to these details will make the difference between an excellent and a mediocre turning; between good design and poor execution.

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